YOUR BUSINESS SHOULD BE MAKING YOU MORE MONEY.
If it isn't, your marketing probably isn't doing its job*.
* And deep down, you already know that.
6% → 38% market reach, growth of the LEGO membership programme.
You have a great product, your target market is active, you might even be busy.
But, without senior leadership, marketing tends to drift into ineffective activity instead of real business growth.
Agencies doing things, campaigns running, and budgets being spent.
Plenty happening. Fuck all changing.
That’s where John Lyons, Fractional CMO, comes in.
You get experienced marketing leadership inside your business, for as many days as you need, turning your marketing into revenue, market share, and increased profit.
Everything else can get in the bin.
Marketing exists to make you money.
I run it for you so that it does.
If this sounds familiar
Your business should be performing better.
But something in the commercial system isn’t working.
- Marketing activity is happening but revenue isn’t moving
- Leads are arriving but they aren’t the right buyers
- Sales and marketing disagree about where the problem sits
- Nobody can clearly explain how growth will actually happen
Marketing that delivers commercial results.
Grew the LEGO members programme from 6% to 38% market reach.
Delivered a record revenue year for creative agency …Gasp!
Helped professional services firm Integral close Q4 up 63% on the previous record.
Launched hospitality registration product Guest Visit during lockdown, securing deals with nationwide brands including Greene King and The Church of England.
Turns out doing marketing properly still works. Funny that.
Two businesses built and successfully exited.
20+ years delivering effective marketing outcomes for brands including Deutsche Bank, Manchester United, LG and The LEGO Group.
Here’s what it probably* looks like inside your business.
* Almost definitely.
You’re spending money on marketing.
The question is whether it’s actually doing anything useful.
Your team is doing things.
Your agencies are doing things.
Content is being published.
Everyone is busy,
So marketing becomes busy rather than effective, but nobody is actually responsible for turning all of that into consistent revenue growth.
Lots of movement. Not much fucking progress.
Sales complain about leads, budgets get spent and the numbers don’t move the way they should.
If that sounds familiar, your business probably doesn’t need more marketing activity, it needs a Chief Marketing Officer.
When businesses usually bring in a fractional CMO
Most companies reach a point where marketing activity exists but nobody owns the commercial system behind it.
Campaigns are running.
Agencies are involved.
Reports are being produced.
But there is no senior marketing leadership responsible for turning that activity into revenue.
Hiring a full-time CMO may be premature.
But continuing without one slows growth.
Here’s your solution
When you bring in a Fractional CMO, you’re not buying a campaign, you’re bringing in someone responsible for making marketing work. Not someone producing slides about why it didn’t.
That means your marketing strategy is grounded in market reality, not internal guesswork.
Your marketing and sales start working as a proper revenue engine.
Your agencies get clear direction and accountability.
Your marketing investment is planned against growth, not guesswork.
And your board hears about marketing outcomes in language that has everything to do with money and nothing to do with fluffy, meaningless, metrics.
The First 90 Days
Most engagements begin with a structured first 90 days to fine-tune your business for growth.
Before marketing can drive that growth, you need a clear view of the market and the opportunity.
In that first phase you get:
A diagnosis of your market, competitors and customers.
A clear view of your current share of market and growth potential.
A distinct market position and value proposition.
A practical marketing strategy and plan built around commercial outcomes.
But unlike traditional consultancy, that’s not where things stop.
The first 90 days create the roadmap. Then the real work begins.
CMO leadership inside your business
After the first 90 days you get ongoing leadership, most typically one or two days a week.
Your marketing plan gets executed properly.
Your agencies and team get informed direction.
Your marketing and sales functions become aligned.
Your growth becomes measurable and predictable.
In short, you all get the benefits of a senior marketing leader without hiring one full time.
Marketing that actually moves the numbers.
6% → 38% market reach, LEGO membership programme growth.
Record revenue year, creative professional services firm.
Final quarter up 63% on previous record for professional services consultancy.
B2B technology platform from launch to client base in three months.
Two businesses built and successfully exited.
20+ years building brands and revenue engines across agency, brand and founder roles.
See, marketing works when it isn’t being fucked up.
Who This Works Best For
This tends to work best for businesses that:
Have grown to £2m+ revenue.
Have a solid product or service.
Have marketing activity but no senior leadership.
Have agencies, teams or campaigns that aren’t delivering the growth they should.
John Lyons, Fractional CMO
With me, you get someone who has spent over 20 years running marketing across agency, client-side and founder roles.
Someone who has worked with brands like Deutsche Bank, Manchester United, LG and The LEGO Group.
Someone who has built and exited businesses of his own.
Which means the conversation focuses on revenue, growth and reality rather than marketing fluff.
I also have a hat, called Hat.
And I share business and marketing tips whilst sat in front of some bins.
If your marketing feels busy, but isn’t producing the growth it should, we should talk.
Worst case, you get a straight answer*. Best case, your marketing starts making you far more money than it costs.
And if there’s an award for that, you can buy the first round.
* Sometimes that answer is ‘stop fucking doing that really stupid thing’.
Testimonials
Lisl MacDonald FRSA
Owner Spring and Atlas, angel investor
"John brings brilliant ideas to bear on marketing problems. He has the advantage of understanding client and agency perspectives having worked in both."
Courtney Cesari
Global Marketing Director, event MC
"John is one of a rare breed of leaders who can not only create a big idea, super compelling strategy, but also break it down into actually actionable details."
Naeem Alvi-Assinder
Founder Notepad (B Corp), Untapped host
"No-nonsense marketing wisdom, delivered with style. John knows his marketing onions better than most."
Joe Glover
Co-founder The Marketing Meetup
"John is the kind of person you want to spend more time with because he lights up small parts of your soul - a good man, a good marketer, and a good speaker"
GET IN TOUCH
If you want to talk about your marketing needs, or perhaps your coaching or public speaking requirements, please drop a line through the form over there.
Or, to have practical business and marketing thoughts, hints and tips land in your inbox every month subscribe here:
Otherwise, you can find me on the socials down there.