Followers, clicks, open rates, and impressions can make a marketing dashboard look busy, but they rarely answer the question your CEO and CFO actually ask: how much revenue did marketing influence? Eric Dickmann sits down with Dana Marxer, CEO of RevOps automation company ayeQ, to unpack what it really takes for CMOs to align marketing to pipeline, bookings, and predictable growth in today’s economy.

We get specific about the language shift CMOs must make to earn influence at the leadership table. Dana explains why marketing should still track leading indicators internally, but present outcomes externally in terms that matter to the business: bookings contribution, pipeline impact, spending efficiency, conversion efficiency, and sales velocity. We also explore how brand investment can lift lead conversion, and why data-backed proof is often the only way to win support outside the marketing team.

Then we tackle the hard part: B2B marketing attribution. Long sales cycles, multiple stakeholders, and siloed systems between marketing automation and CRM make it difficult to validate what actually moved a deal forward. Dana explains why black-box models fall apart and what happens when you connect marketing activity to the sales pipeline through a unified data model and time-based business logic. The result is a clearer view of which channels drive closed bookings, where the funnel breaks, and how to design a revenue engine that marketing and sales own together.

If you’re a CMO, CRO, CEO, or CFO looking to improve marketing ROI, revenue operations, and go-to-market predictability, this conversation will help you rethink what you measure and how you act on it. Subscribe, share this with a revenue leader on your team, and leave a review with the one metric you wish your company trusted.

References: https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/cmos-are-more-focused-on-growing-revenue-than-brand-awareness/

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A fractional CMO can help build out a comprehensive marketing strategy and execute targeted campaigns designed to increase awareness and generate demand for your business...without the expense of a full-time hire.

The Five Echelon Group - Fractional CMO and strategic marketing advisory services designed for SMBs looking to grow. Learn more at:

https://fiveechelon.com

For many marketers, it can be a challenge knowing how to market technical products and services when the assumption is often that for content to resonate, it must speak in very technical terms. Today, we'll discuss the secrets behind effective communication in this experimental episode of The Virtual CMO Podcast. For this episode, host Eric Dickman leveraged Google's NotebookLM AI voices to bring insights from his recent blog article to life with surprisingly realistic results!

The AI narrators discuss why focusing solely on technical specifications can limit your audience reach, and they explore strategies to engage diverse audiences throughout their buyer's journey. From capturing attention with blog posts and infographics to building credibility with webinars and case studies, this episode offers a treasure trove of techniques for marketers looking to enhance their storytelling prowess.

In his article, Eric Dickman shares a paradigm-shifting approach to marketing technical products, known as the "wider net approach." Learn how to tailor your content to meet the needs of novices and experts, ensuring no potential customer is left behind. As your audience progresses from awareness to consideration and decision, understand the importance of providing product downloads, comparison guides, and compelling testimonials to instill confidence. With suggestions on repurposing content for greater impact and the art of storytelling, this episode promises insights into the challenging task of marketing technical products and services.

Article: Why Fishing with a Net (Not Just a Pole) is the Key to Marketing Technical Products and Services

Detailed Show Notes: https://fiveechelon.com/marketing-technical-products-services-s9e1/

Send us your questions or comments

A fractional CMO can help build out a comprehensive marketing strategy and execute targeted campaigns designed to increase awareness and generate demand for your business...without the expense of a full-time hire.

The Five Echelon Group - Fractional CMO and strategic marketing advisory services designed for SMBs looking to grow. Learn more at:

https://fiveechelon.com

In episode 124, host Eric Dickmann welcomes guest, Natalie Swan, a Fractional CMO at Swan & Associates. Natalie shares her unique perspective on the importance of marketing strategy. She shares insights on the necessity of having a clear marketing strategy and how important it is to implement tactics that align with a company's overarching goals.

Natalie tackles the confusion that often surrounds marketing, emphasizing the need to be resourceful when budgets are limited. She elaborates on the importance of understanding and refining an ideal customer profile to make informed decisions about the most effective marketing tactics. We talk about customer journey mapping and how it can be instrumental in crafting a successful marketing strategy.

This episode is jam-packed with insightful tips and strategies, so don't miss out on the opportunity to learn from one of the best in the industry. Tune in, and let's transform the way you think about marketing strategy!

For more information and access to the resources mentioned in this episode, visit: https://fiveechelon.com/importance-of-marketing-strategy-with-natalie-swan/

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A fractional CMO can help build out a comprehensive marketing strategy and execute targeted campaigns designed to increase awareness and generate demand for your business...without the expense of a full-time hire.

The Five Echelon Group - Fractional CMO and strategic marketing advisory services designed for SMBs looking to grow. Learn more at:

https://fiveechelon.com

In episode 123, host Eric Dickmann talks with Nancy Fox - Co-Founder and Fractional CMO of Fractional Connections, an association of fractional executives and SMB owners. Over the years, she has trained and coached executive leaders and corporate professionals to enhance their leadership, communication, and business development skills. Nancy is a community and network builder, a keynote speaker, and the author of "Network Like A Fox."

Fractional Connections was founded to bring the fractional community together to learn from one another and share extraordinary opportunities and insights.

For more information and access to the resources mentioned in this episode, visit: https://fiveechelon.com/engaging-fractional-executives-s8-ep8/

Send us your questions or comments

A fractional CMO can help build out a comprehensive marketing strategy and execute targeted campaigns designed to increase awareness and generate demand for your business...without the expense of a full-time hire.

The Five Echelon Group - Fractional CMO and strategic marketing advisory services designed for SMBs looking to grow. Learn more at:

https://fiveechelon.com

In episode 122, host Eric Dickmann talks with Dean Waye - CEO of WayeCreative, a copywriting firm helping businesses and fractional CMOs attract, impress, and lock in new clients.

Dean Wayne also co-hosts "This Audience Means Business," an interactive LinkedIn live show where he and his guests discuss and review company messaging.

For more information and access to the resources mentioned in this episode, visit: https://fiveechelon.com/attract-new-clients-fractional-cmo-s8ep7/

Send a text

A fractional CMO can help build out a comprehensive marketing strategy and execute targeted campaigns designed to increase awareness and generate demand for your business...without the expense of a full-time hire.

The Five Echelon Group - Fractional CMO and strategic marketing advisory services designed for SMBs looking to grow. Learn more at:

https://fiveechelon.com

In episode 121, host Eric Dickmann talks with Nick Rimsa - Owner of Tortoise Labs where he offers services as fractional Co-Founder to help ambitious entrepreneurs develop their ideas into profitable apps, products, and services.

Located in Maine, Tortise Labs has a mission is to help Mainers turn their ideas into profitable, scalable startups.

For more information and access to the resources mentioned in this episode, visit: https://fiveechelon.com/growing-business-fractional-co-founder-s8ep6/

Send us your questions or comments

A fractional CMO can help build out a comprehensive marketing strategy and execute targeted campaigns designed to increase awareness and generate demand for your business...without the expense of a full-time hire.

The Five Echelon Group - Fractional CMO and strategic marketing advisory services designed for SMBs looking to grow. Learn more at:

https://fiveechelon.com

In episode 120, host Eric Dickmann talks with Stacey Danheiser- Founder and CMO of Shake Marketing Group, a B2B focused marketing strategy group. Stacey has years of experience helping B2B companies to grow their revenue, build connections, and uncover customer value as a fractional CMO. As a community builder, she helps other marketers connect and grow through The Soar Marketing Society, a professional online marketing community.

Shake Marketing Group provides B2B marketing strategies that help business leaders drive more revenue and internal credibility through customer insights, a powerful value proposition, and a marketing strategy that the C-suite understands.

For more information and access to the resources mentioned in this episode, visit: https://fiveechelon.com/fractional-insight-building-community-s8ep5/

Send us your questions or comments

A fractional CMO can help build out a comprehensive marketing strategy and execute targeted campaigns designed to increase awareness and generate demand for your business...without the expense of a full-time hire.

The Five Echelon Group - Fractional CMO and strategic marketing advisory services designed for SMBs looking to grow. Learn more at:

https://fiveechelon.com

In episode 119, host Eric Dickmann talks with John Rossman - Founder and Managing Partner of Rossman Partners, a digital transformation marketing agency. Previously, John served as an executive at Amazon.com where he played a key role in launching the Amazon Marketplace business as the Director of Merchant Integration and went on to have responsibilities for the enterprise business. He leverages Amazon's leadership principles to help others innovate, compete and win in the digital era.

John is also the author of "The Amazon Way: Amazon's 14 Leadership Principles" and writes a weekly newsletter titled "The Digital Leader Newsletter" on Substack.

For more information and access to the resources mentioned in this episode, visit: https://fiveechelon.com/leadership-principles-amazaon-s8e4/

Send us your questions or comments

A fractional CMO can help build out a comprehensive marketing strategy and execute targeted campaigns designed to increase awareness and generate demand for your business...without the expense of a full-time hire.

The Five Echelon Group - Fractional CMO and strategic marketing advisory services designed for SMBs looking to grow. Learn more at:

https://fiveechelon.com