Today’s guest started her career in market research which kickstarted her affinity for data. She’s turned customer insights into healthy growth for companies such as Upwork, American Express, Farmer’s Insurance, and The Nature Conservancy. In recognition of her work, she won the 2020 Demand Gen B2B Innovator Award. Kirsten Markson is the CMO of Keap, a $100M ARR start-up that brings the power of marketing and sales automation to SMBs. Kirsten joins Host Chris Mechanic for a conversation on the importance of listening to your customers, how to align sales and marketing teams, and why great marketers are both internal and external storytellers.   Takeaways: Listening to customers and understanding their needs, language, and pain points is critical for any successful marketer. This can help when developing effective messaging and creating solutions that resonate with your target audience. Two great ways to listen to your customers are to listen to recorded sales calls and to ask sales reps about what they hear from the customers they interact with every day. Find out how your customers describe their problems and assess your solutions. As a marketer, it’s important to build a strong relationship with the sales team and ensure alignment. This leads to better communication, shared goals, and improved conversion rates. Brand awareness and community building are key priorities. Marketers should invest in strategies that not only increase brand visibility but also foster a sense of community among customers. This can include creating valuable content, engaging with customers on social media, and facilitating customer-to-customer conversations. It’s crucial to conduct segmentation research to identify the most profitable and ideal customer segments. By understanding the different segments and their unique needs, marketers can tailor their messaging and offerings to maximize results. Creating compelling offers that customers can't refuse. Marketers can focus on developing offers that provide real value and address customers' pain points in a unique and irresistible way.   Quote of the Show: “We have to be storytellers that bring people in and that requires listening” - Kirsten Markson   Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirstenmarkson/  Company website: https://keap.com/    Shoutouts: Jennifer Erwing, CRO of Keap: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-erwing-27586866/  Brené Brown - Author: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brenebrown/  Adam Grant: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adammgrant/ Tallwave: https://tallwave.com/    Ways to Tune In: Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/7334aa0c-702a-47aa-8c55-760fa2cf4dda/the-revenue-driven-cmo  Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-revenue-driven-cmo/id1638785560   Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1OCuYchAG8TlGv82YARRhy?si=60a093a194c64c17  Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9tb3JlbWFya2V0aW5nLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vcnNz  iHeart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-the-revenue-driven-cmo-99614345/  Listen Notes: https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-revenue-driven-cmo-chris-mechanic-rdU1oESluqs/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/dTZaduuqF78   The Revenue-Driven CMO is sponsored by WebMechanix, the performance marketing agency that makes you smarter. Learn more at https://www.webmechanix.com/  The Revenue-Driven CMO is produced by Ringmaster, on a mission to create connections through branded podcasts. Learn more at https://ringmaster.com/