As we kick off 2026, co-hosts Alec Cheung and Barb VanSomeren take the stage to reflect on the biggest lessons from 2025 and what those lessons are telling us about the year ahead.

This episode has been shaped by dozens of interviews with CMOs, business founders, marketing experts, strategists, and growth leaders over the past year.

In this half an hour of value-packed content, Alec and Barb share with us why the most effective leaders in 2026 won’t be the ones who claim to have everything figured out, but the ones who know how to learn in public, adapt in real time, and make thoughtful trade-offs as the landscape keeps shifting.

You’ll hear their perspective on:

• The continued rise of fractional, interim, and advisory CMOs and why this model is expanding beyond marketing into the broader C-suite
• Why sizing marketing investments correctly is becoming one of the most valuable leadership skills
• Why the CMO CFO relationship is no longer optional and how it elevates marketing’s influence
• What’s really happening with AI in marketing, from search behavior to internal team adoption
• Why 2026 will reward leaders who embrace continuous learning over chasing expertise

Whether you’re a CMO, a VP of Marketing, a founder, or a growth leader navigating change, this conversation will help you think more clearly about what matters most in 2026.

Timestamps

00:00 Welcome to 2026 and why this episode is different
01:30 Reflecting on 2025 and the themes that kept coming up
02:05 The rise of fractional, interim, and advisory CMOs
06:00 Why sizing marketing investment is now a critical skill
08:20 Building a portfolio of marketing leadership skills
09:05 Marketing inside PE and VC owned companies
12:30 The growing importance of the CMO CFO relationship
15:45 Why CMOs still have the shortest C-suite tenure
17:20 AI in marketing: search impact vs internal adoption
19:00 Writing for humans again in an AI-driven world
21:45 From AI hype to measured evaluation
24:00 Creating a culture of continuous learning
26:40 Tool sprawl, ROI, and smarter tech adoption
28:40 Final thoughts and what excites us about 2026

Explore the video content of each podcast episode on YouTube

Want to be a guest on The Marketing Share Podcast? Send us your bio and proposed interview topic to marketingsharepodcast@gmail.com, and our Podcast Manager will get back to you.

Want to connect with Alec and Barb to talk all things marketing and how they can help you leverage the marketing wing of your organization?

Connect with Alec here
Connect with Barb here
Connect with Cinthya, Podcast Manager, here

Cheers.

In this episode of The Marketing Share, Alec Cheung and Barb VanSomeren have a conversation with returning guest Noah Goldfarb, Head of SEO at Fire and Spark, to unpack what’s actually happening to SEO in an AI-driven world, especially in digital health and B2C-heavy industries.

Noah shares insights from two recent studies: The Telehealth 20 and Fire and Spark’s AI Search in Digital Health report.

With this wealth of data, he explores why many fast-growing telehealth brands are still over-invested in traffic-driven SEO, under-invested in conversion-focused pages, and increasingly exposed to AI-powered search results that satisfy intent without sending clicks.

This conversation reframes SEO around a core shift:
websites are moving away from being information hubs and toward becoming decision-making environments.

You’ll hear why:

• Traffic from Google is declining, while conversions are holding steady
• AI and LLM-driven traffic converts at a significantly higher rate
• Informational content alone is no longer a sustainable growth strategy
• Diversification across SEO, AI search, brand, and conversion paths matters more than ever

Noah also breaks down what winning teams are doing differently, from fundamentals like UX, internal linking, and expert-led content, to more advanced strategies like programmatic SEO, branded AI search monitoring, and aligning marketing content with real sales and enrollment questions.

If you’re a CMO or growth leader navigating declining traffic, rising AI summaries, and pressure to prove business impact, this episode offers a grounded, data-backed framework for where SEO is headed — and how to adapt without chasing hype.

Explore the video content of each podcast episode on YouTube

Want to be a guest on The Marketing Share Podcast? Send us your bio and proposed interview topic to marketingsharepodcast@gmail.com, and our Podcast Manager will get back to you.

Want to connect with Alec and Barb to talk all things marketing and how they can help you leverage the marketing wing of your organization?

Connect with Alec here
Connect with Barb here
Connect with Cinthya, Podcast Manager, here

Cheers.

Welcome back to The Marketing Share Podcast.

This week, we're excited to present Part 2 of our conversation with Alan Gonsenhauser, where we dig into what it takes to move from VP of Marketing to an effective, indispensable CMO.

Alan lays out practical advice on speaking the language of business, aligning with the CFO, and leading cross-functional teams for measurable impact.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• How to focus on the three priorities that actually move the needle, and why “less is more.”
• The difference between activity metrics and business outputs, and how to present marketing as a financial contributor.
• Tactical steps for assessing a new marketing organization: relationship-first audits, six-week assessments, and the infrastructure checklist.

🔗 Connect with Alan Gonsenhauser
Website: demandrevenue.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alangonsenhauser
Email: ag@demandrevenue.com

🎧 Subscribe to The Marketing Share Podcast to get unfiltered conversations with marketing leaders about growth, strategy, and the future of digital.

Explore the video content of each podcast episode on YouTube

Want to be a guest on The Marketing Share Podcast? Send us your bio and proposed interview topic to marketingsharepodcast@gmail.com, and our Podcast Manager will get back to you.

Want to connect with Alec and Barb to talk all things marketing and how they can help you leverage the marketing wing of your organization?

Connect with Alec here
Connect with Barb here
Connect with Cinthya, Podcast Manager, here

Cheers.