Most B2B marketing strategies for enterprise tech assume the deal starts at the top. Get the CTO on board. Win the CIO. Work the C-suite. That assumption is costing teams a lot of wasted budget. Kai Waehner is a global Field CTO at Confluent and has been in the
Your targeting is correct, the ICP is clean, the ad spend is optimised, the cadence is live, and the content calendar is full. But the CEO you’re trying to reach isn’t reading any of it. This is not a channel problem; it’s a framing problem, one that is rooted
There’s a version of the AI conversation that circulates constantly on LinkedIn. Someone replaced their entire marketing team with a single prompt. Everything is faster, cheaper, better. The future has arrived. After 25 months of deep implementation work, across our own agency and with clients, that version bears almost no
Stepping into a new marketing leadership role is a formidable challenge. The pressure to deliver results is immediate, but the need to build a sustainable, long-term strategy is equally paramount. This inherent tension is a defining characteristic of the modern CMO role, where the average tenure is a mere 40
In the usually data-driven and rational world of B2B marketing, the power of creativity is frequently underestimated and underutilized. While analytics and strategic frameworks are indispensable, our recent workshop, The 90-Day Turnaround for a New Marketing Leader, hosted by John Wilkes, compellingly argues that creative can be a significant performance
The B2B marketing conversation has decisively shifted from lead volume to genuine revenue impact. The traditional focus on Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) as the ultimate metric is increasingly outdated, often creating a disconnect between marketing efforts and sales outcomes. For new B2B marketing leaders, establishing a clear, revenue-centric measurement framework
As a new Chief Marketing Officer in a B2B organization, the pressure to demonstrate immediate impact is immense. While developing a long-term strategic vision is crucial, securing early wins can build vital confidence with the board and align internal teams. Among the myriad of strategies available, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
To gain that edge, B2B marketers must move beyond personas and understand the actual behavior of decision-makers. A recent conversation with Kris Bondi, a seasoned CEO in the technology and security sector, provided a rare “satellite view” into how the C-suite truly interacts with vendors. The Satellite View: Understanding
B2B marketers often make a critical mistake when they think about the “buying committee.” We map out titles like CEO, CFO, and CTO as abstract personas, but we rarely consider the unique, multifaceted reality of the people behind those roles, especially the role of the CEO. John Wilkes, Co-Founder of
In B2B marketing, the “buying committee” is frequently reduced to a collection of titles on a slide. Marketers meticulously map out the CEO, CFO, and CTO, often treating them as static personas rather than real individuals navigating complex pressures, evolving workflows, and rigorous decision-making criteria. But as John Wilkes, Co-Founder
