Mark Donnigan Consultant

Mark Donnigan builds disruptive innovative start-ups. Mark's superpower is architecting go-to-market plans and marketing movements that drive real business outcomes for technical and product-centric creators. Mark's growth and market advancement experience spans twenty years as a transformative B2B marketing and magnate, driving demand, brand name advancement, and technique for start-up and growth-stage business.

As a professional and virtual marketing leader (fractional-CMO), Mark Donnigan handles startup developers and CEOs from B2B disruptive innovation technology companies to help them establish, bootstrap, and scale their marketing and go-to-market actions.

LEARN MORE: https://growthstage.marketing

Mark Donnigan has handled groups as big as 25, comprising SDRs, AEs, and marketing, producing $29mm/year. Mark brought budget responsibilities to $3mm/year for operations and $400k/year for marketing. Offer sizes differing from mid-five figures to mid-six figures every year.

As a startup marketing consultant, Mark Donnigan's incoming and outgoing marketing experience include building and mentoring high-performance teams that perform as needed generation, brand and product marketing, PR, digital, and events where he establishes and executes high-impact programs that drive earnings, produce ROI, trigger the marketplace, and delivers company outcomes.

Mark Donnigan believes that the best marketing consultants and marketing leaders are doers. Mark's marketing experience consists of all elements of requirement generation, ABM, SEO, email marketing, paid marketing, events, PR (internal & company), and item marketing.

Mark is an issue solver and a first-principles thinker who is imaginative and analytical. Mark constantly works cross-functionally and has actually shown success, structure, leading, and mentoring marketing, sales, and service advancement groups that have really produced more than $500mm in revenue/shareholder worth.

Mark has actually found that constructing a classification must be the leading objective for every marketing leader and it is the foundation of his technique and approach. Mark Donnigan has extensive B2B marketing experience that includes structure and mentoring high-performance teams.

Mark Donnigan is a systems thinker, and he places a high value on teamwork. Mark has substantial experience working alongside sales, item, operations, and finance to make sure that the business and revenue goals of the business are always gone beyond.

Development Stage Marketing exists to provide entrepreneurs and founders services for:

Architecting the marketplace category that is finest matched to the special value proposal of your technology.
High effect marketing assistance so that you can reach your income objectives and scale sustainably.
Accomplishing go-to-market alignment across the sales and marketing companies.
Drawing out the highest worth from every marketing dollar.
Insider knowledge and insights about the B2B purchasing journey and how to browse a progressively fragmented consumer choice hierarchy.
Operationalizing marketing, from system and process advancement to making the very first hires.

Thoughts on what it takes to be a successful online marketer and CMO today.

If you are a CEO who feels your B2B marketing does not have a clear connection to business, you are not alone. A study finished by the marketing consultancy Fournaise discovered that 80% of Chief Executives are not delighted with the work their top Marketing leader is doing. Assessing what the present business truth means for marketing leaders, I remembered the principle of a Peacetime leader and a Wartime leader from Ben Horowitz's book "The Hard Feature Of Hard Things."

Horowitz explained the concept in a short article where he composed that the Peacetime CEO "concentrates on the big image and empowers her individuals to make comprehensive choices." The Wartime CEO, on the other hand, "values a speck of dust on a gnat's ass if it interfered with the prime regulation."

The Peacetime CEO "comprehends what to do with a huge advantage," while the Wartime CEO "is paranoid." Peacetime CEO "works to minimize conflict," and Wartime CEO "heightens the contradictions."

Peacetime in business is when a service has the ability to grow in its core market due to a substantial advantage vs. the competitors. In times of peace, business concentrates on broadening the marketplace and improving the organization's strengths. For CMO's, Peacetime is when we are totally complimentary to be imaginative with our brand structure by attending each exhibition with an even bigger cubicle than in 2015's and investing exorbitantly on sponsorships, all under the guise of building the brand name.

Wartime is a various thing completely because, in Wartime, the life and death of our business may be on the line.
As I write this post, the entire world is fighting an invisible opponent called COVID-19, which has actually let loose a frustrating dose of service uncertainty globally. For CMO's, the COVID-19 pandemic is company equivalent of war. No longer do our 2020 marketing techniques make great sense.

This is more than remaining in an area with the light on, and suddenly you find yourself in pitch-black darkness, so you stroll tepidly, continuing in the very same guidelines understanding that you were heading towards the door prior to the lights got turned off. No, not just has the pandemic turned the lights out, its blown an enormous crater in our course that was not there previous to, and lacking light in the space, can not be seen. Nevertheless we must avoid at all costs falling under the crater.

Nobody longs for war, but a Wartime leader does not avoid the fight, rather, they acknowledge that Wartime is the single finest possibility to leapfrog sidetracked rivals and take ground away. What follows is a set of tips and concepts to help you find your "Wartime CMO battle strategy."

How to act as a Wartime CMO.

During Wartime, everybody is in uncharted waters, but this is where the opportunity is for numerous companies who previously had a difficult time to compete against bigger competitors and dominant market forces. Now, for the very very first time, you might be on comparable footing as your more powerful rivals. It's the ideal chance to define your future.

In a worldwide decrease like what COVID-19 has actually activated, absolutely nothing makes good sense. And yet, a few of your rivals will continue to perform their usual "tried and real" marketing playback, presuming that building the brand name with business interactions messages from the CEO is going to contribute to their organization goals. Now is the best possibility for the Wartime CMO to take ground in the market.

Take strong action.

Creative marketing is required in Wartime more than ever. Now is the time to examine your important presumptions. As the worldwide service environment has changed, and the stability of the core business called into question, CMO's ought to be prepared to reassess their initial plan.
Consider that less consumers will correspond to lowered need. And reduced need implies markets will not react as they did prior to the crisis.

Believe about it in this manner, when individuals buy less, marketers invest less. Nevertheless prior to you follow a slash and burn the marketing invest playbook, here are a couple of things to be experienced about:

Investment bank Cowen and Company evaluated the last 6 economic downturns provided that 1950 and found that spending on direct marketing grew throughout the previous financial downturns. Significance, you will want to consider your mix of trademark name marketing thoroughly compared to sales activation marketing. It's not time to stop marketing. Remember, there will be offers throughout the board as media outlets see business cut their marketing and advertising invests. Push marketing and branding drops in a slowdown, but sales activation marketing always increases.

Shift costs to more measurable channels so that you can adapt quickly. Speed is everything. Marketing initiatives able to be tracked with uniqueness will be a lot more valuable than broad mass-market tasks. Downturns speed up the decline of interruption-based mass marketing. In its location will be an increased concentrate on quantifiable and relationship-based techniques.

Recessions create an opportunity for business that are more effective at turning marketing monetary investments into profits. In the middle of a slow down when marketers are cutting their costs is a fun time to benefit from low CPMs and Certified public accountants.

The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising ended up a study in 2008 that discovered, "Following a budget plan cut, a brand name will continue to acquire from the marketing financial investment made over the previous couple of years. This will lower any short-term organization effects, and will result in an alarmingly misleading increase in short-term success. The longer-term business damage will be more significant, but will not be observed in the start."

Millward Brown reported in their research study "Marketing Throughout Economic Downturn: To Invest or Not to Invest?" that 60% of trademark name that went 'dark' during an economic recession by cutting their TV marketing invest for 6 months experienced a decrease in Trademark name Usage by 24% with a 28% decrease in Trademark name Image. Brand names that cut their advertisement budget plan at a higher rate relative to their competitors were at an even greater risk of share loss.
There are an unbelievable number of marketing studies that validate in a decrease, trademark name that continue marketing and marketing efforts recover faster. It takes strong action to invest when the information suggests that ROI is not possible. A Wartime CMO battles to preserve the budget plan required to continue marketing.

Make the most of the worth of each lead produced.

In a downturn, risk-averse buyers take even longer to research purchases, and this uses equally to B2B and B2C purchasers. When you first recognize a possibility, they will likely stay in the awareness stage of your funnel and will not be all set to engage with an SDR or BDR. Do not require this interaction. Marketing needs to make sure not to move a prospect through the funnel too quickly. Remember, the prospect's skilled life has actually been switched on its head. What was an issue simply a couple of weeks or months earlier, is likely not top of mind today.

It's tempting in a decrease to tighten your grip on leads since the reasoning is that now more than ever, all leads are important. Here is where lead scoring can be a valuable tool to acknowledge extremely engaged potential customers from those who are not likely to become your consumers. Now is the time for Online marketers to hang on to MQL's for an extended duration so that you can groom the prospect to the maximum possible extent prior to handing them off to sales as a SQL.

Without lead scoring and a perfect prospect tracking system throughout your digital channels, as many as 9 out of 10 MQL's who are not yet sales-ready may be lost. They will buy, just not now. You do not want to lose out on the future sale given that you didn't keep in contact and consist of worth though the journey. In a "Wartime" economy, you ought to do everything possible to optimize the worth of your MQL's.

CMO's that do a far better task of dealing with leads and developing early-stage prospects into sales-ready leads will remain in the finest position to win during the crisis and most certainly once it has actually passed.

Focus on your present consumers.

It's cheaper to startup marketing consultant grow earnings with your existing customers. Think about whether now is the time to downsize your mass list building programs and concentrate on structure much deeper relationships with those who already know your service. This does not suggest to stop your need gen efforts, however it does imply that you might wish to explore with product and sales how you can sell more to your existing customers.

In Peacetime, marketing groups are working on autopilot in pursuit of driving MQL's to satisfy sales reps. For a business that has actually acquired traction on their way to ending up being a classification king or queen, this technique, though pricey feels excellent since of the remarkable volume of activity that is being produced. Nevertheless, without careful analysis, the high degree of activity fools lots of CMO's and management groups into thinking that their requirement generation engine is carefully tuned when, in reality, it's discharging enormous contamination, i.e. extremely high CAC, higher than average churn for the category, low CLTV, and so on.

Marketing must align with sales.

A brand-focused Marketing leader worries business with an impressive education and pedigree, having really held considerable titles with big companies. There was a time when the marketing group might handle all corporate and item information and messaging with the market. If a purchaser preferred to learn about a brand-new item or check out whether a service may satisfy their requirement, they had no alternative however to call the service.

Responses to issues such as, Who's authentic and who isn't? - Who's item works, and whose does not? - What's coming? Now where offered with a single post on the proper online forum or LinkedIn group. As an outcome, the power shifted to the purchaser.

We understand that online marketers are no longer in control of the purchaser's journey. It is very important to define a funnel that describes expulsions a prospect should pass on the method to doing company with the organization. Buyers can connect with us on the platform of their choosing. As the purchasing group has expanded to as lots of as two lots individuals, the concept that they will follow our procedure as we have in fact prescribed is hardly ever real.

You need a value designer CMO who is revenue-focused.

A revenue-focused CMO will handle the engine behind a CEO's advancement plan. The shift from companies being physical product designers or service business, to digital innovation business where the product is distributed as software application or software application as a service through the Web, has actually reduced the function of marketing. And is the factor a revenue-focused CMO who is a value designer is what all start-ups and disruptive innovation companies need today.

Today, marketing needs higher levels of technical capability as a result of the explosion of digital media and the marketing technologies that are connected with internet marketing. This improvement has been highlighted by Forrester, mentioning a 20-year-old shift to digital as the driving force behind CMOs moving from being brand-builders to earnings chauffeurs. Forrester goes on to report that a worth developer, revenue-driven Online marketer, should be a story maker and not simply a writer.

The CMO today ought to be a specialist at producing and leading imaginative engagement and service method to establish a category for the company to control.

Here are a couple of methods that a revenue-driven CMO need to run:

They will work thoroughly with the sales group to find and map the purchaser's journey. Where presumptions do not match what is occurring in the market, a value designer CMO will leave the office and hang out in the field. This leader understands that you can not drive earnings if you aren't near where the sale happens.

A revenue-focused CMO develops content targeted at each phase of the purchaser's journey. Think about the buyer's journey as a set of gates where the material reacts to the primary issues a purchaser has at each action so that they can finish the buying journey.
The brand-new generation CMO will gather engagement metrics for each gate while examining the success of the end-to-end marketing cycle to provide the most prompt and licensed result in their sellers. A value developer CMO sees marketing as close allies to the sales group.

The revenue-centered CMO is always discovering from and fine-tuning the procedure so that they can enhance the amount and quality of leads that contributed to the pipeline and closed business.
Profits attribution and marketing ROI designs will show real outcomes, not theorized or "presumed" requirements. This details is vital for the revenue-focused CMO to fix because they appreciate marketing's impact on service.

A revenue-focused CMO will focus on how their marketing efforts map to closed/won offers that drive the profits and service goals of the business. Vanity metrics like traffic, click-thru rates, CPM, and CTA conversions tell simply a piece of the story.

What to look for in your next CMO.

In the vibrant state of business today, dealing with an effective CMO is amongst the most difficult things to do. Every market, business, and market area is different. Even where you can recognize prospects from the same service community or environment, it's inadequate to merely have a look at years of experience or education. You need to take a look at the inspirations and believed patterns of the individual. Ask:
Is the CMO a problem solver?

The most substantial risk today is on the marketplace side and not innovation. A marketing leader who isn't a concern solver will struggle to deal with the fast-changing nature of the marketplace and community structure.

Are they a doer?
In lots of marketing groups, there will be specific specialists who can work at the highest level throughout the series of abilities required. It's incumbent for a marketing leader to command regard as a doer. The CMO, who can demonstrate functional ability in the core locations that the group operates, will be more trustworthy than a supervisor just.

Has the CMO held cross-functional positions?

The finest way to ensure that you draw in a CMO who is earnings and not brand-driven is to work with somebody who has come up through product, sales, and business approach. Having direct exposure to the inner functions of item and sales is especially advantageous as company method is becoming a more significant part of the CMO's series of responsibilities.

Do they believe in systems or method business in a structured manner?

As digital has actually exploded the number of marketing interface points, allowing buyers to disaggregate the company from the buying journey, a CMO ought to have the ability to think about systems and structures instead of safely defined marketing lanes. It is no longer adequate to plan in regards to the social task, content marketing job, events, and PR, all as separate activities. The effective CMO will begin with organization goal they are serving and be ready to question whatever.

Can they connect outside the walls of the business to the market?

To end up being a story-maker, you ought to be worthy of listening to. A CMO remains in the ideal position to presume the evangelistic function for the service. The most successful CMO's in any market are highly visible spokespeople for their organization.
Are they an incentive?

As the CMO will require to work cross-functionally to guarantee that they have positioning with product and sales, the marketing head need to be an incentive. To develop a category needs conversation, settlement, and the ability to try to find and reach an arrangement.

Do they enable their group, or operate by command and control?

A CMO who attempts to lead with ultimate authority will struggle to achieve company objectives of business. Marketing groups today need to work as engineering groups operate in an agile fashion. Instead of nicely arranged 90-day job cadences, a nimble marketing group carries out a constant flow of efforts while keeping the flexibility to alter as the market or organization needs determine.

Does the CMO comprehend classification design?

I have in fact composed about category style and why every organization needs to own a classification to accomplish its optimum potential. There is a structure for executing category style. Still, whether an Online marketer follows the summary or methods category design another way, a CMO needs to be putting regular thought and preparation into how they define the classification they indicate to control. Without input from the CEO and other members of the executive group, there is no other way to finish a right classification style.

The Wartime CMO will require to increase the responsibility of marketing by showing the impact of each marketing activity on the pipeline as figured out by income contribution.
In a sluggish down, marketing should move the understanding of being a cost center to an earnings vehicle driver. Reporting beyond the number of marketing qualified leads produced to consist of the general opportunity worth for each lead source is an outstanding method to represent the function marketing is playing to drive the financial goals of company.

Studies have really exposed that a properly developed landing page can double your conversion rate over sending traffic to your home page, which tends to do not have the appropriate call to action that matches the advertisement. Due to the fact that of this, checking landing pages can increase conversions as much as 50% or more. Together, these strategies can offer a 2.5 X boost for each single dollar you purchase marketing. Yes, conversion rate optimization makes a distinction.

Throughout Wartime, every marketing dollar is important, and a Wartime CMO comprehends that winning will not come down to a single strategy or "silver bullet" approach. Rather, numerous small things performed well. The CMO, who can not understand the interaction of copy, messaging, creative style, and innovation, will struggle to discover and acknowledge rapidly where small modifications can offer better conversions.

This material technique worked, for a season, sort-of. However with the increase of Google RankBrain, the technique has not worked for many years. Without being in the middle of a crisis, you require to stop this inefficient activity. Now as budgets are under pressure and every marketing activity should count, the method that we do content marketing requires to be upgraded.

Now, the material that we produce needs to interest someone trying to discover our solution, and it needs to consist of purchaser intent triggers like keywords and expressions that a purchaser would utilize as they get near to purchasing choice. A Havas Group research study revealed that 84% of individuals anticipate trademark name to produce content, yet 60% of the material produced is of bad quality or unimportant, failing to meet the needs of the audience. No matter a 71% correlation in between content effectiveness and a brand name's impact on personal health, just 40% of the world's leading 1,500 trademark name produce content that satisfies this requirement. Brand name's are failing to produce substantial content.

Stop producing assembly line material that is simply implied to establish the brand name or introduce the product. Instead, material needs to target specific personas to solve any holdups preventing the possibility from proceeding. This material will take longer to produce and need a greater community and item understanding level.

CMO's in Wartime need to have an exceptional understanding of the buyer mind and their psychological needs so that they can produce material that eliminates fear and addresses the sincere concerns they have.

CMO's in Wartime double down on Classification Design so that their company will come out as the leader, making them the dominant choice, putting them in the excellent position to take as much as 76% of the economics from the whole category.

Find out more about Category Design.

The B2B sales process today is fragmented and intricate, with lots of stakeholders requiring to validate a purchase decision. This renders standard marketing ROI and attribution methods less beneficial for anything besides academic research study.

The marketing function today breaks down into 3 functional pillars comprising Product, Need Generation, and Category Style. Due to the fact that lots of marketing leaders have actually not totally embraced classification style, it's a remarkably easy way to beat an incumbent throughout a crisis. As quickly as the sector starts to discuss the category as you have in fact defined it, your company will end up being the category and the apparent option.

To do Category Design requires a various working cadence. Wartime is the best time to embark on Classification Style given that absolutely nothing is "typical" throughout a crisis.
To deal with the challenge of building a Category King company requires a lots of grit, determination, and a steadfast drive to win. For the Wartime CMO, who takes on the obstacle, there can be no bigger pot-o-gold if successful.

Check out the book Play Bigger to discover out all about category design.