Explore every episode of the podcast The People of Digital Marketing

Georgiana is a strategic advisor, author and speaker who's passionate about turning customer value into revenue-generating outcomes. Marketing online since 2000, she began her track record as a marketing executive and product growth advisor in 2010 working with high-growth, B2B SaaS like Unbounce, Sprout Social, Bitly, Appcues, SparkToro, Invoice Simple and more.

Questions and topics we covered in this interview include:

• The origins of Forget The Funnel (and why funnels are bad for business)
• What Customer-Led Growth is and why it comes before all other growth models (like product-led, sales-led, marketing-led, or community-led)
• How do marketers begin to learn from their customers? 
• What’s the best way to collect product feedback?
• What’s the best way to implement that feedback? + How does marketing champion and facilitate this process with other departments?
• You’re a prolific advisor to several big name startups, what does it take to become one?
• Georgiana’s advice on how to become a startup advisor

And more!

Important Links

You can say hello to Georgiana on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgianalaudi/

You can find me on LinkedIn here- https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto 

Get her book on Customer-Led Growth™ here - https://www.forgetthefunnel.com/customer-led-growth/book

Check out her podcast with cofounder Claire Suellentrop here - https://pod.link/1713510690

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com 

Kate Guerrero helps early stage startups solve positioning and messaging challenges, and translates strategy to a crystal clear homepage. She's a 2x small business owner, a 2x mom, and the author of an award-winning manuscript.

Questions and topics we covered in this interview include:

• Fletch’s philosophy around product marketing
• How product positioning lays the groundwork for all other forms of marketing collateral a business will need to make and deploy
• How to sell the work of product positioning internally
• How the size of a business’s product portfolio affects positioning exercises and GTM strategy
• The core differences between brand marketing and product marketing
• The actual step-by-step process Fletch takes to update a B2B SaaS company’s homepage and product positioning  
• How to identify what differentiates a product from the rest of the market
• Why it’s okay to actually talk about the competition in your positioning 

And more!

Important Links

Learn more about Fletch PMM’s positioning and product marketing services here - https://www.fletchpmm.com

You can say hello to Kate on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-guerrero-🖋%EF%B8%8F-42b56348/

You can find me on LinkedIn here- https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto 

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com 

Shelagh Dolan is the Content Marketing Manager at Quora, where she has led the content strategy for Quora for Business, the platform’s advertising division, since June 2022. With over a decade of experience, Shelagh has a proven track record of crafting content strategies that align with sales goals and drive growth for global B2B brands. Before joining Quora, she held key roles as the Director of Content Marketing at eMarketer and Senior Content Marketing Manager at Business Insider.

Topics and questions we covered in this episode include:

• The key skills every entry-level content marketer should focus on developing in 2025
• The things that HAVEN’T changed in marketing (and probably won’t)
• Shelagh’s process for launching new product features
• How to prove that content is bringing in revenue and ROI?
• Shelagh’s advice for finding (and getting) great marketing jobs
• The challenges people don’t talk about when it comes to managing a team

And more!

Important Links

You can say hello to Shelagh on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelaghdolan/

You can find me on LinkedIn here- https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto 

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com 

Nikki Lindgren, founder and managing partner of Pennock, is a leader in scaling DTC businesses through paid ads with a focus on helping female-led beauty brands. With expertise in digital media management exceeding $100 million, Nikki and her team leverage strategic advantages for impressive MER and ROAS.

Questions and topics we covered in this episode include:

• Nikki shares her story of how she founded Pennock
• When and how marketers should deploy ads to grow eCommerce businesses
• The nuances that come when doing any type of performance marketing campaigns for beauty products
• What constitutes a strong ad strategy in today’s market?
• The metrics that truly matter when it comes to doing media buying well
• The “learning phase” is defined (in as simple a way as possible)
• How to measure ad fatigue/campaign decay
• How much should brands spend on ads, where should that money go, and what should be the expected returns?
• What are your predictions for the future of DTC and performance marketing?

And more!

You can connect with Nikki on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkilindgren/

You can connect with me on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

Kristin Fracchia is a growth and marketing exec who has helped scale companies from early stage to public, including Chegg and Magoosh. She is an unabashed generalist and lifelong learner, who has flexed between roles leading marketing, growth, sales, product, finance, business development, and business operations. Her current passions are helping companies leverage AI to their advantage and mentoring early career leaders. Prior to working in tech, she obtained a PhD and dabbled in academia, earning an excellence in teaching award from the University of California.   

Questions and topics we discussed in this interview include:

• How Kristin is learning about new tools like Clay.com to stay adaptable as a marketer in this budding field of GenAI
• How should marketers think about getting their brands more visibility on gen AI tools and chat-based search tools like ChatGPT?
• What’s the business impact that obtaining AI visibility would have on business growth?
• What is generative engine optimization (GEO)? And how is this field emerging and evolving?
• What tools can marketers use today to determine how their marketing is being impacted by genAI?
• What should marketers tell their leadership teams about how genAI search may impact their marketing strategies and how we should all start adapting

And more!

You can connect with Kristin on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinfracchia/

You can find me on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com 

Shelia Rondeau is a driven and experienced executive with expert proficiency in providing unsurpassed leadership and revenue growth in dynamic, fast-paced, competitive business environments. She’s fully capable of leading a full array of enterprise marketing responsibilities, as well as general business operations, building foundations that enable the companies she works with to scale for growth. She is currently a Fractional CMO and CEO for her company MOGXP.

Questions and topics we discussed in this interview include:

• The story of how MOGXP began
• What it takes to obtain big-name clients like Toyota, Budweiser, Walmart, and more.
• The common marketing challenges big brands face when it comes to customer experiences
• Experiential marketing defined
• How college ambassador programs are a great example of experiential marketing programs (done the right way)
• The current state of experiential marketing and its effectiveness as a marketing channel

And more!

You can connect with Sheila through LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheilarondeau/

You can find me on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com 

Pat LaCroix is the EVP of marketing and commercial strategy at Seekr, a leading artificial intelligence company specializing in transparent content evaluation.

For over 20 years, Pat has worked inside major consumer brands and advertising agencies. Prior to Seekr, he held a variety of global marketing leadership roles at Bose, where he was responsible for brand marketing, media, digital, social and partnerships with relevant brands such as NFL, Amazon, Disney, and Spotify to name just to name a few. During this time, he was recognized in the “Sports Business Journal” with the “40 under 40” award.

Questions and topics we discussed in this interview include:

• He explained how past roles prepared him for his leadership at Seekr
• Pat provided an inside look at Seekr’s mission and explained his responsibilities within the company
• He addressed the challenges he faces in his role
• Pat shared insights on Seekr’s biggest marketing challenge for 2024
• Pat introduces us to the PIE framework (performance, image, and exposure) that all marketers need to know if they want to get promoted

And more!

You can connect with Pat on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/pat-lacroix-1883506/

You can find me on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Near the end of the episode, Patrick also mentions the PIE framework (performance, image, and exposure) that he used to get promotions throughout his career. If you want a deeper dive specifically into this subject, check out this article I wrote about it on Medium - https://medium.com/@KennySoto/why-doing-a-good-job-isnt-enough-here-s-a-slice-of-p-i-e-for-my-marketing-homies-dce789fc2cf6

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com 

Andrew began his career by spending seven years in newspaper journalism. He then logged five years in higher-education marketing, co-managing a college website with a focus on video storytelling and fine-tuning email messaging to 18-year-olds. For the past 7 years, he’s worked in B2B software, in marketing operations and then product marketing, with a focus on quantitative and qualitative customer research. He’s started one customer advisory board and scaled two others, both in person and virtual, and strongly believes there’s significant value in both approaches, for both customers and companies.

Questions and topics we discussed in this interview include:

• What are the basics of customer research that marketers need to understand as they grow in their careers?
• When proposing the idea of a Customer Advisory Board (CAB), is it mainly to inform product marketing initiatives? Are there other areas of marketing and business overall that can benefit from the investment in a CAB?
• How should marketers identify and select the right members and determine the correct size for a Customer Advisory Board?
• What strategies can marketers use to keep CAB members engaged and active?
• How should the feedback process with CAB members be structured to ensure it's productive and actionable?
• What are some other common challenges businesses face when managing CABs, and how should marketers address them?
• How can marketers measure the success and impact of a Customer Advisory Board on product marketing initiatives?
• How do the role and operation of a CAB differ in startups versus established SaaS companies? Is there a specific stage in a business’s life cycle where a CAB is more beneficial?
• How is the role of CABs expected to evolve in the next 5 to 10 years?

And more!

You can say hi to Andrew on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewgpetersen/

You can find me on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com 

Marina is a Content Marketing Specialist & Founder of the B2B Content Marketing agency Retold. With an extensive background in marketing, including content, social media, branding, and more, Marina opted for the agency approach after working in marketing leadership roles with companies in a number of different verticals. Today, she is passionate about bringing the power of storytelling and innovation into the world of content marketing to help companies solidify strategies that get results.

Questions and topics we discussed in this interview include:

• The hardest part about being a marketing manager that people don’t talk about enough
• Does written content still have a place in a marketing strategy (within video-first world)?
• What do people get wrong about thought leadership? How can marketers make it an effective part of a strategy?
• How to get your CEO featured in the media
• Skills Marina thinks marketers should focus on learning this year if they want to get better at B2B marketing
• What’s been Marina’s approach to collaborating with other content creators?

And more!

You can connect with Marina on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marina-krivonossova/

You can find me on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com 

Aren Johnstone is the President and Owner of Franchise Ramp, a leading marketing agency in the franchising industry that partners with the world's top fitness and wellness franchise brands. During his senior year of high school at the age of 18, Aren bypassed multiple full-ride college scholarships to purchase his first company, an ecommerce business. By 19, he ventured into marketing and software consulting, hiring his first employee. By the age of 20, his team had grown to five, and he co-founded an agency specializing in media buying for top ecommerce brands, overseeing more than $100M in ad spend.
In 2019, Aren joined Franchise Ramp to introduce cutting-edge marketing strategies from the Ecommerce world to the franchise industry. Since then, Franchise Ramp has served thousands of franchise locations and has been recognized on the Inc 5000 list for two consecutive years, achieving a notable #49 ranking in 2022. He is passionate about entrepreneurship and committed to developing products and businesses that address real-world challenges. 

• Aren’s story of how he got started in business during his high school years by selling t-shirts and apparel in Tulsa and then by purchasing an online figure-staking store at 18 years old
• Aren’s journey into Facebook advertising back in 2015
• The specific challenges that come from marketing franchise businesses
• The basics of “hyper-local” ad targeting
• Ecomm vs franchising: the main differences in paid media strategies
• The essential skills needed to be a great media buyer
• The nuances behind high-performing performance creative (*now that’s a mouthful hehe)
• Changes in performance marketing that brands need to be aware of

And more!

Here’s the episode I mentioned about MasterMind groups, featuring Liz Scully - https://www.kennysoto.com/podcast/interview-liz-scully-could-a-mastermind-group-elevate-your-marketing-ep-14/

You can connect with Aren via email here - aren@franchiseramp.com

You can say hi on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/aren-johnstone/

You can find me on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com 

Over her career, Lindsay McGuire has contributed to the content functions at the largest credit union in Alabama, the most well-known nonprofit brand in the world, and a SaaS company that made five acquisitions within two years. Now as the Associate Director of Content & Campaigns at Goldcast, her days are spent overseeing and creating content around how B2B marketers can use events as one of their top revenue-driving channels.

Her diverse background across various industries makes Lindsay a well-rounded content leader and a strategist who knows how to create a content engine, build relationships across teams, integrate holistic messaging, and think creatively while staying laser-focused on business goals.

Questions and topics we covered include:

• Lindsay’s method to recover from layoffs
• Ways marketers can improve their confidence on camera
• The lessons Lindsay has learned about marketing events and webinars by working at Goldcast?
• What’s the right strategy for promoting and repurposing events?
• What are the keys to strong customer interviews? How can marketers leverage them to improve their brand’s storytelling?

And more!

You can connect with Lindsay on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsayladeroute/

And you can find me on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com 

Amir Shahzeidi, Head of Demand Generation at Uscreen.tv and Host of the Beyond the Funnel podcast, combines deep SEO roots with a passion for driving growth. His expertise empowers brands and creators to thrive in the digital landscape, through strategic, revenue-centric marketing approaches.

Questions and topics we covered in this episode include:

• The unique challenges you’ll face when you’re the first marketing hire 
• How does Amir define demand generation and how to properly measure it
• What does a marketer need to do after demand is generated?
• Examples of short-term marketing tactics that create the wrong incentives for businesses…
• Examples of vanity metrics we need to avoid as marketers and some of them aren’t that obvious…
• What can marketing teams learn from creators?
• What has contributed the most to Amir’s success at UScreen?
• What does Amir look for in new team members?

And more!

Connect with Amir on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amir-shahzeidi/

You can say hello to me on LinkedIn at - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

Two years after graduating from Harvard with a degree in Applied Math, I quit my corporate job to travel the world with my then girlfriend for 5 years. Together we visited over 60 countries. During that time I launched and exited from my first SaaS, NinjaOutreach, an influencer marketing platform. Nowadays I run Shortlist.io, a boutique digital marketing agency. Our team is 20 people strong and we work on cool problems.

I've been on dozens of podcasts and my style is always to be engaging, energetic, and transparent - often focusing more on the realities and the failures than the highlights. 

Questions and topics we covered include:

• The story of NinjaOutreach and what lessons do you take from that experience into the agency you manage today?
• The latest trends in link building, whether or not link building is still an effective way to increase rankings
• How to select websites (what's a good target what's a bad target)
• Behind the scenes look at your data from building thousands of links
• What to expect in terms of results (how long does it take to rank)
• When linkbuilding is most effective and who it's most effective for
• Google Generative Search experience, thoughts on how it will affect marketers?
• Go to SEO and MarTech tools…

And more!

Connect with Dave on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-schneider-8a693115/

You can say hello to me on LinkedIn at - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

Allie is currently the Growth Marketing Lead (formerly the Content Marketing Lead at the recording of this episode) at Sequel.io, a webinar platform that allows you to host events directly on your website. She lives and breathes SaaS start-up marketing after falling into the space while overseas and diving deeper into the realm of content. 

Over the years she has become a huge advocate for killing bad B2B marketing and bringing life into every relationship, campaign, and content piece. Connect with her on LinkedIn for marketing insights & the best coffee beans to fuel your day!

Questions and topics we covered include:

• The qualities in a team/company that Allie looks at before deciding to join them…
• Why it’s ok to (and how to) evaluate a company's leadership team before accepting an offer
• What are the pros and cons of working directly under the founder/CEO?
• Why is it important to make yourself visible at work?
• How to do “Self Check-Ins”
• Why it’s important to evaluate the product or service that a company is selling before accepting a job offer
• Should marketers specialize or be generalists?

And more!

Connect with Allie on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-smith223/

You can say hello to me on LinkedIn at - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Bonus Resources

Check out Allie’s Job Search Tracker template: https://l.linklyhq.com/l/1jeDq 

Check out her Career Goals template: https://l.linklyhq.com/l/1jeq5

Work Results template: https://l.linklyhq.com/l/1jeq1

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

Nathan Yeung has over 10+ years of experience advising B2B businesses on their marketing strategy. He has helped companies build their marketing teams from 0-1, delivering GTM deployments, and launching new products into the market. 

“You know, 99% of the time marketing gets handcuffed…we have golden handcuffs.”

Questions and topics we covered:

• How Nathan’s past experience as a VP of Finance makes him a better marketing leader
• How would you suggest people find good marketers? How do we make ourselves a “good marketer?”
• What is the most important thing to know when it comes to implementing marketing as a function?
• How long does it take for marketing to become effective? 
• What’s the #1 thing you would do in any company as a marketing leader?
• Paying for ops and paying for creative = why it’s necessary
• How to build a marketing team from scratch
• How to avoid getting laid off as a marketer? Is it even possible?

Connect with Nathan via LinkedIn at - https://www.linkedin.com/in/yeungnathan/

You can say hello to me on LinkedIn at - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

This is a special episode of The People of Digital Marketing. In this episode, I talk briefly about the future of SEO. It’s hard to predict what will happen in the future but, there are some things I’m willing to bet on (with actual money too) when it comes to how marketers will approach Search as a channel.

What are your thoughts? How is your team preparing for the future when it comes to SEO? 

You can say hello to me on LinkedIn at - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

Justin consults, advises, and executes content distribution and repurposing strategies for growing SaaS companies and founders. He is the host of the Distribution First podcast and creator of the Content Repurposing Roadmap. 

Questions and topics we covered include:

• Justin’s origin story from experiencing a 2022 tech layoff to diving into solopreneurship
• How to manage creating content at scale
• Why is content distribution a challenge for most B2B businesses?
• The rookie mistakes Justin wishes he knew about before becoming a content marketer
• How Justin approaches repurposing podcast content (a “walkthrough” into how he thinks about marketing
• Justin’s content marketing tools

And more!

Connect with Justin via LinkedIn at - https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincsimon/ 

You can say hello to me on LinkedIn at - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

You can check out Justin’s newsletter here - https://news.justinsimon.co/

You can check out Justin’s content repurposing course here - https://contentrepurposingroadmap.com/

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

“No one will slap your hand for saying, ‘I want to hear from customers more often.’”

Melissa Moody is a full-stack marketing executive and entrepreneur with a passion for user-first products, and a talent for creating clarity from chaos. Her background includes 14 years in large-partner marketing at Google, taking on her former role as CMO & Cofounder at SaaS startup Gated, and being the host of the “2 Pizza Marketing” Podcast for small-team marketers. She is also the Cofounder of Wednesday Women, which raises visibility for extraordinary women leaders and now the CEO of Match.so.

Questions and topics we covered include:

• Lessons in marketing while working at Google
• The Founder/CMO dynamic
• The biggest challenge that comes from transitioning from expert IC to 1st-time marketing leader? 
• Why the marketing team needs to own research and development
• The value of customer advisory boards (CABs)
• Challenges of working within small marketing teams
• What Melissa has learned from hosting her own marketing podcast
• How to scale a network of advocates for your career growth
• What’s the biggest challenge marketers are facing in 2024?

And more!

Connect with Melissa via LinkedIn at - https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissammoody/

You can say hello to me on LinkedIn at - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

Here’s the episode with Alex Levin that I mentioned during the show - https://www.kennysoto.com/podcast/b2c-marketers-leverage-key-marketing-channel-alex-levin-episode-129/

Mike Grinberg is the Founder and CEO of Proofpoint Marketing.

Mike Grinberg is a creative problem solver at heart, who happened to fall into marketing. The core problem Mike sees right now is technology and automation removing the human element from the way we build businesses and how we go-to-market. Mike believes that relationships are still the key to business success, and he’s built his consulting business on people-first principles.

Questions and topics we covered include:

• What’s wrong with most GTM models today?
• Mike’s definition of the buyer’s journey as it stands in 2024
• Defining Relationship-Led Growth
• How to get this GTM motion started?
• What’s the core difference of general Sales-led and account-based GTM motions?
• How relationship-led growth supports other marketing functions.
• How AI could be incorporated  into Relationship-led GTM
• How to measure the success of this GTM strategy

And more!

Connect with Mike via LinkedIn at - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikegrinberg/

You can say hello to me on LinkedIn at - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

Adrianna Vidal is a community manager and content marketer. She broke into tech in 2021 after working in retail and apartment leasing, and now works as a Community Marketing Manager at Bigeye, a data software company. She’s a marketer just like you, trying to make her mark and succeed in her career.

Questions and topics we covered include:

• Adrianna’s story on how she became a marketer
• Her advice for marketers entering a new experience and how to “show up” on day one…
• Why should businesses care about building a community in the first place?
• What does the ideal community look like?
• What are the core differences for community building for individuals/creators and brands?
• Adrianna’s approach to building her personal brand on LinkedIn
• How should marketers approach pivots in their careers?
• The core skills Adrianna’s focusing on when it comes to career development as a marketer…

And more!

Connect with Adrianna via LinkedIn at - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrianna-vidal/

You can say hello to me on LinkedIn at - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

Leah Kovach Margolis is a growth marketer with 10+ years of experience growing revenue for pre-seed through series C companies. Currently, she's the Director of Demand Generation at Hypar, a generative design platform for the AEC industry. Outside of work, Leah recently wrapped up an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business. 

Questions and topics we covered include:

• How does someone get their first job in marketing?
• What interview questions should marketers be preparing for?
• What questions should marketers ask before taking a job?
• How does someone even succeed in their first marketing job?
• The unique challenges that come from marketing at different stages of a company’s lifecycle 
• Being a generalist T-shaped marketer vs specializing
• Being more useful to the team—building institutional knowledge and industry know-how
• When is the right time to walk away from a company and move on?
• Should marketers get an MBA?

And more!

Connect with Leah via LinkedIn at - https://www.linkedin.com/in/leahkovach/ 

You can say hello to me on LinkedIn at - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

“People notice something wrong in their business, the root cause is that something is wrong in their business but they start looking for tech as almost like a distraction…buying Martech is a silver bullet for Martech problems but, not business problems.”

Brian Kotlyar is the VP of Marketing and Growth at Hightouch.com (a CDP and data activation platform), where he leads the company’s marketing strategy and is responsible for driving growth and customer acquisition.

Prior to his role at Hightouch, Brian held the position of SVP of Marketing at New Relic, where he played a pivotal role in leading the company’s marketing efforts during a period of rapid growth and a successful IPO. He helped triple the growth rate of the company and oversaw numerous product launches and marketing initiatives.

He also served as Head of Marketing at Intercom, where he helped the company build a world-class marketing team. Throughout his career, Brian has worked extensively in building and growing multiple B2B startups successfully.

Questions and topics we covered include:

• Brian’s explanation of consumption pricing and how this concept helped him in his marketing career
• Is a better Martech stack the secret to fixing a company’s growth problems?
• What is a CDP and why should marketers care about them? How does this type of tool affect our work?
• Traditional vs composable CDPs
• How to justify the purchase of a CDP?
• What is a data warehouse and how does it differ from a CDP?
• Why do most data and marketing teams have bad relationships with each other? How do we make these relationships better?

And more!

You can learn more about HighTouch at - https://hightouch.com

Connect with Brian via LinkedIn at - https://www.linkedin.com/in/briankotlyar/ 

You can say hello to me on LinkedIn at - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

Laura Johns is the founder and CEO of The Business Growers, a marketing firm serving the B2B telecom, SaaS, IT, and cloud-services industries. For 18 years, Laura managed marketing efforts for companies ranging from tech startups to global, multi-billion dollar businesses. She spent nearly half her career serving as a corporate marketing executive in the telecom industry before starting The Business Growers.

Her career focus is developing marketing strategies for tech companies that lead to tangible success. Today, The Business Growers serves over 50 clients in 15 states. Laura has been honored as “Top 50 under 40” and “Top 50 Leading Women in Business” in her home state of Mississippi. Today, she is a member of the Leadership Mississippi program, an honor bestowed on a select by the Mississippi Economic Council. She is also the co-founder and host of “The Home and The Hustle” podcast for working moms and “The Know, Grow and Scale” videocast and podcast for entrepreneurs.

Questions and topics we covered Include:

• What made Laura decide to strike out on her own
• What Laura wishes she had known before starting her agency
• The 3 consistent marketing priorities for a B2B tech company (regardless of company stage)
• How to grow your business without a full-time marketing team
• Two key ways to identify your company’s brand
• What conditions need to be met for a business to consider outsourcing its marketing?
• Qualities to look for when hiring new team members
• How marketing has evolved…
• The #1 marketing challenge The Business Growers is facing this year.

And more!

You can connect with Laura through LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurapickardjohns/

And you can also connect with me through LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

Ben previously led the Marketing Sciences Group at KS&R, a nationally recognized strategic consultancy and marketing research firm. Through quantitative research, Ben and his team help to empower businesses to make better decisions with confidence.

With his extensive knowledge of advanced analytical methods and wide-ranging industry experience, he has become a trusted partner for clients looking to solve complex business problems. Outside of work, Ben enjoys quality time with his children in the kitchen, gardening, and playing volleyball when the weather in upstate New York permits.

Questions and topics we covered include:

• An explanation of marketing science
• How does market research affect a business's growth in the long term? Why is it important?
• Why message testing and optimization are vital to gaining insights
• How to convince your boss to invest in Message Testing
• How does a team get started with message testing?
• At what size of an organization should a team consider message testing?
• The ideal frequency and cadence of message testing experiments
• Who owns market research and message testing in the marketing team?
• What are market simulators, how are they useful, and at what size of a company should they be used?
• The basics of conjoint analysis in market research.

And more!

You can connect with Ben through LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bcortese/ 

And you can also connect with me through LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

“[Community] sits before Demand Gen. in the funnel…[Community] doesn’t actually generate revenue. I create an environment that makes generating revenue easier.”

Evan Patterson is a B2B marketing consultant, freelancer, startup advisor, content creator, and fractional leader for forward-thinking, progressive businesses.  Outside of B2B marketing, Evan focuses on enabling minority voices in tech and fighting injustices targeted at the LGBTQ+ community.

Questions and topics we covered include:

• Community as a marketing role defined 
• Some examples of what Community is not?
• When did this new job get created?
• What’s the difference between B2B community marketing and B2C community marketing?
• How to justify the investment into Community marketing?
• Why is most of Evan’s role as a Community Marketer is spent working internally on his team
• The similarities between a Community / Evangelism role and a PR agency (when it comes to media training)
• How a Community role helps to reduce internal friction between marketing and sales
• How Evan measures success with his unique role

And more!

You can connect with Evan through LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/evanpatterson/

And you can also connect with me through LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

“The empathy that you have to exhibit and learn in sales on a 1-to-1 basis, that only helps you when you’re trying to go 1-to-many…”

Zoë Hartsfield is a Salesperson trapped in a Marketer's body. She spends her 9-5 running executive evangelism programs, managing influencer relationships and creating content. She spends her 5-9 running, traveling and again, creating content. Check her out at @nottoocorporate on TikTok and Instagram, or give her a follow on LinkedIn for her thoughts on sales, marketing, mental health, and career development in the tech industry.

Questions and topics we covered include:

• The advice she has for anyone who wants a marketing job and is coming from sales, support, etc.
• Her red flags to look out for when applying to a marketing jobs
• How to leverage sales experience in a new marketing role
• What does it mean to be an evangelist?
• “Community” as a role in a marketing team…
• Should a community function and a customer advisory board go hand-in-hand?
• The most important business skill marketers should be learning today, but they’re probably ignoring…
• How can marketers help create sales collateral that actually gets used?
• What should marketers look for when selecting/recommending software to add to the MarTech Stack?
• Does every marketer need a side hustle?

And more!

You can connect with Zoë through LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoehart/

And you can also connect with me through LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

Eric Dodds is the Head of Product Marketing at RudderStack and the Co-Host of the podcast Data Stack. He has over a decade of experience working with and implementing customer data infrastructure. He aims to make people’s lives better through the work he does each day.

Questions and topics we covered include:

• What do marketers need to know about data stacks? How does it affect their work?
• How data teams and marketing teams can work together to produce great business outcomes?
• How to define product marketing’s role within the broader context of a company
• How to impress a marketing leader
• What’s RudderStack’s biggest marketing challenge heading into 2024

And more!

Connect with Eric on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericdodds/

Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

If you want a deeper dive into product marketing, check out episode #140 with April Dunford - https://www.kennysoto.com/podcast/masterclass-product-positioning-april-dunford-140/

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

Margaret has spent the last decade building scalable, effective marketing programs—and teams—for B2B SaaS companies like OpenView, Appcues, and InVision. She now advises founders on how to do the same. She also co-hosts a weekly podcast called "Don't Say Content" with Devin Bramhall. 

Questions and topics we covered include:

• Why Margaret took the plunge to become a soloprenuer? 
• Her recommendations for where to upskill as a marketer
• The characteristics of high-performing marketing teams? 
• Why marketing teams need to have fun to thrive. 
• The importance of knowing the differences between “Shared Language” and Institutional Knowledge…
• The key questions individual contributors should be asking their bosses to get a better understanding of company strategy…
• The skills Margaret would be learning this year if she had to start her career now…
• Why founder-led marketing still works, regardless of company size…
• How to think about “playbooks”…
• What are the major pitfalls that arise within the Head of Marketing and CEO relationship?
• Why is it important to have a focus on longer timelines as you move up the management ladder?
• Why strategy is supposed to take into account triaging “urgent” tasks…

And more!

Connect with Margaret on Linkedin- https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaret-kelsey-104abba/ 

Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Here’s Margaret’s podcast if you want to get even more of her knowledge - https://www.dontsaycontent.com

Want to learn the best ways you can produce and grow an effective podcast for your business in 2024? Check out https://www.brandpodcastsummit.com! 

On January 24th we're hosting The Brand Podcast Summit, a free-to-attend virtual event designed exclusively for marketers and comms people to succeed in podcasting in 2024.

Speakers include Ann Handley, Rand Fishkin, podcast producers from NPR, the BBC, podcast growth pros, AI and automation experts…One attendee also has the chance to get $500's worth of podcast equipment!

Shoutout to a previous guest of the show, Harry Morton, for sharing this.

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

“Half of marketing is marketing internally so you can get buy-in…and as the org gets bigger, that job gets harder.”

The main theme of this episode focuses on: people, tools, and processes…

George Huff, the CEO of Opal, leads a MarTech platform used by well-known brands like Target, Starbucks, Whole Foods, 3M, and SAP. Opal’s content operations platform produces exceptional results, such as enabling Target to tell their story and create 300 pieces of content every day.

George’s career began in design and technology, but his curiosity about how captivating brands create stories led to the formation of Opal. He surrounds himself with talented individuals and empowers them to find the best solutions. Under George’s leadership, Opal continually innovates to help brands drive results and create meaningful connections with their customers.

Questions and topics we covered include:

• Why is brand alignment so important and the classic struggle with internal silos
• The context that every marketer needs to have to be successful, in any team they’re in
• What sets Opal apart from other content management products
• How does team culture affect the success of a marketing initiative
• Why being able to handle criticism is the best skill for a marketer to learn
• The rituals and routines the Opal team does to help keep momentum going
• Why your manager wants you to be good at selling ideas

And more!

Checkout Opal - https://workwithopal.com 

Connect with George on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgehuff/

Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

This episode is for all of my Product Marketing friends 👋🏼…

April Dunford is the world’s leading expert on product positioning. She works with fast-growing tech companies helping them clearly articulate the value they alone can deliver to customers. She is the author of the bestselling positioning book Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get it, Buy it, Love it. She also recently published a new book titled, Sales P!tch: How to Craft a Story to Stand Out and Win which is available for purchase on Amazon.

Questions and topics we covered include:

• What’s product positioning?
• How does it differ from brand positioning?
• What happens when a team doesn’t have solid product positioning? (Marketing and sales)
• Who should own product positioning?
• How does positioning change when there are multiple products and multiple personas?
• When speaking to customers to hone positioning, what are the best questions to ask them?
• Why you have to include the other solutions out in the market when trying to sell.
• The events that occur in a business’s lifecycle, that can make your team revisit your product’s positioning…

And more

Learn more about April through her LinkedIn, website, or podcast below:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/aprildunford/
• https://www.aprildunford.com/ 
• https://www.positioning.show/

Connect with me on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Michael is a trained econometrician with experience in causal inference in fields ranging from healthcare outcomes to environmental economics. He previously built the marketing science team at men’s grooming brand Harry’s before co-founding Recast. He spends his days helping brands eliminate their wasted marketing spend…

Questions and topics we covered include:

• The different methods of measuring marketing’s performance (attribution is only one of many methods)…
• Do attribution tools lie to you?
• The difference between "attribution" and “incrementality”
• The relationship between measurement and forecasting when it comes to marketing
• How to use Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) alongside Multi-touch attribution (MTA)
• How to get your work measured if you’re not a performance marketer
• Will 100% certainty in measurement ever be possible?

And more!

Connect with Michael on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-the-data-guy-kaminsky/ 

Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto 

Alexis Rivera Scott is the founder of Verbatim, a digital marketing agency, as well as The Fairy Job Mom, a consultancy focused on helping professionals become Eternally Employable. She guides job seekers in their next career move, helps professionals build memorable personal brands, and introduces companies to amazing talent.

Throughout her career, Alexis has successfully navigated career change and adaptation, with a vast range of industry experiences from hospitality sales, to technology marketing, to recruiting, and partnerships.

She is passionate about empowering people to achieve their goals and grow within their careers - whatever they might be! In her free time, you can find Alexis creating content on LinkedIn, traveling across the world with her family, and thrift shopping for treasures.

Questions and topics we covered include:

• Alexis’ approach to scaling her audience and engagement on LinkedIn
• The easiest way to scale your LinkedIn following—the comments section of other influencers
• How to handle being laid off and what to do when it happens
• The common mistakes Alexis sees candidates make when applying for jobs (what’s the opposite of being “eternally employable?”)
• What makes marketing resumes suck
• How to get a marketing job with no prior experience
• How to find the unposted / hidden jobs
• Why are Slack communities so important

And more!

Connect with Alexis on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexisjscott/

Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto 

Jaclyn Mullen has mentored close to 1,000 marketers throughout her entire career across her time teaching at General Assembly, speaking for USC's Masters of Marketing Science program, and building her own teams. Professionally she has spent the past 15+ years riding the digital wave, first starting off in content marketing and organic social in B2C before switching to B2B SaaS. Now at her 4th startup, Jaclyn loves her place as Head of Marketing for TheLoops, an AI platform improving CX, where she handles every aspect of the company’s marketing.

Questions and topics we covered include:

• The skills needed to do well in your first role as a marketing leader
• The basics of B2B marketing strategy
• How freelancing experience translates to management skills
• Should marketing have a revenue goal?
• What are the necessary metrics that marketers should eat, breathe, and sleep?
• Why is it important for marketers to understand the business fundamentals of their organization?
• How much does courage have to do with your career growth?
• Basic networking tips every marketer needs to know

And more!

Connect with Jaclyn on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaclynofalltrades/

Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto 

Jessica Kogan, a visionary digital brand innovator, began her illustrious career launching strategies for brands like Donna Karan, Urban Decay, and Elizabeth Arden. Over the years, she's carved digital niches for powerhouses like Prada, Giorgio Armani, and Chevron, and co-founded the digital-native business, Cameron Hughes Wine. As the force behind Vintage Wine Estates' digital transformation, she cemented its position as a leader in DTC adult beverage sales when she was their Chief Growth & Chief Experience Officer.

Now as the Founder & CDO of "The Digital Voice", Jessica along with her cofounder Jennifer Kowskie, continues to shape digital-first brand narratives.

Her expertise, recognized in Wine Business Monthly and featured in Forbes and Fox Business, makes her a sought-after voice in the industry.

Other notable clients that Jessica has done marketing for in the past includes Anheuser-Busch, Diageo, Heineken, Tito’s, L'Oreal, LVMH, and Nike.

Questions and topics we covered include:

• The role of Chief Experience Officer defined and how it differs from CMO
• How has the DTC market evolved over time—from user behavior to industry trends, marketing strategy, and more?
• How is the brick-and-mortar store going to compete in the future?
• How does a business’s brand affects their retail strategy and how it stays consistent both in digital and physical experiences?
• How to change a brand’s messaging over time, based on changing market dynamics?
• How can brands identify, maintain, and capitalize on customer advocacy over time? 
  

And more!

You can connect with Jessica here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-kogan-43a455/ 

Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Jack Monson is the host of Social Geek, a Top 25 Marketing podcast on Apple and the number one podcast in Franchising. Jack is also the CEO of Brand Journalists, a Franchise Development and Marketing agency.

Jack has been working with franchise systems and enterprise brands in digital marketing for 15 years after several years working in radio and public relations in Chicago. He is a monthly columnist for several industry magazines and produces several podcasts for other CEOs and Marketers. 

Questions and topics we covered include:

• A basic description of what a franchise business is (think McDonalds or Subway)…
• The two sides of the coin: marketing the brand for customers vs marketing the brand for franchise owners
• What do the business owners care about throughout their path down the marketing funnel?
• The industries that are the best fit for the franchise business model
• The unique buyer’s journey of franchise owners (considerations and hesitations)
• The best practices lead gen campaigns for franchise businesses
• Effective content distribution tactics Jack likes to use
• How do franchise businesses maintain brand consistency in their online marketing across different locations or branches? How important is this, and how is it achieved?

And more!

Connect with Jack on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackmonson/ 

You can also connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Travis' career has been the definition of a 'portfolio career' with experience in sales, recruitment, and marketing. He's the Founder and Principal Consultant at RainierDigital, a marketing operations consultancy and HubSpot Gold Partner. He's also the Founder of Winding Road Careers —a place for people on a non-linear career path—and the host of a podcast of the same name.

Questions and topics we covered include:

• The case for learning both sales skills and marketing skills
• Are career ladders “dead”?
• If someone wanted to become a consultant, what should they be doing today to prepare themselves for that transition?
• What makes marketing resumes suck? What makes them get ignored?
• What’s the best way to use LinkedIn to find new marketing jobs?
• How to learn new marketing skills over time? Who to follow? Where to search and learn?

And more!

You can connect with Travis on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/travisscott24/

You can connect with me on LinkedIn here (don’t be a stranger!) - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: www.kennysoto.com/hire 

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

“At my core I’m not a marketer, I’m a writer…”

With a decade of freelance and in-house marketing experience, Brooklin focuses on helping both clients and freelancers stand out. The memes are free.

Questions and topics we covered include:

• Why writing as a skill became a big focus for Brooklin early in his career
• How Brooklin started his content agency called BEAM
• How Brooklin recruited his first set of team members
• How to know if freelancing, working at an agency, or working internally within a marketing team is right for you
• How to identify and deal with “nightmare clients”
• How to time referral requests from clients
• How to successfully execute on cold outbound pitches
• Why are interviews a good source for content?
• How original research and data is a differentiator when it comes to content marketing
• Does AI content have a place in a content marketing plan?

  And more!

You can connect with Brooklin on LinkedIn -  https://www.linkedin.com/in/brooklin-nash/

You can connect with Brooklin on Twitter - https://twitter.com/realBrookNash

You can connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: www.kennysoto.com/hire 

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

“I ultimately believe that product marketing should own pricing…pricing is a function of your company’s positioning.”

Dan Balcauski is the founder and Chief Pricing Officer at Product Tranquility, based in Austin, TX. He focuses on helping high-volume B2B SaaS CEOs define pricing and packaging for new products. Over his career, he has worked in both B2C and B2B companies ranging from startups to publicly traded enterprises.

Questions and topics we covered include:

• What do people get wrong about pricing?
• Defining product management
• Who should be responsible for pricing decisions in a business?
• The business objectives that pricing affects
• The pros and cons of freemium pricing models
• How businesses can define their product’s value using the “value cascade” and “Jobs To Be Done”
• How market reference prices work
• How to measure time to value and see its impact on the end-user
• How do you identify the most effective price metric?
• Should a company show pricing on its website?
• How to leverage bundling as an acquisition tactic
• Why custom packaging only works in one scenario

And more!

You can connect with Dan via LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/balcauski/ 

And check out his website -  https://www.producttranquility.com/

You can connect with me on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: www.kennysoto.com/hire 

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

“[A buyer persona] is the understanding in detailed terms, of the attitudes, needs, concerns, decision criteria, and buyer’s journey around a specific type of buying decision…it is not a profile of an individual…”

Jim Kraus is the President of Buyer Persona Institute (BPI) and a leading authority on buyer personas and buying insights. In addition to his work at BPI, Jim is an avid blogger, author of the Buyer Persona Buzz newsletter, and is currently working on a second edition of the book Buyer Personas with BPI’s founder, Adele Revella. He also frequently speaks at events and podcasts to advance the thinking around buyer personas and buying insights more broadly.

Questions and topics we covered include:

• The simplest definition of what a buyer persona actually is and what buyer personas help businesses achieve
• The differences between customer segments & customer segmentation vs buyer personas
• The hardest buyer insight to discover
• How many buyer personas should a business even have?
• Who owns the creation of buyer personas?
• Do businesses even need buyer personas?
• Why it’s actually harder to buy products today than in the past (sellers aren’t the only ones feeling the pain of a new marketplace)
• What to do after the buyer personas are defined, what’s next?

And more!

You can connect with Jim via LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimkraus/

You can connect with me via LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: www.kennysoto.com/hire 

Music for this podcast comes from - www.davidcuttermusic.com

“Differentiate yourself by making sure that you have people in-house that have worked with the brand, understand the brand, and connect with everyone [in the team]—so you don’t just have a random team working on your account and 50 other accounts…”

Melissa Rosenthal is an award-winning marketing exec and the Chief Creative Officer at ClickUp, focused on making the world more productive through best-in-class SaaS marketing!

Previously Melissa was the CRO/EVP at Cheddar, a live video media company at the intersection of business news and culture. For her brand work, she was named to Forbes' 30 Under 30, Business Insider’s 30 Most Creative People Under 30, and as one of Digiday's "Changemakers."

Prior to Cheddar, she led BuzzFeed's Global Creative Team.

Questions and topics include:

• The importance of establishing a brand personality from the first day of a company’s existence
• The skills a marketer needs to lead a creative department
• How to become a better taste-maker and editor
• How to iterate on brand guidelines and Melissa’s thoughts on “team swipe files”
• How to scale an internal creative team to become an “in-house agency”?
• The balance between looking at the competition while charting your own path
• The benefits of scouting creative talent on behalf of your boss
• How to level up your brand’s social strategy and experiment on new platforms?
• How to recycle old content and creative
• Dealing with loneliness in a remote work world…

And more!

You can connect with Melissa on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissarosenthal5/

You can connect with me on LinkedIn too - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: www.kennysoto.com/hire

Music for this podcast by www.davidcuttermusic.com

“What we found is that if we talk to the customer…it actually drove the conversion back up…The average answer rate for a ‘branded call’ is almost 30%.”

Alex Levin is Co-Founder and CEO of Regal Voice. He leads the GTM teams. Prior to Regal Voice, Alex was a product manager at Personal and Thomson Reuters, and then joined Handy (acquired by ANGI in 2018) as an early employee. At Handy and then ANGI Alex led growth and marketing. Alex grew up in New York and received his BA from Harvard.

Questions and topics covered include:

• The key differences between working on growth marketing vs product marketing
• The new challenges marketers face as they gain more responsibility in a company
• What is Regal.io?
• Defining “phone marketing” and at what stage in the buyer’s journey can it be used
• How can businesses best utilize phone marketing?
• Why should brands have conversations with their customers?
• The differences between phone marketing vs cold calling

And more!

Happy 3rd birthday to the podcast! It’s crazy to think that I’ve been hosting this podcast for 36 months now…

You can connect with Alex on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexlevin1/

You can say hello to me on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: www.kennysoto.com/hire 

“Turns out it’s a lot more difficult to get other people to talk about you, compared to you just pulling up a Google Doc and creating a piece of content…”

Farzad Rashidi is the lead innovator at Respona (https://respona.com/), the link-building outreach platform that helps businesses increase their organic traffic from Google. He previously ran the marketing efforts at Visme, where he helped the company gain over 18 million active users and pass 3.5M monthly organic traffic.

Questions and topics we covered include:

• The common  challenges that the 1st marketing hire of a startup has
• Why is it difficult to build organic traffic?
• How can SEO marketers justify budget allocation for their work?
• What is Respona?
• How Farzad describes link building to someone who doesn’t work in SEO or content marketing
• Is link building still useful?
• What's an ideal link building strategy and what does a healthy backlink profile look like?
• Does domain authority still matter?
• Does guest posting still work?
• How to maintain and sustain relationships with publishers?
• What does the future of link building look like?

And more!

Say hi to Farzad on Twitter -  https://twitter.com/The_Farzad

Say hi to Farzad on LinkedIn -  https://www.linkedin.com/in/farzadrashidi/

Check out Farzad’s GREAT newsletter - https://www.farzadrashidi.com

Connect with me on LinkedIn too - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: www.kennysoto.com/hire 

“Brand positioning is much more than a marketing exercise…it underpins the entire organization.”

Mark Evans is the principal with Marketing Spark, which offers fractional CMO and strategic advisory services to B2B SaaS companies. Mark's areas of expertise include brand positioning, messaging, and content-driven growth plans. Mark has a podcast and recently published the second edition of his DIY marketing book, “Marketing Spark.”

Questions and topics we covered included:

• Defining what brand positioning is for B2B SaaS companies
• Who’s supposed to own brand positioning?
• How to effectively execute brand positioning
• Who should own brand governance within a company?
• How to use internal marketing to aid in brand governance
• Why addressing switching costs is the biggest challenge SaaS companies face when promoting their products
• Why the commoditization of content should be a concern for all marketing teams
• How to create useful buyer personas?

And more!

Mark’s B2B Positioning Guide (PDF): https://www.kennysoto.com/Mark-Evans-Guide-PODM-Ep-127 

Say hi to Mark via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markev/

Say hello to me via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: www.kennysoto.com/hire 

“Marketing touches every part of the business. Marketing is…equally as important to sales organizations as ‘sales’ itself.”

Justin Mink has spent a career in leadership and founder roles at companies that have grown from 0-1000s of employees, raised millions of dollars in capital, and that have been valued at over $1B. In 2007 he moved to Dallas from the Washington, D.C. area to launch the Franchise Division at digital marketing firm ReachLocal, helping take the company public while pioneering digital marketing best practices for franchise brands.

Today, as a Professional Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) Implementer, he helps entrepreneurs and leadership teams solve root problems and lead more effectively through a simple set of proven, practical tools. He lives near White Rock Lake with his wife, Kate, son, Jude, and a very old and well-fed dog named Titan.

Questions and topics we covered include:

• What is the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS)?
• The difference between a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)
• What you need to know as a marketer to eventually become a CRO
• What it takes to be an internal leader (an intraprenuer) at a company
• The definition of a leader that nobody wants to follow and the signs that you’re working for a bad leader
• How does a degrading company culture change performance over time?
• What should marketing candidates be doing to impress recruiters and hiring managers?

And more!

You can connect with Justin here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinmink/

You can also connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

You learn more about Justin’s services here: https://www.eosworldwide.com/justin-mink

Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: www.kennysoto.com/hire

“Everything we do just goes back to helping, and if we just do that authentically we know that…the value will come back to us.”

Chelsea is a former journalist turned empathy-driven marketer who leads content marketing at Lavender. Her 11+ year career spans diverse industries, from agencies to publishing, branding to SaaS. She draws on her multi-faceted experience and journalistic roots in her content approach and principles, which are hyper-focused on human-centered marketing.

She was also the Director of Content Marketing at Chili Piper back in 2022.

Questions and topics we covered include:

• When is the right time to do a career pivot?
• The competitive advantage journalists have when switching over into a marketing career.
• Should marketers be worried about AI replacing them? (Here’s where Chelsea explains what Human centered-marketing and AI looks like)
• The evolution of content marketing teams this year…
• When to recruit content marketers and Chelsea’s approach to recruiting
• How B2B organizations can dive into the world of video
• How the Lavender team uses Lavender
• How to scale engagement on LinkedIn when growing a personal brand?

And more!

Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: ⁠www.kennysoto.com/hire⁠ 

Say hi to Chelsea on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelseacastle/

Say hi to Chelsea on Twitter - https://twitter.com/ChelseaCastle

Connect with me on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Check out Lavender here - https://www.lavender.ai

Here’s a special episode for all of you lovely marketers out there! In this interview, I chat with my mentor Maurice Bretzfield about AI and how marketers can get started using tools like ChatGPT.

Maurice is an AI and Marketing Consultant. He helps organizations increase revenue and decrease costs using the power of AI and MarTech. 

Maurice has been a digital marketer for nearly three decades and today enjoys working with organizations to integrate MarTech into their marketing strategies and operations. He is the founder of digiquation.io, a Digital Marketing Consultancy and publisher of content about MarTech. 

He is also the co-founder of digiquationHIRE, an outsourcing firm dedicated to supporting marketing teams with highly trained and affordable remote employees.

Topics we discussed include: 

• The evolution of AI and ChatGPT technology
• Crafting effective ChatGPT prompts: how to unlock the power of conversational AI
• AI, ChatGPT, and image generators: transforming marketing with intelligent creativity
• What is the role of AI in a marketer's career?
• Utilizing remote employees to power up your marketing efforts while increasing efficiency and reducing costs

And more!

You can learn more about Maurice’s services here - digiquation.io

Connect with Maurice via LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bretzfield/

If you enjoyed listening to this episode, don’t forget to check out Maurice’s first appearance on the podcast here - https://www.kennysoto.com/podcast/interview-with-maurice-bretzfield-the-man-who-introduced-me-to-digital-marketing-ep-50/

Resources he mentioned on the podcast:

• The AI Warehouse - https://www.thewarehouse.ai
• Feedly - https://feedly.com
• Search Engine Land - https://searchengineland.com

“The word ‘manager’ can take on a lot of different formats…there’s a lot of different ways to seek out leadership opportunities.” 

Trisha Gallagher is a marketing strategist and mentor with nearly 15 years of experience in planning and executing successful marketing programs. Having held various roles in marketing both in-house and agency-side, Trisha brings a unique perspective to her role as VP of Marketing at Marketri, an outsourced marketing and fractional CMO firm.

She empowers B2B companies to achieve predictable, profitable growth through data-driven marketing programs and guides her clients from brand strategy development to the execution of high-impact campaigns. In addition to her dedication to her clients, Trisha is passionate about mentoring young marketers and helping them achieve their goals.

Questions and topics we covered included:

• Comparing where’s the best place to start your marketing career—at an agency vs in-house vs a consulting firm
• Marketing strategy vs marketing plans
• What is sector-based marketing? 
• The concept of fractional marketing
• The age-old battle of finding sales and marketing alignment
• How to handle feedback (both providing and receiving)?
• Differences in responsibility as you move up in leadership roles within a marketing department

And more!

You can connect with Trisha via LinkedIn -https://www.linkedin.com/in/trishagallagher/

You can find Trisha’s content here -  https://marketri.com/author-trisha-gallagher/

Connect with me on LinkedIn -  https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto

“66% of websites don’t need to do SEO. There’s no reason that they should bother.”

Eli Schwartz is a seasoned SEO expert and consultant with over a decade of experience, helping prominent B2B and B2C companies like WordPress, Shutterstock, and Zendesk drastically enhance their organic visibility. Formerly leading SEO at SurveyMonkey, he boosted organic search to become a major growth driver. 

An accomplished speaker and author of the book “Product Led SEO”, Eli’s insights regularly appear in top industry publications and events, and he serves as a judge for prestigious awards like the US Search Awards and UK Search Awards.

Questions and topics we covered include:

• February 24th, 2010—How Google’s Panda update changed Eli’s career
• Why Eli doesn’t pay attention to Google algorithm updates (the answer is all about UX)
• Why marketers shouldn’t focus too much on page speed
• The common misconceptions about SEO
• How long does SEO take to see results?
• The basics between editorial vs programmatic SEO
• The right method for building an SEO forecast
• Does domain authority still matter?
• The core skills you need to have before you start your first SEO job

And more!

Relevant  Links:

• Find Eli on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/schwartze/
• Find Eli on Twitter - https://twitter.com/5le 
• Check out his Substack newsletter - https://productledseo.substack.com/
• His book, Product-Led SEO - https://amzn.to/4109eQo
• Eli’s new “SEO Growth Strategy and Content Planning” Course - https://www.domestika.org/en/courses/3824-seo-growth-strategy-and-content-planning/elischwartz
• And you can say hi to me on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/
  

Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: www.kennysoto.com/hire 

"A good well-rounded CMO is going to be someone who understands the full buyer's journey...the full marketing-sales funnel."

As a Fractional CMO and GTM Strategist, Corey brings a 25-year track record of extraordinary success as an entrepreneur, sales leader, and CMO for a $150M+ agency called Scorpion (where he was the 1st marketing hire and grew the team to 30 people before leaving). Today, he helps B2B SaaS and Agencies grow from 7 figures to 8 by doing less, not more.

Questions and topics we covered include:

• How Corey grew Scorpion from $20M ARR to $150M ARR within 6 years
• The importance of an MBA
• The benefits that experience in sales brings to a marketer’s career
• How CMOs are measured by the CEO (top-line growth)
• The qualities a CMO looks for when they’re recruiting for the marketing team
• How does misalignment at the executive level trickle down and affect ICs and mid-level managers on the marketing team?
• How do you go about creating predictable word of mouth for your agency?
• Why should marketers stop saying “yes” to their clients? When is it appropriate to push back?
• Retention…why is it such a struggle to grow this metric?
• The transition from IC to leader to advisor

And more!

Say hello to Corey on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/coreyquinn/

Check out his podcast here - https://www.coreyquinn.com/podcasts/the-vertical-go-to-market-podcast

And he has a newsletter - https://www.coreyquinn.com/newsletter

You can connect with me on LinkedIn too - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto 

Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: www.kennysoto.com/hire 

“If you can understand business, it will make you a better marketer.”

JC Polonia is the Head of Growth at LOOP, a car insurance company based out of Austin, Texas, that takes biased and discriminatory data out of the industry. He’s also the founder of Digitality, a New York-based performance and production marketing agency. From local small businesses to venture-backed companies, JC developed his chops for growth marketing from the grassroots. Data-driven and results-oriented, his efforts revolve around paid media buying and conversion rate optimization.

Questions and topics we covered include:

• How to pitch marketing services to local businesses using side hustles
• Why the marketing agency still works as a business model
• The benefits of working in-house instead of working at an agency
• How JC defines what a growth team actually does (hint: it’s not just media buying)
• Why should marketers understand both the company’s brand and the company’s business fundamentals?
• The importance of knowing what stage your company is in
• What does it mean to be “resourceful” as a marketer?
• The challenges of being a people manager?
• How to approach internal marketing with the CEO and CFO?

And more!

Say hello to JC via LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcpolonia/

And say hi via Instagram (his reels are great) - https://www.instagram.com/jc.polonia/

And connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: www.kennysoto.com/hire