The CEO’s SaaS Marketing Toolbox: align, plan and measure

In this workshop, Fractional’s Christelle Blanchet-Aissaoui and entrepreneur Dave McCann share a practical blueprint for CEOs to turn marketing into a growth engine. You’ll learn how to frame business problems, set “wildly important goals” (WIGs), build a SMART marketing plan and budget, choose and test channels, and measure what matters across the SaaS lifecycle from acquisition to expansion, without becoming a marketer yourself.

Key themes include:

1. Start with business goals, not activities
   Pressure‑test assumptions, constraints (onboarding capacity, cash), and the real cost of acquisition.

2. Build a 6‑month SMART marketing plan
   Set clear objectives that ladder to WIGs, list deliverables, timelines, owners, budget and success metrics. Treat marketing as a tool to solve a concrete business problem.

3. Nail acquisition fundamentals before tactics
   Clarify the value proposition (functional + emotional value), craft a brand promise that differentiates, and make sure there’s a reachable market. Then build the basics: high‑converting website and focused channels to capture leads and a nurture plan.

4. Budget with global realities, focus to win
   Expect meaningful spend if you target big markets and win one region or segment before you scale.

5. Governance, roles and cadence
   The CEO sets WIGs, budget, priorities; marketing leads the plan and execution. Give marketing a seat at the table across product, sales, and finance. Lock an annual plan, review quarterly (re‑prioritise, reallocate), report weekly, and use agile rituals to stay focused.

Key takeaways:

• Approve a 6‑month plan for each goal, define 2–3 marketing objectives, deliverables, owners, timeline, budget and success metrics.

• Build a simple acquisition system.

• Measure and manage churn: run quarterly reviews and weekly dashboards; celebrate wins, adjust fast when data says so.

Don’t stop at the summary, watch the full video to dive deeper.