I’ve Sat on Both Sides of the Table. That Changes Everything.

Cara Johnson, fractional marketing director and digital marketing strategist, smiling headshot, San Francisco Bay Area

I have worked in an agency. I have worked corporate. I have worked nonprofit. I have helped market everything from medtech to plumbing supply and what I've learned across all of it is that the fundamentals don't change, but the application always does.

That range isn't a resume quirk. It's the whole point.

When you've built marketing programs from scratch at a nonprofit with no budget and rebuilt broken ones at a corporation with too much of it, you develop a different kind of diagnostic instinct. You stop defaulting to templates. You start asking better questions. You learn to find what's actually broken, not just what looks broken, and you learn how to fix it without blowing up what's already working.

That's what I bring to every engagement.

What I Actually Do

For small businesses: I help you get to the next level. That means building the marketing foundation you need, the right channels, the right message, the right strategy, so you stop guessing and start growing.

For mid-level businesses: I help you optimize and maximize what you already have. You've built something real. Now let's make sure your marketing is performing at the same level as the rest of your operation.

For nonprofits: I help you increase donations and make your technology work harder for your mission. I've built digital fundraising programs from the ground up and I know what moves donors from awareness to action.

A Few Things Worth Knowing About Me

I am a data geek. I love the numbers, not because spreadsheets are exciting, but because data tells the truth. Every recommendation I make is grounded in what the numbers actually say. Data also tells a great story.

I am also a dancer, a passionate home cook, a board member of the Bay Area Psychotherapy Institute, and a volunteer at the San Francisco Bay Area Curling Club. I mention this not because my weekend plans are relevant to your marketing strategy, but because I think the people you work with should be fully human, not just a deck and a rate card.

I have sat in the rooms where the decisions get made. I have built the campaigns, run the audits, rebuilt the programs, and delivered the results. I am not here to look like a great marketer. I am here to make your marketing actually work.

The Short Version

Agency. Corporate. Nonprofit. Banking, e-commerce, crowdfunding, medtech, plumbing supply, and everything in between.

I've seen what works, what doesn't, and how to tell the difference fast.

If your marketing needs to be built, fixed, or taken to the next level, let's talk.