I see the same pattern in construction company org charts.

There’s a CEO, CFO, VPs of Operations, Safety directors, Estimating managers, and Preconstruction.

And then there’s marketing. Usually, a 23-year-old coordinator with less than two years of experience. Or a proposal specialist who writes RFPs.

That’s the entire marketing department.

Which means the person actually running your marketing strategy is your CEO or your CFO. And here’s what happens in each scenario.

When Your CFO Runs Marketing

CFOs are trained to manage risk and measure ROI. They apply this lens to every marketing decision.

The result? You spend nothing on brand building. Every dollar needs an immediate, measurable return. You can’t justify the investment in content marketing, SEO, or thought leadership because the payoff takes 18 months.

Your CFO typically doesn’t understand your buyer. They don’t get your company’s vision. They see marketing as a cost center that needs to prove its value every quarter.

So you end up with reactive decisions. A sponsorship request comes in, and your CFO analyzes it to death. No decision gets made. Or worse, they say yes to things that feel safe and no to things that would actually move the needle.

When Your CEO Runs Marketing

CEOs in construction typically rose through the ranks as builders. They understand the work. They know the buyer. They set the vision.

But they don’t know how to implement a marketing strategy.

So every sponsorship becomes a gut decision. Does it feel right today? Then yes. Does it feel off? Then no. There’s no strategy. No budget. Just instinct.

And your CEO doesn’t have time for this. They’re running a construction company. Marketing becomes whatever they can squeeze in between actual business decisions.

The Real Cost of This Gap

When you lack marketing leadership, you become a commodity.

You can’t define what makes your company unique. You can’t create a valuable offering that stands apart. You end up saying the same thing as 75% of the industry: “We’re on time and on budget.”

That’s not differentiation. That’s the baseline. That’s what clients expect before they even consider you.

When every construction company sounds the same, clients have one way to tell you apart. Price.

This leads to lower profits. Higher client turnover. Higher employee turnover. More money is spent on recruiting. You’re stuck in a cycle where you can’t break free because you don’t have someone who knows how to break it.

Why Construction Companies Don’t Fix This Marketing Leadership Problem

Two reasons. Budget and talent scarcity.

You don’t want to pay for a full-time marketing director. And even if you did, there aren’t many experienced marketing leaders who understand construction. The industry ignored marketing for so long that we don’t have a deep bench of VP and CMO-level talent.

But here’s what you need to understand. You hire a VP of Operations without blinking. You bring in Project Executives at six figures. You invest in the roles that directly impact your work.

Marketing feels optional because you don’t see the impact good marketing can have on your company.

What Marketing Leadership Actually Does

A real marketing leader creates a strategy. They don’t shoot from the hip. They define your brand and messaging. They develop your ideal client profile and target markets.

They improve the customer, client, and employee experience. They invest in the right tools. They run targeted digital advertising. They build SEO and content marketing programs that compound over time.

They make your proposals stand out. They send client gifts that people remember. They create holiday cards that don’t look like everyone else’s.

Most importantly, they stop you from making emotional decisions or over-analyzing every opportunity. They have a strategy and a budget. They know what to say yes to and what to pass on.

The Fractional Solution

Most small to mid-sized contractors don’t need a full-time CMO. You need someone who can set the strategy, help implement it, and mentor your marketing coordinator.

That’s where fractional CMOs come in.

You get experienced marketing leadership without the full-time cost. You get someone who understands construction. And you get someone who can actually execute, not just advise.

Your marketing is no longer the blind leading the blind, led by someone who doesn’t understand marketing. Your marketing coordinator gets a real marketing leader who knows the industry and knows how to build a program that works.

Start With One Question

Ask yourself who runs marketing at your company.

If the answer is you, your CFO, or a coordinator with less than two years of experience, you have a leadership gap.

And that gap is costing you more than you realize.