I’m about to take you on a brief history lesson. It’s the story of how marketing evolved from a reactive, tactical, nice-to-have function to a must-have driver of revenue. If you lead a growth-minded business, it’s a tale you (literally) can’t afford to skip! 

The ‘90s: One-Size-Fits-All (But Does It Really?) 

Back when the Internet was born and Google was launched, marketing was still a narrowly focused domain with few channels. Snail mail (remember that?) reigned supreme. So marketers got an A+ for doing basics like writing brochure copy, creating a simple design in PowerPoint, running the document to a print shop, slapping on labels, and dropping it in the mail.  

Since CEOs expected little more (they weren’t paying much attention to the island of marketing back then), everyone was happy. 

Except…this kind of activity did NOTHING to move the needle on growth. 

So, how much talent did you need to handle marketing of this scope? Not much. When the measure of marketing success was having collateral on hand, maintaining a brochure-ware website, and attending a few trades shows, one jack-of-all-trades generalist could hold down the fort. 

The 2000s: Digital Marketing Emerges 

A new millennium brought relief that we weren’t bitten by the Y2K bug…and the dawn of the Digital Age. Email marketing became all the rage. And you didn’t need much upskilling to turn a brochure file into a PDF and send it out digitally. As long as you could navigate a simple email marketing tool, you were good to go. 

Except…curious, ambitious marketers recognized burgeoning opportunities to make marketing much more valuable to the business. And for those unafraid of technology, there was no shortage of tools at their disposal.  

Google Analytics launched in 2005, enabling marketers to measure website visits and engagement. (Finally, a way to evaluate marketing performance…albeit a limited one.) Inbound marketing came on the scene around the same time. All of a sudden, you could draw in ideal buyers by providing valuable insights that helped solve their challenges. With just a smidge of knowledge about Google’s algorithms, it was easy to write engaging content using keywords that resonated with buyers. 

The one-person marketing department still dominated in mid-sized companies, but the picture got more complicated. And interesting.  

We began to see a divide between traditional marketers and those who were digitally bent. Strategically focused marketers started to see lots of possibilities for turning marketing into a growth catalyst—through better websites, content, email marketing, database segmentation, analytics, and more. (This was precisely when Marketri was founded: At the cusp of the realization that marketing could drive the business’s success. We offered the strategy to leverage modern marketing, execution by specialists in the most critical marketing disciplines, and the analytics to prove marketing was contributing to growth. A novel idea at the time!) 

Most importantly, forward-thinking CEOs began recognizing the business benefits of marketing. They started to think, “Maybe the marketing island needs to be part of the mainland. Maybe if we invest in the RIGHT marketing, we’ll realize a high ROI. Maybe marketing can even create a competitive advantage.” 

The Early 2010s: Marketing Takes a Big Leap Forward 

A decade into the new millennium, digital was no longer the new kid on the block. And lots of exciting developments were changing the marketing landscape. 

As open source software like WordPress empowered non-programmers to update websites with ease, the old brochure-ware sites gave way to dynamic destinations that help nurture buyers throughout their journey. 

Speaking of the journey…buzzwords like TOFU (top of the funnel), MOFU (middle of the funnel), and BOFU (bottom of the funnel) became part of the marketing vernacular.  

Google rankings got so dominant that some marketers set their entire content strategies solely based on these metrics.  

And social media really took off, especially as a B2B marketing vehicle.  

While some mistakenly took these developments to mean that marketing could be done nearly free (Send an email! Post to social!), others realized it wasn’t so simple. As the channels proliferated, so did the thoughtful questions: What’s the best channel to reach a particular audience? What’s the right cadence to engage them? How do we hit on the ideal tone of voice? 

And of course: How should the marketing department evolve in response? It was clear that marketing had become a discipline of specialties. Yet, astonishingly, many small and mid-sized companies still held onto the one-size-fits-all approach led by a marketing generalist. Even as they acknowledged they were starting to look like an old, yellowed, fraying book.  

As forward-thinking businesses started to view marketing as a strategic weapon and a growth driver, they realized that a marketing department of one or two generalists wasn’t going to cut it. Some hired marketing strategists to advise them on how to structure this function to lean into changing times. Others hired firms like Marketri to gain the right slice of all the marketing specialists needed to engage in modern marketing, under one integrated umbrella. 

The Mid-2010s: The Fractional Model Takes Shape 

By mid-decade, savvy marketers were proving that marketing could deliver measurable business benefits. And boy, did CEOs take notice. They appreciated that when marketing is done right, it drives both top-line and bottom-line growth. Music to the C-suite’s ears. 

Now, senior leaders got serious about figuring out the marketing staffing puzzle. But without the budget to hire an in-house Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) to lead this mission-critical function, many misfired by hiring less experienced marketing managers (at still-healthy salaries) and expecting them to get it done. 

They reasoned that this approach left more budget for marketing execution. Which it did. But it also left a big gaping hole: the absence of strategy. To fill it, businesses hired marketing strategists to develop plans and roadmaps. Yet, without the ongoing support of highly experienced professionals, many struggled to operationalize their newfound marketing strategies and plans.   

Enter the Fractional CMO: Providing businesses with just the slice of a CMO needed to deliver a darn good strategy and plan and oversee its execution. I credit my friends at Chief Outsiders for pioneering this space and shining a light on this revolutionary concept—one that levels the playing field and allows middle market companies to punch well above their weight.  

The 2020s: Getting the Model Right 

Over the past few years, several realities have fueled the popularity and demand for Fractional CMOs, including the rise in remote work and escalating salaries that place an in-house CMO out of reach for small and mid-sized businesses. Now, CEOs realized they could tap this talent without tying up a large portion of the budget. 

But in this age of marketing complexity and specialization, they still needed a team of specialists to execute an effective marketing plan. Hiring the necessary talent was starting to break the bank, leaving little for execution efforts like advertising and outreach.

This realization proved another pivotal point, as two models emerged to replace the traditional marketing department: 

1. Using a Fractional CMO, a lean in-house marketing team (which typically included a digital marketing manager), and a gaggle of sub-contractor specialists and agencies. 

2. Hiring a Fractional CMO and a supporting fractional marketing team from a single source. 

Either approach serves an important objective: Giving small and mid-sized businesses the exact slice of marketing specialty and expertise they need—no more, no less. But the second option delivers the added benefit of a team that operates efficiently, leveraging best practices. The investment in marketing is not for the faint of heart, so CEOs need confidence they’re maximizing their spend. Many find that a Fractional CMO coupled with a fractional execution team is the optimal way to increase visibility, build a predictable pipeline, and drive growth. 

If all that complexity wasn’t enough, now we’re layering on the most transformative innovation of the century: generative AI. It’s already having a profound effect on marketing. And that will lead us, once again, to reimagine the marketing department. 

Yes, we’re at another turning point for marketing. One that will make the previous changes pale in comparison.  

Are you ready to get onboard? Wondering what’s next? Stay tuned for Part 2.