MarTech Interview with Chris Bassolino, Co-Founder and COO, Zype

Tell us a little bit about your role at Zype.

I currently lead the sales team at Zype, a Video Content Management and distribution infrastructure company. I’m passionate about the role as it provides the opportunity to collaborate with many organizations that are doing exciting work with video content.

What is the one piece of advice you have for B2B marketers in 2019?

My one piece of advice is to review how Marketing Attribution is being handled. If you’re just using first or last-touch attribution as the model, a large part of the story is being missed. Multi-touch is important to understand the full journey of a lead and better gauge ROI of marketing channels.

Which aspect of Video Analytics do marketers tend to overlook the most and why?

Play rate is an important metric that is often overlooked. It’s the percentage of impressions for a video that results in the video being played. Often people look at impressions or plays separately but play rate is important as it can indicate whether the video thumbnail is compelling. If the play rate is low, optimizing the thumbnail could help increase the number of people pressing play.

What startups are you watching/keen on right now?

I mostly look at any new startups in the video space to see if they are doing something innovative where it could make sense to partner or indicating early signs of a shift in the market.

What does Zype’s MarTech stack currently consist of?

At Zype, we primarily use Salesforce, Pardot, Google Analytics and WordPress.

How do you prepare for an AI-centric world as a business leader?

I’m evaluating how AI can drive forward features around video that help customers increase engagement. These features are mainly around content recommendations and personalization for specific viewers. Who doesn’t want their own channel to watch tailored just for them!

One word that best describes how you work.

Creatively

What apps/software/tools can’t you live without?

• Boomerang for Gmail
• Google Apps
• Slack
• Notebook and pen

What’s your smartest work-related shortcut or productivity hack?

I schedule calendar reminders for myself on important follow-ups and include very specific details on what the next steps are directly in the event description. It keeps important items from falling through the cracks, protects my calendar from getting booked up so I can action on these items, and provides me the all the information I need to be able to move quickly.

 What are you currently reading?

I usually only read books related to business and just started reading “Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice.” Most of the information I consume is digital unless I’m traveling, then I always bring a hard copy book with me.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

Never lie to yourself.

Something you do better than others — the secret of your success?

I enjoy listening more than I like to hear myself talk. There is a quote by Stephen Covey that says, “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” It’s important to listen to what someone is communicating in order to really understand the information as well the other person’s perspective and reasoning behind the message.

Thank you, Chris! That was fun and hope to see you back on MarTech Series soon.