MarTech360 Interview With Vibhor Kapoor, President At AdRoll

“Brands should also leverage the power of video. Consumers crave an experience and compared to text-based content, visual storytelling presents information in a timely, digestible way.”

Vibhor, can you tell us about your professional background and your current role at AdRoll?

My professional journey has been quite thrilling. Before joining AdRoll, I had the honor of working in a variety of executive positions throughout the marketing and technology industries including my time as a Senior Director in Adobe’s Digital Media Business and as a Vice President of Marketing at Box. With prior roles at Microsoft and General Electric, I led businesses and teams through cycles of industry transformation spanning cloud, ecommerce and digital design. I have developed a thorough understanding of how to drive growth and innovation thanks to my previous work experience.

In February 2022, when I became the Chief Marketing Officer of AdRoll, a division of NextRoll, as a result of my experience, I was able to make an immediate impression thanks to my leadership skills and growth-focused vision. Nearly a year later, I took on the role of Chief Revenue Officer, along with my duties as CMO, and that same year, AdRoll more than doubled its platform SaaS revenue and brought innovations to market to help digital marketers succeed.

Now, as the President of AdRoll, I am responsible for driving revenue growth, and overseeing product, strategy, sales, operations and marketing. I bring over three decades of industry experience, along with business leadership skills in SaaS and cloud platforms, to this position. I am honored and humbled – every day, I look forward to driving AdRoll’s growth and innovation even further to provide the best possible experience for our customers and partners.

How does AdRoll differentiate itself from other companies in the same space?

For more than a decade, AdRoll has been at the forefront of digital marketing innovation, driven by our desire to make great marketing accessible to everyone. From being one of the first advertising platforms to offer cross-channel attribution, to our proprietary BidIQ algorithm that harnesses AI to optimize customers’ ad bidding strategies, AdRoll is always looking for ways to help marketers achieve their goals.

AdRoll stands out by offering the latest innovation for digital ecommerce marketers of all experience levels: the automation builder. This breakthrough solution simplifies the management of multi-channel campaigns by seamlessly managing and launching ads across display, social, and email. The automation builder eliminates the need for advertisers to manually manage separate campaigns for each forum, streamlining the entire process and saving valuable time.

AdRoll is also built on 10+ years of harnessing AI to drive incredible ad performance, and we’ve only just begun. We’re enhancing our AI usage to optimize every step of the campaign process—from content creation, to ad spend, to intelligent analysis that can enhance future marketing strategies. AdRoll’s AI capabilities enable marketers to truly do more with less, from start to finish. We believe high-performing marketing should be accessible to every business, no matter their size or budget, and we are thrilled to expand our AI utilization to make that dream a reality.

Also Read: MarTech360 Interview With Jennifer Ross, Chief Marketing Officer at Intentsify

Over the years, you’ve been involved in various roles, from marketing and product management to strategic account management. How do you leverage your multifaceted background when approaching new projects or challenges?

I’ve worn a variety of hats throughout my professional career, which has given me a holistic perspective on the complexities of marketing, product management and strategic account management. Using my multi-disciplinary background, I can assess new initiatives and issues from a variety of angles, taking into account not just the short-term goals but also the long-term effects and innovative potential. When approaching new projects or challenges, I find that by diving into new projects head-on, and infusing strategic thinking with customer-centered tactics, I can bring new ideas to the table that truly connect with people and deliver remarkable results.

In what ways have digital tools and data-driven strategies empowered marketing leaders to actively contribute to growth metrics such as revenue, usage, up-sell, and retention?

How marketing leaders contribute to company growth has been completely transformed by digital tools and data-driven strategies. By harnessing the power of these tools, we’re able to gain a thorough understanding of customer insights and behavior for tailoring our strategies for maximum impact. Consequently, this leads to increased revenue as we identify new possibilities and strengthen existing strategies for upselling and retention. Overall, we can make better business decisions, quickly adjust to shifting market dynamics, and ultimately drive meaningful growth across all key metrics with the help of these tools.

What are some effective ways to align a brand’s overall strategy with its customer-centric purpose?

There are several effective ways to align a brand’s overall strategy with its customer-centric purpose.

First, cultivate your social presence. These days, It’s almost impossible for a company to shape a solid brand strategy without including social media marketing. By spending only a few hours per week, over 91% of marketers have seen a measurable increase in their brand visibility.

Second, do storytelling right. There are a few easy ways to create a compelling narrative such as getting customers involved in the brand storytelling process. Have them tell their own powerful stories by asking how the product or service improved their lives. Get customers invested in your product and collect feedback by sending out an email survey or responding to social media comments, and take action to improve targeted products and marketing campaigns. Brands should also leverage the power of video. Consumers crave an experience and compared to text-based content, visual storytelling presents information in a timely, digestible way.

Third, leverage paid media to increase brand reach. Paid ads, including display ads, native ads, search ads, and social media ads, are an excellent way for brands to get wide exposure to focused audiences.

Fourth, inspire loyalty. Word-of-mouth marketing, including peer reviews and recommendations from friends and family, has been proven to be the most important trust-building factor for consumers.

Fifth, measure and track your brand process. With the majority of marketing activities happening online, you’re positioned to see the results of your efforts in real-time, helping you monitor the success surrounding your campaign and ensuring you keep working to strengthen your brand.

Lastly, think outside the box. Experiences, not products, are what make brands succeed. Crafting unique services helps brands build deep emotional connections with customers. It’s your responsibility to make clients feel heard. Customers will want you in their lives if you have a solid marketing strategy.

How do you approach networking and building professional relationships? Do you have any tips for our readers on how to make meaningful connections in their industries?

Making new connections isn’t always easy, it requires you to put yourself out there and find different ways to connect with people. I encourage going to a variety of events whether it’s an industry conference or other events that create networking opportunities. Then, you can foster the relationship further by connecting on LinkedIn and engaging with them online.

There’s also many different communities on LinkedIn that anyone can join and it’s really a great tool to use for connecting with people from different industries, backgrounds, and even countries.

What advice would you give to other leaders which helped you personally?

Curiosity is more powerful than you think. It will help you grow and will help everyone around you flourish. You need to have the curiosity to look at challenges from a multitude of angles. This approach has exposed me to solving holistically and building broader perspectives. For example, if you work in product management, thinking about the interplay with marketing, sales, and financial performance gives you a very different view versus being singularly focused.

What is the biggest problem you or your team is solving this year?

This year, the biggest problem we, and many other companies, have faced is navigating the evolving landscape shaped by economic uncertainty. As a team, we are committed to coming up with innovative solutions that keep our operations resilient while upholding our dedication to providing our clients with excellent services. In order to respond to the shifting requirements of the market, our team is committed to empowering our workforce and adapting our strategies. Through this dynamic approach, we aim to not only overcome the challenges presented by the current state of the economy but also position AdRoll for sustainable growth and success in the future.

Is there anything that you’re currently reading, or any favorite books that you’d Recommend?

Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein, provides an alternative perspective that building a variety of experiences can be pivotal in developing expertise. I also love The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday, with simple snippets of philosophical wisdom

Thanks, Vibhor!