Why Marketing Is Back In The Driver Seat (with Maura Rivera, CMO at Qualified)

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Nov 6, 2025

Join Maura Rivera, CMO at Qualified, who has a wealth of experience in product-driven marketing. She shares her insights on how product launches energize their marketing efforts and the role of agentic marketing in shaping future strategies. Discover why outbound marketing is enjoying a revival through deep personalization and how AI technologies are enhancing their approach. Maura also discusses building a cohesive team and the importance of in-person events in strengthening community ties.

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ADVICE

Prioritize Hiring Over Quick Fills

Invest time in hiring and avoid rushing hires to fill headcount quickly.
Building the right team pays off in reduced stress and more leverage for the CMO.

ANECDOTE

Team Stability Enables Long-Term Bets

Qualified's marketing team is ~25 people and most have stayed four-plus years, enabling long-term bets.
That stability created playbooks, trust, and the ability to make multi-quarter investments.

INSIGHT

Product Launches As Marketing Heartbeat

Qualified treats product launches as the heartbeat of marketing with monthly drumbeats and quarterly big launches.
Launches create momentum, unify narrative, and give sales timely reasons to engage prospects.

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#310 Leadership & Strategy | I sat down with Maura Rivera, CMO at Qualified, to talk about what it’s like leading marketing at one company for six years (and why most of her team has been there just as long). We got into how product launches are the glue that hold their marketing together, what agentic marketing really means for the future, why outbound is actually working for them right now, and how events have become a huge part of their strategy. Plus, plenty of good banter along the way.

Watch this episode on YouTube on my channel: https://youtu.be/4tew-Q89Fms

Timestamps

(00:00) - — Intro & setup: Marketing’s back in the driver seat
(03:40) - — Work, life, and moving from Boston to Vermont
(07:15) - — Competitors, community, and the small-world CMO circle
(12:45) - — How Maura’s Salesforce roots shaped Qualified
(15:15) - — Working for a CEO who actually gets marketing
(19:15) - — Lessons from startup life & learning every part of marketing
(22:15) - — Building the right team and hiring people smarter than you
(29:15) - — Why product launches are the heartbeat of marketing
(43:36) - — Agentic marketing, events, and AI at Qualified
(55:36) - — The future of marketing and why it’s back on top

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