MarTech Interview with Peggy de Lange, VP of B2B Marketing at Fiverr

Peggy de Lange, VP of B2B Marketing at Fiverr Pro comments on what can help B2B marketers build better team structures and processes:

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Welcome to this MarTech Series chat, Peggy, what inspires you about being a marketer? We’d love to hear more about your role at Fiverr.

Hello and thank you for having me. I’ve worked in the marketing industry for almost 30 years, and I’ve witnessed how the landscape has changed as technology and trends shift over time. In fact, I joined Fiverr during the early stages of the company as a freelancer before joining the company full-time as the VP of Corporate Marketing in 2012. I’ve seen how the workforce has evolved in the past decade, and being part of that culture shift is incredible. It’s that impact that most inspires me about being a marketer — the fact that I have the opportunity to make a difference in the way the world works through marketing, and see that change come to life.

As a seasoned marketing leader: what would you say are the five fundamentals that need to shape most B2B marketing plans?

1. Define measurable business objectives – When identifying your business objectives, ensure they are measurable and achievable. Otherwise, you will be unable to track progress and identify what strategies may need to be changed in order to reach your goal.
2. Define your market and buyer persona (ICP) – Taking the time to understand your buyers and their needs is crucial to shaping an effective B2B marketing plan.
3. Identify marketing tactics and channels for your buyer persona – There are a variety of marketing strategies, and each one offers their own unique approach. Taking a look at the buyer persona you are targeting, and identifying which tactic or channel (ABM for example) will be most effective is crucial.
4. Create assets and run campaigns – Once your buyer persona and marketing tactics/channels are identified, it’s time to create assets and run campaigns implementing the plan you’ve strategically put in place.
5. Build and maintain relationships (lifecycle marketing) – The ultimate goal from all of the above steps is to build and maintain relationships with your buyers. A successful marketing plan results in acquiring new customers and keeping your existing customers satisfied — providing them with what they need regardless of what stage they are at in their buyer journey.

Take us through some of your most relied on marketing strategies (ABM/etc) and the martech that you’ve used to drive goals from them?

As mentioned above, there are many marketing strategies to choose from, each one unique in how they reach the customer. Personally, I have had the most success with  holistic approach to account based marketing (ABM). For example, if your audience is marketing agencies, build an ABM track that addresses them, while also making sure there is awareness for a broader audience, as well.

Engage with influencers, do some paid marketing with leading marketing publications, and participate in conferences or events that are targeting this ideal customer profile. I believe in holistic approaches rather than only doing one or the other, or just tackling part of it, to have more reach and impact. As far as the martech used, I’ve leveraged data analysis to understand the buyer persona and ensure the marketing strategy I’m implementing is directly addressing their unique needs and interests.

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When it comes to the typical structure of a B2B marketing team: given the newest trends and evolutions as to the marketing functions of today: how do you think marketing leaders should look at restructuring their teams?

The modern workforce has shifted dramatically within the last few years as many companies adopted remote and hybrid work models, and widespread layoffs impacted businesses worldwide. Our research shows only 16% of independent professionals prefer to work on-location full-time and 71% of Gen Z prioritize flexibility when looking for a job. That being said, I’m an advocate for leveraging freelance talent when marketing leaders are considering restructuring their teams. The truth is that every organizational structure is unique and freelance talent can support the core team in a variety of ways. In fact, freelance talent can not only support full-time employees, but enhance the team’s work by bringing in new skills and fresh perspectives.

For example, one business may employ a full-time social media manager to manage their social media channels, but could benefit from additional support offering higher level strategy and the critical thinking skills that is needed to understand how a social media content calendar can ladder up to the business objectives. Or perhaps a business owner simply needs a skilled social media and marketing expert to develop a strategic approach for their social media channels for a one-off project.

These are just a couple of examples of how freelance talent can play a crucial, supporting role to existing full-time staff, no matter what the seniority or expected duration of the work.

What type of martech features will become more prominent in this space in your view in the near-future?

As we’ve seen across many industries, AI and automation will continue to play an important role in enhancing what we’re currently capable of in the marketing space. We are already seeing the real-time adaptation of AI and automation technologies in marketing agencies across the globe – whether it be through AI generated advertising campaigns or through its numerous implementations in regular day-to-day activities.

As these technologies continue to rapidly advance, more marketers and freelancers alike will leverage them to assist with mundane tasks, freeing up time for more important projects, brainstorming innovative ideas, and collaborating with their teams. We at Fiverr echo these same sentiments and look to embrace AI and automation as the game-changing resource that it represents today and tomorrow. In fact, its meteoric rise only opens more avenues of opportunity for independent AI experts, prompt engineers, and professionals to consult with the larger marketing world and to help drive new and creative initiatives in the near future.

If you had to share five thoughts about the state of martech in the next decade, what would it be?

1. Over the next decade, most if not all businesses will embrace and implement freelance talent. Professionals, including those in martech, are looking for flexibility and how it must play a role in businesses hiring strategies going forward.
2. As mentioned above, AI is going to play a major role in what marketers are capable of, and martech, specifically, will be impacted. With 88% of marketers believing their organization must increase its use of automation and AI to meet customer expectations and keep a competitive edge, I expect marketers to really take advantage of the new technology to create even more personalized marketing campaigns and experiences for consumers. We’re already seeing this play out Maybelline’s mascara ad that was actually a CGI video, as an example.
3. Personalized marketing will also continue to evolve over the next decade. We’re already seeing more personalized and targeted marketing campaigns, and consumers are responding positively. In fact, between 2021 and 2026, the customer experience personalization software and services industry is projected to grow by 65%. This indicates that martech will need to expand on its personalization capabilities as we see this trend continue to progress.
4. Optimizing the customer experience will continue to be a priority in the coming years, especially as the customers maintain expectations of personalized experiences across all areas of life — from digital advertising to in-person experiences. That being said, I expect the innovative technology to achieve the level of high-touch experiences the customer expects will only continue to become more intuitive and effective.
5. Measurement on the impact of the marketing efforts are changing, and will continue to evolve within the next decade. We’re no longer solely looking at ROI, but also at customer retention, marketing attribution and 3rd party cookies.

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