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#99 Navigating the Marketing Maze with Matt Heinz

“Sales and Marketing must work together seamlessly to create a unified experience for the prospect and customer. It’s rocket fuel for results.” -Matt Heinz
Matt Heinz is a prolific author and nationally recognized, award-winning blogger. With 15+ years experience in marketing, business development, and sales experience from a variety of organizations and industries, he is a dynamic speaker, memorable not only for his keen insight and humor, but his actionable and motivating takeaways. In this interview, Matt dives into Heinz marketing strategies, team collaboration, and winning approaches for 2024. Don’t miss out on these valuable insights!

About the Episode

Welcome to the blog post transcription of the enlightening NTM Growth Marketing Podcast episode featuring Matt, the founder of Heinz Marketing. If you’re a marketing enthusiast or a professional looking for actionable insights, this post is tailored for you. Join us as we unravel Matt’s unique perspectives on creating predictable pipelines in complex sales situations, the evolving buying environment, and fostering synergy between different departments within a company.

Matt’s Journey and Contributions

When asked about his organization and role, Matt shared:

“I founded Heinz Marketing about 15 years ago. We’re all about creating predictable pipeline in complex sales situations, helping companies navigate what is often an increasingly complex buying and selling journey.”

Heinz Marketing aims to assist companies in iron out complexities in their buying and selling processes to achieve more predictable revenue outcomes from marketing efforts.

The Rising Complexity in Buying Environments

The buying environment has evolved drastically over the years. Matt highlights a few key reasons for this:

  1. Increased Stakeholders: More people are now involved in making purchase decisions.
  2. Extended Decision Times: Decisions take longer due to the need for internal consensus.
  3. Collaborative Selling: It’s no longer just marketing upfront and sales later; it involves marketing, sales, customer success, and partner ecosystems working collaboratively.
“You can’t just do random acts of marketing and expect to hit the outcome you want. You really do have to have better strategy processes and playbooks to orchestrate the outcome you want in a more consistent, predictable way.”

Key Marketing Strategies and Philosophies

Matt dives deeper into their marketing strategies which are foundational to creating a predictable pipeline. The emphasis is on understanding the target market thoroughly:

  • Identifying the Right Audience: Determine who to sell to and why.
  • Building Consensus: Understand who within a company influences the decision-making process and engage them effectively.
  • Creating Multi-Threaded Engagement Plans: Engage as many stakeholders as possible to increase win rates.

The Intersection of Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success

A recurring theme throughout the podcast was the consensus on the necessity of collaboration between marketing, sales, and customer success teams. As Matt articulates, marketing doesn’t win unless sales win, and this unity is crucial for a seamless, consistent message to potential customers across all departmental interactions.

Creating Engaging and Collaborative Marketing Strategies

When asked about creating win-win situations across various departments, Matt emphasized the importance of:

  • Unified Objectives: Having a common set of objectives and metrics.
  • Team Sport Mentality: Recognizing the interdependence of different departments.
  • Change Management: Addressing past baggage and fostering trust and partnership among leaders.

Effective collaboration drives better outcomes, and as Matt notes, their best results come when sales is an active partner in every client engagement.

“To do that well, you have to have a common set of objectives, a set of metrics that reinforce the togetherness of the program, and you really do have to put egos aside and think about the jobs to be done.”

Changing Dynamics Due to COVID

Reflecting on COVID-19 and its impact, Matt shared a personal insight about the shift in work dynamics:

Matt: For me, it was the ability to work from anywhere… I realized that in the same way the office was a construct, so is almost everything in our day.

The pandemic brought about new work methodologies, significantly impacting not only professional but also personal time management. Matt highlighted the newfound flexibility in work and the importance of re-engineering one’s day to spend time more wisely.

The Future of Remote Work for Marketers

Matt doesn’t see a return to pre-pandemic office work norms for marketing professionals. Instead, there’s a growing need for flexibility. Trust and culture play significant roles in this shift. Those who can’t trust their employees to work efficiently from home might have deeper trust or cultural issues to address.

“If you don’t trust your people well enough to get the work done and you need them to come to the office, that is not a work problem. That is a trust problem. That is a culture problem.”

Exciting Marketing Trends for 2024

Looking forward, Matt is particularly excited about the intersection of AI and customer experience:

  • Content Acceleration with AI: AI aids in faster content creation, though this presents the challenge of still solving customer problems effectively.
  • Experience-Forward Marketing: Companies need to focus on creating positive, memorable experiences rather than merely increasing the volume of interactions.
“The companies that win moving forward are going to have an experience-forward marketing mentality that prospects want to spend time with.”

Embracing and Learning from Failures

In the world of marketing, failures are inevitable and crucial for growth. Matt candidly discusses his experiences with failed initiatives and the invaluable lessons they provide:

Matt: If you’re not failing as a marketer, you’re not doing the job right. The only way to find, to lean into innovation is to fail along the way.

Failures in hiring, managing teams, product ideas, and new market initiatives have all been pivotal learning experiences for Matt. He underscores the significance of embracing failure and using it as a roadmap for improvement and innovation.

A Proud Achievement: The CMO Community

Among many accomplishments, Matt takes pride in the creation of a robust CMO community. Initially developed through in-person breakfasts, the community successfully transitioned online during the pandemic. Today, it serves as a vibrant platform with over 3100 heads of marketing who engage in regular discussions, networking, and mutual support.

“We talk about everything. Meaningful discussions that go beyond the professional front to address real-life issues faced by these key figures in marketing.”

Connecting with Matt and Heinz Marketing

For those interested in learning more or connecting with Matt, you can reach him on LinkedIn or his website, linked in the above buttons.

If you’re interested in Matt’s CMO Community, it is exclusively for CMOs and Heads of Marketing. You can reach out to Matt via email <matt@heinzmarketing.com> for an invite.

Conclusion

The insights from this podcast episode underline the evolving and complex nature of modern marketing. With a focus on collaboration, flexibility, and continuous learning, Matt provides actionable strategies to navigate and excel in today’s dynamic market environment. Whether you’re a seasoned marketer or new to the field, these takeaways are invaluable for driving success in your marketing endeavors.

Stay tuned for more episodes and insights from The NTM Growth Marketing Podcast!

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