Episode 21: Prioritizing CMA Programs
Welcome to the next episode of The CMA Newsletter where 580 marketers get better at building Customer Marketing programs and strengthening relationships with their customers in less than 5 minutes.
Hard for me to get in the spirit of writing after my company went through a round of layoffs this week AND I have had waaay too many Customer Marketers reach out about getting let go. Here is a list of top notch folks looking for their next opportunity. Feel free to reach out. Also, please post job openings in our slack community.
Minal Awasth, Customer Marketing
Lauren Turner, Global Customer Marketer
Karina Heavey, Community Lead
Tim Newborn, Global Customer Marketer
Rebecca Grossman, Director of Customer or Product Marketing
Asha May, VP of Customer Marketing
Marsha Druker, Community - Led Events/Program Manager
Reach out to me if you are looking for your next opportunity and I will get you in this newsletter for visibility.
If you have taken my course, you know my story. I was laid off in 2016 from a Customer Advocacy position. Can you imagine?… ME?… GETTING LAID OFF from this role? I’m obviously obsessed with this work. I was devastated.
I think at one point I was crying so hard that drool came out of my mouth.
In episode #2 I gave out my 30,60,90 day planning deck for people interviewing. Hope it helps!
There are a lot of juicy nuggets in that episode but there was one obvious piece that I left out…
Prioritizing.
The first 30 days into a new job are all about training to become familiar with the platform, vision, services, procedures and best practices.
But if you are like me, you are JUMPING IN full steam ahead. There are going to be a ton of nasty projects and people telling you what is priority but I would tie your programs to company OKRs and eliminate random acts of Customer Marketing.
This is also important when you are a year+ into it and overwhelmed. (Thanks Captain Obvious ) Some days aka most days I can only get things done that are on fire. It’s always nice to stop and refocus. Going back to my companies OKRs really helps me prioritize and feel comfortable in saying “not right now” to other departments.
Here are some sample company OKRs and example (YEARLY) projects that move the needle:
Growth
CMA OKR: Expand the reach of [Company]
Mission: Stand out with Storytelling
Examples:
Scale Reference Program into Quarterly Group Reference Events
Award Program w/ an event to include Prospects
Pocket Stories for Sales enablement
Launch Executive Engagement Program
Double down on number of Advocates
Improve Customer Value
CMA OKR: Illustrate the value of [Company] to our customers
Mission: Leverage the Advocates Data to all Customers
Examples:
Launch a Webinar Series and invite advocates to teach others on a feature
1 Campaign/quarter showing what’s possible in the platform
Customer Lifecycle Campaigns to ensure continued education (sync all email campaigns to SFDC to track Primary Campaign Source)
Enable Customer-led content in Community
Support Account Management team with Referral Program
Own the Market Narrative
CMA OKR: Use a differentiated way to get in front of prospects
Mission Statement: People tend to listen to credible and knowledgeable experts
Examples:
Partner with review sites and secure grid placement or badges
Build marketing campaigns focused on elevating your most vocal advocates
Customer stories/videos highlighting use case/persona adopting your solution. (Could be for social campaigns or to pop into your University )
Customer Advisory Board mixed with Executives (2-part event: First part is CAB, from 2-5pm, then happy hour with prospects. Talk about a love fest)
Hoping this helps with focus or ideas OR I just loaded you with more projects.
Love your CMA Soulmate,
Leslie
Digital resources
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Check out my video course Measuring the ROI of Customer Marketing & Advocacy if you want to display impressive CMA metrics. You will receive 20% off.
Here is what a happy customer JUST SENT ME!
