The Peerbound Podcast

How is AI changing customer marketing and customer advocacy? In this episode of the Peerbound Podcast, Evan Jacobs joins Sunny to discuss which tasks AI could take off customer marketers’ plates and why human relationships remain central to the role.

Evan shares lessons from his customer marketing career, including his work at Rapid7, and explains how the function is expanding beyond customer relationships to include content production, distribution, and performance measurement.

In this conversation:

• How AI could reduce administrative work, scheduling, and approval processes
• Why customer advocacy should create value for customers rather than rely on favors
• How customer marketers’ responsibilities are expanding across video testimonials, customer stories, and campaign performance
• Where customer advocacy should sit within an organization: marketing, revenue, or customer success
• Why authentic customer proof matters in a market full of AI-generated content

Chapters
00:00 Meet Evan Jacobs
01:41 Getting started in customer marketing at Rapid7
03:56 Building customer advocacy through mutual value
05:43 The future of customer marketing and AI
11:42 AI use cases with staying power
14:20 AI-generated content and authenticity
17:34 The expanding customer marketing role
22:12 Building AI tools: maintenance and scalability
25:17 Where customer advocacy belongs in an organization
29:30 Rapid-fire questions

Sunny Manivannan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunnymanivannan/

Evan Jacobs: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ejacobscustomeradvocacy/
 

Description:

In this episode, Kate and Sunny talk about what it really means to understand the business you're operating in and how that changes the way you do customer marketing. Kate shares lessons from starting her career during the Great Recession in London, localizing campaigns across 10 markets in the Middle East for HP, and eventually going in-house at Splunk where she learned how to communicate the full lifecycle value of customer marketing to the CMO. She breaks down why knowing where your company's capital comes from (public, PE, venture, family-owned) changes how you set strategy, allocate resources, and tell the story of your impact. They also get into the current state of AI in marketing, why starting with the business problem matters more than the tool, and the advice that has guided her career since college: figure out where you want to be on a bad day.

Topics covered:

→ Starting a career in PR during the Great Recession in London 

Chapters:

00:00 Know Your Capital Source

Episode Description:

Brittnee Dawson is VP of Product & Customer Marketing at Service Express, with previous experience leading customer marketing at AlphaSense, Experity, and Anaplan. She started her career at Thomson Reuters, where she worked in video production and product management before finding her way into customer marketing.

In this episode, Brittnee and Sunny talk about why advocacy should never be an afterthought. Brittnee shares how she embeds customer marketing into every stage of the customer lifecycle, from onboarding to expansion, so that advocacy becomes a natural output of a great customer experience rather than a one-off request. She talks about why the playbook is more similar across industries than people think, what erodes customer trust (siloed experiences), and how to make sales enablement work by getting the right proof to reps at the right moment. They also get into the tension between scaling with AI and maintaining genuine human connection, and why customer marketers have a strategic advantage as the people who can use AI in a human-first way.

Topics covered:

→ How a background in film and visual storytelling shaped Brittnee's approach to customer marketing

→ Why the customer marketing playbook is more universal than people think across industries

→ Embedding advocacy into the full customer lifecycle instead of treating it as an add-on

→ What builds and what erodes customer trust

→ The evolution of sales enablement and putting customer proof in front of reps at the right time

→ Scaling with AI while keeping the human connection intact

→ Why customer marketers are uniquely positioned to use AI in a human-first way

Chapters:

00:00 Advocacy Is Built In

00:57 From Film To Customer Marketing

02:36 Storytelling And AI Shift

11:33 Lifecycle Design And Trust

17:18 Sales Enablement With Advocacy

19:53 Content Libraries Are Dead

21:20 Personalized Enablement Moments

22:11 Full Automation Meets Trust

24:30 Human Stories Beat Data

30:58 Recommendations And Wrap Up

About the Guest

Jess Walker McFarland is a customer marketing and advocacy leader with experience at BMC Software (7+ years), Splunk, and Rubrik (3.5+ years). At Rubrik, she led customer advocacy and executive programs through the company's IPO. She's currently a free agent exploring what's next.

Description

In this episode, Sunny sits down with Jess Walker McFarland, a customer marketing and advocacy leader with experience at BMC Software, Splunk, and Rubrik, to discuss building customer advocacy programs, preparing customer stories for IPO, and what it really takes to make the leap from senior manager to director.

Jess shares how she transitioned from partner marketing to customer advocacy at Splunk, why she sought out the challenge of IPO readiness at Rubrik, and her management philosophy of "enable, empower, and get out of the way." We dive into how customer storytelling changes when your audience shifts from buyers to investors, what makes the senior manager to director leap so difficult, and her take on AI: the tools are incredible, but the thinking is still your job.

Whether you're navigating your first leadership role or preparing your advocacy program for a major company milestone, Jess's insights on building trust with your team and articulating the "why" to stakeholders will give you plenty to think about.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Early Career Beginnings

00:38 Navigating PR and First Major Career Pivot

03:14 Expat Experience and Life-Changing Moments

09:10 Transition to Field and Partner Marketing

15:14 High Growth at Splunk and Leadership Lessons

25:33 The Leap from Senior Manager to Director

27:26 Navigating Leadership and Team Dynamics

30:29 Transitioning to Rubrik and IPO Experience

38:51 Exploring AI and Personal Growth

47:16 Recommendations and Final Thoughts

Jess Walker McFarland: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicawm/

Sunny Manivannan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunnymanivannan/

In this episode, Sunny sits down with Jennifer Thompson, Senior Customer Marketing Manager at Amperity, to discuss the evolution of customer marketing, building advocacy programs, and why your happiest customers deserve more attention than they're getting.

Jennifer shares her journey from account management to pioneering customer marketing roles, including how she helped the Seattle Seahawks tell their fan engagement story in record time. We dive deep into what makes great customer marketers, how to prove your value internally, and why customer marketing is about so much more than just case studies.

Whether you're new to customer marketing or a seasoned pro, Jen's insights on the customer journey flywheel, working with AI tools, and creating advocates at every touchpoint will inspire you to think differently about your role.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome

00:35 Jen's Career Beginnings

01:33 Transition to Customer Marketing

07:08 Impact of AI in Marketing

11:11 Customer Success Stories

19:43 Characteristics of a Successful Customer Marketer

22:51 Building Internal Support

23:40 Creating Advocates and Proving Value

28:48 Examples of Great Marketing

33:30 Favorite Apps, Technologies, and Recommendations

Resources & Links Mentioned

People:

Jennifer Thompson - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-t-/

Sunny Manivannan - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunnymanivannan/

Case Studies:

Seattle Seahawks Case Study - https://amperity.com/customers/seattle-seahawks

Extra:

Witches of Moonshyne Manor - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60421214-the-witches-of-moonshyne-manor

Episode Description

Chris Dalton manages customer testimonials, speaking engagements, reference programs, peer reviews, a customer advisory board, and ad hoc requests, all by himself. His secret? Building autonomous systems and focusing relentlessly on what actually accelerates revenue.

In this episode, Chris shares how Clari's CMO mandates voice of customer content in every campaign, why content utilization matters more than content creation, and how he's building a proactive customer marketing system that serves the right references and content at exactly the right time. If you're trying to scale customer marketing with limited resources, this conversation is packed with strategies you won't want to miss.

What You'll Learn

• How to build autonomous customer marketing systems that run without daily involvement
• Why the shift from reactive to proactive is the future of customer marketing
• The utilization problem: why having 100 case studies means nothing if reps don't use them
• How AI enables entirely new work rather than just replacing existing tasks
• Productivity habits from Deep Work and 7 Habits of Highly Effective People that create real efficiency
• How to build strong relationships with revenue teams and prove your impact
• Why tools don't solve behavior problems and what actually drives adoption

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome
• 00:44 Chris Dalton's Career Journey
• 03:14 Role and Responsibilities at Clari
• 04:17 Challenges and Innovations in Customer Marketing
• 06:41 The Future of Customer Marketing
• 10:53 Voice of Customer and Its Importance
• 14:47 AI in Customer Marketing
• 19:33 Efficiency and Productivity Tips
• 26:22 Building Relationships with Revenue Teams
• 34:37 Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Guest Bio

Chris Dalton is Director of Customer Marketing at Clari, where he runs all advocacy programs as a one-person team. With over a decade of experience at companies like SurveyMonkey, Evanta (now Gartner), and Clari, Chris has mastered the art of scaling customer marketing through automation, AI, and strategic enablement. He's known for his efficiency, his strong relationships with revenue teams, and his vision for building proactive customer marketing systems.

Key Takeaway

The future of customer marketing isn't about getting really good at reactive work. It's about building systems that deliver the right content, references, and insights before your teams even know they need them. When you shift from reactive to proactive, you unlock the full potential of voice of customer content and create measurable revenue impact.

Connect with Chris Dalton: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/daltonchristopher/

Episode Description

Mary Green didn't realize she'd been doing customer marketing for years until she saw a job posting that finally named what she'd been building all along. Now, as the founder of CMA Weekly and Director of Community Platforms at Infor, she's created a 1,500-member community that's become an indispensable resource for customer marketers navigating an evolving profession.

In this episode, Mary pulls back the curtain on building authentic professional communities, the changing landscape of customer marketing roles, and why working without community in 2025 is like working without AI. You're simply leaving opportunities on the table.

What You'll Learn

• The origin story of CMA Weekly and how it grew to 1,500+ active members
• What the "no vendors" channel is and how it became essential for honest, confidential vendor feedback
• How customer marketing roles are expanding and what the current job market looks like
• Why professional community isn't optional anymore and how it saves months of learning time
• Strategies for fostering authentic engagement and maintaining community trust

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome
• 01:37 Mary Green's Journey into Customer Advocacy
• 03:50 Building and Growing CMA Weekly
• 05:21 Community Engagement and Support
• 11:38 The No Vendors Channel
• 16:23 Vendor Competition and Community Dynamics
• 24:55 The Evolving Role of Customer Marketing
• 31:01 Job Market Insights and Advice
• 39:49 Future Plans for CMA Weekly
• 41:10 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Guest Bio

Mary Green is the founder of CMA Weekly, an authentic community of over 1,500 customer marketing professionals, and serves as Director of Community Platforms at Infor. With years of experience building customer advocacy programs before the role officially existed, Mary has become a leading voice in the customer marketing space, creating resources and connections that help professionals navigate this evolving field.

Key Takeaway

In today's fast-paced marketing landscape, having access to a trusted professional community isn't a nice-to-have. It's essential infrastructure. Whether you're troubleshooting vendor relationships, understanding market rates, or simply learning from others' experiences, community accelerates your growth and saves you from costly mistakes.

Connect with Mary Green: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marygreencny/

Resources Mentioned:

• CMA Weekly Community: https://cmaweekly.com/

Daniel Palay, Director of Customer Marketing at Grafana Labs, joins Sunny to challenge how we think about customer marketing success. They cover the power of saying no strategically, why you should measure net dollar retention instead of activity metrics, and how to use AI to focus on work that actually moves the needle. Daniel also shares lessons from building customer marketing teams at two high-growth startups.

00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:45 Daniel's Early Career Journey
01:36 Transition to Customer Marketing
02:12 Building Customer Marketing at Elastic
03:56 Joining Grafana Labs
07:34 Pandemic Reflections and Personal Growth
11:30 The Power of Saying No in Customer Marketing
18:07 Strategic Customer Marketing and AI
19:25 The Strategic Promise of AI in SaaS
20:11 Embedding in Core Constituencies
21:06 Challenging Traditional Metrics
22:36 The Pitfalls of Activity Metrics
27:32 Advocacy and Net Dollar Retention
31:25 Deal Velocity and Customer Marketing
35:58 Embracing AI for Strategic Growth
38:43 Building Effective Customer Marketing Teams

Daniel's CMA Summit SF 2025 Talk: 
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/119iNfiaqP8AVTs7Np2xInrsRXvxWS8mLkwKMDBAHQl8/edit?slide=id.g1d7246a57b5_0_8#slide=id.g1d7246a57b5_0_8

Featuring:
Daniel Palay:
LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielpalay/

Sunny Manivannan:
LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunnymanivannan/
X — https://x.com/sunnymanivannan

Follow us:
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/peerbound-inc

Tune in:
Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peerbound-podcast/id1708825056
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/5GO3n6pATX10fkY8lgf3GX
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@peerbound

Mel Cornford, Customer Marketing Lead at Canva, joins host, Sunny Manivannan on the Peerbound Podcast to discuss her transition from journalism to customer marketing. She shares her career journey, highlights from her work at notable media brands, and how those experiences shaped her approach at Canva. Mel emphasizes the importance of understanding sales teams' needs, creating human-first storytelling, and leveraging AI for efficiency. The conversation also explores the significance of testing, building internal and external relationships, and creating platform-specific content. 

00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome 
01:00 Mel Cornford's Journey into Customer Marketing 
01:12 Early Career and Journalism Background 
02:10 Transition to Digital and Fashion Media 
03:14 Shift to News and Building Digital Presence 
07:48 Joining Canva and Initial Role 
10:24 Finding and Celebrating Community Stories 
14:22 Switching to B2B and Enterprise Marketing 
16:23 Storytelling Approach and Social Content 
23:47 Sales and Marketing Synergy at Canva 
31:04 Leveraging AI in Customer Marketing 
36:12 Advice for Early Career Customer Marketers 
38:32 Conclusion and Final Thoughts 

Canva's Video Content: 
Sam Barker Story: https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/sams-story-lessons-wwii-veteran-turned-childrens-book-author/ 
Elsewhere Story: https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/how-two-entrepreneurs-launched-a-travel-business-in-a-pandemic-with-canva/
Docusign Case Study: https://www.canva.com/case-studies/docusign/

Featuring:
Mel Cornford:
LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/mel-cornford-8751393/

Sunny Manivannan:
LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunnymanivannan/
X — https://x.com/sunnymanivannan

Follow us:
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/peerbound-inc

Tune in:
Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peerbound-podcast/id1708825056
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/5GO3n6pATX10fkY8lgf3GX
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@peerbound

In this episode of The Peerbound Podcast, host Sunny Manivannan sits down with Michael Sciano, a seasoned customer marketing and advocacy leader with more than 15 years of experience across industry-leading companies including Adobe, Salesforce, and ServiceTitan. Michael shares his unique path from high school history teacher to tech, highlighting lessons learned along the way and what it takes to build a resilient career in customer marketing. 

The conversation explores the evolving role of customer marketing, how AI is reshaping the job search, and the importance of networking and genuine relationships in today’s competitive market. He also makes the case for why customer marketing deserves more investment and visibility at the leadership level, offering actionable advice for professionals looking to grow in this fast-changing field. 

Whether you’re navigating the job market or building advocacy programs, Michael’s perspective provides grounded, practical insights for the future of customer marketing. 

Chapters: 

(00:00) Introduction and Guest Welcome 
(01:04) Early Career and Education 
(02:27) Transition to Tech Industry 
(04:33) Experience at ExactTarget 
(05:37) Roles in Technology and Marketing 
(07:16) Customer Marketing Evolution 
(11:08) Job Market Challenges and Advice 
(24:39) The Power of Networking 
(25:49) Building Genuine Relationships 
(26:47) Navigating the Job Market 
(32:51) The Role of AI in Job Searches 
(38:16) The Future of Customer Marketing 
(43:48) Final Thoughts and Takeaways 

Featuring: 

Michael Sciano:  
LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelsciano/

Sunny Manivannan: 
LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunnymanivannan/ 
X — https://x.com/sunnymanivannan 

Follow us: 
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/peerbound-inc 

Tune in: 
Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peerbound-podcast/id1708825056 
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/5GO3n6pATX10fkY8lgf3GX 
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@peerbound