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The CEO doesn’t care about your blog posts (but here’s what they do care about)

Some tough love for us marketers – your CEO doesn’t care that you:

• Published 10 blog posts
• Drove 108,939 organic search impressions
• Or even that your newsletter has a 64% open rate (even if that’s spectacular)

They want to know that you generated $2M in incremental pipeline in Q2 vs. a target of $1.8M.

Translating marketing activities into business outcomes is the secret skill all top CMOs and VPs know how to do.

Want to learn how?

Planful put together THE resource on how to report on your marketing wins (and even your losses) in terms the exec team will understand.

Get the guide here and get smarter on how you report marketing results to your CEO just in time for the end of the year.

❌How and When to Say No to the CEO in 3 Steps

When you’re just starting out in marketing, or any career really, nothing will get you farther than working hard.

Saying yes to everything, especially when it isn’t your job, is a surefire way to get promoted, build trust, and climb the marketing ladder.

But at a certain point that drive to work hard and do more and never say no – it becomes a liability.

As you grow in your marketing career, you NEED to learn how to say no, especially if you’re working with the CEO.

At Drive last week, Natalie from Navattic shared a 3 step framework you need to see (bookmark this email to come back to) – and I even shared how I’ve used it to say no to DG just recently :)

3 Steps to Saying No (and how to use it in action to say no to DG)

Step 1: What’s the Why Behind the Ask?

Everything your CEO asks for has a reason behind it – maybe an investor sent it to them. Maybe they saw it on LinkedIn. Maybe it’s just something they really want to do and they’re excited about it.

First you need to understand the why behind their suggestion: What broader goal does it tie to? Is it a new goal, or an existing one? How much of a priority is it?

Example: Dave was on a YouTube kick a few weeks ago (ok – all summer). We’re lucky here that he included the why and the how behind his ideas, so step 1, complete.

Step 2: What Do You Need to Swap Out?

At the beginning of each quarter, get together with leadership and align on two to three main goals. Trust me, it makes saying no much, much easier – and gives you a chance at actually achieving those main goals.

You’ll already know from digging deeper in Step 1 if this new ask falls under an entirely new goal or relates to an existing one:

• If it’s a new goal: align on whether or not it’s a priority right now. If they say yes, then ask if it's a higher priority than an existing goal, and what they’d be willing to de-prioritize to make time/bandwidth for it.
  
  
• If it’s an existing goal: do a little education on how you’re already working towards that goal (other campaigns, channels, etc) – and include any data on results if you have it.

Essentially, it comes down to asking: what will we deprioritize if we prioritize this?

Example: This does align with an existing goal, so I want to get a sense of the timeline here (more below in step 3)

Step 3: How Do We Try It First?

Instead of agreeing to go all in on whatever the idea is, figure out specifically what your CEO is trying to validate.

Do they want to know if YouTube works for your brand? If they should be posting on LinkedIn more? If adding chat to the website will increase conversions?

Narrow down what they’re looking to explore, and then suggest a way to validate it without spending too much time or money. Next, agree on what would make it a success.

If it works – now you have proof. If it doesn’t – now you have data to back up why you should stop exploring the idea.

Example: We’re kind of combining steps here, but you get it. By showing what we might have to deprioritize (the podcast) and what the resources required would be (our editors' time, maybe budget), AND suggesting a low-effort way to test this – we get to say “no” while making it a win for the idea.

P.S. Not every conversation is going to go like this – DG and the E5 team has already built up a ton of trust, so it makes this easier.

Another thing Natalie pointed out in her talk is that sometimes – you just really have to say yes. If it’s bothering the CEO too much, if it’s for investors, etc. That way, they’ll be able to trust you more when you do say no.

This isn’t easy – so I’d love to hear from you. Anything that works for you? Any good stories? Just reply to this email – I read (and cherish) every one :)

INTRODUCING THE MARKETING LEADERSHIP ACCELERATOR

Exit Five has quickly become one of the top communities for B2B marketers, but there’s been one thing that you’ve been asking for time and time again: a structured learning track for marketing leaders.

That’s why we’re excited to launch the Marketing Leadership Accelerator designed to help you grow as a marketing leader.

We’re bringing in experts from our network to teach you about planning, budgeting, positioning, hiring, team alignment, social, and metrics. Plus, each session will be moderated by someone from the Exit Five team.

You’ll meet a new group of B2B marketing leaders to add to your peer group and connect within our community.

The program kicks off on October 3rd and runs through November 21st. 

Learn more & Sign up here

Upcoming Events

In today's challenging business landscape, marketers face the daunting task of not only crafting an efficient marketing plan, but implementing it quickly, proving its value, and continuously adapting the plan on the fly. The ever-changing macroeconomic environment adds an extra layer of complexity, making success even harder to achieve.

Join our webinar with Dave and Rowan Tonkin, CMO at Planful, where they’ll lead you through the essential steps to building your plan, getting it approved, and unlocking the full potential of your marketing efforts.

You’ll discover:

• Tips to build a powerful marketing plan that aligns with your business objectives.
• Strategies to gain plan approval from executives and board members.
• Best practices and practical approaches to flawlessly execute your marketing plan, turning ideas into measurable results.
• Insights into the advantages of scenario planning and how it can prepare your marketing team to adapt to the ever-changing economic landscape.

The webinar is on September 18th at 3PM ET, click the link below to reserve your spot. 

Save Your Spot

Open Roles

Who's Hiring Right Now?

HOT JOB OF THE WEEK: Circle is hiring a Head of Marketing and it's what I'd define as a dream role. If you're a member of Exit Five, you already know the product – we use it to manage our community. You'd be joining a killer team and taking on the challenge of brand building as they go multi-product.

Interested? Apply here.

Other open roles on the Exit Five job board this week:

• • Freshpaint is hiring a Product Marketing Manager
  • Close is hiring a Marketing Operations Manager. USA Only, 100% Remote. 
  • Brainlabs is hiring a Global CMO/EVP of Social.
  • Culture Partners is hiring a Business Illustrator and an Instructional Designer & Map Developer
    
    

See All Open Roles

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