The Peerbound Podcast

Peerbound

On The Peerbound Podcast, we believe customer centricity is core to success. And our host, Sunny Manivannan, is excited to share stories from customer-obsessed leaders who consistently raise the bar. Tune in weekly to hear top marketing leaders in enterprise software discuss their career journeys and share their unique insights, future predictions, and proven strategies for amplifying the voice of the customer to accelerate growth.

  1. Jennifer Thompson, Sr. Customer Marketing Manager at Amperity, on Your Greatest Sales Team

    12/04/2025

    Jennifer Thompson, Sr. Customer Marketing Manager at Amperity, on Your Greatest Sales Team

    In this episode, Sunny sits down with Jennifer Thompson, Senior Customer Marketing Manager at Amperity, to discuss the evolution of customer marketing, building advocacy programs, and why your happiest customers deserve more attention than they're getting. Jennifer shares her journey from account management to pioneering customer marketing roles, including how she helped the Seattle Seahawks tell their fan engagement story in record time. We dive deep into what makes great customer marketers, how to prove your value internally, and why customer marketing is about so much more than just case studies. Whether you're new to customer marketing or a seasoned pro, Jen's insights on the customer journey flywheel, working with AI tools, and creating advocates at every touchpoint will inspire you to think differently about your role. Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome 00:35 Jen's Career Beginnings 01:33 Transition to Customer Marketing 07:08 Impact of AI in Marketing 11:11 Customer Success Stories 19:43 Characteristics of a Successful Customer Marketer 22:51 Building Internal Support 23:40 Creating Advocates and Proving Value 28:48 Examples of Great Marketing 33:30 Favorite Apps, Technologies, and Recommendations Resources & Links Mentioned People: Jennifer Thompson - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-t-/ Sunny Manivannan - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunnymanivannan/ Case Studies: Seattle Seahawks Case Study - https://amperity.com/customers/seattle-seahawks Extra: Witches of Moonshyne Manor - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60421214-the-witches-of-moonshyne-manor

    40 min
  2. Chris Dalton, Director of Customer Marketing at Clari, on Proactive Customer Marketing

    11/10/2025

    Chris Dalton, Director of Customer Marketing at Clari, on Proactive Customer Marketing

    Episode Description Chris Dalton manages customer testimonials, speaking engagements, reference programs, peer reviews, a customer advisory board, and ad hoc requests, all by himself. His secret? Building autonomous systems and focusing relentlessly on what actually accelerates revenue. In this episode, Chris shares how Clari's CMO mandates voice of customer content in every campaign, why content utilization matters more than content creation, and how he's building a proactive customer marketing system that serves the right references and content at exactly the right time. If you're trying to scale customer marketing with limited resources, this conversation is packed with strategies you won't want to miss. What You'll Learn How to build autonomous customer marketing systems that run without daily involvementWhy the shift from reactive to proactive is the future of customer marketingThe utilization problem: why having 100 case studies means nothing if reps don't use themHow AI enables entirely new work rather than just replacing existing tasksProductivity habits from Deep Work and 7 Habits of Highly Effective People that create real efficiencyHow to build strong relationships with revenue teams and prove your impactWhy tools don't solve behavior problems and what actually drives adoptionChapters 00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome00:44 Chris Dalton's Career Journey03:14 Role and Responsibilities at Clari04:17 Challenges and Innovations in Customer Marketing06:41 The Future of Customer Marketing10:53 Voice of Customer and Its Importance14:47 AI in Customer Marketing19:33 Efficiency and Productivity Tips26:22 Building Relationships with Revenue Teams34:37 Final Thoughts and ConclusionGuest Bio Chris Dalton is Director of Customer Marketing at Clari, where he runs all advocacy programs as a one-person team. With over a decade of experience at companies like SurveyMonkey, Evanta (now Gartner), and Clari, Chris has mastered the art of scaling customer marketing through automation, AI, and strategic enablement. He's known for his efficiency, his strong relationships with revenue teams, and his vision for building proactive customer marketing systems. Key Takeaway The future of customer marketing isn't about getting really good at reactive work. It's about building systems that deliver the right content, references, and insights before your teams even know they need them. When you shift from reactive to proactive, you unlock the full potential of voice of customer content and create measurable revenue impact. Connect with Chris Dalton:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/daltonchristopher/

    37 min
  3. Mary Green, Founder of CMAWeekly, on Building an Engaged Customer Marketing Community

    11/06/2025

    Mary Green, Founder of CMAWeekly, on Building an Engaged Customer Marketing Community

    Episode Description Mary Green didn't realize she'd been doing customer marketing for years until she saw a job posting that finally named what she'd been building all along. Now, as the founder of CMA Weekly and Director of Community Platforms at Infor, she's created a 1,500-member community that's become an indispensable resource for customer marketers navigating an evolving profession. In this episode, Mary pulls back the curtain on building authentic professional communities, the changing landscape of customer marketing roles, and why working without community in 2025 is like working without AI. You're simply leaving opportunities on the table. What You'll Learn The origin story of CMA Weekly and how it grew to 1,500+ active membersWhat the "no vendors" channel is and how it became essential for honest, confidential vendor feedbackHow customer marketing roles are expanding and what the current job market looks likeWhy professional community isn't optional anymore and how it saves months of learning timeStrategies for fostering authentic engagement and maintaining community trustChapters 00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome01:37 Mary Green's Journey into Customer Advocacy03:50 Building and Growing CMA Weekly05:21 Community Engagement and Support11:38 The No Vendors Channel16:23 Vendor Competition and Community Dynamics24:55 The Evolving Role of Customer Marketing31:01 Job Market Insights and Advice39:49 Future Plans for CMA Weekly41:10 Conclusion and Final ThoughtsGuest Bio Mary Green is the founder of CMA Weekly, an authentic community of over 1,500 customer marketing professionals, and serves as Director of Community Platforms at Infor. With years of experience building customer advocacy programs before the role officially existed, Mary has become a leading voice in the customer marketing space, creating resources and connections that help professionals navigate this evolving field. Key Takeaway In today's fast-paced marketing landscape, having access to a trusted professional community isn't a nice-to-have. It's essential infrastructure. Whether you're troubleshooting vendor relationships, understanding market rates, or simply learning from others' experiences, community accelerates your growth and saves you from costly mistakes. Connect with Mary Green: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marygreencny/ Resources Mentioned: CMA Weekly Community: https://cmaweekly.com/

    42 min
  4. Daniel Palay, Director of Customer Marketing at Grafana Labs, on Metrics That Prove Impact

    10/15/2025

    Daniel Palay, Director of Customer Marketing at Grafana Labs, on Metrics That Prove Impact

    Daniel Palay, Director of Customer Marketing at Grafana Labs, joins Sunny to challenge how we think about customer marketing success. They cover the power of saying no strategically, why you should measure net dollar retention instead of activity metrics, and how to use AI to focus on work that actually moves the needle. Daniel also shares lessons from building customer marketing teams at two high-growth startups. 00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome 00:45 Daniel's Early Career Journey 01:36 Transition to Customer Marketing 02:12 Building Customer Marketing at Elastic 03:56 Joining Grafana Labs 07:34 Pandemic Reflections and Personal Growth 11:30 The Power of Saying No in Customer Marketing 18:07 Strategic Customer Marketing and AI 19:25 The Strategic Promise of AI in SaaS 20:11 Embedding in Core Constituencies 21:06 Challenging Traditional Metrics 22:36 The Pitfalls of Activity Metrics 27:32 Advocacy and Net Dollar Retention 31:25 Deal Velocity and Customer Marketing 35:58 Embracing AI for Strategic Growth 38:43 Building Effective Customer Marketing Teams Daniel's CMA Summit SF 2025 Talk:  https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/119iNfiaqP8AVTs7Np2xInrsRXvxWS8mLkwKMDBAHQl8/edit?slide=id.g1d7246a57b5_0_8#slide=id.g1d7246a57b5_0_8 Featuring: Daniel Palay: LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielpalay/ Sunny Manivannan: LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunnymanivannan/ X — https://x.com/sunnymanivannan Follow us: LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/peerbound-inc Tune in: Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peerbound-podcast/id1708825056 Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/5GO3n6pATX10fkY8lgf3GX YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@peerbound

    41 min
  5. Mel Cornford, Customer Marketing Lead at Canva, on Scaling Human-First Content Made for the Platform

    09/16/2025

    Mel Cornford, Customer Marketing Lead at Canva, on Scaling Human-First Content Made for the Platform

    Mel Cornford, Customer Marketing Lead at Canva, joins host, Sunny Manivannan on the Peerbound Podcast to discuss her transition from journalism to customer marketing. She shares her career journey, highlights from her work at notable media brands, and how those experiences shaped her approach at Canva. Mel emphasizes the importance of understanding sales teams' needs, creating human-first storytelling, and leveraging AI for efficiency. The conversation also explores the significance of testing, building internal and external relationships, and creating platform-specific content.  00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome  01:00 Mel Cornford's Journey into Customer Marketing  01:12 Early Career and Journalism Background  02:10 Transition to Digital and Fashion Media  03:14 Shift to News and Building Digital Presence  07:48 Joining Canva and Initial Role  10:24 Finding and Celebrating Community Stories  14:22 Switching to B2B and Enterprise Marketing  16:23 Storytelling Approach and Social Content  23:47 Sales and Marketing Synergy at Canva  31:04 Leveraging AI in Customer Marketing  36:12 Advice for Early Career Customer Marketers  38:32 Conclusion and Final Thoughts  Canva's Video Content:  Sam Barker Story: https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/sams-story-lessons-wwii-veteran-turned-childrens-book-author/  Elsewhere Story: https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/how-two-entrepreneurs-launched-a-travel-business-in-a-pandemic-with-canva/ Docusign Case Study: https://www.canva.com/case-studies/docusign/ Featuring: Mel Cornford: LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/mel-cornford-8751393/ Sunny Manivannan: LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunnymanivannan/ X — https://x.com/sunnymanivannan Follow us: LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/peerbound-inc Tune in: Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peerbound-podcast/id1708825056 Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/5GO3n6pATX10fkY8lgf3GX YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@peerbound

    39 min
  6. Michael Sciano, Customer Marketing and Advocacy Leader, on Standing Out in a Competitive Job Market

    09/10/2025

    Michael Sciano, Customer Marketing and Advocacy Leader, on Standing Out in a Competitive Job Market

    In this episode of The Peerbound Podcast, host Sunny Manivannan sits down with Michael Sciano, a seasoned customer marketing and advocacy leader with more than 15 years of experience across industry-leading companies including Adobe, Salesforce, and ServiceTitan. Michael shares his unique path from high school history teacher to tech, highlighting lessons learned along the way and what it takes to build a resilient career in customer marketing.  The conversation explores the evolving role of customer marketing, how AI is reshaping the job search, and the importance of networking and genuine relationships in today’s competitive market. He also makes the case for why customer marketing deserves more investment and visibility at the leadership level, offering actionable advice for professionals looking to grow in this fast-changing field.  Whether you’re navigating the job market or building advocacy programs, Michael’s perspective provides grounded, practical insights for the future of customer marketing.  Chapters:  (00:00) Introduction and Guest Welcome  (01:04) Early Career and Education  (02:27) Transition to Tech Industry  (04:33) Experience at ExactTarget  (05:37) Roles in Technology and Marketing  (07:16) Customer Marketing Evolution  (11:08) Job Market Challenges and Advice  (24:39) The Power of Networking  (25:49) Building Genuine Relationships  (26:47) Navigating the Job Market  (32:51) The Role of AI in Job Searches  (38:16) The Future of Customer Marketing  (43:48) Final Thoughts and Takeaways  Featuring:  Michael Sciano:   LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelsciano/ Sunny Manivannan:  LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunnymanivannan/  X — https://x.com/sunnymanivannan  Follow us:  LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/peerbound-inc  Tune in:  Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peerbound-podcast/id1708825056  Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/5GO3n6pATX10fkY8lgf3GX  YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@peerbound

    45 min
  7. Emily Coleman, Senior Manager of Customer Marketing and Advocacy at LaunchDarkly, on Empowering Customers Through Authentic Storytelling

    07/31/2025

    Emily Coleman, Senior Manager of Customer Marketing and Advocacy at LaunchDarkly, on Empowering Customers Through Authentic Storytelling

    In this episode of The Peerbound Podcast, host Sunny Manivannan sits down with Emily Coleman, Senior Manager of Customer Marketing & Advocacy at LaunchDarkly, to talk about her unexpected path into customer marketing, which began in politics and later led to high-pressure communications work during the SolarWinds cybersecurity crisis. Today, she focuses on building scalable advocacy programs at LaunchDarkly, with AI playing an increasingly important role. Emily shares how her early work in politics sharpened her empathy and storytelling instincts, the lessons she learned navigating a cybersecurity crisis at SolarWinds, and how she’s rethinking advocacy at LaunchDarkly with a focus on authenticity, design, and emerging technology. Whether you’re revamping your customer story motion or looking to scale with limited resources, Emily’s story offers a thoughtful, grounded view of what it takes to build trust and elevate the voice of your customers. (00:00) Introduction and Guest Welcome (01:05) Emily Coleman's Early Career and Education (05:39) Political Career and Casework (10:22) Transition to Tech and Initial Challenges (15:02) Growth and Success at SolarWinds (17:53) Navigating a Big Company (19:36) Facing Challenges at SolarWinds (20:29) The SolarWinds Hack: A Crisis Unfolds (23:03) Building Trust and Advocacy Post-Breach (24:39) Transition to LaunchDarkly (28:49) Revamping the Customer Stories Page (32:54) Incorporating AI in Customer Advocacy Featuring: Emily Coleman: LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilyecoleman/ Sunny Manivannan: LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunnymanivannan/ X — https://x.com/sunnymanivannan Follow us: LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/peerbound-inc Tune in: Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peerbound-podcast/id1708825056 Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/5GO3n6pATX10fkY8lgf3GX YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@peerbound

    41 min
  8. Kevin Lau, VP of Customer Engagement at Freshworks, on Elevating Customer Marketing for Career Success

    06/05/2025

    Kevin Lau, VP of Customer Engagement at Freshworks, on Elevating Customer Marketing for Career Success

    In this episode of The Peerbound Podcast, host Sunny Manivannan welcomes back Kevin Lau, Vice President of Customer Engagement at Freshworks, to discuss the evolving landscape of customer marketing and its increasing importance within organizations. Kevin shares his professional updates, including his new role and personal milestones, and dives deep into significant shifts affecting customer marketing, especially post-pandemic. They explore the fluidity between various roles like customer success, support, and marketing and how AI is reshaping these functions. Kevin provides actionable advice on elevating the role of customer marketers, achieving organizational visibility, and the importance of fostering cross-functional relationships. The discussion also touches on promotion pathways within customer marketing and the need for effective communication of program impacts to leadership. Kevin concludes with a hopeful outlook, emphasizing the unique opportunities for customer marketers to shape their career paths in an AI-driven future. (01:10) Kevin’s Big Career & Life Shifts(01:54) How Customer Marketing Has Evolved(04:09) Org Structure & Success Metrics That Work(07:16) Climbing the Ladder in Customer Marketing(11:21) How to Know You're Ready for Promotion(16:45) The “Orchestrator” Role: Driving Strategy & Execution(24:39) Earning Influence Across the Organization(33:27) How to Advocate for Yourself Without Burnout(38:47) Why the AI Era Is a Win for Customer Marketing  Featuring: Kevin Lau: LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinkennethlau Sunny Manivannan: LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunnymanivannan/ X — https://x.com/sunnymanivannan Follow us: LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/peerbound-inc Tune in: Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peerbound-podcast/id1708825056 Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/5GO3n6pATX10fkY8lgf3GX YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@peerbound

    41 min
See All (50)

Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

On The Peerbound Podcast, we believe customer centricity is core to success. And our host, Sunny Manivannan, is excited to share stories from customer-obsessed leaders who consistently raise the bar. Tune in weekly to hear top marketing leaders in enterprise software discuss their career journeys and share their unique insights, future predictions, and proven strategies for amplifying the voice of the customer to accelerate growth.

Information

  • Creator
    Peerbound
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2025
  • Episodes
    50
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2023, Peerbound
  • Show Website
    The Peerbound Podcast