7 episodes

A mix of conversations between Jeff Sirkin and Victoria Gamlen, along with interviews of experienced B2B marketing guests, The Sirkin Research Podcast dives into the all too often glossed over details and context of marketing, data, and business.

The Sirkin Research Podcast Sirkin Research

    • Business
    • 5.0 • 11 Ratings

A mix of conversations between Jeff Sirkin and Victoria Gamlen, along with interviews of experienced B2B marketing guests, The Sirkin Research Podcast dives into the all too often glossed over details and context of marketing, data, and business.

    7 Reasons Why Your Research Report Isn't Driving Demand

    7 Reasons Why Your Research Report Isn't Driving Demand

    Research report season is here, and we’re willing to bet your past ones drove zero demand. 

    After reading over 100 B2B SaaS research reports, we’ve narrowed down the 7 key reasons why most are a complete waste of time and money. 

    Join us this episode as we break each one of them down.
    What is the point of a research report? (1:38)Reason 1:  Scope of report is too broad (2:17)Why broad reports do more harm than good (2:59)Reason 2: Survey audience is not your ICP (6:31)Why more respondents doesn’t equal a “better” research report (6:47)Why your survey audience must be your ICP to drive demand (8:16)Reason 3: Product > pain points (9:24)Reason 4: Using FOMO as a reason to buy your product (12:25)Why you can never guilt trip or peer pressure businesses into making a purchase (14:19)Reason 5: There’s no analysis (aka it’s just a data dump) (14:51)Why reports stuffed with stats are a red flag (15:31)What we mean by the “storyline” of your report (17:03)Reason 6: Poor analysis (19:30)What poor analysis often looks like in a report (20:43)Why marketers thinking they can do data analysis is a very serious issue (21:30)Reason 7: Inaccurate or confusing visualizations (24:04)Data visualization best practices (24:52)Resources:
    Webinar: 7 Reasons Why Your B2B Research Report Isn't Driving Demand

    Connect with the Hosts:
    Victoria Gamlen on LinkedIn
    Jeff Sirkin on LinkedIn

    • 26 min
    Demand Research vs. Market Research

    Demand Research vs. Market Research

    B2B research was never designed to drive demand. But does that mean it’s completely worthless? 

    In this episode, Jeff and Victoria dive into how market research’s failings led to the creation of demand research, the six key differences between demand research and market research, and when market research is the right move. 
    The 117-page PDF that started it all (1:37)Why a lot of data isn’t impressive, but a red flag (3:48)Why no one wants to buy research (9:46)The normalization of guesswork in B2B marketing (11:15)What B2B research was originally design for (13:34)The two sides of scaling a services-based business (16:59)DR vs MR difference 1: The scope of the survey (18:07)Why most research reports reach like a giant ad (19:04)DR vs MR difference 2: Survey audience (19:56)How we help clients get clear on their ICP (21:54)Why customer research cannot solve positioning and messaging issues (22:27)DR vs MR difference 3: Analysis layer (25:17)The undiscussed beef between marketers and analysts (26:33)DR vs MR difference 4: Objective (27:46)How the scientific method is the basis of our work (28:56)DR vs MR difference 5: The speed (29:20)DR vs MR difference 6: The output (30:03)The second important purpose of market research (32:00)When market research is appropriate (32:37)The misuse of market research by startups (33:04)Resources:
    How to Achieve GTM Alignment
    Webinar: Demand Research 101

    Connect with the hosts:
    Victoria Gamlen on LinkedIn
    Jeff Sirkin on LinkedIn

    • 34 min
    A Crash Course on Design with Tommy Treadway

    A Crash Course on Design with Tommy Treadway

    Great design: one thing that all successful brands have in common. Yet, it’s a topic that seems to be absent from B2B marketers’ conversations. We decided to change that. For this episode, we brought on Tommy Treadway, the Head of Design at Measured. From freelance to full-time and from household names and stealth startups, Tommy’s done it all – and well. So who better than to explain all the things that non-designers (and new designers) should know with regards to this rarely discussed, yet critical element of marketing?

    Here are some other topics discussed on this episode of the Sirkin Research Podcast:
    Tommy’s unintentional and winding road into design (1:48)The differences between design roles in-house, freelance, and at agencies (4:52)The issue with W-2 bashing and the risks of freelancing as a writer or marketer (7:29)The different paths someone could take to get into a career in design today (10:14)Why doing an actual project is better experience than concept or theoretical work (12:42)The difference between product design, UX design, and UI design (14:46)What makes for a good design program (18:05)Things you should never say to a designer (23:02)Why both design and copy are integrated systems (27:25)The distrust of creatives causing them to relentlessly justify their work (29:06)What designers should do to find inspiration (34:59)Why “boring” industries can make for more exciting work (35:49)The negative impact of design bootcamps are having on the industry (36:19)The biggest problem with swipe files (37:09)The “Great Blanding” in design and the seeping of the millennial aesthetic into SaaS (38:00)Why everyone hates marketers, according to Victoria (41:05)Why the most valuable designers, creatives, and analysts get paid for how they think (42:17)
    Connect with Tommy
    Website
    Twitter

    Connect with the Hosts
    Victoria Gamlen on LinkedIn
    Jeff Sirkin on LinkedIn

    • 45 min
    The Three Components of Effective B2B Positioning

    The Three Components of Effective B2B Positioning

    We dig into the details from Victoria’s 40-page piece on her approach to positioning. We get into her three components of effective positioning, why you don’t choose your positioning, and why point of view (POV) rules all. Here are a few other topics discussed on this episode of the Sirkin Research Podcast:
    How Victoria first got into positioning from writing copy (1:59)Why most people writing website copy are also doing positioning (4:14)Why there is no such thing as a marketing or positioning expert (9:39)Why “we’re the best” is not positioning (11:07)The importance of clearly defining terms (12:38)Why boring marketing and gated content are not the problems holding B2B marketers back (14:18)Attribution isn’t broken, it was built this way (15:24)Why you don’t choose your positioning as a company (19:56)The fundamental questions a company needs to answer about their business to inform their positioning (22:48)Why Victoria didn’t touch on strategic narratives or brand stories in her piece (25:11)Why effective positioning requires a compelling point of view (29:37)The importance of defining what not to say when it comes to your messaging (37:08)Why effective positioning isn’t a linear process and can’t be templated (43:07)The risks of category creation and how to do it right (44:54)Why StoryBrand is not effective for B2B marketers (50:13)Why it’s important that whoever does your positioning has written copy plus who to be wary of taking marketing and positioning advice from (55:00)Resources mentioned in episode:The Three Components of Effective B2B PositioningThe Irreconcilable Differences Between B2B and B2C Marketing
    Connect with the hosts:Victoria Gamlen on LinkedInJeff Sirkin on LinkedIn

    • 1 hr 3 min
    Marketing Strategy Starts with the Customer with MJ Smith

    Marketing Strategy Starts with the Customer with MJ Smith

    MJ Smith is the Vice President of Marketing at CoLab Software, a startup focused on helping mechanical engineers collaborate and make decisions faster. Before CoLab, MJ led sales and marketing at Refine Labs, where she worked with more than 50 B2B software startups. She also spent 6 years working at Halma plc, a group of mid-sized manufacturing businesses focused on medical, environmental, and safety technology. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Long Story Short:

    Why product marketing is the first priority for an organization’s first marketing leaderFocusing on positioning and messaging before scaling through demand genThe importance of buyer research, especially when you aren’t in your own ICPThe 3 types of insights MJ looks for in doing customer researchThe importance of understanding the critical pain points specific to the buyer roleLeveraging quantitative research and product analytics for contentHow demystifying finance made MJ a better marketing leader and executiveWhy having a podcast as a marketing strategy might be overrated

    • 35 min
    Powering Demand Through Buyer Research with Matt Malanga

    Powering Demand Through Buyer Research with Matt Malanga

    Matt Malanga is the Chief Marketing Officer at JW Player, the video platform for video-driven companies. Matt is a full-stack, hands-on CMO who is well-versed in disrupting industries, building winning cultures, and driving top-line growth. He has played a key marketing leadership role in five startups across SaaS and Fintech space - each getting to a successful exit either through an acquisition or IPO. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of Long Story Short:

    Leveraging original research to create content and drive demandAligning your internal stakeholders around what matters most to your buyersHow to connect your ICP to your brand to drive awareness and relevanceThe importance of identifying the right survey audience and why it’s like a bullseyeHow to effectively launch a new brand in a competitive marketWhy quantifying buyer insights is the key to gaining alignment from your GTM teamThe importance of building a bridge to finance as a marketing leaderHow Sirkin Research’s work differs from Gartner and ForresterConnect with Jeff:
    LinkedIn

    Connect with Sirkin Research:
    Website
    LinkedIn

    • 1 hr 1 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
11 Ratings

11 Ratings

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