Fractional CMOs Deliver Long-Term Strategic Value Over Full‑Time Hires
Can a fractional CMO be long-term? Absolutely. And more companies should probably plan for that instead of apologizing for it. The reason "long-term fractional CMO" sounds strange is that the category got invented as a bridge. Something you did while you were between full-time hires, or while you figured out whether you really needed marketing leadership. The word "fractional" itself implies an incomplete version of something. Like you're getting 40% of a real CMO. That framing is wrong. For plenty of B2B companies in the $5M-$50M range, a senior fractional CMO working 10-20 hours a week produces more strategic value than the full-time mid-level marketer they could otherwise afford to hire. Better pattern recognition. A broader network. More direct advice, because the fractional isn't managing their own performance review. That advantage doesn't evaporate at year three. Or year five. What happens at year three or year five is the CEO or board starts feeling like they should "graduate" to a full-time hire, even when the business is working. The pressure is almost always optics. What the org chart is supposed to look like at Series B. What investors expect. What peer CEOs have done. Peer pressure and optics rarely translate into a legitimate business reason. There are of course very good reasons to make the move to a full-time CMO: 👏 A category-defining initiative that needs someone in the seat every day 👏 Growth past the point where a fractional can scale their attention across the business 👏 A CEO who wants daily marketing partnership, not weekly If you're a founder or CEO working with a strong fractional CMO and the outcomes are there, stop treating the arrangement as provisional. Invest in the relationship. Build an execution team underneath them. Tell your board this is the design, not a placeholder. The best marketing leadership for your business is the marketing leadership that actually works.
C‑Level Commitment Needed to Bridge AI Adoption Gap
If you find yourself like so many organizations struggling with the growing gap between AI's potential and your actual, daily leverage of that potential, Gary Survis says you likely have one to three problems: 1️⃣ Your people are not business...
Escalating Late Kills Deals and Trust
Prompt for an AI agent with access to your CRM: I want to see all of the times our sale reps went over the buyer's head to the executive sponsor to "secure the deal". Please then pull the conversion/win rates...
AI Enables Exponential, Not Just Incremental, Innovation
Reinventing the process with AI isn't enough. Sometimes we need to reimagine the solution entirely. In other words, separate process from outcome. Let's say you need to get to Chicago. Adding a couple more horses to your stagecoach is irrelevant...
LLMs Remix Existing Ideas; True Innovation Remains Human
What you think are new ideas from your LLM aren't actually new. They may be new "to you", but they're actually someone else's ideas that the LLM was able to access and communicate back with mind-melting speed. Even when your...
Using AI Fuels Optimism; Fear Stems From Avoidance
I've noticed lately that the people most afraid AI is going to take their job and disrupt their earning potential have spent the least amount of time actually using AI. And those using AI more and more tend to be...
Churn Reveals Trust Gaps—Identify and Repair Them
Churn is about trust. A lack of trust, more specifically. If a customer fails to continue, it means they lack trust in you, in themselves and/or the future. Figure out where the trust break specifically lies, that's how you save...
Great AI Won’t Save Poor Customer Journeys
Today's reminder that, even in the age of AI, marketing still matters. In my exuberance over the launch of ChatGPT 5.4 yesterday, I hit a usage limit. But instead of using this as an upsell opportunity, I got the below...
Stop Delaying AI: Start Small, Involve Legal, Gain Time
I continue to hear from companies and marketing teams that are reticent to lean in holistically on the AI opportunity. So here I've parsed the most common push-backs as well as how I respond to each. 1️⃣ “We don’t have...
Leverage AI to Power Through Afternoon Energy Slumps
I know how my energy levels typically vary through the workday. High energy in the morning, low energy in the early afternoon, a bit of a "comeback" late afternoon. In the past I've stacked up "easy" tasks for that early...
Pre‑filled LLM Prompts Drive Smarter Brand Traffic
Most marketers right now are trying to figure out how to get the LLMs to send them more Web traffic. Maybe the pro move is to do the opposite. Check out what Amplemarket HQ is doing. And when you press...
Buyer Enablement Must Be Core, Not Afterthought
When I surveyed last week how marketing teams define their focus in support of sales, here’s how it broke down: • Brand and awareness primarily — 3% • Brand + pipeline generation — 32% • Those + lead-to-opportunity conversion —...
AI Frees Us to Think, Not Just Do
So, that viral post that says 50 percent of white-collar jobs will be gone in five years or less actually...has me really excited about the future. I've always enjoyed rolling up my sleeves, getting work done. But the real value...
Exclusive AI Dinner: CMOs & Ops Leaders Share Real Insights
Sharing this for my friends Mike Rizzo and Nish Patel . They're hosting an executive dinner series in March for CMOs and Marketing Ops leaders. The premise: get CMOs and their MOps counterparts in the same room for an honest...
Personal AI Hackathons Spark Creativity and Faster Workflows
One of my favorite tricks to get marketing teams more comfortable with AI workflows culminates in an AI Talent Show. Start with a hackathon of sorts, but allow people to create something that supports a personal interest. Ask them to...
Revenue Marketing VP Replaces Demand Generation as B2B Priority
The hottest job in B2B marketing right now is the VP of Revenue Marketing. Two years ago this would have been VP of Demand Generation. In just the past week I've talked to four CMOs who are prioritizing a VP...
Keep SKO Momentum Alive with Guides and Accountability
You put so much time, money and effort into your sales kick-off. How long after everyone goes home does it take for the after-glow to wear off? And more important than after-glow, is everyone staying accountable to what they were...
Validate Market Size Before Setting Growth Targets
You can't begin to agree on what # to hit unless you understand the market you're in. You can make a spreadsheet say anything. And of course your investors want double-digit growth this year. Will your market allow it? Is...
Swap Resolutions for Habits: Discipline Drives Success
Instead of resolutions this year, I'm focused on habits. I don't often control the outcome, but I absolutely control the work, discipline and regularity of how I get there. This year I have four things in mind: 1️⃣ Health I...
AISDR Fails Without Strategy, Training, and Tailored Messaging
Seven reasons why your AISDR pilot may have failed: 1️⃣ The playbooks and workflows were never developed and tested to begin with Technology is only as good as the strategy and processes built to enable it. Your AISDR tool isn't...
Build Business Pipelines Like Making Genuine Friendships
The process of building pipeline and winning new business is very similar to making a new friend. You typically don't just cold call someone in your neighborhood and ask if they want to get beers. But, if you're motivated, you...
Five Unpopular B2B GTM Predictions Threaten 2026
And now for five WILDLY unpopular predictions for B2B GTM in 2026: 1️⃣ More heads of marketing will report to the CRO 2️⃣ Brand investments will increase, but will ultimately be judged on short-term pipeline impact creating more marketing ROI...
Hands‑On AI Workshop Drives Sticky GTM Adoption
The most valuable use of time with your team, in person, at your upcoming SKO/RKO is a hands-on AI workshop. Not an "art of the possible" presentation, not a theoretical or even "here's what others have done" discussion. Think of...
Human Partners Amplify System Success in AI Era
This is an appreciation post for Fred Jentgen . Adopting EOS as our company's operating system has been absolutely instrumental to our growth and success over the past four years. And there's no way we'd have the confidence, consistency and...
Focus Attribution on Predictable Outcomes via Marginal Gains
Who knew that a book about hospitality and a British cycling coach could give us a better approach to attribution and performance improvement. For too long we've been thinking about attribution wrong, two ways. First, it's not about who gets...
Demand Gen Hits Targets Amid Rising ROI Pressure
Most demand gen teams are hitting their numbers. But the pressure is only going up. From the 9th annual State of Demand Gen 2025 research Activate is unveiling next Thursday: 👍 70% of teams say they have met or beat...
Boost Pipeline Efficiency and Predictability for 2026
I've heard it called Proof Velocity as well as Speed to Confidence. Either way, there are insights in this report that will help you accelerate pipeline efficiency and predictability in 2026. Thanks again to Braydan Young and the team at...
CXOs Demand AI That Delivers Tangible GTM Results
I asked 100+ CXOs what they want to learn from each other, and three themes came up again and again. Tomorrow I'm moderating the Executive Experience as part of 6sense 's Breakthrough conference. We have a full afternoon with ~125...
Profit by Building the Infrastructure Behind Every Boom
There's money to be made with whatever today's "big thing" is. There's often just as much money for those that figure out how to support the big thing. The gold boom of 1849, for example. A few people struck it...
AI Cuts Marketing Cycle Times Tenfold, Slashes Costs
Most if not all marketing leaders agree AI belongs in their GTM engine. So why aren't more companies and GTM teams farther ahead in integration and impact? The sticking point isn’t always why—it’s also where, how, and knowing what KPIS...
CMOs Quantify Brand Impact with Awareness, SEO, Sentiment Metrics
Brand conversations, especially in earlier-stage B2B organizations, get stuck when we treat “brand” as a fuzzy idea instead of a measurable driver of pipeline. We covered brand and demand, working together, in last week's CMO Coffee Talk sessions. And we...
Unexpected Sustainability Links Across Jeans, Data Centers, Construction, Waymo
What do Levi Jeans, data centers, the construction industry and dirty Waymo cars have in common? Turns out quite a bit! Check out this snippet from last Friday's Coffee with Brent Adamson and Matt episode.
Align Brand and Demand: Balance Logic, Campaign Mindset, KPIs
Three reminders about brand and demand in B2B: and vs or, campaign mentality and the importance of KPIs and narratives together.
AI Enhances Human Creativity and Boosts Event Value
Whirlwind trip to #Dreamforce25 this week, amazing to get time with friends, hang at 6sense 's #Club6 , talk agentic marketing with CMOs at the Qualified breakfast, then hang with the one and only Brent Adamson at his book signing....