Fractional CMO Services for the Death Care Industry

A trusted strategic advisor to funeral home owners.

We provide executive-level guidance to independent and minority-owned funeral homes, helping them navigate change, growth, staffing, technology, succession, and more. And we do this without selling or being affiliated with other products or services.

Years in Business
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Years in Death Care
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Dina Wasmer and Maria Fuster bring two complementary perspectives to your funeral home via Incite’s unique fractional CMO²  model. 

I know I can count on Dina and Maria to have my back and guide us down the best path. They've been our strategic sounding board for over 10 years and helped us stay innovative while sensitive to our values and traditions.
Bill Miller Portrait
William Miller
Co-founder, Director of Business Development & Strategic Growth, Vaughn Greene Funeral Services

Running a funeral home today isn’t getting any easier.

  • Rising cremation rates impact on revenue
  • Pre-need sales dependency on financial markets
  • Technology noise and opportunity
  • Marketing and advertising return on investment
  • Staffing shortages, burnout, and bandwidth
  • Corporate consolidation pros and cons
  • Succession planning decisions
  • And the daily demand of protecting margins while continuing to provide exceptional care to families
death-care-services_industry_forecast

Most funeral home owners don’t need another vendor. They want a strategic partner they can trust to own outcomes.

Most funeral marketing vendors focus on a single lane of expertise — the one where they generate revenue. Management platforms, websites, paid ads, social media, videos, etc. It’s difficult for owners and operators to know what will work best for their unique situation and feel confident they’re getting unbiased advice.

Alternatively, what if you had access to someone who understands the death care industry, listens, asks the right questions, and helps you make informed decisions with confidence and without commissions?

Unlike many vendors or agencies, we don’t have another agenda. Our recommendations are based on what’s best for your business, not ours.

For more than 15 years, we’ve worked alongside funeral home owners and death care suppliers, helping them navigate growth, change, and complexity without losing sight of what matters most.

Sometimes the conversation starts with marketing. But more often than not, it evolves into a discussion of the core issues holding them back.

Tactical marketing is downstream. Executive-level marketing is strategic because every business challenge ultimately affects how you attract and retain families and employees, and how you gain market share.

Where We Help

What’s the BIG problem holding you back?

Growth & Profitability

Consumer preferences keep evolving, pressuring traditional revenue while opening new opportunities. We evaluate growth strategies, service offerings, investments, and partnerships that support long-term financial health.

Staffing & Workforce

Recruiting and retaining qualified staff is one of the industry’s greatest challenges. From employer reputation to retention initiatives, we strengthen your ability to attract and keep great people.

Technology & Efficiency

Software, AI tools, and service providers are entering the market faster than ever. We help you cut through the noise, evaluate options objectively, and make recommendations that fit your need and budget.

Succession & Legacy

Whether preparing the next generation, weighing acquisition offers, or planning your eventual transition, we help you assess options through both a business and market lens.

Marketing & Reputation

Marketing isn’t just advertising; it’s your reputation that drives at-need services, pre-need growth, and aftercare lifetime value. We ensure marketing investments support broader business objectives, not just tactics and vanity metrics.

Symptoms, tools, and tactics are distracting and overwhelming. If you’re unsure where to start, let’s start with a conversation.

1-Minute Check-In

Where are your biggest opportunities?

We invite you to take 60 seconds to check off where you are succeeding, and where you have some opportunity gaps. Nothing is stored on our end; this is just for you.

Why Owners Trust Us

Our only agenda is yours.

We are independent.

We’re not compensated by software companies, agencies, insurance providers, or vendors. Our recommendations are made solely in your best interest.

We bring an outside perspective.

After hundreds of engagements across industries, we bring insights and ideas that often aren’t visible from inside the day-to-day operation.

We're engaged as part of your team.

As your fractional Chief Marketing Officer, we don’t deliver a report and disappear. We listen, help prioritize, guide decisions, lead marketing, and move initiatives forward.

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When you work with Incite Creative, you’re not just getting one person; you’re getting our CMO² model, our network of specialists, and nearly three decades of experience across 300+ clients and 6,000+ problems solved.

Frequently Asked Questions

A few things owners ask first.

A fractional CMO provides executive-level marketing leadership without the cost of a full-time chief marketing officer. We integrate with your leadership team (typically 20-40 hours/month), develop strategic marketing plans, oversee execution, manage vendors, and ensure your marketing drives business outcomes, not just activity.

Key difference from agencies: We lead strategy and hold vendors accountable. Agencies execute what you tell them. We advise you on what to do, why it matters to your P&L, and ensure it gets done.

An agency executes. We lead. The agency builds a website; we decide whether it’s even the right next investment. In practice, most clients keep their existing agency or freelance bench, and we sit above it, ensuring the work is the right work and tied to revenue. We’ve fired agencies on behalf of clients. We’ve also retained incumbents because we determined they were the right partner and just needed direction.

You will benefit from two senior-level CMOs.  Dina Wasmer brings strategic vision, messaging, positioning, brand strategy, and creative direction. Maria Suzetté Fuster provides digital marketing expertise, analytics, performance measurement, and Spanish-bilingual fluency to clients serving diverse markets. Complementary skill sets. One shared commitment to your success.

For specialized work—paid media buys, advanced SEO, video production, technology implementation—we use vetted resources (non-commission-based) or coordinate with your existing vendors. You’ll always know who’s doing what, who’s accountable, and how it connects to your business goals.

Often, yes, and they’re usually relieved when we arrive.

Your marketing coordinator was hired to execute. They weren’t hired to advise you about a cremation pricing strategy or to coach a funeral director through a community partnership conversation. We give them an executive partner so they can do their best work instead of being pulled in multiple directions.

Yes, and it’s some of the most rewarding work we do. Our team includes a native Spanish speaker, and we have direct experience with culturally specific funeral services across the Mid-Atlantic.

Most clients see ROI within 6 months through a combination of operational efficiencies, marketing attribution, revenue growth, expense reduction, and increased business value.

Let’s talk.

Whether you’re concerned about revenue, staffing, growth, succession, technology, or simply need an experienced sounding board, we’re here to help.

We’ll listen first. Then we’ll help you build a practical path forward.

or call 410-366-9479