Sunny Side Up

Tessa Barron, Senior Director of Brand and Communications at ON24 talks about the latest trends in the B2B and tech marketing industry and the common challenges B2B marketing and sales teams face in their everyday roles. 

Mike Orr, Co-founder and COO of Grapevine6 (an enterprise social and digital sales engagement platform) speaks to us about the importance of a good end-to-end user experience while discussing innovative digital marketing and social media marketing trends within the B2B marketplace.  About Grapevine6: Grapevine6 serves to be a powerful, personalized content engagement platform that allows your sales force to start valuable conversations and build trusted relationships with the right buyers at the right time.  Grapevine6 was recently named a Leader in The Forrester New Wave™: Sales Social Engagement Tools, Q2 2019. Top ten takeaways from the episode: “There is a growing demand for social engagement tools. It’s really because the most influential relationship is between the salesperson and the buyer and this is slowly moving to social.” “Any tools that can help salespeople engage authentically with customers will always be very valuable.”  “Our customers build social selling programs using Gr

David Raab, Founder and CEO of The CDP Institute discusses the many benefits of Customer Data Platforms for B2B marketers and why there will always be a growing demand for technologies and platforms like CDPs.  About David Raab and The CDP Institute: David is founder and CEO of CDP Institute, which helps marketers make better use of their customer data.  David has been an industry consultant for many years, working with marketers to find and deploy the best technology of the period.  He denies having known Benjamin Franklin personally! Top ten takeaways from the episode: “About 3 weeks ago, we reacted to a great deal of confusion in the marketplace – that was the reason behind The Real CDP Program.” “You’ll be surprised to find many systems call themselves CDPs but don’t have all the capabilities to really be a CDP.” “The need for unified customer data will be with us for a long time.” “CDPs make it easier to deliver on Account-based Marketing/ABM. Specialized CDPs designed for B2B compa

Nina Church-Adams, currently the SVP of Marketing at Act-On Software discusses B2B marketing tactics that global tech leaders and her team at Act-On Software uses to ensure consistent pipeline generation. In this episode she breaks down the upcoming trends in the technology marketing domain and talks about the various ways in which B2B marketing and sales will change in the future.  About Nina: Nina is a senior marketing leader with more than 15 years of experience building teams, products and brands. Nina has been successful in leading global cross-functional teams through product launches, go-to-market transformations, and organizational transitions. She is a marketer, and a storyteller who can align a diverse team around a shared vision by harnessing and focusing on a team’s creativity. About Act-On Software: Act-On Software is a leading marketing automation / SaaS product that helps sales and marketing teams increase and convert leads faster and more efficiently throughout the buying journey. To

 Jeremey Donovan is SVP of Sales Strategy at SalesLoft, the world’s leading sales engagement platform. Over the past 20+ years, he has had an eclectic career spanning semiconductor engineering to product development/management to sales & marketing leadership at Xilinx, Gartner, AMA, GLG, and CB Insights. Jeremey is the author of five books including the international public speaking bestseller “How to Deliver a TED Talk” as well as “Predictable Prospecting.” He holds a BS and an MS in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.  In this episode, Jeremey discusses key B2B sales strategies that help organizations like SalesLoft drive more results.  Top ten takeaways from the episode: “My days are highly varied. I try to have these ‘deep work’ periods were I tackle complex projects on some days.” “Predictive models are only as good as the data that comes in. And too many organizations don’t have super

Peter Gillett, Founder and CEO of Zuant discusses his professional journey, from being a mechanical engineer to the CEO of a mobile lead data capture company. He talks about his experiences and what gave rise to the idea of Zuant.  Peter discusses various aspects related to B2B marketing and sales in this episode, with a key focus on lead data management. Key takeaway from Peter: GDPR isn’t necessarily a bad thing for the B2B marketplace. Its actually a good thing! Catch the whole episode to know why he said that. About Zuant: Zuant is a platform made for B2B marketing and sales teams with the aim of streamlining the process of mobile lead data capture.  Top ten takeaways from the episode: “Some of the basic things in B2B marketing and sales still remain the same despite rapidly changing trends.”  “Database marketing is especially useful in B2B marketing.” “Getting constant feedback from my clients is always valuable, I always try to join in on client or sales calls as a result.” “For sa

David Lewis, CEO of DemandGen  is known as an innovator in digital marketing technology and methodologies. He has overseen marketing strategies for some of Silicon Valley’s leading technology firms.  In this episode, David discusses key issues related to adoption of martech stacks and best practices to ensure maximum output from them besides sharing some interesting thoughts on B2B marketing, B2B sales and Demand Generation. About David and DemandGen International: David started DemandGen International, an Inc. 500 global consulting and services company that helps sales and marketing teams achieve alignment, define and operationalize their demand-generation processes to create maximum advantage from marketing technology and sales technology systems.  DemandGen has developed a reputation of being THE experts in MarTech and trusted advisor to the world’s most innovative and progressive companies including Apple, Dell, American Express, Concur, Siemens, SAP, Medtronic, Citrix, CenturyLink, Workday

Martech Influencer Kelly J Waffle, currently the Head of Digital Strategy at Hinge Marketing took some time out to speak to us about upcoming B2B and Digital Marketing trends and how marketers can use them to boost ROI and conversions. What are some of the biggest challenges digital marketers face in the industry? Listen to Kelly’s thoughts in this crisp 19-minute episode! About Kelly: With more than 15 years of hands-on B2B and digital marketing experience, Kelly guides clients through the complex interplay of technology, processes, research/data, programs, creative and analytics. Over the years, he has built and led teams in the corporate marketing, marketing consulting, vendor and creative agency environments. He always brings an independent, 360-degree view of branding, demand generation and business growth to every engagement. Kelly is also a well-known practitioner and thought leader in Account-Based Marketing (ABM). Recognized by Onalytica as a Top 50 Martech Global Influencer, Kelly has also won award

If you’re thinking of ways to improve your B2B sales effectiveness to drive profitable growth, grab these interesting insights by Mike Kunkle, VP of Sales Enablement Services at SPA and SPASIGMA. About Mike: Mike Kunkle is a respected sales transformation architect and internationally-recognized sales training and sales enablement expert. He’s spent 35 years in the sales profession and 25 years as a corporate leader or consultant, helping companies drive dramatic revenue growth through best-in-class learning strategies and his proven-effective sales transformation methodologies. Today, Mike is the Vice President of Sales Enablement Services for SPA and SPASIGMA, where he advises clients, writes, speaks, leads webinars, publishes sales training courses, and designs sales enablement systems that get results.  About SPA and SPASIGMA: SPA (sales analytics) and SPASIGMA (sales training & enablement) help clients improve sales effectiveness and drive profitable growth through the effective i

Gar Smyth, VP of Enterprise Marketing at Drift.com talks to us about the importance of conversational marketing in today’s B2B marketplace. Why is it becoming so crucial for marketers and sales people to integrate this into their strategy? Have a quick listen to find out! About Gar: Gar has a rich background in B2B branding, demand generation, product marketing, field and channel marketing, and sales enablement. He has built and led outstanding B2B marketing teams in the US and globally  Prior to Drift, he led Demand Generation, Field Marketing and Channel Marketing at Carbon Black which had a successful IPO in May 2018. About Drift: Drift is a leading conversational marketing platform that helps businesses turn their online traffic into meetings. Top ten takeaways from the episode: “I usually have 2500 accounts that I care about at a time, I use multiple types of activities to go after multiple personas within those accounts…” “The challenge with traditional tactics is that none of those methods wor

Jay Gaines, currently CMO at SiriusDecisions talks to us about the Demand Unit Waterfall (the newest, re-architectured version of the Demand Waterfall) changes in B2B marketing trends and the increased use of install tech data and technographics in this space.  Listen on for some interesting insights and takeaways! About Jay: Jay Gaines is passionate about marketing leadership that drives innovation, and measurable results. In his career that spans over 20 years, he has been in a variety of b-to-b industries.  His experience includes organizational design leadership, marketing strategy and planning, marketing budget, operations management, demand creation, sales and marketing alignment, digital strategy. Jay has held executive-level marketing and business development positions at well-established and startup b-to-b companies.  Prior to SiriusDecisions, Jay was Chief Marketing Officer at EDR, a b-to-b information company, where he led all marketing, communications, market research and event

If you’re (still!) looking for new ways to disrupt your B2B Sales initiatives, these useful tips and ideas from Ben Simms, Vice President of Commercial Client Services at MarketSource will come handy. About Ben: As the leader of delivery for commercial client services at MarketSource, Ben is responsible for deploying and executing a wide range of B2B sales and marketing solutions for Fortune 500 and enterprise clients across several verticals and industries. Ben’s client engagement programs manage inside sales, account development, brand advocacy, and channel sales teams for some of the most iconic brands in the B2B space. He has an insatiable thirst for learning how different industries can most efficiently grow revenue and share knowledge management principles to instigate strategic thinking. The #1 motivating factor throughoutBen’s profession has been growing careers. Prior to MarketSource he spent 15 years as a leader in admissions, marketing, and operations for higher education institution

We had the pleasure of speaking with martech influencer Matt Heinz (President and Founder of B2B marketing and sales acceleration firm Heinz Marketing) in this episode on B2B marketing trends. Have a quick listen! About Heinz Marketing: Established in 2008, Heinz Marketing is a B2B sales and marketing firm located in Redmond, WA, serving businesses throughout North America and overseas.  Heinz Marketing focuses on driving results through strategic demand generation, disciplined sales funnel strategies, fully-integrated campaigns and collaboration between marketing and sales organizations. Top ten takeaways from the episode: “The more sales and marketing work together, the more likely the company is to achieve its goals.” “Account-based Marketing done well requires tight integration between sales and marketing and the buying committee at your target accounts.” “Addressing the buying committee as one team is the biggest challenge to overcome today.” “No one can do enterprise sales and marketing

What does 2019 hold for B2B sales and salestech?  We recently spoke with Christy Kirkland from SalesLoft to discuss upcoming trends in B2B sales.  About Christy, in her own words: “I started my career in SaaS almost by mistake, or rather grand design. I began at Lead Forensics, which was an incredible learning experience & eventually graduated into a more challenging role at Marketo. After much deliberation, I chose to leave and venture off to SalesLoft – an Atlanta-based & quickly growing, but immensely successful start-up.” Top ten takeaways from the episode: “The biggest push I’m seeing today is rising popularity of Sales Engagement platforms, the whole world right now is paying attention to Sales Engagement” “An important part of Sales Engagement is having a multi-channel platform”  “80% of top performing organizations use at least 3 channels” “If you just use phone or email, you will be missing the mark” “Sales tech and Sales engagement is an evolving market, sales pe

Why is Account-based marketing gaining so much importance in B2B Marketing?  Sangram Vajre responds while sharing his predictions for ABM in 2019.

Pamela Muldoon , Chief Content Strategist at The Pedowitz Group returns to our podcast series titled Sunny Side Up to discuss the future of gated content and what leading brands do to gain leads with this strategy. Key Takeaways from the episode: A lot of folks in B2B sales are finding it very tough to break through the noise to connect with their target accounts. Having your own podcast gives your team the unique ability and often times the ability for sales too to break in to new accounts starting with the aim of interviewing your ideal clients on your podcast. The big reason we see audio content  gaining attention is because of the nature of the way that we live and do work these days.  The timing for podcasting is really really good as we touched upon. But the thing I would encourage folks to think about is this idea of content based networking where you collaborate with your ideal clients and potential referral partners to create content.

 The face of content marketing and content consumption has seen a shift, with audiences showing a rapid increase in preference for video and audio content. We spoke with Logan Lyles of Sweet Fish Media in this episode to discuss the various ways in which B2B marketers can use podcasts to enhance their content marketing efforts. Have a quick listen! Key Takeaways from the episode: A lot of folks in B2B sales are finding it very tough to break through the noise to connect with their target accounts. Having your own podcast gives your team the unique ability and often times the ability for sales too to break in to new accounts starting with the aim of interviewing your ideal clients on your podcast. The big reason we see audio content  gaining attention is because of the nature of the way that we live and do work these days.  The timing for podcasting is really really good as we touched upon. But the thing I would encourage folks to think about is this idea of content based networking where y

Data drives all of marketing today. But how can marketers and companies use it optimally to plan their B2B marketing efforts? Paroma Sen, the Innovation and Industry Marketing Lead at SAP India  shares her views in this podcast episode. Key Takeaways from the episode: Demand is like energy, you cannot create it from zero from nothingness you can only convert it from one form to the other, like you can convert potential energy into kinetic energy if you remember you know  high school physics. Demand today exists in the world in the form of customer pain points and when we take that, harness it, articulate it and contextualize it, then we can work those pain points into demand. But marketing is ultimately any form of marketing going back to basics, it’s about putting your message where the customer eyeballs are and data helps us fine tune that approach, data tells us where to go where to make best use of our budget to put our message where. Having intent data, being able to tell what the context

A Quick Discussion on Digital Marketing Practices and trends for B2B Tech Marketers.   In this podcast episode, we discuss changing B2B Digital Marketing Practices and trends that affect B2B Tech Marketers with Eric Sharp, Founder and CEO of Protofuse Inc and Host of the 1 to 10 Podcast series. Key Takeaways from the episode: If you try to set up multiple channels at the same time and you’re trying to do everything well and you have a resource issue and you don’t have people that are helping you push content to that channel and engaging people when they engage with you it’s just you’re going to get burned out really quickly. I think using video in your digital marketing is a bit of a foregone conclusion right. Everyone knows that they have to it. I think from a B2B space. I think the leaders that B2B companies especially within this space. Again they understand that video is important in their overall digital marketing. But I think the gap that I’m seeing at least is, is it doing well. Your website

A Chat with Anastasia Pavlova on B2B Content Marketing and its Changing Dynamics .   Anastasia Pavlova, (Former) Vice President of Marketing at Webgility talks about the current and evolving trends in B2B Content Marketing.  Key Takeaways from the episode: When it comes to content marketing there’s a lot of noise out there. Everyone is now a content marketer, everyone has a blog, everyone is trying to communicate their message and it’s harder and harder to stand out. So you really need the right tools and you need the right skills to be able to break through the noise We are now seeing a really big transition from inbound marketing or traditional demand generation where content really plays a big role  transition to account-based marketing Having shorter videos, shorter webinars is a trend we see happening right now