CMO Chats with Laura Jenkins, Director of Marketing, Smartsheet

We continue our knowledge-sharing mission through a series of interviews with marketing leaders from all over the world and are thrilled to have Laura with us today. So Laura, can you introduce yourself? Tell us a bit about your journey and what sparked your interest in marketing.

Hi everyone. Welcome to CMO Chats. My name is Laura Jenkins and I am the APJ Marketing Director at Smartsheet. I have been in marketing 20 odd years now and I’ve been a B2B marketer all the way through. I’ve worked across a range of industries starting off in professional services moving into media and then spending the last six to eight years of my career in the tech industry which has been one hell of a ride. At the moment I’m running APJ marketing for Smartsheet and I’ve been there for about five and a half years now.

So, yeah, quite some time since we opened up our first office and I was a one-woman band when we first set up camp here in Australia being a US-headquartered organisation. I’ve had the privilege of building out a marketing team over the past five and a half years and doing that from the ground up. I’m really pleased to say that we’ve now got 150 people who are based out of the APJ region. Not all in marketing; we’ve got about six in the marketing team in this part of the world. But it’s been really impressive growth, about 250% growth in that time, which has been very exciting.

 

What is your main marketing focus at the moment?

And I should just take a step back too for those who aren’t familiar with Smartsheet. Smartsheet is a collaborative work management platform and what that means is we help people, anyone, to work more effectively. We really do that through making it easy for people and teams to automate their processes and essentially make work flow more easily.

So that’s Smartsheet. Our main marketing focus at the moment has been our summit event series. This is a series of events that we’re running in four locations across APJ. So we’ve just run Sydney and Melbourne and then next month we’ll be running the same event over in Singapore and then Japan. We actually started this event program last year. And it’s a free event. We extend it to not only customers but prospects as well. It really is a chance for individuals to immerse themselves in all things Smartsheet, but also to have access to other thought leadership and thought-provoking content during the day and of course network with all sorts of people across different industries. We found a lot of success in that event when we launched it last year. So much so that Smartsheet’s actually rolling out that event format now as a global motion and we’ve actually got 10 summit events that are running globally this year which is terrific.

So here in APJ as I said two down and two to go. But that very much has been our main focus because we see such a big pipeline built off the back and it really does provide us with so much content that we can also sweat in many different ways over the course of the year.

 

Absolutely exciting and congratulations on the series that has passed and good luck with the remaining series. That’s really, really exciting and thanks for sharing. And so with that, right? I think you’ve mentioned the series that you’ve been running. So I guess how do you define success, maybe not just in events but in marketing as a whole?

So in B2B marketing, I think it’s very much about the shared success. So sales have a target and while marketing is not 100% responsible for achieving that target, I really do define success as first and foremost the business hitting its number and I think marketing absolutely plays a vital part in that process.

So I like to think that we take accountability for that contribution to the bottom line as well. I think in B2B success is also really strong partnerships with sales. So so important in B2B and in all of my career being able to work in lock step with the sales team and ensure that there is that true alignment just is so important and makes the outcome so much better. So I would say contributing to the bottom line, shared success. Two other points I would say here are, it’s about creating positive customer experiences as well. That’s success if your customers are happy. That’s you know that that’s everything because it fosters loyalty. And then the last point here that I would say is that success is being open-minded as well and being agile especially in the world that we live in. So, yeah really having that open mindset and a growth mindset.

 

Absolutely agree and I hear what you said about having that good relationship between sales and marketing. I think definitely is very vital and I think is also a challenge that we’ve seen across other marketing leaders and other organisations. So definitely hear you on that. And so we’ve talked about success, now we want to talk about challenges. So what would you say has been the biggest challenge that marketers face today?

Look, I think now more than ever, there are these new shiny things to chase everywhere you look and people are selling you things or the phone’s ringing, the Slack messages are coming through. There’s just content to consume and it’s coming at us from all angles. And so I think marketers in particular really need to ensure that they’re able to focus and able to cut through the noise, that sheer volume of new technologies, new channels, and still focus on getting a job done because it’s very easy to go off chasing new shiny things, but at the same time, we have to keep the wheels turning as well. Something else that is a big challenge and I found this personally in my experience is proving the success of programs like brand that can be typically quite difficult to measure and at the same time they usually have quite a significant investment.

So helping to communicate the value of those programs especially up the line can be quite challenging without having some sort of tangible metric in place. And for us, we’ve really lent into third-party research to help us get a bit of a sense of the brand health and and even looking at that brand to demand type funnel so that we’re seeing the visits to the website and then the flow of leads through to our SDR teams that are all coming as a result of that top of the funnel activity. And then just the last point I think I’d add here which I’m sure most people will be able to resonate with is just having to do more with less. It’s hard and especially when the economic climate can go up and down, businesses can often tighten the marketing budget before they sharpen the pencil anywhere else. And so I think if marketers have that ability to think creatively, think about how they can optimize the resources that they’ve already got and really make the most of what they do have, I think that that’s a real skill and of course a challenge at the same time which keeps it interesting.

 

It does. It really does. And I think there’s the two B’s, right? There’s of course the budget and the buy-in that you have to take into account. And it’s very very interesting that it’s really the same challenge across all of the marketers that we’ve also heard about. But, going into the next question. So, you’ve talked about some of the events that you’re currently running. So, I guess out of all of the initiatives or the marketing initiatives that you’re in charge of, which one has made the sales team quite excited about or maybe have been more grateful for?

Yeah, I think one and I’ve mentioned the brand already, but Smartsheet is almost a household name, I would say in the US, very well known, quite an established brand over there, been around for almost 20 years. And when we opened our doors here in Australia 5 and a half years ago, no one had heard of Smartsheet.

So for us, it’s taken a little bit of time to get that brand awareness out into the market. And we’re not completely there yet either in terms of where we want to be on that brand awareness scale, but I think a big moment that got not just the sales team, but the whole APJ business really excited is when we did make the decision to invest in brand advertising. And I think that that really signified to the team that we were now serious, we were showing up in the market and we were on buses and billboards and airports and all of those things. And I think that really did a lot for the team morale and that internal confidence in the business just putting down that investment. And then, and I would have to say the summits in addition and this one more from a lead gen perspective just because of the momentum that we’re able to drive off the back of that and the longevity that we can get out of that one event.

 

So you mentioned brand presence, those summits that you currently are running to help generate leads for your team. But going into the other question, were there other marketing strategies that have wielded the most success in terms of engagement?

Yeah. In terms of engagement, Smartsheet is a company that really builds momentum off the land and expands its model. And what that means is we will typically get in with one particular department and they really like using Smartsheet and then they tell the HR department or they tell their friends over in product or in IT or and that’s how it tends to scale throughout organizations. So one of the strategies that’s really yielded a lot of engagement for us is our user groups and that’s where we bring the actual Smartsheet users together on a regular basis. And post-COVID we we pivoted to virtual events at the time and now we do a mix of both virtual and in-person but those events are purely designed for customers or users of Smartsheet to come along and hear from other customers who are doing cool and interesting things with the product. And they can also chat to their peers and others who are there at that event and it really is about information sharing.

So that strategy of putting users together and that almost a show-and-tell type approach has been super super effective in helping us to then further expand Smartsheet within those existing accounts. So, that’s been great for existing customer engagement. And then for for new lead gen, we’ve we’ve looked at all sorts of things, but we’ve had a lot of success with some of the sponsored roundtables where you’re getting that opportunity to meet with some senior leaders in a small quite intimate setting where you can really get to know people personally and have the opportunity to really understand their pain points and what they’re looking to achieve. So, we’ve found some great success in landing some new deals through that bespoke sponsored roundtable format.

 

That’s amazing and I think that very much aligns of course with how we do things as well at the Ortus Club and we really foster that kind of environment for these leaders for them to be able to you know share these insights, share their challenges and pain points, and see what’s happening across the industry as well. So, thanks for sharing that, Laura. And I guess you’ve mentioned earlier having these events for your user groups or for your users themselves. And so curious to know who is your ICP that you usually involve in events?

Yes. So, it’s tricky because Smartsheet can be used by everyone and anyone, but for us, we’re quite focused on the enterprise at Smartsheet. Or from a marketing investment perspective, I should say. And with that in mind, we’re really looking at functional managers to come along to our events and then they’re advocating for use of Smartsheet within their function, and then that layer up as well of course. So the C-suite, the CIO, those decision-makers who are signing off on some of those larger larger investments, technology investments, they’re they’re the people whom we want to be getting along to our small either roundtables or hospitality events or those sorts of things and they’re not usually the people who are coming along to the user groups.

So there really are those, there’s the user community and then we’ve got our senior decision-making community and we really do make sure that we’re touching those different personas across the various activities in the mix.

 

That sounds good. And so you’ve mentioned a few examples already earlier about the events that you’ve run. So I guess my question is from your perspective, what do you think has been the most successful event or engagement piece that you’ve run and why?

There’s one that comes to mind purely because of the impact that this program had. When I was about a year or two into this role, we invested in a McLaren sponsorship as a global organisation, which was super exciting. So, it wasn’t just here in Australia, but in all parts of the world, we were supporting McLaren and we ran a campaign that actually saw us gift our sponsorship on the McLaren car, our logo, to a local charity. And the charity that was selected was called Deadly Science and they support STEM for indigenous communities here in Australia.

And the campaign really benefited them in that this not-for-profit got all of this incredible worldwide exposure through logo placement on a McLaren car. And then for Smartsheet, we not only felt really good about that as a social responsibility initiative, but we were also able to achieve a huge amount of earned media off the back of that initiative. And that really helped to drive our brand name in the market as well as showing the way that Smartsheet likes to act responsibly as well. And, yeah, I was really really excited to be able to bring that campaign to life here in Australia and see all of the fantastic results that we garnered off the back.

 

No. Yeah, absolutely. And it’s very very nice to hear when brands really make a real life impact on people, right? I think that makes it even more worthwhile and fulfilling for your team. And so that brings us into the next question, right? So you mentioned earlier about all of these events that have been under you or that you’ve been running before. And so how do you measure the ROI from these events?

So we look at a 30, 60, and 90-day post-event tracking process. And anyone else who works in enterprise sales or B2B tech will understand that the sales cycles can often take some time at that level. So it’s really important for us to be monitoring that event at those different checkpoints and it can take us up to 180 days at times to see any uptick off the back of somebody’s involvement or attendance at an event. So when we’re looking at those checkpoints, we’re looking for opportunities created. We’re looking for opportunities that are closed and won and of course closed and lost and understanding why that might be if that’s the case. And then we’re also looking at the ARR, the annual recurring revenue that is represented by the cohort of accounts who attended an event if they’re existing customers. And then we look for an uptick in that ARR over those 30, 60, 90-day periods as well. So if we can see growth in that one account, then that’s a win as well for us.

While harder to quantify, sorry, we do also look at some of those qualitative measures. So feedback surveys are super valuable to us. We look at brand sentiment shifts. We look at social media listening to see what that general sentiment is. We look at platforms like G2 where consumers can go and leave a review about Smartsheet. So all of those things really help to give us that broader picture of an event’s ROI.

 

That’s really great to hear because for you know comparing it to I guess other leaders that we’ve also have heard insights from, I think the key challenge for them is really identifying the key metrics to understand the ROI coming from these events that they run, right? And I think it’s very, very good to hear that you have a very set, you know, a set of metrics that are set in place to really understand that and for your team to also understand really where the return on investment is coming from after the events are being executed. And so we’re shifting the rest of the questions into more of what the future looks like in marketing and of course advice that you can give to other leaders. And so the next question is what career advice would you give to anyone starting in the marketing industry?

Gosh, I would say building relationships is number one. Don’t forget the importance of building that network. And my other half does, he does a fantastic job of this, but just being able to just build skills you need to not only not only get to know people whether they’re others in the marketing team or cross-functionally but learning how to also interact well with others. I think stakeholder management is a massive one in marketing. So yeah, the people piece, the stakeholder piece, that would be my number one. Number two, I would say is just that the need to continuously learn is super important, especially now more so than ever with all of these new technologies you know coming out and disrupting the marketing industry.

So staying curious, always learning, I think that is critical. Data literacy. That one goes unsaid, goes without saying, sorry for marketers. Just being able to really understand the numbers and and analyze the results and then use those results to inform your future actions or decisions. And just finally here, I’d say that you need grit. You need some resilience as well. Nothing’s ever going to go perfectly to plan, but it’s being able to dust yourself off, get back on the horse and and just continue to charge on and test and learn and and then rinse and repeat. So, hopefully there’s some helpful nuggets in there.

 

Absolutely helpful. Thanks for that, Laura. And so, while we’re also on the topic of advice, right? So, do you have I guess a piece of traditional leadership advice that you believe doesn’t really apply to modern CMOs or modern marketing leaders?

There’s a book I used to like reading called Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office. And I’ve forgotten now who the author is of that book, but it’s a leadership book, professional development book, non-fiction that was written a little while ago now. And the whole premise of that book is that you need to be tough and you need to be assertive and you need to be that sort of person in order to succeed in a leadership role. And it’s not marketing specific but it’s it’s talking about leadership and personally I’ve always been someone who’s more on the side of that that warm nurturing leadership style and I wrestled with that book when I read it because I really did think gosh I I don’t think that’s me and can you become that, if you are if you do feel like you’re a nice girl, is it still possible to get the corner office? And in today’s world, I think it is so I really don’t think that applies to modern CMOs. I think modern CMOs can be warm, they can have empathy, they can be nurturing, and in my experience, teams stick around when they get that and they’ve got a leader who they like and whom they trust.

So, I think there is a way to still be a leader, but do so in a way that is kind. And, yes, at times you might need to be firm in your approach, but I think you can always still be kind. So, that’s what I’d like to throw on its head.

 

Absolutely agree with that. At the end of the day, kindness is what matters as well. Beautiful. So, I guess for the next question, what do you believe is the biggest opportunity for marketing leaders today that might not have been available in the past?

I’d have to say AI and everyone who’s listening is probably rolling their eyes, but I mean it is such an exciting time. As we’ve already mentioned a little bit, AI is going to change so much in the world and in the marketing world specifically, it’s a really really interesting time ahead to see how it does disrupt this industry. It allows us to work smarter. It allows us to work faster. It helps automate some of those repetitive tasks and helps us as marketers hyper-personalise content and do so at scale. That’s super exciting. And even helping us quickly analyse big data sets to gain deeper insight whether they’re customer data sets or otherwise. So yeah, personally I am super excited about what the future holds as a marketing leader with AI now at our fingertips and I think it’s a huge huge opportunity for not just marketing leaders but all marketers in general.

 

So we talked about AI and I think that goes hand-in-hand with what do you think the future of marketing looks like?

Yeah, I think in addition to AI, I think well because AI is going to become more prevalent, what’s going to become more important than ever is the human element. So building marketers finding a way to build that trust, to allow their authenticity to shine through, I think is going to be even more critical. And I think to show up as authentically as possible, that internal alignment is going to be more important than ever.

So the sales and marketing alignment I’ve spoken about already, but even beyond that, I think alignment with product teams, alignment with customer success teams, alignment with SDR teams, it really is all a team effort, I think, in being able to show up authentically. So that’s one that I think will be super important. And then I think we’ve touched on the social responsibility piece already, but I think that’s another really important point here is that brands will continue to look, sorry, consumers will continue to look for brands who have got that positive impact as well. So I think that’s something that, yeah, we need to be mindful of.

 

That’s great. And I think you touched on this a bit earlier in terms of working with other teams or across all of the teams and of course stakeholders. But how would you describe the role of the CMO or of the marketing director in one word and why?

Gosh, one word. I just went to my daughter’s music concert last night, so music’s top of mind at the minute. So, I’m going to use the word conductor. My reason is because as a marketing leader, instead of coordinating musicians to produce a beautiful piece of music, you need to be able to rally lots of stakeholders to drive a successful outcome, whether that be an event, whether that be a campaign, whether that be alignment on a plan for a full year. So, I think I do really see the role of the marketing leader as the one who is rallying all of the troops, helping everybody to align and then out the other end comes this beautiful result that is a joy for everybody to either watch or benefit from as the leads come rolling in. So, yeah, conductor.