Forward Launch Your SaaS | B2B Marketing & Growth for Startups

Sign up for the newsletter at forwardlaunchyoursaas.comHello and welcome to Forward Launch Your SaaS, the show where we interview B2B SaaS founders and marketing executives about their campaigns and the biggest pieces of wisdom they have to share with other founders and marketers.I'm excited to announce some upcoming changes to the show that I believe will make it even more valuable to our listeners. First, I want to expand the show to include some larger B2B SaaS companies in addition to startups. This change will benefit both startups and scaleups, as business leaders will be able to hear a mix of perspectives from newer and more established companies. Episodes specific to startups will be labeled as the "startup insights" series, while other episodes will be applicable to established companies.Second, I care about the effects that businesses have on society and want to help companies grow while also making a positive impact on humanity and society. Many businesses prioritize profit over societal impacts, but I believe businesses can and should be a force for positive change. Considering the consequences to society at every stage of a company's growth can position companies for long-term success and outperform competitors that don't consider these issues. It also has other benefits like improving team performance, allowing proactive issue management, and making the company more resilient to problems that competitors will face. For example, companies that considered potential privacy concerns before investing in Google Ads won't be affected by Google's recent decision to eliminate third-party advertising, while competitors will have to scramble to adapt. Additionally, companies that consider these issues can attract a wider range of customers who are concerned about privacy.That's why I'm adding in questions about social impact to our regular episodes and starting a new series called "Uplifting SaaS". In these episodes, I'll be speaking with founders, CEOs, and agency owners who sell to or work with SaaS companies about growing a company in general and about their social mission. We'll primarily be exploring how they achieved or how they helped SaaS companies achieve a positive social impact.I'll also be publishing new episodes three times a week, with the possibility of even more frequent releases. The traditional format will continue for a few more months, but starting in March or April, you'll see more social impact content and a wider variety of guests.I hope these changes will make Forward Launch Your SaaS even more valuable to you!

TIMESTAMPS03:00 - Why Kate's Dad told her that she couldn't work for other people anymore08:56 - The Art Of The Start by Guy Kawasaki11:20 - Her first angel investors12:50 - Walmart project that helps them to reach 130% ROI15:30 - The power of voice and copy18:00 - How Lately can help you get more out of your content24:00 - The mindset that helps them get 240% in monthly revenue28:40 - Finding a pure place31:00 - How opportunity and doors opened just by being herself35:00 - Be careful who you listen toGUEST BACKGROUNDKate Bradley Chernis is the Founder & CEO of Lately – A.I that learns which words will get you the most engagement and turns your video, audio, and text into dozens of social posts containing those words. As a former rock 'n' roll dj, Kate served 20 million listeners as Music Director and on-air host at Sirius/XM. She's also an award-winning radio producer, engineer and voice talent with 25 years of national broadcast communications, brand-building, sales and marketing expertise. What she learned in radio about the neuroscience of music helps fuel Lately's artificial intelligence.Prior to founding Lately, Kate also owned a marketing agency that got Walmart a 130% ROI YoY for three years.MAIN INSIGHTTrusting your gut and being yourself opens opportunities for the company and builds more trust in your team.KEY TAKEAWAYSEverything is about emotionCreate and share the right mindset with your teamInvestors bets on your guts and not on the productBeing yourself means being more confident and creativePRACTICAL STEPSCreate and identify the environment where you can be creativeIdentify the uncomfortable situation and change itBe yourselfKnow when to listen and get feedback from other peopleTIPS FOR SUCCESSChoose the right feedback and people to listen toTrust your gut immediatelyTrust your team that they will accept whatever you say that comes out of your mindMORE FROM LATELY AILately's AI learns which words will get you the most engagement and repurposes video, audio, and text into dozens of social posts that contain those words. Learn more at lately.ai

TIMESTAMPS(04:15) Instantaneous lead alert and lead responses(09:58) Lead cost and cost of acquisition(14:38) Have a script of ideas rather than a script of words(18:48) Knowing more about your customers (20:54) Creating ads that hook people(24:50) Competitors' lead magnet systems(27:00) Customizing the language depending on the industry (28:47) Why less is more(32:00) Implementing the system successfullyGUEST BACKGROUNDZeze is the Founder & CEO of Beam.city. It is the world's 1st unified advertising automation platform that uses A.I. & algorithms to help businesses automatically plan and optimize their ads on all top advertising channels with fantastic results in days or weeks. Not only is Zeze a trained rocket scientist, he's launched over 11,000 products and applied AI and eCommerce systems.MAIN INSIGHTIncrease sales revenue by building a system for instant alerts and responses to incoming leads.KEY TAKEAWAYSBuilding a system for instantaneously alerting your sales team when a lead shows up makes better sales revenue Another instantaneous touchpoint is to have a response through SMSLess is more when it comes to messagesPRACTICAL STEPSTips for creating ads that will hook people:Using emojis is important is social platforms (FB, IG, YT, etc)You want people to opt-inMedia should have a very clear message on its first frame TIPS FOR SUCCESSLead responses should be natural and not sound like they came straight from SOPs.MORE FROM BEAM.CITYBeam.city DNA is a powerful, yet easy-to-use growth coordination AI-SaaS platform. It helps you automate and coordinate marketing and sales workflows using ads, text, and social media to get incredible results. Shrink your costs and blast past your growth goals without tab-jumping, spreadsheets, or confusion by using predictive audiences, a goal-customized marketing mix, and an always-on proactive AI expert. Learn more at beam.city

TIMESTAMPS(03:36) The 1-hour Rule(08:01) The Scale-up modes in startups(10:00) Implementing the 1-hour rule(14:55) Having a better perspective with everyone's ideas(16:00) What you are excited about versus what the users might want(20:19) Launch fast and learn quickly(25:25) Have an action-oriented mindset(27:00) Put yourself in your buyer's shoesGUEST BACKGROUNDNitesh Banta believes technology is a force to be reckoned with, which drove him to co-found B12, a human-assisted AI that builds your website in 60 seconds. He completely swapped the business and company strategy from self-serve to enterprise and built a marketing team and strategy from the ground up.MAIN INSIGHTUsing the 1-hour rule that Nitesh implemented at B12 helps you and your team to be more productiveKEY TAKEAWAYSFor early-stage companies, it is important to focus on the phase of learning and validating their ideasThe 1-hour rule gives you real-time feedback from your users/customersGive everyone on your team the opportunity to share ideasTalk and observe the behavior of your users to know what their preferred platform isBe clear on the process and try to understand what the output looks like with that process. It's more important to have the mindset (putting yourself in your buyer's shoes) than the process to follow PRACTICAL STEPSBrainstorm to figure out the intersection between what you are excited about versus what the users might want.Think about how you could get started with that idea and test it within an hour (or the quickest possible version of the idea)Jump in and do it - see what happensTIPS FOR SUCCESSLaunch fast and iterate quickly based on your user feedback. You don't need a lot of time to get user feedback.MORE FROM B12B12 is the all-in-one platform to help your business more easily attract, win, and serve clients online. Learn more at b12.io

TIMESTAMPS03:57 - Thinking of marketing channels “Stock Portfolio”07:10 - Validation process14:53 - Crafting your marketing team23:51 - Short and long-term bets in marketing25:39 - The thing that most marketers fail to doGUEST BACKGROUNDEmil Kristensen is currently the CMO of Drip - a marketing automation platform for eCommerce. Previously he was the founder and CMO of Sleeknote. He also hosts a Danish podcast called Marketing Brief with over 3 million downloads.MAIN INSIGHTInterpreting marketing channels as a stock portfolio can give you better decisions and understanding.KEY TAKEAWAYSWhen you invest in multiple channels, you must give them time and resources to show its resultsThere's no hack to growth in marketing Selecting marketing channels involves a validation processAnalyze your competitors and do exactly what they are not doing Recreate your competitors' org structures from LinkedIn when crafting your marketing teamShort-term bets in choosing a marketing channel is a bet you want to take and see if it is good to invest for your long-term bets/goalsIf you find something that works, try putting a little more effort into it over time, rather than doing new things every single timePRACTICAL STEPSChoosing which marketing channel to put in your marketing “portfolio”  Figure out what skills are already in your marketing team Analyze what are the KPIs of your companyAnalyze your competitors' weaknesses and identify opportunities to beat themUse this information to craft your team and decide which marketing channels to invest inSet a goal framework for your team (short and long-term goals)TIPS FOR SUCCESSDon't copy what your competitors are doingInstead of trying new things, do more of the things that have already been validated MORE FROM DRIPDrip unleashes the power of direct-to-consumer brands' customer data to deliver perfectly personalized email marketing strategies that are proven to grow revenue. Learn more at drip.comWant summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter

GUEST BACKGROUNDClay Kramer runs SEORadar; a SaaS company focused on helping marketers and SEO managers to have visibility over their website's changes that impact organic traffic. He has over 10 years of experience as a product manager, where he delivered results and more than doubled engagement and monetization.MAIN INSIGHTUnderstanding your customer and broadcasting it to your team can help you decide your marketing strategy and positioning.KEY TAKEAWAYSBroadcast the insight you get from your customer to your teamCut out the assumptionsUnderstanding their language and terminology can help you create marketing content and redesign your copyPRACTICAL STEPSInvite a potential or existing customer to hop on a callYou can give incentives such as Amazon gift cardsLet the customer walk you through their day-to-day activityAllow the customer to speak out and avoid interrupting themAsk them what would happen if your product were gone tomorrowSummarize and add your perspectiveBroadcast to your teamTIPS FOR SUCCESSFilter the best conversation you had with the customer before sharing it with your teamOnly take snippets of the conversation you had with the customer and share them with your teamDon't be afraid to experiment and redesign your software from the insights you receivedMORE FROM SEORADARSEORadar allows your team to avoid code changes that lower search rankings. SEORadar monitors webpages and alerts website managers (SEOs, CEOs, Marketers, QA Engineers, Product Managers or Webmasters) to site changes that can have potentially dire consequences for organic traffic. Learn more at seoradar.comConnect with Clay at linkedin.com/in/claykramer/Want summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter

TIMESTAMPS02:40 - Data makes content more exciting13:16 - Breaking down data into content and actionable tasks17:50 - The hardest part of creating content based on data24:00 - Why the product and marketing team should work together, and what opportunity is being missed26:30 - Data is not interesting to everyone29:30 - How Platypus never runs out of data34:00 - Brainstorming contentGUEST BACKGROUNDKatie Johnson is the Marketing Manager at Platypus, an HR tech startup with a mission to reinvent the future of work by prioritizing company culture. Katie started her career in marketing in 2017 and previously led the marketing activity at the award-winning search and behavioral science agency, Reflect Digital, supporting the company's ambitious growth and revenue targets.MAIN INSIGHTBringing data into your culture can help your team craft better content, which leads to successful marketing campaigns.KEY TAKEAWAYSContent is king, and data is the castleChange and adapt your content strategy, and focus on the key data findingsHelping people see the actual benefit of your product can help increase the traffic on your websiteWriters love it when you have proven dataCreating content that is backed up by data is a huge authority builderData can help you get more backlinks which in return helps to boost your SEOToo much branding can hurt your contentPRACTICAL STEPSGather dataIdentify the patterns, themes, and correlationBlend the data into your content strategyWork with your team to figure out the content themeMake the content digestible and easy to readReview how the content performsTIPS FOR SUCCESSWork closely with your data scientistMake the data interesting for your audienceJump into your audience's shoes and see if it's valuable to themAsk your customers what data they want to seeMORE FROM PLATYPUSPlatypus is an HR and recruitment tool that measures cultural drivers of people across the organization to help you qualify decisions on hiring and managing your culture. Learn more at Platypus.ioWant summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter

TIMESTAMPS00:57 - The most difficult science and how he got into marketing08:18 - Evaluate works from a customer perspective12:24 - Achieving an integrated marketing strategy18:00 - How to get enough data efficiently19:58 - How to make sure your teams are working in the same direction25:38 - Using leading and lagging indicators in goal setting27:44 - Understanding factors that can affect your metrics30:12 - Determining controllable and uncontrollable metricsGUEST BACKGROUNDNishchal Dua is a remote work evangelist, co-founder of The Remote Work Summit, and the Director of Marketing at Airmeet. With 8+ years of B2B SaaS marketing experience, Nishchal has seen the B2B buyer's journey evolve from a top-down funnel to a roller-coaster ride.MAIN INSIGHTMost SaaS companies don't have an integrated campaign strategy, which puts them in a position to fail and burn money on marketing.KEY TAKEAWAYSWinning people with your idea is difficultMarketing is about building the right relationship with your customersMarketing is a way of connecting people and getting them to the right place that will help themAs your company grows - never forget to always look at the bigger perspective and make sure that every decision aligns with itIf your revenue is not growing, the problem is not with the efforts, but with the direction you are movingEverybody has to be aligned on the same goal for autonomy to workPrioritizing your campaign and goal will save you from doing unnecessary tasksEvaluate the WHY of the activity and the effort you'll be doingAsk for enough advice to get enough answersThink of your reports to executives not from a delivery standpoint, but based on campaign success reportingPRACTICAL STEPSGet feedback from leaders and executives before executing a planIdentify the part of the funnel that you want to work onIdentify the levers you can pullShare it with your team and get feedback on how they can impact the funnelTIPS FOR SUCCESSAlways look at the big pictureStop thinking that you can do it alone as a marketerGet enough data before jumping into a decisionMORE FROM AIRMEETAirmeet is the fastest-growing platform for hosting a rich variety of virtual events. From Hackathons to ice-breakers, panel discussions to workshops, Airmeet's intuitive experience delivers on organizers' expectations for a wide range of events and not just conferences. Learn more at airmeet.comWant summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter

TIMESTAMPS02:00 - Insights on growing the company06:02 - Getting direct feedback from prospective customers06:52 - Dealing with different marketing design ideas11:00 - How to make marketing design work12:14 - Minimum work needed to get you to your customers16:01 - What companies should be doing before creating different platforms16:38 - What assets to test and not to testGUEST BACKGROUNDSharon Biggar is currently the VP of Marketing & Sales at Hotjar, a tool that provides product experience insights to over a million websites worldwide. Sharon recently spearheaded a company rebrand that helped Hotjar's revenue grow more than 50% last year.MAIN INSIGHTKeeping your customer at the heart of marketing helps you be more intentional and avoid burning money on testing.KEY TAKEAWAYSThe core of marketing today is analyticsMarketing has to be data-driven at its coreKeep the customer at the heart of marketingProspective customers can give you great, honest, and straightforward feedbackAn advert needs to be understood before making it beautifulPRACTICAL STEPSGive up the idea that a beautiful advertisement is going to be the most effectiveIdentify the minimum viable concept that you can deliver to your prospective customerGet feedback from your customersTIPS FOR SUCCESSDevelop empathy with your customerDo not assume that you understand your customersIf the cost of testing outweighs the cost of producing the asset and getting it live, it's suggested not to test it, and if the cost of producing the asset is high, then it is to be testedMORE FROM HOTJARHotjar is an intuitive, visual way to discover, consolidate, and communicate user needs. Hotjar provides product experience insights which shows how your users are experiencing your website and how to improve your website so that users have a great digital experience. Learn more at hotjar.comWant summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter

TIMESTAMPS03:21 - Knowing what marketing campaign works12:09 - Setting up your ideal customer profile14:11 - Steps to implement a marketing campaign18:49 - Tips to have a successful marketing campaign20:45 - Collecting everyone's point-of-view and aligning everyone on one vision23:51 - How to get the best insightsGUEST BACKGROUNDNadia is passionate about connecting businesses with their ideal customers. She has accelerated growth strategies for many B2B companies in the SaaS, e-commerce, and tech industries. Her sweet spot is when marketing intersects with technology.She is a leader that has helped build high-performance teams, producing triple-digit growth in engagement, acquisition, and revenue. In 2020, Nadia was added to Marketo's Fearless 50 list as one of the top 50 marketers in the world.MAIN INSIGHTUnderstanding your customer and creating customer intimacy will lead to the success of your product and marketing campaigns.KEY TAKEAWAYSYou really need to understand your customers/users no matter what the stage of your company isCustomers decide if your marketing campaign is successfulGive your customers options on how to engage with youInvolve your whole team in figuring out your ideal customer profileCreate focus groups that are within your ideal customer profileCreate polls and surveys if you have a tight budgetThe best insights come from actually talking to peoplePRACTICAL STEPSCreate opportunities to interview your customerIdentify the pain points and AHA moments of your customerIdentify what they love about your product and what else they needIdentify why your customer chose you rather than competitorsCreate ideal customer profile (ICP) by having a cross-department workshopMake sure that everyone on your team is aligned and understands your actual customerTIPS FOR SUCCESSGet a lot of viewpoints from the executive chainListen to your customer before creating an ideal customer profileDedicate time to listening to customer callsTest your homepageBuild a collaborative culture within your companyMaximize all your platforms in collecting customer feedbackMORE FROM PROPOSIFYProposify's proposal software helps growing teams remove document bottlenecks and get visibility into the most important stage of your sales cycle: the close.Learn more at proposify.comWant summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter

TIMESTAMPS03:10 - What is a “K Factor”, and why it gives Contractbook exponential growth08:29 - Why Contractbook charge based on the automation they provide09:20 - How Contractbook demonstrates value to their users11:37 - Build trust and expose your user to the power of your platform13:53 - How Covid helped their market and user to mature16:30 - Finding different angles to invite more customers20:02 - Why you should invest in bottom-of-funnel marketing even in the early stages of your businessGUEST BACKGROUNDNiels Martin Brøchner is CEO of multiple startups and currently CEO at Contractbook.com, software that innovates the PDF and makes contract flow less chaotic. He believes you can learn and reuse a lot of unique approaches from other people but still focus on the hand you're dealt instead of what others have done in the past.MAIN INSIGHTIdentifying and focusing on a solid go-to-market strategy that suits your product helps your company grow exponentially.KEY TAKEAWAYSCharging your customers is all about the value and solution you provide to themLeverage your customers and their networksExpose your users to the power and value of your platformRemember to experiment and change your strategy to make great progress in your companyNarrow your focus on the user experience and how they can share your productHire someone who can understand and convert opportunity to salesActivation should be easy for your user PRACTICAL STEPSIdentify who your users areIdentify the user journeyFind out how you want to invite your users and how your users can invite other users TIPS FOR SUCCESSFind one thing that your competitors can't do and leverage it MORE FROM CONTRACTBOOKContractbook helps you streamline every step from contract creation to post-signature handoffs. Learn more at contractbook.comWant summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter

TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Introduction00:42 - How the company started02:05 - Truth discovered is more powerful than truth revealed04:02 - Earned Insight into being an SEO Expert09:00 - Concept of Art of War in marketing campaign13:40 - SEOs are different from writers16:00 - How SEO can scale up traffic to your website19:30 - Implementing Organic Content Strategy successfully28:28 - Conversion rate optimizationGUEST BACKGROUNDAlexander De Ridder is the Co-Founder, CTO, and Creator of the INK Editor, a new AI content performance optimization platform. Ink's award-winning technology has helped deliver over 1 million more organic visitors per month for Fortune 100 companies and freelance content creators alike.MORE FROM INKINK was founded in 2017 by leaders in search marketing optimization. They are on a mission to help the world communicate with purpose and craft Natural Language Optimization AI models to understand the meaning of content and uncover the nuances of what makes it perform.INK helps your content to be found, to engage and to convert – so that you and your business can rise above the noise.Learn more at inkforall.comMAIN INSIGHTPaid marketing can be a waste of money if your organic marketing is not yet established.KEY TAKEAWAYSEarned insights are some of the most valuable things you could have in your businessTruth discovered is more powerful than truth revealedPaid marketing can be used to A/B test marketing channelsCreate and write content with a purposeContent that once ranked and became popular may drop offPRACTICAL STEPSAnalyze your product and understand what problems need to be solvedAsk yourself who is suffering from that problem the most (target market)Ask that group of people, “what are they looking for online to solve their problem'Collect all the terms related to it and keywords around itPick one type of audienceHire someone expert to go and help create a content planStart executing and creating that contentTIPS FOR SUCCESSOptimize your content for a good user experienceMake good use of tools relevant to SEO/optimizationGoogle values trust, so keep on creating content on the same topicNot all SEOs are good writers, and good writers are not all SEOsWant summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter

TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Introduction 00:42 - How the company started 02:05 - Truth discovered is more powerful than truth revealed 04:02 - Earned Insight into being an SEO Expert 09:00 - Concept of Art of War in marketing campaign 13:40 - SEOs are different from writers 16:00 - How SEO can scale up traffic to your website 19:30 - Implementing Organic Content Strategy successfully 28:28 - Conversion rate optimization GUEST BACKGROUND Alexander De Ridder is the Co-Founder, CTO, and Creator of the INK Editor, a new AI content performance optimization platform. Ink's award-winning technology has helped deliver over 1 million more organic visitors per month for Fortune 100 companies and freelance content creators alike. MORE FROM INK INK was founded in 2017 by leaders in search marketing optimization. They are on a mission to help the world communicate with purpose and craft Natural Language Optimization AI models to understand the meaning of content and uncover the nuances of what makes it perform. INK helps your content to be found, to engage and to convert – so that you and your business can rise above the noise. Learn more at inkforall.com MAIN INSIGHT Paid marketing can be a waste of money if your organic marketing is not yet established. KEY TAKEAWAYS Earned insights are some of the most valuable things you could have in your business Truth discovered is more powerful than truth revealed Paid marketing can be used to A/B test marketing channels Create and write content with a purpose Content that once ranked and became popular may drop off PRACTICAL STEPS Analyze your product and understand what problems need to be solved Ask yourself who is suffering from that problem the most (target market) Ask that group of people, “what are they looking for online to solve their problem' Collect all the terms related to it and keywords around it Pick one type of audience Hire someone expert to go and help create a content plan Start executing and creating that content TIPS FOR SUCCESS Optimize your content for a good user experience Make good use of tools relevant to SEO/optimization Google values trust, so keep on creating content on the same topic Not all SEOs are good writers, and good writers are not all SEOs

TIMESTAMPS00:52 - Introduction of how he entered the start-up world02:35 - How Photon Commerce Started04:05 - Where is Language Monetizable?10:38 - Difference between marketing and sales12:09 - How do you find your market?18:15 - Success in finding the right people/customers19:37 - How do you know when to adapt your messaging based on the feedback you are gettingGUEST BACKGROUNDMichael Young is the founder & CEO of Photon Commerce. Photon accelerates customer acquisition for fintech leaders using instant payments and invoicing through AI and is supported by a venture firm funded by Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates. After dropping out of a Stanford PhD, Michael led advanced R&D programs funded by the Department of Defense, created hundreds of jobs, raised $50M across his venture-backed startups, and took them to acquisitions.MORE FROM PHOTON COMMERCEPhoton Commerce's financial AI platform empowers fintech leaders to instantly process B2B payments, invoices, statements, and receipts. Photon's intelligent platform understands and harmonizes data, down to even line-item purchase analytics and prediction. Learn more at photoncommerce.comReach out to Michael at linkedin.com/in/michaelyoungphotonMAIN INSIGHTSales and marketing should blend together, especially for an early-stage startup, so you can learn more about your customer and find a product-market-fit fast.KEY TAKEAWAYSMarketing is all about communicating the problem you are solving to the worldMarketing is a job of story-telling amazing stories to your team, your investors, your customers, and the worldExperiment and try different things to see what will work for your companyContent should be optimized for SEO and engagement, and repostLook for a direct marketing strategyDistributing content and getting more traffic is as important as producing contentTreat every single market conversation as uniqueTest your messagesCreate different landing pagesUtilize email marketingVisual thumbnail and title are two of the most important components of your contentEngagement is as important as creating contentA/B test your contentPRACTICAL STEPSFind the biggest problem that is worth solvingIdentify your WHY for solving this problemShare your why to your team and customer to inspire and motivate themTIPS FOR SUCCESSUnderstand what tools you should useTest your websites and landing pagesUse Hotjar to see heatmaps on your website and the behaviors of your usersEncourage your marketing team to be analytical and technicalDon't hesitate to share some of your content directly and add a personal touch to itTiming on presenting the content is also importantWant summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter

TIMESTAMPS 00:52 - Introduction of how he entered the start-up world 02:35 - How Photon Commerce Started 04:05 - Where is Language Monetizable? 10:38 - Difference between marketing and sales 12:09 - How do you find your market? 18:15 - Success in finding the right people/customers 19:37 - How do you know when to adapt your messaging based on the feedback you are getting GUEST BACKGROUND Michael Young is the founder & CEO of Photon Commerce. Photon accelerates customer acquisition for fintech leaders using instant payments and invoicing through AI and is supported by a venture firm funded by Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates. After dropping out of a Stanford PhD, Michael led advanced R&D programs funded by the Department of Defense, created hundreds of jobs, raised $50M across his venture-backed startups, and took them to acquisitions. MORE FROM PHOTON COMMERCE Photon Commerce's financial AI platform empowers fintech leaders to instantly process B2B payments, invoices, statements, and receipts. Photon's intelligent platform understands and harmonizes data, down to even line-item purchase analytics and prediction. Learn more at photoncommerce.com Reach out to Michael at linkedin.com/in/michaelyoungphoton MAIN INSIGHT Sales and marketing should blend together, especially for an early-stage startup, so you can learn more about your customer and find a product-market-fit fast. KEY TAKEAWAYS Marketing is all about communicating the problem you are solving to the world Marketing is a job of story-telling amazing stories to your team, your investors, your customers, and the world Experiment and try different things to see what will work for your company Content should be optimized for SEO and engagement, and repost Look for a direct marketing strategy Distributing content and getting more traffic is as important as producing content Treat every single market conversation as unique Test your messagesCreate different landing pages Utilize email marketing Visual thumbnail and title are two of the most important components of your content Engagement is as important as creating content A/B test your content PRACTICAL STEPS Find the biggest problem that is worth solving Identify your WHY for solving this problem Share your why to your team and customer to inspire and motivate them TIPS FOR SUCCESS Understand what tools you should use Test your websites and landing pages Use Hotjar to see heatmaps on your website and the behaviors of your users Encourage your marketing team to be analytical and technical Don't hesitate to share some of your content directly and add a personal touch to it Timing on presenting the content is also important

TIMESTAMPS00:30 - How creativity and curiosity about human behaviours make Kathryn love marketing01:10 - Why there is no silver bullet in marketing04:35 - Kathryn's experience and why you need to be brave in testing data07:15 - Why everyone is a marketer10:35 - The power of story for marketers14:25 - The moment when you can say “job done” as a marketer20:50 - The groundwork before doing any marketing campaign25:05 - How to create a customer persona when you're targeting large businessesMORE FROM APPFOLLOWAppFollow is on a mission to help teams working on mobile apps to turn insights from reviews into new product experiences that users love. Learn more at appfollow.ioGUEST BACKGROUNDKathryn Lye is the Global Head of Marketing at AppFollow. She has more than 20 years of experience in marketing and scaling B2B tech businesses, and she understands how to help growing startups overcome their unique challenges. Kathryn has helped businesses grow from almost no revenue to multi-millions.MAIN INSIGHTUsing different sources to augment data helps you to look at a bigger perspective on all your marketing efforts.KEY TAKEAWAYSDon't assume that your team has the same knowledge as youYou need to be creative and brave in testing dataAlways look at the perspective of all your marketing channels combinedAn anecdote can be a data pointPRACTICAL STEPSNever assumeStart asking questions to your team, founders, and potential buyersUnderstand if there's a gap in your informationStart thinking about how to get that information either by test, experiments, advisorsTIPS FOR SUCCESSDoing any marketing campaign without knowing your customer is setting yourself up for failureTalking to buyers is massively underrated for marketersLook outside in and not inside outWant summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter

TIMESTAMPS 00:30 - How creativity and curiosity about human behaviours make Kathryn love marketing 01:10 - Why there is no silver bullet in marketing 04:35 - Kathryn's experience and why you need to be brave in testing data 07:15 - Why everyone is a marketer 10:35 - The power of story for marketers 14:25 - The moment when you can say “job done” as a marketer 20:50 - The groundwork before doing any marketing campaign 25:05 - How to create a customer persona when you're targeting large businesses MORE FROM APPFOLLOW AppFollow is on a mission to help teams working on mobile apps to turn insights from reviews into new product experiences that users love. Learn more at appfollow.io GUEST BACKGROUND Kathryn Lye is the Global Head of Marketing at AppFollow. She has more than 20 years of experience in marketing and scaling B2B tech businesses, and she understands how to help growing startups overcome their unique challenges. Kathryn has helped businesses grow from almost no revenue to multi-millions. MAIN INSIGHT Using different sources to augment data helps you to look at a bigger perspective on all your marketing efforts. KEY TAKEAWAYS Don't assume that your team has the same knowledge as you You need to be creative and brave in testing data Always look at the perspective of all your marketing channels combined An anecdote can be a data point PRACTICAL STEPS Never assume Start asking questions to your team, founders, and potential buyers Understand if there's a gap in your information Start thinking about how to get that information either by test, experiments, advisors TIPS FOR SUCCESS Doing any marketing campaign without knowing your customer is setting yourself up for failure Talking to buyers is massively underrated for marketers Look outside in and not inside out

TIMESTAMPS03:01 - Why you should focus on one single growth channel14:59 - How to choose a marketing channel as a bootstrapped startup17:33 - Journey of a bootstrapped company from 0 to 4000 customers22:34 - Understanding Google and SEO33:53 - How to create a product for link buildingGUEST BACKGROUNDKalo is the co-founder of Encharge.io - a marketing automation platform. Encharge launched in 2019 and Kalo and his team bootstrapped it to 4,000 customers as of today. All of its growth has been gained through organic search traffic.MORE FROM ENCHARGEEncharge was created in 2018 as an alternative to clunky unusable marketing automation tools. They believe that automating your SaaS marketing should be more enjoyable.Learn more at encharge.ioMAIN INSIGHTIf you are a bootstrapped startup, focusing on one marketing channel and testing it for 6 to 12 months is the best path to go rather than spending your small resources on different channels.KEY TAKEAWAYSFind a marketing channel - founder fitIf a marketing channel is producing good results then it's a good indication to focus on that channelDo not underestimate the learning curve in trying to find a marketing channel fitFocus on the bottom part of the funnel if you want to validate if the marketing channelPRACTICAL STEPSFor finding a marketing channel:Find a marketing channel founder fitValidate the channelFocus on running your marketing for 6 to 12 monthsFind other channels to test your marketing effortsFor growing and building your SEO marketing channelFocus on the bottom of the funnel topics and keywordsLook at the smaller competitors who are doing wellWrite content with SEO-rich keywords and topicsStart link buildingHire more content writersTIPS FOR SUCCESSDo your best to create a product on link buildingFocus on one part of the funnel at firstDo everything in a micro-testWant summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter

TIMESTAMPS 03:01 - Why you should focus on one single growth channel 14:59 - How to choose a marketing channel as a bootstrapped startup 17:33 - Journey of a bootstrapped company from 0 to 4000 customers 22:34 - Understanding Google and SEO 33:53 - How to create a product for link building GUEST BACKGROUND Kalo is the co-founder of Encharge.io - a marketing automation platform. Encharge launched in 2019 and Kalo and his team bootstrapped it to 4,000 customers as of today. All of its growth has been gained through organic search traffic. MORE FROM ENCHARGE Encharge was created in 2018 as an alternative to clunky unusable marketing automation tools. They believe that automating your SaaS marketing should be more enjoyable. Learn more at encharge.io MAIN INSIGHT If you are a bootstrapped startup, focusing on one marketing channel and testing it for 6 to 12 months is the best path to go rather than spending your small resources on different channels. KEY TAKEAWAYS Find a marketing channel - founder fit If a marketing channel is producing good results then it's a good indication to focus on that channel Do not underestimate the learning curve in trying to find a marketing channel fit Focus on the bottom part of the funnel if you want to validate if the marketing channel PRACTICAL STEPS For finding a marketing channel: Find a marketing channel founder fit Validate the channel Focus on running your marketing for 6 to 12 months Find other channels to test your marketing efforts For growing and building your SEO marketing channel Focus on the bottom of the funnel topics and keywords Look at the smaller competitors who are doing well Write content with SEO-rich keywords and topics Start link building Hire more content writers TIPS FOR SUCCESS Do your best to create a product on link building Focus on one part of the funnel at first Do everything in a micro-test

MORE FROM MAZEMaze helps you create truly customer-centric products by empowering your entire product team to collect actionable insights anytime, anywhere.Learn more at maze.coGUEST BACKGROUNDBozena is the VP of Marketing at Maze and previously led Product Marketing at Typeform and TravelPerk. She enjoys the ups and downs of working at a high-growth startup — from building strategy and collaborating cross-functionally to scaling a fully remote team. She's currently based in Barcelona but considers herself a world nomad.MAIN INSIGHTBuilding an advisory council no matter what level you're in can help you mitigate your blindspots, be confident in decision-making, and fast-track your learnings.KEY TAKEAWAYSAn advisor can help you identify if your strategy is working and if you need to tweak your strategyAdvisors will not tell you the exact answer but they will give you another point of view and another lens so you can come up with a conclusionAdvisors affect your decision-making, tactics, prioritization, strategy and team growthFind the right advisors that fit your culturePRACTICAL STEPSIdentify the challenges you're facingGo to your networks, such as your investors or other executives to find advisorsQualify the advisor to ensure it's the right fitPrepare a list of questions and documents before jumping into the meetingFilter all the guidance and advise as you see fit for your companyTIPS FOR SUCCESSDo a self-assessment to identify where you lack experience and areas you're truly confident to make decisions before getting an advisorSeek conversation with people in your field and learn from their approach, experience and previous resultsWant summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter

MORE FROM MAZE Maze helps you create truly customer-centric products by empowering your entire product team to collect actionable insights anytime, anywhere.Learn more at maze.co GUEST BACKGROUND Bozena is the VP of Marketing at Maze and previously led Product Marketing at Typeform and TravelPerk. She enjoys the ups and downs of working at a high-growth startup — from building strategy and collaborating cross-functionally to scaling a fully remote team. She's currently based in Barcelona but considers herself a world nomad. MAIN INSIGHT Building an advisory council no matter what level you're in can help you mitigate your blindspots, be confident in decision-making, and fast-track your learnings. KEY TAKEAWAYS An advisor can help you identify if your strategy is working and if you need to tweak your strategy Advisors will not tell you the exact answer but they will give you another point of view and another lens so you can come up with a conclusion Advisors affect your decision-making, tactics, prioritization, strategy and team growth Find the right advisors that fit your culture PRACTICAL STEPS Identify the challenges you're facing Go to your networks, such as your investors or other executives to find advisors Qualify the advisor to ensure it's the right fit Prepare a list of questions and documents before jumping into the meeting Filter all the guidance and advise as you see fit for your company TIPS FOR SUCCESS Do a self-assessment to identify where you lack experience and areas you're truly confident to make decisions before getting an advisor Seek conversation with people in your field and learn from their approach, experience and previous results

MORE FROM OTTEROtter empowers your team with real-time, accurate notes that are stored in one central, secure, and searchable place so you can be more engaged, collaborative, and productive.Learn more at otter.aiReach out to Chang at linkedin.com/in/ccchangchen/GUEST BACKGROUNDChang built and led the team at Otter.ai for both B2C and B2B growth & marketing. She scaled the ARR from tens of thousands to double-digit millions and grew the individual user base from 20k to several million in 10 months.MAIN INSIGHTPrioritize the native growth loops in the product before investing in external marketing channels. That way, your customer will promote your product and increase retention.KEY TAKEAWAYSOptimize your growth loops before doing traditional marketing (paid ads, content marketing, etc.)If you do traditional marketing without enhancing your growth loops, you'll end up with a leak in your funnel that will make you lose customersIdentify the type of users that will likely promote your product to other peopleThe users should be able to build and contribute to more networks and usersPRACTICAL STEPSStay focused on improving your product and optimizing growth loops before going to other marketing tactics such as paid ads, content marketing, etc.Look into the product and see how you can design the growth loops to be embedded into the users' flow while retaining enough friction to encourage them to upgrade their plan to a paid planAdd more growth loops, such as:Not interrupting the user to keep the user's trustGive them the NEED to share your productIdentify the “AHA” moments of your users and make sure that they get and share those benefitsAfter optimizing your growth loops, it's time to accelerate and get more traffic using traditional marketingTIPS FOR SUCCESSUnderstand user behavior and how you can give enough value without interfering with the existing user behavior while maintaining a proper amount of friction so users upgrade their planGive before you askWant summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter

MORE FROM OTTER Otter empowers your team with real-time, accurate notes that are stored in one central, secure, and searchable place so you can be more engaged, collaborative, and productive. Learn more at otter.ai Reach out to Chang at linkedin.com/in/ccchangchen/ GUEST BACKGROUND Chang built and led the team at Otter.ai for both B2C and B2B growth & marketing. She scaled the ARR from tens of thousands to double-digit millions and grew the individual user base from 20k to several million in 10 months. MAIN INSIGHT Prioritize the native growth loops in the product before investing in external marketing channels. That way, your customer will promote your product and increase retention. KEY TAKEAWAYS Optimize your growth loops before doing traditional marketing (paid ads, content marketing, etc.) If you do traditional marketing without enhancing your growth loops, you'll end up with a leak in your funnel that will make you lose customers Identify the type of users that will likely promote your product to other people The users should be able to build and contribute to more networks and users PRACTICAL STEPS Stay focused on improving your product and optimizing growth loops before going to other marketing tactics such as paid ads, content marketing, etc. Look into the product and see how you can design the growth loops to be embedded into the users' flow while retaining enough friction to encourage them to upgrade their plan to a paid plan Add more growth loops, such as:Not interrupting the user to keep the user's trust Give them the NEED to share your product Identify the “AHA” moments of your users and make sure that they get and share those benefits After optimizing your growth loops, it's time to accelerate and get more traffic using traditional marketing TIPS FOR SUCCESS Understand user behavior and how you can give enough value without interfering with the existing user behavior while maintaining a proper amount of friction so users upgrade their plan Give before you ask

MORE FROM FONS Fons help small businesses grow by streamlining scheduling and billing, putting your administrative tasks on autopilot. Learn more at fons.com Connect with Eric at linkedin.com/in/eric-branner-6a113b13 MAIN INSIGHT Building a community is a grind when you're just starting out, but if you continue to provide value, your customers will be your best salespeople. GUEST BACKGROUND Eric Branner found himself spending upwards of ten hours a week on administration alone which cut into his earning potential. He knew there had to be a better way - so he built Fons. Fons simplifies and automates two things that every business owner needs - scheduling and payments. It helps business owners earn over 20+ million dollars and is still quickly growing. On average, professionals who use Fons earn up to 25% more each month because their busy work has been totally eliminated. KEY TAKEAWAYS Happiness can only be found once it's rooted outside yourself Customers are your best salespeople A marketer should be motivated by a customer's success using the product Create a product that will solve a problem The goal of building a community is to get people to believe in your product or idea   PRACTICAL STEPS Research your target audience or peopleDo an interview and ask them what keeps them up at night Choose a platform where you can find your audience Identify the key metrics on that platform Focus on building your community on one platform before moving to another one   TIPS FOR SUCCESS Invest in your success Promote positivity in your community and not competition Focus on one marketing platform or channel before moving to another

MORE FROM FONSFons help small businesses grow by streamlining scheduling and billing, putting your administrative tasks on autopilot. Learn more at fons.comConnect with Eric at linkedin.com/in/eric-branner-6a113b13MAIN INSIGHTBuilding a community is a grind when you're just starting out, but if you continue to provide value, your customers will be your best salespeople.GUEST BACKGROUNDEric Branner found himself spending upwards of ten hours a week on administration alone which cut into his earning potential. He knew there had to be a better way - so he built Fons.Fons simplifies and automates two things that every business owner needs - scheduling and payments. It helps business owners earn over 20+ million dollars and is still quickly growing. On average, professionals who use Fons earn up to 25% more each month because their busy work has been totally eliminated.KEY TAKEAWAYSHappiness can only be found once it's rooted outside yourselfCustomers are your best salespeopleA marketer should be motivated by a customer's success using the productCreate a product that will solve a problemThe goal of building a community is to get people to believe in your product or idea  PRACTICAL STEPSResearch your target audience or peopleDo an interview and ask them what keeps them up at nightChoose a platform where you can find your audienceIdentify the key metrics on that platformFocus on building your community on one platform before moving to another one  TIPS FOR SUCCESSInvest in your successPromote positivity in your community and not competitionFocus on one marketing platform or channel before moving to anotherWant summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter

Want summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to theForward Launch Your SaaS newsletter MORE FROM ROWS Rows is the first true spreadsheet with built-in integrations and a slick sharing experience. Learn more at Rows.com Reach out to Henrique at twitter.com/henrm_cruz GUEST BACKGROUND Henrique is the Head of Growth at Rows, the spreadsheet with superpowers. Henrique loves to read books, and he shares his review at betaglyph.com. Occasionally, he also loves to share about tech, climate, and other things at henriquecruz.substack.com. MAIN INSIGHT Targeting successful users with high retention rates leads to more sales and growth. KEY TAKEAWAYS Transparency of metrics to every department is critical for improvement Position your product and focus your marketing budget on a segment of customers that has a high retention rate Retention is the foundation of growth The more customers you acquire, the better your product should be  PRACTICAL STEPS Target the successful users or users that have a higher retention rate Understand that users and break it down in terms of demographics and firmographics Identify the activation (AHA) moment and the difference between the user journey of that specific type of user Run a test and validate if it correlates with retention Figure out how the users can reach the activation moment faster  TIPS FOR SUCCESS Create additional qualifying data for the user Focus on improving and making the account activation moment faster - the point of user's experience where they will be a long-term customer Identify what areas have the most impact on your growth model Assign a team member that is dedicated to looking at the KPIs

Want summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to theForward Launch Your SaaS newsletterMORE FROM ROWSRows is the first true spreadsheet with built-in integrations and a slick sharing experience. Learn more at Rows.comReach out to Henrique at twitter.com/henrm_cruzGUEST BACKGROUNDHenrique is the Head of Growth at Rows, the spreadsheet with superpowers. Henrique loves to read books, and he shares his review at betaglyph.com. Occasionally, he also loves to share about tech, climate, and other things at henriquecruz.substack.com.MAIN INSIGHTTargeting successful users with high retention rates leads to more sales and growth.KEY TAKEAWAYSTransparency of metrics to every department is critical for improvementPosition your product and focus your marketing budget on a segment of customers that has a high retention rateRetention is the foundation of growthThe more customers you acquire, the better your product should be PRACTICAL STEPSTarget the successful users or users that have a higher retention rateUnderstand that users and break it down in terms of demographics and firmographicsIdentify the activation (AHA) moment and the difference between the user journey of that specific type of userRun a test and validate if it correlates with retentionFigure out how the users can reach the activation moment faster TIPS FOR SUCCESSCreate additional qualifying data for the userFocus on improving and making the account activation moment faster - the point of user's experience where they will be a long-term customerIdentify what areas have the most impact on your growth modelAssign a team member that is dedicated to looking at the KPIsWant summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter

Want summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter GUEST BIO Lucas James is the founder and CEO of the digital marketing agency Twiz.io. After rapidly scaling his agency beyond 7 figures, he converted it into a SaaS product. He also recently founded AgencyGo, a platform that helps agency owners connect and form partnerships to grow their businesses.

Want summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletterGUEST BIOLucas James is the founder and CEO of the digital marketing agency Twiz.io. After rapidly scaling his agency beyond 7 figures, he converted it into a SaaS product. He also recently founded AgencyGo, a platform that helps agency owners connect and form partnerships to grow their businesses.Want summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter

Want summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter MORE FROM MARCH HEALTH www.march.health GUEST BIO Mark Amouzgar is CEO and Founder of March Health. After seeing his wife suffer from a severe level of menstrual pain every month, Mark started March Health with the aim to help women with the process of managing menstrual pain. With an app and a wearable device that emits low wave electrical impulses and a heating pad, March Health aims to reduce the physical pain suffered during menstruation and the emotional and psychological effects that may come with it.

Want summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletterMORE FROM MARCH HEALTHwww.march.healthGUEST BIOMark Amouzgar is CEO and Founder of March Health. After seeing his wife suffer from a severe level of menstrual pain every month, Mark started March Health with the aim to help women with the process of managing menstrual pain. With an app and a wearable device that emits low wave electrical impulses and a heating pad, March Health aims to reduce the physical pain suffered during menstruation and the emotional and psychological effects that may come with it.Want summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter

Want summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter MORE FROM PROCESS STREET Process Street is a simple, free and powerful way to manage your team's recurring checklists and procedures. Learn more at process.st Reach out to Vinay at twitter.com/vinayp10 GUEST BACKGROUND Vinay Patankar is the CEO of Process Street. Manage employee onboarding, workflow automation, checklists, the team's handbook & more with Process Street's modern management platform. MAIN INSIGHT Continuously learn and evolve as your company grows and scales by strategically adding on new marketing channels.  TOPICS WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE Early days of entrepreneurship and how he founded Process Street Why does your marketing strategy need to evolve along with your company When to find the next channel or marketing strategy Common signs of a declining channel How to encourage a learning culture in your team What to do to a deteriorating channel Common pitfalls in finding a new marketing channel and strategy How to avoid burning money when it comes to finding a new marketing channel  KEY TAKEAWAYS Systems and processes are key pieces of building and scaling a business Processes and systems need to be deployed once a business needs to scale Do not overestimate the scalability of a particular channel or strategy Invest early in testing new marketing channels and strategy All marketing channels will eventually deteriorate Two ways to grow your customer:Unlock new channels to drive more people Improve the customer journey to drive growth  PRACTICAL STEPS Analyze customer journey Find the low-hanging fruit and the most efficient channel Find a new channel to run experiments and only do micro testing Create a good system for analyzing experiments Execute the campaign properly  TIPS FOR SUCCESS Do micro tests to limit risks Encourage proactive learning in your team

Want summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletterMORE FROM PROCESS STREETProcess Street is a simple, free and powerful way to manage your team's recurring checklists and procedures. Learn more at process.stReach out to Vinay at twitter.com/vinayp10GUEST BACKGROUNDVinay Patankar is the CEO of Process Street. Manage employee onboarding, workflow automation, checklists, the team's handbook & more with Process Street's modern management platform.MAIN INSIGHTContinuously learn and evolve as your company grows and scales by strategically adding on new marketing channels. TOPICS WE COVER IN THIS EPISODEEarly days of entrepreneurship and how he founded Process StreetWhy does your marketing strategy need to evolve along with your companyWhen to find the next channel or marketing strategyCommon signs of a declining channelHow to encourage a learning culture in your teamWhat to do to a deteriorating channelCommon pitfalls in finding a new marketing channel and strategyHow to avoid burning money when it comes to finding a new marketing channel KEY TAKEAWAYSSystems and processes are key pieces of building and scaling a businessProcesses and systems need to be deployed once a business needs to scaleDo not overestimate the scalability of a particular channel or strategyInvest early in testing new marketing channels and strategyAll marketing channels will eventually deteriorateTwo ways to grow your customer:Unlock new channels to drive more peopleImprove the customer journey to drive growth PRACTICAL STEPSAnalyze customer journeyFind the low-hanging fruit and the most efficient channelFind a new channel to run experiments and only do micro testingCreate a good system for analyzing experimentsExecute the campaign properly TIPS FOR SUCCESSDo micro tests to limit risksEncourage proactive learning in your teamWant summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter

Want summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to theForward Launch Your SaaS newsletter MORE FROM KAIKU Kaiku is a smart matchmaking platform for early stage venture funds. They work with 100s of venture funds globally focussing on supporting technology enabled Seed to Series A start-ups raise funding. Learn more at kaiku.co Reach out to Alex at alex -at- kaiku.co or www.linkedin.com/in/alexbalderstone GUEST BACKGROUND Alex Balderstone is the co-founder and CEO of Kaiku, a platform that provides smart, data-driven matchmaking between venture funds and startups. He is also the Venture Director at the Birmingham Enterprise Community (BEC) and the Founder of Warwick Congress. MAIN INSIGHT Grow your business by building and maintaining a network of referral partnerships by understanding the community and what incentives could work for them. KEY TAKEAWAYS Build a solution to a problem that already exists as opposed to a problem that doesn't exist Always create an opportunity to be present in your community or networkStay relevant to your network to the point that they'll mention you if there are questions or news about your industry or niche Go to events and speaking opportunities and create content to grow your network Follow the right people on social media and interact or engage with them to build a solid presence Two pitfalls of networkingQuality of Network - making sure that you're targeting the right people Maintaining and keeping a strong presence on your network through attending events, conferences, etc. PRACTICAL STEPS Get your message out there, whether on LinkedIn, at events, or at conferences Leverage other platforms such as lunchclub.ai – an ai networking platform to get clients or referrals Create a segmentation of your partners and clients and create unique incentives and referral programs for each segment Maintain your relationship and presence with your networkGive them updates about your product, service, team, position, etc., to stay relevant. Connect with people and create content Get them on your list TIPS FOR SUCCESS Don't be afraid to get your message out there Spend an hour each day on LinkedIn or Twitter to be relevant to your networkCreate content Share highlights and news on your industry Understand the community and what incentives would work for them

Want summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to theForward Launch Your SaaS newsletterMORE FROM KAIKUKaiku is a smart matchmaking platform for early stage venture funds. They work with 100s of venture funds globally focussing on supporting technology enabled Seed to Series A start-ups raise funding. Learn more at kaiku.coReach out to Alex at alex -at- kaiku.co or www.linkedin.com/in/alexbalderstoneGUEST BACKGROUNDAlex Balderstone is the co-founder and CEO of Kaiku, a platform that provides smart, data-driven matchmaking between venture funds and startups.He is also the Venture Director at the Birmingham Enterprise Community (BEC) and the Founder of Warwick Congress.MAIN INSIGHTGrow your business by building and maintaining a network of referral partnerships by understanding the community and what incentives could work for them.KEY TAKEAWAYSBuild a solution to a problem that already exists as opposed to a problem that doesn't existAlways create an opportunity to be present in your community or networkStay relevant to your network to the point that they'll mention you if there are questions or news about your industry or nicheGo to events and speaking opportunities and create content to grow your networkFollow the right people on social media and interact or engage with them to build a solid presenceTwo pitfalls of networkingQuality of Network - making sure that you're targeting the right peopleMaintaining and keeping a strong presence on your network through attending events, conferences, etc.PRACTICAL STEPSGet your message out there, whether on LinkedIn, at events, or at conferencesLeverage other platforms such as lunchclub.ai – an ai networking platform to get clients or referralsCreate a segmentation of your partners and clients and create unique incentives and referral programs for each segmentMaintain your relationship and presence with your networkGive them updates about your product, service, team, position, etc., to stay relevant.Connect with people and create contentGet them on your listTIPS FOR SUCCESSDon't be afraid to get your message out thereSpend an hour each day on LinkedIn or Twitter to be relevant to your networkCreate contentShare highlights and news on your industryUnderstand the community and what incentives would work for themWant summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter

Want summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to theForward Launch Your SaaS newsletter MORE FROM CALQULATE Calqulate connects startups, investors, banks and lenders with financial data to speed up fundraising processes and lending decisions. Learn more at calqulate.io Reach out to Cameron at linkedin.com/in/cameronomurchu GUEST BACKGROUND Cameron is the Head of Growth at Calqulate, a financial analytics software startup. He has worked mainly in the finance vertical and his degree in science has given him a unique perspective on the business world, especially since A/B testing has become all the rage. MAIN INSIGHT New customers or new users do not mean growth all the time for the company. Growth also comes by stopping the acquisition of unprofitable customers. KEY TAKEAWAYS Growth can be an increase in the price of your service or product The marketing and finance department meet at customer acquisition cost The marketing department burns money to make more money The ratio of customer acquisition cost (CAC) to customer lifetime value (LTV) is typically around 1:3 (For every dollar spent on CAC you get three dollars in return) Growth only comes when you can measure it PRACTICAL STEPS Reduce rather than add - take a look at the things that you can take away before looking to grow your customers Identify if you want to grow or scaleGrowth - You're going to put more money but you'll get the same results Scale - Scaling is being efficient. You're going to put in the same money but you'll get better results. Start A/B testing the strategies Once you gather enough data, analyze which one is working by looking at the CAC to LTV ratio TIPS FOR SUCCESS See if you can increase your product or service price Focus on sustainable growth As a marketer, it's a great thing to be aware of the financial factors of the company so you can see if your efforts are bringing revenue to the company

Want summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to theForward Launch Your SaaS newsletterMORE FROM CALQULATECalqulate connects startups, investors, banks and lenders with financial data to speed up fundraising processes and lending decisions.Learn more at calqulate.ioReach out to Cameron at linkedin.com/in/cameronomurchuGUEST BACKGROUNDCameron is the Head of Growth at Calqulate, a financial analytics software startup. He has worked mainly in the finance vertical and his degree in science has given him a unique perspective on the business world, especially since A/B testing has become all the rage.MAIN INSIGHTNew customers or new users do not mean growth all the time for the company. Growth also comes by stopping the acquisition of unprofitable customers.KEY TAKEAWAYSGrowth can be an increase in the price of your service or productThe marketing and finance department meet at customer acquisition costThe marketing department burns money to make more moneyThe ratio of customer acquisition cost (CAC) to customer lifetime value (LTV) is typically around 1:3 (For every dollar spent on CAC you get three dollars in return)Growth only comes when you can measure itPRACTICAL STEPSReduce rather than add - take a look at the things that you can take away before looking to grow your customersIdentify if you want to grow or scaleGrowth - You're going to put more money but you'll get the same resultsScale - Scaling is being efficient. You're going to put in the same money but you'll get better results.Start A/B testing the strategiesOnce you gather enough data, analyze which one is working by looking at the CAC to LTV ratioTIPS FOR SUCCESSSee if you can increase your product or service priceFocus on sustainable growthAs a marketer, it's a great thing to be aware of the financial factors of the company so you can see if your efforts are bringing revenue to the companyWant summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter

Want summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter MORE FROM ZESTY Zesty is the first cloud management platform that leverages AI-driven automation to increase efficiency and reduce AWS spend by over 50%. The platform automatically adjusts computing and storage resources to match real-time application needs, with no human input. Learn more at zesty.co Reach out to Ido at linkedin.com/in/ido-assaf GUEST BACKGROUND Ido Assaf is the Marketing Director at Zesty, an autonomous cloud management solution that helps businesses maximize efficiency, reduce costs, and free up engineering resources. His philosophy is centered more on the buyer rather than on "classic” marketing tactics. His use of an ingenuitive branding campaign brought in thousands of leads for Zesty. MAIN INSIGHT Innovating best marketing practices and using creative and unique methods to stand out from others is the best way to win in the long run. KEY TAKEAWAYS Marketing approaches should rely on data A company needs to have subject matter experts Marketing and branding should be balanced The best way to win in the long run is to reinvent yourself Different is better than better Too much creativity can make you drift away The marketing strategy should come to a point where you can trust your customer to buy your product  PRACTICAL STEPS Assume you know nothing Identify the subject matter experts in your company Understand your buyer by doing research and doing interviews Run a test and validate  TIPS FOR SUCCESS Put yourself in the buyer's shoes Understand that people buy from people Rely a bit on your gut instinct but always validate with data 

Want summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletterMORE FROM ZESTYZesty is the first cloud management platform that leverages AI-driven automation to increase efficiency and reduce AWS spend by over 50%. The platform automatically adjusts computing and storage resources to match real-time application needs, with no human input. Learn more at zesty.coReach out to Ido at linkedin.com/in/ido-assafGUEST BACKGROUNDIdo Assaf is the Marketing Director at Zesty, an autonomous cloud management solution that helps businesses maximize efficiency, reduce costs, and free up engineering resources.His philosophy is centered more on the buyer rather than on "classic” marketing tactics. His use of an ingenuitive branding campaign brought in thousands of leads for Zesty.MAIN INSIGHTInnovating best marketing practices and using creative and unique methods to stand out from others is the best way to win in the long run.KEY TAKEAWAYSMarketing approaches should rely on dataA company needs to have subject matter expertsMarketing and branding should be balancedThe best way to win in the long run is to reinvent yourselfDifferent is better than betterToo much creativity can make you drift awayThe marketing strategy should come to a point where you can trust your customer to buy your product PRACTICAL STEPSAssume you know nothingIdentify the subject matter experts in your companyUnderstand your buyer by doing research and doing interviewsRun a test and validate TIPS FOR SUCCESSPut yourself in the buyer's shoesUnderstand that people buy from peopleRely a bit on your gut instinct but always validate with data Want summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter

Want summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter MORE FROM VERVOE Vervoe helps you predicts job performance using skills assessments that showcase the talent of every candidate before hiring them. Learn more at vervoe.comReach out to Regan at https://www.linkedin.com/in/regan-mcgregor-au GUEST BACKGROUND Regan McGregor is an experienced B2B and SaaS marketer who leads the marketing team at Vervoe, a company that helps businesses hire top performers through AI-powered skills testing. He also worked with several Australian SaaS startups, including Head of Growth at Digivizer and Head of Marketing at AgriWebb. He's passionate about finding growth channels and leveraging those to create scalable growth strategies. One of those channels is search, both organic and paid search. MAIN INSIGHT Focus on people's intent with regards to your business' mission to get more traffic and maximize your SEO marketing efforts KEY TAKEAWAYS Focus on pre-existing demand of content from your customers Identify high-level questions that your ideal customer has and use that as your main topic to create multiple SEO-rich pieces of content Being an expert on one topic for your content is a good SEO strategy to help you get more brand recognition PRACTICAL STEPS Identify your business mission by finding the problems that you're solving Niche down to one or two topics that you want to rank high on Google Brainstorm ideas for contentTalk to your customers, sales, and marketing team Do keyword research and cluster them into groups of different topics Look at competitors and indirect competitors and figure out what content you can do better than them Create premium content or content offers that can convert people and turn them into leads Run an ad campaign for your sales and solution pages Invite your sales team to do outbound to promote your premium content Develop features or tools within the product that help to improve each pain point TIPS FOR SUCCESS Focus on one strategy that works and where the actual lead is coming from Deep dive into your chosen topic Paid ads are best used for potential customers that are searching for specific problems that your content can solve or keywords that are being searched at the bottom of the funnel

Want summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletterMORE FROM VERVOEVervoe helps you predicts job performance using skills assessments that showcase the talent of every candidate before hiring them. Learn more at vervoe.comReach out to Regan at https://www.linkedin.com/in/regan-mcgregor-auGUEST BACKGROUNDRegan McGregor is an experienced B2B and SaaS marketer who leads the marketing team at Vervoe, a company that helps businesses hire top performers through AI-powered skills testing.He also worked with several Australian SaaS startups, including Head of Growth at Digivizer and Head of Marketing at AgriWebb.He's passionate about finding growth channels and leveraging those to create scalable growth strategies. One of those channels is search, both organic and paid search.MAIN INSIGHTFocus on people's intent with regards to your business' mission to get more traffic and maximize your SEO marketing effortsKEY TAKEAWAYSFocus on pre-existing demand of content from your customersIdentify high-level questions that your ideal customer has and use that as your main topic to create multiple SEO-rich pieces of contentBeing an expert on one topic for your content is a good SEO strategy to help you get more brand recognitionPRACTICAL STEPSIdentify your business mission by finding the problems that you're solvingNiche down to one or two topics that you want to rank high on GoogleBrainstorm ideas for contentTalk to your customers, sales, and marketing teamDo keyword research and cluster them into groups of different topicsLook at competitors and indirect competitors and figure out what content you can do better than themCreate premium content or content offers that can convert people and turn them into leadsRun an ad campaign for your sales and solution pagesInvite your sales team to do outbound to promote your premium contentDevelop features or tools within the product that help to improve each pain pointTIPS FOR SUCCESSFocus on one strategy that works and where the actual lead is coming fromDeep dive into your chosen topicPaid ads are best used for potential customers that are searching for specific problems that your content can solve or keywords that are being searched at the bottom of the funnelWant summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter

Want summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to theForward Launch Your SaaS newsletter GUEST BACKGROUND Ben Sperry leads the marketing department at Place - makers of an agile finance platform built on Salesforce. In his first six months with Place, Ben grew inbound demand by over 400%. Ben has also held various sales and marketing positions at Gartner and is a Teach For America alum. MAIN INSIGHT When starting at a new company, minimize the assumptions you make based on your experiences at previous organizations. KEY TAKEAWAYS The great thing about performance marketing is that you have all the metrics necessary to assess everything with enough data clinically Depending on volume - a typical campaign can be assessed after 45 days upon launch Speak the language of your target audience by collaborating with your colleagues or interviewing current clients PRACTICAL STEPS Approach any marketing role at an early-stage company with humility Familiarize yourself with the company's objective in the short, medium and long term Minimize the assumption and acknowledge the known and unknown Identify the strategy you're going to use to achieve the objective and execute it with confidence Assess your strategy/campaign clinically once you have enough data Tweak your strategy to achieve the metrics that you set TIPS FOR SUCCESS Stay flexible on your marketing tactics and strategy Having a hypothesis is excellent but always minimize the assumption of what's going to work and what's not Collaborate with your colleague that spends a lot of time interacting with your clients

Want summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to theForward Launch Your SaaS newsletterGUEST BACKGROUNDBen Sperry leads the marketing department at Place - makers of an agile finance platform built on Salesforce. In his first six months with Place, Ben grew inbound demand by over 400%. Ben has also held various sales and marketing positions at Gartner and is a Teach For America alum.MAIN INSIGHTWhen starting at a new company, minimize the assumptions you make based on your experiences at previous organizations.KEY TAKEAWAYSThe great thing about performance marketing is that you have all the metrics necessary to assess everything with enough data clinicallyDepending on volume - a typical campaign can be assessed after 45 days upon launchSpeak the language of your target audience by collaborating with your colleagues or interviewing current clientsPRACTICAL STEPSApproach any marketing role at an early-stage company with humilityFamiliarize yourself with the company's objective in the short, medium and long termMinimize the assumption and acknowledge the known and unknownIdentify the strategy you're going to use to achieve the objective and execute it with confidenceAssess your strategy/campaign clinically once you have enough dataTweak your strategy to achieve the metrics that you setTIPS FOR SUCCESSStay flexible on your marketing tactics and strategyHaving a hypothesis is excellent but always minimize the assumption of what's going to work and what's notCollaborate with your colleague that spends a lot of time interacting with your clientsWant summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter

Want summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to theForward Launch Your SaaS newsletter MORE FROM BEHAVIOR SALES Behavior Sales uses behavioral intelligence to gain a competitive advantage to shorten sales cycles and close deals faster. Learn more at behaviorsales.com GUEST BACKGROUND Benjamin Bressington is the CEO of BehaviorSales.com, a Behavioral Intelligence company. He is a Speaker and Author of multiple books, including his latest book “People Ignorant: Unlocking Success, Confidence & Influence.” Benjamin has a Law & Criminology degree from Australia. He spent 10 years helping Fortune 1000 companies apply gamification principles to their sales and communication process. Ben now helps people improve their sales conversations, specifically by closing deals faster and discovering the hidden opportunities in daily communication. MAIN INSIGHT Tailoring marketing efforts to the personality types of potential customers improves engagement and conversions KEY TAKEAWAYS Create segments on your list based on personality types to improve your engagement Focus and attention is a currency You only need 1000 loyal followers that will buy from you Four personality types that you must know:Liberty (eagle) - decisive, ROI focus, get things done, dress well Vegas (peacock) - wants to be the center of attention, gets bored quickly, loves shortcuts Thinker (owl) - knowledge-driven, loves to approach things systematically Pigeon (steady) is slow and steady but always driven by their packs or friends PRACTICAL STEPS For outreach and sales: Search and gather contacts of people that can be a potential client or customer Segment them by personality types and identify which personality type you can resonate with Exclude the personality type that you don't want to work with Create a different message for each segment For marketers and content creators: Identify the personality types that you want to work with Create content for each personality type Get them on your list so you can segment your market Craft a different sales approach for each personality types TIPS FOR SUCCESS Deep dive into each personality type and get to know what makes them buy your service or product Tailor your content and pitch to the different personality types During a call, it's best to also use their words/adjectives to them to build more rapport and connection

Want summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to theForward Launch Your SaaS newsletterMORE FROM BEHAVIOR SALESBehavior Sales uses behavioral intelligence to gain a competitive advantage to shorten sales cycles and close deals faster. Learn more at behaviorsales.comGUEST BACKGROUNDBenjamin Bressington is the CEO of BehaviorSales.com, a Behavioral Intelligence company. He is a Speaker and Author of multiple books, including his latest book “People Ignorant: Unlocking Success, Confidence & Influence.”Benjamin has a Law & Criminology degree from Australia. He spent 10 years helping Fortune 1000 companies apply gamification principles to their sales and communication process. Ben now helps people improve their sales conversations, specifically by closing deals faster and discovering the hidden opportunities in daily communication.MAIN INSIGHTTailoring marketing efforts to the personality types of potential customers improves engagement and conversionsKEY TAKEAWAYSCreate segments on your list based on personality types to improve your engagementFocus and attention is a currencyYou only need 1000 loyal followers that will buy from youFour personality types that you must know:Liberty (eagle) - decisive, ROI focus, get things done, dress wellVegas (peacock) - wants to be the center of attention, gets bored quickly, loves shortcutsThinker (owl) - knowledge-driven, loves to approach things systematicallyPigeon (steady) is slow and steady but always driven by their packs or friendsPRACTICAL STEPSFor outreach and sales:Search and gather contacts of people that can be a potential client or customerSegment them by personality types and identify which personality type you can resonate withExclude the personality type that you don't want to work withCreate a different message for each segmentFor marketers and content creators:Identify the personality types that you want to work withCreate content for each personality typeGet them on your list so you can segment your marketCraft a different sales approach for each personality typesTIPS FOR SUCCESSDeep dive into each personality type and get to know what makes them buy your service or productTailor your content and pitch to the different personality typesDuring a call, it's best to also use their words/adjectives to them to build more rapport and connectionWant summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter

Want summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter More from Eduflow If you'd like to build a course, try Eduflow (eduflow.com) - the free plan allows up to 15 course participants and is a good way to test whether a course would work for your brand Reach out to David: david -at- eduflow.com Guest background David is the co-founder and CEO of Eduflow, a modern learning management system for active and social learning. Before that he started Peergrade, a service for providing peer-evaluations and peer-feedback. He did his Ph.D. at The Technical University of Denmark with a focus on machine learning, data science, and educational technology. He previously worked as a software developer and as an external consultant for doing predictive modeling on large data-sets. Main insight “Lengthen the marketing funnel” by providing a valuable product or educational course for people who are not ready to buy your main product. Key takeaways Big enterprise deals don't happen right away - there's a long sales cycle and companies buy when they need the product Therefore, how do you get companies to hear about your brand and remember your brand when they are ready to buy? Answer: Create a longer marketing funnelFor example: Eduflow gets people to sign up for their educational course (obtaining their email) People like the course, get value out of it, and share it with their peers When there's a need in their company, they remember Eduflow and enter the sales cycle  Practical steps Create an easy-to-use intermediary product that your ideal customers can immediately buy or use for freeThis can be a simpler / smaller version of an existing product that's attached to your real product Introduce the users of this intermediary product to your main product  Tip for success Make your smaller product something that educates people on the value of your brand.For example - Eduflow builds and runs courses on their own online course platform, which shows potential customers how easy the platform is to use Make the product something that outperforms similar products on the market Make sure you smaller product is built for the right audience so you have high quality people to sell the main offering to You can build more than one small product - perhaps one for each different audience segment

Want summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletterMore from EduflowIf you'd like to build a course, try Eduflow (eduflow.com) - the free plan allows up to 15 course participants and is a good way to test whether a course would work for your brandReach out to David: david -at- eduflow.comGuest backgroundDavid is the co-founder and CEO of Eduflow, a modern learning management system for active and social learning. Before that he started Peergrade, a service for providing peer-evaluations and peer-feedback.He did his Ph.D. at The Technical University of Denmark with a focus on machine learning, data science, and educational technology. He previously worked as a software developer and as an external consultant for doing predictive modeling on large data-sets.Main insight“Lengthen the marketing funnel” by providing a valuable product or educational course for people who are not ready to buy your main product.Key takeawaysBig enterprise deals don't happen right away - there's a long sales cycle and companies buy when they need the productTherefore, how do you get companies to hear about your brand and remember your brand when they are ready to buy?Answer: Create a longer marketing funnelFor example: Eduflow gets people to sign up for their educational course (obtaining their email)People like the course, get value out of it, and share it with their peersWhen there's a need in their company, they remember Eduflow and enter the sales cycle Practical stepsCreate an easy-to-use intermediary product that your ideal customers can immediately buy or use for freeThis can be a simpler / smaller version of an existing product that's attached to your real productIntroduce the users of this intermediary product to your main product Tip for successMake your smaller product something that educates people on the value of your brand.For example - Eduflow builds and runs courses on their own online course platform, which shows potential customers how easy the platform is to useMake the product something that outperforms similar products on the marketMake sure you smaller product is built for the right audience so you have high quality people to sell the main offering toYou can build more than one small product - perhaps one for each different audience segmentWant summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter

More from Casted  Find them at Casted.us They've released an industry survey of content marketers on the state of content marketing - helpful for understanding how other marketers are currently using content can be helpful for planning out your own content Check out Amplify - view interviews with leading B2B brands (Drift, Salesforce, HubSpot, and more) on how they are harnessing the power of audio and video to connect with audiences in a whole new way Ready to create content? If this episode inspired you to start repurposing content, Forward Launch can help. We help B2B SaaS startups create interview-based podcasts that can be repurposed across various marketing channels. Get in touch. Guest background Holly Pels is the Vice President of Marketing at Casted – the first content marketing platform for B2B podcasting, making podcasting more engaging, efficient, and effective for brands. Holly is a strategic and tactical marketer who loves podcasts and content creation. Key takeaways Have conversations with experts and record them in video and audio formatStarting with video allows for easiest repurposing across channels Publish to YouTube because YouTube can be used as a search engine Syndicate to podcast platforms (e.g. Apple, Spotify, Stitcher) and Youtube channels Turn the transcript into a blog post Create audiograms and videograms to be used on social media Use themes that came up during the interview and plug them into the content calendar Review previous episodes for similar themes - create a thematic blog post or thematic narrative episodeExample: Holly's team realized they had already interviewed several experts from Hubspot on the podcast, and they pulled those stories together to a larger narrative episode in advance of a content collaboration they did with Hubspot Make “look books” out of the content - i.e. a downloadable piece of content where people can access the written versions of podcast episodes     Tips for success Trust the process - not everything needs to be new Don't be hard on yourself - it doesn't have to be perfect. Just start! It doesn't have to be for everyone, it just has to be for your audience

More from Casted Find them at Casted.usThey've released an industry survey of content marketers on the state of content marketing - helpful for understanding how other marketers are currently using content can be helpful for planning out your own contentCheck out Amplify - view interviews with leading B2B brands (Drift, Salesforce, HubSpot, and more) on how they are harnessing the power of audio and video to connect with audiences in a whole new wayReady to create content?If this episode inspired you to start repurposing content, Forward Launch can help. We help B2B SaaS startups create interview-based podcasts that can be repurposed across various marketing channels. Get in touch.Guest backgroundHolly Pels is the Vice President of Marketing at Casted – the first content marketing platform for B2B podcasting, making podcasting more engaging, efficient, and effective for brands. Holly is a strategic and tactical marketer who loves podcasts and content creation.Key takeawaysHave conversations with experts and record them in video and audio formatStarting with video allows for easiest repurposing across channelsPublish to YouTube because YouTube can be used as a search engineSyndicate to podcast platforms (e.g. Apple, Spotify, Stitcher) and Youtube channelsTurn the transcript into a blog postCreate audiograms and videograms to be used on social mediaUse themes that came up during the interview and plug them into the content calendarReview previous episodes for similar themes - create a thematic blog post or thematic narrative episodeExample: Holly's team realized they had already interviewed several experts from Hubspot on the podcast, and they pulled those stories together to a larger narrative episode in advance of a content collaboration they did with HubspotMake “look books” out of the content - i.e. a downloadable piece of content where people can access the written versions of podcast episodes    Tips for successTrust the process - not everything needs to be newDon't be hard on yourself - it doesn't have to be perfect. Just start!It doesn't have to be for everyone, it just has to be for your audienceWant summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter

LINKS: Bonjoro's video funnel playbook - Over 30 proven video funnels to convert more customers and turn them into superfans of your business Bonjoro's new product for collecting, managing, and publishing customer testimonials  GUEST BACKGROUND: Oli is the CMO at Bonjoro. He has worked in SaaS for the last 12 years, first in customer success and sales roles, including at media startup, Gorkana, who sold for £25m during his time there. Then as founder of his own cold-pressed juice venture based from London's Silicon Roundabout.  He joined Bonjoro in 2016, and launched it from zero revenue into one of Australia's fastest growing startups, with over 50,000 customers using the tool today. Oli currently runs his marketing team based on a product-development framework called "sprints", and thinks that data analytics tools like Amplitude underpin most great marketing decisions. But his guiding ethos is that true growth only ever comes from more human contact, and credits 99% of Bonjoro's rapid growth to this belief.  Want summaries, transcripts, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter 

LINKS:Bonjoro's video funnel playbook - Over 30 proven video funnels to convert more customers and turn them into superfans of your businessBonjoro's new product for collecting, managing, and publishing customer testimonials GUEST BACKGROUND:Oli is the CMO at Bonjoro. He has worked in SaaS for the last 12 years, first in customer success and sales roles, including at media startup, Gorkana, who sold for £25m during his time there. Then as founder of his own cold-pressed juice venture based from London's Silicon Roundabout. He joined Bonjoro in 2016, and launched it from zero revenue into one of Australia's fastest growing startups, with over 50,000 customers using the tool today. Oli currently runs his marketing team based on a product-development framework called "sprints", and thinks that data analytics tools like Amplitude underpin most great marketing decisions. But his guiding ethos is that true growth only ever comes from more human contact, and credits 99% of Bonjoro's rapid growth to this belief. Want summaries, transcripts, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter Want summaries, show notes, and more? Subscribe to the Forward Launch Your SaaS newsletter