Ray Dalio’s “Principles” (For Modern Marketing Teams) with Ari Osur, Former CMO of iCIMS
Want to discover proven marketing strategies to boost revenue, drive successful campaigns, and stay ahead of the competition? In this episode of Revenue Driven CMO, we sit down with marketing expert Ari Osur, former CMO of iCIMS. He is a seasoned leader with a proven track record at top companies like eBay, NBA, Epsilon, Forrester, and ADP. Ari tackles the current challenges facing marketers, including rising marketing costs, and how leveraging intent data and job mover data can fuel more targeted, high-impact campaigns. He emphasizes the value of taking calculated risks and remaining agile in a rapidly changing marketing environment. This episode is packed with actionable insights for any marketing professional looking to level up their strategy and drive revenue growth. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from one of the industry’s best! They dive deep into essential marketing principles that drive success, including: 9:13 Know the business, be a true partner. INVERSE: Don’t be self-servicing, or live in a silo. In marketing, it’s critical to understand the broader context in which your company operates. This means gaining a deep understanding of the business goals, challenges, and how marketing fits into the overall strategy. A true marketing partner is proactive in aligning efforts with sales, product, finance, and other departments to ensure everyone is working toward the same objectives. 13:50 If you have to fly blind, stay out of the air. INVERSE: Don’t launch campaigns without proper tracking, know that spend must be justified, invent a metric if you have to. Launching campaigns without tracking is risky because it’s impossible to measure success or understand what’s working. Every marketing spend should be justified with measurable outcomes. It’s better to hold off until you have a proper strategy, metrics, and tracking in place to measure success. 19:13 Celebrate failures. INVERSE: Don’t sugarcoat performance and avoid taking healthy risks. Failure is inevitable in marketing, but it can be one of the most valuable learning experiences. When things don’t work as planned, it’s important to acknowledge the failure, understand what went wrong, and use the experience to improve future efforts. Celebrate the lessons learned and encourage a culture of experimentation and risk-taking. 21:58 Don’t be a squirrel. INVERSE: Embrace the spirit of sharing. Sharing ideas, insights, and challenges with your team and across departments is essential. Embrace collaboration and be open to feedback. By working together and staying aligned, marketers can deliver more impactful campaigns that are well-supported across the business, rather than constantly jumping between unrelated ideas or initiatives. 32:22 Go outside, in. INVERSE: Don’t fall in love with yourself. Adopting an "outside-in" approach means understanding your customers, competitors, and market before you create a marketing strategy. It’s about empathizing with customer needs and behaviors, using external data, and considering the broader landscape to guide your decisions. 38:09 Always play offense. INVERSE: Don’t get complacent. Playing offense in marketing means staying proactive, always seeking new opportunities, and pushing forward. It’s about constantly innovating, testing, and refining strategies to stay ahead of competitors, rather than reacting to circumstances or waiting for things to happen. Quote of the Show: “If you're kind of shoving your failures underneath the rug, then you're just going to be a lot less innovative.” - Ari Osur Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ariosur/ Website: https://www.icims.com/ Ways to Tune In: Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/7334aa0c-702a-47aa-8c55-760fa2cf4dda/the-revenue-driven-cmo Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-revenue-driven-cmo/id1444680950 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1OCuYchAG8TlGv82YARRhy?si=60a093a194c64c17 iHeart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-the-revenue-driven-cmo-99614345/ Listen Notes: https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-revenue-driven-cmo-chris-mechanic-rdU1oESluqs/ The Revenue-Driven CMO is sponsored by WebMechanix, the performance marketing agency that makes you smarter. Learn more at https://www.webmechanix.com/ The Revenue-Driven CMO is produced by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through branded podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/
