440: Leading in Uncertain Times

03/14/25 • 16 min

Every ten episodes, Drew Neisser turns the mic on himself to tackle the biggest challenges facing B2B CMOs. This time, it’s all about navigating uncertainty.

From market disruptions to political shifts, CMOs are feeling the pressure. CFOs are tightening budgets, customers are hesitating, and entire industries are being forced to adapt. So, what’s a savvy marketing leader to do?

Key Takeaways:

Go Micro: Control the controllables—starting with yourself. Build personal resilience and create a strong microculture within your team.
Lead with Empathy: Uncertainty breeds anxiety. CMOs don’t need all the answers, but they do need to listen, reassure, and check in with employees, customers, and partners.
Protect the Brand: The political landscape is shifting fast. Word choices on your website could impact contracts and reputation. CMOs need to guide these conversations at the C-suite level.
Build a Marketing Engine That’s an Asset: In a downturn, marketing is often the first to be cut—but not if it’s seen as a growth driver that increases company valuation.

🎧 Listen now and keep your renegade thinking caps on—and strong!

For more, read: “The Political Tightrope: A CMO’s Guide to Navigating DEI & ESG in Polarized Times”

For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegademarketing.com/podcasts/

To learn more about CMO Huddles, visit https://cmohuddles.com/

Every ten episodes, Drew Neisser turns the mic on himself to tackle the biggest challenges facing B2B CMOs. This time, it’s all about navigating uncertainty.

Key Takeaways:

Go Micro: Control the controllables—starting with yourself. Build personal resilience and create a strong microculture within your team.
Lead with Empathy: Uncertainty breeds anxiety. CMOs don’t need all the answers, but they do need to listen, reassure, and check in with employees, customers, and partners.
Protect the Brand: The political landscape is shifting fast. Word choices on your website could impact contracts and reputation. CMOs need to guide these conversations at the C-suite level.
Build a Marketing Engine That’s an Asset: In a downturn, marketing is often the first to be cut—but not if it’s seen as a growth driver that increases company valuation.

🎧 Listen now and keep your renegade thinking caps on—and strong!

For more, read: “The Political Tightrope: A CMO’s Guide to Navigating DEI & ESG in Polarized Times”

For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegademarketing.com/podcasts/

To learn more about CMO Huddles, visit https://cmohuddles.com/

Previous Episode

439: Video Testimonials: Social Proof in Motion

Buyers trust other buyers more than they trust you—that’s just reality.

A great video testimonial is proof, reassurance, and persuasion all rolled into one, but that only happens if people actually see it and act on it. So how do you keep testimonials from collecting digital dust and turn them into a true sales and marketing asset?

That’s exactly what Drew Neisser and Alexander Ferguson, Founder & CMO of TeraLeap, tackle in this episode. From getting customers to say “yes” to crafting stories that resonate, Alex shares the strategies that make testimonials impossible to ignore.

What You’ll Learn:

The biggest mistakes that keep video testimonials from delivering real results.
Ways to integrate testimonials across sales, marketing, and branding.
How to measure impact, track conversions, and prove value to leadership.
The right timing and approach to get more customers on camera.

Don’t let your best customer stories go to waste. Catch the full conversation now!

For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegademarketing.com/podcasts/

To learn more about CMO Huddles, visit https://cmohuddles.com/

Next Episode

441: B2B Marketing Metrics That Speak C-Suite

In a perfect world, every marketing dollar would be easy to track and justify. In reality, proving impact is a constant battle

In this episode, Drew Neisser brings together Julie Kaplan, Michael Callahan of Salt Security, and Bindu Chellappan of Corpay to explore the metrics that matter—and how to make sure they resonate in the boardroom.

In This Episode:

Julie Kaplan shares why marketing-driven pipeline is the metric that truly resonates with the C-suite—and how simplifying the conversation makes it easier to prove marketing’s value to the CFO.
Michael Callahan reveals why broad pipeline metrics don’t resonate with sales—and how shifting to territory-level goals helped drive alignment and better results.
Bindu Chellappan expands the conversation beyond pipeline, sharing how Corpay is tackling the challenge of measuring brand awareness, retention, and upsell impact—and why long-term marketing influence is just as important as net-new pipeline.

Key Takeaways:

The #1 metric that makes marketing’s impact undeniable.
Why marketing-influenced revenue deserves more credit—and how to make the case for it.
How to align marketing with sales—without the usual friction.
Why brand awareness is more measurable than you think—and how to track it.

Marketing’s value isn’t simple to prove—but the right numbers get the C-suite’s attention. Tune in to learn which ones matter most.

For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegademarketing.com/podcasts/

To learn more about CMO Huddles, visit https://cmohuddles.com/