Author: Grant Duncan

Categories
b2bmarketing copywriting positioning productmarketing

Boosting Contact Centre Productivity: Unveiling Zingtree’s Exciting New Positioning & Messaging Strategy

I just presented new positioning & messaging to our whole company. Here’s the slide flow (in a condensed version for this text post):

Slide 1: Think to yourself: How do you describe Zingtree to someone when they ask you? (pause for people to think about it in their heads)

Slide 2: Why care about positioning: Consistent story, differentiated, mental map, aligned GTM motions & product roadmap

Slide 3: Factors to consider:
1. Must align with the company goal of ____.
2. Can the Manager/Director of Support easily explain Zingtree to the VP/SVP of Support?

Slide 4: What I’ve heard in my 1.5 months so far: (show options of what different people say and the sentiment you think each has)

Slide 5: New one-line positioning: Elevate contact center agent productivity through conversational workflow software

Slide 6: Breaking our one-liner down: (explain the meaning behind each word)

Slide 7: Key capabilities (list the key capabilities and a description of each)

The reaction was very positive and people are excited about it!

What would you add/change to this framework?

Categories
Uncategorized

Mastering Your Marketing Career: A Step-by-Step Framework to Progress from Intern to VP

I’m going to be interviewed on The Marketing Ladder (A Marketing career growth podcast) and drafted a career progression framework. What do you think of this (sorry the formatting is lost)?

Here are some general rules of thumb for advancing to different levels in Marketing. Each builds on the experience of previous levels. These are not hard and fast rules, and many people will be exceptions to these in some way in their journey. Nevertheless, hopefully, it can help guide you.

To get your first (Marketing) internship:
Have a strong referral from someone
Do a side project so there is something tangible to show for your experience
Analyze the Marketing of the company you’re applying to and share that with the hiring team and post it on LinkedIn
Use perseverance, curiosity, and tenacity to find the first internship

To get your first Marketing job as an Associate/Analyst (for those who go to college, this is probably your first job out of college)
Internship or work experience
If you have 1 internship, you can hopefully get by
2-3 – likely to find something
4-5 – you’re setting yourself apart
Use the same principles listed above for getting an internship

To become a Manager of a specific discipline in Marketing (e.g. Product Marketing Manager)
Demonstrated completion of successful projects
Curiosity to learn more

To become a Senior Manager of a specific discipline in Marketing (e.g. Senior Product Marketing Manager):
Able to estimate timelines and due dates accurately and consistently
Able to plan out and execute projects with high performance from framework to collaboration & review to completion
Proficient with the relevant tech stack
Tracking the quantitative performance of activities

To become a Director of a specific discipline in Marketing (e.g. Director of Demand Generation):
People management experience (ideally 2+ people)
Deep expertise in the specific discipline of Marketing, perks if you have experience in another discipline too
Has shown the ability to create strategic plans but still able to get your hands dirty
Proficient with analysis and reporting
Proficient with your own discipline’s tech stack and some abilities in other disciplines’ tech stacks
Strong collaborator with other teams inside and outside of Marketing

To become a Senior Director of a specific discipline of Marketing (e.g. Senior Director of Demand Generation)
Do things that Directors do but be consistently achieving or outperforming people management, marketing planning, and quantitative goals

To become VP of Marketing:
People management experience (ideally at least 4-6+ people)
Product/brand marketing experience and demand generation experience
Able to speak to quantitative pipeline and revenue results
Experience in a similar industry

Categories
b2bmarketing careerdevelopment hiring marketing

Mastering The Ladder: Proven Strategies to Accelerate Your Promotion to Marketing Manager or Sr. Manager – Part 3

How to get promoted to Manager or Sr. Manager in Marketing (part 3 of my series):

To become a Manager of a specific discipline in Marketing (e.g. Product Marketing Manager), you need:
– Demonstrated completion of successful projects
– Curiosity to learn more

To become a Senior Manager of a specific discipline in Marketing (e.g. Senior Product Marketing Manager):
– Able to estimate timelines and due dates accurately and consistently
– Able to plan out and execute projects with high performance from framework to collaboration & review to completion
– Proficient with the relevant tech stack
– Able to track the quantitative performance of activities

What would you add or change? Has your experience been different?

Reminder about the stages I’m talking about in the series: Intern, Associate, Manager, Sr. Manager, Director, Sr. Director, VP, 2x VP, CMO.

To see each stage, follow me & click the 🔔 icon on my profile for the next stage posts.

Categories
associate careers internship marketing

Step Up Your Marketing Career: Essential Guide to Landing Your First Associate Job

Day 2 of my new series – how to advance each career level in Marketing. Today’s stage: Associate
 
Reminder: Stages I’ll show: Intern, Associate, Manager, Sr. Manager, Director, Sr. Director, VP, 2x VP, CMO.
To see each stage, follow me & click the 🔔 icon on my profile for the next stage posts.
 
To get your first Marketing job as an Associate/Analyst (for those who go to college, this is probably your first job out of college)
 
– An internship(s) or full work experience. Ideally in Marketing too.
     – If you have 1 internship, you can hopefully get by
     – 2-3 internships – likely to find something
     – 4-5 internships – you’re setting yourself apart

– Extracurriculars that ideally have a Marketing focus to them. (s/o Reyna Olivares for this idea in the comments)

– Same experience listed previously for getting an internship (see below)
 
Reminder for how to get a Marketing internship:
– Have a strong referral from someone
– Do a side project so there is something tangible to show for your experience
– Analyze the Marketing of the company you’re applying to and share that with the hiring team and post it on LinkedIn
– Use perseverance, curiosity, and tenacity to find the first internship
– If you can’t get a referral and you’re following the steps above, you might need to apply to a lot to get your first one.
 
 
Background to this series:
Each level in Marketing builds on the experience of previous levels.
 
My framework assumes you want to manage people and become the general VP of Marketing or CMO; not just a VP/SVP of a specific discipline in Marketing.
Although most of the requirements would be similar.
 
These are not hard & fast rules and it’s geared more toward people working in startups rather than big enterprises.
 
Many people will be exceptions to these in some way in their journey. Nevertheless, hopefully, it can help guide you.
 
 
Was this similar to your path, or did you
have something else to get into your 1st Associate job?
 

Categories
b2bmarketing cmo hiring

Unlocking the C-Suite: Essential Steps to Transition from VP of Marketing to CMO

To become a CMO, you need:

1️⃣ Some years of experience as a VP of Marketing

2️⃣ Your results at multiple companies are consistently solid

3️⃣ The items in the 2x VP of Marketing are a must-have now. In case you missed these in the last post, those are:

1. Already been a VP of Marketing at a company with ARR greater than the ARR of the company you’re joining (they want to know you can get to their level; it’s risky to a company if you’ve never worked at their level already)

2. Proven pipeline and revenue results from the last company you worked at

3. Able to speak to specific campaigns end to end

4. Able to give examples of how to solve people management issues

5. Able to put together a solid 90 day and/or 1 year Marketing plan

The one caveat here: I haven’t been a CMO, so the steps to becoming a CMO are based on what I’ve seen and been told.
But let’s be real, being the VP of Marketing at a startup reporting to the CEO or CRO has essentially the same job duties as a CMO at a startup.

Check out previous posts in this series to see other steps needed to advance in other parts of Marketing.

Categories
b2bmarketing customermarketing

8-Step Guide to Crafting Engaging Customer Stories: Our Proven Process Revealed

Our customer story creation process is getting honed in!
Here’s how it works and an example of one:

1. Ask CSMs and Sales for potential customers that would be open to customer stories

2. Search Salesforce for interesting customers (and with strong usage / CSAT)

3. Get intros to customers and ask if they’re open to doing it (or have CSM/AE ask for you). Show how it’s valuable for their personal brand and for their company.

4. If they agree, send them questions in advance. Schedule a time for a video interview. 

5. Draft a written customer story from the video interview and also create a video version or audiogram version.

6. Send for their review & approval.

7. Assuming it’s good, publish and promote.

8. Optional but suggested: Repurpose the content. Turn it into educational paid social ads, social posts, use snippets in other content, etc.

Example: Stephanie Ogozaly created a recent customer story with Groupon, and I think it’s super! Big thanks to Aksana Aleksiaichuk Koch, Jack Claeys, and of course Adam Lindsey, our customer superstar, as well! See a link to it in the comments.

What do you think? What would you change? How is your process different?

Categories
careergrowth hiring marketing

Seven Essential Skills to Master for Your First VP of Marketing Role

You need these 7 things to become a 1st time VP of Marketing:

1. People management experience (ideally at least 4-6+ people, some may require 10+)

2. Product/brand marketing experience and demand generation experience

3. Expert at budgeting, forecasting, financial management, headcount planning, and agency management

4. Able to speak to past quantitative pipeline and revenue results

5. Experience in a similar industry

6. Able to speak to how you build culture and employee engagement for the whole Marketing team

7. Able to solve cross-functional issues, not just Marketing issues

What would you add/change to the list? Or what is something you admire about a VP of Marketing you know?

Reminder: Stages I’m showing in this series: Intern, Associate, Manager, Sr. Manager, Director, Sr. Director, VP, 2x VP, CMO.
To see each stage, follow me & click the 🔔 icon on my profile for the next stage posts.

Categories
b2bmarketing hiring peoplestrategy

5 Essential Steps to Becoming a Successful 2x VP of Marketing: An Insider’s Guide

To become a 2x VP of Marketing, you need 5 things:

1. Already been a VP of Marketing at a company with ARR greater than the ARR of the company you’re joining (they want to know you can get to their level; it’s risky to a company if you’ve never worked at their level already)

2. Proven pipeline and revenue results from the last company you worked at

3. Able to speak to specific campaigns end to end

4. Able to give examples of how to solve people management issues

5. Able to put together a solid 90 day and/or 1 year Marketing plan

Agree/disagree?

Background to this series:
Each level in Marketing builds on the experience of previous levels.
 
My framework assumes you want to manage people and become the general VP of Marketing or CMO; not just a VP/SVP of a specific discipline in Marketing.
Although most of the requirements would be similar.
 
These are not hard & fast rules and it’s geared more toward people working in startups rather than big enterprises.
 
Many people will be exceptions to these in some way in their journey. Nevertheless, hopefully, it can help guide you.

Reminder: Stages I’m showing in this series: Intern, Associate, Manager, Sr. Manager, Director, Sr. Director, VP, 2x VP, CMO.
To see each stage, follow me & click the 🔔 icon on my profile for the next stage posts.

Categories
careers marketing

Ascend the Marketing Ladder: A Comprehensive Guide to Navigating Each Career Level in Marketing

I’m starting a new series on how to advance each career level in Marketing.

Stages I’ll show: Intern, Associate, Manager, Sr. Manager, Director, Sr. Director, VP, 2x VP, CMO.
To see each stage, follow me & click the 🔔 icon on my profile for the next stage posts.

Background:
Each level in Marketing builds on the experience of previous levels.

My framework assumes you want to manage people and become the general VP of Marketing or CMO; not just a VP/SVP of a specific discipline in Marketing.
Although most of the requirements would be similar.

These are not hard and fast rules and it’s geared more toward people working in startups rather than big enterprises.

Many people will be exceptions to these in some way in their journey. Nevertheless, hopefully, it can help guide you.

Starting from the bottom:
To get your 1st Marketing internship:

– Have a strong referral from someone

– Do a side project so there is something tangible to show for your experience

– Analyze the Marketing of the company you’re applying to and share that with the hiring team and post it on LinkedIn

– Use perseverance, curiosity, and tenacity to find the first internship

– If you can’t get a referral and you’re following the steps above, you might need to apply to a lot to get your first one.

Lastly, shoutout to 🍏 Mason Cosby for prompting me to think about this when he interviewed me on The Marketing Ladder podcast.

What have you seen be helpful in getting the 1st internship?

Categories
b2bmarketing creatingdemand

Boost Your LinkedIn Engagement: A Step-by-Step Guide to Collaborative Post Brainstorming

My calendar invitation description I sent today:

Each of you has expressed interest in getting more active on LinkedIn. I thought it could be helpful to have a group meeting where we all block 25 minutes to brainstorm and write LinkedIn posts. 

You’ll write your own individual posts but you can ask others for help or ideas. At the least, we’ll all have camaraderie doing it at the same time.

THE GOAL:
Leave the meeting with at least 2 LinkedIn posts created. 

Then you can post them during the week.

Prep work:
Think about the intended audience for your posts
Think about a few types of topics they’d find relevant and you have knowledge that you can write about. This can be about any topic; it doesn’t have to be about Zingtree or customer support unless you want it to be.

—–
Like the idea? Copy / paste this with your colleagues to help them get started on LinkedIn.