Influencers Interview Archives - Tech Research Online Knowledge Base for IT Pros Mon, 31 Jul 2023 15:02:51 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.5 https://techresearchonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/full-black-d_favicon-70-70.png Influencers Interview Archives - Tech Research Online 32 32 Influencers Interview With Rich Bialek – CEO at Global Technology Partners https://techresearchonline.com/influencers-interview/with-rich-bialek-chief-executive-officer-at-global-technology-partners/ https://techresearchonline.com/influencers-interview/with-rich-bialek-chief-executive-officer-at-global-technology-partners/#respond Wed, 15 Sep 2021 16:24:09 +0000 https://techresearchonline.com/?p=57202 Introduction In today’s interview, we had the opportunity to speak with Rich Bialek – Chief Executive Officer at Global Technology Partners Richard has a tremendous wealth of expertise in the payment card sector with a focus on prepaid which hr led at Visa. Rich is a visionary who has a pulse on the financial services industry and on emerging technology. He thinks very strategically, has the stamina and power to implement his ideas well. Q1. Hey Mr. Rich Bialek, Tell Us About Your Role and Journey as a Chief Executive Officer at Global Technology Partners. What Made You Choose This Profession? I have been interested in finance since my college days. I majored in Economics at Harvard College and then went on to concentrate in Finance at Harvard Business School. My admission to Harvard Business School was predicated on working for two years prior to starting the MBA program. That was a very fateful and positive requirement for me. I gained a position at Citibank in their fast-growing credit card business. That initial job launched a 40 plus year career in payments and financial technology. I love the combination of finance and technology and the rapid pace of change in the industry, …

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Introduction

Rich Bialek

In today’s interview, we had the opportunity to speak with Rich Bialek – Chief Executive Officer at Global Technology Partners

Richard has a tremendous wealth of expertise in the payment card sector with a focus on prepaid which hr led at Visa. Rich is a visionary who has a pulse on the financial services industry and on emerging technology. He thinks very strategically, has the stamina and power to implement his ideas well.

Q1. Hey Mr. Rich Bialek, Tell Us About Your Role and Journey as a Chief Executive Officer at Global Technology Partners. What Made You Choose This Profession?

I have been interested in finance since my college days. I majored in Economics at Harvard College and then went on to concentrate in Finance at Harvard Business School. My admission to Harvard Business School was predicated on working for two years prior to starting the MBA program.

That was a very fateful and positive requirement for me. I gained a position at Citibank in their fast-growing credit card business. That initial job launched a 40 plus year career in payments and financial technology.

I love the combination of finance and technology and the rapid pace of change in the industry, which offers a constant set of challenging problems and opportunities to solve.

I also enjoy the global scale of the industry and the many countries I have lived in and traveled to as part of this career choice.

Q2. Would you like to tell your Unique Skill that you think you have as a Financial Services Leader?

The ability to take a new, disruptive business model and successfully bring it to market and grow it to profitability.

Q3. Would you like to Highlight, some of the Focus points on how to solve today’s Financial Business Challenges?

Surround yourself with a set of smart people who have an appetite to learn and achieve, give them clear goals and the tools they need to work towards achieving those goals. Be there for your team when they need help, whether it is more resources or a decision, or a sounding board.

Also Read: Influencers Interview With Rado Kotorov – CEO at Trendalyze

Q4. What are some of the strategies that you’ve often Followed Throughout the Years?

Rally your team around a common goal and then execute, execute in an iterative fashion so that you learn from mistakes and adjust quickly. You need a combination of speed with a shared goal.

Speed in an organization without a shared goal only leads to fast collisions. The speed with a clear shared goal leads to success.

Q5. What is Next for you?

Take my current company to the next level by supporting its evolution from a prepaid processing company to pay as a service enterprise. This change will enable GTP to reposition itself and take full advantage of the disruption and growth created by digital payment technology.

Also, Read Our Popular Blogs:

Best AI Assistant Of 2021Best Data Visualization Tools 2021How to Create a Dashboard in Power BI for Beginner | A-Z Tech BuzzWords in 2021 that You Should Know | Robotaxi Services: A Ride from Past to Future Top 14 AI Startups to Watch Out in 2021 Apple Airtag: A New Way to Track Your Stuff

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Influencers Interview With Jonathan Epstein – CEO at Brewco https://techresearchonline.com/influencers-interview/with-jonathan-epstein-ceo-at-brewco/ https://techresearchonline.com/influencers-interview/with-jonathan-epstein-ceo-at-brewco/#respond Tue, 03 Aug 2021 17:06:50 +0000 https://techresearchonline.com/?p=42407 Introduction In today’s interview, we had the opportunity to speak with Jonathan Epstein – CEO of Brewco Jonathan Epstein has 25+ years of leadership experience as a CEO, CRO, CMO, head of channel, and head of international. Jonathan is an entrepreneur at heart and a strong operator in media, gaming, and technology organizations. He helps companies to build their value and revenues through better sales, positioning, and evangelization of their products. Q1. Hey Mr. Jonathan Epstein, Tell Us About Your Role and Journey as a Chief Executive Officer at Brewco. What Made You Choose This Profession? I have always gravitated towards roles that allow me to bring quantum leap technology-based changes in an interesting domain. Sometimes these are CEO roles, and I’ve also held other C-level roles overseeing sales, marketing, strategy, or operations.  Another key element I look for is the opportunity to play in a global field. The industries I’ve worked in and helped transform make up a pretty wide array. In my younger days, I was publisher of IDG’s Multimedia World magazine, which brought the at-that-time breakthrough benefits of CD-ROM and sound on the PC to both business and consumer users. At GameSpot (sold to CNET), where I was the …

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Jonathan Epstein

Introduction

In today’s interview, we had the opportunity to speak with Jonathan Epstein – CEO of Brewco

Jonathan Epstein has 25+ years of leadership experience as a CEO, CRO, CMO, head of channel, and head of international. Jonathan is an entrepreneur at heart and a strong operator in media, gaming, and technology organizations. He helps companies to build their value and revenues through better sales, positioning, and evangelization of their products.

Q1. Hey Mr. Jonathan Epstein, Tell Us About Your Role and Journey as a Chief Executive Officer at Brewco. What Made You Choose This Profession?

I have always gravitated towards roles that allow me to bring quantum leap technology-based changes in an interesting domain. Sometimes these are CEO roles, and I’ve also held other C-level roles overseeing sales, marketing, strategy, or operations.  Another key element I look for is the opportunity to play in a global field.

The industries I’ve worked in and helped transform make up a pretty wide array. In my younger days, I was publisher of IDG’s Multimedia World magazine, which brought the at-that-time breakthrough benefits of CD-ROM and sound on the PC to both business and consumer users.

At GameSpot (sold to CNET), where I was the founding CEO, we transformed the way in which information was consumed about video games. Double Fusion was a leader in creating the new field of in-game advertising.

Hawkes Remotes (sold to Bluefin) pioneered a new type of remotely operated underwater vehicle for the oil and gas industries. Evolv.ai brought AI into the world of conversion rate optimization for the first time.

Brewco is a new company I formed with Market Brew (the developer of our technology) and some Australian business colleagues (and friends) of mine that run an AI marketing consultancy.

The opportunity was quite compelling — to build the worldwide market for a proven but under-marketed SaaS platform that uses AI to completely transform the speed at which enterprises and their agencies can benefit from SEO. The product is amazing and highly differentiated, the SEO industry is booming, and I get to work at the ground-floor stage with people I know, respect, and trust.

Q2. Would you like to tell your Unique Skill that you think you have as an Entrepreneur?

I’m not sure anyone has a unique skill! But I think what I’m most proud of is my ability to quickly immerse myself and become a key player in a new field. Whether that field was gesture recognition (Omek), computer vision (platform.ai), marine robotics (Hawkes and SmartCatch), or AI marketing technology (Evolv.ai and Brewco) I’ve been able to master the key concepts, learn how to tell the story, meet the movers and shakers, and develop the expertise and authority to become a keynote speaker within 3-6 months.

People also say I have a good sense of humor. And I have a high tolerance for long business travel in an economy which (at least before) was a key requirement for the international startup!

Q3. Would you like to Highlight, some of the Focus Points on how SEO can be Transformed using AI?

SEO has gotten progressively more difficult to master as Google continues to layer more algorithms into their rankings calculations, using AI of their own. For most SEOs, this has meant the best approach was to follow what is considered “best practices” — a checklist approach that you would apply to most sites to improve their rankings.

The problem is that this approach, while it works overtime, wastes a lot of time and cost on actions that, in fact, have no impact on rankings at all. Our platform uses AI to solve this problem, utilizing a form of genetic algorithms — particle swarm optimization — to machine learn multiple parameters in our built-in search engine until our SERP matches the real world SERP for a given keyword.

Also Read: Interview With Mitch Ratcliffe – Partner Entrepreneur Technologist at Metaforce

The resultant simulation when combined with data from a sophisticated crawling process that scores your website vs. ranking competitors can then point the way to those exact areas you should focus on, and by extension where you should not spend time or effort. The result is much faster rankings gain.

Market Brew also uses AI to better understand the semantic meanings and contexts of each page, which can be super helpful in making sure the intent of your page is exactly aligned with the intents of the searchers.

AI-built search engine models also have the benefit of letting you see into the future. Once you’ve made a set of changes to your site (whether for SEO, or perhaps for a site redesign) you can run the changed site against the model and get an accurate prediction of the impact your changes will make on your rankings for your top keywords.

This ability saves a lot of redesign grief and makes SEO much more data-driven and predictable, which CEOs and CFOs love. Also, this lens into the future works not just for your site but for your competitors as well, providing key warnings of future movements 2 months before you’d otherwise have them.

Finally, when you have a search engine model such as Market Brew creates, you can understand how close or far away you are from your competitors. You know where you are in the SERP, but are you close to leapfrogging the next guy, or are they very far away statistically? And, for that matter, how close is that site behind yours? This is really critical information for keyword strategy and understanding the work ahead.

Q4. What are some of the Top Search Engine Strategies that you’ve often followed throughout the years? Can you tell us what is Particle Swarm Optimization?

There really is no substitute for high-quality content, both for SEO and for your sales funnel in general. We’re working on modeling the E-A-T algorithms to augment our existing semantic analysis, as, like with any factor, sometimes it will matter more than others. But why not just do this right the first time?

And, if you’re just starting out, you’re going to need to establish domain authority through getting backlinks, whichever white hat way you choose to get these.

If you’re not optimizing your Internal link structuring to avoid “flat” websites and emphasize your key search landing pages then you are likely losing rank. Our clients have had tremendous results implementing his “old school” technique when indicated by the AI models. Market Brew provides a depth of analysis and recommended fixes for this area that’s not just available anywhere else.

Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is a branch of genetic algorithms (one of the major families of AI algorithms) that can rapidly develop optimal multivariate solutions to a given problem, without needing to be trained, as neural network algorithms do.

Conceptually, PSO is based around bird flocking behavior — how the individual birds and the flock as a whole reach a desired destination through awareness of both the global gradient (how the flock as a whole is moving) and the local gradient (how the nearest birds are moving).

Market Brew uses PSO to find that optimal mix of weights for the critical ranking factors — link flow, semantic factors, domain rank, and CWV, to name a few — which adapt the platform’s built-in search engine model so that the Market Brew SERP correlates with the real-world SERP.

This patented modeling approach is what drives the platform’s abilities to understand what matters — and what doesn’t — for winning for any keyword on any search engine.

Q5. A few Takeaways on the top Factors that every SEO Leader should keep in mind when they plan to Achieve Unattainable Organic Traffic.

It’s all statistics — everything that represents best practice in site design, content generation, backlinking, and the like are all inputs to the AI that is Google’s search engine. So, while following best practices when creating sites and site content is a good idea, the best way to optimize pages for ranking is, similarly, a statistical process.

It’s still a long game — Market Brew can compress the optimization cycles through greater efficiency (work only on what matters) and time-shifting (predict outcomes 2 months before they happen). These benefits give you a huge advantage over competitors without these capabilities. But that said, SEO is still an ongoing, iterative process.

AI needs to be part of your SEO toolkit — whether it’s through search engine modelings such as Market Brew provides, or schema modeling and content writing guidelines that other systems can offer — to beat Google’s AI, you’ll need to move down this path…or risk being justified behind.

Every search is different, and the same search is different between countries — what drives rankings in one market can be completely different than what drives rankings in another, and what drives rankings for one keyword can be completely different from your other keyword. That’s why best practices don’t yield the best results — you need to customize your approach to each search….which is impossible without AI (see the previous point!)

Q6. What is Next for you?

As a platform, we’re continually enhancing our capabilities across multiple areas. We continue to improve our AI modeling to provide even tighter correlations. We’re adding new types of semantic modeling including working on the algorithmic underpinnings of E-A-T.

We’ve just added CWV measurements as a ranking factor so as organic rankings start to reflect page- and site-level CWV measurements, we should be the first to understand exactly how CWV impacts different types of sites and markets. And, we’re always looking at better ways to visualize and present the huge body of information and recommendations our analyses generate.

As a business, we’re very focused on expanding the footprint of the platform through partnerships with key agencies and resellers across the world.

Also, Read Our Popular Blogs:

Best AI Assistant Of 2021Best Data Visualization Tools 2021How to Create a Dashboard in Power BI for Beginner | A-Z Tech BuzzWords in 2021 that You Should Know | Robotaxi Services: A Ride from Past to Future Top 14 AI Startups to Watch Out in 2021 Apple Airtag: A New Way to Track Your Stuff

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Influencers Interview With Rado Kotorov – CEO at Trendalyze https://techresearchonline.com/influencers-interview/with-rado-kotorov-ceo-at-trendalyze/ https://techresearchonline.com/influencers-interview/with-rado-kotorov-ceo-at-trendalyze/#respond Mon, 26 Jul 2021 18:53:25 +0000 https://techresearchonline.com/?p=40567 Introduction In today’s interview, we had the opportunity to speak with Rado Kotorov – CEO at Trendalyze Rado Kotorov has a passion for new ideas and innovation, He is a proven leader in developing vision, strategies, and data-driven business models for the digital economy and a dedicated innovator who has co-created numerous software products and patented technologies. He is an author of two books “Organizational Intelligence” and “Data-Driven Business Models for the Digital Economy” and the Recipient of the 2019 NJ Digi-Tech Innovators Award. 1. Hey Mr. Rado Kotorov, Tell Us About Your Role and Journey as a Chief Executive Officer at Trendalyze. What Made You Choose This Profession? Like many things in life, the profession chose me in a strange and serendipitous way. In 1994 Edward McClennen (one of the top scholars in Game Theory) offered me to join his Ph.D. program in Decision and Game Theory. He had read an article I had written and thought that I should continue with my research. Funny enough, I did not know what Decision and Game Theory was.  It turned out to be the science of how people make decisions and so I joined. It also so happened that all my jobs required me to work with data, build systems for …

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Rado Kotorov.

Introduction

In today’s interview, we had the opportunity to speak with Rado Kotorov – CEO at Trendalyze

Rado Kotorov has a passion for new ideas and innovation, He is a proven leader in developing vision, strategies, and data-driven business models for the digital economy and a dedicated innovator who has co-created numerous software products and patented technologies. He is an author of two books “Organizational Intelligence” and “Data-Driven Business Models for the Digital Economy” and the Recipient of the 2019 NJ Digi-Tech Innovators Award.

1. Hey Mr. Rado Kotorov, Tell Us About Your Role and Journey as a Chief Executive Officer at Trendalyze. What Made You Choose This Profession?

Like many things in life, the profession chose me in a strange and serendipitous way. In 1994 Edward McClennen (one of the top scholars in Game Theory) offered me to join his Ph.D. program in Decision and Game Theory. He had read an article I had written and thought that I should continue with my research.

Funny enough, I did not know what Decision and Game Theory was.  It turned out to be the science of how people make decisions and so I joined. It also so happened that all my jobs required me to work with data, build systems for data, and do the analysis. During my Ph.D. studies, I became CFO of a small company in Ohio and had to build the accounting systems, the point-of-sale system, all the reporting, and much more.

Then in 2000, I moved to NYC to work for one of the first web portal startups and we built the first massive-scale marketing automation systems that processed unimaginable amounts of consumer data for content personalization. Then I joined Information Builders where I was lucky to work closely with Gerry Cohen (a legend in the software industry) with whom I collaborated closely on many products and even a book.

In 2014, I saw the emergence of sensors collecting granular time series data and I realized that this is like the invention of the microscope. You can put any process or activity under the microscope and understand the root causes of everything. The granular data contained golden nuggets, but it required a new type of analytics that did not exist at the time. So, I rolled up the sleeves and started building Trendalyze.

2. Would you like to tell your Unique Skill that you think you have as a Technology Innovator and Digital Transformation Leader?

What is unique is the diverse collection of education and experiences that I accumulated over time. My CV is nonlinear – it is not a steady progression from one job title to the next in the same field or business domain. Instead, it is like a patchwork – jumping from one job or opportunity to another, from one field to another.

People, and especially corporate recruiters, look down on such nonlinear career paths. People do not choose such meandering paths; more often it happens because of life circumstances. But there is a value in it as it creates a tremendous interdisciplinary outlook on everything you do, which in turn allows you to put more things into perspective while also seeing details that others may miss.

It also makes people wiser and humbler as they are more aware of what it takes to learn new things. In our fast-changing world, we need more interdisciplinary training which today is not provided in universities nor can be acquired in a linear career path. To illustrate the benefits, on many occasions I have been acting as the ‘translator’ who can listen to business and express their thoughts in a language that IT can understand, then take that and translate it for the marketers, the accountants, the board members, etc.

Today, I find that it is extremely hard for one profession to understand the language of another. There is also a growing misconception about what makes interdisciplinary experiences valuable.

The interdisciplinary experiences that I describe are only valuable if one becomes a master of what they do every time they change jobs. Learning fast and deep is essential. If the gain from experience is shallow knowledge, then such an interdisciplinary guru is more dangerous than helpful.

Also Read: Interview With Anthony J James – Group CEO of Innovation and Growth

3. Would you like to Highlight, Some of the Focus Points on How to Solve Today’s Business Challenges by Using BI, Analytics, and AI 2.0, and 3.0 Technologies?

There is a perception that BI and Analytics can be automated, and users can just feed the data and magically get the results. We talk about autoML, automated insights, and other magical tricks. But people forget that analytics is reasoning. Do we have any AI that does reasoning? No. Does anyone think that we can anytime soon replicate with machines human reasoning? No. So how do we expect to get magical analytics?

We still need to train people in analysis and reasoning. I think the analogies between human intelligence and learning and “artificial intelligence” and “machine learning” are wrong. Machines are neither intelligent nor learn.

You may argue that a machine can play chess better than a human and that is true but is it intelligence? No. Chess is what game theorists call a finite game. The number of steps in the game may be huge but is finite. If you can compute fast and remember all the possible steps, you can instantly play all possible chess games. That is what the modern calculators do – compute and remember all steps. I think a better description of what AI is today is an analogy with search.

Machine algorithms build maps of patterns and remember them. As new data comes in the algorithms search and find known patterns. Where we are focused on is making this paradigm less complex and confusing so that ordinary people can do AI. We invented a Logical Neural Network that works on small data sets, is completely explainable, and can be done by business professionals. We took the magic out of the current art and made it humanly understandable and usable.

4. As you have Written the Book on “Data-Driven Business Models for the Digital Economy,” Please Share a Few Takeaways.

Well, you hear everywhere that data is the new crude oil. The gist of the book is about (1) how companies can ensure that they do not miss on opportunities related to data, and (2) how businesspeople should approach data monetization in a methodical way. The first question came from a conversation I had with a logistic operator. The company had all the technologies to track cars and connect clients with drivers using dispatchers.

As someone explained the company had the technology before UBER but never even thought about using it to create a new business model. Shareholders are right to be angry for missing out on such an opportunity. Yet, making money with data is very new.

There is no MBA program that teaches how to do it like they teach factory management, assets management, etc. Thus, people do not even know how to approach data monetization. Hence, we provided a framework. Different data requires different approaches. Putting an app does not guarantee success. One must carefully understand the data and what types of needs it may satisfy, but then also think about how it can be monetized because data monetization is not as direct as renting out a building.

5. Can you Throw some Light on Trendalyze’s Motif Discovery Algorithms, How this Works, and How this Helps to Deliver Fast Results Quickly and Lower Human Resources Cost?

Rather than talking about math, I prefer to explain its logic. Very often I hear people saying that they use this or that algorithm, but they cannot explain how the algorithms work on a logical level. Neural networks are black boxes, but this should not be the case. On a logical level, we should be able to explain their entire operations because they just extract correlations from the data. Today people simply expect that the algorithmic results are magically right.

That is bad because unless a person understands the logical operation of an algorithm, they may be doing the wrong thing. Trendalyze works like Google but instead of searching for words, it searches for patterns. Granular time series patterns have meaning to professionals.

Each pattern signals the need for some action. When cardiologists review ECG recordings and see certain patterns, they instantly realize what the diagnosis and the treatment should be. Signals like these can be used not just in healthcare but also in manufacturing to prevent defects, for detecting financial crimes and anti-money laundering activities, cybersecurity intrusion detection, environmental monitoring, and much more.

6. What is Next for you?

This field is evolving, and we still have plenty to do. So, I expect to be doing what I do now for the foreseeable future. But currently, my most important goal and task are to apply our logical neural networks to cardio patient monitoring. 80% of sudden deaths are cardio-related. The need for simple and more accurate automatic detection of cardio pathologies is huge.

And what we are working on is developing LNNs that can be configured with small data for each patient by medical practitioners. We are driving the personalization of algorithms, while everyone else is looking at the generalization of algorithms.

We flipped that upside down. And it will have a profound effect on data privacy because algorithmic personalization implies that the models can be protected in the same way as lab tests are protected today. The need to give all medical data for all patients to a single company to build a generalized algorithm disappears.

Also, Read Our Popular Blogs:

Best AI Assistant Of 2021Best Data Visualization Tools 2021How to Create a Dashboard in Power BI for Beginner | A-Z Tech BuzzWords in 2021 that You Should Know | Robotaxi Services: A Ride from Past to Future Top 14 AI Startups to Watch Out in 2021 Apple Airtag: A New Way to Track Your Stuff

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Interview With Peter Saridakis – CMO at Strategic Consulting Management https://techresearchonline.com/influencers-interview/with-peter-saridakis-cmo-at-strategic-consulting-management/ https://techresearchonline.com/influencers-interview/with-peter-saridakis-cmo-at-strategic-consulting-management/#respond Mon, 12 Jul 2021 14:10:10 +0000 https://techresearchonline.com/?p=36444 In today’s interview, we had the opportunity to speak with Peter Saridakis – CMO at Strategic Consulting Management. Peter has hands-on experience in marketing, demand generation, growth, sales, and innovation and has been very knowledgeable and strategic in his marketing efforts. He is an outstanding T-E-A-M player who knows, how to balance business requirements with collective departmental and user needs. 1. Hey Peter Saridakis, Tell Us About Your Role and Journey at Strategic Consulting Management. What Made You Choose This Profession? I have an extensive number of year’s experience in both global corporate and early-stage start-ups. I was responsible for innovation and product strategy while working for Fortune 50 companies so when I joined smaller startups I found myself in the same position I am in today at Strategic Consulting, helping cross-functional teams on go-to-market strategies. I enjoy the consulting profession because I get to work with many companies and their respective teams on solving problems or implementing strategies for one type of growth initiative or another. 2. Would you like to tell your Unique Skill that you think you have as Chief Marketing Officer at Strategic Consulting Management? My background has been one where I have been very analytical as …

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Interview With Peter Saridakis

In today’s interview, we had the opportunity to speak with Peter Saridakis – CMO at Strategic Consulting Management.

Peter has hands-on experience in marketing, demand generation, growth, sales, and innovation and has been very knowledgeable and strategic in his marketing efforts. He is an outstanding T-E-A-M player who knows, how to balance business requirements with collective departmental and user needs.

1. Hey Peter Saridakis, Tell Us About Your Role and Journey at Strategic Consulting Management. What Made You Choose This Profession?

I have an extensive number of year’s experience in both global corporate and early-stage start-ups. I was responsible for innovation and product strategy while working for Fortune 50 companies so when I joined smaller startups I found myself in the same position I am in today at Strategic Consulting, helping cross-functional teams on go-to-market strategies.

I enjoy the consulting profession because I get to work with many companies and their respective teams on solving problems or implementing strategies for one type of growth initiative or another.

2. Would you like to tell your Unique Skill that you think you have as Chief Marketing Officer at Strategic Consulting Management?

My background has been one where I have been very analytical as well as able to see the bigger picture so at Strategic Consulting Mgt it was natural for me to bring these skill sets to clients.  Like many marketing initiatives, it’s important to have the right marketing mix but also to measure the results is equally as important.

From Customer Experience to Digital Transformation and Growth If you find yourself beginning to lose market share, the share of wallet or you would like to expand into different markets, you need to take a look at your existing marketing technology stack (MarTech) and overall growth strategy.

At Strategic Consulting Management we are experienced in marketing technology, omnichannel digital marketing, product innovation, and business development that brings strategic thinking to identify growth opportunities and to manage and expand your market share and product adoption.

We help generate new ideas and products, build business cases, negotiate and close 3rd party technology partnerships. We focus on the customer experience and customer journey, growing the footprint and the bottom line for our clients.

3. Would you like to highlight, some of the Focus points when building a brand and Marketing Plan.

First, you need to identify who your audience is and your competitors. Research their needs, likes behaviors to build accurate personas when reaching out to these potential prospects/customers.

Then, use the right marketing mix to reach them, including the right social channel mix ( FB, IG, Pinterest, etc…)

If you are using an email platform, make sure your lists and segmentation are well kept to run a clean drip campaign.

The rest is pretty much common sense for a marketing plan but remember when it comes to brand, your customers own your brand so make sure you monitor your social mentions to take care of any issues, etc. because this will affect your NPS (Net Promoter Score).

Also Read: Interview With Anthony J James – Group CEO of Innovation and Growth

4. What are some of the top Go-to-Market Strategies that you’ve often followed throughout the years?

As I mentioned before, you should have a clear definition of your target audience. This involves researching all the pieces; demographic, behavioral, geographical, and other insights that will help in narrowing down your targeting efforts. Furthermore, you’ll also need to create buyer personas and segment the ideal profiles that you want to target.

The clear value proposition of your product and/or service and the problem(s) they will solve or could even be for a better process/customer experience. Removing the friction is one we hear a great deal about.

Decide on an appropriate pricing strategy given the market, customers, and your competitor’s pricing.

How will you distribute your offering or product, will you leverage partnerships? Use VARs or have just a self-contained website to procure your services and products.

5. A few Takeaways on the top Factors that every Marketing Leader should keep in mind as they plan for growth, innovation.

Stay relevant and keep your focus on what you are bringing to the market is what is needed and not just nice to have. Think about what’s happening in the Insurtech and Fintech space that is not only needed but done in an innovative way leveraging mobile, telematics, crypto, blockchain, and so on.

6. What Next for you?

I am always excited about what might be around the corner for me given what I have done in several industries for many clients, so joining a company heading up their innovation and marketing growth strategy initiatives could be next for me. Time will tell.

 

Also, Read Our Popular Blogs:

Best AI Assistant Of 2021Best Data Visualization Tools 2021How to Create a Dashboard in Power BI for Beginner | A-Z Tech BuzzWords in 2021 that You Should Know | Robotaxi Services: A Ride from Past to Future | Top 14 AI Startups to Watch Out in 2021   

 

 

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Interview With James Murphy FRSA – Founder at Lotus Business Awards https://techresearchonline.com/influencers-interview/interview-with-james-murphy-frsa-founder-at-lotus-business-awards/ https://techresearchonline.com/influencers-interview/interview-with-james-murphy-frsa-founder-at-lotus-business-awards/#respond Fri, 29 Jan 2021 10:37:06 +0000 https://techresearchonline.com/?p=17741 In today’s interview, we had the opportunity to speak with James Murphy FRSA – Founder at Lotus Business Awards. He is also an editor in Chief at Future of Earth. James is an excellent service provider. He delivers outstanding results through his ability to understand and get behind the client’s needs whilst maintaining an extremely high level of customer focus. James always managed to keep his colleagues upbeat and determined to succeed. 1. Tell us about your Role and Journey. What inspired you to take up the Role at Future of Earth? We acquired Future of Earth about 3 years ago when it was known as Marginalia the Future of Work, as we wanted an online magazine to be part of The Responsible Partnership. We saw it as a great opportunity to get our message of sustainability out there. We then we’re very fortunate to bring on board Dr. Debashish Sengupta as our Asia Editor who has significantly increased our readership but more importantly has told some fantastic stories from around the world. 2. What Are Some of The Challenges For You When It Comes To Growing the revenue? The Responsible Partnership is a social enterprise, In essence, we are a business that to be …

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James Murphy FRSA.

In today’s interview, we had the opportunity to speak with James Murphy FRSA – Founder at Lotus Business Awards. He is also an editor in Chief at Future of Earth.

James is an excellent service provider. He delivers outstanding results through his ability to understand and get behind the client’s needs whilst maintaining an extremely high level of customer focus. James always managed to keep his colleagues upbeat and determined to succeed.

1. Tell us about your Role and Journey. What inspired you to take up the Role at Future of Earth?

We acquired Future of Earth about 3 years ago when it was known as Marginalia the Future of Work, as we wanted an online magazine to be part of The Responsible Partnership. We saw it as a great opportunity to get our message of sustainability out there. We then we’re very fortunate to bring on board Dr. Debashish Sengupta as our Asia Editor who has significantly increased our readership but more importantly has told some fantastic stories from around the world.

2. What Are Some of The Challenges For You When It Comes To Growing the revenue?

The Responsible Partnership is a social enterprise, In essence, we are a business that to be the change we want to see in the world. Like traditional businesses, we aim to make a profit but our main aim is to drive positive change, currently, we are focused on reducing poverty and driving awareness about climate change. When we make a profit we either reinvest or donate them to charities we work with.

3. Please Share an Experience of your Journey As a Speaker?

I have always spoken at events, I started talking about employee engagement but in the summer of 2019, I traveled to Minneapolis to be trained as a Climate Reality Leader by Vice President Al Gore. As part of the Climate Reality Project, I deliver Al Gore’s slides to businesses across the UK talking about the climate crisis and its solutions.

Also Read: Interview With Mitch Ratcliffe – Partner Entrepreneur Technologist at Metaforce

4. What kind of Corporate Sustainability Approach you have Taken which led to the Outstanding Result.

So everything we do is built around social impact, I think what I was most proud of was rather than employing a celebrity to present the local awards we invited The Big Issue vendors to present the awards. For those of you that haven’t heard of The Big Issue, it is an excellent magazine sold by homeless or vulnerably housed individuals.

5. Would you like to tell your Unique Skill which you have as an Experienced Leader, Speaker & Competent in Social Media & IT?

I would say it is a general mindset when it comes to business. It isn’t about the money, pursue your passions, don’t be afraid to think big, be ready to take risks, and have fun

6. What Next for you?

We want to kick start the local revolution business revolution where people have pride in their local communities, building thriving local economies, ending poverty, and creating sustainable futures. So we have created The Local Business Awards to celebrate the best local businesses in the UK.

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Interview With Chris Davis – Co-Founder at Revcarto https://techresearchonline.com/influencers-interview/interview-with-chris-davis-co-founder-at-revcarto/ https://techresearchonline.com/influencers-interview/interview-with-chris-davis-co-founder-at-revcarto/#respond Tue, 19 Jan 2021 11:15:40 +0000 https://techresearchonline.com/?p=17119 In today’s interview, we had the opportunity to speak with Chris Davis – Co-Founder at Revcarto. Chris is an award-winning storyteller, podcaster, and former Disney World cast member who is making wisdom go viral. Chris is a good leader and has a very creative personality. Chris is an extremely committed professional in the search for the best results and solutions for his clients. He knows the actual meaning of marketing and how to digitize marketing tools. 1.Tell us About your Role and Journey. What inspired you to take up the Role at Revcarto? I began getting into entrepreneurship by way of freelance web design. So I would build websites for people and businesses all around the world and did that for about a year before launching Revcarto. The inspiration came from my Co-founder who reached out to me on Instagram with the idea of starting an agency that I liked. 2. What Are Some of The Challenges for You When It Comes To Growing the Revenue? Revenue can be hard to grow if you don’t know what channels are bringing you the most already. One of our main issues when we first started was a lack of focus. Once we saw which channel was doing …

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chris Davis Interview

In today’s interview, we had the opportunity to speak with Chris Davis – Co-Founder at Revcarto.

Chris is an award-winning storyteller, podcaster, and former Disney World cast member who is making wisdom go viral. Chris is a good leader and has a very creative personality. Chris is an extremely committed professional in the search for the best results and solutions for his clients. He knows the actual meaning of marketing and how to digitize marketing tools.

1.Tell us About your Role and Journey. What inspired you to take up the Role at Revcarto?

I began getting into entrepreneurship by way of freelance web design. So I would build websites for people and businesses all around the world and did that for about a year before launching Revcarto. The inspiration came from my Co-founder who reached out to me on Instagram with the idea of starting an agency that I liked.

2. What Are Some of The Challenges for You When It Comes To Growing the Revenue?

Revenue can be hard to grow if you don’t know what channels are bringing you the most already. One of our main issues when we first started was a lack of focus. Once we saw which channel was doing the best, we allocated resources to that channel for it to grow and make us more revenue.

Also Read: Interview With Mitch Ratcliffe – Partner Entrepreneur Technologist

3. Please Share an Experience of your Journey As a Keynote Speaker?

It’s not easy becoming a keynote speaker for an event, there’s always tons of competition. The key is to find a smaller event with a valuable audience (aka your target audience) and create a presentation that will attract them.

4. What kind of Digital Strategy you Followed led to the Growing of B2B companies?

Our main digital strategy that has been the biggest factor in our clients’ growth has been content marketing by far. Over time, content marketing just separates you from your competitors and builds your direct referrals if done correctly.

5. What Next for you?

The next thing for me is to continue focusing on growing our agency to over $1M in revenue this year and add more members to our team.

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Interview With Anthony J James – Group CEO of Innovation and Growth https://techresearchonline.com/influencers-interview/anthony-j-james-group-ceo-of-innovation-and-growth/ https://techresearchonline.com/influencers-interview/anthony-j-james-group-ceo-of-innovation-and-growth/#respond Tue, 12 Jan 2021 12:37:02 +0000 https://techresearchonline.com/?p=17046 In today’s interview, we had the opportunity to speak with Anthony J James – Group CEO of Innovation and Growth of Trinity Consulting Services. He is one of LinkedIn’s most awarded influencers, recognised as having the 2018 LinkedIn Power Profile – #1 in Marketing & Advertising and 2018 LinkedIn Top Voice (Australia) and Most Influential Agency Voice in Asia Pacific in 2016. 1. Anthony J James, Please tell us about your Career Path, what your Role is at Trinity Consulting Services, and How you bring about Exceptional Results in your Role? I am the group CEO of Innovation and Growth at Trinity Consulting. A boutique digital and innovation consulting group helping clients find growth and commercializing new innovative solutions. I started my career as a graphic designer in the film and television industry. I then moved into the corporate world for IBM, CSC, and Fujitsu, focusing on creative digital solutions. I then moved onto the agency side helping agencies extend beyond the pure advertising offerings and helping compete against the large corporates, who, for many years have been encroaching into their accounts. As Chief innovation officer for DDB Asia Pacific, my role was to commercialize existing solutions and look for new …

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In today’s interview, we had the opportunity to speak with Anthony J James – Group CEO of Innovation and Growth of Trinity Consulting Services.

He is one of LinkedIn’s most awarded influencers, recognised as having the 2018 LinkedIn Power Profile – #1 in Marketing & Advertising and 2018 LinkedIn Top Voice (Australia) and Most Influential Agency Voice in Asia Pacific in 2016.

1. Anthony J James, Please tell us about your Career Path, what your Role is at Trinity Consulting Services, and How you bring about Exceptional Results in your Role?

I am the group CEO of Innovation and Growth at Trinity Consulting. A boutique digital and innovation consulting group helping clients find growth and commercializing new innovative solutions.

I started my career as a graphic designer in the film and television industry. I then moved into the corporate world for IBM, CSC, and Fujitsu, focusing on creative digital solutions.

I then moved onto the agency side helping agencies extend beyond the pure advertising offerings and helping compete against the large corporates, who, for many years have been encroaching into their accounts. As Chief innovation officer for DDB Asia Pacific, my role was to commercialize existing solutions and look for new growth opportunities for the agency.

Currently, with Trinity Consulting, we provide the best of both worlds independence from any specific technologies and platforms and helping our clients solve the problems worth solving.

For my complete career path, it’s worth checking out my LinkedIn profile.

To keep up with the latest innovations that I find make sure you follow my profile.

2. Would you like to tell your Unique Skill that you think you have as Group CEO Innovation & Growth at Trinity Consulting Services?

It’s all about being able to see just over the horizon. I’m not a Futurist I don’t look 20 to 30 years into the future as far as new innovation and technology. My skill is to be looking at ideas and concepts that are going to become mainstream within 2 to 3 years. This is where clients need to be focused on. If they are not starting to build and implement solutions using those technologies now then they will be irrelevant.

3. What’s the favorite part of your current role and Why?

The best part of my role is there are no rules. You need to keep your eyes and mind completely open. Imagination and creativity can never be limited or overused. In my role, I get to use these things every day.

Also Read: How These 10 Astounding AI Innovations Changed Our Lives

4. As you are one of LinkedIn’s most awarded influencers, recognized as having the 2018 LinkedIn Power Profile – #1 in Marketing & Advertising and 2018 LinkedIn Top Voice (Australia) and Most Influential Agency Voice in the Asia Pacific in 2016.

Would you like to put some light on it?

I’m on it every day by the levels of engagement I received on LinkedIn. The industry recognition is appreciated, and a very privileged position. I believe the real key to this recognition is consistency. If you want to be recognized if you want to be seen then you need to consistently put out your message.

It’s also important to recognize that LinkedIn is not a one-way street. It’s all about engagement – engaging on other’s content with meaningful insightful comments.

Absolutely anybody can do it, it’s just a matter of consistency and focus… and my small tip…combine your engagement and interactions with humility and manners!

So, What is Next for You?

I’m always looking for the next big thing. The new idea. The idea that makes me say…WOW!! This is my excitement this is my passion, and every day is the new next.

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Interview With Mitch Ratcliffe – Partner Entrepreneur Technologist at Metaforce https://techresearchonline.com/influencers-interview/interview-with-mitch-ratcliffe-partner-entrepreneur-technologist-at-metaforce/ https://techresearchonline.com/influencers-interview/interview-with-mitch-ratcliffe-partner-entrepreneur-technologist-at-metaforce/#respond Fri, 08 Jan 2021 13:14:47 +0000 https://techresearchonline.com/?p=16952 In today’s interview, we had the opportunity to speak with Mitch Ratcliffe – Partner Entrepreneur Technologist at Metaforce. Mitch is a very successful – analyst, entrepreneur, and storyteller. He is extremely adept at the leading business transformation. Mitch is a strategic thinker who stays focused on customers’ needs without getting distracted which makes for his efficient thinking. He’s equally effective in startup scenarios as he is incorporate innovation scenarios. Mitch delivers his genius in an extremely humble manner, and he is the definition of a team player. 1. Tell us About your Role and Journey. What inspired you to take up the Role at Metaforce? The opportunity to work with great partners and a global team brought me to Metaforce. The way we engage with clients addresses a long-standing challenge I’ve seen from both sides of the agency/client relationship: too often agencies respond to client needs with the resources they have on the bench instead of putting together a team crafted to the specific challenge. Metaforce’s network of partners and activation partners allows us to deliver the right skills, including creative and execution, necessary to improve the client’s market position and business performance. Many of our partner team have worked …

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In today’s interview, we had the opportunity to speak with Mitch Ratcliffe – Partner Entrepreneur Technologist at Metaforce.

Mitch is a very successful – analyst, entrepreneur, and storyteller. He is extremely adept at the leading business transformation. Mitch is a strategic thinker who stays focused on customers’ needs without getting distracted which makes for his efficient thinking. He’s equally effective in startup scenarios as he is incorporate innovation scenarios. Mitch delivers his genius in an extremely humble manner, and he is the definition of a team player.

1. Tell us About your Role and Journey. What inspired you to take up the Role at Metaforce?

The opportunity to work with great partners and a global team brought me to Metaforce. The way we engage with clients addresses a long-standing challenge I’ve seen from both sides of the agency/client relationship: too often agencies respond to client needs with the resources they have on the bench instead of putting together a team crafted to the specific challenge. Metaforce’s network of partners and activation partners allows us to deliver the right skills, including creative and execution, necessary to improve the client’s market position and business performance.

Many of our partner team have worked in operational roles at the largest brands in the world, as well as in startups and turnaround situations. We take the time to understand our clients’ business challenges, including the business outcomes they seek to achieve. Then, we assemble the right people to solve the problem. We can deliver a single project, provide ongoing service in partnership with internal teams, or build and hand-off a team that will fill the business need on an ongoing basis.

2. What kind of Strategy you Followed which led your Team to 50% Growth in 18 Months at Microsoft’s TechNet IT Pro Site?

The key was editorial organization. By creating thematically related content, featuring it together on the TechNet home page, and creating cross-links the site developed a growing repeat audience of IT pros who came to learn. As Microsoft’s primary IT communications interface at the time, we listened to what customers wanted to learn, the details they needed to do their jobs successfully, and delivered cohesive content packages, executive communications, and links to an unparalleled documentation and support resource.

Find what your customers need and deliver it. They will come.

Also Read: Influencer Interview with Simon Cocking, Chief Editor at Irish Tech News

3. What Are Some of the Challenges for You When It Comes to Growing the Revenue?

Maintaining a stream of new leads is essential to our growth. We are fortunate to have Allen Adamson, whose book Brand Simple and background makes him a frequent guest on podcasts and he is quoted frequently in the press. This raises our flag several times a week. But every marketer has to start by marketing themselves, and Metaforce has developed a listening-based approach to initial meetings that provides value to the potential client, and so far converts well.

4. Tell us the Unique Skill that you Think you have as a Marketing Leader?

I am a storyteller with technical insights based on many years of digital pioneering, consolidating an audience and interactive experience, and launching companies. I understand the problems our operationally-focused clients have every day, as do all our partners at Metaforce. We all have a background in marketing combined with operational roles in established companies as well as startups.

5. You’re One of the Most Influential Marketing Leaders In the Marketing Industry. What Production and Metrics Strategy did you Follow for the Next Generation of Windows Apps?

I was fortunate to be part of a great team that developed the news-driven Bing apps introduced with Windows 8. As an ad-supported business, we focused on KPIs that oriented us to the customer’s use of the content: visits; new visitors to return visitor conversion, dwell time, depth of visit, and a number of articles read, as well as the propensity to share content.

6. What Next for you?

Metaforce is just getting started. We are growing our team and client portfolio in several key areas, notably sustainability, science- and engineering-related communications, and our central pillar of brand clarity and simplicity.

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Interview With Doug Thompson – Director Technology Strategist at Microsoft https://techresearchonline.com/influencers-interview/doug-thompson-director-technology-strategist-at-microsoft/ https://techresearchonline.com/influencers-interview/doug-thompson-director-technology-strategist-at-microsoft/#respond Wed, 22 Jul 2020 11:24:26 +0000 https://techresearchonline.com/?p=10910 In today’s interview, we had the opportunity to speak with Doug Thompson – Director Technology Strategist at Microsoft Doug Thompson is a very positive and pleasant person and does everything with a positive, joyful attitude. He is a successful storyteller, coach, trainer, and speaker. He has also worked with the largest Microsoft Partners and the smallest Mom & Pop shops in far-flung places in the world. He has also leveraged his technical knowledge and business acumen to guide numerous institutions through modernization initiatives that added efficiencies, reliability, & cost savings. Hi Doug Thompson, Tell us about your Role and Responsibility as an AI Ambassador, Director of Technology Strategist at Microsoft? I lead my customers through the digital transformation of their business. This is much more than simply shifting workloads to the cloud, this is transforming the way they use technology to do business. Often this involves a modern data estate leveraging AI and ML which requires a transformation in the way they think about data and how to ethically leverage this technology to improve their business. Please Share an Experience of your Journey As a Keynote Speaker? I have been speaking publicly for over 2 decades and have coached dozen …

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Doug Thompson

In today’s interview, we had the opportunity to speak with Doug Thompson – Director Technology Strategist at Microsoft

Doug Thompson is a very positive and pleasant person and does everything with a positive, joyful attitude. He is a successful storyteller, coach, trainer, and speaker. He has also worked with the largest Microsoft Partners and the smallest Mom & Pop shops in far-flung places in the world. He has also leveraged his technical knowledge and business acumen to guide numerous institutions through modernization initiatives that added efficiencies, reliability, & cost savings.

Hi Doug Thompson, Tell us about your Role and Responsibility as an AI Ambassador, Director of Technology Strategist at Microsoft?

I lead my customers through the digital transformation of their business. This is much more than simply shifting workloads to the cloud, this is transforming the way they use technology to do business. Often this involves a modern data estate leveraging AI and ML which requires a transformation in the way they think about data and how to ethically leverage this technology to improve their business.

Please Share an Experience of your Journey As a Keynote Speaker?

I have been speaking publicly for over 2 decades and have coached dozen of people to become better speakers and had long forgotten how scary it can be.  In 2019 I completed a bucket list item of doing  TEDx talk and felt fear like I had never felt before. I pushed through this and delivered the talk but didn’t feel good about it. Later I was meeting with the crowd when A young man came up to me with a notebook in hand. He had been taking copious notes and asked me to clarify a few points.  He thanked me for giving the talk and that the topic really hit home with him and was just the guidance he was looking for.  My philosophy is that if I can help even one person with a keynote then I have accomplished my goal of making the world a better place.

Can you throw some light on how you have guided numerous institutions through Technical Knowledge and Business Acumen?

Too many times companies get focused on tactical changes that focus on slight improvements to current technical problems instead of solving the much more transformational problems which are business processes. I begin my discussions by discovering the business problems that need to be solved and then identify technology and services which can totally transform the company. Leading with technology often leads to getting the wrong answer faster.

As per your saying “Successful Projects require excellent communication” So, How this can be helpful for the business Growth and positive effect on ROI?

Communication in any change is key to not only get buy-in from stakeholders but also to set the proper expectations. The best method of communication is storytelling and it is a skill that can be learned.  The human mind is wired to learn from stories as a properly told story touches emotions and creativity in a way that facts and figures can not. Once everyone understands the story, their role in it, and a big goal, in the end, magic happens.

How do you Inspire people to work with AI Technology?

First, you have to remove the fear people have about AI.  Many people form their opinion about AI from dystopian movies and fear it. The first thing I do to inspire people to explain AI to them using their words and their frame of reference by telling stories. Once they have a more positive view of the benefits a well crafted AI solution can provide, they are much more likely to enthusiastically support AI adoption.

What Marketing-Related challenges do you meet every day? How do Technology and Collaboration tools help you to overcome these?

Marketing always comes down to the message and reach. Technology won’t help a bad message improve, only spread faster. However, a technology used properly can improve the reach and measurement of results of marketing.  Things like sentiment analysis can really tap into emotions and help tune your messaging.

Would you like to tell your Unique Skill which you think you have as Public Speaker, Trainer, AI Ambassador?

I am a polymath so have many interests and I think in stories. These two skills allow me to be able to communicate with many different types of businesses as well as all levels of an organization.  I also think in stories that allow me to adapt a story to fit in many different situations.  My stories are always sprinkled with humor and believe that learning must be fun in order to be really impactful.  I call this edutainment.

So, What is Next for you?

I am working on adapting to virtual keynotes until in-person events can be a thing again.

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Interview With Tricia Gellman – Chief Marketing Officer at Drift https://techresearchonline.com/influencers-interview/interview-with-tricia-gellman-chief-marketing-officer-at-drift/ https://techresearchonline.com/influencers-interview/interview-with-tricia-gellman-chief-marketing-officer-at-drift/#respond Thu, 09 Jul 2020 17:59:25 +0000 https://techresearchonline.com/?p=10253 In today’s interview, we had the opportunity to speak with Tricia Gellman – CMO at Drift Tricia Gellman is an energetic CMO with a proven track record in growing teams, in large corporations and small start-ups, to build markets and meet or exceed business objectives. She has a proven track record working cross-functionally to drive change, lead teams, launch products and manage relationships. Tricia Gellman, Please tell us about your Career Path, what your Role is at Drift, and How you bring about Exceptional Results in your Role? I’m the CMO of Drift, and I had a unique path to CMO. I know this dates me, but I started my career as a graphic designer when the design industry was just moving onto computers. I was always pushing the envelope with what computers could do, which opened the door for me to have a job at Apple as an evangelist, (a term created by Guy Kawasaki) helping to build out the solutions for designers.  Shortly after getting to Apple, my role was reorganized into Marketing. I was devastated. I didn’t understand what marketing really brought to the table. But, I loved Apple, so I stayed on — and I realized that marketing …

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In today’s interview, we had the opportunity to speak with Tricia Gellman – CMO at Drift

Tricia Gellman is an energetic CMO with a proven track record in growing teams, in large corporations and small start-ups, to build markets and meet or exceed business objectives. She has a proven track record working cross-functionally to drive change, lead teams, launch products and manage relationships.

Tricia Gellman, Please tell us about your Career Path, what your Role is at Drift, and How you bring about Exceptional Results in your Role?

I’m the CMO of Drift, and I had a unique path to CMO. I know this dates me, but I started my career as a graphic designer when the design industry was just moving onto computers. I was always pushing the envelope with what computers could do, which opened the door for me to have a job at Apple as an evangelist, (a term created by Guy Kawasaki) helping to build out the solutions for designers. 

Shortly after getting to Apple, my role was reorganized into Marketing. I was devastated. I didn’t understand what marketing really brought to the table. But, I loved Apple, so I stayed on — and I realized that marketing really allowed me to be both creative and strategic. I’ve been a marketer ever since. 

As my career has evolved, so has the role of the CMO. It’s shifted from being focused on building a brand, to doing that while also measuring data and making highly informed decisions — across the entire marketing mix — to drive ROI and growth, all while impacting the bottom line. 

I believe that in order to deliver exceptional results, marketing needs to have a true partnership with product, customer success, and sales. I think the future will hold even more opportunity for CMOs to help drive business success by building brands based on solid customer experience, trust, and smart, impactful engagements across the entire lifecycle. Today, marketers have a unique opportunity to bring the company together and provide the data to demonstrate the results. Being strategic on who to market to and how to drive the go to market is what gives us a seat at the table with the CEO, data drives accountability.

Drift is a Hub of a Conversational Marketing Platform that combines Chat, Email, Video, and Automation to remove the friction from Business Buying. Tell us a little about some of the most exciting, Upcoming Projects at Drift?

I came to Drift because I truly believe it’s a critical solution for driving strategic value within a company. Right now, companies are having to totally rethink their plans for digital transformation. What they thought they could do in one to three years, they now have to do in one to three months. One of the challenges people have is bringing together their people, processes, and data to drive revenue in the digital world. Prior to today’s digital challenges, Drift was established to help companies unify sales and marketing with a single way to engage customers all leveraging their website. So we are well-positioned to help people accelerate their digital transformation.

Marketers are often challenged to create a single view of their customers to execute relevant marketing that delivers value. We recently launched Drift Audiences, which allows marketers to bring the data stuck in their martech stack together in one place, so they can deliver personalized real-time engagement right on their website, ensuring they create revenue quickly. A martech stack is great – but only if it allows you to take action immediately. So that’s one thing we’re really focused on – enabling people to act and drive value and revenue immediately.  

I find it really exciting to see how technology can work together with humans to deliver exceptional results. In today’s crazy world, we are seeing that people are working more flexible hours and juggling their personal and work lives. With our AI technology, we are helping companies create 24/7 customer experiences that empower people to research solutions, schedule meetings, and accelerate connections toward the purchase, no matter when they are sitting down to do their work. It is exciting to see how AI can help add value in a challenging and changing world.

What are the Crucial New Skills that a CMO needs on their team When it comes to Adapting go to Market Planning and Strategies?

As I mentioned, CMOs used to be known for building brands. This is hugely important, but the CMO of the future needs to be focused on bringing sales, marketing, product, and customer success together — and understanding what actions can truly affect the bottom line. 

It’s now about figuring out how to connect the creative, artistic side of marketing — and the more scientific side focused on data and tangible results. You need to be able to look analytically at the business side of things. 

In the past 5 years, these new challenges have created new roles many of which are hybrids of old roles. The first, is a hybrid of IT and analytics, the operations/analyst is a person who is an expert in the latest technology and how it works, but also is analytical and can help with data analysis both to identify trends but also to point out when the tech is missing a beat as often connections go sideways. The second is a hybrid of messaging and demand. This person knows that you can spend all day but if you put the wrong message in front of the right person you will lose every day. This hybrid person is an expert at understanding how the website, paid digital, organic and the right message bring things together to drive revenue.

What should be the KPIs and Metrics evolved or Marketing Strategies you have performed to increase 10-20% in Revenue or Market Share?

Having a seat at the CEO table means you need to step up as a marketer and measure your performance to revenue. If you are talking about leads or brand and you cannot directly connect these things to the blood of the company, revenue, then you are going to get relegated lower in the organization. Unfortunately, this is what we are seeing in lots of companies where the CMO is reporting to the CRO or other leaders. This doesn’t mean everything you do has to be attributable to revenue but you need to help the company and your team see how what they do matters to the bottom line of the company. 

At Drift, we use integrated campaigns as a way to help everyone see how they are accountable to each other across the marketing organization and also how their efforts add up to our business goals as a company. With this in mind, when planning for the next quarter, we discuss as a team what we should focus on (based on business needs, outside trends, etc.) and then decide on programs that map to reaching specific audiences and achieving measurable goals. For each program, we have a program narrative that tells the story of that program — and then corresponding offers (ebooks, events, etc.) and KPIs depending on the goals. Some goals are awareness and share of voice-oriented while others are focused on pipeline and revenue. Integrated campaigns ensure that every person on the marketing team is focused on something that is truly affecting the bottom line of the company. And, by mapping the results, we can see what moved the needle and what didn’t — and double down or back off accordingly. 

If we want to talk about marketing’s contribution to growth I have a few ideas. 

First, you may have long sales cycles which makes it hard to measure effectiveness to revenue but most companies can measure marketing to the pipeline as in opportunities that over time will mature to revenue. If you evaluate all your spending based on the consistent conversion rate to pipeline vs being excited about your MQL, you can move your dollars to things that have a true business impact resulting in more revenue. 

Second, revenue is not only about new business but as many companies are seeing during the current economic crisis, retaining and growing share of wallet with existing customers is very important. As a marketing leader, you need to balance between both motions and that means looking at the customer experience from the first touch all the way through to adoption, advocacy, and expansion. Spending time improving retention and building happy customers results in renewal revenue, positive word of mouth, recommendations for new business, and expansion. It is a smart way to help increase revenue.

Finally, if you want to increase sales and marketing products to get to revenue faster I have to give a plug for Drift. Drift can help marketers double if not triple the ROI of their dollar spent in paid programs. Additionally, by having conversations when a visitor is on your website you cut out all the waiting trying to reconnect a lead with a human to advance the sales cycle. This alone can help you increase revenue. I am happy to talk to anyone about the true benefits for sales and marketing of working with Drift. 

So, What is Next for You?

Over my 20 years plus career, I learned that I am passionate about two things when it comes to my career. First, I love working at the intersection of marketing and sales. I do not think you can be a strong marketing leader without working in partnership with sales and I love that Drift is a single platform that brings the go to market process together in one place shared by both sales and marketing. I am excited to keep evangelizing this solution and learning how these two professions evolve together. Second, I am passionate about teams and culture. More and more our world is about bringing your whole self to work and you can only do that in a culture that has an emphasis on belonging fostered by promoting diversity and having a strong commitment to not just hiring for diversity but promoting the voices of a diverse group of people. This year we are seeing that there is so much more we can all do on this topic and I am committed to using my voice as a leader to make a difference both internally and externally. 

The post Interview With Tricia Gellman – Chief Marketing Officer at Drift appeared first on Tech Research Online.

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