Discover Growth Hacks and ABM Strategies with Ashwin Krishna

Discover Growth Hacks and ABM Strategies with Ashwin Krishna

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Shubham Tiwari's Journey to Marketing
3. Transition from Programmer to Marketer
4. Branching Out in SAS and Marketing
5. The Importance of Growth and Marketing Foundation
6. Tips for Early Stage Startups with Product-Market Fit
7. Understanding Account-Based Marketing (ABM)
8. ABM Playbook and Key Strategies
9. Pipeline Management Tips
10. Dedication to Personal Blog and Social Media
11. Exciting Developments in SAS Marketing
12. Conclusion

Introduction

Welcome to the Sales Panel Podcast! In this episode, we have Shubham Tiwari and Langan as our hosts. Today's guest is Ashwin Krishna, an award-winning B2B marketer and the Marketing Director at Tech.ai. Ashwin is passionate about enterprise customer marketing and thought leadership. In this interview, Ashwin will share his 15-year long career journey, from being a programmer to becoming a marketer, his experience in various domains of SAS and marketing, and his expertise in laying the foundation for growth and marketing in early-stage startups.

Shubham Tiwari's Journey to Marketing

Shubham Tiwari starts the conversation by asking Ashwin about his transition from being a programmer to becoming a marketer. Ashwin shares that his journey has been interesting and serendipitous. He followed his passion for engineering after excelling in college admissions and joined a startup despite having offers from large companies like Adobe and IBM. This decision opened up his world to the hustle of a startup, but he realized that programming was not his cup of tea. One turning point in his life was when he had the opportunity to help a school build a website and raise funds through unconventional methods. This experience made him realize that he wanted to make an impact and change the world through creativity and problem-solving.

Transition from Programmer to Marketer

Shubham follows up by asking Ashwin about his transition from being a programmer to becoming a marketer. Ashwin explains that the founder of the school he helped introduced him to a broader perspective where he could use his skills to think of new ideas, plan and implement them, and Scale them up. He discovered his passion for speaking to people, ideating new business ideas, and making a difference in the world. This realization led him to take up marketing full-time and work across multiple products, countries, and diverse geographies. He also had the opportunity to build and scale teams and revenues, gaining valuable experience in different stages of company growth and culture.

Branching Out in SAS and Marketing

Ashwin continues his journey by discussing how he branched out into various domains of SAS and marketing over the years. He emphasizes the importance of being systematic and strategic in developing a growth and marketing foundation for early-stage startups with product-market fit. Ashwin suggests that startups should be mindful of their resources (time, people, and money) and focus on capturing or generating demand based on the digital demand for their product. He highlights the difference between SMB-focused companies and mid-market/enterprise-focused companies in terms of their go-to-market strategies, recommending self-service models for SMBs and demand generation strategies for mid-market/enterprise companies.

The Importance of Growth and Marketing Foundation

Shubham asks Ashwin about his primary focus on laying a growth and marketing foundation from scratch for early-stage startups. Ashwin stresses the importance of being systematic in developing a growth strategy based on the digital demand or the need to create a new market. He suggests that startups start by capturing or generating demand based on keyword buckets and create deep, Relevant, useful, and fresh content to stand out in a competitive landscape. Ashwin also discusses the significance of optimizing the sales funnel, tracking key metrics like awareness, engagement, and conversions, and setting clear objectives and priorities.

Tips for Early Stage Startups with Product-Market Fit

Ashwin provides tips for early-stage startups with product-market fit and limited resources. He advises startups to be systematic in their approach and focus on capturing or generating demand based on their target audience's digital behavior. He recommends identifying key keywords, understanding the pain points of personas, and running targeted and focused campaigns to reach the right audience. Ashwin also emphasizes the importance of personalization and relevance in messaging and suggests a one-to-many engagement approach for mid-market/enterprise companies and a one-to-one account-based marketing approach for high-value accounts.

Understanding Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

Shubham dives deeper into account-based marketing (ABM) and discusses the misconceptions surrounding it. Ashwin clarifies that ABM is about being highly relevant, customized, and personalized to specific accounts and individuals. He explains the difference between one-to-many ABM (segmented audience approach) and one-to-one ABM (deeply customized approach). Ashwin highlights the importance of selecting the right accounts, conducting research on account objectives and pain points, orchestrating multi-touch campaigns, and measuring the effectiveness of ABM initiatives.

ABM Playbook and Key Strategies

Ashwin shares key strategies from his ABM playbook that can be applied in general. He emphasizes the selection of accounts based on objectives and the customization of messaging for different segments and personas. Ashwin discusses the importance of research and orchestration of campaigns across channels like email, LinkedIn, and calls. He also emphasizes the tracking and measurement of ABM campaigns to ensure the outcomes are predictable and scalable. Ashwin advises startups to define clear stages, build interventions, and establish strong collaboration between sales and marketing to make ABM successful.

Pipeline Management Tips

Shubham enquires about effective pipeline management and Ashwin provides tips for managing pipelines successfully. He emphasizes the importance of defining clear stages in the pipeline and ensuring smooth handover between stages. Ashwin suggests designing multi-touch, multi-stage campaigns and interventions to maximize conversion rates. He also highlights the significance of establishing service level agreements (SLAs) between sales and marketing teams to maintain a strong pipeline management process.

Dedication to Personal Blog and Social Media

Ashwin discusses his dedication to publishing on his blog and maintaining an active presence on social media. He explains that his blog, Sir Groton, is a platform where he shares his experiences, frameworks, and learnings in a structured and actionable manner. Ashwin aims to provide valuable insights, answer burning questions, and contribute to the marketing community. He also mentions the importance of being curious, continuously learning, and adapting to the rapidly changing landscape of SAS marketing. Ashwin values the feedback and engagement from his audience, and while the number of likes or engagement may vary, he remains committed to sharing valuable content.

Exciting Developments in SAS Marketing

Shubham asks Ashwin about the developments in SAS marketing that he finds most exciting. Ashwin expresses his excitement about natural language processing (NLP) and how it can be used to personalize communication. He discusses the potential of AI and machine learning in generating customized content, improving open rates, and analyzing customer behavior. Ashwin believes that augmented intelligence, combining human intelligence with machine intelligence, can make marketers more intelligent and efficient. He mentions tools like GPT-3 that can automate manual tasks and help marketers create personalized Content At Scale.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Ashwin Krishna shares his journey from being a programmer to becoming a marketer and emphasizes the importance of being passionate, creative, and problem-solving. He provides insights into growth hacking, the significance of ABM, pipeline management, and the dedication to personal blogging and social media. Ashwin highlights the exciting developments in SAS marketing, particularly in the use of NLP and augmented intelligence. He encourages marketers to be curious, adaptive, and focused on continuous learning and improvement.