Jess Cook is Head of Marketing at Vector. Vector is the only way to build ad audiences by name. Contact-based ads platform so your ads reach the right people (those that want to buy).
Here’s what we cover:
02:39 Understanding Vector's (new!) Positioning
05:30 Customer-Centric Growth Strategies
08:16 Repositioning and Messaging Evolution
11:04 Incorporating Customer Feedback and why we brought our customer into our strategic company meeting
14:05 The Role of Research in Marketing
16:37 Building Ad Audiences by Name
19:18 Our Creative Process Behind the Brand
22:09 On Launching the Podcast with the CEO - we fly down to Florida and film in the studio
26:47 Focused growth channels
28:04 Creativity that stems from customer research and insights
30:42 Sabrina Carpenter's hairbrush microphone
34:06 My favorite customer interview question
38:30 Customer marketing plays at Vector
41:46 Our influencer marketing experiment results
46:47 Leveraging AI in Marketing
51:11 Innovative SEO Strategies we're using
Jess on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jesscook-contentmarketing
Vector: www.vector.co
Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show.
Music by my talented daughter.
Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov
Website: furmanovmarketing.com
Newsletter: One Insight
Anthony Pierri helps founders market hard-to-market products as Co-Founder and Partner at FletchPMM. We're both in the Chicago area, Anthony is just a (trail) bike ride away. I asked Anthony to join me for round 2, also listen to Ep. 199 “Why Your Homepage Is A Great Predictor of Your Startup's Future Success...Or Failure.”
Here’s what we cover:
“Let’s fix your confusing positioning” why you changed the copy on your homepage;
Positioning, messaging, how do you get the entire company marching to the same beat, especially larger companies;
After you help companies with their positioning and messaging, do they stick to it? Do they go back to their old ways? Why might this happen;
You don’t recommend outsourcing talking to customers BUT founders and marketers don't know how, so what's the solve here, let's talk this out;
Segmentation old way versus new way.
Anthony on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/anthonypierri
FletchPMM: www.fletchpmm.com
Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show.
Music by my talented daughter.
Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov
Website: furmanovmarketing.com
Newsletter: One Insight
Mark Huber is VP of Marketing at UserEvidence. UserEvidence is a Customer Evidence Platform that lets you collect feedback, curate success stories, and create content that credibly proves the value of your product. Don’t beg for case studies. Get customer proof at scale.
Mark and I are both Navattic advisors.
Here’s what we cover:
Tell me about your team, what’s everyone doing;
Tell me about how your positioning and messaging has changed, and how it’s landing;
How’d you get the entire company marching to the same beat;
How do you incorporate customers as part of UserEvidence’s growth efforts;
How’re you using AI in your role, what scares you, what are you hopeful about;
Mark asks me his burning question.
Mark on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/markehuber
UserEvidence: userevidence.com
Subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show.
Music by my talented daughter.
Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov
Website: furmanovmarketing.com
Newsletter: One Insight
This is a geeking out episode. If you love customer research as much as I do and know how important it is for marketing and business growth, this is the episode you'll want to hear.
Hannah Shamji is a former Therapist and now Consumer Psychology Researcher. Hannah digs deep to uncover the emotional and psychological reasons your customers buy, stay, or leave in order to help inform retention, engagement, or positioning challenges.
Here’s what we cover:
Focus of your work these days;
How're you using AI as part of your work;
In research conversations, how to peel back the layers beyond logical answers, in order to go deeper on the emotional and political stuff;
The worst customer interview you’ve ever done;
How do you know something is an insight;
An example of turning insights into action;
Hannah asks me her burning question.
Hannah on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/hannahshamji
For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show.
Music by my talented daughter.
Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov
Website: furmanovmarketing.com
Newsletter: One Insight
Mark Schaefer is keynote speaker, university educator, futurist, and bestselling author of books like Marketing Rebellion, Audacious, and most recently How AI Changes Your Customers.
Mark also joined me a couple years ago, listen to Ep. 132: How AI Is Changing Marketing Forever & Why Creativity Matters More.
Here’s what we cover:
What’s changing with our customers, and how do we change alongside them;
What scares you most about AI;
What makes you hopeful;
Why curiosity matters now more than ever;
Where are you finding purpose and where can marketers find purpose at a time when we’re kinda lost;
Why awkwardness is a brand superpower;
The 3 questions we should be asking to guide our company's next chapter.
Mark on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/markwschaefer
Mark's website: businessesgrow.com
For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show.
Music by my talented daughter.
Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov
Website: furmanovmarketing.com
Newsletter: One Insight
After 5+ years working with early and growth stage companies, I created the Customer Insights Roadmap, a 4-phase process that helps founders/CEOs and their teams understand their customers deeply, translate those insights into clear and compelling positioning and messaging, and then scale growth in a way that works for your specific target buyer. It’s the exact process I take my clients through and it all starts with the hard work: real conversations with your customers. We run this program and it's not uncommon to see faster sales cycles and even 4X closed won deals.
Read about the Customer Insights Roadmap: furmanovmarketing.com/blog/customer-insights-roadmap
Read more about the Content Strategy Canvas: furmanovmarketing.com/blog/content-strategy
For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show.
Music by my talented daughter.
Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov
Website: furmanovmarketing.com
One Insight newsletter: Subscribe
So ya know how I’m exploring the role that customers play in helping companies build to their next level of growth? My goal is to invite on more superstar customer marketers and this episode is no exception.
Why such an obsession with customer marketing?
Holly Higgins is Sr. Customer Marketing Manager at Nectar. Nectar is an employee recognition & rewards platform for companies investing in culture. $58.7M in funding. 245 people.
Here’s what we cover:
Holly's responsibilities and goals;
How do you incorporate customers as part of your growth efforts;
Gamifying customer engagement;
How you use AI in your role;
How AI makes you and me more human;
Holly asks me her burning question.
Holly on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/holly-higgins-28841a1b7
Nectar: nectarhr.com
For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show.
Music by my talented daughter.
Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov
Website: furmanovmarketing.com
Newsletter: One Insight
I reached out to Denny Hollick on GrowthMentor as a mentee. Denny was a good match because I wanted to ask him some questions I’ve had for a while around customer marketing and customer advocacy.
Yes, most people agree that understanding customer needs can transform product development, but what’s often overlooked is how customer advocates can significantly influence your market success and GTM plan's impact.
Denny is Head of Product Marketing at Puzzle. Prior, he held marketing leadership roles at Minerva, Kajabi, Unbounce, and Wealthbar (acquired in 2018).
Here’s what we cover:
Why customer advocacy is crucial for startup growth;
How building relationships with customers can lead to advocacy;
Examples of customer advocacy programs;
Effective customer marketing requires collaboration between teams;
Startups should invest in customer advocacy programs early;
Creating a customer advisory board is probably the easiest step one;
Customers want to feel valued and recognized, how can you make that happen;
How successful advocacy programs turn customers into partners.
Denny on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/dhollick
For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show.
Music by my talented daughter.
Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov
Website: furmanovmarketing.com
One Insight newsletter: Subscribe
Lately, I’ve been intrigued by “State of The” reports. Many of them are examples of what good content looks like. Tommy Walker created his State of (Dis)Content report so naturally I wanted to learn exactly how he did it.
Tommy is founder at The Content Studio. The Content Studio is a content marketing consultancy focused on creating, developing, and improving content programs for growth-stage B2B startups and enterprises.
Here’s what we cover:
What's your approach to creating really good content;
The problem with good enough content;
The problem with perfectionism;
Walk me through the steps you took to create The State Of (Dis)Content;
How does this report tie directly into the sales process.
Tommy on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tommyismyname
The Content Studio: www.thecontentstudio.com
The State Of (Dis)Content: www.thecontentstudio.com/the-state-of-discontent
For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show.
Music by my talented daughter.
Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov
Website: furmanovmarketing.com
Shoshana Kordova joined me to talk about some of my favorite customer research and insights topics, she's founder of Peel Product Marketing and 3X founding product marketer with over a decade of journalism experience.
Here’s what we cover:
How does your journalism background help you with customer research;
There are many Product Marketers, how do you differentiate;
How do you know something is a true customer insight;
How do you turn insights into action;
What’s the biggest challenge for companies you’re working with right now.
Shoshana on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/shoshana-kordova
Peel Product Marketing: https://app.assetmule.ai/vVFtTvys
Check out her customer insights playbook: https://jetpack.productivepmm.com
For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show.
Music by my talented daughter.
Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov
Website: furmanovmarketing.com
Gianna Scorsone is co-founder and COO at ChampionHQ. ChampionHQ is the customer-led growth platform. Turn your customers into your No. 1 growth engine. Seed funded.
Here’s what we cover:
Customer-led growth vs. customer marketing and why both are important;
How to turn customers into your No. 1 growth engine;
How do you incorporate customers as part of your own growth efforts;
Who’s doing customer marketing well;
How you're building community at ChampionHQ.
Gianna on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/giannascorsone
ChampionHQ: www.championhq.com
For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show.
Music by my talented daughter.
Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov
Website: furmanovmarketing.com
Lately, I've been thinking about email newsletters.
I paused my own newsletter back in March because I was like "is this thing even working?" Turns out it is (builds trust, brings clients) so I'll be bringing it back, but I wanted to talk to an expert, learn about what's working, and ask my email questions.
Enter: Marc Thomas.
Marc has led Growth at various companies and currently helps $1M-$10M ARR SaaS companies with lifecycle marketing.
This was supposed to be just a casual conversation but there were so many AHA moments that I couldn't just keep this to myself.
Marc on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/iammarcthomas
Positive Human: www.positivehuman.co
For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show.
Music by my talented daughter.
Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov
Website: furmanovmarketing.com
It's a bittersweet moment. My kids are officially back at school. And that means summer is over (is it though? I'm in denial).
Evan Quinn is Co-Founder and CEO at hiyo. Hiyo is a stress-relieving social tonic (new category) mindfully crafted with natural adaptogens, nootropics, and functional botanicals to be a better-than-alcohol alternative. Founded in 2021, they're DTC and also in 6,000+ retail locations.
Here’s what we cover:
What does it take to get into retail stores;
Tell me about your customer superfans;
When customers feel like family, the game changes;
An umbrella with an origin story is not just an umbrella
How you incorporate customers as part of your growth efforts in unique and creative ways;
What’s been challenging.
Evan on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/evanhquinn
hiyo: drinkhiyo.com
For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show.
Music by my talented daughter.
Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov
Website: furmanovmarketing.com
Okay, it's time we discussed customer case studies. Like really discussed them. So I invited Em Thomas to join me, she's founder of StackCat Content (full-stack case study services for B2B SaaS companies).
Here’s what we cover:
What do the worst case studies have in common;
What about the best case studies;
How to structure customer calls to pull out the right info for case studies;
What format performs best;
How to create case studies that sell;
Companies that do this well;
Em asks me her burning question.
Em on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/imemthomas
StackCat Content: www.stackcatcontent.com
For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you've listened to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show.
Music by my talented daughter.
Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov
Website: furmanovmarketing.com
Sandhya Simhan is Head of Customer & Growth Marketing at Glean. What's Glean? Work AI for all. Give every employee an AI Assistant and Agents that put your company’s knowledge to work. Glean has exploded, and their customers play a big part. Series F, $150M raised, $7.2B valuation, 850+ people.
Here’s what we cover:
Tell me about your team, especially Customer Marketing;
What are your goals for this year;
How do you incorporate customers as part of Glean’s growth efforts;
So much success, but what’s hard right now;
Tips if you’re applying to an AI-focused startup;
Where are you placing big bets in 2025.
Sandhya on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sandhyasimhan
Glean: www.glean.com
For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you're into, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show.
Music by my talented daughter.
Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov
Website: furmanovmarketing.com
Teryn Thomas is Founder and CEO at EdLight. EdLight is your AI Math Co-Teacher, they're Seed funded. I worked with the EdLight team using the Customer Insights Roadmap process which included customer research, insights, positioning, messaging, competitor analysis, GTM strategy, website, social channels, sales emails, and conference materials.
I’m doing a bit of my own customer research with this unique episode.
Here’s what we cover:
How’s it going for you guys since we worked together;
How were you feeling before we started working together;
Why did you go with me;
Now that we’ve worked together what was the stand out moment for you;
What’s been the impact of our working together.
Teryn on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/teryn-thomas-a00b51145
EdLight: www.edlight.com
For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you've listened to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show.
Music by my talented daughter.
Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov
Website: furmanovmarketing.com
Foti Panagiotakopoulos is Founder at GrowthMentor. GrowthMentor helps you get unstuck quickly with 1:1 advice from vetted startup mentors. Growth is tough, and sometimes you just want to talk to someone.
I’ve been mentoring on GrowthMentor since 2022 and have recently started using it as a mentee as well.
Here’s what we cover:
How you incorporate customers as part of growth efforts;
Insights from talking to people that are on the fence;
How adding friction actually strengthens human connection;
What is Growth Journalism;
What’s working well;
What’s hard right now;
Where are you placing big bets this year;
Foti asks me his burning question.
Foti on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/fotis-panagio
GrowthMentor: app.growthmentor.com
For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you've listened to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show.
Music by my talented daughter.
Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov
Website: furmanovmarketing.com
Brendan Hufford is Founder at Growth Sprints where he helps take SaaS companies from $10M to $100M ARR using the SaaS Growth Sprint Framework. Brendan is also a Navattic advisor and that's how we met. He has 4 kids which is double what I have so already a ton of respect.
Here’s what we cover:
Simon Sinek and AI ramblings (oh so good);
What's different with SEO today and how Brendan helps companies navigate with success;
Companies that incorporate customers as part of their growth;
You find your brand in the pattern of what your best customers say when they’re pissed, proud, or paying (LinkedIn post);
Anna asks Brendan her burning question.
Brendan on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/brendanhufford
Growth Sprints: growthsprints.co
For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you've listened to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show.
Music by my talented daughter.
Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov
Website: furmanovmarketing.com
Hey builders, it's Anna! This BONUS episode is a focused growth clinic for Georgia Austin, Founder & CEO at Wordbrew. Wordbrew makes it simple for teams to create unique content with expert insights. They have 20 paying customers.
In our last episode, Georgia talked about her main challenges: positioning, packaging, distributing, lean team, small budget, and limited manpower for posting on LinkedIn. I'm going to try to help.
For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you've listened to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show.
Music by my talented daughter.
Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov
Website: furmanovmarketing.com
Georgia Austin is Founder and CEO at Wordbrew. Wordbrew makes it simple for teams to create unique content with expert insights. Collaborate with experts on the platform (and AI) to create unique content at scale. They have 20 paying customers at the moment.
How I met Georgia: she reached out to me on LinkedIn to see if I could help them with something as they're building their product and of course I was excited to help.
Here’s what we cover:
Give me your best customer’s Wordbrew use case;
What’s unique about your customer superfans;
How do you incorporate customers as part of your growth efforts;
Georgia asks me her burning question which I will answer in a BONUS episode Friday.
Georgia on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/georgiaaustin
Wordbrew: wordbrew.com
The post that went viral mentioned in the episode
For more content, subscribe to Building With Buyers on Apple or Spotify or wherever you like to listen, let me know what episodes you've listened to, and don't forget to leave a review if you're lovin' the show.
Music by my talented daughter.
Anna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annafurmanov
Website: furmanovmarketing.com