Uplink Internet Regional ISP, Mississippi Delta
Fractional CMO, 18 months
Uplink Internet was expanding fiber broadband into underserved rural communities in the Mississippi Delta, physically digging lines into areas that had never had reliable internet access. The mission was real and the infrastructure was being built. What wasn't working was the marketing.
The company had invested significantly in digital tactics before the engagement began. Paid ads, digital outreach. The problem was the audience. Many residents in the target communities had limited or no internet access, and poor cell phone coverage. Digital tactics were reaching the wrong people, or no one at all.
When I came in, one of the first things I did was audit the customer acquisition cost on that prior digital spend. The numbers were indefensible. We had a hard conversation early, the kind that's easier to avoid but necessary to have, and redirected the entire approach.
This wasn't going to be a digital marketing engagement. It was going to be a marketing + community trust engagement.
BEFORE (2024)
The Mississippi Delta required a trust-led adoption model, not generic ISP marketing. Residents were skeptical of out-of-town providers. The monthly cost needed to feel worth it in terms of real outcomes, education, remote work, healthcare access, not just download speeds.
That meant building credibility from the ground up through community presence, local proof, and partnerships with organizations already trusted in those communities.
Three growth pillars shaped the work
Brand and conversion foundation.
A full rebrand including new logo, messaging hierarchy, and website that led with benefits and community proof rather than internal jargon. Clear pricing tiers, an obvious install path, and trust signals that felt local rather than corporate.
The strategic shift
AFTER REBRAND + WEBSITE RELAUNCH
90%
Community demand and trust.
Awareness campaigns tied directly to sign up. Digital inclusion initiatives including laptop and device distribution programs. A local proof system with content and communications cadence built around community stories rather than company announcements.
Partner growth engine.
Co-marketing outreach , and key partnerships with BEAM, Delta Access, and Digitunity. Local, state, and national organizations activated to expand reach into communities where Uplink had no existing presence.
40%
95%
Adoption rate in select priority communities
3 person marketing team built and trained for sustained growth
Ads and referrals became a leading acquisition driver.
Local, state, and national partnerships activated.
Predictable install pipeline established in priority rollout communities.
“Maria joined at a pivotal time when we needed to refine our brand identity and expand community outreach to drive adoption in underserved areas. Working with Maria was seamless. Her strategic insights were precise, and she balanced high-level planning with efficient execution.”
What this engagement demonstrates
The Uplink engagement is an example of what happens when the right questions get asked before the tactics get built. The prior digital spend wasn't a failure of execution. It was a failure of diagnosis. The audience, the geography, and the community dynamics required a fundamentally different model.
Redirecting a company away from sunk-cost thinking, building a strategy fitted to the actual situation, and delivering measurable growth while creating internal alignment is the work. The sector is different every time. The underlying challenge usually isn't.
Working through a similar inflection point?
I join founder-led companies to close the gap between what you say, what you sell, and what customers need, so you can invest in growth with certainty.
The brand launch
The outcomes
Install momentum increase
When the new brand launched, something happened that doesn't show up in a metrics report. There was genuine pride across the company. The team saw themselves clearly for the first time, what they were building, who it was for, and why it mattered. That internal alignment became one of the most important outcomes of the engagement, because a team that believes in the story tells it better than any campaign.
Customer satisfaction across installs and support
Results are client-reported across the 18-month engagement.