Let’s face it: times are tough across the board. With a lot of financial uncertainties to consider, companies are scrutinizing their expenses with finer tooth combs, ensuring that there is absolutely no wasted time or efforts. For workers, this means being able to prove that your work is making an active difference for your company. While that doesn’t mean that you need to be directly responsible for revenues, it DOES mean that you should be moving the needle of productivity in some way.

This week, we welcome Mason Cosby back to the show to discuss the necessary steps that workers should take to prove your worth as a marketer. Mason is a Podcast Host, Ambassador at GTM Partners, and the long-term Director of Demand Generation for Sales Assembly. Suffice to say, Mason knows quite a bit about the work, the skills and the people it takes to bring a product to market. How did Mason get into his work, what were some of the mindsets that led him down this career path, and how did partner relationships drive many of his core decisions?

Let’s get started!

MINDSETS:

• Utilize Marketing Relationships - LinkedIn continues to be an incredible tool for building business relationships. For Mason, LinkedIn was an opportunity to generate leads through trusted partners and connections — trust is the name of the game!
• Scale Through Skills - As Mason puts it, you can’t over-index on head count. Rather, you have the team you have, and you are better off improving the skills of your team. Your team deserves the nurturing through skills-building to help them do their jobs!
• Ensure the Pipeline - Nobody cares what marketing does, as long as the pipeline is full. When it’s NOT full, that’s where the issues come in - job loss, budget reductions, and other short & long-term issues. 
• Soft Asks - Sometimes, the best thing you can do to start a conversation is ask someone if they need help. For Mason, this means sending out the occasional LinkedIn message to see what services people are looking for. 

SKILLSETS:

• Adaptability - Mason was one of the first marketers hired by his company – and for a time, the only marketer of the team. When a person loses their leader in a company, the assumption is that THEY are now the leader. Adaptability and an openness to move swiftly in your role is crucial.
• Effective Content Production - When organic content is a huge component of your business, it better be good, or people will tune out. 
• Filling Skill Gaps - Skill gaps are the quiet killer of growth. Without the right skills, a company’s growth will plateau. Being able to recognize those gaps and tend to them is a crucial skillset for any leader.
• Paid Ads - There is very significant value in being a paid ads specialist. On a team, diversifying your skillset by honing in on the data aspects of paid ads can be the key to securing your position.
• Addressing Bandwidth - You can’t be everywhere all of the time. For startups, that can be a delicate balance. How much of your bandwidth can be dedicated to each activity? Knowing the importance of your work from a zoomed-out perspective will prevent issues down the road.
• Video Editing - Editing is a skill and a tool. Like any skill, there are experts in the field that will do it A LOT better than you, especially if it’s not a top priority. As a skill, it is tremendously valuable for any marketing team.

TOOLSETS:

• LinkedIn
• Video Editing Software
• Email
• PodSqueeze
• ChatGPT
• Niche-Podcast Tours
• Google
• Spotify
• The Content Matrix (Stephen G. Pope)

RESULTS:

For any business, at the end of the day, it is important to look at the correlation between it’s marketing efforts and it’s pipeline. Trackability ends up being one of the top focuses for a company like Mason’s — and with that comes the importance of having the skill to track specialized data in the first place. No single source of marketing is a single cause of success. What matters is that the actions are happening, and that the pipeline continues to move and generate business.

In a qualitative sense, Mason looks to tactics as simple as social media mentions, engagements, and other metrics to indicate how his company is breaking out of it’s existing mentions to larger audiences. In creating more publicly accessible content (the type that stretches beyond existing audiences), Mason and his team at Sales Assembly see more and more people viewing and talking about their operations. 

A bit more about Mason:

Mason Cosby hosts a variety of talents as a thought leader in the marketing space. Since February 2023, Mason has acted as the Director of Demand Generation for Sales Assembly,  a company that provides crucial educational tools that combine strategic skills development, peer communities and other learning platforms. Mason is also the host of The Marketing Ladder podcast, a podcast dedicated to learning how to grow a marketing career from today’s leaders.

Connect with Mason:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/masoncosby/
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/sales-assembly/
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-marketing-ladder/

Connect with Mike & Gaby @ Proofpoint Marketing:

• Mike’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikegrinberg/
• Gaby’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriellaisrael/
• LinkedIn Company Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/proofpoint-marketing-llc
• Proofpoint YouTube Channel: http://bit.ly/ProofpointonYouTube
• Proofpoint Marketing Website: www.proofpoint.marketing