Over the last few years, the B2B industry has changed.
The days of B2B marketing teams being a support function are long gone. Now, it’s a fully-fledged revenue-generating, target-owning department in its own right.
But with great power comes great responsibility, as the old saying goes. Marketing teams are being scrutinised like never before, especially by their CEOs. And do marketers really know what their CEOs want from them?
To answer that question, we decided to go straight to the source.
We interviewed a panel of B2B SaaS head honchos, asking them for their thoughts on what makes good marketing - and what makes marketing good.
Scroll down to read our Q&A. 👇
What do CEOs think is good marketing?
James Isilay, Founder and CEO at Cognism:
“Good marketing is really something that connects with an audience.”
“There are so many things to look at these days in terms of content. There are so many distractions and pulls on people’s time. How do you stand out? How do you get people engaged?”
“That’s good marketing - something that actually educates.”
Anup Kayastha, Owner of Height Comparison:
“Attention is the new currency in the global business landscape, and businesses cannot compete without it. Great marketing is about attracting and retaining the attention of the target audience in a relevant, truthful and transparent manner.”
“Effective marketing activity will leave a positive impression on the audience and make it easier for the targets to recognise the brand and make a purchase when the opportunity arises.”
Lisa Richards, CEO at Candida Diet:
“Good marketing is about identifying the right customer, understanding and prioritising their needs, and providing them with the right solutions to their problems.”
“You have to be able to deliver a consistent, high-quality brand experience for the customer each time they interact with your brand. Meeting this expectation of a quality experience allows you to form a connection with leads and customers, which in turn translates to smooth customer journeys.”
Paul Kushner, CEO at My Bartender:
“Good marketing marries effective strategy with authenticity. I want my brand to be represented in a way that feels genuine to my intentions and true to the values that drive my business.”
Tim Absalikov, co-founder and CEO at Lasting Trend:
“To my mind, good marketing is a clear understanding of the customers’ needs and offering them what they need in the best possible way.”
“I would add that good marketing is understanding what the customers need even if they themselves don’t realise what they need.”
Tomek Mlodzki, CEO at PhotoAiD:
“If we’re talking about good marketing, one of the first things that come up is the word ‘influencer’. Influencer marketing’s become a very effective way to raise awareness and get your numbers up.”
“The trick is to find the right influencer, but once you do, the effects can be quite spectacular.”
Anthony Martin, Founder and CEO at Choice Mutual:
“I want to make sure we stand out from our competition. My questions to the marketing team usually revolve around ‘How are you making us different from everyone else?’ and ‘How efficiently does marketing show the customer that only we can fulfil their needs?’”
“I like to be part of the process, not simply ‘on board’ with the plan. I expect the marketing team to align its strategy with the company's overall vision and that we all share the same clear sense of direction.”
Sully Tyler, Founder and CEO:
“I’ve always believed that good marketing is all about creating a connection with your customers and driving them to act on that connection.”
“You want to create demand for your product or service by getting people to think, talk and write about it.”
Ryan Turner, Founder and CEO at Ecommerce Intelligence:
“To me, good marketing campaigns don’t feel like marketing to the end customer or client.”
“Ads or marketing content pieces which are either educational, entertaining, or highly personalised to the individual seem to do best - depending on the specific market.”
Arnaud Caldichoury, CEO at Napta.io:
“Good marketing is marketing that can deliver results on both acquisition and awareness levels. It has to be consistent over the years and not just a sum of quick wins.”
“The ultimate goal is to create a strong brand that can drive business.”
Gauri Manglik, CEO and co-founder at Instrumentl:
“Good marketing is about understanding your audience. It’s about knowing what they want, what they need, and what they're willing to pay for. You have to be able to put yourself in their shoes and try to understand what it is they need from you.”
“Good marketing is also about being consistent with your message. It’s important to keep your message clear so that you can build trust with your customers. Once you have that trust, they'll start buying from you again and again!”
How do CEOs measure the success of marketing?
James Isilay:
“I judge success in marketing in two ways. Firstly, is marketing actually pulling in new business and new prospects? Also, what’s the rate of that flow?”
“Then it goes a bit deeper than that. It’s not just about pulling prospects in, it’s about how much they’re engaged. How warm do they come in? If marketing’s content is really good, then they’re going to come in quite warmed up and ready to do a deal.”
Sully Tyler:
“There are different metrics you can use, such as website traffic, leads generated, sales figures, and brand awareness.”
“But ultimately, I think the most important thing to consider is whether the time and money you’re spending on your marketing efforts are equal to the results you’re getting.”
Chris Martinez, Founder at Idiomatic:
“We measure the success of marketing, most simply, as the population in our marketing funnel - whether that’s an improved awareness of our brand on social media or in search engine results, all the way to increasing website conversions.”
“Obviously, we want to skew towards the tighter end, but improving metrics along the way demonstrates we’re moving prospects in the right direction.”
Ryan Turner:
“For us, it's qualified inbound leads. This means people coming to our websites and filling out an application form to schedule a sales call with us.”
“Of course, there are many metrics which can indicate success such as traffic, branded searches, CTRs and open rates on emails etc.; however, the number we’re really looking at is qualified inbound leads, blended across all channels.”
Gauri Manglik:
“One way I like to measure the success of marketing is by looking at my conversion rate. If my conversion rate is high, then it means that people are finding my product or service of value and are willing to pay for it.”
“Another way I like to measure the success of marketing is by looking at how many people are signing up for my mailing list. This helps me determine not only whether or not my customers like what I’m selling, but also how much interest in my business exists outside of social media.”
Press play to hear Cognism CEO James Isilay on how to increase your connect rate by 7x! ▶️
What marketing metrics/KPIs are really important to CEOs?
James Isilay:
“Spend vs the number of prospects that come in, that’s an easy one - and then deal win rates on those as well.”
Michael McCarty, CEO at Edge Fall Protection:
“Our most important marketing metric is the ROI that each campaign generates across the entirety of its duration. The return on investment metric allows us to see the sales revenue that a campaign has generated for every dollar invested.”
“From this figure, we can determine how effective each marketing campaign is at generating revenue. We can then determine the best ways to optimise those campaigns so that we can maximise their ROIs.”
“Calculating the ROI for the campaigns also allows us to determine the quality of leads that our marketing activities are generating. This is important in signalling to us whether our targeting activities are effective or need to be improved.”
Rafał Młodzki, co-founder and CEO at Passport Photo Online:
“Web traffic is a fundamental KPI for us. It provides us with useful information about the quality of our website.”
“Are visitors finding what they're looking for? Did they convert?”
Paul Kushner:
“The KPIs that matter most to my business include New Contact Rates and organic traffic.”
“These numbers give insights into who is being reached, and more importantly, where are they being reached most efficiently?”
Tomek Mlodzki:
“Cost per lead is one of the most important KPIs to track, as it tells you how cost-effective the campaign has been, but there are a few more.”
“Customer retention is another metric that’s crucial. It should be monitored closely to make sure every customer stays for longer.”
Sully Tyler:
“I think it’s really important to look at engagement and conversion rates; these are usually the best indicators that my team and I need to fix and do better.”
“Lead conversion rates are the most important as we sell products on our website. We track leads generated through form submissions (such as contact forms), click-throughs from search engine results pages (SERPs), landings from display advertising campaigns targeting potential customers who have shown interest in what we offer, etc.”
“When it comes to website traffic (and other digital performance indicators), we track things like total page views monthly or daily, unique visitors weekly or monthly, landing pages opened hourly or daily, and organic clicks on links or ads.”
Krittin Kalra, Founder at Writecream:
“Marketing isn’t just about generating leads and sales. It’s about building brand awareness, creating a loyal customer base, and generating revenue.”
“The metrics that matter to me are the number of people coming to our website, the number of people coming to our events, the number of people who have taken our online courses, and the number of people who have downloaded our app.”
Ryan Turner:
“Outside of inbound leads, for us, it's organic Google search traffic and branded search volume.”
“Our marketing efforts are focused on either attracting traffic from search or increasing brand awareness in our industry. Those two metrics help us to measure them.”
Gauri Manglik:
“The metrics that matter most to me are the ones that tell me how many people are interested in my product and how they're interacting with it.”
“I want to see what kind of conversations I'm starting, where those conversations are happening, and how much time people are spending with my brand.”
“That tells me everything I need to know about whether or not what I'm doing is working.”
Anthony Martin:
“My biggest concern is around Customer Acquisition Cost.”
“How much are we spending to acquire each new customer? Can we lower that number? Can our marketing team be more efficient in getting new customers?”
How important is hiring in marketing? What kind of people do CEOs look for?
James Isilay:
“When I started Cognism, I found it an absolute nightmare to hire marketers.”
“Marketers are one of the hardest types of individuals to hire because there are so many people who call themselves marketers but have zero skill.”
“Also, the word ‘marketing’ covers such a wide range of areas and different types of strategies, and they all require very deep skill sets.”
“My advice is to use other talented marketers to hire talented marketers. As a CEO, you need to know that you don’t know!”
“Then you need to go out and find people who know, who have that experience and ask them - ‘is this a good person?’”
“That’s how you hire good marketers.”
Tomek Mlodzki:
“There’s no golden formula for a marketing candidate because there are many positions to fill and each and every one of them requires something different.”
“I can say, however, that attention to detail and inquisitiveness are two traits that CEOs should look for.”
Sully Tyler:
“As a CEO, it’s important to pick the right people for the job.”
“When it comes to marketing, I look for creative people with problem-solving skills who can think outside the box. Experience is good, but not the most important. If you can show me you have fresh ideas, you’re on the team.”
Krittin Kalra:
“I look for people who are passionate about our company and our mission.”
Chris Martinez:
“Hiring the right marketer is key. You need someone who has the ability to toggle between a leader and worker bee, a big picture thinker and detail-oriented, seasoned expert and ongoing learner.”
Ryan Turner:
“The biggest thing I look for are people who are building a personal brand online and marketing themselves.”
“If someone is using social media and content to build up their own profile in an industry, and doing it successfully, this is a great leading indicator telling us they’re both self-starters and effective marketers.”
Arnaud Caldichoury:
“You have to hire a T-shape profile to lead the team and B2B marketing strategy. Then hire super-experts for each field.”
“If you don’t have the skills in-house, then outsource to the expert you need. In marketing, everyone has to be better than their manager in his/her dedicated topic.”
Gauri Manglik:
“When we hire a marketer, we want to find someone who has the ability to see the big picture and understand how each piece of the puzzle fits together with all of the other pieces.”
“I’ve found that this kind of person is usually very curious and always willing to learn more about what they don’t know. They’re also very good at relating to people - in fact, they’re often excellent listeners. They have a strong sense of empathy and can easily put themselves in other people’s shoes.”
“The best candidates will have a lot of experience in their chosen field, but it’s not necessarily something that needs to be specific to your industry or brand.“
What marketing activities/tasks do CEOs think are really valuable?
Sully Tyler:
“I think it’s always worth trying affiliate marketing and conducting online surveys to gain insights into customer needs.”
“But in the end, the best marketing won’t really help you if what you’re selling isn’t good, so we always try to highlight the quality of our products.”
Chris Martinez:
“As we’re facing a recession, we know that spitfire, quick-execution marketing efforts may not yield as strong results as in normal circumstances.”
“For our industry, it makes the most sense to invest in long-term, stable marketing - SEO, for example. We want to create high-quality content that will keep visitors coming back over the months to come, and establish ourselves as thought leaders.”
Ryan Turner:
“In my experience, there’s no substitute for creating and distributing truly helpful content which educates potential customers in our market and solves their problems.”
“We have no problem giving away loads of value like this, and simply attracting potential clients who are ready to pay for the implementation.” “It’s an expensive strategy which requires a long-term focus, but it works.”
Gauri Manglik:
“I’ve found that the most valuable marketing activities are those that have the greatest potential to make a big impact. That doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re going to be the most expensive (though they can), but it does mean that they’ll have the best chance of reaching a huge audience and making a difference.”
“For example, if you’re working on an ad campaign, it’s important to make sure your message is clear and easy to understand. You want people to be able to see what you’re trying to say without having to work hard at it - and once they get it, they should also remember it easily so they can act on it later.”
How important is sales/marketing alignment? How do CEOs make that happen?
James Isilay:
“It’s critical because it drives the conversations you’re having with prospects. If marketing is giving one narrative and sales is giving another, then prospects are going to come in very confused. So alignment is super-important.”
“The two teams need to share materials and share the same story about the company. The story has to tell a compelling reason to buy the product. You need to make sure your CMO and your VP of Sales are talking and having conversations.”
“When you’re looking at the sales funnel and you see deal close rates are going down or prospects aren’t turning up to calls, then you need to look at all the touchpoints from marketing and sales.”
“Are they totally aligned? Are we telling one clear narrative that’s compelling and really brings prospects onto the call?”
Gates Little, President/CEO at altLINE:
“Balance is key here because if you focus solely on sales, you risk your image, but if you focus solely on marketing, you may not make sustainable sales.”
“Good marketing will align sales goals and conversion goals, and the separate teams MUST be working in cooperation to make it happen. It blows my mind that so many organisations have siloed their marketing teams from their sales teams.”
“This communication silo has to be eliminated in order to maximise your marketing ROI. If your marketing efforts aren’t impacting sales or informed by sales targets, you'll be throwing money out the window. Treating these teams as separate entities will only hurt your business.”
“While I don’t necessarily think you need to merge the two departments or do everything in-house, a healthy respect and knowledge of what each team is bringing to the table is a must.”
Kris Lippi, CEO at ISoldMyHouse.com:
“In many companies, the marketing and sales teams often don’t see eye to eye because they have different lead qualification and scoring systems. Although this can help a sales team prioritise hot leads, it wastes most of the marketing team’s efforts and causes friction between the teams.”
“Knowing this, it’s crucial that our marketing and sales teams are in sync. After all, despite being different departments, their goal is the same: to get more sales.”
“To achieve this, you can start by putting your sales and marketing teams in the same room. This will help improve communication and collaboration between them.”
“In the beginning, you can hold weekly meetings to ensure that both teams are aligned with the company goals, not individual team goals.“
”Meeting regularly also allows the teams to analyse which marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) eventually turned to sales-qualified leads (SQLs) and converted.”
“Eventually, you’ll develop the best campaigns to attract leads that are most likely to convert. As a result, your sales team no longer has to spend so much time scoring and qualifying MQLs, making for a faster and more efficient sales process.”
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