GTM Confessions
Welcome to GTM Confessions. The show where we share what it takes to be a go-to-market (GTM) professional today…because it’s freaking hard and it’s far from the glamorous picture that social media often paints.
Each week, we’ll have a go-to-market professional on the show to share real examples of what’s worked and what’s failed spectacularly…the extreme highs of this career, the lowest of lows, and everything in between. Think of it as your weekly go-to-market therapy session…where you realize you’re not alone in trying to figure it all out.
GTM Confessions
Demand Doesn’t Exist Without a Brand
Every marketer knows the importance of building and investing in a brand, but that’s not usually the case for the rest of the company. Many CEOs, board members, and VCs, often challenge marketing leaders about investing in building a brand especially when the company is first starting. They prefer that all marketing activity be focused on demand generation. This sets up the eternal battle of brand vs demand.
That’s why we’re talking with Lindsay Tjepkema, founder at Human Brands Win. Lindsay is a 3x founder and visionary B2B marketing leader with 20+ years of experience. She founded venture-backed SaaS startup, Casted, the first podcast and video marketing platform for B2B brands. As CEO, she led the company to rapid growth with clients like IBM, HubSpot, and Salesforce. Now, as the founder of Human Brands Win, she helps founders build authentic, breakthrough brands. A sought-after speaker at SXSW, INBOUND, B2BMX, and more, Lindsay’s insights have been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, NPR, and TechCrunch. She is a Forbes Business Council member, co-leader of the Women of Pavilion Community, and a passionate advocate for founders defining success on their terms.
In this episode, Stephanie and Lindsay talk about what it takes to create a brand, the constant battle between brand and demand, how to get your CEO and board to understand the value of a brand, and so much more.
Key Takeaways:
- Brand exists whether or not you invest time and money into it. It’s the summation of how people think about you and your company.
- Most start-ups need to think about building a founder brand and a company brand. There will likely be some overlap between the two, but both must exist.
- Demand doesn’t exist without a strong brand.
- There will always be countless feedback about your company’s brand. You need to be extremely picky regarding what feedback you listen to and what you ignore.
- Content creation is an integral part of building a strong brand. Most early-stage companies significantly understand the amount of content that needs to be created to establish and grow a brand.
- Brand can’t be easily measured on a KPI dashboard. Instead, there are anecdotal or qualitative ways to track brand effectiveness such as social media comments about your company, speaking opportunities available to your senior leaders, etc.
- It’s insane for marketing leaders to explain the importance of a brand to CEOs and VCs. Everyone should already know why it’s critical to invest in a brand and the increase in valuation that a strong brand can bring in an acquisition.
- One of the best internal partners to help you advocate for investing in a brand is the sales leader. A sales leader who understands that sales becomes tremendously easier when the company has a strong brand is a marketer’s dream partner.