Marketing Function Review
Understand what is holding marketing back before you spend more, restructure the team or recruit again
Marketing can be busy, expensive and highly visible without giving the leadership team enough confidence in what it is actually contributing.
You may have an internal team, several agencies, an established budget and regular performance reports. Yet it may still be difficult to see whether the problem is the strategy, leadership, people, agencies, systems, data, investment or how everything fits together.
My Marketing Function Review provides an independent assessment of the whole marketing operation. I examine how the function is structured, what it is trying to achieve, how effectively it is being led and whether the current activity, capability and infrastructure support the wider business plan.
The outcome is not another collection of observations. You receive a practical diagnosis, clear priorities and a recommended route forward.
What is a Marketing Function Review?
A Marketing Function Review is an independent assessment of how marketing operates across the business.
It looks beyond individual campaigns and channels to understand whether the function has the right direction, leadership, capability, systems and commercial discipline.
The review may examine the marketing strategy, internal team, agencies, budget, CRM, customer data, reporting, customer journeys and the relationship between sales and marketing. The exact scope depends on what is happening inside the business and where the greatest concerns sit.
This is broader than a traditional marketing performance audit. Campaign results and marketing spend matter, but poor performance is often caused by something deeper. The strategy may be disconnected from the business plan. Responsibility may be fragmented. Agencies may be working without joined-up direction. The CRM may be unreliable. The team may lack the right capability or senior support.
The purpose of the review is to identify the underlying problem before the business commits more money to treating the symptoms.
When a Marketing Function Review may be the right answer
Businesses rarely commission a review because nothing is happening.
More often, marketing activity has increased while confidence in the function has fallen.
The leadership team may be receiving reports without being able to connect them to revenue, conversion or wider business outcomes. Marketing expenditure may be rising without enough challenge. Sales may believe the leads are poor, while marketing believes the follow-up is the problem.
The business may also be preparing to grow, recruit a senior marketer, replace an agency, implement a new CRM or make a significant investment in the website and customer journey.
A Marketing Function Review is particularly useful when:
- Marketing is busy, but its contribution is difficult to see.
- The board does not fully trust the marketing numbers.
- Sales and marketing disagree about performance or lead quality.
- Several agencies are involved, but nobody owns the overall outcome.
- The CRM, customer data or reporting are unreliable.
- The business has grown, but the marketing structure has not kept pace.
- A senior marketing appointment has failed, or a new recruitment process is about to begin.
- The leadership team knows something needs to change but does not know where to begin.
The review provides an evidence based starting point before further investment, recruitment or restructuring decisions are made.
Who I work with
The Marketing Function Review is designed for founders, CEOs, managing directors, CFOs, boards, investors and transformation leaders who need an independent view of marketing performance and capability.
It is most relevant to established businesses with an internal marketing team, meaningful agency investment or a marketing budget that has become commercially significant.
Clients are typically businesses with annual revenue between £5 million and £100 million, although turnover alone does not determine whether the review is appropriate. Smaller investment-backed or rapidly growing businesses may also be suitable where the marketing function is complex enough to justify senior independent assessment.
I work particularly well with businesses operating in financial services, professional services, property, investment, mergers and acquisitions, technology, ecommerce, travel and hospitality.
Much of my experience has been gained in complex, regulated and reputationally sensitive environments where marketing decisions need to balance growth, evidence, governance and risk.
What I review
The scope is agreed before the engagement begins. It is shaped around the concerns of the leadership team, the condition of the marketing function and the information available.
Strategy and priorities
I assess whether the marketing strategy is clearly connected to the wider business plan.
That includes examining what marketing is expected to achieve, whether priorities are realistic and whether the team and agencies understand what matters most.
A long list of campaigns is not the same as a strategy. The review looks at whether marketing is making deliberate choices about customers, positioning, investment, channels and commercial outcomes.
Leadership and responsibility
I examine who currently owns marketing performance and whether responsibility is clear across the leadership team, internal team and external agencies.
Where ownership is fragmented, important decisions can be delayed or passed between people. Activity continues, but nobody is clearly responsible for the overall result.
The review identifies where stronger leadership, governance or decision-making is required.
Team structure and capability
I assess whether the current team has the right roles, skills, capacity and support for what the business expects marketing to deliver.
This is not about finding fault with people for the sake of it. Capable marketers are often working within weak structures, unclear priorities or systems they did not choose.
The review distinguishes between genuine capability gaps and wider operating problems that are preventing good people from performing effectively.
Agencies and suppliers
Where agencies or specialists are involved, I review what they have been asked to deliver, how their performance is measured and whether their work supports the wider marketing strategy.
An SEO agency, paid media agency, web developer and internal content team may each be producing activity, while nobody is joining their work together.
I assess whether responsibilities are clear, effort is being duplicated and the business is receiving appropriate value from its external investment.
Budget and marketing investment
I review where marketing money is being spent, what evidence supports that investment and whether the budget reflects the priorities of the business.
The purpose is not automatically to reduce expenditure.
Some businesses are underinvesting in the areas that matter while continuing to fund activity that produces little commercial value. The review identifies where investment appears justified, where it needs stronger evidence and where it may be misaligned.
Campaign and channel performance
I assess the available performance data across the relevant campaigns and channels.
This may include paid media, SEO, email, content, social media, website performance, lead generation and customer retention.
The objective is not to produce a larger report. It is to understand what appears to be contributing, what is underperforming and whether the current measurement approach supports confident decisions.
CRM and customer data
Marketing performance is often affected by what happens after someone responds.
I review whether the CRM, customer data, lifecycle stages, automation and lead handling processes support the customer journey properly.
Where data is incomplete, duplicated or inconsistently used, attribution and reporting become unreliable. Leads may also be lost between marketing and sales despite campaigns appearing successful at the point of enquiry.
The review identifies where CRM and data problems are affecting marketing performance. A detailed technical audit or implementation would be scoped separately where required.
Reporting and measurement
I assess whether marketing reporting helps the leadership team make decisions.
Reports should explain performance, investment, conversion, capability and risk in language the wider business can use. They should also be honest about what the available data can and cannot prove.
The objective is trusted reporting, not more dashboards filled with traffic, impressions and engagement figures that never quite reach the point.
Sales and marketing alignment
I examine how sales and marketing define opportunities, share information and manage the movement from initial interest to commercial outcome.
Where the two teams use different definitions or systems, potential revenue can disappear between them.
The review identifies gaps in lead qualification, follow-up, feedback and responsibility so that marketing performance is assessed against what happens across the wider customer journey.
Readiness for growth or change
Where the business is growing, restructuring, preparing for investment or entering a new market, I assess whether the marketing function is capable of supporting that ambition.
Growth can expose weaknesses in leadership, systems, reporting and capability that were less visible when the organisation was smaller.
The review helps the leadership team understand what needs to change before additional pressure is placed on the function.
How the Marketing Function Review works
Initial scoping
The process begins with a discovery conversation to understand what is happening, why the review is being considered and which decisions it needs to support.
I then confirm the scope, access requirements, timeframe, deliverables and fee before the work begins.
Leadership and stakeholder discussions
I speak with the relevant leaders, team members and agencies to understand how marketing currently operates.
Different people often hold different parts of the picture. These discussions help identify where expectations, responsibility and perceptions of performance are not aligned.
Evidence review and assessment
I review the available strategy, plans, budgets, campaign reports, agency documentation, CRM information, customer data, reporting and relevant processes.
The purpose is to test assumptions against evidence and understand the relationship between the visible symptoms and the underlying cause.
Findings and recommendations
I bring the findings together into a concise report with clear priorities and recommended ownership.
The review concludes with a leadership presentation and discussion so that the findings can be challenged, understood and translated into practical decisions.
What you receive
The final output normally includes:
- An independent assessment of the current marketing function.
- The principal commercial, operational and capability concerns.
- What appears to be working and should be protected.
- Gaps in leadership, responsibility, skills, systems or reporting.
- Areas where marketing investment may be duplicated, unsupported or misaligned.
- Immediate risks requiring attention.
- A prioritised action plan.
- Recommended ownership for the next steps.
- A leadership presentation and discussion of the findings.
The recommendations may include changes to strategy, reporting, team structure, agency support, recruitment, CRM, data, customer journeys or the wider operating rhythm of the function.
They may also conclude that parts of the existing approach are working well and should not be disrupted unnecessarily.
What the review does not include
The Marketing Function Review is a defined diagnostic engagement. It does not automatically include ongoing leadership or implementation.
It does not include unlimited campaign analysis, daily marketing management, team restructuring, candidate sourcing, CRM implementation, website development or hands-on delivery unless separately agreed.
Where detailed specialist work is required, such as a technical CRM and Marketing Data Audit, this can be scoped separately.
The purpose is to provide the leadership team with a reliable diagnosis and a practical route forward, not to quietly turn a defined review into an open-ended consultancy engagement.
Is the review included within Fractional CMO support?
Where I am appointed as your Fractional CMO for four or more days per month, a focused review of the marketing function forms part of the opening phase of the engagement.
During the first month, I assess the strategy, team, agencies, budget, CRM, customer data, reporting and current performance before agreeing the immediate priorities and a focused 90-day plan. The depth of this work reflects the agreed level of involvement and supports the ongoing leadership and implementation that follow.
Strategic oversight at two days per month includes an initial assessment of priorities, performance and immediate concerns. It does not include the full scope, formal report and detailed recommendations provided through a standalone Marketing Function Review.
The standalone review is designed for a business that wants an independent diagnosis and practical action plan without immediately committing to ongoing Fractional CMO leadership. You would not normally need to purchase both services separately.
Where a standalone review leads into a Fractional CMO engagement, the transition and commercial arrangements will be agreed as part of the next proposal.
What should improve
The purpose of the review is to help the leadership team make better decisions about marketing.
The outcome may include clearer priorities, stronger responsibility, more trusted reporting, reduced waste, better agency management, improved sales and marketing alignment and a more realistic view of the capability required.
It should also help the business avoid committing further budget to the wrong solution.
Sometimes the answer is stronger senior leadership. Sometimes it is a change to the team, agencies, CRM, reporting or customer journey. In other cases, the business may need to stop an unnecessary project and address a more fundamental problem first.
The review exists to identify that answer before more time and money are spent.
Investment and timeframe
A Marketing Function Review is normally completed within three to four weeks. The timeframe depends on the size and complexity of the marketing function, the number of stakeholders involved and access to the relevant information.
Investment from £3,500 to £6,000, excluding VAT
The review is priced as a defined project rather than an open-ended allocation of days. The agreed fee covers the evidence review, stakeholder discussions, analysis, recommendations, written report and leadership presentation included within the confirmed scope.
The final scope, timeframe and fixed fee are agreed before the engagement begins.
Experience behind the review
I am a Chartered Marketer and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing with more than 20 years of experience across senior marketing leadership, digital, CRM, customer data, marketing operations and reputation.
I have led and assessed marketing functions through growth, leadership change, commercial uncertainty and organisational pressure.
That includes experience in regulated and reputationally sensitive environments where decisions must account for commercial performance, evidence, governance and risk.
Across my wider career, marketing and contact centre activity supported more than £18 million in sales across over 90,000 transactions. I have contributed to lead conversion improvements of more than 35 per cent and removed more than £150,000 from annual marketing costs while strengthening internal capability.
Those outcomes were created alongside wider teams, sales functions, operations and leadership. The purpose of sharing them is to demonstrate practical experience of improving how marketing works, not to pretend marketing acts alone.