Max is an experienced marketing executive with his sights set on ROI and maximizing engagement. His revenue-minded approach to Demand Generation is built on a foundation of Marketing Analytics and Operations. Efficient growth marketing and revenue optimization are the pillars of Max’s ongoing success. He’s a no-fluff marketer with a passion for maniacal execution of GTM strategy, data-driven analysis and sales alignment. Max builds world-class teams and employs modern AI-powered MarTech designed to inspect what’s expected and scale sales and marketing processes to drive growth.

Connect with Max

Key takeaways

• Sales, Marketing, and Finance Alignment: Achieving cross-functional harmony requires clear priorities, shared goals, and consistent communication throughout the fiscal year.
• Tailored Budget Allocation: Investments should align with specific go-to-market priorities, such as new logo acquisition, customer retention, or cross-sell opportunities.
• The Role of Soft Skills: Presentation skills and structured communication are critical for marketing leaders to gain stakeholder buy-in and showcase the impact of their strategies.
• Innovative AI Applications: Tools like Google’s Notebook LM reshape internal training by transforming written assets into engaging audio formats.
• Metrics-Driven Decision-Making: Choosing the right KPIs and frameworks to measure marketing’s impact on revenue is vital for demonstrating ROI and refining strategies.

Quotes

On Alignment
“Sales, marketing, and finance need to align on go-to-market priorities for budgets to reflect the organization’s true objectives.”

On Presentation
“Great presentation skills can make or break your ability to secure buy-in during critical budget discussions.

Tech recommendations

• Google Notebook LM: A tool for transforming written content into audio formats, ideal for internal training.
• ABM Platforms: For aligning marketing strategies with sales efforts.

Resource recommendations

Podcast:

• The Remarkable Podcast for creative marketing insights.

Shout-outs

• Jessica Kao: Max highlighted Jessica Cowin as someone he looks up to for her thought leadership and best practices in marketing automation and operations.
• Ash Parikh: Ash provides a valuable C-level perspective and vision for B2B marketing, in addition to his experience across different companies.

The post Budget Battles: Aligning Sales, Marketing, and Finance for Growth appeared first on Demandbase.

Aleasha Bahr is a sales strategist, speaker, best-selling author, and founder of the Black Sheep Sales Method. Because if it’s a fit, it’s a fact and there’s no selling involved. She has 15 years of experience customizing sales strategies to your personality, audience, and service (because sales is not a one-size-fits-all!) Her methods empower business owners to effortlessly convert up to 80% of their leads without pressure, pitching, or pretending to be someone else. Aleasha’s signature Black Sheep Sales Method is based on 15+ years of sales experience, tens of millions of dollars in services personally sold herself and sold by service providers she’s supported.

The post Sales as Market Research: Unlocking Insights for Marketing Success appeared first on Demandbase.

For the past decade, Ryan Hawk has interviewed 600+ of the world’s most influential leaders: Jim Collins, Simon Sinek, Adam Grant, Tony Robbins, James Clear, Ryan Holiday, Kat Cole, John Maxwell, Jocko Willink, Susan Cain, Ramit Sethi, Kirk Herbstreit, JJ Redick, Coach John Calipari, Admiral William McRaven, Liz Wiseman, George Raveling, Tom Peters, Daniel Pink, Patrick Lencioni, John Mackey, Robert Greene, General Stanley McChrystal, Seth Godin, and the list goes on. The Learning Leader Show has been named an Apple Podcasts “Best-Seller” for the past four years and regularly ranks as the #1 Business Podcast in the world. It earns millions of downloads per year.

Now, as a bestselling author, keynote speaker, and host of The Learning Leader Show, Ryan travels the globe teaching the world’s largest companies, universities, and associations about personal excellence, leadership, storytelling, sales, teamwork, and more. When Ryan speaks, you’re listening to everyone he’s ever interviewed. And he’s interviewed more than 100 NY Times Best-Selling authors in addition to Special Forces Operators, Fortune 500 CEOs, entrepreneurs, professional athletes, and front office executives.

The post Ryan Hawk on Lessons from the World’s Top Leaders appeared first on Demandbase.

Transitioning from small-scale pilot programs to enterprise-wide ABM campaigns can feel overwhelming—but it doesn’t have to be. Join us for an exclusive webinar where we’ll break down the process and provide actionable insights to help you:

• Expand ABM across your organization with proven frameworks and strategies.
• Align marketing and sales teams for maximum impact.
• Leverage data and technology to identify high-value accounts and drive engagement.
• Measure success at scale with metrics that matter to your business.

Event Details

Date: Thursday 23rd January

Time: 2:00 PM GMT

What You’ll Learn

This session is designed for B2B marketers and sales leaders looking to maximise ROI and achieve measurable growth with ABM. You’ll gain:

• Practical guidance on scaling ABM beyond the pilot stage.
• Real-world examples from organisations successfully implementing enterprise-wide ABM.
• Expert tips on overcoming common scaling challenges, from resource allocation to technology adoption.

Don’t miss this opportunity to take your ABM strategy from good to great. Whether you’re just starting with ABM or looking to expand, this webinar is your roadmap to success.

The post Unlock the Power of ABM at Scale Webinar appeared first on Demandbase.

Kris Rudeegraap is the co-founder and CEO of Sendoso, the leading Sending Platform. Kris has more than a decade of sales experience and has spent time at Talkdesk, Yapstone, and Piqora. During that time, he discovered that creating meaningful engagements through direct mail and gifting was an effective way to drive demand and increase sales—which helped inspire the idea for Sendoso. Kris is a California native and CSU-Chico alum currently residing in the Bay Area.

Connect with Kris

Key takeaways

• Thought Leadership as a Growth Driver: Kris emphasizes the role of thought leadership in educating the market, inspiring internal teams, and generating quality leads.
• The Power of Direct Mail: Innovative direct mail campaigns, integrated with social and digital channels, can cut through saturated email inboxes and create memorable customer interactions.
• Leveraging AI for Sales Enablement: Kris outlines how tools like Clay, Hyperbound, and Grace are revolutionizing outreach, training, and account management.
• Category Creation: Educating the market is critical in emerging categories. Thought leadership and community building can amplify this effort.
• Social Media for Pipeline Growth: Consistently sharing content and creating employee-driven advocacy on platforms like LinkedIn can be a lead generation powerhouse.

Quotes

On Thought Leadership:
“Thought leadership inspires your team internally and builds trust externally, driving both brand value and pipeline growth.”

On Personalization:
“Customers don’t want just another email—they want relevance, authenticity, and creativity at every touchpoint.”

Highlights from this episode

What inspired you to start Sendoso?

Kris reflected on his early career in software sales and the challenges he encountered with email saturation, even eight years ago. He noticed that traditional channels like email were becoming less effective in capturing buyers’ attention, and customers were increasingly ignoring generic messages. To stand out, Kris started sending handwritten notes, gifts, and swag manually. These personalized touches worked exceptionally well but were time-consuming and inefficient.

Recognizing this gap in the market, Kris envisioned an automated solution to streamline and scale these efforts. This led to the creation of Sendoso, a platform that allows companies to integrate personalized gifting into their sales and marketing strategies. Kris emphasized that the genesis of Sendoso was rooted in solving a real-world problem with a practical, scalable solution.

What is the importance of thought leadership for B2B companies?

Kris explained that thought leadership is essential for B2B companies because it serves three main purposes:

• Educating the Market: Especially in new or emerging categories, buyers need to understand the value of a product or service. Thought leadership helps companies position themselves as experts while educating prospects on how to integrate their offerings into their workflows.
• Inspiring Employees: Thought leadership isn’t just external; it motivates employees to take part in the conversation. Kris shared how his posts inspired colleagues across departments—whether in sales, marketing, or product—to start sharing their own insights, fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation.
• Generating Quality Leads: Buyers today rely heavily on peer recommendations and authentic content rather than direct sales pitches. Thought leadership attracts engaged prospects by addressing their pain points and providing actionable advice, ultimately driving lead generation.

What strategies can companies use to get started with thought leadership?

Kris shared several practical approaches for companies looking to build thought leadership:

• Idea Collection: Maintain a running Google Doc or similar platform where team members can jot down ideas, even as simple “chicken scratch” notes.
• Using AI Tools: Tools like ChatGPT can help refine raw ideas, provide additional perspectives, or create first drafts. AI can also speed up research and validation of content ideas.
• Customer Interviews: Meeting customers, whether casually over coffee or through formal interviews, provides invaluable insights. Listening to customers’ language and understanding their pain points can inspire relevant and impactful content.
• Podcasts as a Forcing Function: Kris pointed out that participating in podcasts like OnBase is a great way to crystallize ideas, think critically, and share them with a broader audience.

How can thought leadership contribute to pipeline growth?

Thought leadership plays a critical role in driving pipeline growth by enabling companies to engage with audiences in meaningful ways. Kris explained:

• Social Media Integration: Sharing thought leadership content, such as LinkedIn posts, videos, or snippets from podcasts, can amplify a company’s reach and influence.
• Recycling Content: Repurpose thought leadership pieces into various formats—such as PS sections in outbound emails or follow-ups from account managers—to keep the messaging consistent and relevant across channels.
• Earning vs. Buying an Audience: Unlike paid media campaigns, which have a temporary impact, thought leadership builds a loyal, organic audience that delivers long-term value and strengthens the brand.
• AI Tools for Snippet Creation: Modern AI tools can help chop up long-form content into bite-sized, engaging pieces, making it easier to distribute and sustain audience interest.

What metrics or strategies can measure the impact of thought leadership?

Measuring thought leadership’s impact is often a mix of direct and indirect metrics. Kris highlighted:

• Trackable Metrics: Use UTM parameters on social media posts and links to track click-through rates and engagement. Monitor spikes in organic and direct website traffic that align with thought leadership campaigns.
• Correlation Analysis: While it’s not always a direct path from a thought leadership post to a sale, Kris’s team looks for correlations between content and other KPIs, such as lead quality or pipeline growth.
• Long-Term Investment: Some benefits, like brand awareness and community engagement, are harder to quantify but have a lasting impact. Kris encouraged leaders to see thought leadership as part of a broader, long-term strategy rather than obsessing over immediate ROI.

What is the biggest challenge in B2B sales today?

Kris identified orchestration as the biggest challenge. With so many tools, data points, and channels available, the difficulty lies in aligning these resources into a seamless, synchronized process. Misalignment between sales, marketing, and operations can lead to inefficiencies, missed opportunities, and inconsistent customer experiences.

Kris emphasized the importance of building systems and processes that integrate tools effectively, ensuring that every team member has the right data and insights at the right time.

What’s your favorite direct mail campaign from Sendoso?

Kris shared his favorite campaign—a Halloween-themed piñata initiative. It combined SDR outreach, trade show promotions, and a dedicated web landing page to create a spooky, interactive experience. Social media posts of recipients unboxing the piñatas generated user-generated content, which was fed back into the campaign for even more visibility. The campaign was a resounding success, generating millions of dollars in pipeline and demonstrating the power of integrated direct mail efforts.

Tech recommendations

• Clay: AI-assisted outbound orchestration
• Hyperbound: AI coaching for sales teams
• Grace: AI-driven account management
• Feeder: A content aggregator

Resource recommendations

Books:

• Revenge of the Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Newsletters:

• Hypergrowth Leadership
  
• Andy’s newsletter

Shout-outs

• Anthony Kennada, Founder & CEO at AudiencePlus Audience Plus, for his innovative community-building strategies.
• Andy Mewborn, Founder & Customer Support at Distribute, for his thought leadership as a seller-turned-founder.
  
• Carilu Dietrich, Hypergrowth Advisor, for her insightful newsletter on scaling businesses.

The post The CEO’s Guide to Transforming Thought Leadership into Sales Success appeared first on Demandbase.