Building Your Marketing Platform:

10 do’s & don’ts of an effective marketing machine

Ellie MirmanCMO, Crayon

@ellieeille | crayon.co

What’s the secret formula?

There is no secret formula

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There is a secret effective methodology

10 do’s & don’ts of building an effective marketing machine

#1 Do speak in data

Align marketing with bottom line metrics

Review metrics daily

Measure every initiative

Resume Screening:• Results• Growth• Initiative & leadership• Commitment &

resilience

Hire data-driven minds

Interview Questions:• Past examples• Thought process• Open-ended questions

Data analysis breeds accountability and empowerment. It should be part of every job.“

#2 Don’t do everything

Persona DevelopmentPositioning ResearchCompetitive Research

User ExperienceMobile/Social Apps

BloggingSocial Media

Content OffersPublic Relations

Analyst RelationsAutomated Nurturing

Product MarketingSales Collateral

Tradeshow Sponsorships

Paid/Sponsored MediaDirect MailAdvertising

ComarketingLanding Page & CTA Creation

Landing Page & CTA A/B TestingSearch Engine Optimization

Email MarketingBranding

Graphic DesignWebsite Content Management

Website RedesignSocial Nurturing

Closed Loop Reporting

Persona DevelopmentPositioning ResearchCompetitive Research

User ExperienceMobile/Social Apps

BloggingSocial Media

Content OffersPublic Relations

Analyst RelationsAutomated Nurturing

Product MarketingSales Collateral

Tradeshow Sponsorships

Paid/Sponsored MediaDirect MailAdvertising

ComarketingLanding Page & CTA Creation

Landing Page & CTA A/B TestingSearch Engine Optimization

Email MarketingBranding

Graphic DesignWebsite Content Management

Website RedesignSocial Nurturing

Closed Loop Reporting

Marketing by Company Stage

Founding

Product

Product-Market Fit

Funnel Formula

Market researchPersona developmentThought leadership

Funnel developmentLead generation

Optimize and scale programs

Scalable Funnel

Team growth Example 1

1. CMO2. Generalist / Lead Gen Marketer3. Content Marketer4. Lead Gen / Ops Marketer5. Video / Content6. Data / Content7. PR Specialist8. Channel Marketing x29. Product Marketing x310. Lead Gen Team Growth x2

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Team growth Example 2

1. Generalist / Content Marketer2. Generalist / Lead Gen Marketer3. VP Marketing4. Video / Content5. Events6. Product Marketing7. Product Marketing8. Design / Lead Gen Conversion9. Content Marketer10. Paid Media

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Focus: not just for Tactics, but also segments

#3 Do test every “best practice”

“Long forms are bad for conversion”

“tradeshows are dead”

“blog for tofu”

Top of the funnel content can differ greatly from company to company, industry to industry“

#4 Don’t wait to invest in top of the funnel

Invest in the top of the funnel early

CREDIT: john bonini, HubSpot Blog

“Six Month Rule”

Benefits of early tofu

Build audience Test messaging

It’s never too early to start a blog“

#5 Do align funnel process with company stage & customer experience

Should we send all leads to sales, or just some mqls?

the case for sending all leads to sales

Figure out the sales process & identify your best customers

Use data to identify lead qualification & scoring criteria

But consider your industry and sales process

Match the pre- and post-sales experience (low touch vs. high touch)

But consider your industry and sales process

Map the experience to what the prospects need (HubSpot methodology vs. Toast product details)

#6 Don’t do long waterfall projects.

Use short iterative cycles.

Agile development approach allows you to

• move fast,• learn and

iterate, and • focus on

the most importantthings

Experiment in marketing

1.What you’ll test

2.Why it will benefit the business

3.How you’ll measure success

Defining & measuring success for every project allows you to cut things that aren’t working

Not every part of the agile dev framework will make sense for your team. Customize.

You can maintain an agile culture as you scale by forming small, collaborative teams

#7 Do embrace failure

If you’re not failing, you’re not trying anything big enough“

For every 10 failures, there’s 1 big success

Focus on the lessons

EXPRESS

2008 2016

• SEO Tools• Competitive Benchmarks• Website Analytics

• Lead gen forms• Contacts database• Traffic & conversion analytics

#8 Don’t micromanage. Scale good judgment.

Foster ownership and empower employees to solve for the company’s enterprise value (EV)

Communicate priorities and direction so you don’t need to micromanage each decision

MISSION: Transform how organizations attract, engage, and delight customers.

STRATEGY: Become the trusted inbound platform for the mid-market.

PLAYBOOKS: OBSTACLES: TARGETS:

Key initiative- detailsKey initiative- detailsKey initiative- details

ObstacleObstacleObstacleObstacleObstacle

Metric

Metric

Metric

Scaling goals

#9 Do hire for intelligence, adaptability, GSD over skills

Adaptability & potential

video content

2008Mktgmgr

Social media

2017VP

MKTG

Tofu lead gen

Demand gen

Customer mktg

Team leadership

dev

Startup mktg

leader

2013Sr

mgr

2015Dir mgr

When you hire people who push themselves, you get people who push the company“

Who do you hire first?

Marketing Executive Individual Contributor

Example HubSpot Toast

Pros Establishes strategy/hands off Focuses on executing tacticsLess expensive $

Cons May not be willing to executeExpensive $

Needs direction

When do you hire the exec?

Time to…• Build thought leadership• Help define customer profile and needs• Build or scale a sales/marketing funnel• Generate leads• Build a brand• Build a marketing team

Hiring a Marketing Leader

CORE PLUS

Track record of results

Can speak to differences by company

Ability to grow and adapt

Player Coach – can dive in themselves

Culture fit

Management experience (hiring/recruiting, coaching)

Ability to work with sales (if relevant)

Tactical experience (demand gen, product marketing, etc.)

Bonus: same stages, same industry, same funnel (low/high touch,

SMB/enterprise)

Hiring Marketers

Analytical problem solver

Driven by results and growth

Content creator

Adaptable and curious

Culture fit

Leader who takes initiative

#10 Don’t forget to dointernal marketing

Share the highs, lows, & lessons learned

Be a company leader in…

… data-driven decision making… customer orientation…employee development

Educate proactively and cut the jargon

Let’s recap

Building your marketing platform: 10 do’s & don’ts

1. Do speak in data2. Don’t do everything3. Do test every “best practice”4. Don’t wait to invest in tofu5. Do align process with stage & experience6. Don’t do long waterfall projects7. Do embrace failure8. Don’t micromanage9. Do hire for intel, adaptability, GSD10.Don’t forget internal marketing

THANK YOUEllie Mirman

CMO, Crayon@ellieeille | crayon.co