Growth Stage Marketing Consultant - Mark Donnigan

Mark Donnigan develops disruptive ingenious startups. Mark's superpower is architecting go-to-market strategies and marketing motions that drive real organization results for technical and product-centric creators. Mark's development and market advancement experience covers twenty years as a transformative B2B marketing and service leader, driving demand, brand development, and method for startup and growth-stage business.

As an expert and virtual marketing leader (fractional-CMO), Mark Donnigan deals with start-up creators and CEOs from B2B disruptive innovation technology business to assist them establish, bootstrap, and scale their marketing and go-to-market actions.

FIND OUT MORE: https://growthstage.marketing

Mark Donnigan has actually managed groups as large as 25, comprising SDRs, AEs, and marketing, producing $29mm/year. Mark carried spending plan obligations to $3mm/year for operations and $400k/year for marketing. Offer sizes varying from mid-five figures to mid-six figures every year.

As a startup marketing specialist, Mark Donnigan's incoming and outbound marketing experience consist of building and mentoring high-performance teams that carry out on demand generation, brand and item marketing, PR, digital, and events where he develops and implements high-impact programs that drive earnings, produce ROI, trigger the market, and delivers service outcomes.

Mark Donnigan believes that the very best marketing consultants and marketing leaders are doers. Mark's marketing experience consists of all elements of requirement generation, ABM, SEO, e-mail marketing, paid marketing, occasions, PR (internal & firm), and product marketing.

Mark is a problem solver and a first-principles thinker who is imaginative and analytical. Mark always works cross-functionally and has proven success, structure, leading, and mentoring marketing, sales, and business advancement groups that have really produced more than $500mm in revenue/shareholder worth.

Mark has found that building a classification needs to be the leading goal for every marketing leader and it is the foundation of his method and technique. Mark Donnigan has comprehensive B2B marketing experience that consists of structure and mentoring high-performance groups.

Mark Donnigan is a systems thinker, and he puts a high value on team effort. Mark has substantial experience working alongside sales, product, operations, and financing to guarantee that business and income objectives of the company are constantly exceeded.

Development Phase Marketing exists to offer entrepreneurs and founders services for:

Architecting the marketplace category that is finest suited to the special value proposition of your technology.
High effect marketing support so that you can reach your revenue objectives and scale sustainably.
Achieving go-to-market alignment across the sales and marketing companies.
Drawing out the highest value from every marketing dollar.
Expert knowledge and insights about the B2B buying journey and how to navigate a significantly fragmented customer choice hierarchy.
Operationalizing marketing, from system and procedure development to making the first hires.

Thoughts on what it requires an effective online marketer and CMO today.

If you are a CEO who feels your B2B marketing does not have a clear connection to the company, you are not alone. A research study finished by the marketing consultancy Fournaise discovered that 80% of Chief Executives are not delighted with the work their top Marketing leader is doing. Assessing what the present company reality implies for marketing leaders, I remembered the principle of a Peacetime leader and a Wartime leader from Ben Horowitz's book "The Hard Feature Of Hard Things."

Horowitz explained the principle in an article where he composed that the Peacetime CEO "focuses on the big image and empowers her people to make comprehensive decisions." The Wartime CEO, on the other hand, "values a speck of dust on a gnat's ass if it disrupted the prime directive."

The Peacetime CEO "understands what to do with a substantial advantage," while the Wartime CEO "is paranoid." Peacetime CEO "works to lower conflict," and Wartime CEO "increases the contradictions."

Peacetime in organization is when an organization has the ability to grow in its core market due to a considerable advantage vs. the competition. In times of peace, business focuses on expanding the marketplace and improving business's strengths. For CMO's, Peacetime is when we are completely free to be imaginative with our trademark name building by going to each exhibit with an even bigger cubicle than last year's and investing exorbitantly on sponsorships, all under the guise of constructing the brand name.

Wartime is a different thing entirely because, in Wartime, the life and death of our company might be on the line.
As I write this post, the whole world is combating an unnoticeable opponent called COVID-19, which has let loose a frustrating dosage of company unpredictability internationally. For CMO's, the COVID-19 pandemic is company equivalent of war. No longer do our 2020 marketing methods make good sense.

This is more than being in a space with the light on, and all of a sudden you find yourself in pitch-black darkness, so you stroll tepidly, continuing in the very same guidelines understanding that you were heading towards the door prior to the lights got shut off. No, not just has the pandemic turned the lights out, its blown a huge crater in our path that was not there previous to, and without light in the space, can not be seen. However we ought to avoid at all expenses falling into the crater.

No one longs for war, however a Wartime leader does not diminish from the battle, instead, they acknowledge that Wartime is the single finest opportunity to leapfrog sidetracked rivals and take ground away. What follows is a set of ideas and ideas to assist you find your "Wartime CMO combat strategy."

How to function as a Wartime CMO.

Throughout Wartime, everyone remains in uncharted waters, but this is where the opportunity is for numerous companies who formerly had a difficult time to compete versus bigger competitors and dominant market forces. Now, for the really very first time, you might be on equivalent footing as your more powerful competitors. It's the perfect chance to specify your future.

In an international decline like what COVID-19 has activated, absolutely nothing makes good sense. And yet, a few of your competitors will continue to perform their usual "tried and real" marketing playback, presuming that building the brand with business interactions messages from the CEO is going to add to their company objectives. Now is the perfect possibility for the Wartime CMO to take ground in the market.

Take strong action.

Imaginative marketing is needed in Wartime more than ever. Now is the time to check your vital presumptions. As the worldwide business environment has modified, and the stability of the core business cast doubt on, CMO's ought to be ready to reassess their initial plan.
Consider that less consumers will equate to decreased requirement. And decreased need indicates markets will not respond as they did prior to the crisis.

Believe about it in this manner, when people buy less, marketers invest less. Nevertheless prior to you follow a slash and burn the marketing invest playbook, here are a couple of things to be educated about:

Financial investment bank Cowen and Company analyzed the last 6 economic downturns given that 1950 and found that spending on direct marketing grew throughout the previous economic declines. Significance, you will want to consider your mix of brand marketing carefully compared to sales activation marketing. It's not time to stop marketing. Keep in mind, there will be offers throughout the board as media outlets see companies cut their advertising and marketing invests. Press marketing and branding drops in a slowdown, but sales activation marketing constantly increases.

Shift spending to more measurable channels so that you can adjust quickly. Speed is whatever. Marketing initiatives able to be tracked with specificity will be a lot better than broad mass-market tasks. Slowdowns accelerate the decrease of interruption-based mass marketing. In its location will be an increased concentrate on measurable and relationship-based techniques.

Declines produce a chance for business that are more efficient at turning marketing monetary investments into earnings. In the middle of a decrease when marketers are cutting their costs is an enjoyable time to benefit from low CPMs and Qualified public accounting professionals.

The Institute of Practitioners in Marketing ended up a research study in 2008 that discovered, "Following a budget cut, a brand name will continue to get from the marketing investment made over the previous couple of years. This will lower any short-term company effects, and will result in a precariously misleading boost in short-term success. The longer-term business damage will be more considerable, however will not be seen in the beginning."

Millward Brown reported in their research study "Marketing During Economic Slump: To Invest or Not to Invest?" that 60% of trademark name that went 'dark' throughout a financial recession by cutting their TV marketing invest for 6 months experienced a decrease in Trademark name Use by 24% with a 28% decrease in Brand name Image. Brands that cut their advertisement budget plan at a greater rate relative to their rivals were at an even higher threat of share loss.
There are an unbelievable variety of marketing studies that confirm in a decrease, trademark name that continue advertising and marketing efforts recover quicker. It takes strong action to invest when the information suggests that ROI is not possible. A Wartime CMO battles to keep the budget needed to continue marketing.

Maximize the worth of each lead produced.

In a slowdown, risk-averse purchasers take even longer to research purchases, and this applies similarly to B2B and B2C purchasers. When you first acknowledge a prospect, they will likely stay in the awareness stage of your funnel and will not be all set to engage with an SDR or BDR. Do not require this interaction. Marketing must make sure not to move a prospect through the funnel too quickly. Remember, the possibility's skilled life has been switched on its head. What was a concern just a couple of weeks or months earlier, is likely not top of mind today.

It's appealing in a decrease to tighten your grip on leads considering that the reasoning is that now more than ever, all leads are essential. Here is where lead scoring can be a valuable tool to recognize extremely engaged potential customers from those who are not likely to become your customers. Now is the time for Online marketers to hold on to MQL's for an extended period so that you can groom the possibility to the maximum possible level prior to handing them off to sales as a SQL.

Without lead scoring and an ideal possibility tracking system throughout your digital channels, as lots of as 9 out of 10 MQL's who are not yet sales-ready might be lost. They will buy, just not now. You don't want to miss out on the future sale because you didn't keep in contact and include worth though the journey. In a "Wartime" economy, you should do whatever possible to optimize the worth of your MQL's.

CMO's that do a much better job of dealing with leads and establishing early-stage potential customers into sales-ready leads will remain in the finest position to win during the crisis and most definitely once it has actually passed.

Focus on your present consumers.

It's more affordable to grow earnings with your existing customers. Think of whether now is the time to downsize your mass lead generation programs and focus on structure much deeper relationships with those who currently know your company. This does not imply to stop your need gen efforts, however it does indicate that you might want to explore with item and sales how you can offer more to your existing clients.

In Peacetime, marketing groups are working on autopilot in pursuit of driving MQL's to satisfy sales reps. For a service that has actually obtained traction on their way to becoming a category king or queen, this technique, though pricey feels great since of the exceptional volume of activity that is being produced. Nevertheless, without mindful analysis, the high degree of activity fools lots of CMO's and management groups into believing that their need generation engine is carefully tuned when, in reality, it's producing massive contamination, i.e. extremely high CAC, higher than average churn for the classification, low CLTV, and so on.

Marketing must line up with sales.

A brand-focused Marketing leader worries business with an exceptional education and pedigree, having actually held substantial titles with huge business. There was a time when the marketing group might handle all corporate and product details and messaging with the marketplace. If a buyer wanted to learn about a new product or check out whether an option may meet their requirement, they had no option but to call the organization.

Responses to concerns such as, Who's genuine and who isn't? - Who's product works, and whose does not? - What's coming? Now where available with a single post on the correct forum or LinkedIn group. As a result, the power shifted to the buyer.

We know that online marketers are no longer in control of the buyer's journey. It is necessary to define a funnel that lays out expulsions a possibility need to pass on the way to doing business with the service. Purchasers can connect with us on the platform of their picking. As the purchasing group has broadened to as lots of as 2 lots people, the idea that they will follow our procedure as we have actually prescribed is rarely genuine.

You require a value developer CMO who is revenue-focused.

A revenue-focused CMO will handle the engine behind a CEO's advancement plan. The shift from companies being physical item developers or service companies, to digital development companies where the product is dispersed as software or software application as a service through the Web, has actually reduced the function of marketing. And is the element a revenue-focused CMO who is a worth developer is what all start-ups and disruptive development companies need today.

Today, marketing needs higher levels of technical ability as a result of the surge of digital media and the marketing innovations that are related to internet marketing. This change has been highlighted by Forrester, discussing a 20-year-old transition to digital as the driving force behind CMOs moving from being brand-builders to profits motorists. Forrester goes on to report that a worth designer, revenue-driven Online online marketer, must be a story maker and not simply a storyteller.

The CMO today ought to be a professional at producing and leading imaginative engagement and organization approach to establish a classification for business to control.

Here are a number of methods that a revenue-driven CMO requirement to operate:

They will work thoroughly with the sales group to find and map the purchaser's journey. Where assumptions do not match what is happening in the market, a worth designer CMO will leave the workplace and hang out in the field. This leader comprehends that you can not drive income if you aren't close to where the sale happens.

A revenue-focused CMO develops content targeted at each phase of the purchaser's journey. Think of the buyer's journey as a set of gates where the content reacts to the primary issues a buyer has at each action so that they can complete the buying journey.
The new generation CMO will gather engagement metrics for each gate while examining the success of the end-to-end marketing cycle to provide the most prompt and certified result in their sellers. A value designer CMO sees marketing as close allies to the sales group.

The revenue-centered CMO is always finding from and fine-tuning the procedure so that they can enhance the amount and quality of leads that contributed to the pipeline and closed business.
Incomes attribution and marketing ROI designs will reflect real outcomes, not theorized or "presumed" requirements. This information is crucial for the revenue-focused CMO to fix since they appreciate marketing's impact on business.

A revenue-focused CMO will focus on how their marketing efforts map to closed/won offers that drive the earnings and business goals of the business. Vanity metrics like traffic, click-thru rates, CPM, and CTA conversions tell just a piece of the story.

What to attempt to find in your next CMO.

In the vibrant state of company today, dealing with a reliable CMO is amongst the most challenging things to do. Every market, service, and market area is different. Even where you can acknowledge prospects from the exact same company community or environment, it's not enough to merely have a look at years of experience or education. You require to examine the inspirations and thought patterns of the person. Ask:
Is the CMO an issue solver?

The most considerable threat today is on the marketplace side and not innovation. A marketing leader who isn't an issue solver Mark Donnigan will have a hard time to deal with the fast-changing nature of the market and community structure.

Are they a doer?
In lots of marketing groups, there will specify experts who can work at the greatest level throughout the series of abilities needed. It's incumbent for a marketing leader to command regard as a doer. The CMO, who can show functional capability in the core locations that the group runs, will be more trusted than a manager just.

Has the CMO held cross-functional positions?

The finest method to ensure that you bring in a CMO who is profits and not brand-driven is to work with someone who has actually come up through product, sales, and corporate approach. Having direct exposure to the inner functions of item and sales is specifically beneficial as service technique is becoming a more substantial part of the CMO's series of responsibilities.

Do they believe in systems or approach organization in a structured manner?

As digital has actually exploded the variety of marketing user interface points, allowing buyers to disaggregate business from the purchasing journey, a CMO must have the capability to consider systems and structures instead of safely specified marketing lanes. It is no longer sufficient to plan in concerns to the social task, material marketing job, events, and PR, all as separate activities. The effective CMO will start with company objective they are serving and be prepared to question whatever.

Can they engage outside the walls of business to the marketplace?

To end up being a story-maker, you need to be worthy of listening to. A CMO is in the ideal position to presume the evangelistic function for the business. The most effective CMO's in any market are highly noticeable spokespeople for their organization.
Are they an incentive?

As the CMO will require to work cross-functionally to ensure that they have placing with product and sales, the marketing head ought to be an incentive. To develop mark donnigan marketing consultant a category requires conversation, negotiation, and the ability to search for and reach a contract.

Do they allow their group, or run by command and control?

A CMO who tries to lead with ultimate authority will have a hard time to accomplish business goals of business. Marketing groups today need to work as engineering groups work in an agile fashion. Instead of perfectly arranged 90-day job cadences, an agile marketing group performs a consistent circulation of efforts while preserving the versatility to change as the market or business needs identify.

Does the CMO comprehend category design?

I have actually composed about classification style and why every organization requires to own a classification to accomplish its optimal potential. There is a structure for performing classification design. Still, whether an Online marketer follows the summary or techniques classification design another way, a CMO must be putting routine thought and preparation into how they define the classification they suggest to dominate. Without input from the CEO and other members of the executive group, there is no other way to finish a proper classification style.

The Wartime CMO will require to increase the responsibility of marketing by revealing the impact of each marketing activity on the pipeline as identified by revenue contribution.
In a decrease, marketing needs to move the understanding of being an expenditure center to an income driver. Reporting beyond the number of marketing qualified leads produced to consist of the overall possibility worth for each lead source is an outstanding method to represent the function marketing is playing to drive the financial goals of organization.

Studies have actually exposed that a correctly created landing page can double your conversion rate over sending traffic to your home page, which tends to do not have the correct call to action that matches the ad. Due to the fact that of this, inspecting landing pages can increase conversions as much as 50% or more. Together, these techniques can provide a 2.5 X increase for each single dollar you buy marketing. Yes, conversion rate optimization makes a difference.

Throughout Wartime, every marketing dollar is valuable, and a Wartime CMO understands that winning will not come down to a single strategy or "silver bullet" method. Instead, lots of small things performed well. The CMO, who can not understand the interplay of copy, messaging, imaginative style, and development, will struggle to discover and acknowledge quickly where small modifications can provide much better conversions.

This material approach worked, for a season, sort-of. Nevertheless with the boost of Google RankBrain, the approach has not worked for many years. Without remaining in the middle of a crisis, you require to stop this inefficient activity. Now as budget plans are under pressure and every marketing activity need to count, the manner in which we do content marketing needs to be updated.

Now, the content that we create needs to interest somebody searching for our service, and it needs to consist of buyer intent triggers like keywords and expressions that a purchaser would utilize as they get close to buying decision. A Havas Group research study revealed that 84% of individuals prepare for brand to produce material, yet 60% of the material produced is of bad quality or unimportant, failing to meet the needs of the audience. Despite a 71% connection in between content performance and a brand name's influence on individual health, just 40% of the world's leading 1,500 trademark name produce material that fulfills this requirement. Brand's are failing to produce significant material.

Stop producing assembly line content that is just meant to establish the trademark name or introduce the item. Instead, material should target specific personas to resolve any troubles avoiding the prospect from proceeding. This content will take longer to produce and need a greater community and item understanding level.

CMO's in Wartime need to have an excellent understanding of the buyer psyche and their psychological requirements so that they can produce material that eliminates fear and addresses the sincere concerns they have.

CMO's in Wartime double down on Classification Style so that their company will come out as the leader, making them the dominant choice, putting them in the enviable position to take as much as 76% of the economics from the whole category.

Read more about Category Style.

The B2B sales process today is fragmented and intricate, with great deals of stakeholders requiring to validate a purchase choice. This renders basic marketing ROI and attribution methods less advantageous for anything besides scholastic research study.

The marketing function today breaks down into 3 practical pillars making up Product, Need Generation, and Category Design. Since lots of marketing leaders have actually not totally accepted category style, it's a surprisingly easy way to beat an incumbent during a crisis. As quickly as the sector starts to go over the classification as you have actually defined it, your business will wind up being the category and the apparent choice.

To do Category Style needs a different working cadence. Wartime is the perfect time to embark on Classification Design given that absolutely nothing is "regular" during a crisis.
To manage the challenge of constructing a Category King organization needs a heap of grit, determination, and a steadfast drive to win. For the Wartime CMO, who takes on the challenge, there can be no larger pot-o-gold if effective.

Check out the book Play Bigger to discover everything about category design.