Michael Fertman
Verified Expert in Marketing
Digital Marketing Expert
New York, NY, United States
Toptal member since September 17, 2024
Michael is a data-driven B2B marketing consultant with over 20 years of experience accelerating growth through high-impact strategic marketing initiatives. He has doubled growth rates for numerous SaaS, fintech, AI, and data services products. Michael brings deep expertise in B2B SaaS positioning, packaging, pricing, messaging, and sales enablement. He has a track record of enhancing brand visibility, accelerating ARR growth, increasing market penetration, and leading high-performing teams.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- Content Marketing
- Fractional CMO
- Go-to-market Strategy
- Launch Strategy
- Marketing Strategy
- Pricing Strategy
- Product Marketing
- Sales Enablement
Work Experience
Chief Marketing Officer | Principal Consultant
B2B Marketing Group
- Developed and implemented the content marketing strategy for the CEO of a SaaS eCommerce platform.
- Headed demand generation and content marketing efforts as the fractional CMO for the CEO of a venture capital (VC) backed B2B SaaS eCommerce middleware platform.
- Designed an eCommerce growth strategy for the CEO of a private equity-backed consumer durable manufacturer.
- Created content and organized events as interim CMO for a startup retail market research firm serving top-tier retailers.
- Formulated a digital marketing strategy for the CEO of a SaaS-based local marketing automation company.
- Developed a sales compensation calculator for the marketing director of a cloud-based B2B governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) platform.
- Crafted an SEO and search engine marketing (SEM) plan for the CMO of a VC-backed fintech and options analytics software company.
- Acted as fractional CMO for the CEO of a Singapore-based business intelligence (BI) analytics firm.
- Developed a marketing strategy and lead generation plan for the CEO of an online community and information source for ad sellers.
- Crafted SEM and SEO plans for the COO of a B2B professional service firm.
VP of Product Marketing
Apex Fintech Solutions
- Headed business case development, positioning, messaging, packaging, pricing, and sales enablement for Apex’s first organic SaaS product, generating a seven-figure pre-launch pipeline.
- Developed a SaaS packaging and pricing framework to generate higher guaranteed ARR across the client base.
- Built an eight-figure ARR pipeline for the company's fractional fixed-income API through significant press coverage and lead generation.
- Collaborated with product management to establish a quarterly public product roadmap to accelerate adoption.
- Recruited a high-performing product marketing team with all members from diverse backgrounds.
VP of Global Marketing
Apifiny
- Propelled brand growth from the pre-revenue stage up through the Web3 company’s filing to go public.
- Launched and drove cross-functional go-to-market (GTM) planning for an institutional, multi-exchange crypto trading platform.
- Oversaw a GTM strategy and launched a hybrid DeFl/CEX crypto exchange.
- Earned PR media coverage from Reuters, CoinDesk, Cointelegraph, Benzinga, CNBC, Yahoo Finance, and others.
- Launched and spun out a blockchain-based cross-border payment network.
Chief Marketing Officer
Guidepoint Global
- Increased revenue from $30 million to $50 million in a flat market by capturing market share from competitors.
- Built the marketing function from scratch, including creating a new website in 10 languages, developing marketing assets, implementing sales and marketing tools, e.g., CRM and marketing automation, and launching content marketing programs and events.
- Established a thought leadership position in compliance, transforming sales gatekeepers into brand advocates.
VP of Product Marketing
Dun & Bradstreet
- Accelerated the growth rate of a $500 million SaaS and data services subscription business, increasing annual revenue from $14 million to $30 million.
- Streamlined deal pricing and reduced discounting by empowering sales leaders with portfolio pricing tools, contributing to the growth rate increase from 3% to 6%.
- Generated $23 million in incremental global data revenue by streamlining and relaunching a global subscription product.
- Implemented enterprise-level sales enablement programs for over 1,000 sales professionals across six channels.
- Collaborated with 3rd-party sales to launch new distribution initiatives, driving $10 million in growth.
- Revamped, rebranded, and relaunched a $150 million data services business, doubling the growth rate to 12%.
- Partnered with sales leaders to train and certify 500 salespeople, facilitating the relaunch of data services.
- Revitalized a struggling $30 million market insight platform from under 10% to over 10% growth by implementing retention programs.
- Generated $10 million in growth through integrated cross-sell campaigns targeting small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and mid-market clients.
- Eliminated cross-product price cannibalization by tripling the product price and enhancing its market positioning.
Associate
Booz Allen Hamilton
- Developed training tools for the consumer packaged goods (CPG) sales team as part of a trade promotion strategy project.
- Created system dynamic models and conducted scenario analyses to evaluate seed market innovation and adoption in South America.
- Identified trade promotion savings opportunities for a CPG company through forward buying and diversion analysis.
Lieutenant | Ship Navigator
United States Navy
- Served as the navigator of a 950-person nuclear-powered ship during the First Gulf War.
- Received the Navy Achievement Medal and Navigation Battle “E” for outstanding team performance during the First Gulf War.
- Became the first in his peer group on the ship to qualify as a surface warfare officer.
Project History
Doubled Sales Conversion Rates — Brand Repositioning and Go-to-market Strategy
Repositioned a primary research service company, focusing on messaging and promotion of compliance, doubling the conversion rate of sales opportunities into new business.
Guidepoint was the second-largest player in the expert network space, trailing a five-times larger competitor. We discovered that we had lost several late-stage deals due to our competitor undermining Guidepoint's compliance platform.
SOLUTION
Recognizing our superior compliance platform, we launched a comprehensive brand-building and PR campaign to showcase Guidepoint's compliance expertise.
TACTICS
• Our general counsel delivered presentations at industry risk and compliance panels.
• We published byline articles from Guidepoint in leading risk and compliance journals.
• Our general counsel taught continuing education (CE) courses, reinforcing our authority in compliance.
RESULTS
Our targeted efforts established Guidepoint's compliance expertise as unassailable, turning previous compliance gatekeepers into internal advocates. As a result, Guidepoint's opportunity-to-deal conversion rate doubled, significantly enhancing our competitive position.
Eliminated Cross-product Price Cannibalization — B2B SaaS Pricing Strategy
Reversed topline revenue cannibalization of a B2B SaaS product, improving from under 14% to over 76%, by implementing new pricing and positioning strategies to halt the decline in clients' overall spending after migrating from other products.
I discovered that client average spending declined by 14% after migrating to the product due to lower transaction prices. This issue was reducing overall topline revenue despite the product growing at a rate of 50% annually.
SOLUTION
Changed the product's positioning to shift it from being perceived as a lower-value solution to a higher-value offering. Tripled the transaction prices accordingly to reflect this enhanced positioning.
RESULTS
After repositioning and price adjustment, the product continued to grow at the same 50% annual rate. More importantly, it delivered a 76% increase in client-level growth as customers migrated, reversing the decline in overall topline revenue and significantly boosting profitability.
Generated High-intent & High-conversion Inbound Pipeline — Content Marketing Strategy and Execution
https://www.pulse-commerce.com/blogGenerated $1 million in the pipeline for a SaaS eCommerce infrastructure solution by executing an effective search engine optimization (SEO) and content marketing strategy.
RESULTS
Seven years later, many of these pages still rank in the top 10 for their target keywords, consistently generating high-quality leads and driving engagement.
Education
Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Marketing
University of Chicago Booth School of Business - Chicago, IL, USA
Bachelor's Degree in Finance
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania - Philadelphia, PA, USA
Certifications
Surface Warfare Officer
United States Navy
Skills
Core
Marketing Strategy, Product Marketing, Go-to-market Strategy, Digital Marketing, Content Marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Content Marketing Strategy, Digital Marketing Strategy, Branding, Content Strategy, Marketing, Google SEO, Ad Campaigns, Email Campaigns, SEO Content, Social Media Content, Content Creation, Copywriting, Writing & Editing, Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Lead Generation, Growth Hacking, Marketing Communications (MarCom), SEO Audits, On-page SEO, Blogging, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Market Research & Analysis, Growth Model, Keyword Research, SEO Keyword Research, Social Media Strategy, Email Marketing, Paid Advertising, Social Media, Google Paid Ads, Customer Success, Social Media Marketing (SMM), SEO Tools, LinkedIn Marketing, Influencer Marketing, Public Relations (PR), Marketing Automation, Marketing Operations, Channel Strategy, Product Positioning, Community Management, Local SEO
Platforms & Tools
Google Analytics, HubSpot, Ahrefs, Marketo, Looker Studio
Business Models
SaaS Product Marketing, SaaS, B2B, Software as a Service (SaaS), Business to Business (B2B), B2C
Technical
Google Search Console, Web3
Other
Pricing Strategy, Product Packaging, Sales Enablement, Brand Building, Growth Marketing, Fractional CMO, Interim CMO, Launch Strategy, Shipboard Operations, Navigation & Seamanship, Market Research, B2B Marketing, Startup Consulting, Startups, Personas, Stakeholder Management, Event Marketing, Email Content, Web Content, Copy Editing, Value Proposition, Ideation, Product Ideation, Digital Marketing Product Manager, Cryptocurrency, Blockchain & Cryptocurrency, Customer Acquisition, B2B Lead Generation, Growth Strategy, Content Writing, Newsletters, Thought Leadership, Storytelling, Communication, Crypto, Data Analysis, Article Writing, Blog Posting, Blogs, White Papers, Salesforce, Lead Nurturing, Marketing ROI Optimization, Reports, Presentations, Growth, SaaS Sales, Competitor Analysis & Profiling, Technical SEO, Keyword Mapping, Outbound Marketing, Outreach, Brand Positioning, Global Digital Marketing Strategy, Tactical Warfare Proficiency, Regulatory Compliance, Campaigns, Advertising, Event Management, Event Planning, AI-based Content SEO, Digital Agencies, Process Development, Business Development, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Economics, Go-to-market Plans, Events, Sales Operations, Community Growth, Executive Presentations, Sales Promotion, International Business, Data Strategy, Data Analytics, Customer Insights, Training & Training Content Development, Financial Modeling, People Management, Transportation & Shipping, Salesforce Sales Cloud, WordPress, Hootsuite, Miro, Crisis Management, Packaging, Profit & Loss (P&L), Profitability Optimization, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)
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