Stacking Growth | The B2B Marketing Podcast

Cassidy and Carl were joined by MJ Smith, CMO @ CoLab, to chat about her transition into a CMO role, giving all of the advice she wishes she would’ve had access to before her move.  She starts at the very beginning, diving deep into the way she sought out companies to apply for, and how to make sure to achieve alignment in company and culture. Then, she covers the first 90 days in the role to talk about what worked, what didn’t, and what she learned. She also covers best practices for getting your product in front of the right eyes, and how to track and dissect that data. Overall, this deep dive into creating a demand engine from scratch is a must-listen for every marketer, especially if you have a goal to transition into a leadership role on your horizon.

Carl and Cassidy were joined today by Refine Labs’ Stephanie Crugnola, Content Strategist, and Miles Campbell, Video Ops Manager to get you started on your organic content journey! They start from the beginning and cover tools on how and where to launch your content, the team and tech you’ll need to get started, and where to get content inspiration. They drop tips for writing and recording, and deliver an action plan for effective post-production. Make sure to check out the video on the Refine Labs YouTube channel to see the slides when they’re up!

Kaylee takes the reins today, joined by Robin Daniels to discuss his vast experience and wisdom on evaluating go to market, job opportunities, career growth, mentorship, and leadership. They discuss the importance of tailoring content to the needs of the audience, evaluating job opportunities, and building a successful career. Robin shares his insights on evaluating company culture, finding a mission worth fighting for, and working with great people. He also emphasizes the importance of energy, initiative, and building a chorus of support in order to succeed in your career.

Cassidy is back joining Carl and Lavender’s Will Aitken to unpack how to build an organic growth strategy from scratch. Will discusses the importance of understanding the target audience and creating diverse content across platform, topic, style, and audience goals. He also emphasizes the value of research and learning from successful influencers in the industry and stresses the need for subject matter expertise, highlighting the role it plays in creating effective content. And finally, Cassidy asks what to do about Carl.

Kaylee and Carl were joined by Tyler Lessard, VP Marketing and Chief Video Strategist @ Vidyard to chat all things video marketing. With almost a decade of experience at Vidyard, Tyler has witnessed the incredible evolution of video in the tech and SaaS industries. He shares his insights on staying motivated and navigating the ever-changing landscape. All three hosts emphasize the immense value of video in sales and marketing, urging professionals to adapt and innovate to stay ahead in the industry. The rise of using video as a tool for authenticity and transparency is also discussed, along with the exciting possibilities for future video use cases.

You’re likely to find yourself presenting a QBR soon. What are you going to share? And more importantly, how are you crafting your story? That’s what Cassidy and Ashley have covered for you on today’s episode of Stacking Growth Live! They cover:  Crafting a narrative Structuring a deck  Nailing an Executive Summary Avoiding common missteps in the details of data They walk through examples of not-so-great slides and what to do instead to communicate performance effectively, and give general tips you can implement for your next QBR, report, or presentation.

“Marketers like to differentiate, people like to compare” While Cassidy is away, Carl takes the wheel, joined by Kaylee Edmondson - VP of Revenue R&D at Refine Labs! They go head to head about paid versus organic media - they cover myths, uncover truths, and dig into the ways to leverage each strategy to build the best brand presence. Then they switch gears to customer research, providing 6 insightful questions to ask customers while interviewing.

“Showing someone that you’re better does not mean that you win.” Cassidy and Carl were joined by Jen Allen-Knuth, Community Growth @ Lavender, to chat about the need to shift mindset as a creator and community leader. She dives into the way Lavender uses LinkedIn as an informal listening mechanism to get into the heads of buyers on a larger scale and steps that revenue professionals can take to start evolving beyond their “why us” messaging to  “why change”.  Then, she covers the way she works to shift perception about cold emails. She focuses on the larger story around earning customer attention, and encouraging people to embrace the emotional response to what they don’t enjoy. This shift allows for honest and productive conversation as a baseline to find the beliefs and assumptions behind the emotions. Stay tuned through the end for a challenge and a promise from Carl.

In our premiere video episode, Courtney Vermette, Associate Creative Director at Refine Labs, walks Cassidy and Carl through a teardown of toast’s website, email, and paid social strategies.  On the website, Courtney assesses the use of video, copy (including the effectiveness, necessity, and consistency of puns), and calls to action across several different pages. Then, she moves to email in order to point out some similar strengths and weaknesses in line with and contrast to the website. Finally, she pulled up three of toast’s paid social ads and the team chatted through different ways to use design elements that could boost engagement and conversion rates. This walkthrough is an incredible opportunity to ask yourself the same questions and analyze your own materials for the same qualities.

In this episode of Stacking Growth, Carl and Cassidy reflect on how business has been changing, and how to stay on top of the rapidly shifting landscape.  They talk about the shift in buyer behavior that has brought about the need to shift marketing from “why us” to “why change?”, and how to align your team to be focused on the same (and most effective) strategies. They look at the differences between sales teams and marketing teams, their strengths and weaknesses in response to change, and how executive teams can make the difference in pushing everyone forward. Cassidy puts Carl on the spot in asking him about business acumen and the ways people can accelerate the improvement of their own, and Carl returns the favor by committing them both to delivering a ‘why change’ narrative framework.