In this episode of Sunny Side Up, host Katherine Noonan interviews VP of Product Jeff Freeman on hybrid engagement models. Jeff shares his career journey from small tech companies to Fortune 100 firms and startups, and his current role at Postal, where he focuses on offline engagement through corporate gifting and B2B connections. They discuss Postal’s latest offering – Postal ABM – for account-based marketing (ABM), and the importance of offline engagement in today’s saturated digital channels. Jeff emphasizes the need for a combination of B2B ads, email outreach, and offline engagement, and mentions that the new investment in Postal’s product will lead to deeper ROI reporting. The conversation also covers virtual events and activities, the use of Postal’s ABM product for marketing and sales alignment, and the importance of measuring engagement and ROI.
Jeff has been a product executive for many years. He has helped build some unicorns and worked for Fortune 100 companies. He has a passion for introducing cutting-edge technologies that solve real customer problems. He has spent the last 5 years in MarTech but has also led products in e-commerce and cleantech.
“I think the space Postal’s in is broadly known as corporate gifting. But we’re trying to change that mantra to be more about offline engagement.”
– Jeff Freeman
From his first job at a small tech company in the East Bay area, Jeff worked his way up from data entry to tech support and eventually project management. While observing the CEO’s involvement in the company’s roadmap and strategy, Jeff became interested in pursuing a career in that direction. He discovered that product management was the path to take and approached the CEO about becoming the company’s first product manager. After receiving approval, Jeff’s career took off. He has since worked for both successful and unsuccessful startups, as well as for Fortune 100 companies, gaining valuable experience along the way.
Jeff revealed that the company is expanding its focus beyond corporate gifting to embrace a broader offline engagement approach. The goal is to provide a unique offline way for people in B2B to connect, especially in marketing and sales where engaging with prospects and leads is critical. The company is also exploring other use cases, such as employee engagement for people operations and HR.
Regarding new features, Jeff mentioned the release of Postal ABM, which is more than just a feature but a new product that represents a significant investment for the company. The product is designed to simplify the process of sending targeted accounts something by Postal, making it easy to scale and measure the results. Jeff expressed excitement about the release and hinted that the effort would lead to deeper ROI reporting.
According to Jeff, Postal’s view on the intersection between ABM and offline engagement is that offline engagement should always be a part of an ABM strategy. Marketers should determine the right target accounts and surround them in any way they can, including B2B ads, email outreach, and offline engagement. Offline engagement can take many forms, such as sending branded gift cards or hosting virtual events like wine tastings or pizza-making classes. By including offline engagement in their overall strategy, marketers can effectively surround their target accounts, especially since there is a lot of noise in the digital space, making it difficult to engage people through emails alone.
The team utilizes their bolster ABM product as the foundation for aligning sales and marketing efforts. On the marketing side, they load up target accounts and buying personas using the tool, and then use it to facilitate sending items like a box of cookies to the recipient. Through data tracking, they can determine whether the recipient engaged with the item and to what degree. Based on this level of engagement, the sales team follows up with the prospect. The team offers multiple tiers of engagement tracking within the delivery of the item, allowing for effective sales follow-up. This approach ensures alignment between the marketing campaign and sales outreach efforts, resulting in reaching targets across the entire funnel.
When measuring success and evaluating return on investment in tech investments, particularly in today’s times, there are two main metrics to keep track of. Firstly, overall engagement refers to the level of engagement that is generated from the Postal platform such as email engagement, event attendance, and landing page views. Secondly, opportunities were generated and closed one deal. This refers to the engagement that is received from Postal, and whether it has influenced an opportunity or led to a closed deal. By connecting these two metrics, it is possible to quantify the return on investment from tech investments. To report on these metrics, specific moments that are important and believed to contribute to opportunities generating and closing one deal must be identified. As part of the Postal ABM product, new ways to measure engagement and return on investment have been developed. This includes new products that will be rolled out during the first half of the year.
In today’s B2B buying cycles, it is important to consider various avenues of engagement and data points when it comes to ROI and influencing opportunities. This is because a comprehensive approach to measuring and evaluating ROI can lead to better decision-making and more effective use of resources. Companies like STO have developed frameworks and productized tools to help customers define the moments that are most important to them and attribute them to ROI. At the end of the day, the goal is to ensure that the amount invested is greater than the amount returned. With new technologies, it has become easier to track ROI and tell the story of how investments translate into tangible outcomes such as increased pipeline and closed deals. Having the right storyline can be crucial in demonstrating the impact of a company’s efforts and driving future success.
In today’s B2B buying cycles, it is important to consider various avenues of engagement and data points regarding ROI and influencing opportunities. This is because a comprehensive approach to measuring and evaluating ROI can lead to better decision-making and more effective use of resources. Companies like STO have developed frameworks and productized tools to help customers define the moments that are most important to them and attribute them to ROI. At the end of the day, the goal is to ensure that the amount invested is greater than the amount returned. With new technologies, it has become easier to track ROI and tell the story of how investments translate into tangible outcomes such as increased pipeline and closed deals. Having the right storyline can be crucial in demonstrating the impact of a company’s efforts and driving future success.
Erik Kostelnik – Founder and CEO, Postal.io
Jed Danner – Founder and CTO, Postal.io
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