Growth Diagnostic
Start Here
Before you invest in execution, you need to know what’s actually happening. The Growth Diagnostic is a two-week, intensive assessment of your marketing operation — not a surface-level audit, but a clinical look at what’s working, what’s broken, and what the real constraints on growth are.
You’ll walk away with a documented baseline, a prioritized set of recommendations, and the honest conversation most consultants avoid. If there’s a fit for ongoing work, we’ll talk about it. If there isn’t, you leave with a plan you can execute yourself or hand to someone else.
Fractional CMO
Full Engagement
Marketing leadership for companies going through growth-driven change. This is the full engagement — strategy, execution, and accountability from the same person — Aaron Douglas. No translation layer between the person who understands the problem and the person doing the work.
The scope is built around what your business actually needs: positioning, go-to-market strategy, marketing operations, digital execution, team development, vendor management. I diagnose before I prescribe, I do the work, and I stay until the operation can sustain itself.
This engagement typically follows a Growth Diagnostic, but isn’t required to. If you already know what needs to happen and need someone senior to make it happen, we start there.
Strategic Advisory
Ongoing Counsel
For companies that have built the engine and need a senior marketing mind on retainer. Monthly strategic review, quarterly planning, and on-call access when decisions need to be made. This is the engagement for leaders who’ve done the heavy lifting and want to keep a practitioner in the room. Not because they can’t run it, but because the outside perspective keeps them honest.
Advisory clients have typically completed a full engagement and transitioned to a self-sustaining operation. The relationship shifts from building to refining. From execution to counsel.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Growth Diagnostic?
A Growth Diagnostic is a two-week intensive assessment of your marketing operation. It goes deeper than a surface-level audit — examining what’s working, what’s broken, and what the real constraints on growth are. You walk away with a documented baseline, prioritized recommendations, and an honest evaluation of what needs to change. If there’s a fit for ongoing work, that conversation happens after. If there isn’t, you leave with a plan you can execute independently.
How is a fractional CMO different from hiring a marketing agency?
An agency gives you a team of specialists executing a playbook. A fractional CMO gives you senior marketing leadership embedded at the decision-making level. The difference is structural: agencies introduce handoff gaps between strategy and execution, and your retainer covers their overhead, management layers, and profit margin. A fractional CMO diagnoses before prescribing, does the strategic and executional work directly, and builds capability your organization keeps after the engagement ends.
What does a fractional CMO engagement look like day-to-day?
The scope is built around what your business actually needs — positioning, go-to-market strategy, marketing operations, digital execution, team development, vendor management. There’s no standard package. Some weeks are heavy on strategy and planning. Others are hands-on execution. The constant is that the same person who understands the problem is the one doing the work, with no translation layer in between.
How long does a typical engagement last?
It depends on what the diagnostic reveals and how much needs to be built. Some businesses need six months of intensive work to stand up a functioning marketing operation. Others need longer. The goal of every engagement is to reach a point where the operation sustains itself — advisory clients have typically completed a full engagement and shifted to periodic strategic counsel rather than day-to-day execution.
What size company is this designed for?
Auspicious works with businesses in the $2M to $50M revenue range — companies that have outgrown ad hoc marketing but aren’t ready for (or don’t need) a full-time CMO. The ideal client is an owner or decision-maker who knows the marketing isn’t working but isn’t sure why, and wants senior leadership applied to the problem rather than more vendor activity.
The FIRST Conversation
Let’s Be Clear
The first conversation isn’t a pitch — it’s discovery. I’ll ask questions about where your business is, what you’ve tried, and what’s actually in the way. If one of these engagements is the right fit, I’ll tell you which one and why. If none of them are, I’ll tell you that too.