First Person

What role does product marketing play in the creation of content at B2B SaaS companies? Ask a dozen marketers this question and you'll likely get as many different answers. And with good reason -- this has traditionally been an incredibly gray area for a lot of marketing teams. But on today's episode, we're going to unpack this problem with my guest, John-Henry Scherck, Principal Consultant at Growth Plays. John-Henry helps B2B SaaS companies with search engine optimization, analysis and content strategy, and he has a really interesting viewpoint on the role of product marketing in creating great content that drives category creation, discoverability, page rank, and a lot more.

Who is Algert Sula? He may very well be the most mysterious man in the startup space -- and that's no easy feat, given that he's been instrumental in creating and inspiring the visual identity of so many well-known brands in the tech space. So, on today's episode of First Person, I'm bringing on the International Man of Mystery himself to talk about how he helped build the visual identity behind Drift, why brands need to take more design risks, and what inspires him to zig when everyone else is zagging in the brand space today.

In the world of marketing, audiences have the potential to make or break a brand. That's why, on today's episode of First Person, we're talking to demand generation and growth marketer, Kamil Rextin, about the art and science of audience-building. After ten years in growth roles at companies like Uberflip, CrowdRiff, and Breather -- just to name a few -- Kamil has a no-BS perspective on what it takes to not just survive in saturated markets, but actually *stand out*. Here's what we cover: The cult of personality in B2B marketing and the potential risks for brands Why you need to be data-informed and not data-driven (and what, exactly, is the difference) The difference between media and content Why copywriting isn't the most valuable skill in marketing right now

First off: Go vote on November 3, 2020. Make a plan to vote. Help others make a plan to vote. Your voice needs to be heard. We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you a very special episode of First Person featuring marketer-turned-activist, Rosalia Cefalu. I met Rosalia when we were both working at HubSpot many years ago -- she was a rising star in product marketing and enablement -- and, no joke -- she was always about ten steps ahead of everyone else when it came to, well, just about everything. When I left HubSpot and moved to San Francisco, we kept in touch and I watched from afar as she continued to make a name for herself in the sales enablement space. But then, something peculiar happened: She decided to hit pause on her career in sales enablement to join Elizabeth Warren's campaign for the Democratic nomination. When it all went down, I was intrigued. But I never had a chance to dig into the reasons why she decided to make the move. That is, until now. On this episode, we dig into the motivation behind the momentous move into the political space, her experiences working on a high profile campaign, and what you need to do on November 3rd to help change the course of history (hint: it involves voting). Follow Rosalia on Twitter: @rosaliacef and on Instagram: @rosaliacef. ☝

On this episode of First Person, I'm talking to Alina Benny, SEO and Content Lead at Nextiva, about the rise of something really troubling: content marketing unicorns. What exactly is a content marketing unicorn? Glad you asked. A content marketing unicorn is an elusive breed of content marketer that seems to be an expert in everything from content creation and distribution to coding and technical SEO. You name it, the content marketing unicorn does it -- and all in only a few short years as part of the workforce. Like any other unicorn, this one's hard to find, but that doesn't stop companies from trying to find and hire these rare creatures. But is this realistic? Does it help business or content marketers to have such unrealistic expectations for content marketing pros? On today's episode, we answer that question and talk through the genesis of the myth. Special guest Alina Benny will also talk through her perspective on how this myth hurts content marketers everywhere, and what she's done to overcome the power of its spell.

On this episode, we're joined by the talented, bold, and very wise Sara Pion. If you don't know Sara, you're not paying attention. But I'll fill you in: She's the powerhouse behind Drift's early conversational marketing playbooks and one of the smartest marketers coming up in the space. Why's Sara such a stand-out? For starters, she's got street cred: From making the switch to marketing from early days in customer advocacy at Drift to content and community at Alyce, Sara is relentless in her pursuit of personal and professional growth. Her approach -- as well as her proven track record -- gives her a solid platform from which to advise the next generation of marketers (and just about everyone else) on owning your career and why the road not taken doesn't really matter.

On this very first episode of First Person, I talk to Sarah Siwak, co-founder of Airhouse, an e-commerce operations platform that helps businesses get goods from factory to front door. We cover a lot of ground on this episode, from Sarah's autodidact tendencies to what she learned about running a business while working in the startup space at companies like Gengo, Zenefits, Heap and Shyp. We also dig into why she believes video games have the potential to make you a better problem solver and of course, what it's like launching a company in the middle of a pandemic. Follow Sarah: On Twitter On Instagram