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THE INTRODUCTION
Marketing, retention, and growth strategies for founders
Sarah Magaña is the founder of Last Light Collective, where she helps growing businesses acquire customers more efficiently and marketing agencies retain the clients they've worked hard to win. With more than 13 years of digital marketing experience, including nine years working within agencies, Sarah brings award-winning expertise in marketing strategy, client experience, revenue retention, and team leadership.
As a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer, Sarah partners with small and mid-sized businesses to develop multichannel marketing strategies, improve campaign performance, strengthen attribution, and reduce customer acquisition costs. Her results include helping one business reduce its cost per acquisition by 63% month over month while increasing closed leads by 50%.
As a Fractional VP of Client Services, Sarah works with agencies generating $2 million to $20 million in revenue, helping founders identify why clients leave and implement the systems needed to improve retention. In one engagement with a Los Angeles-based digital marketing company, she introduced new retention processes across client-facing teams, contributing to a 55% year-over-year reduction in revenue loss.
A two-time marketing award winner, Sarah believes sustainable growth requires more than acquiring new customers. It requires understanding what drives performance, building strong client relationships, and creating processes that help businesses keep the revenue they've earned.
Through Last Light Collective, Sarah works with a carefully selected roster of clients, offering candid assessments, actionable strategies, and experienced leadership without the commitment of a full-time executive.
Website: https://thelastlightcollective.com
Book an Introductory Call: https://calendar.app.google/pkumMwKbX67hvo7R8
ROLE
Founder
COMPANY
Last Light Collective
CATEGORY
Advertising & Media Buying
BASED
Menifee, United States
ONLINE
Test, Iterate, and Trim the Fat
Sarah Magaña of Last Light Collective on testing your way to growth, why creators belong in the strategy room, and why human copywriters will outlast AI.
Thanks for taking the time to sit with us. Imagine one of our readers is discovering your company for the first time. What do you do, who is it for, what problem are you solving, and what inspired you to build it?
Hi, my name is Sarah Magana, owner of Last Light Collective, where I support founders of businesses and agencies in their pursuit of growth.
Marketing is an art and a science, and founders are already wearing too many hats to also manage the various channels and strategies needed to get them new customers. That's where I come in. With 13 years of experience in digital marketing, I help founders create and maintain a marketing strategy that will grow their customer base. I coordinate with different media buyers, creatives and agencies to get my clients' businesses the visibility they need to grow. Whether that's on Meta Ads, Google Ads, CTV, Social Media or other channels - I take the marketing off my clients' plates.
In addition to marketing strategy operating as a Fractional CMO, I also support marketing agencies in their desire to reduce churn and grow their client base. It doesn't matter how many new clients you're bringing in, if you can't retain the ones you already have. After working at marketing agencies for the last 9 years, I know how to spot why clients are falling through the cracks and devise processes to retain them.
I started Last Light Collective after working in marketing agencies for the last 9 years. I really enjoy working directly with business owners, and wanted to get more hands on with supporting them in their goals to grow.
Sarah Magana
Featuring
THE CREATORHAUZ INTERVIEW
Eight questions with Sarah Magana
01
Thanks for taking the time to sit with us. Imagine one of our readers is discovering your company for the first time. What do you do, who is it for, what problem are you solving, and what inspired you to build it?
Hi, my name is Sarah Magana, owner of Last Light Collective, where I support founders of businesses and agencies in their pursuit of growth.
Marketing is an art and a science, and founders are already wearing too many hats to also manage the various channels and strategies needed to get them new customers. That's where I come in. With 13 years of experience in digital marketing, I help founders create and maintain a marketing strategy that will grow their customer base. I coordinate with different media buyers, creatives and agencies to get my clients' businesses the visibility they need to grow. Whether that's on Meta Ads, Google Ads, CTV, Social Media or other channels - I take the marketing off my clients' plates.
In addition to marketing strategy operating as a Fractional CMO, I also support marketing agencies in their desire to reduce churn and grow their client base. It doesn't matter how many new clients you're bringing in, if you can't retain the ones you already have. After working at marketing agencies for the last 9 years, I know how to spot why clients are falling through the cracks and devise processes to retain them.
I started Last Light Collective after working in marketing agencies for the last 9 years. I really enjoy working directly with business owners, and wanted to get more hands on with supporting them in their goals to grow.
What were creators, brands, agencies, or customers telling you they needed that ultimately shaped the company you're building today?
As the creator economy grows, marketing opportunities have grown too. Founders are usually a couple steps behind the latest in where their audience is showing up, and overwhelmed by the choices when it comes to how they should allocate their budget for growth. That's why I decided to start my company and work more closely with founders to help them navigate the ever evolving world of marketing.
After nine years at agencies, I realized the part of the job I loved most was sitting with founders
- Sarah Magana
03
Sometimes the biggest differentiator isn't a feature—it's a philosophy. What do you fundamentally believe about creators, brands, or this market that shapes the way your company operates?
I believe there are multiple ways to grow a company's visibility, and that testing and iterating are the best way to get results. As the creator economy grows, so do options for the avenues a company can use to get visibility. There's no one way. So by working with me, you'll be exploring different avenue combinations until we hit the sweet spot for growth.
Photo Credit: Sarah Magana
Photographer IG: Not Applicable
04
On the brand side, what are companies beginning to understand about the creator economy that they didn't fully appreciate a few years ago?
Companies are realizing how beneficial it is to partner with creators. Whether those are micro influencers with a small but dedicated audience, or larger influencers or celebrities, brands are really tapping into creator partnerships to grow their visibility.
05
Creators often understand their communities, formats, and cultural context better than anyone else in the room. How much influence should creators have over strategy rather than simply execution?
Creators have crucial information about their audience and what will resonate. It's important that if creators have an opinion on whether something will land, that the marketing director pay close attention to that feedback and adjust accordingly, because those insights come from such close proximity to the target audience.
06
Let's talk results. How does your company define success, and which metrics actually tell you whether you're creating meaningful value for your customers?
At Last Light Collective, success is defined by the top line metrics that affect revenue - which depends on the type of company. But for example, I look at Cost Per Customer Acquisition, Cost Per Lead, ROAS, and number of closed leads.
I also look at channel and campaign performance to determine how we're going to continue improving top line metrics. Not every channel is going to be a winner - so we test and iterate and trim the fat.
I kept watching founders spend money on channels they didn’t understand because nobody was looking a
- Sarah Magana
07
AI is rapidly changing production, discovery, personalization, measurement, and creative workflows. Where do you see it genuinely creating value in this industry—and where do you think companies risk using technology to solve the wrong problem?
AI can be a valuable tool for increasing efficiency, however, marketing is based on connecting with people where they're at, and AI does not understand the nuance of experiences that make us human. While AI can be used for automating some of the more repetitive tasks in marketing as well as brainstorming, ultimately anybody who outsources the overall strategy, writing, or thought behind a campaign to AI is going to miss the opportunity to connect with their human audience. The same goes for companies using AI for copywriting - the tone and verbiage used by AI is general and obvious, and as time progresses, the companies who use human copywriters are going to be set apart from those who outsource their copywriting to AI.
08
Thanks for taking the time to sit with us. If a reader remembers only one thing about your company or your perspective after this interview, what do you hope it is—and how can they connect with you or learn more?
As the creator economy grows, so do the opportunities for growing visibility for your business. If you're a business owner and overwhelmed by where to start to get more customers, reach out to me at linkedin.com/in/SarahJaneMagana or visit LastLightCollective.com.
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