Chris Walker on the CMO's Dilemma, Attribution, and Modern GTM Strategy

In this insightful episode of The Long Game Podcast, Alex Birkett speaks with Chris Walker, CEO of Passetto and host of the B2B Revenue Vitals podcast. Chris shares his bold perspectives on the evolution of B2B marketing, highlighting the need for customer-centric strategies and challenging conventional practices like attribution modeling and demand generation. He explores the role of CMOs in bridging business outcomes with marketing execution and discusses how marketing must adapt to meet the demands of modern go-to-market structures. From innovative mental models to actionable strategies, Chris delivers thought-provoking insights for marketers and executives looking to drive growth and build sustainable systems.

Key Takeaways

• Customer-Centric Marketing is Essential: Chris emphasizes listening to customers to extract patterns and validate insights, making marketing strategies more aligned with real-world needs.
• Demand Creation vs. Brand Awareness: Demand creation goes beyond awareness, focusing on making customers understand their problems and prioritize solutions—a step critical for B2B success.
• Flaws in Attribution Models: Attribution should not be a political tool for assigning credit but a resource for answering critical business questions and improving outcomes.
• The Evolving Role of CMOs: CMOs should focus on business KPIs rather than departmental silos. Splitting brand-building and pipeline creation functions could lead to better alignment and results.
• Balancing Art and Science in Marketing: Marketing strategies should integrate creative approaches with data-driven processes to adapt to different stages of business growth.
• The Power of Process and Scale: Early-stage businesses thrive on creativity and agility, but as companies grow, systems, data, and processes become critical to sustain and scale operations.

Show Links

• Visit Passetto
• Connect with Chris Walker on LinkedIn
• Connect with Alex Birkett on LinkedIn and Twitter
• Connect with Omniscient Digital on LinkedIn or Twitter

Past guests on The Long Game podcast include: Morgan Brown (Shopify), Ryan Law (Animalz), Dan Shure (Evolving SEO), Kaleigh Moore (freelancer), Eric Siu (Clickflow), Peep Laja (CXL), Chelsea Castle (Chili Piper), Tracey Wallace (Klaviyo), Tim Soulo (Ahrefs), Ryan McReady (Reforge), and many more.

Some interviews you might enjoy and learn from:

Actionable Tips and Secrets to SEO Strategy with Dan Shure (Evolving SEO)

Building Competitive Marketing Content with Sam Chapman (Aprimo)

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