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It’s not enough to start a category or even a community. You need to start a movement. Hosted by Refine Labs, our mission with the Stacking Growth podcast is to help you create an unfair competitive advantage by breaking down how B2B companies dominate categories and unlock growth through a go-to-market strategy built for the way customers buy today. Together, we will build your brand, grow your business, delight your customers, and crush your competition.
Snacks Episode 10: Self Reported Attribution
Check out our new partnership with Aspireship
Sidney Waterfall, SVP of Go-To-Market Strategy at Passetto, joins Steph Crugnola to talk about Attribution and Funnel Tracking.
In this episode, Sidney goes into Self Reported Attribution - why it's valuable and how it can be utilized most effectively.
See the video on our YouTube Channel
Stay on top of all Refine Labs news and events by subscribing to our newsletter.
Refine Labs’ next Expert Session, featuring Chris Walker and Crissy and Charlie Saunders of CS2 Marketing, will be Wednesday April 24 at 12pm central. Register here.
08:3624/04/2024
Transforming B2B Marketing | Megan Bowen on Paris Talks Marketing
In this episode of Paris Talks Marketing, host Paris dives into the world of SaaS marketing strategies with guest Megan Bowen, CEO of Refine Labs, a leading B2B demand generation agency that helps B2B companies transform their marketing strategies to generate revenue.
Paris and Megan discuss the importance of balancing organic and paid content distribution, Megan's journey from account manager to CEO, and the evolution of Refine Labs under her leadership. The conversation covers key insights on B2B marketing, leveraging AI, and adapting to changing buying behaviors in the digital landscape.
See the full video and more on our YouTube channel
Stay on top of all Refine Labs news and events by subscribing to our newsletter.
Refine Labs’ next Expert Session, featuring Chris Walker and Crissy and Charlie Saunders of CS2 Marketing, will be Wednesday April 24 at 12pm central. Register here.
58:3222/04/2024
Snacks Episode 9: Attribution in a Demand Generation Strategy
Check out our new partnership with Aspireship
Sidney Waterfall, SVP of Go-To-Market Strategy at Passetto, joins Steph Crugnola to talk about Attribution and Funnel Tracking.
In this episode, Sidney covers the foundations of Attribution in a Demand Generation strategy, how the evolution of buyer behavior has affected the way we monitor attribution, and the mindset shift you need to make to set yourself up for success.
See the video on our YouTube Channel
06:1017/04/2024
Building From Scratch | Megan Bowen & Tanner Green, RevSpot Podcast
Megan joined Tanner Green on the RevSpot podcast to detail her career journey. She discusses her background in sales and account management and her influence on the growth of various companies, and then explains how she transitioned into marketing with Refine Labs.
Along with her own, Megan shares Refine Labs’ journey from her partnership with Chris, the growth of the company, and the work that’s been done to streamline their tools, operations, and positioning. At the end, she answers Tanner’s rapid fire questions on must-have tools and tactical advice for listeners on their own career journeys.
See the video on our YouTube channelRefine Labs’ next Expert Session, featuring Chris Walker and Crissy and Charlie Saunders of CS2 Marketing, will be Wednesday April 24 at 12pm central. Register here.
33:3115/04/2024
Snacks Episode 8: Convincing Leadership to Make a Change
Ashley Lewin, Senior Director of Demand Generation, joins Steph Crugnola to talk about Demand Gen Dashboards and KPIs.
In this episode, Ashley tackles one of the hardest parts in the journey towards a Demand Gen strategy: convincing leadership to make the change. She talks about the breadcrumbs you should leave, the pitch you should put together, and the data you should collect.
See the video on our YouTube Channel
08:2210/04/2024
The Case for Change & What's Required for Your Business to Win | Megan Bowen at Full Funnel Summit
Megan Bowen was invited to speak at the Full Funnel Summit to make the case for change and present what’s required for your business to win. She starts at the time of realization that your Customer Acquisition Costs become too unsustainable to continue with a current strategy, and lays out the path to transition from Lead Generation to Demand Generation.
Megan talks through the way the team at Refine Labs helps to shift mindset away from generating thousands of empty leads and MQLs which rarely convert to relative amounts of revenue into creating demand so when customers are ready to buy, they are empowered to choose and convert with your company. She suggests running a Split the Funnel Analysis for every single company every six to twelve months to show how the data mitigates some of the risk associated with making such a drastic change in strategy.
Through the rest of the presentation, Megan digs deeper into metrics, attribution, a case study, and more, and takes time at the end to answer audience questions
59:5108/04/2024
How to Identify and Establish a Win-Win Partnership | Megan Bowen & Corey Kossack
Refine Labs is excited to announce a strategic partnership with Aspireship, offering a robust learning program that teaches the core principles and practical applications of the Refine Labs B2B Marketing Strategy. Aspireship, known for its innovative approach to skill advancement, will be launching the B2B Marketing Intensive module, leveraging Refine Labs' library of Vault Intellectual Property.
Megan and Corey sat down together on Refine Labs’ Stacking Growth podcast to discuss theories behind the resurgence of partnership-based go-to-market strategies, their intrinsic challenges, and how to follow a formula for success.
The Revival of Partnership Strategies in B2B Marketing
To cut through the volume of digital noise, companies are starting to gravitate back towards co-marketing strategies. This resurgence correlates with the search for strategies that drive word-of-mouth referrals which are, according to Megan, the most authentic form of marketing.
Corey expands on this shift, indicating economic changes as a catalyst: "It's financially motivated...Capital became expensive...companies have to be a lot more efficient." By successfully leveraging partnerships, companies aim to scale without incurring heavy upfront costs and ensure a return on every invested dollar.
However, the excitement around partnerships doesn't guarantee success. Megan sheds light on the operational reality where many eager attempts at partnerships lead to a dead-end due to lack of genuine referral exchange or substantial financial motivation.
They both agree that for partnerships to work, companies need to be strategic in campaigning for agreements that go above and beyond cross-posting on LinkedIn.
The Three Pillars of Effective Partnership Formation
Megan outlines three distinct requirements for successful partnerships:
Enhance Customer Experience and Outcome
At the core of any partnership should lie an improvement to the customer's experience or outcome that neither company could provide singly.
Financial Benefits for All Parties
Partnerships must offer clear financial advantages to both companies involved and, importantly, the customer; these financial gains must be substantial enough to incentivize action from all parties.
Justification of the Investment
A partnership's worth hinges on the sustained investment of time and resources, so aligning the partnership with company priorities is crucial. When partners can see the potential for significant revenue and have authentic mutual buy-in, their dedication to the partnership's success naturally escalates.
As Corey’s enthusiasm for taking the Vault course himself attests, creating a partnership with shared excitement and belief in each other’s services can lead to profound implications, broadening market access while bolstering credibility and reach for both companies.
“Everyone wants to be good at marketing”, Corey plainly states, and this partnership between Refine Labs and Aspireship will ensure access and opportunities for everyone to start or enhance their journey to be a good marketer.
44:4704/04/2024
Snacks Episode 7: Demand Generation Leading Indicators to Measure
Ashley Lewin, Senior Director of Demand Generation, joins Steph Crugnola to talk about Demand Gen Dashboards and KPIs.
In this episode, Ashley walks us through the Leading Indicators to measure when you're building a Demand Gen Dashboard. She encourages paying attention to qualitative insights like website traffic on high intent pages, tracking repeat engagement on content, and reinforcing marketing fundamentals to measure success.
See the video on our YouTube Channel
06:4603/04/2024
Content Led Selling | Megan Bowen & Steven Schmidt, Magnetic Podcast
Megan joined Steven Schmidt on the Magnetic Podcast to discuss Megan's transition into her CEO title role and how personal branding affects identity in the corporate world.
Megan shares her perspective on operational excellence, scaling services, and fostering innovation within the agency. With the resurgence of newsletters as a central theme, Megan provides insight into the value of long-form content and building an audience independent of social media platforms. As the dialogue progresses, Megan unpacks the strategic decisions that shaped Refine Labs’ focus, the importance of clarity in market messaging, and her own personal development goals.
The episode reveals Megan's enthusiasm for scuba diving, offering a refreshing glimpse into her pursuits outside the company. Aligned with Steven’s focus on humanizing business leaders, Megan's story resonates with anyone aspiring to grow professionally without losing sight of personal aspirations and well-being.
44:0001/04/2024
Snacks Episode 6: Demand Gen Dashboard Walkthrough
Ashley Lewin, Senior Director of Demand Generation, joins Steph Crugnola to talk about Demand Gen Dashboards and KPIs.
In this episode, Ashley walks us through the metrics needed to create an efficient and comprehensive Demand Gen Dashboard. She gives an overview of the monthly and quarterly metrics to keep an eye on, and how to keep all of that information organized.
See the video on our YouTube Channel
07:0126/03/2024
Snacks Episode 5: Demand Gen Dashboard & KPIs, The Mindset Shift
Ashley Lewin, Senior Director of Demand Generation, joins Steph Crugnola to talk about Demand Gen Dashboards and KPIs.
In this episode, Ashley talks through the philosophical standpoint of zooming out to look at Demand Gen as a holistic business outcome vs a highly segmented channel specific outcome. She also covers the differences between a traditional lead gen reporting and Refine Lab's unique approach
See the video on our YouTube Channel
06:1120/03/2024
Snacks Episode 4: Paid Media Strategy
Evan Hughes, VP of Marketing, joins Steph Crugnola to talk about the Refine Labs Demand Philosophy.
In this episode, Evan talks through the Refine Labs Paid Media Strategy, and how it uses Create, Capture, and Convert Demand to make a smooth transition. He also discusses budgeting and how to implement the change in real time.
See the video on our YouTube Channel
05:4513/03/2024
Snacks Episode 3: Switching from Lead Gen to Demand Gen
Evan Hughes, VP of Marketing, joins Steph Crugnola to talk about the Refine Labs Demand Philosophy.
In this third episode, he covers results he has observed in companies that make the shift from Lead to Demand Gen and the fasibility of a mixed approach.
See the video on our YouTube Channel
05:0806/03/2024
Inbound-Led Outbound with Retention.com CEO Adam Robinson
Refine Labs CEO Megan Bowen hosts Adam Robinson, CEO of Retention.com, to discuss R! B2B: a revolutionary new tool that's changing the game for outbound marketing.
R! B2B goes beyond the typical account-level data provided by competitors and delivers personal-level website visitor identification. The tool captures invaluable intent signals by reporting which key decision-makers are visiting your site. Megan discusses how this cutting-edge technology aligns with Refine Labs' own philosophies and strategies, sharing her firsthand experience with the tool after just a few days of implementation.
The episode dives into practical strategies on how to leverage these intent signals to foster genuine connections and drive effective sales outreach. With Adam's insights and Megan's keen interest in integrating the tool into Refine Labs' go-to-market strategy, listeners will gain a deep understanding of how to transform medium-intent website visits into high-intent business opportunities.
23:3804/03/2024
Snacks Episode 2: The Buying Journey
Evan Hughes, VP of Marketing, joins Steph Crugnola to talk about the Refine Labs Demand Philosophy.
In the second episode, Evan talks about the way the buyer journey has evolved into a more independent process, and defines Dark Social.
See the video on our YouTube channel
07:0328/02/2024
Snacks Episode 1: Defining Demand
Evan Hughes, VP of Marketing, joins Steph Crugnola to talk about the Refine Labs Demand Philosophy.
In this first episode, he covers Demand Generation as it's defined right now, including Create, Capture, and Convert Demand.
See the video on our YouTube channel
05:2321/02/2024
S3 E25 - Knowing When It’s Time | Sydney Sloan - CMO @ Drata
Sidney Waterfall hosts today, joined by Sydney Sloan, CMO of Drata, to talk about timing in your career - how to know the right time to step away and finding the next right opportunity. She discusses her own experience of taking time off to recharge and reflect before starting her new role at Drata. Sydney also talks about her favorite stage of growth and the importance of finding a company with a strong product-market fit. She emphasizes the need for balance in life and the value of building relationships and connections. Sydney shares her approach to measuring the impact of marketing and the importance of focusing on revenue and efficiency. She also discusses the changing landscape of marketing, including the role of AI and the need for digital sophistication.
44:1631/08/2023
S3 E24 - Building a Strategic Content Marketing Team | Lane Scott Jones - Head of Content @ Zapier
Kaylee is back in the host seat today, joined by Lane Scott Jones, Head of Content at Zapier to follow her journey from agency to in-house content marketing roles. She discusses the importance of understanding the mechanics behind the business and mapping content to business goals. Lane also talks about the challenges she faced in transitioning from an agency to an in-house role and how she navigated those waters. She emphasizes the need for content to be seen as a strategic function and the importance of collaboration between content and other marketing teams. Lane also shares insights into Zapier's content team structure and the impact of content on the company's ROI.
Link to the Corporate Jargon Translator
57:4224/08/2023
S3 E23 - Empowering Champions to Close Deals | Nate Nasralla - Co-Founder @ Fluint
Cassidy and Carl are joined by Nate Nasralla, co-founder of Fluint, to discuss the shift in the sales process and the need for a new approach to sales enablement. He explains that in the new world of sales, buyers are already well-educated and are looking for help in building the case for change within their organization. Nate emphasizes the importance of creating account-based content that resonates with the buyer's language and context. He also shares insights on the power of narrative-based business cases and the value of concise and clear writing in sales communication.
55:3417/08/2023
S3 E22 - If You Want Something, Persist | Anthony Iannarino
“If you don’t know more than them about the decision they’re making, they don’t need you at all”
Cassidy and Carl were joined by Anthony Iannarino to follow him through the development of his innovative sales process. He details the inspiration and first experience with this style of selling, and then how he used it to move his and other careers forward. He stresses the four most important things that this strategy establishes:
Creating Value Immediately
Positioning Yourself as an Expert/Authority
Answering: Why Change
Making it Easy to Get a Second Meeting
He also suggests that SDRs should be involved in the total sales process to learn the language of the client, making the whole team more effective in communication. Finally, he previews his upcoming book Negativity Fast, and the top lesson everyone can learn from it.
55:5610/08/2023
S3 E21 - Building a Demand Engine from Scratch | MJ Smith - CMO @ CoLab
Cassidy and Carl were joined by MJ Smith, CMO @ CoLab, to chat about her transition into a CMO role, giving all of the advice she wishes she would’ve had access to before her move.
She starts at the very beginning, diving deep into the way she sought out companies to apply for, and how to make sure to achieve alignment in company and culture. Then, she covers the first 90 days in the role to talk about what worked, what didn’t, and what she learned. She also covers best practices for getting your product in front of the right eyes, and how to track and dissect that data. Overall, this deep dive into creating a demand engine from scratch is a must-listen for every marketer, especially if you have a goal to transition into a leadership role on your horizon.
01:41:4903/08/2023
S3 E20 Organic Content Development Strategies and Tools | Stephanie Crugnola, Miles Campbell @ Refine Labs
Carl and Cassidy were joined today by Refine Labs’ Stephanie Crugnola, Content Strategist, and Miles Campbell, Video Ops Manager to get you started on your organic content journey!
They start from the beginning and cover tools on how and where to launch your content, the team and tech you’ll need to get started, and where to get content inspiration. They drop tips for writing and recording, and deliver an action plan for effective post-production. Make sure to check out the video on the Refine Labs YouTube channel to see the slides when they’re up!
01:05:1027/07/2023
S3 E19 - Evaluating Job Opportunities and Building a Successful Career | Robin Daniels - Chief Business & Product Officer @ LMS365
Kaylee takes the reins today, joined by Robin Daniels to discuss his vast experience and wisdom on evaluating go to market, job opportunities, career growth, mentorship, and leadership. They discuss the importance of tailoring content to the needs of the audience, evaluating job opportunities, and building a successful career. Robin shares his insights on evaluating company culture, finding a mission worth fighting for, and working with great people. He also emphasizes the importance of energy, initiative, and building a chorus of support in order to succeed in your career.
56:2520/07/2023
S3 E18 - Unpacking Organic Growth Strategy | Will Aitken @ Lavender
Cassidy is back joining Carl and Lavender’s Will Aitken to unpack how to build an organic growth strategy from scratch. Will discusses the importance of understanding the target audience and creating diverse content across platform, topic, style, and audience goals. He also emphasizes the value of research and learning from successful influencers in the industry and stresses the need for subject matter expertise, highlighting the role it plays in creating effective content. And finally, Cassidy asks what to do about Carl.
43:0213/07/2023
S3 E17 - The Past, Present, and Future of Video Marketing | Tyler Lessard VP Marketing and Chief Video Strategist @ Vidyard
Kaylee and Carl were joined by Tyler Lessard, VP Marketing and Chief Video Strategist @ Vidyard to chat all things video marketing. With almost a decade of experience at Vidyard, Tyler has witnessed the incredible evolution of video in the tech and SaaS industries. He shares his insights on staying motivated and navigating the ever-changing landscape.
All three hosts emphasize the immense value of video in sales and marketing, urging professionals to adapt and innovate to stay ahead in the industry. The rise of using video as a tool for authenticity and transparency is also discussed, along with the exciting possibilities for future video use cases.
49:5806/07/2023
S3 E16 - Quarterly Business Review Best Practices| Cassidy Shield, Carl Ferreira & Ashley Lewin
You’re likely to find yourself presenting a QBR soon. What are you going to share? And more importantly, how are you crafting your story? That’s what Cassidy and Ashley have covered for you on today’s episode of Stacking Growth Live!
They cover:
Crafting a narrative
Structuring a deck
Nailing an Executive Summary
Avoiding common missteps in the details of data
They walk through examples of not-so-great slides and what to do instead to communicate performance effectively, and give general tips you can implement for your next QBR, report, or presentation.
58:4029/06/2023
S3 E15 - Paid vs Organic Media Strategy | Carl Ferreira & Kaylee Edmondson
“Marketers like to differentiate, people like to compare”
While Cassidy is away, Carl takes the wheel, joined by Kaylee Edmondson - VP of Revenue R&D at Refine Labs! They go head to head about paid versus organic media - they cover myths, uncover truths, and dig into the ways to leverage each strategy to build the best brand presence. Then they switch gears to customer research, providing 6 insightful questions to ask customers while interviewing.
36:5122/06/2023
S3 E14 - Rethink How You Think | Jen Allen-Knuth - Community Growth @ Lavender
“Showing someone that you’re better does not mean that you win.”
Cassidy and Carl were joined by Jen Allen-Knuth, Community Growth @ Lavender, to chat about the need to shift mindset as a creator and community leader. She dives into the way Lavender uses LinkedIn as an informal listening mechanism to get into the heads of buyers on a larger scale and steps that revenue professionals can take to start evolving beyond their “why us” messaging to “why change”.
Then, she covers the way she works to shift perception about cold emails. She focuses on the larger story around earning customer attention, and encouraging people to embrace the emotional response to what they don’t enjoy. This shift allows for honest and productive conversation as a baseline to find the beliefs and assumptions behind the emotions.
Stay tuned through the end for a challenge and a promise from Carl.
56:4608/06/2023
S3 E13 - Stacking Growth Live: Creative Teardown Edition | Courtney Vermette - Associate Creative Director @ Refine Labs
In our premiere video episode, Courtney Vermette, Associate Creative Director at Refine Labs, walks Cassidy and Carl through a teardown of toast’s website, email, and paid social strategies.
On the website, Courtney assesses the use of video, copy (including the effectiveness, necessity, and consistency of puns), and calls to action across several different pages. Then, she moves to email in order to point out some similar strengths and weaknesses in line with and contrast to the website. Finally, she pulled up three of toast’s paid social ads and the team chatted through different ways to use design elements that could boost engagement and conversion rates.
This walkthrough is an incredible opportunity to ask yourself the same questions and analyze your own materials for the same qualities.
56:4901/06/2023
S3E12 - Why Change? | Carl Ferreira & Cassidy Shield
In this episode of Stacking Growth, Carl and Cassidy reflect on how business has been changing, and how to stay on top of the rapidly shifting landscape.
They talk about the shift in buyer behavior that has brought about the need to shift marketing from “why us” to “why change?”, and how to align your team to be focused on the same (and most effective) strategies. They look at the differences between sales teams and marketing teams, their strengths and weaknesses in response to change, and how executive teams can make the difference in pushing everyone forward.
Cassidy puts Carl on the spot in asking him about business acumen and the ways people can accelerate the improvement of their own, and Carl returns the favor by committing them both to delivering a ‘why change’ narrative framework.
36:3525/05/2023
S3E11 - Are PLG and ABM just new terms for Lead Gen? | Carl Ferreira - Director of Sales, Cassidy Shield - Chief Revenue Officer @ Refine Labs
In this episode of Stacking Growth, Carl spills his hot takes to Cassidy on Product-Led Growth and Account Based Marketing.
They expand on the idea that PLG, often billed as the future of enterprise software, is typically just a repackaged version of old school lead generation, diving into some common misconceptions surrounding Go-To-Market strategies of unicorn products that can make these arguments irrelevant.
Then, they dig into the confusion around ABM and how in most instances it’s just another way for marketing to execute lead gen. They also cover the idea that, instead of ABM being viewed as just good marketing fundamentals, it’s been separated from General Marketing strategies, the foundational confusion in treating it as a separate concept, and how the impact of technology has started to lead strategy instead of strategy leading technology.
46:0518/05/2023
S3 E10 - Transformational Leadership | Devin Reed - Head of Content @ Clari
Today Cassidy and Carl are joined by Devin Reed, Head of Content at Clari to chat about transformational leadership in Content Strategy and beyond. Devin spills his secrets on how to make a splash in a new role at a successful organization by leveraging strategic priorities.
He also digs into getting buy-in on an employee LinkedIn posting strategy and how to affect change internally. He walks Cassidy and Carl through the personal monetization, consulting, and gated content strategies he has adopted through his career.
01:07:1911/05/2023
S3 E09 - Stacking Growth Live: Creative Teardown Edition | Dan Case - Creative Director @ Refine Labs
Today’s episode was recorded live, featuring Dan Case, Creative Director at Refine Labs. Dan leads Cassidy and Carl through a Creative Teardown of Dashlane, looking at their design choices across branding, website, and paid social.
He assesses their prioritization of programs and the differentiation between them that can cause confusion and conflict in message. With questions from Carl, Cassidy, and the audience, Dan explores reasons behind this rift between programs and how companies can achieve clarity.
They also discuss in depth the idea of rebranding: how and why might a company come to the conclusion of needing a rebrand, and how do you go about doing it in the most effective way.
This walk through is an incredible opportunity to ask yourself the same questions and analyze your own materials for the same qualities.
55:4504/05/2023
S3 E08 - Smashing Through the Audience Growth Ceiling | Dan Sanchez - Director of Inbound Marketing @ Element451
Today Cassidy and Carl are joined by Dan Sanchez, Director of Inbound Marketing at Element451 to chat about audience growth, among other podcast and personal brand insight and advice!
He starts by tracing his journey through shifting industry, why he moved into Higher Education, and how to align experience with passion when making a move. He then dives into the importance of vertical systems in SaaS, the impact of vocabulary change from “Marketing” to “Audience Growth”, the biggest problem companies face when trying to grow their reach, and more!
55:0727/04/2023
S3 E07 - How to Measure Demand for the Entire Funnel | Sidney Waterfall - Senior VP Growth @ Refine Labs
This week’s episode features a keynote speech by Sidney Waterfall, Senior Vice President of Growth at Refine Labs. She presented at the Full Funnel Summit on How to Measure Demand for the Entire Funnel.
She explains why it’s time for measurement to change, gives an overview of key terms including Dark Social, Pipe Framework, and Hybrid Attribution before presenting actionable steps for setting up your own Framework. Sidney approaches the topic from a philosophical and data-backed perspective, digging into the root cause of measurement issues and how to improve results in a practical and meaningful way.
01:12:5620/04/2023
S3 E06 - Driving Change in a Highly Competitive Market | Kate Hammitt - CMO @ Splash
Cassidy and Carl sat down with Kate Hammitt, CMO of Splash, to chat all things Event Marketing. She covers how the field has grown and evolved over the past couple of years, tracing the history of expectations from in-person trade shows and flagship events into virtual and hybrid events, and the impact they have on marketing strategy. She also discusses how companies like Splash are streamlining the process for companies, what the focus of goals and data should realistically be, and more!
55:4513/04/2023
S3 E05 - Stacking Growth Live: Creative Teardown Edition | Triana Mills - VP Creative @ Refine Labs
Today’s episode was recorded live, featuring Refine Labs’ VP of Creative: Triana Mills. Triana leads Cassidy and Carl through a Creative Teardown of Recurly, looking at their design choices in three programs: website, email, and paid social.
She assesses the use, effectiveness, and consistency of color, graphics, messaging, and more, sparking productive discussions on possible reasons behind each choice and suggestions for improvement. This walk through is an incredible opportunity to ask yourself the same questions and analyze your own materials for the same qualities.
53:3806/04/2023
S3 E04 - Influencer Marketing | Talin Koutnouyan - VP Strategy & Analytics @ Influential
Cassidy and Carl got to sit down and chat with Talin Koutnouyan, VP of Strategy & Analytics at Influential, about the past, present, and future of Influencer Marketing.
She outlines some main differences between strategy in B2C versus B2B, and what each could stand to learn from the other. Finally, she outlines a plan for “Carl’s Friend” who wants to get into Influencer Marketing – what to expect and how to approach brands!
01:09:2130/03/2023
S3 E03 - Insights Driven Content Strategy | Peter Walker - Head of Insights @ Carta
Cassidy and Carl got to sit down and chat with Peter Walker, head of Insights at Carta, about building insights and leveraging them to boost both marketing and sales functions. The cover collaboration with marketing, knowing what insights to look for and which hold the most resonance, surprises Peter has encountered along his journey, and a hint at what’s coming next for the insights strategy at Carta!
Make sure to listen to the end to hear Peter break down his “Lattice” Approach to an insights framework!
59:2223/03/2023
S3 E02 - The Impact of Generative AI | Grant Duncan & Omar Hamoda - VP Marketing & Senior Brand Designer @ Zingtree
Cassidy and Carl chat today with Grant Duncan (VP of Marketing) and Omar Hamoda (Senior Brand Designer) at Zingtree about the role of AI - in particular, generative AI - and its impact on marketing & sales. They address the decision to jump into AI, individual workflows, different tools and their benefits/drawbacks, implications and ethics, and more.
For reference, here are some of the posts and ads discussed through the episode:
Post that kicked this off - here.
Zingtree Ads - here.
MidJourney - here.
56:4416/03/2023
S3 E01 - Brand Above All | Yvonne O'Brien - CMO @ Zappi
We're kicking things off in Season 3 with a brand deep dive featuring our Chief Growth Officer, Cassidy Shield, and CMO of Zappi, Yvonne O'Brien. Key questions to ask yourself: Do your prospects have an emotional connection to your brand, and how do you build that connection in a space with huge competitors? A few more topics include brand activation, foundation, how to consistently test & learn, and what you can translate from B2C to B2B. Take a listen and make your brand more valuable and distinctive after absorbing this marque episode.
53:5609/03/2023
S3 E0 - State Of The Union | Stacking Growth Returns!
Welcome back! Cassidy, Carl, and the rest of the Refine Labs crew have returned for Season 3 of Stacking Growth. This "State of the Union" episode features Cassidy Shield, Chief Growth Officer, and Carl Ferreira, Director of Sales, setting the table for whats to come this season. Brand, creative, differentiation in B2B, coaching, alignment are just a handful of the topics we'll chop up for this third season. We're excited to be back and hope you are, too!
38:1702/03/2023
S2 E71 - Back to the Basics | Stacking Growth Live
There’s no better way to start the year than by setting intentions and resolutions for the year ahead. Most people do this in their personal lives, but we find it pretty affirming for work as well. Today, we’re excited to chat through just a few of the actionable things you can do to refocus and reset priorities for the year ahead.
34:3717/01/2023
S2 E70 - Building Revenue Programs to Nail your 2023 Goals | Stacking Growth Live
Companies today don’t have a process for executing research and development (R&D) within their revenue system. There’s a lack of structure and internal common ground between teams on defining and understanding what programs are working for new business acquisition. It results in chaos.
Today we’re going to chat through 3 things you can start working on today, to make a meaningful impact on structuring your revenue programs to nail your 2023 goals.
54:3922/12/2022
S2 E69 - 5 Ways Sales Can Help Marketing
Cassidy has gone on record stating that marketing-sales alignment is largely a marketing problem. However, let's not drop all the blame on marketing. In this episode, Cassidy and Carl go over 5 ways sales leaders can demonstrate leadership in aligning marketing with sales.
1 - Quality over quantity
If the leads "suck" - it's as much on sales as marketing. Stop insisting on lead volume when the leads don't convert to pipeline and revenue. Instead, empower marketing to focus on high-quality leads.
2 - Encourage building awareness
It's not news to anyone that it's easier to sell when prospects know who you are and what you stand for as a company. The best sellers I know are huge advocates for building awareness and are pushing marketing to be more innovative.
3 - Invite marketing into the sales process
There is no better place to learn about what works/doesn't work than in the sales process. Explain the sales process and how deals are done. Get your marketing team licenses to your call recording software. Invite product marketing to sales calls. Take time to structure your learnings so they are actionable.
4 - Align outbound sales with inbound marketing
There is a good chance that your outbound sales efforts are fishing in the same pond as your marketing efforts. Therefore, spend time sharing learnings and aligning campaign efforts, so the positioning and messaging are consistent with prospects.
5 - Lead by example & don't let sales off the hook
Leaders don't make excuses. If marketing isn't carrying its weight, get in the game and help. If your sales team isn't following through, take your team to task. When you show that your goal is the company's success and not the success of one organization over another, you are a leader others will respect.
Join Stacking Growth Live every other Wednesday at 1:00 PM ET by Registering here.
01:06:2109/12/2022
S2 E68 - POV Before Product: Designing a New Category | with Jenn Davis
"How in the world are you getting rockin' and rollin' building a new category here?"
Carl Ferreira doesn't waste any time kicking off this conversation with Jenn Davis, Co-Founder and Head of Marketing at Gradient Works. Jenn has been instrumental in designing and building the Dynamic Books category, a new way to handle sales territories. In this episode, Jenn takes Carl and Cassidy through:
- Identifying when/if a new category is needed
- Doing research to get "message-market-fit" prior to building out a product
- Creating a strategic narrative around that new category and building it out
- and much more.
01:01:2703/12/2022
S2 E67 - 3 Steps To A Successful First 90 Days When Switching to Demand Gen
"What would the first 90 days look like if you were tasked with implementing a demand gen and content strategy in an effort to move beyond the traditional lead gen approach?"
So you want to move beyond traditional lead generation and start creating demand in 2023…But you don’t know how to kick off those efforts?
The first 90 days are critical because if you’re not able to show some early signs of success, there’s a good chance your program will get axed before it ever has a chance to get going. In this episode, Sidney and Sam talk about the 3-step process they recommend to companies that are switching from lead gen to demand gen for the first time.
The three steps they go over include:
1. Knowing your historical data
2. Laying out a foundation
3. Building a content engine to support the framework
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27:3129/11/2022
S2 E66 - 4 Major Pitfalls To Avoid When Doing a Revenue Performance Analysis
It’s that time of year when 2023 planning is in full swing and part of planning for a successful start to the next year is doing a Revenue Performance Analysis. But first, what is an RPA?
Simply put, a Revenue Performance Analysis allows you to identify and amplify key sources of HIRO pipeline and revenue.
We’ve become experts at these analyses and have identified the top four mistakes teams make when executing them independently and that’s exactly what we’re going to go through today.
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35:3022/11/2022
S2 E65 - Using the PVP Index to Create Your Ideal Customer Profile
Trying to market to multiple ICPs can be a huge mistake for many companies, especially those on a budget. When you try to be everything to everyone, you water down your message across the board and confuse the audience. That’s why niching down with your ICP is so important. In this episode, Tory and Allison talk about a new framework to decide which ICP you should niche down on first.
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27:2217/11/2022
S2 E64 - 5 Marketing Trends To Improve Brand Engagement | Stacking Growth Live
On this episode of Stack Growth, our very own Tory Kindlick and Victoria Sakal were joined by two of our friends from Centerline Digital (Greg Harbinson, Creative Director & Fabian Marquex, Creative Director), to discuss 5 Trends to Improve Brand Engagement:
How to Create Authentic Content
How to Deliver Account-Based Experiences
Leveraging Third-Party Experts
How to Drive Better Brand Awareness
Exploring the Metaverse
Join Stacking Growth Live every other Wednesday at 1:00 PM ET by Registering here.
58:1510/11/2022