Innovative Marketing Leadership: It is okay to think outside the box but make sure you don't create surprises (episode #82)

How I Made it in Marketing

Any industry, and our marketing industry is no exception, has a pack mentality. We say certain buzzwords and share certain ideas.

But we can hear them ad nauseam, to the point where they just wash over us and don’t really mean anything. We nod in agreement at a networking event with a drink in our hand, but do we actually do anything about it the next day?

Not really. We’re back to going through the motions executing a campaign, buried in email and Slack notifications.

Here’s one such commonly heard phrase – ‘put yourself in the customer’s shoes.’ How many times have you heard that?

Now, how many times have you really done it?

Well, this episode’s guest has. She literally got out of the office, put on the customers’ shoes – or in this case, steel-toed boots – and experienced what her customers’ day is really like.

I talked to Sarah Hodges, CMO, Procore Technologies (https://www.procore.com/), about that experience, along with many more lessons from her career.

Procore Technologies is a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It reported $720 million in revenue in 2022, an increase of 40% year-over-year. More than $1 trillion in construction volume has run on its construction management software platform.

Hodges manages a team of 300 people.

Stories (with lessons) about what she made in marketing

Some lessons from Hodges that emerged in our discussion:

• It is okay to think outside the box but make sure you don't create surprises!
• To grow as a marketing leader, make the leap to new, unfamiliar, even uncomfortable roles
• You have to walk in your customer's shoes.... LITERALLY.
• Set and declare your expectations
• Coach and simply ask questions, don’t dictate
• Believe in yourself

Related content discussed in this episode

Create innovative marketing using AI technology paired with MECLABS consumer psychology. Get a free trial to the AI Guild at MECLABS.com/AI (MECLABS is the parent organization of MarketingSherpa).

Transparent Marketing: How to make your product claims credible … not incredible (https://marketingexperiments.com/value-proposition/transparent-credible-product-claims)

The Hidden Upside of the COVID-19 Crisis for Brands and Marketers: 10 opportunities (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/other/hidden-upside-COVID-crisis-brands-marketers-10-opportunities)

Consumer Financial Services Marketing: Your customer is your most important stakeholder (podcast episode #39) (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/interview/consumer)

Marketing 101: What is influencer marketing? (https://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/social-media-marketing-2/marketing-101-what-is-influencer-marketing/)

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