Business Growth Strategies For CEOs: Top CMOs On Marketing Strategy Implementations

Deborah Fell

Deborah Fell is Area Manager Partner & CMO for Chief Outsiders. She is an expert at helping mid-market to large enterprise companies identify and capitalize on marketing strategies to increase revenue and profitability. Chief Outsiders provides fractional CMOs without the expense of a full-time resource to CEOs who want to accelerate revenue and profits through improved marketing strategies, implementation and leverage.

Outsider Insights | The Backup Plan You Don't Have Is Already Costing You

Fri, Aug 21, 2026 | Posted by Dawn Werry

Executive Takeaways

Commercial team gaps happen for many reasons: someone leaves, someone is underperforming, or the business needs a capability the current team doesn’t have.
Mid-sized companies tend to run lean, which means there’s rarely a qualified backup ready to step into a critical role.
The real cost of that gap isn’t the empty seat. Priorities slow, teams lose direction, good people get frustrated, and commercial efforts stall.
Rushing a permanent hire isn’t always the answer. Fractional resources can keep the business moving while you make the right long-term decision.
The best time to decide how you’ll handle a critical commercial is before one opens.

Outsider Insights

Across Chief Outsiders, we talk to hundreds of CEOs every month. In this series, we explore the trends and challenges we’re hearing from these discussions – and what you can do if you’re facing the same issues in your business.

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CEOs: What’s your Competitor’s Plan to Win?

Wed, Oct 18, 2017 — Part 4 of Creating Sustainability for the Business “How could she not see this coming?” Look in the mirror. Armed with a strategic plan built on the foundation of purpose and stocked with customer insight, it’s now time to look closely at the competition. Learning how your competitors plan to defeat your strategy will fortify your plan to achieve long-term success.

CEOs: Go Deep for your Customers!

Mon, Aug 14, 2017 — Part 3 of Creating Sustainability for the Business A Sea of Sameness “So, what do you think of our website?” This was a new client—at my first on-site meeting with the CEO. “You have great product merchandising, well-written features and benefits. Could use some work on the ecommerce side,” I replied. “What I’m not clear on, though, is this, ‘Who is your customer, and how do you help them?’”

The Three Levels of Listening: Deeper Insights for More Enduring and Effective Sales and Marketing Strategies

Wed, Oct 19, 2016 — No matter how many shiny new products and services emerge every year in an industry, there will always be a few established brand giants waiting at the top of the Mountain of Customer Loyalty, waiting to force the weaker ones into submission.

What Can Tesla Teach Us About Customer-Focus?

Thu, Oct 6, 2016 — I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on a Tesla. Sleek, fast, future-forward – and electric to boot – the unique combination of “smart” and sustainability features on the Model S, Model X, and Model 3 make the car company’s offerings so irresistible to buyers, that Elon Musk and his team have struggled to keep up with demand.

The Rotten Truth about Low-Hanging Fruit in Business – and How to Guide Your Team to Success

Thu, Jul 7, 2016 — Consider the American apple grower, who seeks the sweetest, most desired apples from the top of his towering fruit trees. To reach them, he climbs a large commercial ladder to the very top, and works downward, dumping his fruit in a big, burlap bag around his neck and shoulder. If he were to pick the low-hanging apples first, that means he’d be working his way up the ladder with an increasingly heavy load – quite an inverted way to run an orchard business!

Conducting Your Orchestra: How to Achieve Opera-Sized Marketing Impact on a Sonnet-Sized Budget

Mon, Apr 18, 2016 — A funny thing happened on the way to the Orpheum: Today's flip-flop-wearing, short-attention-spanned public simply isn't looking for symphonic-sized entertainment like they used to. Ask any community orchestra conductor what brings out the most throngs these days, and they'll tell you it was the "Pops" performance of Star Wars music that far outplayed Beethoven.

Business Plans Gone Bad: Five Ways To Fix Your Focus

Tue, Jan 19, 2016 — At some point in history, when the first caveman took on a business partner for their fledgling wheel manufacturing business, it became necessary for them to complete a business plan. After all, how would our cave-bound friends decide who was responsible for construction, supply chain, sales and marketing and testing? We can only hope that in those simpler times, business planning consisted of a couple of grunts and a handshake. Today, the business planning cycle has taken on a life of its own. Except for the grunts, pretty much the entire process has been transformed into a rigorous set of meetings, a forest’s worth of documentation, and enough headaches to cause a measurable spike in Advil sales in your locality.

Growth Insights for CEOs