Becoming the Best Marketer You Can Be, with Nick Bennett

WEBVTT 1 00:00:08.199 --> 00:00:12.880 Conversations from the front lines and marketing. This is B two B growth. 2 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:23.199 Today I am joined by Nick Bennett, Director of Evangelism and customer marketing at 3 00:00:23.239 --> 00:00:26.679 Alice and Nick, we are privileged to have you here with us on B 4 00:00:26.719 --> 00:00:29.039 two growth. Man, welcome in. Yeah, thanks for having me. 5 00:00:29.039 --> 00:00:32.759 Super excited to be here. Yes, I love the content you're putting out 6 00:00:32.920 --> 00:00:37.479 on Linkedin. We're like minded in the podcast space as well, so pleasure 7 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:40.719 to get to chat with you. I know one of the reasons when we've 8 00:00:40.759 --> 00:00:43.359 been back and forth for like the last few months, but one of the 9 00:00:43.359 --> 00:00:48.159 reasons I was pumped to chat today is just because the content that you preach 10 00:00:48.600 --> 00:00:52.799 on Linkedin, I'm like, okay, there's there's some similar stuff going on 11 00:00:52.880 --> 00:00:55.799 here, and I even like took one of your posts and I was like 12 00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:58.520 we need to talk about this right off the top, because I think it 13 00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:00.960 sets up so much of how we're like minded and thought. But you were 14 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:07.120 talking in the last week about just develop your P O v Create demand by 15 00:01:07.159 --> 00:01:11.159 creating content, captured demand through search, and then you actually took it a 16 00:01:11.159 --> 00:01:12.799 step further and you talked about how, like that's the part maybe people are 17 00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:17.280 talking about, but optimizing for sales and a B M. it's like all 18 00:01:17.319 --> 00:01:19.599 this stuff, man, that we have been preaching at sweet fish and B 19 00:01:19.640 --> 00:01:23.920 twob growth as well. So I was just like slow clap for Nick. 20 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:29.560 I was gonna say. So many people get caught up in like the ability 21 00:01:29.599 --> 00:01:32.879 where they think it's just like, you know, create demand, captured demand, 22 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:36.439 but like they forget the other two pieces of it and so like yeah, 23 00:01:36.439 --> 00:01:38.319 I mean I'm sure you see it too, like people on Linkedin, 24 00:01:38.439 --> 00:01:44.439 like all they talk about captured the men create demand, like we get it, 25 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:48.480 but like what's that next step after that? Yes, I think that's 26 00:01:48.519 --> 00:01:52.079 a really interesting conversation because it's almost like in B two B we do have 27 00:01:52.120 --> 00:01:56.200 to continue to beat the drum of like create demand and especially as I know 28 00:01:56.280 --> 00:01:59.959 you're really into branding. We're really both into content. You see the effect 29 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:04.480 fiveness of it. So it makes sense that we would be like preaching create 30 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:07.439 demand and then you can talk about content. You can, but I have 31 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:12.240 been asking a lot more questions, nick, to about that that that latter 32 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:15.800 stage. Like how do we actually use the content that we're creating in a 33 00:02:15.800 --> 00:02:20.960 more effective way for sales? What are the like a B M plays and 34 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:23.919 I know account based marketing even has evolved quite a bit in the last couple 35 00:02:23.960 --> 00:02:28.520 of years and it's it's definitely a I don't know, just one of those 36 00:02:28.599 --> 00:02:31.560 terms people may be avoid a little because it could mean a little different things 37 00:02:31.560 --> 00:02:35.479 to different people. Let's let's just go there. I think for a few 38 00:02:35.479 --> 00:02:38.840 minutes I'll be really, really good for the marketers listening to this to be 39 00:02:38.879 --> 00:02:45.520 thinking beyond just the content creation and and creating and capturing demand. When you 40 00:02:45.680 --> 00:02:51.159 think of optimizing for sales and that a B M effectiveness, what what are 41 00:02:51.240 --> 00:02:54.319 you seeing there? What are you thinking about there? What are the questions 42 00:02:54.319 --> 00:02:58.560 you're asking to be more effective? Yeah, I mean I think it's it 43 00:02:58.680 --> 00:03:01.960 starts with, like the goal is to lead with education and insight, because 44 00:03:01.960 --> 00:03:07.199 so many people, like the A B m term is such a buzzword that 45 00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:12.680 like everyone wants to do. But I join a lot of like prospect calls 46 00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:15.680 and I join a lot of customer calls and they're just like I want to 47 00:03:15.800 --> 00:03:19.400 use gifting for a B M, and the first question that I'll ask them 48 00:03:19.479 --> 00:03:23.560 is like okay, great, what's your a B M strategy? And I 49 00:03:23.639 --> 00:03:28.560 get a different answer every single time. It's like either our leadership team wants 50 00:03:28.599 --> 00:03:31.479 to do it, or like our sales team gave us three accounts and said, 51 00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:35.400 like this is what we need to go after on the marketing side, 52 00:03:36.120 --> 00:03:38.680 or like a variety of other things. And it's just like, if it's 53 00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:45.840 not a company wide initiative, in more than just like account based marketing, 54 00:03:45.879 --> 00:03:50.280 it's like, okay, account based everything from an outbound perspective, like okay, 55 00:03:50.360 --> 00:03:53.120 sales, marketing, reboups all coming together like it's not, if you 56 00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:58.639 think about it's not just marketing developing that list or sales developing that list. 57 00:03:58.719 --> 00:04:02.680 It's like everyone collective, including your revops or marketing ops person, coming together 58 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:08.439 to create what does this this look like? That then supports, you know, 59 00:04:08.520 --> 00:04:11.560 everything else, from the creation of demand, the capturing of demand, 60 00:04:11.639 --> 00:04:15.199 the messaging and point of view that, honestly, you shouldn't come up with 61 00:04:15.240 --> 00:04:19.040 yourself. It should be your customers that are helping you, you know, 62 00:04:19.079 --> 00:04:23.560 basically create that unique point of view. And it's more than just s features 63 00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:27.160 and capabilities. Because listen, like, and we run into this all the 64 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:30.920 time, like anyone, like people can just still features and capabilities, like 65 00:04:31.079 --> 00:04:34.000 they'll just build it, like it's not that hard, but like if you 66 00:04:34.120 --> 00:04:38.240 stand for something, and this is always just something that I've done on like 67 00:04:38.279 --> 00:04:42.759 Linkedin and just personally in general, it's like I have a strong Pov when 68 00:04:42.759 --> 00:04:46.680 it comes to certain things, like around events or around field marketing or around 69 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:49.000 a B M that like may not be the same as everyone else, but 70 00:04:49.079 --> 00:04:54.759 I feel like that's what helps me differentiate as well and then educate everyone around 71 00:04:54.759 --> 00:04:58.839 it. M Hmm. It's so interesting how all of these pieces flow into 72 00:04:58.839 --> 00:05:02.519 each other. Like some people would think of like oh well, we can 73 00:05:02.600 --> 00:05:08.639 run some sort of a b m play without doing the what some people think 74 00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:11.639 of Po v as like a brand exercise. It's like, well, that's 75 00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:16.680 actually the strongest way to get those people behind your message and like see if 76 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:19.839 they actually want to buy into what you're doing is to to know what that 77 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:24.399 P O V is. And you said this before we started recording, so 78 00:05:24.439 --> 00:05:26.879 I wonder if this is your experience. I know you spent time in sales 79 00:05:27.040 --> 00:05:30.360 before marketing. So I did too, and the common thing I think of 80 00:05:30.439 --> 00:05:33.680 now is I'm like, man, they built out their sales team before they 81 00:05:33.800 --> 00:05:40.240 added anyone from marketing. So we're having all these brand conversations way too late, 82 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:46.560 like their sales team isn't properly equipped to go to market because they haven't 83 00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:49.839 really had any P O v Type. They know the products and features that 84 00:05:49.879 --> 00:05:54.920 they're selling, they don't know the message they're taking to the market. Yeah, 85 00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:58.079 absolutely, and I feel like that's what happens a lot. Like if 86 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:00.560 you think about a lot of these like early stage tech companies especially, it's 87 00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:04.279 like what's the first thing that they invest in? It's like usually sales and 88 00:06:04.360 --> 00:06:08.879 so you have the C s people and you might have one marketer, but 89 00:06:08.959 --> 00:06:13.120 how can one marketer do all of these other things as well until you start 90 00:06:13.160 --> 00:06:16.199 to like raise funding, start to build out the team? It's it's hard 91 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:19.759 and like we're a marketing team of, I believe, ten people right now, 92 00:06:19.959 --> 00:06:24.600 and so we still struggle with like some of these things and being able 93 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:28.560 to hit on like all these big rocks that we want to do, and 94 00:06:28.600 --> 00:06:30.680 we know there's more that gets needs to get done, but it's again it's 95 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:32.879 like, you know, hey, you're a smaller team, like we need 96 00:06:32.920 --> 00:06:38.600 to basically dominate where we can dominate and like tackle the things that we know 97 00:06:38.680 --> 00:06:41.920 we can do well. Because if you're gonna have asked stuff like what's the 98 00:06:41.959 --> 00:06:45.040 point of doing that? It's like all right, like you're wasting cycles at 99 00:06:45.079 --> 00:06:48.319 that point. M Hm. Did you ever read Dave Your Heart's book founder 100 00:06:48.360 --> 00:06:53.000 brand? So I haven't yet. It's it's on my list. Good. 101 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:56.120 It's a good book to be on your list. The idea of it's gonna 102 00:06:56.160 --> 00:06:59.079 it's probably just gonna have you saying Amen quite a bit, like because it's 103 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:02.680 it's just saying your founder should start producing content. Content is the easiest thing 104 00:07:02.720 --> 00:07:05.879 to like get people to buy in early on, especially if you're early stage, 105 00:07:06.199 --> 00:07:09.959 and then if you can scale that out over time and have a founder 106 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:13.879 that cares about marketing, you know like all the advantages of that. I've 107 00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:16.879 been thinking about that quite a bit where I'm like, okay, if you 108 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:21.360 were to start with a marketing minded CEO, which I think will happen more 109 00:07:21.399 --> 00:07:26.319 and more as we go into the future. They start that way, you 110 00:07:26.360 --> 00:07:29.759 could still actually, technically, I think, build out your sales team before 111 00:07:29.800 --> 00:07:33.240 you build out your marketing team. If your founder really knew like the P 112 00:07:33.279 --> 00:07:36.360 O v, because they have some of that right there doing sales, but 113 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:40.959 if they were to document in a different way there p O v and do 114 00:07:41.079 --> 00:07:44.720 some of what you were advocating for in your post. If they did that 115 00:07:44.759 --> 00:07:47.040 early on and modeled it, I think you can still scale the same way 116 00:07:47.240 --> 00:07:50.079 and just build out marketing later. I don't know, that's maybe a side 117 00:07:50.079 --> 00:07:53.560 tangent, nick, but that that is something I've been thinking about a lot. 118 00:07:53.600 --> 00:07:56.879 Okay, so let's let's go back to that sales and a B M 119 00:07:56.920 --> 00:08:01.279 effectiveness. If someone came to you, nick and there, let's say they're 120 00:08:01.319 --> 00:08:05.000 the perfect customer, like they're playing, you're playing this out with Alice, 121 00:08:05.319 --> 00:08:09.800 so they know their a B M strategy incredibly well. What would that conversation 122 00:08:09.959 --> 00:08:13.879 look like like? The best client you could possibly work with, knowing their 123 00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:16.639 a B M strategy, because then we can glean some things from that. 124 00:08:16.680 --> 00:08:20.079 I think. Yeah, no, absolutely so. I think it's I think 125 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:24.160 it's the ones that realized that, like you know, in using Alice as 126 00:08:24.199 --> 00:08:26.560 an example, it's the ones that understand the gifting is not a silver bullet, 127 00:08:26.600 --> 00:08:30.879 it's an amplifier to the other channels that you're running. And so, 128 00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:35.120 honestly, it's funny because we actually just recently came to market with a new 129 00:08:35.320 --> 00:08:37.240 messaging in a P O v ourselves a couple of months ago. It might 130 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:41.159 be like two months old now, and so we decided we're gonna go. 131 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:46.440 We call it outbound love. So again, gifting nice to have like in 132 00:08:46.600 --> 00:08:50.000 your, you know, a B M strategy. Like yeah, like people 133 00:08:50.279 --> 00:08:54.200 just send gifts randomly, one off to break into new accounts or like accelerate 134 00:08:54.320 --> 00:09:00.159 deals, but like there's no strategy behind it. But if you're using it 135 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:05.759 as an amplifier to the other channels that you're already running, like paid events, 136 00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:11.960 communities, like you know whatever, like you then amplify that and you 137 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:16.200 have a strategy because you're not just using it as a solo channel. So 138 00:09:16.360 --> 00:09:20.440 when I think of, you know, some of our our best customers, 139 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:22.919 that's how they're using gifting in the way that they're thinking about in their a 140 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:26.480 B M strategy. It's across the entire biased journey. Is it to break 141 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:31.480 into new accounts? Absolutely is that. Is it to break into cold accounts? 142 00:09:31.519 --> 00:09:33.519 That hasn't haven't been warmed up at all? No, absolutely not, 143 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:37.200 because you're gonna be wondering why your conversion rates are so low and why your 144 00:09:37.240 --> 00:09:41.919 gift spend is through the roof. But, like people aren't actually following through 145 00:09:41.960 --> 00:09:46.519 with the meetings that they're being booked, but if you're using it strategically throughout 146 00:09:46.600 --> 00:09:50.879 the events that are curated to do elevated experiences, if you're doing it for 147 00:09:52.039 --> 00:09:54.480 dinners, as a follow up or as a way to get people to fail, 148 00:09:54.519 --> 00:09:58.320 like you know v I p, and then, as you're using it 149 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:03.639 through to advocacy when they're a customer or to prevent churn, to just celebrate 150 00:10:03.679 --> 00:10:05.759 them for being them, especially in the market that we're in today. Like, 151 00:10:05.799 --> 00:10:09.399 think about that. Like people, like people, aren't loyal to the 152 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:13.960 companies that they're like, you know, purchasing. It's like hey, whatever 153 00:10:13.039 --> 00:10:16.519 is the cheaper product that can help me and still have the same functionality. 154 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:22.399 Like great, but if you go that extra mile and you tie in that 155 00:10:22.519 --> 00:10:26.519 gifting experience to that, again it's it's an amplifier to everything else you do. 156 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:30.559 Yeah, that connectiveness is, I think, such a big part. 157 00:10:30.759 --> 00:10:35.320 Like you're not gonna run a B M and a vacuum in a corner and 158 00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:37.919 then also have it's like it needs to be infused in in all of your 159 00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:43.799 marketing and again, not in beyond marketing, but that's that's great. Okay, 160 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:46.399 so one of the things we were thrown around as an idea before this 161 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:52.799 this podcast, is it's one thing to look at our organizations from okay, 162 00:10:52.840 --> 00:10:56.360 here's the macro, like our entire team, here's all the marketing channels we're 163 00:10:56.399 --> 00:11:00.240 running, the plays we're doing right now, our budget. It's an other 164 00:11:00.279 --> 00:11:03.919 thing to be thinking of yourself personally as a well rounded marketer and to go 165 00:11:05.039 --> 00:11:07.440 like what are the areas for me personally that I can continue to grow in 166 00:11:07.519 --> 00:11:11.720 to be more valuable in my company, in my future career? And so 167 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:18.600 for you, even with your thinking around branding a lot of your content on 168 00:11:18.679 --> 00:11:22.159 Linkedin. It's beneficial to Alice that you would do that stuff, but it's 169 00:11:22.159 --> 00:11:24.600 also beneficial to you. So I wanted to take this in a way of 170 00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:28.480 going, all right, let's talk about for you, Nick, how have 171 00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:31.159 you continued to develop as a marketer, and then maybe how can we encourage 172 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:37.080 our audience to continue to improve personally so that we can be at our best? 173 00:11:37.399 --> 00:11:41.559 So for you, just tell me a little bit about your journey as 174 00:11:41.559 --> 00:11:45.879 a marketer and like what's what's been most valuable to you to continue to grow? 175 00:11:46.600 --> 00:11:50.159 So I've been a traditional field marketer and a B M Marketer for the 176 00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:54.279 last almost ten years for different tech companies and like the series B, two 177 00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:58.600 series d stage. So like I feel like as a field marketers, someone 178 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:01.200 that understands it inside and now understands how to be a revenue partner to the 179 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:05.279 sales team. Like I get that. Like I feel like I've kind of, 180 00:12:05.320 --> 00:12:07.360 I don't want to say like plateaued at that point, but like I 181 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:09.879 feel like I know as much as I can know, which is why I'm 182 00:12:09.879 --> 00:12:13.440 actually in a new role, because I've never done customer marketing before. It's 183 00:12:13.480 --> 00:12:16.960 a completely different shift, and so it's part of the reason that I wanted 184 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:22.159 to move into this. Plus Evangelism one. I feel like everything that I've 185 00:12:22.159 --> 00:12:24.200 done on like linkedin like the brand building, like all of that over the 186 00:12:24.279 --> 00:12:28.600 last two and a half years. Not like you mentioned. Not only does 187 00:12:28.639 --> 00:12:33.159 it drive actual pipeline revenue for Alice, but it also helps me come across 188 00:12:33.279 --> 00:12:37.159 to do podcast, to do events. Like also from the long game, 189 00:12:37.480 --> 00:12:41.120 I'll never have to apply to a job again in my life, hopefully, 190 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:46.120 and if I do, I did something completely wrong these last couple of years. 191 00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:48.200 But hopefully I've built up a big enough network where, like, if 192 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:52.200 I was to get laid off tomorrow, like I could put something on Linkedin 193 00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:56.039 and be like hey, unfortunately, you know, my time's over at Alice. 194 00:12:56.360 --> 00:13:00.679 I'm looking for that next role and hopefully my inbox would flood with people 195 00:13:00.759 --> 00:13:03.600 like Hey, like I would love for you to come here. That would 196 00:13:03.639 --> 00:13:07.960 be ideal. But, like I think it's you know, I feel like 197 00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:13.080 the pandemic has kind of accelerated learning for a lot of marketers and I think 198 00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:18.360 community is a big piece of that community and then the content piece to right. 199 00:13:18.440 --> 00:13:22.159 It's like it's there in tandem. Exactly. Yeah, because, like, 200 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:24.600 if you think about it, like so many communities popped up during like 201 00:13:26.120 --> 00:13:28.639 when covid started, and like more just seemed to always like pop up, 202 00:13:28.639 --> 00:13:33.919 and like you've got these slack communities, you've got discord communities, facebook communities, 203 00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:37.559 but like there's so many brilliant marketers there and there that, like, 204 00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:41.519 you know, before stuff started coming back in person, like you would hop 205 00:13:41.559 --> 00:13:43.759 on calls with them, like one to one calls. We would do these 206 00:13:43.879 --> 00:13:50.799 roundtables around different topics or themes and like I learned so much stuff about things 207 00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:52.840 that I didn't know. Like, you know, I use customer marketing as 208 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:56.360 an example. Like I am not a customer marketer. I'm not even sure 209 00:13:56.360 --> 00:13:58.720 if it's something I want to do long term, but like I'm doing it 210 00:13:58.720 --> 00:14:03.080 because understand retention is such a big part of, like, especially in this 211 00:14:03.159 --> 00:14:05.320 market, what we need to focus on. So I'm being a team player, 212 00:14:05.639 --> 00:14:09.679 but, like, I don't know, like I understand the basics of 213 00:14:09.720 --> 00:14:13.039 it, but I've had to go to other people that I built relationships with 214 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:16.279 that are really that have been doing customer marketing for five, ten years, 215 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:20.480 and be like hey, like does this, like does this make sense to 216 00:14:20.519 --> 00:14:22.519 you? Like, am I thinking about this the right way? And like, 217 00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:28.200 honestly, that's helped me be a better customer marketer, just from talking 218 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:31.919 to them, and I think that's what we should all focus on, is 219 00:14:31.960 --> 00:14:35.720 building real, authentic relationship, especially through content linkedin tiktok whatever. Like, 220 00:14:37.000 --> 00:14:39.840 at the end of the day, the goal is to build those authentic relationships 221 00:14:41.159 --> 00:14:43.799 so that you can you know, it's it's like a two way street. 222 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:48.159 Like you know, they may ask you questions, you're asking them questions. 223 00:14:48.559 --> 00:14:52.039 I now have access to VPS of marketing and CMOS that, like, I 224 00:14:52.039 --> 00:14:54.759 would never have had access to before from creating content, and so like I 225 00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:58.679 can ask them questions about like hey, like, like what is your Customer 226 00:14:58.679 --> 00:15:03.279 Market Strategy Look like? And like they'll tell me and it's been really refreshing 227 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:07.720 and they'll be in honest seem to see like what happens over the next year 228 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:11.320 too, especially as like even more things like people get back out there, 229 00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:15.159 things just kind of like fade away and hopefully we don't have any like you 230 00:15:15.159 --> 00:15:20.240 know, monkey pops like crazy pandemic. But like, yeah, I would 231 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:24.320 say that's probably the biggest things, like doubling down on like community and content 232 00:15:24.440 --> 00:15:28.200 creation and just building those relationships. It's interesting because it seems like your journey 233 00:15:30.039 --> 00:15:31.679 man. We talked about Dave gearhart once already. I'll just bring him up 234 00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:35.120 a more time. He's top of mind right now for some reason. But 235 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:39.320 brand, demand and product is usually how I hear him splitting up, like 236 00:15:39.679 --> 00:15:41.240 how he thinks about the marketing teams he builds out, and I think those 237 00:15:41.240 --> 00:15:46.039 are great categories. But then I was putting that personally in your journey and 238 00:15:46.039 --> 00:15:50.679 going it seems like you're actually intentionally spending time like in all three or by 239 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:52.919 necessity right now, and this market was what alse needs. Like okay, 240 00:15:52.919 --> 00:15:56.679 I'm doing some customer stuff which is more maybe on the product side of things. 241 00:15:56.080 --> 00:16:00.039 so that creates a well rounded marketer to where you can you're not gonna 242 00:16:00.039 --> 00:16:04.039 spend all your time fulfilling all three of those functions because your team's been, 243 00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:08.080 like you know, it's actually has more than you. So then it's you're 244 00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:11.600 able to speak the language, though, of the marketers that are on your 245 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:17.720 team when they're focused specifically in one of those, those three areas. For 246 00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:21.159 the last few years, as you've done on Linkedin at least. Brand is 247 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:25.159 this big deal to you? How does that sit with the work you're currently 248 00:16:25.159 --> 00:16:30.039 doing with customer like experience, and how has your knowledge with brand kind of 249 00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:33.799 partnered with that? Yeah, I think it's. You know, when when 250 00:16:33.799 --> 00:16:37.799 I started creating content on Linkedin, it was around the Lens of like field 251 00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:41.399 marketing because out of the millions and millions, I don't even know, it 252 00:16:41.480 --> 00:16:45.200 was like I think there's like seven hundred or eight hundred million people that use 253 00:16:45.240 --> 00:16:48.639 linkedin. I don't know the exact number, but like no one talks about 254 00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:52.120 field marketing on a consistent basis and so I was just like great, I 255 00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:56.919 can educate people around what it is and how it's more than just events and 256 00:16:57.039 --> 00:17:03.000 I can connect to other field marketers and so like I literally took that path 257 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:06.599 for like a solid six to eight months, and so that's what a lot 258 00:17:06.599 --> 00:17:08.279 of people started to like think of me as, like Oh, you know, 259 00:17:08.319 --> 00:17:11.920 he's a field marketing person, and like that was really cool and like 260 00:17:11.960 --> 00:17:15.680 I liked it, but I was just like there's more that I want to 261 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:18.200 talk about, like I don't want to just be like pigeonholed into just talking 262 00:17:18.200 --> 00:17:22.200 about this. And so then I branched out and started to talk about a 263 00:17:22.279 --> 00:17:26.400 B M and like personal branding and like just marketing stuff and just whatever I 264 00:17:26.440 --> 00:17:29.799 wanted to talk about. Like I try to bring my entire authentic self onto 265 00:17:29.839 --> 00:17:33.079 the platform, because I don't want it to seem like all right, like 266 00:17:33.160 --> 00:17:37.519 hey, he only self promotes or he only does this and like doesn't actually 267 00:17:37.640 --> 00:17:41.839 like give back and like seem like a real person. It's like I post 268 00:17:41.880 --> 00:17:44.759 pictures of like my daughter, like, you know, me playing baseball, 269 00:17:44.839 --> 00:17:47.240 things like that, and like I just want people to know like hey, 270 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:49.559 like I'm just a regular person, just like you, and like I just 271 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:53.519 approachable and like I answer D M, I answer messages, like all that 272 00:17:53.599 --> 00:18:00.799 stuff, and it's been really interesting to see. Like now Alice, we 273 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:03.599 sell to that I C P of field marketers, a B M marketers, 274 00:18:03.640 --> 00:18:07.880 demand and event people, and so we, like I'm already connected to all 275 00:18:07.880 --> 00:18:12.240 of our target accounts, all of our target buyers within those accounts. So 276 00:18:12.279 --> 00:18:17.400 they've been seeing my content for a while and that's, I think, partly 277 00:18:17.400 --> 00:18:22.200 why I've been so successful in driving a lot of pipeline revenue. Jumping on 278 00:18:22.279 --> 00:18:26.839 these calls market to marketer like just showing success. I mean, if it 279 00:18:26.920 --> 00:18:30.279 was in I t or another industry like, it obviously wouldn't be as good. 280 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:33.400 But like, we've been able to have a lot of success with this 281 00:18:33.519 --> 00:18:37.119 and I think that's partly why was the original path that I took. And 282 00:18:37.160 --> 00:18:41.880 being a marketer selling to marketers, it's a lot easier. It makes sense 283 00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:45.319 to when you look at the path of most of the linkedin creators that are 284 00:18:45.359 --> 00:18:49.039 actually like building some some platform. They start in an area. I love 285 00:18:49.039 --> 00:18:52.920 that you started in field marketing because I also think there's still so much space 286 00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:56.599 with the content I see on Linkedin at least, which, granted, I'm 287 00:18:56.599 --> 00:18:59.559 not connected to everybody, I'm not looking at everybody's content, but I would 288 00:18:59.559 --> 00:19:03.880 love to follow some some linkedin like thought leaders or influencers who are really good 289 00:19:03.880 --> 00:19:07.000 at like trade shows and they're just showing behind the scenes of how that's working 290 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:10.920 for them. There's so many niches that I'm not in that it would be 291 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:15.400 fun to follow someone who is so that if I was ever at that scale 292 00:19:15.480 --> 00:19:18.720 or needed that type of marketing, I would know who sits in that space. 293 00:19:19.160 --> 00:19:22.000 So there's so much room for that, that type of stuff, but 294 00:19:22.039 --> 00:19:26.240 I don't I think linkedin has barely scratched the surface of like what thought leadership 295 00:19:26.359 --> 00:19:30.559 is, because for so long it was text and now it's like, okay, 296 00:19:30.759 --> 00:19:33.680 people are sharing their micro content, but it's not really a creative micro 297 00:19:33.799 --> 00:19:37.000 content. It could be funny, but it's like not behind the scenes as 298 00:19:37.079 --> 00:19:41.200 much. It's not. There's so much room to play that. Man, 299 00:19:41.480 --> 00:19:44.039 think about the content you create now, man, and then what you would 300 00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:47.519 you created two and a half years ago if you had done like fun creative 301 00:19:47.559 --> 00:19:51.359 stuff in field marketing. There's just there's so much greens or white space, 302 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:55.079 absolutely and it's I feel like that's where tiktok's coming in, though, and 303 00:19:55.079 --> 00:20:00.079 I feel like leveraging those tiktok videos onto linkedin, like are good it, 304 00:20:00.119 --> 00:20:04.400 but I feel like B two B is just scratching the surface on Tiktok and 305 00:20:04.440 --> 00:20:08.279 like there's a good chunk of us that are on there. But like even 306 00:20:08.279 --> 00:20:12.000 myself, like I don't give like day in the life or like back stuff, 307 00:20:12.200 --> 00:20:15.319 and I'm still trying to figure out my strategy there. Like I've just 308 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:19.759 been like repurposing podcast content, like I gotta figure like better ways, like 309 00:20:19.799 --> 00:20:23.079 an actual strategy. I just haven't had the time to like devote to it. 310 00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:26.839 But yeah, it's you know, it's it's so interesting because I think 311 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:30.720 I completely agree, like there's so many things I would love to know about 312 00:20:30.759 --> 00:20:34.880 like content marketing and like other aspects of marketing that I feel like I know 313 00:20:36.039 --> 00:20:37.400 a little bit about, but like I would love to learn more. Like 314 00:20:37.400 --> 00:20:40.759 I want to see like a day in the life, like I just want 315 00:20:40.839 --> 00:20:44.480 some series of like days in the life of different aspects of marketing on like 316 00:20:44.519 --> 00:20:48.440 a weekly basis. Well, maybe we just created like a series or something 317 00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:52.799 that needs to happen with our our favorite creators. I love it. Okay, 318 00:20:52.920 --> 00:20:56.880 so I want to I want to start to round this conversation and wrap 319 00:20:56.880 --> 00:21:00.400 it up with two questions. So the first one is we've talked about some 320 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:04.160 of the content strategy, some a B M stuff. We've talked about sort 321 00:21:04.200 --> 00:21:10.279 of rounding ourselves off being better marketers. If someone's leaving this episode with you 322 00:21:10.359 --> 00:21:12.720 and I having this conversation, nick, what would be your advice to someone 323 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:18.720 who's like trying to continue to improve? Is there a specific thing that you've 324 00:21:18.759 --> 00:21:22.119 implemented that you're like, man, I recommend doing this, reading, this, 325 00:21:22.119 --> 00:21:25.599 this type of rhythm, anything like that's been really helpful for you to 326 00:21:25.680 --> 00:21:27.680 continue to to improve as a marketer that you want to give away to our 327 00:21:27.720 --> 00:21:30.599 audience. So, I mean it's pretty simple, but I would just say 328 00:21:30.680 --> 00:21:34.200 reach out to people that you are, like I like, minded to you 329 00:21:34.400 --> 00:21:38.319 that maybe you want to learn from on Linkedin, especially if their content creators, 330 00:21:38.599 --> 00:21:41.440 and just send them a message like Hey, I love your content. 331 00:21:41.559 --> 00:21:44.960 Tell them why. I'd be like, I would love to like just pick 332 00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:48.720 your brain for like thirty minutes just to dig deeper into what you talk about, 333 00:21:48.759 --> 00:21:51.880 because I'm hoping it could help me from my career, and you'd be 334 00:21:51.920 --> 00:21:55.960 surprised at how many people will actually say yes to that, regardless of title. 335 00:21:56.279 --> 00:21:59.079 Yep, I would, and I would add to. Sometimes people are 336 00:21:59.119 --> 00:22:00.680 like nervous. So, if we want to go personal for a second, 337 00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:03.799 my I started podcasting just because I wanted to be like a better creative, 338 00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:07.599 a better leader. I did not think, nick that this could ever be 339 00:22:07.640 --> 00:22:10.240 a job and now it's like my full time thing, which is so mind 340 00:22:10.279 --> 00:22:12.519 blowing. But I was too nervous, and people live far away from me 341 00:22:12.559 --> 00:22:15.160 to be like, I cannot, can we grab coffee, because I have 342 00:22:15.200 --> 00:22:18.680 nothing to offer. But if I start a podcast, then I can bring 343 00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:22.920 you on the show and you're more likely because it's content that you can share. 344 00:22:22.119 --> 00:22:26.039 Like I was already thinking that way, so that's why I started it. 345 00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:30.720 If you make an ask of someone on Linkedin that, especially if they're 346 00:22:30.759 --> 00:22:36.079 like really busy macro influencer type person, just even offer hey, I would 347 00:22:36.119 --> 00:22:38.960 love to offer this, like give something of value to them, even if 348 00:22:38.960 --> 00:22:44.000 it's like a post on linkedin about it, or like gratitude after the fact 349 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:45.920 that they gave you some time. I think that's such a big deal. 350 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:48.720 You can ask anyone, and I'm so glad that you highlighted that. You 351 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:52.440 can ask anyone and the worst thing they could do is say no, sorry, 352 00:22:52.440 --> 00:22:55.599 man, I don't have time right now, like you're no worse for 353 00:22:55.640 --> 00:23:00.119 the wear. You're fine, exactly that. That's a great point about that 354 00:23:00.200 --> 00:23:03.200 too, because I have a lot of people that will reach out to me 355 00:23:03.240 --> 00:23:04.559 and they'll be like hey, like, you know, do you have like 356 00:23:04.599 --> 00:23:07.359 thirty minutes? And I'm like I do, like do you mind if we 357 00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:10.920 like just do it in like a couple of weeks and they're like yeah, 358 00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:12.400 and like we do in like a lot of them will like write posts like 359 00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:15.480 saying like how thankful they were, like, you know, do something and 360 00:23:15.480 --> 00:23:21.240 like some of it's turned into actual like deals for Alice, just because I 361 00:23:21.319 --> 00:23:23.920 took the time to like have a conversation and like it goes. It goes 362 00:23:23.960 --> 00:23:27.640 a long way for sure. Yeah, to just show appreciation, to go 363 00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:32.119 the extra mile to know that like you're just hitting someone up randomly. So 364 00:23:32.359 --> 00:23:34.799 we've all had the cold email, the cold d m on Linkedin hit us. 365 00:23:34.839 --> 00:23:38.839 That's like it just feels like it's off versus the people that I've also 366 00:23:38.880 --> 00:23:42.160 met with and it's been amazing. It's been an incredible experience all the way 367 00:23:42.160 --> 00:23:45.400 through. Most of the time it's because of the attitude you come in with, 368 00:23:45.480 --> 00:23:52.519 like don't expect something but come prepared, have the questions ready for conversation 369 00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:56.240 and then whatever you can offer, why not offer it? So I love 370 00:23:56.279 --> 00:24:00.039 that. Okay, here's my last question. This one's just more of a 371 00:24:00.039 --> 00:24:03.720 fun one that I wanted to end with you on, and I'll just read 372 00:24:03.759 --> 00:24:06.799 it straight from my nose. I said, if I granted you the necessary 373 00:24:06.839 --> 00:24:11.559 budget to run a marketing experiment of your choosing, what would you want to 374 00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:15.079 explore right now? So not something that you know would work. You don't 375 00:24:15.079 --> 00:24:18.799 have to like, but like this is what nick would try. If you 376 00:24:18.880 --> 00:24:25.960 had budget to try a marketing experiment. I would try content creation in person 377 00:24:26.720 --> 00:24:29.759 through micro events. And I know, I know, partly it works, 378 00:24:29.799 --> 00:24:33.039 but like, I feel like it could be so much more versus just like 379 00:24:33.079 --> 00:24:36.240 a one type of event, and so like I would double down on that, 380 00:24:36.359 --> 00:24:40.440 especially as in persons coming back. Like why not just get like ten 381 00:24:40.519 --> 00:24:45.319 marketers together to hang out? Like no, like it's not even Alice related, 382 00:24:45.400 --> 00:24:48.440 just like get together, talk about a B M or whatever, and 383 00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:52.400 like we're all hanging out, we have a video person that's shooting content from 384 00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:56.720 it, capturing thoughts from the conversation. You've got audio grams coming from you've 385 00:24:56.720 --> 00:25:00.359 got video pieces of it. You've got a nice little recap that then everyone 386 00:25:00.400 --> 00:25:04.440 can like use and repurpose however they want. Like. Plus, you're building 387 00:25:04.440 --> 00:25:10.400 those relationships and like I would love to do that around the US. Yes, 388 00:25:10.839 --> 00:25:15.400 I like that. I think we had the covid year and like the 389 00:25:15.440 --> 00:25:18.519 time when we were all just like in our house, soloed out, and 390 00:25:18.519 --> 00:25:21.480 it gave us time to think about content creation in a new way, or 391 00:25:21.599 --> 00:25:23.559 or for some people to like have time to finally scale that and see the 392 00:25:23.559 --> 00:25:29.319 importance of it, bringing back and infusing, I think, in person creation 393 00:25:29.400 --> 00:25:33.200 of content together. There's something that that's something I hope to tap into as 394 00:25:33.240 --> 00:25:36.640 well. I love that. Well, nick, this has been a really 395 00:25:36.680 --> 00:25:40.440 fun conversation. Thank you for sharing your insight, your wisdom. Tell us 396 00:25:40.440 --> 00:25:42.759 a little bit more about Alice and then, obviously you don't need to tell 397 00:25:42.799 --> 00:25:45.680 us where to connect with you. We know it's Linkedin, but maybe just 398 00:25:45.720 --> 00:25:48.319 a little bit about about Alice and where that we can check that out. 399 00:25:48.880 --> 00:25:52.319 Yeah, absolutely so, Alice where be Theo B gifting platform. So if 400 00:25:52.319 --> 00:25:56.160 you want to break into new accounts, accelerate deals, surprise and delight your 401 00:25:56.200 --> 00:26:00.240 customers, you can definitely check out alice stock calm and if you want to 402 00:26:00.279 --> 00:26:04.079 actually try it yourself, alice dot com slash tour I built a brand new 403 00:26:04.079 --> 00:26:08.200 product tour self guided. Experience it at your own and yeah, if you 404 00:26:08.200 --> 00:26:11.640 have any questions, I want to learn more about gifting or how it plays 405 00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:15.160 into an a B M strategy. Always feel free to reach out. Perfect 406 00:26:15.279 --> 00:26:18.200 well, if you're new to the show and you're listening right now, go 407 00:26:18.240 --> 00:26:22.039 ahead and follow so you never miss an episode. We're having conversations like this. 408 00:26:22.119 --> 00:26:25.359 We're talking to original research and we have two thousand episodes in the archive, 409 00:26:25.519 --> 00:26:29.599 so we're always bringing back some of that content as evergreen content to continue 410 00:26:29.640 --> 00:26:33.079 to make us better marketers. and Uh so, with that, you can 411 00:26:33.079 --> 00:26:36.440 connect with me on Linkedin as well. We'd love to hear from you talk 412 00:26:36.480 --> 00:26:40.519 marketing. Nick, absolutely great to have you on the show man. Yeah, 413 00:26:40.519 --> 00:26:41.720 it was a pleasure. Thank you for having me. I really enjoyed 414 00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:56.400 it. B Two B growth is brought to you by the team at sweet 415 00:26:56.400 --> 00:27:00.359 fish media. Here at Sweet Fish, we produced podcasts for some of the 416 00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:03.640 most innovative brands in the world and we help them turn those podcasts into micro 417 00:27:03.759 --> 00:27:07.960 videos, linkedin content, blog posts and more we're on a mission to produce 418 00:27:08.079 --> 00:27:21.880 every leader's favorite show. Want more information? Visit Sweet Fish Media Dot Com.