Hanna A. Teklit

A very special package landed on my front porch yesterday - I was honored to be named by both Pavilion & TrustRadius as Fractional Advisor of the Year at this year's GTM awards. This recognition has me reflecting on a critical decision many scaling businesses face: when to hire a full-time CMO versus bringing on a Fractional CMO. Both options offer unique advantages tailored to diverse needs. As your high-growth business scales, understanding which approach best aligns with your strategic marketing objectives and growth ambitions can make all the difference in driving sustainable success. Let's dig into each: Understanding the Distinctions: - Full-Time CMO: Is dedicated to crafting and implementing marketing strategies, leading teams, and driving growth efforts daily. They're fully immersed in company culture and have a thorough understanding of its goals and challenges. - Fractional CMO: A Fractional CMO is an outsourced, part-time marketing expert providing high-level guidance on a contract basis. This role offers flexibility, giving businesses access to marketing expertise without the commitment or cost of a full-time executive. Cost Breakdown - Full-Time CMO: The average annual salary for a full-time CMO in the U.S. ranges from $150,000 to $250,000, excluding bonuses, benefits, equity, and other compensation. - Fractional CMO: Fractional CMOs work part-time with businesses typically paying $8,000 to $30,000 per month, based on factors like expertise level and scope. Pros and Cons: - Full-Time CMO: -- Pros: Offers dedicated leadership and is integrated into the company's operations and goals, ideal for long-term planning. -- Cons: Can be challenging for smaller companies, especially with added expenses for overhead. - Fractional CMO: -- Pros: Offer a cost-effective way to bring in expert guidance without a full-time commitment, offering flexibility to adjust marketing efforts. -- Cons: May not be as integrated into company culture and have limited ability as they often work for multiple companies. When to Choose a Full-Time CMO -Long-Term Strategy Execution: For sustained marketing goals and brand-building, a full-time CMO provides continuous leadership and cohesive strategies. -In-House Integration: Companies needing a marketing leader embedded in the organization to drive cross-department collaboration may benefit from a full-time CMO. When to Choose a Fractional CMO - Budget Constraints: For startups and scaling businesses with limited budgets, a fCMO allows access to expert marketing without high costs. - Specialized Expertise: A fCMO brings targeted skills for specific initiatives, such as product launches or digital campaigns. - Scalability: As needs fluctuate, businesses can easily adjust the scope of an engagement. Ultimately, choosing between a full-time CMO and a Fractional CMO depends on your business's unique needs, resources, and growth stage. #ScalingBusiness #FractionalExecutive #BusinessStrategy #GrowthHacking #fCMO

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I was pretty moved by Allison Schiff's podcast interview with Andy Monfried, CEO of Lotame. Allison is extremely well versed and really did her homework. A lot of those three-letter acronyms the pair raise are marketing meant to make old ideas seem innovative. A lot of the companies they cite as acquired are pump-and-dump schemes touting tech that worked on PowerPoint, and since shut down by acquirors. Andy was pretty modest about all this. He’s built a company that has been an institution for 18 years, and profitable for a decade. He’s advanced a consistent vision that the market keeps coming back to. Not easy in a world where venture-backed hype-cycle is dominant. To run a company with integrity in this industry, I can tell you that the sacrifices and trade-offs are huge. Thanks for doing that Andy. (And as always thanks as always for bringing in the Dead and Phish as paradigms for business.) Check it out on AdExchanger.

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B2B CEO that feels marketing is expendable. It happens. Sometimes it’s because marketing is confused with Advertising. But it’s more likely because the CEO is from a discipline other than Marketing or Sales. For example, they are from the “Product Development” or finance world. This post touches on how to enable conversion of the CEO to embrace marketing.

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Recapping my moderated CMO panel conversation during yesterday's ANA Boston session on Organization and Growth Strategies for ABM. 👉🏽 Boston's own Kate Adams of Quickbase 1️⃣ Prefers to call it "account-based revenue" rather than ABM 2️⃣ Believes the entire go-to-market function needs to be aligned to generate revenue from new & existing customers 3️⃣ Loved Kate's quote when we discussed Board dynamics (paraphrasing), 'Our board cares more about how, where and why to invest the next $X than anything about the tactic of ABM itself.' 👉🏽Joy Jarrett of Guidehouse 1️⃣ Focuses on increasing pipeline volume and deal sizes, not just accounts and revenue 2️⃣ Tight partnership between marketing and sales enablement is crucial 3️⃣ Her ability to navigate an extremely complex selling org and sales model was amazing with B2B and B2G (17k global empl, PE backed) 👉🏽 Tasha Johnson of Graebel Companies, Inc. 1️⃣ As a 75-year-old legacy organization, ABM has helped them evolve and mature. Effectively uses video and stories at Board level 2️⃣ Emphasized breaking down silos and the "experience factor" for customers 3️⃣ Recently launched an ABM pilot program to build awareness and alignment for a company very new to ABM, pre technology ANA sponsored by the newly rebranded Marketbridge, thank you for including me in your session. Selfie for vanity, for the LinkedIn algorithm and to make Mom proud. 🤠 _______ 🖱 Click to follow B2B Fusion on Go To Market best practice strategies. 👍 Like and subscribe to B2B Fusion YouTube channel of 259+ GTM videos. ☎ Need faster, more efficient pipeline growth? Let's talk. #pipelinegrowth #pipelinevisibility #GTM #ABM #ABX

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More ironies of the Gen AI age as I listen to this weeks episode of Hard Fork. 1) independent knowledge will matter more. People less likely to trust output that hasn’t been verified by a knowledgeable human. 2) personal relationships will matter more. Harder to sort through the “slurry” of content that AI will generate. People will want to hear from actual people. So in a way while AI will certainly infect everything we do, the antibody is trust and connections with humans.

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🚀 Exciting news! I'm presenting at ProductCamp Atlanta this Friday (assuming I get the votes)! 🎉 📢 My session, “Product Management as Fiduciary Responsibility: Managing Your Roadmap Like an Investment Portfolio,” takes a fresh look at how we, as product leaders, can level up our game by thinking like investors. 💡 🔎 Here’s what attendees can expect: - How to treat your roadmap like a portfolio of strategic investments. 📊 - Using financial concepts like IRR, WACC, and TVM to prioritize initiatives with precision. 🧮 - Practical tools for tracking product investments and measuring ROI. 💰 👀 If you want to learn how to balance short-term wins with long-term growth and make every roadmap decision count, then this session is for you! Voting will be in-person on Friday and I’d love your support! 🙏 If this session sounds valuable to you (or you’re just curious about applying an investor’s mindset to product management), please join us on Friday and give me your vote! 👍 Let’s make this session happen and bring some financial finesse to product management! 💪🛠️ See you at ProductCamp Atlanta!

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Why do CMOs have such short tenure and what can be done about it? What if there were a place where C-Levels debated controversial GTM issues, real, raw, and unscripted? Enter #CXOgames. I’ll be debating with an incredible panel of business and marketing execs, hosted by Joe Chernov, CMO of Pendo.io, this Friday, June 14th @9 am PDT / @12pm EDT. Don’t miss a lively conversation! Hint: As the founder of a company named PosiROI, LLC, I bet you can imagine I have an opinion or two on this subject.... let's do this! Debaters:  Haje Kamps, Founder & Pitch Coach, Reporter, TechCrunch Domenic Colasante, CEO, 2X Patrick Maes, Founder, Disruptive Selling Brandee Sanders⚡️, Award-Winning CMO/CRO Erik Charles, VP Marketing, DispatchTrack  Allison J. Snow, Managing Director & Founder, Salacia Go-To-Market Advisory Mark Stouse, Chairman and CEO, ProofAnalytics.ai Jenn Steele, CEO & Co-Founder, SoundGTM  Anastasia Pavlova, Founder & CMO, Bold GTM #CXOgames #breakoutofyoursilo #marketing #sales #gtm #b2b #innovation #ADEPT #strategy #data #datastrategy #GSD

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When you’re the CMO of 5 different companies you leverage voice enabled conversational AI to deliver high quality leads to your various sales teams. Of course when one of those companies is a conversational AI company you get to write the scripts and prompts at 3:30am! Revmo AI Providertech

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B2B executives don’t realize that department-level source attribution is the *cause* of their pipeline problem, not the solution. I sat in yet another meeting yesterday where Marketing, Marketing Ops, and Biz Dev leaders debated which attribution model they should use…..5 minutes in, I wanted to blow my brains out ☠️ I just can't take it anymore. These debates are useless. The SDR leader wants a first-touch attribution model so SDRs get credit when they load leads into the database, citing that the SDRs get “demoralized” when they book a meeting that gets tagged as inbound. The Marketing team wants it to be “Marketing-sourced” if there’s any Marketing touch within 45 days. The Partner team wants it to get tagged as “Partner” and take precedence over everything when a Partner is involved. Every department just fights over credit for sourcing the lead, every department celebrates “sourcing” a % of revenue, while the financial planning model breaks down IRL and the company misses growth targets by a mile. Then - and this is the hilarious part - they try to fix the problem by changing the attribution model 😭 😭 It’s like admitting you have a drug problem, and then deciding to switch from cocaine to meth. So, to reinforce the fundamental flaws of this approach: 1. Using lead source attribution credit by department, regardless of which attribution model you use, is a terribly sub-optimal way to plan, measure, and optimize your GTM when you need to deliver scalable growth aka sustainable unit economics. 2. Comparing Demand/Marketing (triggers and detects buying signals) with Prospecting (engage buyers 1:1 and book qualified meetings/opps) is like comparing apples to monkeys. They are NOT the same thing and any logical human would arrive at this conclusion with a small amount of critical thinking. 3. Using this incredibly short-sighted and simplistic planning model forces all Marketing investments to appease the attribution model - skewing investments all to 1 part of the buyer journey (database capture) and causing extreme self-inflicted pain & dysfunction in the Pipeline Creation process. 4. We should be measuring, comparing and optimizing the effectiveness of our Supply Chain (all of the 1st-party and 3-party signals that enter our Revenue Factory for Prospecting). 5. We should be measuring, comparing, and optimizing the effectiveness of our Prospecting (all of our efforts to engage buyers 1:1 and create qualified opportunities, including AI, SDRs, and AE prospecting motions). ___ If you spend just a small amount of time thinking about the current situation, you’ll too see that all of these debates & meetings & tech projects are a total waste of time. It's time for C-Level executives to fix the real problem. Stop planning, measuring, and optimizing your GTM like 4 low-quality department-level assembly lines. And start running your GTM like a Unified Revenue Factory. #b2b #gtm #marketing #sales #finance

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A collaborative selling process is highly effective, and can solve difficult customer problems.

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This piece really spoke to me. As someone who has lived through 18 rounds of layoffs in my career at various stops (got caught up in two of them in 2007), I've seen this done respectfully and with empathy, and I've seen it go the other way, too. If you are the one having to give the notifications, I feel for you. It's the hardest thing to do in work-life. But also know that you can be compassionate without sacrificing conviction. Vulnerability is a strength when used correctly. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/gP54msS5 ​​ #OutplacementTrends #HRStrategies #LHHOutplacement​ ​

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Believing the conventional wisdom that they have roughly 90 days to prove themselves, many new CEOs get into trouble by launching bold initiatives before they’ve won the support and trust they need to effect change. According to our study of nearly 1,400 CEOs, earning people’s confidence actually takes two years. Learn more from my colleagues Claudius Hildebrand and Jason Baumgarten in their new article featured in Harvard Business Review: https://lnkd.in/etS58sMT

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When early-stage startups don't have the budget to hire the experienced product marketing leader they want to, I recommend a hybrid, best-of-both-worlds approach hire an experienced, fractional PMM leader to build and execute a strong GTM strategy that will serve as your startup's PMM foundation + hire a full-time PMM to take the reins and continue the work, after that foundation is built ---- if your startup is a car and GTM is a race then the experienced fractional PMM leader builds the car from scratch - giving you a solid engine, body frame, electronics, airbags, etc. + the PMM drives the car that's built and modifies it along the way, adding nitrox and air scoops, changing the exhaust, tuning up the engine, adding racing slicks, changing the brakes, adding spoilers, painting it a wicked ruby red, and more That way you get the best of both worlds and you win the GTM race 🏎

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Lost in Metrics: Elusive Goals in Retail In episode 4, Matthew explains why something that should be deeply understood, crystal clear, and focused is actually a tangled, blurry, and moving target. #RetailTherapy #EmployeeExperience

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Don’t start off on the wrong foot. In Episode 76 Tracy Posadowski and Garrett Jestice get into how to have the conversations, and take the right steps, to kick off fractional CMO engagements the right way.

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“But when viewed collectively, not only is it achieving their goal, but it is exceeding it. This changes the optimization from "cut the channel" or "improve its efficiency" to "how can we spend more?" Prime example of perspective and how a shift in perspective can make all the difference! We work with our clients to understand incrementality and help them get a stronger grasp & understanding of their media dollars to their overall business, often resulting in some serious coin! 💰💡

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We've got some news! My CSO partner, John Eitel, at Demandbase and I just wrote a book about sales and marketing alignment. We live and breathe it everyday as practitioners, especially at an account-based marketing and sales company, but it takes intentional work, focus, and communication. So why does it matter? - Poor alignment between sales and marketing can cost 10% or more in annual revenue (Marketsource). - 48% of companies are struggling with sales and marketing alignment (DGR 2023 C-suite survey). - 66% of companies believe that improving sales and marketing alignment is most critical to driving growth (DGR 2023 C-suite survey). As a marketing leader who has experienced the good and the bad, I know how valuable that partnership is at every level in the organization. And I'm thankful to get to be in the trenches with John everyday. #BetterTogether Join us to learn more about the book!

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The Leadership Ego Trap: [Ignoring Expert Advice] I recently worked with a CEO who pulled this exact move. The scenario: 1. Hired for GTM strategy 2. Another agency already doing messaging (𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐠) 3. We present data-backed, differentiated messaging 4. The CEO ghosted, then came back with... his own messaging 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫? CEO expertise is valuable, but it can also be a blindspot. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐂𝐄𝐎𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐩: → Overconfidence in market knowledge → Fear of losing control → Inability to see blind spots 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭? - Wasted resources - Missed market opportunities - Demoralized teams 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐄𝐎 𝐞𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐩: For CEOs: 1️⃣ Hire experts, then actually listen 2️⃣ Embrace data over gut feelings 3️⃣ Encourage diverse perspectives in your team For Marketers: 1️⃣ Back everything with solid data 2️⃣ Clearly tie recommendations to business goals 3️⃣ Create a safe space for the CEO to explore new ideas Remember: the smartest person in the room is the one who listens. Let's chat about creating strategies that leverage both internal knowledge and external expertise. ---- ❤️ 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬. ♻️ 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤. 🔔 Follow me for more helpful and entertaining videos to improve your go-to-market approach. 🤟

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