How NOT to Get Fired as a CMO

The average tenure of CMOs in venture-backed companies is shrinking fast. A recent SaaStr study shows both CMOs and CROs last just 1.8 years, which is the shortest among executive roles. That figure says everything about the pressure these positions carry.

Boards want results yesterday. Yet delivering impact is harder than ever. AI is reshaping industries, investors are chasing the next big bet, and traditional market share is constantly under attack. In this environment, marketing leaders face a unique burden where every idea must justify its existence in revenue terms.

That’s why being a CMO today should refocus on alignment. The ones who endure are those who can cut through scepticism, prove why marketing matters, and turn relentless pressure into real progress.

Here’s how to move from a short-lived CMO to one who makes lasting results.

1. Build Real Relationships With Sales

Pitching new ideas can be brutal. They don’t care about your story or your vision — they care if it helps them sell and how fast they can make money. Some will nod politely, some will challenge you, and some will just stare.

The key is to pick your battles. This requires tailoring campaigns to the varied priorities within the team, ensuring that every initiative has immediate and actionable value. Strong CMOs identify early champions in sales, demonstrate incremental wins, and expand support across the team over time. By anticipating the practical steps they will take and making assets easy to use, marketers build credibility and ensure adoption. Ultimately, the quality of engagement with sales directly shapes the effectiveness of the marketing function.

2. Niche Down and Take Action

Marketing efforts are often diluted when aimed at overly broad audiences. A more effective approach involves concentrating on a highly defined segment and delivering targeted messages across the channels they engage with most.

Precision in audience targeting allows marketing leaders to create initiatives that provide value and demonstrate expertise in the customer’s business context. Execution speed is equally important. Campaigns should be launched promptly, with careful measurement and adjustment, rather than waiting for a perfect, all-encompassing solution. 

3. Get Close to Customers

Most marketers never meet the customer. Ever. Big mistake. Establishing direct contact through conversations, lunches, or calls with key clients allows marketers to understand firsthand what excites and frustrates them. These insights are more powerful than any aggregated data or traditional case study because they reveal the realities of customer experience.

Even better, use it to focus on existing customers. Only a tiny fraction of promotional spend goes there, but that’s where you can make a real impact. 

4. Speak the Language of the Business

Finance and leadership don’t care about MQLs or clicks. They care about revenue, margin, and growth. If you can translate your work into what actually moves the needle for the business, you’ll survive budget reviews and earn trust.

Equally important is educating other stakeholders about the long-term benefits of storytelling. Meeting halfway, translating marketing actions into tangible business outcomes, and aligning messaging with broader organisational priorities help you position yourself as indispensable contributors to both strategy and execution.

5. Make Sales Enablement Obvious

When you create assets for sales, don’t just hand them a brochure and walk away. Ask yourself: what happens next? Marketing assets must be accompanied by a clear, step-by-step understanding of how they will be used in practice. Without this clarity, even well-designed resources risk being ignored in favour of familiar routines.

Close collaboration with sales not only improves utility of marketing efforts but also ensures that contributions translate directly into measurable outcomes.

Unlock actionable insights and practical strategies to strengthen your marketing impact and drive measurable results by watching the full session here. 

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