01
Paid built for skincare
Meta and Google structured for creative testing, with before and after, texture and routine creative that stays inside platform rules on claims. TikTok and CTV when the numbers earn it.
Fractional CMO for skincare brands
A fractional CMO for skincare brands where the second bottle matters more than the first.
I'm Monica Hacker. I built growth for Summer Fridays and I work as a fractional CMO for DTC skincare founders. Acquisition, routine building, replenishment and the AI system that runs it, with one senior person accountable for the number.
Part of my beauty and wellness practice. Based in New York and Miami.
The pattern
Skincare wins on the routine, not the hero product.
Most skincare brands I meet have a hero SKU that carries the ad account and a catalog nobody is building into a routine. First orders come in on Meta. Then the customer uses the product for six weeks, forgets to reorder, and the brand's answer is a 20% off email. Meanwhile the product page still leads with ingredients instead of results.
The economics of skincare live in three places: the second purchase, the routine (two or three products used together), and replenishment timing that matches how long a bottle actually lasts. Get those right and acquisition can afford to be aggressive. Get them wrong and every new customer is a loss you hope to recover.
So I start with usage. How long each product lasts, when people run out, what they buy together, and what the reviews say people actually came for. Then the funnel, the flows and the paid structure get rebuilt around that.
What I run
How an engagement usually works.
02
Product pages that sell results
Concern first, then the routine, then the ingredients. Bundles that make the routine the default, and reviews used as proof, not decoration.
03
Replenishment that runs itself
Email and SMS timed to how long the product lasts, subscription that fits the routine, and a post purchase flow that gets the second product into the cart.
Who this is for
Skincare founders I tend to work best with.
A DTC skincare brand that is already spending on growth, with a hero product that works, a catalog that could be a routine, and nobody senior connecting acquisition to retention.
Clinical, clean or dermatologist led, it doesn't matter. What matters is a product people come back for and a founder who wants the economics to be honest.
This sits inside my beauty and wellness practice. If you're not sure where you stand, drop your site into the free audit and I'll send you three things I'd tighten up.
Where to start
Start with a Skincare Growth Audit.
A clear read on acquisition, routine building, replenishment and the economics behind it. Delivered in 7 to 10 days with a recorded walkthrough.
What I look at first
- Acquisition: what a customer costs by channel and how much rides on the hero SKU
- Routine: what people buy together and what the site does to make that the default
- Replenishment: time to second order versus how long the product actually lasts
- Claims and creative: what your ads say, what they can say, and what converts
- The verdict: where growth is leaking and what to fix first
Starting at $1,500
Delivered in 7 to 10 days
Credited toward your first month if you move to a retainer.
Fair questions
What skincare founders ask me first.
What does a fractional CMO do for a skincare brand?
Owns the growth number across paid, the site, email and SMS, subscription and influencer, leads whoever is doing the work, and reports on what is actually driving profitable revenue. With me you also get the AI growth system underneath.
How much does a fractional CMO cost for a skincare brand?
From $8,500 a month for about 10 to 12 hours a week, 4 month minimum, review at month 3. Paid acquisition on its own from $4,500 a month. A Growth Audit is $1,500 and credited toward your first month.
Can you run ads for skincare without getting flagged on claims?
Yes. Skincare creative has to stay inside platform rules on before and after imagery and health claims. I build creative that says something real and still passes review.
Do you work with subscription skincare?
Yes. Subscription works in skincare when it matches the routine and the replenishment cycle. When it doesn't, it churns by month three, and I'll tell you which one you have.
Which skincare brands have you worked with?
Summer Fridays directly, plus beauty and consumer brands during my agency years at NoGood and Forward Progress. Most of my current roster is DTC, beauty and wellness, and healthcare.
Let's make the second bottle inevitable.
I take on a few new clients each quarter. If you're building a skincare brand people come back to, let's talk.
Book a call →Thirty minutes. Bring your numbers, or just bring the problem. You'll leave knowing what I'd fix first.