The Ripple Method
A pebble drops. Ripples spread.
Every engagement starts the same way: we get your story, your customer's story and the market reality.
Where those three align, we build on it. Where they don't, we fix it.
Everything else ripples out from there.
AI-powered research. Human-led strategy. Weeks, not months.
The drop: research
Before anything gets built, we research three things: what the market actually says about your category, what your company claims, and what your buyers actually need.
What the market says
How your category is framed, what competitors claim, and where the landscape is moving.
What your company claims
What your website, sales materials, and team actually say about you today.
What your buyers need
How they describe the problem, what they search for, what makes them trust or walk away.
Findings emerge where these three vectors misalign. The gap between what the market expects, what you say, and what buyers actually hear is where positioning breaks.
How we work
Every finding gets a confidence rating.
We don't hand you a strategy and say "trust us." Every finding in every deliverable is tagged with how confident we are in it, and why.
Proven
Directly verified from market data, published sources, or your own customers. Act on this now.
Pattern
Recurring theme across multiple sources. Strong enough to build on, worth watching as data comes in.
Needs Testing
Reasonable hypothesis based on available evidence. Test before you bet the budget on it.
You see exactly where the strategy is strong and where it's still soft. No black boxes.
AI does the research. A human strategist makes sense of it.
AI tools scan your market, your competitors, and how your buyers actually talk. They process in hours what would take weeks by hand. But AI doesn't know what matters for your business. That's where an experienced marketing strategist comes in: knowing which patterns matter, which gaps are dangerous, and which findings change the strategy.
Then we test it.
Before anything ships, key messaging gets tested against AI buyer models built from your actual market research. Not a focus group. Not a gut check. A structured evaluation that catches what sounds right on paper but wouldn't land with a real buyer.
The research becomes a diagnostic that shows you exactly where your positioning holds up and where it breaks down.
Messaging Reframes
Top 3 reframes you can use immediately, even if you go no further.
Priority Stack
What to fix first, what needs deeper work, and where your positioning already holds up.
Report + Walkthrough
Designed PDF with confidence-rated findings, delivered on a guided walkthrough call.
Timeline: 2-3 weeks. Investment: $2,500 (applies as credit toward a full build).
Second ripple: the full build
For companies where the audit surfaces structural problems, not just surface fixes.
Market Intelligence
Research summary and competitive landscape showing where your category stands.
Buyer Profiles
Built from real language and behavior, not assumptions.
Messaging Architecture
Positioning pillars, proof inventory, and voice guide.
GTM Playbook
Channel strategy and execution priorities tailored to your market.
Strategy Repository
One clear strategy your team, partners, and AI tools can execute from.
Timeline: 4-6 weeks. Investment: Starting at $7,000.
Third ripple: ongoing strategy
The strategy doesn't sit in a deck. Your fractional CMO stays engaged to make sure it gets executed, tested, and refined.
Strategy Repository
Your team, agencies, and AI tools all pull from the same source of truth.
Messaging Refinement
Adjustments based on what's working and what's not.
Buyer Model Updates
Refinement as real conversations replace early research.
Marketing Leadership
Content direction, campaign oversight, and sales enablement support.
Confidence Tracking
Ratings updated as assumptions become proven.
Custom scope, Starting at $5K/month.
Laura McAliley, Founder
20+ years in B2B marketing. AI-powered research. Human-led strategy.
Twenty years in B2B marketing, at agencies and in-house, in SaaS, cybersecurity, and application security. I kept seeing the same pattern: smart people executing on strategy that was never pressure-tested. AI finally made it possible to do the research that catches those gaps. That's why I built Pebble.