3 Lessons I Learned from Master Marketers
Today, I want to share with you three important lessons I learned from Sangram Vajre, Mark Schaefer, and Andy Cunningham - experts in the field of marketing, best-selling authors, speakers, and consultants.
Each sat down with me for an interview and shared their insights.
The worst question in the history of SaaS
Sangram Vajre is a pioneer of Account-Based Marketing (ABM), co-founder of Terminus, CEO at GTM Partners, host of a top 50 business podcast, and a 3X best-selling author. In our interview, Sangram and I discussed the three roles of a CEO, how great Go-To-Market (GTM) keeps companies from stalling out, and the Net Revenue Retention (NRR) rate difference between a $500M and $1B business valuation.
The statement that stood out most centered on the importance of revenue operations and what he declared as “The worst question ever asked in the history of SaaS.” Here is that excerpt from our conversation:
“The worst question ever created in the history of SaaS for executives is this: Aaron, if I give you one more dollar, what would you do? That's the worst possible question to ask. And the reason is, if you ask that question to a marketer, they will say, I'll spend more money or hire a marketer. You ask the same exact question to a sales leader [they will say], I'll hire an SDR or an AE or something like that - whatever function they know much more about.
But Rev. Ops., now that's a different story. They might look at it and say, you know what? I think that if we can improve our conversion from stage 2 deals to stage 3 deals even by 2%, we are going to see an outcome of over ten million in revenue. You know what? We should invest in hiring a sales enablement person or a Go-To-Market enablement person.
Nobody else is gonna say that because they don't have that view.”
Watch my full interview with Sangram Vajre on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/_33IqE4PcgQ
Why community is the ultimate marketing
Mark Schaefer is a marketing futurist known for his ability to foresee trends in marketing. Mark is a 10X best-selling author, speaker, podcaster, and university professor. In our interview, Mark and I discussed how anyone can make themselves more available to breakthrough moments and how we can create a sonic boom of momentum when launching new ideas.
The insight that stood out to me most during our conversation together was Mark’s declaration that “Community is the ultimate marketing.” Mark recently published a book on the topic called, ‘Belonging to the Brand.” Here is an important excerpt from our discussion:
“So, there's this idea that there's too much power being centralized in places like Facebook and Apple and Google and that people need to own their own data, their own privacy, and have the option to be rewarded for their input and personal information. Web3 is based on this model. I've got a learning community where you can learn about writing, podcasting, speaking, building a personal brand, and Web3.
For the first time in my life, I'm beginning to feel like I have a community. I've always had an audience, but that's different from a community. Community is the ultimate marketing. If you have a community, you don't need advertising, and you don't need SEO - you've got a group of people who love you, support you, and will buy from you.”
See my full interview with Mark Schaefer on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/2b3rVQsMabw
How words drive people to action
Andy Cunningham is one of the top positioning strategists in the world. She began her career as a communications director for Steve Jobs at Apple, Pixar, and NeXT. Since then, Andy has helped reposition some of the world’s largest tech brands, including Oracle, Cisco and Blackberry. In our interview, Andy and I discussed ways to influence buyers and sell more stuff, the importance of injecting humanity into marketing, and how to use the right words to activate people.
What stood out to me during my interview with Andy was her retelling of the Macintosh launch in 1983 and the moment she heard the press repeating her words back to her - the exact words she had carefully crafted. She told me that this crystallized her belief in the truth that “Words drive people to action.” Her story made it clear to me how much influence we, marketers, have on the future success of any product or business. Here is what Andy told me:
“When we did the Macintosh launch back in 1983, I wrote all the messaging, and we presented it at the shareholders meeting. I was driving home from that meeting, and I was listening to the radio, and every station that I turned to was covering the Macintosh launch - because that’s what we had arranged. They were repeating back to me all the messages that I had written. They were using my words, and the words meant something to the audience they were communicating with. It really cemented the idea for me that words drive people to action.”
Find my full interview with Andy Cunningham on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/ZWnGLEjFxRc
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