Marketing changes every time you blink. New channels, concepts keep emerging but the fundamentals remain the same – telling compelling stories, and that will never change, just the medium will. As your audience keeps evolving, your storytelling will need to as well. I see more businesses and marketers already realise this and are focusing more on content and the medium, and this will become the default very soon.
Tell us about your background, journey & story.
I have been in b2b SaaS marketing all my professional life. For the last two years, I have been leading the marketing & demand generation function at ITILITE, one of the world’s leading Business Travel & Expense SaaS product companies. .
I started out at a brand marketing firm about 14 years ago managing tech clients, did a very short stint with UB Group and landed my first full-time SaaS gig at Capillary Technologies, regarded as one of the earliest SaaS startup success stories coming out of India now.
I discovered my love for startups very early on, and I was fortunate to get the opportunity of working with tech startups and getting to know different startup ecosystems around the world for three years when I was at Microsoft.
I left Microsoft to try my hands on entrepreneurship, and started a startup marketing consulting called betamarketer. In that time, I also co-authored a bestseller book called, Value SaaS Basecamp Guide, both aimed at helping early start startups to set up their marketing engine. Outside work, I continue to work with different startup enablement organisations to help their portfolio companies.
What are some of the biggest challenges & failures you have faced in your career?
That’s easy! Keeping the momentum going for ITILITE, a company that helps businesses run their travel and expense management processes more efficiently, in the middle of the pandemic.We had set out to transform an age-old industry, and it became even more challenging a few months after I joined.
Every marketing playbook we had developed and perfected was now ineffective. How do you keep the top-of-mind recall, and acquire new customers, when they aren’t even sure when and if they are going to use your products? We went back to the whiteboard and started building a new outlook for marketing & demand generation, one that is relevant for a T&E company during the global lockdown, and built a completely new marketing strategy ground up - one that focused more on content than channels.
We leveraged on the fact that the entire world realised that digital transformation is no longer optional, but the only way going forward. We pivoted our entire marketing machinery to become the advisors that would help them to get to know how to, and in the process, stayed relevant, earned their trust. It wasn’t an easy journey, but we came out of it much stronger as a company than ever before, and I am happy that I had a role to play in it.
What are some of the factors that made you successful?
First, an outcome-driven attitude. I always focus on the final outcome to the business, not get tangled into input based or vanity metrics. A marketing campaign is only successful if it helps achieve a business goal, otherwise it's just noise.
Second, I believe that complacency is the enemy of success. It makes me uncomfortable. Whether I succeed in something or fail, I keep asking myself – what comes next? What can I do better next time? If this doesn’t work, what can we try? it always keeps me on my toes, pushes me to give my 150% every time.
Last, keeping the eyes on the prize. I did this exercise where I had to write my linkedin bio and profile for 2030 or something – the ultimate bio you want to be known as. Sounds simple, it's not. But it gives you a lot of clarity and drive; and if something doesn’t work out, they are just small speed bumps on a very long road , and you cannot afford to slow down or give up because of them.
Marketing has changed a lot over the decade, what do you think will be the future of marketing?
Marketing changes every time you blink. New channels, concepts keep emerging but the fundamentals remain the same – telling compelling stories, and that will never change, just the medium will. As your audience keeps evolving, your storytelling will need to as well. I see more businesses and marketers already realise this and are focusing more on content and the medium, and this will become the default very soon.
Voice has been heralded as the biggest growth lever of the decade for SaaS. What are your thoughts about it?
Absolutely! In today’s internet driven world, everyone has a voice that is heard. People strongly believe in word of mouth as it is more relevant than brand advertisements. After the shift to the digital space, it has taken the form of e-word of mouth (or online reviews) but it still holds the same value in making or breaking a brand.. One tweet can set you up to be the next unicorn. Whether it's b2b or b2c, every voice matters, everyone has a say in your growth whether you want it or not.
What is the most important skill set required for someone who wants to rise in their career?
Be curious and do not be afraid to challenge the status quo. You can’t grow, until you ask questions, learn and do new things. Skills are coachable, but you need to have the growth mindset. No matter which role, function, industry you are in, you cannot afford to get into the ‘rinse and repeat’ mode.
What does your typical day look like?
The day starts early, 30 mins to check the calendar, read the news, plan my day (write down the to-do list) before things get moving. I spend most of my day jumping from one project to another – helping the team, problem solving for them and setting them up for success. We have been focusing on accelerating our international expansion, so I spend more time on finding ways to boost our pipeline building and market presence in these markets. Before clocking out, I tally my to-do list, so I know what I need to focus on the next day.
Despite a round the clock schedule, I keep an hour blocked every night for some downtime. I am a bigtime story junkie and I get my daily fix in different ways, whether its reading or watching fiction or playing it on my game console.
Which is your favourite book & why?
I love reading, and read pretty much everything, fiction and non-fiction. But my all-time favourite book is The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. As marketers, we are students of human behaviour, and the way that book portrays human behaviour in different scenarios is just awe-inspiring.
Others in the top five will be The Godfather (Mario Pujo), Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkein), Hard Things About Hard Things (Ben Horowitz) and Traction (Gabriel Weinberg).
.JPG)
){kind=link}
0 Comments