TechBytes with Pete Hoelscher, CEO at IEEE GlobalSpec

Tell us about your role at IEEE GlobalSpec and your journey as a leader in the industry.

As CEO, I lead the team responsible for Technology, Product, Marketing, Audience, and Sales. My career in the industry began at Acxiom, and I spent 17 years there in roles in Marketing, Organizational Development, Project Management, Delivery and Database Operations. I spent the last seven years in the electric utility space before joining IEEE GlobalSpec.

 How have you seen the industry landscape evolve since you began your career?

While the fundamental problem is the same – “How do I best connect my Product or Service to those who would be interested?” the solution is clearly different in the digital space. Analytics have improved exponentially, which means much better insights. We are also able to get better and more immediate metrics on Marketing programs because of that, which in turn puts more pressure on Marketing departments to demonstrate ROI. The accountability and expectation are the highest it’s ever been, which has put even more pressure on marketers and their budgets.

It’s also been interesting to see how people put more and more data about themselves online, which has brought more depth and breadth to the privacy and ethics discussion. Buyers will share much information about themselves if they believe there’s going to be value in doing so and there is trust and respect with the entity they’re sharing it with.

What is one word/phrase that best describes how you work and lead?

None of us is as smart as all of us.

Where do you see the Industrial Marketing space going in 5 years?

Industrial marketers should be preparing themselves for two things. First, a continued movement of more and more information is available for free on the Web. There are no signs of that slowing down, and B2B and B2C customers increasingly expect that. If I’m a marketer, I must be developing information assets that carry enough value for buyers so that they are willing to pay for them and share information about themselves.

That leads to the second point. We are moving away from Personally Identifiable Information to space where the intent is the driver. Waiting to make a move until you have to because of legislation may mean that it will be too late.

Describe the Catalyst platform in terms of its role in the Industrial Marketing space. What services does the Catalyst provide for users?

By design, the role of IEEE GlobalSpec Catalyst is to provide industrial marketers with the user-friendly resources they need to set up and deploy sophisticated and targeted email and nurturing campaigns. Additionally, it allows users the ability to easily access and segment audiences; create targeted contact lists for individual campaigns; select customizable templates designed to resonate with engineering and technical audiences, and analyze the results of a specific campaign with real-time data. In essence, its goal is to simplify and improve Marketing strategy and outcomes.

What was the impetus of the creation of Catalyst? Did you see a specific need in the market for this?

In the past several years, there has been an evolution in the B2B industrial Marketing space. Some of the key drivers of this growth and progress can be attributed to technology, as well as the fact that the nuances of creating a Marketing campaign have evolved and will undoubtedly continue to overtime. There has also been an increased reliance on B2B buyers on online resources and engagement throughout the buying cycle, resulting in a more complex high-tech/high-touch hybrid purchasing environment.

By creating IEEE GlobalSpec Catalyst, our goal was to meet the needs of marketers who are trying to establish meaningful connections with their audiences and curate valuable content by providing an organized, user-friendly platform on which they could design unique campaigns tailored to said audiences.

Why do you think an automated Marketing platform like Catalyst is necessary?

IEEE GlobalSpec Catalyst provides industrial marketers with the efficiency and sophistication they need to nurture and grow relationships with contacts, in a platform built especially for them. As technology becomes more advanced and there are more stories to share with more people, marketers need an affordable, accessible and most importantly, targeted, solution to do so successfully.

Additionally, one of the most common pain points for industrial marketers is that they are strapped for time and resources. IEEE GlobalSpec Catalyst is designed to serve as an extension of an organization’s Marketing department, meaning that it can seamlessly fill in the gaps of its bandwidth or expertise, solving resource and timing limitations.

The industrial marketing industry is consistently changing. How do you see the Catalyst evolving in the next several years to align with these changes?

As the B2B Industrial Marketing landscape continues to evolve, so will IEEE GlobalSpec Catalyst. We have both a short term and long-term product roadmap designed to continually provide new and enhanced features and functionality that align with our customers’ needs and objectives. As I mentioned, the IEEE GlobalSpec Catalyst is built for the industrial marketer, and their needs will also help to drive future developments.