4-Year Fractional CMO Partnership
Founder & Co-Owner, Seven Barrels
4-Year Fractional CMO Partnership
Mark Moss
Co-Owner, Seven Barrels
Digital Transformation Gap: Seven Barrels was an established business run by owners in their 60s with no understanding of e-commerce or digital marketing, having operated exclusively through in-person sales at art shows, festivals, and farmers' markets for 10 years.
Technological Literacy Barriers: The target customers (55+ with large disposable income) struggled with basic online ordering processes, frequently encountering difficulties navigating the existing website.
Absent Online Presence: The company lacked any meaningful digital footprint—no social media presence, paid advertising, or effective website—severely limiting their market reach beyond physical locations.
• Redesign their website by making it simple for older customers who aren't tech-savvy
• Create visuals and messaging that made people understand why a $35 bottle of oil or vinegar was worth the premium price
• Transform the owners' product expertise into punchy, digital-friendly content without losing their authentic voice
• Build extensive easy-to-understand content showing people what to actually do with these products—recipes, pairings, and uses
• Make everything look and feel consistent across website, social media, emails and ads so the brand felt cohesive and premium
Premium Price Hurdle: At $35 per bottle, customers constantly questioned the price point. We had to keep showing value through design, messaging, and education to justify why the products were worth the premium.
Usage Knowledge Gap: Most people had no clue what to do with balsamic vinegar beyond salad dressing, and thought olive oil was just for cooking. We needed constant education on recipes and applications.
White Label Challenge: Since many products were white-labeled, we lacked deep background information on them. I had to craft compelling stories and brand narratives from limited source material.
Older Buyer Habits: Our 55+ demographic had fixed ideas about these products and established buying patterns. Breaking through those required consistent, strategic approaches rather than flashy marketing tactics.
• Built complete digital setup for what was basically just a farmers' market business
• Made super simple interfaces that older customers (55+) could use
• Started marketing across social media, Google, and email marketing
• Created high-end branding that felt consistent everywhere customers saw it
• Sourced tons of recipes and how-to content showing what to actually do with the products
• Kept their authentic voice while making it work for online platforms
• Changed long-established buying patterns through smart, targeted marketing
The original Seven Barrels website was built on Shopify but suffered from an outdated design reminiscent of the early 2000s despite being created in 2015. This disconnect between contemporary e-commerce expectations and the existing platform created significant barriers for the target demographic of customers aged 55+.
The redesign focused on transforming the digital storefront while maintaining the Shopify platform foundation. This approach allowed us to leverage familiar backend systems while completely revitalizing the customer-facing experience.
The redesign incorporated updated navigation structures, modernized visual elements, and streamlined purchasing pathways specifically optimized for users with varying levels of technological comfort.
By implementing Shopify's 2.0 theme architecture, we were able to introduce enhanced functionality including integrated social media touchpoints, an intuitive loyalty program, and more sophisticated product presentations that better conveyed the premium nature of Seven Barrels' offerings.
Enhanced User Experience: Restructured navigation and product display systems with simplified pathways to purchase, reducing abandonment rates among older users
Visual Modernization: Updated design elements to reflect premium positioning while maintaining clarity and readability for the target demographic
Functional Integration: Implemented social media connectivity, customer loyalty program, and improved product imagery to create a cohesive digital ecosystem
Platform Optimization: Leveraged Shopify 2.0 capabilities to improve site performance, mobile responsiveness, and backend management efficiency
Content Clarity: Reorganized product information and educational content to guide customers through the shopping experience with greater confidence
Premium Positioning: Enhanced visual elements to properly communicate the luxury status of products, helping justify the $35 price point through design cues
In 2022, I revamped Seven Barrels' product photography to fix a major perception problem—customers were confusing their bottles with wine instead of recognizing them as premium olive oil and balsamic vinegar products.
Working with a limited budget, I personally photographed all 28 flavor varieties in a controlled studio environment with consistent lighting against a white background. Each product was shot in three formats (small bottles, large bottles, and paired combinations), followed by detailed Photoshop retouching to enhance the images and digitally add flavor-specific elements.
The results were immediate and significant—this visual upgrade led to a 50% increase in sales from 2022 to 2023 without changing the actual bottles or products. The new photography created a consistent visual language that worked across their website, social media, and emerging platforms like Facebook Shop and Instagram Store.
Scope: Shot all 28 flavor varieties in small bottles, large bottles, and paired combinations
Output: Created 150+ professionally retouched product images
Process: Full studio setup with controlled lighting and extensive Photoshop work
Implementation: Updated website catalog, social media library, and e-commerce platforms
Results: 50% sales increase with improved brand perception and product understanding
From 2021 to 2025, I managed Facebook and Google advertising campaigns for Seven Barrels that significantly grew their business while maintaining strong performance metrics.
Our strategy focused on reaching their core demographic (55+ with disposable income) through straightforward, product-focused creative assets.
For Facebook, we used static in-feed posts with broad targeting plus age filters, consistently finding that clean product imagery on white backgrounds with clear information performed best with this audience.
The Google Ads approach centered on comprehensive search coverage with 10 campaigns targeting over 20,000 search terms related to premium olive oils, balsamic vinegars, and gourmet foods.
When ad fatigue emerged after two years, we implemented AI-assisted creative development to maintain engagement while preserving the core visual approach that resonated with customers.
Campaign performance was exceptional: over 32.2 million Facebook impressions, 3 million Google impressions, and approximately 442,000 website clicks. Most importantly, we maintained a consistent 4x ROAS throughout the four-year period, making paid advertising a primary growth driver for the business.
My transformation of Seven Barrels' digital presence converted them from a farmers' market business to a thriving e-commerce brand through several key strategies:
Digital Infrastructure: Redesigned their Shopify site with user-friendly interfaces tailored to their 55+ demographic, implementing Shopify 2.0, simplified navigation, and integrated loyalty programs.
Visual Identity: Overhauled product photography for all 28 varieties, creating consistent premium imagery that boosted sales 50% through improved presentation alone.
Content Marketing: Created 1,600+ social media posts focused on recipes and usage ideas, addressing the critical knowledge gap about how to use premium oils and vinegars.
Paid Advertising: Developed Facebook and Google ad strategies with clear product visualization and straightforward messaging that maintained a 4x ROAS over four years.
Innovation: Pioneered AI-assisted creative workflows to combat ad fatigue, producing 1,000+ unique ad variations while working within tight budget constraints.
Brand Narrative: Crafted compelling storytelling that justified the $35 price point by highlighting heritage production methods, quality ingredients, and product versatility.
Growth: Scaled revenue from under $100K to over $2.5M annually within four years
Customers: Expanded from 20,000 to 100,000+ active customers
Digital Presence:
• 8,000 Facebook followers (from zero)
• 3,000 Instagram followers (from zero)
• 35+ million ad impressions
Performance Metrics:
• 50% sales boost from photography refresh
• 4x consistent ROAS on advertising
• $35/bottle premium pricing successfully established
Education Results:
• Shifted consumer understanding of product category
• Positioned Seven Barrels as trusted specialty food resource
• Built loyal customer base despite premium pricing
Know Your Audience: Working with a 55+ demographic taught me to ignore trendy marketing advice and focus on what actually works for less tech-savvy customers.
Value Storytelling: A $35 price point works when supported by the right visuals, education and narrative—design justifies premium pricing.
Small Changes, Big Results: Simple improvements (like better product photos) often outperform complete overhauls—that photography refresh alone boosted sales 50%.
Teach, Don't Just Sell: Educational content about how to use specialty products drove more sales than discounts or promotional messaging.
Career Evolution: Growing from designer to fractional CMO happened by consistently solving problems beyond my original scope.
Social Media Management
Social Media Management
Over the four-year partnership with Seven Barrels, I completely transformed their social media presence from inconsistent, amateur content to a professional, strategic channel that supported their premium brand positioning.
I personally produced more than 1,600 social media posts across Facebook and Instagram, focusing primarily on product education, recipe inspiration, and promotional content.
The unique challenge with Seven Barrels' social media strategy was navigating their older target demographic (55+), many of whom were not active social media users.
This demographic reality limited viral growth potential but didn't diminish the importance of maintaining a professional online presence for brand credibility and discovery.
Despite the owners' reluctance to invest in video content—limiting our creative toolkit to static images and graphics designed in Photoshop—we successfully built a consistent content calendar that highlighted product versatility, luxury positioning, and seasonal applications.
The strategy prioritized quality over quantity, with thoughtfully designed posts that reinforced the premium nature of their olive oils and balsamic vinegars.
Key Metrics Tracked
Key Metrics Tracked
Posting Consistency: Maintained daily posting schedule across platforms for 4 years (1,600+ unique posts) between 2021 and 2025
Audience Growth: Expanded Facebook following from 0 to approximately 8,000 followers
Instagram Development: Built Instagram presence from 0 to nearly 3,000 followers
Revenue Impact: Tracked over $800,000 in sales directly attributable to organic social media content
Content Focus: Created primarily recipe content, product education, and promotional announcements
Engagement Performance Stats:
• Average engagement rate of 5-8% on daily posts
• Average growth rate of new followers 2-3% per month
• 4.6 Million organic impressions over 4 years without going viral
• Post engagement of 349K over 4 years
• Over 210K link clicks driven organically (no paid ads)