brendandell

Chris Vincent is the Director of Demand Generation at Datashield, an ADT company and one of the most tenured cybersecurity firms in North America. For Datashield, Chris manages the digital marketing specialist along with a team of sales development representatives, serves as the champion, power user, and implementation expert for HubSpot Enterprises, and supports channel sales through event management, webinar production, and more. 

Outside his role as an SEO and marketing expert, he is also the host of Datashield's podcast, The Hash-Time Show, and the sales/marketing training series, The Quaff and Pony Show. Equipped with his content marketing expertise, Chris has the power to craft a powerful vision for launching Datashield to new heights—and help clients take charge of their cybersecurity strategy.

In this episode…

What makes a website stand out in the sea of information? The answer? SEO. But, it's much deeper than you think. 

SEO isn't just using a few keywords here and there and instantly ranking as the first option on Google. Instead, it’s a combined effort of crafting a strategic content marketing plan and creating an opportunity for others to expand their knowledge in the most accurate way possible. 

Don't believe us? Chris Vincent, Director of Demand Generation at Datashield, has used effective content marketing strategies to connect and communicate with clients while creating new sales channels. He describes SEO as a "long game" where the content creator has to pay special attention to their cross-section, including locale, pain-points, and solutions. 

Tune in to this week's episode as host Brendan Dell sits down with Chris Vincent, SEO expert and Director of Demand Generation at Datashield. They discuss how to build content that stands out, what defines effective inbound marketing, and the purpose of marketing. Chris also shares his love for content creation and how he got his start in marketing. Stay tuned.

Stephan Mathys is a big-picture thinker, storyteller, and Chief Product Evangelist for Slope Software, an actuarial financial projection modeling software company that helps actuaries get back to being actuaries again. His personal goal is to make innovative professionals like actuaries, data scientists, and engineers as well-known and respected as doctors, lawyers, and the clergy. Stephan's creative and data-driven approach to marketing and content creation, sales, and product expertise make him a triple threat in and out of the field.

In this episode…

If marketing were a calculated science, then we would conclude that there are diminishing returns in specificity. 

Specificity robs us of our time—but what if you could use the ability to specify without complex codes or software and make your work hours shorter and productive rather than longer and ineffective? Wouldn't you opt-in for the dramatic change over time while building an accurate and effective workflow? Stephan Mathys, copywriter, marketer, and Chief Product Evangelist for Slope Software, is here to show you more about how Slope is changing their piece of the pie in actuary science.

Slope is differentiating how actuaries get stuff done and save time to focus on the bigger projects. Stephan Mathys, Chief Product Evangelist for Slope Software, and Brendan Dell sit down to talk about the importance of Slope in small and emerging companies, how to differentiate yourself in a red ocean, and the purpose of marketing. Stephan shares his three tactics for engagement and how Slope is making a difference. Keep listening. 

Phil Golub is a seasoned UX designer with over 20 years of experience and a unique focus on digital product innovation, service design, and cognitive experiences. His deep understanding of creating the best user experience has helped redefine how companies interact with their users.

He is currently the Senior Director of Digital Product & Innovation at Total Wine & More. Before joining Total Wine, he pushed the bounds of creativity and client satisfaction at Sapient.

In this episode…

A brand is a promise; experience is proof. 

The marketing world has continued to shift to a more digital role in the last 30 years. Words like digital transformation, UX/UI, interface developer, and many more now define what it means to create user-friendly software. Companies can’t develop new products with just their name as a promotion anymore; now, they have to innovate and adjust their content to match the fast-paced market. 

Phil Golub understands the need for effective market strategies and the process of nurturing an idea from its infancy stage to a final product. His user experience and the digital world's expertise gives him the knowledge to actively dictate the roadmap for product and user experience success. 

In this week's episode of The Hook, host Brendan Dell discusses the intricacies of marketing and development with the Senior Director of Digital Product & Innovation at Total Wine & More, Phil Golub. They discuss UX Developer vs. UI Designer, opportunity vs. complexity, and what companies need to know about digital transformation. Phil shares his thoughts on companies who have taken advantage of this transition to create an unshakeable product development and marketing strategy roadmap.

Ran Avrahamy is the CMO at AppsFlyer, the leading mobile attribution and marketing analytics platform. Before joining AppsFlyer, Ran was the Co-Founder and VP of Marketing and Products at Scringo, which allowed native apps with social and communication capabilities to become more than a pipedream but a reality. For more than 13 years, Ran has worked in various marketing and business development roles, including helping startups grow

In this episode…

The market is like artificial intelligence: consistently growing and evaluating its potential to accumulate more data—and produce more results than ever before. It can be hard to keep up with the new trends, whether you support the mid-market or not. But it’s not impossible: it merely requires prioritization, consistency, and re-evaluation at every point of contact. 

Ran Avrahamy has shown the world that market fit and consistency are some of the key elements in success. By using one of Ed O'Keefe's principles of Time Collapsing in the early days of AppsFlyer, Ran skipped the lesser points of AppsFlyer marketing campaign to fine-tune what makes their product stand out: their ability to pivot creatively.  

In this episode of The Hook, host Brendan Dell sits down with Ran Avrahamy, CMO of AppsFlyer, as they discuss data attribution, the purpose of marketing, and the importance of consistency. Ran emphasizes building a brand that lives up to its name and the beauty of making connections. He also shares his thoughts on how marketers can take their campaigns to the next level. What to find out how? Keep listening!

Karen Cooper is the Senior Manager of Product Marketing at Spectralink, specializing in helping companies create human connections. In business, Karen is known for her ability to boil complex ideas into simple narratives that touch on human emotions—and compel connection. As a technology enthusiast, she started her career as a biochemist and chemical engineer before developing into a seasoned B2B product marketer. Karen has worked in Fortune 500 companies as well as high-growth startups like Medtronic, Conga, and now Spectralink.

In this episode…

How do you lower your churn-rate? The answer lies in content marketing. 

From crafting a generalized story to a fine-tuned narrative, what you share with your customers can help them understand how your product benefits their way of life. Or, at least, that's the notion that has led Karen Cooper to thrive in her career as an expert product marketer. All stories are connected, from the delivery driver to the CEO of your organization. The gift of crafting a narrative that drives the market is what product marketing is all about. 

In this episode of The Hook, host Brendan Dell sits down to talk with Karen Cooper, Senior Manager of Global Product Marketing at Spectralink and Problem-Solver Extraordinaire! They discuss the purpose of marketing, the similarities between working as a chemist and an engineer, and the power of a good story. Karen also shares some of her favorite speakers in the marketing space and the secret to a successful campaign. Stay tuned.

Brandon Laws is the Senior Director of Marketing and Product at Xenium HR. He has worked with Xenium HR for the past 12 years, helping clients grow their business with mindful personal and professional strategies. He is also the host of Xenium's Transform Your Workplace Podcast, the HRO Growth Show, Talkin' Entertainment, and contributes to the podcast, It's About People.

In this episode…

What's your favorite podcast? Is it a podcast that focuses on thought leadership in your industry? Maybe one on lifestyle and self-care? Or, Is it The Hook? (Don’t worry—we’ll find a way to forgive you if it’s not.) 

Regardless of your favorite, it’s an understatement to say that podcasts are everywhere. Podcasting has taken off in the last ten years, and the industry's room for growth continues to skyrocket with specialized B2B and B2C podcasts. Case in point: Brandon Laws. He became the host of Xenium's Human Resources for Small Business, which later became the Transform Your Workplace podcast in 2012. Since then, he has had 500,000 downloads, countless expert guests, and hundreds of insightful lessons to keep his listeners entertained and informed. 

In this episode of The Hook, host Brendan Dell sits down with fellow podcaster and marketer, Brandon Laws. They discuss podcasting in the B2B space, the purpose of marketing, and the lessons they’ve learned over the past 12 years. Brandon also highlights some of the challenges he faced earlier in his career and tips and tricks he shares with novices about podcasting and marketing. Stay tuned.

Britton Clark is the Vice President of Channel Partnerships at Gravy. Gravy helps companies increase their retention rate by building strategic relationships. Britton has worked in marketing for more than ten years while cultivating his love for storytelling, unignorable content, and building relationships with clients. Before working at Gravy, he worked with Deputy, Red Bull, and many more.

In this episode…

What is the purpose of marketing? Is it to drive revenue for the company? Or maybe the point is to establish an unshakeable brand? No matter who you ask, their answer will be different each time, because no two people approach marketing the same way. 

According to Britton Clark, VP of Channel Partnership at Gravy, marketing aims to add value and build relationships. Because of this, his secret sauce has two ingredients: connecting with clients and customers on a relational level and building upwards. 

In this week's episode of The Hook, host Brendan Dell sits down with Vice President of Channel Partnerships at Gravy, Britton Clark. They discuss the purpose of marketing, how relationships build revenue, and the strategies for building a referral program that keeps clients and customers engaged and happy. Britton also shares why focusing on adding value is more important than selling a product.

Tom Furr is the VP of Branding at Vonage, one of the largest cloud-based communication providers. Vonage has built a celebrated brand that’s kept a consistent focus on communicating with their clients and answering the "why" marketing factor. Tom has over ten years of marketing and continues to help brands build a better relationship with their consumers and find the balance between brand and demand.

In this episode…

What makes a brand stand out from the others? Is it bombarding potential clients with ads? Or a clever catchphrase that stands the test of time? Maybe, instead, it’s their ability to innovate?

According to Tom Furr, VP of Branding at Vonage, it's none of the above.

Tom Furr sits down with Brendan Dell on this episode of The Hook to discuss the power of a well-developed brand. For Tom, the VP of Branding at Vonage, remarkable marketing happens when we have a strategy in place, focus on long-term retention over the short-term, and rely on experts' knowledge rather than gimmick marketing. His advice to his 21-year-old self is something we can all use: cultivate what you are good at and the rest will follow.

Derek Gillette is the VP of Marketing at Leadr, a people management software that facilitates leader development at every organizational level. Derek has taken a new approach to building internal engagement and crafting organic conversations that strengthen teams and advance leadership characteristics. He has over 13 years of management and leadership experience, which has helped him craft a career evaluating how to make better leaders.

In this episode…

In an industry that already has all the books on leadership and management, what makes a new product successful in that space? How do you answer the age-old question of how to develop leaders in the workplace while offering new insight?

Derek Gillette, VP of Marketing at Leadr, and his team have developed a people management software that does all of the above. The software takes into account the human element of what makes great leaders while providing strategies on how to create a workplace where employees can grow and develop their skills. Leadr also takes the shift to remote work into consideration, continuing to help managers make connections and lead their teams to higher heights. 

In this episode of The Hook, host Brendan Dell talks to Derek Gillette, VP of Marketing at Leadr. They discuss understanding the market, the purpose of marketing, and the importance of having unbiased interviews to understand the customer more. Derek highlights how he uses his expertise to create opinionated questionnaires for building company-wide engagement. He also recalls how his marketing failures have helped him develop a message that sells and stands the test of time—leadership that motivates. 

Martin Aguinis is the CEO and Co-Founder of AccessBell. AccessBell is a video conferencing platform focused on changing the future of video communication for students and professionals alike. Martin has worked with YouTube on VR, Google on Flutter, and several other projects including GreekRide, EventList, and more. His dedication to understanding the user and the product has named him one of Forbes 30 under 30: Marketing and Advertising.

In this episode…

Building a great app starts with more than a few lines of coding—it takes constant feedback and understanding of the user. What most marketers miss in their conquest to dominate an industry is the ability to connect with their desired user. Enter Martin Aguinis.

While at Google, Martin led Flutter from 0 to 2 million users through his marketing efforts. Martin is also the CEO and Co-Founder of AccessBell, an application that allows users to connect through video conferencing and a simple AI. 

In this episode of The Hook, host Brendan Dell sits down with the CEO of AccessBell, Martin Aguinis. They discuss what makes a lollipop moment, how feedback can change our marketing approach, and the lessons Martin learned as the Global Marketing Lead at Flutter for Google. Martin also shares why he thinks the “not sexy” parts of copy are important and how "pay per click" is still a logical marketing format.

Rand Fishkin is the Co-Founder and CEO of SparkToro, a software company that puts audience intelligence at every marketer's fingertips. Before this, Rand was the CEO of Moz, an SEO software business and inbound marketing community that he co-founded in 2004. He is also the author of Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World, as well as a frequent keynote speaker on marketing and entrepreneurship topics around the world.

In this episode…

Is SEO still as powerful for growing a business as it was 15, 10, or even five years ago? According to Rand Fishkin, the Co-Founder and former CEO of Moz, the answer is no. When Rand left Moz to start SparkToro, he took with him the valuable insights and lessons he learned from years in the marketing industry. But to get ahead of his competition, Rand also had to adapt to a changing industry and find his own process. So what modern tactics did he take advantage of to successfully market his brand? 

Join host Brendan Dell in this episode of The Hook as he interviews Rand Fishkin, the Co-Founder and CEO of SparkToro, about the best ways to effectively market your brand in 2020. Tune in to hear Rand’s thoughts on omni-channel marketing, blitzscaling, and episodic content, and discover the common marketing and startup myths that simply aren’t true. Keep listening!

Hila Segal is the VP of Product Marketing at Clari. She has more than 15 years of experience designing and executing GTM strategies for innovative, high-growth software solutions. Before her role at Clari, Hila worked for other high-growth tech companies, including Vendavo and Kapow Software. She has made a name for herself in the industry by building high-performance teams that foster cross-collaboration between product sales and marketing.

In this episode…

At the core of any good marketing campaign is the audience. Yet, many companies fail to keep their audience in mind when creating sales decks and instead focus on themselves: their founders, their company mission, their success stories. According to product marketing leader Hila Segal, this company-first approach is not an effective way to drive value to your customers. That’s why her team at Clari innovated their product marketing strategy, starting with the way they interact with their audience. 

In this episode of The Hook, host Brendan Dell sits down with Hila Segal, the VP of Product Marketing at Clari, to chat about the ins and outs of her audience-first marketing approach. Hila shares her strategies for putting the customer in the lead role and promoting collaboration between her marketing and sales teams. Keep listening to discover how to deliver value (and drive sales) with every audience interaction!

Marcus Andrews is the Product Marketing Group Lead for Marketing Hub at HubSpot. During his time at HubSpot so far, he has designed narratives, created go-to-market strategies, and launched various products. Before HubSpot, he brought AdWords and YouTube products to market while working at Google. Marcus was also part of the team that grew Wildfire, which was acquired by Google in 2012.

In this episode…

Creating your own marketing strategy can be an uphill battle. Not only are you fighting against old beliefs, but you are also pushing against the current narrative. At the end of the day, the world is changing and becoming a more data-driven society; we need to adapt to survive. Marcus Andrews, the Product Marketing Group Lead for Marketing Hub at HubSpot, believes in creating narratives and the ability to change your consumers' minds. 

Marcus Andrews says out with the old template of selling a product and in with the new process of crafting stories to give life to those products. The Product Marketing Group Lead for HubSpot’s Marketing Hub sits down with Brendan Dell to discuss why so many companies miss out on marketing opportunities. Marcus delves into what makes a narrative successful and how to create a unique voice. Keep listening.

Kristina McMillan is the Vice President of Research for TOPO, an analyst firm that helps sales and marketing organizations achieve scalable revenue growth. They collect data from the world's fastest-growing companies to identify how they’re driving exceptional revenue growth, using that insight to help B2B companies boost revenue through sales, marketing, and sales development excellence. Outside of TOPO, Kristina is a mentor at Santa Clara University's Miller Center, Global Social Benefit Institute, where she provides executive mentorship to social entrepreneurs.

In this episode…

What changes the nature of a brand and how you approach the market? For many, it’s the product. But, for those who excel at gauging consumer concerns, it’s the ability to adapt and leverage your insight to answer your customers' needs. This is what Kristina McMillan, VP of Research at TOPO, shares with us in our conversation about what works and what doesn’t in client engagement.

Join us as host, Brendan Dell interviews Kristina McMillan, VP of Research at TOPO, an analyst firm that helps sales and marketing organizations achieve scalable revenue growth. They discuss the purpose of marketing, where companies fail to connect with their customers, and how to pivot in times of crisis. Kristina explores the importance of knowing when to push and pull in any market and the future of sales. Keep listening.

Rebecca Sadwick is the founder of Strategica Partners, an award-winning go-to-market strategy consulting firm that helps forward-thinking companies launch innovative products.

Rebecca has gained recognition for her work with early-stage tech startups and creative positioning strategies that build organic audience platforms and drive value. Her firm, Strategica Partners, advises tech companies like Qatch, Flux Biosciences, and CapSwan

In this episode…

What drives you to buy a product? Maybe it was placed on the webpage you were browsing, or a friend recommended it to you; either way, each has acted as a source of influence when it comes to purchasing a new product. In turn, this generates data on how our peers and strategic placement influence our decisions to acquire a new product. Rebecca Sadwick, a Managing Partner at Strategica Partners, places great importance on market research in her bid to help clients and customers develop long-term relationships with a genuine product. 

Host Brendan Dell is joined by Rebecca Sadwick, Managing Partner of Strategica Partners, as they discuss the significance of tracking the right data points and the influence of consumer preferences on product design. She shares her insight on what questions to ask when launching a new product and the power of tracking both flawed and paired data. Rebecca also explains common mistakes companies make when analyzing the response to a new product. Keep listening. 

Maya Grossman is a Strategic Marketing Advisor, Product Marketing, and Brand Strategist as well as the author of a soon-to-be-released book, Invaluable.

Maya has held executive and strategist roles in companies like Microsoft, AnD Ventures, Google, and SodaStream. In her new book, Invaluable, Maya shares her journey from an entry-level position to VP of Marketing, and how she cemented herself as an invaluable employee. With over ten years of industry knowledge, Maya’s expertise in marketing and how to position yourself as irreplaceable is, for lack of a better word, invaluable.

In this episode…

The stories we tell connect us all to one goal: creating value in the world around us. How we share those stories is equally impactful. 

The rise of marketing in uncertain times is met with a look of disdain; it costs too much money, people aren't interacting with our content as much, we don't have a way to create new channels of income. Yet, there is still an opportunity to make yourself invaluable while growing your current skills and developing new ones. According to Maya Grossman, VP of Marketing and Brand Strategist, making yourself an invaluable employee could mean creating new opportunities for your company to reach a broader audience through simple means.

In this week's episode, Brendan Dell interviews Maya Grossman, Brand Strategist and VP of Marketing. She discusses creating great content, managing channels of communication with your audience, and adding value to not only yourself but your company as well. Maya also recounts the lessons she learned when engaging with different clients and the importance of learning soft skills in your profession.