The Marketer's Journey

Fun is the key to engagement on social media.    Fun doesn’t mean irresponsible or irreverent—but it’s a quality that takes our responses from mediocre “like” to up to “love.”   Fun is a personality trait that also marks an effective brand. At least, that’s the mantra of one of the most successful brand builders who focuses on telling compelling stories.   In this episode, I interview Henk Campher, VP of Corporate Marketing at Hootsuite:   What we talked about: How to work for Nelson Mandela, Marc Benioff, Starbucks, and Salesforce Work should be fun, and so should brands Marketers sell their brains, so pouring back into your mind is essential   Check out this resource we mentioned during the podcast: Creating a Sustainable Brand by Henk Campher   Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play! 

Strategic selling starts with trust.And when someone chooses to work with a marketer at an agency, they’re pretty much putting their job into your hands. In this episode, I interview Andrea Lechner-Becker, CMO at LeadMD, about selling strategically vs. functionally. What we talked about:Selling strategically versus selling functionally What it’s like selling people’s brains and problem-solving abilitiesIf you write a novel about only having 60 days to live, you gain a new outlook on lifeHow Andrea stepped away from her job to work on a passion project for a year Check out this resource we mentioned during the podcast:Andrea’s debut novel, Sixty Days LeftCheck out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,  Stitcher, and Google Play!

In an ideal world, when a marketer leads with the value their product or service provides, then follows up with a price that’s surprisingly good for that value, closing a deal would be easy. But in reality, it isn’t always that simple. In this episode, I interview Patrick Moorhead, Chief Marketing Officer at Price f(x): What we talked about:When to introduce the pricing conversation into the buyer journeyFormally asking someone to be your mentor (despite the awkwardness)The most overlooked component of the price discussion: feelingsFinding little quality moments with family can equal an entire vacationCheck out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,  Stitcher, and Google Play!

In a mobile-first world, how do we capture engagement?Creating a buyer’s journey that feels real, authentic, and engaging is pretty much the only way to get a B2C or even a B2B consumer not to tune out. In this episode, I interview Tara Ryan, CMO at Swrve, about consumer engagement and overseeing two IPOs:What we talked about:Being demand-minded is even more important than being marketing-mindedConsumer attention is all about valueHow small startups can show authenticity at every stage in the buyer’s journeyCheck out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

The decision to cancel a 1,000+ person event isn’t an easy one, but it ultimately comes down to the health and safety of your attendees. And unfortunately, many businesses are in the same boat right now. In this episode, I interview Peter Isaacson, CMO at Demandbase, about his team’s decision to postpone the ABM Innovation Summit, and how important it is for marketers to be flexible.  What we talked about:The two essential traits in marketing team members early onPractical strategies for being flexible after a postponementWhy an annual vacation should be two weeks, not one Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on  Apple Podcasts,  Spotify,  Stitcher, and  Google Play!

Which part of the buyer’s journey is arguably most important and often the least integrated into your team? Content.I had a stellar conversation about marketing ownership over the entire customer journey with Steven Shapiro, VP of Marketing at CleverTap.What we talked about:The 4 Ds of taking a hiring chanceIntegrating content is just one example of how marketing has ownership over the whole customer journeyExercise makes 80 hour work weeks doableCheck out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

The next wave of B2B marketing has arrived.  Marketing and revenue executives are re-thinking their infrastructure, process, and approach to meet changing customer and executive expectations. What worked in the first era of modern marketing, will not deliver in the next era. In this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I check in with Scott Vaughan, Chief Growth Officer at Integrate, Inc. In addition to the new era of B2B marketing, we discuss: Mapping out a career from VP level to C levelEncouraging internal change managementBringing real innovation back to the B2B spaceCheck out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,  Stitcher, and Google Play.

Success isn’t having a lot of money from VCs or investors.It’s signing on customers.In this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I catch up with the former CMO at Tableau Software turned advisor, Elissa Fink. She shares her journey through the marketing world and how she found value by helping customers get smarter.We also discuss:What the true sign of success is for startupsWorking and thriving within budget constraintsThe value of taking risks with startups who don’t have the brand recognition yetCheck out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

The sales process is broken. Nobody actually enjoys buying anymore—especially not software. And when it comes to most sales processes, the human touch has just disappeared.I recently talked with Ryan Bonnici, CMO at G2, about his approach to this problem.What we talked about:How being a mini CMO prepared him to wear all the CMO hatsHis take on how the sales process is broken (& how to streamline it)Why marketers should think like consumersFour weeks off a year is the bare minimum Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on  Apple Podcasts,  Spotify,  Stitcher, and  Google Play!

Content and thought leadership are both king. But if they had a fight, content would win. First off, content doesn’t just have to be a thought leadership exercise. Secondly, it isn’t something that just the content marketer owns. On this episode, I interview Natalie Lambert, Chief Marketing Officer at Instart, about creating content and culture: What we talked about:Natalie is highly self-taught and has a voracious passion for learningWhat the exact relationships between content and thought leadership should beWhy culture and team dynamics are everythingGo on safari to truly disconnect from work (and see big cats)Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey at Apple Podcasts,  Spotify, or our website.