Ep #45: Why Marketing Should Own Customer Growth w/ Soraya Alexander

On this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Soraya Alexander,  SVP of Marketing and Customer Growth at Classy. Soraya has not had a traditional path to a senior marketing role. In her own words, her career has been a little “random” and all over the place, spanning PR, media, big business and marketing, and she says she still doesn't know what she wants to be when she grows up. But she is hungry to learn and ensures whatever role she is in, she is constantly learning so she takes something to her next role. In her current role at Classy, she is focused not just on customer acquisition but on customer retention and growth. Soraya knows that customer marketing is an undervalued tool that often allows for faster growth than customer acquisition.   

Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play!  

Key takeaways from this episode:  

• For 80% of your working days your job is to accumulate enough knowledge and experience as you can, and eventually it will all make sense. Focus on what’s fun, what’s interesting, do your best and the next step will materialize.  
• When you’re an established company, customer acquisition is easy. True growth comes from a deep understanding about your customers. There is a lot of opportunity post-sale to grow with your customers by continually deepening your relationship with your them.   
• It takes 3x more dollars to acquire a new customer than to retain a current one. Nurturing the customers you have turns them into advocates and can be a good customer acquisition tool in itself.  

Learn more about Classy’s fundraising software at https://www.classy.org/

Learn more about Soraya at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sorayagalexander/