The challenge of marketing talent recruitment, retention and development.

Length Matters. Below, three different industry professionals weigh in with insightful comments. And mine follow.

CMOs stay longer in their roles, they’ll be able to point to progressively better results as the desired outcomes of their long-term programs and strategies kick in, and create uplift for the short-term tactical plays as well. Also, consistency and continuity of brand and customer experiences are key to marketing effectiveness. When you don’t have a new CMO repeatedly trying to mark their territory, growth isn’t stunted by the market confusion and brand dilution that can result from too many of those transformations.

Lastly, more experience increases one’s chances of success and high impact. CMOs are getting that experience, and they will increasingly be the rising stars in the C-suite. Source: Heidi Lorenzen blog post.

The constant turnover significantly impacts the growth trajectory of a firm – sustainable processes take time and cannot be achieved if an organization changes direction every two years. Successful professional service marketers must tread a treacherous path. First, and foremost, marketers must be relevant and immediately demonstrate value, often by acting as a change agent in organizations that are mired in tradition. Consensus building can be fractious, protracted and in some situations, impossible.

I have been fortunate to exceed expected tenure (so far!) – here’s some suggestions to enhance probability of success. Set realistic expectations upfront for achieving goals – 18 to 24 months is the minimum timeframe for tangible gain. Insist on reporting to the CEO and ensure that you have support from the top.

Obtain quick wins by improving proposals. In most firms, proposals are often poorly written, terribly designed and delivered late. Earn respect by working the same long hours as the professionals – there’s no replacement for developing loyalty or camaraderie. Spend wisely. Have difficult candid discussions – avoiding conflict simply defers the inevitable denouement. Source: A Chapter Director at Association for Corporate Growth.

Let’s look at a few of the core reasons why the average CMO only lasts 18 months. First, even though several members of a company’s executive team will interview a potential CMO, typically, none of them truly understand marketing.  This makes them uniquely unqualified for the task.

Marketing is, to say the least, unique. It’s not like finance, IT or operations and asking similar interview questions when recruiting a CFO, CIO or COO will make hiring a CMO a gamble at best.  Without the knowledge to make an informed decision, even the best interview process offers no real value to you.

The CMO role is strategic, but the questions CMO candidates are typically asked are usually tactical and often more appropriate for someone interviewing for a manager level role.  Asking the wrong questions, not only gets you inadequate data to make a decision, but also turns off the most talented candidates. Source: Bob Van Rossum, MarketPro (an RPO) blog post.

Reminder; Peter Drucker’s decades-old observation is still on point today, “Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two–and only two–basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business.”

So if I tell you that our longest client relationship lasted 15 years and three months before the CEO sold to a gorilla company, you would say . . .? And it actually ended as a planned result of my collaboration with the CEO on his and the company’s exit strategy which was a total success. He sold his company to one of the largest E & C companies serving the global energy business and he is still leading a focused and successful team. And I still have a friend and ally.

Marketing effectiveness; fractional chief marketing officer services (FCMO), concept to execution (C2E) B2B marketing and content marketing services and concept to content (C2C) marketing services are yours to drive your success. At a fraction of the cost and frustration of a full-time employee – half of whom fail in 18 months.

jls@sladegroup.com or 512 799 4676. You’ll be glad you did!

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