Remember that Dunkin’ Donuts commercial from the ‘80s? The one with the tired baker dragging himself out of bed at 4 AM, muttering “Time to make the donuts” in that defeated voice? He’d shuffle to the shop, mix the dough, fry the donuts, serve the customers, then drag himself home only to wake up the next morning and do it all over again.

“Time to make the donuts.”

That commercial was supposed to show dedication, but all I ever saw was someone going through the motions without any real purpose. Endless repetition. No strategy, no joy, no sense that tomorrow might be different or better.

That commercial left such a lasting impression on me that I still think about that baker whenever I sit down with business owners to talk about their marketing teams. Which probably says something about my childhood TV habits, but here we are.

Their teams are busy. Really busy. Creating social posts, sending emails, updating websites, running ads. But when I ask what’s working and what isn’t, I get the same glazed look as that baker. They’re making donuts, but nobody’s really sure why, or if they’re the right donuts, or if anyone even wants donuts anymore.

Here’s what I’ve learned: the work isn’t the issue. Someone just needs to decide which donuts to make, when to make them, and who’s actually hungry for them. Without that kind of leadership, marketing becomes a daily grind of tasks instead of strategic momentum that actually moves the business forward.

At Plum, we’ve spent years figuring out how to turn that grind into growth. And yes, we still bring actual donuts to our team meetings, because some traditions are worth keeping.

Marketing Leadership Strategy Stops the Endless Loop

There’s a reason that the baker looked so miserable. He was trapped in a cycle where the work never changed, never improved, and never seemed to matter beyond just keeping the lights on.

I see this same pattern with most marketing teams I meet. Monday means social media posts. Tuesday means email campaigns. Wednesday means updating the website. OMG we need a St. Patrick’s Day post! They’re checking boxes and hitting deadlines, but nobody’s asking the bigger questions: Is this moving the needle? Are we reaching the right people? What should we be doing differently next quarter?

Without marketing leadership setting the strategy, teams default to what they did yesterday. They become reactive instead of strategic. They measure activity instead of outcomes. And eventually, they burn out from all that busy work that doesn’t seem to connect to anything meaningful.

When we work with a company as their fractional CMO, one of the first things we focus on is breaking that cycle. With a strong understanding of where the business is headed from leadership, we sit down with the team and ask what they think is working, what feels pointless, and what they wish they had time to try. Usually, there’s a collective sigh of relief when someone finally asks those questions.

Then we start building a real strategy that connects every email, social post, and campaign to specific business goals. Sometimes we stop doing something that’s been going on forever and sometimes we start doing a bunch of new things. Suddenly, the team stops making donuts and starts creating something that matters.

We saw this firsthand during Black Friday with one of our Michigan-based manufacturing clients. Instead of their team scrambling with random social posts and generic “sale” emails, we had spent months building a VIP-first strategy. When BFCM arrived, every team member knew their role: email subscribers got early access, social reinforced the exclusivity, and customer service was prepared for the influx. The result was 118% revenue growth year over year, with their marketing team feeling confident and coordinated instead of frantic and scattered.

That’s the difference between task-doing and strategic thinking, and it changes everything about how marketing feels for both the team and the business owner.

Culture and Performance: When Teams Feel Valued, Results Follow

Here’s something I’ve learned: stressed-out teams don’t create the best campaigns. The best work comes from people who feel supported, clear on their goals, and confident that someone has their back when things get complicated.

Most marketing teams I meet are running on caffeine, adrenaline (and maybe a little anxiety). They’re juggling fifteen different projects, getting pulled into last-minute requests, and rarely getting clear direction on what should take priority. They’re talented people trying their best, but they’re burning out because nobody’s protecting their focus or celebrating their wins.

When we step in as a fractional CMO, one of the first things we do is create space for the team to breathe. We start holding regular one-on-ones, not to micromanage, but to understand what’s working and what’s driving them crazy. We celebrate the wins that were getting overlooked and quietly remove the busy work that was eating up their time.

The change is almost immediate. Teams that were previously just trying to keep up suddenly start suggesting new ideas and taking ownership of outcomes. They stop asking “what should I work on today?” and start asking “how can we improve this campaign’s performance?”

We’ve seen this with one of our manufacturing clients where we ran our “Everything I Do” exercise to help leaders delegate tasks and focus on higher-value work. The marketing manager, who had been juggling purchasing duties alongside her marketing responsibilities, was finally able to hand off those operational tasks and dedicate real time to campaign strategy. Once she had that space to think strategically rather than react to daily fires, her whole approach to marketing changed.

Team happiness matters, though that’s only part of what culture really does. The bigger impact is creating conditions where good work can actually happen. When people feel valued and mentored, they take more ownership, communicate better across departments, and stay focused on what drives results instead of getting distracted by every shiny new tactic.

This is why we say strategy is our love language. Real strategic leadership is experienced. It creates an environment where plans can come to life through confident, supported people who know their work matters.

Marketing Team Alignment Across Functions

One of the biggest problems I see in growing companies is that marketing operates in its own little bubble. The marketing team is creating campaigns, the sales team is chasing leads, operations is managing inventory, and customer service is handling complaints. Everyone’s working hard, but nobody’s talking to each other about what they’re seeing or learning.

This creates inefficiencies everywhere. Marketing runs promotions without checking inventory. Sales complains about lead quality but never shares what prospects actually ask. Customer service hears the same objections repeatedly, but those insights never reach the website copy or email campaigns.

When we work with companies as their fractional CMO, we spend a lot of time breaking down these silos. We start showing up to sales meetings, not to take over, but to understand what’s happening on the front lines. We sit with customer service to hear what people are really saying when they call or email. We check with operations before launching any promotion that could impact fulfillment.

Suddenly, marketing becomes much more strategic because it’s informed by real data from every part of the business. Sales gets better leads because marketing understands what really converts. Customer service has fewer fires to put out because potential issues get addressed before they become problems.

We saw this transformation with our gunsmithing tools client. Before we started working together, their marketing team was creating content in isolation, while their customer service team was fielding the same technical questions over and over again. Once we connected those dots, we turned those frequently asked questions into a content series that not only reduced support tickets but also drove significant organic traffic and positioned them as the technical experts in their space.

This kind of internal collaboration strategy doesn’t happen by accident. It requires someone at the leadership level who understands how all these pieces fit together and can facilitate those cross-functional conversations. Most internal marketing teams don’t have that perspective yet, which is exactly where fractional CMO leadership makes the biggest difference.

Internal Collaboration Strategy in Action

Here’s the thing about building better internal collaboration: you can’t just tell people to “communicate more” and expect it to happen. Most marketing teams want to work better with other departments, but they don’t know how to start those conversations or what questions to ask.

This is where marketing leadership strategy becomes practical instead of theoretical. We go beyond org charts and meeting schedules. We teach teams how to have productive conversations with sales about lead quality, how to work with operations on realistic campaign timelines, and how to turn customer service insights into actionable marketing improvements.

We also build feedback loops that really work. Instead of quarterly “alignment meetings” that everyone dreads, we create simple systems for sharing insights in real time. A Slack channel where customer service can flag recurring issues. A monthly thirty-minute check-in where sales shares what messaging is resonating. A shared document where operations can give marketing a heads-up about inventory levels or fulfillment delays.

The key is making these touchpoints feel helpful instead of burdensome. When marketing team alignment starts solving real problems for other departments, people actually want to participate instead of seeing it as another meeting they have to sit through.

We implemented this approach with our menswear client, creating a simple system for their team to share insights between marketing, sales, and customer service. Within a few months, they were launching campaigns based on actual customer feedback, adjusting messaging based on sales conversations, and proactively addressing issues before they became complaints. The result was much more effective marketing that supported the whole business instead of just generating activity.

When everyone’s rowing in the same direction, the marketing team stops feeling like they’re shouting into the void, and other departments start seeing marketing as a strategic partner instead of just the people who make the pretty graphics.

Ready for Marketing Leadership Strategy That Works?

If you’re reading this thinking “yep, my marketing team is definitely stuck in donut-making mode,” you’re not alone. I have this conversation with business owners weekly, usually after they’ve spent another hour wondering why their marketing feels busy but not particularly effective.

Most marketing teams have good people doing good work, but they’re missing that strategic leadership layer that turns daily tasks into business momentum. Hiring another coordinator or doubling down on the same tactics won’t solve this problem. What your team really needs is someone who can see the bigger picture, facilitate those cross-functional conversations, and create the kind of culture where people feel confident and supported instead of overwhelmed and scattered.

That’s exactly what fractional CMO leadership does. We mentor your marketing team, align them with your business goals, and give them the strategic foundation they need to do work that actually moves the needle. 

Your marketing team has the talent. They just need the leadership to help them use it strategically. That’s where we come in.

Ready to stop making donuts and start making progress? Let’s talk.