I’ve been an executive financial advisor for nearly 30 years, and there is a common theme among CEOs with small marketing departments. I’ve never heard a CEO say, “I love my marketing team.” Quite the opposite. The ongoing arguments I keep hearing are that they are slow, lack ideas and energy, and don’t see a bigger impact on revenue.

I’m sure there are many exceptions to my small sample size. But I fully understand their frustration, and I believe both the CEOs and the marketing departments share in the blame for weak performance.

While I believe most small businesses could nix their marketing departments, the answer is not replacing them with a marketing agency. Worse results could ensue. Instead, I’ll share three ideas to get an in-house marketing team back on track. But I’ll still share a radical idea for working without an in-house marketing department (generally for businesses with revenue under $25 million).