Episode Summary
The startup world isn’t for everyone, but Claudia Ring can’t help but be drawn to the “craziness” of them — even after working at IBM for several years.
On this episode of Tech Qualified, Justin Brown interviews Claudia about her most recent startup adventure as the Head of Marketing at rENIAC, a data engine platform.
rENIAC is a bit technical, to say the least, but Claudia succinctly defines the company’s mission, product and target audience before walking us through her experience building the startup’s marketing department from the ground up.
“A lot of teams will just start to try to run demand-gen programs without that foundation beneath their feet,” Claudia says. But you need, at the very least, a tool to track your analytics and a well-established voice and Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).
As if launching a startup’s marketing department isn’t enough, COVID-19 has really thrown a “monkey wrench” in things, Claudia says. But she’s rolled with it by planning a number of virtual events. Attendance has been surprisingly high, though she doesn’t expect the enthusiasm to last forever. When interest wanes, she’ll simply adapt — much like she does day-to-day at any startup she’s worked with.
Guest Profiles
- Name: Claudia Ring
- What she does: As the Head of Marketing at rENIAC, a data engine platform, Claudia Ring has built the startup’s marketing department from the ground up.
- Company: rENIAC
- Noteworthy: Claudia began her career at a startup before moving to IBM. However, after a few years with the big corporation, she decided to return to the “craziness” of the startup world in Silicon Valley.
Key Insights
- If you don’t have backend data, an established voice and a defined ICP, then you don’t have a strong marketing foundation, Claudia says. Those are the “very first pieces” you need to get a demand-generation or lead-generation campaign off the ground.
- The key to harmonizing your marketing and sales teams? Communication — and never passing the buck. In a startup, everyone’s wearing 10 hats, so you’re forced to work as a “we,” not a “you” or “me.”
- Slice and dice your content. Then slice and dice it again. Take your “mega pieces” of content and break them into smaller, more tailored pieces for different members of your target audience. After all, “not everybody's going to read a 20-page white paper,” Claudia says.
Episode Highlights
- First, build a foundation of data beneath your feet
- Voice and ICP: vital in collecting impactful campaign results
- Sales vs. marketing: addressing the infamous sibling rivalry
- Creating the marketing domino effect
- Slicing, dicing and repurposing your content
- Adjusting to the COVID-19 'monkey wrench'