Content Pros Podcast

On this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Blake Adams, VP of Marketing at Florence Healthcare. Florence is solving workflow issues in clinical trial execution, allowing companies like Pfizer more efficient operations to run trials through tech. Blake joined the company years ago as a marketing manager and has been a part of their growth from 8 to 100 employees. He is now VP of Marketing at the company, a position that he loves because it allows him to advocate for marketing as a tool to drive business. As a marketer, Blake understands the importance of metrics, especially because data allows you to take risks and still instill your board with confidence, even in a high growth company like Florence.Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play! Key takeaways from this episode:The hardest challenge moving into a higher level marketing role can be moving from a place of subject matter expertise to a place of connecting the dots and

On this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Seema Kumar, CMO at New Relic. Seema is an accomplished CMO who walks me through her journey to joining New Relic and how her approach differed the second time she stepped into a CMO role. For Seema, education is key, all around. After a long tenure at Salesforce, she only moved on when she felt that she was no longer learning there and believes in educating her team about their role in their organization’s big picture. She also understands the importance of educating your customers through your content marketing and other marketing efforts. As a content marketing expert, Seema breaks down how to approach content marketing for top of funnel customers vs. bottom funnel customers. The difference? Focus on pure product education for top of funnel customers-- but be straightforward in doing so, and you’ll build more trust.Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play! Key takeaways from this

On this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Pascal Ehrsam, SVP of Marketing at Rokt. Pascal has held multiple CMO and fractional CMO positions but actually came to his latest post after losing his job in the pandemic. He chose to view it as an opportunity to build his next chapter and follow his passion. As a marketer, Pascal’s north star is to follow products he believes in and when he was presented with the opportunity at Rokt, he knew it was something he was excited to help build. On today’s episode we discuss Pascal’s career journey, his jump from B2C to B2B marketing, as well as what he learned working agency side. We also reflect on the importance of balance in marketing and how to personalize with the customer experience in mind.Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play! Key takeaways from this episode:Setbacks and losing opportunities can hurt but the key in these moments is how we respond, how we adapt, and what we do

On this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Jessica Hoffman, VP of Marketing and Communications, and also an operating partner at Craft Ventures. Jessica learned the value and definition of a story from her background in traditional news, eventually moving into a career in PR, agency side. She moved away from agency because she wasn’t able to develop a depth of understanding of any one company and wanted to work in a role more rooted in strategy over tactical execution. In fact, she measures  a lot of the leaders and CEOs she has worked with by their ability to think of comms and media strategically, as a proactive tool, as opposed to reactively. On today’s episode, we discuss the role communication plays in defining your strategy and creating your movement.Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play!Key takeaways from this episode:Once you’ve established who you are and how you speak about your company, there are so many other f

On this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Megan Lueders, CMO at Silicon Labs. Silicon Labs is a transformative company in the semiconductor space, and focused on building a smarter more connected world. As a tech company, their marketing has always been product focused but today we explore how the buyer journey is transitioning and the acceleration of digital has driven a need for content marketing and other touchpoints for product driven businesses. We also discuss Megan’s career journey and how she used a six month sabbatical to focus on her family, but also refocus on herself and understand what she needed in her career. Any buyer journey starts with a customer saying “give me something that will be of use to me” and Megan took a similar approach to her career, assessing opportunities for value, fit and holding out for the right opportunity.Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play! Key takeaways from this episode:You can

On this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Amy Holtzman, SVP of Marketing at AlphaSense. On today’s episode we chat about the important role of demand generation and how it builds an earned platform for other forms of marketing.  We also discuss Amy’s career journey and hiring strategies to build out her team at AlphaSense; and how you know both when you need to bring subject matter experts onto your team and when you need to reinvent yourself as a marketer.Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play! Key takeaways from this episode:Your demand performance is what gives you the right and the budget to do other, cooler things like invest in brand and do cooler executions. Amy says she always spoke in terms of metrics and demand and this earned her a seat at the table.Good content always prevails-- find out what content works for you and prioritize making it great.There is always a debate of who should “own” things in marketing. W

On this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Brian Kardon, CMO at InVision. A big part of Brian’s strategy is building an enterprise sales channel, and this remains top of mind as he leads his team. Brian is an accomplished marketer who has held senior marketing roles at companies such as Fuze and Forrester. At InVision, he leads sales and marketing, with an understanding that they need to be integrated to be successful. On today’s episode, we discuss how to leverage product led growth to build a successful enterprise strategy, lining up customers who are ready to advocate for you.Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play! Key takeaways from this episode:Take calls with recruiters. Even if you’re not looking, you may know someone who is a great fit, and it’s good to stay informed about what’s out there. It always benefits to stay connected and continue relationship building even if you’re not in the market for a job.So few compa

On this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Heidi Bullock, CMO at Tealium. Throughout her career, Heidi has garnered extensive experience building and scaling high-performance marketing teams. She knows the immense importance of understanding your customer data and taking advantage of it, and on today’s episode we discuss: how to utilize this data to create better experiences for our customers, embracing change (whether in our business or in our careers), and how to be a marketing leader that provides vision, excitement and a point of view.Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play! Key takeaways from this episode:Change is scary but it’s so important- it’s the only constant in life and in marketing, and learning to embrace it is so beneficial.Acquisition is great but ABM is all about “land and expand”. Especially in SaaS marketing, acquisition is only half the battle. It’s all about landing enterprise clients and expanding to o

On this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Anna Griffin, CMO at Smartsheet. Anna says that she has never thought about her career path in a traditional sense, but instead has always looked for companies doing something new or disrupting existing business models-- just like MarTech startup Smartsheet. On today’s episode, Anna and Randy discuss the importance of consumer curation in creating new business models, how to set your team up for success as a CMO, and where you should focus to build a successful MarTech business.Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play! Key takeaways from this episode:In marketing, we often think we need to “stay in our lane” but the most creativity can happen when we take these lanes down, try new things and collaborate.Demand and brand do not need to be mutually exclusive-- as a CMO, you have to have both and you have to be focused on both. It can be advantageous to move into tech/startup marketing

On this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Gil Rosen. Gil started his marketing career in pharmaceuticals which he cites as a great training ground that helped him understand what marketing is all about including distribution, targeting different demographics, adhering to regulations and more. He is now CMO of Amdocs, a massive company with over 27,000 employees and over 4 billion in revenue. To lead an organization like this requires perspective to tell the right stories. Gil knows that storytelling is key to bridging the gap between the creator and end user, and also key in rallying everyone around an idea. On today’s episode, Gil and Randy discuss the different aspects of storytelling, escaping a legacy to expand your offering, and the importance of the communication industry in a post COVID world.Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play! Key takeaways from this episode:In tech and startup marketing, finding the sweet spot

On this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Anthony Kennada, CMO at Hopin. Hopin has exploded into the market, revolutionizing the digital events space. Not even two years after launching in only June of 2019, they raised 400 million dollars and are evaluated at an apparent 5.65 billion dollars. Anthony has always had a passion for events, dating back to prom committee in high school and planning concerts in college. He even left a role at Gainsight to build out an event tech startup but ultimately ended up joining Hopin as their CMO. On today’s episode, Randy and Anthony discuss how to frame your digital events as entertaining experiences and what our post-COVID world holds for the events industry.Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play! Key takeaways from this episode:Relationships are the most important currency in building your career. Value and nurture the people that are going to champion you and build you up throughout

On this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Melissa Hanson, VP of Marketing for Trimble Transportation. Trimble is a massive organization with a lot of employees. It has many different products spanning many different industries but they all focus on connecting the physical and digital world. Marketing for an organization of this size requires a very specific strategy and an understanding of when it makes sense to operate in silos and when it makes sense to operate autonomously, always keeping your customers in mind. On today’s episode, Melissa and I discuss her take on revenue marketing, and what it truly means for marketing and sales to work hand in hand.   Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play!   Key takeaways from this episode:  Melissa has been intentional about pursuing opportunities where she has questioned if she was ready because it’s important to recognize the opportunity and need to be constantly expanding your t

On this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Meagen Eisenberg, CMO at TripActions. Meagen is a sought after marketing leader who any company would be lucky to have, and interestingly she chose to become CMO at a company centred in the travel industry. Meagen and Randy discuss how Meagen finds time to balance her wide range of advisory roles with her day job and home life, steps her team has taken to find success throughout the pandemic, and the role of the marketing team when developing new products.Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play! Key takeaways from this episode:Business advising, or any new challenge can seem daunting but Meagen is able to advise more efficiently after doing it for so long. Companies at various stages in their growth cycle face similar problems and pattern recognition allows her to build models and give faster advice.To choose her roles, Meagen assesses five things: the addressable market, the invest

On this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Lynne Capozzi, CMO of Acquia. Lynne did what she calls a “boomerang” by leaving her job at Acquia to pursue other passions and opportunities and ending up eventually returning as their CMO years later. According to Lynne, the company was at such a different stage in the growth cycle that it was like starting fresh, and she viewed it as such. She treated it as though she was brand new and erased what she knew from her past life at Acquia. Sometimes, in cases such as Lynne’s, the opportunity to come back is far from a step back, it’s an opportunity to bring your new skills and knowledge to a workplace you know and love. On today’s episode we discuss Lynne’s role as a CMO across different company growth cycles and the importance of both product marketing and customer marketing in our changing economic climate.   Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play!     Key takeaways from this episo

On this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Prachi Gore. Marketing for a company with a strong mission that aligns with her values has always been very important to Prachi. But who is responsible for communicating a company’s mission? And how do you use your company mission to develop tangible messaging and brand voice? On today’s episode, Prachi and I discuss her career journey, in which she focused on driving outcomes for the business, even when it meant stepping outside of her lane. We also discuss the Checkr buyer journey and how to evolve your company mission and differentiators into simple messaging that resonates with your audience.   Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play!    Key takeaways from this episode:   It’s important to understand why your company exists before you can build out what you do and how you do it. This framework will allow both your company and your customers to buy into your mission.    It’s not

On this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Sydney Sloan, CMO of SalesLoft. After a long tenure at Adobe, Sydney worked hard to ensure her next role was a great fit and that she would be working with a product she was passionate about. In her current role, she leads marketing for a SaaS company that has taken off, not just because of what they do, but also because of their emphasis on one-to-one selling and marketing. On today’s episode we chat about the need for alignment between sales and marketing and the importance of proper customer onboarding for good retention and customer experience.  Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play!   Key takeaways from this episode:  The buyer journey is “the most important and most forgotten”-- once customers buy in, they’re often disregarded. In reality, the customer onboarding process is very important and creating a good customer experience right off the bat will ensure greater retention

On this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Michelle Huff, CMO at UserTesting. UserTesting has seen amazing growth, moving from 50 million to 100 million in revenue over the course of Michelle’s time there and as the CMO Michelle has kept laser focused on this growth but been mindful of building a cohesive team that feels embraced by her as a leader. UserTesting has created a double-sided marketplace that is redefining the market research industry. What Michelle has learned marketing for this rapidly growing company in this developing industry is that listening to your buyers is king. Many marketers champion the importance of their buyers without ever speaking directly to them; outsourcing market research and feedback collection. CMOs need to make sure their entire organization is committed to listening to their customers no matter what.   Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play!   Key takeaways from this episode:   Working w

On this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Karen Peterson, CMO of Lendio. As the largest marketplace for small business loans in the USA, Lendio experienced rapid growth and acceleration due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Karen describes taking on this new role and being at Lendio for these changes as the most exhilarating, challenging and rewarding time. Throughout her career she has always been open to opportunities and employed a willingness to be agile and adaptable. This attitude has led to her doing things like accepting an interim CMO role, moving to a new city to pursue new opportunities, and more. Today we discuss how to build the right modern day marketing team for your business and the key pillars that will be relevant to your specific strategy.    Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play!   Key takeaways from this episode:  Wherever you sit you should have a certain hierarchy: customer is number one, then the compan

On this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Kristin Treat, VP of Corporate Marketing at Nintex. Kristin took an unusual path to becoming a senior marketing leader. She comes to the table with a PR background having worked over 25 years in PR, and though it’s an unconventional path, the foundations Kristin takes from her background are critically valuable to her as a marketing leader. Messaging and the way we communicate are key pillars of public relations that Kristin focuses on and that have helped her and Nintex find success, especially during the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic.Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play!Key TakeawaysSuccess does not have to be complicated: focus on the basics, collaborate and do good work.Have a learning mindset: don’t be an executive who just delegates and attends meetings. Employ a collaborative, learning approach to the day to day in order to never lose touch with the work.Real

On this episode of The Marketer’s Journey, I interview Chuck Johnston, CMO at FINEOS. Chuck interestingly did not originally know that he was going to be a marketer. He moved into marketing by being an insurance industry expert, and on today’s episode we discuss the different pathways to becoming a marketer--by being an expert that learns marketing or a marketer that learns industry-- and when it makes sense to hire people that fit these profiles. We also discuss in depth the rise of ABM marketing, something FINEOS uses as a cornerstone of their marketing strategy as a way to ensure they are maintaining client relationships and delivering personalized content strategies.   Check out this and other episodes of The Marketer’s Journey on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play!   Key takeaways from this episode:  There is more than one entry point into the world of marketing. Many people enter this world by being industry experts wanting to explore new realms of business. Sometimes these people can be