Irwin Hipsman's Profile
Irwin Hipsman
Recent Messages
#general - January 28, 2026 at 07:36 PM
Hot off the press! Yesterday, Forrester had their 2026 B2B Marketing Predictions Webinar.
This jumped out at me.
When asked how demand leaders are going to adjust the way they prioritize customer marketing?, the analysts said.
"For large deals, we already know that one of the top reasons for selection is the quality of customer references and success stories. Customer reference success stories are becoming bigger and bigger in these large purchases. We expect that to come into the smaller purchases as well.
I think that buyer confidence is going to come through seeing how other customers are experiencing the value and getting the value from the product itself.
They can really recognize that the customer stories and case studies make fantastic proof points and are needed throughout the entire buying journey.
And these are also ways of really getting credibility out there in a world where there's a lot of discovery happening through AI powered search."
#general - January 28, 2026 at 07:34 PM
Hot off the press! Yesterday, Forrester had their 2026 B2B Marketing Predictions Webinar.
This jumped out at me.
When asked how demand leaders are going to adjust the way they prioritize customer marketing?, the analysts said.
"For large deals, we already know that one of the top reasons for selection is the quality of customer references and success stories. Customer reference success stories are becoming bigger and bigger in these large purchases. We expect that to come into the smaller purchases as well.
I think that buyer confidence is going to come through seeing how other customers are experiencing the value and getting the value from the product itself.
They can really recognize that the customer stories and case studies make fantastic proof points and are needed throughout the entire buying journey.
And these are also ways of really getting credibility out there in a world where there's a lot of discovery happening through AI powered search."
#jobs - January 27, 2026 at 08:50 PM
ZoomInfo just posted this job. As you may know, I track what's happening in the CMA Employment. This is the FIRST opening I have seen that is a direct result of AI. And, it made it as one of the 4 emerging titles in the 2025-26 CMA Employment Report coming very very soon. .
Senior Product Marketing Manager (Online Review Strategy + AI Search Influence)
We’re looking for someone to own and scale ZoomInfo’s online review strategy across platforms like G2, TrustRadius, and Gartner Peer Insights but this role will take it much further. If you’ve built review programs, worked with customer stories, and are excited about pushing beyond “get more reviews” into AI-driven discovery and influence, this is a rare opportunity to work on the cutting edge.
#jobs - January 24, 2026 at 10:51 PM
Love seeing story telling jobs. This is one of the 3 emerging CMA roles highlighted in The 2025-26 CMA Employment Report coming next week.
#open-share - January 21, 2026 at 09:19 PM
This is going to be a great conference and with a super relevant track of expanding. Anybody with customer lifecycle responsibilities should seriously think of attending.
#jobs - January 16, 2026 at 08:57 PM
Hi Amy- are there jobs you post that Alexie does not?
#jobs - January 15, 2026 at 04:26 PM
<@U0A5A98UF96> I'm wrapping up the 2025-26 CMA Employment Report and thought you might be interested in the Feedback from Job Seekers (attached). The free report will be published next week and you can pre-order it at
#general - January 13, 2026 at 09:58 PM
To me the big question is the support of the SFDC team. Not only will they need to build the first iteration, make tweaks and they will be asked to update and enhance.. Over time, there will even be a product road map. If the SFDC team is not in 100% would head for the hills.
#11-cma-events - January 13, 2026 at 07:05 PM
Is taking your Executive Engagement program to the next level on your radar for 2026? We are having an active dialog on this topic in the . If you would like to join an informal conversation pls DM me with your email address and I will send an invite It's on Friday Jan 23 at 1PM ET.
#jobs - January 13, 2026 at 03:43 PM
Hey Amanda-
Next week, I am going to be publishing the 2025-26 Customer Marketing and Advocacy Employment Report. It looks at the 450 CMA job postings and what they mean for CMA. There is a section with feedback from job seekers with some advice for hiring managers. You can pre-order it here. .
#jobs - January 13, 2026 at 03:41 PM
Hi Maria-
Next week, I am going to be publishing the 2025-26 Customer Marketing and Advocacy Employment Report. It looks at the 450 CMA job postings and what they mean for CMA. There is a section with feedback from job seekers with some advice for hiring managers. You can pre-order it here. .
#general - January 13, 2026 at 02:49 PM
We're on for Friday Jan 23 at 1:00 pm. I will DM those who I don't have an email for to send the invite.
#general - January 12, 2026 at 05:33 PM
<@U09E7QN7R27> This is a parallel to the conversation on Exit Five about Exec Engagement. Are you in charge of what you described at Klaviyo? Will let you know when this is scheduled.
#general - January 12, 2026 at 03:26 PM
Remember how excited we all were in 2022, when LinkedIn ranked Customer Marketing Managers the 3rd fastest-growing job in the US.
You can pre-order the 2025-26 CMA Employment Report to see how market has changed since then. In addition to the data there are special sections on
• Which roles are emerging
• Eight Things to Do While Employed
• The view from job seekers
Thanks to the sponsors for making this report available to the community.
Pre-order your copy at
#general - January 12, 2026 at 02:59 PM
Hello to all- I am looking at 1 on Jan 23. Please pencil it in. Will get back to everybody in a day or so
#general - January 09, 2026 at 07:52 PM
<@U08K53MUNGJ> <@U0892TVTE94> @Andy Garlikov <@U0A1C7ESBFV> <@U081EQGE3TP> <@U08D5AWBTEU> @Molly McCreary @Sarah Wylie @Emily Gover
I am just about done with the 2025-26 CMA Employment Report and below is from the section Which Roles are Emerging?
It sounds like people would like to get together to discuss. How about Friday the 23rd? I will talk with Mary about scheduling it.
Executive Engagement. We saw a few roles, and it is worth keeping an eye on. Customer Marketers should expect this role to grow and strategize on how to participate. See appendix for ServiceNow job description*:* Program Manager CRM Events, Executive Engagement & Industry Adoption.
Today, many companies engage their customer executives by creating activities and events that customer executives appreciate, Executive Advisory Boards, and developing 1-1 relationships between company and customer executives.
The next step is to drive ROI from executive relationships in the form of new pipeline and deal acceleration. In the past, this was difficult to scale and highly manual. With AI, companies can go deep into their and their customers networks to find and activate warm paths to decision-makers and influencers and create more champions in key accounts.
#general - January 08, 2026 at 06:24 PM
Does anybody have experience with Exec. Engagement Programs. I am seeing more and more of these titles and would like to better understand the playbooks. I'm thinking this is next generation of Executive Advisory Boards.
Defining Exec Engagement as: Scaling a company’s C-suite relationships and executive networks to drive top-down engagement and influence with prospects and customers.
#jobs - January 07, 2026 at 04:46 PM
Last chance (by Jan 12) for anybody who has been searching for a job over the past 3 months to provide feedback on your experience. A digest of what everybody has to say will be a special section in the 2025-26 CMA Employment Report: What's Really Happening with Hiring, Roles and Careers. Spoiler alert: 60% of postings are not filled within 6 months. Lots more....
Already heard from a good group, your comments will be anonymous. Here are the 4 questions. Report is coming in the next 2 weeks.
DM, email or message me on LI with your feedback,
- When you reach a hiring manager, how clearly can they articulate what the job is / is not?
- How would you describe the hiring process. Hunger games, well-thought out…
- Any suggestions for someone putting together a job description?
- Any funny or ridiculous moments?
#jobs - January 06, 2026 at 08:24 PM
Great to see a VP position posted. In about 2 weeks I am releasing the 2025 CMA employment report. Last year there were none posted. This combined product and customer marketing which is the most popular dual role title.
#general - January 05, 2026 at 09:23 PM
Thanks so much. My sense is customer marketing people at PLG are closer to customer lifecycle unless they have enterprise clients and then more traditional advocacy kicks in.
I will reach out to Carly.
#general - January 05, 2026 at 03:57 PM
Happy Monday Jan 5. Are there any PLG people in this community. Am curious as to the differences of doing CMA between a sales led vs a product led growth organization.
#jobs - January 02, 2026 at 10:02 PM
I've been writing the 2025 Jobs Report over the holidays and predict we will see more jobs just like this opening up this year. Revenue generation, work across the org.
#general - December 23, 2025 at 07:20 PM
Heres a guy that run an agency for B2B influencers. I don't know him
#general - December 23, 2025 at 07:07 PM
Hey Evan- I've been introduced to the world of Advisors and this may be a more relevant world for B2B than social influencers.
#general - December 23, 2025 at 07:06 PM
Hey Evan- I've been introduced to the world of Advisors. If its to generate revenue. This may be a more relevant world for B2B than social influencers.
#general - December 23, 2025 at 07:04 PM
If you are looking for podcasts to check out over the holidays. I just appeared on The Advocast by Wings4U. Topic is "
It's a good way to get your feet wet on the foundation of post-sales lifecycle marketing.
Other lifecycle related podcasts on my play list: OpsCast, Topline, Marketing Against the Grain, and Dave Gerhardt Show. Anybody have other suggestions?
#general - December 16, 2025 at 10:15 PM
<@U09AD7UAFJ8> I wonder if this has to do having a cyber security audience. The basic premise of NPS, would you recommend the product to a friend, may be flawed with this audience. Wonder what other cybersecurity CMAers think.
#open-share - December 16, 2025 at 12:34 AM
I am grateful that my Dad is gone and my mom has dementia so they do not have to relive the horrors, as both Sydney and Pittsburgh had Holocaust survivors murdered.
#general - December 15, 2025 at 06:31 PM
What’s the CMA outlook for 2026?
• Are there enhancements to your program you are excited about
• Will new roles emerge as a result of AI
• Where are the vendors headed
2026 CMA Vendor and Practitioner Outlook is coming in January.
I’m looking for the thoughts of those in the CMA ecosystem. There are only 3 open text questions, all responses are confidential, and the deadline is Jan 9. Here is the** or the .
P.S. The analysis of the 2025 CMA Job Market will also be published in January. There will be a section on what practitioners can do to prepare for their next role.
Lots of other plans for 2026 and can brief you if you would like to connect. Happy Holidays to all …Irwin
#general - December 13, 2025 at 11:11 PM
<@U08U4PV81KP> <@U09E7QN7R27> the number of linked in connections and followers is another signal worth looking at. I have data on the difference in the number of LI connections between active and not so active advocates.
It's a manual slog to find people in LI and we can do it quickly and cheaply.
#jobs - December 12, 2025 at 01:48 PM
For any active job seekers readers, we are looking for 5 more people who have been in search mode for about 3+ months to write about their experiences. Good, bad and ugly.
It's for the 2025 CMA Jobs Report coming out in January. We will be analyzing the 400 openings, what happened to them, and lots more.
Your stories will be confidential. I'm looking for the trends from the perspective of job seekers. DM or respond here if interested, and I will send you more info.
#general - December 10, 2025 at 08:02 PM
Hello to the community-
I am looking for 20 current CMA Managers and Specialists to participate in a skunkworks project I am working on. I promise it will be interesting but can't go into details. DM or just reply here if you are curious...Irwin
#general - December 10, 2025 at 07:51 PM
Hi Holly- I just had coffee with Lisa Pratt. We live about 2 miles apart.
I'm putting together a 2025 CMA Jobs Report and hoping you will participate. It will analyze the 400 or so job openings this year, what can people who are in roles do today to prepare for their next role, and what the experience has been for those who have been looking for a role.
Would you be open to writing about your experience?
I will be combining what everybody writes and see what trends AI sees. I may add a quote and would certainly ask before I did. Am open to anything about your experience and here are some thoughts
1- When you do reach a hiring manager how clearly can they say what the job is/ is not.
2- How would you describe the hiring process. Hunger games, well-thought out...
3- Any suggestions you would have for someone who is putting together a job description.
4- Any very funny or ridiculous moments.
It would be great to hear from you by end of year and pls send to
#jobs - December 09, 2025 at 10:56 PM
I'm getting ready to write the 2025 CMA Jobs Annual Report.
Looking for a few people who have been in search mode for at least 3 months to write about their experiences and the patterns your are hearing from hiring managers about the roles.
You can be anonymous. DM me if interested.
In the report, I will be analyzing the 400 CMA openings in 2025. How many were filled, international openings, seniority levels, customer lifecycle marketing, and what the data says people who are currently employed can do to prepare for their next role.
#9-lifecycle-expansion - December 09, 2025 at 08:05 PM
<@U0806J8HHHR> This is a tricky one. Ask two people at the same company might get different answers. Ideally a 15 min call would reveal more than a survey.
Have you thought open 1-2 open ended questions rather than a menu and they put it in their own words.
May need an incentive.
#general - December 08, 2025 at 01:00 PM
@Charlotte Weiss you may want to consider a slide before this highlighting the 3 customer facing disciplines. Customer experience. Customer success and customer marketing. With one sentence for each. CX has been around a long time and is mature, CS is is the middle child and CMA the baby.
I might also break CMA into just advocacy and lifecycle and move the add on expansion into either of the 2.
Probably would not go deep for this presentation as there are subtleties based on how the vendor sells their products
add on / upsell is more in the province of CS. Sell clients more of what they already purchased.
CM can help with cross-sell. Sell existing clients something new or a new buyer at a company what the initial client purchased.
#open-share - December 04, 2025 at 05:04 PM
November’s Customer Marketing and Advocacy Jobs Report.
November saw the predicted dip in openings with 35 (down about 30% from October). To see what happened in November and what % the openings from July were filled go to
#open-share - December 04, 2025 at 04:59 PM
New Research from Repetitos: The disconnect between customer marketing and the peer review sites (Gartner, G2, Trust Radius, and Peerspot) ?
#general - December 03, 2025 at 06:04 PM
<@U09MDKT5ML3> Here is a survey of advocates I am working on having 35 companies participate in. It's fully customizable and you will receive a benchmark for your program. We ask some of the obvious questions and others that go deeper than a typical survey.
#jobs - December 02, 2025 at 01:30 PM
<@U09CMC4HSAZ> I am going to look at the companies that had postings and see if there are any habitual posters that do not hire,
#jobs - December 02, 2025 at 02:55 AM
I am working on a report on the 2025 job openings. Lots of insights when you look at 450 openings over the course of the year. It will be out in mid-Jan.
Lots of digging Into linkedin sales navigator finds that about 30% don’t get filled within 4 months of being posted
For the folks that read this. What’s your take
1-do the jobs get pulled
2- do they get delayed by months
3- do the people who get hired don’t update LinkedIn (especially promotions)
4- something else
5- all of the above
Appreciate your thoughts.
#jobs - December 02, 2025 at 02:48 AM
@Talal S Did they decide to not fill the position.
#jobs - December 01, 2025 at 08:05 PM
@Mary Green (Owner CMAweekly) I went into sales navigator and had zero results. Would you have the title or link to the job posting.
#general - December 01, 2025 at 05:09 PM
November’s Customer Marketing and Advocacy Jobs Report.
November saw the predicted dip in openings with 35 (down about 30% from October). A few things jumped out at me.
--Director roles increased. I predicted this would happen in January, and let's see what December looks like.
--20% of openings were international (outside of North America). I will dig deeper into this trend in the 2025 annual report.
What happened to the 17 openings in July??
88% were filled within 4 months, of which 25% were promotions. This was better than June, when 65% of openings were filled. Hopefully, this trend will continue.
The CMA Jobs Report is brought to you by , a joint venture of Repetitos and Wings4U. AdvoSync keeps your advocate database alive-accurate-actionable by updating and enriching contact data.
Thanks to for posting CMA openings. Follow the Frank Advocacy LinkedIn page for their Friday updates.
#general - November 25, 2025 at 04:59 PM
<@U08CTJ60796> I am looking for 35 companies to participate in a survey of their advocates that will result in the first of its kind benchmark for advocacy programs. We ask some of the obvious questions and also not so obvious ones.
If anybody want to see the survey, DM me. It’s free, fully customizable and open to small and large programs.
#general - November 25, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Charlotte- have you tried chat gpt. #2 is the most action oriented
#9-lifecycle-expansion - November 24, 2025 at 06:38 PM
@Mary Green (Owner CMAweekly) <@U08U4PV81KP>
Yes, hot topic. I just recorded a podcast with @Aparna Sharon Isa Dass This was a topic we discussed. It comes out Jan 15. Till then, I have a post in the queue that also touches on this. It will be posted after Thanksgiving.
I would be open to doing a 2-4 part workshop for those interested in this topic, but would have to either have a vendor sponsor, charge participants, or offer it for free to any advocacy program that participates in the advocate experience research project I am getting going.
#general - November 22, 2025 at 04:41 PM
Never heard of curated connections and they seem to be a good fit...thx
#general - November 21, 2025 at 02:59 PM
Has anybody used 1-1 peer matching with their advocates. There are tools that are based on interests, role, and availability that will match people for 1-1 networking. The one I am familiar with is Orbiit.
#general - November 21, 2025 at 12:30 AM
@Mara Schoeppner That’s my granddaughters name. Does this image work. I can send you a better one and just black out the middle