SaaS Breakthrough

We're taking a summer hiatus for the podcast and feeling excited to come back in the fall with new guests, new ideas, and new ways for you to execute your marketing campaigns.Until then, check out Banzai.io for more content like blog posts, webinars, and resources (assessments, checklists, and templates).Have a safe, happy, and healthy summer!

Meet Bridget Poetker, the Director of Content & Brand at Postal, an offline marketing automation platform and marketplace that personalizes, automates, and scales direct mail, events, branded company swag, and customized gifts. Bridget is passionate about authentic brand building and reintroducing creative campaigns into B2B marketing.In this episode, you'll learn why marketers are feeling uninspired these days, and about the intersection between attribution and creativity. You'll discover how gifting can stimulate creativity, as well as unique ways for marketing, sales, and customer success teams to use gifting as part of their relationship building. Finally, we'll reveal how the emotional buyer's journey we use at Banzai compares to the traditional sales and marketing funnel. Enjoy!Notes:- 02:05 The Intersection Between Attribution and Creativity- 06:05 Tagging People's Emotions in the Emotional Buyer's Journey- 10:55 The Secret Sauce of Creativity- 12:05 The Aloe Plant Gen Play Campaign That Started as a Champagne Campaign- 16:00 How Physical Objects Evoke Emotions and Build Long-Lasting Relationships- 23:35 In-Person Event Swag: The QR Code Card Shaped Like a T-shirt- 25:45 How To Build Campaigns That Feel Like a Brand Play 

Meet Melissa Hummelt, licensed psychotherapist and Clinical Operations Manager at BetterHelp, the world's largest online therapy platform.In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, this episode will teach you four mental health tips you've never heard before, as well as why mental health needs to be attended to daily. Great insights in this episode — enjoy!Notes:- 02:45 A Platform That Empowers Everyone To Take Care of Their Mental Health- 03:35 How To Navigate Hard Conversations While Staying True to Your Values- 11:05 Know Your Attachment Style and What It Can Teach You- 20:35 The Traps for Women in Leadership and How To Avoid Them- 28:05 How To Choose Your Battles- 31:40 Why Taking Care of Yourself Should Be a Daily Practice 

Meet Corey Haines, creator of Swipe Files and cofounder of SwipeWell. Previously, he was the Head of Growth at Baremetrics and the first marketing hire at Cordial.In this episode, you'll hear why Corey created Swipe Files and how it differs from other marketing communities. You'll learn what it means to market like a media company in a B2B SaaS setting, how you can implement it within your budget and team size, and, finally, how to find a long-term balance between brand and performance marketing.Notes:- 02:15 A Unique Membership Community for Marketers- 08:15 The Specific Needs of Non-marketers vs. Hardcore Professional Marketers- 11:00 The Three Most Common Themes Marketers Need Help With- 13:20 What "marketing like a media company" Looks Like in a B2B SaaS Setting- 17:55 The Two Types of Relationships Marketers Have With Performance Marketing- 20:50 A "crawl - walk - run" Approach to Marketing Like a Media Company

Meet Jenna Pipchuk, EVP & CSO of SMART Technologies, responsible for global sales, and her colleague, Jeff Lowe, EVP, CMO & CHRO, responsible for external brand strategy, marketing, communications, human resources, and facilities.In this episode, you'll hear how Jenna and Jeff created a new commercial organization at SMART Technologies: a "unified commercial engine" with employees responsible for the entire customer life cycle all working together. You'll learn about the catalyst for this organizational restructure, how they implemented it, and critical pieces like the pod structure and "uber metrics." Lastly, we'll reveal the results they're seeing so far in employee engagement & retention, company culture, and revenue.Notes:- 04:00 A Tech Company That Provides Educational Solutions Globally- 04:35 The Catalyst Behind an Organizational Restructure and Mind Shift- 06:30 Identifying Misalignment Signs Between How They Were Selling and How Buyers Were Buying- 08:00 Creating a "unified commercial engine" With Five Key Roles and Three Enabling Units- 12:35 The Secret Sauce and Pod Structure Used To Reassign New Roles and Responsibilities to 250 Team Members- 15:50 Defining "uber metrics"- 19:35 The Three Enabling Groups That Support the Entire Customer Journey- 22:00 The "project heartbeat" for Better Customer Understanding and Knowledge- 22:40 A Collaborative Culture That Now Self-Generates- 25:45 Touch Points, Circles, and Squares- 27:25 Results: High Employee Engagement and Retention- 30:00 A Few Setbacks and the Biggest Hurdle So Far- 31:35 Two Pieces of Advice for Anyone Wanting To Replicate This Initiative 

Meet Maeva Cifuentes, founder of Flying Cat Marketing, a women-led, full-service SEO agency for B2B martech, salestech, and proptech SaaS companies in hypergrowth.In this episode, you'll hear how Flying Cat Marketing quadrupled a SaaS client's revenue in one year entirely through search. You'll learn how to run an SEO audit and create an SEO plan, what revenue-generating content looks like, and the key metrics to follow during implementation. What's more, you'll uncover the exact mindset you'll need to get results like this. Enjoy!Notes:- 02:05 A Content-Focused, Full-Service SEO Agency and a Special Cat- 07:00 First Thing: Rewriting the Website To Ensure Clear Messaging- 08:10 Looking for Untapped SEO Potentials and Opportunities- 09:40 Building an SEO Plan While Staying Agile- 14:00 The Key KPIs To Use When Implementing an SEO Project- 16:15 Optimizing Conversion Points Across the Website- 18:15 The Benchmarks for Website Traffic Growth- 19:50 Creating New Content Based on Interviews With Subject Matter Experts- 21:05 Running PPC Until SEO-Generated Traffic Overtakes It- 21:50 How To Identify SEO Quick Wins- 23:50 Changing the Way You Think About SEO- 25:10 How To Create "Excellent Content" That Generates Revenue- 26:40 Acting and Thinking Like a Product Marketer- 27:15 Lightning Questions 

Meet Brendan Hufford, the founder of Growth Sprints, which helps SaaS companies scale from $10M to $100M ARR. Brendan is also a growth marketer at Active Campaign.In this episode, a conversation about leadership gets real. You'll hear about hiring A-players, what it means to be a manager versus an individual contributor, why we're so quick to promote contributors to managers (and if we should be), and the difference between leaders and managers. Finally, you'll learn how to deal with all of this in a remote work setting while the rest of the world is (sort of) on fire. Lots of great insights wherever you are in your marketing career. Enjoy!Notes:- 02:05 You Need To Market Differently When Hiring A-Players- 04:30 Finding the Non-traditional Career Mix as a Marketer- 06:05 Don't Stifle Your A-Player Marketers or They'll Leave- 07:05 To Promote or Not Promote A-Players to Managers- 09:00 Developing an Advancement Structure That Doesn't Require Managing People- 11:10 Being Promoted, But Still Having To Operate at a Lower Level- 13:30 Coaching People up or out Within a Culture of Trust and Transparency- 19:35 Addressing the Humanness of Your Colleagues in a Remote Work Setting- 26:40 Personal Advisory Boards, Mentors, and Toxic Bosses- 31:00 The Difference Between a Toxic Culture and a Toxic Manager- 33:00 You Can Be a Great Leader Without Being a Manager 

Meet Mandy Thompson, co-founder and CEO of Digital Reach Online Solutions, a full-service digital agency offering holistic solutions that focus on integrations and automations.In this episode, the emphasis is on marketing leadership. You'll hear Mandy and Ashley's fun conversation as they discuss everything from overwhelm, panic, and toxic productivity to the downside of doing rather than being. They also cover the risk of over-accessibility of leaders as marketers. As Mandy says at one point in the chat, "There's nothing good about waking up and feeling like the day is chasing you." It's a shorter episode, but it's down, dirty, and super fun!Notes:- 02.25 Start Your Day Without Feeling Like It's Chasing You- 04:40 Leveraging the "Do Not Disturb" Mode- 05:35 Keeping a Set of Sprint Lists for Reference- 06:40 Managing Slack Communications the Smart Way- 09:20 The Importance of Offboarding Your Day- 10:15 Long-Term Consequences of Being Scattered- 12:00 How Panic Can Push You To Operate at a Lower Level- 14:10 The Only Cure for Overwhelm Is Rest- 16:50 The Conflict of Doing the "Best Work" vs. Being "On Demand"- 18:30 Setting Boundaries and Permissions as a Marketing Leader 

Meet Kristen Bryant Smith, the Director of Content Marketing at Help Scout, a certified B-corps whose software helps growing businesses better support their customers. Prior to Help Scout, Kristen spent three years at Wistia.In this episode, you'll hear about a powerful brand marketing initiative called "In the Works." You'll learn what it takes to put together a new online publication, the role creativity can play in brand differentiation and engagement, how to take an evolutionary approach to audience development, and the ROI in creating timeless content. Enjoy!Notes:- 01:45 Helping Growing Businesses Better Support Their Customers  - 02:05 A Brand Marketing Initiative: "In the Works"    - 05:20 Expanding the ICP With Creative Branded Content    - 08:10 Connecting on a Broader Array of Types of Content and Media    - 09:46 Creativity as a Brand Differentiator and a Real Way To Drive Engagement and Value Long Term    - 12:25 How To Put Together a New Digital Publication  - 17:50 Creating a New Brand Rooted in the Main Brand  - 19:50 Taking an Evolutionary Approach to Audience Development    - 23:35 An Email Address Is the Most Valuable Thing You Can Get as a Marketer    - 24:30 The ROI in Creating Content That Will Be Timeless    - 30:00 Lightning Questions

Meet Mandy Thompson, co-founder and CEO of Digital Reach Online Solutions, a full-service digital agency offering holistic solutions focusing on integrations and automations.In this episode, you'll hear about a SaaS case study where they combined ABM with intent data and a HubSpot integration to boost demo bookings by 1,800% and SQLs by 500%. Lots of gems about demand generation await. Enjoy!Notes- 01:40 Helping Clients Succeed at Scale With Holistic Integrations- 02:35 Building Demand With Three Wildly Different Use Cases- 05:45 Shifting the Audiences and the Intent- 07:00 Building Three Funnels- 12:35 Bombora's Surge Audiences- 14:45 Companies' Intent and Buying Committees- 16:35 Deconstructing the Funnel- 19:20 Lightning Questions 

Meet Natalie Marcotullio, the Head of Growth and Operations at Navattic, an interactive product tour platform that allows anyone to create an immersive demo.In this episode, you'll learn how to niche down to your true ICP, execute it effectively on a website redesign, and understand why it's vital in 2022 to improve the buying experience. Enjoy!Notes:- 01:45 The Power of No-Code Interactive Demos- 02:30 How Re-shifting the ICP Led to a Website Redesign- 04:00 Website Redesign: Planning and Execution- 06:20 Integrating the Product Inside the Website- 07:05 Pinpointing the Number-One Use Case- 08:40 The Cheat Code for a Marketer New to a Team- 10:05 Lead Gen on the Old Site vs. the New Site- 10:40 The Numbers Observed After the Website Redesign- 12:35 Advice for Marketers Wanting To Show the Product on the Website- 13:45 How the Website Redesign Affected Sales Calls- 14:30 What's Next for This Initiative- 15:50 The Challenges of Leading a Department of One- 19:45 Lightning Questions 

Welcome to this special SaaS Breakthrough episode with our host, Ashley Levesque, covering six ways to keep your marketing team engaged in 2022. We all kick off the new year building OKRs, strategies, and designing tactics, but we may not spend enough time thinking about how to prepare our teams, or how to keep them engaged and motivated through the year. This episode solves that problem. Enjoy!Notes:- 01:40 Align Company Objectives to the Marketing Team- 03:50 Set Clear Expectations With Your Marketing Team- 05:00 Create a Knowledge Hub for Your Marketing Team- 06:30 Have Hard Conversations With Your Marketing Team Members- 07:30 Create an Efficient Feedback Loop for Your Marketing Team- 09:50 Set Aside a Budget for Professional Growth and Development

Welcome to this special SaaS Breakthrough episode with our host, Ashley Levesque, covering the 7 Best Marketing Campaigns we observed in 2021.From LinkedIn to email marketing, you'll learn how to replicate these results-driven campaigns. Enjoy!Notes:- 01:45 Paul Cowan at FreshBooks- 05:15 Thomas Peham at Storyblok- 09:40 Alan Silvestri at Growth Gorilla- 17:15 Camille Trent at Dooly- 24:10 Breezy Beaumont at Correlated- 31:15 Thomas Paris at Hoppier- 39:25 Christi Williams at HubSpot

Meet Alessandra Colaci, the VP of Marketing at Mailshake, an email automation and sales engagement platform that helps people make great first impressions with their prospects at scale through cold outreach. Alessandra's 15-year digital marketing career spans from B2B SaaS to B2C eCommerce.In this episode, you'll hear about a LinkedIn initiative Alessandra has led for the last six months that not only gets her employees involved, but also excited about posting valuable content for their audience. You'll learn what successful posting looks like, why it's important to have an internal advocate on every team you want to activate, and the tangible and intangible results obtained from this initiative. Enjoy!Notes- 01:40 Reaching People Who Haven't Opted In- 02:10 Engaging With the Sales Audience on LinkedIn- 03:05 Enabling Employees To Post on Their LinkedIn Profiles- 06:00 Activating and Encouraging New Sales Hires To Post- 06:45 What Successful Posting Looks Like- 07:55 LinkedIn Training and the Ideal Posting Frequency- 10:20 The Benefits of No Posting Expectations or Guidelines- 11:35 Intangible Benefits From This Initiative- 16:00 Data-Focused Marketers and the Dark Funnel- 19:30 What's Next for This Initiative- 21:10 Leadership Challenges: Deeply Understanding the Audience- 22:20 Lightning Questions 

Meet Alex Meade, VP of Sales & Marketing at Beacons Point, a leader of HubSpot User Groups, and the host of the "B2B Growth Marketer" Podcast.In this episode, you'll discover how to empower and inspire marketers through marketing. You'll hear how Alex built a community — Campfire Mastermind — to shift conversations from solely marketing tactics to more personal challenges like: How do I pitch myself for a new leadership position? How do I manage conflict with a colleague? How do I avoid burnout? Finally, you'll learn about strategies businesses can implement to care for and retain employees. Enjoy!Notes:- 02:20 Creating a Community for Sales and Marketing Professionals- 03:35 It All Started With a Need for Personal Interactions- 05:10 From a Social Group to a Mastermind Community for People's Challenges- 09:30 The Best Format To Evoke Feelings That Lead to Deep Conversations- 16:05 Focusing the Content Marketing Agency on "People-First Inbound"- 20:15 The External and Internal Benefits of Creating Life-Changing Content- 22:50 Supporting Employees in a More Holistic Way- 28:00 Creating the Space for Employees To Have the Life They Want

Meet Christi Williams, a Senior Marketing Manager on the Partner Enablement team at HubSpot. There, she empowers and supports HubSpot Solutions Partners with their go-to-market strategies, sales processes and initiatives, service delivery, and more, especially as it relates to the HubSpot CRM.In this episode, you'll hear how Christi decided to fix a website traffic dip with a "true" inbound strategy. You'll learn how she pitched that initiative to Sales, and then how she executed it step by step, with successful results. Be ready to take notes. Enjoy!Notes:- 02:15 Recognizing the Opportunity for a True Inbound Strategy  - 03:52 Fixing a Traffic Dip After a Brand Refresh  - 04:55 Starting With a Content Gap Analysis  - 06:40 Leveraging Outsourced Help as a True Team Member  - 08:25 Updating All Pages From a Technical SEO Perspective  - 09:40 Creating a Method To Keep Visitors Engaged and On-Site  - 10:00 Writing CTAs Into Content To Continue the Visitor's Journey  - 10:45 Getting More Marketing-Influenced Opportunities Online  - 12:00 Creating Nurture Streams for High-Traffic Website Pages  - 14:20 Results: An SEO Success Story  - 15:30 Seeing Lead Conversion Effects  - 16:20 Advice: Dos and Don'ts When Replicating This Initiative  - 18:10 Lightning Questions 

Meet Tiara Yracheta-Udziela, Marketing Coordinator at Banzai, where she helps marketers develop engaging and meaningful connections with their customers through all types of events.  She has five years of experience executing grassroots marketing strategies, and is always seeking out creative, scalable opportunities to add a human touch and a sense of community to the SaaS industry.  In this episode, you'll discover what personalization, networking, and engagement marketing look like during COVID for in-person conferences, what Tiara thinks the future of in-person marketing events will look like, and what leaders need to consider when making decisions about in-person vs. virtual events. Enjoy!Notes:- 02:00 Attending Content Marketing World in Person- 04:50 What Engagement and Networking Opportunities Looked Like- 08:30 A Closer Look at Hybrid Event Experiences- 11:00 People, Engagement, and Networking as the Drivers of Conferences- 13:20 The Move Towards Making Regional Events More Specialized- 15:00 The Future: Engagement Marketing and Events- 16:00 The Importance of Defining and Clarifying the Purpose of an Event- 19:00 How To Gain More Value From Events as a Company- 21:15 Top Takeaways and Learnings From Attending Content Marketing World

Welcome to a special SaaS Breakthrough Episode with our host and Banzai VP of Marketing, Ashley Levesque, covering Six Tactics To Create Memorable Virtual Experiences.As marketers, we have the responsibility not only to run events, but to craft memorable experiences that highlight our brand, our humanity, and our desire to connect with our attendees.  In this episode, Ashley will guide you on how to implement each tactic, using examples from her own experience running virtual events. Enjoy!Notes:- 00:55 A Reality Check on Virtual Events in the Marketplace  - 02:05 Hot Take: Boring Webinars Are Killing Your Brand  - 03:00 Modern Marketers Are Missing a Key Ability  - 05:00 Event Marketing: The Hard Work Beyond in-Person Experiences  - 09:05 Webinars: Crafting Virtual Events That Are Memorable  - 10:00 Play Music at the Start of Your Webinar  - 11:05 Be Intentional About the Brand Impression You Create  - 11:45 Decorate Your Virtual and Physical Space  - 13:20 Encourage Your Attendees To Be Contributors, Not Just Observers  - 15:30 Make It Real With Direct Mail- 16:50 Mindset Shift: Don't Be Afraid To Show Your Humanity  

Meet Breezy Beaumont, the Head of Growth at Correlated, a platform that helps sales teams understand how people use their product. Breezy has tons of hands-on marketing experience in multiple hyper-growth software companies.In this episode, you'll hear why Breezy decided to launch a LinkedIn advertising campaign to increase brand awareness. You'll then learn step-by-step how to achieve a high click-through rate with LinkedIn ads. Enjoy!Notes:- 02:15 A Platform That Helps Sales Teams Understand How People Use Their Product- 02:40 Deciding To Run an Advertising Campaign on LinkedIn- 04:05 Choosing Conversation Ads Over Other Types of LinkedIn Ads- 05:40 Launching a Campaign With a Small Advertising Budget- 06:35 Smart Ways To Narrow Down Your Target Audience on LinkedIn- 07:45 Measuring the Success of Your Ad Campaign- 09:45 Creating Ad Content That Breaks Through the Noise- 13:35 Seeing Exciting Results From the LinkedIn Ad Campaign- 15:30 Lightning Questions 

Meet Christopher Schreiber, Head of Marketing at Qwilr, a software that creates visually engaging sales proposals that stand out and win more business. He's a marketing executive with 15 years of experience in leadership roles at high-growth tech companies.In this episode, you'll learn how Christopher crafted research-based content by running a survey of 100+ software buyers; what it takes to produce real insights that have lasting power for marketing and sales; and finally, what's changing in the SaaS buying process. Enjoy!Notes:02:15 Creating Visually Engaging Sales Proposals that Stand Out and Win More Business03:30 Deciding To Run a Survey of 100+ Software Buyers05:45 Using the Survey's Results for Marketing and Sales Enablement06:55 The Full Process of Executing a Survey08:55 Results: New Benchmarks and Surprising Insights10:40 Buyer Enablement: Merging of Self-Serve and Sales-Led Processes12:25 Sharing the Results and Showcasing the Product Simultaneously16:00 How To Produce Real Insights Successfully vs. Commoditized Data  20:10 Survey Validation: The Opportunity and the Process22:55 Leadership: Finding the Right Balance Between Rigor and Speed24:15 Lightning Questions 

Meet Jason Dydynski, Head of Marketing at Weekdone, a toolset for leaders to better guide their team as a whole.In this episode, you'll learn exactly how Jason started a segmentation experiment to give more promising leads to the sales team, and ended up with an entirely new product for all those not converting on the first. You'll also hear about the challenges of leading new team members when you have tribal and historic knowledge of your company. Enjoy!Notes- 02:35 A Toolset for Leaders To Better Guide Their Team As a Whole- 03:00 The Signs That Showed the Need To Segment Better Incoming Leads- 05:10 Starting the Audience Segmentation Experiment- 09:35 Dealing With False Segmentation- 11:15 Setting Email Funnels for Segmentation- 13:30 Serving the People in Between the Two Product Funnels- 15:20 Running Experiments When You Have a Small Team- 17:15 Next: Finding More Product-Market Fit- 18:35 The Results So Far and What Comes Next- 20:50 Team Leadership: Passing on Tribal and Historical Knowledge Without Micromanaging- 23:30 Lightning Questions 

Meet Thomas Peham, the VP of Marketing at Storyblok. There, he helps businesses achieve a higher ROI from their marketing efforts through a future-proof content management system.In this episode, you'll hear about an incredibly successful lead gen funnel Thomas designed by way of gated assets, which resulted in over 1,500 leads and an MQL-to-SQL ratio of 55%. You'll learn what it means to be a remote-first business, and how that has to be embedded not only in your hiring practices, but also in your culture, your communications, and your rules of engagement. Enjoy!Notes:- 02:20 Providing Marketers a Central CMS To Organize All Their Content for Any Channel  - 03:35 Using Content To Increase Brand Awareness  - 07:55 Building In-House Content Marketing Expertise as a Core Asset  - 09:30 Planning Content Creation More Strategically  - 11:55 Mapping the Entire Funnel From an Asset Perspective  - 13:50 Looking at Content Pieces in an Example Funnel  - 20:30 Mixing Gated and Ungated Assets on the Website  - 22:50 A Focus on Optimizing the On-Site Experience  - 26:05 The Results of This Initiative So Far- 27:35 The Question To Ask Yourself Before Trying To Replicate It  - 29:10 Leadership Struggles: Finding and Hiring the Right People on a Global Scale- 30:55 Establishing Rules of Communication and Collaboration for Remote Teams  - 32:30 Lightning Questions 

Meet Camille Trent, Head of Content at Dooly, where she helps sales teams close more deals faster.In this episode, you'll learn the details of an incredible G2 social campaign that created invaluable flywheel awareness and was even shared by G2 themselves. You'll also hear about using creativity in campaigns, how to do a team brainstorm, and how to lead a team in remote settings. Enjoy!Notes:- 01:50 Deciding To Run a G2 Social Campaign To Inform People About the Award- 03:05 Everything Starts With a Good Old-Fashioned Brainstorm- 08:45 How the Campaign Fit Into Different Parts of the Marketing Funnel- 12:20 The Results So Far and Unexpected Benefits- 14:50 Organizing a Creative Campaign With a Remote Team All Over the Map- 17:35 A Piece of Advice: Hire the Right People- 18:30 The Challenges of Leadership in a Remote Environment- 24:15 Lightning Questions 

Meet Thomas Paris, the Director of Marketing at Hoppier - the best way to provide physical experiences to virtual attendees: fresh morning coffee, virtual lunches, happy-hour drinks, personalized gifts, and so much more!In this episode, you'll learn about the virtual event series called "Let's Go Phygital" and how it's creating brand heroes inside big companies. You'll discover a powerful meta-event you can run, how to find the best event partners, and how Hoppier increased their virtual event attendance rate to 70%. Enjoy!Notes:- 02:15 Driving Virtual Audience Engagement via Custom-Branded Virtual Credit Cards for Attendees- 02:50 Running the "Let's Get Phygital" Event Series- 07:30 Leveraging an Event Series To Create Brand Heroes Inside Large Companies- 09:30 Hosting a Meta Virtual Event Where You Show How Your Product Is Best Used- 13:10 How To Find the Best Complementary Event Partners- 16:05 How To Get a 70% Attendance Rate- 24:10 Lightning Questions

Welcome to a special SaaS Breakthrough Episode with Ashley Levesque, who's taking over as host for today. She's interviewing David Abrams to uncover his top insights on how to start a podcast to build your brand after hosting the previous 149 episodes.In this special interview, you'll hear how the SaaS Breakthrough podcast began, what David would do if he started over today, key lessons he learned from guests, and his best advice and tips for anyone wanting to start a podcast for marketing. Enjoy!Notes:- 02:25 How the SaaS Breakthrough Podcast Began- 03.00 Landing the First Guests- 05:15 Taking a Narrower Approach- 06:50 What David Would Do If He Started Over Today- 08:30 Unique Guests and the Company Most Referenced- 11:35 Expecting the Unexpected and Rolling With the Punches- 14:00 Skills Needed for a One-Man Show- 15:35 A Key Lesson for Podcast Newbies- 18:00 Investing in Audio Equipment- 18:30 A Pro Tip To Control Dogs While Recording- 19:15 Best Insights From Past Guests on Marketing and Podcasting

Guests included in this episode are:- Kevin Ho from Wishpond  - Mark Kilens from Drift- Jennifer Sabin fom Capacity- Len Markidan from Podia- Tarah Darge from timetoreply- Fiona Stevens from LoyaltyLion- Marcy Dobozy from Vidyard- Juliette Kopecky from LinkSquares

Meet Todd Chamber, Founder and Director of Upraw Media - an agency that helps SaaS companies scale PPC, understand their customers deeply, and measure the hell out of everything. Todd is a seasoned PPC, SaaS, and Growth Leader with 11+ years of experience in digital.In this episode, you'll hear about perfecting product-market fit in the red ocean of PPC agencies. You'll learn: how to know if PPC will work for your SaaS business; the key element to consider when planning your demand generation strategy; and the best Google ad campaign structures. Finally, you'll hear about a case study on scaling from 5,000 to 50,000 in ad spend for a SaaS business. Enjoy!  Notes:- 03:05 Niching Down to a PPC Agency for SaaS Companies- 08:50 How To Know if PPC Is Right for Your Business- 11:30 Setting Benchmarks and Understanding the Unit Economics- 14:30 What the Most Advanced PPC Advertisers Are Doing- 16:40 Best Google Ads Campaign Structure: SKAGs- 18:05 The Hagakure Method to Structuring and Optimizing Campaigns- 19:25 Understanding LTV and Activation Rates of Different Geos- 20:40 Case Study: Scaling Up PPC for Landbot.io- 24:10 The Most Common Mistakes SaaS Make When Scaling Up PPC- 26:10 The Best Advice for Anyone Starting in PPC- 27:35 How To Optimize a Website for Higher Demo Conversion Rates- 31:25 Big Lesson: Seeing Companies Spread Themselves Too Thin- 32:25 The Challenge of Standing Out and Branding- 35:55 Lightning Questions

Meet Alan Silvestri, the founder, and director of strategy at Growth Gorilla - a no B.S. content promotion and distribution agency for B2B SaaS companies.In this episode, you'll hear about the pain points that most SaaS companies have around content promotion and the strategic framework you need to use. You'll learn how to do quality link-building outreach and content injections in SaaS sales pages. And finally, how to think about content backlinking ROI for your business. Lots of takeaways in this episode. Enjoy!Notes:- 03:15 Content Promotion And Link-Building Agency For SaaS Companies- 06:20 Most SaaS Businesses Lack The Promotion Side Of Content- 08:10 The Three Things SaaS Companies Should Focus On For Content Promotion- 10:20 Doing Quality Link-Building Outreach- 11:30 The Four Types Of Website Pages Software Companies Have- 13:05 Doing A Top List Placement Campaign- 15:30 Finding The Right Person, Channel And Time To Reach Out- 18:05 Using Incentives For Placement While Staying ROI Positive  - 20:30 The Main Mistake That SaaS Do In Content Promotion- 21:40 The Qualities That Good Content Should Have For Promotion Success- 24:30 Doing A Content Injection- 28:15 The Link-Building Toolkit- 29:50 Measuring The ROI Of Link-Building- 32:05 Hard Lessons: Agency Positioning And Offerings- 35:10 Industry Opportunity: AI Text and Automation- 38:10 Lightning Questions 

Meet Juliette Kopecky, the CMO of LinkSquares - an end-to-end contract life cycle management product powered by AI. Juliette is a data-driven leader with an extensive track record of running marketing programs at high-growth technology companies, including HubSpot, Datto, and Talla.In this episode, you'll hear about the power of AI for contract management. You'll learn how product marketing video can be a vital medium and why SaaS businesses should bring video production in-house. And finally, you'll hear how COVID drove LinkSquares to a new creative approach for events and then virtual events that builds personal connections and engagement. Enjoy!Notes:- 03:00 Offering An End-To-End Contract Life Cycle Management Product Powered By AI- 06:55 Joining To Build Out The Marketing Function- 07:25 Defining And Refining External And Internal Communication- 09:10 Talking With Prospects And Customers To Understand How They Like To Be Marketed To- 12:05 Looking For Themes And Following The Rule Of Three- 15:14 Giving Video A Big Role In The Marketing Plan- 19:20 Why It Makes Sense For SaaS Businesses To Bring Video Production In-House  - 20:25 Hiring A Video Producer That Is The Right Fit For Your Company- 23:30 Creating Content That Engages Customers But Also Excites The Sales Team- 25:15 Producing Videos Or Webinars With Product Video For The Sales Team To Use- 28:25 How To Plan And Run A Marketing Experiment- 31:30 Building Personal Connections In Virtual Events- 37:35 Big Takeaway: Be Creative To Build Connections And Engagement Virtually- 39:00 Lightning Questions

Meet Jennifer Sabin, Director of Content Marketing at Capacity - a new kind of helpdesk, powered by artificial intelligence, that automates support for customers and employees. Jennifer has 15+ years of experience in various marketing leadership roles and has marketed both products and services throughout her career.In this episode, you'll hear about the rise of AI in the support industry. You'll learn about content marketing driven by syndication platforms, how to find and negotiate the right platforms for syndication to drive targeted leads, and partnering with virtual trade shows for targeted demos. And finally, you'll hear about customer-driven marketing for storytelling. Enjoy!Notes:- 03:30 A New Kind Of Help Desk Powered By Artificial Intelligence- 07:10 Supporting Both Internal Team Members As Well As External Customers- 09:10 Creating A Quick-Start Package To Help With Tool Implementation- 10:35 Testing Content Syndication To Grow A Steady Sales Pipeline- 12:25 The Challenge Of Leads Flying In Fast And Furious- 14:50 Testing Different Content Pieces In Different Vendor Ecosystems- 18:00 Negotiating With Syndication Vendors- 19:35 Pivoting From In-Person Events To Virtual Events- 21:00 The Appeal Of Virtual Solution Showcases To Buyers- 23:35 Incorporating Storytelling And Customer Testimonials- 25:00 Experimenting With Video Testimonials- 26:40 Learning To Adapt The Business As Customers' Needs Change- 27:55 Transitioning From Virtual To Possibly Hybrid To In-Person Events- 29:05 Lightning Questions

Meet Paul Cowan, CMO of FreshBooks - the # 1 accounting software in the cloud for self-employed professionals and their teams. Over a 20+ year career, Paul has held leadership positions at large corporations, then left them to launch startups from scratch. He has marketed phones, food, booze, toys, and SaaS products.In this episode, you'll hear about Paul's journey joining FreshBooks as the new CMO pre-COVID. You'll learn how to differentiate yourself in a busy marketplace with your ICP, how to do a rebrand, and how to use your internal data for thought leadership. And finally, you'll hear about the challenges and solutions to scale paid campaigns. Another fantastic episode, enjoy!Notes:- 03:10 An Accounting Platform Focused On Helping Small Business Owners Manage Their Books- 06:05 The Power Of Being Hyper-Focused On The Customer- 08:50 The Right Reasons To Do A Rebrand- 13:05 Testing The Rebranding With A City-Based Campaign- 15:10 Looking At Exploiting Existent Internal Data For Marketing Purposes- 17:55 Leveraging Internal Data As A Content Magnet- 19:00 Using Gated Content To Balance The Coming Deprecation Of Third-Party Cookies- 20:40 Helping People At The Grassroots Level And Becoming Meaningful In Customers' Lives- 21:35 Using Internal Data To Create Unique Marketing Content In Less Sexy Industries- 23:10 The Challenges Of Scaling Spending On Advertising- 25:40 Balancing Short Term Tactics And Long Term Fundamental Shifts- 30:00 Missed Opportunity: Spending More On Advertising Last Summer- 31:20 Lightning Questions 

Meet Holly Pels, Director 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.In this episode, you'll hear about the tailwinds created by COVID in the podcasting industry. You'll learn the secrets to amplifying your podcast reach, how to create a unique conversational-based podcast in 2021 and why repurposing content can fuel your marketing growth. And finally, you'll learn what's coming next for podcasters. Enjoy!Notes- 03:15 The First And Only Marketing Platform Built Around B2B Podcasts  - 05:55 Why Podcasting Took Off During The Pandemic  - 07:20 How To Leverage Clubhouse If You're Building A Community     - 08:40 Seeing Podcasts Holistically And As A Central Part Of Content Strategy   - 10:50 The Strategic Questions To Ask Yourself When Starting A Podcast  - 13:25 The Evolution Of The Casted Podcast  - 19:30 The Two Pieces Of Podcast Distribution   - 21:45 Running Every Podcast Season As A Campaign   - 24:15 Reusing And Repurposing Podcast Content  - 29:35 The Characteristics Of Winning Podcasts  - 33:00 Hard Lessons Learned Around Planning And Budgets     - 36:40 Podcasts Are Not "Only For Brand Awareness"    - 39:15 Lightning Questions 

Meet Bryant Lau, the Director of Demand Generation at Banzai, a leading event marketing automation solution. He has extensive experience in demand generation and marketing operations for early-stage companies. In this episode, we continue chatting with Banzai. You'll hear about Bryant's journey and how he joined Banzai one month before COVID changed everything. You'll learn how the SDR demand generation role is changing, and how B2B marketers can start incorporating some of the B2C best practices for growth. And finally, you'll learn key questions to ask before joining a new organization in 2021. Enjoy!Notes: - 04:00 Joining Banzai A Month Before The Entire Company Went Remote - 05:00 Creating A Deliberate Purpose-Built Platform For Field And Event Marketers - 07:35 Exciting Market Opportunities For Banzai And Demio   - 08:30 Building A Moat By Enabling SDRs To Build Relationships And Community   - 14:30 Learning From B2C Growth Marketers That Optimize For A North Star Metric - 16:10 How B2B Marketers Can Start Incorporating B2C Best Practices For Growth   - 19:00 Seeing A Radical Shift In The Demand Gen Professional Role   - 22:35 Key Questions To Ask Before Joining A New Org To Confirm Alignment With Leadership   - 26:25 Looking Back: The Opportunity For Thought Leadership And Community Building   - 29:25 Helping To Lead The Conversation On What Does It Look Like To Return To In-Person Events   - 31:50 Lightning Questions 

Meet Corrine Stratton, Director of Marketing at Banzai, a leading event marketing solution. Corrine has a decade of experience in event management and content development for leading technology companies.In this episode, you'll hear about Demio plus Banzai, what this means for the event space, and the major pivots that Banzai faced in 2020 with the decline of offline events. You'll learn how to maximize a small marketing team in a busy business, getting executive buy-in, and setting a culture for agility in the marketplace. And finally, the key lessons for any agile marketer looking to be effective in today's business landscape. Enjoy!Notes:- 04:00 Banzai And Demio Are Changing The Event Marketing Space- 06:45 Being A Marketing Team Of Two And A Half- 08:00 Shifting Messaging To Support The Different Facets Of Event Marketing Success- 09:40 Listening To Customers, Prospects And Communities To Figure Out What To Change- 11:05 Creating A Website And A Brand That Is Adaptable- 13:20 Launching A New Website Fast With A Small Marketing Team- 17:10 Maximizing Efficiency And Speed When You're Working With A Micro Team- 19:30 Big Lessons: Communicating More Efficiently And Getting Feedback Earlier- 21:30 Prioritization: How Does This Help Meet My Quarter's Goals And Objectives- 25:45 Getting Organizational Buy-In For Marketing Initiatives 

Meet Andy Culligan, CMO at Leadfeeder - a website visitor analytics software that shows you the companies visiting your website, how they got there, and what pages they clicked. Andy is passionate about swapping the BS with revenue acceleration in B2B marketing.In this episode, you'll hear about Leadfeeder's journey to build a unique product in the European SaaS space and the 2020 changes that opened up a brand new marketing avenue for them in webinars. You'll learn about thought leadership events and how to find the best partners to run them, and simple LinkedIn ABM methods to implement today. And finally, you'll learn why agility and speed may be the most important qualities you can have in marketing. Enjoy!Notes:  - 04:00 Providing Sales And Marketing Intelligence To Businesses     - 08:20 LinkedIn Outbound Reach Outs That Work       - 13:20 Leveraging The Sale Of A Piece Of The Company For Funding    - 15:00 Seeing Success With Webinars From The First Moment       - 20:14 Running Thought Leadership Events That People Want To Attend     - 21:30 How To Reach Out To Close Event Partners     - 24:00 Using LinkedIn For Account-Based Marketing       - 28:00 Increasing The Average Revenue Per User And Enterprise Plans  - 32:15 Recognizing Fast When Things Don't Work Out      - 34:50 Lightning Questions 

Meet Marcy Dobozy, VP of Marketing at Vidyard - the video platform for marketing and sales video hosting, enablement, and analytics. Marcy's marketing career in tech has spanned nearly 20 years.In this episode, you'll hear about evolving your product-market fit with a growing product and campaign ideas to run with Vidyard. You'll learn about the virtual event breakthroughs for 2021 that you need to know and content marketing hacks for big wins. And finally, you'll hear about the video strategies to maximize SDR outreach being used by a SalesLoft's SDR. Enjoy!Notes:- 02:55 Helping Businesses Connect With Their Audiences Through Video Experiences- 06:10 Leveraging Video In Sales And Marketing- 08:00 The Beauty Of The Video Approach- 08:50 The Video Platform Product And Market-Fit Evolution - 13:00 Moving From Offline Events To Online Events- 15:10 Bringing In Thousands Of Demo Requests W/ A Simple Check Box Addition- 16:45 Increasing Registrations W/ Strong Messaging And Thought Leadership Oriented Events- 17:55 Event Content: Pratical And Very Hands-On - 18:55 Engagement: Making Sure There Are Opportunities To Connect And Have Conversations- 21:50 Leveraging Knowledge Base Articles' Organic Traffic- 24:25 The Mindset Shift Needed To Find Hacks That Provide Unknown Growth Opportunities- 27:55 Case Study: How An SDR Uses Successfully Video In Her Outreach Process- 32:10 Expecting Continued Disruption And Uncertainty And Looking For The Opportunities- 34:00 Lightning Questions 

Meet Megan McMullin, Outreach Lead at MeetEdgar - a social media posting tool for small businesses. Megan has worked in marketing and customer support at a variety of startups around Denver, Colorado. In this episode, you'll hear the story of MeetEdgar, a product created out of need in a specific vertical. You'll learn about building educational content that links back to the product, about using community-based ads for retention and activation after the point of buying, and the power of partner promotions and paid partnerships. And finally, real-world social media advice for 2021. Enjoy!Notes:- 03:15 Helping Simplify & Amplify Messages On Social Media Networks     - 05:20 How To Get Really Good Word-Of-Mouth Marketing   - 06:15 Focused On Being The Tool For Solopreneurs And Small Business Owners     - 08:55 Using Educational Content That Links The Things Being Taught Back To The Product- 11:05 Improving User Experience (UX) With Screenshots Of All The Product   - 12:55 Tracking Conversions From Educational Content And The 30-Day Churn   - 15:00 Leveraging The Founder's Story As An Aspirational Thing For Users    - 16:20 Using Community-Based Ads For Retention  - 19:10 "People Who Pay, Pay Attention"    - 20:25 Building Brand Trust With Partner Initiatives    - 25:20 Cold Outreach For Webinars: Short And Sweet And What's In It For Them    - 26:20 Get Off of The Content Creation Treadmill: Repurpose- 29:25 Big Lesson: Sometimes You Have To Slow Down To Speed Up  - 31:05 Lightning Questions  

Meet Fiona Stevens, Head of Marketing at LoyaltyLion, a data-driven loyalty and engagement platform for fast-growth ecommerce merchants. She has over ten years’ experience in Marketing, having worked in-house and agency side across functions including PR, SEO and content.In this episode, you'll hear about what it's been like in e-commerce with 10x marketplace growth in one year from COVID. You'll learn about finding creative tweaks to marketing concepts, how to know when to plan for standard KPIs vs brand affinity KPIs, and about building interdepartment communication with a "content champion". And finally, you'll learn about finding the MVF ideas to launch in your business. Another phenomenal guest, enjoy!Notes:- 02:50 Helping Businesses Use Their Loyalty Data To Increase Customer Engagement And Retention- 04:40 Engagement Will Become An Even Bigger Challenge For Ecommerce Brands- 08:20 The Ecommerce Espresso Webinar Series Initiative- 10:25 Webinar Shared-Promotion And On-Demand Recordings- 11:10 The Right Metrics For Educational Pieces Of Content- 13:25 The Role Of Content Champion- 15:05 Creating Content Feedback Loops Within Departments- 17:45 Content Distribution The Organic Way- 18:40 Leveraging Unique Pieces Of Content Like Score Sheets- 20:31 Working Of A Minimal Viable Product (MVP) Motto- 21:05 Planning Which Content Tests And Experiments To Implement- 23:25 Just Keep Testing, Improving And Having The Ideas- 26:20 Innovating To Fight Webinar Fatigue: Ask-Me-Anything Sessions- 29:00 The Thing You Need To Remember When Marketing To Marketers- 30:00 Ligthning Questions 

Meet Vrinda Singh, Growth Manager at Paperform, a no-code tool that enables anyone to easily create beautiful forms, payment or product pages. She has over 7 years of experience creating full-funnel campaigns for companies like LinkedIn, Finder, Schneider Electric & Leona Edmiston.In this episode, you'll hear about facing the challenge of a broad market audience, and then building a targeted marketing message for them. You'll learn about creating content pillars around specific industries using product templates, landing page split testing lessons learned that resulted in a 50% increase in conversion, and finally when to rethink experiments with your small marketing team. Enjoy!Notes:- 03:30 Building Beautiful Forms And Pages Without Prior Technical Knowledge- 07:35 The Challenge Of Having A Broad Audience Product- 09:04 Responding Quickly To Market Demands By Creating Custom Apps- 11:30 Building Dedicated Landing Pages For Each Of The Targeted Industries- 13:20 Leveraging Content Clusters- 15:20 Researching Particular Use Cases And Figuring Out How It's Best Serviced- 17:20 Beginning Split Tests With User-Testing- 20:50 The Concepts Of Global And Local Maximum In Optimization- 23:25 Key Metrics vs Vanity Metrics In Optimization- 26:20 Small Marketing Teams And Experimentation- 28:00 Hard Lessons About Newsletters- 32:30 Leaning Into Growing Opportunities In Times Of Change- 35:30 Lightning Questions 

Meet Ray Lau, Director of Growth Marketing at PowerDMS, a solution that helps organizations reduce risk and liability with a comprehensive compliance and content management solution. Ray has been in B2B marketing for over ten years and believes marketing's ultimate goal is to create an advocate for life.In this episode, you'll learn about how customer advocacy can be a massive growth lever for any business, a reward system to exponentially grow your customer marketing channels, and what conversational marketing actually looks like in action. And finally, you'll learn about the strategic breakdown to lifecycle marketing stages. Enjoy!Notes:- 03:00 Streamlining Policy, Training, And Accreditation Lifecycles- 06:10 Growing The Product By Continuing To Listen To Customers' Needs- 09:30 Customer Advocacy Is A Great Way To Help A Businesses Stand Out- 11:40 Inviting Promoters To Join The Advocacy Program- 12:50 Customer Advocacy Driving New Customer Acquisition- 14:00 Running A Formal Customer Advocacy Program- 17:35 Tracking The Opportunities That Come From An Advocacy Program- 20:05 Without All The Fluffiness Conversational Marketing Is A Chat Bot- 23:30 Chat Bot Results: More Personal Connections W/ Prospects And Opportunities- 25:50 Growth Marketing Is About The Entire Customer LifeCycle- 28:10 Lead Nurturing Strategy: Taking Them From The Beginning All The Way Up Until Advocacy- 32:05 Mapping Out A Longer-Term Nurture Sequence With Resources- 36:30 Biggest Challenge Ahead: Doing Real Demand Generation- 38:00 Lightning Questions

Meet Nina Butler, Director of Demand Generation at Alyce - a Boston-based start-up that delivers one-to-one business connections through its personal gifting platform. Nina leads the strategy and execution of full-funnel marketing programs to drive initial and continued demand for the product.In this episode, you'll hear about the evolution of a new marketing category at Alyce and personalization in a competitive B2B SaaS industry. Then you'll learn how Alyce is flipping email strategy on its head to take personalization to another level, shifting away from MQLs to a marketing-qualified approach that thinks about an account holistically. And finally, you'll hear about launching thought-leadership events to define a new category. Enjoy!Notes:- 02:40 Enabling Enterprise Sellers & Marketers To Create Personal Bonds By Way Of One-To-One Gifting- 04:05 Considering The Person Behind The Marketable Persona- 05:50 Trying To Fundamentally Change How People Develop Relationships & Experiences For Their Audience- 06:50 Finding Product-Market Fit Is An Iterative Process- 10:05 Re-Imagining The Email Strategy For Real Personalization- 12:05 Layering Dimensions For Segmentation - 17:40 Shifting Away From MQLs To A Marketing Qualified Account Approach- 19:50 The Right Moment To Take More Of An Account-Based Approach- 21:00 Introducing A Brand New Category W/ A Custom Designed Event- 24:05 The Fundamental Shift In How Prospects & Customers Expect To Do Business- 25:10 When It Makes Sense To Build Your Own Category- 27:25 Hard Lesson: Virtual Trade Shows- 29:15 Challenges And Opportunities Ahead In The B2B Market- 31:20 Lightning Questions 

Meet Jim Coleman, Co-Founder of xFusion, which provides technical customer support for fast-growing SaaS businesses. Prior to xFusion, Jim was a SaaS operations manager at FE International. He oversaw operations and high-level growth initiatives across a portfolio of SaaS holdings.In this episode, you'll hear about the journey to create a technical support agency for SaaS and understand the right moment for SDR hires. You'll learn about choosing an agency versus building an internal team and the approach of paying to level-up and accelerate your knowledge. And finally, the lessons you need to know to be attractive as a business seller in today's market. Enjoy!Notes:- 03:50 Solving a Big Pain Point For Saas In Customer Support- 06:15 Applying Principles Learned In The SaaS Space To The Agency Model- 08:25 Working With An SDR Agency While Building An Internal SDR Team- 11:55 The Vital Role Of Integration Into The Team- 13:40 Choosing The Moment To Start Hiring an SDR Team- 15:20 Agency VS Internal Sales Team: It Comes Down To Results- 16:00 Learning The Playbook From An Agency To Use Internally Later- 17:15 The Importance Of Really Knowing Your Ideal Customer Profile- 18:20 Experimenting With Different Channels And Doubling Down On What Works- 21:35 The Value In Studying The Prospects Of A Business That's Being Sold- 24:30 Changing The Measuring Stick From Production To Production Capability- 26:35 What A Seller Can Do To Make Their Business More Attractive- 29:50 Seller Mistakes: Code That Is Not Clean And Well-Documented- 31:55 Opportunities And Challenges After The Pandemic Ends- 34:10 Lightning Questions 

Meet Nick Dimitriou, Head of Growth at Moosend - a highly competitive Email Marketing and Marketing Automation platform. Nick has experience with running different teams, both for organic and paid acquisition.In this episode, you'll hear about standing out with a marketing automation platform in a red-competitive ocean, building the industry-specific marketing pages you need to rank well, SEO secrets for crushing the SERPs, and lessons from a scaling affiliate platform. And finally, you'll learn the skills and frameworks you need to drive the correct affiliate traffic. Enjoy!Notes:  - 02:50 Offering Email And Marketing Advanced Automation Features    - 04:45 Joining As The First Hire Of The Growth Team     - 05:30 Using Customers Feedback To Build Out The Platform To Better Serve The ICP       - 08:15 Adding Industry-Specific Landing Pages To The Website    - 10:15 Creating Listicle Articles For SEO       - 14:55 Outpacing Hardcore Affiliate Marketeers Doing SEO    - 16:40 Growing The Affiliate Program    - 20:45 Keeping Affiliates Happy By Creating Content For Them To Use     - 23:40 Turning Affiliates Into Ambassadors By Doing Product Demos After They Join       - 27:25 Opportunities In 2021 With Paid Traffic      - 29:40 Lightning Questions

Meet Tarah Darge, a digital marketing native and Head of Marketing at timetoreply. She has a passion for start-ups and loves helping brands grow.In this episode, you'll hear how timetoreply was built from a sales conversion win, how to build a pipeline using sequenced messaging, the foundational metrics you can use for experiment baselines, and expanding on the traditional one-to-one demos with themed webinars. And finally, buying lessons from paid social ads. Enjoy!Notes:- 03:00 Giving The Ability To Measure And Report On Business Email Reply Times- 05:30 Research: Replies Timeframe Benchmark For Prime Close Rate- 06:55 Finding Product-Market Fit By Using Own Support Channel- 09:25 Coming In After Funding To Build Out The Marketing Plan And Team- 11:10 A Different Approach To Lead Gen Using LinkedIn- 13:45 Crafting The Initial Outreach Emails- 15:55 Real-Time Learning And Culling Campaigns Ruthlessly Following Benchmarks- 18:10 Webinars: Going Past The Usual One-On-One Demos- 19:40 Deciding To Do More Themed Webinars- 21:40 Using A Combination Of Tactics To Drive Webinar Registrations- 23:01 Experimenting With On-Demand Webinars- 24:00 Hard Lesson: The Need To Really Clarify Language Around The Product And Target- 27:15 Next: Growing The Partner Program And Continuing To Build Relationships- 29:40 The Challenge With Affiliate Marketing With A Low Price Point Product- 31:20 Lightning Questions

Meet Farzad Rashidi, the Director of Marketing at Visme, where he helped the company gain over 7 million users and pass 1.5 million monthly from organic traffic. He's also the co-founder of Respona, the all-in-one digital PR and link building software that combines personalization with productivity.In this episode, you'll hear how Farzad became the first marketing hire in a growing freemium product, how they had to evolve their ICP based on unit economics, and the massive results they've seen from a recent pricing experiment. And finally, you'll learn about smart differentiation on SEO and keyword intent. Enjoy!Notes:- 02:40 An Easy-To-Use Platform To Create Good Looking Pieces Of Content- 04:00 Changing The Focus To Be More On The B2B Side Of Things- 05:25 First Marketing Hire In a Freemium Business With Thousands Of Customers- 08:10 The Blessing And Curse Of Having a Wide Range Of Customers- 10:35 A High Volume Acquisition Channel That Doesn't Cost an Arm And a Leg - 11:40 Creating Landing Pages Optimized For Commercial Intent- 16:45 The Secret Sauce To Link Building- 19:10 The 80/20 Rule For Content Creation And Promotion- 24:00 Three Types Of Keywords In a Funnel- 25:55 The Pricing Challenges Of Freemium Software- 28:00 The Rewards Of Simplicity In Pricing- 30:00 Testing And Validating Pricing- 32:00 Adapting Product Roadmap Priorities To Remote Working Needs- 36:20 Lightning Questions 

Meet Crystel Rynne, Head of Product Marketing at HRLocker - a people management solution that enables organizations to manage people, whether they are on-site or working remotely. Crystel is a creative marketing leader and business strategist with experience leading several teams at HRLocker.In this episode, you'll hear about the 14-year journey of HRLocker and its transition to a SaaS company. You'll learn how the pandemic has caused HRLocker to shift their thoughts on their ICP, when and how to rethink brand messaging, and how to launch a research report to become a thought leader. And finally, you'll learn what is the first thing you have to do when you're doing a PR campaign, and how to use storytelling. Another fantastic episode, enjoy!Notes:- 02:40 Automating HR Processes For Businesses- 04:45 Transitioning To a Saas Company To Solve Their Pain Point- 05:50 Being The Bridge Between The Marketing Team And The Product Team- 07:30 Survey: Figuring Out The ICP's Needs And Challenges During The Pandemic- 11:10 Changing Brand Messaging To Push An Empathy Message- 14:50 Leveraging Research As A Content Strategy- 18:00 Leveraging Webinars To Show How To Solve Pandemic Pain Points Using Their Product- 19:45 A Small Change To The Product That Turned Into A Big Selling Point- 20:20 Getting The Whole Team Excited About How They Could Help Their Customers- 22:45 PR: The First Thing You Have To Do When You're Doing A Campaign- 25:55 Lesson: Focus On The Original Problem And Capture It Really Well At The Beginning- 29:15 2021: Planning, Staying Agile And Getting Your Share Of Voice In The Marketplace- 33:15 Lightning Questions

In this episode, you'll hear about the key lessons that Jen learned while driving the marketing for 3 billion dollar SaaS brands: how to create competitive positioning (critical more than ever in this busy SaaS landscape), how to build customer-centric brands and the benefits of following that marketing strategy, and finally, how to think about brand building and when to truly focus and invest in it. Another episode with a wise and knowledgeable guest, enjoy!Notes:- 03:20 Turning The Whole Concept Of Enterprise Software On Its Head- 05:05 Focusing On The Deepest Pain To Find Product-Market Fit- 07:35 Scaling By Squeezing Into The Broader Company And Other Pain Points- 09:45 The Critical Role Of Competitive Positioning- 13:00 Don't Change Your Positioning: Repeat It, Repeat It, Repeat It- 14:10 Use Feedback To Hone In The Positioning- 15:55 Don't Put The Entire Big Vision Into The Positioning or Tagline- 17:20 Test The Positioning: Look For People To Start Nodding Their Head- 18:10 Get Feedback As Fast As Possible- 19:10 Benefits Of Building a Customer-Centric Brand- 24:45 The Right Time To Do Brand Building- 29:05 CMO's Skills and Success Are Perfect Qualifications To Move Into The CEO Seat- 31:20 The Challenge and Opportunity Of Making Emotional Connections Virtually- 34:00 Lightning Questions

Meet Saksham Sharda, Creative Director at Outgrow - a platform that lets marketers build and launch interactive calculators and viral quizzes that help engage website visitors and generate more leads.In this episode, you'll hear about creating Outgrow out of an app company experiment, the interactive content tools they use and how to actively use them yourself in 2020, why and how to do multiple soft marketing launches on Product Hunt, and the creative marketing mindset you need to have.And finally, you'll hear about silver and bronze bullets and what that even means for marketers. Enjoy!Notes:- 03:10 From Idea To Development: A No-Code Tool To Make Calculators And Quizzes- 04:20 Expand The Ability Of What You Can Do A Thousand Fold- 06:45 The Only Way To Get The Expertise Across To The Modern Audience - 09:00 An Interactive Content Tool: The Idea Generator - 13:00 Becoming One Of The Finalists In Product Hunt's Coronavirus Hackathon- 18:05 Having Zero Dependence On The Product Team To Build Ideas- 20:10 Be In The Experimental Mode Not In The We Have To Get This Done Blah Blah Mode- 22:00 Understanding Your Audience And Experimenting- 23:30 Product Hunt: Do More Soft Launches And Less Hard Launches- 26:20 The Benefits Of Showcasing Your Product Through Soft Launches- 30:00 Hard Lesson: Play With The Market More- 31:10 Having A Silver Bullet Machine Gun Mentality- 31:55 The Unique Opportunity Of 2020 Holiday Shopping Season- 35:05 Lightning Questions 

Meet Olga Andrienko, Head of Global Marketing at SEMrush, an all-in-one marketing platform for marketers. She speaks at major marketing conferences and is the Head Judge at Content and Social Media Awards across the USA and Europe.In this episode, you'll hear about SEMrush's journey from a challenger brand to the market leader in a red ocean market. You'll learn about their expansion through product first focus, how the SEMrush team pulled off a 24-hour summit that generated 56,000 new leads on the first event, and how to break through event fatigue in 2020.And finally, you'll hear about the opportunities and challenges Olga sees ahead for marketers. Another incredible episode, enjoy!Notes- 03:00 A Powerhouse All-In-One Marketing Platform For Marketers- 04:35 The Evolution From Internal Service To Market Leader- 09:10 A Product First Company Focused On Client Wishes- 10:20 Global Marketing Day: A 24-Hour Long Online Conference- 15:35 Getting The First Big Speakers Lined Up- 17:35 Keeping Attendees Engaged In Long Webinars And Events- 19:50 The Incredible Results From A Long Event- 22:20 The Strategic Decision To Cancel The Event For 2020- 23:40 The Answer To Event Fatigue- 25:35 The SEMrush Summer Jam Events- 27:45 Transforming Successfully An Offline Event Into An Online Event- 28:55 Why The Last Minutes Are The Most Important Ones- 30:40 SEO: The Untapped Niche Of Non-Branded Search- 33:05 YouTube SEO Opportunity: Not Every Channel Is SEO Savvy- 34:00 The Book Incentive Experience That Turned Into a Gamification Campaign- 37:20 The Challenge Ahead: Tapping Into New Audiences- 40:25 Lightning Questions 

Meet Christian Yates, VP of Marketing at Platform.sh, the end-to-end web platform for agile teams. With a 20+ year career in software, he's built products and teams for media companies, worked for rocket scientists at NASA, and developed SaaS and open-source software businesses in engineering and product leadership roles.In this episode, you'll hear about the marketing message challenges and wins for a wide-market product, the rise of data-driven technology for marketers, how to organize marketing goals in a product type fashion, and the agile marketing methodology that Chris loves.And finally, we look forward to 2021 and talk about the marketing challenges that lie ahead. Enjoy!Notes:- 03:30 Taking Away Invisible Work To Allow Teams To Refocus On Creating Value- 06:20 Storytelling and The Right Messaging For Different Segments- 08:30 Focusing On Larger Scale Enterprise Customers- 09:30 Customers Tend To Be Sticky Across The Board- 12:00 Looking At Tech Tools From Different and Complementary Levels- 14:10 Investing In Tools That Help Understand Buyer Intent- 15:20 Breaking Down Big Goals Into Actions- 17:00 A Story Of Change and Adaptability- 21:45 Having Success With Paid Media- 23:05 Talking To The Marketers Dealing With Technology- 26:10 Challenges When Developing User Groups and Communities- 28:30 Creating Value In a Way That Doesn't Overwhelm or Tune Out People- 31:00 Lightning Questions

Meet Nick Harley, VP of Growth at Raygun, a B2B SaaS company that offers a range of application monitoring products, used by thousands of software teams globally. With 10+ years of experience selling to technical audiences, Nick has a passion for growing businesses, focusing on early-stage, high-growth B2B tech during his career to date. He is involved in the Wellington startup community, helping cultivate the next generation of business leaders.In this episode, you'll hear why and when to expand the ICP for your SaaS business, four types of events and when to execute each in your marketing pipeline, and the importance of attribution even with its challenges. You'll also hear about this year's social media changes in the B2B landscape and how that affects brands.And finally, what we can all learn as marketers as people's perception of value change in 2020. Enjoy!Notes:- 03:00 Application Monitoring Software that Provides Greater Speed and Accuracy- 04:30 A Product So Successful That It Gets Rolled Out As a Company- 05:30 Morphing From a Developer-Led Audience Into Decision-Makers- 09:05 Doing Events That Fall Into Four Key Categories- 15:00 Deciding Success Metrics Up Front Will Set Marketers Up For Success- 16:10 Turning Offline Events Into Online Events- 18:00 The Tricky Part In Success Metrics For Events- 19:30 Every Marketer's Nemesis: Attribution- 21:40 The Attribution Trap- 22:30 The Three Stages Of Attribution- 24:55 The Greatest Superpower For Anybody In Their Role- 27:40 If You're Not Experimenting, You're Basically Losing- 28:10 Harder and Harder To Break Through The Noise In Social Media - 32:40 The Challenge For Brands and How Perceptions of Value Changed - 40:15 Lightning Questions