Retaining Your Right-Fit Fractional CMO

Retaining Your Right-Fit Fractional CMO

Understanding Our Retainer Structure: Tailored Solutions for Your Marketing Needs At Authentic®, we specialize in providing Fractional Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with annual revenues ranging from $5 million to $100 million. Our CMOs are seasoned marketing executives who serve as the contract, part-time heads of marketing for our clients across diverse industries and business models. To help you understand how our retainer structure works and how we determine the best fit for your organization, let's delve into the details. Proactive and Structured Retainers Our engagement with clients is based on a monthly flat-rate retainer.…
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AI Readiness Part 2: Is Your Business Ready?

AI Readiness Part 2: Is Your Business Ready?

Assessing your business' readiness to embrace AI If you have been following this series, you may recall from the introductory article that there are two critical rules to understand as you consider AI applications in your business: AI technology is NOT a business strategy nor is it a technology strategy. It’s a tool. Commercial AI technology readiness is different from your business’ readiness to deploy AI.  Let’s talk about the initial gates you’ll need to move through for a successful AI deployment. There are three major challenges relating to readying your business for a successful AI tool adoption. (more…)
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AI Readiness Part 1: Yellow Blinking Lights Ahead

AI Readiness Part 1: Yellow Blinking Lights Ahead

Prepare for a speed check Where is your business with AI readiness today? If you believe every AI headline you read, you may be tempted to believe that your business is already way behind in the race for innovation. But before you hit the gas and start green-lighting AI across your organization, I suggest you yield to some common sense and long-standing business best practices.  (more…)
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Glossary: Revenue Team Roles

Glossary: Revenue Team Roles

Who’s responsible for what? Building and scaling a revenue team in an entrepreneurial business requires a solid understanding of each role’s responsibilities and how they evolve as the company grows. Initially, founders typically handle sales, bringing in new business to establish critical mass and eventually developing the first generation of a revenue team or function. (more…)
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The Value of a Fractional CMO: Quick impact and low risk

The Value of a Fractional CMO: Quick impact and low risk

The moment you realize: We need a marketing leader There's a point in a company growth cycle when businesses recognize that they need to invest in marketing for continued growth. Often these companies have been sales-driven until they realize they need a marketing leader dedicated to building brand awareness and driving meaningful engagement to support business objectives.  It's at this point that executives start considering how to fill this marketing role effectively. They’re often choosing between one of four options:  (more…)
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The Power of the Authentic Mindshare™ and CMO peer community

The Power of the Authentic Mindshare™ and CMO peer community

More than one CMO's expertise at work for your business Authentic clients get more than a solo consultant when they hire one of our fractional CMOs. They get the collective expertise of senior-level marketers and specialized marketing service providers with diverse experience across a variety of business models and industries, including B2B, B2C, and channel marketing for professional services, technology, manufacturing, finance, healthcare, consumer products, non-profits, and more. (more…)
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The Components of Authentic Growth® Methodology

The Components of Authentic Growth® Methodology

What is Authentic Growth® Methodology? Authentic Growth® Methodology is Authentic’s proven and proprietary marketing operating system that helps small and mid-sized, growth-focused businesses build strategic marketing departments and create alignment between sales and marketing. It’s a habit-forming system that teaches a simple, but powerful, set of components that drive alignment, accountability, and activation.  (more…)
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What is the Authentic Growth® Roadmap?

What is the Authentic Growth® Roadmap?

A proven framework for driving marketing success Authentic was born from the desire to help entrepreneurial businesses Overcome Random Acts of Marketing® and more confidently take steps toward healthy growth. One of the primary ways we do this is through our fractional CMO services. However, our vision isn’t just to provide leadership to solve these issues on behalf of businesses. We also want to coach businesses on how to run successful marketing teams and programs themselves. (more…)
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Buyer Beware: Is that fractional CMO really the executive they claim to be?

Buyer Beware: Is that fractional CMO really the executive they claim to be?

The fractional CMO Wild West The number of professionals who call themselves fractional CMOs has skyrocketed over the past few years. At Authentic, we see this rapid influx as a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it validates what we hoped would be true when our founder, Jennifer Zick, started the company in 2017: Small businesses can benefit tremendously from having access to experienced marketing leadership on a part-time, flexible basis. Broad adoption of the term “fractional CMO” indicates there is a market and need for these services. However, on the other hand, the fractional CMO space has become the…
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Accelerating Marketing Results for EOS-Powered Companies with Authentic Growth® Methodology

Accelerating Marketing Results for EOS-Powered Companies with Authentic Growth® Methodology

Running a business on the Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS® )* is a strategic choice aimed at achieving sustainable growth and alignment. EOS provides a solid foundation for vision, traction, and alignment in growth-oriented companies. In this article, we will explore how Authentic Growth® Methodology can accelerate marketing results for companies operating on EOS. EOS Marketing Strategy: Setting the Stage EOS incorporates valuable tools like the Vision/Traction Organizer™ (V/TO) to help companies define their organizational vision, including their EOS marketing strategy. The V/TO acts as an anchor, outlining the target market, differentiators, proven process, and guarantee. This strategy ensures clarity, direction,…
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