Bob Finlayson’s Post

The Successful CMO: During your first 100 days in a new CEO role, you must be a change agent. Marketing departments often evolve organically over time, shaped by the priorities of past leadership. As the new chief marketing officer, your task is to reevaluate this structure and make sure it aligns with both your customer insights and business goals. To rethink the marketing machine, start by updating your customer journey map. Focus on the emotions, motivations and friction points at each stage. Use this map as your North Star to assess the current marketing strategy. If your team doesn’t have a well-defined customer journey map, consider this a red flag. It’s an essential tool for aligning your marketing efforts with the customer experience. Next, evaluate your marketing team’s skill sets. Identify high performers and those who may not be a fit for your vision of the future. This step isn’t about reshuffling roles; it’s about ensuring every team member has the opportunity to perform at their highest level in the right position. This is also a good time to examine your martech stack. Are there tools or technologies — like AI or machine learning — that can streamline workflows and improve results? In today’s fast-paced marketing landscape, leveraging technology is critical to maintaining a competitive edge. Learn three additional strategies to help you drive impact and exceed expectations in your first 100 days by reading Bold Marketing & Communications co-founder Bob Finlayson’s article in CMSwire. For additional insights or help creating and managing successful marketing programs and campaigns, contact Bob or Bold co-founder Paul Brunato for a free consultation. #CMO #MarketingStrategy #CustomerJourney #MarketingTips

I'm certainly biased but I think the best growth is through the lens of marketing. The companies that are leaning on marketing for growth are 2X more likely to have greater than 5 percent annual growth. Still, it' a challenge. Only 10% of Fortune 250 CEOs have marketing experience. The CEO / CMO relationship needs to deal with these issues: 1. The ability to define the role of marketing within a CEO's strategy. 2. Understanding the levers of modern marketing capabilities. 3. Measure impact: Linking marketing activities to business outcomes. This is my favourite passage: "I view the CMO as the chief customer advocate, because that person’s role is to go across the company to advocate, to make it easier for the customer to do business with the company." This is a great read (or listen).

How Is Marketing perceived in your organization? Is it viewed as a vital, strategic function led by senior leadership? Or is it treated as a support role, managed by inexperienced junior staff? Unfortunately, many organizations fall into the latter category—underestimating the power of marketing and failing to build a team capable of creating a strong, lasting brand. No wonder why CMO tenure tends to be short!   In a push / pull marketing environment with strong tension between brand building and performance marketing efforts, how do you staff your marketing organization? While much commentary is focused on big issues of the day like AI and how to best deploy marketing tools, little time is spent on discussing the importance of how a marketing team should be structured for long-term success.   Key questions to consider are: ·        What’s the balance required between strategic and executional skills ·        Does the organization speak the same language in defining marketing, sales and business objectives ·        Should you hire by marketing objective or marketing discipline   These are important considerations in helping to determine the type of talent you should bring on board, the ability to effectively track marketing success or develop long-term successful relationships with agencies. It’s time for organizations to invest the resources – time and funding – to develop a successful marketing organization that can help drive both growth and innovation.   In our latest blog post, How to Build the Right Marketing Team to Win, we explore why marketing must be treated as a strategic imperative. https://lnkd.in/grEfAeuX

This is a fairly brief discussion of the role of the Chief Marketing Officer—which has been talked about plenty, over the last 10-15 years, but I suppose one key point here is simply that "CMOs need a seat in the strategy-planning room." And shouldn't be treated like mere executors of a business strategy that is handed to them by the rest of the C-suite. And you might think, well where the heck is THAT happening? Because THAT seems like a shift away from where we seemed to be at maybe 12 years ago, that is: blaming CMOs for lack of growth, and assuming it's ALL on them to develop a smart data-driven, customer-savvy, demand-generating, innovative platform strategy! I'm not sure if the expectations of CMOs have just swung hard in the opposite direction or if the expectations are still high without the necessary support, access, and collaboration... But from what I've seen over the last few years I can attest that in some organizations, there's a Marketing Officer in the C-suite, alright, but the data, research, insights, power, and control of technology/platform direction seems to lie almost entirely with the Chief Product Officer, who is also sometimes the Chief Technology Officer. Or there's another role, a Chief Customer Officer, and it's really not that clear what the CMO is relegated to doing if they are NOT the one who brings the voice of the customer to the organization and really acts as the customer advocate. Someone's got to do that bit, if you want growth. So I suppose if you have a Chief Customer or Chief Experience Officer with a seat at the strategy table, that's good, even if it's not the Chief Marketing Officer, who's off devising ways to talk to customers about the products, presumably. But I don't think the companies that are giving all the control over data, customer insights, and strategy to Product and/or Technology are focused enough on customers: ensuring that the org is making it easy for customers to do business with the company, and serving relevant customer segments both efficiently and elegantly. In other words, thinking holistically about the company's products, channels, and customer segments, needs, demand. Like I said, someone's gotta do it. In this chat, they're thinking it's the CMO's job, and the only way a CMO will be successful at driving growth.

“… marketing leaders must evolve into strategic contributors whose insights drive core business results.” “… marketing needs to reframe its purpose within the organization. Marketing should not be a support function measured solely by campaign metrics. Instead, it should be positioned as a strategic driver of growth and long-term value. The more CMOs align their objectives with financial goals, the more they amplify their impact and build credibility at the executive table, where critical decisions are made. For marketing leaders, this means demonstrating how their strategies contribute to broader business outcomes — whether through increasing customer lifetime value, enhancing market share or accelerating revenue growth.” I’ll leave these two quotes and avoid further editorial. I have strong views that support these statements. Glad to engage 1 on 1 with proof points (on why) and solutions (that drive business success). https://lnkd.in/eRxyTUu4

How did you prepare for your current role as chief marketing officer? ✏️ Following my mentor's steps, continuously honing my skills, taking more and more challenges with an open and solution-oriented mind, positioned me well for a Marketing Team Lead or the role of a Chief Marketing Officer. Here's to how I strengthened my Marketing Journey, albeit no short-cut; SOLIDIFYING MARKETING FUNDAMENTALS & TRENDS: 1. I've ensured a strong grasp of marketing fundamentals across various channels (digital, social, content, traditional) by staying updated on the latest trends in marketing automation, data analytics, and marketing technologies. Have also tried my hands on few online courses to bolster my knowledge. 2. Keeping a consultative marketer approach, I try deepening my understanding of the specific industry I target by researching market trends, competitor strategies, and customer needs within that industry. DEVELOPING WELL-ROUNDED BUSINESS ACUMEN: 1. As a Marketer, I need to translate marketing efforts into business results while sharp financial skills help understand and project marketing ROI, budgeting, and cost-benefit analysis onto the stakeholders. 2. Broad knowledge of business strategy beyond marketing, highlights how marketing aligns with overall company goals and how it can contribute to sales growth, brand awareness, and market leadership. LEADERSHIP & COMMUNICATION SKILLS: 1. Delegation with trust, clear communication, fostering a creative and collaborative team culture has helped me build, motivate, and inspire teams across cultures. That according to me is true leadership. 2. I've worked hours developing strong presentable communication skillls (written, oral and non-verbal), as is, to clearly articulate the vision, data insights, campaign proposals and strategies to the C-suite and other stakeholders. NETWORK & BUILD RELATIONSHIPS: 1. Building meaningful and mutually progressive relationships with other marketing leaders and industry influencers, attending industry events, conferences, and online forums are a must to stay connected and learn from young and seasoned peers. 2. Nurturing connections with executives and board members requires understanding their perspectives and priorities to develop marketing strategies that resonate with them. Perspective is the key. Keeping a sheer interest in people, their aspirations, readiness to learn more, an individual style is created which keeps me on toes, facing challenges, hence propelling my marketing efforts forward. Dynamism is the pivot.

How marketing leaders can transform marketing from a support function to a growth driver! The decline of marketing as an influential business function is well documented. Among C-suite roles, chief marketing officers (CMOs) are the least likely to advance to the CEO spot and the most likely to be dismissed. This unsettling trend is supported by the Fall 2023 CMO Survey, where most CMOs reported limited involvement in executive-level decisions. They are not regular attendees at board meetings, and even fewer participate in earnings calls. While many external factors contribute to this decline in influence, much of it may be self-inflicted. At the B2B Marcom Summit in Washington, D.C., earlier this year, I attended a keynote address by Rick Rudman, CEO of Curbio. His tone was friendly, but his message was unmistakably candid. Rudman urged marketing leaders to go beyond traditional metrics and demand generation. He emphasized the importance of stepping into a role that aligns with the organization’s growth and profitability objectives. In his words, marketing leaders must evolve into strategic contributors whose insights drive core business results. He shared that such marketing leaders are rare and invaluable, as those who prove their worth by taking on a broader vision for the business are retained and even groomed for CEO roles. Marketing should be positioned as a strategic driver of growth and long-term value. How do you make that happen? #marketing #cmo #strategicalignment https://lnkd.in/ddHkGPBh

You need a STRONG stomach to lead marketing. The ability to smell, taste, and see all the unpleasant things without giving up. – The company without a clear vision or business strategy. – The team that’s misaligned on KPIs, processes, & objectives. – The varying compensations between heads. – The CEO that doesn’t get marketing. – The leadership team that pumps money into marketing without a strategy. Enough to make anyone feel ill. And, whilst you’re experiencing all of that, there’s the daily question of… — “Where are the leads?” Truth is, strategic training is not enough for a marketing head. Yes, you need to know the fundamentals of research, segmentation, positioning, and distribution. And to know them well. But in reality… ~50% of the role is dealing with the internal problems. Too many companies make marketing more difficult than it needs to be. Constantly… Overthinking it. Overplanning it. Overcomplicating it. Which means they spend their (scarce) days in meetings to talk rather than do. And this prevents them from executing on the work that matters. That’s why the most underrated skill in marketing today is… INTERNAL MARKETING. – The talent to persuade others. – The ability to lead with a story. – The capacity to communicate well and often. – The expertise to get buy-in when you need it. – The grit to keep going and to keep repeating yourself. So, that you’re given the freedom (and authority) to lead and do marketing. #saas #marketing PS. No wonder the tenure of a marketing head had been on the decline. 🤢

YES! I like Danny's phrasing of "internal marketing" skills: – The talent to persuade others. – The ability to lead with a story. – The capacity to communicate well and often. – The expertise to get buy-in when you need it. – The grit to keep going and to keep repeating yourself.

There is nothing like hearing someone share their brand message with clarity and then watching the audience respond. Or seeing a client's eyes light up during a whiteboard session when they see the strategy unfold. Or getting an income report that shows leads costs decreasing and sales increasing. Those are the moments that make my work all worthwhile. But I'm realizing that many people don't know WHAT I do for businesses or WHY I keep showing up with videos and business tips. Here's a glimpse into my world: Brand Messaging Sessions – Many businesses struggle to share their brand story with clarity. Their ideal customer doesn't understand their messaging so they leave without taking action. I help businesses distill their brand message into words and ideas that make them unforgettable and drive people to act. Marketing Strategy Sessions – Clarity and consistency are the cornerstones of successful marketing. I help businesses build a strategic and repeatable marketing plan to guide all their marketing efforts. Marketing Audits – Marketing data is your friend. But many businesses aren't sure what the data all means or how it can help. I break down the data to find trends, lower costs, and guide future marketing decisions. Fractional Chief Marketing Officer – Business owners get pulled in many directions and marketing takes a backseat to running the day-to-day. An outside, senior-level leader, can bring fresh ideas and expert marketing guidance to a business. Especially one that isn't ready to hire a full-time CMO but needs help leading an outsourced marketing team. Coaching / Consulting – Ever been partway through a project and needed to "phone a friend" for help? When it comes to marketing, I'm that friend. I deliver simple solutions with actionable next steps to move past the marketing hurdles. ____ Need to chat about working together? Schedule an introductory call to see if it would be a good fit. https://lnkd.in/gqkjNUhj