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Feb. 4, 2020

1208: 3 Ways to Use Automation for Better Personalization w/ Veronika Traublinger

In this episode we talk to , Marketing Manager at . See why leading companies like Glint, Shopify, Spotify, Slack and more are using Guru for their knowledge management needs. Go to  to start your 30-day free trial & discover...

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B2B Growth

In this episode we talk to Veronika Traublinger, Marketing Manager at Ciara.


See why leading companies like Glint, Shopify, Spotify, Slack and more are using Guru for their knowledge management needs.

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Transcript
WEBVTT 1 00:00:06.599 --> 00:00:11.949 Looking for a guaranteed way to create content that resonates with your audience? Start 2 00:00:11.990 --> 00:00:16.910 a podcast, interview your ideal clients and let them choose the topic of the 3 00:00:17.030 --> 00:00:21.390 interview, because if your ideal clients care about the topic, there's a good 4 00:00:21.429 --> 00:00:25.300 chance the rest of your audience will care about it too. Learn more at 5 00:00:25.379 --> 00:00:33.939 sweet fish Mediacom. You're listening to beb growth, a daily podcast for B 6 00:00:34.060 --> 00:00:38.369 TOB leaders. We've interviewed names you've probably heard before, like Gary Vander truck 7 00:00:38.450 --> 00:00:42.369 and Simon Senek, but you've probably never heard from the majority of our guests. 8 00:00:43.009 --> 00:00:47.009 That's because the bulk of our interviews aren't with professional speakers and authors. 9 00:00:47.609 --> 00:00:51.479 Most of our guests are in the trenches leading sales and marketing teams. They're 10 00:00:51.479 --> 00:00:57.000 implementing strategy, they're experimenting with tactics, they're building the fastest growing BTB companies 11 00:00:57.039 --> 00:01:00.439 in the world. My name is James Carberry. I'm the founder of sweetish 12 00:01:00.520 --> 00:01:03.000 media, a podcast agency for BB brands, and I'm also one of the 13 00:01:03.120 --> 00:01:07.950 CO hosts of the show. When we're not interviewing sales and marketing leaders, 14 00:01:07.150 --> 00:01:11.790 you'll hear stories from behind the scenes of our own business. Will share the 15 00:01:11.870 --> 00:01:15.189 ups and downs of our journey as we attempt to take over the world. 16 00:01:15.790 --> 00:01:26.060 Just getting well, maybe let's get into the show. Welcome back to be 17 00:01:26.219 --> 00:01:30.819 tob growth. I'm Logan lyles with sweet fish media. I'm joined today by 18 00:01:30.900 --> 00:01:34.489 Veronica travelinger. She is the marketing manager over at Sira. Veronica, how's 19 00:01:34.489 --> 00:01:38.370 it going today? I Love Them. Thank you for having me. Absolutely 20 00:01:38.730 --> 00:01:42.650 we're going to be talking about this tension in marketing as well as sales, 21 00:01:44.049 --> 00:01:49.560 between automation and personalization today and I think you have some very specific use cases 22 00:01:49.640 --> 00:01:53.319 you want to speak to as we dive into today's topic. But before we 23 00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:56.599 do that, I would love, Veronica, for you to share with listeners 24 00:01:56.599 --> 00:01:59.040 a little bit about yourself and what you and your team were up to these 25 00:01:59.079 --> 00:02:05.109 days. Sure so, I see already said and the marketing manager at Crr 26 00:02:05.390 --> 00:02:10.789 so where muted by SAS start up and we are building a digital conversation assistant. 27 00:02:12.590 --> 00:02:17.379 So what does that actually mean? We have since team to communicate with 28 00:02:17.659 --> 00:02:23.860 prospects and customers more effectively by a lot of foam. So we provide real 29 00:02:23.939 --> 00:02:28.699 time recommendations when you talk to your customers. This could be important questions you 30 00:02:28.819 --> 00:02:34.689 need to ask the perfect answer to a customer objection or some detail on pricing, 31 00:02:34.849 --> 00:02:38.250 the STAS process, etc. So this way you always know what to 32 00:02:38.370 --> 00:02:44.319 say, you never lose your train of thought and have ideally close more deals. 33 00:02:44.439 --> 00:02:46.599 And yet I love it. That's what we're all looking for. More, 34 00:02:46.759 --> 00:02:50.840 more elst in the end. So let's kick it off before we get 35 00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:55.039 into some specific use cases where you can actually use automation. As you know 36 00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:59.750 what I would say as a stronger lever. You know I mentioned it. 37 00:02:59.789 --> 00:03:01.110 They're at the top of the episode, Veronica. A lot of us see 38 00:03:01.430 --> 00:03:08.310 automation as this antithesis to personalization. There their versus there against each other, 39 00:03:08.509 --> 00:03:13.340 but you guys kind of push back on that notion right. Yes, definitely 40 00:03:14.419 --> 00:03:16.900 so. I mean working in the startup in a marketing and stay area, 41 00:03:17.379 --> 00:03:23.180 it's always like the question I get asked from outbounds like how do we automated 42 00:03:23.259 --> 00:03:27.490 this? How do we steale this far? I have to feeling that's not 43 00:03:27.770 --> 00:03:32.129 deep ideal way to go. So I myself got like a thousand of automated 44 00:03:32.289 --> 00:03:39.770 emails to ace and it's like there's super random. They don't actually fit what 45 00:03:39.930 --> 00:03:46.919 I'm doing. So I rather would say let's let's step back and let's think 46 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:52.000 about a Kay. How can we be a bit more personal and combine us 47 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:55.789 to approaches even more? So that's why I wanted to talk with you about 48 00:03:55.870 --> 00:04:00.310 it today. Yeah, absolutely. So the first thing that you recommend for 49 00:04:00.590 --> 00:04:05.270 fellow marketers is let's look at automation as a way to learn who our customers 50 00:04:05.310 --> 00:04:09.349 are, so that you can start to personalize. Tell us a little bit 51 00:04:09.389 --> 00:04:14.819 about your methodology there, Veronica. Yes, so, this is the most 52 00:04:14.860 --> 00:04:18.259 important thing in sales and marketing, knowing what is your topic group, who 53 00:04:18.259 --> 00:04:21.980 are you talking to? What do they like? Is it like? What 54 00:04:23.180 --> 00:04:27.370 content do they like? When do they respond best to your content? And 55 00:04:27.490 --> 00:04:32.850 this is all thing things that you can learn from automated analyzation. For example, 56 00:04:32.970 --> 00:04:38.920 okay, do they watch my videos or do they river engage with my 57 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:43.639 social post? Where are they action located? Are they like US face? 58 00:04:43.800 --> 00:04:47.959 Are the Europe based or even Asia specific? Also, what is the demographic 59 00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:53.829 what is their age? What is their tech interest to text saginess, and 60 00:04:53.990 --> 00:04:59.750 all those information you can learn just by analyzing how they interact with you and 61 00:05:00.589 --> 00:05:03.430 how to interact with your website or your social but also with your product. 62 00:05:03.509 --> 00:05:10.740 If you're in software for example, taking this data and applying to personalized communication 63 00:05:11.740 --> 00:05:15.220 is the way to go. For example, you see a user signing up 64 00:05:15.259 --> 00:05:20.490 for your software product, so the first logical step is actually welcoming the person 65 00:05:20.529 --> 00:05:26.810 and giving them some first step by step insight and how to use your software. 66 00:05:27.449 --> 00:05:31.490 This is something that can be easily done through automation, and if they 67 00:05:32.089 --> 00:05:35.600 look for a new feature in your product, you can also look or in 68 00:05:35.680 --> 00:05:42.079 depth from automation and then reach out to them specifically and letting them though how 69 00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:46.680 to use the feature, how it can help them and therefore, combined just 70 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:55.790 automated data and the station of the personal outreach. Imagine it a spreadsheet filled 71 00:05:55.829 --> 00:06:00.430 with rows and rows of your sales enablement assets. You've devoted two years or 72 00:06:00.430 --> 00:06:04.060 organizing this masterpiece, only for it to stop making sense. This was Chad 73 00:06:04.220 --> 00:06:09.699 trabuccoes reality. As the head of sales enablement at glint, a linkedin company, 74 00:06:09.980 --> 00:06:13.899 he's responsible for instilling confidence in his sales reps and arming them with the 75 00:06:14.019 --> 00:06:17.689 information they need to do their jobs. However, when his glorious spreadsheet became 76 00:06:17.810 --> 00:06:23.449 too complex, he realized he needed a new system. That's when Chad turned 77 00:06:23.490 --> 00:06:27.329 to guru. With Guru the knowledge you need to do your job finds you 78 00:06:27.850 --> 00:06:32.480 between Guru's Web interface, slack integration, mobile APP and browser extension. Teams 79 00:06:32.519 --> 00:06:38.759 can easily search for verified knowledge without leaving their workflow. No more siload or 80 00:06:38.839 --> 00:06:43.279 staled information. Guru acts as your single source of truth. For Chad, 81 00:06:43.360 --> 00:06:47.310 this meant glint sales reps were left feeling more confident doing their jobs. See 82 00:06:47.350 --> 00:06:53.629 why leading companies like glint, shopify, spotify, slack and more are using 83 00:06:53.750 --> 00:07:00.069 guru for their knowledge management needs. Visit BB growth dot get gurucom to start 84 00:07:00.110 --> 00:07:05.620 your thirty day free trial and discover how knowledge management can empower your revenue teams. 85 00:07:09.379 --> 00:07:13.339 Yeah, so you touched on their Veronica, learning who they are some 86 00:07:13.459 --> 00:07:16.209 other things about them, like what sorts of content they like to consume, 87 00:07:16.569 --> 00:07:20.290 where they're consuming at all those sorts of things. The when to reach out 88 00:07:20.569 --> 00:07:25.769 is another thing that you can start to personalize based on automation. You know, 89 00:07:25.970 --> 00:07:30.199 you and I are talking across time zones, from from Germany to Colorado 90 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:33.160 and in the US here today, and so when to reach out, that 91 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:36.120 can be, you know, not just this blanket statement of you know, 92 00:07:36.199 --> 00:07:41.680 our users like to be contacted between eight and ten am eight and ten am. 93 00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:45.750 What time zone right, and and that varies across different stakeholders that you're 94 00:07:45.790 --> 00:07:48.470 likely targeting. Tell us a little bit about what you guys have done there 95 00:07:48.949 --> 00:07:54.509 to determine the when of reaching out based on automation. Yeah, that's the 96 00:07:54.670 --> 00:07:57.829 true so, yeah, time zone is a big thing for us. So 97 00:07:57.949 --> 00:08:01.459 we have customers spread all over the world. A lot of US based customers, 98 00:08:01.620 --> 00:08:05.139 but of course, like in our home based Germany and Europe, there 99 00:08:05.180 --> 00:08:09.980 are a lot of them. So we definitely always check, okay, and 100 00:08:09.100 --> 00:08:13.129 which time zone are it in and try to contact them and it's the perfect 101 00:08:13.250 --> 00:08:18.889 time in your time zone. Also that, but we also see, okay, 102 00:08:20.089 --> 00:08:24.370 how did they engage with power stuff and how does it change over time? 103 00:08:24.290 --> 00:08:28.000 You know, there are those different steps and marketing we always have more 104 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:35.120 like first educate and then try to put them in a product and actually sell 105 00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:39.399 them the solution. So this is something that also helps you of the engage 106 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:43.870 in them. Seat of when is not only like time basic when do we 107 00:08:43.070 --> 00:08:48.549 contact them, but also when do we contact them with? What the messaging 108 00:08:48.070 --> 00:08:54.429 and therefore like analyzing and using automation to see that. It's super important. 109 00:08:54.389 --> 00:08:58.620 Yeah, absolutely, that's a really great point when, as far as just 110 00:08:58.100 --> 00:09:03.899 chronologically and based on time zone, but chronologically, where are they in the 111 00:09:03.980 --> 00:09:07.700 buying process? That's a very important when whe and don't win. That's a 112 00:09:07.740 --> 00:09:13.049 very important when that you can base your personalization on that can that can have 113 00:09:13.210 --> 00:09:18.009 some dramatic effects. The other area that you guys see automation leading to an 114 00:09:18.129 --> 00:09:24.480 opportunity for more personalization, not the opposite, is in pre qualifying leads for 115 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:26.919 your sales teams. Tell us a little bit about this section here. So 116 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:33.679 we work a lot of inbound leads. So we have several different contents Nowday, 117 00:09:33.799 --> 00:09:37.200 like guides, white papers, so rays. But in ours, you 118 00:09:37.320 --> 00:09:41.990 all know it, everyone has a right. So the question is, how 119 00:09:43.070 --> 00:09:48.789 do we get those leads that we get through those channels into our fun know 120 00:09:48.990 --> 00:09:52.700 and how do we actually get them onto the product? But you shouldn't go 121 00:09:52.860 --> 00:10:00.419 after every single leads. That's just super time consuming and it can really waste 122 00:10:00.460 --> 00:10:05.860 your time if it doesn't fit your company. So here again, automation fits 123 00:10:05.940 --> 00:10:11.490 in. So you take those leads and automatically scan them based on the location, 124 00:10:11.769 --> 00:10:16.610 their company side, their job title, and use this information to write 125 00:10:16.690 --> 00:10:20.799 them and then you can decide for yourself. Okay, who am I actually 126 00:10:20.840 --> 00:10:26.279 going after? And maybe the more important or better leads you want to go 127 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:31.159 after personal, while you have some nuts important where just to the automated stuff 128 00:10:31.399 --> 00:10:35.309 to just stay on the mind, but them Wye, too much time on 129 00:10:35.389 --> 00:10:41.309 them. And then you have those just totally normal. So here automation is 130 00:10:41.350 --> 00:10:43.629 Super Handy. Yeah, and that makes a lot of sense to me. 131 00:10:43.830 --> 00:10:48.789 Not just necessarily scoring the leads. And if they meet this threshold, then 132 00:10:48.830 --> 00:10:52.220 we're going to go after them. But informs. How are we going to 133 00:10:52.299 --> 00:10:56.019 go after them? Right? Are we going to go more personalized and less 134 00:10:56.019 --> 00:11:00.340 automated if they meet this threshold? Are we going to maybe go semi automated? 135 00:11:00.419 --> 00:11:03.929 Here you have maybe a nurture campaign with a follow up from a sales 136 00:11:03.970 --> 00:11:07.370 up and then someone who's really unqualified. It's not going to cost you anything 137 00:11:07.490 --> 00:11:11.090 to put them into a long term nurture sequence because maybe they move on to 138 00:11:11.169 --> 00:11:15.049 a different ORD azation. Maybe you know, they tell a friend who is 139 00:11:15.090 --> 00:11:18.120 qualified. And so to me I kind of think about it in those three 140 00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:22.200 tiers. Is that similar to how you've built out your lead scoring function? 141 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:26.559 There it's your exactly. Yes, that's the way we do it awesome. 142 00:11:26.600 --> 00:11:30.799 I love it. Well, Veronica, for marketers listening to this that are 143 00:11:30.840 --> 00:11:35.029 feeling the same tension of you know, where do we automate versus where do 144 00:11:35.110 --> 00:11:39.269 we personalize, and where can we use automation for better personalization? What are 145 00:11:39.350 --> 00:11:43.429 some parting thoughts you'd like to leave your fellow marketers with today? Yes, 146 00:11:45.470 --> 00:11:50.500 so, what does should definitely considers and what stage you are like? We, 147 00:11:50.659 --> 00:11:54.980 for example, where in alway stage start up. So of course there 148 00:11:54.980 --> 00:11:58.700 are a couple of thousand uses we already have, but it's still kind of 149 00:11:58.980 --> 00:12:05.610 manageable with personality station and really try to get them on phone and really speak 150 00:12:05.690 --> 00:12:09.970 one on one. But as you grow bigger, it's going to be harder 151 00:12:09.009 --> 00:12:13.330 and harder. It's just too much time consuming. So think on what stage 152 00:12:13.409 --> 00:12:18.200 are you? What is your main goal? Is the main goal learning from 153 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:22.720 your customers as a moment, or is the main goal to scale the company 154 00:12:22.759 --> 00:12:28.559 as quite as possible? So this is the line where you cross from being 155 00:12:28.720 --> 00:12:33.350 maybe seventy percent personal station to forty percent automation to the other way around. 156 00:12:35.110 --> 00:12:39.429 So yeah, just of NIC spom to peed in mind and overall, I 157 00:12:39.549 --> 00:12:45.740 would always try and try to be as personal as possible, even if you 158 00:12:45.820 --> 00:12:50.139 use automation. And Yeah, before example, for Christmas, we just send 159 00:12:50.220 --> 00:12:56.620 some chocolate to our customers and it's like supermanuals, super personal and totally offline. 160 00:12:58.730 --> 00:13:01.809 We got so much good feedback on it. So I think, yeah, 161 00:13:01.929 --> 00:13:07.370 always trying to bring some personal in your communication. Yeah, absolutely, 162 00:13:07.409 --> 00:13:11.610 I mean, and they're also tools. You know, if you look at 163 00:13:11.970 --> 00:13:16.279 like a Sendoso or ascending platform like that, where you can take the offline, 164 00:13:16.279 --> 00:13:20.320 you can add some automation to it but still personalize. So I think 165 00:13:20.360 --> 00:13:24.519 that's a great way to wrap up the conversation in you know, thinking about 166 00:13:24.519 --> 00:13:28.750 where do I automate versus where do I personalize, and where can I where 167 00:13:28.789 --> 00:13:31.309 can I get both? You gave some great examples of, you know, 168 00:13:31.429 --> 00:13:35.950 using automation to personalize better by learning the the WHO and the win to reach 169 00:13:35.990 --> 00:13:39.909 out based on the interactions online that you're seeing from your customers, and I 170 00:13:41.029 --> 00:13:45.139 really like that that parting thought about. Think about the stage that your company 171 00:13:45.259 --> 00:13:48.220 is in. What can you manage and then also think about your goals. 172 00:13:48.299 --> 00:13:52.179 Maybe you know you're doing a learning sprint because you're you're not quite at part 173 00:13:52.259 --> 00:13:56.730 product market fit yet and and the goal is really more to learn than it 174 00:13:56.929 --> 00:14:01.649 is to scale, because you're not quite sure what you're scaling yet. I 175 00:14:01.809 --> 00:14:05.049 think that's something that a lot of folks just just skip over and think that, 176 00:14:05.210 --> 00:14:07.610 oh, we're always just looking to scale, right, but sometimes that 177 00:14:07.850 --> 00:14:11.399 main short term sprint of learning is going to help you scale better in the 178 00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:16.759 long term. So personalizing versus automating will will change a little bit depending on 179 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:20.120 what stage you're in and what your goals are for the short term and the 180 00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:24.279 long term. I really like that. Veronica. Well, Veronica, for 181 00:14:24.309 --> 00:14:26.710 anybody listening to this that has any follow up questions would like to talk shop 182 00:14:26.830 --> 00:14:31.149 with you or reach out and learn more about what you and the team it's 183 00:14:31.190 --> 00:14:33.870 you are up to these days. What's the best way for them to reach 184 00:14:33.909 --> 00:14:37.350 out? Yeah, so I'm happy to connect with everyone on Linkedin. Just 185 00:14:37.629 --> 00:14:41.659 like shoot me a message there or also I'm happy to receive some emails to 186 00:14:41.779 --> 00:14:46.899 friend personal email account. It's your Veronica, look like in pay, not 187 00:14:46.059 --> 00:14:52.379 the American CE. So the Ronica, guess Yascom I love it. Thank 188 00:14:52.460 --> 00:14:54.970 you so much for being on the show today, Barnica. I really appreciate 189 00:14:54.970 --> 00:14:58.769 it. Thank you too, Logan. We totally get it. We publish 190 00:14:58.809 --> 00:15:03.370 a ton of content on this podcast and it can be a lot to keep 191 00:15:03.409 --> 00:15:07.600 up with. That's why we've started the BB growth big three, a note 192 00:15:07.639 --> 00:15:11.480 fluff email that boils down our three biggest takeaways from an entire week of episodes. 193 00:15:11.960 --> 00:15:18.840 Sign up today at Sweet Fish Mediacom big three. That sweet fish Mediacom 194 00:15:18.679 --> 00:15:20.440 Big Three