Get a CMO · For $5M+ businesses
Know what to fund.
What to pause. What to stop.
In 2027 the hard part of marketing isn’t knowing what to do. It’s deciding what to fund, what to pause and what to stop. Business owners at $5M+ in revenue now face AI search, connected TV, creators, review platforms, CRM automation and a dozen ad channels, all competing for the same budget.
Most of these companies don’t need a full-time executive. They need senior judgment, a clear plan and a team that can execute it. This checklist is the set of questions a good CMO asks before approving any campaign, tool or vendor in 2027.
01 · Agree on the scorecard
Before approving a campaign, your CMO establishes the baseline, agrees on targets with you and sets a review cadence. Start with a few measures that connect marketing to revenue.
Agree on a revenue number and timeframe, then connect campaigns to pipeline and closed sales.
Define what counts as a lead and compare acquisition cost by source—not just the cost of a click.
Connect marketing spend to customers won, with a consistent definition of the costs included.
Track qualified opportunities, pipeline value and progress through shared CRM stages.
Review customers won, close rate and revenue by tracked lead source, noting attribution gaps.
Response time and call answer rate. Lead-to-appointment and appointment-to-sale conversion. Review volume, rating and response rate. AI-search mentions, citations and accuracy. Your industry and sales process determine which belong on the scorecard.
02 · The decision checklist
Use these questions before funding a campaign, adding a tool or bringing on another vendor in 2027.
Every plan should start with a revenue goal, a target cost per lead and a target cost per customer. If a campaign can’t be connected to pipeline, it waits.
Buyers now ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Google’s AI results for recommendations. Check whether your business is named, cited and described correctly. AI visibility is now part of SEO.
AI should shorten the time from data to decision. A person should still review anything that goes out under your name.
Brand voice, crisis response, pricing conversations and the owner’s story stay with people. Automating them slowly wears down the brand.
Leads that sit in an inbox for a day are lost. Check response time, follow-up sequences and whether every lead source is tracked to a closed sale.
Connected TV, YouTube, display and social should be judged on calls, form fills, store visits and booked jobs. Retargeting should follow the viewer from the TV screen to the phone.
Set aside 5–10% of spend for experiments. Give each test 30–60 days and a clear pass/fail number. End the losers on schedule.
Reviews, listings and Google Business Profile drive local and AI search alike. Track review volume, rating and response rate every month.
One shoot or one interview should become a long video, short reels, a blog post, an email and social posts. Plan the cut-downs before you film.
Drop vanity reach, clicks without context and platform benchmarks that don’t tie to revenue. Fewer, sharper KPIs make faster decisions.
Most $5M+ businesses have a website company, an SEO firm, an ads agency and a CRM vendor who never talk. One leader should own the plan and hold each of them to it.
Campaign results, audiences, creative and lessons learned should live in your systems, not your agency’s. Partners execute; the business owns the learning.
03 · Apply it to your industry
The questions don’t change, but the answers do. A CMO who has worked across industries knows which channels, metrics and seasons matter in yours, so you don’t pay for the learning curve. iMedia has run marketing and media since 2009, from national subscription brands to local service companies.
HVAC, plumbing, roofing, pest control, appliance repair
What matters most
Local Service Ads, Google Business Profile, reviews, fast call answering, seasonal budget shifts
Metrics to watch
What matters most
Patient trust, reviews, AI receptionist and follow-up, compliant messaging
Metrics to watch
What matters most
Long enrollment cycles, family nurture emails, open-house and tour campaigns
Metrics to watch
What matters most
Brand control with local execution, location pages, listings at scale
Metrics to watch
What matters most
National media buying, CTV and YouTube, retargeting, lifetime value
Metrics to watch
What matters most
Adult-child decision makers, long consideration, tours and referral sources
Metrics to watch
What matters most
Thought leadership, LinkedIn, CRM pipeline stages, referral networks
Metrics to watch
Whatever the industry, the CMO’s job is the same: pick the few channels that move revenue, fund them properly and cut the rest.
04 · Senior leadership, backed by a team
For $5M+ businesses that need senior marketing leadership.
A fractional Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) leads your strategy, joins your meetings and keeps marketing focused on your revenue goals. Your CMO brings hands-on experience across home services, healthcare, education, franchise, media and B2B, so your plan starts from what already works in your industry.
Your advisor is backed by iMedia’s certified AI team, dedicated graphic design staff and 40+ specialists to carry out the plan.
Brand evaluation, assigned graphic design staff and a full sales CRM consultation, all completed in the first 30 days.
05 · Your first 30 days
Your CMO works through the checklist in the first month, so measurement, brand, sales and execution are working from the same plan.
Week 1
CMO-level kickoff. Revenue goals documented. Current marketing audited end to end, including AI search visibility and industry benchmarks.
Week 2
Full brand evaluation delivered. Graphic design staff assigned. Identity, messaging and competitive positioning reviewed.
Week 3
Full CRM audit. Sales process reviewed end to end. Build-out plan delivered. Marketing and pipeline integrated.
Week 4
Full marketing strategy presented. All packages live. Media plan approved. Campaigns launched. Dashboard active.
Let’s talk about your business
Tell us your revenue goal and your industry. We’ll show you what your first 90 days would look like.