Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)

• Monitoring campaign performance
• Cost per lead
• Revenue per lead
• Sales cycle
• Sales alerts
• Older leads
• Sales materials

The CMO will have ownership of Highrise Capital's overall marketing strategy and will work directly with executive leadership and the sales organization.

You will be responsible for building the infrastructure necessary to take Highrise Capital's marketing operation to the next level.

You will oversee the complete customer acquisition funnel:

The successful candidate will understand that generating leads is only the beginning.

The real objective is to generate high-quality opportunities that ultimately result in funded business and profitable customer relationships.

You will have significant responsibility for marketing strategy, customer acquisition, performance marketing, CRM, marketing automation, creative, analytics, brand development, team building, and conversion optimization.

Key Responsibilities

Marketing Strategy & Growth

• Develop and execute Highrise Capital's overall marketing strategy
• Build a scalable customer acquisition engine
• Establish annual, quarterly, and monthly marketing objectives
• Develop and manage the marketing budget
• Identify new channels for customer acquisition
• Analyze market trends and competitive positioning
• Develop strategies to increase qualified lead volume
• Improve the quality and conversion of marketing-generated opportunities
• Develop strategies for customer retention, repeat business, and database reactivation
• Work directly with the CEO and executive team to align marketing strategy with company growth objectives

Lead Generation

Own Highrise Capital's lead-generation strategy across multiple channels, including:

• Google
• Meta
• LinkedIn
• YouTube
• Native advertising
• SEO
• Email marketing
• SMS marketing
• Retargeting
• Affiliate marketing
• Strategic partnerships
• Referral programs
• Database reactivation
• Content marketing
• Direct-response campaigns
• Emerging digital acquisition channels

The CMO will be responsible for determining which channels provide the strongest combination of:
Lead Volume + Lead Quality + Conversion + Revenue + Profitability

We are not interested in generating leads simply for the sake of generating leads.

We want to build a system that produces qualified business owners who can become funded customers of Highrise Capital.

Performance Marketing

Build and manage a data-driven performance marketing operation.

Responsibilities include:

• Developing paid acquisition strategy
• Managing advertising budgets
• Establishing campaign KPIs
• Monitoring campaign performance
• Managing internal media buyers and external agencies
• Developing creative testing strategies
• Optimizing campaigns
• Scaling successful campaigns
• Identifying underperforming channels
• Testing new advertising platforms
• Improving customer acquisition economics
• Establishing appropriate attribution systems

You should be comfortable looking at marketing data and determining:

• Where are we spending money?
• What are we getting in return?
• Which channels should we scale?
• Which channels should we change or eliminate?

Sales Funnel Optimization

The CMO will work closely with Highrise Capital's sales leadership to improve conversion throughout the entire funnel.

Key metrics include:

• Cost per lead
• Lead quality
• Contact rate
• Application rate
• Qualified opportunity rate
• Approval rate
• Funding rate
• Lead-to-funding conversion
• Revenue per lead
• Cost per funded deal
• Customer acquisition cost
• Marketing ROI
• Sales cycle
• Repeat customer rate

The CMO will identify bottlenecks and develop strategies to improve performance at every stage.

CRM & Marketing Automation

Develop and optimize Highrise Capital's CRM and marketing automation infrastructure.

This includes:

• Lead routing
• Lead scoring
• Automated follow-up
• Email campaigns
• SMS campaigns
• Retargeting
• Customer segmentation
• Database management
• Re-engagement campaigns
• Marketing attribution
• Sales alerts
• Campaign tracking
• Automated customer communications

The goal is to ensure that qualified prospects receive timely, relevant communication throughout their customer journey.

Database Reactivation

One of the most valuable assets of a financial services company is its existing database.

The CMO will develop strategies to maximize the value of Highrise Capital's existing prospect and customer database.

Campaigns may target:

• Previous customers
• Previous applicants
• Older leads
• Unresponsive prospects
• Declined applicants where appropriate
• Customers with additional financing needs
• Repeat funding opportunities
• Referral opportunities

The objective is to turn existing relationships and historical marketing investment into additional opportunities for Highrise Capital.

Brand & Positioning

Develop a strong and differentiated Highrise Capital brand within the alternative business financing marketplace.

Responsibilities include:

• Brand positioning
• Messaging
• Website strategy
• Digital presence
• Marketing materials
• Sales collateral
• Customer testimonials
• Case studies
• Educational content
• Video
• Social media
• Industry-specific campaigns

Highrise Capital should present itself as a professional, credible, responsive, and knowledgeable financing partner for business owners.

Website & Conversion Optimization

Own the strategy for Highrise Capital's digital properties.

Continuously improve:

• Website conversion
• Landing pages
• Lead forms
• Calls-to-action
• Application flow
• User experience
• Mobile experience
• Page performance
• Analytics
• SEO
• Conversion rates

The CMO should establish a culture of continuous testing.

Test:

• Headlines
• Offers
• Creative
• Messaging
• Landing pages
• Forms
• Calls-to-action
• Customer segments
• Advertising formats

Every significant marketing initiative should have a measurable objective.

Creative Strategy

Lead Highrise Capital's creative marketing strategy.

Oversee the development of:

• Digital advertising
• Video advertising
• Social media creative
• Landing pages
• Email campaigns
• Sales materials
• Direct-response campaigns
• Educational content
• Customer testimonials
• Case studies

The CMO should understand that creative is both an art and a measurable acquisition tool.

Sales Enablement

Marketing and sales must operate as one revenue organization.

The CMO will work closely with sales leadership to develop:

• Sales presentations
• Product materials
• Industry-specific campaigns
• Customer case studies
• Email templates
• Marketing collateral
• Objection-handling resources
• Competitive positioning
• Sales messaging
• Campaign-specific sales materials

Marketing should give Highrise Capital's sales team the tools and information necessary to convert qualified opportunities into funded business.

Analytics & Reporting

Build a comprehensive marketing reporting system.

Executive reporting should provide visibility into:

Marketing

• Advertising spend
• Leads
• Cost per lead
• Qualified leads
• Cost per qualified lead
• Conversion rates

Sales Funnel

• Contact rate
• Application rate
• Approval rate
• Funding rate
• Lead-to-funding conversion
• Revenue per lead

Financial Performance

• Customer acquisition cost
• Cost per funded deal
• Marketing-generated revenue
• Return on advertising spend
• Marketing ROI
• Revenue contribution

Customer

• Repeat business
• Reactivation
• Customer retention
• Referral activity
• Customer acquisition

The CMO will be expected to use data to make decisions rather than relying on assumptions or vanity metrics.

Team Leadership

Build and lead Highrise Capital's marketing organization.

As the company grows, the marketing organization may include:

• Marketing Managers
• Performance Marketers
• Media Buyers
• Copywriters
• Graphic Designers
• Video Producers
• SEO Specialists
• CRM/Automation Specialists
• Data Analysts
• Marketing Coordinators
• Outside Agencies

The CMO will be responsible for:

• Recruiting
• Hiring
• Training
• Performance management
• Compensation structures
• KPI development
• Accountability
• Team culture
• Professional development

Agency & Vendor Management

Manage and evaluate external marketing partners, including:

• Advertising agencies
• Lead providers
• Media partners
• Creative agencies
• SEO firms
• Technology providers
• CRM providers
• Data providers
• Marketing automation platforms

All outside relationships should be evaluated based on measurable performance, strategic value, and economics.

Compliance & Responsible Marketing

Highrise Capital operates in the financial-services industry, and marketing must be conducted responsibly.

The CMO will work with company leadership and appropriate legal/compliance resources to ensure that marketing campaigns, advertising, customer communications, disclosures, data practices, and lead-generation activities comply with applicable laws, regulations, platform policies, and company standards.

We expect our marketing organization to pursue growth while maintaining high standards for accuracy, transparency, professionalism, and responsible communication.

Requirements

• Proven experience in performance marketing and lead generation
• Experience managing significant marketing budgets
• Demonstrated ability to connect marketing spend to measurable revenue
• Strong understanding of digital acquisition
• Strong understanding of sales funnels and conversion optimization
• Experience with CRM and marketing automation
• Strong analytical and financial skills
• Experience hiring and managing marketing teams
• Excellent communication skills
• Strong strategic and operational capabilities
• Entrepreneurial mindset
• Ability to operate in a fast-paced, highly competitive environment

Preferred Experience

Experience in one or more of the following industries is strongly preferred:

• Merchant Cash Advance
• Business financing
• Commercial lending
• Alternative finance
• Fintech
• Small-business lending
• Merchant services
• Business banking
• Insurance
• B2B financial services
• Direct-response marketing
• Lead generation
• High-ticket sales
• Call-center sales

Candidates with direct experience scaling customer acquisition in financial services will be strongly considered.

The Ideal Highrise Capital CMO

Revenue-focused

You measure marketing based on its contribution to revenue and profitability.

Data-driven

You understand the numbers behind customer acquisition and use data to make decisions.

Entrepreneurial

You can operate without layers of corporate bureaucracy and are comfortable building systems from the ground up.

Competitive

You are constantly looking for opportunities to improve performance and gain market share.

Analytical

You understand CAC, CPL, CPA, ROAS, LTV, conversion rates, attribution, and funnel economics.

Creative

You understand that positioning, messaging, offers, and creative can dramatically impact acquisition performance.

Hands-on

You are comfortable getting into the details when necessary.

A Leader

You know how to recruit talented people, establish accountability, and build a high-performance marketing organization.

First 90 Days

First 30 Days

• Audit Highrise Capital's current marketing operation
• Review all existing acquisition channels
• Analyze marketing spend and performance
• Evaluate lead quality
• Analyze the sales funnel
• Review CRM and marketing automation
• Evaluate existing agencies and vendors
• Establish baseline KPIs
• Identify immediate opportunities for improvement

Days 31-60

• Develop the comprehensive Highrise Capital marketing growth plan
• Establish channel-level performance targets
• Begin implementing funnel improvements
• Develop creative testing strategies
• Improve marketing reporting and attribution
• Develop database reactivation strategies
• Evaluate new acquisition channels
• Establish marketing team structure and hiring priorities

Days 61-90

• Launch new marketing initiatives
• Begin scaling successful acquisition channels
• Implement improved reporting
• Establish ongoing testing processes
• Improve marketing-to-sales communication
• Present a longer-term marketing roadmap to executive leadership
• Establish a repeatable framework for measuring marketing contribution to revenue

What Success Looks Like

The successful CMO will build a predictable, scalable, measurable customer acquisition engine for Highrise Capital.

Success will include:

• Increased qualified lead volume
• Improved lead quality
• Higher lead-to-funding conversion
• More efficient marketing spend
• Increased marketing-attributed revenue
• Additional profitable acquisition channels
• Improved database reactivation
• Stronger customer retention and repeat opportunities
• A high-performing marketing team
• Reliable marketing attribution
• A culture of continuous testing and optimization

Benefits

• Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
• Retirement Plan (401k, IRA)
• Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
• Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
• Family Leave (Maternity, Paternity)
• Training & Development