Pipeline Brew

On this very special episode of Pipeline Brew, Matt welcomes Tony Uphoff, CEO of Pipeline 360. Their conversation spans topics such as Tony’s extensive career in tech & media, the transformational potential of Gen AI, and why we might be witnessing a shift away from SaaS orgs as buyers work to untangle themselves from platform overload.

Tony’s experience leading organizations like Thomasnet.com, UBM TechWeb, and Business.com offer the conversation a unique lens on how disruptive technologies reshape industries. This perspective helps him draw parallels between Gen AI and the early days of the internet. Both technologies experienced rapid adoption with their fair share of critics early on. 

Additionally, Matt and Tony discuss critical shifts in business models driven by the millennial workforce and the digital first purchase process. We may no longer be living in a SaaS era as companies begin to lean into simpler service offerings, with Tony advocating for “demand as a service,” or outsourcing marketing complexity to achieve better outcomes. 

Stick around to “What’s On Tap” to hear Tony’s experiences as a grandparent and his first impressions of Matt during a memorable snowy encounter in Boulder. 

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Guest Bio

Tony Uphoff is Chief Executive Officer of Pipeline360. He also serves as an analyst at Cloud Wars, a technology analyst firm that covers the latest trends and best practices in digital transformation. He additionally serves as an advisor and mentor to several tech and digital media companies. Prior to joining Pipeline360, Uphoff served as President and CEO at Thomasnet.com, where he led the turn around, growth and successful sale of the company to Xometry, a publicly traded, on-demand manufacturing marketplace for $300M in December 2021.

Uphoff has a strong track record of building, growing, and leading tech, data, media, and marketing services companies, with other notable leadership roles at UBM TechWeb, VNU Media, The Hollywood Reporter, InformationWeek and Business.com. 

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Guest Quotes

“On its own, the internet is just a compute layer. Artificial intelligence is simply a compute layer. It's how you use it. And interestingly enough, one of the things that we've been tracking is that as the mainstreaming of AI takes over. And particularly through Gen AI, you've seen this resurgence of channel partners. Because what a channel partner can often do is, they understand your domain. It's the domain expertise of being able to say, ‘Oh, I know how to apply Gen AI to a demand gen business. Here's how you would do it.’”

“We believe that there's an interesting from/to shift that's taking place here that companies are gonna start to move away from licensed platforms. They wanna strip out the complexity and what they're looking for is really outcomes. They want a service. 'I don't want to license another platform. I want the outcome of what that platform should be delivering for me.’ In our part of the world, demand generation, we think of this as ‘demand as a service.’”

“There's a high degree of risk in a B2B purchase. Very different than most consumers, most retail products. There's not that much risk if I end up buying the wrong shirt or I end up buying the wrong soda, right? If I sign up for the wrong B2B service and I make a decision on behalf of my company that's wrong, I could be risking my job. So understanding the type of content that is going to not just engage somebody, but to give them the confidence to take the next step. To give them an understanding of both your brand and your offering simultaneously. That I think is really where content needs to go.”

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Time Stamps 

00:00 - Episode Start

01:14 - Ice Breaker

02:29 Tony's Career Journey

04:47 The Impact of Technology on Business

07:07 The Rise of Gen AI

13:35 The Future of B2B Digital Marketing

20:36 Evolution of Software as a Service

21:18 Service as Software: A New Paradigm

21:34 Demand as a Service and AI Integration

24:37 The Role of Content in B2B Marketing

30:51 Balancing Efficiency and Effectiveness in Marketing

35:37 What’s On Tap

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Links

• Connect with Tony Uphoff on LinkedIn
• Connect with Matt Hummel on LinkedIn
• Check out Pipeline360

This week on Pipeline Brew, host Matt Hummel is joined by marketing expert and fellow podcaster, Jim Gilkey. Jim hosts the podcast Account Based Beverages, and is a veteran with experience at massive companies like Salesforce and 7-person startups like trueU. Matt & Jim’s conversation covers topics including ABM, demand gen, sales and marketing alignment, and the current state of AI in marketing.

Jim argues that ABM isn't just a rehash of demand generation but a strategic approach that aligns highly personalized campaigns with specific buyer needs. He provides  examples to demonstrate how ABM can seamlessly integrate with demand gen strategies, creating a powerful marketing synergy. 

The discussion takes a practical turn as Matt asks Jim to share his wisdom on sales and marketing alignment. His advice is practical: listen to sales calls and identify common queries to tailor content that addresses real customer concerns. This approach not only bridges the gap between sales and marketing but ensures that messaging is both relevant and impactful.

Beyond marketing tactics, the conversation reveals Jim's dynamic career journey and personal passions, including his love for bourbon and music. His firsthand experience as both a marketer and an account executive offers a unique perspective, making this podcast a must-hear for aspiring marketers and seasoned pros alike.

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Guest Bio

Having worked on all sides of the go-to-market team, Jim Gilkey is a dynamic speaker who pulls from his experience as a salesperson, account manager, marketer, and leader to give practical advice that GTM teams can leverage for immediate results. He has experience working for both industry giants like Salesforce and startups like Odyssey and trueU. 

Jim is passionate about unlocking potential in others, which he does through his podcast, Account Based Beverages, and through speaking at universities and conferences. 

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Guest Quotes

“ We can get so into a project that we're working on for marketing, that we forget that there's a human on the other side of it. There's a lot of data that shows what design would work or what messaging or call to action, or even some of the colors. But we don't often enough step back and think, ‘What would I feel if I went to this website and saw these pieces?’ And so for the biggest lesson in my career, it has come from learning empathy. The empathy of putting myself in other people's shoes and seeing through their eyes puts me in a place where I want to be helpful to them without any expectation of receiving something on the other end.”

“If you imagine you're walking through the mall and you hear somebody yell, ‘Hey Matt!’ You'd probably turn and look, but if you didn't see something that would continue to get your attention, you're going to very quickly go back to what you're doing. The companies that focus on tactics are the ones that think if we just have this company's name on our website, that's enough. But it really isn't.”

“If you want to create content that you know is going to have a huge impact right away, why not create that content around pieces that people are already asking questions about? It can allow you to move some of these accounts that are maybe on the fence or in the research phase further down toward wanting to meet with your team because a lot of the things that they are trying to find the answer to, you're already providing that for them.”

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Time Stamps 

00:00 - Episode Start

00:51 - Ice Breaker

02:51 - Jim's Background

05:36 - Art vs. Science in marketing

07:28 - Lessons from Jim's career

09:50 - Account Based Beverages

12:35 - ABB to ABM

14:58 - Can ABM & Demand Gen coexist?

21:03 - Know your audience

24:22 - One piece of advice to start a new ABM program

28:49 - Engineering serendipity 

32:12 - Aligning sales and marketing

35:18 - Tactical ways to leverage AI today

40:25 - What's on Tap

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Links

• Connect with Jim Gilkey on LinkedIn
• Listen to Account Based Beverages
• Connect with Matt Hummel on LinkedIn
• Check out Pipeline360

This time on Pipeline Brew, host Matt Hummel sits down with Laura Goodey, Founder & Partner of Story & Tellers, to explore her marketing journey and what led her to start her own agency. With over two decades of prior experience advising global powerhouses like Oracle, Riverbed, and Vodafone, Laura has always placed audience understanding at the core of her strategies. She dismantles the outdated "content is king" approach, arguing instead that true marketing excellence emerges from deep empathy and genuine connection with your users.

Laura’s philosophy emphasizes the critical importance of creative boldness and strategic flexibility, encouraging marketers to assert their value within organizational structures. Her unique agency model, Story & Tellers, stands out by pairing teams tailored to each of their clients’ specific needs. Laura and Matt also explore topics such as the dynamic between brand and demand marketing, and how modern marketers can create strategies to cut through the noise.

Laura’s story serves as both a practical guide and an inspirational call to action for marketing professionals seeking to elevate their craft beyond mere transactional interactions. Stay tuned in to hear where Laura loves to travel and her advice for those wanting to explore Berkshire, England.

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Guest Bio

Laura Goodey, Founder and Partner of Story & Tellers, brings over 20 years of expertise to her role as a strategic marketing partner for B2B businesses. Her impressive client roster included global giants like Oracle, Riverbed, and Vodafone. Laura's passion for marketing, which began during her college years, blends her fascination with people, art, and storytelling to craft powerful marketing strategies.

At the heart of Laura's innovative approach lies empathy-based marketing, where she places customer and audience insights at the forefront of her work. This method allows her to create resonant campaigns that truly connect with target audiences.

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Guest Quotes

“ People were often told over time that content is king, but it absolutely isn't. The audience is and always will be king. They've really got a choice whether they engage with you and it's up to us to make the messaging interesting, relevant, and valuable enough for them to think about what it is that the client's trying to say. And also, you're not competing with your competitors. You're really competing with all of life. So the tasks that people have got to do, the problems that they have, all the things that are bringing them fear and worry, joy and happiness in their life. And I think once that clicks and you realize how precious that attention is, you really understand the scale of the task at hand.”

“ The noise is increasing, unfortunately. In terms of what's driving it, obviously technology is a huge factor. It's been a gift in a lot of ways, but a big by-product has been this urge for everybody to just talk and talk and talk. When actually what they need to be doing is to connect to their audience in a more meaningful way to understand them.”

“ I think businesses do have a lot of stories to tell. They've got stories about their purpose, stories about what they can do. [Stories] of their customers, their people, what makes them different. So it really feels like an area where clients do need the most help.”

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Time Stamps 

00:00 - Episode Start

01:00 - Ice Breaker

03:21 - Laura’s Background

05:42 - Audience is king

07:15 - The art of collaboration

09:35 - Be bold

12:02 - The origin of Story & Tellers

14:49 - Adjusting to the world around you

16:40 - Why you can't solve market noise by just shouting louder

20:08 - Empathy based marketing

22:46 - Brand vs. Demand

27:36 - Advice for organizations wanting to leverage an agency

28:55 - What's on Tap

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Links

• Connect with Laura Goodey on LinkedIn
• Check out Story & Tellers
• Connect with Matt Hummel on LinkedIn
• Check out Pipeline360

On this episode of Pipeline Brew, Matt is joined by Andrew Beckman, Design Director of his own agency, Beckman Design Studio.

Our first guest with a design focus, Andrew shares his journey from agency work to going independent and highlights some key lessons learned along the way. With many marketers often overlooking the importance of brand, today’s conversation focuses on its relationship with design and marketing in a holistic way.

Andrew is able to provide a unique window into the contrasting challenges faced by B2B & B2C organizations. He describes how larger and established consumer brands provide strict guardrails to work between whereas the world of B2B often offers more creative freedom from a design perspective. 

Throughout their conversation, Matt and Andrew stress how critical authenticity and meaningfulness is to standing out, especially in the saturated world we find ourselves in today. They also discuss the impact of AI on the design process and the critical role of strategy in successful branding. Stick around to hear how Andrew stokes his creative fire outside of his work.

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Guest Bio

Andrew Beckman is a design director passionate about drawing, music, storytelling, and the great outdoors. His curiosity drives a multidisciplinary skillset in brand identity, art direction, illustration, and motion. With 15 years of experience, he has led cross-functional teams and developed processes to build over 50 brands, driving impactful business outcomes, IPOs, and earning creative awards independently and with agencies.

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Guest Quotes

“ You only get one first impression, and one of the cool aspects of getting to work on the visual identity portion of a brand is that we are kind of the first impression.  It should connect with people. It should draw them in, and not just because it's beautiful, but because hopefully there's some kind of spark from that simple message or that core idea.”

“ I think whether it's AI or it's some other new technology, it's always going to be a struggle to keep up, because technology and business is just constantly changing. Which is why I always just fall back on brand. If you have a sound strategy that's rooted in a human truth, there is a timeless aspect to it.”

“ I feel like whatever the solution is, it should be rooted in some kind of meaning. It should have a reason for existing. Great design should resonate with people. And make them feel something. Try to set out to conjure a feeling and create something that's worthy of being remembered, and have this kind of clear, compelling, intentional feeling.”

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Time Stamps 

00:00 - Episode Start

00:57 - Ice Breaker

02:44 - Andrew's Background

08:33 - Key lessons throughout Andrew's career

11:51 - What is brand?

18:10 - Standing out in a crowded market

20:30 - Is B2B brand design different?

22:19 - Meaning, resonance, craft, context

26:24 - Brand update frequency

30:32 - AI's impact on design

35:40 - What's on Tap

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Links

• Connect with Andrew Beckman on LinkedIn
• Check out Beckman Design Studios
• Connect with Matt Hummel on LinkedIn
• Check out Pipeline360

On this episode of Pipeline Brew, Matt welcomes Mark Ogne, Founder & CEO of Symplexity.AI and Chief Marketing and AI Officer at Kompetently.

With over two decades of global marketing experience and five successful exits, Mark shares his journey from sales to pioneering the integration of AI in marketing. The two cover the transformative potential of AI not as a mere efficiency tool, but as a means to enhance marketing effectiveness by enabling businesses to pursue their “200% better ideas.”

Mark also advocates for a shift in focus from prompt engineering to purpose-built AI tools that truly comprehend your business context, making AI a powerful ally in driving meaningful outcomes rather than just streamlining tasks. This is the focus of Mark’s own venture, Symplexity.AI, which aims to bridge the gap between AI's potential benefits and current adoption inertia.

Mark's blend of marketing mastery and forward-thinking mindset to AI offers valuable lessons for marketers looking to embrace the rapid evolutions in the current technological world. Stick around to hear his thoughts on parenting, and why he’s learned to cherish each stage of his children's lives.

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Guest Bio

Mark has more than 25 years experience as a marketing leader for publicly traded companies as well as start ups. Known for defining and executing strategies that have delivered industry changing innovation, he’s recognized as being among the first to launch market-focused commerce operations, and more recently, he developed positioning, strategy and product solutions for the pioneer of multichannel testing and targeting.

Led by passion and guiding principles of collaboration, Mark has directed corporate and marketing communications, social media strategy and execution, multichannel and search agency practices, acquisition / demand generation, product marketing, product management, site usability, and ecommerce initiatives.

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Guest Quotes

“Now, my hypothesis and experience is that every organization has a 200% better idea.  Rather than focusing on, 10% or 20% percent better, step back and really evaluate, ‘What should I be doing? And why does that make more sense?’ And so that's efficiency versus effectiveness. Focus on the effectiveness side. Then you can become more efficient at it over time.”

“Whether it's new digital platforms and technologies or whether it's AI, I tend to look at things and try to find, ‘When have we crossed this road before? Do we have things that we can look back to and figure out, as a guide, where should we go?’ And I think that AI, we shouldn't see it as being completely new.  What's really new about it is just how fast it's changing.”

“If you just spam the crap out of everybody by sending more emails than anybody else, was that helpful? Well, it was efficient, right? That's a very good analogy to AI. If you focus solely on efficiency, you'll never find the effectiveness component. So you'll be the spammer.”

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Time Stamps 

00:00 - Episode Start

00:56 - Ice Breaker

04:04 - Mark's Background

06:04 - Sales and Marketing Alignment

10:15 - Symplexity.AI & Kompetently

16:58 - The bleeding edge of AI

25:44 - Who owns AI in the business?

29:18 - Why change management is key

32:43 - Efficiency to Efficacy

36:58 - Picking your battles

38:10 - What's on Tap

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Links

• Connect with Mark Ogne on LinkedIn
• Check out Symplexity.AI
• Check out Kompetently
• Free AI Readiness Assessment
• Connect with Matt Hummel on LinkedIn
• Check out Pipeline360

This time on Pipeline Brew, Matt is joined by Andrew Racine, VP of DemandGen and Growth at Writer, the full-stack generative AI platform for enterprises.

Andrew shares the journey he’s taken through the SaaS industry to where he is today, including how he got his start with HubSpot originally as an SDR. His transition to other major organizations such as MongoDB and Fivetran are a reminder of how career paths are seldom linear, especially in marketing.

One consistent highlight from their conversation is Andrew's emphasis on the importance of human connection in marketing, a refreshing take in an era dominated by automation and data-driven strategies. Andrew underscores the necessity of understanding customer needs deeply, distinguishing Writer’s approach to create GenAI applications that can tackle business problems and amplify human effort, not replace it. 

Marketers looking to level up their own career should keep an ear out for two pieces of advice: the power of empathy and the long-term importance of brand over short-term metrics. Also stay tuned to hear about baseball, parenting, and the west coast. 

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Guest Bio

Andrew Racine is a seasoned marketing professional currently serving as the VP of Demand Gen and Growth at Writer, a leading generative AI platform. With a robust background in demand generation, he has previously held significant roles at Fivetran, Turbonomic (an IBM company), and MongoDB. Racine's expertise lies in helping companies scale their marketing efforts effectively, leveraging his experience from various high-profile organizations. He holds an MBA from Babson College and has a history of driving growth through innovative marketing strategies.

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Guest Quotes

“People want to be heard. They want to be understood and they want to spend their time on things that are going to help them advance. And so you need to have those in mind, not in a selfish way, but in a way that will help them achieve their goals. And if you can help them do that, hopefully they pick you again and it's a win-win.”

“We're just really trying to get people to understand how we can help them solve a specific problem. And then our job in marketing is just getting really good at understanding their problems and those use cases that make it a no brainer to invest in something like generative AI. So that focus – it is fast because we have to keep at pace with the market, and maybe even be a little bit ahead of it. But [also] we need to be focused on what really matters to folks and not get swept up into all the noise.”

“If you're constantly playing those growth hack games, I just think you're constantly going to be looking for more and more silver bullets and it'll take you away from the long term investments. And so, I think fundamentally Demand Gen needs to be looked at from a long term view. And the one thing that I've learned is just the importance of brand  and that's not always in the purview of a Demand Gen Marketer.”

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Time Stamps 

00:00 - Episode Start

00:55 - Ice Breaker

03:02 - Andrew's Background

06:38 - Early lessons in empathy

07:52 - What is Writer?

11:22 - How Writer stays connected to their customers

13:43 - Leveraging field marketing

15:30 - Drinking your own champagne

18:37 - "Writer Speed"

20:45 - Start with the problem

24:13 - How to maintain the human element

26:39 - Bring it back to brand

33:17 - What's on Tap

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Links

• Connect with Andrew Racine on LinkedIn
• Check out Writer
• Connect with Matt Hummel on LinkedIn
• Check out Pipeline360

On this episode of Pipeline Brew, Matt welcomes A. Lee Judge, Co-Founder of Content Monsta, a content marketing, video, and podcast production agency specializing in the production of content that drives business.

Lee shares his journey from a DJ and photographer to a marketing entrepreneur, emphasizing how his foundation and early experiences led to his successful career in marketing. He also talks about what inspired him to start Content Monsta and the story behind the name. 

Throughout their conversation, Matt & Lee discuss the ongoing debate of “Quality vs. Quantity” in regards to content and what strategies organizations should be taking. Rather than saying the two are mutually exclusive, Lee introduces the Quality vs. Quantity (QVQ) funnel strategy, outlining that it’s more important to target each stage of the funnel differently to have the most impact. 

Touching upon the crucial topic of sales and marketing alignment, Lee underscores the need for cohesive collaboration between these two departments to create a seamless customer experience. Read more about this in his upcoming book, CASH: The Four Keys to Better Sales, Better Marketing, and a Cohesive Revenue Machine. 

Later on, you’ll hear more about Lee’s personal life and what he drinks to avoid a hangover. 

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Guest Bio

A. Lee Judge is the Co-Founder and CMO of Content Monsta, a digital content agency. He also serves as Global Digital Marketing Manager, at Hexagon Geosystems. Previously, Lee served as Sr. Digital Marketing Director at B2B customer service software company Jacada, connecting the organization’s Sales and Marketing Operations. Focused on B2B marketing for over 20 years, Lee is both a digital marketing practitioner and creative content entrepreneur. He is a leading LinkedIn video creator, Forbes Agency Council member, and engaging event speaker providing training on digital marketing, content creation, social selling, and sales enablement from the Marketing point of view. 

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Guest Quotes

“I realized that there was a gap there in terms of what the market needed. I was a marketer who needed video, who didn't have a $10,000 budget, who needed to do more than just one video a month. And so I launched Content Monsta to begin creating content for businesses at a faster pace, better economy.”

“Quantity doesn't mean you have to lose quality. And fast doesn't mean cheap and low quality.”

“While you're saying: ‘But it wasn't in the studio, but it doesn't have our logo behind this, the quality isn't there.’ Meanwhile, your consumer is consuming all of your competitors' content, and they're not judging it by the type of camera. They're judging it by: ‘Did they move me closer to doing business with them?’ And that's what your competitor is doing.”

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Time Stamps 

00:00 - Episode Start

00:47 - Ice Breaker

02:29 - A. Lee Judge's Background

04:32 - From analogue to digital

07:55 - What is Content Monsta?

12:35 - Balancing content quantity and quality

17:29 - Creating content for each stage of the funnel 

21:18 - Impressions are everything

23:25 - Repurposing content 

27:35 - Lee's advice for others

33:03 - What's on Tap

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Links

• Connect with A. Lee Judge on LinkedIn
• Check out Content Monsta
• Get your copy of CASH: The Four Keys to Better Sales, Better Marketing, and a Cohesive Revenue Machine
• Connect with Matt Hummel on LinkedIn
• Check out Pipeline360

Today on Pipeline Brew, Matt is joined by Greg Verdino, Founder & Chief Operating Officer of CognitivePath, an AI consulting firm that guides organizations through this new era of artificial intelligence. 

Greg takes us on a journey through the AI landscape, debunking the myth of AI as a miracle worker and framing it instead as a trusty sidekick that elevates your marketing game only if you stick to the fundamentals. From AI's mimicry potential to the importance of good data, Greg sheds light on how to avoid the AI bubble trap by aligning tech with tactical goals and crafting authentic content that speaks from the soul.

Additionally, Greg and Matt touch on the allure of any shiny new tech tool, and how marketers need to resist the siren call of innovation without intention. It's all about getting back to basics—knowing your audience and letting AI be the Watson to your Sherlock. Greg shares a few tactical pieces of advice on how to channel AI effectively, harnessing its power for genuine transformation rather than getting caught up in the tech hype.

As always, the conversation wraps up with some personal stories, where Greg shares some stories from his parental life and his experience running the content consultancy, VERDINO, with his partner Amanda. 

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Guest Bio

Greg Verdino is the author of Never Normal: Uncommon Ideas for Leaders Who Won’t Settle for the Status Quo (2020) and microMARKETING: Get Big Results By Thinking and Acting Small (McGraw-Hill, 2010). And as the co-creator of The Adapt Manifesto, Greg is leading a movement to align leaders around a core set of principles that help organizations reliably and repeatedly adapt to the changing environment in which they operate.

His perspectives have been shaped by 30+ years spent working at the forefront of change. Over the course of this career he has advised hundreds of organizations including more than 50 of the Fortune 500; has served in senior leadership positions at a half-dozen technology start-ups; and has launched innovative products, lines of business, and divisions from within traditional companies. Through his work speaking, writing, and consulting on digital strategy, business transformation, and adaptability he helps leaders build thriving, future-ready companies.

Greg is also the founder of CognitivePath, a strategic AI consultancy that helps organizations harness the transformative power of generative AI to enhance productivity, unleash creativity, improve performance, and create strategic advantage. 

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Guest Quotes

“There have been some unreasonable expectations set around what today's generative AI tools are actually capable of delivering.”

“Content is a complex beast. It's easy to put words on paper. It's much more difficult to ensure that those words bring real insight, perspective, point of view, and something new to the market.” 

“AI is not a miracle machine, but a mimicry machine. It's been trained on all of the world's data, and what that means is at the end of the day, pure AI content brings to the table a raw average of everything else that's ever been produced.”

“Good content is about answering your prospects or customers’ most burning questions.”

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Time Stamps 

00:00 - Episode Start

00:54 - Ice Breaker

01:21 - Is AI a miracle machine for marketers?

05:36 - What makes great content

08:47 - Prediction vs. Generation

11:29 - Your AI is only as good as your data

16:03 - Don't become obsessed with the shiny new object 

18:48 - Are we seeing the bubble starting to burst?

23:13 - Greg's advice for marketers looking to capitalize on AI tools today

26:22 - Learnings from CognitivePath's AI Maturity Model

29:49 - What's On Tap

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Links

• Connect with Greg Verdino on LinkedIn
• Check out Cognitive Path
• Connect with Matt Hummel on LinkedIn
• Check out Pipeline360

In this episode of Pipeline Brew, Matt Hummel welcomes Zach Diamond, Strategic Program Manager at Miro, who shares his exciting journey from food tech to championing innovation workspaces. 

Miro, formerly known as RealtimeBoard, is a digital collaboration platform designed to facilitate remote and distributed team communication and project management. Having been with the organization for nearly four years, Zach discusses his role and how personalized customer engagement and strategic discovery can significantly impact demand generation and product marketing. He also emphasizes the importance of understanding customers' specific needs and using that insight to create value-driven, bespoke solutions that resonate on a deeper level than traditional metrics might indicate. 

Additionally, Matt & Zach talk about Miro's Discovery Center, an innovative space designed to foster deep customer relationships and immersive experiences. By offering a unique blend of in-person and remote engagements, the Discovery Center has become a crucial tool in Miro's approach to building trust and loyalty among its clients. 

Be sure to stick around to the end of the episode to learn about one of Zach’s other passions…caviar!

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Guest Bio

Zach Diamond is a Strategic Program Manager at Miro, a leading online collaboration platform based in Austin, Texas. In his role, he focuses on enhancing customer relationships and driving strategic initiatives within the Miro Discovery Center, where he works to optimize user experiences and maximize client value.

With a strong background in software development, Zach effectively bridges the gap between technical teams and business stakeholders. His expertise in program management and demand generation allows him to identify growth opportunities and implement strategies that enhance customer engagement and satisfaction.

Passionate about fostering collaboration and innovation, Zach emphasizes open communication and teamwork within his projects. Outside of work, he enjoys exploring Austin's vibrant culture and staying updated on the latest trends in technology and business, reflecting his commitment to continuous learning and personal growth.

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Guest Quotes

“When I advise other companies, I really push them on how to get customers in the door without a sales rep. And I think the exception to the rule would be if you're doing like hardware, or data storage, or something like cloud architecture, where you really do need to be face to face talking to a person.”

“What my team does is show instead of tell. I always bring it back to: ‘Why are you doing this?’ Not: ‘How do you do it?’ So we start off every session with a session called Voice of the Customer. And this is just strategic questioning. And it's one of my favorite parts of the job because it snowballs into a massive conversation.”

“I think you said it with sales folks struggling to strategically sell or leading with value. In a lot of ways, we've forgotten the gift of the gab. You know, we got so used to selling over Zoom calls and not going in person that we've forgotten how much that matters to a customer who's trusting you with a ton of money every year.”

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Time Stamps 

00:00 - Episode Start

000:51 - Icebreaker

02:29 - What is Miro?

04:12 - Zach's role with Miro

08:13- Is the PLG model here to stay?

12:05 - How to do evangelism marketing right

16:26 - The power of executive briefing centers

21:26 - Zach's journey to marketing

25:19 - Don't forget to sell yourself

27:35 - Avoid a one size fits all approach

30:39 - Balancing the human experience with the metrics

34:17 - What's On Tap?

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Links

• Connect with Zach Diamond on LinkedIn
• Check out Miro
• Get 20% off Caviar at Shag
• Connect with Matt Hummel on LinkedIn
• Check out Pipeline 360

In today’s episode of Pipeline Brew, Matt is joined by Hannah Jordan, the Director of Digital Marketing for Demandbase. The two discuss the rise of the self-service buyers journey, how to leverage AI with customers tactfully, and why it’s critical to align yourself around your fellow teams. 

What’s the benefit of fostering a self-service buyer journey? Hannah emphasizes that allowing customers to initiate conversations on their own terms can significantly improve their experience, pointing out that constant prompts to engage can often repel potential clients, whereas a more subtle approach respects the client's timeline and autonomy. Additionally, Hannah underscores the necessity of customizing content based on the customer’s journey stage. She advocates against a one-size-fits-all approach, highlighting that knowing where a customer is in their decision-making process allows marketers to provide the right information at the right time.

For those who have yet to implement any sort of AI or automations until their daily life, Hannah offers some great anecdotes and practical advice on how she leverages them. You’ll also hear why she was awarded with the “Make Sales Love Us” award recently at Demandbase and how she views the marketing-sales relationship as a whole. 

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Guest Bio

Hannah Jordan is the Director of Digital Marketing at Demandbase, where she specializes in account-based marketing strategies. With a strong focus on enhancing campaign effectiveness, she has been instrumental in rethinking audience engagement and leveraging data-driven insights to optimize marketing efforts. Her expertise in digital marketing is complemented by a passion for exploring innovative advertising techniques, which she shares through webinars and industry discussions.

In addition to her role at Demandbase, Hannah actively engages with the marketing community, sharing her insights and experiences on platforms like LinkedIn. Her journey into account-based advertising reflects her commitment to continuous learning and adaptation in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. Through her work, she aims to inspire others in the field to embrace new methodologies and drive impactful marketing results.

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Guest Quotes

“The one thing that's been kind of close to home lately is actually in the customer side of marketing. I feel like digital marketing sometimes gets very focused on new business. And so sometimes I think the focus and the effort behind that customer love does kind of go away. And so I'm trying to personally take a big step up and kind of recenter myself.”

“I'm a firm believer in the self-serve buyer's journey. If they want to chat with us, the option is there and they will click it. Someone jumping in and saying, ‘Hey, chat with us!’ It's just annoying at a certain point. And so we've really automated it based on what journey stage an account is at, and then being able to offer content based on that journey stage.”

When it comes to leveraging digital to effectively engage the modern buyer, Hannah’s advice is to “Meet the buyer where they're at and provide value rather than trying to push a sale.”

“I think chat is one of the more underutilized channels that people don't necessarily think about incorporating in their marketing strategy.”

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Time Stamps 

00:00 - Episode Start

01:10 - Icebreaker

02:15 - What makes a good digital strategy

05:12 - Aligning around key accounts

09:07 - The best way to engage the modern buyer

12:29 - Using chat to enhance, not annoy

14:57 - How Hannah leverages AI beyond content

17:42 - Don't forget about your current customers

21:23 - Make sales love us

25:32 - What's On Tap?

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Links

• Connect with Hannah Jordan on LinkedIn
• Check out Demandbase
• Connect with Matt Hummel on LinkedIn
• Check out Pipeline 360