Chris Makara
Marketing Operations & Digital Strategy

I make your marketing tools actually talk to each other.

I help B2B, SaaS, and nonprofit teams turn a pile of disconnected tools into one system. I run the ads, design and build the sites, and wire up the SEO, email, and tracking myself. Founder of Ciked.

20+ years150+ projects delivered90+ clients
Illustration of Chris Makara at his laptop
A few teams I've worked with
Photo of Chris Makara
Yep, the real me

The human behind the character

Hi, I'm Chris. I make the whole machine run.

I love a good campaign. What I love even more is making the wiring underneath it actually pay off. Getting your CRM to stop lying to your analytics. Making the ad platforms and your website agree on what a conversion actually is.

Two decades in and around digital marketing, these days running my own shop, Ciked, and taking on the messy operational problems other people would rather hand off. No account managers, no handoffs, no jargon for the sake of it. Just me, and my team when a project needs one.

How I work

Three moves, in order.

Need paid ads, SEO, a new site, or all of it? I do the work, and I wire it together, because most marketing problems are really connection problems.

01 / Diagnose

Find the leak

  • Analytics & attributionKnowing which channels actually bring in revenue, not just clicks.
  • Conversion rate optimizationTurning more of the traffic you already have into leads and sales.
  • Funnel & data auditsChecking each step of your funnel for drop-offs and broken tracking.
  • Measurement you can trustNumbers you can make real decisions on, not guess from.
02 / Connect

Fix the handoff

  • CRM & martech integrationMaking your tools share data instead of working in silos.
  • Marketing automationLetting routine follow-ups and workflows run themselves.
  • Data hygiene & ownershipClean, deduped records with a clear owner for each.
  • Marketing operationsThe behind-the-scenes plumbing that keeps everything running.
03 / Build

Build the system

  • Web development & migrationsBuilding or moving your site without losing traffic or data.
  • SEO & AI searchGetting found on Google and inside AI answers like ChatGPT.
  • Paid media & Ad GrantsRunning ads, including the free Google Ad Grant for nonprofits.
  • Lifecycle & emailEmail that nurtures new leads and keeps customers coming back.

What I connect

Your whole stack, wired into one system.

The tools you already use, finally talking to each other and feeding one source of truth.

operations / everything connected All systems synced
Your stack
All connected
WebsiteConvert
CRMClean data
SEO & AEOSearch + AI
AnalyticsAttribution
Ad PlatformsSpend
EmailLifecycle
Landing pagesFormsDedupeEnrichment TechnicalLinksOutreachAI answers GA4ModelsReports GoogleMetaFlowsBroadcasts

Hover or tap any piece to see what it does, in plain English.

  • WebsiteYour site, built to turn visitors into leads and sales, not just to look good.
  • CRMWhere your leads and customers live, kept clean and deduped so nothing slips through.
  • SEO & AEOGetting found on Google and inside AI answers like AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity.
  • AnalyticsClear attribution, so you know which campaigns actually drive revenue and which waste budget.
  • Ad platformsGoogle, Meta, and LinkedIn ads, set up so every dollar is tracked and accountable.
  • EmailAutomated email that nurtures new leads and brings existing customers back.

Tools & platforms

I work in your stack, not around it.

The platforms I know inside out, so I plug into what you already use instead of forcing a rebuild.

ActiveCampaign Ahrefs AWS Brevo Campaign Monitor Canva Cloudflare cPanel / WHM Drupal Elementor Encharge
Figma Google Ads Google Analytics Google Search Console Google Tag Manager HubSpot Integrately Klaviyo LinkedIn Ads Mailchimp Make
Meta Ads Shopify Stripe Surfer SEO Twilio / SendGrid Webflow WooCommerce WordPress WP Engine Zapier

...and whatever else your stack happens to run on.

Some of my work

Work I'm proud of.

A mix of SaaS, nonprofits, and B2B. Three up close, then everything else.

Local

Iron Cross Gymnastics

The challenge. Signing up for a class meant a phone call and back-and-forth, so interested parents fell away before they ever enrolled.

What I did. Built a website with one clear enrollment path that turns a curious parent into a signed-up kid in a couple of taps.

Result 10+ years, still partners.
Partner

White-label partnership

The challenge. An agency needed WordPress and marketing work delivered reliably and quietly, under their own brand.

What I did. Took over the builds and ongoing marketing behind the scenes, so they could sell the results as their own.

Result A client who became a long-term revenue partner.
Nonprofit

iCUE

The challenge. An investor-education nonprofit needed to fill its programs and know which spend actually drove signups.

What I did. Run the paid media across Meta and LinkedIn and build the reporting behind it, so every dollar ties back to registrations.

Result Paid media run and reported as one program.

Browse all work

Nonprofit

Avenue CDC

Social media, paid search, email marketing, and video editing for a Houston housing nonprofit, all tied back to analytics so every campaign is accountable.

Ecommerce

Barklines

Built the full site and WooCommerce store, then tuned performance and media so more of a pet brand's traffic turns into orders.

Local

Beautiful Feet Studio

Built the full site and a custom class-scheduling system so a dance studio fills classes without the manual back-and-forth.

SaaS

Bulkly

Founded and grew a social-media automation SaaS. Product, content, and organic search, start to finish.

SaaS

Butter Payments

Marketing operations and growth support to help a payments platform turn demand into a repeatable pipeline.

B2B

Envoc

Migrated the platform and rebuilt search visibility so a software firm didn't lose hard-won traffic in the move.

B2B

Haygor

Logo design, a rebuilt website, and lead gen so an industrial supplier turns more visits into real quote requests.

Nonprofit

iCUE

Website, WordPress, and Meta ads that fill the programs of an investor-education nonprofit.

Local

Iron Cross Gymnastics

A website with a clear enrollment path that makes signing up effortless. Ten-plus years working together.

Nonprofit

Lemonade Day

SEO, Google Ad Grants, email, social, and marketing operations that extend the reach of a national youth-entrepreneurship program.

SSLocal

Soulful Spaces

Website, WordPress, and UX strategy that make an events and retreats brand easy to book.

Ecommerce

Umbrella Products

Built the full site, then handle WooCommerce product updates and catalog so a B2B supplier's store stays accurate and easy to buy from.

Nonprofit

Urban Capital Network

Website, WordPress, and UX strategy that make an investor-education nonprofit clearer and easier to join.

B2B

Versatility

Website, WordPress, and UX strategy built to present a consulting firm with clarity and credibility.

WPartner

White-label agencies

Behind-the-scenes WordPress and marketing that other agencies quietly rely on to deliver for their clients.

Where I've been

The short version of twenty years.

2003 – Present
Founder & Principal
Marketing operations, web, SEO, and paid media for 90+ clients across nonprofits, SaaS, and B2B.
Ciked
2021 – 2024
Senior Digital Marketing Manager
Lifecycle, retention, and demand generation for a subscription-commerce platform.
Ordergroove
2009 – 2021
Senior Digital Marketing Analyst
Analytics, SEO, and campaign operations for a national HR and business-services firm.
Insperity

Kind words

What clients actually say.

Finally, one person who actually knows what's happening with my project. No more explaining the same thing to five different people. Chris handles everything, and his team executes seamlessly. It's like having a marketing department that runs itself, plus someone who understands how to blend strategy, storytelling, and data to grow mission-driven brands.

Nicole CassierCSO, Avenue CDC

Chris is an integral part of our team conversations, providing invaluable data and perspectives to enhance our digital presence and drive our growth goals.

Amanda PascaleCEO, Lemonade Day

Chris brings a rare combination of technical expertise, creative vision, and clear communication to every engagement. He doesn't just deliver clean, modern, functional designs, he makes sure each site is optimized for performance, user experience, and long-term scalability.

White-label partnerCEO, confidential agency

Chris built our site so I can handle most updates myself, which saves me time and money. But I know if I need help, he'll actually answer and get it sorted. Over ten years later, still working together. That says it all.

Jeremy AlspaughOwner, Iron Cross Gymnastics

I'm not the most tech-savvy person, but Chris helped me organize my Twitter followers into lists so I can actually find what I'm looking for. He made social media management way easier.

Kim FischerAward-winning journalist

When it came to my logo, Chris held his word, exceeded his word, and most important, he exceeded my expectations.

James HaneyExecutive Director, Houston REIA

Same me, with a team behind it.

Everything here is led by me. When a project calls for more hands, I bring in my team at Ciked, the agency I've run since 2003. Design, dev, SEO, paid, and email, same direct line to me, now with a crew to scale it.

DesignDevelopmentSEOPaid mediaEmail
Visit ciked.com ↗
150+
Projects delivered
90+
Clients served
2003
Founded

Before you ask

Questions I usually get.

Do you do one-off projects or ongoing retainers?
Both. Hire me for a project to fix a specific thing, or on a retainer when you want it maintained and improved over time. I'll tell you which one actually fits your situation before you commit.
Will you work with my existing team and tools?
Yes. I plug into the stack and the people you already have instead of forcing a rebuild. Most of my work is making what you already own work better together.
What size companies do you work with?
From solo founders and nonprofits to established B2B and SaaS teams. The common thread is a marketing operation that has outgrown duct tape and needs to actually connect.
Who actually does the work?
Me. When a project needs more hands, I bring in my team at Ciked, the agency I've run since 2003, but you keep one direct line to me the whole way through.
How do we get started?
Send a message or book a quick call. I'll look at what's going on and tell you honestly whether I'm the right fit before anyone commits to anything.

Say hi

Let's make your marketing stack work as one.

Tell me what's going on and I'll get back to you.

Currently booking new projects.

I read every message and reply within one business day.

Rather just talk? Book a 20-minute call →
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