The CMO Tenure Crisis: Why Top Marketers Don’t Stick Around

The tenure of Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) remains alarmingly short, with many only lasting 2-4 years. This trend is not just about CMOs being fired —many leave for new opportunities, resign for personal reasons, or pivot to roles that align better with their evolving career goals.

I debated the topic of short CMO tenure with fellow CMOs at the CXO Games, moderated by Joe Chernov and sponsored by Hard Skills Exchange (HSE) Julia Nimchinski , Justin Michael .

Trends Affecting CMO Tenure

The CMO profile varies significantly between early-stage startups, high-growth companies and global enterprise organizations:

• Early-stage Startups: Arguably, at this stage, a company doesn't need a CMO. A Head of Marketing or VP of Marketing should suffice. Companies need to look for a "doer", skilled at lean marketing techniques and early-stage company experience.
• Growth Companies: CMOs here often juggle multiple roles, balancing hands-on marketing with strategic oversight. High volatility and the need for immediate, measurable results can lead to quick exits.
• Enterprise Companies: These CMOs deal with complex organizational structures, more bureaucracy, red tape, politics, and longer decision-making processes. They manage large teams and integrate strategies across global markets, needing to manage diverse stakeholders internally, and externally. Brand, communications, investor and analyst relations become table stakes.

Hiring enterprise-experienced CMOs for scaling startups often leads to friction due to differences in resources and expectations.

Reasons for Short Tenures

1. Increasing expectations and pressure: CMOs face mounting pressure to deliver measurable results quickly in an increasingly complex marketing landscape. The role now encompasses brand management, customer experience, digital transformation, and more. If CMOs cannot meet these high expectations rapidly, it can lead to their departure.
2. Misalignment with organizational goals: There is often a disconnect between CMO priorities and overall company objectives. Only 34% of CEOs have great confidence in their CMOs, and only 32% trust them (Source: Boathouse CMO study). CEOs perceive CMOs as having different priorities than the company, leading to a lack of trust.
3. Rapidly evolving marketing landscape: The constant changes in digital marketing, social media, and new technologies require CMOs to continually adapt. Those unable to keep pace with these changes may struggle to drive growth and innovation effectively.
4. Lack of focus on revenue and business outcomes: Many CMOs fail to directly link marketing activities to revenue generation and tangible business results. There's often a disconnect between marketing efforts and strategic business outcomes.
5. Cultural fit and organizational dynamics: Clashes with other executives, misalignment with company culture, or difficulties navigating internal politics can contribute to premature departures.
6. Younger, more risk-tolerant CMOs: CMOs tend to be younger than other C-suite executives and may be more willing to switch jobs for better opportunities, rather than due to dissatisfaction.
7. COVID-19 impact: The pandemic has motivated some CMOs to seek roles that better align with their sense of purpose and lifestyle.

The Rise of Fractional CMOs

During the debate, Patrick Maes argued in favor of Fractional CMOs, highlighting the flexibility and focused impact these roles can bring. He shared how fractional roles allow CMOs to make swift, impactful changes without the long-term commitment, often tied to performance-based remuneration.

Joe Chernov, however, dismissed the concept, pointing out the lack of vested interest fractional CMOs might have in the company's long-term success. He compared it to a "semicolon," neither a full stop nor a continuation, leading to the lack of full integration within the team.

As a fractional CMO, I concur with Patrick. Fractional CMOs offer companies cost-effective, executive-level expertise with the flexibility to swiftly address specific challenges. By aligning CMO's success and compensation with the company's performance, businesses can ensure a vested interest and deep engagement.

Challenges Faced by CMOs

CMOs face several key challenges in proving their value, balancing long-term and short-term priorities, and being viewed as strategic business partners:

1. Defining the Role: Often poorly defined, leading to misalignment. Joe Chernov observed, “Often the CMO job is so incredibly poorly defined…you’re being set up to fail.”
2. Everyone is a Marketer: "everyone the CFO, the CRO, the VP, the intern, the janitor, literally, everyone will have an opinion on brand, look, story, demand gen, pipeline, velocity, etc." (Brandee Sanders⚡️)
3. Transitioning Skills: Moving from top marketer to business executive requires distinct skills.
4. Balancing Priorities: Juggling immediate demands with strategic goals.
5. Building Trust and Credibility: Mark Stouse, noted a common issue: “They have a big freaking brand problem,” highlighting the lack of trust and confidence in marketing’s value.
6. Educating the Organization: Continuously educating executives, the Board about marketing’s role and impact.

If you get fired as a CMO, what would be written on your headstone?

• "She wasn't in the room" (Jenn Steele) — Emphasizing the importance of CMOs being included in key strategic decisions.
• "We didn't realize what we lost when he left" (Erik Charles) — Reflecting on the long-term impact recognized only post-departure.
• "Killed slowly by attribution" - Allison Snow warned of the excessive focus on measurement and how it stifles creativity.
• "Victims of meanings, metrics, and many a Zoom dumb" — Addressing misaligned expectations and lack of strategic conversations.
• "She never found leverage" (Joe Chernov) — on the importance of taking risks and future bets.

If you're interviewing for a CMO role, here are some warning signs:

• "The last CMO sucked" (Allison Snow) - nothing but blame and no accountability.
• "There's an unwillingness to hear hard feedback" (Beth Bauer).
• No access to the Board, investors or if they view CMO as a second-rate citizen.
• Lack of transparency in the business metrics.
• If the CMO doesn't report directly to the CEO, Marketing could be viewed as a less strategic function.

Not everything is measurable

• Turning marketing into a formula in a spreadsheet eliminates this world of possibilities of programs we could run that don't have obvious numbers attached to it. (Joe Chernov)
• Joe's story about Pendo's influencer campaign (several years into his CMO tenure) involving custom-designed sneakers giveaway that led to a whale deal demonstrates the value of creative risk taking that may not have immediate, quantifiable results.

The debate underscored the delicate balance CMOs must strike between measurable outcomes and creative, intangible initiatives. Effective marketing leadership requires both data-driven strategies and intuitive creativity, with trust from executives crucial for pursuing innovative approaches. While analytics are important, there's a strong case for unmeasurable initiatives that drive long-term value. The challenge for CMOs lies in navigating these competing demands while demonstrating marketing's broader impact beyond immediate, quantifiable results.

👉 For more on this topic, check out my article "Is Long-Term CMOs a Thing of the Past?" and join the conversation.

#CMO #MarketingLeadership #HSE #CMOTenure #FractionalCMO #BoldGTM