MarTech360 Interview With Brian Gilman, Chief Marketing Officer, IntelePeer

“New MarTech tools help marketers bring seamlessness, personalization and speed to customers’ communication experience.”

Hi, Brian, can you tell us about your professional journey so far?

Although I am a marketer today, my professional journey began in high-tech finance. My official start to my marketing career began at Avaya in 2000. I managed their competitive intelligence function and worked closely with the marketing team on several projects. Eventually, the marketing department asked me to join them. I never thought I’d become a marketer, but I soon realized my experience in competitive intelligence, research, and analytics was an ideal fit for the role.

The turning point in my career came when I got into the video conferencing space. At the time, I worked for a hardware-based business selling against a well-known competitor. We couldn’t beat them in a tech war, so I used storytelling to spotlight how our solution could help customers sell faster, accelerate time to market – especially for products made overseas – and improve employee retention and acquisition. I would bring this experience with me to IntelePeer.

What sets IntelePeer apart from the competition?

The communications API industry is in the mire of legacy strategies and methodologies. IntelePeer, on the other hand, takes a modern approach to communication technology. Our platform utilizes no-code/low-code applications and a drag-and-drop visual designer for faster time-to-market and time-to-value.

Highly complex, developer-heavy solutions can now be built quickly with minimal resources by people with little to no developer experience. IntelePeer provides sophisticated communication capabilities to markets previously unable to use or implement such solutions. Our customers can orchestrate across UC or CC vendors without losing complex workflow builds. Moreover, they have access to advanced voice, AI, and omnichannel capabilities. Our Managed Services and live agent support are available 24/7/365 for enterprise-quality white-glove treatment.

Also Read: MarTech360 Interview With Nick Ford, CMO, Mendix

Tell us about your role at IntelePeer?

As the Chief Marketing Officer, I create thematic vertical campaigns that span all our products, services, and solutions. I also develop and implement strategic B2B marketing plans, engage in high-touch sales activities, execute comprehensive research projects, and build sales tools within the information technology market. Likewise, my analytical and research skills allow me to harness competitive and market intelligence to formulate comprehensive and robust strategies.

What change or transformation is MarTech bringing on in customer’ communication experience?

New MarTech tools help marketers bring seamlessness, personalization and speed to customers’ communication experience. These MarTech solutions also enable fluid interactions across channels and are proven to boost retention, increase ROI and strengthen the customer lifetime value. For example, pre-built no-code/low-code applications modernize how businesses market to their customers.

Companies can rapidly build workflows, increasing their adaptability to various communication/marketing needs. Moreover, the data sharing capabilities possible through the latest transformations in MarTech allow for the smooth handoff of mission-critical information between team members, bolstering coordination and – ultimately – tailoring marketing efforts to the individual.

How, according to you, has Marketing Automation impacted the whole Marketing and Sales landscape?

Marketing automation is a boon not only for the companies that leverage such solutions but for their customers too. For example, a business can use automated SMS notifications, voice, or social media messages to remind clients of upcoming appointments, reducing no-shows and increasing revenue while cutting the costs and time associated with manual communication.

Similarly, these automated notifications could help marketers promote new products and services or send promo codes and thank you messages, strengthening the customer-brand relationship. The customer further benefits from marketing automation as they receive immediate feedback relevant to their interactions with the brand.

For instance, businesses can build omni-channel campaigns with automated messages, which trigger when customers perform certain actions such as visiting the website, chatting with a virtual assistant, or leaving a review. This near-instantaneous back-and-forth between the two parties makes the customer feel valued and increases loyalty.

How, according to you, is AI and Analytics technology in the Marketing and Sales landscape evolved and will evolve in the coming years?

Marketers today need a “Ph.D.” in numbers. What I mean is that the ever-growing importance analytics plays in successful marketing and sales campaigns has transformed the role of a marketer into something that is a hybrid of a data scientist and a creative. Modern marketing and sales specialists need to understand metrics and conversion rates, supporting and executing against numbers.

Furthermore, these experts utilize analytics tools to continually refine the customer and buyer journey, especially to discover conversion breakpoints. Thankfully, plenty of unique and innovative AI-powered analytics tools exist that companies can implement at a low cost. In fact, most of these resources are, depending on the run rate of the business, highly effective and reasonably priced.

WordPress and Google Analytics are two examples, as they provide helpful insights into shoppers’ behaviors. When selecting a new AI or analytic tool or system, I would recommend checking if it has a premium option – that way, if your company wants to use it on a larger scale, it will be easier to expand.

How are digital marketing technology trends shaping business strategies to effectively reach the target audience?

Many emerging digital marketing technologies help marketers reach their target audience effectively. Industry-best communication platforms enable rich data analysis, on-demand reporting, omnichannel dashboards, and historical trends, which are invaluable to studying one’s audience and adjusting marketing efforts accordingly. Many of these offerings are customizable, meaning marketers can automate data delivery to their inbox after setting up threshold and anomaly notifications. Users can also integrate leading communication platforms with open APIs or leverage existing apps.

According to you, how important are highly personalized communications and engagements across omnichannel platforms?

Extremely important. The businesses that will win today are the ones that offer more customer-center experiences and support consistent interactions across their omnichannel platforms. It is expected amongst many consumers today that brands provide highly personalized communication experiences. In the same way, a fluid omnichannel that isn’t disjointed by soiled data is also vital to success.

Nevertheless, it can be challenging for marketers to decide which vehicles to reach customers. Likewise, the level of personalization a business can produce depends on the industry and whether the company is B2B or B2C. A frequently used example is how Gen Z and Millennials prefer SMS while Gen X and Baby Boomers like voice and email.

Of course, there is nuance, as not everyone in a demographic favors the same channels or messages. However, with analytic tools and customer behavior insights, brands can establish a robust omnichannel experience that continuously delivers tailored interactions to customers at the most critical touchpoints.

What is the one piece of advice you would give to those who wish to enter the MarTech world?

Too many believe they will only ever be proficient at marketing for one particular industry or solution. Exceptional marketers are flexible, regardless of their environment. By being flexible, you allow yourself to carry over acquired knowledge and skills to every new role, no matter how divergent the technology or service might be.

While the level of elasticity may change depending on the company, vertical, or product, the fundamentals will stay the same. Always be willing to learn new technologies and tools and be adaptable when testing, however, don’t get flustered over failing. In fact, it’s good to fail, which is why A/B tests are so valuable.

Thanks, Brian!