I Hereby Demand, Demand!

I Hereby Demand, Demand!

It’s one thing for a CEO or Sales leader to proclaim “We need more leads!” and something altogether different to generate qualified demand. Most marketers have experienced some level of unrealistic pressure to just make leads happen. Advertising or sponsorship spend can buy eyeballs. But by themselves, these tactics won’t build healthy revenue. So what’s a growing business to do? While new leads are critical, they aren’t the only avenue for healthy revenue growth and profitability. And getting to qualified, scalable net-new lead inflow takes strategic focus, trial-and-error, and most importantly - time.  Join us for a recorded webinar conversation,…
Read More
The Buyer’s Journey: Optimize engagement to maximize revenue results

The Buyer’s Journey: Optimize engagement to maximize revenue results

It’s a hot topic, and for good reason. In recent months, most companies have had to rethink and retune their go-to-market strategies and approaches. In many cases, the way companies sell, who they sell to, and how they solve customer problems has been reshaped as organizations adapt to economic, logistic, and demographic impacts on a global scale. Whether your organization has been radically transformed, or only lightly touched by recent changes and challenges, one thing is true for all: To maintain and sustain healthy growth, every business needs to attract, convert, and retain healthy relationships with its buyers. If persona-building,…
Read More
Sales + Marketing: Creating synergy for success

Sales + Marketing: Creating synergy for success

For early stage businesses, marketing often reports to the founder or head of sales, and plays a subordinate role as a sales support function. This model can work during the forming phase of business growth - when sales is driving most engagement and is helping to further define the market fit. But eventually, to scale a brand and expand the business, marketing and sales must become peers within the leadership team - playing complimentary, but truly different roles.  Making the shift from sales-led to sales and marketing synchronized can be tricky. It’s truly a “make it or break it” moment…
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
What’s to come with corporate events? 4 Considerations for Business Leaders

What’s to come with corporate events? 4 Considerations for Business Leaders

Many of the businesses we work with at Authentic have long relied on traditional, paid corporate events to increase brand awareness and support business development efforts. Nearly every Authentic client has (or had) a line item for events on their budget.  The future of corporate events and their role in a company’s marketing strategy got thrown into question in March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic halted all travel and in-person events. Some businesses quickly, nimbly, and effectively pivoted in-person events to virtual ones, while others canceled their participation in events altogether. Today, as the world begins to return to its…
Read More
How to build an effective on-demand marketing team

How to build an effective on-demand marketing team

The modern marketing ecosystem has changed the way businesses market themselves. Marketing programs now require an entirely different array and a longer list of skill sets than they did 20 years ago. The agency of record no longer makes sense because one agency cannot provide all services a business needs or provide all of them effectively. Companies now need access to a long menu of service providers skilled in various areas, including content, creative, search, paid media, events, analytics, and more — and they need different services at different stages of their growth. But not all businesses have the strategic bandwidth or experience to…
Read More
In-house marketing vs. agency or freelancer: What’s best for you?

In-house marketing vs. agency or freelancer: What’s best for you?

There comes a time in every business’s lifecycle when it needs to invest in marketing to continue growing. Some of the most important decisions are when and who to hire to develop and manage your marketing programs. Your business has what seems like endless options: in-house marketing vs. agency, consultant, or freelancer. But these resources also vary in their seniority and experience in various functional areas (e.g., digital, content, analytics, traditional). Without strategic marketing leadership at the helm, it can feel impossible to make sense of all of the options available and which are the right resources for your business. In this…
Read More
Marketing Technology — Your biggest headache or significant business driver?

Marketing Technology — Your biggest headache or significant business driver?

Choosing and implementing marketing technology can be an overwhelming process. There are thousands of martech solutions on the market, making it challenging to determine which ones your business should invest in (and perhaps more importantly, which it shouldn’t). Without a strategic marketing plan or experienced leader, marketing technology decisions can be daunting. Too often, businesses end up committing random acts of marketing in their technology decisions. (more…)
Read More
Building a Marketing Team: What Comes First

Building a Marketing Team: What Comes First

We reached out to some colleagues who know a lot about marketing and marketing teams to get their thoughts on how leaders can lay the foundation for a successful business today - and in the future. (more…)
Read More