Hey, it’s Dan. Jumping in this week because Dave asked me to share something with you I wrote on LinkedIn last week.

Measuring Marketers On The Systems They Build vs. The Goals They Hit

I want to pitch you a concept I've been thinking about lately. 

Imagine if your marketing team was measured on the systems they built instead of the goals they hit.

Here’s an example system = a content marketing machine that’s growing organic traffic on the website.

Whereas the goal = grow organic traffic by 25% this year.

Most marketing teams are measured on that goal. But isn’t that shortsighted?

25% organic traffic growth would be nice next quarter, but it doesn’t encourage your team to take the long term view.

When we're measured on goals we’re only thinking about hitting that goal, not what happens afterwards. So we’re only focused on a momentary change.

Whereas a system is a real asset to the business. An asset that provides long term value. In this example, the content marketing system will deliver organic traffic growth possibly for years to come.

If you’re measuring your team on building that system, your incentivizing them to build it the right way. They can focus on scalable tactics like building a network of writers or developing a robust distribution strategy.

When you’re holding them responsible to a goal, they are incentivized to make shortsighted decisions. Like writing all the content in-house because it’s better quality or focusing on one channel for distribution because it delivers the most traffic.

But there’s another benefit to measuring your team on building the system.

It’s far easier to assign credit to the person building a system than it is to attribute achieving a goal to its owner.

Goals are messy. Especially in marketing. We’re always fighting with attribution. Even with KPIs that feel specific to marketing like organic traffic.

For instance, if your company announced a round of funding, that’s going to generate more organic traffic to your website. But you can’t really give the owner of the organic traffic goal credit for that.

This framework feels like a huge unlock for me, but I can’t take credit. I read “Atomic Habits” by James Clear last year. Early on in the book James talks about when developing a new habit you must forget goals and focus on systems instead. When I read this part it immediately clicked for me.

This is such a better approach to managing a team than what I've done in the past. Wish I had discovered it sooner.

- Dan

P.S. What's a good example of a marketing system you'd like to build for your business? There's so many. Would love to hear from you.

🎧 PODCAST

Episode #117: Making a Career Move, Negotiating Offers, and Working with Recruiters (With Kelly Gordon and Matthew Kanter from Creative People)

Kelly Gordon and Matthew Kanter are marketing recruiters at Creative People and joined Dave this week to share some insider strategies to help you land your next marketing job and make your next big career move.

Creative People is a recruiting firm specializing in the Series A to Series D world and Matthew and Kelly bring in-depth knowledge of roles in B2B SaaS and marketing leadership.

They discussed:

• Advice on how to navigate the job search
• How to understand your worth in the market
• How to effectively advocate for yourself during the hiring process
  

Matthew and Kelly share insights on the nuances of recruiting, the importance of building personal connections, and how recruiters should approach hiring for roles that might be new to an organization.

Listen to the Episode Now on Spotify

Or find it everywhere you listen by searching "Exit Five" podcast.

📺 UPCOMING EVENTS

Exit Five Live with Ian Faison (Members Only)

Starting a podcast or looking to make your current better? Or want to know how the best are doing it? That’s why we’re excited to have Ian Faison join us for this AMA.

Ian Faison is the Founder and CEO of Caspian Studios. Caspian Studios manages 60+ podcasts and video series in a variety of industries and Ian hosts Remarkable, Demand Gen Visionaries, Often Imitated, CIO Classified, and Rise of RevOps. Ian was the guest on podcast episode #111 of the Exit Five Podcast, where we discussed how to make podcasts work and judge ROI.

In this session, you’ll get the chance to ask Ian anything related to

• Podcasting strategies
• Storytelling techniques
• Audience growth through podcasting
• Content in general

We’re doing multiple of these monthly now, and we don’t record them so that members can ask questions unfiltered. Members can sign up here to join this AMA live. 

🏢 OPEN ROLES

Who's Hiring Right Now

HOT JOB OF THE WEEK: Thoropass is looking for a dynamic and data-driven Demand Generation Manager to join the Growth team. The marketer in this role will blend strategy with execution, owning and implementing global, multi-channel demand generation programs and campaigns. This is a highly strategic role focused on driving results that contribute meaningfully to Thoropass’ pipeline goals.

If you're interested you can apply here. 

Other open roles on the Exit Five job board this week:

• Frogslayer is hiring a Senior Paid Media Specialist. Remote role. $75-$95k salary.
  
  
• Meter is hiring a Demand Generation Lead. Based in San Francisco. $98-$198k salary.
  
  
• Flying Fish Exhibits is hiring a Sales and Marketing Assistant. remote Role. $40-$50k salary. 

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