Director of Marketing Strategy & Operations | Martech Leader | Speaker

Author and speaker. Co-host of the Humans of Martech Podcast.

Subscribe to the Marketing Operations Leader newsletter for MOPs strategies and insights every week: https://darrellalfonso.substack.com/

Highlights: 
- Ranked as one of the Top Marketers in the US by Propolis 2022
- Named one of the "Top Martech Marketers to Follow" 2020 by Martech Alliance 
- Keynote speaker for Martech Conference and Get Stacked B2B Marketing Conference 2021
- Awarded Fearless Marketer 2018 
- Marketo Champion 2018 and 2019 
- VP of Communications American Marketing Association - 2017-2019
- Marketo User Group Leader 2017-2019
- Leading Program Manager for Connect@Amazon (35,000 member Amazon organization)
- Frequent Martech Speaker and Author 
- Marketo and Salesforce Certified 

Posts are my own and do not reflect the views of my current or former employers.

Darrell Alfonso

VP of Marketing @Glassix 🧡 | The 'Glassix Spotlight' Podcast Host 🎙️ | B2B SaaS Growth Marketer | Demand Gen & Mops Leader | Foodie

I’m a marketer who likes things clear, structured, and actually useful.I’ve spent over 10 years in marketing, mostly around SaaS and AI products, working across SEO, PPC, content, email, demand gen, and marketing ops. I’ve tried a lot, learned a lot, and I still enjoy how fast this space changes.What I’m best at is building simple, process-driven strategies that help teams stay focused and move faster without the chaos.I use LinkedIn to share things I learn along the way - small insights, honest takes, and stuff that might help someone else do their job a bit better.

Ran Yosef

Startup founders often say:

“We just need a great Head of Marketing.”

But what they usually mean is:

“We need someone to magically fix growth.”

So the Head of Marketing is expected to:

Run paid ads.

Write LinkedIn posts.

Launch a podcast.

Ship content daily.

Understand AI.

Align with sales.

Own pipeline.

Drive revenue.

Create partnerships.

Same title.
But somewhere along the way the role quietly became 5 jobs in one.

And the funny part?

When things work, it’s called a great product and strong sales.

When they don’t…

It’s a marketing problem. 🫠

VP of Marketing @Glassix 🧡 + 🤖 | The 'Glassix Spotlight' Podcast Host | B2B SaaS Growth Marketer | Demand Gen & Mops Leader | Foodie

No debt.
Perfect weight.
8 hours of sleep.
Great mental health.
Healthy food.
No alcohol.

That was my peak.
I was 8 years old. 😉

If you disappeared tomorrow,
your company would survive.

They’d write a thoughtful post.

“Grateful for everything he’s done.”

They’d open a new role.

They’d move forward.

Because that’s what companies do.

They move forward.

But at home?

Your side of the bed stays untouched.

Your chair at dinner feels too big.

Your kids stop asking when you’re coming back.

We wear “busy” like a badge of honor.

We confuse pressure with importance.

We say, “Just this season.”

But seasons become years.

The deal closes.

The quarter ends.

The target resets.

Time doesn’t.

You are replaceable at work.

You are irreplaceable at home.

Build something meaningful.

Chase growth.

Be ambitious.

Just don’t build a life where the people you love only get what’s left of you...

Here’s the best prank of all time:

Convince millions of people to spend 3–5 years getting a degree.
Tell them it’s the “safe path.”

Encourage them to take on debt.

Then, right when they’re ready to start working…

Replace the entry-level jobs with AI.

Brilliant, right?

We told an entire generation:

📚 Study hard.

🎓 Get the diploma.

💼 The job will be waiting.

Now the “junior” tasks that used to train you?

Writing reports.

Analyzing data.

Designing creatives.

Customer support.

Basic coding.

AI does them in seconds.

So the real question isn’t “Is AI taking jobs?”

The real question is:
Why are we still preparing people for a world that no longer exists?

Universities are teaching theory. Companies are demanding experience. AI is automating execution. And young professionals are stuck in the middle.

This isn’t an anti-AI post! 

AI is incredible.

It’s leverage.

It’s productivity on steroids.

But if we don’t rethink:

Education

Hiring models

What “entry-level” even means

We’re going to create the most overeducated and underemployed generation in history.

Maybe the new degree isn’t a diploma.

Maybe it’s: Adaptability.

Speed.

AI fluency.

Creative thinking.

Business understanding.

It's obvious to say that the people who win won’t be the ones competing against AI.

They’ll be the ones who know how to make AI compete for them.

The prank only works if we don’t adapt.

Your move.
#ai #education #jobs #nerrative

I love avocado. 🥑

Like… irrationally.

There’s a very specific kind of joy that only a perfectly ripe avocado can give you.

You know the one.

You press it gently in the store.

Not too hard.

Not too soft.

Just enough to whisper: “Tomorrow morning is going to be elite.”

And when you slice it open and it’s that flawless green?

No brown spots.

No weird strings.

Just pure creamy perfection.

That’s not breakfast.
That’s a win.

Meanwhile, there are people who say,
“I don’t like avocado.”

I don’t trust those people.

Because avocado is consistency.
It’s patience.

It’s delayed gratification.

It’s knowing that sometimes you buy it rock-hard and you wait.
And wait.
And wait...

Kind of like building something meaningful.

In business (and in life), most people want the avocado ready now.

Perfect.

Effortless.

Guaranteed.

But the real ones?

We check.

We test.

We take a calculated risk.

We let it mature.

And when it’s ready — we execute.

Also… let’s be honest.
If you can’t appreciate a good avocado,
can I really trust you to appreciate long-term strategy?
#marketing #sales #strategy

You know what’s underrated on LinkedIn?
“Message the Company.”

Not the CEO.

Not the Head of Sales.

Not someone you reverse-engineered from a podcast comment section.

Just… the company.

And here’s the wild part:

It works.

We tested it.

Instead of chasing titles and crafting 300-word connection notes that scream “this is automated but I promise it’s not”…

We clicked:
👉 Message
On the actual company page.

Here’s what happened 👇
• We reached the right team faster
• No gatekeepers
• No awkward “who should I speak to?”
• No inbox graveyard

Because when you message a company:
You’re not pitching a person.
You’re starting a conversation with a brand that’s actively listening.

Think about it.

The company page inbox is usually monitored by:
✔ Marketing
✔ Sales
✔ Partnerships
✔ CX
✔ Sometimes even leadership

It’s centralized.

It’s visible.

It creates internal accountability.

Your message doesn’t die in someone’s “I’ll get to this later” folder.

And psychologically?

It feels different.

It feels:
• More intentional
• Less spammy
• More professional
• More direct

You’re saying:
“I want to talk to your company, not just hunt an employee.”

That hits differently.

Here’s when it’s insanely powerful:
🚀 Partnership proposals
🚀 Event collaborations
🚀 Media opportunities
🚀 Vendor introductions
🚀 Enterprise outreach
🚀 “Who handles X at your company?”

It removes friction.

And friction kills deals.

The best part?

Almost no one uses it strategically.

Which means…

Low noise.

High signal.

High response potential.

Pro tip:

Don’t send a pitch.

Send context.

1–2 lines about why you’re reaching out.

Make it easy to route internally.

Respect their time.

That’s it.

Every AI demo ever:

“Ask me anything.”

Perfect answer.

Perfect workflow.

Standing ovation.

—

First real customer message after buying the product:

“Hey guys my card got charged twice and the app logged me out and i cant reset my password.”

AI:

“Here is an article about updating your profile picture.” 🤣 

—

AI demos are built for the best-case scenario.

Real customers are the worst-case scenario.

That’s where you discover if it’s actually AI… or just a very good demo.
#ai #demo #sales #marketing #product

In many companies today, there’s a word leaders love to use:

“Empowerment.”

- We empower you to lead.

- We empower you to take ownership.

- We empower you to drive results.

But somehow that empowerment always seems to come with:

- More responsibility.

- More pressure.

- More expectations.

Just not more pay...

Here’s a simple thought:

Don’t empower me.

Pay me.

Because compensation is respect.

Your biggest competitor probably changed something important this week.

A new feature.

A new pricing page.

A new positioning angle.

And you probably didn’t notice.

Not because you’re bad at your job.

Because nobody consistently tracks competitors well.

It’s manual.

It’s repetitive.

And it usually gets pushed aside for “more urgent” work.

So here’s one of the simplest AI workflows marketers should build right now:

'The Competitor Intelligence Agent'

Here’s what it does:

• Monitors competitor blogs

• Checks product and pricing pages

• Spots messaging and positioning changes

• Summarizes what actually changed

• Sends a simple weekly report to Slack

So instead of reacting late, you start seeing shifts while they happen.

What you need:
n8n or Make.com + Claude + Slack

That’s it.

Comment “radar” and I’ll send you the exact workflow + tools I use.

taplio

The Battle

Darrell Alfonso

Ran Yosef

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taplio

The Battle

Darrell Alfonso

Ran Yosef

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Ran Yosef's LinkedIn Performance

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