Episode Summary
In this episode, Peter discusses the problems with the traditional "marketing qualified lead" (MQL) metric, arguing that it doesn't accurately reflect the relationship between marketing and sales, and suggests focusing on "marketing qualified accounts" (MQAs) instead. Bregman emphasizes the importance of aligning marketing, sales, service, and product teams around a shared go-to-market strategy and customer-centric approach. He also provides recommendations for using AI in marketing to empower sales teams, as well as books, podcasts, and industry experts that listeners should check out.

About the guest

Peter Bregman is a seasoned professional with over 15 years of experience propelling organizational growth across diverse sectors. Peter has expertly navigated complex business landscapes, assisting various companies, from startups to Fortune 150s, in both B2B and B2C markets. His approach emphasizes collaboration and building strong alliances across Marketing, Sales, Product, and Tech teams to ensure success. Committed to delivering actionable strategies, Peter empowers businesses to drive substantial growth through strategic innovation.

Connect with Peter Bregman

Key takeaways
- The traditional "marketing qualified lead" (MQL) metric is flawed and doesn't accurately reflect the relationship between marketing and sales. Marketers should focus on "marketing qualified accounts" (MQAs) instead.

- Aligning marketing, sales, service, and product teams around a shared go-to-market strategy and customer-centric approach is crucial for successful B2B growth.

- AI can be a valuable tool in marketing, but it should be used to empower sales teams, not replace them. The key is finding specific use cases and having enough data to train the AI models effectively.

Quotes
"Quality Matters way more than quantity, prospects have to be at the right place in their buying cycle, the ideal customer profile has to match, and generating a whole bunch of leads is really just resulting in bad conversion metrics, distrust between marketing and sales." -Peter Bregman

Recommended Resource

Books:
- "Invisible Rulers" by Renee de Resta - A fascinating look at how influence and ideas spread on the internet and the creation of "bespoke realities" on social media.

Podcasts:
- "Planet Money" - An entertaining economics podcast

- "Hard Fork" - A podcast covering the state of technology

- "In Depth" from First Round Capital - Interviews with founders of companies they've invested in

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Episode Summary
In this episode, Mana guides on implementing ethical and unbiased practices when using AI in marketing. She emphasizes the importance of ensuring data diversity, regular model audits, and transparency around how AI makes decisions to avoid bias. Mana suggests marketers ask fundamental questions about AI models, such as how they avoid overfitting, to validate outputs and understand the reasoning behind recommendations, especially for high-stakes decisions. Overall, the discussion highlights the potential for AI to create new opportunities in marketing by enabling more data-driven, scientific practices, and recommends that marketers learn about machine learning concepts to become more proficient in this area.

About the guest

Mana Ionescu is a digital marketing leader and Head of Digital Marketing at Axos Bank in San Diego. A former agency founder, Mana loves to demystify complex marketing concepts and debunk digital marketing myths. She teaches at the Kellogg Professional Certificate in Digital Marketing and is a sought-after keynote. In her free time, Mana likes to explore the peaks and valleys of our beautiful earth: hiking and SCUBA diving.

Connect with Mana Ionescu

Key takeaways
- Implement ethical and unbiased AI practices through diverse data, regular audits, and transparency

- Ask fundamental questions about AI models, like how they avoid overfitting, to validate outputs

- Maintain visibility into the "why" behind AI recommendations, especially for high-stakes decisions

- Embrace AI's potential to create new opportunities in marketing by enabling more data-driven, scientific practices

- Recommend that marketers learn about machine learning concepts to become more proficient

Quotes
"We can't have a black box. You need to be able to explain to stakeholders how the AI models work and the risks involved." -Mana Ionescu

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Episode Summary

In this episode of OnBase, Victoria Sakal explores effective go-to-market strategies and the delicate balance between data-driven insights and intuition in marketing. She discusses common challenges companies face, such as organizational disconnects and the struggle to be proactive in rapidly changing markets. Victoria emphasizes the importance of understanding customer needs, monitoring trends, and using an innovation pipeline framework to guide strategy development. She advocates for quality over quantity in marketing efforts, recommending targeted campaigns for specific audiences rather than broad, unfocused approaches. Sakal underscores the value of curiosity and asking better questions to drive growth and innovation in marketing and product development.

About the guest

With a passion for turning complex inputs on customers, market dynamics, and competitors into smart strategies that drive growth, Victoria has spent the last decade helping companies ask better questions to get better data, source more powerful insights, and stay on top of important dynamics that matter. Previously at Morning Consult and Kantar, Victoria now focuses on all things demand gen, product marketing, market research, and growth strategies to deliver more value for Wonder users.

Connect with Victoria Sakal

Key takeaways
- Balance data-driven insights with intuition for effective marketing decisions

- Focus on customer needs and problems when developing go-to-market strategies

- Use an innovation pipeline framework to guide strategy from problem identification to launch

- Prioritize quality over quantity in marketing by targeting specific audiences with tailored messages

- Stay informed through industry newsletters, podcasts, and thought leaders

- Embrace curiosity and ask better questions to drive growth and innovation

- Align different parts of the organization for cohesive go-to-market execution

- Adapt agile approaches to market research for speed and relevance

Quotes

"Being a degree off at your starting point can leave you a mile off down the road." -Victoria Sakal

Recommended Resource

Newsletters:

- Scott Clary's newsletter on mental models and business inspiration

- James Clear's newsletter on life frameworks and processes

- Seth Godin's daily digestible content

Podcasts:-

Lenny's Podcast, which covers product strategy and related disciplines
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