Building With Buyers: Startup Marketing and Growth Fueled By Customers

If you're in the US, Happy Thanksgiving. When I look back at 2025, one thing is very clear: my clients taught me more than any book, course, or conference ever could. Here are the six lessons I learned from the leaders I worked with this year.Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show.Music by my talented daughter.Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠One Insight

Aditya Vempaty is VP of Marketing at MoEngage. MoEngage is a consumer engagement platform used by 1350+ consumer brands globally. $180M funding, 869 ppl.Here’s what we cover:02:46 Team Structure and Regional Dynamics - including why one PMM reports under the CEO05:33 Steering the Ship & Gaining Buy-In for Strategic Initiatives11:10 The Role of Customer Feedback in Marketing13:48 Repositioning MoEngage in a Changing Market16:32 Navigating AI in Customer Engagement19:33 Positioning and Storytelling Across Regions26:52 Cultural Nuances in Storytelling e.g. India versus US28:07 The Importance of CEO Buy-In30:43 Customers as your Heroes and why that's such an important mindset shift43:47 The Nuances of AI in Marketing - Aditya's hot takeAditya on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/adityavempatyMoEngage: ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.moengage.comSubscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show.Music by my talented daughter.Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠One Insight

Jess Cook is Head of Marketing at Vector. Vector is the only way to build ad audiences by name. Contact-based ads platform so your ads reach the right people (those that want to buy).Here’s what we cover:02:39 Understanding Vector's (new!) Positioning05:30 Customer-Centric Growth Strategies08:16 Repositioning and Messaging Evolution11:04 Incorporating Customer Feedback and why we brought our customer into our strategic company meeting14:05 The Role of Research in Marketing16:37 Building Ad Audiences by Name19:18 Our Creative Process Behind the Brand22:09 On Launching the Podcast with the CEO - we fly down to Florida and film in the studio26:47 Focused growth channels 28:04 Creativity that stems from customer research and insights30:42 Sabrina Carpenter's hairbrush microphone34:06 My favorite customer interview question38:30 Customer marketing plays at Vector41:46 Our influencer marketing experiment results46:47 Leveraging AI in Marketing51:11 Innovative SEO Strategies we're usingJess on LinkedIn: ⁠linkedin.com/in/jesscook-contentmarketingVector: ⁠www.vector.coSubscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter.Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠Newsletter: ⁠⁠One Insight

Anthony Pierri helps founders market hard-to-market products as Co-Founder and Partner at FletchPMM. We're both in the Chicago area, Anthony is just a (trail) bike ride away. I asked Anthony to join me for round 2, also listen to Ep. 199 “Why Your Homepage Is A Great Predictor of Your Startup's Future Success...Or Failure.”Here’s what we cover:“Let’s fix your confusing positioning” why you changed the copy on your homepage;Positioning, messaging, how do you get the entire company marching to the same beat, especially larger companies;After you help companies with their positioning and messaging, do they stick to it? Do they go back to their old ways? Why might this happen;You don’t recommend outsourcing talking to customers BUT founders and marketers don't know how, so what's the solve here, let's talk this out;Segmentation old way versus new way.Anthony on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/anthonypierriFletchPMM: www.fletchpmm.comSubscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter.Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠Newsletter: ⁠⁠One Insight

Mark Huber is VP of Marketing at UserEvidence. UserEvidence is a Customer Evidence Platform that lets you collect feedback, curate success stories, and create content that credibly proves the value of your product. Don’t beg for case studies. Get customer proof at scale.Mark and I are both Navattic advisors.Here’s what we cover:Tell me about your team, what’s everyone doing;Tell me about how your positioning and messaging has changed, and how it’s landing;How’d you get the entire company marching to the same beat;How do you incorporate customers as part of UserEvidence’s growth efforts;How’re you using AI in your role, what scares you, what are you hopeful about;Mark asks me his burning question.Mark on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/markehuberUserEvidence: userevidence.comSubscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter.Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠Newsletter: ⁠One Insight

This is a geeking out episode. If you love customer research as much as I do and know how important it is for marketing and business growth, this is the episode you'll want to hear.Hannah Shamji is a former Therapist and now Consumer Psychology Researcher. Hannah digs deep to uncover the emotional and psychological reasons your customers buy, stay, or leave in order to help inform retention, engagement, or positioning challenges.Here’s what we cover:Focus of your work these days;How're you using AI as part of your work;In research conversations, how to peel back the layers beyond logical answers, in order to go deeper on the emotional and political stuff;The worst customer interview you’ve ever done;How do you know something is an insight;An example of turning insights into action;Hannah asks me her burning question.Hannah on LinkedIn: ⁠www.linkedin.com/in/hannahshamjiFor more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter.Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠Newsletter: ⁠⁠One Insight

Mark Schaefer is keynote speaker, university educator, futurist, and bestselling author of books like Marketing Rebellion, Audacious, and most recently How AI Changes Your Customers.Mark also joined me a couple years ago, listen to Ep. 132: How AI Is Changing Marketing Forever & Why Creativity Matters More.Here’s what we cover:What’s changing with our customers, and how do we change alongside them;What scares you most about AI;What makes you hopeful;Why curiosity matters now more than ever;Where are you finding purpose and where can marketers find purpose at a time when we’re kinda lost;Why awkwardness is a brand superpower;The 3 questions we should be asking to guide our company's next chapter.Mark on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/markwschaeferMark's website: businessesgrow.comFor more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter.Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠Newsletter: ⁠One Insight

After 5+ years working with early and growth stage companies, I created the Customer Insights Roadmap, a 4-phase process that helps founders/CEOs and their teams understand their customers deeply, translate those insights into clear and compelling positioning and messaging, and then scale growth in a way that works for your specific target buyer. It’s the exact process I take my clients through and it all starts with the hard work: real conversations with your customers. We run this program and it's not uncommon to see faster sales cycles and even 4X closed won deals.Read about the Customer Insights Roadmap: furmanovmarketing.com/blog/customer-insights-roadmapRead more about the Content Strategy Canvas: furmanovmarketing.com/blog/content-strategyFor more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show.Music by my talented daughter.Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠⁠One Insight newsletter: ⁠⁠Subscribe⁠

So ya know how I’m exploring the role that customers play in helping companies build to their next level of growth? My goal is to invite on more superstar customer marketers and this episode is no exception. Why such an obsession with customer marketing? people don’t stop to consider how important their customers are;we always seem to be chasing net new;trust is peer-led and most growth (still) comes from referrals, word of mouth, and bottom-up adoption;your customers are your moat because they are unique to you;you're probably doing some of this, it's just not officially in your business strategy (it should be).Holly Higgins is Sr. Customer Marketing Manager at Nectar. Nectar is an employee recognition & rewards platform for companies investing in culture. $58.7M in funding. 245 people.Here’s what we cover:Holly's responsibilities and goals;How do you incorporate customers as part of your growth efforts;Gamifying customer engagement;How you use AI in your role;How AI makes you and me more human;Holly asks me her burning question.Holly on LinkedIn: ⁠www.linkedin.com/in/holly-higgins-28841a1b7Nectar: nectarhr.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter.Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com⁠Newsletter: One Insight

I reached out to Denny Hollick on GrowthMentor as a mentee. Denny was a good match because I wanted to ask him some questions I’ve had for a while around customer marketing and customer advocacy. Yes, most people agree that understanding customer needs can transform product development, but what’s often overlooked is how customer advocates can significantly influence your market success and GTM plan's impact. Denny is Head of Product Marketing at Puzzle. Prior, he held marketing leadership roles at Minerva, Kajabi, Unbounce, and Wealthbar (acquired in 2018).Here’s what we cover:Why customer advocacy is crucial for startup growth;How building relationships with customers can lead to advocacy;Examples of customer advocacy programs;Effective customer marketing requires collaboration between teams;Startups should invest in customer advocacy programs early;Creating a customer advisory board is probably the easiest step one;Customers want to feel valued and recognized, how can you make that happen;How successful advocacy programs turn customers into partners.Denny on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/dhollickFor more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show. Music by my talented daughter.Anna on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠furmanovmarketing.com⁠⁠⁠One Insight newsletter: ⁠Subscribe