Join Steven Aldrich, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Ragnarok NYC, a martech agency that collaborates with top brands, as he unpacks the evolving landscape of marketing technology. He emphasizes the significance of aligning tech choices with real business value rather than chasing fleeting features. The discussion touches on the impact of AI in marketing, balancing automation with human insight, and the necessity of understanding user needs when selecting tech solutions. Steven's insights offer a compelling approach to navigating today's chaotic martech world.

In this engaging discussion, Danny Lambert, Director of Marketing Operations at dbt Labs, shares his expertise in data transformation. He highlights the challenges marketers face in integrating data and explains how mastering a bit of SQL can empower teams. Danny emphasizes the significance of a warehouse-first martech stack for better data control and personalized campaigns. He also offers practical advice to bridge the gap between marketing and data teams, making data management more accessible for non-technical professionals.

Lourenço Mello, Product Marketing Lead at Snowflake, dives into the future of marketing data. He discusses the powerful concept of data gravity, which streamlines operations by bringing applications closer to data. He highlights the significance of mastering data quality to outpace competitors. Trends like AI advancements and privacy challenges are reshaping the marketing landscape. Lourenço also shares insights on the collaborative potential of AI in marketing technology, emphasizing the importance of adaptable data architectures in a fragmented ecosystem.

Rutger Katz, a GTM Operations Consultant and founder of NEON Triforce, shares valuable insights on Lean methodology in marketing. He discusses how eliminating waste can enhance efficiency and drive conversions. Rutger also highlights the challenges in aligning marketing with sales and the importance of a streamlined tech stack. He addresses the complexity of MarTech systems and advocates for a composable strategy enhanced by AI. His journey from neuroscience to MarTech consulting illustrates the need for continuous improvement and effective collaboration.

Jared DeLuca, Director of Operations at Appcues, shares his fascinating journey from demand generation to operations and front-end development. He discusses integrating demo bookings into products and the key differences between ops and rev ops. Jared dives into the advantages of AI tools for marketing, exploring machine learning in campaigns and the importance of data management with modern CRM systems. He also emphasizes the significance of operational synergy between marketing and sales teams, showcasing how adaptability is crucial in the rapidly evolving martech landscape.

Ron Jacobson, Co-founder and CEO of Rockerbox, discusses the nuanced world of marketing attribution. He explains how multi-touch attribution serves as a credit distribution tool but fails at determining true causality. Incrementality testing is highlighted as a superior method to identify what drives conversions. Ron emphasizes the importance of asking the right questions in measurement and stresses the need for first-party data, especially as third-party cookies diminish. He also shares insights on balancing professional challenges with parenting.

Join Erin Foxworthy, Industry Lead at Snowflake, as she navigates the evolving landscape of marketing technology, adtech, and AI. She reveals how first-party data is becoming crucial in a privacy-conscious world and discusses the implications of Google's cookie rollback. Erin challenges marketers to move beyond traditional APIs toward data sharing and a unified data layer, emphasizing the importance of blending creativity with data-driven strategies. Dive into the future of advertising, where collaboration between marketers and data engineers reshapes the industry.

What’s up everyone, today we have the pleasure of sitting down with Liam Moroney, Co-Founder of Storybook Marketing. Summary: Liam handed us warm tea and one of his hand-knitted beanies as we explored how marketing goes beyond just hitting pipeline numbers. It’s about building trust, shaping perceptions, and ensuring your brand is top-of-mind when it matters. Balancing short-term wins with long-term brand-building is crucial, yet often misunderstood. Clear communication and a broader approach to measuring impact are key. For startups, focusing on trust and credibility lays the foundation for success. Marketing’s true power lies in creating a lasting impact that drives real decisions.About LiamLiam started his career in various industries wearing several different marketing hatsEventually he landed at NewsCred, a content marketing agency for enterprise teams where he started leading Demand Gen before shifting to client side and advising clients on attribution and ROIHe then had Revenue Marketing leadership stints at various startups across different industries like personalization, travel, mobile and identity verificationHe then started his entrepreneurial journey by founding a consulting firm for growth-stage B2B companiesLiam is also a contributing writer at Martech.org and recently started his own podcast called The B2B BrandToday Liam is the co-founder of Storybook Marketing, a full-service demand gen agency for B2B SaaS specializing in paid media programsMarketing’s Role Beyond the PipelineMarketing, historically viewed as the "arts and crafts department," has evolved significantly. Yet, according to Liam, there’s a lingering misperception, particularly in B2B, that needs addressing. When asked about his concerns with marketing being reduced to a mere pipeline number, Liam didn’t shy away from dissecting the issue. It’s not about rejecting accountability—marketing should indeed own a number. The real problem lies in how we've overcorrected, narrowing the focus to such an extent that it undermines the broader role marketing plays.Liam points out that this shift in perception—driven by the need to demonstrate that marketing is a data-driven, outcome-producing function—has caused demand generation to become nearly synonymous with marketing. This reductionist view oversimplifies marketing’s contribution. When marketing is pigeonholed into a single metric, such as its share of the overall pipeline, it suggests that marketing is just another channel, responsible only for a fraction of the sales process. This perspective shortchanges the true purpose of marketing.Liam believes that marketing's ultimate goal is to make the sales process smoother and more efficient. When more people know about a product, believe in its value, and have confidence in its efficacy, selling becomes easier. Marketing should be responsible for influencing the entire pipeline, not just a portion of it. The role of marketing is to make deals faster, bigger, and more frequent. By restricting marketing’s scope to its contribution to the pipeline, we inadvertently diminish its impact.In B2C, marketing drives consumers directly to purchase. In B2B, it drives prospects into the sales process, partnering with salespeople to guide the purchase decision. While the dynamics differ, the overarching responsibility remains the same: marketing should facilitate the entire journey, not just the initial steps.Key takeaway: Marketing should not be reduced to a pipeline number. Its true value lies in its ability to influence and enhance the entire sales process, driving not just awareness but also belief, confidence, and ultimately, conversion.Balancing Short and Long-Term Marketing GoalsWhen asked about the perception that marketing hides behind long-term goals to avoid accountability, Liam was quick to dispel this myth. He argues that marketing isn’t unique in balancing both short and long-term objectives—many functions, like data science and financial advising, operate with a future-oriented perspective. Yet, marketing often faces undue scrutiny because it’s expected to produce immediate, tangible results each quarter.Liam acknowledges that some of this mistrust is self-inflicted. Marketing has, at times, oversold its capabilities and doubled down on being seen solely as a pipeline-generating function. This narrow focus has contributed to the misconception that marketing’s only job is to deliver immediate results. However, Liam emphasizes that marketing's true role is both long-term and short-term. The primary objective is to generate future customers by building awareness, while also activating efforts that yield results today.In B2B and B2C alike, successful marketing requires a dual approach. Brand awareness campaigns, for example, are designed to create a long-term impact by making more people aware of a product. Simultaneously, demand generation activities work to convert that awareness into action. The two functions are interdependent—effective demand gen relies on strong brand awareness, and vice versa.Liam draws an interesting parallel with B2C marketing, where the distinction between long and short-term strategies is often clearer. Brand campaigns might run over months or years to build awareness, while in-store promotions are designed to trigger immediate purchases. The same principles apply in B2B marketing, where demand gen efforts must be supported by a solid foundation of brand awareness. Without this balance, even the best demand gen strategies will falter.Key takeaway: Marketing must balance long-term brand building with short-term activation efforts. Success comes from integrating these approaches, ensuring that immediate demand generation is supported by strong brand awareness.Educating Leadership on the Value of Brand MarketingWhen marketers find themselves trapped by the constant demand for immediate pipeline results, it can be challenging to advocate for the long-term value of brand building. Liam addresses this issue head-on, acknowledging that while it’s easy to champion long-term thinking on platforms like LinkedIn, the reality for in-house marketers is different. Every marketer has targets to meet, and failure to hit those can lead to quick dismissal. However, Liam emphasizes that this doesn’t mean abandoning the long-term strategy—rather, it’s about balancing both while educating leadership on what brand marketing truly entails.Liam points out that part of the problem lies in a lack of education—both for marketers and the C-suite. Marketers need to articulate better what brand marketing is and how it contributes to the overall business objectives. However, the burden of education doesn’t end there. Liam advises against the common notion of only working for CEOs who "get" marketing, as those opportunities are rare. Instead, much of the work involves reeducating leaders on the role and impact of marketing.The key, according to Liam, is alignment with the sales team. If sales perceive that marketing isn’t contributing to their efforts, it can create friction that quickly undermines marketing’s initiatives. By engaging in conversations with sales, marketers can uncover the real challenges that hinder sales efforts. For instance, if sales teams find themselves consistently listed last in RFPs, it might indicate a brand awareness issue. Or, if there’s a widespread misconception about pricing, that points to a perception problem that marketing can address.By identifying these pain points and framing them as marketing challenges, marketers can gain the trust of their sales counterparts. This trust can, in turn, lead to greater permission to allocate resources toward long-term brand-building efforts. It’s not an overnight process, but Liam stresses that when done correctly,...

Benoit Leggieri, Head of Growth at Livestorm, shares insights from his impressive journey through growth marketing. He discusses how Livestorm’s martech stack, centered around Customer.io, drives personalized customer experiences and boosts conversions. Benoit highlights the efficiency of automated workflows and data-driven strategies for user engagement and retention. He also touches on optimizing outbound sales with nuanced email marketing and the importance of webinars in lead generation. Tune in for a vibrant discussion on crafting effective marketing workflows!

Pranav Piyush, Co-Founder and CEO at Paramark, delves into the pitfalls of multi-touch attribution, urging marketers to focus on genuine sales impact. He advocates for early-stage startups to prioritize simple geo-based testing over complex models, enabling intuitive experiments. Pranav emphasizes understanding customer motivations and highlights the significance of holdout tests and marketing mix modeling for effective strategies. As businesses grow, he suggests balancing intuition with structured analytics to transform marketing into a valuable investment.