The Life-Long Customer

Integrating Marketing and Sales for Better Buyer Connection with Stephanie Swinyer, Head of Revenue Marketing, Integrate

May 24, 2022 Revenue Rhino Season 1 Episode 132
The Life-Long Customer
Integrating Marketing and Sales for Better Buyer Connection with Stephanie Swinyer, Head of Revenue Marketing, Integrate
Show Notes Transcript

Silos exist in organizations and those silos pose challenges that need to be overcome especially when it comes to sales and marketing. With digital coming into play, marketers should start thinking with a single channel approach and leverage unified data and strategy to create a bigger impact.

Stephanie Swinyer from Integrate shares how they’ve successfully broken down silos and how to focus on what the customers really want.

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Introduction: 0:04
From Revenue Rhino, I'm Brad Hammond, and this is The Lifelong Customer Podcast. We're interviewing successful sales and marketing leaders in discussing ways in which they're building lifelong relationships with their customer.

Brad Hammond: 0:20
Welcome to The LifeLong Customer Podcast. I'm your host, Brad Hammond. And today, I'm super excited to have Stephanie Swinyer from Integrate. She's the Head of Revenue Marketing at Integrate. Welcome, Stephanie. Thanks for joining us.

Stephanie Swinyer: 0:34
Thank you so much for having me, Brad.

Brad Hammond: 0:37
It’s really great to have you on. So to start, can you please tell our audience a bit about yourself? Who are you?

Stephanie Swinyer: 0:44
Yeah, I have been in B2B marketing. I don't want to date myself, but 15-plus years in tech in Silicon Valley, and I have just had the great fortune of working in varying sized companies and industries, small companies that have grown like Taleo or were acquired, to larger companies like Siebel, who also were acquired. What I love to do and where my passion lies is really building and scaling companies and their demand gen engines. And probably the highlight, I would say, of my career, one of the highlights is my time at Workday, in the HCM and financial management space, where I spent almost seven years with that early marketing team, aiding them and taking the company public.

And then prior to my time at Integrate, I founded my own marketing consultancy for about two to three years, again, working with companies to grow their demand gen efforts. And most recently, I head up revenue marketing and Integrate. And I've been with the company almost two years and just love the new challenge, if you will, of marketing to marketers. The best part of that the position, as you can imagine, is just working, collaborating and learning alongside our peers, and really shaping our marketing community.

Brad Hammond: 2:01
I love that. Very cool. Sounds like you've had quite a journey. And for those listening, tell us a bit about Integrate. What do you guys do? And then tell us a bit about what marketing looks like for Integrate.

Stephanie Swinyer: 2:12
Sure, I'll try to contain my passion. Integrate helps marketers connect with their buyers. Our Demand Acceleration Platform enables marketers to really connect with their buyers, build those buyers’ journeys across multiple channels, namely advertising, content syndication, events, both virtual and in person, as we navigate back, and social. And really provides that insight that marketers have been longing for a long time across all their channels. And it's really about that martech that helps those marketers meet their buyers where they are in their journey.

Brad Hammond: 2:47
Very cool. So you mentioned revenue marketing. So you're the Head of Revenue Marketing. For those that are maybe less familiar, what is revenue marketing?

Stephanie Swinyer: 2:56
Our mission, if you choose to accept it, I'm kidding, I'm being facetious, is really about accelerating and generating pipeline. And I think very similar to how you think about traditional demand teams, but respective of what we do and our team at Integrate, it is about thinking more broadly, inside sales, maybe uniquely reports to our marketing team under me, as well as the demand team. And so it's really unifying those efforts. And just really being in lockstep with sales all day every day and thinking like a true revenue org as a part of that revenue org.

Brad Hammond: 3:36
Interesting. So what some examples of boots-to-ground stuff you're doing day to day be?

Stephanie Swinyer: 3:43
So we have what we call a revenue SWAT that is all of the marketing and sales leaders strategizing, getting in a room and talking about how we really can all center everything we're doing around the buyer and the customer. I think that's one of the ways. And then having to share a little bit more as we talk about orchestration and really thinking through that methodical, repeatable process that we have within Integrate. Again, all in the realm of that wire connection, fostering, empathetic, authentic connections.

Brad Hammond: 4:21
Totally. And just for the audience, you're marketing to marketers. So a very unique position to be in. What is that like versus like maybe marketing to other audiences?

Stephanie Swinyer: 4:33
Brad, it holds us to a higher standard. We need to get more creative. I often challenged myself and the teams to just having a bit more fun with it. And we learn from our customers every single day about all the great stuff that they're doing. I am constantly amazed by the new and innovative ideas and just how they're adapting and have fared so well in this environment.

Brad Hammond: 5:00
So as we think about marketing, I always like to look at your customers, so obviously, your customers or other marketers. And I'd love to hear what are some of your customers doing well, and what are some of the things out there that get you excited that you see some of your customers doing? 

Stephanie Swinyer: 5:16
I mean, hats off to our customers who just always amazed me. I thank them all the time for their hustle and persistence to elevate the marketing community. You know, I think the very successful marketers are out there preaching this buyer-centric thinking, one that comes to mind, her name is Leslie Alore. She's the Global VP of Growth Marketing at Ivanti. And she talks about how the goal of marketers should be just being in their buyer’s moment. She also talks about that maturity curve, and how her team is advancing and thinking, and I think that she is one of the thought leaders, in my opinion, who’s really making a lot of headway here. We call that at Integrate Precision Demand Marketing, just exciting to see our customers evolve on this continued journey to precision. I think that's where I really see customers thriving.

Brad Hammond: 6:10
Totally. What are some of the things that you see these marketers doing well? And what are the other areas of maybe challenge or a lot of focus right now?

Stephanie Swinyer: 6:20
I'm going to take challenges first, Brad, because I think silo busting is one of the things that I see is a challenge. What I mean when I say that is we have been trained as marketers to hire and scale teams based on channels. An example, you know, might be that paid media, right? An example may be advertising folks, etc. The flip side of that is what folks are doing well. What I see is that folks are breaking down those silos, again, all in the realm of the buyer, and what's best for the buyer and that connection, because I just think we can't work like that any longer. When we are trying to evaluate a complete buyer connection and orchestration, it just becomes too hard. It becomes a single channel only. And that's where I see our customers thriving beautiful orchestrated journeys. They don't happen by accident. They need to be methodical and thought through. And I think that's where folks are really thriving.

And then just back on the buyer connection front pains, I think unified data has been a challenge. With that data and intelligence coming together, you are able to more easily open up opportunities with inside sales and sales. What I mean when I say that is we have overnight in 2020 pivoted to a very digital world where much of that buying cycle occurs digitally. Now more than ever, I think that that is a perfect opportunity for us when I talk about now is the time for marketing, to really insert ourselves and think about that we can have such a tremendous impact there, in concert with sales. So those are some of the things I see that are challenges and as a team that we're working toward and doing really well.

Brad Hammond: 8:22
So the buying journey is changing so much today, you know. Even if you think of last few years, how much it's changed, and really that impacts the role of sales and marketing and all this. Tell me your thoughts on the role that marketing plays and the role that sales plays, maybe where they come together and all that stuff.

Stephanie Swinyer: 8:43
Yeah, Brad. I mean, unprecedented change, buyers changing and demanding more, there's recent data that's come out from Gartner TOPO, a friend of ours, analysts by Rosenberg, only 17% of the buying process today now is spent engaging with sales, and 7 out of 10 sales reps are citing access to stakeholders as a primary challenge. So now before I get my favorite sales team and my former favorite sales teams in an uproar, of course, there is always a critical need for sales at the right time in the sales cycle.

But I think what this presents is almost like a call to arms for marketing to break down the silos, squash the old adage of marketing and sales divide, because the buyer has never been clearer about what they need in their sales cycle and when. The silos need to go because we all care about one thing, which is the buyer in that journey. You know, my sales counterparts, who are phenomenal, say to me, Okay, well we rely you marketing to bring us in at the right time now more than ever, when we think about that 70% of the buying process, right? So, so much of the research is done early, often, and digitally. So we all need to adapt and change.

Brad Hammond: 10:04
Yeah, totally. I couldn't agree more. Being that those channels are kind of going digital, the buyer journey is often digital. What are the channels you're seeing marketers really succeed at? What do those look like? What do you see as the future of digital marketing and that digital journey? 

Stephanie Swinyer: 10:23
I think tying together multiple channels is where I see the opportunity. And when you talk about future, we all know that the buyer’s journey is not linear. The buyer is going to choose what channels they want to be in and when. And we need to more readily and easily share that back with our sales counterparts, and give them intelligence to best follow up within that orchestration. I had the privilege of working with a sales team who is extremely open to that ongoing dialogue and go back to silo busting. It really breaks down the old adage, which is that sales and marketing divide, and really thinking through how we just throw that out of the conversation and work toward that focus on the best connection we can make.

Brad Hammond: 11:19
Totally. So let's switch topics a little bit now. And you've been with Integrate since the June of 2020. And before this, you've always been part of a marketing team in different organizations. How and when did you realize marketing is your thing and what you want to do?

Stephanie Swinyer: 11:36
Yeah, thank you for asking. Some of the folks on my team asked me about this. I think I just was always very curious. I wanted to learn all aspects of marketing. I served in customer roles. I served in event marketing roles. I served in partner roles. And I really sought out those opportunities across marketing functions. And then when I started working in demand and getting closer to sales and closer to revenue, that was the part I think where my passion lies, was to work in lockstep with sales and, you know, celebrate the wins together.

And I think that curiosity is really the most important part. And now, you know, I talked about silo busting earlier. I would encourage any marketer or upcoming marketer to really think about what areas of the business can you best work in? Or do you need to expose yourself to truly become what folks are calling now the new CMO, the Chief Connection Officer, right? How do you truly aid in the connections within the business, externally and internally? And that's what I think about a lot when I think about how to advise other marketers on their path. I really think that stems from just an ongoing curiosity of how to learn best how the business works.

Brad Hammond: 13:02
Totally. So can you share a struggle that you've gone through as you've grown as a marketer?

Stephanie Swinyer: 13:08
Yeah, that's a good one. I think that the working in the business versus thinking about how to work on the business is really that next stage of growth for a lot of marketers, and that is the biggest area of opportunity, as I've navigated leadership, and has really aided me in my growth and thinking.

Brad Hammond: 13:35
Yeah, I love that. And in your journey, as you've grown, what has helped most, you know, have there been those individuals that have come along and helped or maybe specific things you've learned?

Stephanie Swinyer: 13:48
Find a mentor. I've been extremely fortunate to have a lot of great mentors, who have worked in marketing, but also in other functions in a company, business development, partnerships, product, etc. So I think that's the key is thinking about those mentors that can give you that well-rounded business experience. And then I just think curiosity all day long and pushing yourself to new heights. What is that next area of focus for you professionally where you can really grow and push yourself?

Brad Hammond: 14:23
Totally. So what's in the future for you? What gets you excited? What are you what's ahead and on the road ahead?

Stephanie Swinyer:  14:30
This is our time for marketing. That's what gets me really pumped up. And I keep going back to connections because when I think about the future, it's our team kind of asking themselves and this is what I see our amazing customers doing, you know. How can we reach out cross collaboratively across the business? Again, all in the realm and thought process of the buyer and customer. Our teams are phenomenal to work with.

Our sales team, providing that better buyers journey. Our customer success team, how do we think about a better customer experience together? Our products team, how do we enable providing those journeys to our customers? Our MOPS team, how do we think about our tech stack and measurement and advancing that, you know, to scale the business? So those are the things that are in the future and that we're starting to work toward now. Just really ripe opportunity. It's unprecedented. It's been a roller coaster and the resilience from this community has just been astounding.

Brad Hammond: 15:34
Love that. As we're wrapping up here, what final advice do you have for the other marketers out there listening today?

Stephanie Swinyer:  15:40
Stay curious. Leverage mentors across the business. Just, you know, don't doubt yourself, you know, that curiosity, that ongoing growth is extremely powerful. And you never know kind of where you land think outside the box in order to do so. 

Brad Hammond: 15:58
So this has been a great conversation. And one of the things I always like to ask is, how can others connect with you? It sounds like you're doing some really cool stuff. So how do they get in touch? And what are some of the things you have going on?

Stephanie Swinyer: 16:10
Thanks so much, Brad, all of the primary social channels, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc., Reach out Twitter, that first. But second, we are embarking upon workshops with our customers and prospects and just really collaborating and learning from one another best practices. So feel free to reach out if you have an interest there in mapping these multi-channel omni channel journeys. That would be amazing to connect on that front and encourage you all to do so. 

Brad Hammond: 16:42
Love that. Well, this has been a great conversation. Thanks so much for joining. It's great to have you on.

Stephanie Swinyer: 16:46
Thank you so much, Brad. Really appreciate your time today and the conversation.,

Brand Hammond: 16:50
Totally.