Marketing Spark (The B2B SaaS Marketing Podcast)

Can you feel the marketing pendulum swinging back to the basics? For years, the focus has been data, KPIs, and quantifying anything under the sun. But marketing success happens in different and sometimes mysterious ways.  Some of it is measured while other marketing isn’t directly attributable.  Many marketers have embraced data because there are so many tools to access analytics and insights, scale, and automate processes. When technology makes it easy to reach a global audience, it’s easy to not spend as much time on fundamentals or first principles. But it appears like marketers are starting to focus more on fundamentals. In my business, I’m seeing more interest in positioning and messaging. Zineb Layachi said technology makes marketers forget about the reality they are trying to connect with people. While tools allow marketers to amplify their efforts, she says the marketing pillars are important. “How can you connect with target audiences and do marketing? What makes an impact?  People are at the center of that. I keep talking about the fundamentals when you get the fundamentals right, you scale on solid foundations.” 

How do you scale a marketing team at a hyper-growth company? It’s definitely a nice problem to have. Who wouldn’t want to ride a rocket? Managing growth is a major challenge for Ruth Zive, who has led marketing at Ada for nearly three years. Earlier this year, the Toronto-based company raised $130 million. Ruth, who has headed up marketing at Ada for nearly three years, says momentum and capital have allowed her to take a different approach to marketing,  “We have the wind in our sails and we are well-capitalized. So, now we can take a breath and be a lot more thoughtful and strategic about the future,” Ruth said on my podcast. “In the past, we would make decisions from month to month. Now, we very deliberately planning for one or two years out.”  

Sadly, most marketers don’t really know their customers. They have buyer personas and ideal customer profiles. But these tools barely scratch the surface. The only way to know your customers is to talk to them. Yet many marketers don’t do it because: - They claim to have no time - They have bigger priorities - They’re afraid doing hard work - They don’t get why it matters That’s not good enough. Ryan Gibson not only believes in the value of talking to customers, but he pivoted his consulting business to focus on “customer investigations”. It is insightful and often surprising, he says, what customers and prospects will tell you if you ask them questions.  

The “unsubscribe” notification is painful. Someone wants to end a relationship. They want you out of their lives. It’s not them, it’s you…and your newsletter. But is the unsubscribe really that bad? Should marketers, in fact, celebrate unsubscribes? When you step back, someone disconnecting from a newsletter means they’re not your target audience. The effort invested to create a newsletter isn’t resonating with them.  So, it’s perfectly fine for both sides to move on. On the Marketing Side podcast, Jules Dan said it’s more important to focus on the people who want your email marketing.  “I sometimes encourage people to unsubscribe.”

Click on “Ask for a Demo’. It’s the CTA on every B2B SaaS website. But what happens after the click? How do companies educate, and delight prospects? In many ways, the demo is almost taken for granted within the marketing process. Marketers are focused on messaging, value propositions and content to attract and engage. The demo belongs to sales. But that’s the wrong approach. The demo should be a coordinated effort between sales and marketing. A demo is a golden opportunity to encourage, inspire and showcase your product in the right way. If marketing isn’t involved in this crucial process, that’s a mistake. 

The biggest marketing challenge for many companies simply getting started. There are so many options that it’s almost paralysis by analysis. In many cases, companies do too much. They believe that more channels or campaigns equal more success. It’s better to focus on doing a small number of things really well. Pick a channel and run hard with it. A key part of Jordan Behan ’s approach to getting started with marketing is: One Big Thing. Pick a marketing tactic like an eBook, Webinar, video, or course to stand out. I like the idea of One Big Thing because it establishes realistic expectations, structure, and focus.

In an ideal world, B2B SaaS marketing and sales teams move forward in lock-step. In reality, they often operate in silos. The result? Sales complain that marketing gives them crappy leads. Marketing counters that sales can’t close deals. How do you address this conundrum? The answer may be field marketing. While it may not be the best-known marketing term, field marketers quarterback sales and marketing activities.  In this episode, Nick Bennett offers insight into field marketing; what it is, how it works, and why it is so effective.

Chris Walker’s on fire. He’s a high-profile B2B marketing thought leader. His LinkedIn posts generate huge engagement. His agency, Refine Labs, is red-hot. But here’s the interesting thing:  Not that long ago, Chris wasn’t the belle of the B2B ball. Many of his ideas about B2B marketing were dismissed. Hard to believe, right? On the Marketing Spark podcast, Chris said: “For the first five to seven years of my career, everyone thought my marketing ideas were not smart, and they didn’t want me to do the things that I was doing like podcasts.  They were heavily scrutinized at all the companies that I worked for.” Chris’ frustration and appetite to do the marketing he wanted led to the creation of Refine Labs. 

Hiring a marketing leader is not just about someone's skills and experience but creating a partnership between the CEO and the head of marketing. Avoma CEO Aditya Kothadiya provides first-hand insight into the process that he recently took to hire a director of marketing. Aditya says one of the keys to success is hiring the right person based on a company's growth stage.  Once a marketing leader comes on board, Aditya said it is important to align around expectations and goals so the rules of engagement are established.

As much as many people have seen significant ROI from LinkedIn (connections, conversations, and leads), I'm beginning to see some people explore other social media platforms. It could be that LinkedIn is getting busier and/or that people see potential to make connections on places like Twitter, Tik Tok, and Instagram. To get an insider's view of the landscape, I talked with Marcus Schaller, who recently shifted some of his social media time to Twitter.  Most interesting is how Marcus is taking some of the key lessons from LinkedIn and applying them to Twitter.