What happens when you put over 70 tech marketers in one room and add another 30 online? You get a great networking buzz and the pleasure of listening to, and learning from, speakers across a range of relevant subjects. And that’s exactly what happened at the recent Tech Marketers Conference.
Here’s our review of a few of the presentations…
Proactive strategies for sales and marketing success
The conference kicked-off with a look at proactive strategies for sales and marketing success. Amanda Armstrong, Fractional CRO with Revenue Lab, reviewed today’s buyer and the misalignment of sales processes not being buyer-oriented – selling without considering ICP (ideal customer profile), poor value proposition communication, lack of focus, etc.
With the rise of outbound sales, focus should include: headcount, target accounts, personalisation/ABM (account-based marketing) and content, marketing working with sales on messaging and content, and as MQLs appear to be dead – how do we measure? We need to understand the metrics that matter!
Amanda then led us through scaling from New Zealand to global, highlights were:
- sales is 99% the same
- a clear GTM (go to market), ICP and value proposition are essential
- companies must implement a buyer-oriented sales process
- content strategy is critical as is delivering value vs leads
- LinkedIn, podcasts, YouTube and TikTok will play their part
- the overall business model is repeatable, predictable and scalable
Community building strategies for Kiwi SaaS
Sian Simpson, CEO at Public Rally, walked us through community building strategies for Kiwi SaaS, highlighting that at the core is shared identity, purpose, interest and connection, belonging and love! Community is first and foremost about people – a successful community that comes alive is one about people helping people. Building community frameworks, creating a community canvas and developing a community maturation model which drives high trust will help the success of a community. Sian referenced a community plan developed for in-house legal professionals to learn, share and connect where metrics from a central dashboard included community influenced, sourced and leverage revenue.
Beyond sound: audio, messaging and the power of AI
Kate Bradley-Chernis – Cofounder and CEO of Lately.ai, was at the peak of marketing innovation with her presentation; Beyond sound: audio, messaging and the power of AI.
So, 83% of marketers rely on sight alone, yet our brains receive all communications through four other channels: taste, smell, touch and sound – and hearing is our fastest sense! And sight is the least intimate sense, requiring the least engagement or effort – which is why vegging out in front of the TV is so relaxing. Sound and reading require both effort and imagination, the participation of the audience is what makes the magic.
When you read text – like marketing messaging – you hear the voice of the person who wrote it, inside your head. It’s the job of the author to give you those familiar touchpoints and tap into the same parts of the brain that are responsible for memory, nostalgia and emotion. Memory, nostalgia and emotion trigger trust, the key to anyone’s wallet.
Kate’s top tip was to read your content out loud to be appealing to the ear of your audience and so they can hear you say it – great advice.
Winning the US to take on the world
Heather Gadonniex, CMO and Operating Partner at Global From Day One (GD1), joined us on Zoom (thanks Covid!) to talk to us about winning the US. Heather’s expertise lies in helping Kiwi companies enter the US market and start on the road to success. There were plenty of delegates keen to hear her key points for success which included:
- NZ tech and SaaS marketers having a seat at the table to realise the full value of marketing for the business
- being smart and focused on how and where you deploy capital when you enter the US market
- ensuring alignment between everyone who is market-facing to realise revenue
- as marketing leaders, we have a duty to engage the customer throughout their lifecycle and create engagement flows to drive revenue
Panel Chat… Marketing governance and metrics that matter
A lively panel session addressing marketing governance and metrics that matter to a board and included role-play as a CMO – Wendy Thompson, CEO – Frazer Scott and Director – Karen Rolleston. Adorned with suitable props and moderated by Caroline Francis, the panel talked their way through questions about marketing governance and key metrics, which are both mega-important, particularly in SaaS marketing, the panel’s responses are here:
CMO:
- what are the metrics that will help me spend my money where it matters for SaaS, CAC and MRR?
- a lot of marketers forget that the sale is not the end – it’s like a marriage, you’re in it for the long term
- always look for the actionable insights
CEO:
- depending on the organisation, what matters will differ and who leads the business will influence that
- trying to explain the art vs the science is not relevant
- use a balance scorecard and be forward-looking to show what’s next
- key business metrics and 360 view of the business (HR) and customers
- be futuristic and innovative in your thinking
Director:
- the board is focused on strategy, risk and revenue – the metrics mean nothing to us, what we need is the story and the insights:
- how what you’re doing is enabling our strategy?
- are we on track with revenue targets?
- are there any risks we should be aware of?
- is the brand at risk?
- are there any changes in customer behaviour?
- use the board language and avoid being tactical – talk about strategy and consequences of not doing certain activities
- having a strategic marketing deep dive with the board is valuable – articulate the ‘why’
- if you’re unsure about what the board wants, call and ask the chair
- tell us the story
In summary – we were connected, engaged and innovated all day
Here are a few of our key takeaways:
- sales and marketing need to be aligned
- sales processes need to be buyer oriented
- messaging and content are key
- community is first and foremost about people and people helping people
- read your content out loud to be appealing to the ear of your audience and so they can hear you say it
- NZ tech and SaaS marketers having a seat at the table to realise the full value of marketing for the business
- ensure alignment between everyone who’s market-facing to realise revenue
- always look for the actionable insights
- directors need the story and the insights
- having a strategic marketing deep dive with the board is valuable
One final note, one of the panels sessions reviewed issues relating to privacy and anti-spam compliance. Hudson Gavin Martin’s legal experts and the Proxi team have put together a practical checklist and policy examples to help SaaS companies with data privacy and anti-spam laws. If you’d like a copy, email [email protected] and mention ‘privacy’ in the subject line.
