2022 – A Year in CLG
Wow, it’s been quite a year! Although hardly as dramatic as the two that came before it, 2022 was an eventful rollercoaster-of-a -year to say the least.
We did have some great peaks on our quest to build the Customer-Led Growth category though, and we’re sharing a quick recap of our progress.
Join us on a trip down memory lane to see how far we’ve come on our journey and as an industry despite the occasional potholes.
The industry celebrates its first TOP100 awards program and shines a light on its trailblazers
We kicked off the year by launching the first TOP100 Strategists & Influencers in CMA. The program marked the official coming of age of Customer Marketing as a practice and paved the way for the next evolutionary step towards Customer-Led Growth.
Besides having way too much fun with it, we were really moved by everyone’s willingness to contribute their time and energy to make this crowd-driven list as objective and fairly justified as possible.
We’ll be launching this year’s program soon with some modifications to reflect where we are in the evolution of the CLG movement, and in respect to the current position of our growing community of strategists and practitioners.
Linkedin Jobs on The Rise Gives Customer Marketing An Extra Stamp of Approval
As we wrapped up the TOP100, we received another stamp of approval from Linkedin that Customer Marketing is THE thing. In their 2022 Top 25 Jobs On The Rise in the US report Customer Marketing was listed number 3 among the fastest growing positions, and has made the list for the past 5 years! If you’ve been in the industry for a while, you may have sensed as much, but Linkedin research continually makes it official.
Customer Obsession Was Normalized In a Gathering of The Industry’s Best
A fast growing industry needs an industry event! The inaugural Obsession Summit gathered over 300 Customer Marketing professionals in San Francisco and online for 2 content rich and value-packed days of practitioner-driven education. Obsession was exciting because it was the first CLG industry event, and the in-person networking event to attend after a couple of years of distanced gatherings.
There were over 40 speakers on stage and online, practitioners, team leaders, and CMOs. All sharing what they learned from their experiences and bringing the practice further along on its evolutionary journey towards Customer-Led Growth. It will be interesting to see where we are on this journey at this year’s event in May.
Customer-Led Growth Was Proclaimed an Official Movement in B2B
At Obsession 2022, our Co-Founder & CEO Gal Biran, introduced the concept of CLG, and the evolution taking place from CMA to CLG. With that we rebranded from Crowdvocate (advocacy) to Base (CLG), and announced to the world that we believe that CLG is the future of B2B Marketing, and we want to be at the helm of making it happen.
The financial downturn that came soon after has also served to strengthen the position that companies practicing CLG are stronger during and after a recession.
Unfortunately, the economic situation also forced layoffs in our industry. While many have found new positions, we’d love to assist those that have been affected.
Visit our Jobs Board on the Campus to share and grasp opportunities. You are also welcome to reach out to us if you need any direction or assistance.
We Started the Industry’s Richest Resource & Learning Hub for Everything and Everyone in CLG and Customer Marketing
On the CLG Campus, anyone with an interest in Customer Marketing and/or Customer-Led Growth can access courses, templates, articles, events and job opportunities, and it’s free. The Campus faculty is composed of some of the industry’s most experienced and accomplished practitioners and everything is there for a single purpose: to help everyone grow and succeed.
Led by Scott K. Wilder, Base VP of Customer, Partner and Community Engagement, the CLG Campus is continually being built out to meet the growing needs of its members. There are study groups and virtual meetups and an open invitation to contribute ideas and content that you feel will help others grow. It’s a wonderful place we’re proud to be orchestrating.
Where to next?
As the industry continues to evolve on its path towards CLG, we are inspired by a founding generation of pioneers that are adapting their marketing organizations to Customer-led strategies. In doing so, and in demonstrating the impact of this approach, these marketing leaders are helping to reshape the way – and the why – B2B organizations operate.
It’s been hugely exciting to witness the coming together of vendors and their customers and we are both curious and excited to see what lies ahead for Customer-Led Growth.
If we did have to make one prediction for the record, it would be that these organizations, that were early to evolve and bravely challenge the change the way things “have always been done”, will be those to prevail in this crisis and any others that are sure to follow.
Enjoy your time with your loved ones and family, we look forward to a positive and prosperous 2023!
Looking to learn all there is to know about establishing a CAB and setting up for success? Sign up for our upcoming live workshop with Kalina, and prepare yourself by accessing an entire resource area dedicated to this important program on the CLG Campus.
