Diary of a first-time CMO

Conclusion

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 15:15:00 +0000

Alice wraps up her thoughts on her four year journey and the diary of a first time CMO.

Entry 63: My dream demand gen marketer

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 15:00:00 +0000

Alice goes over the skills she looks out for in her ‘dream demand gen marketer’.

Entry 62: My predictions

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 14:45:00 +0000

Alice talks through her transformational predictions for content marketing in 2023 and beyond.

Entry 61: The 10% more mindset

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 14:30:00 +0000

The 10% more mindset. One of the biggest mindset hacks that has driven Alice’s success. It won’t be for everyone, but it’s a sober look at what it takes to succeed at the highest levels of marketing leadership.

Entry 60: Attracting talent

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 14:15:00 +0000

Alice talks through the impact of sharing in public and the demand generation movement in attracting quality talent to Cognism.

Entry 59: Don’t backslide

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 14:00:00 +0000

Alice makes the case for not retreating back to the Google Ads when things get tough in an uncertain economic climate.

Entry 58: Content team in a demand gen org

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 13:45:00 +0000

What should the content team look like in a demand gen focused org? Alice unpacks how we structure things at Cognism.

Entry 57: Rebranding Cognism

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 13:30:00 +0000

Alice unpacks the full Cognism re-brand that took place in 2022. With key lessons and learnings drawn from the experience.

Entry 56: Imposter syndrome

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 13:15:00 +0000

Imposter syndrome. We all feel it. Alice reveals how she has coped with this and the realities that it will always be something we contend with as marketers.

Entry 55: On-demand, ungated, free content

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 13:00:00 +0000

Ungated, friction free, all the time. Alice unpacks what an ungated media machine looks like at Cognism.

Entry 54: It’s not 2010 anymore

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 12:45:00 +0000

Alice talks through the massive shifts in the last decade that have had the biggest impact on the role of B2B marketers.

Lesson 3: Shifting your reporting

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 12:30:00 +0000

Alice addresses the tricky issue of reporting on a demand gen strategy. Get a look at what metrics matter for this approach.

Entry 53: Lead gen to demand gen

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 12:15:00 +0000

Alice provides a practical step-by-step guide to making the switch from lead gen to demand gen.

Entry 52: Critical thinking

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 12:00:00 +0000

Alice discusses the critical skill of knowing when to pivot as a marketing leader. But also knowing when to adopt external advice, and when not to.

Entry 51: Catching a CMO’s attention

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 11:45:00 +0000

Alice reveals the best cold outbound she’s ever received, and what she thinks people need to do to get a CMOs attention.

Entry 50: Outsourcing

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 11:30:00 +0000

Alice unpacks when to outsource in your team and guidance to help you get the most from external resource.

Entry 49: Roles to have in-house

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 11:15:00 +0000

Alice breaks down the internal marketing org set up at Cognism, and what roles she thinks you absolutely should keep in-house.

Entry 48: Hands-on mode

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 11:00:00 +0000

Alice talks 4 practical examples of ‘operational’ CMO work that made a huge impact on the Cognism marketing function.

Entry 47: Kissing frogs

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 10:45:00 +0000

Alice shares the secrets behind how Cognism attracts ‘unicorn marketers’ that help solve the thorny issue of hiring well.

Entry 46: Rethinking funding press releases

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 10:30:00 +0000

The new funding press release, a necessary evil? Alice offers her thoughts and how to get more creative with your releases.

Entry 45: Sourcing subject matter experts

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 10:15:00 +0000

Alice unpacks how to identify external SMEs for long term partnerships and how to set up clear KPIs in your working agreement.

Entry 44: Random acts of marketing

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Alice teaches us how to avoid ‘random acts of marketing’ and how to make sure your team executes on the most meaningful work.

Entry 43: Making predictions

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 09:45:00 +0000

Alice talks about her 2022 marketing predictions, and how SMEs played a crucial role in Cognism’s growth in 2022.

Entry 42: A proud CMO moment

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 09:30:00 +0000

Alice talks about one of her ‘proudest CMO moments’ and how hiring was critical in making it happen.

Entry 40: Know your audience

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 09:30:00 +0000

Alice discusses the vital importance of customer research, the central role of it in successful demand generation and how she built it into her workflows.

Entry 41: Looking for unicorns

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 09:00:00 +0000

Alice talks about how she found a ‘unicorn marketer’ who doubled Cognism’s paid ads pipeline.

Entry 39: ABM or ABHmmmm

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 08:45:00 +0000

Alice offers her thoughts on ABM, and how she would approach it from an MVP standpoint if she ran an ABM play at Cognism.

Entry 38: Setting records

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 08:30:00 +0000

Alice talks about setting a revenue record in August 2021, and the key lesson that helped her realise this milestone.

Entry 37: Becoming a subject matter expert

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 08:15:00 +0000

Alice talks about the 80/20 principle, and how to laser focus your time on the areas that offer the biggest impact.

Entry 36: Buyers want instant gratification

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Alice goes in depth on why the buying journey isn’t linear, and how un-gating Cognism’s content was key in marketing to buyers how they actually BUY in 2023.

Entry 35: Tales of an operational CMO

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 07:45:00 +0000

Should marketers stop being operational when they reach CMO? Alice breaks down why she considers herself an ‘operational’ CMO and the value that’s brought Cognism’s marketing team.

Entry 34: Redirection

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 07:30:00 +0000

What do you need to report on when you make the switch to demand gen? Alice unpacks splitting the funnel and getting your reporting in shape.

Entry 33: Building a media machine

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 07:15:00 +0000

A lot of people are talking about building a media machine. Alice takes us through how she built one at Cognism.

Entry 32: Humans marketing to humans

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 07:00:00 +0000

B2B vs B2C marketing? Alice unpacks why she thinks the difference isn’t as great as some make out. We’re still marketing to humans!

Entry 31: Experimental budget

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 06:45:00 +0000

Alice talks through the huge unlock of asking for an experimentation budget - and the path that set Cognism on towards a demand generation strategy.

Entry 30: Recognition and rewards

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 06:30:00 +0000

Cognism’s speed to pivot is one of our chief advantages. Alice explains how she’s built this into the team, and how the ability to change has reaped huge rewards.

Entry 29: CMO stands for ‘Change Means Opportunities’

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 06:15:00 +0000

Cognism’s speed to pivot is one of our chief advantages. Alice explains how she’s built this into the team, and how the ability to change has reaped huge rewards.

Entry 28: Switching gears

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 06:00:00 +0000

Alice gives her advice for how to get hiring externally and outsourcing right. And how you can nurture that relationship into a closer working arrangement.

Entry 27: View from a distance

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 05:45:00 +0000

Alice talks about the benefits of taking time away from the busy day-to-day, to refocus and see with clearer eyes where your attention is most needed.

Entry 26: B2B marketing doesn’t have to be boring

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 05:30:00 +0000

Do you give your team enough room to be creative? Alice talks on how she opens up space for her team to push the envelope with creative ideas.

Entry 25: Minimum viable product

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 05:15:00 +0000

An MVP approach to B2B marketing? Alice breaks down her thoughts on building the demand for something and THEN building to scale it.

Entry 24: LinkedIn wins

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 05:00:00 +0000

How should a company set a strategy for its LinkedIn page? Alice breaks down how we approach the company page at Cognism.

Entry 23: Cognism DNA

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Alice unpacks the four principles that guide the Cognism marketing team in its approach and its decision making.

Entry 22: Providing value

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 03:45:00 +0000

Alice breaks down why B2B marketers should put so much stock in providing value with every activity they commit to.

Entry 21: Align your destinies

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 03:30:00 +0000

Alice breaks down tips on how sales and marketing can align their destinies under a demand gen focused strategy.

Entry 20: Give yourself problems

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 03:15:00 +0000

Don’t worry about how to scale something until you’ve proved its value. Alice underlines the importance of testing ideas without knowing *exactly* how they’ll scale afterwards.

Lesson 2: The different languages of a CMO

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 03:00:00 +0000

What do CFOs, Sales and other departments care about? Alice talks through how she manages inter-departmental relationships and how she ensures marketing’s value is understood through the organisation.

Entry 19: Marrying ideas and execution

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 02:45:00 +0000

A good idea is only as good as the execution. Alice breaks down why ideation and execution have to have balance. Un-executed ideas themselves hold little value.

Entry 18: Tie yourself to revenue

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 02:30:00 +0000

Should marketers tie themselves to a revenue target? Alice absolutely believes they should and explains why it’s needed.

Entry 17: Let’s get it live

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 02:15:00 +0000

Work in progress = no value added. Alice discusses how she ensures work gets activated at Cognism, not just stuck on an ideas board.

Entry 16: Done is better than perfect

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 02:00:00 +0000

Rule #1 at Cognism: DONE IS BETTER THAN PERFECT. Alice talks through how she has ingrained this mindset in the Cognism marketing team, and the benefits it’s brought.

Entry 15: Dream team

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 01:45:00 +0000

How to recruit a paid ads team that delivers? Alice discusses what she looks for in a ‘unicorn’ paid ads specialist.

Entry 14: Art and science

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 01:30:00 +0000

Are marketers artists or scientists? Alice discusses how to strike the right balance, using Cognism’s webinar strategy as an example of getting it right.

Entry 13: The first 100 days

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 01:15:00 +0000

The first 100 days as CMO 😱 Scary? Yep. Hpefully this helps. Alice talks through her first 100 days, and what to get right to make sure you are set up for success.

Entry 12: Experiment, experiment, experiment

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 01:00:00 +0000

Want to run better experiments? Alice breaks down the value of experiments in Cognism’s marketing and runs through one example from Cognism’s google account.

Entry 11: Implementing a winning content strategy

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 00:45:00 +0000

How to get the content strategy right: Alice talks through how she restructured Cognism’s content strategy early on, and how it laid the foundations for the media machine in place in 2023.

Entry 10: Cut the BS

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 00:30:00 +0000

The art of cutting the BS. The job of a CMO isn’t just to set direction, it’s to know what to say NO to as well. Alice breaks down how she approached this when getting started at Cognism.

Entry 9: Day 1 and a marketing leader

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 00:15:00 +0000

What do you do on day one as CMO? Alice breaks down a practical approach to getting off to an effective start as leader. Based on her own experience stepping into the CMO role for the first time.

Entry 8: CMO of a startup

Cognism — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

What does the career path as CMO of a start up look like? Alice breaks down the path she’s been on the last four years and what aspiring leaders can expect.

Entry 7: Value customer loyalty

Cognism — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 09:00:00 +0000

Customer marketing. A critical piece of any marketing strategy, often overlooked. Alice breaks down how she’s approaching customer marketing at Cognism.

Entry 6: Quality over quantity

Cognism — Mon, 06 Feb 2023 09:00:00 +0000

Quality vs quantity? Alice breaks down high volume, low quality, SEO plays. And her thoughts on what B2B marketers should be doing instead.

Entry 5: Lessons from E-books

Cognism — Sun, 05 Feb 2023 09:00:00 +0000

E-books. It’s been a hell of a ride at Cognism when it comes to e-books. Alice breaks down the critical role they played in Cognsim’s lead gen strategy, but what then pushed her to radically pivot to a demand gen strategy.

Entry 4: Data is everything

Cognism — Sat, 04 Feb 2023 09:00:00 +0000

Data-driven. The most overused word in marketing? Alice breaks down what being ‘data driven’ actually means for a marketing leader, and how she got Cognism from 0-effective in it’s tracking.

Entry 3: Lessons I’ve learned about marketing and sales alignment

Cognism — Fri, 03 Feb 2023 09:00:00 +0000

Marketing/sales alignment: It’s a thorn in the side of 90% of revenue teams. Alice breaks down the steps she took to get two departments singing from the same hymn sheet.

Entry 2: Test your boundaries

Cognism — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 09:00:00 +0000

How do you marry being an introvert AND a CMO? Alice dives into the steps marketers can take to test their boundaries and get themselves out there more.

Entry 1: Put yourself in their shoes

Cognism — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 12:00:00 +0000

Alice de Courcy tells the story of spending the day cold calling to get in the shoes of her sales team. Hear the lessons she learned on buying intent, sales/marketing alignment and customer research.

Lesson 1: Growing a team

Cognism — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 10:00:00 +0000

How do you know WHEN to hire at different stages of growth? Alice breaks down lessons from four years of growth at Cognism. Revealing what helped her grow the team from 3-39.

Introduction

Cognism — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 09:00:00 +0000

The diary is the first book to chart the 4-year journey of a first-time CMO, end-to-end. Across 63 diary entires, Alice deCourcy unpacks the 'aha' moments and lessons that helped her scale Cognism from $5m to $40m ARR. And it's all available in audio format, for free, here!