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

The Chief Outsider

News and strategic perspectives from the nation’s leading fractional executive firm.

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.

Read More

The CEO's Role as Champion of the Unified GTM Operating Model

Tue, May 26, 2026 — Executive Takeaways The CEO must be the architect and champion of the GTM model — not its operator. Only the CEO has the cross-functional authority to make a unified GTM model stick. If the model only works when you're in the room, it's not a system. When it's working, your calendar proves it.

Stop Hosting Alignment Meetings and Start Building a Unified GTM Operating Model

Wed, May 6, 2026 — Executive Takeaways You can't meeting your way out of a system design problem. Alignment meetings are reactive, CEO-dependent, and fix symptoms — not root causes. A unified GTM Operating Model creates alignment by design, not by force. When the system works, the CEO stops mediating and starts leading.

Pipeline Integrity: How Hidden Revenue Leaks Sabotage Growth

Tue, Apr 7, 2026 — Executive Takeaways A pipeline that looks healthy can still be losing 15–25% of achievable revenue. When teams define MQLs, SQLs, and pipeline stages differently, every other fix fails. Work backwards from your revenue target using conversion rates to find and close the gaps. A one-time diagnostic fades without the right recurring reviews and accountability rhythms.

Go-To-Market Cultural Alignment: The Invisible Variable in U.S. Expansion

Fri, Mar 13, 2026 — Many companies that find success outside the United States have one thing in common: the need to succeed in the U.S. market. That is not complicated or surprising. The United States is the largest economy in the world and, in many categories, the single biggest available market. World Bank data clearly shows the scale of the U.S. economy relative to most global markets. For companies in high-tech, scientific, medical, industrial, and systems integration sectors, the U.S. is not just attractive. It is strategic. Company leaders want to grow. The U.S. is where they look. They are not wrong.

Turning Competing Revenue Team Truths into Market Insight

Tue, Mar 10, 2026 — Executive Takeaways Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success each see different parts of the market. Conflicting perspectives usually reflect incomplete insight, not poor execution. Cross-functional pipeline, win/loss, and customer data turn friction into insight. A unified GTM operating model aligns teams around shared market truth.

Why the CEO-Led Growth Model Breaks at Scale

Tue, Feb 10, 2026 — Series Overview As companies grow, GTM breakdowns rarely show up as sudden failures. They emerge as friction. Progress slows, pipelines become less predictable, and confidence in forecasts declines, even as teams work harder and act with good intent. Written from both the marketing and sales lens, this six-part series, Building a Unified GTM Operating Model, explores why scale exposes weaknesses in informal GTM systems and how an intentional operating model restores clarity, alignment, and scalable growth. Executive Takeaways CEO-led, informal GTM models break predictably as scale introduces complexity. Early GTM failure shows up as friction, not collapse. Sales–marketing misalignment is a structural issue, not a performance problem. A unified GTM operating model is required to restore growth, confidence, and value.

What Can Chester Cheetah Tell You About Your Brand? Part Two

Fri, Aug 1, 2025 — We’ve already discussed how to define a brand in part one. Now, we are going to explore why the C-suite should care about its brand at all. It’s not just numbers, although that certainly is the end game. Remember that brand is the business. Like the business, brand is about being effective, meaning carving a position with a market that is highly productive financially and competitively, and efficient, meaning serving the market in as cost-efficient manner as possible. Brand helps maximize and expand return on investment.

What Can Chester Cheetah Tell You About Your Brand?

Fri, Jul 18, 2025 — Imagine an argument about whether Chester – yes, Chester of Cheetos fame – should be 2D or 3D. The debate raged in almost every corner of Frito-Lay headquarters at the time. There were strong opinions on both sides and an even more provocative discussion about the brand’s target audience. At the time, two of every three bags of Cheetos purchased were consumed by adults, not tweens and teens. So, the debate was fair, if inconvenient.

Why CEOs Must Be Active on Social Media: Building Trust and Authenticity with Customers

Wed, May 14, 2025 — I’ve seen firsthand how a CEO’s presence on social media changes how people view a company. Customers, employees, and potential hires want to know who’s steering the ship. When I show up online and share my perspective, the conversations become more genuine, and trust starts to build. It’s not about self-promotion – it’s about showing the real person behind the title.

Growth Insights for CEOs