Alex Benavides

In Marketing the Art of War Was Never About Fighting

The Art of War has a branding problem. It tends to get adopted by people who picture themselves as the general on…

Alex BenavidesSeptember 11, 202611 min read

Simulation of an email merge thought to be enough for an ABM campaign.

Your ABM Is Just a Merge Field (And They Can Tell)

You built the account list. You researched the logos. You dropped {{first_name}} and {{company}} into the sequence and turned it on. That…

Alex BenavidesJune 5, 20268 min read

An image of an office unicorn to talk about the challenge organizations hit.

Most Companies Don’t Need a Unicorn Hire. They Need Transitional Leadership.

One of the most common mistakes growing companies make is trying to solve organizational problems with a single hire. The logic feels…

Alex BenavidesMay 15, 20264 min read

An AI generated image of a failure that happens in the real world too, where you build without planning and lead to nothing.

AI Is Supposed to Make Marketing Teams Faster. But faster at What?

Most companies are asking their marketing teams to use AI to increase output. More content, more campaigns, more experimentation. The expectation is…

Alex BenavidesApril 17, 20265 min read

ABM Benefits Customers More Than It Benefits You (And That’s Good!)

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is usually framed as a revenue tactic. A way to focus sales and marketing, tighten targeting, and reduce wasted…

Alex BenavidesFebruary 9, 20263 min read

An adorable dog in a football inspired outfit to celebrate Super Bowl LX and illustrate our point about marketing project management.

Marketers: Who Has the Ball (And Do They Need a Blocker)?

It’s Super Bowl season again, and it always seems to sneak up on me, which, as a marketer, is probably a little…

Alex BenavidesFebruary 3, 20263 min read

An image of a woman sitting at the beach at sunrise holding her hands up. The image is to represent the beauty of being human and not to forget the human side of marketing decisions and planning.

Never Lose Sight of the Human Side of Marketing

Modern marketing is surrounded by systems. Algorithms decide who sees what. Platforms optimize delivery in real time. AI tools generate summaries, copy,…

Alex BenavidesJanuary 29, 20264 min read

A photo of a weather vane to represent marketing as an input to the conditions in the market to make better business decisions.

Measurement and economics

Marketing Should Be an Input to Shaping Business Strategy.

In many organizations, strategy is treated as something that happens upstream of marketing. Leadership sets direction. Product defines the roadmap. Finance establishes…

Alex BenavidesJanuary 15, 20264 min read

Image of classic scientific weights to represent the idea of having a good control for your marketing experiments.

Marketing Experiments Need a Control, Which Needs Control.

Marketing teams are experimenting more than ever. New channels appear. Messaging evolves. Budgets shift. Tools make it easier to launch tests quickly…

Alex BenavidesJanuary 10, 20263 min read

An image of a jeweler using a caliper to represent the precision that comes from account based marketing (ABM).

What is Account-Based Marketing (ABM)?

Account-Based Marketing starts from the assumption that decisions are collective, political, and remembered long after the deal closes. That assumption changes everything.…

Alex BenavidesDecember 18, 20253 min read

The photo of a crumpled receipt to represent the fact that B2B sales are not as easy to refund as normal consumer purchases.

Measurement and economics

You Can’t Just Refund Big B2B Purchases.

In consumer markets, a bad decision can often be undone. A product gets returned. A subscription is canceled. A charge is refunded…

Alex BenavidesDecember 11, 20254 min read

An image of burnt toast as a visual warning not to over-index your budget on paid marketing only lest you burn out your budget before hitting your true potential growth.

Demand and acquisition

Don’t Over Index on Advertising.

Advertising is tempting. Especially digital advertising. It offers speed, scale, and a sense of control. You can turn it on quickly, dial…

Alex BenavidesNovember 20, 20253 min read

A photo of parfait to show the beauty of mixed layers, representing the need for a mixed marketing channel strategy including owned, earned and paid.

What is blended Customer Acquisition Cost (bCAC)?

What Is Blended Cost of Acquisition (bCAC)? For all the sophistication in modern marketing, many organizations still don’t have a clear view…

Alex BenavidesNovember 6, 20254 min read

The image of a salmon swimming upstream as a visual reminder that marketing should not only be part of downstream implementation, but be part of the upstream conversations to make marketing more effective.

Marketing Goes Beyond Advertising and Sales Enablement.

Marketing is often misunderstood because its most visible outputs look like advertising. Campaigns. Ads. Promotions. Launches. That visibility makes marketing easy to…

Alex BenavidesOctober 16, 20254 min read

Brand is Not Just Marketing’s Job. It’s Everyone’s Job.

Brand is Not Just Marketing's Job. It's Everyone's Job. Brand is often talked about as if it lives inside the marketing department.…

Alex BenavidesOctober 2, 20254 min read

A black and white image of a tree in a hand to represent the idea that marketing clients have limited amounts of focus, time, and other resources and we, as agencies, should care for them.

Be a Good Steward of the Marketing Resources You’re Given.

There’s a quiet expectation that sits beneath most marketing conversations. Budgets, attention, trust, and time are finite, even when they don’t feel…

Alex BenavidesSeptember 18, 20254 min read

A stark image of a table with a phone in the center. The phone has a black screen except for the words hello to represent how simplicity in marketing can create a stark impact.

Simplicity in Marketing is Not a Lack of Depth.

“Every word a selling word.” That line came from a writing mentor, Kay Johnson, years ago, and it stuck, not because it…

Alex BenavidesAugust 28, 20254 min read

The image of a climber on the top of a mountain with a great view to represent that boldness in marketing is about accomplishment not just bravado for the sake of being different.