Wpromote’s Megan McDonagh on the CMO-CFO relationship in the tariffs era

The CMO-CFO relationship is under the microscope more than ever, as economic uncertainty hangs over the advertising industry.

Megan McDonagh, CMO of the independent agency Wpromote, says every dollar spent must now be accountable and showing impact is at a premium. In a conversation with The Current Editor-in-Chief Stephanie Paterik, McDonagh also dished on dynamics between indie agencies and holding companies amid the ongoing agency consolidations.

Wpromote is an indie agency that’s really shot out of a cannon and become one of the fastest-growing agencies. From your perspective, what has been the biggest growth driver?

We’ve been very true to our performance roots. We grew up as a performance agency and then we’ve gone from there and expanded to more full funnel.

We’ve also stayed very true to the kind of clients that we work really well with — clients that want to challenge the status quo or have a challenger mindset that we can help unlock to really grow and succeed and win. And that’s why we’ve done really well.

We’ve also established a proprietary software platform that helps our clients understand how well their media is performing and where do we need to do optimizations. That gives our account teams the kind of insights and intelligence to help guide their clients in the right way. The combination of all of that has really helped.

Our industry seems to be bending toward consolidation. How does an indie agency break through?

It’s a good time to be [at an] indie agency because we have a lot of agility. We can move fast. We can respond to either industry changes or market changes or any needs of our client. We can respond really fast because we’re very agile, but it’s more agile with a purpose.

And again, with our tech platform, we’re able to find out quick insights and make adjustments, which is helpful in dealing with our clients. It’s just a matter of staying true to who you are and true to your vision and mission. On top of knowing who your great client partners are.

And [to] create that partner relationship with [our] clients, not that vendor relationship, we’re helping them figure out how they can win and be successful. That’s really what we’re looking for.

What’s your practical advice for bringing brand marketing and performance marketing closer together?

It starts with understanding what the business objectives are of that particular client or brand and then figuring out where the investment [is] needed to make sure that you’re having a balanced and integrated campaign across the funnel.

At the end of the day, performance media is great, but we want to make sure that we’re helping our clients build long-lasting relationships with their customers.

It’s great if you have clients that buy your product, but you really want customers to love your product and to care about you as a brand. That’s going to actually create long-term stickiness with your brand versus having to acquire those customers again and again and again. The more that you can get your customers to care about you — that’s where the brand piece comes in.

But we also really help them figure out, “How much should I invest in short-term performance? And how much should I invest in a little bit more of that long-term brand-building?” We have tools that help us optimize that and balance it.

It’s kind of different for every client because some have a stronger brand than others. So we’re constantly thinking about that because you have to have that full-funnel look in order to be successful.

We talked about you being the first CMO. What is your relationship with your CFO like? And in a year where macroeconomics are top of mind for everyone, how are your conversations changing?

I’m actually really lucky because I have a really wonderful CFO who understands the marketing side, which is great.

Again, it starts with shared objectives and being really transparent with data and what we’re trying to do and keeping them up to date on where we’re investing, how it’s performing and what kind of impact we’re making.

But it’s also my responsibility to make sure that for every dollar that we invest as an agency that it’s responsible and driving impact, because that’s my duty to him.

It has to go both ways. He has to understand what marketing is doing and what’s the value. And I have to understand and respect his job as the CFO to be fiscally responsible and grow the agency in the right way, so we have that great shared relationship.