Why marketing leadership matters more than ever
In the age of AI and shrinking marketing budgets and teams, marketing leadership matters more than ever. The fractional CMO provides a solution for small, medium and large companies alike — providing the leadership needed to take best advantage of today’s resources.
Marketing leadership is not a deliverable
The fact that a firm is coordinating all of your marketing tasks does not mean they can or should act as your marketing leader. Strategic marketing leadership—true CMO-level thinking—is about owning the intersection of customer insight, company strategy, and market opportunity.
When CMOs fail to own their strategic leadership roles, everyone suffers
CMOs need to own their authority – and insist on having others respect it – because the alternative represents a huge loss for the company and the Marketing team.
Every truly great performer is also a team player
When you work in teams, you learn certain things about how they operate, and how they affect the productivity and intelligence of you as an individual. There are definitely smart and not-so-smart ways to approach teamwork — here are a few suggestions from my experience.
If you are mass producing “thought leadership,” you are missing the point
Thought leadership should show the innovation and expertise that your company brings to every project, with a strong authorial voice and point of view. Anything less is selling yourself, and your firm, short.
The thinker & the doer
To be a marketing leader — fractional or on-staff — in today’s environment, it is not enough to say “I just do strategy.” Because teams are thin and budgets tight, marketing heads also need to be able to switch gears, roll up their sleeves, and get stuff done -- content creation, survey creation, podcast management, and more.