#9-lifecycle-expansion

In October, there were 4 Customer lifecycle job postings, and just last week, there were 2 more. Is it Boom or Bust for Customer Lifecycle Marketers?

There are about 350 B2B CLM's and this role is quietly becoming one of the most strategic and misunderstood jobs in B2B marketing. With about 10% of customer marketing and advocacy openings in customer lifecycle marketing, the challenge will be finding the people to fill these roles and keeping them close to customers (not moving them into ops).

Once all about retention emails and customer newsletters, it’s now a revenue-driving growth engine that connects marketing, sales, and customer success.

After reviewing the recent surge in CLM openings, here’s what stood out:

1️⃣ It’s About Revenue, Not Just Retention
Lifecycle marketing is no longer a “post-sale nurture or engagement” function. Every description tied the role directly to:

✅Pipeline and revenue goals
✅Influence and accelerate cross-sell and up-sell

2️⃣ They Own the Customer Journey
Think beyond email. Expect CLM's to design full-funnel experiences — from onboarding → adoption → renewal → advocacy. They’re building connected, multi-channel journeys and working across:
✨ Customer Success
✨ Product
✨ Sales

3️⃣ Data and Experimentation Drive Everything
Every description emphasized analytics and optimization. CLM's are expected to:

✅Run A/B tests and funnel analyses
✅Use churn and health scores to focus effort
✅Data literacy is no longer “nice to have” — it’s the job.

4️⃣ AI and Personalization Are Emerging Must-Haves
CLMs are expected to:
✨ Use AI to identify expansion opportunities
✨ Automate campaigns and workflows
✨ Use AI to drive personalization and segmentation

5️⃣ Collaboration Is the Core Skill
CLM's don’t operate in silos. They work cross-functionally. Soft skills like empathy, curiosity, and creativity are as important as campaign skills.

6️⃣ Customer-Centricity Still Wins
Despite all the data and automation, one theme remains constant: Start with the customer!

The best CLM's look for the gaps nobody is paying attention to (think about the health of the customer contact database), and translate insights into experiences that build trust and advocacy.

Do you all want to take over a Friday call in a few weeks to discuss various lifecycle topics? @channel let me know I'll set it up and invite everyone.

Oh I just saw it's 1:1 🙂 I thought it was a group call.

I'd love to join if I can. When is the meeting?

We have so much to learn about customer lifecycle marketing. Looking forward to our 1-1 in a few weeks.

<@U09MRV3G2NN> Hi, this is lifecycle

whats this from?

There's no additional info, but I this was interesting.

@Krutika Mathihalli Hi. Would be happy to talk. Have you had a chance to look at the State of B2B customer contact date report. It’s a repetitos.com/research

I am in SF this week and next week is wide open. Can you go to my LI profile and book an appointment. Looking forward to a 1-1 chat….Irwin

Hey folks! 👋 I’m looking to connect with anyone who’s worked on customer comms strategy. Stuff like newsletters, email marketing, or even governance. Would love to hear about your experience and get some/swap ideas! 😊

Sorry Irwin, we have our virtual summit next week but after that YES my schedule is finally open 😄

Hi @Rachel Ward and <@U08D5AWBTEU> I have some ideas I am percolating on. Might you be available on Monday to chat.

And would love to!

Hi! yes, if you get me after my Absorbies trip to Calgary (we are hosting 38 clients in Calgary for our awards program) which ends 9/12 I have time to chat. 🙂

I know you are busy with events. If you have some time lets talk 1-1....Irwin

What Irwin said. I joined customer marketing communities ages ago to learn more about lifecycle and expansion marketing, but ended up being "one of the leading voices" mainly bc I was one of the few doing it. I've read a few books, but oftentimes they are CS focused by the time I get through the intro. Or sales/demand focused. If there are any good podcasts out there, I'd love ot know about them.

Perhaps (in all my free time) I will start one! Irwin, I nominate you as tribute. You would crush at a podcast on customer lifecycle!

Sadly, there is not much of an organized customer lifecycle community. I spend alot of time in Sales Navigator. When I do a search there are about 300 people with Customer lifecycle titles. It's 10X when it is just lifecycle marketing. Many of them are B2C or focus on pre-sales and not easy to separate out.

That all said. Ed King the CEO of Openprise does lots of good writing and is worth following. Inflection is another company I follow.

Hi all - do you participate in any communities or read any lifecycle newsletters that are outside of advocacy? I want to ensure I'm staying up to date on lifecycle, CRM, etc and am looking for some additional resources. TY!

Per usual, I have been very busy with events as we gear up for 4 back to back in the coming weeks. What is everyone else up to?

Thanks Irwin!

I recently ran into this company infection. Worth getting on their newsletter. They just made this map of the complete lifecycle journey. Pretty wild. Customer Lifecycle Journey of zendesk

Was the call noted above recorded? (I was in the hospital.)

@shetal27 just wrote you a novel. LMK if you have any questions.

Question for the group: How are you measuring lifecycle campaigns and nurtures at your org? Specifically for expansion, are you measuring pipeline influence? If yes, are you basing that on clicks or conversions? Curious to hear how you're doing this.

Join Zoom Meeting
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