The Secret Ingredient for Marketing Success: Aligning CEOs and Marketers

Name: The Secret Ingredient for Marketing Success: Aligning CEOs and Marketers
Uploaded: 2023-08-07T16:05:46+00:00
Duration: 55 s
Channel: Jason M. Lemkin
Description: In this segment, Jason M. Lemkin explains why many SaaS companies suffer from a disconnect between CEOs and their heads of marketing. He notes that CEOs…

7 Aug 2023 · 1 min

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In this segment, Jason M. Lemkin explains why many SaaS companies suffer from a disconnect between CEOs and their heads of marketing. He notes that CEOs often want to be deeply involved in marketing strategy, while marketers cling to established playbooks that may not fit the CEO’s vision, leading to friction and turnover. Lemkin highlights a common hiring mistake: failing to conduct a post‑offer working session where the candidate and CEO calibrate expectations before the new hire starts. This step prevents overselling, ensures alignment on strategy, and helps the new marketing leader adapt their approach to the company’s growth stage—from early‑stage ($5M ARR) to later‑stage ($50M ARR) needs. The overall message is that intentional alignment rituals and flexible role expectations are the secret ingredients for sustained marketing success in SaaS.

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And then a lot of CEOs that are good at marketing want to be very involved in marketing strategy. Right. And I find so many, so many sales folks fail because there's disalignment on what to do in the beginning, even though they're great. And so many marketers fail because they want to execute a marketing playbook that the CEO doesn't believe in. The CEO's, no, look, I know you, I know you worked at wherever, Slack, but that's not the way it works here. This is working and I just want more of it. And then I see these, the heads of marketing just flame out in new roles because they want to do their playbook. But not what the CEO wants. So they don't do this working session either, right? And so, yeah, this is— in today's world, there's, there's so many more veterans today, right? There's SaaS companies, they go through phase transitions and folks leave and they move on, or they— the directors want VP gigs, or the right VP at $5 million is not the right one at $50 million. And there's so many great folks you can meet, but do this last step after the offer letter so the candidate does not feel like they have to oversell you, right? Do it, and magic comes of it. That's brilliant.