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The problem with SaaS marketing ft. Gia and Claire of Forget The Funnel

Welcome back to this new season of SaaS Open Mic! In this first episode I’m talking to Claire Suellentrop and Georgiana Laudi of Forget The Funnel — both strong proponents of a more holistic approach to modern SaaS marketing.

According to Gia and Claire of Forget The Funnel:

“The vast majority of early- and growth-stage tech companies undervalue marketing — that is, until marketing becomes an emergency.”

Sound familiar?! This episode is for you. Given that both Gia and Claire are seasoned veterans in the world of SaaS marketing, I’m inclined to listen.

Claire (@ClaireSuellen) served as Director of Marketing and employee #2 at Calendly, where she helped the product grow to over 400k monthly users and millions in revenue. Since leaving Calendly she helps high-growth SaaS companies get inside their customers’ heads and increase conversions along their sales, marketing, and onboarding funnels.

Gia (@ggiiaa) was an early employee and the VP of Marketing at Unbounce, where she helped grow revenue by 900% in her first 3 years, scale her team from 1 to 35, and go from under $1M to $15.6M in ARR without any major funding.

In the episode

“When a marketer is eventually hired, they’re often at a disadvantage: their goal is to increase revenue — the lifeblood of the company — but their projects are consistently at the mercy of / de-prioritized in favor of product development.”

This episode is a must-listen for SaaS marketing professionals, particularly those feeling a little lost or struggling to understand their role in the increasingly complex structure of the modern tech business.

Just a few of the topics we cover:

  • Why startups’ approach to marketing is so often an afterthought, and how that impacts the first few marketing hires
  • What “forget the funnel” really means, and why there’s a better approach to SaaS marketing
  • What the high-performing marketers featured on their site have in common, and what makes them stand out
  • How SaaS marketers can focus on what really matters in 2018 and beyond, in the face of constant industry changes

Claire and Gia’s recommended resources

Claire:

  • When Coffee And Kale Compete – Alan Klement (free PDF, eBook and physical formats available). “For understanding how people make decisions, related to customer research.”
  • CopyHackers – “Joanna Wiebe is the original conversion copywriter.”

Gia:

Join a Forget The Funnel workshop

As discussed in this episode, you can now pre-register for the SaaS Marketer Essentials training.

You also can sign up for free SaaS marketing workshops over at forgetthefunnel.com. My personal recommendation is to check out the session with Brian Sun of Autopilot, during which I frantically scribbled notes and takeaways for my own strategy. It’s called How to Build a SaaS Content Strategy Your Boss Will Love.

Listen to the episode

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Ed Shelley

Former Director of Content

@Mr_Ed