To give you a
little background on
who I am, I started
out my career, I
actually was in
database marketing
and then actually
did some loyalty
marketing for Starwood
Preferred Guest,
moved on to Target.com,
and then worked for
Procter & Gamble for
14 years in beauty.
Now, I'm electrifying and
beautifying the
appliance industry
each and every
day. I love it.
Well, I'm excited to
be here. Hi everyone,
my name's Maura
Rivera. Mary and I
were just saying we
have very different
backgrounds. So I think
we'll bring different
perspectives to
this conversation.
But I'm the CMO of
Qualified. We're the
latest addition to the
Salesforce portfolio.
Welcome to the family.
Excited to be here.
I've been the CMO of
Qualified for seven
years, since kind of
the beginning when we
were a true startup. And
we help B2B marketers
generate pipeline at
scale, really focused
on pipeline generation.
We have an AISDR
agent. And I grew up
in really a product
marketing, customer
marketing background.
And then when I entered
this role as CMO, I
really had to get
familiar with demand gen,
paid, everything that
we're doing from a
data perspective. So I
feel like I've learned
by doing over the
last seven years in my
CMO role. Yeah, now
I know you both have
very different backgrounds
but are feeling a
lot of the same pressures
as our marketers
all over and you know
why we're all here.
ROI has completely
shifted and how
we tell that story
of measurement
and what's worth
investing in is
something that
continues to shift.
I'm wondering how are
you and your teams
feeling and how is this
impacting your work
and how you're spending
your time? Yeah, I
can go ahead and get
started. I think that
if you're a marketer
who doesn't have a
great relationship with
your CFO, you're not
going to succeed.
Most important thing.
Yeah. And I think like
what we've really had
to do over the last
few years is become
storytellers externally,
but also become
storytellers internally
of why you're investing
in certain things for
your brand. Marketing
from a B2B perspective,
and I'm sure in
your world too, it's
not you put a dollar
in you get a dollar out
you need to make sure
that you're investing
in that top of funnel
brand awareness
because it's really
really noisy right now
and then also what are
the tried and true
tactics that you're doing
to pull buyers through
the funnel from
an roi perspective i
think you need to be
able to talk to your
cfo about not just a
budget line item but i
like to try and shift
it and focus on here's
how we're going to
invest and here's what
that investment is
going to get us from a
brand perspective and
also from a pipeline
and ACV perspective.
So I think it
all goes back to
storytelling and how
you can build that
relationship to
kind of get that
support from your
finance counterparts.
Mary, your products
are sold in retailers,
which you don't always
have full control
over. How do you look
at that approach when
you don't have full
control over that and
where you invest your
time in marketing?
It's on? Can you
guys hear? Yeah,
there we go. Okay,
we're live. We're
live. Okay. Let's
see, where were we?
So what I was
saying was brand is
really that trust and
marketing are those
deposits, okay?
And in the end, as
we look across awareness
and consideration
and looking at
social, you know,
cultural listening,
everything that we're
doing is trying to
make sure that we're
building on our brand
investments in the right
way at the right time.
I think the biggest
thing that's changed
from a brand perspective
is you're going
after you know who
your who is and your
what but the how and the
tools that you do
it with have changed
and the ones that do
best for each of my
brands might be slightly
different so making
those investment choices
per brand because
for me it's a portfolio
that I have I have
a house of brands and
I need to make the
investments by each of
the brands strategically
and making sure that
they're making a
great profitable
investment for us. Yeah.
Yeah. It's very
interesting.
Maura, you've talked
a bit about how the
funnel has changed,
how, you know, top of
funnel is different and
the funnel is really
gone. What does that
mean and how does
B2B marketing, how
do you really grow
there? Yeah. I mean, I
think as B2B marketers,
we've all followed
the same playbook
for 20 plus years
where we have all these
buyers, they come in at
the top of the funnel,
we drop them into
something called
nurture to try and warm
them up, and then we
use humans to try and
get them converted.
And I think it's been
a really interesting
moment in time, I
think, for all of us
as marketers, because
you look at that
playbook and you're
like, in the age of AI,
that's crazy that we're
still following this
old playbook. So I
think as we're entering
this new era where we
have all these agents
on our side, it's been
a really interesting
moment in time to
kind of reflect on
how are we bringing
buyers into the funnel?
How are we using agents
and automation to
make sure that we're
serving up these really
personalized experiences.
And when the moment
in time is right to
convert them, how do
we do that quickly and
efficiently? So it's
a little scary, I
think, as marketers
right now, because we
know we have to reinvent
the playbook. We don't
know exactly what
it looks like. But I
feel like events like
Connections make it
feel very tangible that
there's new technology
at our fingertips
to kind of reimagine
the buying experience.
And we talk a lot about
in B2B, like buyers
are humans, right? So
how do we deliver an
experience like GE
delivers to them that's
instant and it's
personalized and it's the
exact appliance or
product that you want?
Like B2B buying from
businesses should feel
exactly the same way,
but we've been a little
bit stuck behind. So
like we're looking
at consumer brands and
how do we make sure
we're taking inspiration?
Because in these age
of LLMs, like people
expect a perfect
experience from GE,
just like they do from
Salesforce, just
like they do from
any other business
out there. So it's
like, how do we just
kind of accelerate that
yeah everybody wants
to be known you know
you give so much of
your data you're in the
system you want them
to know you yeah and i
love it you're building
on who i am and then
i'm like great yes
i'm ready to buy exactly
if we have that data
at our fingertips
let's use it let's use
it make it easier for
and make it frictionless
well and you took a
very big bold move to
you know change how
you were using sdrs all
of your inbound sdrs
are agents now yes What
gave you the confidence
and conviction to
make that move without
all the data points?
Yes, it was a little
scary. Well, so our
product is an SDR
agent. And when we were
going to launch it two
years ago, we're like,
we've got to walk the
walk. We've got to
drink our own champagne,
eat our own dog
food, whatever the
phrase is. I like the
champagne one. I like
the champagne one. Yes.
And so we were launching
this product and
we're like, well,
we have to use it. I
used to have a team of
10 inbound SDRs. They
worked all of our
inbound pipeline. And
then we rolled out
this agent. I think
when you're bringing
agents onto your team,
you've got to try it,
right? But we tried
it in a way that felt
safe for our brand.
We first started using
our agent on nights
and weekends when we
knew humans weren't
working our inbound
funnel anyway. So
we're like, let's at
least try and engage.
One thing that was
paramount for me was
that our brand was
preserved. I wanted
to make sure that
they were having as
good, if not better,
experience with the
agent as they were
with the humans. And I
was like insane at
the beginning. I would
look at every
conversation a website
visitor would have
with our agent. I
wanted to make sure
the agent didn't flub.
And once I started to
build that confidence,
we let her loose to
do more things and
to work all of our
inbound funnel. And then
what we did was we
redeployed all of our
inbound SDRs who would
work all of our inbound
funnel onto higher
value things. We
promoted some of them
into account executives.
We made sure that
some of them started
to do outbound
prospecting to go after
big accounts. So
it's not that we were
reducing our
workforce. we were just
redeploying our workforce
to do other things.
And one thing that's
been really interesting
is I now have people
on my team who
manage the agents. So
all of our marketing
agents, how are we
making sure that every
day those agents are
upholding our brand,
they're delivering
that personalized
experiences, they're
generating more pipeline
for us. So it's also
like birthed these
new roles on the
marketing team, which
I think is really
empowering for us as
marketers. And it's kind
of changed the shape
of our org entirely.
Yeah. I mean, you've
completely shifted
at how marketing
operates within your
company and your team.
Mary, how are you
seeing in, from a CPG
and retail point of
view, what are you
seeing AI really move
the needle on and
make a difference?
Or are there some
things that are just
feeling like the
hype is further than
the actual reality?
No, I mean, I really,
what we've seen is
with, you know, insight
development and being
able to have GPTs
that are holding our
segments. You know,
our cultural listening
has been heightened.
we're able to bring
so much together to get
those cues and trends
of what the consumers
are looking for.
Pricing optimization
has been phenomenal.
Content creation and
versioning, you know,
getting all the CAD
drawings, getting it all
together to make it
happen, we're able to
really streamline. So
there's so many good
things that are coming
from AI. It truly is
an accelerator for
our business. On the
other hand, there's a
little bit around what
we must remember from
a brand perspective,
okay? For me,
it's, you know,
the judgment. What
we think about from a
strategy perspective,
we can't replace. There
really has to be the
empathy when we think
about consumers and
making sure that we're
interested in what
their feelings and wants
are. We need to make
sure we're in tune on
that. And brands need
to have courage, too.
So an AI agent can't
exactly tell you the
courage that you need
to have you need to
have that conviction
as a brand and you need
to have the building
blocks that you're
building for your
brand over the years to
continue to be on the
right path which is it
can help you with but
you strategically have
to make those moves
just like martha stewart
said yesterday right
she talked about
snoop dog and doing
all the things that she
did along the way
those are moves like we
did on cafe appliances
we've enjoyed having
and Kate Hudson be a
part of our storyline.
Or currently right
now, we're in Andy's
kitchen, Devil Wears
Prada 2. Those are
strategic moves that
we are in places
where we want to
increase our audiences
and be known and
famous for the people
that we're interacting
with on that human
side that we want to
recommend our brands.
Yeah, I mean, those
are choices that
obviously speak directly
to me. Those are
things I love.
Yeah, I know. Very
effective marketing
tactics, but ones that
don't always have the
clearest ROI story.
So, you know, I
know having the CFO
as the best friend
is one of the most
important things,
but when you're
sitting across from
your CFO talking
about these long
-term investments,
what are you, how
are you making these
convictions? How are you
getting them on board?
Yeah, it was a
great point that you
made, Maura. There's
nothing better
than making sure that
you can communicate
and have those
great storylines.
Let me break it down
one little quick way.
For me, I play golf.
And so at the end of
the day, when you're
learning to play a
sport that you love
and you want to get
better at it, you can't
just throw out the
scorecard. You can
at the beginning. But
when you're getting into
the game, you really
have to track things.
You have to make
sure if you want to get
your handicap lower,
I'm going to want
my putts to go down.
The same thing
as I think about,
you know, presenting
in the forum of
making sure
that people are
understanding where
we're trying to go,
you've got to come back
to, and by the way,
I don't remember
everything that everybody's
doing. I try. I really
try. But you've got
to remind me, what was
the objective of what
we were trying to
accomplish? what were the
key KPIs? What were the
metrics that we were
wanting to move? What
happened? Tell me
what happened, but then
synthesize it to the
so what. At the end of
the day, I don't really
want to just see a
dashboard. I want to
know from you what you
are seeing and what's
next. What do you
recommend? The biggest thing
that you have in each
one of your seats is
to be recommending for
your products, your
brands, your teams.
That's what leadership's
about. It's about the
recommendation, taking
a look at all the
data that, by the way,
AI is amazing that way.
It synthesizes. I put
reports in. I mean,
it is giving me those
crystal cues. So utilize
all of that and then
look like the champ
and recommend. Yeah, I
love that. Let's talk a
little bit more about,
you know, what is in
your playbook. I know
you've talked a lot
about brand craving.
What does that mean in
different industries?
creating that brand
love and that craving
for a brand is really
getting to the insight
of what the consumer
is looking for and
making sure that you
create that undeniable, oh
my gosh, I really want
that. And so really
in the end, those are
cues that you bring
along the game in regards
to what you choose.
They're all choices.
A brand is all about
the choices that you
make. And so for cafe,
which I was telling
you about earlier matte
white finish matte
black or stainless
customized handles those
are all choices that we
didn't make on other
parts of our brands
because that brand
is serving a consumer
segment that i really
want to win with and then
there's other brands
that we put more of
some of our um you know
uh online and wi-fi
features that are really
even more for smart
smarter living for GE
profile so it's making
choices on the brands
to delineate on who
wants it because if
it ends up all being
same that isn't a house
of brands and that's
what the worry is
sometimes within AI is we
have to make sure that
our brand guidelines
our standards everything
that we're feeding
it differentiates the
brands right I'm not
trying to create one
hat I'm trying to have
a house of brands
that I'm able to serve
the consumers out in
the marketplace and
delight them and make
sure that when they get
it in their homes
they're wowed and they're
so proud to own it yeah
and it's exactly what
they expected and were
excited to be bringing
in because we did a
lot of insight work
as we learned about
what they wanted right
and now you have access
to every piece of
data and what your
customers are thinking the
same way that anybody
goes on and you know
looks on reddit what
do people think about
this like you have
access to all of those
insights yes and there's
nothing more like
that i love is when
somebody something comes
out and like the kitchen
assistant that just
is coming out on GE
profile that you can
do scan to list like
they're like oh my gosh
I love that and you're
just so happy because
of all that research
and the product
development that the
engineers have done and you're
delighting consumers
now some other people
might not love it but
that's because you
have a house of brands
and it's serving
different segments not
everything is for everyone
which is okay right
um Maura I want to
ask you, you know,
part of brand evolution
that we've seen with a
lot of companies comes
down to, you know,
branding your agents and
making them feel, you
know, a human connection
to others. So Pandora
has Gemma, you
guys have Piper. Tell
us how you see that as
a part of brand identity
and how other companies
should be looking at
building out. Yeah,
I mean, I think if
you rewind two years
ago, it was agent
overload and agents were
just certain workflows
or just did certain
things i think this
personification of agents
is very exciting but
as marketers you want
to make sure it feels
like an extension of
your team so we we call
i said yesterday in
the keynote like we
call our product piper
because she generates
pipeline what we didn't
first see is i love this
oh yes not everybody
gets it right away
that they'll have this
aha moment we're like
yes um but we didn't
really anticipate
how much all of our
customers would personify
their agents Brex has
Brexton. Lattice has
Laddie. Box has Bella.
And it's because as
marketers, we want to
feel like every brand
touchpoint really
exudes who we are. And
so if it's an agent out
in the market who's
greeting you, who's
handling a customer
service question, you
want to feel like it
really personifies who
the brand is. I think
it's been a really
cool evolution to watch.
And then it starts
to feel, I feel like
as marketers, you feel
like I have these
agents who work for me.
They're an extension
of my brand. Do they
look the right way?
What are they named?
Are they saying the
right thing? And I think
as you think about how
you kind of continue
that brand evolution
over the next few
years, how do you see
those agents making
sure they're delivering
that perfect GE
touch point or that
perfect B2B touch point?
So I think it's been
kind of a cool exercise
and I think it's helped
us grasp the work
to be done by the agent
also. So Piper for
us, we know she
generates pipeline, I can
kind of see how she's
going to go to work for
me versus being
something that's kind of
vague and abstract. Yeah.
I feel more ownership
over what she's
doing. So I think it's
been cool. I think you
do need to communicate
with your customers
that this is an agent.
It's not a human. Yeah.
Be straightforward
with them. Say this
is an agent. They're
here to help. If we
want, if you want us to
route you to a human,
we can absolutely do
that. So I don't think
you want to trick
your customers, but you
want it to, um, so you
want to be
straightforward of that
communication which is
really important it creates
a nicer bond and i
think the transparency
is absolutely critical
many of us are very
used to interacting
with agents on a regular
basis i mean we've
been doing it over the
phone for how many
years yes um but people
there are a lot of people
who are apprehensive
and so having that
transparency and
creating that connection
i think makes it a lot
yes a lot more real
and fun for people and
i'm curious to see
where it goes oh sorry.
I was just like video
even. We're so used
to voice agents. So
you said that. That's
something we've gotten
comfortable with.
Video, we're still
getting used to it, right?
Some people are like,
I like this. I feel
like I'm talking, you
know, I can have a face
-to-face conversation.
Some people aren't
quite comfortable. But
over the next like six
months, this technology
is changing so, so
fast. Like people, I
think, are going to get
much more comfortable
with it. I think when
we're at Connections
2027, that's going to
be table stakes that
you're having these face
-to-face conversations
with agents. And I was
just going to build
that I think in the
end, the character of your
brand that you develop
and you bring to
life, that's where
marketing is fun. That's
the creativity that you're
bringing. And the
agent, when it has such
a great personality
and you're interacting
with it, it makes it
super fun. So building
on your agent and making
sure that just like
any person, it's got
character, it's got
personality, it's got
tone, voice, all of that,
bring it to life and
people will be delighted
by that experience
and that it's so
frictionless yes we've
had a lot of our customers
have had like they've
had team contests to
try and come up with the
names of their agents
their creative team
has done like overnight
like brainstorm
sessions because I feel
like it has helped kind
of flex that creative
muscle and how do you
bring it to life yeah
I want to challenge the
premise of our session
for a second so you
know we talked a little
bit about marketing
internally and how
making sure that your
story internally is
absolutely critical and
I think all of us as
marketers have spent a
lot of time trying to you
know prove something
internally that at the
end of the day our
time is money too and
that is a lot of effort
that we spend trying
to tell our story is
there a healthier way to
think about marketing
and think about ROI
when we spend so much
time trying to defend
many of the dollars
that we're spending you
know I think it's
interesting you made a great
point that we spend
a lot of sweat hours
grouping things out.
And I think one of the
greatest things is AI
is able to help us with
getting some of that
data synthesized and
getting it in there to
basically not have it
be so laborious on
going to this Excel
spreadsheet, going to the
next one and stuff like
that. So utilizing that
is super important.
We do zero-based budgeting
in our brand team.
We actually started that
for the organization.
We can all be thanked
for that because
everybody's doing zero
-based budgeting now,
which means every line
item in our budget
has an ROI attached
to it known or what we
believe it to be. And
I think if you think
about your own money
and how you're going
to invest it, if it
were your own company,
would you do that? And
the more that we're
able to ingrain that
in our own team and
understand that from a
portfolio of investments,
some you're making
for the long term some
you're making for a
shorter you know you're
making demand for the
sales just within that
week it really comes
down to the choices
that you're trying to
do but you can't just
do one thing right you
need to kind of have
a mix and you need many
of them to be working
but at some point
you have to have a
prioritization of what's
most important to that
brand or product at
that time and be true
to that because you
can't do everything yeah
and so usually it's
in steps that you're
taking as you build it
out. So for us, displays
are a big investment
choice for us. You
see them in store.
Then if you look at the
digital display that
we have, we do a lot of
work on that to make
sure your online
experience is excellent
and you understand the
features and benefits and
what you're receiving.
So it's just around
making those choices
and making sure that
on a brand, you're
very clear on what are
the priorities that
you're making at this
time for your brand. I
love that. I want to
get very, like, tactical
and practical about
it. So, you know, one
thing you said is,
like, what the data says
or what you believe
it to be, which is
often the case, right?
We look at the data. We
think it says this
thing. But as marketers,
you often have this
gut feeling that
something, you know,
this is what we should be
doing. This is what
we should be investing
in. So you have a
marketing leader who feels
this. The data might
indicate, but it's iffy.
But they know they
have that conviction.
what would you tell
them to say if they're,
you know, walking in
to get an investment?
One of the greatest
things that you have
with having a career and
people develop a gut.
And so there's not a
walk away from your
gut. You do want to
use your data to make
sure that it is pointing
you in the right
direction, that you
are balancing saying,
yes, I mean, the data
tells me this. So, but
don't be only data driven
that you're missing
a bigger picture.
There could be an
insight that you know
in the marketplace that
you're going to deliver
on. So one of the
greatest things about
a team and making sure
that you've got a good
leader who's a part
of it is that you're
trusting your team.
You're trusting their
gut. And so you're
flexing that along
with great decisions on
ROI based. But some are
big bets that you're
making with some,
not as much data, but
your team either has
had a record of doing a
great job with it and
you believe in them.
So there's a fine
balance on doing all the
things together. Yeah.
Maura, same question
to you. Yeah. I mean,
you have to have
that fabric of all of
the investments from
brand all the way to
top of funnel. And I
think as sometimes as
marketers, like a new
CMO will come in and
they're like, the first
thing we're going to
do is redo the website
and launch a big brand
campaign. And it's
like, maybe fight that
urge a little bit,
prove out that you
have a lot of, you have
a really good grasp
on the business, prove
out that you have the
results and that earns
you the right to take
some of those bigger
brand plays. But I
think if you intimately
know your customer, you
know what's going to
resonate. So I'm sure
you talk with customers
every single day,
right? I said, I'm doing
a kitchen remodel
and I want to use GE
appliances. You're going
to influence me. But I
think as a marketer, if
you know your customer,
you know your buyer,
you know what those
right brand investments
will be. And you
do have to push for
them. Like we had an
experience last year
where, you know, we wanted
to do a big Warriors
basketball sponsorship,
who I know the
Warriors are not in the
playoffs. So, but we
are, we are here, but I
had to, it was a, it was
a bit of a risk, right?
I, I knew I couldn't
like prove the ROI
just through pipeline,
just through ACB, but
it felt like this
moment in time where it
was the right thing
for us to do. Cause we
have a Bay area based
customer base. We knew
that there was a lot
of momentum going into
the season. And I made
the fight for it. And
the way that we saw
that payoff just
anecdotally and
through being able
to bring customers
to that experience
paid off in folds.
But we really had to
kind of go with that gut.
And I knew it was the
right thing for our
customer at the time.
What were the follow
-on metrics that you
used to say that was
successful? Yeah. Well,
so we had the ability
to bring a bunch of
customers in Pipeline. So
we were able to influence
Pipeline through
it. So that was really
like the hard ROI that
I could prove for it.
But we had a million
customers send us pictures
of our advertisements
in the arena and
say, I just saw Piper
on this huge graphic
and I'll never be able
to tie that back to
ROI. But I know in my
gut. Were you measuring
anything on social
for what you saw?
Yeah, we were measuring
social reach. We were
measuring new customers
that created pipeline,
influence pipeline,
deal velocity, also
how it influenced our
ability to bring those
customers in the door.
But then there were
a lot of softer
metrics also just
that made us feel
like it was the right
investment. Yeah,
yeah. I love that.
I love it too.
I mean, it is
a great way and
a really important
one. So I
want to talk
about, you know,
a brand right now,
not necessarily
your own, but what
do you think is
growing in the right
way when you look
at other brands and
how are you taking
those learnings
back to your own?
I mean, for me right
now, I'm taking
a lot of inspiration
from these AI
native companies,
these startups.
Like, I think that they
are able to move so
quickly. They are
building teams in a
different way than we
did five, 10 years ago.
They're putting content
out that's like high
quality and marries
the brand. I feel like
there's this mentality
of better done than
perfect with how agile
these new companies
are. so I'm taking a
lot of inspiration from
them right like they're
kind of rewriting
the playbook and I think
it's it's an exciting
time to be a marketer
for that reason my
career from being in
beauty you know we've
done stuff from you
know brand ambassadors
that you know were
models then we went into
reality stars you know
we've been into mega
micro influencers I
look at the social
selling and what people
are able to do and break
down from a demo
perspective I really think
those great demos of
being able to share
like what's working
and that authenticity
of you know how is it
working in my home I
think that goes a long
way you know it's just
like within the home
makeovers and things
like that that people
love people want to
see things for what they
are and I think those
work really hard and
so I think that's why
social selling works
hard you know I think
people want to see
that they want to see
what those influencers
are bringing to life
and sharing their
experiences yeah one it's
interesting too with
you know how LLMs are
shifting, all that will
feed into the system.
So as customers are
starting to search and
find what are the right
products for them,
those validations
are all going to come
through. And it takes
a good amount. How are
you approaching a macro
strategy, leveraging
content creators,
leveraging
influencers, and
balancing those elements
with traditional
investments?
It's a cake recipe.
We're kind of leveraging
in the end what's
working hardest for
each of the brands
so from designers
perspectives from you
know making sure that we
have those representing
our brands so for
on monogram or on
cafe and then making
sure that you're kind
of you've got your
micro and macro influencers
and then we have
a collective of people
that we work with
for on ge profile
opal nugget ice we
basically have a group
of people that we're
working with there it
really comes down to
what we're trying to
share and if it's a
new product that
we're launching in the
marketplace that we
want to bring out and we
want people to use
it and talk about it.
And so it comes down
to then, you know,
there's traditional
advertising, there's,
you know, spots that
we're doing through
digital and things
like that. It's a
recipe that we've
learned that's most
successful for each
of the brands to reach
the audience that we
want to create. And
that's what we perfect
over time. Yeah.
What metric, so to
speak, comes across
your desk that
you're most excited
to see other than
closed pipeline?
I mean, are we growing
share or are we not?
Especially in the
market right now. Sales,
obviously. Then we
want to be basically
looking at our overall
brand health metrics.
So conversion is
very important.
Consideration. I need
to continue to increase
my awareness but have
more people walking
in the door to basically
already be in the
consideration set yeah
because you know as
much as i would love
to say that people wake
up and you know they're
like i'm just going
to take two refrigerators
throw a laundry
unit in and a couple
microwaves you know i
wish it were like that
and those impulse buyers
that are in appliances
uh please see me
um but they don't they're
a bit more planned
or they might break
in your home i'm sorry
for that but that's the
way it goes so my job
is to make sure that I'm
in your consideration
set that you've heard
of our brands and
that is something that
we need to be working
on all the time I
need to make sure that
you're seeing our brands
in different places
because you're not
going to buy appliances
you know every year
it's over periods of
time five to seven
years so I need to be in
those consideration
sets and particularly in
the new home buyers I
want to make sure that
you're selecting us
right off the bat, and
we can hold you for a
lifetime of value as
you come into our house
of brands. Yeah, I
mean, you've got customers
who are both, you
know, doing research
for months and months
and months, and then
all of a sudden, the
dishwasher's broken,
it's got to be replaced.
Yes. And they're
making that decision
quickly. And I suggest
cafe appliances,
you know, that
would be great.
So yeah, and that's
what we're up against
all the time in our
industry, is really
making sure that
they are aware of our
brands through different
touch points. Yeah.
Maura, what about
you? What are the most
exciting metrics to
see come across your
desk? Yeah. For me,
website traffic is
still hugely valuable.
For me, that's a
big indicator of brand
awareness. People
are coming inbound.
They know who we are.
New pipeline that's
sourced through the
marketing team that
shows me I'm getting the
right opportunities who
fit our ICP into our
sales funnel. And then
I'm really interested
right now in our rankings
in the LLMs. Cause
it's like, there's
this whole new world of
how are we showing up
when people are searching
on LLMs and are we
showing up in the
right way? Are the
answers correct? So I am
like really excited about
digging into some of
that new data. Cause
it's new for me and
I'm trying to figure
out what's important,
what's not important.
Um, so that I feel like
is a whole new metric
set that excites me.
I just, I want to make
sure we're there when
people are searching
for us. So when they
do come to our website,
they have all of the
information and they're
excited about our
products. And I'm
curious to see where that
all goes, right? I think
there's some vanity
metrics for us as B2B
marketers that aren't
as relevant anymore.
Like volume of leads
captured. Part of me is
like, who cares? They're
easy, but they're not
the most important.
Yeah. I don't think
that's the core metric
that we as CMOs should
carry on our shoulders
anymore. It should be
about those interested
inbound buyers, the
new pipeline that's
generated, and then
are they finding us in
the right ways when
they're looking for it?
So some of those vanity
metrics, even like
social followers, it's
important, but it's
not the most important.
It's not what my board
cares about when I go
to a board meeting.
So I think we're kind
of, we're becoming
more strategic in our
role that we own some of
those core metrics
to the business, not
some of the, just all
the fluffier kind of
like, oh, marketing just
does XYZ. I feel like
it's empowering us
with more ownership,
which is exciting. The
LLM piece is a very
interesting one. We had
Swan sit here yesterday.
She was talking
about, you know, does
LLM love your brand and
how critical it is as
you go through these
digital transformations
to keep that as a
core part of your
marketing strategy. Yes.
Because at the end of
the day, it is representing
so much of your
story, either what
you've put out or, you
know, influencers or
content creators have
or customers and their
thoughts. I'm wondering
how are both of you
looking at LLM as a
key part of strategy
to influence or to use
within your teams?
Yeah. I mean, if you're
not paying attention
to it you're gonna fall
behind you have to be
paying attention to
it so we're shifting
from this world for
b2b where you have like
this long-form content
that drives organic
traffic to how do you
make sure that you
have um really valuable
content out there so
for us we've actually
we started using
profound it helps us see
all of our llm scoring
and what keywords are
using and that gives
us a data foundation
to shape the content
that we're creating so
how do you make sure
that you have like
listicles on your site
that compare but a lot
of it comes from third
-party content. So
how do you make sure
that you have customers
out there who are
reviewing your product?
How do you make sure
that you're involved
in Reddit threads and
all of those third
-party sites that are
talking about your
brand? And that's what's
gonna help you show
up. So first is like
get a hold on the
data and then shape a
strategy to make sure
that you're not only
discovered there, but
you're positioned
there in the right way.
And so I have people
on my team who that's
part of their role now
is thinking about that
strategy. Yeah, I love
that. And that's one
of the key things that
everybody needs to
be doing to make sure
that your brands and
products are staying
right top of mind. So it's
a whole new stream,
but it's just that how,
you know, as we were
talking about earlier,
it's just shifting
some of the work that
you need to do. Because
if you're not at the
top of the LLMs, you're...
Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
And so that means
that your content
isn't what it needs
to be. And so that's
what we're working
on as well, is
making sure that
we have the best
content out there
to be at the top of.
Do you have that
conversation with the
retailers that you guys
are working with? Because
I know that inventory
can show up within
an LLM, and that's
such a critical way for
customers to search
and find, okay, I want
to go to this store
to purchase this item.
Yeah, I mean, those
are all indicators of
who you're going to
purchase through. So
making sure that the
data that we have and
those feeds are showing
up correctly and that
are indicating whether
or not, hey, this
is the retailer that you
want to go to because
they have it on hand
and it's at that
store. And if you want
it today, it's there.
Yeah, I love it. All
right, well, I have
one closing question
for you. it's a
quick rapid-fire one
okay Mara we'll start
with you okay no
pressure and no pressure
in three years
marketers who win the
growth conversations
will be the ones who
stopped doing this
I think following
the old playbook right
and reinvented the
new playbook of it
yeah stops basically
don't stay on your
laurels. Make sure that
you are moving forward
and adapting into
the AI and bringing
it to, with great
judgment, but using
it as an accelerator.
Yeah. I mean, that is
it. It is all about,
you know, it's an
exciting time to be a
marketer. It's like, what
does that playbook look
like? How are you
forward thinking? How do
you transform your
organization? And, and
in the end, we're
transforming right as we
go. And that's the fun
of it. What I've said
to my team is that
agility is what defines
us. You have to be
willing to move at a very
fast pace with this
frontier. Things are
changing right out in
front of us. Things are
happening. So it's
like in the end, you've
got to be willing to just
move along and change
with it and make sure
that your strategies
are, you know,
leveraging all the latest
and greatest knowledge
that you have. Yeah.
And then you know how
to tell that story back
and what the ROI,
whether tangible or
intangible is in order
to maintain confidence
with your teams and your
board. And be willing
to make some mistakes
too. Maybe you try
something, it's not
impactful, then you shift
gears. But if you
try and wait for the
perfect playbook, it's
never going to fall in
your lap. And never
ignore your profitability.
At the end of the day,
that is why you are
running a business.
So when somebody's
asking you about it, you
must know the answer.
You can't be throwing
money away. You need
to be investing and
basically making sure
that those investments
are sound, but that
you're learning from
those mistakes or those
challenges or those
things that you could be
doing better. Quickly
adjust that because
you're trying to run a
very profitable business
as it's you know ROI
or bust you know let's
get ROI or bust let's
get it done yeah
exactly I love it thank
you both so much for
joining me today thank
you everyone for joining
us thank you thank
you thank you so much
