Pipeline Visionaries

This episode features an interview with Mika Yamamoto, Chief Customer and Marketing Officer at Freshworks, a company that provides powerful, easy to use Customer service, IT, and CRM software.In this episode, Mika discusses surgically blending the physical and digital world, to create a campaign experience that sticks with prospects. She also talks about encouraging innovation from her team, tying marketing victory to sales’ success and focusing on customer over function. Key Takeaways:Blending the physical and digital world when creating campaigns can create more lasting impact and better returns.Allowing your team to divide and conquer different markets and functions allows people to specialize and be the best at what they do, an impossibility if they are doing too many things.Incorporating humanity and a recognition of the human on the other side, not only differentiates your marketing in a B2B space, it makes the whole job more enjoyableQuote: ”In terms of signals, what helps is that we have one operations function that works across all functions. There's traditionally been, marketing comes up and celebrates and says, “Woohoo, we did all this work, we’re green!” And then sales is saying, “Well, what the heck you can't claim victory because we haven't met our numbers. So how can you declare victory if we haven't met our numbers?” And so again, the construct that we have is we have one operations group in our organization, Freshworks. So, we have one dashboard that essentially ties together and we're still working on making those ties, but that ties together, marketing doesn't declare victory if sales can't. So, it's driving shared metrics in one dashboard versus this view of the world that is a marketing view, then a sales view then a product view. We want to drive one view, which is more customer focused versus functionally focused.”Episode Timestamps: *(08:24) The Trust Tree: Divide and conquer different markets *(24:12) The Playbook: Focus on demand capture *(39:20) The Dust Up: Assumptions about sellers and marketers*(42:49) Quick Hits: Mika’s Quick Hits Sponsor:Pipeline Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com, the #1 Conversational Marketing platform for companies that use Salesforce and the secret weapon for pipeline 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.Links:Connect with Ian on LinkedInConnect with Mika on LinkedInLearn more about FreshworksLearn more about Caspian Studios Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Niki Hall, CMO at Five9, leads cloud contact center solutions, driving customer engagement for thousands. In this discussion, she emphasizes the CMO's role as a business strategist, using customer insights to shape company objectives. Niki champions the importance of experimentation in marketing, advocating for a 'pilot, prove, scale' approach. She also highlights the value of authentic marketing and cohesive messaging to foster brand loyalty, alongside her experiences in navigating the evolving landscape of customer experience.

This episode features an interview with Karl Van den Bergh, CMO at Gigamon, a company that helps IT organizations better secure and manage their hybrid cloud infrastructure.In this episode, Karl talks about shifting from a lead-based model to a demand unit model, the impact of investing in brand when budgets are tight, and balancing awareness with demand. He also talks about his approach to content, creating something that stands out and that people either love or hate.Key Takeaways:Transitioning from a lead-based model to a demand unit model can better align with complex B2B buying processes because it allows for more accurate targeting of entire buying committees.Maintaining brand investments during economic downturns is a way to seize opportunity to win market share. Companies that continue to invest in brand awareness during tight budgets will emerge stronger when the market recovers.Leveraging humor in campaigns, and embracing that some people will love it and some will hate it, is more memorable and can have better results than content that blends in.Quote: “We said, look, I'd rather put something out there that people either love or hate, as long as it's done, again, it can't be offensive, but people love or hate. I'd rather have something that stands out than something that's bland that no one would object to. And sure enough, as I said, it way outperformed benchmark.”Episode Timestamps: *(04:30) The Trust Tree: Shifting from a lead-based model to a demand unit model *(20:26): The Playbook: Put out content people will love or hate *(38:06) The Dust-Up: Authentic Dialogue*(39:47) Quick Hits: Karl’s Quick HitsSponsor:Pipeline Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com, the #1 Conversational Marketing platform for companies that use Salesforce and the secret weapon for pipeline 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.Links:Connect with Ian on LinkedInConnect with Karl on LinkedInLearn more about GigamonLearn more about Caspian Studios 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 Allison Breeding, CMO, Apptio, an IBM Company that provides data insights that empower leaders to make smarter financial and operational decisions. In this episode, Allison talks about shifts that have stuck around post-covid, getting really clear on personas, and pushing the envelope through experimentation. Key Takeaways:It’s worth pushing the envelope and trying out-of-the-box approaches. If you’re not pushing the boundaries a little bit, you’re not trying hard enough. When the market is turbulent and shifting, you have to be able to adjust your value prop and positioning to endure. Apptio made a big shift into digital marketing during COVID. Then, when the market plunged after hitting a high, they were able to shift to allow for continued success. Focus groups, and feedback from partners, prospects and employees, can inform the direction that you need to go in and support your efforts to understand your value proposition. Quote: “We've been doing a lot of really fun kind of guerrilla, out of home concepts, outside of events. Getting our hands slapped every now and then, but that's okay. If we're not getting in trouble, we're not pushing the envelope enough. But yeah, we're kind of trying to own the spaces that people are kind of in the mindset of thinking about our product in. And so whether that's airports or outside of event venues, on taxi cabs, on trains, that sort of thing around the events that we're participating in.”Episode Timestamps:*(03:45) The Trust Tree: A bottom-up and top-down approach*(17:35) The Playbook: Spending money fast and utilizing events *(32:31): The Dust Up: Navigating the founders’ mentality*(34:58) Quick Hits: Allison’s Quick Hits  Sponsor:Pipeline Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com, the #1 Conversational Marketing platform for companies that use Salesforce and the secret weapon for pipeline 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.Links:Connect with Ian on LinkedInConnect with Allison on LinkedInLearn more about ApptioLearn more about Caspian Studios 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 Dorian Kendal,  a former CMO and a multi-time marketing leader. Most recently, Dorian served as CMO at Netlify, a platform for developers to build highly-performant and dynamic websites, e-commerce stores and applications. In this episode, Dorian discusses his non-traditional path to the CMO role, his experience restructuring teams for an enterprise focus, and the value of partner programs. He shares his thoughts on why you should avoid checklist marketing. Key Takeaways:Moving from product-led growth to an enterprise focus requires more targeted, “surgical” campaigns.Evangelist and influencer programs can drive long-term pipeline growth more effectively than short-term, paid media strategies.Over-reliance on SEM (Search Engine Marketing) can stifle creativity and drain budgets without delivering proportional returns. Redirecting resources to SEO, community engagement, and innovative campaigns like events can offer better long-term ROI.Quote: “I'm very anti-checklist marketing, I call it, where you just have, every campaign you're like, here's the eight things we need to do, and you just check them off. Because it just sucks creativity out of the process. And I think that we oftentimes, instead of finding really unique ways to attract audiences and engage them, we sometimes just fall back on stuff. And search engine marketing, I've always felt it's been like the easiest thing for people to be like, you know, we're gonna do a campaign. Well, of course, what's our SEM budget? So I think sometimes just sucks creativity out of the process.”Episode Timestamps: *(03:59) The Trust Tree: Restructuring to target enterprise customers*(13:23) The Playbook: Investing in search optimization over search engine marketing *(35:45) Quick Hits: Dorian’s Quick Hits  Sponsor:Pipeline Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com, the #1 Conversational Marketing platform for companies that use Salesforce and the secret weapon for pipeline 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.Links:Connect with Ian on LinkedInConnect with Dorian on LinkedInLearn more about Caspian Studios 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 Jason Ing, CMO at Gusto, a company that automates and simplifies payroll, benefits, and HR, while providing expert support. Jason was early on the ground at Xbox and Prime Video, playing pivotal roles in revolutionizing online gaming and digital media. Jason offers a behind-the-scenes look at marketing major shifts in entertainment consumption, like launching Netflix on Xbox and his role in getting Amazon fire sticks into our homes. He also dives into his current marketing strategy at Gusto.Key Takeaways:Everyone loves good content, and creative, entertaining content attracts and retains customers.Commitment and excitement about a long term vision can lead to groundbreaking success, even if others are skeptical initially.There is value in trying out unexpected or unconventional strategies, such as direct mail for Amazon Prime Video.Quote: “As it relates to Netflix, and streaming overall, this was during the years in which people were still getting Netflix by mail. That was what they were known as. But the technology was being built and the amount of Xboxes we had in living rooms in the U.S. households and across the world was at a point where these streaming providers could create a viable business by getting into all those living room spaces. And this was before TVs were all smart-TV-enabled. So, it was really cool to  see a vision for the future. And there was a bit of belief that you had to have around knowing that there was a better way. When you're fortunate enough to work for a company that is as successful as Microsoft was, and it's even more successful today, the company was willing to think long term. And I think that was really the first time in my career where I was exposed to this idea that you had to manage things on a day-to-day level and for the short term, but you had to have long-term vision and commitment to it. And I think all of us who were there, we were just very much bought into that idea, that there was just a future that was around the corner.”Episode Timestamps: *(29:09) The Trust Tree: Bringing elements from B2C to B2B*(34:58): The Playbook: Controlling the narrative through brand *(45:39): The Dust Up: Tension around partnership deals *(47:42): Quick Hits: Jason’s Quick HitsSponsor:Pipeline Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com, the #1 Conversational Marketing platform for companies that use Salesforce and the secret weapon for pipeline 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.Links:Connect with Ian on LinkedInConnect with Jason on LinkedInLearn more about GustoLearn more about Caspian Studios 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 Budell, CMO, Totango + Catalyst. Totango and Catalyst recently joined forces to build a leading customer growth platform that helps businesses protect and grow revenue, providing businesses with a united platform that drives recurring revenue success and measurable growth.In this episode, Karen talks about leading a marketing team through a merge. She talks about the importance of customer success and investing in the full marketing “bowtie” to focus on retaining customers.Key Takeaways:Post-merger, marketing teams need to harmonize the brand and messaging, the product, the tech stacks and more. While this is a challenging process, it allows you to take the best from each company and present a unified brand that fosters trust. Start with outcome-based conversations when talking to prospects to make sure you understand their objectives before you complete the sale. Your customers’ success is your success. Don’t just invest in the marketing funnel. Invest in the full marketing “bowtie”. Retaining and growing current customers is very important. Quote: “We stood up a sales enablement and go-to-market enablement role and function within the marketing org. So reporting up to me, but a dotted line to the CRO’s organization. And part of the reason that I thought that that was a great fit and was so successful was because you really want to make sure that your frontline team understands who your target audience is and what your galvanizing story and narrative is all about. So, being close to the marketing team that was working on that messaging and positioning and the programs and events really helped create a nice bridge and reinforce the partnership that we had with our sales team.”Episode Timestamps: *(4:18) The Trust Tree: Outcome-based conversations with customers *(16:02) The Playbook: Updating the website post-merger*(33:24) The Dust-Up: CMOs that come from a brand focus*(39:59) Quick Hits: Karen’s quick hits Sponsor:Pipeline Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com, the #1 Conversational Marketing platform for companies that use Salesforce and the secret weapon for pipeline 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.Links:Connect with Ian on LinkedInConnect with on Karen Budell on LinkedInLearn more about Totango + CatalystLearn more about Caspian Studios 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  Laura Beussman, Senior Vice President of Marketing at CallRail, an intelligence platform that helps businesses track and attribute each lead to their marketing journey and use real-time insights to optimize their marketing. In this episode, Laura discusses their marketing strategy as a pure-play PLG where marketing generates all the leads, and how they reach prospects through a sub-verticalized approach. She also shares how they are leveraging AI for better SEO results. Key Takeaways:A sub-verticalized approach can improve efficiency and return on investment, helping to ensure that you are accurately speaking to customer needs. Learn about the sub-verticals in your market.Leveraging AI in your content efforts can really improve your SEO results, by allowing you to create more content that is specifically catered to sub-verticals in the market.When marketing takes full responsibility for generating all leads, it eliminates the tension with sales by offering clarity, improving operational efficiency and allowing sales to focus on closing deals.Quote:“ One of the ways that the team is really capitalizing on AI is on SEO content. Again, as a PLG, SEO is very important for us. And with those verticalized go-to-market strategies, we needed to create a high volume of content to support not just the verticals, but the sub verticals. So, we have developed a strategy on creating that SEO content that leverages AI. Now, it's not that the AI writes the content from top to bottom with no human assistance, but what we do is we educate the AI tools on our content guidelines. We create a robust draft of an outline. AI then converts that into an article. Our content team edits, and makes sure it's reflective of our brand and our voice before we publish. What we've been able to do with that, though, is triple the amount of SEO content we're able to produce. And what that means is that we're able to be really hyper targeted, really hyper verticalized, and we're actually ranking better. And it's not that we're ranking better because the articles are significantly better. It's because they are able to be more specific, because they are able to be more targeted and sub verticalized. That allows them to rank better as well.”Episode Timestamps:*(03:34) The Trust Tree: Operating in a marketing-led lead generation model *(17:25) The Playbook: Using hyper-targeted content to boost visibility and conversion rates*(36:14) The Dust-Up: Making sure sales feels supported by marketing *(39:08) Quick Hits: Laura’s Quick Hits  Sponsor:Pipeline Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com, the #1 Conversational Marketing platform for companies that use Salesforce and the secret weapon for pipeline 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.Links:Connect with Ian on LinkedInConnect with Laura on LinkedInLearn more about CallRailLearn more about Caspian Studios 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 Prachi Gore, SVP of Marketing, Checkr, Inc., a company that makes background checks faster, easier, and more compliant. In this episode, Prachi shares how they balance marketing to both the SMB and enterprise markets, and discusses her approach to reach each group of prospects. She also emphasizes the importance of investing in brand, and talks about how her revenue team is focused on “push marketing”.Key Takeaways:Be strategic about how you target different customers. Prachi has distinct approaches for SMB and enterprise markets, —focusing on brand advertising for SMBs while leveraging thought leadership and compliance content for enterprises.It is worth investing in customer lifecycle and partner marketing to improve customer retention and expand market reach. Customer lifecycle marketing is especially crucial in businesses with a transactional model.A robust inbound marketing strategy, supported by comprehensive brand awareness efforts, is vital for capturing latent demand and nurturing leads, even when brand investment feels like a riskier bet. Quote: “I think brand campaigns are always a bet. You're taking a risk of placing a bet on something that may or may not work. It's not measurable. It's hard, really, really hard to measure. And so it's kind of like, you’ve got to jump in with two feet and you'll float. But I think that that makes it hard for us as marketers to say like, hey, you're just like two million or five or whatever is your number, I'm going to put this towards a test and let's see what works, what doesn't work. Versus anything else, even we talked a lot about content syndication, but anything else like search, demand, events, campaigns, everything can be tied back to, it produces so much pipeline, exactly how much, you know. So, it just makes taking those bets, experiments, faster, easier, and at lower risk. Brand is hard, and then it also needs a philosophical alignment with your CFO, with your CEO your board, like everyone needs to be on board to help place those bets with you.”Episode Timestamps: *(02:10) The Trust Tree: Marketing to SMB and enterprise markets*(12:19) The Playbook: Hitting both parts of the business through search *(33:13) The Dust Up: Turning the BDR program around *(35:15) Quick Hits: Prach’s Quick Hits Sponsor:Pipeline Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com, the #1 Conversational Marketing platform for companies that use Salesforce and the secret weapon for pipeline 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.Links:Connect with Ian on LinkedInConnect with Prachi on LinkedInLearn more about Checkr, Inc.Learn more about Caspian Studios 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 Michael Freeman, VP of Marketing, Airbase, a procure-to-pay solution that simplifies purchasing.In this episode, Michael discusses smart SEO strategy and the importance of investing in the distribution of your content. He also talks about how, while marketers are incentivized to demonstrate that they are generating pipeline, they still have to pursue the high ROI tactics that are difficult to measure and predict. Key Takeaways:If you create content, customers will not just come; they may never even find it. SEO is a core ingredient from the start, not an afterthought, and you need to find people with the language they use, understanding their intent. Marketers are charged with generating pipeline and proving it, but they need to avoid neglecting high ROI tactics that may be difficult to quantify or predict. Don’t just feed the content beast; make sure you are creating quality content purpose that has a genuine impact on your audiences. Quote: “I've been at a lot of companies where there was just a mentality of feed the beast on the blog. And we don't do that here. Every post has a specific objective and purpose that we're trying to meet. Sometimes there's just some corporate brand stuff we need sales to be able to point to or use for other purposes, but 95, 96 percent of what we publish has a specific objective and purpose from a traffic or leads perspective. And we've done the research upfront to say, yes, we have a reasonable chance to achieve that objective before we commit the resources on that piece of content.”Episode Timestamps: *(04:14) The Trust Tree: Be smart about paid search *(18:59) The Playbook: SEO and good content strategy *(48:43) The Dust Up: Inheriting a bad website *(51:11) Quick Hits: Michael’s Quick Hits Sponsor:Pipeline Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com, the #1 Conversational Marketing platform for companies that use Salesforce and the secret weapon for pipeline 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.Links:Connect with Ian on LinkedInConnect with Michael on LinkedInLearn more about AirbaseLearn more about Caspian Studios Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.