This is probably the one thing that every CEO wants to know about marketing – what are the best key metrics to use for making marketing investment decisions and then to evaluate those marketing investments. I deliberately did not make this my #1 because the previous posts cover elements that, if not addressed, will greatly influence these key metrics. Now that I have covered those, let’s dive into the key metrics […]
We have arrived at the #5 thing I believe every CEO should know about marketing. In case you are new to the series, you can find #1 – #4 (The “Ante”, Not all marketing is the same, B2B buyer journey, and B2B website purpose) in our blog.
#5 is about alignment – specifically marketing and sales alignment around one specific definition. There are certainly many […]
As websites have evolved, I am still surprised to find many B2B websites are basically all about the company and what they do or what […]
This third blog post of the “7 things a CEO needs to know about marketing” series focuses on the B2B buyer journey. You may believe your company sells stuff to the market – like your products or services, however, that is your seller view and not a buyer view. You indeed have products and services, and you definitely engage in activities that lead to sales but the truth is people are buying what they need […]
Many CEOs tell me about marketing companies that call or email them to sell automated nurture, or paid search, or SEO, or other services that they assure the CEO is what works. There are certainly some marketing tactics that one might consider fundamental to many business operations but the real truth is, and the #2 in my series of 7 things every CEO should know about marketing, tactics that work for […]
The Marketing Ante
What do you, as a CEO, need to know about marketing? If you have a marketing professional in a leadership role on your team, you might initially think you don’t need to know that much. Of course, how do you know if they are doing a good job? If you are a CEO that has part-time marketing staff, or maybe just tactical marketing […]
If you have ever fished, you know that having the right bait greatly increases your chance of catching fish compared to just having a plain steel hook in the water (it’s shiny but not fooling anyone!). If marketing content is a fishing analogy, then your content is the bait.
When engaging marketing prospects to respond […]
As a one-person or small-staff B2B marketing department, there is likely a tension between executing campaigns/tactics that are visible to the rest of the company and internal marketing investments (which are foundational to delivering the quality and results for those campaigns/tactics). I get it. Your management team wants to measure every dollar you spend. However, an important part of […]
For a smaller marketing department, it is even more crucial to create and implement a plan quickly to inspire confidence, expand your budget, and grow your marketing investments and success for the company. You can’t hide behind much when it’s just you. Amazingly, I have discovered that in marketing groups of all sizes, one of the fundamental weaknesses has been clearly defining what success will look like for […]
With your inventory scores in hand (see Pre-requisite Work), we are ready to talk about how you can examine your scores and start considering what will be a priority in hiring (as budget allows) or outsourcing to accomplish your marketing mission as you progress. The good news is that you have both internal and external sources of knowledge and skills to fill gaps for you along the way. Below we will review these source options following the inventory form categories and then discuss priorities in terms of what you might consider first as you build your team and capabilities.