Evan Hughes hosts Judy Sheriff, Ciara Hopkins, and Scott Schilling on this ABM deep dive.

They cover:

• Defining ABM: All our hosts agree that ABM should be seen as a comprehensive alignment of marketing and sales strategies tailored to target specific accounts by understanding ICPs.

• Tools: Organizations don't always need expensive tools like Demandbase or 6sense to initiate ABM. Utilize existing CRM systems and focus on high-quality data analysis.

• Collaboration: Successful ABM demands alignment between executive leadership, sales, and marketing teams to ensure strategies are mutually reinforced across all channels.

• Measurement: Engagement metrics provide valuable insight, yet they must be clearly defined and agreed upon within the organization to effectively ascertain ABM success over time.

While also taking audience questions, the hosts reinforce that without foundational alignment and clear objectives, ABM strategies will fail. It's vital to establish a realistic timeline, get full leadership buy-in, and have dedicated resources to guide strategic ABM initiatives in order for them to be successful. 

Episode topics: #marketing, #demandgeneration, #B2BSaaS, #digitalmarketing #advertising #ABM #roundtable #marketingexpert #accountbasedmarketing

______

Subscribe to Stacking Growth on Spotify and YouTube

Learn More About Refine Labs

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Connect with the guests:

Judy Sheriff

Ciara Hopkins

Scott Schilling

Connect with the hosts:

Evan Hughes

Megan Bowen

Welcome to a new weekly check-in where I (Steph Crugnola) take the tips we drop in the Refine Labs weekly newsletter and apply it for our own brand marketing team - stacking them up for our continued evolution and growth. 

This week is all about experimentation, based on this week's episode of Called to Action featuring Canberk Beker.

Canberk Beker, founder of ROASted, joins Evan Hughes and Steph Crugnola for a discussion focused on the importance of consistent and ambitious experimentation.  

Canberk describes his shift from traditional B2C marketing to embracing experimental strategies, emphasizing the significance of pushing boundaries to foster growth.

He shares is personal experiences and challenges in advocating for experimentation, especially within the constraints of B2B environments that often prioritize direct metrics like cost per lead over innovative tactics. Highlighted by the stark comparison between B2C and B2B methodologies, this episode delves deep into how his bold moves and risk-taking have led to groundbreaking strategies, such as successfully tapping into competitive keyword spaces and leveraging user-generated insights. As he recounts his various experiments, both successful and unsuccessful, Canberk stresses the critical role of data-and intuition-driven decisions, ultimately inspiring marketers to push past traditional limits to achieve significant breakthroughs in their campaigns.

Episode topics: #marketing, #leadgen, #demandgeneration, #sales, #B2BSaaS, #digitalmarketing #demandcreation #adcreative #creativity #ads #experimentation

______

Subscribe to Stacking Growth on Spotify and YouTube

Learn More About Refine Labs

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Connect with the guest:

Canberk Beker

Connect with the hosts:

Evan Hughes

Steph Crugnola

Libby Schell, Refine Labs Demand Generation Manager, joins Evan Hughes and Steph Crugnola for a discussion about leading with empathy and humanity in ad creative.  

Libby shares her unique path from a strategic communications graduate to a demand generation expert in the B2B SaaS domain. She focuses on how she has worked to balance creativity with marketing strategies to craft compelling ad content that resonates with audiences beyond cliche business jargon.

She spotlights the importance of empathy and human-centric creativity in B2B marketing, examining how her artistic insights fuel her advertising and messaging tactics. To cap it off looking forward, Libby discusses some of the nuanced difference between AI and human creativity as we head into the future of marketing within the digital landscape. 

Episode topics: #marketing, #leadgen, #demandgeneration, #sales, #B2BSaaS, #digitalmarketing #demandcreation #adcreative #creativity #ads #empathy

______

Subscribe to Stacking Growth on Spotify and YouTube

Learn More About Refine Labs

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Connect with the guest:

Libby Schell

Connect with the hosts:

Evan Hughes

Steph Crugnola

Megan Bowen and Evan Hughes host Ashley Lewin and Steph Crugnola in a roundtable discussion of how to create a sustainable, unique content strategy. 

They cover:

• Building a unique point of view in content strategy is crucial for differentiation and capturing audience attention.

• Consistency in content distribution helps build trust and establishes the brand as a credible source of information.

• Integrating different content formats (video, text, visuals) can effectively engage diverse audiences.

• Authenticity and humanized content resonate more with audiences than overly polished or curated posts.

• A well-developed strategic narrative, based on understanding big changes in the market, can align messaging across all company communications.

In addition to valuable insights and questions from the live audience, Megan, Evan, Ashley and Steph share their personal strategies for keeping up with content production as well as the Refine Labs strategy. 

Episode topics: #marketing, #demandgeneration, #B2BSaaS, #digitalmarketing #advertising #content #roundtable #marketingexpert

______

Subscribe to Stacking Growth on Spotify and YouTube

Learn More About Refine Labs

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Connect with the guests:

Ashley LewinSteph Crugnola

Connect with the hosts:

Evan Hughes

Megan Bowen

Sam Kuehnle, VP of Marketing at Loxo, joins Evan Hughes and Steph Crugnola for a discussion about taking on a leadership role in Demand Creation and how to make an impact.  

The discussion focuses on evolving demand generation strategies, the interplay between lead generation and demand creation, and how Sam transitioned from agency work at Refine Labs to a leadership position. Throughout, Sam offers insights into planning effective marketing strategies in a rapidly changing digital landscape.

The conversation begins by exploring Sam's marketing journey, from his foundational experiences in a family-run agency to working as an account development representative in SaaS, highlighting his shift from the predictable revenue model to a demand-focused approach inspired by Chris Walker. 

Sam also shares invaluable advice on stakeholder management, emphasizing the necessity of aligning marketing strategies with overarching business goals. He discusses methodologies for generating quick wins, such as optimizing Google Ads and refining audience targeting, providing practical insights into sustainable marketing practices. The episode concludes with forward-thinking strategies and preparing for the future of marketing, stressing the importance of adaptability and continuous learning.

Episode topics: #marketing, #leadgen, #demandgeneration, #sales, #B2BSaaS, #digitalmarketing #demandcreation 

______

Subscribe to Stacking Growth on Spotify and YouTube

Learn More About Refine Labs

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Connect with the guest:

Sam Kuehnle

Connect with the hosts:

Evan Hughes

Steph Crugnola

Ciara Hopkins, VP of Demand Generation  at Refine Labs, joins Evan Hughes and Steph Crugnola for a discussion about leads: leads are not all created equal, and Ciara talks through why, and how to address it. 

Ciara starts by talking through her journey, starting as an SDR constantly questioning the ‘why’ behind instant calls and emails to new leads. She highlights the transformation she witnessed and became part of in marketing, moving from traditional lead gen to a demand gen approach. 

As a marketer, Ciara emphasizes the crucial role of UTM tracking and high versus low intent categorization in driving marketing efficiency. She highlights the importance of understanding the entire customer journey by collaborating with sales and operational teams to enhance data integrity. She also breaks down the industry's shift toward recognizing the value of brand awareness efforts and the necessity of meaningful KPI development to measure these initiatives effectively.

Episode topics: #marketing, #leadgen, #demandgeneration, #sales, #B2BSaaS, #digitalmarketing #CRM 

______

Subscribe to Stacking Growth on Spotify and YouTube

Learn More About Refine Labs

Sign Up For Our Newsletter
Connect with the guest:

Ciara Hopkins

Connect with the hosts:

Evan Hughes

Steph Crugnola

Megan Bowen and Evan Hughes host Ciara Hopkins in a roundtable discussion of paid ads, nailing down when is the right time to start investing. 

They cover:

In addition to valuable insights and questions from the live audience, Megan, Evan, and Ciara detail each of these milestones, how to get started with building up to them, and how to know when you’ve hit the right place to start investing money effectively into paid ads. 

Episode topics: #marketing, #demandgeneration, #B2BSaaS, #digitalmarketing #advertising #paidads #roundtable #marketingexpert

______

Subscribe to Stacking Growth on Spotify and YouTube

Learn More About Refine Labs

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Connect with the guest:

Ciara Hopkins

Connect with the hosts:

Evan Hughes

Megan Bowen

Ashley Lewin, Senior Director of Demand Generation at Refine Labs, joins Evan Hughes and Steph Crugnola for a discussion about attribution, and how to bridge the gap traditional software based attribution can leave in your understanding of your customers. 

Ashley starts by breaking down each attribution model, including first touch, last touch, multi touch, and self reported, highlighting the strengths and gaps left by each. Then she breaks down the hybrid attribution model, walking through first steps on how to implement and utilize the data insights it can give. Ashley stresses the importance of viewing attribution as a compass to get you close to your destination, rather than a definitive answer, and how staying flexible and curious can help keep you better up to date with the rapidly changing landscape in marketing. 

Episode topics: #marketing, #attribution, #demandgeneration, #selfreportedattribution, #B2BSaaS, #digitalmarketing #CRM 

______

Subscribe to Stacking Growth on Spotify and YouTube

Learn More About Refine Labs

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Connect with the guest:

Ashley Lewin

Connect with the hosts:

Evan Hughes

Steph Crugnola

Kerri Amodio, Director of Demand Generation at Refine Labs, joins Evan Hughes and Steph Crugnola for a discussion on why (and how) you should start ungating your content. 

Kerri starts by explaining how lead generation tactics have become more and more outdated as the market and technology keeps growing and changing. She highlights the necessary shift that marketers need to make towards adopting a demand generation mindset and creating a consistent demand for products and services rather than just generating leads. 

Kerri lays out several tactical strategies for effectively measuring and repurposing high-value content. She also stresses the growing importance of building trust and credibility with audiences by delivering authentic and ungated content—content that is open and accessible without barriers such as gated forms or sign-ups, thus fostering a more genuine relationship with the audience.

Episode topics: #marketing, #content, #demandgeneration, #contentcreation, #B2BSaaS, #digitalmarketing #gatedcontent 

______

Subscribe to Stacking Growth on Spotify and YouTube

Learn More About Refine Labs

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Connect with the guest:

Kerri Amodio

Connect with the hosts:

Evan Hughes

Steph Crugnola