Barb Bertsch

Authentic Fractional CMO™

Barb Bertsch is a talented multi-channel Marketing leader with 20+ years of diverse experience within large, midsized and small businesses. Proficient at collaborating with multiple stakeholders to develop strategic go-to-market marketing plans that align with the company’s business priorities and initiatives.

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Meet Barb

So great to meet you! I’ve been helping small to midsize companies for the last 20+ years to grow their business and connect the dots between their vision and a focused marketing strategy that supports their specific situation and goals.

I have a strong passion for building marketing from the ground-up. My experience extends mostly in the B2B space, managing consumer product portfolios, product development, employee engagement, marketing strategy and planning, and what I like to call “branding from the inside-out.”

As a CMO I am able to identify where the organization is strong and where there are gaps. I’m highly collaborative in this process, working to engage all stakeholders. I also really care about sales and marketing alignment. I’ve been told by former colleagues, clients, and supervisors that I’m thoughtful, strategic, detail-oriented and that I have a strong work ethic.

CliftonStrengths
Top Five

PositivityResponsibilityRelatorArrangerMaximizer

KEY AREAS OF EXPERTISE

Branding & MessagingCRMData & SystemsDigital MarketingEmail MarketingGo-To-Market StrategyKPIs & MetricsManagement & MentorshipMarketing AutomationMarketing Budgets & ROIMarketing OperationsProduct MarketingSales AlignmentSales EnablementCoaching and Advisory

LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE

Revenue Models

Business-to-Business (B2B)Distribution / NetworkChannel Partnerships / Alliances

Industries

Professional Services / ConsultingFinance / Banking / InsuranceManufacturing / DistributionConsumer Goods & ServicesIT Networking, Servers and StorageIT Managed Services

Scenarios

Startup / Early StageFamily BusinessSmall and Mid-SizedGlobal EnterprisePrivately OwnedMergers & AcquisitionsPost-M&A Integration

Revenue Models

Business-to-Business (B2B)Distribution / NetworkChannel Partnerships / Alliances

Industries

Professional Services / ConsultingFinance / Banking / InsuranceManufacturing / DistributionConsumer Goods & ServicesIT Networking, Servers and StorageIT Managed Services

Scenarios

Startup / Early StageFamily BusinessSmall and Mid-SizedGlobal EnterprisePrivately OwnedMergers & AcquisitionsPost-M&A Integration

LEADERSHIP IMPACT

  • Grew a client’s web traffic by 300% over the last two years after a complete rebrand and new website
  • Developed a lead gen strategy through paid media that resulted in 25 new clients in one year
  • Increased LinkedIn followers 125% over one year for one client
  • Implemented and drove corporate rebrand and new website within the first 10 months of client engagement
  • Built a Marketing action plan and strategy to serve a start-up division for a new service offering resulting in five new deals within the first six months of rollout

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

BOARDS & COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP

  • Job Transition Leadership for MN Crossroads and Networking with Grace Groups: 2010- Present

TESTIMONIALS

We hired Barb to help us with an overall marketing strategy and plan development for our building and Design Company. She was incredibly knowledgeable about how to focus in on the areas of our business that needed more attention and gave us thoughtful and accurate feedback on how to move forward in those areas. Barb is very personable, we felt comfortable right away and that she was part of our company for the time she was working with us. She was very approachable in terms of questions and being able to explain her findings with us. With the re-branding of our business Barb helped us to determine what our overall target market was and how best to reach them. We worked together to create a marketing plan to be able to track our our efforts more effectively. She is detailed and very organized in her work with us. She also helped to plan an event to showcase our 40th birthday, she made it easy for us to break it down to manageable pieces and the event was a huge success! We would highly recommend Barb for any and all marketing strategy work that you might need. Barb is friendly and wonderful to partner with on large and small projects. She is the best in our eyes!
Renee Aldecocea
Marketing Manager, Lake Country Builders
We hired Barb on during our Marketing Manager recent leave. Barb jumped right in and helped and contributed from day 1. She introduced our team to some new/different team approaches which actually strengthened the time. After our original contract we implemented an extension using Barb’s talents to relaunch our SFDC application. We are very happy with our experience and would use her services again should the need arise.
Stephen Bergeron
Vice President Global Marketing, APG Cash Management
We had an opportunity to work with Barb to help us boil down a series of tasks in our Marketing Department and push forward with a streamlined, ROI-based strategic marketing plan. She was an outstanding coach and collaborator for us and I would recommend her highly for her strategic thinking, tactical awareness, and willingness to push on doing less to do more. She was a great resource for our teams here
William Anderson
EVP and Chief Customer Experience Officer, The First National Bank in Sioux Falls

ON A PERSONAL NOTE...

Outside of the office I enjoy spending time giving back to others, mainly those in job or career transition. I enjoy coaching and mentoring them through a process to get them to that next stage. I’ve been actively involved in doing this for a little over 10 years. It’s rewarding to connect others with people and resources to get them to that next level in their search.

I have been in a ladies golf league for well over 15 years. I do it for a couple of reasons, one is to stay connected with friends while being outside, but also (hopefully) to continue to improve my game. Having a weekly commitment during our very short Minnesota golf season forces me to get out and play when otherwise it seems there is always something else going on. 

My husband and I absolutely love trying new restaurants and wines, as well as cooking together and spending time at home in our lovely Minneapolis condo. We are fortunate to have amazing views of the river and especially in the summer, it’s a great place to spend our time.

My personal core values:  Do the right thing always. God, friends and family first. Honesty and trust. Always be kind.