In this special bonus episode of Go To Market After Hours called Closing Time, Mark Bliss is joined by growth sales executive Doug Roberson, and event marketing guru Nicole Stasiak, to discuss various topics related to sales and marketing in the B2B SaaS industry. They talk about aligning sales and marketing, share their worst boss experiences, discuss their favorite growth hacks for 2024, and highlight outdated practices in sales and marketing. They also discuss what makes a good event and how to approach it from both the marketing and sales perspectives. They emphasize the need to think outside the box and avoid generic swag and alcohol-centric experiences. They also highlight the significance of collaboration between sales and marketing teams in event planning and budgeting.

Takeaways

• Aligning sales and marketing is crucial for success in the B2B SaaS industry. Communication, defining a North Star, and collaboration are key.
• Trusting your expertise and being confident in your knowledge is important in overcoming imposter syndrome.
• AI is a powerful tool that can revolutionize sales and marketing. It can enhance efficiency, provide valuable insights, and improve customer experiences.
• Outdated practices in sales and marketing, such as event passports, should be replaced with more creative and experiential approaches.
• A good event requires buy-in from both the leadership team and the sales team. It should focus on engaging attendees, understanding their needs, and providing personalized experiences.
• Hack the human by appealing to the interests and needs of potential customers to attract them to your booth and start meaningful conversations.
• Understand the target audience and create unique and engaging experiences at events.
• Collaboration between sales and marketing teams is crucial in event planning and budgeting.
• Make a positive impression at events and avoid underperforming.
• Measure event success and adjust strategies accordingly.
• Hope for the future lies in the accessibility of resources and technology.

Sound Bites

"Aligning sales and marketing is more of a partnership in the startup environment."
"Gen AI has been a fun and valuable growth hack in 2024."
"Letting go of imposter syndrome has been a personal growth hack in 2024."
"What would make me walk by and be like, 'oh I'm going over there, you know, it's not a generic water bottle. It's not a stress ball. It's not all this stupid swag, right?'"
"How lazy it is for marketers in general to go all in on just an alcohol-centric experience."
"The venue needs to be unusual or really upscale or hard to get in or something that people can be like, 'wow, look where I got to go tonight.'"

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Summary

In this conversation, Mark Bliss and Kelsey Flatau discuss the importance of creativity in marketing, especially in the context of creating "fresh" event marketing strategies for old-school and boring companies. They also explore how to scale creative ideas for different event sizes, the significance of staying organized during events, the need for follow-up and building connections with attendees (and your sales team), and tips for getting creative ideas approved and implemented.

Sound Bites

"We're definitely going to dive into all the events, the good, the bad, and the interesting."
"Memorable follow-up is worthless if they don't remember any of the booths."
"Don't try to shove this down my throat. I don't want to read a novel on your booth. I just want the words on your something to make you guys stand out."
"I like to reference it as my event Bible and as I mentioned earlier, read it and not ask me any questions because all the information is in there."
"I wanna over communicate so that it's ingrained in people's heads. This is where all the information lives. Everything I need is right here. Don't bother."

Takeaways

• Creativity is crucial in marketing, even for old-school and boring companies.
• Scaling creative ideas for different event sizes requires careful planning and execution.
• Follow-up and building connections with attendees are essential for event success and ROI.
• Presenting a comprehensive plan with visuals and involving the sales team can help get creative ideas approved and implemented.
• Treating salespeople as humans and professionals, fostering trust, and staying organized are key to successful marketing efforts. Create detailed event briefs to ensure all necessary information is easily accessible to everyone involved in the event.
• Use visual aids like decks and photos to over-communicate information and make it more memorable for the team.
• Prioritize larger trade shows for brand awareness and regional events for feeding hungry reps.
• Engage with social media to increase followers and promote event activities and giveaways.
• Implement creative marketing strategies to stand out in crowded trade show environments.
  
  
  

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In this episode, Mark Bliss and Greg Acquavella discuss the key components of a successful Account-Based Marketing (ABM) campaign. They emphasize the importance of understanding the value of a sales rep's time and providing them with valuable information. They also highlight the need for clear leadership buy-in and a solid understanding of the target audience. Other key components include analyzing CRM data, establishing feedback loops, and having a field marketing budget. They also discuss the role of ABM platforms and share their biggest failures in implementing ABM.

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