What is the role of the CEO in a thriving They Ask, You Answer company?

The role of a CEO can vary widely depending on the size of the company.

In a very small company, the CEO may also be the head Marketing or the head Sales. Or both. In most SMEs, however, the CEO serves as the company's visionary director, working with other business leaders to ensure that the company's long-term goals are met.

However, every company - and every CEO - is different, so generalizing is difficult.

For companies that have embraced They Ask, You Answer and are having great success with it, the CEO has a lot to do to ensure that that success continues. This means they must lead in a way that makes employees feel supported, valued and inspired, but not micromanaged or untrusted.

What does that look like in practice?

First, a CEO must ensure that the necessary resources are allocated to the They Ask, You Answer initiative.

That means getting the right team on board - a content manager and videographer - but also paying for the software and other tools needed. If you shy away from your annual HubSpot fees or don't give your videographer the tools he needs to be successful, you undermine the entire business.

With their budget, companies show what is important to them. Be clear about your priorities by giving your team what it needs.

Your content manager needs freedom to do her job well. If you've hired this person, you also need to be able to trust her to execute your content marketing initiative.

All too often, we see companies struggle with publishing content because there is no smooth process to approve it. As a result, content remains on someone's desk and piles up.

A CEO should actively try to remove barriers. We know that regular publishing is crucial to getting high in search results. If bureaucracy gets in the way of this, your They Ask, You Answer initiative will flounder. Be an advocate for streamlining things.

CEOs should advocate for marketing to have a seat at the table. We know that marketing is playing an increasing role in the traditional sales process. Buyers are making more and more of their buying decisions based on what they read on company Web sites - whether that's information, reviews, comparisons or information from experts.

Instead of being seen as an expense, marketing should be seen as part of the revenue team that keeps a business successful and growing.

This recognition begins at the highest level. Start by asking yourself this question: is the head Marketing on par with the head Sales?

A CEO is the public face of a company and what you say and do matters. How can you show that you care They Ask, You Answer?

Showing the importance of marketing will support your efforts on They Ask, You Answer in the long run.

Similarly, it may be up to the CEO to clearly set the tone for the company's commitment to implementing They Ask, You Answer. This business philosophy is about answering the questions the sales team hears from buyers. Without buy-in from the sales team, a content manager is hampered in getting and answering these questions.

The CEO must make it clear to the sales manager that the relationship between marketing and sales is critical. Start by saying this openly during meetings so that it is clear to everyone. Then verify that it actually happens.

As a HubSpot user, you have access to incredible amounts of data about your website. You can see who visits your site, what pages they read, how often they return and where they stay.

But you have to know where to look.

If you need help finding this information, talk to your marketing team. Then log in regularly yourself to see what you can learn from it.

Creating content can sometimes feel like thankless work. A content creator may toil on a piece of content that doesn't get much resonance at first. But maybe after nine months, that same piece of content has become a search result that generates a lot of traffic to your site. Maybe that content has helped your sales team close important deals.

When these small successes are noticed and celebrated by management, marketers feel valued.

So as CEO, keep your eyes open for content successes to celebrate.

They Ask, You Answer is a customer-centric business model made more powerful by tangible support from the top. Whenever I meet with business leaders, I offer the same simple advice: talk to customers. Directly.

For example, call a few customers each month who have already completed their purchase. Or organize a focus group.

You can get tremendous value out of these conversations. This is the perfect time to ask if they felt their questions were answered. Whether they found the information they needed on your website. Whether they felt informed and supported during the sales process. Ask questions and listen. Your customers will give you insights you can't get anywhere else.

Implementing They Ask, You Answer means accepting that marketing plays an increasingly important role in purchasing decisions. You will no longer see marketing as a cost when you recognize that it has a hand in bringing in the sales your business needs.

They Ask, You Answer is a company-wide initiative and buy-in starts at the top.