Marketing: Behind the Curtain

On this very…unfiltered…episode of Marketing Behind the Curtain, we sit down with our friend Justin Keller, VP of Marketing at Terminus. After three years of calling them our partner, we’re pretty familiar with the clever and attention-grabbing marketing from Terminus. Their event, Break Sh!t, is no exception. Hear from Justin about why he refuses the idea that B2B marketing has to be boring. We’ll touch on: -Justin’s transition from working at Sigstr, to being acquired by (already friendly) Terminus -Why passion for what you’re marketing needs to come before everything else -Brand marketing’s value, despite less qualitative results -Marrying your product to something that the public already loves, like dynamic email signatures x Schitt’s Creek) -Mistakes make us human, and they can be more attention-grabbing than any campaign Check out the Terminus event: Break Sh!t on May 19, 2021. Register here!

Like many, Vice President/CMO of Corporate/Business Development Bruce Milne, and his team at Pivot3 never could have prepared for the unique opportunities that COVID-19 would present. However, not even a pandemic could affect the mission-critical nature of physical security and video surveillance. In the physical security market, 60% of data captured is video, and 80% of that is video surveillance. As we get a taste of what life might be like on the other side of virtual meetings and social distancing, schools and businesses of all types will only have a greater emphasis on safety and security. With 20 years of marketing experience under his belt, Bruce gives us a peek behind the curtain when it comes to how he and his team market Pivot3’s solutions. We’ll also touch on: -An unmatched level of insight that comes with building an executive team who has dabbled in every other function within the organization -Looking at marketing through the lens of art vs. science -The power and value of marketers ability to write exceptional prose, and synthesizing content based on audience (Sounds like the team over at SealedAir!) -Building and optimizing your solutions around real-life retrospectives on successful implementations -Naming products after the outcomes your services will provide (Smart City, Safe Casino, Safe Airport) with vertical-based messaging

According to McKinsey, the subscription box market revenue was valued at $10 billion in 2019. John Roman, the CMO of BattlBox, has witnessed this jump from just $2.6 billion in 2016 as he closes in on his fifth year with the company. John shares with us the unique ways in which BattlBox builds their teams around a passion for the product, and what your content strategy looks like when your brand lands itself a television series.   We'll also touch on: -How running an in-house team that functions like an agency works for them -Finding ways to build and foster an online community around your product -The sheer value of influencer marketing -Inviting customers who know your product front to back to join your team

On this episode of Marketing Behind the Curtain, we sit down with Justin Helmig, CMO of LifeOmic. A transformed software engineer, Justin shares just how building a talent brand is the best driver for getting A-level talent through the door.   We'll touch on:   -What goes into building a talent brand: culture, reputation, reviews, and investing in professional development   -Keeping the marketing team process-light and full of empowered and accountable individuals   -The variation between enterprise B2B and consumer-facing Martech tools   -Building a culture where it's acceptable to move quickly, make a mistake, own it, and learn from it

A grocery tech company that was born on a subway ride in Chicago by a busy mother on her commute, CEO Katie Hotze, never could have predicted that a global pandemic would leave many facing two common dilemmas: no one wants to leave their home, and everyone is running out of dinner ideas. Enter Grocery Shopii: a seamless online grocery shopping experience from meal planning through checkout. We sat down with their Chief Marketing Officer, Louise Pritchard, who shares the importance of being able to pivot when the demand for your product sees a dramatic uptick. We'll touch on: Square one should always be listening to the customer and their goals "No" can be the most important word when you're a small company seeing high demand, but looking to grow steadily As a B2B business, the value and challenge of telling your customer what their customers are thinking

On this episode of Marketing Behind the Curtain, we sit down with Tara Youngblood, CEO of Chili Technologies. Their product, the ChiliPAD, is extremely popular among professional athletes, biohackers, and trainers across the US. She'll give us the scoop on what practices have enabled her team to see such great success within the e-commerce world. We’ll also touch on:   Why video content is the most compelling for e-commerce How archetype models inform your marketing Production tips when it comes to video Good channels to start with for content marketing including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, podcasting, and user-generated content

On this episode of Marketing Behind The Curtain, we hear from Jenn Grabenstetter, VP of Global Brand & Content Marketing at Sealed Air just down the road in Charlotte, NC. In recent, the packaging industry has garnered more interest as the public needs more reassurance than ever that the food in their kitchens has been properly protected from germs. Jenn shares how her team operates in two-week sprints, adapting an agile marketing model, and why they like to be “a little bit dangerous at everything." We’ll also touch on: Starting with a deep dive into the persona of their customer: their experience, their problems, and their needs Building multi-functional campaigns that cater to both B2B and B2C audiences Reallocating funds to content production practices that are safe and more productive during a pandemic How every Friday afternoon is your personal ritual time at Sealed Air

In this episode of Marketing Behind the Curtain, Devin Kelley sits down with Ken Mills, CEO of IntelliSite, to get a look at the transition of leadership at this venture capital backed technology company. Having stepped into his role amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Ken shares ways that he and his team drive accountability and communicate virtually. We’ll also touch on: -Marketing and sales alignment as the backbone of your business -Dedicated internal digital transformation teams -The waiting game of making big changes that may not immediately reflect in revenue -Hiring capable, flexible, great people & getting out of the way   Listen to this and all other episodes of Marketing Behind the Curtain at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

Joe Matar, VP of Marketing at Brazen, and his team have seen an unprecedented demand for their technology in the virtual recruiting space over the last six months as many companies have moved their operations completely online. In this episode, Joe shares with us how he and his growing team are adapting to keep up with the growth they have seen in our newly remote world. In addition, we’ll also touch on: -Some of Joe’s favorite technology tools: HubSpot, Trello, and Asana to name a few -Proactively looking at data to inform your marketing strategies -The importance of detailed process, especially as teams grow   Listen to this and all other episodes of Marketing Behind the Curtain at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

A passion for jumping proves useful in today’s world of hurdles   Dave Hunt, CEO and Founder of Crossrope, gives us the low down on how he built the most efficient fitness experience on the market. With a circumstantial rise in demand for at-home fitness, “sometimes better lucky than good” has new meaning for Dave and his team.   In addition to how his team has adapted to record-level sales, we’ll touch on:   -Creating a buildable & sustainable business model by always ”striving for continuous improvement”   -Balancing eCommerce strategies while maintaining brand integrity   -Leveraging thought leadership and content marketing as its own revenue stream   -The value of building a high-aptitude team over a high-skilled team   Listen to this and all other episodes of Marketing Behind the Curtain at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

Most people change jobs every 5 years.    And most have a favorite tech tool, but they don’t cancel it when they leave.    Suddenly you have four digital ad tools when you only need one.   On this episode, I interview Jeremy Middleton, Head of Marketing Strategy & Operations at Kenna Security, about drowning in tech tools.   On this episode, he discusses: Why siloism causes a glut of tech tools. The process for knowing whether you need to buy tech tools or not. Explaining context when you share your vision. Proper transition planning. Listen to this and all other episodes of Marketing: Behind the Curtain at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

We all can use a funny cat video now and then.   But, when you think about it, video as a means of communication has so much more potential.   Vidyard’s VP of Marketing, Tyler Lessard, fills us in on the power and versatility video can have in every stage of the buyer’s journey.   Plus, he talks about:   Using video to educate. How Vidyard is working to create a market category. Tips for marketers just getting into video. To listen to this episode and more like it, subscribe to Marketing: Behind the Curtain on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or tune in on our website.

Transitioning to ABM doesn’t happen overnight.   In fact, it never really ends.    But don’t let that scare you.   Todd McCormick, CRO at Terminus, fills us in on what it really takes to successfully shift to an ABM program. (If anyone knows ABM, it’s Todd!)   In this episode, we cover:   Sales and marketing alignment Measuring ROI Addressing obstacles on the road to ABM

Stuck between making small sales and trying to develop your marketing strategy?   You know your product could hit it big if you had the right investors supporting you.   Kelly Ford Buckley, Growth Equity Investor and Go-to-Market Expert at Edison Partners, gives us the lowdown on what growth investors really care about.   In this episode - live from B2B SMX - we cover:   Marketing specialization Deploying the right tech with the right strategy Aligning technology with the desired outcome Speaking the language of a growth equity investor To listen to this episode and more like it, subscribe to Marketing: Behind the Curtain on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or tune in on our website.

What’s the hardest part about scaling your business?   Is it your sales and marketing teams squabbling for resources?    Maybe it’s the realignment of old and new employees? In this episode of Marketing: Behind the Curtain, we have the opportunity to speak about scalability with Supermetric’s Marketing Director, Edward Ford. He gives us crucial insight into scaling a business using an agile marketing model.

If you’re in B2B, you’re also a tech company.    If you sell jewelry, you’re a tech company.   If you sell cars, you’re also a tech company.   See the trend?   That’s John Lane’s marketing insight #1.   He’s the VP of Marketing at Charles & Colvard, Ltd., where they sell to both businesses and consumers through their e-commerce presence. He’s learned a thing or two about marketing.    On this episode, he discusses: Having a single brand message when marketing to both B2C & B2B When to systemize your process, and when to use creativity Why every company is now a technology company

If you don’t know about Drift yet, start paying attention.   They’re on a mission to do things differently.   Most companies build a product growth team, then a performance marketing team, and finish out with brand.   Not Drift.   They started by creating a brand people love. They brought in product teams around that brand and now they’re amplifying their branding efforts with a demand gen team.   So, how have they stayed so successful while doing things so differently?   And how are they maintaining the “Drift way” of doing things, even as they make a return to more traditional marketing tactics?   Bill King is currently running demand generation for Drift and on this episode of Marketing: Behind the Curtain, we sat down with him to get an inside look at how Drift is making it all happen.

PrecisionHawk does some awesome work with drones—but you won’t see a lot of attention drawn to this in their marketing. Generally, people aren’t looking for “drone solutions.” So PrecisionHawk doesn’t look to identify those types of searchers; instead, they’re looking for people with a problem set. By getting down into the data to find what people really care about and are searching for, the company can steer clear of tire-kickers who would take up their time with minimal return (and who PrecisionHawk wouldn’t be able to help anyway). Our guest today is Nathan Cavicchi. He’s the Marketing Manager of Demand Generation at PrecisionHawk. In this episode, he lets us behind the curtain to see how a unique company’s marketing team navigates the balance between showing off their product and speaking to what buyers are looking for.

Your brand can be summarized in three categories: people, processes, and technology.   Today, we’re going to be looking at the process side of things. We invited Method Savvy’s CEO, Jake Finkelstein, on the show to talk about the origins of the company as well as the five phases you can go through to get from where your brand is today to where you want it to be.

It’s the age old question. Do we source the project internally? Or do we bring in partners? Do we hire someone to join our team? Or do we reach out to a vendor to come do the job for us? The answer obviously depends on your business, but even if you’re a large company, maybe don’t be so quick to dismiss partners. Daniel Englebretson, Director of Integrated Marketing at Phononic, o was our guest on the Marketing: Behind the Curtain podcast this week. Daniel says that his answer to these questions and more has changed quite a bit in the last two years.  

Let’s face it. If you’re the CEO of a company, you probably wear a lot of hats. You’re in meetings all day with finance, the board, your direct reports, legal, and anybody else who is fortunate enough to get a few minutes with you. It can seem, as the CEO, that you’re only guiding the bigger picture, not influencing the day to day decisions. And to some extent that’s good. You’re the CEO. You’re not supposed to be drug into the weeds of every single decision. But what if you’re a CEO with a strong marketing background? One that honestly wants to be more involved? One that has a history of being hands on? On this first episode of Marketing: Behind the Curtain, we pull back the curtain on how Jackie Gomez, CEO of the wildly popular baby product company Béaba, learned to navigate life as a CEO and a marketer.

Take anyone successful in the world, and chances are they had a moment when they “saw behind the curtain” in their area of expertise and realized that it’s not all magic back there. We’re pulling back the curtain on the people, processes and technologies leading marketers are using to fuel growth within their organizations.