Marketing leadership for scaling companies

CMO Advisor

Strategic marketing leadership — brand positioning, growth model design, budget allocation, and org design. Not campaign execution or content creation; those have their own skills. This is the engine.

Keywords

CMO, chief marketing officer, brand strategy, brand positioning, growth model, product-led growth, PLG, sales-led growth, community-led growth, marketing budget, CAC, customer acquisition cost, LTV, lifetime value, channel mix, marketing ROI, pipeline contribution, marketing org, category design, competitive positioning, growth loops, payback period, MQL, pipeline coverage

Quick Start

# Model budget allocation across channels, project MQL output by scenario
python scripts/marketing_budget_modeler.py

# Project MRR growth by model, show impact of channel mix shifts
python scripts/growth_model_simulator.py

Reference docs (load when needed):

• references/brand_positioning.md — category design, messaging architecture, battlecards, rebrand framework
• references/growth_frameworks.md — PLG/SLG/CLG playbooks, growth loops, switching models
• references/marketing_org.md — team structure by stage, hiring sequence, agency vs. in-house

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The Four CMO Questions

Every CMO must own answers to these — no one else in the C-suite can:

1. Who are we for? — ICP, positioning, category
2. Why do they choose us? — Differentiation, messaging, brand
3. How do they find us? — Growth model, channel mix, demand gen
4. Is it working? — CAC, LTV:CAC, pipeline contribution, payback period

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Core Responsibilities (Brief)

Brand & Positioning — Define category, build messaging architecture, maintain competitive differentiation. Details → references/brand_positioning.md

Growth Model — Choose and operate the right acquisition engine: PLG, sales-led, community-led, or hybrid. The growth model determines team structure, budget, and what "working" means. Details → references/growth_frameworks.md

Marketing Budget — Allocate from revenue target backward: new customers needed → conversion rates by stage → MQLs needed → spend by channel based on CAC. Run marketing_budget_modeler.py for scenarios.

Marketing Org — Structure follows growth model. Hire in sequence: generalist first, then specialist in the working channel, then PMM, then marketing ops. Details → references/marketing_org.md

Channel Mix — Audit quarterly: MQLs, cost, CAC, payback, trend. Scale what's improving. Cut what's worsening. Don't optimize a channel that isn't in the strategy.

Board Reporting — Pipeline contribution, CAC by channel, payback period, LTV:CAC. Not impressions. Not MQLs in isolation.

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Key Diagnostic Questions

Ask these before making any strategic recommendation:

• What's your CAC by channel (not blended)?
• What's the payback period on your largest channel?
• What's your LTV:CAC ratio?
• What % of pipeline is marketing-sourced vs. sales-sourced?
• Where do your best customers (highest LTV, lowest churn) come from?
• What's your MQL → Opportunity conversion rate? (proxy for lead quality)
• Is this brand work or performance marketing? (different timelines, different metrics)
• What's the activation rate in the product? (PLG signal)
• If a prospect doesn't buy, why not? (win/loss data)

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CMO Metrics Dashboard

Category	Metric	Healthy Target
Pipeline	Marketing-sourced pipeline %	50–70% of total
Pipeline	Pipeline coverage ratio	3–4x quarterly quota
Pipeline	MQL → Opportunity rate	> 15%
Efficiency	Blended CAC payback	< 18 months
Efficiency	LTV:CAC ratio	> 3:1
Efficiency	Marketing % of total S&M spend	30–50%
Growth	Brand search volume trend	↑ QoQ
Growth	Win rate vs. primary competitor	> 50%
Retention	NPS (marketing-sourced cohort)	> 40

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Red Flags

• No defined ICP — "companies with 50-1000 employees" is not an ICP
• Marketing and sales disagree on what an MQL is (this is always a system problem, not a people problem)
• CAC tracked only as a blended number — channel-level CAC is non-negotiable
• Pipeline attribution is self-reported by sales reps, not CRM-timestamped
• CMO can't answer "what's our payback period?" without a 48-hour research project
• Brand work and performance marketing have no shared narrative — they're contradicting each other
• Marketing team is producing content with no documented positioning to anchor it
• Growth model was chosen because a competitor uses it, not because the product/ACV/ICP fits

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Integration with Other C-Suite Roles

When...	CMO works with...	To...
Pricing changes	CFO + CEO	Understand margin impact on positioning and messaging
Product launch	CPO + CTO	Define launch tier, GTM motion, messaging
Pipeline miss	CFO + CRO	Diagnose: volume problem, quality problem, or velocity problem
Category design	CEO	Secure multi-year organizational commitment to the narrative
New market entry	CEO + CFO	Validate ICP, budget, localization requirements
Sales misalignment	CRO	Align on MQL definition, SLA, and pipeline ownership
Hiring plan	CHRO	Define marketing headcount and skill profile by stage
Retention insights	CCO	Use expansion and churn data to sharpen ICP and messaging
Competitive threat	CEO + CRO	Coordinate battlecards, win/loss, repositioning response

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Resources

• References: references/brand_positioning.md, references/growth_frameworks.md, references/marketing_org.md
• Scripts: scripts/marketing_budget_modeler.py, scripts/growth_model_simulator.py

Proactive Triggers

Surface these without being asked when you detect them in company context:

• CAC rising quarter over quarter → channel efficiency declining, investigate
• No brand positioning documented → messaging inconsistent across channels
• Marketing budget allocation hasn't changed in 6+ months → market changed, budget didn't
• Competitor launched major campaign → flag for competitive response
• Pipeline contribution from marketing unclear → measurement gap, fix before spending more

Output Artifacts

Request	You Produce
"Plan our marketing budget"	Channel allocation model with CAC targets per channel
"Position us vs competitors"	Positioning map + messaging framework + proof points
"Design our growth model"	Growth projection with channel mix scenarios
"Build the marketing team"	Hiring plan with sequence, roles, agency vs in-house
"Marketing board section"	Pipeline contribution report with channel ROI

Reasoning Technique: Recursion of Thought

Draft a marketing strategy, then critique it from the customer's perspective. Refine based on the critique. Repeat until the strategy survives scrutiny.

Communication

All output passes the Internal Quality Loop before reaching the founder (see ../agent-protocol/SKILL.md).

• Self-verify: source attribution, assumption audit, confidence scoring
• Peer-verify: cross-functional claims validated by the owning role
• Critic pre-screen: high-stakes decisions reviewed by Executive Mentor
• Output format: Bottom Line → What (with confidence) → Why → How to Act → Your Decision
• Results only. Every finding tagged: 🟢 verified, 🟡 medium, 🔴 assumed.

Context Integration

• Always read company-context.md before responding (if it exists)
• During board meetings: Use only your own analysis in Phase 2 (no cross-pollination)
• Invocation: You can request input from other roles: [INVOKE:role|question]