Ilan Vagenshtein is a marketing executive, helping high-growth B2B tech companies scale by building marketing programs that rapidly generate pipeline, increase revenue, and dramatically elevate brands. Passionate with people and technology, Ilan loves to collaborate with smart people on innovative ideas and cool technologies that make a positive impact on the world. Ilan has been fortunate to work with great teams, from early day startups to large multinationals.Follow Ilan on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilanvag/Follow and connect with the host, Connor Dube on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/socialsellingexpert/Instagram: connor_dubeIf you're already thinking you need to find a more efficient way to conquer your monthly B2B content like blogs, newsletters, and social media – we’d like to show you how we can improve the quality, save you tons of time, and achieve better results!To learn more visit www.activeblogs.com

Dale Dupree "I am the leader of the Sales Rebellion, was once the copier warrior and I have been in the B2B space for 14 years. I believe in people over products, community over commission checks, experiences instead of performing a pitch and fellowship over negotiations."Follow Dale on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/copierwarrior/Learn more about The Sales Rebellion on their website here: https://www.thesalesrebellion.com/Get access to all past and future podcast episodes: https://www.activeblogs.com/b2b-mentors/Follow and connect with the host, Connor Dube on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/socialsellingexpert/Instagram: connor_dubeIf you're already thinking you need to find a more efficient way to conquer your monthly B2B content like blogs, newsletters, and social media – we’d like to show you how we can improve the quality, save you tons of time, and achieve better results! To learn more visit www.activeblogs.comEpisode Summary:Dale Dupree — podcaster, sales therapist, public speaker, author, and leader of the Sales Rebellion — joins Connor to talk about his personal struggles with depression, his adventures as the Copier Warrior, and his decision to help others craft their legacies and create their own sales legends. Learn more about the Sales Rebellion, the benefits of being less risk-averse, and why honesty is still the best policy.Key Takeaways:The Sales Rebellion is an ecosystem for sellers. It’s a place to seek refuge, learn creative methodologies, and play with new, nontraditional sales concepts that can then naturally lead them to the success they desire. That success comes more from fulfillment and happiness than from meeting a quota.Most businesses are still stuck on “traditional” sales concepts and techniques. Techniques that have been around longer than email — or blogs or social media — still make up 99% of the sales world’s toolkit, and we don’t use them effectively for today’s sales environment. Effective sales and marketing techniques tell your brand story and fit well within your customers’ stories and the legacies they’re creating.No one wants to take risks in sales, but bold action works, and taking risks is more effective than staying safe within your comfort zone. It’s risky to say things like, “You don’t have to buy from me” or “I don’t really care if you buy from me, but tell me more — because it doesn’t make sense” or “I hear your objection, but what I really hear is you trying to get a cheaper price out of me.” It’s risky to be real with your customers, but telling the truth is better than trying to manipulate around pricing or artificially create a perception of value. Real value comes from building relationships, understanding your customer’s journey, and adding to it the way only you can.Hope you enjoyed this episode of B2B Mentors! Make sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. Leave us a 5-star review, so your friends and colleagues can find us too. B2B Mentors is brought to you by activeblogs.com. Head over to our Content Trifecta page to schedule a chat with Connor about custom marketing content solutions for your company and the Content Trifecta effect!

Scott Cassidy began his professional career as a copier sales rep in the Bronx and Harlem. After 6 years at Kodak, and a brief stint selling software, Scott began a long career at American Power Conversion where he held leadership positions in Order Management, Customer Service, Tech Support, Inside Sales and the last 15 years in Marketing. When Schneider Electric acquired APC, Scott was tapped to run the marketing function for the Industry Business Unit which led to his last position as VP of Marketing Communications, Events and Sponsorships for all business units in North America. In 2018, Scott joined ASLAN Training and Development as Chief Marketer as well as consultant and facilitator. In his role as CMO for Cenergistic, Scott’s focus on all aspects of marketing that exist today. Follow Scott on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-cassidy-1858141/Learn more about Cenergistic on their website here: https://cenergistic.com/Get access to all past and future podcast episodes: https://www.activeblogs.com/b2b-mentors/Follow and connect with the host, Connor Dube on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/socialsellingexpert/Instagram: connor_dubeIf you're already thinking you need to find a more efficient way to conquer your monthly B2B content like blogs, newsletters, and social media – we’d like to show you how we can improve the quality, save you tons of time, and achieve better results! To learn more visit www.activeblogs.comEpisode Summary:Scott Cassidy — CMO at Cenergistic, Strategist, Speaker, Sales Leader, and Podcaster — joins Connor to talk about getting more attention with your marketing — and converting that attention into deals. Learn how to prioritize your customers’ needs and the benefits of a comprehensive understanding of your company’s customer experience. Recognize and leverage the math behind marketing, and get your sales and marketing teams working together to produce better results for your company and your customers.Key Takeaways:Prioritize what the client needs — what’s important to your customer — ahead of what’s important to your marketing team, your sales reps, and even your company. Why is what you have important to them? What problems can your product or service solve for them? Putting customer needs first is the key to long term success.We say marketing is 50% art and 50% science. Today, the science of marketing is all about data and math. Potential customers can find a lot of information about your company without ever involving you, so they’re about 70% of the way to deciding on your product or service before your sales rep is invited to the table. To figure out what they’re looking for, marketers should recognize and utilize relevant data analytics.Sales and marketing are two sides of the same coin. In some companies, the culture pits them against each other, but they both work better — more efficiently and more effectively — when they’re part of the same team. Sales reps can rely on marketing to create content with the information potential customers want and need, and marketing can get content direction, such as FAQs, from the sales team.Hope you enjoyed this episode of B2B Mentors! Make sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. Leave us a 5-star review, so your friends and colleagues can find us too. B2B Mentors is brought to you by activeblogs.com. Head over to our Content Trifecta page to schedule a chat with Connor about custom marketing content solutions for your company and the Content Trifecta effect!

James Carbary is the bestselling author of Content-Based Networking: How to Instantly Connect with Anyone You Want to Know. He’s also the founder of Sweet Fish Media, a podcast-first media company. He’s been a contributor for the Huffington Post & Business Insider, and he also co-hosts the B2B Growth Show (a top ranked podcast according to Forbes).Follow James on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamescarbary/Learn more about Sweet Fish Media here: https://sweetfishmedia.com/Did you ever do any podcasts in person at, at any point in time? So we have, but I don't... To me, the benefit of being able to interview somebody from wherever you are in the world, without the limitation of having to be in-person, has always been so much more attractive to me. And the thing about in-person interviews, it accelerates the friendship a lot faster, and I'm big on that. Like using podcasting as a way to generate, or not generate, but like cultivate really genuine relationships with people. So when you're in person, obviously being in person, you can, you just have a different level of intimacy with the person there. But, no, I haven't done a lot of in person interviews. I think maybe a handful. Yeah. And as someone who's done as much as many podcasts as you have, I do, because I have a second podcast called mile high Mentors, which is all local community, Colorado base, Colorado guests, everything. It really brings a different dynamic doing it in person. I just, I can't wait for the day where we can be in virtual reality and literally feel like we're in the same room, do a podcast that way. We're on the the way there, hopefully. You know what I mean? Your local podcast idea, man... I'm convinced that there are people in real estate, people that own like... The people that own marketing agencies that focus on the local market, like there are so many industries that if they just started like the Denver Entrepreneurs Show or like whatever, like going local like that, it would position you so well to build all the right relationships. Dude, the niche show has been so underutilized, because that was my first podcast. B2B Mentors was a little more recent. And when I first wanted it to get into podcasting. I'm like, whoa, there's a lot of podcasts out there, and you know, what do I want to do that's unique? And I know Colorado's got this big ecosystem that in 10 years from now is going to be on the global stage, which are a kind of already is. And so I decided to do it on all local niche. And it's been total trampoline, I think because of the focus that literally when you really start getting in touch with your local community and understanding all the influence that's there... We're only one degree connected from everywhere else in the world. So I can only speak to that. It's been a blessing having that and starting it that way, just out of serendipity. Like, I wanted to do it in person. It was actually going to be a TV show when we first started. Okay. Yeah. The other piece, you can level up your video when you're in person. You can do a video, obviously, digitally like what we're doing right now, but just having a zoom background or whatever the office of the other person that you're talking to, it's a little bit limiting. Where, when you're doing in person interviews, you can have a couple cameras set up and you can do a little bit more stuff in post that, that creates a little bit, I dunno, just a higher level of production and depending on how you're repurposing the content, it can end up going really well for you. In the energy, there's a huge difference in energy doing that stuff in person. Just being able to read each other's social cues a little bit differently. So, it's been a little disheartening going back to zoom all the way, but it's still good. And you're still able to get good convo in everything. You just gotta be extra, extra thoughtful in how you're going about it. Yeah. So what, what was it for you, man, that you had this local podcast. Why then start another one? Why start B2B Mentors? Mile High Mentors, the formatting of the show is a little different and I love sales and marketing and like nerding out about sales and marketing and business development and strategy, more specifically. So, I found a lot of my podcasts- I kind of started inking a lot of these shows. They are kind of started bleeding into Mile High Mentors a bit like. I'm like, I would really like a separate show that's all focused set on leadership, business development. And I can, I can do this more on the global stage and have guests from, you know, Israel, and UK and anywhere in the world. There is a yin and yang to it. There's a yin and yang to having a local Show. I still run it. And it still well, well worth having those separate, but that was why I kind of went in one direction over the other. So this is a good question. Now my question for you, it's not maybe not as good of a question, but why Cherry Coke? Why not Cherry Pepsi? Cherry Pepsi doesn't live up to your standard? Bro, like I just hate Pepsi. I don't know if it tastes too water down to me, but I like, I will legitimately leave a restaurant if they're a Pepsi shop. I was going to be like, sorry, like I have to go next door. I don't know when that happened. I think it was like my late twenties when I started just developing this incredibly bad taste for Pepsi for some reason. And so our team jokes around about it all the time, like one of the questions we ask our new employees: are you Team Coke or are you Team Pepsi?And a it's, it's how I, how I know whether they're going to be on my good side from the get or not. You won't hire them if they're Pepsi? You're just discriminating against people who are Pepsi fans. Oh, I'll end up in, ah, in, in jail at some point for my discrimination toward Pepsi lovers. But for now you're moving, you're shaking. You're doing business. Just for those that are listening, please brag about yourself. Give, but yeah, man, give just a background 60 second synopsis on what lead you to where you're at, in your career today and some of the major wins along the way. Yeah. So, I won a sweepstakes back in 2008, I didn't actually it. My roommate's brother-in-law won this sweepstakes through a phone company called Alltel. And it was one of those deals where you, like, text football to 1-800-ALL-TEL. And you can win an all expense trip to a professional football game of your choice with nine of your friends. And so I was one of the friends that got to go on this trip. Took a private jet to New York city, got to go all around the city in a private, like, limo bus with a police escort. Got to watch the Giants-Cowboys game in a suite right next to Jerry Jones. It was like this is unreal experience. And there's a guy that was leading all of, kind of, the logistics for the trip. His name was Jeff and he was waiting there for us as soon as we got off the private jet that morning. He was in the limo bus with us, coordinating with a police escort. And so he was with us the entire day and I just ended up hitting it off at this guy and didn't really think anything of it. I just thought, "Oh, he's probably some low level employee with Alltel." I didn't really think in any of it. But we talk about faith. We talked about family, business... And by the end of the day, I found out that he's actually the CEO of this global logistics company that Alltel hired. And he just really likes New York. And so he happened to be on the trip himself. And so we ended up swapping contact information. I didn't think anything is going to happen from it. So I'm not really thinking anything at all about this interaction. And about a year and a half later, he calls me and asks me to move across the country. I was living in Oklahoma at the time. He asked me to move to Orlando to help him run the helicopter division of his logistics company. And so, prayed about it and decided to say yes, moved across the country and at helicopter logistics for NASCAR, actually, for three years. And the reason I like telling that part of my story is because it's segued really nicely into what we do now in the world of podcasting. I actually don't care much about podcasting like, I think it's cool. I think it's nice. But what I really care about is relationships and how can you reverse engineer, genuine relationships with the exact people that you want to know? Because the relationship with Jeff that I built in 2008 was completely serendipitous. It happened by accident. There was no strategy or purpose in meeting Jeff. I just happened in to that. And I think so many of us just stumble into these life changing relationships, but what I have found with podcasting or with really any sort of content collaboration, I've built the business around podcasting because I think its the easiest form of content collaboration. But what I loved so much about it, what we helped other companies do, is try to figure out like how, how can I reverse engineer relationships with the exact people that I need to know to move my business forward? And when you have a podcast. So for us, we work with a lot of VPs of marketing at B2B SaaS companies. So, our Show B2B growth. We literally go to VPs of marketing at B2B SaaS companies and ask them to be a guest on our show. And most of the time we don't end up doing business with them. But a lot of times we do. And through that collaborative process of creating an episode with them, we actually get to know them. We build this meaningful relationship with this human on the other end of the Zoom call, and through that collaboration, sometimes they end up referring us to people. Sometimes they end up becoming our customer, but regardless at the end of the day, we've developed a friendship with that person. Listen in for the full episode!

THROWBACK to past interview with Vengreso CEO interviewing me about sales content. On this episode of #SellingWithSocial, Connor Dube and I explain the critical importance of leveraging effective sales content. Connor is the Director of Sales and Marketing for Active Blogs, and he’s been involved in sales and marketing from a very young age. His insights reach far beyond his millennial years, and you don’t want to miss hearing his stories. He understands the relationship needed between marketing and sales departments like few others do, and he shares the top 3 pillars your content marketing needs to be built on in order for it to be successful. Be sure to give this episode your full attention!Leveraging Sales Content is Essential, No Matter Your Company SizeLeveraging sales content is one of the best strategies any company or salesperson can leverage to drive engagement. Content should play a massive role in the life of a modern salesperson because it’s a key feature that fuels sales conversations. Buying processes are getting longer and companies employ multiple decision makers that are more informed than ever before. Providing content to prospects allows them to build a trusting relationship with your company, even before they speak to a sales rep.Connor explains that marketing and sales departments must work together to create sales content that sends the right message at the right time. He says, “They have to be married together because the salespeople are going to win by being able to provide the right types of insights to marketing, and marketing being able to regurgitate that into usable content.”Follow this 80/20 Rule for the 3 Pillars of Sales ContentFrom his time managing and training sales teams, Connor has identified 3 main pillars that sales content falls into. Here they are.Educational contentEntertaining contentActionable contentContent marketers and salespeople run into trouble when they start devoting 80% of their content to the actionable pillar. Instead, Connor recommends that only 20% of your content is actionable while 80% is split between the first two pillars. Sales is relational, and educational/entertaining content builds a relationship with a prospect. For the full story behind these 3 pillars and how they can help you improve your sales content game, give this episode your full attention.... listen in for more!

3 Ways to Amplify Your Brand in 2022 - Connor's Curiosities #035Follow and connect with the host, Connor Dube on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/socialsellingexpert/Instagram: connor_dubeIf you're already thinking you need to find a more efficient way to conquer your monthly B2B content like blogs, newsletters, and social media – we’d like to show you how we can improve the quality, save you tons of time, and achieve better results! To learn more visit www.activeblogs.com

Forrest Dombrow is a serial entrepreneur and a sales consultant with eighteen years of experience in the online marketing industry. He has sold tens of millions of dollars in digital marketing services to some of the largest brands in the world, including SEO to Amazon and conversion rate optimization to Costco.Forrest was named one of the Online Marketing Institute Top 40 Digital Strategists in Marketing and is a featured speaker at some of the industry's most prestigious conferences.Follow Forrest on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/forrest-dombrow/Learn more about Solve Sales on their website here: https://solvesales.com/Get access to all past and future podcast episodes: https://www.activeblogs.com/b2b-mentors/Follow and connect with the host, Connor Dube on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/socialsellingexpert/Instagram: connor_dubeIf you're already thinking you need to find a more efficient way to conquer your monthly B2B content like blogs, newsletters, and social media – we’d like to show you how we can improve the quality, save you tons of time, and achieve better results! To learn more visit www.activeblogs.comEpisode Summary:Forrest Dombrow — serial entrepreneur, sales consultant, and digital marketing expert — joins Connor to discuss sales and growth strategies for digital marketing agencies. Learn about the importance of coaching and mentoring, adjusting to the tasks, topics, and environment of new situations, and the specific nuances involved in selling marketing products. Hear Forrest talk about the necessity of establishing trust, identifying what a client really needs, and navigating the gap between client needs and what they understand about digital marketing.Key Takeaways:When seeking career advice, look for coaches and mentors who address your particular situation as specifically as possible. To orient yourself to new professional situations, focus on the tasks the situation requires, the topics you’ll need to cover, and the environment in which tasks and topics will be addressed. In the digital marketing space, your potential customers don’t necessarily understand what they’re buying. One of the keys to success for digital marketing agents is the ability to identify what a client really needs and navigate the gap between their need and their lack of comprehension, so you can meet their expectations.Hope you enjoyed this episode of B2B Mentors! Make sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. Leave us a 5-star review, so your friends and colleagues can find us too. B2B Mentors is brought to you by activeblogs.com. Head over to our Content Trifecta page to schedule a chat with Connor about custom marketing content solutions for your company and the Content Trifecta effect!

AJ Wilcox is a LinkedIn Ads pro who founded B2Linked.com, a LinkedIn Ads-specific ad agency, in 2014. He's an official LinkedIn partner, host of the LinkedIn Ads Show podcast, and has managed among the world's largest LinkedIn Ads accounts worldwide. Follow AJ on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wilcoxaj/Learn more about B2Linked here: https://b2linked.com/Let's dive in. And I'm excited for this one. We'd been talking about doing this and there's just so much that we can nerd out about here. Oh I can't wait! Yeah, man. Thank you. Thank you. I'm so grateful for you making the time and joining us, and I'm so excited for all of you listening to this show today, AJ is just a killer with LinkedIn advertising, and it's going to be a really fun show. So as a way to get started, please, my friend brag about yourself. Give us, give us a quick background as to what led you to where you're at in your career today. Sure so I started out in digital marketing. I've loved it for the last 13 years, but I really stumbled on to LinkedIn Ads about nine years ago. And the story there was, I went into a company, my CMO- the new boss said, Oh, by the way, you know, on, on day one, you just, we just started a pilot using LinkedIn Ads. So see what you can do with it. It was kind of flippantly. And I was like, Oh man, I've never heard of LinkedIn Ads before. Like what, what have I got myself into? And about two weeks later, one of my sales reps came up to me and said, "AJ, we don't know what you're doing over here, but we're fighting over your leads, keep it up." And I was like, what are you talking about? So I logged into our CRM. I took a look at the leads and every single one of them that he was talking about, we are sourced from LinkedIn Ads and it was not the only advertising I was doing. So a long story short, it worked well. So I kept investing. I eventually took it to become LinkedIn's largest spending ad account world-wide. And after running that for a few years, I went, okay, there's got to be more companies than just this one that would slay it on LinkedIn ads. So I want to go and help those brands out. And so I started B2Linked about six years ago and we're a specialty ad agency. Literally LinkedIn Ads is all we do. Yeah. It's man. There's so much to break down with this to LinkedIn Ads is just this whole unique world. And what was the difference? What was LinkedIn Ads like when you were running em then and comparison to where they're at now? It's gotten quite a bit better, but it's always been four years behind Facebook ads. It it's always just never held a candle to Google. It. It's always just been a very unique kind of animal. And even from day one, even back when you can get clicks for $2 a piece You that was still expensive at the time. You know, right now we're paying eight to $11 per click using LinkedIn Ads. But when we were paying $2 a click, we still call it that expensive because Google and Facebook we're still, you know, significantly less than that. So they're making strides. I think they finally realized what tool they have and how valuable it is. And they're putting resources into making it better, but it's still a little ways behind the others. Yeah. Do you think Microsoft's acquisition, that's a positive for the future of LinkedIn advertising? I do think so because I've, I was a long time Bing Ads advocate. I still am. I guess they call it Microsoft advertising now. And I watched that team. I know them quite well. I watched that team take a product from zero to being in direct competition with the world's most sophisticated ad platform in just a matter of years. And so I think if LinkedIn will take anyone from the Microsoft advertising's advice on how to build out an ad platform, ultimately, I think it's going to be a really good thing for them. Yeah. Interesting. So what is it that makes or breaks for good LinkedIn advertising? Yeah. I break it down with an acronym called the AMO- and it it's what you need for a successful social media ads campaign. And your a is your, your audience. Who you are targeting and going M is your message for here's what I'm saying and, and what the prospect is going to see. And then O is your offer. And this is what you're asking people to do. What your call to action is, your lead magnet. And what we find is the reason we are willing to pay LinkedIn's high prices is access to that audience. So the A has really taken care of on LinkedIn. We're just ultra specific targeting, only the exact right people who can afford us, who feel the pain that we solve. The Message really depends on the offer, but O, the offer is by far the most important make or break thing with your campaign. Because I mean picture of yourself in just surfing through LinkedIn. If you saw an ad that said, click here to talk to our sales rep, here's what we do. You're going to think to yourself, I'm not here to do business with a vendor or find a new vendor. I'm on my way to go do something else. And chances are, you're like everyone else. You wouldn't click that ad. And so if you're trying to run with that kind of offer, like cut right to the chase, talk to sales, it, it will be insanely expensive and you will get very few leads out of it. But if you could move a little ways up the friction, Scale where you're going to provide a lot of value to someone. And in exchange, you're asking for their, their contact info. So you can follow up, we call it gated content or lead magnets. That seems to be the best approach to LinkedIn ads. And so if you have a piece of content, let's say a webinar or a guide that your prospects just look at it and go, oh, that is amazing. I need that. That's how, you know, your LinkedIn ads, campaigns going to be a huge success. Really? Interesting. So what you're saying is a and a lot of people that are failing, they're just going straight for the meet with us consultation or some sort of buy off the platform that most successful that you are seeing. There is some sort of gated, gated content for remarketing. You're not going to like land that lead directly in from that LinkedIn ad. It's more of a long-term play to build your pipeline and funnel. And in my understanding that correctly? Yeah, we have a couple different approaches you can take after you actually get someone to submit their information. Usually larger companies, more enterprise. It's not their first rodeo. And they'll say, hey, just because someone downloaded a guide doesn't mean they are ready to talk to someone. We are going to put him in our nurture stream. We're going to wait until they get a lead score. That's high enough to push them to someone in sales. And so you'll have those, but I would say the majority of LinkedIn advertisers are not the, the enterprise and they need leads. They they've got an SDR team, our sales team that's ready to start following up with people. So the best approach I can recommend is to a sales person like yes- know what this person is signed up for, they download it a guide. It, it wasn't a demo request. So you have to approach it as a- I'm here to be a resource to you and be helpful to you. I'm not just trying to sell you. And if you can really customize that approach and make it, you know, I'm here to be a resource to be a consultant to you, help you solve your problems. Obviously it takes more work to research every lead like that, but you can actually take someone who downloaded a white paper and to turn it into a sales conversation, usually 10 to 20% of the time. And that sort of, There's always that push and pull in a fight between marketing qualified leads, sales qualified leads, and salespeople just wanting the lowest hanging possible fruit that they can go in and close. They don't want to do the work. And that's also where a lot of leadership don't invest into, you know, LinkedIn marketing or, or, or Ads because some of them do take a little bit of extra work and development and everything. So it's like, you know, how, how do you feel? How do you, how do you get your clients sell it to understand the balance between that's something I've always found an uphill battle on, for sure. Yeah. Well, I'm at a nice advantage here because I came from the world of search. And so Google Ads, and SEO is what I did for like the first seven years of my career. And so I get it when I'm talking to accompany, who says, umm, you know, we're used to Google ads leads where they are requesting a demo with software. And so we just hop on the phone and give them what they ask. And LinkedIn Ads is, it's so different. I mean any type of social advertising is different. You have to offer value first and you know, what's going to be a little bit longer term. So the way I kind of pitch it to people to picture is LinkedIn Ads is really good at making sure that you're getting exactly the right people onto your website or to engage with your brand and then re-targeting and search- they are more bottom of funnel. That's when you're going to get them back and, and convince them. So use LinkedIn for mid to top of the funnel, introduce people to your brand and, and then rely on, on search channels and more direct channels to get more serious with them. The big challenge that most people who run Google Ads face, especially if they have a high ticket item is a sales team just says, ah, man were getting a ton of tire kickers and mom and pops here. Could we qualify them a little bit? And that's because you know, you're targeting a keyword. You're not targeting or filtering out people who wouldn't be able to afford what you do. LinkedIn Ads solves that problem, but it's gonna have a little bit longer have a sales cycle. Yeah. It gives you a next level and, and something that's interesting too... Just kind of shifting here is people don't realize there's actually three, maybe even four different ways to do LinkedIn advertising. And so what's your perspective on that in the different ang

Ian Barkin is the Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer for Sykes Enterprises, host of the OneTAKE Podcast, a speaker, and educator on Digital Transformation, Intelligent Automation and the Future of Work. As a serial entrepreneur, Ian has founded firms in the Internet of Things, Critical Infrastructure & Cyber Security, and the Robotic Process Automation spaces. He most recently co-founded and grew Symphony Ventures, a leading global RPA boutique, that he sold to SYKES in 2018. Follow and connect with Ian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianbarkin/Listen to and watch the OneTAKE podcast: https://www.sykes.com/onetakeMarketing is in a constant state of evolution, some by choice and some by force. The pandemic this year is a very real example of evolution by force. Businesses have been forced to reimagine tried-and-true marketing tactics and strategies like in-person events and face-to-face meetings. For innovative and disruptive professionals and businesses, this challenge has illuminated tremendous opportunities for growth. One such CMO is Ian Barkin, a trail-blazing marketing leader who is making some serious waves in the industry. On this edition of B2B Mentors, Barkin shared key strategy secrets for not only building and amplifying your personal brand, but overcoming adversity and the dreaded imposter syndrome, embracing virtual events, aligning sales and marketing, and more.What would you say is one of the biggest misconceptions of being at the tip of the spear in strategy, business development, and marketing in a billion-dollar organization?[IB]: That I know what I’m doing every day.The thing that motivates and energizes me the most is the constant learning, not only from the journey of improvements for myself and the team, but also from everybody we have the privilege of interacting. We’ve got teams all over the world. We’ve got partners all over the world. And honestly, the dynamics of ‘how do you build a brand’ and ‘how do you engage with prospective shoppers and buyers who are looking for a product or a service that you have’ is evolving so rapidly.When I was building the brand of my small startup, it was ‘who is more raw’? Not because the technology wasn’t there, but because our budget wasn’t there. We just had to build a brand and a name for ourselves through our own tenacity and through our own ideas and our own voice. Now, I’ve got a much larger machine and have a much larger story to tell. I’m learning every day.Having that entrepreneurial spirit has probably contributed a lot to your success in your current role.[IB]: I think I bring a healthy imposter syndrome to the role in so much as I wasn’t officially trained as someone who would become chief marketing officer. I came to the craft out of both passion and necessity. I love this stuff. I love storytelling. I love trying to find the nuance in the elements that really matter to the audience — but I didn’t go to school for it.That’s something a lot of successful people have shared with me — that imposter syndrome. How do you deal with it? How do you manage it? How do you overcome something like that?[IB]: Just keep going. Just be honest with yourself and continue going. Don’t present yourself to be anybody you’re not. I think my team knows that I very much learn from them and count on them and would not be anything without them. So that’s it. I would never dare to present myself as knowing more than I do because I don’t think it helps me or the mission.With all the changes, if you had to start with a mid-sized budget or from no budget whatsoever, what would you be doing? What are the immediate channels and action strategies you would be diving into?[IB]: We are so incredibly privileged to be where we are at this time in the evolution of technology and business. COVID-19 is interesting because it has made us all quite comfortable with a level of fidelity in resolution that isn’t professional production quality. That we are watching newscasters from major networks presenting from their home offices and sitting on their own stairs, and we’re cool with it —and that’s resonating throughout enterprises, too. We are more comfortable with the humanity of ourselves and I think it’s such a unique opportunity to capitalize on that.So if I were starting again, I would do a lot of what I did before, which is embrace the channels that allow me to reach the market that I need to get to. I am so enamored by LinkedIn. I love the channel. I love the access to people all over the world for virtually free and the way you can create a brand and a name for yourself.If Facebook is the right channel for you … if Instagram is the right channel … Twitter … TikTok … heck, any of those. Whatever you’re selling, there is a community out there on one, if not multiple, channels. And they are all virtually free. They are all begging for people to be interesting and to share their message. You don’t need a lot of budget to get started, you just have to have a story.All the tools are there. Literally, before the podcast started, you and I were just talking about recording content on our cell phones.[IB]: Not to single out Apple products, but the iPhone is the most powerful device on the planet. Not just because it’s got the cool tech and it’s screen is neat, but because it enables anybody to tell whatever story they want and distribute it anywhere they want. I’ve used it multiple ways, too. We use it internally for communication and alignment, as well as education.People think they need to have a perfect set up before they can start creating content or putting themselves out there, but that’s not true.[IB]: Absolutely. Just keep iterating and improving. We use smartphones to record in the moment. For example, after a customer meeting, we document things like: What went well in that sales presentation? What really landed? What was their feedback?You lose some of the value if you just wait for the flight home to start to document in an email to everyone about what just happened. Document, in the moment, the experience that customers are having with the product. It’s the best way to educate your own teams and to disseminate that knowledge internally.You’re so unique in the way that you’ve built your personal brand as a marketer. Did you have reservations in the beginning or did you just recognize that this is what you needed to do and dove right in?[IB]: There were some gentle nuances in the beginning because I co-founded a company and had other founders with me. I never wanted it to be all about me. It was more about choosing someone who was comfortable and willing to get out there and get the message out. The comparable value of this is just incalculable. If you consider the number of reservations, show bookings, and stage events that we would have had to pay for to get the same sort of domain authority, it would have been prohibitive. So we quickly realized that it was an absolute necessity if we wanted to stand out and have a brand personality. And since I was comfortable doing it, I did.When it’s your company and it’s small, if you screw up or embarrass yourself, there’s a smaller cascading effect of having done so. But when you’re in a larger, public company, you’ve got to make sure that you’re not a total idiot publicly because you’re representing a much larger brand. Now, the great thing is, I’ve got tremendous support from executive leadership because we’re telling a good story. We’re having really interesting, thoughtful, and relevant discussions with visionaries in our space.A lot of younger millennials are moving into business decision-making positions, but are still struggling with the need to build and amplify their personal brand. How do you sell that transformation? Do you think marketers need to lead by example, building their personal brand first to demonstrate how it’s done to other team members?[IB]: I think there’s certainly value in forging the path, showing that it’s not impossible, and giving people the courage to take the leap. As you get to larger organizations, you may find that there’s an interesting dynamic and divide between marketing and sales, so you have to navigate that carefully.One area that I’m passionate about learning and am really focused on right now is the awareness-to-purchase framework. Specifically, attribution — finding ways to turn that into as much of a science as humanly possible to understand what’s resonating, what’s adding value, and why anything happens. There’s too much black magic and art to ‘we closed the deal because I was amazing and I got it across the line’. There’s more to the story than just that. We didn’t have the data to really micro-analyze that in the past, but now we have quite a bit more access to data with the right systems, processes, and procedures in place. Next, you need to build the rapport and respect between marketing and sales so they can congratulate each other on the roles they collectively played to win the deal.Considering the lack of trade shows and conferences right now, how are you navigating that lack of travel and events? What are some of the pivots you’re making?[IB]: We’re all in the same boat. If this were a volcano in Iceland that erupted and shut down travel from one point to another, it would be different, but this, this volcano erupted over the whole planet. This is a pandemic. This is global. And, therefore, no one can travel. So everyone is trying to figure out how you hold these virtual events. How do you approximate the unstructured networking? How do you approximate just bumping into people like you would over the coffee table at an event? I don’t know that you can, but we’re trying. There’s a lot of industry analysts and a lot of product companies and service companies that are trying to use these virtual events.When you travel, you get these pockets of focus time, which I’m realizing I don’t have anymore. I’m not sitting in

Kerry Cunningham authored and co-authored a wide range of key models and frameworks for SiriusDecisions and Forrester, has spoken at dozens of industry events, including 4 appearances as a SiriusDecisions Summit keynote speaker. Throughout, Kerry has continued to drive the buying groups revolution in B2B, helping organizations transform from outmoded, ineffective lead-based practices to modern, buying team and opportunity-centric processes to unlock next-level performance.Kerry brings to his work with B2B organizations a unique combination of academic and real-world expertise in marketing, organizational design and management, including expertise in cross-cultural organizational design and change management, employee selection and retention, and performance management. In addition to dozens of business briefs and articles, Kerry is a published author in both literary and scientific publications. Kerry has a BA in psychology and journalism from Indiana University Bloomington and an MS in psychology from San Francisco State University.Get FREE access to more B2B Mentors episodes and content here: https://www.activeblogs.com/b2b-mentors/Follow Kerry on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerrycunningham/Learn more about 6sense on their website here: https://6sense.com/Get access to all past and future podcast episodes: https://www.activeblogs.com/b2b-mentors/Follow and connect with the host, Connor Dube on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/socialsellingexpert/Instagram: connor_dubeIf you're already thinking you need to find a more efficient way to conquer your monthly B2B content like blogs, newsletters, and social media – we’d like to show you how we can improve the quality, save you tons of time, and achieve better results! To learn more visit www.activeblogs.comEpisode Summary:Kerry Cunningham, RevTech revolutionary and product marketing expert, joins Connor to talk about what marketers get wrong about lead conversion. Hear Kerry talk about his early attempts to build a better conversion solution, the insights he’s gained about lead generation as a marketing tool, and the “Oh Sh!t!” moment for marketers. Learn what’s changed about your customers’ buying experience, how to read the signals about whether a customer is in the market, and how you can leverage website traffic data to maximize conversion opportunities.Key Takeaways:There’s a whole sector of B2B industry built around the idea of generating leads from your website and somehow converting them into business with marketing automation, lead scoring, etc. — but that’s not how it works.Buyers, and buying teams, haven’t changed; they’re still looking for a solution to their business problem. What’s changed is the amount of information available to buyers. They can research — and buy — what they want without ever talking to a sales team.Falling conversion rates can signal multiple points of interest from one potential client. Most of a website’s visitors are anonymous — and not decision makers. Multiple contacts from a single account lower the conversion rate and increase conversion possibilities.Hope you enjoyed this episode of B2B Mentors! Make sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. Leave us a 5-star review, so your friends and colleagues can find us too. B2B Mentors is brought to you by activeblogs.com. Head over to our Content Trifecta page to schedule a chat with Connor about custom marketing content solutions for your company and the Content Trifecta effect!