Marketing Leadership Archives

How Authentic Fractional CMOs™ build maturity in growing organizations

At Authentic, our clients span various industries and business types, and the challenges they face often depend on factors unique to each company. But what all of our clients do have in common is that they are looking to grow their businesses. To support our clients in their growth, we developed our Authentic Growth™ Methodology. This methodology is our proprietary system that provides each of our Authentic Fractional CMOs™ with a set of tools and processes that they can strategically apply to the unique challenges of our client engagements — ultimately helping clients achieve marketing alignment, accountability, and aptitude. One such…

We are Authentic.

A special message from Founder and CEO, Jennifer Zick: https://youtu.be/18RwESP_Noo Authentic Brand was a pioneer in the Fractional CMO category when it launched in 2017. Today, over six years later, we’ve announced a new name that will carry us into our future: Authentic. Why the change? Aside from the beautiful simplicity of the word itself, the Authentic name anchors our brand to help us better position our current offering - as the premier national provider of Fractional CMO leadership for growing businesses. Our unique model has always combined Marketers + Methodology + Mindshare to help growing businesses Overcome Random Acts…

Channels: From undefined to omnichannel

A company’s first go-to-market channel usually emerges organically as the business finds its footing and tests its idea with the market. But as a company matures, it must thoughtfully choose new channels for growth and develop strategic integrations between them. Using our Authentic Growth™ Marketing Maturity Matrix, we demonstrate the stages a business moves through as its channel strategy matures. Before we dive into the six stages of channel maturity, let’s define what we mean by channels. (more…)

Authentic Selected as Fast 50 Honoree by Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal

Annual List Recognizes the Twin Cities’ Fastest Growing Private Companies August 31, 2023 / Minneapolis, MN - Authentic was named a Fast 50 Honoree by the Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal. The annual Fast 50 list recognizes Twin Cities-based privately held companies with the fastest revenue growth for the past three years. This year’s list includes companies with revenue growth between 2020 - 2022. To be eligible for the Fast 50, companies must be independently owned, privately held, for-profit businesses headquartered in the Twin Cities 24-county metro area. They also must have year-over-year revenue growth for each of the…

Media mix: From no mix to a combination that builds compounding reach

In the earliest days of a business, most founders see marketing as one big category. However, any marketing program can and should be understood in the context of these four mediums: paid, earned, shared, and owned. Separating marketing initiatives into these mediums helps companies visualize and assess their overall media mix — the combination of marketing activities a business uses to communicate its value, promote itself, and connect with its audiences. (more…)

Sales Xceleration and Authentic Join Arms in National Partnership

The alliance between the front-office fractional firms will accelerate sales and marketing success for small to mid-sized businesses. Minneapolis, MN, July 25, 2023 - Authentic, a fast-growing national fractional CMO (chief marketing officer) firm and Sales Xceleration, the pioneer in fractional sales consulting, have launched a partnership that leverages their complementary capabilities to deepen value for their clients. This alliance provides a holistic approach to sales and marketing for growing businesses. Together, Sales Xceleration and Authentic shore up the outsourced leadership suite for the front-office, addressing what has previously been a gap in the growing ecosystem of fractional resources. A…

Marketing team: From founder-led to fully-resourced

Many entrepreneurial organizations put off hiring marketing leadership or internal roles until it becomes painfully, undeniably necessary. Instead of investing in strategic marketing early on, founder-led, sales-driven organizations often cobble together what they need to support sales, create market traction, and develop operational critical mass. Marketing is often considered a cost instead of an investment. As a result, the earliest iterations of the marketing function lack clarity and structure, and the makeshift team is likely committing random acts of marketing. (more…)

Authentic Named a 2023 Best Places to Work Honoree

For the rapidly-growing fractional CMO services firm, 2023 marks its first year as a nominee on the esteemed list of top Twin Cities-based companies Minneapolis, MN, June 20, 2023– Authentic was announced as one of the 2023 Best Places to Work honorees by the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal (MSPBJ).   This year marks the 25th annual Best Places to Work awards — the Twin Cities longest-running program recognizing engaging workplaces - and marks Authentic’s first year as a nominee for the honor. “Being recognized by our employees as a 'Best Place to Work' has been on my entrepreneurial bucket…

Marketing budget: From zero to unlimited

Business leaders often want us to tell them how much to allocate to their marketing budget. But there’s no easy answer to this question; no universal formula exists that works for all companies due to varying factors, such as industry, business model, market, company culture, appetite for investment, the maturity of the existing marketing programs, and how quickly they’re willing to change. (more…)

Marketing technology: From basics to optimized for scale

The role of a marketing leader has changed dramatically in recent years. What once was a role focused on brand, communications, creative, and advertising has expanded to include the ability to navigate a technology landscape that continues to grow exponentially and change rapidly. (more…)

Tag: Marketing Leadership