125: Michele Nieberding: Customer data infrastructure and server-side data processing

What’s up everyone, today we have the pleasure of sitting down with Michele Nieberding, Director of Product Marketing at MetaRouter.

Summary: Michele takes us on a broad journey across job hopping, learning technical martech products, preparing for the cookie apocalypse and diving deep into the world of server side data processions and tag management. Her transition from sales to product marketing sparked new growth, blending her enthusiasm for learning technical martech products with practical strategies to improve sales outcomes. She emphasizes the importance of ethical marketing practices, like enhancing first-party data and focusing on consent management, crucial for building consumer trust. Michele also explores the benefits of server-side data processing, such as using systems like MetaRouter for real-time data handling, which improves site performance, data security, and compliance. This technical shift supports her broader view on the integration of marketing with data science, stressing the need for solid data management to navigate the complexities of modern marketing and data privacy laws effectively.

About Michele

• Michele started her career in sales at Cvent, a meetings and events management software provider 
• She later had a short stint as a marketing consultant at Fishbowl a restaurant platform 
• And then joined a CRM company called Merkle as a Digital Marketing Manager where she wore a variety of marketing hats
• This made her boomerang back to Cvent, but this time as a Product Marketing Manager where she would spend another 2 years with the company
• She later took on the role of Senior PMM at Qualtrics, an online customer experience management platform
• This led her to an exciting role leading Solutions Marketing at Iterable, where she was eventually promoted to Director of Product Marketing
• Michele is also an Executive Mentor at Cornell University
• Today she’s Director of Product Marketing at MetaRouter, a Customer Data Infrastructure startup 

Why Job Hopping Can Be a Green Flag

When asked about the recent commentary from a CEO criticizing frequent job changes and claiming that you need to stay at a company at least 4 years to achieve anything worthwhile. Michele offered a compelling counterpoint that challenges old school views on career progression. Her journey in the tech industry illustrates the value of embracing various roles across different companies, especially in wild sectors like martech. Michele believes that the innevitably rapid advancements within tech demand adaptability and a willingness to tackle new challenges, which often means moving between jobs.

Michele argued that the notion of needing several years to make a significant impact in a company might indicate deeper issues with the hiring or role alignment process. In her experience, impactful contributions don't necessarily require long tenures. She shared an anecdote from her last position where she was promoted twice within just 12 months, underscoring her ability to drive meaningful change swiftly. Her success stories reflect her high performance and dedication to progress every day she's at work.

This perspective brings into question the disparity in the traditional view of loyalty, highlighting that while businesses often tout long tenures as signs of allegiance and even liken their teams to families, they frequently fail to uphold their end during challenging times, opting instead to cut numerous lower-level positions rather than making reductions at the top.

Michele highlighted that nowadays the real value lies in how much an individual can accelerate growth and bring about change, rather than how long they remain in a position. This approach benefits the companies that embrace such high-performing individuals.

Her stance suggests that companies should rethink their hiring strategies and the attributes they value in employees. The focus should shift towards flexibility, quick adaptation, and the ability to deliver results efficiently—qualities that are crucial in a sector as fluid as technology.

Key takeaway: Companies need humans that can adapt quickly and make significant impacts in relatively short periods, not half a decade. Michele’s experience shows that job mobility can be a sign of a high-performing individual capable of driving innovation and growth who’s looking out for themselves and owning their career paths. Companies should value flexibility and quick adaptability as much as, if not more than, long-term tenure.

Making the Leap From Sales to Product Marketing

Michele's career shift from sales to product marketing at Cvent is a perfect example of how adaptable skills can propel your career forward. Starting in sales, Michele thrived by meeting challenges head-on and solving customers' problems effectively. Her success wasn't unnoticed; she was a top sales rep, deeply involved in every aspect of the products she sold. However, Michele knew she wanted more from her career. Unable to transfer from sales to marketing internally, her ambition to explore beyond sales led her to an agency role where she broadened her marketing expertise.

Despite enjoying the creative rush at the agency and wearing all of the hats, Michele felt something was missing. She could suggest marketing strategies but rarely saw how they played out, missing the direct impact of her work. This gap led her back to Cvent when a product marketing role opened up. It was a new territory, but she knew the product inside out from her sales days, which gave her a unique edge.

Stepping into product marketing, Michele fell in love with the strategic and creative elements of the role. She was right back at solving problems, but this time she was crafting the narrative and directly influencing the product's market journey. It was different from sales but used many of the same skills in new ways.

Today, Michele can't see herself doing anything else. Her story isn't just about a job change; it's about finding your niche where you can use your talents to the fullest. She took her in-depth product knowledge from sales and seamlessly integrated it with the marketing skills she honed along the way, proving that the right move at the right time can redefine your career.

Key takeaway: Michele's switch from sales to product marketing shows how valuable it is to apply your skills in new contexts. For marketers looking to keep their careers vibrant and impactful, consider how your current skills can open new doors within your field. It’s not just about climbing the ladder; sometimes, it’s about stepping onto a completely different one.

What Do Sales and Product Marketing Have in Common?

It's not always intuitive, but one fundamental commonality between sales and product marketing is the requirement to deeply understand your product. Michele’s strategy for mastering new martech tools showcases just how critical this understanding is, not only for personal growth but also for making significant contributions to her team and the broader company objectives.

When Michele joins a new company, she immediately seeks to connect with colleagues from sales, customer success, and technical teams such as solution architects. These relationships are crucial as they provide a wealth of insights into the product's real-world applications, an invaluable resource for anyone in product marketing. Michele’s early days in any role are spent actively engaging: participating in calls, attending demos, and using the tools herself as much as possible. This hands-on experience allows her to view the product through the eyes of a user, which is essential for crafting messages that resonate with potential customers...