When COVID-19 shut down trade shows in 2020, Modality Solutions faced a crisis. The boutique cold chain engineering firm had built its entire marketing strategy around face-to-face interactions at industry conferences. Overnight, their primary lead generation channel disappeared.

Five years later, Modality Solutions has not only survived—they’ve thrived enough to be acquired by Blue Ridge Life Sciences. The secret? Embracing a fractional marketing model that provided enterprise-level marketing expertise without the overhead of building an in-house team.

In our recent webinar, “Unlock Growth with Fractional Marketing: Fireside Chat with Modality Solutions” Marketri’s President and Founder, Deb Andrews, and Fractional CMO, Kimberly Brue, sat down with Modality Solutions, EVP, Gary Hutchinson to discuss how this partnership transformed their business. Here’s what we discussed about building marketing momentum without full-time hires.

The Challenge: From Trade Shows to Digital Marketing

Gary was refreshingly honest about where Modality started. “It really was an act of desperation to get started, because we got started mid-COVID,” he admitted. With virtual trade shows proving ineffective and no other marketing channels in place, the company needed a completely different approach.

But the challenge went deeper than just finding new tactics. Modality was the best-kept secret in their industry—a niche player in cold chain engineering that few potential clients even knew existed. As Gary noted, “We sat down and figured out who were we talking to, what that message was, and then we came up with a plan on how to execute it.”

The Foundation: Strategic Planning Over Quick Fixes

When Modality first approached Marketri, Gary’s instinct was to “buy a bunch of Google Ads or something—just throw stuff at the wall and see what happens.” Instead, the Marketri team took several steps back.

The process began with comprehensive due diligence—understanding Modality’s competitive landscape, identifying what made them truly unique, and mapping out their ideal customer journey. Instead of jumping into tactics, we started with building a solid strategic foundation.

“We always believe you have to work from a solid foundation when you start to build a systematic, proactive marketing function,” Deb explained. The result was a detailed go-to-market plan that provided an 18-month roadmap with clear KPIs and measures to track progress along the way.

This strategic approach revealed critical insights. Modality’s biggest competitor wasn’t other engineering firms—it was internal resources at pharmaceutical companies. The messaging needed to position Modality as a trusted partner and force multiplier, not a threat to existing staff.

The Shift: From Transactional to Strategic Marketing

One of the most profound transformations happened in how Gary understood marketing itself. Coming from a background selling cars and insurance, he approached marketing transactionally—focused solely on closing immediate deals.

“I came into this very transactionally approached,” Gary shared. “And when I started learning about, you know, there’s a strategic approach to marketing…we need to do some brand awareness, we need top-of-funnel activities, we need midstream…and then we get to the fun part, for me at least, the bottom of the funnel.”

This shift required patience. Building brand awareness and filling the top of the funnel doesn’t produce immediate leads. But without alternative options during COVID, Gary committed to the process—and the results proved the strategy worked.

The Results: Measurable Growth and Market Expansion

The numbers tell a compelling story. Within the first year, Marketri delivered on their ROI guarantee. Over five years, the partnership has produced:

• Consistent lead generation from companies that didn’t know Modality existed
• High-profile PR coverage, including a feature on Good Morning America during the COVID vaccine rollout
• Successful expansion into new market segments (like small molecule companies)
• Growth significant enough to attract acquisition interest from Blue Ridge Life Sciences
• Four years without attending a single trade show—saving both direct costs and valuable time

Perhaps most impressively, conversion rates from digital channels proved 10x higher than traditional trade show leads. As Gary noted, “We grew through COVID. Not a lot of people can say that.”

The Model: Flexibility and Specialized Expertise

The fractional marketing model provided Modality with capabilities that would have been impossible to build in-house. Over five years, they’ve worked with 6-7 different Marketri specialists, each bringing specific skills exactly when needed.

Kim highlighted this agility: “We have a lot of agility at Marketri, so that gives us a really nice foundation. We have a great team that’s on the Modality Partnership…and then behind that, there is a whole foundation of support that we tap into that a lot of times Gary and his team don’t even see.”

This flexibility proved essential during key transitions. When Modality needed help with COVID-related PR opportunities, Marketri brought in PR specialists immediately. As the company matured from strategic planning to operational execution, they transitioned from one fractional CMO to another with different skill sets—something that would be nearly impossible with a full-time hire.

For a 20-person company, having access to this breadth of expertise without carrying the overhead of multiple full-time marketers changed everything.

The Partnership: Trust and Collaboration

Throughout the conversation, one theme emerged repeatedly: trust. Building this trust required transparency on both sides.

Marketri embedded themselves as part of the Modality team, taking ownership when campaigns underperformed and immediately pivoting strategy. When one recent campaign produced “abysmal” engagement numbers, the team identified the issue within a week and adjusted course.

Gary also learned to let go of the founder’s instinct to control everything. “I was the same way. I was like, well, I’m the only guy who knows how to sell my business. It’s so unique, so special, and I’m so personable that only I could do it, right? And making that switch and being able to hand that over…it’s a hard thing to hand over to somebody else.”

His advice to other business leaders considering fractional marketing? “Don’t hire them if you’re not going to listen to them. They probably don’t know whatever you’re selling, whatever services you do on a professional level, you probably know more than they do, but this is what they do, and they’re good at it.”

Key Takeaways for Growing Companies

For mid-sized companies considering fractional marketing, this partnership offers several lessons:

Invest in Strategy First. Skip the temptation to jump straight into tactics. The initial strategic work—understanding your market, refining your message, and building a solid plan—creates the foundation for everything that follows.

Embrace the Learning Curve. Marketing maturity takes time. Give any new marketing approach at least a full year before evaluating results. Quick pivots on specific tactics are fine, but strategic direction needs consistency.

Leverage Real-Time Analytics. Modern marketing provides near-immediate feedback. Use this data to make informed decisions quickly but balance agility with strategic patience.

Access Expertise as Needed. The fractional model provides specialist skills precisely when you need them, without the fixed costs of full-time hires. For growing companies, this flexibility can be transformative.

Trust the Process. As both a professional services firm yourself and a client of professional services, extend the same trust to your marketing partners that you expect from your own clients.

Watch the Full Webinar

Modality Solutions’ story demonstrates what’s possible when strategic planning meets flexible execution. Their journey from trade show dependence to digital marketing success—culminating in an acquisition—shows that mid-sized companies don’t need massive in-house teams to compete effectively.

Whether you’re facing a market disruption like Modality did, looking to scale beyond your current growth plateau, or simply ready to transform scattered marketing efforts into a strategic growth driver, fractional marketing might be your solution.

Watch the full webinar recording to hear more details about Modality’s transformation, or learn more about our Fractional CMO services and discover how we help mid-sized B2B companies build marketing momentum without the overhead of full-time hires.