Kim's Marketing Matters | No. 2

I get a lot of questions and inquiries to "pick my brain", and a newsletter following a (sounding)B.O.A.R.D. format seemed like the best way to give structure to the hodge podge of reflections and lessons learned.

B2B Marketing Trends & Best Practices.

A partner asked me to hang back 1:1 after a bi-weekly check in this week and asked me vulnerably, "Did we completely fail on this project?"

My genuine reply back, "No, in these times and industry especially, everything is a lesson learned. Am I disappointed it's not working better? Of course. But we had a hypothesis, we executed, and we got new intel from it. Failure would've been to ignore real-life market response and kept doing the same thing over and over again and not adjusting."

A strategy on a PowerPoint deck is just a strategy on a PowerPoint deck, and an idea is just an idea until it is launched and data trickles in--and that takes time, and it also takes a good dose of grit, analysis, and detachment to outcomes to fully assess next steps without bias or preconceived notions.

Be kind to your sales and marketing teams and agency and vendor partners.

It's a grind, especially in B2B.

Hold them/us accountable. But don't ask them/us to produce magic, rainbows, and unicorns.

Opinions, Observations & Optimizations I'm making, both at work and/or outside of it.

Many people are surprised/skeptical when I tell them I'm an introvert. I'm very passionate about my work and interests and will be vocal on relevant matters, which could come across as extroversion.

But things like networking doesn't come naturally to me. Classic nature v. nurture, as being a marketing leader/people manager requires it. This is why I have to be mindful of not just managing my time, but also managing my energy levels to decompress before/after social interactions, whether I'm hosting a live webinar, attending a conference in person, or getting together with my (very big, very Catholic Vietnamese) family and relatives.

This is also why I was so grateful to have had "accidental networking" moments happen the past few weeks.

One of our partners tagged the wrong Kim Tran in a social post recently, which led me to connect with another Asian American tech marketing leader. There are so few of us in this space, much less by the exact same name.

I was hanging out at some friends' house recently and in between feeding and cleaning up after our kids and generally making sure they wouldn't hurt themselves, I found out their friend is a CRO at a B2B SaaS company with similar GTM motions and growth goals.

And, last but not least this week, I joined a CMO Alliance virtual meetup in an intimate discussion format, and there was an open invite to record a podcast soon. I'm psyched! (Do people still say that?...)

I'm also grateful to folks who are generous with their networks, making organic connections and introductions so I can sidestep the awkward small talks. I'm looking forward to chatting with an "accidental marketer" next week as we plan out promos for an upcoming data & AI governance webinar!

Analysis of a great marketing ad/campaign I came across this week.

Calling all Bridgerton fans! Who else has binged on all first four episodes and eagerly awaiting June 13?!

The show is apparently on track to upseat Stranger Things, which is truly remarkable. I'd be curious to see more insights on this, but I would think the latter holds a more general mass appeal across a broader audience demographic v. Bridgerton does, i.e., presumably largely a female viewership, which is a testament to women's influence and spending power.

What the show has done well: Dripping/repurposing content, providing continuity in between seasons, tapping into their audiences' fandom, and creating curated, real-life experiences (I personally have attended two Queen's Balls, don't judge).

Textbook marketing plays, differentiated by execution--and let's not forget, big ass budgets.

But one thing for us all to remember, regardless of whether you're in B2B or B2C, or have $50K or $5M in marketing spend to play with: there will always be a human in front of and behind your product, buying it, using/consuming it, and recommending it.

Research & Resources I'm currently digging into.

Life/career coaches and personal/professional development gurus love talking about having a growth mindset to succeed, but I don't hear much about systems thinking.

Growth is great. Growth is necessary. Growth is profitable and everyone gets paid. But growth will mean different things at different stages, and no one wants smoke and mirrors' growth built on a house of cards that will crumble sooner or later.

We're at an incredible time in history--the complexities and uncertainties are multilayered and compounding. Systems thinking (and eventually "systems doing") is not growth-at-all-costs, but figuring out the heart and root issues of why we're not growing, and/or growing sustainably.

Systems thinking is understanding which different people and different pieces fit together, and more importantly, how and why they could fit together, better.

Systems thinking is rebuilding, building, and building again.

Systems thinking is why GTM teams with shared goals and tackling pipeline problems together win at faster, higher rates than siloed teams caught in complaining and blaming cycles.

Systems thinking is a critical component I've applied in my own career, and it's a trait I look out for interviewing and hiring candidates as well.

Data point(s) that caught my attention.

Cheers to those heroes who avoid scheduling Friday afternoon meetings.

Meeting overload is real, and "this meeting could've been an email" memes pervade.

Harvard Business Review and research from the Ohio State University notes we're 22% less productive when we have a meeting coming up v. having no meetings at all.

My work weeks at a glance: Mondays-Wednesdays are largely team/1:1s and cross-functional/leadership/partner meetings, while Thursdays-Fridays are my days to strategically plan and do focused thinking/working.

I also block out time for lunch and school drop off/pick ups because #workingparentlife.

How do you generally structure and batch your week?