CMO Tips Archives - Renegade

Don’t Trust Your Gut

A tip of the hat goes to Deloitte this week for reminding us not to trust our gut… Probably as a result of a re-targeting campaign, I came across an ad from Deloitte introducing a character called “Gut Instinct.” He is the personification of that oft-unreliable feeling we’ve all used at one time or another. “Gut Instinct” Through a series...

B2B Metrics That REALLY Matter

“Is our marketing working?” This is the question that makes CMOs squirm, cringe, or sit up in their chairs with glee (if the answer is yes). But how do you even know if your marketing is working? Are you measuring conversions, sales, website traffic, clicks, sentiment—or any number of other metrics which may or may not be of utmost importance...

Creating a New Category: Emotion AI

Handwritten thank you notes. These aren’t words you see a lot these days, so when I heard Gabi Zijderveld, CMO of Affectiva, describe writing 44 such notes in one night to the speakers at a conference she’d organized, my interest was piqued. She told this story at a recent gathering of The CMO Club, not to brag but rather as...

How to Rebrand in a Much Despised Category

Healthcare. To many, the word itself is an oxymoron, with “caring” often missing from the provision of health services to those who need it the most. In fact, in an Gallup poll published in August, the healthcare industry ranked just above the pharmaceutical industry and the federal government as Americans’ three least favorite business sectors. These negative feelings run deep...

Is Your Content Additive?

Think about the last 3 pieces of content you created. Did they have a common theme, or advance a common story? Or were they distinct “one-offs”, unrelated to each other? Maybe they were the result of a looming content calendar that just needed to be filled… When it comes to content, the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its...

Getting Leads into Your Pipeline

Alignment between your marketing and sales departments doesn’t happen overnight. For example, when a B2B prospect visits your website, they most likely need to be connected to an account manager and salesperson that can address their specific needs and questions. A B2C prospect, however, is much more likely to explore your website and fill out an inquiry form all on...

Marketers, You’re Doing it All Wrong

One of the primary goals of my CMO-focused podcast, Renegade Thinkers Unite, is to interview world-class B2B business leaders and uncover unique insights that you can use in your business. In a recent episode, Brent Adamson of Gartner cites some compelling research regarding the B2B buyer’s journey. In a nutshell, he says that marketing’s traditional, linear approach to the buyer’s journey (a.k.a. “the sales funnel”) doesn’t even come close to addressing how buyers actually select...

How to Turn ‘Word of Mouth’ Into a “Talk Trigger”

The hotel app worked like a charm. Not only was I able to choose my room, I bypassed registration and used a digital key to open the door. Excited about this experience, I shared it on Twitter tagging a couple of CX experts, one of whom said, “love that too but at Doubletree, it’s worth stopping at the front desk...

Not for Profit CMOs Need These Skills and Traits

February 27, 2019

With the average tenure for corporate CMOs clocking in at just over 4 years, marketing professionals in these roles don’t have a lot of time to make their mark. The result is a fast-paced, competitive and demanding work environment that requires a very particular set of skills (to paraphrase Liam Neeson). However, many of these same skills can be effectively...

How to Replenish Your Creative Mojo: Take a Holiday!

February 25, 2019

Marketers. We’re creative types, right? In fact, what can you tell marketers about being creative that they don’t already know? Well, here’s one: Take a holiday, already! We’ve all read the stats, so I won’t bore you with them. Suffice it to say we’re all taking less vacation time than we used to. We chalk it up to being busy, taking...