Building With Buyers: Startup Marketing and Growth Fueled By Customers

Todd Clouser is The Worst Marketer In The World at Lavender. He's also Co-Host of the Cheat Codes podcast. Prior, Todd held marketing leadership roles at Refine Labs (demand strategy and research for B2B growth stage startups). Why would I bring on the worst marketer in the world? I guess a better question to ask is, why would you want to call yourself the worst marketer in the world? Well, maybe you should just listen to this episode. Will Allred (Co-Founder and COO at Lavender) joined me for Ep. 130 (this was before their next round of funding was announced) and it's called “How We Get 35%-50% Response Rates From Our Sales Emails.” About Lavender: founded in 2020, 18 people now, and on the funding side they've raised Series A ($13.2M total). A quick description: The #1 sales email assistant. Write better emails, get more replies. 9.9/10 on G2. 10k+ users. In this episode we cover: What does “creative” mean to you (HINT: there are 3 types of content and you have to think about the purpose of your content so that you pick the best type); A lot of people make educational content on LinkedIn but Todd makes entertaining content that actually gets people to chuckle and engage, what's Todd's creative process; How does that creative process translate into results; Top 1-2 creative marketing ideas from past roles; What’s your advice for startups that want to push more on the creative side. You can find Todd on LinkedIn >> www.linkedin.com/in/toddclouser/ Check out Lavender >> www.lavender.ai/ For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review! And whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: 1. Startup marketing strategy, execution and advising (25+ happy clients and mentees) >> www.furmanovmarketing.com 2. Sign up to get my monthly newsletter where I’m sharing playbooks and insights and cracking some jokes that will make you smile guaranteed >> https://share.hsforms.com/1cP1V40x7RGes5gHk1XNgNw47lba 3. Sponsor my Top 5% podcast and get startup founders, marketers and VCs hearing about your brand >> https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/anna-furmanov You can also find me hanging out on LinkedIn every single week: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov

I hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend! Lately I've been thinking about this simple equation: Marketing = Experience + Revenue (credit: Drew Brucker) I just love the simplicity of it. Something you can explain to a 7-year-old. I brought back Kyle Lacy (CMO at Jellyfish) to talk about creativity, testing new ideas, brand vs. demand, giving your team the space to be creative, and more. Kyle is also an advisor to startups including Demandwell and Postal.io. Prior, Kyle was the CMO at Lessonly (got acquired by Seismic). Kyle has led teams at Seismic, OpenView, Salesforce, and ExactTarget. Check out our past podcast episodes: Ep. 31 - “Kyle Lacy, CMO at Lessonly, Talks About The Power of Irrational Ideas and Golden Llamas” Ep. 91 - on marketing planning (this is when Kyle was leading marketing at Seismic) Jellyfish has 209 people, Series C funding ($114.5M total) and a quick description: Jellyfish helps engineering leaders translate and maximize the business impact of their teams. In this episode we cover: What does “creative” mean to you; How do you know if an idea is worth testing; Why a great experience is the only thing that makes us relevant as marketers - it's our job; How do you separate brand + demand efforts effectively (HINT: if 75% of the effort goes to Demand, that allows your team to be more creative); How do you handle the creative experience on the Demand side; How do you give your team the space to be creative; What are 1-2 top creative marketing plays you’re running at Jellyfish. You can find Kyle on LinkedIn >> https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylelacy/  Check out Jellyfish >> https://jellyfish.co/ For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review! And whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: 1. Startup marketing strategy, execution and advising (25+ happy clients and mentees) >> www.furmanovmarketing.com 2. Sign up to get my monthly newsletter where I’m sharing playbooks and insights and cracking some jokes that will make you smile guaranteed >> https://share.hsforms.com/1cP1V40x7RGes5gHk1XNgNw47lba 3. Sponsor my Top 5% podcast and get startup founders, marketers and VCs hearing about your brand >> https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/anna-furmanov You can also find me hanging out on LinkedIn every single week: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov

Hey listeners! Hope you had a wonderful Spring Break and if you're still on it enjoy those last few days!! I brought back Gideon Pridor (CMO at Workvivo) because he is just the coolest to jam with. We always have a great time. Prior to Workvivo, Gidi was the VP of Marketing at TravelPerk and prior to that he was the VP of Marketing at Perfecto Mobile. Check out Episode 59 “Your Story Impacts Your Go-To-Market And Inspires Your Product Development.” That was when Workvivo was Series A (now they're Series B). We talked about how their small marketing team of five was doing some really cool things to impact growth (now the marketing team is 20 people). Workvivo was founded in 2017, has 136 people, and $38.5M total funding (Series B). They've managed to achieve a really long runway (3+ years). Workvivo is the digital heart of your organization. The employee app that keeps your team connected. Here's what we cover in this episode: Why many startups stop being exciting too early, why that's a concern and how to avoid it; Moving from Series A to Series B - how have the marketing team and goals changed; What older and wiser Gidi would tell young Gidi if he could go back 20 years; What do you look for when hiring creative people; How did you decide that you needed to build a category, and how to balance that with demand capture; How did you come up with the category name "Digital Employee Experience Platform"; How did you change your marketing strategy during the downturn. You can reach Gidi on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/gpridor Find out more about Workvivo: www.workvivo.com For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review! And whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: 1. Startup marketing strategy, execution and advising (25+ happy clients and mentees) >> www.furmanovmarketing.com 2. Sign up to get my monthly newsletter where I’m sharing playbooks and insights and cracking some jokes that will make you smile guaranteed >> https://share.hsforms.com/1cP1V40x7RGes5gHk1XNgNw47lba 3. Sponsor my Top 5% podcast and get startup founders, marketers and VCs hearing about your brand >> https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/anna-furmanov You can also find me hanging out on LinkedIn every single week: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov

Katie Mitchell is one of the smartest brand and content marketers I know. She was the Sr. Director of Marketing (Product Marketing, Content Marketing, and Brand/Communications) at Sprig for 2+ years and in 2023 she's taking some time off before she jumps back into things. I met Katie back in 2020 on Chris Walker's Demand Gen Live (DGL) Tuesday night virtual events. Sprig is a Series B startup based out of San Francisco that has raised $88M in funding total. Here's what we cover: What does creativity mean; How the team approached creative marketing at Sprig; How to figure out what marketing experiments to run; How much time to spend on marketing experiments; Being creative means you're able to reposition something so it feels different (e.g. I never do a webinar); What startups are being creative with their marketing; What's comin' up next for Katie. You can find Katie on LinkedIn For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review! And whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: 1. Startup marketing strategy, execution and advising, I'm like your fractional head of marketing (25+ happy clients and mentees) >> www.furmanovmarketing.com 2. Sign up to get my monthly newsletter where I’m sharing playbooks and insights and cracking some jokes that will make you smile guaranteed >> https://share.hsforms.com/1cP1V40x7RGes5gHk1XNgNw47lba 3. Sponsor my Top 5% podcast and get startup founders, marketers and VCs hearing about your brand >> https://anchor.fm/anna-furmanov You can also find me hanging out on LinkedIn every week: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov

One of the big reasons why I love working with startups is because they're so nimble and fast! Having a small team is a huge benefit to moving quickly. I asked MJ Smith (VP of Marketing at CoLab) to join me on the show again. She’s been VP of Marketing 3X. Prior, MJ was VP of Growth at Refine Labs and prior to that she was VP of Marketing at Firetrace. Please also check out Episode 9 “MJ Peters, VP of Marketing at Firetrace, challenges industrial companies to innovate their marketing.” It was one of my very first episodes but still has some super relevant content in there. CoLab was founded in 2017 and has 84 people. They've raised a total of $19.6M in funding (Series A). Engineers need better tools for working together, so they use CoLab to engage in meaningful, productive design conversations to catch preventable mistakes and get to market faster. Here's what we cover in this episode: What does “creative” mean (HINT: finding the best solution to a problem); Creativity is tied to feelings, so how do you get people to feel something with your marketing (HINT: break it down into logical steps); MJ talks to me about some cool creative approaches and pushing marketing boundaries at CoLab (as well as the results); MJ shares some startups we should be watching this year based on a few trends like TikTok and humor, offers, and data storytelling; MJ asks me her burning question. You can find MJ on LinkedIn. You can learn more about CoLab. For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review! And whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: 1. Startup marketing strategy, execution and advising (25+ happy clients and mentees) >> www.furmanovmarketing.com 2. Sign up to get my monthly newsletter where I’m sharing playbooks and insights and cracking some jokes that will make you smile guaranteed >> https://share.hsforms.com/1cP1V40x7RGes5gHk1XNgNw47lba 3. Sponsor my Top 5% podcast and get startup founders, marketers and VCs hearing about your brand >> https://anchor.fm/anna-furmanov You can also find me hanging out on LinkedIn every single week: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov

Join Andy Raskin, a master of strategic narrative who helps CEOs navigate their storytelling, as he dives into the essence of creativity in startups. He discusses how a compelling narrative can boost innovation and sets the stage for effective brainstorming sessions by separating idea generation from evaluation. Andy shares personal anecdotes and highlights the importance of authenticity and teamwork in fostering a creative environment. Tune in for insights on harnessing storytelling for marketing success!

A bit of a different flavor for this episode, I wanted to share answers to the top 15 questions I get in a kind of rapid-fire model. I asked Nick Bennett to join me for this episode, Nick is the Sr. Director of ELG & Evangelism at Airmeet (Series B startup). He’s also host of the podcast "The Anonymous Marketer." Prior, Nick was the Director of Evangelism and Customer Marketing at Alyce (Series B startup). I’ve known Nick for a while, he's always sharing useful content on LinkedIn, he's always trying to be super helpful, and thinking about startup trends and how they’re shaping the future of marketing and customer marketing.  Here are the Top 15 Questions we cover: 1. I get this question all the time: We’ve been so focused on growing our sales team. Is it OK to delay marketing? 2. We have multiple target buyers and influencers that would champion our product. Who should we focus on with our marketing efforts? 3. Our growth has plateaued. What are some fresh ideas for where we can focus our marketing efforts? 4. What’s a week in the life of a solopreneur like you? 5. How’d you launch a successful podcast? 6. I’m a startup. What should be the profile of my first marketing hire? 7. What are my options for hiring my first marketing hire in 2023? 8. Where do most people go wrong when they develop their marketing strategy? 9. Why are my social media posts not engaging my target audience? 10. What’s the most important thing to focus on when it comes to content marketing? 11. What are some important questions to ask my customers in VoC research that I might be forgetting? 12. What do startups typically get wrong with their website? 13. What do startups typically get wrong with their marketing plans? 14. What is something that startups don’t leverage as much as they should? 15. How do I know if I have a really good Marketing Strategy planned for 2023? Here's the article I mention how to organize your early stage SaaS marketing org in question 6. Find Nick here www.tacknetwork.com or here www.tackgtm.com For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review! And whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: 1. Startup marketing strategy, execution and advising, I'm like your fractional head of marketing (25+ happy clients and mentees) >> www.furmanovmarketing.com 2. Sign up to get my monthly newsletter where I’m sharing playbooks and insights and cracking some jokes that will make you smile guaranteed >> https://share.hsforms.com/1cP1V40x7RGes5gHk1XNgNw47lba 3. Sponsor my Top 5% podcast and get startup founders, marketers and VCs hearing about your brand >> https://anchor.fm/anna-furmanov You can also find me hanging out on LinkedIn every single week: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov

Emily Kramer, Co-Founder at MKT1, shares insights on hiring first head of marketing, importance of creativity in marketing beyond design, differences in marketing roles at different startup stages, balancing creativity and results, and unique approach to article structure and newsletters with diagrams.

A twist on the typical episode!  This is something I did two years back with Episode 23 (Reverse Podcast Episode with my then 7-year-old daughter where we talked about marketing) and so I decided to do it again but have a different flavor. I brought on my 9-year-old daughter to ask her some questions around creativity...and I answer those same questions. It's so fun to compare how we answer. The result is sometimes hilarious and always super cute. In this episode we cover: What does being creative mean to you; How do you know that something is creative; What are some things you do that help you be more creative; When have you been the most creative; Anything else that we each want to share. For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review! And whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: 1. Startup marketing strategy, execution and advising (25+ happy clients and mentees) >> www.furmanovmarketing.com 2. Sign up to get my monthly newsletter where I’m sharing playbooks and insights and cracking some jokes that will make you smile guaranteed >> https://share.hsforms.com/1cP1V40x7RGes5gHk1XNgNw47lba 3. Sponsor my Top 10% podcast and get startup founders, marketers and VCs hearing about your brand >> https://anchor.fm/anna-furmanov You can also find me hanging out on LinkedIn every single week: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov

Natalie Marcotullio is Head of Growth and Ops at Navattic. I’ve been working with Natalie and the Navattic team for 4+ months now as a Marketing Advisor so I personally have seen some of the creative work they’re putting out, and especially as an early stage B2B startup! Prior, Natalie held various roles including Marketing Director and Chief of Staff at Map My Customers (a Series A SaaS). Navattic was founded in 2020 and is based out of NYC. They've raised $5.4M funding (Seed). Navattic helps you instantly create interactive product demos. Customers include Mixpanel, Google Cloud, DropBox and more. Here's what we cover in this episode: What does “creative” mean; What are some cool, creative approaches and experiments at Navattic; How do you balance creativity with results (HINT: look at down-funnel conversions, you should be getting faster, easier deal cycles); How are startups doing on the “creative meter'' (HINT: a lot of marketers can’t be creative because they’re doing too much); Why marketing inputs are just as important as outputs; When has Natalie personally been the most creative; Natalie asks me her burning question. You can find Natalie on LinkedIn. You can learn more about Navattic. For more content, subscribe to Modern Startup Marketing on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, and don't forget to leave a review! And whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: 1. Startup marketing strategy, execution and advising (25+ happy clients and mentees) >> www.furmanovmarketing.com 2. Sign up to get my monthly newsletter where I’m sharing playbooks and insights and cracking some jokes that will make you smile guaranteed >> https://share.hsforms.com/1cP1V40x7RGes5gHk1XNgNw47lba 3. Sponsor my Top 10% podcast and get startup founders, marketers and VCs hearing about your brand >> https://anchor.fm/anna-furmanov You can also find me hanging out on LinkedIn every single week: www.linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov