Pipeline Visionaries

This episode features an interview with John Solomon, CMO at Therabody, the wellness tech pioneer that brought us the Theragun, among other products that optimize human performance and unlock the body's natural ability to achieve health and well-being.In this episode, John shares his strategy to overcome the “Kleenex problem”and dives into how they prioritize the entry point to their brand. He also talks about how he structures his team with the brand at the center to avoid silos and strengthen their go-to market strategy.Key Takeaways:Focus on the product that serves as the entry to your brand to get customers into your ecosystem. Distinctive brand assets are essential and need to be protected, especially for companies facing the “Kleenex problem”, when their product name becomes synonymous with the product and less associated with the company brand.Structuring your brand team at the center of the marketing function helps avoid siloes and strengthens your go-to-market strategy.Quote: I'm a big believer that your kind of brand team has to sit in the middle. It's the hub of your going to market approach, right? And so I have the brand team really thinking about it in those three areas that I talked to you about before, the performance, wellness, and beauty. And then we have specific brand managers that really think about specific audiences. But that's who's driving the integrated process. That’s who is bringing the functions together, saying, hey, we're launching this product, or, hey, we got Mother's Day, or, hey, this week we have sleep week. And then bringing together what's influencer, what's PR, what's the site, what's email, what's media, what all of those teams are doing to drive that integrated process.So that's what I'm a really big believer in and how you structure things. Or else it becomes really siloed. It becomes fragmented. You have one team going over there shooting that content. Another team going over there doing that and it oesn't hang together. It's not bigger. It's not like 1 plus 1 equals 4 or 5.Episode Timestamps:*(13:19) The Trust Tree: Addressing the “Kleenex problem” *(34:27) The Playbook: Capturing attention through television *(45:03) Quick Hits: John’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 John Solomonon LinkedInLearn more about TherabodyLearn 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 Sun Lee, CMO at BigPanda, a software company that enables organizations to organize and mobilize the world’s DevOps and ITOps data.In this episode, Sun shares why she no longer thinks about the customer journey as a traditional funnel, why it's important to "go big or go home on events", and the importance of face-to face human interaction.Key Takeaways:The traditional funnel may not be the best way to think about the customer journey; it is more like a spiral.It’s better to invest heavily in a few meaningful events, than to do many events each year.As a new CMO, don’t be afraid to be vocal on what could be better across functions.Quote: “One thing that I always tell people is the traditional funnel is dead. When you interview with a startup CEO, they will tell you, we have a pipeline problem, we have a sales funnel problem, or we have a product marketing problem. They have a lot of problems, they're trying to classify that into a certain org or function. And the one thing that I say is, it's actually all of the above. Because how people buy these days, it's not like you become a stage one prospect, you become two or three, four, and then you're down to, and then one activity will move you through the funnel. Like the concept actually doesn't exist. So if you look at the customer journey that we have from a BigPanda perspective, it's like a giant spiral.”Episode Timestamps: *(03:41) The Trust Tree: Structuring the team to match the customer journey*(13:17) The Playbook: PMM budget as a priority*(32:54) The Dust Up: Brand tensions moving into new markets*(36:00) Quick Hits: Sun’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 Sun Lee on LinkedInLearn more about BigPandaLearn 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 Gerardo A Dada, CMO at Catchpoint, a company that increases retailers' internet resilience by catching issues in the internet stack before they impact business.In this episode, Gerardo discusses his ungated content strategy and the venn diagram of content marketing. He also shares his thoughts on sticking to your ICP and his strategy to only go after high intent marketing leads.Key Takeaways:When thinking about your content marketing, you should find content that fits within three concentric circles.It’s important to stick to your defined ICP and Gerardo has chosen to only go after high intent marketing leads.Marketers should stay disciplined and should avoid artificially inflating demand. While there is a role for bribery in marketing, it can be easily misused.Quote: I believe that the best content marketing strategy, especially if you're in a position where you're trying to educate the market, you're trying to establish thought leadership, is finding that space in the center of three concentric circles.One is what your audience cares about. The other one is what you know more than anybody else. And the third one is what the technology or the point of views that will predispose your prospects to buy, or increase the likelihood of them to buy.Episode Timestamps: *(6:44) The Trust Tree: Defining and sticking to your ICP *(28:25) The Playbook: ABM strategy, content and intent*(50:03) Quick Hits: Gerardo’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 Gerardo on LinkedInLearn more about CatchpointLearn 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.

Every week on Pipeline Visionaries, we sit down with amazing marketing leaders to uncover the pipeline strategies that have been fundamental to their success. In each episode, we ask these guests which three areas of investment are most important to their marketing strategies. Tune into this special series to hear the budget items our CMO guests can’t live without!Find parts one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight and nineEpisode Timestamps: *(01:37): Grant Johnson, CMO at Billtrust*(04:22): Jessica Gilmartin, CMO at Calendly*(06:11): Megan McDonagh, CMO at Amperity*(07:17): Shafqat Islam, CMO at Optimizely*(08:42:) Efrat Ravid, CMO at Quantum Metric*(10:59): Orlando Baeza, CMO & CRO at Flock Freight*(13:32): Jenny Victor, CMO at Epicor*(16:18): Jessica Shapiro, CMO at LiveRamp*(19:09): Jacqueline Woods, CMO at Teradata*(21:24): Brad Rinklin, CMO at Infoblox*(24:33): Celia Fleischaker, CMO at isolved  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 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 Mark Viden, SVP of Brand at CommonSpirit Health, a non-profit that operates 140 hospitals and more than 2,200 care centers serving sites across 24 states.In this episode, Mark discusses building an emotional connection with the consumer, using your brand promise as an operating principle and his focus on sharing the amazing stories in the healthcare industry. Key Takeaways:When brand promises are guiding principles for company operations, it creates a competitive advantage. When building a brand, focus on the people in your ecosystem and on creating an emotional connection with the consumer.Quote: “What I see and have seen all the time is the competitors will start to nibble at what we do. They'll start to come in and borrow some of our themes. But they never stay with it because, again, I think kind of the flavor of the day and then the shiny object over there captures their attention and they're on to something else. Where we have this anchoring principle, “Hello humankindness” that, again, is seeded through so many areas of the organization.It is our brand promise.”Episode Timestamps: *(04:19) The Trust Tree: Building an emotional connection with the consumer *(16:12) The Playbook: Creating value alignment *(30:44) Quick Hits: Mark’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 Mark Viden on LinkedInLearn more about CommonSpirit HealthLearn 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 Leslie Henthorn, CMO at Ironclad, a contract lifecycle management software that provides a secure way to create and collaborate on contracts.In Leslie’s return to the podcast, she discusses navigating the shifts in AI, Ironclad’s influencer strategy, and getting into the psyche of your target persona. She also talks about strengthening your relationship with sales and prioritizing alignment even when you have a strong inbound funnel.Key Takeaways:It’s important to get into the psyche of your target persona and to think about their frame of mind day-to-day.You need to nurture your sales relationship, even when you have a strong inbound pipeline.When working with influencers, it is important to find people that truly believe in the work that the company is doing and are genuine fans of the product.Quote:“We have tried to grow closer to sales and really support outbound in a way that marketing hasn't before. I think when you have a strong inbound funnel, sometimes your sales relationship isn't as strong as it should be. Yeah, you might be watching conversion and you might be watching how things are moving forward to pipeline, but it's easy to go like this after that. And when you start to understand that new business shouldn't drive your entire company strategy, that customer adoption, cross sell, understanding the logos you want to go after. This is something we've really been working on.”Episode Timestamps:*(11:02) The Playbook: Changing tactics over the last yearSponsor: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 Leslie on LinkedInLearn more about IroncladLearn 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 Dana Barrett, VP of Marketing at Tremendous, a company that offers a simple way to send rewards and payouts around the world.In this episode, Dana discusses the ways that incentivizing your ideal customer provides impact across use cases, whether you are looking to build pipeline, drive sales, get participants in studies, etc. She also talks about carefully identifying your target persona and focusing on a small number of priorities.Key Takeaways:Incentives are a great way to drive impact, regardless of your use case (generate pipeline, sales, gaining study participants, etc.)It’s important to find the sweet spot when incentivizing. Don’t offer a discount so high that people take the offer without any interest in the product; make it just low enough that it attracts people who genuinely have an interest.Define your ideal customer persona and stay focused on a few key items to go after them.Quote: “ Incentives, regardless of your use case, are a great way to drive impact. Whether you're trying to grow pipeline. Whether you're trying to drive sales. Whether you want to make sure people participate in your studies, and you can recruit people in global markets that you're trying to figure out how to get people to just respond or participate. And so based on what we do, we're starting to see some best practices or things that can actually position you better to reach your ultimate goal, which is sales, pipeline, et cetera.”Episode Timestamps: *(02:52) The Trust Tree: Building awareness of brand and category*(14:11) The Playbook: Investing in content*(28:17) The Dust Up: Diffusing tension between product and sales *(30:07) Dana’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 Dana on LinkedInLearn more about TremendousLearn 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 Riikka Söderlund, CMO at Katana Cloud Inventory, a company that provides SMBs with easy-to-use inventory management software, to get them the real-time data that they need.In this episode, Riika discusses staying accountable for intentional experimentation, how she invests in talent and why she dislikes the term “marketing strategy”. Key Takeaways:Experiments should improve results and should fit within goals. Including experiments in your overall budget, instead of pulling them into a separate, “experimental budget” keeps you accountable. Talent development is an uncuttable item and marketing leaders should align individual growth aspirations with company goals. Being right isn’t always enough. Marketing leaders need to be strong internal communicators and influence opinions to get the right results. Quote: “ I have a gazillion other marketing KPIs, of course, but at the end of the day, if we're not driving revenue, then it doesn't matter. I am not a fan of measuring leads or MQLs. Honestly, revenue is the only metric that tells you, did you generate pipeline? Did you reach the right audience? Is your value proposition correct? And is your brand resonating with that target audience? It's the only one that combines all the aspects of marketing.”Episode Timestamps:*(02:42) The Trust Tree: Why Riikka doesn’t believe in the term “marketing strategy”*(12:53) The Playbook: The importance of content and intentional experimentation *(31:54) The Dust Up: Becoming a strong internal influencer*(33:45) Riikka’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 Riika on LinkedInLearn more about KatanaLearn 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 William Tyree, CMO at IntelligenceBank, a platform that helps marketing teams get brand and legal approved content out the door faster. In this episode, William discusses his focus on being the easiest company to buy from, the importance of empathizing with buyers, and how customer buying behavior has changed over time. Key Takeaways:Buyers have a hard job and marketers need to prioritize making their company easy to buy from.Product marketing needs to be about empathizing with buyers, not just pitching the good things about your product.Quote: “My goal is to make IntelligenceBank the easiest company in our space to actually buy from. Buyers have a hard job. It's really hard to lasso all those different people on your buying committee and get them to agree on you as a vendor. So, to be the easiest, we have to assume that buyers are going to conduct at least three quarters of their research before they even talk to a seller.”Episode Timestamps:*(05:17) - The Trust Tree: The complex roles for people in charge of brand *(16:15) - The Playbook: Becoming easy to buy fromSponsor: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 William Tyree on LinkedInLearn more about IntelligenceBankLearn 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 Celia Fleischaker, CMO at isolved, a trusted HCM leader that provides software and services to meet the needs of HR professionals. Through their partner network, they reach more than 5 million employees and 145,000 employers across all 50 states. In this episode, Celia shares with us how they are investing in and amplifying their engaged community as well as how their focus on relationships and primary research supports their marketing efforts.Key Takeaways:Coming into a company with an engaged customer base is a welcome challenge for a CMO, and amplifying that engagement is imperative. It’s worth investing in primary research, to better connect with customers in ways that are actually of interest to them. There is a continued convergence between customer experience and marketing. Leveraging data and information from customer service and blending that with marketing helps clarify what customers need. Quote: I think there's such a cool convergence between customer experience and marketing. And I think they are just continuing to get closer and closer. At Verint, where I was before, I worked in the CX space and we saw it there a lot, a lot of our customers realizing the power of taking customer experience, customer service information, blending that from a marketing perspective. And the amount of data that you get that really points to what you need to be doing for your customers,  where they are at a relationship point with you.And that's what I think with the CXO role, the customer experience role here, taking that, looking at that from customer service perspective, from a marketing perspective and pulling things together to look holistically at what is it that we can do both internally and externally to drive a better experience and how is that going to benefit, yes, our customers and the satisfaction that they have, but from a marketing perspective, there's so much opportunity to better understand what your customers are going through and it just puts you in this better position. Episode Timestamps:*(04:36) - The Trust Tree: Creating demand within community*(08:15) - The Playbook: Investing in primary research*(33:49) - Quick Hits: Celia’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 Celia on LinkedInLearn more about isolvedLearn 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.