Category: Show Notes

Recession Proof Your B2B Marketing

Posted on by Drew Neisser

Shakespeare once wrote, “To thine own self, be true.” In that spirit, RTU host Drew Neisser did something a little out of the ordinary.

Now, some people might consider talking to yourself for 30+ minutes to be a little crazy, but not Drew Neisser. In one of the most unusual Renegade Thinkers Unite episodes to date, Drew interviews none other than himself.

On this episode, the dynamic duo of Drew and Drew continually push the conversation to exciting territories. The discussion touches on key insights Drew has learned over the course of his 300 CMO interviews, the challenges 2019* will bring for marketers, and more. Don’t miss it! 

2020 Update: To read Renegade’s 6 smart lead generation tactics during a downturn, check out our special report on B2B demand generation.

Catch Drew’s insights here.

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What You’ll Learn

Employees are a key part of marketing

You need to have dedicated employees on board with your brand and with your product. Employees purchasing what you’re selling as a marketer is highly linked to the success of a product. If they are behind the product enough to purchase it, they are likely to understand and promote it. If the employees buy the brand story, they can be tremendous advocates. They can share their real experiences and use social proof to spread the word about your brand in a cost-effective way. Especially in a downturn, employees buying in with a brand and sharing content is key. It’s free media, and you can’t live without it.

How to prepare your B2B marketing plan for the recession

Drew shares that it is vital to prepare a B2B marketing plan for the recession. Great marketers will shine during the recession, but weaker marketers will not survive. A smart marketer will recognize a good strategy and will work on all communication channels, marketing to employees, customers, and prospects alike. Drew tells the audience to prepare for budget cuts in preparation for the recession. Figure out what part of the budget will drive demand generation, because those dollars spent will yield successful business results. These parts of the budget can be defended, but defending the portion of a budget focussed on building one’s brand on will be at risk. Drew shares that a B2B organization needs to have a brand health tracking study in place before a recession, so that if a budget cut arises, marketers can still know how their brand is performing.”

Why you should secure customers before the recession

With a recession, all companies will likely experience  budget cuts and potential losses. Drew explains that businesses should think about securing customers as the recession draws near. Focus should be put on keeping current customers happy. These current customers will also have problems linked to a recession, so Drew says to be prepared to answer how your specific product or service can help customers grow their business even in an economic downturn.

Timeline

  • [1:02] Renegade Rapidfire
  • [12:19] Why talk about the recession now?
  • [15:37] Why employees are vital in marketing
  • [17:51] What smart marketers will prepare for with a recession in mind
  • [24:28] What marketers can do in an economic downturn to make them different
  • [28:42] Other CMO’s opinions on what should be 2019’s focus

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Using Your Personal Brand to Help Build Your Company’s Brand

Posted on by Drew Neisser

What do we talk about when we talk about a CMO’s to-do list? Usually, items are along the lines of “integrate sales and marketing” or “ensure proper metrics are being examined.” And, yes, those are usually, among other things, crucial to making sure your marketing machine is firing on all cylinders. However, if you add things like “Dress as Korean mega star Psy and open for Bon Jovi” and “Set up online video series centered on food and marketing” to your list, it might start to look a little more like Dux Raymond Sy’s.

On this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite, Drew talks with Dux, CMO of AvePoint, to better understand symbiosis between personal brands and company brands, how social selling and employee advocacy can be crucial, and much more.

You won’t want to miss this. Dux’s interview will keep you on the edge of your seat— listen here.

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What You’ll Learn

Building complementary content helps AvePoint reach a broader market

One thing AvePoint does to produce marketing leads is position their company as an industry advisor. As a company, AvePoint builds software based on Microsoft. To become an industry advisor and get leads, Dux shares that AvePoint produces content based around the Microsoft programs his company works with – they do not produce content that competes with Microsoft but instead complements it. All content produced is very use case driven and specific, and it helps AvePoint become a trusted advisor to the public. This also organically boosts SEO by putting content online tied to AvePoint, so AvePoint’s content shows up when Googling “SharePoint” or “Office 365.” Dux mentions that this content is also being published in every language his company services. They are not only reaching an American market but worldwide.

How Dux’s personal brand helps grow AvePoint’s brand

Dux has a great personal brand. He has opened for Bon Jovi, singing in Vegas at a Microsoft conference. He can also be found in many marketing videos online. Prior to working as the CMO, Dux was a Chief Technology Officer. He is not just a paid actor, but a real-life person who knows what he is talking about. He understands code and the technical side of the products. Dux currently is featured in multiple AvePoint video series that explain product features and uses. By appearing in these videos, he has humanized the content. However, he says that it must be substantial first, not just full of great video edits and snappy sound bites.

Getting your employees on board with marketing

Dux creates videos for AvePoint to explain products, offer tips, and much more. These videos are shared through social media and regular newsletters to clients. However, AvePoint also has an internal social selling program. It allows employees to join in and help build their own brand as professionals at AvePoint. Dux’s company encourages employees to post AvePoint content on LinkedIn and awards employees whose Social Selling Index on LinkedIn score is the highest. AvePoint has seen that the conversions from employees’ posts are much higher than that of paid ads, and employees do not mind posting these videos because they don’t appear to just be selling a product.

Timeline

  • [4:24] Dux’s Renegade Rapid Fire segment
  • [9:53] The key indicator that shows Dux is on the right track
  • [12:00] What to do to get marketing leads
  • [15:33] How Dux got into marketing
  • [18:54] Becoming a trusted industry advisor in a Microsoft ecosystem
  • [22:18] Partnering with Microsoft
  • [26:09] What helps AvePoint cut through the noise of the market
  • [29:22] How Dux’s personal brand helps grow AvePoint’s brand
  • [36:10] Two do’s and one don’t for new CMO’s

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Deloitte’s Global CMO Shares Her 4 M’s for B2B Marketers

Posted on by admin

Growing a community of leaders – an important goal for many companies, but not typically the designated task of a CMO. Diana O’Brien, CMO of Deloitte, however, is not your typical CMO. Diana spends 50% of her time prioritizing building workplace culture and, in turn, the firm’s brand to provide better marketing services to clients. She spearheaded Deloitte University, which provides training to bring employees into the fold on brand alignment, culture, and continuing workplace education for every single Deloitte employee in the United States. Now, she is recognized as one of the World’s Most Influential CMOs by Forbes and is one of Business Insider’s Top 50 Most Innovative CMOs in the World.

Diana has been on the cutting edge of marketing, working for Deloitte since the 1980s. From creating a place where leaders can grow and employees thrive, to being the first CMO at Deloitte, she has a lot to share. On this episode, she brings a wealth of knowledge on the importance of creating a workplace culture of leaders, how your business’s brand and culture affects client relations, the necessity of being the voice of the customer at the leadership table, and so much more.

Be sure to listen in – Diana has insights you don’t want to miss!

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What You’ll Learn

Key things Deloitte focuses on in developing workplace culture

Diana shares that there are sequences followed at Deloitte University that are key to building employee culture. As a company, the art of empathy is massively important. This allows employees to understand differences and help people feel a sense of belonging. It teaches them how to communicate – to listen before you speak. Diana notes this is a foundational attribute as a consulting company. Empathy helps employees communicate better internally. It also vital when interacting with clients.

The art of story is also important. Employees are taught how to connect their story or stories to a client as well as the company as a whole. Stories are meant to inspire and spark action. Stories allow employees to connect the personal to why they do what they do. Be sure to listen to this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite to hear about other key items Deloitte focuses on in its employee culture.

How to get from customer insight to real innovation

Customer insight is defined as understanding who the customer is and where they are going. As a marketer, you are looking to co-create with the customer and join them in their journey. Typically the act of innovation comes out of Research and Development or a different business unit at Deloitte. Part of the CMO or marketer’s job is to communicate with these units so that they know what to create or where to look. They feed them information on where to look and what to do. Currently, real innovation is hard to find with many firms following market trends. However, Diana says that real innovation comes from the activation of an organization’s purpose. When an organization knows its purpose, it is able to innovate. Their change is based on their passion and purpose, which drives them to use their current skills to create innovation.

Make an impact that matters – creating a brand inside and outside company walls

Deloitte is committed to “make an impact that matters” – a phrase they have coined as their tagline. Diana mentions in this episode that she spends about 50% of her time on the internal activation of their brand idea. Deloitte chooses to heavily invest in its employees to make sure their brand is not just shown in the marketplace but also is pervasive within its own walls work. By creating a good workplace environment for its employees, it allows employees to focus on customer interactions. So, not only is Deloitte looking to make an impact that matters in the world, but also within its company. Hear more on how they do this in this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite.

Timeline

  • [0:32] Who is Diana O’Brien?
  • [3:01] Why Deloitte University is the soul of the firm
  • [5:38] What Deloitte University taught Diana
  • [8:25] Face to face still matters in the digital age
  • [8:39] The three arts Deloitte focuses on
  • [18:58] From customer insight to real innovation
  • [25:43] The importance of organizationally elevated marketing
  • [31:13] Why the internal activation of a brand is key
  • [39:49] The 4 “M’s” of marketing

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Here’s How to Make Your Marketing Metrics Work For You

Posted on by admin

Top 10 Global CMO for companies worth over two hundred and fifty million, top 15 CMO on Twitter by Social Media Marketing Magazine, and top 50 most influential people in sales lead management – just some of the accolades that CMO Brian Kardon has earned over decades of cutting through in marketing. Now, as the CMO of Fuze, a cloud-based communications business, he is continuing to cut through by using his vast knowledge of sales and marketing metrics. On this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite, you’ll learn how to build a seamless demand gen engine, and how to focus on the metrics the matter. Brian and Drew also discuss how you can understand your clients’ perceptions of your brand, and how AI is going to influence the way people create marketing initiatives.

Brian’s insights are ones not to be missed – you’ll walk away with a deeper understanding of marketing metrics and so much more.

Click here to listen to the full story.

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What You’ll Learn

How do you know when your marketing is working?

Understanding how your marketing is benefiting your business is often the top priority for both CMOs and CEOs. By using the best marketing metrics for your type of business, you can stay focused on those that matter – a avoid becoming distracted by those that don’t. Brian explains the 3 main metrics he always looks for when evaluating the success of marketing efforts:

  1. Net new pipeline contributions
  2. Total marketing-influenced leads
  3. Total number of closed bookings

These 3 metrics combine to give you data that’s actually worth examining. Learning what marketing metrics work best for you and your company is a process, but it is 100% worth the investment of time and energy.

Handling the micro-marketing metrics is just as important as the big-picture metrics

Understanding the value of both micro and macro-marketing metrics will allow you close sales at both ends of your customer spectrum. Whether you’re examining data on a $1 million contract or securing a $12,000 sale, your marketing metrics are invaluable. For example, a micro-metric will allow you to see how much time a visitor is spending on certain segments of your website, while a macro-metric goes into greater depth on what types of content a specific type of client is looking at and downloading. Brian encourages other CMOs to not forget about either one when creating a roadmap for future marketing efforts.

Use these 2 metrics to help understand your clients’ perception of your brand

There are 2 main questions Brian uses to help him understand his clients’ perceptions of his brand. They are:

  1. The net promoter score of the brand’s product(s)
  2. The level of customer satisfaction with the sales and marketing process

When conducted by third-party companies, these two marketing metrics shed new light on your entire pipeline process and buying experience. For the full explanation behind these metrics, don’t miss this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite.

Timeline

  • [0:30] Here’s why you need to be paying attention to Brian and his team at Fuze
  • [13:37] How do you know when your marketing is working?
  • [27:14] Handling micro-measurements vs. measurements that help close a sale
  • [36:19] Understanding your customer’s perceptions of your brand
  • [39:19] Use THESE metrics when presenting to the CEO and board
  • [42:43] Lifetime value, customer acquisition costs, and customer retention
  • [48:26] Using artificial intelligence in customer acquisition and marketing metrics

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How Aetna’s Brand Transformation Teaches a Lesson in Storytelling Marketing

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A company’s brand transformation process should never be taken lightly, especially for a health insurance company that serves the lives of thousands of people across the country. When David Edelman joined Aetna’s team as the CMO two years ago, he knew that a change was needed to reimagine the public perception of health insurance companies. On this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite, you’ll learn how he and his team successfully transformed the Aetna brand into one that puts the joy and wellness of its clients first and foremost.

David shares why a rebranding transformation is not just a marketing thing — it must be an organization-wide effort that translates to tangible changes for customers. Drew and David also dive into how the Aetna marketing team achieved internal company buy-in, and how acting courageously in their market led to a completely reinvented brand rooted in sincere storytelling.

Get inspired to let storytelling drive your next marketing move.

                   Subscribe on Apple Podcasts – Stitcher – or Podsearch

What You’ll Learn

David’s first challenge was figuring out the space in which Aetna could relate with clients

When asked about the healthcare industry, most people will associate the market with negative words and emotions. Overcoming this negative association was David’s first challenge as Aetna’s new CMO. He realized that Aetna had to become so much more than a health insurance company. He tells Drew that they needed to become “a partner in our clients’ lives,” while telling each client, “We’re joining you! You lead, we’ll follow.” By opening up this line of honest communication with their clients, Aetna has been able to enter into new spaces of health, wellness, and preventative medicine.

Achieving internal buy-in was critical to the success of Aetna’s brand transformation

Before Aetna could help their clients reach their wellness goals, David and his team first had to achieve internal buy-in. Previously, each of Aetna’s departments had their own “feel” and culture. They combated this lack of unity by sharing the new brand promise, explaining priority initiatives, and continually asking for employee feedback and insights. They also used a variety of evaluation and measurement tools that allowed them to make the necessary course corrections throughout the brand transformation process. To hear the full story behind how all of this – and more – was achieved in just 6 months, be sure to listen.

Reorienting the B2B and B2C sales teams to sell with storytelling in mind

Drew and David talk at length in this episode about how Aetna successfully sells in both the B2B and B2C space. Not only does Aetna sell to individuals and families, but they also offer healthcare packages to small businesses and major corporations. David outlines a few major tools his marketing team was able to share with the sales team to make selling the new Aetna brand easier:

  • Arm the sales team with great content
  • Share the new customer experience
  • Use storytelling techniques – don’t just share lists and data
  • Focus on the idea of “One Aetna”

The reorienting process hasn’t been simple, but David and his team have handled it beautifully so far. For the full story, don’t miss this episode of Renegade Thinkers Unite.

Timeline

  • [0:28] David approached his marketing challenge at Aetna with courage
  • [3:54] The first steps in rebranding the entire company
  • [9:06] Taking action on the research David and his team collected
  • [11:28] Overcoming pushback throughout the rebranding process
  • [13:48] Engaging employees was critical in making the rebranding successful
  • [21:00] The internal structure of the brand transformation at Aetna
  • [26:05] Reorienting the B2B and B2C sales teams to sell with storytelling in mind
  • [36:41] David’s final thoughts on brand transformation and lessons learned during his 2 years at Aetna

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