GTM 130: Scaling to Billions: How DocuSign, HubSpot & Canva Built Winning GTM Strategies with Rob Giglio, Canva’s CCO
Jan 21, 2025
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Rob Giglio, Chief Customer Officer at Canva with over 20 years in tech leadership roles, shares invaluable insights from his experiences at HubSpot and DocuSign. He discusses the importance of concept testing in B2B marketing and how to apply consumer product strategies to enhance engagement. The conversation also emphasizes cultivating loyalty, the power of simplicity in messaging, and the challenges of leading remote teams. Rob's take on transitioning enterprise customers reveals the need for authentic, human-centered marketing in the evolving landscape.
B2B marketing should prioritize personal connections and understanding buyer motivations to create more engaging campaigns that resonate with individual consumers.
Successfully selling transformation requires a commitment to helping customers navigate their journey and positioning offerings as solutions to unique challenges.
Adopting concept testing from consumer packaged goods in B2B can prevent costly missteps by gauging interest before product or feature launches.
Deep dives
The Human Element in B2B Marketing
B2B marketing often loses sight of the fact that it is fundamentally about people, not businesses. When marketing campaigns are overly generic, they fail to resonate with individual consumers who make decisions. This focus on people has significant implications for how marketers approach their strategies. By emphasizing personal connection and understanding buyer motivations, B2B marketers can create more effective campaigns that lead to higher engagement and loyalty.
The Importance of Transformation and Change
Successfully selling transformation instead of just software can create a significant competitive advantage. Businesses that embrace change and innovation are far more likely to prosper compared to those that resist it. The discussion emphasizes that being bold in implementing new solutions can lead to massive gains. Transformation requires a commitment to helping customers navigate their journey, making it essential to position offerings as solutions to their unique challenges.
Thoughtful Decision Making and Data Utilization
In the context of consumer packaged goods, making thoughtful product development decisions can prevent expensive mistakes. Errors in product labels or packaging can lead to costly outcomes that are hard to rectify. Data plays a crucial role in ensuring that marketing strategies and product changes are based on solid evidence rather than gut feeling. Utilizing data effectively allows marketers to test assumptions, optimize offerings, and ensure alignment with customer expectations.
Concept Testing: A Missed Opportunity in B2B
Concept testing is a widely used methodology in consumer goods that is often overlooked in the B2B sector. By creating mock versions of products or features and evaluating them with potential users, businesses can better gauge interest and engagement before launch. This practice can prevent costly missteps in product development and improve market fit. Adopting such testing practices in B2B marketing can bridge the gap between concept and execution, ultimately leading to more successful outcomes.
Simplicity as a Key Principle
Simplicity in the customer experience and communication strategy is vital for business success. This principle applies to everything from product usability to messaging clarity. A focus on simplicity allows consumers to easily understand the product's value and navigate the purchasing process, which ultimately leads to higher satisfaction and retention. Implementing simple processes also aids in sales training, ensuring that teams grasp important concepts quickly and effectively.
Rob Giglio is the Chief Customer Officer at Canva, where he oversees Canva’s sales and go-to-market functions. Rob brings to Canva over 20 years of industry experience leading and executing global marketing and sales initiatives.
Rob joins Canva from HubSpot, where he was also Chief Customer Officer, and before that, he was the Chief Marketing Officer at Docusign. Prior to Docusign, Rob spent over ten years at Adobe, leading the global sales and go-to-market teams for their Digital Media Business Unit and holding responsibility for over $7B in revenue.
Discussed in this Episode:
Why B2B marketers should embrace the CPG tactic of "concept testing."
How to embrace segmentation by differentiating your solution.
Loyalty as a necessary part of every customer journey.
Why substance beats sizzle every time in sales and marketing.
Leading a large, remote-first team.
Highlights: 06:07 - 3 lessons from B2C to that B2B marketing needs to learn. 12:25 - What is concept testing and how can marketers use it in B2B. 19:38 - Selling a massive transition to enterprise customers. 35:14 - How DocuSign overcame major user experience challenges. 39:50 - How HubSpot addressed issues with remote leadership. 44:34 - The importance of in-person interaction. 55:56 - The power in simplicity.
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The GTM Podcast The GTM Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Scott Barker, GTMfund Partner, featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth.
Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.
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