Programs / Marketing leadership

Marketing Leadership Built Around Growth.

Most restaurants don’t have a marketing activity shortage. They have a marketing leadership gap.

Tempo provides senior marketing leadership that connects brand, customer acquisition, guest engagement, technology and measurement to what the business is actually trying to achieve.

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The tension

Doing More Marketing Doesn’t Mean You Have A Marketing Strategy.

A restaurant can be posting every day, sending emails, running Meta ads, paying an agency, hosting events, offering loyalty, responding to reviews, and constantly creating promotions—and still struggle to answer:

  • What are we trying to accomplish?
  • Who are we trying to reach?
  • Why should they choose us?
  • Which channels actually work?
  • How much should we spend?
  • Are guests coming back?
  • What should we stop doing?

Marketing activity creates motion. Strategy determines direction.

The CMO role

A CMO Doesn’t Just Manage Marketing.
A CMO decides what marketing should do for the business.

The CMO sits between business strategy and marketing execution.

Tempo helps ownership determine where growth should come from, which audiences matter, how the brand should compete, where marketing dollars should go, which channels deserve investment, how guests should move through the relationship, what the team should prioritize, and how performance should be measured.

The CMO creates the system behind the activity.

From business goal to marketing strategy

Start With The Business. Not The Channel.

Business goal: increase weekday dinner traffic. Everything below follows from that, in order.

  1. 01

    Audience

    Who can realistically change that?

  2. 02

    Offer / reason

    Why should they come?

  3. 03

    Message

    What do we say?

  4. 04

    Channel

    Where do we reach them?

  5. 05

    Experience

    What happens when they respond?

  6. 06

    Capture

    Can we identify them?

  7. 07

    Return

    How do we bring them back?

  8. 08

    Measurement

    Did it work?

That is a marketing strategy. Not: “We should probably post more Reels.”

Where the Fractional CMO helps

Senior Marketing Leadership Across The Guest Journey.

  • Growth strategy

    Determine where marketing can create the greatest business impact.

    Growth objectives · Market opportunities · Audience strategy · Annual planning · Campaign priorities · Budget allocation

  • Brand strategy

    Make the restaurant easier to understand, remember and choose.

    Positioning · Messaging · Concept strategy · Brand architecture · Competitive differentiation · Creative direction

  • Customer acquisition

    Create demand from new guests.

    Local search · Paid media · Social · Partnerships · PR · Promotions · Community marketing

  • Digital experience

    Turn attention into action.

    Website · Menus · Reservations · Online ordering · Calls · Directions · Landing pages · Conversion

  • Guest retention

    Give customers reasons to return.

    CRM · Email · SMS · Loyalty · Birthday marketing · Lifecycle campaigns · Guest segmentation

  • Reputation + advocacy

    Turn guest experience into growth.

    Reviews · Guest recovery · Reputation strategy · Referral · User-generated content · Word of mouth

  • Revenue channels

    Build marketing around high-value opportunities.

    Catering · Private events · Gift cards · Seasonal occasions · Special events · Promotions

  • Marketing operations

    Create a system the team can actually execute.

    Calendars · Workflows · Agency management · Vendor management · Technology · Measurement · Reporting

What this isn’t

Not Outsourced Social Media.

Tempo Fractional CMO isn’t simply posting, content creation, running ads, sending emails or managing promotions. Those tactics may be part of the strategy, but the CMO’s role exists above them.

The job is to decide where marketing should take the business—and align the resources needed to get there.

Who this is for

A Fractional CMO Is A Good Fit When…

  • You’re spending money on marketing but aren’t confident it’s working.
  • Your marketing team needs senior leadership.
  • You’re managing multiple agencies or vendors yourself.
  • Your brand and marketing feel disconnected.
  • Marketing has become a constant stream of promotions.
  • You aren’t capturing enough guest information.
  • Your CRM or loyalty platform is underused.
  • You need more catering or private-event business.
  • You’re opening another location.
  • You need a clear annual marketing strategy.
  • You have execution resources but no one truly owns marketing at the leadership level.

You’re doing marketing. You need someone to lead it.

Engagement model

Ongoing Marketing Leadership Without The Full-Time Hire.

Tempo Fractional CMO is a recurring strategic leadership engagement. Scope depends on the number of locations and concepts, growth plans, existing marketing resources and the complexity of the guest journey — so it is scoped per engagement rather than sold at a list price.

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Marketing Activity Creates Motion.
Strategy determines direction.

If nobody owns marketing at the leadership level, the calendar ends up owning it instead.

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