13 - Nemanja Zivkovic Explains Why to Focus on SQLs and How to Build a Powerful Content Machine

Nemanja Zivkovic, CEO at Funky Marketing, joined me on the Modern Startup Marketing podcast.

Mixing it up! This episode is a little different. I usually have venture-backed startup founders and marketing leaders come on as guests. This time I brought on a fellow marketing business owner to share his experience and wisdom.

Nemanja started Funky Marketing in Jan. 2020, with a total of 6 employees at the time of the conversation. Funky Marketing is based out of Novi Sad, Serbia. They're helping B2B tech companies generate revenue growth, primarily through inbound and content strategies and scale.

We covered a lot of juicy stuff, including:

The term “agency” vs. “team” to describe the business;

Nemanja’s role as CEO at Funky Marketing;

Who they look for in their ideal client (3 buckets);

The types of packages that Funky Marketing offers to customers;

Nemanja’s past experience in B2C and now focusing on B2B (because there’s so much to shake up);

Where most clients get marketing and growth wrong (the big challenges that he’s seeing repeatedly);

Why to go after SQLs (not MQLs) and how to succeed by building a content machine;

The problem with creating a content machine that’s optimized for SEO, and why using social media to have direct conversations with prospects can be more meaningful;

Marketing is not sales, so the timeline is not the same;

How to shorten the time to close (HINT: use ads);

Creating sales and marketing alignment (up to revenue);

Starting a marketing company in Serbia - opportunities and challenges;

Creating an event for marketers to do everything besides marketing;

Tips from Nemanja - read comics to get better at marketing, get used to putting yourself into uncomfortable situations, and more.

You can find Nemanja on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/zivkovicnemanja

Find out more about Funky Marketing: www.funkymarketing.net

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You can find Anna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov or visit this website: www.furmanovmarketing.com

Thanks for listening!