Dan Radu serves as the President of Macro, a global B2B marketing agency specializing in serving enterprise clients.
Marketing teams within the Forbes Global 2000 companies are facing increasingly tough challenges. The year 2024 has been particularly challenging for marketing, and 2025 looks poised to bring even more obstacles. Teams are under pressure to accelerate go-to-market strategies and execute faster than ever, all while working with tighter budgets due to widespread cuts. Last year, over 150,000 layoffs across 546 tech companies had a significant impact on the tech sector, according to an independent layoffs tracker.
From Tech Layoffs to Marketing Efficiency
In the enterprise marketing technology space, many Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) providers are offering tools designed to simplify digital marketing, but with over 14,000 such vendors, the solutions often complicate rather than solve the problem.
To address this, Dan Radu transformed Macro into a B2B agency that supports global enterprise marketing teams in a more effective and streamlined way. With its global reach, the agency has become a trusted digital marketing partner, providing clients with the marketing efficiencies they urgently need. Over the past 10 years, Macro has built a strong portfolio of enterprise technology clients who rely on its B2B digital marketing expertise.
Building a Global Presence
Dan Radu discovered his passion, or his “IKIGAI” as the Japanese would call it, at the crossroads of marketing, technology, and working with people. From the start, he was driven by a desire to improve the B2B marketing industry, recognizing that many aspects were broken.
Through hands-on experience in both agency and corporate roles, Dan witnessed firsthand how inefficient and ineffective work could be. It was during these moments that he realized he had the drive to make a change. With grit and determination, he and his team spent the next 10 years building a global presence, serving some of the best marketing teams in the world at top enterprise technology companies.
Dan Radu has always believed that an agency’s success extends beyond its philosophy for clients—it must also have a strong People Philosophy. For him, people are the core competency of any professional services firm. Respect for team members is a fundamental value. Dan believes the B2B enterprise world is often dominated by backroom deals, leaving many talented marketers caught in the mix without a clear focus on company growth objectives.
Dan’s Formula for Agency Success in the B2B World
Early in his career, Dan experienced firsthand how dysfunctional agency environments could be. In one of his first roles, his boss didn’t even know the difference between a “Person” and a “Company” in the customer relationship software they used. She was overseeing a major project for a large tech client, yet technical implementation was treated as an afterthought while organizational politics took center stage.
The inefficiency in the workplace was staggering. Promotions were reserved only for those with personal connections to management, and despite the agency’s high-profile client, little was accomplished for them. The whole situation felt like a waste of money for the client. Adding to the frustration, Dan was given the nickname “Data-Dan,” something he felt was deeply unprofessional. It was at that moment that Dan vowed to build an agency that was grounded in technical expertise and focused on driving business growth—where employees were respected and no one was nicknamed.
Building a successful agency is filled with challenges. According to Dan, mastering technology is just the first step. Once that’s achieved, mastering people skills follows, and only then can the business be truly mastered. This, he believes, is when someone becomes a real marketing leader—not just another individual posting reels on social media. With over 14,000 digital marketing technologies cataloged annually in Scott Brinker’s super graphic, it’s clear that specialization and prioritization are key to making a meaningful impact.
Creating a Culture of Growth and Collaboration
Dan Radu and his team recently conducted a Values Workshop to establish guiding principles for their workplace. He found it to be a highly valuable exercise and is eager to share the principles they developed:
- Learning Ability: The team is committed to continuous learning, striving to be the best. They embrace new technologies and ways of working to stay ahead in the ever-evolving digital landscape.
- Accountability: They take ownership of their projects with integrity, skill, and dedication. The team understands the importance of staying positive, even when things don’t go as planned.
- Multiculturalism: The team celebrates global diversity, working collaboratively across time zones to harness the strength of their varied backgrounds.
- Friendliness: They reject the cold, corporate atmosphere, valuing the importance of building personal connections, sharing laughs, and getting to know colleagues beyond just the work.
Navigating Budget Cuts and Uncertainty
Dan believes that marketing efficiency is about delivering more value at the same price year after year. His ideal scenario is to offer “more with more” for clients, which he sees as the key to expanding business, even in today’s uncertain global environment.
With most agency budgets being cut, Dan is aware that only 35% of B2B marketers expect a 5% or higher increase in investments as Foresters research found. As work increasingly shifts in-house or to staffing agencies that offer better hourly rates than technology consultancies, it’s more critical than ever to be the right partner for clients.
Dan has always been passionate about working closely with clients through the challenges they face. This aligns with his Leadership Philosophy. When difficult situations arise, he seeks to understand the driving factors behind budget reallocation decisions. As the Stoics say, “The obstacle is the way.” If additional resources are needed, Dan Radu works collaboratively with clients to determine the best mix of in-house, agency, and freelance resources to meet their needs.
Approach to Marketing Efficiency
For Dan, marketing efficiency is all about demonstrating return on marketing investment. As a marketing leader, proving that his team is leaner and more efficient to the CFO is crucial. This is one of the reasons why clients enjoy working with Dan and his team. He believes that while taking risks is an inevitable part of business, it’s the ability to take calculated risks that sets successful companies apart.
So, how does one take calculated risks? Dan emphasizes the importance of:
- Taking strategic planning seriously.
- Allocating budgets to initiatives that come with varying levels of risk.
- Partnering with the right advisors to fill any critical functional gaps.
In the agency world, risk is a two-way street. Clients take a risk when they choose to work with you, and agencies take a risk with every new client. The right client can propel your business forward, but the wrong client can have the opposite effect.
Calculated Risks for Business Growth
Managing risk involves managing the client portfolio. There came a time in Dan’s journey when they had to part ways with some of their early large clients, but they were prepared with backup plans and growth strategies in other directions.
Innovation and adaptation are essential to an organization’s growth cycle. This not only involves creating new services and teams within the company but also carefully selecting business partners. Some tech vendors make collaboration easier, while others create challenges. Dan’s team has learned that not all tech vendors have well-defined channel marketing strategies, and sometimes partnerships lack mutual value—sometimes, this is intentional.
People-Centered Leadership
Dan Radu believes that people are the core competency of any professional services firm, and identifying and nurturing the right talent is crucial for success. For Dan, this involves several key elements:
- Type of Skills: He makes a clear distinction between soft skills and technical skills. Both are important, but each has a specific role to play in a team’s success.
- Level of Skills and Expertise: It’s important to differentiate between simply being part of a team and being an active, contributing member.
- Motivation: Understanding what drives each team member is essential. Sometimes, a willingness to learn is far more valuable than an arrogant technical expert. Dan Radu learned this lesson the hard way.
In Dan’s view, a successful professional services organization is built like a pyramid of skills, consisting of both senior and junior consultants. The most experienced professionals leverage their expertise, with the support of their associates. Recognizing and understanding this dynamic is essential for running a successful agency.
The Art of Nurturing Talent
As an agency owner, Dan has to balance both supply and demand. At times, he has the projects but needs the talent, and at other times, he has the talent but needs the projects. The key to success is activating this cycle, ensuring that both sides are always in motion.
Dan Radu has observed that many junior professionals entering the B2B marketing industry often develop inflated egos with limited experience. They can be taken by surprise when re-organizations or labor budget shifts occur. Many young digital marketing professionals fail to set the right expectations for themselves, in the B2B marketing world. This is evident in many online forums and communities that often exacerbate this problem. In these spaces, everyone may come together to complain about industry challenges, but this doesn’t provide diverse perspectives. Industry leaders, such as Directors or higher-level executives, cannot afford to voice their concerns in these public forums, leaving juniors with misguided advice. Dan sees this issue frequently when he reads through industry groups and communities.
Meeting Evolving Needs of Digital Marketers
Macro partners with global marketing teams at Fortune 2000 companies to enhance their efficiency. When organizations need to optimize their marketing operations, they turn to Macro. The agency specializes in delivering expert guidance and executing campaigns with maximum efficiency, both directly and through strategic partnerships.
Macro empowers clients to maximize return on investment through a unique blend of custom marketing solutions and cutting-edge technology expertise. Leveraging a global team spanning North America, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, Macro goes beyond traditional consulting and outsourcing. The company views its Eastern European teams as an extension of its clients’ own, fostering seamless collaboration and driving exceptional results. Recognizing the region’s burgeoning talent pool, particularly in countries like Romania, Macro is strategically expanding its Eastern European marketing capabilities.
Addressing “Marketing Tech Frankenstein”
Dan Radu observes that many companies are hindered rather than helped by their existing marketing technology stacks. He coined the term “Marketing Tech Frankenstein” to describe these complex and inefficient systems, often cobbled together without a clear strategy. By identifying and eliminating unnecessary tools and addressing issues like insufficient training and a lack of team ownership, Dan helps clients overcome this “tech debt” and achieve sustainable, long-term growth.
The Future of Digital Marketing
Dan Radu and the team at Macro are enthusiastic about the future of digital marketing. Building upon a history of consistent growth, even during challenging economic conditions, Macro remains committed to adapting to the evolving needs of its clients and embracing the exciting opportunities that lie ahead in the digital marketing landscape.
MACRO’S SECRET SAUCE
1. Accelerating Go-To-Market Strategies
Macro specializes in services and platform experts who can accelerate the GTM for global marketing teams at tech companies. This razor focus is critical in the successful relationships we form. By providing flexible solutions and bringing to the table a diverse range of capabilities, Macro fosters credibility and builds lasting trust with its clients.
2. Human-Centered Focus
At its core, Macro prioritizes a human-centered approach. In an era where AI is becoming increasingly prevalent, the company distinguishes itself by placing people first. This philosophy drives its commitment to crafting truly personalized strategies for clients. While AI serves as a valuable tool, Macro recognizes that genuine human understanding remains the key to achieving meaningful success.
3. Global Delivery Teams
Macro’s global team can augment clients and deliver very efficient services from our nearshore teams. By overcoming language barriers, the team minimizes misunderstandings and fosters stronger relationships. Clients love working with experts in region.
4. Flexible Services
Macro is committed to offering flexibility to its clients. Clients sometimes want to increase or decrease the bandwidth and number of resources they use so Macro can offer that flexibility. The company goes beyond offering services—it invests in its clients’ achievements. Partnering with Macro means gaining a natural extension of your team.
