The Marketing Budget: Planning for Growth Amid a Shifting Economy

The Marketing Budget: Planning for Growth Amid a Shifting Economy

During the annual planning season, business leaders often want to know how much to allocate to their marketing budget. But there’s no easy answer.  At the same time, marketers are challenged to guarantee ROI for each dollar spent resulting in unrealistic expectations about the time and budget needed to develop a consistent ROI-yielding marketing engine.  These scenarios result in a recurring cycle of trial and error: invest → get frustrated by the unclear ROI → pull the plug (and abandon any progress) → pick a new tactic → start again.  This webinar features a panel of experienced sales and marketing…
Read More
What is a Fractional CMO?

What is a Fractional CMO?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfdcUbmiliI Video Transcription What is a fractional CMO? And how do you know if that's a great solution for your business?  Hi, I'm Jennifer Zick, founder and CEO of Authentic®. We are a community of fractional CMOs (Chief Marketing Officers) who work with growing businesses to help them Overcome Random Acts of Marketing® and confidently take the next right step in pursuing healthy growth for their company. When I first started this business in 2017, the category of fractional CMO was still relatively new.  What is a Fractional CMO? So let me start by defining what a fractional CMO is.…
Read More
Beyond the Business Operating System

Beyond the Business Operating System

As business operating systems - such as EOS (the Entrepreneurial Operating System®) - grow in popularity and practice, many small and mid-sized businesses are experiencing the power of embracing simple concepts and proven tools to create alignment and strategic growth momentum. But once the foundation of an operating system is in place, these growing businesses often discover gaps across their functional departments. When these gaps exist within the growth engine of the organization - sales and marketing - that growth momentum stalls, and entrepreneurial tension rises. No business can achieve healthy growth without a strong revenue engine. But excellence in…
Read More
What Makes Authentic Unique?

What Makes Authentic Unique?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD5ldaxam6w Video Transcription In a growing sea of fractional CMOs, it's important to understand the differences as you consider strategic marketing leadership for your business. And while you might know Authentic as a pioneer in the fractional CMO space, you may not be familiar with the three uniques that make us truly different from any other fractional CMO provider or team. So allow me to share those three uniques with you. They are: Marketers + Methodology + Mindshare. And here is what they mean. Together in combination, they provide a lower risk, faster to impact solution for fractional CMO services…
Read More
How Private Equity is Embracing AI with Steven Horwitz

How Private Equity is Embracing AI with Steven Horwitz

Our inaugural episode of the What’s Your Deal? podcast features Steven Horwitz, Founder and Managing Partner of Orchid Black. Steven is a hands-on, performance-driven leader and strategist with over 30 years of executive leadership and venture capital consulting experience across software and technology-enabled service organizations. His experience spans high growth environments and turnaround situations ranging from early stage, venture-backed software startups through Fortune 100 companies. Steven sat down for a conversation with our Chief Development Officer, Mark Coronna, to discuss how private equity firms are embracing AI to foster healthy growth and some key considerations for businesses looking to begin…
Read More
Considering a Fractional CMO For Your Business?

Considering a Fractional CMO For Your Business?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Katw0MM-YV4 Video Transcription Are you considering a fractional CMO as a possible solution for your business? If so, I want to share with you some tips to make sure you're really sizing up the right fit with the right firm or the right individual. Hi, I'm Jennifer Zick, founder and CEO of Authentic®. We are a team of fractional CMOs that work with growing businesses, all across the US and beyond, to help them Overcome Random Acts of Marketing® and confidently take the next right step in healthy growth.  As we've been building our business over the past several years,…
Read More
Overcome Random Acts of Marketing: Marketing Essentials for SMBs

Overcome Random Acts of Marketing: Marketing Essentials for SMBs

Most entrepreneurial businesses will struggle with "random acts of marketing" as they shift from a founder-led, sales-driven business to a more strategic growth organization. Getting from random to predictable results requires marketing maturity - which starts with a strong brand foundation. In a LinkedIn Live event with Sales Xceleration, Authentic Founder & CEO Jennifer Zick discusses the essential ingredients that every growing business needs for fueling a strong, high-performing, revenue-generating marketing engine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nB37HlKwr8 Key Takeaways Modern marketing requires agility due to the diversity of tools and strategies available today compared to decades ago.  Small businesses must be resourceful in how…
Read More
Objective Investment Banking & Valuation: Client Story

Objective Investment Banking & Valuation: Client Story

Investment banking and valuation firm Objective hires Authentic to infuse its marketing program with strategic rigor and create a thoughtful roadmap. "Having our fractional CMO step in to provide strategic guidance, leadership, and a clear roadmap was transformative for us. Witnessing the leads start to trickle in was our 'aha' moment, proving the strategy's effectiveness. It's incredibly exciting!" Mandy Woods, COO, Objective  (more…)
Read More
Making Sense of Revenue Roles

Making Sense of Revenue Roles

Watch Webinar: Making Sense of Revenue Roles Sales may sound like a simple concept. Until you are scaling a business. What begins as “just win business” quickly becomes a broad and complex discipline that requires expertise for attracting, winning, keeping, and expanding customer and partner relationships.  While many business leaders use terms like business development, sales, and account management interchangeably - they are each truly unique roles. It’s important to understand the difference so that you can create the right balance of sales expertise and build a team with clear roles, goals, and appropriate incentives. It’s equally important to recognize…
Read More