The Virtual CMO Podcast
Season 5, Episode 2
Hosted By: Eric Dickmann
With Guest: Norman Guadagno
Our Featured Guest
Norman Guadagno
Chief Marketing Officer - Acoustic
Norman Guadagno is currently a CMO at Acoustic, where he is helping reimagine marketing technology. Over the past two decades, he has held a number of marketing and strategy roles with a deep focus on business transformation, marketing acceleration, and brand building.
Norman was previously SVP of Marketing at Carbonite, helping to successfully transform that company from B2C to B2B. He has also held senior marketing positions at digital marketing agency Wire Stone (now part of Accenture Interactive), Microsoft, and Oracle. With both a B.A. and M.A. in psychology, He has always viewed marketing challenges first through the lens of human perceptions, motivations, and emotions. Combined with a deep understanding of data, proven skills as a storyteller, and rich experience as a business and people leader, his unique perspective on the social and business landscape today offers valuable insights for professionals across industries.
What's Hot?
"Reimagine everything. Your customers want more from you. Better experiences. More relevant marketing. Deeper engagement. At Acoustic, we are delivering technology that helps businesses grow. From campaign automation to customer experience analytics and insights, we help marketing, IT, and digital leaders reimagine everything."
Acoustic: Marketing Cloud & Automated Marketing Solutions are deliverIng technology that helps businesses grow. The company guides business owners in making the most of their marketing spending, unifying content across channels, converting visitors into customers, and increasing their return on investment (ROI). Some of their notable customers are- Samsung, Scientific American, International Rescue Committee, and Ticketmaster.
Reimagine marketing technology with Acoustic!
Norman Guadagno
I'm thinking very pragmatically about what does that do for me? What outcomes am I going to create? Ask yourself the question, can I get 80% of the way there with what I already have or with some slight modifications? Because frankly, most businesses, most of us don't use all the capabilities and the tools we already have."
What We Discussed with Norman
On this episode, host Eric Dickmann interviews Norman Guadagno about using marketing automation to increase campaign effectiveness. Norman is a marketer, strategist, writer, and CMO of Acoustic. Here are some highlights of our conversation:
- [00:04:01] The evolution of marketing automation - Norman shares that marketers are learning how technology can make their marketing strategies more efficient and productive. He adds that there are inevitably a small number of large platforms that serve as the foundation for pretty much everyone. There are many specialized capabilities that connect to those larger platforms and have a fairly narrow scope to either a channel that they address, a particular piece of functionality they deliver, or a vertical that they may operate in.
- [00:10:40] Are you able to maximize every aspect of your investments? - Businesses spend thousands of dollars or more in subscribing to tools. It may sound like a good investment, but in some cases, they cannot get the most out of their investments because they are not utilizing their tools' full potential.
- [00:15:09] How does Acoustic differ from other marketing platforms? - According to Norman, at Acoustic they believe in a more open model where they don't want to be the hub for all the data. Instead, they bring first and second-party data together to create a unified marketing capability.
- [00:18:00] AI as a game-changer for your business - Using AI properly can be a real game-changer for your business. As tools get smarter, they will be able to share even more valuable insights.
- [00:22:22] The second biggest trend in the marketplace - Norman points out that aside from AI, data ethics is considered the second biggest trend in the market. He further points out that businesses have to watch out and respect the policies and guidelines of different countries. There's an increasing need to use ever growing stores of data in a responsible manner.
- [00:27:20] What pressures marketers? - Despite all the efforts to keep data secure and private, bad actors are finding a way around the security protocols. Marketers are pressured to keep data secured and while staying competitive.
- [00:30:48] Why it hurts to be micro-targeted all the time - We have learned the importance of target markets and focusing our marketing efforts on a specific niche, but Norman shares that being over micro-targeted can cause your business to miss opportunities. There may be a paying customer right in front of you, but you don't recognize him/her because you are so focused on servicing your niche.
- [00:37:08] Value content is critical - Value creation through content is critical. Norman believes that businesses should be investing in good content. Whatever platform you visit, you will see that people are hungry for valuable content. They will seek it out, they will share it, they will get benefit from it, and they'll come back for more. Instead of bombarding your customers with advertisements to purchase your products or services, consider providing them value and sales will follow.
Resources Mentioned
- Acoustic - Company Website
