B2B Marketing can be broadly grouped into eras based on specific go-to-market strategies that were dominant at the time.
Today's guest played a pivotal role in the development of not just one but two (!) of these era-defining strategies: lead generation / content marketing and account-based marketing (ABM).
Many thanks to the sponsor of this episode - Knak.
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Jon Miller was the co-founder and first CMO of Marketo, CEO of Engagio, and CMO of DemandBase.
From Jon's LinkedIn: "Jon has played a pivotal role in shaping the world’s most disruptive marketing technology platforms, with a focus on thought leadership, category creation, and strategic go-to-market."
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonmiller2/
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You know, if there's one thing we're good at in B two B marketing,
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:it's getting ourselves excited about
whatever the latest and greatest thing is.
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:And sometimes these are passing
fads and things that just
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:kind of fade away with time.
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:There's another kind of idea out
there that really embodies an
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:entire go-to-market strategy.
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:And sometimes these ideas end up.
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:defining how revenue teams do
business when they really catch
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:on, at least for a period of time.
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:And today's guest has played a huge part
in establishing not just one, but actually
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:two of these era defining g t m motions.
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:Doing that with content marketing
and lead generation as the C
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:m O and co-founder at Marketo.
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:And second, with the concept of
account-based marketing which he
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:pioneered as the c e O of Engagio.
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:Then the c m O of Demandbase.
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:So I'm super excited to
welcome Jon Miller to the show.
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:Jon, thanks for being here.
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:Jon, this is a special episode for
me 'cause we're kind of talking
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:about history that I've lived
through was big part of my career.
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:So excited to do that.
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:Maybe we can just kick it off with
a little bit of , inside baseball
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:on those early days at Marketo.
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:What was that like,
founding that kind of era?
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:And just maybe walk us
through that a little bit.
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:Jon Miller: Yeah, so you know,
we're talking late:
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:Just to kind of ground us historically
software as a service was still
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:relatively new at the time.
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:So it was far enough along that
when we were starting Marketo,
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:we didn't have to say, Ooh, it's
a software as a service company.
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:But it was still pretty early.
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:Lot there hadn't been a successful
MarTech company before Marketo
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:kind of really came along.
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:And.
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:You know, MarTech is an interesting
category because, you know, marketers
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:have lots of budget to spend money,
but they're also perceived as a cost
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:center by most of the organization.
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:And what that means is that before
SaaS came along, MarTech was hard
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:because people didn't want to put
capital investment you know, expensive
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:on-premise software for what was
perceived as a cost center SaaS.
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:And Marketo really unlocked that because
marketers really for the first time
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:could buy out of their program dollars.
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:You know, and that was
our mission for Marketo.
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:We said we wanted to make
marketing software be as easy
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:to buy as Google AdWords.
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:Justin Norris: So were you in your
mind's positioning yourselves against
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:expensive on-premise software, or were
there other kind of players or legacy
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:players in the SaaS space that you were
in a category with in those early days?
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:Jon Miller: Yeah,
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:Justin Norris: I.
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:Jon Miller: question.
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:I mean, the, the prior generation
of on-premise was epiphany where
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:I came from before Marketo, broad
base, And the reality is none of
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:those tools had really made it.
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:And so I.
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:There was the company we positioned
against back in:
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:was a company called Eloqua.
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:Uh, Eloqua started in 1999
actually, but had evolved onto
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:software as a service model.
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:And, you know, they had fortunately
been able to sort of start to build
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:the category even before we got there.
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:But also Eloqua was perceived as
being expensive and hard to use.
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:And so it was nice, we could,
we could build Marketo and, and,
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:we basically positioned it as,
Hey, it's marketing automation,
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:everything you want from Eloqua,
but it's affordable and easy to use.
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:Justin Norris: Got it.
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:Jon Miller: you know, against a larger
company that had, for lack of a better
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:word, some flaws really helped us
you know, kind of get things started.
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:Justin Norris: So they had kind of
broken ground with the category,
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:and then you could come in and be
like, we are a better version of that
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:thing that you've been hearing about.
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:Jon Miller: Exactly.
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:You know, and, you know, some people sort
of give me credit for creating categories.
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:The reality is I don't think
I've created categories.
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:I think what I've done is I've entered
existing categories with perhaps a better
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:design or a better solution, and then
used that to help unlock the category.
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:You know, I mean, the classic
example of doing that obviously, I
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:think is the iPhone, you know, which
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:Justin Norris: Right.
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:Jon Miller: the iPhone there were all
sorts of designs for how people should
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:build an iPhone or build a phone.
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:They had keyboards, they folded, they
did that, and, you know, and then
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:the iPhone came around and it was
so clearly that's the right design.
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:Now every phone looks like a black,
you know, brick with a screen.
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:Justin Norris: Have you
seen the Blackberry movie?
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:Jon Miller: I've not seen the movie, no.
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:Justin Norris: We're well worth
watching looks exactly that.
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:The introduction to the Blackberry,
kind of how it took over, and
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:then how they were just completely
sideswiped by the iPhone
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:Jon Miller: yeah, that's sort
of similar to what I tried to
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:do with Marketo versus Eloqua.
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:And as we get to it, similar to what
I tried to do with Engage, you also.
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:Justin Norris: So talking a little
bit about specifically the marketing
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:efforts during that time at Marketo
and I think like, like content
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:marketing, inbound marketing.
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:Was this, was this pre HubSpot kind
of using that term inbound marketing
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:and really popularizing it or was it
sort of contemporaneous with that?
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:Jon Miller: It was contemporaneous.
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:Marketo and HubSpot got started
almost exactly the same time.
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:And even to the point that I remember,
there's a very early Early, early meeting,
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:where Phil Fernandez and I, my, you
know, he's my Marketo co-founder met
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:up with Brian Hagan and Dharmesh from
HubSpot, you know, on university a in Palo
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:Alto, you know, and we're a little bit
talking about, Hey, what are you doing?
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:What are we doing?
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:We keep hearing about you because
it sort of seems similar, but you're
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:on Boston and we're in California.
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:So, know, but we ended up, I think,
seeing a lot of the same trends and
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:applying that to our go to market.
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:I had, I mean, sort of funny story bef
when I was deciding to start Marketo, my
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:main alternative career I was considering
at the time was to be a Forester analyst.
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:And I actually got a job offer to do that.
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:The reason I mentioned that is
because I knew I wanted to write,
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:Know, when I started doing this
company, I knew I wanted to share
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:ideas and thought leadership.
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:And I remember I, I had lunch with
Sean Whiteley, who is over qualified
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:now, was at Kean at the time.
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:And he just told me, you know, just
start blogging, you know, just, just
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:start blogging and put it out there
and people will find your stuff.
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:And I was like, okay, I'll try it.
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:So yeah, I did start blogging at
Marketo before we even wrote our
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:first line of code, and I was
blogging about things that were much
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:bigger than just Marketo was doing.
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:I wrote a lot about how is marketing
changing and what is the role of the
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:cmo and how do CMOs earn credibility
and respect and, you know, I, I
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:networked with other bloggers, you
know, and, and it built a following.
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:It built an audience such that when
we actually had Marketo ready to
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:go and build, there was, you know,
and have that message of, Hey, oh
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:hey, it's like Eloqua, but it's
more affordable and easier to use.
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:There was an audience ready to hear that.
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:Justin Norris: So drilling down into
that point one of the things that I
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:remember very well from that era were
the definitive guides that you would
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:put out, which were kind of like eBooks
on steroids for people that, that don't
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:remember them, but they were really big
marquee pieces of content that kind of
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:Captured a lot of information
like nurturing, lead scoring.
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:There were a few and, and
you mentioned blogging.
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:I'd forgotten that, but I really, I'm now
remembering like how present you were.
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:A lot of CMOs exist in the
background and then they have teams
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:executing, but you were really
the face of marketing at Marketo.
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:Where did, I guess, did these definitive
guys come out of your desire to write?
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:Was there a defined
strategy in going there?
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:What led you there?
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:Jon Miller: Yeah, the decision
guides probably were a little later.
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:Just to put in context, I think the
irst one probably came out in:
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:Justin Norris: Okay.
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:Jon Miller: So, know, we had, we
had built our first couple products.
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:We were kind of in market.
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:But there was a specific meeting I
had with Phil, our c e o I think,
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:where he sort of was challenging me
to, to kind of create something that
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:was even more black letter word,
definitive, you know, out there,
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:uh, um, about the nurturing.
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:So, you know, I went and we wrote this
and at the time it was like 45 pages.
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:You know, and oh wow,
that's a long, it's long.
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:On eBooks, we call it a definitive guide.
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:My most recent definitive guide was 220.
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:either, you know they, they've bloated
over the years, or I've had more to say.
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:Justin Norris: .And how, do you
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:remember from a marketing point
of view, how those were received?
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:Like, did you just see a, a huge
flood of leads in the beginning
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:or was it kind of a, a slow and
steady trickle with that process?
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:I.
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:Jon Miller: Well, at the times, the
center guides worked really well for us.
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:You know, both just, Hey,
we could announce it.
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:And, especially after the first
one when people sort of knew,
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:oh, these things are pretty good.
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:We'd announce it and we'd get, we'd get
a lot of we'd get a lot of downloads.
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:We also did Other clever things, I
think, to try to get more downloads.
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:We'd intersperse interviews with other
thought leaders throughout the guide.
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:And then we'd also have a list at the
back of experts to follow, so then when we
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:launched it, we could tag all those people
and let them all know about it, you know?
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:So we could have a more, you
know, there was also already
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:kind of a built-in endorsement.
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:and then we use the there's
lots of names for the strategy.
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:Some people call it, you know,
the, the bison because the American
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:Indians used to use every piece of
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:Detached audio: the
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:Jon Miller: bison, or we like
reuse and repurpose the content.
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:one definitive guide would also turn
into, you know, a virtual event,
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:two webinars, eight blog posts,
you know, a whole bunch of social,
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:Justin Norris: Infographics.
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:Jon Miller: Infographics.
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:Yeah,
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:Justin Norris: Yeah.
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:Jon Miller: Just a lot of
repurposing of the content.
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:Justin Norris: And, and, and from a,
like you know, the, the, call it the
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:manufacturing process, was it Were
you embodying a Marketo, pretty much
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:like what you were preaching on the
outside in the sense of like leads
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:would come in, they would get nurtured,
they would get scored, they would be
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:handed over to SDRs to be qualified.
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:How did kind of that aspect of it work?
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:Jon Miller: Yeah, I mean at the
time at Marketo, we definitely
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:were practicing what we preached.
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:As I like to say, we were
drinking our own champagne.
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:So it, it was exactly, it was the
model that a lot of companies are
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:Justin Norris: I.
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:Jon Miller: today.
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:You know, we, the, the, the key,
probably the key innovation was
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:just because you downloaded the
ebook did not make you a lead.
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:if you downloaded the ebook, you
came in as what we called an inquiry,
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:and then only if you looked like
you were somebody in our I C P.
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:right kind of persona,
the right kind of company.
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:we call you a prospect?
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:In the earliest days, I had my junior mops
person looking at each lead and he was
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:deciding, know, is this a prospect or not?
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:And then as our technology
got a little better, we were
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:able to automate that process.
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:But just because you're a
prospect, did not call you.
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:We would then put you into a nurture.
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:And we had a scoring threshold,
and you only became a lead or an
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:M Q L when your score re above
to reach a certain certain goal.
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:On average, a prospect was in our
database for 330 days between when
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:they first came in as a prospect and
when they finally became an M Q L.
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:Justin Norris: That's interesting
and, and did, did you have any data
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:on like how many pieces of content
they may have consumed during that
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:time, or like how many touch points
it may have taken them over that time?
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:I mean, obviously not looking
for a specific answer, but just
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:Jon Miller: I had all that data.
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:I don't remember,
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:Justin Norris: Yeah.
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:Jon Miller: it
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:Detached audio: right
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:Jon Miller: now.
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:but the other, so the other
interesting note point is that
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:three 30 days was an average.
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:However, about half the M QLS that
we had each month would have come
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:from new prospects that month.
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:so you think about, you know,
we kind of half would come in
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:would sort of come in interested.
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:And they'd fill out a contact me form just
do a bunch, like immediately light up.
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:then the other half of our M QLS were
ones that kind of had nurtured over
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:time, perhaps for more than a year.
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:Once it was an M Q L went to an S D R,
they'd qualify it, they would go to, you
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:know, the right ones would go to sales.
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:We had a relatively low bar for
what it needed to be to be an M Q
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:L because I didn't want to have any
false negatives and like not send
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:stuff over that we should have.
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:Justin Norris: Yep.
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:Jon Miller: Then the SDRs were really
strict about what they would pass over
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:to sales, because I wanted the sales
reps every time they got something
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:from their S D R smell money to know
like, okay, this is gonna be good.
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:Justin Norris: Did
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:SDRs report to marketing or
did you have a separate team?
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:A separate leader for that team.
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:Jon Miller: changed over the
years, but probably, you know, the
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:earliest days of Marketo reported
to sales, but relatively soon it
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:moved to report to me in marketing.
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:Justin Norris: Interesting.
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:And you know, as you said, that
model has been remarkably enduring.
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:I was in.
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:Marketo Consulting for seven
years, and we were still
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:implementing it to the day I left.
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:They're still implementing it today.
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:But you wrote a, I was wanting to
go in this direction, then I saw you
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:wrote an article, kinda provocative
article that, that tackles this issue
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:of you know, I helped create this
model but it doesn't work anymore.
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:And, sorry, I'm paraphrasing
you, but roughly that and,
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:and here's what works better.
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:So, . Tell me, like what were
some of the issues that you saw?
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:Do you think those are inherent to the
model, or was it just you know, overuse
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:people taking something and using it
crudely without the same sophistication
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:as the people that created it?
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:What, what kind of led to to that place?
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:I.
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:Jon Miller: Yeah, I think there's
four main factors I'd point to.
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:So, you know, you know, and, and, and,
and the data it I think is something
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:that I hear when I just go talk to other
marketers and CMOs, the people listening
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:probably feel this, you've probably heard
it from your other guests, but that it
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:just, it seems like it, it feels like it's
hard out there to create enough pipeline.
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:You know?
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:It's harder than it has been.
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:And there is also a anecdotal feeling
of, you know, what I used to do doesn't
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:work quite as well or doesn't work
at all so that's really what I mean.
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:And, and, and, and I, I'll
point to the four reasons why.
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:The first one is just the time
we're in right now with the economy.
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:You know, it's, we've, we, I think
we've all seen our budgets get cut
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:or many people have seen budgets
get cut in the current economy.
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:know, as the zeitgeist has
moved from growth at any cost to
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:efficient, profitable growth we've
seen, we've seen dollars go down.
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:And a lot of companies face layoffs.
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:You know, and think two things
that have happened there.
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:One, it's easier to cut your program
dollars than people, so we sort of
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:disproportionately cut program dollars.
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:And then when you're cutting people, I.
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:You tend to cut more junior people
sometimes, rather than the, your
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:leaders, you can end up with top
heavy teams, you know, as a result.
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:So, so collectively that's just
created, I think, a challenge
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:in terms of pipeline creation.
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:That's, that's sort of specific to now.
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:Justin Norris: because there's not
enough people to, to execute or
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:there's not enough budget to execute
on some of these specific things.
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:Yeah.
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:Jon Miller: there's not enough
junior people to execute.
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:And it's, it's just a tough, you
know, it's a tougher time, you know?
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:Second, but then the other reasons
are a little bit more enduring.
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:and you alluded to the first one,
which is I think just buyers have
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:gotten overwhelmed and indifferent
to a lot of the different tactics.
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:And we've all heard forms of this,
you know, whether it's content shock
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:or, or whatever yeah, I mean, there's,
there's, there's just too many eBooks,
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:too many emails, too many phone calls.
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:And and the buyers have
gotten savvy, right?
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:They know if they come to your site
and fill out a form for an ebook that,
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:you know, they're probably gonna start
getting unwanted calls and emails.
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:You know, and partly that is
people who aren't practicing the
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:playbook in the right way, right?
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:As I said earlier, just 'cause you
download an ebook doesn't make you an
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:M Q L and yet To a lot of companies,
they're still defining their MQL that way.
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:So buyers have gotten savvy.
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:They're turn, you know, they're,
they're avoiding their, you know,
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:our websites and our forms and
they're staying anonymous longer.
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:Justin Norris: Do you think that
companies are also . Focusing a lot on
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:the, like the framework and the process
of download, ebook, nurture and less
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:on like to me, the whole point of the
ebook wasn't just that you gave them an
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:ebook or you gave them a nurture email.
313
:It was that there was something really
valuable there and I wonder if like the
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:people kept doing the same things, but
then a lot of the substance was almost
315
:sucked out of it till the content became
very generic and non valuable anymore.
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:In some cases, at least.
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:I know a lot of what hits
my inbox is like that.
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:Jon Miller: I think,
yeah, I think that's fair.
319
:I mean, I do think there's a
spectrum of content quality and,
320
:some people are doing really good
stuff and that probably is working.
321
:Yeah, you're right.
322
:There probably is a lot of
stuff out there as well.
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:I think the third reason
is inherent in the model.
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:The, the traditional model that I used
to preach is that your marketing should
325
:be highly measurable and tied to revenue.
326
:And you know, I think that
has biased our investment.
327
:Into things where we can show more
of a direct flown into content
328
:syndication, paid search paid
webinars to a lesser degree.
329
:Certain kinds of events, you know,
because you know the ones where you can
330
:more easily say, I spent this much money
and we got this many people to respond,
331
:and then those people turned into these
kinds of leads and know, et cetera.
332
:Boards have come to expect those
kinds of metrics, CFOs, have come
333
:to expect those kinds of metrics.
334
:But as a result, there's been a systematic
underinvestment in more traditional brand
335
:brand building and you know, that that
stuff's inherently harder to measure.
336
:But the problem is if you're not doing
that, What ends up happening is you
337
:end up fighting over the same small
fraction of the market that happens to
338
:be looking for a solution right now.
339
:As opposed to creating market
that will be, you know, will
340
:be looking for a solution.
341
:Research, I've seen research that
says probably on average only
342
:about 5% of your I C P will be in
market at any given point in time.
343
:Long story short, on this point, we've
overinvested our budgets trying to
344
:go after that 5% and underinvested
in kind of, you know, building
345
:future market against the 95%.
346
:And there's a whole bunch of
other reasons behind this.
347
:You know, including the desire to
sort of, you know, short-term versus
348
:thinking, you know, you, you name it.
349
:And then lastly, the, the fourth main
flaw, which I didn't mention in the
350
:article, but I think is also true is that
traditional model, the Marketo model was
351
:over-focused on new pipeline generation.
352
:It was so bad at Marketo to be honest,
that if an existing customer responded
353
:to one of our campaigns, we literally
wouldn't count it as a success.
354
:'cause we only wanted new prospects.
355
:And so,
356
:Justin Norris: Yeah.
357
:Jon Miller: you know, as a result,
you know, marketing has not been or
358
:incented on really important things
like pipeline acceleration, improving
359
:sales efficiency, win rates, and all
as well as things like retention.
360
:And that all has a pretty
significant impact on the business.
361
:Justin Norris: So I guess in, in
some ways that is a, a good segue
362
:to the next next phase maybe of,
of go to market in your career.
363
:And I remember it was, it was
at a, I was at Marketo summit,
364
:this is where I remember.
365
:And I remember like, oh, Jon Miller
came out with a new company, GAO.
366
:And the key line that seemed
to to stick in my brain was
367
:like, phishing with spears.
368
:Like, I don't know if it was you
who coined that or you pulled that
369
:from somewhere, but you obviously
timed that announcement rather well.
370
:did you land there in ab bm?
371
:Was a b m already a thing that like,
like you said with Elco, like a category
372
:that you could say, we're doing this
but doing it better, or was this a
373
:thing that you net knew, created?
374
:Jon Miller: Yeah, I mean, a b M was
definitely around a B M probably
375
:had been around as a concept.
376
:For at least five years.
377
:it started, it had been coined by a
consulting group called the I T S M A
378
:IT Services and Marketing Association to
really, you know, talk about, you know,
379
:how they were, you know, how companies,
know, and, and, and they were like
380
:literally focused on, you know, companies
like Accenture that would have a half
381
:billion dollar a year consulting contract.
382
:A client, you know, and I mean, clearly
if you have a half billion dollar
383
:a year contract with an existing
client, nothing about get them to
384
:download an ebook and become an m p l.
385
:Makes sense.
386
:Um, so, so that concept of a B M had
been around for a while at Marketo.
387
:One of the things that I had
realized that our traditional
388
:model wasn't working for us.
389
:You know, was that we, we, we, we
were struggling a little bit to move
390
:up market into larger enterprises.
391
:You know, the, the whole write in ebook
and like try to see who downloads it
392
:model, you know, we were sort of at the
mercy of who happened to come download
393
:and so at the time we just felt what
I called then and just an outbound
394
:motion where we sort of tried to find
companies and people we wanted to go
395
:after and started to go after them.
396
:And yeah, it was through that internal
practice at Marketo that I started
397
:using Fishing with Don't care who
responds, just care if you catch enough.
398
:Versus fishing with spears, kind
of for the main outbound motion.
399
:When I knew I wanted to leave Marketo
to start another business, you know,
400
:there are lots of things on my mind.
401
:You know, I wanted what, something
that seemed like it was an emerging
402
:idea and that was gonna get traction.
403
:It did seem.
404
:That a b m was just starting to get
some, some traction in the marketplace.
405
:I also knew what my long-term vision was,
you know, which is ultimately, I still
406
:believe, you know, there's an opportunity
to build a next generation marketing
407
:platform, and I felt like a b m was a good
path to get to where I, I I wanted to go.
408
:And if I'm totally candid, the
third thing was good is that there
409
:was one company that was already in
the market was talking about a B M.
410
:That had a bit of a reputation
of being a little expensive,
411
:that company was Demandbase.
412
:So at the time I thought I could
sort of, you know, all right, hey,
413
:Demandbase is starting to kind of create
some demand for this idea of a b M.
414
:Let me come in with a kind, kind
of a better product and a better
415
:Justin Norris: So re recreating that play.
416
:I think Terminus was around
as well, weren't they?
417
:Or there was like a
418
:Jon Miller: to Marketo, HubSpot,
419
:Justin Norris: kind of, yeah,
420
:Jon Miller: started almost exactly the
same time as to the point, at one point
421
:Sangram and I were like, Hey, maybe
we should just like combine this thing
422
:and, you know, go, go to town together,
which our boards didn't let us do,
423
:but it was, you know, very early and
424
:Justin Norris: F
425
:Funny how history kind of
rhymes in that way over time.
426
:And, and yeah.
427
:And there was the, the,
the flip my funnel thing.
428
:I can't even remember whose thing that
was, but I remember that was really
429
:Detached audio: big
430
:Justin Norris: for a while.
431
:Jon Miller: was an interesting
piece of coopetition.
432
:I mean, you know, I, I would say
Marketo versus Elko got nasty at times.
433
:And I was pretty
determined to a avoid that.
434
:So even when So we, so we were, we
tried to be as friendly as possible
435
:with Terminus and, and Demandbase
and the other a b M players, know,
436
:including when Sangram wanted to do
Flip My Funnel, we sponsored it, know,
437
:we're like, Hey, you know, let's,
let's build this category together.
438
:Demandbase was actually an engage
customer for a while, you know?
439
:And, and that's the other thing
that was going on, you know, in,
440
:in, in reality, a b M was earlier
than marketing automation was.
441
:And so each of us were building solutions
around a b m that ended up being not
442
:as competitive as you would think,
443
:Justin Norris: That's interesting
444
:' Jon Miller: cause it was kind of so big.
445
:Maybe the fast forward
question you didn't ask.
446
:so that's what you know, let
fast forward to five years later.
447
:And know, as the market had evolved,
you know, we built something
448
:pretty interesting at Engagio,
which was sort of almost like
449
:marketing automation for a B m.
450
:Demand base was still in the market
with something pretty interesting,
451
:which was much more top of the funnel.
452
:know, predictive analytics to find
accounts that were in market, the ability
453
:to advertise, to attract them to your
website, and then the ability to identify
454
:them on your website and personalize.
455
:So in reality there's almost no overlap
between what the two companies were doing.
456
:But as the category had evolved, what
had become clear is that the winning
457
:solution, you know, the iPhone of a B
458
:Detached audio: m,
459
:Jon Miller: was gonna combine what
we did and what Demandbase did.
460
:And I had a roadmap that was gonna
take me three years to get there.
461
:had a roadmap that was gonna take
them three years to get there.
462
:You know, and then we were, you
know, realized and we had joint
463
:customers that were using both of us.
464
:So we realized, and we started having
the conversations like that this
465
:combination could very well be the
dominant design in the category.
466
:And that's what led me to sort of
decide to merge the companies together.
467
:Justin Norris: It just became a kind
of better together sort of situation.
468
:And now, I mean, in my mind, you guys
in Six Sense are kind of the Coke
469
:and Pepsi of this of this ecosystem.
470
:And it feels like in many different
categories where the main vendors
471
:are, are, are all sort of moving into,
occupying all the different feature
472
:areas to be as competitive as possible.
473
:Is that what you see as, as the future's
kinda like two . Big platforms or do
474
:you think there will continue to be
challengers and point solutions that
475
:sort of emerge, maybe get bundled
in, maybe become complimentary?
476
:Jon Miller: No, it's def.
477
:It's definitely becoming more mature.
478
:You know, where, where I think we
have coalesced around demand base and
479
:six sense as the two primary players.
480
:Even Terminus has very
fallen to the wayside.
481
:The, the, the dark
horse would be ZoomInfo,
482
:Justin Norris: Hmm.
483
:Right.
484
:Yeah.
485
:Jon Miller: You know, and, and they,
they've got the resources, I think to
486
:attempt to challenge, you know, I don't
think the product is there yet, but
487
:they're certainly gonna keep trying.
488
:What that really represents is, I
think, an evolution of a B M because
489
:even as ZoomInfo is trying to get into
a b m, demand base has gotten into data
490
:Justin Norris: Right.
491
:Jon Miller: and, you know, we sell
a lot of data now we, we have 130,
492
:150 million contacts and almost a
hundred million companies, and we sell
493
:Technographic data and intent data.
494
:And we have a bunch of customers who
don't even use our software and just
495
:bought, just use us as a data provider,
which competes against ZoomInfo.
496
:And so that's how this category
is evolving, is not just about the
497
:software anymore, it's about the data.
498
:And, and you'll see there that'll
cause new players to kind of, know,
499
:enter and, and kind of blur the lines.
500
:As this quick sidebar, what's, what's
driving the, the, the data demand?
501
:mean, data's always been
important, but AI in particular
502
:what's really unlocked that
because great AI needs great data.
503
:So think ultimately when it comes to
these go-to market platforms, he or
504
:she who has the best data is gonna win.
505
:Justin Norris: So kind of riffing on
that point, like my perception of of
506
:a b m has been like, it's become the
thing that you need to be doing it.
507
:so from a, from a category point of view,
it has become so dominant that it's like,
508
:well, you don't, you don't do a, b m,
you're some kind of Tite or something
509
:who who doesn't know how to do market.
510
:Or at least if you're, if you're
selling to companies of any size,
511
:it's something that you need to at
least grapple with at some point.
512
:In terms of how it's actually
executed, . As a, as a practitioner,
513
:as a consultant, a, it's, it's hard.
514
:My perception is that it's hard
to do well and that there aren't
515
:a ton of people doing it well.
516
:Now that's a much more limited
perspective, I think, than
517
:you have, but I'd be curious,
I'd be curious what you see.
518
:Do you see people running with
it excelling at, I know this is a
519
:loaded question given your role to
Demandbase, but is, are companies
520
:succeeding broadly with this model
out in the marketplace, do you think?
521
:Jon Miller: Many are.
522
:and I think many struggle.
523
:I I think you almost have
to, I think, be a little more
524
:nuanced in the question though.
525
:And here's what I mean by
that is, is I don't think a b
526
:m is a black or white thing.
527
:I think phishing with spears versus
phishing with net set it up too much
528
:as a dichotomy when in reality it's
better thought as a spectrum, you know?
529
:And you have on the one end you have
Accenture selling half billion dollar
530
:deals, And that's your true one-to-one.
531
:Totally bespoke, you know, a b m.
532
:And honestly, companies doing
that are seeing wild success.
533
:And I think they would all say it's
totally worth it, and they would also
534
:say it's hard to scale, you know?
535
:Justin Norris: Yeah.
536
:Jon Miller: but a hundred percent, you
know, seeing value and it's worth it.
537
:Then you have your one to few style
of a b m that's probably appropriate
538
:for, say, high six figure deals, you
know, half a million a year, and so on.
539
:And know, typically a company is
going to only have a couple dozen
540
:accounts that they're really targeting,
kind of, kind of at that level.
541
:Then you have your one to many, know,
these are your, your low six figure
542
:high five figure deals, and you might
have a couple hundred of those accounts.
543
:And then below that you have what
I would just call targeted demand
544
:generation which is, you know, maybe
not pure net phishing because you
545
:have specific companies and specific
ones you're going at, but you're using
546
:less personalized and broader tactics.
547
:So the
548
:Justin Norris: it.
549
:Jon Miller: you know, the purists would
say the only thing that's actually
550
:a b m is the one-to-one, you know?
551
:Justin Norris: half
the half billion deals.
552
:Jon Miller: yeah.
553
:I, I would say again, it's a
spectrum and it's about using
554
:the right style of go to market.
555
:for the kind of business that you happen
to have, and you probably are gonna span
556
:one or two of those you know, in, in, in,
in your kind of personal go to market.
557
:So that's where I think, you know,
have fallen down with a b m is trying
558
:to say it's a binary thing that
I'm tacking on to something else
559
:that I'm doing as opposed to just.
560
:I'm gonna have a go-to market that's
appropriate for ideal sizes that might
561
:involve more of my time and energy on more
valuable accounts because I don't have,
562
:'cause because my more, my more valuable
accounts are simply worth it, you know?
563
:And I think if you think about it
that way, it's, it's a lot simpler.
564
:Justin Norris: Mm-hmm.
565
:Less binary.
566
:Less reductive.
567
:Yeah.
568
:Jon Miller: people are
a lot more successful.
569
:One to many, like that's
where a lot of companies are.
570
:I mean, a lot of companies happen to sell
deals between 50 and $250,000 a year.
571
:And I think that's why we see so
much discussion about a B M and what
572
:would be considered the one to many.
573
:And that's where you see
the most use of technology.
574
:You know, that that can
be hard or it can be easy.
575
:And what I mean by that is, yeah, you
can do all sorts of things and try to
576
:create really complicated programs in
one to many, the easy on-ramp where
577
:companies just happen, I think see success
is just that intersection of intent,
578
:data, advertising, and sales alerting.
579
:Just know which accounts have intent,
you know, focus, you know, know,
580
:have different, have some ads to, to
your target market to try to create
581
:awareness, other ads to the one's intent
to really kind of drive engagement,
582
:know, and then when your account,
the accounts are actually in market
583
:and, or you know, really engaging on
your website, alert sales, you know?
584
:Is that true?
585
:A B m?
586
:No, not.
587
:But is it effective,
especially in today's buying?
588
:it is.
589
:Justin Norris: So kind of a
technology assisted outbound as
590
:opposed to just dialing from the
phone book or something like that.
591
:You have
592
:Jon Miller: Yeah, and I would
say prioritized outbound.
593
:Justin Norris: prioritized open Do
you think like, as a, as a marketer,
594
:you know, as we've seen go to go
to market, motions come and go,
595
:they evolve, they blur together.
596
:In terms of how you think as a C M
O, do you feel that there are certain
597
:kind of truths of marketing that
transcend that and that be remain
598
:eternally relevant, so to speak?
599
:Whatever category, whatever
type of motion you're doing?
600
:Are there certain axioms, I guess,
that you live by as a marketer?
601
:Jon Miller: I mean, I think certain
act truths in marketing, right?
602
:Is understand your audience and,
you know, make sure that you're
603
:speaking, you know, to that audience,
know, know what their, what their
604
:needs are, what their values are.
605
:Talk more about them than
let and less about yourself.
606
:You know create value or, you know, before
you ask for anything from, from them.
607
:Or give value before you ask would
be kind of another way to say it.
608
:you know, if you try to be something
for everybody, you're gonna end
609
:up being something for nobody,
610
:Justin Norris: Yeah.
611
:Jon Miller: know?
612
:So, dunno, those are some
613
:Justin Norris: Yeah.
614
:Jon Miller: I think are.
615
:Justin Norris: And, and, and
you've been a marketer selling
616
:to marketers for some time.
617
:Is that like, kind of, how has that
given you an unfair advantage, so
618
:to speak, in terms of being able
to speak your audience's language?
619
:Jon Miller: I don't know how I could
be, I don't think I necessarily
620
:could or would be successful
marketing to another persona.
621
:Like, I mean these folks who
like market to it all day long.
622
:More power to you.
623
:I just, it's that's not, that's.
624
:I, I have a pa I, I have a passion
around, you know, marketing to
625
:marketing and sales, you know,
the go-to-market function.
626
:Justin Norris: I want to take the
lens and focus it a little bit on, on
627
:marketing operations because it's kind
of the backdrop to this story in a way.
628
:Is sort of the evolution of marketing
operations as a, as a function.
629
:And I know when I, I bought my first
instance in:
630
:It was the last, last day of the year.
631
:And I got a sweet discount for it, it
was:
632
:marketing operations person, I was just
a startup marketer and I'm like, I need
633
:to automate some stuff 'cause I don't
have enough time to do everything.
634
:And and eventually I, I really loved
the tech and I really loved like, whoa,
635
:I can do all these cool workflows.
636
:You know, I'm not a developer,
but I can do some amazing things.
637
:But a lot of people in the community
were still like, Demand gen.
638
:It wasn't like I'm a marketing
ops person, I use Marketo.
639
:It's like I'm a demand gen
marketer and I use marketing.
640
:I use Marketo, or I use whatever
to to help me in what I'm doing.
641
:And then somewhere along the way,
you know, three or four or five,
642
:six years later, there was this
thing of marketing operations.
643
:And was this, was this a
category in your brain in the
644
:beginning or when did it emerge?
645
:If, if not at the beginning
646
:Jon Miller: I would say
marketing operations.
647
:It didn't surprise me, but it, it as a,
as the whole thing around it, it kind of,
648
:you know I, I didn't, I didn't drive it.
649
:It happened without me.
650
:is probably the, the
right way to describe it.
651
:You know, I mean, so I mean, as I, as
I mentioned, we, we had a marketing
652
:ops person pretty early at Marketo.
653
:And so I sort of, you know, I saw the
need of this and, and the value of it.
654
:But I would say the, the fact that it's
become such a discipline, you know, is,
655
:is, know, that happened I think, you
know, very organically in the industry.
656
:The other thing I would say I was
probably behind the curve on is the
657
:drive towards rev ops you know, I,
I have mixed feelings on that one.
658
:I, I still think it's the right
answer for most companies, and at
659
:the same time as a C M O, I'm, I'm
so hesitant about giving up ops.
660
:You know,
661
:Justin Norris: So let's, I was
gonna go, go there and maybe I'll,
662
:I'll combine two questions in one.
663
:'cause one of my questions was, you know,
in the beginning, so in the beginning,
664
:the backdrop to my question is it's,
it felt to me like Ops was very tech,
665
:marketing ops was very tech focused,
which wasn't the case with sales ops.
666
:Sales Ops always had.
667
:Deal desk and comp plans and territory
planning and other things that
668
:weren't really technology related.
669
:But it felt like marketing ops,
at least in the beginning, was
670
:very technology synonymous,
although that's slowly changing.
671
:And so I was curious on the
one hand, what do you think
672
:marketing ops should be today?
673
:And then part of that answer could
be, should it be part of rev ops?
674
:Should as a C M O, what are you looking
to operations to provide to you today?
675
:Maybe the right way of putting it.
676
:Jon Miller: Yeah.
677
:Well, I think the first thing we should
sort of think about is separating out
678
:campaign ops from from from marketing ops.
679
:You know, the, you know, like, like
campaign ops is I think the one
680
:that's sort of the most technology
connected, you're running your Marketo,
681
:somebody's, you know, there's a smart
list, you know, segmentation strategies,
682
:you know, all that kind of stuff.
683
:And you know, even if you have a ops
function, I think there's no argument that
684
:could be said that that campaign ops might
continue to still exist in marketing.
685
:so back to your more specific question.
686
:What I want from, from ops, I mean,
I think there's a couple key pillars.
687
:You know, one is data and just, you know,
how did you make sure that the company
688
:has access to, you know, clean data,
good data that's organized properly,
689
:you know, all that kind of good stuff.
690
:Second is analytics.
691
:I think third budget.
692
:Just making sure that like, you know,
we're, you know, as, as a group we're
693
:entrusted with a certain amount of
budget, you know, that we sort of, you
694
:know, use it kind of appropriately, you
know, And then I think lastly is kind
695
:of, you know, technology technology
management potentially beyond kind of
696
:the, the core campaign ops, if you will.
697
:The, the reason why I think rev ops is
potentially so, makes so much sense.
698
:Is you know, let's think about, you
know, a bunch of those pieces, right?
699
:So, you know, data, I mean, you know,
it, it doesn't make sense that, you know,
700
:you'd have some, you know, people are
in sales ops thinking about data about
701
:your accounts, but then different people
thinking about data, about your contacts.
702
:Justin Norris: All right.
703
:Jon Miller: I think analytics,
I mean, I've seen this, you
704
:know, when you, I, I've been in
meetings where you have separate
705
:marketing ops and sales ops teams.
706
:Where we're sort of asking a question
and different people are bringing up
707
:different dashboards that are spent
to answer the same question, right?
708
:That's what happens when you have, you
know, separate, separate analytics teams
709
:in the two different ops functions.
710
:Even things like and planning, you
know, like how did you know setting your
711
:pipeline targets and your lead targets
versus your sort of bookings targets.
712
:territory planning, those shouldn't
be two separate processes,
713
:you know, that should be one.
714
:Justin Norris: It has to be unified.
715
:Yeah.
716
:Jon Miller: But, but, but these
are some of the arguments that I'm
717
:kind of coming around to on, on
718
:Justin Norris: But you, you alluded
to, I think a common concern both
719
:from marketing leaders and from
marketing ops practitioners is that
720
:rev ops is kind of the, the sales
op ops wolf in sheep's clothing.
721
:And that if you, you go there, you
end up with marketing ops reporting
722
:to maybe a C R O or sales leader that
doesn't understand marketing and then.
723
:Jon Miller: that's a big fat no,
though you know, I mean like when
724
:we implemented Rev ops, a demand
base, it rolled up to the C C F O.
725
:Justin Norris: Okay.
726
:Jon Miller: And both sales.
727
:Sales gave up, sales ops, marketing
gave up, marketing ops, you know, but
728
:yeah, rev, rev Ops is not sales ops.
729
:It should not report up to sales.
730
:It's either, you know, my favorite
one that I've seen is Workato, where
731
:they have a chief operations officer,
you know, who reports to the c o.
732
:But more often than that, more often
than not, I see the operations function
733
:either reporting to the C F O or a C O O.
734
:Justin Norris: C o o seems to me
intuitively the most logical, and
735
:it kind of becomes more neutral,
more like Switzerland, where
736
:Jon Miller: Not, not
every company has a C O O,
737
:Justin Norris: yeah.
738
:To what extent today, let's say, does
ops, like, there's, there's a vision
739
:of ops where it's more, we own certain
things like we're custodians of, of data
740
:or of analytics, but we're very much
741
:In a, in a sort of client service model
where we respond, it's like, I'm your ops.
742
:Hey Jon, tell me what you wanna achieve.
743
:I'm gonna help you get there.
744
:You gimme requirements.
745
:I'm gonna build it for you,
make sure it works well.
746
:But I'm not necessarily helping you
define those requirements or that
747
:strategy or defining what they should be.
748
:And then I think there's a vision
of ops where it's more like, I'm
749
:gonna work with you to help, you
know, be that kind of . Copilot, if
750
:you will, on defining that strategy,
maybe challenging certain things.
751
:Hey, should we actually
target the segment?
752
:Or, you know, that that higher
level, let's say higher,
753
:that other level of thinking.
754
:Do you see ops functioning in
that way in your experience?
755
:Should they, is it a helpful thing or not?
756
:Jon Miller: Yeah, I mean, in a perfect
world, I mean, I think that's what
757
:All the ops organizations are to
and attempting to do To, to be, be
758
:a partner in strategy and planning.
759
:You know, so I, I would ask the question
the other way around, if you're not doing
760
:that, why and what, what needs to happen?
761
:Justin Norris: Yeah, those
are gonna be my follow-up.
762
:Then.
763
:What do you see as being
some of the obstacles?
764
:I mean, I have thoughts on it too, but
I'm curious from your point of view,
765
:like what, what is maybe a good way is
what, what are limiting ops teams today?
766
:What should they think about
to help elevate themselves?
767
:Jon Miller: think, do think it's harder
when you have a separate marketing ops
768
:versus sales ops, you know, so I think
having a strategic rev ops can make that a
769
:more valuable kind of strategic function.
770
:The only other limitation
probably just ends up being,
771
:you know, self-imposed, right?
772
:I mean, we're all running around so
fast, so hard with so many to-dos on
773
:our plates, know, that are not just
like nice to haves, but are must-dos.
774
:Like sometimes for all of us, it
can be hard to kind of step up and
775
:make the time to be more strategic.
776
:Justin Norris: I, I think that that would
be where my my guess would be as well.
777
:In terms of the biggest issues,
I think for so long, marketing
778
:ops has dealt with like barrage
of requests and fielding things.
779
:And when you do that for a
while, you're just like, tell
780
:me, you know, give me your specs.
781
:I'll build it for you.
782
:I'll do what you need.
783
:But you have very, like you said,
very little time to think about well
784
:what should we actually be doing?
785
:And, and feeling like you have
the space to, to challenge that.
786
:Maybe the, the good question to end
on then perhaps would be what's next.
787
:do you see Do you see a b m as
kind of being like, this is the,
788
:this is sort of the right motion.
789
:We're just gonna continue to evolve here.
790
:Do there's product led, there's
near bound, there's always like
791
:another thing that's coming.
792
:Do you see G T M continuing
to evolve in that way?
793
:Or what?
794
:What do you kind of see
coming around the corner?
795
:Jon Miller: I mean, I think it kind
of goes back to, you know, that
796
:these things aren't black and white.
797
:You know, and that ultimately, I think
we all have a go to market and, you
798
:know, each company's go to market
will sort of probably, you know, be
799
:slightly nuanced based on its customers.
800
:Its average deal size.
801
:I think to a degree its uniqueness and
differentiation in the marketplace.
802
:Its level of product market fit, you
know, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
803
:I think, you know, the biggest
difference between traditional demand
804
:gen and a B M really historically was
the focus on leads versus accounts.
805
:You know, I think no matter what
your go-to market is in B two B,
806
:we're going to increasingly see the
conversation landing on buying groups.
807
:It's not leads, it's not accounts,
it's buying groups, you know you
808
:know, than leads, smaller than
809
:Justin Norris: Mm-hmm
810
:Jon Miller: if you will.
811
:You know, I think the big disruption
we're all sort of waiting to
812
:really understand is gonna be
what does AI bring to the table?
813
:You know, and, and the reality
is that you af remember AI's been
814
:around and go to market for a while.
815
:I mean, everything demand-based
does with predictive analytics
816
:Justin Norris: Right.
817
:Jon Miller: data.
818
:Even our ad bidding is AI powered.
819
:But the new stuff is the generative ai.
820
:You know, I, I think.
821
:We will at some point see
generative ai, creating customer
822
:communication, personalized customer,
comma, lemme try that one again.
823
:Personalized customer
communications at scale.
824
:But in some ways I don't even think
that's where like I'm less excited
825
:that than I am about will we see
new user interfaces for the tools?
826
:You know, interesting implications
for ops professionals.
827
:What happens when you don't need
to know how to build a Marketo
828
:smart list you can just type, oh,
I want this in English language.
829
:You know, gimme a list of all the people
who've done this and not this and live
830
:in this area and blah, blah, blah.
831
:Justin Norris: Yeah,
832
:Jon Miller: that the AI kind of creates
that for you, and then you can chat with
833
:it and say, oh, you know, reduce that
by, you know, 10% by adding this filter.
834
:And it does that, you
know, so, so I, I think
835
:Justin Norris: I.
836
:Jon Miller: will see an
evolution on the technology side.
837
:Perhaps driven by.
838
:Different kinds of user interfaces.
839
:Justin Norris: I agree with you.
840
:I think the things that are like
efficiency plays or things that are
841
:programmatic or, you know, translating
complex technical activities into
842
:more verbal instructions seems
tailor made for what AI can do.
843
:For the generative part, I, I still remain
skeptical that a language model will
844
:create, you know, a definitive guide that
has the original insight that, you know.
845
:Like, like it could take your definitive
guide and create a new one, but could
846
:it create the first one, will it
create the novel thing that people
847
:are excited about and want to read?
848
:It's, it's hard to imagine.
849
:Jon Miller: But, but, but, but, but
will we see, you know, right now, like
850
:when you do an email blast inviting
10,000 people to a webinar and
851
:everybody gets the same email, right?
852
:And will we see a world where,
you know what, your email is maybe
853
:slightly different from mine because
we're slightly different people, you
854
:know, that I could see happening.
855
:Justin Norris: Hmm.
856
:Based around like verticalization
or prior activity or
857
:Jon Miller: Yes, yes,
858
:Justin Norris: nice, nice
weather up in you know,
859
:Banff.
860
:Jon Miller: I mean, maybe, maybe, but,
but probably less that and more just,
861
:you know, title industry persona,
862
:Justin Norris: Yeah.
863
:Jon Miller: activity.
864
:Justin Norris: Yeah.
865
:Well, we'll be watching
eagerly to see what happens.
866
:Jon, thank you for everything you've done.
867
:You've been a big part of my career
in terms of what you've built with
868
:Marketo and, and what's given me so
appreciative of that, and appreciative
869
:of you taking the time to speak today.
870
:It's been super interesting.
871
:Jon Miller: Fun stuff to talk about.
872
:Thanks for the questions.
873
:Justin Norris: All right.
874
:All the best, Jon.
875
:See you.