Pipeline Visionaries

This episode features Eugene Levin, the Chief Strategy and Corporate Development Officer at Semrush, an online visibility management and content marketing SaaS platform. Previously, Eugene was the Investment Director and a partner at Target Global, and before that - co-founded one of Europe’s leading game development and outsourcing studios.In this episode, Eugene discusses tailoring your marketing approach for small business owners, his GTM strategy (and why it doesn’t involve looking at channels), and shares valuable SEO best practices to help your content get more clicks. ---“Sometimes [ranking higher] requires you to go deeper. Sometimes it means you have to use more authoritative sources and work with materials that may be not as easy to analyze as a blog post. And then once you publish content, it's important to work on the distribution.”---Episode Timestamps:*(0:30) - Eugene’s role at Semrush*(5:00) - Segment: Trust Tree*(7:51) - Tailoring your marketing approach for small businesses*(8:50)  - Semrush’s overall marketing strategy*(10:00) - Semrush’s GTM Strategy *(10:38) - Segment: The Playbook *(12:56) - Best practices for writing articles and blog posts*(20:32) - Avoiding over-optimization *(21:56) - Uncuttable budget items *(26:29) - Investing in content creation for your website *(30:58) - Segment: The Dust-Up*(33:04) - Segment: Quick Hits---SponsorDemand Gen Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com, the #1 Conversational Marketing platform for companies that use Salesforce and the secret weapon for Demand Gen pros. The world's leading enterprise brands trust Qualified to instantly meet with buyers, right on their website, and maximize sales pipeline. Visit Qualified.com to learn more.---LinksConnect with Eugene on LinkedInConnect with Ian on LinkedInLearn more about Semrushwww.caspianstudios.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode features Mark Josephson, a Co-Founder and CEO of Castiron, an e-commerce company that caters to kitchen-based entrepreneurs. Mark brings to the table an impressive track record of successfully building and growing software and tech companies. Mark came to Castiron from Bitly, where he was CEO from 2013 to 2020. Prior to Bitly, Mark held various positions at AOL’s Patch, Outside.in., and About.com. In this episode, Mark discusses using storytelling techniques in demand gen marketing, how to engage with harder-to-reach audiences, and shares advice to CEOs and Founders figuring out their Demand Gen strategy. The interview wraps up Mark’s insights on investing in digital infrastructure with scaling in mind.---“Wouldn't it be great if we were obsessed with solving problems for our customers, instead of just trying to sell them something? Wouldn't it be great if our success was aligned with the success of our customers? … That means freemium, that means SAS, that means consumption-based pricing. A lot of truisms about great businesses have roots in the kind of relationship you want to have with your customers and that, to me, is all marketing.” - Mark Josesphson ---Episode Timestamps:*(0:30) - Mark’s vision for Castiron *(3:03) - How Mark views the role of CMO and Demand Gen as CEO*(5:00) - Segment: Trust Tree*(7:51) - Getting in front of harder to reach audiences *(10:38) - Segment: The Playbook *(12:56) - Biggest surprises Mark’s encounter in marketing*(17:42) - Segment: The Dust-Up*(23:56) - Mark’s favorite campaigns*(29:57) - How Mark views his website*(33:04) - Segment: Quick Hits---SponsorDemand Gen Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com, the #1 Conversational Marketing platform for companies that use Salesforce and the secret weapon for Demand Gen pros. The world's leading enterprise brands trust Qualified to instantly meet with buyers, right on their website, and maximize sales pipeline. Visit Qualified.com to learn more.---LinksConnect with Mark on LinkedInConnect with Ian on LinkedInLearn more about Castironwww.caspianstudios.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode features a special double-feature conversation with Lobs’s Chief Marketing Officer, Ritu Kapoor, and Vice President of Demand Generation, Julie Ginn. Ritu is Lob’s first CMO but is no stranger to leadership roles, having worked in higher levels at several SaaS automation leaders. Julie has more than 20 years of experience in the technology industry, with a specialization in demand generation and marketing operations.On this episode, they discuss the latest research in direct mail marketing, share their favorite experiential marketing campaigns, and talk about what makes a campaign and website outdated.---“[Personalization] is like going back to experiential marketing. Being able to have these small events and really immerse the customer in your brand by giving them an experience that they want to talk about with their friends and want to talk about on social, because these large events at this point are going out.” - Ritu---Episode Timestamps:*(2:00) - Ritu and Julie’s Roles at Lob*(5:00) - Segment: Trust Tree*(9:18) - Lob’s Go-To Market Structure*(15:46) - Segment: The Playbook *(25:10) - Using Experiential Campaigns for Engagement *(26:49) - Outdated & Oversaturated Campaign Techniques*(33:04) - What Makes Personalization Work*(34:43) - Stop Thinking of Your Website as Static*(36:30) - Segment: The Dust-Up*(38:10) - Segment: Quick Hits---SponsorDemand Gen Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com, the #1 Conversational Marketing platform for companies that use Salesforce and the secret weapon for Demand Gen pros. The world's leading enterprise brands trust Qualified to instantly meet with buyers, right on their website, and maximize sales pipeline. Visit Qualified.com to learn more.---LinksConnect with Ritu on LinkedInConnect with Julie on LinkedInConnect with Ian on LinkedInLearn more about Lobwww.caspianstudios.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode features an interview with Karen Steele, the Senior Vice President of Marketing at Near, a global leader in data intelligence for businesses. Karen has an impressive track record as an enterprise Cloud Marketing Executive with extensive experience in scaling fast growth companie. Some of her past roles include Marketo, VMware, Saba Software, Cloud9 Analytics, Xactly Corporation, Informatica, Currenex, and more.On this episode, Karen discusses building demand gen teams on a global scale, why customer marketing is part of her DNA, and shares examples from her favorite campaigns. The interview wraps up with advice from Karen to Marketing Leaders about investing into their online presence, and explains how it’s a critical decision for growth.---“Your website is your front door [to your brand]. Everybody communicates online these days. Everybody is going to look at your website first and do their own online research before they ever probably reach out and have a conversation with one of your sales reps. So, your website needs to have great content. It needs to be personalized... It needs to have great opportunities for people to engage with you and learn more. It is probably the most important thing you have to invest in.” - Karen Steele---Episode Timestamps:*(0:34) - Karen’s first job in demand gen*(1:52) - Karen’s role at Near*(3:08) - Segment: Trust Tree *(6:22) - How to build a marketing team *(9:53) -  Building trust in the B2B world *(14:37) - What makes a good leadership team*(22:44) - Segment: The Playbook*(31:47) - Potential future investments for Near*(33:44) - Over-hyped marketing trends*(35:03) - Karen’s favorite campaigns over the years*(42:07) - Segment: The Dustup*(46:12) - Segment: Quick Hits---SponsorDemand Gen Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com, the #1 Conversational Marketing platform for companies that use Salesforce and the secret weapon for Demand Gen pros. The world's leading enterprise brands trust Qualified to instantly meet with buyers, right on their website, and maximize sales pipeline. Visit Qualified.com to learn more.---LinksConnect with Karen on LinkedInConnect with Ian on LinkedInLearn more about Nearwww.caspianstudios.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode features an interview with Kevin Tate, Chief Marketing Officer at Clearbit, a marketing data engine for customer interactions that helps businesses grow. Kevin has more than 24 years of sales and marketing experience as a 2-time CRO and 3-time CMO, and has held many other senior leadership roles throughout his career.  On this episode, Kevin discusses the importance of speed when it comes to capturing customer intent, marketing’s role in creating a compelling promise for a company’s product, and why websites need to look to mobile-first experiences as inspiration sooner rather than later. -------------------- "...the idea of the ideal customer profile is maybe a sort of 101-level content, right? It is really foundational to how companies think about, understand, and act on their ideal customers. But, as we look at sort of the 201 and 301 levels, it's about how to actually focus my funnel on my ICP and then, how do I do it in a way that's consistent through acquisition, conversion, and operations so that I can actually measure and optimize? ... So, again, thinking about how [the ICP] goes from foundational to the edge of where people are pushing the boundaries is what keeps it fun." - Kevin Tate--------------------Episode Timestamps:*(2:00) - Kevin’s role at Clearbit*(3:12) - Kevin’s first job in demand gen*(5:00) - Segment: Trust Tree*(9:18) - Clearbit’s buying committee and personas*(15:46) - Segment: The Playbook *(25:10) - Clearbit’s event strategy*(26:49) - How Kevin views Clearbit’s website*(33:04) - Kevin’s favorite campaign*(34:43) - Kevin’s most cuttable budget items  *(36:30) - Segment: The Dust-Up*(38:10) - Segment: Quick Hits--------------------SponsorDemand Gen Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com, the #1 Conversational Marketing platform for companies that use Salesforce and the secret weapon for Demand Gen pros. The world's leading enterprise brands trust Qualified to instantly meet with buyers, right on their website, and maximize sales pipeline. Visit Qualified.com to learn more.--------------------LinksConnect with Kevin on LinkedInFollow Kevin on TwitterFollow Ian on TwitterConnect with Ian on LinkedInwww.caspianstudios.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode features an interview with Tyler Lessard, VP of Marketing & Chief Video Strategist of Vidyard, a video platform for marketing and sales video hosting. Tyler has over 15 years of experience in B2B marketing, sales enablement, content marketing, brand and video. He’s also the distinguished author of The Visual Sale.On this episode, Tyler breaks down how to effectively use video to generate demand, why video chops need to be in every marketer's toolkit, and how to be cost-effective and make videos at greater scale. --------------------“...up until the last few years it was costly and complex to do a lot of video. That’s where it was really a barrier and people will go, ‘oh, we just do it over there because if we do it everywhere else, I don’t even know how I would afford that or manage it.’ But the reality is today, there are very approachable ways, very cost-effective ways to do video at a greater scale. And so that’s what we’re starting to see is this scaling the use of video across these different programs, having more teams, demand teams, social teams, content teams, thinking about where does video content fit into what we’re delivering. How can it help us better tell this story or answer this question?” — Tyler Lessard --------------------Episode Timestamps:*(1:57) - Tyler’s first job in demand*(2:55) - Tyler’s role at Vidyard*(3:51) - Segment: Trust Tree*(7:17) - How Tyler’s marketing team is structured*(9:03) - Tyler demand gen strategy*(16:56) - The future of video in every marketers toolkit*(33:08) - Where should listeners put their videos?*(36:10) - Segment: The Playbook*(40:35) - Segment: Quick Hits*(42:49) - Advice for a first time VP of marketing--------------------SponsorDemand Gen Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com, the #1 Conversational Marketing platform for companies that use Salesforce and the secret weapon for Demand Gen pros. The world's leading enterprise brands trust Qualified to instantly meet with buyers, right on their website, and maximize sales pipeline. Visit Qualified.com to learn more.--------------------LinksConnect with Tyler Lessard on LinkedInFollow Tyler on TwitterCheck out Tyler’s book: “The Visual Sale” Follow Ian on TwitterConnect with Ian on LinkedInwww.caspianstudios.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode features an interview with Alon Alroy, Co-founder, CMO & CCO of Bizzabo, a  hybrid events platform that has raised $195M and has acquired several companies to date. Alon is a distinguished marketing executive shaping the future of the martech industry.  On this episode, Alon provides a crystal ball into the future of events, why he believes experiences play a vital role in this future, and why everything as a marketer leads back to delighting your customers.------------------“When you think about the future, the future is really not about event management software anymore. It’s really about event experiences. People can consume content anywhere. People can get a Netflix like experience in terms of, on demand almost anywhere. So those who want to stay relevant, we need to evolve their offering to be focused on experiences, the attendee experience, the sponsor experience, the speaker experience, and the other experiences. So the future is really about experiences and this is what we have been experiencing as well. And this is what we have been demonstrating. To provide this immersive experience in which people feel connected, the rich transforming from attendees to participants.” — Alon Alroy------------------Episode Timestamps: *(2:00) - Alon’s first job in marketing*(2:35) - What it means to be CMO of Bizzabo*(4:02) - The latest happenings at Bizzabo*(6:54) - How marketers should think about events for 2022*(8:24) - Segment: The Trust Tree*(11:00) - How Alon structures his marketing team*(12:16) - Alon’s marketing strategy*(16:26) - Segment: The Playbook*(18:10) - The future of events *(26:13) - Making experiences memorable*(29:46) - How Alon views content, Bizzabo’s website, & event lifecycle*(33:31) - Segment: The Dust-Up*(35:36) - What’s going away in marketing*(36:26) - Segment: Quick Hits ------------------SponsorDemand Gen Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com, the #1 Conversational Marketing platform for companies that use Salesforce and the secret weapon for Demand Gen pros. The world's leading enterprise brands trust Qualified to instantly meet with buyers, right on their website, and maximize sales pipeline. Visit Qualified.com to learn more.------------------LinksFollow Alon on TwitterConnect with Alon on LinkedInFollow Ian on TwitterConnect with Ian on LinkedInwww.caspianstudios.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode features an interview with Heidi Bullock, CMO of Tealium, a company that connects data from all different sources so brands can better connect to their customers. Prior to Tealium, Heidi was the CMO of Engagio and Global VP of Marketing at Marketo. On this episode, Heidi talks about what it means to be CMO of Tealium, why the rise of data driven marketers is so important, and her top do’s and don’t for customer event marketing during a pandemic. -------------------“...know where your audience is. And I know that seems obvious, but I think even in social, you often see people saying, ‘oh, we've got to do LinkedIn, Facebook, Tiktok', you name it. But if your audience isn't there, maybe that doesn't make sense. So I think before you even think about channels and tactics, make sure you know who you're marketing to. Who you're trying to engage with and where they are and then how they prefer to be communicated to.” — Heidi Bullock-------------------Episode Timestamps:*(1:52) - Heidi’s first job in demand*(2:17) - What being CMO means at Tealium*(3:44) - Segment: The Trust Tree*(4:49) - Who Tealium’s customers are*(8:45) - The rise of date driven marketers *(11:00) - How Heidi structures her marketing organization*(14:26) - Segment: The Playbook*(16:34) - Tips on customer events*(20:20) - Heidi’s marketing don’ts*(31:49) - Heidi’s all-time favorite campaign she’s ran*(32:14) - Segment: The Dust-Up*(35:50) - How Heidi views Tealium’s website*(37:14) - Segment: Quick Hits-------------------SponsorDemand Gen Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com, the #1 Conversational Marketing platform for companies that use Salesforce and the secret weapon for Demand Gen pros. The world's leading enterprise brands trust Qualified to instantly meet with buyers, right on their website, and maximize sales pipeline. Visit Qualified.com to learn more.-------------------LinksConnect with Heidi on LinkedInFollow Heidi on Twitter Follow Ian on TwitterConnect with Ian on LinkedInwww.caspianstudios.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode features an interview with Nikhil Behl, CMO of FICO, a leading analytics software company helping businesses in over 85 countries. Nikhil has over 25 years of technology, software and e-commerce experience. Prior to FICO, he was COO of Mercantila and spent 12 years in a number of executive-level positions at Hewlett-Packard. Nikhil is best known for being a part of the founding team that built H-P-Shopping.com and turned it into one of the top-five I-R 500 retailers in just seven years. On this episode, Nikhil uncovers the main ingredient for crafting the perfect customer testimonial, why the people you work with are the main driver for creativity, and his strategic tips for creating curated events that perform.----------------“You have to be able to tell these stories just in time with the right medium and not taking up too much of that, person’s either time or ability to digest something. And so taking a story and starting to break it up into either multiple components or segments, putting it into multiple mediums, whether it’s a video or audio or through social or long form and helping these things actually build on each other is really important.” — Nikhil Behl----------------Episode Timestamps:*(2:15) - Nikhil’s first role in marketing*(3:31) - Nikhil’s current role as CMO at FICO*(4:10) - Segment: The Trust Tree*(5:52) - What the buying committee looks like for FICO*(9:19) - Nikhil’s marketing strategy*(10:37) - The way Nikhil organizes his marketing team*(12:26) - Segment: The Playbook*(17:38) - How Nikhil craft’s his customer testimonials*(21:38) - How Nikhil thinks about FICO’s website*(26:48) - Tips on creating curated events*(29:07) - What it’s like being a serial entrepreneur and CMO*(31:50) - Segment: The Dust Up*(34:00) - Segment: Quick Hits----------------SponsorDemand Gen Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com, the #1 Conversational Marketing platform for companies that use Salesforce and the secret weapon for Demand Gen pros. The world's leading enterprise brands trust Qualified to instantly meet with buyers, right on their website, and maximize sales pipeline. Visit Qualified.com to learn more.----------------LinksConnect with Nikhil on LinkedInFollow Nikhil on TwitterFollow Ian on TwitterConnect with Ian on LinkedInwww.caspianstudios.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode features an interview with Anthony Kennada, CMO of Hopin, an event technology platform that recently garnered a $7.75B valuation.On this episode, Anthony takes us behind the scenes on Hopin’s explosive growth, how he and his team are trying to redefine webinars, and why he believes every company needs to start acting like a media company. -------------“Every company needs to start acting like a media company or risk going out of business, pure, plain and simple. And when the cookie-less future that we're all staring down comes to light, the companies that survive are the ones that caught this early and were able to start investing in building their own content moat around the business.” — Anthony Kennada-------------Episode Timestamps:*(2:05) - Anthony’s first job in marketing*(2:45) - More about Anthony’s role at Hopin as CMO*(4:05) - Segment: The Trust Tree*(6:41) - Who’s the buying committee for Hopin *(8:37) - How Anthony’s marketing team is organized *(14:23) - How events have changed over the last 18 months*(25:15) - Segment: The Playbook*(29:45) - The investments Anthony makes into brand*(31:54) - How to think about investing in content*(35:30) - Segment: The Dust Up*(38:45) - Segment: Quick Hits SponsorDemand Gen Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com, the #1 Conversational Marketing platform for companies that use Salesforce and the secret weapon for Demand Gen pros. The world's leading enterprise brands trust Qualified to instantly meet with buyers, right on their website, and maximize sales pipeline. Visit Qualified.com to learn more. LinksConnect with Anthony on LinkedInFollow Anthony on TwitterFollow Ian on TwitterConnect with Ian on LinkedInwww.caspianstudios.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.