Boldness—What that should look like in B2B PMM w/ Julien Sauvage

EPISODE SUMMARY

Bold marketers? They’re harder to find in B2B SaaS than the “clearance section at a Lululemon store”. Our industry today is living under a “sea of sameness”. Relying on *revenue* as our single product differentiator, right? Wrong! That’s why we misfit PMM (who can’t find a good deal at Lulu) gotta shake up these B2B SaaSy seas. Meaning don’t copy competition and call it a ‘winback campaign’. We gotta do better. Be bold, stand out, and win over our market (one audience segment at a time).

This is what Julien Sauvage drew out in this “Starry Night” of conversations in this episode. Julien is the GVP of Marketing at Clari. Prior to that, he drove PMM there, Gong, and Salesforce. He’s kind of a big deal. But, never call yourself “data-driven” in his presence, if you can’t report your top 3 KPIs. Data science is in his DNA, as his past life prior to PMM. That’s why he believes PMM impact must live in the numbers we produce.

One way to be a bolder product marketer. Is that you?

Good news is that potential lives in all of us (marketers included, yay!). Here’s what we covered in this 40-minute convo to awaken it:

→What Julien NEVER wants to hear a PMM say. Even if you’re a “storyteller”, still no excuse.

→Faster way to ship “pretty bad webpages”? Do this and nothing else. No one will EVER read it.

→Salesforce, Gong, and Clari. Surprisingly simple way they each built their positioning? You’ll be mad for not knowing sooner.

→What practice does all great positioning share? Problem statements! Why yours should be a few words, not paragraphs.

→Why this high-profile product launch at Salesforce was an epic FLOP.

→Be a messaging architect who can build. One more reason why PMMs should be good copywriters.

→The simple paradox of product marketing. What is it? Why it still confounds Julien, as an executive, today.

→Don’t assume everyone knows what we do. Julien’s must-have advice on *impact* if you’re a “data-driven” product marketer.

Time to become the bold PMM we’re all destined to be. Listen now to unlock your potential! YERRBBAAAA MATTTTEEEEEEE!!! (We’re Not Marketers *unofficial* battlecry)

TIMESTAMPS

00:43 – Introducing of Julien Sauvage

01:57 – Are Product Marketers Actually Marketers?

06:41 – The Role of Boldness in Marketing

14:06 – Event Branding Success at Clari

17:17 – The Einstein Smart Speaker Flop

20:24 – Reflecting on Dreamforce’s Gimmicks

22:38 – The Importance of Data in Product Marketing

24:43 – Challenges and Realities of PMM

30:31 – The Role of Copywriting in PMM

38:59 – Final Thoughts and Farewell

RESOURCES:

• Julien’s LinkedIn
• Content That Converts guide (by Devin Reed)