Episode 35: A Fractional CMO’s Perspective with Ryan Paul Gibson – Talent Tradeoffs

This is part of a series on how to structure a growth team, in particular the marketing resources that generate sales leads. Every resourcing model along the in-house to outsourced spectrum was covered in the four-part series, with each guest giving their take from their respective position as an internal or external resource. Their views are here in these episodes as well as in a webinar hosted by the agency behind this podcast, Marketing What’s New. To hear the full panel’s answers on which in-house or outsourced model is right for your company, go watch the recording on the Marketing What’s New site – it’s ungated.

This episode talks with Ryan Paul Gibson, the head of Content Lift in Ottawa, Canada. He’s also a producer of short films and documentaries, and previously worked as a reporter for CBC Ottawa. 

Ryan’s key points:

  • How much a fractional marketer can be accountable for meeting objectives and target numbers, as long as they are involved in setting the inputs behind the programs that make those outcomes happen.
  • How technologies like SaaS tools have evolved the marketing function to being more receptive to outsourced marketers.
  • The fact that connecting/disconnecting with a consultant is relatively easy, compared to in-house staff
  • The analogy he uses to capture both parties, likening your company to a large ship and h’s the little tugboat that ensure the large ship stays on the right trajectory.
  • The stages of growth when it makes sense for a company to bring on fractional resources. Also how the CMO-level consultant can draw up the playbook, execute on some of it AND train junior staff to continue executing on it after they’re done.

A 2019 HR study found that:

  • The average tenure of full-time employees, who make up 2/3rds of the workforce, has declined from 4 years to 3. 
  • The average tenure of Outsourced contractors, who make up 1/3rd of the workforce, is 2 years and rising. 

Episode Reboot

Other points by Ryan of the Future of Fractional Resources

Episode 34: A Founder’s Foray into Marketing with Pat Crosscombe – Talent Tradeoffs

This is part of a series on how to structure a growth team, in particular the marketing resources that generate sales leads. Every resourcing model along the in-house to outsourced spectrum was covered in the four-part series, with each guest giving their take from their respective position as an internal or external resource. Their views are here in these episodes as well as in a webinar hosted by the agency behind this podcast, Marketing What’s New. To hear the full panel’s answers on which in-house or outsourced model is right for your company, go watch the recording on the Marketing What’s New site – it’s ungated.

She has a self-proclaimed passion for livestock management (animal husbandry) especially cows. This led her to get a (Ph.D.) in Education from Cornell University and a career as a Government researcher. She took a hard turn in a different direction when she bought her first home – a condo and joined the condo board. Being a volunteer board director is a tough job, so she built a software solution that would make it easier. This caused her to found a company in 2014 that serves boards. Boardspace is a sub-10 employee company that makes SaaS software to help boards manage their work. 

People/products/concepts mentioned in this episode:

Episode Reboot

Be ready to backfill the activities you hire a marketer to do.

Episode 33: An Agency Lead’s Perspective with Nathan Pabich – Talent Tradeoffs

This is part of a series on how to structure a growth team, in particular the marketing resources that generate sales leads. Every resourcing model along the in-house to outsourced spectrum was covered in the four-part series, with each guest giving their take from their respective position as an internal or external resource. Their views are here in these episodes as well as in a webinar hosted by the agency behind this podcast, Marketing What’s New. To hear the full panel’s answers on which in-house or outsourced model is right for your company, go watch the recording on the Marketing What’s New site – it’s ungated.

This episode’s perspective is with Nathan Pabich, a director with Chicago-based SEO and PPC marketing. agency  Digital Third Coast    

This episode covers:

  • How the outsourced staff who work at an agency are specialists, as opposed to marketing generalists that work in-house. Also hear the economic advantage of paying for agency specialists on an as-needed basis
  • The talent-hiring challenge that are faced by agencies and employers on the brand-side, and how the type of client projects an agency brings on helps them retain their staff.
  • The kind of leaders within a client’s organization that agencies hope to work with and how an honest dialogue about what is or isn’t working makes for a great agency-client relationship.
  • Limits on how much an agency can learn about your industry environment and mirror your culture
  • How far agencies are willing to go with being tied to your revenue-related metrics

People/products/concepts mentioned in this episode:

Episode Reboot

See the  Infographic comparing SEO done In-house vs an Agency on the Digital Third Coast’s blog.

Episode 32: A Client-side Marketer’s Perspective with Jamie Walker – Talent Tradeoffs

A Client-side Marketer's Perspective With Jamie Walker - Talent Tradeoffs

This is part of a series on how to structure a growth team, in particular the marketing resources that generate sales leads. Every resourcing model along the in-house to outsourced spectrum was covered in the four-part series, with each guest giving their take from their respective position as an internal or external resource. Their views are here in these episodes as well as in a webinar hosted by the agency behind this podcast, Marketing What’s New. To hear the full panel’s answers on which in-house or outsourced model is right for your company, go watch the recording on the Marketing What’s New site – it’s ungated.

Jamie Walker has been a B2B digital marketer for the past years. She is currently the marketing manager at APX Data whose technology gives first responders crucial information about the buildings they enter when responding to a call.

Here’s what she shares in this episode: 

  • The size a company should be and the tools they should have in place before bringing on a full-time marketer 
  • How an embedded marketer observes the day-to-day interactions of sales and support people in order to piece together what problem a prospect’s dealing with and how they expect that by getting your help & becoming a customer, they’ll solve it
  • How an in-house marketer takes on your company’s culture & style of project management. How they’ll also need to know risky they can be experimenting with your marketing, as they try finding what works best.  
  • How long an in-house marketer stays around and what to do when they are promoted or they move onto another company
  • If you are a hiring manager or know someone who’s not a marketer but wants to hire in-house – this episode’s got a lot of great insights to listen to.

Episode Reboot

Don’t just look at the cost of an in-house marketer, look at how much it may cost you to NOT have an in-house marketer.