CMO Influence on Business

Your influence in the board room and executive team is 90% communication with measurable examples. The words you use can make or break you. Naturally, I've been compiling a list of "instead of saying this, say this" with measurable results. Many are based on my gotcha moments where I've failed miserably at explaining what marketing does. I've said things like: “We’re increasing brand awareness.” “Our demand generation efforts are working.” “We’re improving our SEO strategy.” Every marketing leader has said some version of these. The problem? Nobody in the boardroom or executive team cares about (or understands) marketing buzzwords. They care about revenue, efficiency, and business impact. Let's flip the script. I've compiled a list of marketing-speak and translated these statements into terminology a room full of non-marketers would understand. And bonus, I've included the right metrics to back them up. Example: 🚫 Don’t say: “We’re generating a lot of leads.” ✅ Say this instead: “We’re bringing in people who are actually interested in buying.” 📊 Measure it with: Organic Traffic, Demo Requests, MQL-to-SQL Conversion Rate I put together a full table of these translations and a template so you can ensure your marketing efforts land in the boardroom. I'll share the list and other communication tips this weekend in my newsletter, but if you just want the table. Let me know. Drop a “TABLE” in the comments, and I’ll send it over.

It should be *impossible* for Marketing to hit their targets 2-3 quarters in a row while Sales misses quota and the Company misses growth targets. Yet, it literally happens all the time. -You can try to have a CRO-CMO weekly coffee meeting -You can try to change National Sales Meeting to "Revenue Kickoff" -You can try to have a Pipeline meeting on Wednesdays -You can try to install a new "Four Funnel" attribution system in your CRM -You can try a bunch of random stuff that doesn’t actually solve the problem But the only real solution is to fix the Marketing KPIs so they are perfectly aligned to business results. Which *forces* Marketing alignment to business results. Dramatically shifts the reporting and analytics. And drives positive changes to investment allocation and strategy almost immediately. The 120-slide Marketing QBR deck that has tons of complicated data and no tangible executive-level insights needs to stop. Using the “Four Funnel Model” with Department-Level KPIs that Rely on Attribution needs to stop. Measuring Marketing impact with zero targets or controls against Unit Economics needs to stop. Want to get dramatically better results (Growth Rate + ROI) from your Marketing team next year? Make your CMO accountable *actual business results* instead of “Marketing Sourced” or “Marketing Influenced” or “Leads” where Marketing can hit their goals every quarter and the Sales team misses quota and the company misses growth targets. It should be *impossible* for this to happen if you have proper business-level Marketing KPIs. If this happens in your company, it’s clearly obvious that the Marketing KPIs need to change. #marketing #b2b #finance #sales #gtm p.s. KPIs ≠ Attribution. KPIs measure how we are achieving the business outcomes. Attribution and other custom analytics allow us to dive deeper to determine “why” this is happening and develop a plan for what to do next. Then the KPIs determine if our strategic changes are making a business impact. Please. Please. Please. Stop using Attribution in your KPIs. p.p.s. Average CMO Tenure is < 18 Months for this exact reason. Firing your CMO and hiring a New Marketing Leader isn’t going to fix this.

“My CEO ordered me to never use the word ‘brand’ again,” lamented a CMO from a $75mil SaaS brand. “Then he told me to only spend money on things that drive revenue,” the CMO shared. Ah, yes, the double whammy. Everyone in the huddle sympathized with a “been there” nod. I silently stewed. A productive rant to follow. Should CMOs stop using the word “brand?” Yes. It’s toxic. Time to move on, and this is from the guy whose latest book subhead reads, “12 Steps to Building Unbeatable B2B Brands.” If you must venture into brand-like language, use the word “reputation.” It’s much easier to grasp. Even CFOs can understand the difference between a good reputation and a poor one. Does that mean I can have budget items for reputation building? No, unless you want that part to be cut faster than you can say “brand.” If possible, avoid sharing spending buckets beyond people, programs, and tech. If you, like many CMOs, divide your budget into demandgen or growth marketing and everything else, your CFO will assume that everything else is unmeasurable and possibly wasteful. Choose your budget-bucket labels carefully. Events, for example, can drive new logos, accelerate late-stage deals, help with expansion, and reduce churn. If events are funded from your “growth marketing” budget, then that’s how they will be measured, and that may limit this invaluable channel. What about the “only spending on revenue drivers” directive? Live with it. All marketing drives revenue (there, I said it!). It’s just a matter of timeframe and targets. Unless you’re selling an impulse item (Of course, I would buy another penguin hat if it showed up in my Instagram feed), you operate in the world of considered purchases and buyer journeys. Different marketing activities impact different parts of your target at different times in different ways. Let’s take Analyst Relations. It can take 12-18 months to build a quadrant-shifting relationship with an analyst. When that higher rating or new category of your own making suddenly arrives, you’ll be rewarded with higher consideration and close rates. That’s revenue too. Just a bit slower. Could we shift this conversation altogether? Yes. Please. Let’s start at the end and work backward. Right now, every B2B brand has a win rate. If you, for example, compete against three better-known brands, your win rate is likely lower than that of the top three. What would it take to improve your win rate? Most likely, it is a combination of product changes, pricing, positioning, CX, and promotion, including analyst relations. Lead that conversation. The second conversational shift is to pricing power. Conduct a thorough analysis of the discounting required to close deals. Understand how much discounting impacts profit margins. Find out the last time you took a price increase. Reputational strength equals pricing power and higher close rates. Work with your CFO to build the model. Marketing does drive revenue. But it's not about SQLs.

When visionary CEOs talk to marketing, they’re not just looking for creative campaigns. They want a line to be clearly drawn to strategic impact. Numbers, data, reports, dashboards, and results. In return, marketing needs to drive growth, prove value, and stay aligned with business outcomes. Here’s how to answer the questions they care about most: 1. What’s working, and how do you know? → We track via CRM and dashboard reporting, adjusting to stay on MQL and SQL goals. 2. How is marketing contributing to revenue? → We have closed-loop reporting across marketing and sales. Campaign X contributed X revenue. 3. Are we set up to scale? → Yes, we have automated, repeatable campaigns deployed across sales, marketing, and service. 4. Do we have a clear marketing strategy? → Yes, it’s mapped with tactics and tied to quarterly and annual revenue goals. It is reviewed weekly/ monthly. 5. Are we focused on the right markets? → We prioritized based on historical performance data of the best-converting market segments for growth. 6. Are sales and marketing aligned? → We have shared goals, weekly syncs, and joint pipeline ownership. 7. How do we define success? → We have SMART goals for leads, pipeline opportunities, and closed-won. Growth follows when marketing and leadership speak the same language. What other measurements matter? ___________________________________________ ♻️ Share to help others 📌 Learn more at https://lnkd.in/ebxS5DBP + Follow Jennelle McGrath for more like this

The most effective CMOs aren't marketers. They're general managers who happen to run marketing. The difference? They speak three languages fluently. They speak CFO: → Through the P&L lens: presenting real LTV and fully-loaded CAC → Through the Balance Sheet: showing unrealized revenue in existing customers → Through Cash Flow: discussing payback windows for every investment They speak CEO: → This year's growth rate and which levers to lean on → Five-year projections grounded in cohort behavior → How each decision impacts enterprise value They speak Board: → Why the ratio matters less than the components → How margin improvements change the entire model → When to trade efficiency for scale It all starts with LTV and CAC. But not the surface-level numbers. The real ones that actually drive decisions. 1️⃣ LTV isn't just revenue per customer ↳ It's behavior × margin × time × retention curve 2️⃣ CAC isn't just ad spend divided by customers ↳ It's fully-loaded costs including sales, onboarding, and overhead 3️⃣ The ratio isn't the whole story ↳ A 5:1 ratio means nothing if payback takes 24 months Make these metrics the center of your growth team. Make them the foundation of your C-suite relationships. But here's the key: take time to explain them. 🔑 Show how marketing LTV connects to finance's P&L. 🔑 Demonstrate how CAC reduction flows to EBITDA. 🔑 Prove how payback windows impact working capital. That's how you earn your seat at the table. * * * The cheat sheet breaks down exactly how to calculate, present, and defend these metrics. Use it before your next board meeting. Follow for more breakdowns of KPIs that actually matter to c-suite execs. 📈

From Chief Marketing Officer → Chief Market Orchestrator 🎯 A year ago, I was managing a 180-person marketing org. Today, I orchestrate 10 humans and more than a dozen AI and automation agents, tools, apps across content, pipeline, research, outreach, and GTM. It’s not a downgrade. It’s an upgrade in complexity. Being a CMO used to be about budgets and branding. But now it seems to be about: Coordinating multi-modal workstreams across AI agents, analysts, contractors, and internal teams. Driving go-to-market and product direction based on signal data from dozens of daily marketing experiments Running cross-functional orchestration: product, sales, content, comms, and market feedback loops in real time. 📍In Q2, in one 90-day sprint: We rewrote product positioning based on agent outputs and B2B buyer feedback We built a messaging engine that fed real-time campaign data into product launches We ran weekly orchestration sessions that merged pipeline blockers with use case prioritization We built a system where the marketing team was responsible not just for MQLs but for helping shape what should be built. This isn't just accomplished with delegation. This is real stretch operating. As Nikki Vegenski put it: “The CMO seat today is less about ownership and more about orchestration.” “You’re syncing humans and machines to move in harmony toward real growth.” Deloitte backed it up: 95% of CMOs are on the hook for revenue. But only 32% feel equipped to grow market share. Meanwhile, AI-native orgs are compressing execution time from months → days. I have seen this first-hand What used to take weeks - a segment analysis, a message test, a partner activation - can now be triggered, launched, and measured in a 48-hour window with the right orchestration model. But this is not easy. The work is heavier and the compleity is non linear. Keeping evertyghin in my mind sometimes feels impossible. Is this working out? Time alone will tell. But it has been the best kind of stretch. The modern marketing leader is an MARKET OPERATOR working at the intersection of: Tech (agents, automation, AI) Narrative (messaging, ICP, feedback loops) Revenue (pipeline, motion, pricing) System Design (how it all runs together Are you seeing this shift in your org too? Comment below and let me know!

3 Ways Smart CMOs Are Redefining Revenue Leadership It's hard to be a CMO today. Your C-suite peers demand predictable revenue contribution, yet the very nature of B2B buying has transformed beneath our feet. What used to work doesn't work anymore, and CMOs need help. THE OLD MODEL Revenue marketing promised CMOs a predictable system: invest budget, measure touchpoints, attribute revenue, and optimize. Marketing automation platforms fed this mindset with increasingly complex tracking mechanisms. Yet this model fundamentally misunderstands how buying works. B2B purchasing is inherently a complex, non-linear system that's more like predicting the weather than a simple gum ball machine. 🔄 Multiple decision makers with competing priorities 📊 Extended cycles with unpredictable timing 🎯 Invisible research happening before your sales team knows prospects exist 📱 Fragmented channels and touchpoints 🤝 Complex relationship and trust dynamics THREE IMPLICATIONS FOR CMOs: 1️⃣ Measurement Precision Is An Illusion Picture your last enterprise deal: 12+ people researching solutions over 9+ months, mixing public content, dark social, peer recommendations, and official channels. Attributing revenue to specific activities or teams is like determining which raindrop caused the flood. 2️⃣ Short-Term Focus Undermines Long-Term Success When CMOs prioritize attribution and immediate revenue, we do wrong by the customer and ultimately damage sustainable growth: Gating content that builds awareness Fixating on tactical metrics like MQLs Chasing quarterly gains over market position Bombarding our database when numbers drop Neglecting brand equity and community building 3️⃣ Departmental Alignment Suffers Marketing and Sales battle over revenue credit Budget decisions demand direct attribution Strategic investments get shortchanged Customer experience fragments across touchpoints THE WAY FORWARD FOR CMOS Marketing must still drive revenue growth. But instead of forcing precision where none exists, CMOs should: ✓ Focus on leading indicators marketing can directly impact ✓ Build sustainable engines for future pipeline ✓ Measure total revenue impact, not source attribution ✓ Invest in brand positioning, thought leadership, and relationship building ✓ Accept that some critical impacts defy precise measurement Think of revenue like fitness: We know proper nutrition and consistent exercise improve health, even if we can't calculate their exact impact on longevity. Similarly, strong positioning, distinctive thought leadership, and authentic customer relationships drive growth — even when we can't assign specific dollar values to them. Marketing leadership is entering a new era. As a CMO, will you embrace this complexity rather than pretending it doesn't exist? #CMOLeadership #B2BMarketing #RevenueStrategy #MarketingEffectiveness #MarTech

When it comes to SEO, most businesses are stuck in 2010. They're chasing impossible keywords, overdoing technical fixes, and ignoring the #1 ranking driver: backlinks. Here’s how to fix that and see results faster. Quick Wins: Rank Faster with Existing Pages Focus on "almost-there" pages: Use Google Search Console to find pages ranking #11–20. Boost them with 1–3 quality backlinks, 3–5 internal links, and FAQ sections targeting long-tail terms. Strategic Backlink Distribution 30–50% to high-value pages (product/service/blog). 50–70% to the homepage for domain authority. Prioritize BOFU pages like pricing and comparison pages. Competitor Keyword Hack Steal traffic from competitors by targeting purchase-intent keywords they rank for. Example: Rewrite their "Email automation tools for small teams" with better content and build 1–5 backlinks to outrank them. Build a Revenue-Driving Content Funnel Focus on stages: TOFU (Awareness): “How to Automate Marketing Emails.” MOFU (Consideration): “Best Tools for Startups.” BOFU (Decision): “[Your Tool] vs Competitor.” Prioritize backlinks to MOFU/BOFU pages closest to conversions. 2025 Backlink Tactics That Work Competitor Gaps: Secure links competitors have but you don’t. Resource Updates: Pitch refreshed content (e.g., “2025 Trends”). Guest Posting: Target sites with similar Domain Ratings. Broken Links: Replace dead links with your content. Digital PR: Publish reports like “Top 10 SaaS Trends” and pitch to blogs. Backlink Best Practices 50–70% to your homepage, 30–50% to high-intent pages. Use natural anchors (e.g., branded and partial-match). Review and Adjust Every 30 Days Refresh pages ranking #4–10 or #11–20. Build 10–15 backlinks to priority pages. Focus on what drives conversions. Your 90-Day Plan Days 1–30: Optimize quick wins and analyze competitors. Days 31–60: Publish TOFU/MOFU content, build BOFU links. Days 61–90: Scale what’s working, add lead magnets. Avoid Common Mistakes Misusing backlinks on low-value pages. Over-optimizing anchors. Ignoring internal links. SEO isn’t just about traffic. It’s about intentional, revenue-focused growth.

If I were investing in SEO from scratch in 2025, here’s how I’d do it (and what most founders still get wrong): Back in the day, people could scale SEO just by pumping out content. Velocity was the differentiator. Publish 100+ pages a month, you win. Not anymore. Now, anyone can publish 100 pages a month. The bar’s higher. And most people haven’t caught up. Here’s how I’d approach it today: 1. Start at the middle of the funnel Why? Because it’s where decisions start forming. And where content can actually convert. ToFu content brings in traffic. BoFu content converts people already sold. MoFu content? That’s where SEO content can directly impact:  → Lead quality → Demo volume → Sales velocity Most teams think traffic first. We think: What content actually turns a reader into a pipeline? 2. Context > keywords Those MoFu pages only work because we understand the vertical. → Industry pain points → Buyer psychology → How to position product benefits without sounding like a brochure We don’t just churn out arbitrary blog posts. We launch campaigns, designed around how real buyers actually think. 3. Prove it with performance No one wants to burn budget on content that just looks busy  → High volume, polished visuals, SEO ticks  BUT  → No leads, no conversions, no impact I want to see actual performance data. Not vanity traffic charts. Like: “Here are 5 articles. This one drives leads. This one doesn’t. Here’s why.” That’s what separates SEO that compounds vs useless content. 4. Screw ‘good enough’ A lot of stakeholders still think: “If we publish 50 pages and check the SEO boxes, we’ll be fine.” Nope. “Good enough” content gets buried. Only the best stuff gets seen, ranked, clicked, converted, and stays at the top. If I were a CMO or founder putting serious budget into SEO, this is what I’d want: ✅ Pages designed for performance ✅ Writers trained on product context ✅ Clear link between content and pipeline ✅ A team that treats SEO like a growth channel, not a checklist That’s what we do at ContentDistribution.com. Want SEO that actually performs this year? DM me.

If you're a B2B CMO and you think SEO isn't for you—it’s not because SEO is broken. It’s because you’ve never seen it done right. Many B2B CMO leaders with a focused C-suite target audience question the value of SEO. (Could be all those SEO is dead posts, could be the fear of the unknown with regards to AI-search). Regardless, they're starting to believe that traditional SEO doesn't align with their niche objectives. Maybe the problem isn’t SEO. Maybe it’s their agency partner's limitations. Maybe it's how SEO has been sold to CMOs. B2B CMOs don’t distrust SEO—they just hate fluff that doesn’t move the pipeline. Here's how we develop C-Level targeted organic strategies that drive bookings: 1. Produce Precision-Targeted Content 🎯 With a well-defined TAM, SEO efforts can be laser-focused. By creating content that directly addresses the specific pain points and interests of your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), you enhance relevance and engagement. Will the search volume for each laser-focused keyword be in the thousands? No, but the conversion value will be. This approach ensures that your content resonates deeply with the exact audience you're aiming to reach. Tip - ask your Strategist to forecast potential conversion value based on historic conversion data and MSV–then gauge the value. 2. Examine Executive Search Behaviors 🔎 While AI-powered search tools and AI Overviews are gaining traction, B2B executives don't rely solely on these summaries. They tend to seek out authoritative, in-depth information to inform their high-stakes decisions. They’re also not spending hours reading random blog posts. Notably, 97% of B2B buyers check out a vendor's website during their evaluation process, but the key is to create functional, high-value content for these individuals that matches their specific search intent and can also double as an interesting Digital PR play. 3. Build Long-Term Authority with Consistent Content Marketing 📈 Consistent, high-quality content creation and creative content enhances your domain authority over time. This not only improves your search rankings but also establishes your brand as a thought leader in your niche. When decision-makers repeatedly encounter your insightful, bookmark-able content, it fosters trust and credibility. Even with a small, targeted TAM and an enterprise audience, SEO and content marketing remain vital components of a comprehensive demand generation strategy. Pair this with a targeted paid strategy that blends high-intent search, precision audience targeting, and down funnel conversion tracking and you’ve got yourself a money printer. ( Tip #2 - 👀 peep what Danielle Boone has to say on this topic.) Think digital marketing isn't worth it for your niche B2B market targeting C-suite execs? Think again. #DirectiveDrillDown