C-Suite Sales & Marketing Perspectives (Steven MacDonald)

Eric Steele, the CRO at Source Advisors and a 15-year veteran at Forrester, stresses that the future of the B2B revenue engine lies in total alignment and strong brand equity. As B2B buyers become more empowered and knowledgeable, it is essential for companies to create a seamless alignment between sales, marketing, and customer success. This alignment not only ensures a consistent and valuable customer experience but also drives growth and success for the business as a whole.

Eric discusses one of the most important subjects impacting the B2B companies today: the future of the B2B revenue engine. Eric also draws upon his insights from 15 years at Forrester and explains the increasing importance of total alignment and brand equity in a company's growth. He highlights the necessity of understanding and serving the customer at a higher level, the role and importance of revenue operations, and the significant role people, leadership, and personalities play in aligning a unifying vision.

"The future of the B2B revenue engine is total seamless alignment with sales, marketing, and customer success as one team, one dream, common metrics, common goals, and a common vision.” - Eric Steele

Total alignment in the revenue organization means having one customer and one vision for serving, retaining, and growing that customer. It requires breaking down silos and eliminating competing agendas. The revenue engine should operate as one team with common metrics, goals, and vision. This alignment is crucial in meeting the high expectations of B2B buyers who expect sales reps to be knowledgeable about their business, lead with insights, and understand the outcomes their business can achieve by working with the company, strengthened by the brand.

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In this interview, 2x CMO and former CRO Dayna Rothman discusses her insights from her time as CMO at OneLogin, where she learned from the failure of three previous CMOs due to their inability to benchmark and track the business impact of marketing and report it all the way up through the board. 

Dayna states, "Making those connections and ensuring that the organization understands marketing's impact on the business is crucial."

Dayna also believes that data-driven content is key to thought leadership and advisory roles in sales. She highlights the importance of leveraging internal research and unique data to create valuable content that educates and nurtures prospects throughout the buyer's journey. Dayna advises CMOs and CROs to understand each other's businesses, respect each other's contributions, and work together towards the common goal of revenue generation.

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In this interview, Neil Morrison, Global Head of Measurement at Signal AI, discusses key advancements in AI as discriminative AI, which allows for the identification of specific concepts within unstructured data. Morrison explains that discriminative AI enables companies to track their brand mentions, identify relevant topics, and measure their performance against competitors. Companies can gain insights into their brand expertise and trust score by analyzing media coverage. Morrison emphasizes the importance of understanding the full scope of AI capabilities and distinguishing between discriminative AI and generative AI.

Neil also talks about the importance of tracking brand reputation and thought leadership content in today's media landscape. He explains how discriminative AI can identify key topics and sentiments to help companies establish trust and expertise. Businesses can effectively forecast and target their thought leadership content by analyzing data, leading to better decision-making and financial impact.

"If you think about trust, it is a key element of reputation, and reputation has a financial element to it. One of our consulting clients has put a financial figure on how much trust impacts their business—and it goes into the billions." - Neil Morrison

Neil eloquently demonstrates the power of thought leadership in shaping brand reputation and how trust cannot be underestimated. He explains why companies must track their brand mentions, measure their trust score, and strategically target thought leadership topics to stay ahead of the competition.

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💡 Sebastiano Pistritto, Chief Marketing Officer at ParcelShield, shares invaluable insights on how to shift the sales perspective from pushing products to building relationships based on trust and understanding. By emphasizing the importance of listening, asking the right questions, and offering solutions rather than sales pitches, Sebastian outlines a strategic approach to sales that focuses on customer-centricity and rapport building.💡

"Build trust and go out not thinking you want to sell someone—go out thinking that you want to build a relationship with someone." - Sebastiano Pistritto

Sebastiano Pistritto's insights, drawn from his experience as a four-time B2B tech CMO, emphasize the crucial role of building credibility, delivering value, and nurturing industry connections. He advocates for sales professionals to position themselves as trusted advisors by consistently offering valuable insights and fostering meaningful relationships with potential clients, ultimately establishing a foundation of trust that can significantly influence purchasing decisions.

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Anita Tulsiani, a 2x CMO with a background in high tech, explains how CMOs must foster strong relationships with product, finance, and sales leadership to excel, moving beyond their functional roles. Marketers can align their strategies and drive revenue by understanding the customer, profitability, and pain points better than anyone, giving them a voice at the table in the C-suite. Collaboration is key! 

"As the CMO, fall in love with your product and carve out a voice at the table from a different lens than others in the C-Suite." - Anita Tulsiani

Anita stresses that having a unified internal and external narrative and fostering a genuine passion for the products being marketed and the customers being served is essential. She also emphasizes creating a unique value proposition as critical for marketing, ensuring alignment with sales and allowing for a consistent story and differentiation in a crowded market. She reminds us not to underestimate the power of a well-crafted value proposition.

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Are you struggling to create content marketing that impacts revenue? Having a hard time justifying growing your content budgets? Want to know how to overcome the biggest content marketing fail?

In this podcast interview, Mary Keough, the Head of Marketing at Map My Customers, sheds light on the Top 10 challenges faced in content marketing in the B2B sector. According to Mary, content holds the utmost significance and should be the focal point of any marketing strategy.

During the discussion with Steve MacDonald, Mary Keough delves into the major internal and skillset obstacles encountered in content marketing. She places great emphasis on securing support from the C-suite or leadership for any content marketing initiative. Additionally, Mary highlights a common oversight in content marketing regarding the selection of appropriate distribution channels. She believes that many B2B companies fail to make the necessary effort to ensure their content is disseminated across the right channels, such as organic social media, email, paid social, and more. Mary underscores the importance of actively selecting and promoting the right content to reach the intended target audience effectively.

Specifically, Mary shares insights into how her B2B company leverages podcasts to produce its highest-quality content. For starters, podcasts serve as a platform for interviewing customers and creating case studies, as well as conducting interviews with prospects to foster relationships. She discusses how podcast creation not only helps her company solidify its product-market fit and go-to-market strategy but also enables them to maintain connections with prospects who may not be ready to make a purchase yet. Finally, Mary emphasizes the significance of broadening perspectives in order to contribute value to the industry and shares her tips on how to grow your content budget that will blow you away.

Learn how Mary overcomes all the most important challenges content marketers face:

• Setting the stage for overcoming challenges to creating great content marketing
• Overcoming the greatest internal challenges
• Overcoming skillset challenges
• Overcoming the biggest content marketing fail
• Overcoming the challenges around content quality
• Overcoming sales challenges
• Putting perspective around content marketing challenges
• Addressing the challenge of how much to spend on content marketing
• The challenges of measuring and reporting on content marketing
• The overall takeaway around the challenges to running successful content marketing
• Overcoming the challenges of growing the content marketing budget

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Despite being bootstrapped, Kenneth Burke, the VP of Marketing at TexRequest, discusses the value of content marketing as a cost-effective strategy. While it required time and effort, it allowed them to build a reputation, attract qualified traffic, and serve as sales enablement tools.

"Look at your startup, resources, or time limitations as opportunities and reframe them." - Kenneth Burke

Kenneth emphasizes the importance of putting oneself in the customer's shoes and creating content that would be genuinely helpful to them, even beyond the solutions surrounding your company.

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In this interview, we dive into the challenges and strategies of being a one-person marketing department. Our guest, Ken Lempit from the Austin Lawrence group, shares his wealth of knowledge from serving over 100 B2B SaaS clients.

Ken emphasizes the importance of setting expectations, negotiating resources with the CEO, and benchmarking budget allocations. He also highlights the value of thought leadership and credible content in reaching the 97% of potential customers who are not actively searching for a solution.

"All of us are going after the 3%, and you're only going to get your share. The place where you're going to get more than your fair share is up in the funnel a little further, and that's the domain of thought leadership." - Ken Lempit

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💡 Jeremiah Glodoveza, SVP and Global Head of Marketing and Communication at NIUM, discusses how B2B marketing can learn from the entertainment industry’s storytelling techniques. He highlights the importance of emotional engagement, experiential content, and character development in captivating audiences. He also explores AI’s role in personalizing content and balancing emotional and rational marketing. 💡

"In B2B, the reference point is becoming the entertainment space because they do an exceptional job in many areas of marketing. From storytelling and creating experiences to building anticipation for products and how they heroize characters in their productions, there’s much we, in marketing, can learn from the entertainment industry." - Jeremiah Glodoveza

Jeremiah highlights that B2B marketing is shifting towards entertainment strategies to cut through the noise of content overload. He emphasizes the power of dynamic storytelling to engage customers emotionally and intellectually, positioning them as heroes in relatable narratives. He also points out how AI is transforming B2B marketing by personalizing content, enhancing engagement, and fostering stronger connections.

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The alignment between marketing and sales is a perennial challenge for B2B companies. However, Shawn Conahan (CRO of the Year) and Tristan Barnum (CMO) have shown that overcoming this challenge and creating a successful partnership is possible. They have built a high-performing team committed to their client partners' success by fostering trust, collaboration, co-ownership, and a shared vision.

"We have a culture of freedom and responsibility. Not every company has that, but we tell our entire team on a periodic basis, remember that you have the freedom to do whatever it is that you want within the constraints of what we're trying to accomplish here." - Shawn Conahan, CRO of the Year

The unique compensation structure at Wildfire, which focuses on long-term incentives, has helped to create a culture of collaboration and a commitment to the ongoing success of their clients, whom they call partners. This, combined with their open communication, daily standups, and a POV that the real work with clients only starts at the close of a deal from sales, is all part of the unique perspective that drives their success.

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💡 Michael Zalle, CEO of YellowBird, discusses his journey as an entrepreneurial leader, emphasizing the critical role that foundational core values play in driving not only internal company culture but also client relationships and overall business success. He shares insights drawn from his extensive experience founding and leading tech startups, focusing on the essential distinction between values and principles. 💡

“The numbers reflect the outcome and the output, which ties back to core values. It involves asking oneself if they can sleep at night, knowing they handled the situation with humility while staying true to what they stand for.” - Michael Zalle

Michael, as the CEO of YellowBird, which upholds a core value framework centered around authenticity, ownership, lifelong learning, and the unique concept of being ‘spicy,’ shares insights on how these principles drive decision-making, enhancing internal dynamics, client satisfaction, and growth. He highlights that staying true to these values fosters trusted client relationships and strengthens company culture.

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💡 Shaun Rowan-Popoff, SVP of Marketing at Green Dot Corporation , shares insights on bridging B2C lessons into the realm of B2B marketing to foster impactful growth partnerships. She delves into the significance of aligning with business partners’ goals, maintaining brand relevance, and elevating executives as thought leaders within their respective industries.💡

"B2B partnerships are important because there is the relevance of your brand that you want to continue to elevate, and the right partnerships can position and move your brand with a specific company to the next level." - Shaun Rowan-Popoff

Shaun Rowan-Popoff’s insights delve into how critical it is to cultivate strong B2B partnerships. She emphasizes that building these relationships can significantly boost brand relevance and drive long-term success. She also highlights the importance of aligning business strategies with a solid brand foundation, which is key to achieving sustainable growth. 

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Ryan George, the Chief Marketing Officer of DocuPace Technologies, boasts more than two decades of experience in the realm of marketing communications. His expertise lies in cultivating an all-encompassing and unified marketing strategy. He achieves this by initially deriving value from and integrating insights across all company departments into his blueprint for success. 

"Don't be fooled into thinking that your job description or your specific role is where you add the most value to the organization. CMOs should be the glue that connects different departments and helps them understand their role in the company's success." - Ryan George

Ryan underscores the significance of harmonizing external and internal priorities, fostering interdepartmental connections, and assuming the role of cohesive force within the organization. He supports his insights with tangible instances of successfully implementing these approaches.

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💡 Tom Venable, Chief Commercial Officer at Aprios Customer MFG, delves into how businesses need to realign their go-to-market strategies to fit the digital age. He shares his extensive knowledge of how the buying journey has shifted over the years and why understanding this change is crucial for B2B companies aiming to remain competitive.💡

"Keep your content relevant. Keep it fresh, new, entertaining, and fun. Give your target market content they can use to improve their lives and build trust." - Tom Venable

Tom highlights the transformative impact of digitalization on B2B buying, driven by the internet and evolving customer needs. He stresses the importance of a seamless, self-service experience like B2C, requiring strategic content development. Building trust through valuable, industry-relevant content is essential. The episode offers insights on adapting to change, leveraging AI, and staying competitive in a dynamic market.

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Introducing Daniel Christian, the Senior Vice President of Marketing at Tradesmen International. Daniel is a proficient bridge builder between marketing strategy and profitability. His distinctive perspective stems from his leadership experience in marketing, running customer support, and the incorporation of insights from all internal departments. This collection of experiences forms his unique approach, termed "internal thought leadership.” By bringing together external perspectives with internal teams and anchoring them to the company's vision and mission, marketers can become thought leaders, propelling growth. Daniel aligns the company's internal focus with customer needs through the concept of a common unit of measure, effectively closing the gap between customer desires and corporate profitability.

"Because of the absolute focus on the customer and extensive internal touchpoints across departments, marketing has a unique opportunity to establish internal thought leadership by aligning the external and internal strategies of the company into a roadmap that the team can take to stay one step ahead of the competition.” - Daniel Christian

Topics covered:

• Establishing internal thought leadership
• Visualizing the story for internal teams
• Customer KPIs in a new light
• Filling the marketing gap
• When done right, content is more than vital
• The one measure that moves the P&L

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Ron Carson, a CMO, former founder, and Forbes Communications Council member with 25+ years of experience, shares his perspective on the critical role of a CMO and the importance of "just asking" customers for insights. He emphasizes the need for marketing departments to stay connected with customers and non-customers to understand their needs, motivations, and preferred channels of communication.  

"Without having regular customer conversations, you risk being untethered from our customer base." - Ron Carson

By having direct and ongoing conversations, marketing can align their content and messaging with the customer journey, uncover blind spots, and ensure a positive customer experience that directly impacts renewals, referrals, cross-sells, and upsells. Ron encourages CMOs to prioritize customer conversations that drive success at all levels. 

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Introducing Morgan DiGiorgio, the Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at DirectMail 2.0. Morgan is directly responsible for capitalizing on the potential of aligning the sales & marketing functions. Her results? An impressive 152% growth over three years. Despite a challenging market environment for her Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs), her strategies have helped lead the company to secure a spot on the Inc. 5000 list for the past three consecutive years. Learn from her successes during this in-depth interview.

“My sales team heavily relies upon us to put out that content marketing so that they can take advantage of it on their sales lines. So, without it, they would be screaming at me. Hey, where's our marketing? Where are our leads? What are you guys doing over there?” - Morgan DiGiorgio

Click through to learn more about Morgan's POV on serving her industry, providing valuable content, and integrating it into the sales process.

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Introducing Bruno Trimouille, the CMO of Littera. Bruno shares his insights on managing a major transformation after acquiring twelve different brands. He stresses the importance of aligning marketing and sales in an Account-Based Marketing (ABM) world where value-added selling requires the focus of a single brand and the thought leadership content to drive a new level of market expertise emerging from the company.  

"I really look at it as, I mean, first and foremost is the people, you know, do we have the right people on the team?" - Bruno Trimouille

He discusses the challenges and opportunities of a company's growth and acquisition and how to create a cohesive marketing engine. He also highlights the importance of having a North Star and keeping things simple in the midst of a transformation.

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Alex Shevelenko, CEO of RELAYTO, a content experiences company, discusses how content experiences can revolutionize how businesses engage with their customers. By transforming static content into dynamic and interactive experiences, businesses can create a more immersive and personalized journey for their audience. 

"In the world of modern consumerism, people want to interact. They don't want to hear a lecture. The interesting thing is how do you use AI? How do you use digital tools to create an interactive experience for your customers that makes them experience emotions, move forward with ideas, implement something, and make it their own?" - Alex Shevelenko

In this podcast interview, Alex explains how businesses can enhance credibility and engagement by including multimedia elements and authentic voices. Content experiences are crucial in creating differentiation and delivering impactful messages. The future of marketing lies in the ability to create compelling and interactive experiences that resonate with customers and drive meaningful outcomes.

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In this episode, fractional CMO Michael Baer argues that a strong brand and a comprehensive understanding of the customer are prerequisites for sustainable growth. Companies can create content that fosters meaningful interactions with their brand only when they truly comprehend their customers and their needs. By leveraging this understanding, businesses can develop a compelling and attractive differentiating factor that resonates with their target audience.

Michael goes on to emphasize that content acts as the lifeblood or 'oxygen' for any B2B brand. It catalyzes customers to engage with the company and begin envisioning it as a potential solution to their problems. By consistently providing valuable and relevant content, businesses can establish themselves as industry leaders with a unique POV and build trust among their audience.

Tune in to this enlightening episode as we explore the significance of content marketing in the B2B landscape and unravel the secrets to creating impactful and engaging content that captivates customers. Join us as we gain valuable insights from Michael Baer and Steven MacDonald on becoming a content-driven powerhouse in the B2B world.

Watch the podcast on YouTube.

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💡 Denis Scott, CMO at CharterUP, shares invaluable insights on the intricacies of marketing and selling in new categories. With extensive experience across various industries, Denis has honed his expertise in crafting marketing strategies that reshape customer perceptions and redefine industry challenges. His deep knowledge in building categories from the ground up helps businesses navigate uncharted markets effectively. 💡

"As a CMO, you have to come in and understand what a growth trend looks like and what we desire it to look like. You need to determine how we're going to go about achieving that growth. It's crucial to take other business leaders and the board on the journey of why you're going to invest in the way you're going to invest." - Denis Scott

Denis also reflects on his current role at CharterUP, where he is revolutionizing the group transportation industry by introducing a digital booking solution for charter buses. He emphasizes the importance of defining customer profiles and leveraging account-based marketing, combining business acumen with creative marketing strategies to achieve success. His journey highlights the power of innovation in marketing, particularly when transforming traditional processes through digital solutions.

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In this podcast, join Marc McNamara, Founder and CEO of The Enablement Group, and Brian Cleary, a former CMO and Chief Strategy Officer, as they delve into the crucial topic of sales enablement and the significant role of content in this process. The discussion centers around the vital importance of providing salespeople with well-curated and organized content that is readily available to them.

Throughout the conversation, they shed light on the challenges that arise in content management and stress the significance of measuring content utilization, attribution, and engagement and how these indicators help sellers easily serve and engage with potential buyers. Notably, they underscore the value of thought leadership content, which is pivotal in establishing trust and credibility with buyers while positioning sellers as experts in their domain.

A key theme that emerges is the necessity for seamless collaboration between the marketing and sales teams to effectively leverage content, ultimately driving sales success. By synergizing efforts and aligning strategies, both departments can empower salespeople with the tools they need to succeed, enhancing overall business performance.

“Content is the lifeblood of modern organizations. It needs to be curated, organized, and served up to sales reps in a way that guides them to success. The key is to provide relevant content that is ready to be used in the context of the buyer's journey.” - Marc McNamara

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Jamie Gier, a three-time B2B CMO, discusses the challenges faced by B2B CMOs and why they often fail quickly. She emphasizes the difficulty of creating a brand and generating high-quality content in a B2B environment with elongated sales cycles and multiple decision-makers. 

"Today's brand is tomorrow's demand, and CMOs must balance immediate results with a strategic focus on brand building and content creation. Content plays a key role in building trust and influencing purchasing decisions." - Jamie Gier

Jamie also explains the need for a content strategy to remove friction points in the sales process and provide valuable educational content. Jamie stresses the significance of customer voices in content creation and the role of relationships in building trust. She concludes by emphasizing the importance of setting expectations, getting early wins, and building a long-term marketing engine.

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Introducing Melissa Sargeant, a four-time CMO with 25+ years of experience in tech marketing. Melissa understands that content is the key to the company's success, rating it a 25 on a scale of 1-10. Across all marketing channels, Melissa leverages data to measure content attribution, revealing true pipeline velocity drivers. This data is shared weekly with her team, the C-suite, and sales, fostering trust, respect, and collaborative relationships across teams and the organization. Skillfully using content and marketing attribution data is key to her success, which is why she isn’t a CMO failing quickly—but thriving.

How do you measure the impact of marketing on pipeline and revenue? Melissa Sargeant shares her insights.

"As part of the total data set, we look at the win rate differentials between deals that close that have five or more marketing touches from an attribution perspective. They close at twice the rate of those that have less than that." - Melissa Sargeant

Click to gain insights from Melissa's expertise, spanning her best marketing strategies and how she leverages data for revenue generation—fostering internal team consensus, promoting collaboration, and executing successful go-to-market initiatives.

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💡 Dave Rigotti, Co-Founder and Head of Marketing at Inflection.io, underscores the critical significance of net revenue retention (NRR) and advocates for a shift in focus among marketers toward this metric. He states that tapping into revenue streams from existing customers is more straightforward and cost-efficient.💡

He emphasizes that marketing should focus on customer expansions and driving product usage to improve NRR. He also advocates channeling greater attention and resources into customer marketing efforts and enhancing customer engagement with the product. By doing so, marketers can substantially enhance NRR and consequently drive revenue growth.

“CEOs need to have a real conversation with their CMOs about how important NRR is. CEOs need to change the metrics for marketing that marketing signs up for NRR because once you get to 100% NRR, you start to become unstoppable. It's really hard for even macro-economic headwinds to slow you down.” - Dave Rigotti

Net revenue retention (NRR) measures revenue growth from existing customers, which is critical for SaaS companies aiming for over 100% NRR. CEOs and CMOs should prioritize NRR, focusing on customer expansions and tailored onboarding to boost revenue. By emphasizing customer-centric strategies, marketing can drive NRR and sustainable growth, prompting dialogue between leadership for dedicated plans.

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💡 Lori Stout, CMO of Bigleaf Networks, discusses the intricacies of a B2B company turnaround. Drawing from her extensive background in customer experience and marketing, Lori provides insights into the role of marketing in a corporate transformation, with a keen focus on “customer obsession.” As a distinguished leader navigating through significant change, she delves into how businesses can authentically engage both their internal teams and external partners to foster growth.💡

"Times of high growth can be challenging, so be open and honest with your colleagues and the entire employee population. Be willing to fail, apologize when you do, and monitor how your culture and customer approach is working for you, and success will follow." - Lori Stout

Lori shares her career as a marketing executive, emphasizing the importance of aligning business growth with a customer-first approach. She highlights the challenges of a B2B turnaround, focusing on internal culture change, strong partnerships, and cross-team collaboration. She also stresses that delivering authentic customer experiences is key to driving sustainable growth and gaining a competitive edge.

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Staci Firios, a 3x B2B CMO with over 25 years of marketing experience, discusses the challenges of the non-linear buyer's journey and the need for a multi-channel strategy. She also highlights the importance of combining "book smart" marketing theory with "street smart" customer insights to create an optimal buyer experience. 

"Nothing interesting happens in the office. Get out of the office, have conversations, know your customers, understand their challenges." - Staci Firios

She emphasizes the role of content in the buyer's journey and its impact on revenue growth. She shares examples of how analyzing the buyer's journey and optimizing content can significantly increase conversions and revenue.

"We were able to get a 20 percent increase in conversions from fixing two drop-off points in the buyer's journey." - Staci Firios

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💡 Aric Bandy, CEO of Applied Value Technologies, talks about building high-performance teams by focusing on a relatively uncharted area in business dynamics—attachment theory. He provides a unique and valuable perspective on creating high-performance teams that significantly contribute to company growth. He also shares insights from his experiences in the IT and SaaS industries, shedding light on the necessity of cultivating secure environments where team members can thrive. 💡

"Go back and think about the inside of the organization. Consider whether they are their teams or if they are being themselves. Start with yourself by reflecting on your attachment style. Then, think about the people around you and how to break down barriers to create an environment where security leads to creativity and encourages people to open up." - Aric Bandy

Aric introduces the concept of attachment theory in the workplace, describing how it can be leveraged to bridge silos and enhance collaboration among senior leadership teams. This episode navigates through the intricacies of varying attachment styles, such as secure, anxious, avoidant, and disorganized attachments, and their implications in a professional setting. By fostering a culture of security and openness, leaders can encourage creativity and risk-taking, ultimately driving better business outcomes.

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Introducing Anne Gherini, CMO at Sierra Ventures, as she shares her insights on building marketing foundations for startups and the importance of customer obsession. With a background in B2C and B2B marketing and deep experience in the startup and venture capital space, Anne has a wealth of knowledge to share. As the CMO at Sierra Ventures, she works closely with early-stage founders, helping them build a strong foundation for marketing and go-to-market strategies.

"The best founders we see are obsessed with those customers. They're obsessed with the customer problem. It's really about what are the problems they face and really diving in deep to understand, and then building content around that to try to draw them in." - Anne Gherini

Anne recommends that founders resist the temptation to spend their way out of marketing challenges by hiring expensive consultants or agencies without a solid foundation, which can be a major waste of resources. Instead, she recommends focusing on building the right marketing team and understanding your market.

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💡 Mareo McCracken, CRO at Movemedical, shares insights on scaling businesses through genuine customer care and building trust. He emphasizes focusing on customer needs, not just closing deals, to drive growth. Mareo also highlights the role of branding in shortening the sales cycle by fostering trust.💡

"Those with a growth mindset, who aimed to expand their sales and marketing teams, genuinely cared about their customers and that care was proven through their actions." - Mareo McCracken

Mareo also shared his views on the stages of sales processes in scaling companies, from founder-led beginnings to matured team-led strategies, an in-depth look into defining Ideal Customer Profiles (ICP), understanding customer problems, and how these elements are crucial in creating a successful go-to-market strategy. The episode wraps up with Mareo’s insights on maintaining integrity in sales and how honesty fosters long-term success.

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Jessica Zall is the Chief Marketing Officer of Percent, a company that has created a private credit marketplace. With over 20 years of experience in the financial services and financial technology industry, Jessica has worked with big names such as JP Morgan, Thomson Reuters, and Refinitiv. She brings a mix of corporate organization and entrepreneurial spirit to her role, focusing on client acquisition, nurture, retention, and overall company growth.

"Marketing is sales. It's a different type of sales that people can self-select into." - Jessica Zall

Learn more about how marketing will continue to evolve and play an even greater role in driving growth and retention. Chief Marketing Officers are becoming Chief Growth Officers, highlighting the increasing responsibility and importance of marketing in today's digital landscape. As buyers continue to self-select into the customer journey, marketers must adapt their strategies and content to meet their evolving needs. By staying agile, creative, and customer-centric, marketers can continue to steal time from buyers and drive business success in the years to come.

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💡 Annie Wissner, VP of Marketing at Choozle, shares tips for new VPs or Heads of Marketing. She emphasizes relationship building, understanding existing initiatives, and conducting a listening tour. Annie highlights the need to assess marketing functions, analyze the competitive landscape, and identify gaps. She also discusses the importance of a clear content strategy, creating engaging content, and balancing urgent tasks with long-term planning. 💡

"As an executive marketing leader, you can get caught in a tactics trap from listening to input from your peers and your team. That's why it's important to be strategic and balance tactical execution." - Annie Wissner

As a new head of marketing, building relationships and conducting a listening tour are crucial. Annie Wissner’s insights emphasize meeting with a wide range of people in the first 30 days to understand the organization. She also highlights the need for a clear content strategy, creating valuable content, and establishing a publishing cadence to align marketing with business objectives and drive growth.

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Are you getting results from your email marketing for just pennies on the dollar? 

Join host Steve MacDonald as he delves into the world of email marketing with renowned expert Chip House. As a three-time B2B SaaS CMO and the CMO of Insightly, a leading marketing automation CRM tool, Chip brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table. 

In this episode, they explore successful email marketing strategies, the importance of measuring ROI, and the role of engagement metrics in campaign evaluation. Discover how to create quality content, build trust with your audience, and leverage post-click engagement for optimal results. Whether you're a seasoned marketer or just starting out, this podcast will provide valuable insights to enhance your email marketing campaigns.

“I've heard marketing automation touted before as a time saver—just set it and forget it. But I think if you're approaching marketing that way, you're doing it wrong. You need to be looking at the engagement metrics at every area of the journey and using it to personalize more and more.” - Chip House

💡 Anja Sadock, SVP of Marketing at TrusTrace, shares strategies for scaling a brand and thriving in competitive markets. She highlights the role of branding and thought leadership in building credibility and attracting leads. Anja also discusses how creating a "traceability playbook" boosted brand recognition and success.💡

"The communication challenges change, but if you build your brand early on, the ROI of all your other activities will become so much higher and you won’t burn all your cash on ads that nobody’s going to see or pay attention to." - Anja Sadock

Anja delves into the intricacies of branding and the importance of connecting with industry influencers to enhance a company's reputation. She provides concrete examples from her tenure at TrusTrace, notably the development of their impactful “traceability playbook” that significantly boosted brand recognition and lead generation. By likening marketing to asking someone out on a date while branding serves as the reason for acceptance, Anja effectively illustrates the need for businesses to prioritize strong branding as a foundation for long-term success. 

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💡 Kara Smith Brown, CEO/Founder of LeadCoverage, delves into the intricacies of creating a successful B2B go-to-market motion in the supply chain industry. She emphasizes the importance of identifying the ideal customer profile, leveraging intent data for strategic decision-making, and aligning marketing, sales, and customer success efforts to drive revenue growth. By sharing insightful anecdotes and practical tips, Kara sheds light on the key components of a robust go-to-market strategy that resonates with the target audience.💡

"Third-party validation and content play a significant role in the success of a go-to-market strategy. What third party says is a validation of what you do in the market and what sets you apart and different to other companies out there. It’s more important than what you say about yourself." - Kara Smith Brown

With a hyper-focus on the 2 trillion dollar supply chain market, Kara brings extensive experience and expertise. She deeply understands the nuances within the supply chain ecosystem and aims to bridge the gap between traditional supply chain practices and cutting-edge B2B marketing strategies. 

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Introducing Elizabeth Irvine, VP of Marketing and Customer Success at MarketMuse. Elizabeth has a wealth of experience in the marketing industry, having worked at Gartner and led BDR teams. In this interview, we will delve into the importance of content planning and uncover the untapped resources that CMOs can leverage to create thought-provoking and engaging content.

Elizabeth highlights the need for marketers to think beyond traditional content planning processes. By prioritizing customer conversations and leveraging customer data, marketers can create content that truly resonates with their audience. This approach not only enhances the effectiveness of content marketing but also strengthens customer relationships and establishes the company as a trusted advisor.

"The day is full of conversations, and your brain can only process that for a certain amount of time, and when someone's asking you what customers and prospects in these meetings are saying or want, it's hard to recall, let alone how to capture and use it as insights for marketing." - Elizabeth Irvine

Elizabeth shares her secrets to tapping into untapped resources for content planning.

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💡 Kathleen Booth, SVP of Marketing and Growth at Pavilion, shares her extensive knowledge and insights into how community-led marketing can serve as a game-changing strategy for businesses today. Kathleen Booth delves into the evolution and significance of community-led marketing, spotlighting how shifts in buyer behavior have catalyzed its rise.💡

"Community has become a cheat code because we can get answers that are often better than what we would find online, just as fast or even faster. The big difference is that we know and trust the source."

With her invaluable background, including running a HubSpot partner agency and leading community marketing at Pavilion, Kathleen discusses why community involvement can surpass traditional SEO and advertising efforts. By emphasizing trust and shared practices, she outlines the distinct advantages of participating in engaged communities to amplify brand presence and foster organic growth.

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According to Jill Tygh, VP of Marketing at Data Cubed Health, trust is the key to creating a successful relationship between marketing and sales. Both teams need to understand that they are working towards the same goal and that they can rely on each other for support. Jill's secret sauce is building trust and having sales rely on her and the marketing team.

"Trust with the sales team is required. You're not getting near a customer call with them if they don't trust you." - Jill Tygh

Jill has an uncanny ability to create trust with sales, be welcomed onto sales calls, and, as a non-threatening marketing representative, can provide valuable insights and ask questions that salespeople can't, uncovering hidden challenges or opportunities. How does she build enough trust and respect to sit side-by-side with sales on their calls? Dive into this episode now.

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💡 Andy Weiss, Chief Marketing Officer at Ceipal, explores how adaptive frameworks can effectively guide companies through periods of rapid change. He shares his unique career journey and discusses the significance of understanding the fundamentals of business to sustain success in ever-evolving markets.💡

"If you understand what and how your peers operate, boil those down into fundamentals, and then turn them into either the frameworks they're using or the frameworks you're using, your marketing is going to improve." - Andy Weiss

Through the use of SEO-optimized strategies, Andy shares insights on staying ahead of market trends by building robust frameworks grounded in key fundamentals, enabling companies to stay agile in their marketing plans. By emphasizing core essentials like understanding ideal customer profiles (ICPs), leveraging brand marketing, and fostering strong interdepartmental relationships, he guides marketers on how to lead their teams effectively through both growth and challenging times.

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In this interview, Mariana Just, Vice President of Global Revenue Marketing for Acrolinx, discusses the critical importance of content marketing and how it impacts the overall success of a business in driving revenue. Mariana compares content to oxygen for organizations. She stresses that content is an asset with real, measurable value. Mariana has repeatedly proven that content is essential for demand generation and should not be considered an afterthought. She asserts that content impacts all stages of the buying cycle, serving to educate, sell, and provide a positive customer experience.

Mariana further stresses the importance of developing an opinion and narrative through thought leadership content. She mentions various formats, such as podcasts and fireside chats, that can help create communities and foster trust. Finally, Mariana emphasizes that building trust and becoming a partner to your buyers, rather than just a vendor, is crucial for long-term success.

“There is no demand generation without content. Some organizations say that they need to build their demand generation function and that engine—and want to bring content in later. Absolutely not! You either need to have that content machine going, or you bring them both together at the same time. That is absolutely vital.” - Mariana Just, VP of Global Revenue Marketing at Acrolinx

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Matt Klassen, a 2x CMO, explains how adopting an agile development process in marketing can create transparency, accountability, and strong relationships with other departments. It allows for greater flexibility and the ability to pivot based on changing market dynamics.

"By applying agile development practice to marketing, we've been able to remove random acts of marketing from our operations." - Matt Klassen

Through agile marketing, Matt's team focuses on strategic planning and prioritization, reducing random acts of marketing. They commit to a monthly sprint and leave room for ad hoc requests, ensuring alignment with the go-to-market strategy

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James Krouse, CMO of Eastridge Staffing Solutions, emphasizes shifting B2B marketing from product focus to educating and supporting buyers. He demonstrates how his company has successfully challenged the narrative, emphasizing thought leadership, trust, and engagement. Krouse advocates for B2B marketers to adopt innovative approaches and storytelling to highlight their expertise and expedite the sales process.

James discusses how, in today's B2B landscape, capturing the attention of buyers has become increasingly challenging. With the rise of self-service research, buyers are more informed than ever, making it crucial for marketers to reframe the conversation and provide a unique point of view. 

"It is about positioning your company above a commodity, that you are a trusted advisor, that you do know more in-depth about a field than your clients do." - James Krouse

This thought-provoking interview with James explores the importance of reframing the conversation and how it can lead to more meaningful connections with B2B buyers.

💡 Joanna Nguyen, CMO at Willow, shares her approach to building and scaling marketing teams from the ground up. She emphasizes the value of testing, learning, and adapting strategies like high-velocity sales, product-led growth, and customer engagement. Joanna also explores breaking away from traditional models by incorporating B2C and SMB practices to drive success in new markets.💡

“As a CMO, you have an opportunity to truly break from the mold. You have to continually test and challenge your beliefs, often unlearning things you've learned over time.” - Joanna Nguyen

Joanna Nguyen's insights focus on overcoming both functional and organizational hurdles when building marketing teams from the ground up. She explains how targeted customer marketing can significantly boost revenue and encourages using high-velocity sales and product-led growth (PLG) strategies, especially for small to medium-sized businesses. Joanna also stresses the importance of constant experimentation, data-driven choices, and organizing teams around specific goals to encourage innovation and adaptability.

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James Furbush, VP of Marketing and former managing editor,​ explains how B2B buyers are 83% of the way through their research before they want to talk to a company. So, how do you get on their shortlist? It's all about the product before the product - content!

"If you're thinking about your content as a product in and of itself that could stand on its own, then you need to treat it with the respect and care it deserves." - James Furbush

James explains how, as the B2B buying process becomes increasingly self-serve, content is becoming more important than ever. It allows us to enter the conversation early on, establish thought leadership, and differentiate ourselves from the competition. By adopting a journalistic approach, inviting conversations, and focusing on adding value, we can create a content strategy that drives growth and success for our business.

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David Howard, the VP of Marketing at Buzzboard, talks us through how getting the right stuff done in marketing requires careful planning, alignment with other departments, marketing operations, and a focus on content creation and measurement. 

"You always have time to get organized." - David Howard

David discusses the importance of backward planning and, setting clear goals to avoid missing deadlines, and running from one activity to the next.

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Jeff Perkins, a 3x CMO and CEO, shares his insights on achieving hockey stick growth in startups. He emphasizes the requirements of a deep understanding of the customer journey, the ability to adapt strategies to unique circumstances, alignment between sales and marketing, and a focus on high-quality content.

"The key is understanding your buyer, their journey, and where you must be to influence them. Your job as a marketer and marketing leader is to be connected at the hip with your customers." - Jeff Perkins

In this podcast interview, we will delve into the insights shared by Jeff and explore the implications and potential impact of his strategies.

“The playbook can’t be run the same at every different company.” - Jeff Perkins

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💡 Steven Hyde, Chief Executive Officer at Push, delves into the transformative impact of AI on performance marketing, drawing from his extensive experience with major brands. He highlights the significant role AI plays in redefining business strategies, juxtaposing past digital transformations with current and future AI advancements.💡

"Build a roadmap for how you will implement and approach AI in your marketing organization. Try to gain some clarity and measure where you are now and where you could be." - Steven Hyde

Steven Hyde offers valuable insights into the transformative impact of AI technology across various industries, particularly marketing. He highlights the rapid changes similar to past shifts in digital and social media. He also encourages businesses to adopt AI, especially in content generation and customer insights, to stay competitive. The discussion also addresses the challenges C-suite executives encounter when integrating AI into their strategies, emphasizing the need for proactive leadership.

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💡 Marie-Laure Carvalho, CMO at Portnox, discussing how Chief Marketing Officers can effectively forecast with confidence for their CFOs. She emphasizes the significance of fostering relationships within the C-suite, especially between CMOs and CFOs, given marketing’s role as a substantial cost center.💡

"As CMOs, we need to ensure that the funnel is defined and quickly aligned with the CFO because we must be on the same page when discussing pipeline opportunities, closed deals, or the steps required to achieve them."- Marie-Laure Carvalho

Marie-Laure shares her expertise on being highly pipeline-focused and revenue-driven, which she believes extends beyond just generating leads. Her proactive approach to understanding every aspect of the sales funnel, from analyzing data to projecting revenue, sets her apart. Highlighting the importance of collaboration and trust among C-suite executives, Marie-Laure sheds light on how integrated planning and detailed forecasting can lead to more informed decision-making and resource allocation.

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Devin Davis, a VP of Marketing with nearly 20 years of experience, explains, "Product marketing is the worst-named function in the world. You should be talking as little as possible about your product and instead talking about the problem area it solves. Once you understand that, it unlocks a new way of reaching your audience in a more effective manner."

"As marketers creating content, we must stay focused on the problem to solve. That's what the people that you're reaching out to, that's what they're thinking about every day." - Devin Davis

Devin's background in journalism has greatly influenced his approach to content creation. He emphasizes the importance of the inverted pyramid concept, where the most important content is presented first to capture the audience's attention. By starting with what matters most to your audience, you can engage them and encourage them to continue reading or exploring your content. This and much more are all part of Devin’s playbook for creating A+ content.

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💡 Tim Hillison, Founder and CMO of Entry Point 1, shares invaluable insights about the intricacies of modern go-to-market strategies. Tim brings a wealth of experience from his background in management consulting and leadership roles at major brands, and he offers fresh insights into what it takes to develop and execute effective go-to-market plans in today’s evolving business landscape. 💡

"Marketing often focuses on developing awareness and customer preference, but go-to-market aims to shorten the distance between our product, service and the customer." - Tim Hillison

Throughout the conversation, Tim emphasizes the importance of a unified GTM strategy that incorporates sales, marketing, customer success, enablement, and revenue operations. He delves into the critical role of alignment within these functions, the nuances of defining and refining the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), and the necessity for marketing to partner closely with sales. Tim also challenges the overreliance on rigid playbooks, advocating instead for adaptive strategies tailored to the specific context and challenges of the business.

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💡 Pete Garza, Head of Product Marketing at DealSignal, discusses his journey to becoming a sought-after CMO, known for transforming companies through innovative strategies and data-driven marketing approaches. He unfolds the engineering-based scientific method applied to marketing, focusing on data-driven decision-making, creating emotional market connections, and fostering hyper-revenue growth.💡

"Marketing can play a huge role in driving hyper revenue growth. While sales are needed to close deals, I truly believe that marketing can be instrumental in achieving hyper-growth. Once you embrace this and start working toward it, everything else falls into place." - Pete Garza

Pete unravels the secrets to his success by emphasizing a structured approach to marketing grounded in the scientific method. He crafts detailed growth strategies by maintaining a keen focus on qualitative and quantitative research and forming hypotheses about market challenges. He highlights critical CMO pitfalls, including overpromising and a lack of market pulse, which can thwart success. He also explores his four foundational pillars for hyper-growth and the blueprint for building a perpetual marketing engine.

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💡 TJ Waldorf, CMO of 1WorldSync, emphasizes closing the consumption gap between company capabilities and stakeholder perceptions. Amid rapid growth and acquisitions, educating internal and external stakeholders on expanded capabilities is vital. TJ stresses ongoing communication, internal campaigns, and reframing conversations to align understanding. By closing this gap, companies improve client service, drive revenue growth, and establish thought leadership.💡

“There always tends to be some gap between those two things. In our case, it has been accentuated because, over the last three and a half to four years, we’ve transitioned from a single-product company to making nine acquisitions, significantly expanding our capabilities and our platform.” - TJ Waldorf

Closing the consumption gap is a multifaceted endeavor requiring internal and external education. While external marketing efforts are crucial for reaching clients, internal education is equally vital in ensuring that employees understand and can effectively communicate a company’s capabilities. Thought leadership content is essential in educating internal and external stakeholders, reframing conversations, and driving growth.

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Brandon Rhoten, the current CMO of GroundTruth, leverages his rich B2C experience acquired during his time at Wendy's and as the CMO at Papa Johns and Potbelly Sandwiches. In this exclusive interview, discover his unique method of merging B2C and B2B marketing that includes but goes much deeper than grabbing more attention and connecting with the emotional needs of B2B buyers. Explore Brandon's unique fusion of B2C and B2B tactics to fuel innovation at GroundTruth.

After listening for years to the likes of Forbes, Gartner, and Oracle about making B2B more like B2C, it is more than just an interesting notion.

"You're advertising to people in B2B, and they have the same attention issues and fundamental desires as in B2C." - Brandon Rhoten

According to Brandon, the key to grabbing attention in B2B marketing is finding the "hook" - the one thing that solves the problem and gets the target audience interested. It's all about addressing their fundamental needs quickly. This is the opposite of leading with function and features. 

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💡 Shashwat Ghosh, Former CMO at FieldAssist, discusses CMO Darwinism and its implications on the ever-evolving role of a Chief Marketing Officer. He also unveils the challenges CMOs face today and the pressing need for evolution in marketing strategies to stay competitive. 💡

"The era of CMO Darwinism is here. As a CMO, you need to take ownership of the go-to-market strategy and incremental modifications, while a good CMO will want to utilize the depth of experience from successful experiments." - Shashwat Ghosh

Shashwat discusses CMO Darwinism, focusing on the shorter CMO tenures and pressure for quick ROI. He links Darwinian evolution to evolving organizational roles and adapting go-to-market strategies in the digital era. He highlights the need for incremental GTM evolution, fractional marketing roles, customer insights, collaboration, and community engagement for success using his EPIC framework.

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Heidi Lanford is a Chief Data Officer with extensive experience in leveraging data and analytics to solve complex business problems. In this interview, she discusses the importance of data in the growth and success of B2B companies. She emphasizes that data is everywhere and that leveraging it effectively is crucial for making informed decisions, building new products, and engaging with customers. Lanford highlights the role of data in digital transformation and explains how it is the driving force behind business processes and decision-making. She also explores the benefits of data internally, with partners, and in marketing and sales.

"Because the CMO is responsible for helping pipeline development, they will win the hearts and minds of CEOs and CFOs if they partner with them to make the sales forecast more robust and accurate using all the available interactions and touch points. At least bring together something more holistically data-driven than the traditional sales forecast to help prepare for managing expectations, earnings, and setting targets. I'm saying that two forecasts or three forecasts representing slightly alternate views are better than one that's not trusted and based on all of your data inputs." - Heidi Lanford

The world of marketing and sales is evolving, and CMOs need to embrace data-driven strategies to stay ahead. Data is a goldmine. It can help customize content, create personalized experiences, and drive product development. Through data-driven insights, CMOs can further establish themselves as thought leaders within their own companies.

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In this interview with host Steve MacDonald, Amy Kohl, CEO and Founder of AK Operations, shares the revenue-driving activities that, when improved by just 1%, can have a profound impact on team focus and revenue creation from the top to the bottom of the funnel. Amy emphasizes the importance of the quality of the company’s content and assets. When the leadership team grasps the relationship between content and the ability to drive greater pipeline penetration and revenue impact through the power of 1% changes, they are seeing the results much faster than anyone else.

The interview's main takeaway is the continuous pursuit of 1% improvements in all aspects of the sales and marketing strategy. By focusing on small but meaningful enhancements, such as improving click-through rates, delivering high-quality content, fostering collaboration between teams, and personalizing the sales process, companies can achieve significant boosts in conversions and sales.

“The focus of being 1% better in any capacity of the funnel that you're responsible for has a direct impact on revenue. I see it every day. Across 34 clients, we see the value of having that discipline. We see it accelerate and how it changes the game for the pipeline. I'll tell you, the clients of ours that have the most collaborative mindsets on CONTENT and ASSETS, and let's try this, let's try that. Those are the ones that are figuring it out fastest.” - Amy Kohl

Amy stresses five main areas to focus on to create your own 1% success strategy, starting with just how powerful the “Power of 1%” truly is:

1. Why focus on the top of the funnel?
2. High-quality content that can multiply your conversion rates
3. Doing better than just playing the numbers game
4. Content themes that add value and conversion
5. Why you must be a partner, not a seller

In this interview, Amy also promises a spreadsheet that demonstrates the power of 1% increases on revenue and was also kind enough to put together a short video walking us through the spreadsheet as well.

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💡 Christina Kyriazi, Senior Vice President of Marketing at PhotoShelter, shares her journey from analytics to marketing leadership, emphasizing the importance of ROI in marketing initiatives. She provides insights into customer-focused strategies, understanding the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), and the strategic approach needed to drive genuine pipeline growth and efficiency.💡

 "A big blind side that CMOs have is that they don't think they can slow down to figure out the most efficient way to do less while still efficiently producing the results they need to produce." - Christina Kyriazi

Christina emphasizes the importance of CMOs engaging directly with customers, aligning marketing and sales metrics, and prioritizing activities for success. Her analytical approach offers actionable strategies to enhance marketing efficiency, including reducing pipeline size for better close rates and leveraging customer benchmarking for continuous improvement and thought leadership.

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CMO Fran Wilson has a wealth of experience in B2B software and was involved in the growth of Red Hat from its early stages to its acquisition by IBM for over $4 billion. Fran highlights the importance of focusing on a limited number of growth bets when developing a go-to-market strategy. She advises against spreading resources too thin by simultaneously chasing too many growth opportunities. Fran suggests focusing on three to five growth priorities that align with the organization's goals and capabilities. This approach ensures alignment across the organization and enables effective resource allocation.

"If you try to chase 10 or 8 growth bets, you're going to peanut butter everything, and you're not going to be able to execute in big, meaningful, impactful ways. You really need to enumerate no more than five... growth bets that you're going to execute in your fiscal planning." - Fran Wilson

Fran's insights provide valuable guidance for B2B CMOs looking to deliver successful go-to-market strategies. Her five best practices offer a framework for alignment, efficiency, and growth. 

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💡 Manoj Jasra, CMO at Emids, discusses his experience as a B2B CMO and strategist, emphasizing how to create value swiftly within organizations while addressing stakeholder expectations. He highlights critical aspects of launching in new roles, including learning the business, building relationships, and securing budgets, while also discussing the evolving role of AI in marketing and the importance of clear communication. 💡

"Understanding why the company exists in the first place is extremely relevant. It’s the foundation of everything you’re going to do and the basis of your strategy." - Manoj Jasra

Manoj's insights highlight key truths in B2B marketing. He stresses that internal communication is vital for alignment and operational coherence, while clearly defining the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is essential for crafting targeted marketing strategies. Content and thought leadership play a crucial role in engaging potential clients during their self-education journey. By utilizing advanced tools like AI for market insights, firms can develop data-driven strategies that produce quicker results, with effective communication and execution being critical for success.

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💡 Vikram Bhaskaran, VP of Growth Marketing at ThoughtSpot, delves into the concept of the Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT) and its crucial role in contemporary marketing strategies. He also explores how understanding and leveraging ZMOT can help marketers better align their efforts with customer needs, leading to more effective engagement and conversion tactics. Vikram shares his journey from software engineering to marketing and emphasizes the importance of being customer-obsessed to truly address market needs. 💡

 "It's important to go back to the learning and governing dynamics. Can we build a stakeholder map for each if we have a list of target accounts? Are we able to understand why someone would need to come to us? Then, let's determine the distribution tactics for reaching them." - Vikram Bhaskaran

Vikram explores the crucial role of ZMOT in customer journeys, highlighting a study that reveals key business tipping points. He emphasizes account-based marketing, customer obsession, and inflection points as central themes for aligning marketing with customer needs. The discussion also covers how ABM aligns marketing strategies across organizational levels to improve revenue operations.

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Introducing Cristy Garcia, the CMO of impact.com and a Chief and Forbes Communication Council member. With almost 20 years of experience in B2B tech marketing, she leads a team of 60 marketers at Impact.com and is a strong advocate for the power of partnerships and influencer marketing.

In this episode, Cristy talks about the rising importance of influencer and partner marketing. She discusses how mature partnership programs drive up to 28% of revenue (23% on average), as found in a joint study between Impact.com and Forrester.  This is the main reason why this channel is becoming increasingly critical for B2B marketers and one that you only pay for when revenue is realized. Cristy shares examples of successful B2B influencer and partner marketing campaigns, including HubSpot and Zenefits. She emphasizes the importance of content in educating and engaging B2B buyers and reaching them at all stages of the buyer's journey.

"Partnerships can be both focused on brand and demand. But what's great about partnerships and influencer marketing is that you're only paying for the desired revenue outcome." - Cristy Garcia

Cristy provides a different perspective on assessing acquisition costs as categorized primarily into brand and demand, with partnerships and influencer marketing falling into both categories. What separates partnerships and influencer marketing is that payment is based solely on achieving the desired outcomes. This contrasts with the uncertainty of allocating a large budget to ads without guaranteed performance. Instead, funds can be channeled towards commissions for partners who generate sales or website traffic, facilitate lead generation, or provide exposure through panels and conferences. These partnership models are gaining in popularity due to their direct ROI.

Topics Covered:

• Referral-based vs. transactional partnerships
• How HubSpot got a 50% lift from partnerships
• Befriend your CFO with low-risk revenue generation
• Growing lead volume through partnerships
• The role of partnerships through the entire sales funnel
• Content to educate the 97% TAM not currently in-market
• Why you need more B2C in your B2B
• Why you must have a third channel: traditional sales and marketing alone is not enough

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💡 Izabela Misiorny, Chief Marketing Officer at Siteimprove, discusses the intricate balance involved in proving the value of marketing. She shares her passion for marketing, communication, and her journey across various cultures, emphasizing the importance of resilience and adaptability in today's ever-changing landscape. She also discussed crucial insights into how marketers can effectively communicate their strategic importance both internally and externally.💡

"External value comes from consistent messaging and storytelling. Creating marketing value internally also relies on effective communication. Optimize your communication not based on what you think you’re saying, but on what your audience is actually receiving." - Izabela Misiorny

Izabela explores strategies for CMOs to secure a seat at the executive table, focusing on understanding customer needs and brand differentiation through the ideal customer profile (ICP). She emphasizes the importance of being antifragile, thriving amid change, and demonstrating marketing's value through strategic storytelling. Her insights on marketing’s role in enhancing customer experiences and driving business growth are particularly powerful.

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Meet Bill Glenn, a veteran in the world of marketing and CMO at Blueboard, an experiential recognition reward company. With over 25 years of experience in B2B marketing, Bill has held multiple CMO positions at Series B and Series C companies.

Bill contends that marketing should provide value in the company's reputation and offerings, as well as an investment in individual salespeople. By helping salespeople establish trust, credibility, and industry expertise, marketing sets them up for success in building long-term relationships with customers. Bill has ideas for creating salespeople’s industry expertise that fall outside of conventional norms, establishing a relationship of reciprocity between marketing and sales.

"One of the most important elements of value that marketing provides is how to bolster the credibility of salespeople such that trust isn't just about a transactional moment in time.” - Bill Glenn

Building a dream relationship between marketing and sales requires a deep understanding of the sales perspective and motivations, and simply listening to sales call recordings doesn't get to the true heart of what sales needs. That understanding won’t come until you do one-to-one interviews with them, just like you would do with a customer, and have a preset list of questions like, How can I make your job easier? Where are you getting stuck? Where are we falling down versus our competition? When you start to aggregate the interviews, common challenges can be addressed, usually with just a few additional trainings or pieces of content to help the sales team do their job better. Bill’s POV is that it’s rarely possible to understand all that by simply listening to sales calls.

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💡Sanja Gabler, Chief Revenue Officer at Trapets, shares her experience transitioning from CMO to CRO, highlighting the role's strategic demands in unifying marketing, sales, and customer success. She addresses common challenges like sales-marketing alignment and fostering revenue ownership across teams. She also discusses the importance of customer experience as a competitive advantage, emphasizing the need to refine the ideal customer profile and exceed service expectations.💡

"The CRO today focuses on building efficient sales processes and go-to-market strategies, encompassing marketing, sales, and customer success. It’s increasingly focused on technology and data capabilities, much more than it has been before." - Sanja Gabler

Sanja Gabler’s journey from CMO to CRO offers a powerful framework for organizations seeking revenue and operational alignment. Her approach emphasizes cross-functional alignment, fostering a revenue-driven culture, and redefining the CRO role as a unifying force across marketing, sales, and customer success. This holistic model empowers companies to create cohesive strategies, drive sustainable growth, and excel through collaboration in a dynamic market landscape.

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Brynne Tillman, CEO of Social Sales Link, emphasizes shifting from a self-centered, resume-focused approach to a resource-focused one. She helps professionals leverage LinkedIn professionally to position themselves as thought leaders and attract their target audience.

"This is not about pitch. This is about showing up as a thought leader and a resource." - Brynne Tillman

Brynne explains the three legs of content on LinkedIn: curation, engagement, and creation. She provides insights on curating content from prospects and referral partners, engaging with their content to build relationships, and creating valuable content that resonates with the target audience. 

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💡 Wendy White, Chief Market Officer at daxko, delves into the reasons why B2B CMOs often face quick turnovers and failures in their roles. She emphasizes the importance of aligning expectations between boards, CEOs, and CMOs, conducting thorough due diligence before accepting a position, and understanding key metrics like pipeline health, product-market fit, and organizational culture. Wendy sheds light on the critical role of data in marketing success and the significance of brand reputation in shaping customer relationships.💡

"A CMO should focus on investing time in the right culture, executive team, and product fit for their career." - Wendy White

As a seasoned B2B marketing executive with over 14 years of experience as a CMO, Wendy unpacks the importance of aligning CEO and CRO expectations for success. She delves into the true essence of a brand beyond logos, explores the vital role of culture in leadership, and shares valuable insights on data, customer experience, and the collaborative relationship between marketing and sales. 

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In this interview with Aaron Ballew, CMO of Split, he introduces the concept of forced learning and abandoning traditional marketing practices. Aaron shares his journey from engineering to marketing and discusses the challenges faced by high-growth tech companies in today's economy.

He emphasizes the need for companies to shift towards efficiency and lower costs, which requires reevaluating and experimenting with marketing strategies. Aaron provides examples of how he applied forced learning to cut funding for certain marketing activities and the key learning that had never happened before. By going back to first principles and understanding the target audience's needs, Aaron was able to achieve a 40% increase in marketing efficiency.

"By getting a quantifiable and reality-based view of marketing contribution, my CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) has decreased dramatically. I can now grow at not just 15% or so more efficiently but at a 40% more efficient order of magnitude." - Aaron Ballew

See how Aaron prioritizes efficiency and profitability in his willingness to question the status quo and experiment with new strategies.

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💡 Megan Howe, Chief Sales Officer at Oversight, explores ways to increase marketing involvement in the sales process. She emphasizes the importance of deeper collaboration between the two teams for faster deal cycles and revenue growth. She also highlights the importance of genuine curiosity about each other's operations and appreciation of the complexities of their respective roles. 💡

“The balance between sales and marketing involves having a genuine curiosity for how the other operates and an appreciation for the intricacies behind each role.” - Megan Howe

Organizations prioritizing sales and marketing alignment are nearly three times more likely to exceed new customer acquisition targets. This statistic from Gartner highlights the critical nature of the relationship between sales and marketing. It's not just about working together better; it's about the company's overall growth and vitality. In today's revenue-driven landscape, this alignment is the cornerstone of success.

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In this interview, Anil Rege, CMO of Plastic Financial Rewards, discusses the importance of hyper-personalization in B2B marketing. Drawing from his experience in the CPG industry, Anil explains how B2B marketers can learn from B2C strategies to understand better how to engage their customers. He emphasizes the need to consider B2B prospects as consumers and create personalized content that addresses their needs and pain points. Anil also highlights the role of data in personalization and the importance of building credibility through thought leadership content.

In the B2B world, every sale represents a larger portion of a company's revenue and carries a higher risk for the buyer. That's why personalizing your messaging and delivering valuable content is essential to building trust and winning over B2B customers. 

"Content creation takes time, but it's a high risk, high reward strategy in B2B marketing." - Anil Rege

Anil covers the importance of understanding B2B customers as consumers, the role of content in building credibility, and the power of data in personalization.

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💡 Thomas McCarthy-Howe, Chief Technology Officer at STROLID, Inc., delves into the transformative power of AI in business communication. He explores how AI-driven conversations, referred to as "liquid gold," can revolutionize customer interaction by mining insights from thousands of daily exchanges. He also shares his experiences and insights into the creation and application of the vCon Standard, a unique framework for capturing and utilizing these rich data sources.💡

"Once you start truly listening to your customers' conversations, you realize they reveal things about your business that you didn’t know." - Thomas McCarthy-Howe

Thomas explores the challenges businesses encounter in using conversational data, from defining conversations to deriving insights. He highlights how AI can scale customer understanding and strategic thinking, while also stressing ethical needs like privacy frameworks. Through his extensive experience, Thomas shows how data transparency and sentiment analysis enable businesses to create hyper-personalized customer interactions. 

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💡 Peter Lloyd, a globally experienced CMO and marketing expert, explores the critical role of customer-centric strategies in global marketing and sales. He shares his vast experience from his tenure at Digicel, highlighting the importance of elevating the customer’s role to the highest authority in any business decision process. He also discusses building a customer-obsessed culture within organizations and how this approach influences success both in the B2C and B2B sectors.💡

"Ultimately, the customer has the final say. The numbers are critical, but if the customer is saying something contrary to what you're saying, that will eventually show in the numbers." - Peter Lloyd

Peter discusses Digicel's transformation, highlighting the importance of understanding customer pain points to fuel innovation and growth. With declining traditional revenues and rising competition, he stresses collaboration between sales and marketing. He emphasizes using customer data to refine ideal customer profiles, aligning strategies and KPIs, and positioning customer experience as a critical competitive advantage in dynamic markets.

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💡 Lisa Sharapata, CMO at The Arbinger Institute, delves deep into the vital yet often overlooked importance of company culture. Lisa shares invaluable insights about addressing and transforming toxic work environments into psychologically safe spaces that can unleash high-performance success within any organization.💡

"When people hold back their ideas, the organization misses out. Creating an environment where individuals feel safe to contribute, speak up, and challenge the status quo is essential. It’s the gatekeeper to everything else." - Lisa Sharapata

Lisa’s insights explain the shift to an outward mindset is the cornerstone of this transformation. She provides an intricate look at how psychological safety is critical for fostering innovation, collaboration, and overall team well-being. By emphasizing the value of truly understanding and supporting team members, she paints a compelling picture of what makes high-performance teams tick. 

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Anuj Kumar is a former and current Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) with extensive experience in sales and leading global sales teams. Anuj believes in disruptive sales, where you challenge the status quo and provide value that goes beyond what customers can do themselves.

"My definition of disruptive sales is everything you know about how you procure, how you support, how you keep your customers happy and is completely different than every other company or every other method of actually interacting with another company." - Anuj Kumar

Anuj talks about how sales velocity, not just speed, is the key to success in sales. It's about moving in the right direction and focusing on quality interactions rather than quantity. One meaningful meeting can be more impactful than a thousand calls.

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Allie Collins is the Head of Marketing at Centime, a cash management company that provides solutions for CFOs and small to midsize businesses. With over a decade of experience in B2B SaaS marketing, Allie has a strong background in RevOps and data-driven marketing strategies. 

Allie joins Steve MacDonald on the B2B Marketing Perspectives podcast to discuss the significance of thought leadership, its direct correlation with products and their perceived value, methods to infuse absolute authenticity into thought leadership communication, and the influence of data-driven insights on performance enhancement. Allie boasts extensive expertise in B2B SaaS marketing and a significant foundation in revenue operations (RevOps).

"Thought leadership is all about being the show, not the commercial that advertises on the show." - Allie Collins

Allie provides concrete illustrations of how she uniquely leverages thought leadership to establish her brand as an authority and to actively create and add value to her company’s products.

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In this interview with Lisa Hayashi, the CMO of Safeguard Cyber, she brings a unique perspective to the table, having started her career in angel investments and business development for startups. She has witnessed the growth and exits of various companies, and she shares her insights on how CMOs can drive internal collaboration and revenue growth.

"We serve sales. When you serve a team, it means you help them be successful all the time. So we walk in the shoes of our salespeople and bring them along the journey by constantly displaying empathy and using data to back up everything we do." - Lisa Hayashi

Lisa always approaches internal conversations, starting with her CEO, with supporting data, because it's then very difficult not to get a head nod of support. Building trust and a united front as a single growth team across marketing and sales takes a little extra effort.

Lisa's approach to data-driven decision-making extends to the collaboration between marketing and sales. The growth team can ensure accountability and success by setting service level agreements (SLAs) and tracking metrics, working to accomplish them, refining, and moving forward as a single team.

Learn all of Lisa’s insights now.

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💡 Mike Slater, an experienced CRO and Executive Board Member, offers an in-depth analysis of buyer dysfunction and sales process management. He also provides a thorough examination of how sales professionals can effectively navigate the complexities of today’s buying environments, offering valuable insights and practical guidance. 💡

"The salesperson should act as a trusted advisor and a coach that can guide the customer through the process. This approach differentiates you from a typical vendor by showcasing your expertise and proactive support, rather than just being reactive." -Mike Slater

Mike Slater's insights reveal how sales professionals often overlook the difficulties buyers face with intricate purchasing processes, particularly for software solutions. He also advices salespeople to position themselves as trusted advisors, guiding clients through the decision-making process. This approach not only strengthens client relationships but also enhances the likelihood of closing deals.

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💡Stu Perlmeter, founder of 1st Resource, Janet Flesch (Practice Lead), and Kelly Eisner (Interview Analyst) discuss the power of qualitative win-loss analysis. They reveal insights on buyer journeys, pricing, sales streamlining, product development, and marketing improvement. Storytelling and buyer trust are key revenue drivers.💡

"When done properly, win-loss analysis can deliver deep and surprising insights that help build the roadmap to winning more and the success that every marketing and sales organization strives for." - Stu Perlmeter

The win-loss analysis offers qualitative insights into the buyer journey and decision process, which is particularly beneficial in complex B2B sales. Through one-on-one interviews, it uncovers competitive insights, pricing concerns, sales process improvements, and product development opportunities. This method fosters open dialogue, allowing buyers to share experiences and inform marketing strategies by validating target segments and refining positioning and messaging.

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💡 Melissa Moody, CEO at Matcha with 14 years of experience at Google, shares insights on the evolving role of the CMO. She emphasizes the importance of having a seat at the table and being involved in strategic decision-making. Melissa also highlights the need for marketers to listen to their customers and encourages CMOs to focus on both running the business and changing the business. 💡

Melissa discusses how to be an effective CMO in a rapidly growing startup. She shares her insights on the role of a CMO and the importance of having a seat at the table. She also emphasizes the need for marketers to think strategically and contribute to the overall business direction and highlights the balance between strategy and execution and the importance of listening to customers.

“It's never so much about something on paper or a specific salary or equity. It's about the feeling you get when you're sitting with your coworkers at that highest level and you bring something that has come out of the marketing side of the business, but should be an influence to the overall business.” - Melissa Moody

An effective CMO should strive to have a seat at the table and be involved in shaping the overall business strategy. This can be achieved through proper strategy and execution of creating valuable content that is tailored to what the audience needs. With that, continuous learning is essential to stay ahead of the curve and adapt their strategies to meet the evolving needs of their audience. 

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Join host Steve MacDonald in this engaging episode of B2B Marketing Perspectives as he sits down with Darryl Praill, an accomplished four-time CMO and two-time CRO with an impressive track record. Darryl, a renowned content creator and respected figure on LinkedIn, delves into the captivating topic of why B2B CMOs face rapid failure and presents an array of thought-provoking strategies to tackle this issue head-on.

Drawing from his extensive experience, Darryl emphasizes the critical importance of cultivating a deep understanding of external audiences and their needs. However, he also sheds light on a less-discussed aspect: the significance of internal stakeholders in ensuring a CMO's success. Recognizing that the company's leadership holds substantial influence over a CMO's tenure, Darryl underscores the need to foster strong internal relationships, manage expectations, and align marketing efforts with the unique requirements of various stakeholders, from sales to the CFO, CEO, and beyond.

Moreover, Darryl highlights the undeniable value of content creation, ranking it an emphatic 12 on a 1-10 scale for both CMOs and overall company success. Beyond this recognition, Darryl provides unprecedented, in-the-trenches advice on how to effectively collaborate with internal team members, prioritize content creation for demand generation marketing, and ensure seamless integration with sales activities.

Don't miss this captivating interview, where Darryl unravels the mysteries behind the swift failure of B2B CMOs and equips listeners with actionable insights to overcome these challenges.

Learn specifically through a series of highly action-oriented steps as Darryl paces us through the answers to reversing the failure rate of CMOs and achieving great success.

• Why do B2B CMOs fail so quickly?
• What should a CMO start doing?
  • Step 1: Start Talking to Customers
  • Step 2: Start Listening to Sales
  • Step 3: Set expectations with all executive leadership
  • Step 4: How to create a relationship with the head of finance
  • Step 5: How to set expectations around proving marketing’s ROI and overall expectations
  • Step 6: The importance of content to a CMO’s success
  • Step 7: How to get sales to be consumers of your marketing content and start using it
  
  
• What are the most important takeaways for addressing why B2B CMOs fail so quickly?

“You need to make content for all the people in your expanding buying committee, and they're going to advocate for you, or they're going to shoot you down and advocate for another alternative provider based on whether they find the answer to the pain they're experiencing in your solution. And the only way they will find that, because they have the attention span of a gnat, is in your content.” - Darryl Praill

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In this episode, Karen Sage, a 5x B2B Chief Marketing Officer, discusses the evolution of content and introduces the concept of Content 3.0. She explains that content is becoming harder to differentiate and reach due to trends like ChatGPT and the impact of the deprecation of third-party cookies. To overcome these challenges, Karen suggests that companies shift their focus from content to community. 

"Content 3.0 is all about building authentic relationships and fostering discussions on trustworthy platforms. It's about creating a safe community where like-minded individuals can engage and share valuable insights." - Karen Sage

According to Karen, content is now the teaser, and community is the main event. Content serves as a way to establish and provide a platform for community engagement, where the real value lies.

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Today’s guest is Polo Aristoy, an experienced marketing professional with a unique background in both B2C and B2B. He has worked as an analyst and consultant for companies like Procter & Gamble and Nielsen. He has also served as the CMO of a professional soccer team and has worked with FinTech companies in the B2B world. 

"The adherence and dedication of a company to content becomes a muscle in the company and used internally by every salesperson, copywriter, and every employee within the company to slowly start developing that storytelling muscle, and it becomes then easier and more of a commonality and a common practice." - Polo Aristoy

In this podcast interview, Polo sheds light on the complexities of B2B marketing and the need for more emotion. B2B marketers must prioritize brand, develop their storytelling muscle, and create a consistent and impactful message throughout the customer journey.

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Introducing Kevin Bobowski, a seasoned B2B CMO boasting 20+ years of SaaS expertise, now serving as CMO at AWARE—an AI data platform. Kevin's rich background includes roles within Private Equity and PE/VC-backed SaaS enterprises, providing valuable insights for any B2B CMO. 

"PE-backed models tend to be a little more structured and rigorous. The VC models tend to focus more on how to scale quickly, even if you're not doing so at the most efficient standards or opportunities." - Kevin Bobowski

In the PE world, the focus is on driving efficiency and solving core problems in the business. PE firms typically have a two to five-year timeline for their investments, aiming to set the company up for a successful exit. To achieve this, they have developed standard processes, playbooks, and approaches that can be applied across their portfolio of companies. Kevin emphasizes the importance of understanding the PE model as a marketer, as it offers valuable insights into efficient growth strategies. 

"Times change, and understanding the nuances of these two models can be beneficial. Knowing when to apply each approach is crucial. In a rapidly evolving market, being able to pivot between efficient growth and rapid scaling can give you a competitive edge." - Kevin Bobowski

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💡 Claire Hartley, CMO and Company Director at Goodfellow, delves into the significance of becoming the leading customer authority in your business. She highlights why understanding customer needs and experiences is essential for developing effective go-to-market strategies and creating lasting competitive advantages. She also discussed the need for a holistic and deep understanding of customers, moving beyond transactional data to uncover customer motives, intentions, and feelings. 💡

"Customers are complex. My mantra is don't expect perfection. Understand, stay focused, and keep improving within the boundaries of your legal requirements. Adapt and evolve continuously, but remember not to expect perfection." - Claire Hartley

Claire emphasizes the role of comprehensive customer profiling, including ideal customer profiles and customer avatars, to predict customer behavior and preferences. She underscores the importance of cross-departmental collaboration within organizations to harness customer data for actionable insights, driving growth and customer loyalty in the rapidly evolving B2B landscape. Claire also shares real-world examples and practical advice, including leveraging both qualitative and quantitative research methods to create a unified and dynamic customer understanding.

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💡 Zarina Stanford, CMO at Bazaarvoice, dives into how her storytelling skills transcend traditional marketing roles, advocating for dynamic leadership within the C-suite. She uncovers the transformation from marketing as a functional role to an influential business leadership position that defies the status quo, emphasizing the importance of authentic consumer voices and insights in shaping company strategies and narratives.💡

“Think big and be bold, because small changes won't be enough. There is no other discipline with the bragging rights of having the ability and the opportunity to truly craft and deliver what this big, bold vision can be.” - Zarina Stanford

Zarina shares her insights on leveraging consumer voices for authentic content marketing. She notes a shift in consumer behavior toward valuing authentic content from peers over brands. The discussion covers the changing marketing landscape, the importance of understanding ideal customer profiles (ICP), and how storytelling can enhance connections with audiences while inspiring brands to think big and empower partnerships.

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Are you struggling with producing demand-generation campaigns that create meaningful sales conversations? Having a hard time expanding and scaling efficiently? Need a new perspective to get back on track or go to the next level?

In this podcast interview, Amy Kohl, CEO and Founder of AK Operations, shares 10 unbeatable go-to-market and conversion strategies that have yielded award-winning results. AK Operations, a fractional sales and marketing powerhouse specializing in scalable go-to-market and revenue operations programs, has mastered these strategies.

A key focus for Amy is the significance of understanding prospects on a profound level. AK Operations creates highly relevant ideal customer profiles by leveraging closed sales revenue data and insights. These profiles are a foundation for developing targeted content that educates and supports B2B buyers. Implementing highly targeted email nurture sequences allows them to swiftly test and refine messaging, resulting in a higher return on investment (ROI) through the initiation and scaling of meaningful sales conversations. Ultimately, the approach centers around staying relevant, providing resources, and genuinely addressing the challenges faced by prospects.

“Without quality content, the truth is that sales are always going to be a lot harder. And I love the consultative nurture aspects of serving first with key content pieces. Content needs to be a priority. And when it's not, you will feel it in the revenue you're able to attain.” - Amy Kohl

Amy underscores three foundational pillars that companies should never overlook: excellent content, strategic marketing automation, and meticulous management of contact databases. These pillars are pivotal in a go-to-market strategy, consistently driving deep pipeline penetration and facilitating revenue growth. 

This interview covers10 unbeatable GTM strategies to address the following questions:

1. How to engage and transition cold prospects into interested sales conversations?
2. How to nurture prospects with the right content that produces the greatest ROI?
3. Five content themes that have been tested and proven to be the most successful.
4. What content do most companies use that you want to stay away from one hundred percent?
5. Is there a direct correlation between high-quality content and generating revenue?
6. How much do you help support your client’s content efforts?
7. How do you test content to increase conversions?
8. How to transition cold email leads into “interested” email subscribers?
9. What goes into the initial cold-email sequence, and what’s the desired outcome or goal?
10. What is the third goal of the initial cold-prospecting emails?

Click through to learn from all 10 of Amy's unbeatable go-to-market recommendations.

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Are you looking to increase the conversion rate of your leads? Having a hard time getting your marketing team to work well with sales? Want to have a fully integrated go-to-market effort from initial lead generation all the way through customer retention?

In this interview, Steve MacDonald interviews Nancy Maluso, a seasoned B2B marketing expert with a background as a leading CMO, a Chief Strategy Officer, a Forrester Analyst specializing in B2B GTM consulting, and former Vice President of Sales. Nancy shares her insider insights from consulting with B2B companies while at Forrester to implement sales and marketing strategies from the C-Suite.

Nancy talks about creating a 27% greater return if you have alignment on your executive level across your functional leaders.

To improve their effectiveness, B2B CMOs need to focus on collaboration, communication, and ongoing support for sales. They should have a holistic understanding of the customer beyond digital interactions. Nancy gives high-level strategic advice, combined with highly tactical suggestions like using conversational intelligence tools for listening into sales conversations between salespeople and buyers, learning how the sales story is crafted, and an ongoing study of buyer pain points and needs.

“While at Forrester and consulting with companies, I knew in the first meeting which companies would make it to an integrated go-to-market function and which ones would win just by the behavior of the sales and marketing leaders. What invariably happens is that one is not able to truly understand the value of the other.” - Nancy Maluso

Click through to learn from all nine of Nancy’s top recommendations.

Part one of this serious can be found in an Ebook, "Why B2B CMOs Fail So Quickly."

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Is your marketing creating deep pipeline penetration? Tied directly to revenue creation? Are your content, demand gen, and BDR teams fully aligned and collaborating?

In this interview, Acrolinx's VP of Revenue Marketing, Mariana Just, emphasizes the importance of team collaboration in today's complex business landscape. Acrolinx prioritizes pipeline opportunities and aligns the objectives of content marketing, demand generation, and business development teams. Acrolinx's revenue marketing model focuses on the entire sales funnel, with BDRs playing a crucial role in pipeline development. This collaborative approach integrates content marketing and data-driven insights to identify prospects and optimize demand-generation campaigns.

Mariana Just explains how marketing needs to contribute to revenue and how they have an all-hands-on approach to creating pipeline opportunities that go further into the funnel – beyond lead generation and the typical MQL qualification. Her point of view is that there's no demand generation without content marketing, and that everything they spend as a company on demand generation ends up on the desk of the BDR team—thus creating the need for ultimate alignment between these teams.

Listen now to learn all about the Acrolinx success model that is attributed to its shared compensation structure, aligned goals, and culture of collaboration, which transforms marketing into a revenue-creating machine. Mariana answers all these questions below and many more.

• How do you create the ultimate alignment between teams?
• What is your perspective on the team’s roles around MQLs?
• Is there a feedback loop on successful content creation and driving pipeline?
• How is marketing and pipeline penetration handled differently than at other companies?
• What is the biggest difference between a focus on MQL vs. pipeline?
• How do you define the role of the BDR team within pipeline development?
• What is the overall takeaway that you want to leave us with today?

💡 Scott Edmonds, Chief Revenue Officer at Syncari, discusses driving growth in early-stage B2B SaaS startups. He shares insights from his startup and enterprise experiences, emphasizing product-market fit, mission belief, and process simplification. He also covers the importance of leveraging relationships to drive growth, setting clear entry criteria for new customers, and fostering a collaborative team environment.💡

“Being a CRO isn't just about one function—it's not just sales closing a big deal, product launching a feature, or marketing running a campaign. It’s about making everything work together. Never assume you can skip steps or avoid the hard, manual work needed to achieve results.” - Scott Edmonds

Scott highlights the key challenges and strategies for achieving sustainable growth in early-stage B2B SaaS startups. He emphasizes the importance of believing in the company mission, understanding the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), and setting realistic expectations. The discussion covers process simplification, trust-building, and the critical role of collaboration in fostering success. Scott also shares actionable insights on leveraging relationships and maintaining a shared company vision, offering a clear pathway for startups navigating their growth phases.

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Jim discusses how the landscape of content creation is evolving. With the rise of language model AI, marketers need to adapt their strategies to ensure AI-powered search engines discover their content. By structuring data and training AI models, marketers can provide their audience with personalized and contextually relevant content.

"You can train AI language models on specific topics; marketers can create personalized conversations with customers. This will revolutionize how we build brands, thought leadership, search, and provide more specific results for buyers." - Jim McNiel

Jim emphasizes that the implications of AI in marketing are vast. It has the potential to automate operations, personalize customer experiences, and predict customer needs.

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John Golden, CMO and Chief Strategy Officer of Pipeliner, brings a unique perspective having held leadership roles from CEO to sales, marketing, and strategy. His experience allows him to shed light on the importance of aligning sales and marketing, questioning assumptions, and finding the right balance between long-term brand building and short-term revenue generation.

John emphasizes the need for a fluid and aligned organization that focuses on enabling salespeople to provide a seamless customer experience. He highlights the importance of sales as the tip of the spear and the need for marketing to support and align with sales efforts. 

"I think the most important thing is that there is an alignment on who the real target customer is with input from both sales and marketing." - John Golden

John lays out an expanded perception that creating growth requires a shift in mindset and a deep understanding of the interplay between sales and marketing. 

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Tanya Stricker, VP of Marketing for CloudGen, shares her expertise in fixing broken marketing departments. She discusses indicators of a broken department, such as missed goals and turf wars, and emphasizes the importance of listening to team members and fostering teamwork.

"You have to be intentional about fostering relationships in the workplace." - Tanya Stricker

Tanya highlights the need for personal connections in a remote work environment and suggests activities like one-on-one meetings to build relationships. She also emphasizes the significance of understanding team members' career objectives and providing opportunities for growth. Ultimately, Tanya emphasizes the art of listening and treating team members as individuals.

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Charlie Riley, one of the top 50 marketing influencers to follow, emphasizes that when departments work in silos, valuable feedback and insights get lost. Internal marketing ensures customer feedback reaches the right teams, leading to better marketing campaigns and sales strategies.

"Internal marketing has to be intentional. Get started today at trying to help bridge gaps between departments." - Charlie Riley

Charlie suggests creating a culture of sharing feedback and success stories and educating the C-suite on the role of marketing. Charlie also emphasizes the significance of content in sparking conversations and fostering innovation within the organization.

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Monica Cooper, CMO of the Robinson College of Business, discusses the challenges facing higher education in today's market. The insights shared by Monica Cooper shed light on the changing landscape of higher education marketing. As colleges and universities face declining enrollment challenges and skepticism about a degree's value, they must adapt their marketing strategies to remain competitive.

The integration of B2B marketing principles, collaboration with employers, and alumni involvement in the curriculum are crucial elements in positioning higher education institutions as valuable partners to students and businesses. Institutions can attract the right students and forge meaningful partnerships with employers by focusing on the outcomes and benefits they provide.

"Each individual school has to make the case for why someone wants to get a degree from them." - Monica Cooper

Learn more about how Monica emphasizes the importance of content in higher education marketing. Content is king, and storytelling is key to convincing people of the value and outcomes of education.

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💡 Elizabeth Clor, Chief Marketing Officer at Contegix, shares her experiences and insights on balancing the dual roles of a CMO as both a marketer and a business growth leader. She delves into how modern marketing roles have transformed with technological advancements, integrating storytelling with data to drive strategic growth. She also discusses the importance of active listening for aspiring marketing leaders looking to bridge the gap between marketing functions and executive business strategy.💡

"It's not only important for the CMO to think strategically, but also to pull the entire marketing team in to understand that strategy so everyone on the team understands how what they are doing drives toward that vision and goal." - Elizabeth Clor

Elizabeth highlights the evolving role of CMOs, urging them to step beyond traditional marketing into strategic business leadership. She emphasizes aligning with business goals, prioritizing pipeline conversion over lead generation, and leveraging customer experience (CX) as a B2B competitive edge. Strong C-suite partnerships are vital to achieving realistic growth targets, particularly with the CFO and CRO.

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Phil Carpenter, CMO at Alice Technologies, believes that being a category creator gives you a competitive advantage. It sets you apart from the pack and positions you as a thought leader, creating new opportunities across the board, including the most highly competitive industries.

"Even if you're not creating a new category, push for novelty and innovation. Be interesting, take risks, and break the glass ceiling. Don't be afraid to stand out and be different in your industry." - Phil Carpenter

Phil explains how boring won't get you into conversations with your buyers. He advises B2B marketers to be bold and not run scared. Take risks, be interesting, and learn from your failures. 

"It's better to be ahead and push boundaries than to blend in with the competition." - Phil Carpenter

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Karla Rivershaw, an award-winning global marketing leader, discusses the power of content marketing and its role in understanding and guiding the buyer's journey. Karla highlights content as a crucial data source, enabling marketers to better understand their audience and tailor their approach accordingly. The conversation also explores the value of intent data in identifying potential buyers and streamlining the sales cycle.

Karla discusses the importance of using content to understand and engage with buyers. 

"Thought leadership is probably one of the most important things we can do as marketers." - Karla Rivershaw

She emphasizes the need for data-driven marketing and tracking buyer behavior through content interactions. Karla highlights the role of thought leadership in building trust and credibility and using intent data to identify where buyers are in their journey. 

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Warren Zenna, founder and CEO of the CRO Collective, shares his perspective on the role of CMOs and the need for better integration between marketing and sales functions. He argues that the current organizational dynamics in B2B companies, with multiple C-suite executives, create silos and hinder alignment. 

"Pipeline and revenue growth are very inward-thinking goals. It's all about customer outcomes. Customers care about the experience that they have when they buy from you. There is much more purpose in focusing on outcomes." Warren Zenna

Warren proposes that a single person, the Chief Revenue Officer (CRO), should oversee all revenue-generating functions, including marketing. He believes marketing should be more integrated into the revenue operation and that CMOs have an incredibly important role in helping the organization focus on customer outcomes versus pipeline growth. 

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Meet Vinay Nair, a former CMO with experience at companies like IBM and Microsoft, who shares his insights on being a successful CMO and building strong relationships with the C-suite. Vinay has a phenomenal background as an analyst, consulting, the planning side, owning the P&L, and doubling SaaS companies from 25 to 50 million in ARR.

He emphasizes the importance of understanding P&L and revenue planning and the need for marketers to be business leaders, not just marketing leaders. Vinay also highlights the value of content in driving growth and success for companies, stressing that it is an investment in intellectual property and a crucial part of the marketing strategy. 

"Making that pivot and that shift to being a business leader and really thinking about how you inject marketing to go drive the entire business versus just lead gen is going to be the key to success as a CMO." - Vinay Nair

Vinay highlights the evolving role of the CMO and the importance of aligning marketing strategies with overall business objectives. By understanding the P&L of the business and actively participating in the revenue planning process, CMOs can ensure that marketing budgets are optimized and aligned with growth goals.

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Monique de Maio is the founder and CMO of OnDemandCMO, a marketing agency specializing in B2B companies in the tech, professional, and financial services industries. With over 25 years of experience, Monique has helped numerous clients navigate the complex world of B2B marketing and leverage content to drive success.

​In this interview, Monique discusses the importance of understanding the non-linear nature of the buyer's journey in B2B marketing. She emphasizes the need for B2B companies to create content that meets the needs of buyers at every stage of their journey rather than relying on a linear funnel approach. Monique also highlights the importance of consistent messaging, providing value in advance, and making content about the customer rather than the company.

“Your buyer's journey is not linear anymore. So you can't predict how and where, and what assets they're going to be consuming in what order.” - Monique de Maio

Monique gives practical examples and recommendations for marketing in the world of non-linear buyer journeys.

For a link to Monique's visual of today's buyer's journey, CLICK HERE.

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💡Crys Black, a marketing expert with a background in tech startups, discusses the importance of creating an aligned go-to-market structure within a company. She emphasizes the need for aligned goals, transparency, and trust among different departments, such as sales, marketing, and customer success. By using tools like OKRs and CRM systems, companies can track and measure ROI, empower sales teams with quality content, and create a customer-centric approach to marketing.💡

Crys emphasizes the importance of tracking ROI in an aligned go-to-market structure. By creating dashboards and reports that measure engagement, intent data, and other metrics, teams can assess the effectiveness of their marketing and sales efforts and make necessary adjustments.

“First is aligned goals. If we don't have aligned goals, we can't succeed..” - Crys Black

In this podcast interview, we will delve into the insights shared by Crys and her lessons learned.

Follow Crys Black on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/crystalblack/

Follow host Steve MacDonald on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevensmacdonald/