On Marketing Technology

MTS: Tell us about your role at FunnelWise and how you got here? What inspired you to be part of a revenue funnel diagnostics company?
I am currently the Vice President of Marketing at FunnelWise. Prior to joining FunnelWise, I worked at Marketo as a Business Consultant and Project Manager on their professional services team. During my time with Marketo (and in prior roles), it was apparent that marketing and sales teams needed a better way to create, measure and optimize their buyer’s journey. When the opportunity presented itself at FunnelWise, it felt like a great fit for me to leverage my past experience to educate other organizations on how to use data to reach their revenue funnel potential.

I feel blessed that my career has centered around my passion for marketing technology. It has been a privilege to work with both B2B and B2C companies and help implement and expand their use of data and technology to grow marketing’s contribution to revenue.

MTS: How does the FunnelWise engine track revenue funnel metrics?
FunnelWise integrates with CRM systems, as well as marketing automation platforms, to create a single source of truth for both marketing and sales teams to help optimize their revenue funnel performance.

Additionally, FunnelWise benchmarks metric performance to help organizations understand where improvements are needed. Then we work with our clients to create data-driven marketing and sales actions at every stage of the funnel to maximize conversion rates and velocity.

MTS: How do you see the trends in predictive analytics and B2B data analytics influencing the adoption of revenue diagnostics platforms?
With the developments in machine learning and predictive analytics, the need for revenue diagnostics adoption should now be a staple for B2B organizations. This influx of available data and application demands that companies have an operationalized revenue funnel and a single source of truth for the data surrounding the buyer’s journey to better analyze and predict future outcomes.

MTS: What’s the idea behind Revenue Funnel Science? What actions does the methodology recommend for business leaders to optimize their revenue funnels?
While the terminology is fairly new, Revenue Funnel Science principles have been established and practiced over the years by many organizations and a core discipline for revenue growth. The methodology documents and teaches best practices, while combining the application of data and science to effectively manage the revenue funnel.

The methodology empowers business leaders to take three critical actions: build the foundation, connect the dots and operationalize the funnel. By taking these actions, organizations are able to tear down data silos and answer forward-looking questions regarding where the organization is heading and how they will get there.

MTS: What are the major challenges for marketing and sales teams in leveraging revenue funnel metrics?
In the words of W. Edwards Deming, “In God we trust, all others must bring data.”

Marketing and sales leaders have now expanded the role data plays in their efforts, which has changed the way they need to use information.

One of the biggest challenges I see regarding how teams use funnel metrics, is that now they are being tasked with actually using them. Previously, the challenge was simply mining the data to be able to create a report regarding the revenue funnel. Now that technology exists to make this information readily available, I find that many organizations are still unsure of how to use the data to drive performance.

As organizations are tasked with reporting on core funnel metrics, such as conversion rates, velocity, movement, and attribution, it is important for them to not only use the metrics to answer yesterday’s questions, but also answer forward-looking questions surrounding how to impact future results.

MTS: What startups are you watching/keen on right now?
Nextdoor, Jet.com, WeWork, UserTesting, StemBox

MTS: What tools does your marketing stack consist of in 2017?
Salesforce, Marketo, Google AdWords, Socedo, Everstring, HootSuite, WordPress, Google Analytics, Canva, Asana and FunnelWise (shameless plug)

MTS: Would you tell us about your standout digital campaign?
We have found campaigns centered around our revenue funnel benchmarking study to be very successful. Earlier this year, we fielded an extensive research project into the attributes of high-performing revenue funnels. The research identified four common traits amongst top-performing funnels. Our campaigns have focused on sharing these benchmarks, as well as creating personalized benchmark reports to allow companies to understand their funnel performance. We measure the success of our campaigns through engagement, qualification conversion, pipeline generation and influenced revenue.

MTS: How do you prepare for an AI-centric world as a marketing leader?
Marketers must prepare for an AI-centric world by educating themselves and their organization on how AI will play a future role. It is critical for organizations to treat AI as an opportunity, not a disruption. Additionally, it is also important for businesses as a whole to understand how AI will impact the overall structure of the organization. Traditional siloes will no longer be sustainable, and instead, AI will open up a truly holistic framework. As we have begun implementing AI into our processes, we have started small, implementing the changes, analyzing results and then gradually expanding usage.

This is How I Work

MTS: One word that best describes how you work.
Purposeful.

MTS: What apps/software/tools can’t you live without?
It really depends on the day (and company), but I would have to say I could not live without a project management tool. Right now, we are using Asana, and I love the way it empowers the team to collaborate, plan and manage our projects.

MTS: What’s your smartest work related shortcut or productivity hack?
I think my best productivity hack is calendar blocking. Even though I know it will never go as planned, I like to block time on my calendar to work on certain projects each day. This allows me to ensure I have time carved out, free from meetings, to focus on deliverables.

Additionally, I strive to practice a “zero-inbox,” meaning before I shut down each day I have read/acknowledge/responded to the new emails. Again, this is never perfect, but it definitely helps me start each day fresh without knowingly walking into a full inbox.

MTS: What are you currently reading? (What do you read, and how do you consume information?)
Currently, I start my days reading The Wall Street Journal and end them reading “Goodnight Moon” to my two-year-old.

MTS: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Mind over Matter. My mother used to say this to my brother and I growing up when it came to sports, but has carried over more into my professional life as I work on solving problems or am disappointed with certain outcomes.

MTS: Tag the one person in the industry whose answers to these questions you would love to read:
Kelly Jo Horton of Intersekt Solutions,  and Jomar Ebalida of Matulin Marketing.

MTS: Thank you Mollie! That was fun and hope to see you back on MarTech Series soon.