Winning the Bigger CMO Mandate: Insights From Hundreds of B2B SaaS Marketing Leaders
When you look at the CMO role across hundreds of B2B tech companies, what themes emerge these days? In this episode of The Get podcast, host Erica Seidel talks with Matt Selheimer, VP and Research Director for B2B Marketing Executives at Forrester. You'll hear about the top themes that have emerged in The Get this season. And you'll get a sneak peek at new Forrester research dedicated to CMOs. Learn about:How to classify marketing leadership roles: is the CEO looking for a supporter, a promoter, a partner, or a driver? How changes in tech and buying behavior can be a catalyst for marketing leaders to claim a broader role and bigger budget Advice to CEOs who have failed at hiring CMOsHow CMOs who create a continuous learning organization are the ones who will be the most successfulWhy marketing leaders need to get beyond "polishing the pebbles on in-market intent signals" and instead invest to be the preferred vendor earlier on, to avoid being used as negotiating leverage against the preferred vendorHow increasingly, "your understanding of your buyers, your customers, and the markets you're operating in is your competitive differentiator"Why so few CMOs are at the point of firing whole teams in favor of AI How to avoid 're-org fatigue' while still responding to changing buyer behaviors Memorable Quote:"What I tell our clients, and CMOs in transition, is: make sure there's a really good fit here for the purpose of marketing. That what you see as the purpose of marketing and what your CEO and the board see as the purpose of marketing is aligned. If you need to do education, that's the time to do the education… and expand the aperture of how they think about marketing. If you don't get the CEO resonating with that, then that may not be the place that you want to go join, as an example. But if you are already in a function, already in a company as a CMO, what we're telling all of our clients is, now's a great time to recalibrate the purpose of marketing."00:00 Introduction to The Get Podcast00:17 Guest Introduction: Matt Selheimer from Forrester01:32 High-Level Themes in SaaS Marketing01:46 AI's Role in B2B Buying02:16 Disciplined Experimentation in Marketing03:03 Resurgence of Brand and PR Roles03:32 Matt Selheimer's Background and Fun Fact06:33 In-Depth Discussion on AI and Generational Shifts10:05 The Importance of Testing and Experimentation13:25 The Role of Brand in Modern Marketing17:22 Advice for CEOs on Hiring CMOs27:29 Marketing Organizational Design36:09 Favorite Interview Question37:25 Conclusion and Closing RemarksThe Get is here to drive smart decisions around recruiting and leadership in B2B SaaS marketing. We explore the trends, tribulations, and triumphs of today’s top marketing leaders in B2B SaaS.This season’s theme is how SaaS marketing organizations are changing — in both seismic and subtle ways. The Get’s host is Erica Seidel, who runs The Connective Good, an executive search practice with a hyper-focus on recruiting CMOs and VPs of Marketing, especially in B2B SaaS. If you are looking to hire a CMO or VP of Marketing of the ‘make money’ variety, rather than the ‘make it pretty’ variety, contact Erica at
[email protected]. You can also follow Erica on LinkedIn or
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