Huddlers in the News

“I dumped our BDRs” shared a disruptive CMO from a $650mil SaaS brand, “And, guess what? We’re exceeding our revenue goals.” “It was painful for those reps,” the CMO explained, “but in retrospect, it was an easy decision--their cost exceeded their value and we had better ways to spend that money.”

Easy, perhaps. But it raised several questions in my mind:

• Why aren’t BDRs paying out?
  
• Why aren’t more CMOs ditching their BDRs?
  
• What did this CMO do with the BDR budget?
  

The Broken BDR Model

Brand development representatives (BDRs) are typically expected to turn “suspects” into “prospects.” They follow up on inbound form fills or names captured at trade shows. They reach out via email, social media, texts, and phone calls. It’s usually an unfun job with high failure rates. And for good reason.

The BDR role is built on a faulty premise.

When you and I visit a website and provide an email address to unlock a piece of content, 99% of the time we do so begrudgingly and with trepidation. We know a rep will try to contact us, a rep we don’t want to speak with that day or maybe ever! We just wanted that content. If we were interested in speaking with someone, we would do so on our schedule. And the effort to contact us is annoying. Off-putting. Maybe even interest-killing.

BDRs don’t fit into how most of us buy products and services for our businesses. When we recognize a need, we do our homework. Search the web. Read reviews. Confer with colleagues. Talk to analysts. We create a short list of brands we already trust and ones we discover through research.

When ready, we’ll ask for a demo or to speak with an expert. If it’s a complex purchase, we’ll involve multiple people at our company and want multiple conversations with specialists and other customers. At no point do we want to speak with individuals who can’t bring value to the conversation.

The BDR Safety Net that’s Dragging CMOs Down

If BDRs are ill-conceived, then why aren’t more CMOs just saying “no?” The first answer is that at some companies BDRs are adding value. [If that’s the case for you, I’d love to hear from you.] Another is that no one bothered to do an ROI assessment. The most likely answer is that having BDRs is standard operating procedure, particularly for SaaS brands. It’s the way Marketing tries to push leads down the funnel. Tries. And fails. Way too often.

How One CMO’s Bold Reallocation Supercharged Customer Marketing

So, how did our disruptive CMO reallocate the BDR budget? Most of the money went into customer marketing. These dollars were used to help customers get the most value out of their current software via in-person events, webinars, and customized content. By focusing on current customers, they increased their c-sat scores, reduced churn rates, and bumped up advocacy. 75% of their revenue growth came from existing customers who bought more.

And, how did they secure the 25% of revenue growth from new customers? Experienced salespeople did their job. They knew their category. They knew the pain points. The value proposition they shared (when asked) was consistent with what the prospects discovered on their own. They anticipated all of the prospect’s questions. They were helpful. Not pushy. And they sure as heck didn’t send unsolicited emails or texts.

If your BDRs can do that, congrats. That’s awesome. If not, make sure what they are doing is budget-worthy.

Written by Drew Neisser

Listen Here | From Renegade Marketers Unite, Episode 411: How to Be a Standout Startup

Standing out in the B2B world isn’t getting any easier. In this episode, we dive deep into the art of positioning with Allyson Letteri, author of Standout Startup.

Key findings include:

• Learn the top three mistakes brands make and how to avoid them
• Discover how to create compelling messaging that sets you apart   
• Hear real-world success stories from companies like Handshake and Thumbtack
• Understand the importance of alignment between marketing and sales

• Get actionable tips on content strategy and customer journey optimization

If you’re ready to transform your startup into a standout success, this episode is packed with practical advice you won’t want to miss!

And to hear more from Allyson, she’ll be speaking at the upcoming CMO Super Huddle in Palo Alto (Nov 7th-8th, 2024).

What You’ll Learn

• 3 key positioning mistakes most brands are making
• How to create compelling messaging that sets you apart 
• Why you need to map to the customer journey
• Real world use cases of B2B brands who mastered positioning
  

For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegademarketing.com/podcast/

“Our budget was slashed again,” exclaimed a frustrated CMO from a $75mil SaaS company. “The staff I have left is depressed, and those who can are jumping ship. Anyone have any ideas for me?” the CMO asked. And so began another CMO Huddle in the “hidden recession” of 2024.

Reflecting on the Economic Realities

Before breaking down the potential solutions to this common challenge for many B2B CMOs, let’s reflect on the economic realities our recent research revealed:

• 69% of B2B marketing leaders believe their industry is in a recession
• 50% noted their company experienced layoffs
  
• 69% of marketing leaders were asked to do more with less budget
  
• 76% of marketing leaders are experiencing more pressure to deliver pipeline results

Rebuilding After Layoffs

Now let’s tackle this CMO’s leadership challenge after layoffs and budget cuts. Most of the time, layoffs do not end up with the optimal mix of talent based on the reduced budget. Sure, you may have eliminated some weak performers. That’s always helpful. But the critical question is, given your new budget, do you have the right mix of talent? If you had started from scratch, is this the team you would have put in place?

Optimizing Your Team

Rather than fretting about staffers jumping ship, think of that as an opportunity to right-size and rebuild with a team unburdened by what happened before. Look for “utility players” who are eager to tackle more than one role and “Impact Players” as outlined in Liz Wiseman’s great book. These more flexible individuals will be invaluable as you look to stretch every penny.

Questions to Guide Your Go-To-Market Strategy

Now, on to allocating your smaller budget. The biggest mistake you can make is to cut each area equally. Instead, restart your strategic process. Notice I didn’t say “restart your budgeting process.”

A smaller budget requires more focus. First, your smaller staff won’t be able to cover the same ground they did before. Second, your overall reach is likely to drop or your dollars will be spread too thin to make an impact. But again, you need to tackle your go-to-market strategy before deciding on budget allocation.

So, where to focus? Here are some questions to consider:

• Can you eliminate one or more products/services in your portfolio?
  
• Can you drop a vertical market or two?
  
• Can you refine your Ideal Customer Profile?
  
• Can you fixate on one vulnerable competitor and win more of those deals?
  
• Can you reposition your product/service to make it more appealing to a specific target?
  
• Can we adopt a more distinctive personality to help us cut through?
  

Finding Your Unique Market Position

This exercise is ultimately about differentiation. Narrowing the market and finding your unique position, your most leverageable point of difference. Once you have this, allocating your reduced marketing budget will almost be fun.

Ultimately, this is a leadership opportunity for CMOs. Force the big-picture discussion. Remind your leadership team, “We can’t keep doing what we did before with fewer resources and expect better results.” You can also promise them that a tighter strategy is the ultimate driver of innovation.

Written by Drew Neisser

“Marketing used to be seen as order takers,” explained the CMO from a $190m services firm, “but after several years, we’re now seen as business drivers.” Several years! And that’s your internal audience. Imagine how long it takes to change external perceptions.

Like it or not, marketing leaders must devote time to marketing their marketing.

Not once at an “all hands” town hall. Not twice via follow-up emails. Relentlessly. Fearlessly. Consistently. Across all possible channels. Personally. And via surrogates.

Why is this so important? Marketing often gets a bad rap in the C-suite which trickles down to disrespect across the org. Disrespect that manifests as unsolicited advice on all aspects of marketing. Advice that can derail your well-conceived plan especially if it is centered on tactics.

Marketing is not a snowball fight. You can’t just gather your ammunition, and hurl it at your target one toss at a time. Well, you can try. But that approach inevitably fails to leave a lasting impression. Instead, think of marketing as the ball of snow rolling down a mountain, gathering girth and speed (i.e. force = mass x acceleration).

Marketing is the cumulative impact of all your activities over time – starting with your internal audience.

Strategies for Marketing Your Marketing Internally

Here are several sure-fire ways of marketing your marketing internally:

• Involve employees in your repositioning work
• Field and share quarterly employee surveys
  
• Own and indoctrinate BDRs
  
• Help employees build their personal brands
  
• Orchestrate innovation days
  
• Create an entertaining “this week in marketing” update
  

Involve Employees

If you expect employees to believe in the brand, make them part of the process from Day 1. Keep them updated throughout the process. Before launching publicly, create a brand certification program (easily done now with GenAI) that all employees must pass.

Quarterly Surveys

Don’t leave this to HR. Surveying is too important. Measure eNPS. Ask if they are proud to work for your company. Include at least 2 open-ended questions. [I’m happy to share a sample survey]

Indoctrinate BDRs

Half the CMOs in CMO Huddles “own” BDRs. Ensuring that Marketing delivers qualified opportunities to Sales, BDRs also become marketing evangelists once they move up and around the org.

Enable Personal Branding

Employees are “free” brand ambassadors and can be awesome advocates if properly trained. By teaching employees how to build their personal brands, you’re helping their careers and your company.

Orchestrate Innovation Days

Ask your employees to work together in small teams to develop innovative solutions to your biggest challenges in one day. Have a panel of judges. Offer prizes. Implement winning ideas. Count the smiles.

Update Weekly

A pithy yet entertaining weekly update will educate employees on how Marketing is helping to drive the business. After a few weeks, employees will look forward to your reports.

What’s your approach to marketing the marketing?

Written by Drew Neisser

Listen Here | From Renegade Marketers Unite, Episode 409: The Principles of Smart Brevity

“Even if great writing eludes you, brevity needn’t.”

This powerful principle drives Smart Brevity, the transformative communication method pioneered by the founders of Axios. Join co-author Roy Schwartz, a true brevity mastermind, reveals how to ditch corporate waffle and get to the point.

Discover strategies to distill complex ideas into impactful bites across the organization, like:

• Visualizing your audience (literally)
  
• The magic formula of “What’s New” and “Why It Matters”

• Mastering information hierarchy
  

• Crafting compelling internal updates
  

• Transforming your team into concise communicators
  

Learn why 200,000+ pros swear by Smart Brevity. Your audience (and inbox) will thank you.

What You’ll Learn 

• The core principles behind impactful writing  
• How to get good at smart brevity
• How smart brevity connects to pipeline and revenue

For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegademarketing.com/podcast/

“Be careful,” warned a CMO from a $475mil SaaS brand, “Sales just doesn’t pay attention until they absolutely have to.” “Even if you involve Sales early in messaging development there will still be last-minute surprises,” they added.

Ah yes, the Marketing versus Sales conflict is alive and well again in 2024. And not just about messaging. It’s uglier than that.

Marketing vs Sales

For a few years (2021-2023), it looked like the grown-ups in both departments had worked things out. Civility ruled, or so it seemed. We spent very little time in Huddles talking about Sales dropping the ball or Sales not closing. Not anymore. The partnership, if it ever existed, is breaking down. The blame game is back.

So What’s Changed?

In the immortal words of James Carville, “It’s the economy stupid.” More specifically, the B2B economy. Our research among 121 B2B marketing leaders identifies significant economic softness. Budgets are down, sales cycles are up and 69% of those surveyed believe their industry is in a recession.

When the going gets tough, the weak blame Marketing. Or Sales.

In their hearts, CMOs know it is fruitless to blame Sales. Even if they are covering every salesperson with more than enough qualified opportunities. Even if these same salespeople revert to a pricing pitch the minute a prospect pushes back. Even if their close rate is well below the category average. Like it or not, if Sales is faltering, Marketing loses too.

When a descending tide lowers all the boats, the crafty prevail.

5 Strategies

Here are 5 crafty strategies for B2B CMOs to eliminate the blame game and beat the tide:

• Joint metrics reporting: Eliminate any “marketing-sourced” metrics from your reports. Issue one metrics report from Sales & Marketing to demonstrate your united effort to drive pipeline and close deals. Present reports together
• Align staff: Everyone in Marketing should have at least 1 “buddy” in Sales with whom they meet regularly. Someone from Marketing should attend every Sales meeting and vice versa. The days of a “hand-off” are over
  
• Deal rooms: To concentrate attention on the big deals, create a physical or virtual “war room.” The room should house competitive intel, in-depth profiles of the buying committee, timetables, contact assignments, sales enablement tools like a how-we-beat-each-competitor matrix, etc.
• Go on sales calls: Sure you can listen to calls via tools like Gong but that’s not the same as experiencing the actual challenge of selling. Walk a mile or two in sales’ shoes and good things happen. More respect from Sales. More empathy for salespeople. And more insight into the messaging challenges you’re uniquely equipped to solve
• Test a big bet: A tweak here or there to your messaging won’t fight the tide. Pick a vertical market and disrupt it with an outrageous added-value offer. Something irresistible. Something that accelerates the “speed to hero” for the buyer
  

Written by Drew Neisser

Listen Here | From Renegade Marketers Unite, Episode 408: The ROI Roadmap: Decoding B2B Marketing Success Metrics

How are top marketers leveraging data to drive business growth and make smarter decisions? From demand creation to lead conversion, this episode explores the metrics that truly matter in today’s B2B landscape.

Host Drew Neisser welcomes a stellar panel of veteran CMOs to dive deep into the data-driven world of modern marketing: Jamie Gier of Dexcare, Grant Johnson (previously Billtrust), and Julia Goebel of Komodo Health.

Tune in for their expertise on:

• Pipeline contribution and revenue forecasting
• Brand health measurement 
• Aligning marketing with sales through analytics
• Proving marketing ROI to the C-suite
  

This episode is packed with actionable insights for metrics maestros and analytics novices alike. Don’t miss it!

What You’ll Learn

• What’s on 3 B2B CMO dashboards

• How to balance leading and lagging indicators

• SDR ownership, brand health metrics, & MarTech tools

For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegademarketing.com/podcast/

“Everybody is a marketer,” chimed a CMO from a $95mil SaaS company, “no matter their background or expertise.” This generated a chorus of “amens” and a thoughtful discussion on leading through this challenge.

This huddle of CMOs was way past lamentation. Even though it would be inconceivable for the CRO to offer financial advice to the CFO or the HR leader to drop security tips on the CISO, no such boundaries exist around Marketing.

Marketing is Fair Game and Everyone Wants to Play

Rather than fight this truth, many B2B CMOs are finding strength in acceptance and turning what could be a negative into an opportunity. Think of this as leadership jujitsu. It’s using an opponent's momentum to your advantage. Not that your fellow C-Suite members are opponents, it just seems that way sometimes.

As one CMO shared, “Since they were going to weigh in anyway, I now involve my peers in all key marketing decisions.” “The remarkable part is that we now share responsibility in the outcomes, we all have skin in the game and it's not just on me,” this CMO added.

Sorting Through CEO Suggestions

The most problematic source of marketing ideas is your CEO. First-time CEOs often suffer from rapid-idea syndrome. Everything they read, every event they attend, every conversation they have results in “fresh” input for their CMO (and the rest of the leadership team). And, first-time CMOs rarely have the confidence or experience to handle these barrages. Chaos ensues.

Veteran CMOs deploy a variety of approaches. One 3x CMO noted, “My rule is 50% of what they suggest I can ignore (bad idea and they forget it anyway), 40% are good ideas but not relevant at present so I park for later, 10% are smart ideas or passion projects that need to be acted on immediately.” “Amazingly, I have seen this ratio apply to my last 3 CEOs,” the CMO added.

Training a Meddlesome CEO

In an ideal world, every CEO would be great at their job. They would know how to be a leader. They would understand their three fundamental roles:

• Set a clear vision
• Hire a team that can fulfill the vision
  
• Allocate resources to turn the vision into a reality

Because it’s not an ideal world, many CEOs are micromanagers. Their insecurities drive them into the weeds and drive their direct reports crazy. These CEOs can’t help themselves. But CMOs can – by learning how to coach and lead their CEOs by example. So, yes, I’m adding coaching expertise to the long list of must-have skills for CMOs.

While I can’t possibly cover coaching in this post, here are three suggestions from executive coach Susan Gurnik:

• Build trust by listening deeply to the CEO. You need to understand how they communicate. If they see the big picture or are more likely to focus on tasks and duties
• Help the CEO to listen deeply to you. Learn to ask questions in a non-threatening manner. Be vulnerable. By asking them how you can listen better to them, you are coaching the CEO on how to work with you
  
• Create a common language that fosters trust and understanding. You need to reach an agreement on vision, priorities, marketing’s role, metrics, and how you’ll collaborate

Written by Drew Neisser

Listen Here | From Renegade Marketers Unite, Episode 407: The New B2B SEO Trifecta: Blogging, Tools, and Segmentation

What’s working today in SEO for B2B SaaS brands?

In this data-packed episode, digital marketing expert Tom Shapiro, CEO of Stratabeat, unveils the answers, drawing from an extensive study of 250 B2B SaaS websites. Prepare to challenge your assumptions and discover actionable strategies that can dramatically improve your search rankings and organic traffic.

Key findings include:

• Blogging 5-8x per month increases Google top 10 keywords by 47.9%, compared to just 10% for 1-4 posts
• Websites offering online tools saw a 40.8% boost in top 10 keyword rankings   
• Original research boosted top 10 keyword rankings by 36% on average
• Audience segmentation led to a 31.7% increase in Google top 10 rankings, vs. 12.4% for non-segmented sites

Discover why blogging frequency is the low-hanging fruit you can’t afford to ignore, learn how online tools can unexpectedly boost your SEO, and find out why audience segmentation might be your secret weapon. This data-driven deep dive challenges conventional wisdom and provides a roadmap for dominating search results in today’s hyper-competitive landscape. Tune in!

[The B2B SaaS SEO Performance Study is brought to you by Stratabeat and CMO Huddles]

What You’ll Learn

• Why blogging frequency matters
• The power of online tools and long-form content   
• Why audience segmentation works

For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegademarketing.com/podcast/

“Thank goodness events are working again,” shared a relieved CMO from a $60 million software company. Then other CMOs in the huddle offered variations on this theme. The collective relief was palpable. Several important insights emerged.

B2B CMOs' Collective Anxiety

I’ll get to the event-related insights shortly. But there’s a bigger fish to fry first. And that’s the general unease that exists among B2B CMOs right now. The demand generation playbooks that many relied upon for the last 5 years have hit a wall. CMOs are grumbling about the costs of once-vaunted ABM tools relative to the value delivered. In reality, macroeconomic factors like higher interest rates have lowered the purchasing tide for most marketing boats.

Whether or not you blame the economy or the playbooks (the same ones that were killing it two years ago), B2B CMOs are in a bit of a funk. And that’s a problem too. CMOs, like preachers, need to project confidence. Given the typical lag time between action and impact, great marketing requires a leap of faith. And before the attribution junkies get out your darts, allow me to explain.

Great Marketers Driving Change

Great marketers transform businesses.

They uncover the insights that drive the ideas that differentiate the brand inside and out. They fix broken go-to-market strategies. They tell the stories that motivate employees and rally customers. They fix dysfunctional cultures. They build the tools that make it easier for prospects to justify the purchase. They bring focus. And yes, they drive pipeline and revenue. But not without a significant lag time between these actions and their related impact.

Events Fueling Revenue Growth

Okay, pep talk over.

Back to events. For the relieved software CMO, the (“surprisingly effective”) events were not trade shows or fancy executive dinners. They weren’t even intended to drive net new revenue. Instead, this company was hosting seminars at the offices of their largest customers to help them get the most out of their software. Like many software providers, they knew their customers weren’t always using their product to its fullest potential. Fixing this would increase customer satisfaction and lower churn.

Surprising Wins and Shared Insights

But a funny thing happened along the way.

Other employees showed up at these seminars. And, when they felt their peers' excitement about the software, they requested licenses too. Suddenly a retention effort became an acquisition campaign. “These events have become our most effective revenue drivers,” exclaimed the CMO, “which is huge since doing these events is not cheap!”

Other CMOs noted that events were similarly working for them. “We’ve been doing roadshows in our largest markets,” shared a CMO from a $750 million cybersecurity company. “Most of the attendees are our customers and they do all of the selling to the prospects who join us,” the CMO declared. Part of the story is that work-from-home execs crave in-person contact with peers. But the bigger message is that investments in retention can double as acquisition vehicles.

Final Thoughts

Marketing is rarely a straight line from action to intended impact. But then again, neither are most B2B purchase journeys. You can do no wrong by doing right by your customers. They will sustain you during challenging economic times.

In the meantime, keep the faith.

Written by Drew Neisser