Authentic Blog - Marketing Insights for Growing Businesses

Marketing is simple. But not easy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu6e75EI-PE Video Transcription Jennifer Zick: Marketing is the same as it's ever been, which is answering a few simple but really foundational questions for building your business, which is what is our business's purpose? What is our big why? Why do we exist in the world and how do we change lives? Like literally, if you don't know how you change lives, I don't know what you're doing in business. So answering that question first, your big why, your purpose, however you want to get to that, and then you start answering the questions, then, okay, if this is our…

Should I fire my marketer?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF9vxQB-MkE Video Transcription Should I fire my marketing leader? Believe it or not, it's one of the most common questions we're asked at Authentic® and our answer always begins with: slow down. It might not be a people issue. In most cases, we find that marketing organizations are challenged for lack of strategic guidance, experience, or perspectives outside of their domain of expertise. No single marketer, whether they're young in their career and skilled at tactics, or whether they're very experienced executives, can have all the answers, all of the time, for all of the opportunities and challenges that your…

Southeastern Equipment Company: Client Story

Equipment retail and service company sees a 100-200% increase in marketing-qualified leads after working with an Authentic Fractional CMO™ on lead generation strategy. “Having a scorecard and a roadmap approach has helped our team to see how they’re progressing and keeps us from living in the gap of information and feedback.” Thor Hess, President, Southeastern Equipment Company Hear more from Thor Southeastern Equipment Company at a glance Company size: 250 employees Industry: Engineering / Architecture / Construction Business model: B2B, E-commerce Headquarters: Cambridge, Ohio Key initiatives: Marketing strategy, lead generation, marketing mentorship & coaching, marketing technology, SEO The challenge Southeastern…

Strike Zone Marketing: What does marketing have in common with baseball?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UtLUJAbbEA Video Transcription What does marketing have in common with baseball? The answer? A really small strike zone. At Authentic®, we work with entrepreneurial businesses. These entrepreneurial businesses often are chasing whatever revenue can pay the bills. But any revenue is not always healthy revenue. And our job as fractional CMOs is to help growing businesses Overcome Random Acts of Marketing® to achieve their best, healthiest and happiest growth. And so to do that means being focused when it comes to marketing. When I first say these words, a lot of CEOs and CFOs and especially salespeople get nervous that…

TRU Healthcare: Client Story

TRU Healthcare enlisted the help of an Authentic Fractional CMO to create a new brand identity and customer experience. "We've had several major accomplishments, starting with the development of a comprehensive brand architecture for TRU Healthcare and its subsidiaries, followed by establishing baseline KPIs to measure our progress, and implementing a CRM to more effectively track our marketing impact. It feels like we're now approaching marketing with greater precision and effectiveness." Tim Lively, President & CEO, TRU Healthcare TRU Healthcare at a glance Company size: 105 employees Business type: Healthcare services Category: B2C Headquarters: Arden Hills, Minnesota Key initiatives: brand…

Rada Manufacturing: Client Story

Cutlery manufacturer Rada sought help from an Authentic Fractional CMO to guide the organization through a pivotal time of change in business strategy. “For a lot of small and medium-sized businesses, it can be scary to ask for help. But, I’d recommend people do because the best case scenario is that you’ll have a mountain guide that goes on the entire journey with you, guiding you, giving you support, and helping you reach the next level.” Phil Jones, President, Rada Manufacturing https://youtu.be/zbpRHezKbUo Rada Manufacturing at a glance Company size: 97 employees Business type: B2C Category: Manufacturing / Distribution, Consumer Goods…

There is no marketing silver bullet: Brand-building is a long term game

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZeNJK8juVs Video Transcription Ryan Tansom: And like, I think where people get lost is they just got sold that like this one tool is like the solution to the whole customer journey. And it's just so wrong and it's paralyzing. When you think about, like you said, like, what is there a million probably SaaS tools that all fit somewhere in that customer journey. Jennifer Zick: Yeah, yeah. I've written extensively about these kinds of topics on our website and on our blog over the years. Because there absolutely is a lot of snake oil and pixie dust being sprinkled…

Marketing through Channel / Partner relationships

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY1r1GW3T0M Video Transcription Partnership and alliances can make a huge difference in growing your professional services organization through strong referrals and qualified deals. But nothing happens automagically in partnership. Just because you sign a contract doesn't mean your pipeline will suddenly be busting with opportunity. Partnerships require a unique approach, and if you're thinking of making partnerships a core component of your business growth, you will need to radically rethink the role of marketing in your organization. Hi, I'm Jennifer Zick, Founder and CEO of Authentic®. Our community of fractional CMOs helps growing businesses to Overcome Random Acts of Marketing®…

Does your marketing program feel like an expensive, never-ending experiment?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IjTgzY0MCM Video Transcription Is your company struggling with marketing on a 90 day experiment basis, feeling like you're launching campaign after program after project, but not getting anywhere in terms of understanding what kind of return on that investment you're receiving? If that's the case, you are not alone. Hi, I'm Jennifer Zick, founder and CEO of Authentic®. Our community of fractional CMOs work with growing companies, usually between 5 and 100 million in annual revenue. And for these small growing businesses, we help them to Overcome Random Acts of Marketing® and confidently take the next right step to build…

Ippon Technologies USA: Client Story

Professional services firm Ippon engaged Authentic to assist with building out a comprehensive marketing strategy and plan. “Marketing is not a ‘magic wand’… it takes a lot of patience and alignment to get results.” Romain Lhéritier, CEO, Ippon Technologies USA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4uhLYawfw8 Ippon Technologies USA at a glance Company size: 68 employeesBusiness type: IT services and consultingCategory: B2BHeadquarters: Richmond, VirginiaKey initiatives: Website development, lead generation, ideal customer profile, branding, marketing technology, marketing metrics The challenge Ippon Technologies USA, a consulting firm that helps customers transform their business through technology modernization and innovation, had experienced a period of slow business growth and…

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