Before You Hire Your Next Marketing Leader

Originally Published June 11, 2026

A Guide for Mid-Market B2B CEOs, Presidents & Founders

66% of first-time CMO hires do not work out. The default explanation is that the wrong person was hired. The data says that the right person was hired into a role that was not designed to succeed. That is a structural problem, not a talent problem. It is also a solvable one.

See What Becomes Possible

This guide exists because mid-market marketing hires fail at a rate that would be unacceptable in any other executive function.

Download the guide to see what the data says, what keeps going wrong, and how to design the next engagement to succeed.

Fractional Marketing Gets You Further, Faster

Discover why hiring a marketing leader isn’t enough and what to do before you make the decision.

What You’ll Learn:

Why two out of three first-time CMO hires fail, and why talent isn’t the reason
The three structural causes most mid-market companies have in motion right now
What a healthy marketing function looks like from the CEO’s seat
How to set up the next engagement to succeed from day one

Explore the guide that gives both sides of the table something to work with.

Written by

Deb Andrews

Founder & President

Previous Post Next Post

Learn About The Power Of Marketing Strategically

How Clients Choose an Accounting or Advisory Firm, and What That Means for Your Marketing

Clients buy compliance and advisory work in different ways. Here is how each purchase decision works, and why accounting firms need to market their advisory practice differently from their compliance work.

The Decision I Kept Putting Off: A Mid-Market CEO’s Notes on Buying Marketing Help

A mid-market CEO loses a deal to a competitor that kept showing up, hears three conflicting pitches, and learns the one question that makes buying marketing help a defensible decision.

Your Marketing Team Isn’t the Problem. How It’s Set Up Might Be.

Most marketing teams do exactly what they were set up to do. When new business still comes mostly from sales and referrals, the setup, not the team, is usually the problem, and a CEO can change it.

Two Hires or One Team: The Marketing Decision Facing a $15 Million CEO

A $15 million B2B CEO has about $750,000 for marketing in 2027 and two options: hire a marketing manager and a coordinator, or bring in a fractional marketing team. Here is how each year plays out.

Subscribe to our Newsletter

By subscribing, you agree to receive marketing emails from Marketri. See our Privacy Policy.