The plan, before
the spend.

Both, and the roadmap says which makes sense for you. If PixelCrayons executes, the handoff is immediate: the same team that wrote the plan runs it. If you'd rather run it in-house or with another agency, the roadmap ships as a document detailed enough to hand over without a translation call. Nothing in this engagement requires signing a retainer to get the plan.

Buying a channel service directly assumes you already know that channel is the right place to spend the next pound. This engagement answers that question first, across the whole mix, before any single service gets bought. If the audit says SEO is genuinely the priority, we'll say so and point you at the SEO service; if it says something else, you'll know that too, before committing a retainer to the wrong channel.

The channel-mix audit findings, priorities ranked by opportunity and sequenced into an order, the measurement and attribution framework, and a build-vs-buy recommendation on who should execute it. All written, itemised and priced within 48 hours of the first call, yours to keep whether or not you go further with us.

No, and if that's what you need, say so and we'll tell you honestly whether this is the right shape. Fractional or embedded leadership sits alongside your existing team: a senior marketing strategy consultant in the planning meetings, defending the roadmap and adjusting it against real numbers. It's built for teams that have execution capacity but lack a senior strategic voice, not as a quiet replacement for headcount.

Yes, and the build-vs-buy section of the roadmap exists specifically to do that honestly. We name the criteria (specialism required, budget size, how much oversight you can provide) and follow them to whatever answer they produce, including hiring a named specialist role or running an RFP against agencies we don't work for. Keeping the diagnosis separate from the execution sale is the whole point of pricing them separately.

No, and any consultant guaranteeing outcomes they don't fully control is a warning sign, not a promise. A channel's real-world performance depends on execution quality, market conditions and competitors none of us control. What the engagement commits to is the discipline: an audit built from your own numbers, priorities ranked by evidence rather than opinion, and a measurement framework that tells you honestly whether the plan is working, reviewed weekly until it demonstrably is.

Teams about to commit budget who are not sure which channel deserves it, and teams whose current plan lists everything as equally urgent. It also suits teams with execution capacity but no senior strategic voice. If you already know which channel needs the work, go straight to that service instead.