Chief marketing officers and other executives at America’s biggest companies have a short window to make an impact on their organizations, according to new data from research firm Forrester.

The average tenure of a Fortune 500 CMO is only 4.1 years. And in business-to-business (B2B), it is only 3.6 years.

“Marketing executives are part of the company’s executive team and/or report to the CEO in 63% of Fortune 500 companies; 55% have the CMO title specifically,” Forrester says. “But these averages hide large disparities: In reality, marketing executives’ representation depends considerably on where they work and the business model of their company.”

Executives’ window to make an impact

On average, there are more women than men CMOs at Fortune 500 companies, but the gender can vary by industry.

“Female marketing executives account for 53% of the senior marketing leaders in Fortune 500 companies, but this also varies considerably by industry and by business model,” according to Forrester. “Women account for 71% of marketing executive leaders in utilities and telecom and 64% in health care but only 33% in media and entertainment. And 59% of marketing leaders at B2B2C firms are women, as are 51% at B2B firms, and 50% at B2C companies.”

Women senior marketing leaders have an average tenure of just 3.8 years versus 4.3 years for their male equivalents, Forrester reported.

“The gap between women and men is greatest in the media and entertainment industry at 2.3 years, followed by utilities and telecoms at 2.1 years,” according to Forrester. “However, health care, business services, and high-tech manufacturing show a slight reversal of the overall trend.”

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