In this episode of the C-Suite Sales and Marketing Perspectives podcast, host Steve MacDonald speaks with Annie Wissner, VP of Marketing at Choozle, about how new heads of marketing can succeed by building relationships, conducting a listening tour, and establishing a publishing cadence. Starting a new role as a head of marketing can be overwhelming, with numerous tasks and expectations to fulfill. 

This article explores Annie’s insights on starting strong in a new marketing leadership position. We’ll delve into the importance of relationship building, conducting a listening tour, establishing a publishing cadence, and other key strategies for success.

“As an executive marketing leader, you can get caught in a tactics trap from listening to input from your peers and your team. That’s why it’s important to be strategic and balance tactical execution.” – Annie Wissner

Key Takeaways:

• Conduct a listening tour to meet with various stakeholders within the organization and gain a comprehensive understanding of the business, its history, and the key players.
• Assess the marketing function and identify what’s working and what’s not, as well as any gaps or areas for improvement.
• Establish clear job descriptions for the marketing team to ensure everyone understands their roles and responsibilities.
• Focus on creating outstanding and relevant content that is enjoyable to consume, as content plays a vital role in the digital selling process.
• Balance tactical execution, midterm strategy, and big strategic wins by using tools like ClickUp or Asana to plan and prioritize tasks.

Listen to the full podcast or watch it on YouTube directly below.

Article: “How to Successfully Onboard a New VP of Marketing”

From a podcast interview with Annie Wissner, VP of Marketing at Choozle

Building Relationships: The Foundation for Success

When starting as a new head of marketing, building relationships within the organization is crucial. Annie Wissner emphasizes the importance of meeting with a broad range of people in the company during the first 30 days. This exercise helps to quickly onboard, understand the history, and identify key stakeholders.

Annie shares her experience of meeting with 30 people in the first 30 days of her role, which proved to be extremely helpful in establishing credibility and gaining a comprehensive understanding of the organization. By meeting with individuals from different departments, she was able to gather insights, understand the existing initiatives, and identify who to approach for specific questions and projects.

This approach not only helps in building relationships but also provides a holistic view of the organization’s operations. As a head of marketing, it is crucial to have a grasp of all the in-flight motions within the business to align marketing strategies with overall business objectives.

Conducting a Listening Tour: Gaining Insights for Success

A listening tour is an essential step for a new head of marketing to gain insights into the organization’s initiatives, competitive landscape, and customer challenges. Annie emphasizes the importance of conducting both internal and external listening tours to gather a comprehensive understanding of the business.

Internally, she recommends listening in on sales calls and participating in customer-facing meetings to gain insights into customer pain points, product history, and market positioning. This information helps in identifying gaps and aligning marketing strategies with business objectives.

Externally, she suggests interviewing clients who were previously with competitors to gain insights into the competitive landscape and understand the factors that led them to choose the organization’s products or services. Additionally, leveraging sophisticated tools like Semrush provides valuable insights into competitors’ digital presence, advertising investments, and market share.

By conducting a thorough listening tour, a new head of marketing can gather the necessary information to develop a comprehensive marketing strategy that addresses customer needs, differentiates the organization from competitors, and aligns with overall business objectives.

Establishing a Publishing Cadence: Creating Outstanding Content

Content plays a vital role in the overall growth and sustainability of a company. Annie rates the importance of content as a ten on a scale of one to ten. In today’s digital world, where buyers wait longer to engage with organizations, content serves as the digital selling tool.

She emphasizes the need for outstanding, relevant, and enjoyable-to-consume content. She advises marketers to be passionate about the content they create and ensure that it provides value to the target audience. Whether it is top-of-the-funnel content that is brand-agnostic and solution-oriented, mid-funnel content that compares the organization’s solution to competitors, or bottom-of-the-funnel content that helps buyers justify the purchase to their buying committees, each piece of content should be carefully crafted to engage and educate the audience.

By establishing a publishing cadence and focusing on creating exceptional content, marketers can position themselves as trusted advisors and spark conversations with potential customers. This approach helps in building brand credibility, driving engagement, and ultimately generating revenue.

Conclusion

Starting strong as a new head of marketing requires building relationships, conducting a thorough listening tour, and establishing a publishing cadence focused on creating outstanding content. By meeting with key stakeholders, gaining insights from internal and external sources, and creating valuable content, marketing leaders can align strategies with business objectives, differentiate their organization from competitors, and drive growth.

As Annie Wissner highlights, the key to success lies in being passionate about the content created and ensuring that it provides value to the target audience. By following these strategies, marketing leaders can set themselves up for success and make a significant impact in their new roles.