Case Study
FRACTIONAL CMO CASE STUDY
Little Berry Farm
The Situation
Little Berry Farm started the way the best businesses do — as a dream that finally had room to grow.
When the founder saw an opportunity to build a berry farm on her existing property, she went for it. Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries, all planted with help from friends and family, rooted in a vision she’d carried for years.
But a dream and a business aren’t the same thing. Not yet.
What We Were Up Against
She had a lot working against her on paper. A brand-new startup, four miles outside the nearest city, in a college town that already had other berry farms. A tiny budget. Zero web presence. And a very short, very seasonal window to make it work each year.
Oh, and she was busy actually running a farm. Marketing was not on her to-do list.
What We Did
We kept it focused and practical — exactly what a lean startup budget demands.
Brand from scratch. She didn’t have a logo, a look, or a voice yet. After looking at her Purpose, Promise, Personality, and Platforms, we successfully created a logo and jam packaging labels that felt warm, handmade, and intentional — the kind of brand that makes people feel something before they even visit.
PR to get her on the map. With a limited ad budget, earned media was our best friend, reaching hundreds of thousands of homes. This introduced her to the community before anyone picked a single berry.
A grand opening event — with a hook. We built buzz around the launch with low-budget Facebook and Instagram ads, a local newspaper push, and a giveaway of berry-picking aprons to the first 50 guests as an email list builder and to get early traffic to the farm. On opening day, they quickly ran out of aprons. Then they ran out of berries.
Smart positioning. One of her biggest competitive advantages was hiding in plain sight: no pesticides. Strawberries are on the “dirty dozen” list of produce most likely to carry chemical residue, and a growing segment of her market cared deeply about that. We made it a centerpiece of her messaging and targeted that audience directly.
Social media as a utility. Her customers didn’t just need to follow her — they needed to know when to show up. We used Facebook and Instagram to post real-time berry availability and daily picking times, turning her social channels into a practical tool her customers watched. We also encouraged user-generated content, so berry-pickers could share their own photos, promoting a family-fun day at the farm.
Website + email foundation. We built a website that told her story and reflected her brand, and set up email marketing so she could communicate directly with customers about picking times, new products, and seasonal updates.
The Results
- Grand opening sold out — berries and aprons gone on day one
- Email list built from zero to hundreds within the first season
- Social following is now more than 6,000 across Facebook and Instagram
- Local media coverage on reaching tens of thousands of viewers
- Established as a go-to berry destination in the Chippewa Valley of Wisconsin
- Still in business and still growing!
The Takeaway
This project is proof that you don’t need a big budget to make a big splash. You need clarity, the right positioning, and a strategy that works with your constraints instead of pretending they don’t exist.
Little Berry Farm didn’t just open. She launched in a big way, and the community continues to show up.
You don’t need a massive budget to have a successful launch. You need a plan that fits your vision and makes the most of your circumstances. Book a discovery call →