Nicolás Jackaman, a marketing leader for the Financial Crime prevention company Lynx Tech, shares his B2B marketing playbook. He champions intimate events over large conferences, a human-to-human sales approach, and blending AI with high-touch, in-person experiences.
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Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- Prioritise Intimate Events: Focus on “one-to-few” events that foster trust and open dialogue, as they deliver far higher ROI than large, impersonal conferences in specialised B2B markets.
- Treat B2B as Human-to-Human (H2H): Build genuine connections with the person you are selling to, not just the business they represent.
- Blend AI with In-Person Connection: Use AI to enhance marketing campaigns, but double down on in-person events to meet the post-pandemic demand for real human interaction.
Could you please start by telling us a bit about yourself and your role at Lynx Tech?
I’m an industrial engineer by training, and I also graduated in culinary arts. I’ve spent my entire career in the tech industry, working with companies like IBM, SAP, and AppGate, with about half of my career focused on marketing for the South American and Latin American regions.
I am now leading marketing at Lynx Tech, where my main goal is to position our brand in Latin America. As Lynx Tech is a relatively new company name, this brand-building effort is my primary focus.
Can you tell us more about what Lynx Tech does?
Lynx Tech has a fascinating history. It started back in 1995 as a project with IBM and the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. We are a Spain-based company and one of the few that can say we have been working with AI for over 30 years. Our specialisation is in the financial services and banking industry, where we create fraud prevention and anti-money laundering solutions using advanced AI and machine learning models.
How did your varied background lead you into a career in marketing?
My first job was at IBM, working with the business partner unit. I found that I had the right combination of skills to understand what the sales team needed and translate that into more customised, effective marketing campaigns. My marketing career officially began at SAP, where I spent four of my seven years.
I then moved to AppGate, a cybersecurity and fraud prevention company, as the Marketing Manager for LATAM. Since last year, I’ve been with Lynx Tech, doing similar work: positioning the brand in LATAM, working with business partners, and driving leads into the pipeline. My role is a mix of marketing and sales support, which allows me to use my knowledge of both worlds.
What current marketing tactics have worked best for you in the B2B market?
In my experience, particularly at AppGate and Lynx Tech, B2B marketing is all about creating experiences that connect with the emotions of our buyers. It may sound old-fashioned, but direct mailing to a well-understood buyer persona always works well for us because you can craft campaigns that truly make sense to them.
I am also a firm believer in one-to-few events over large conferences. In the cybersecurity and fraud prevention space, customers are not comfortable opening up about their challenges in a large setting. Smaller, more intimate events work better because they create a safe and comfortable environment for executives to discuss their real issues and needs.
Can you share an example of a particularly successful event you’ve hosted at Lynx Tech?
As our brand is very new, we hosted an advisory board in Madrid this year, bringing together existing customers. It went extremely well because, as I mentioned, the intimate setting made everyone feel safe enough to open up about industry trends and their specific fraud-related challenges.
This was incredibly valuable for our product innovation, as we could use direct customer feedback to guide our development investments. More importantly, it helps build genuine relationships. At the end of the day, even in B2B, we sell to a person. We need to get to know them, understand their goals, and craft a message that shows how we can help them succeed. This human connection is key.
Another example is a series of barbecue masterclasses we did with a business partner in Mexico. We created a relaxed environment where we could discuss serious topics like fraud regulations at the end. These are the kinds of events that build real connections because you are showing appreciation and creating a bond that goes beyond just selling.
How do you currently measure your event ROI?
Right now, we measure it by the number of real, qualified leads we can add to our pipeline. Our marketing team is small, so the easiest way is to compare the event investment against the pipeline value we can generate in our CRM.
We have found that the ROI from large conferences is very hard to justify. The sponsorships are getting more expensive every year, and the number of real leads you get is small compared to what you can achieve with a smaller investment in something like a barbecue masterclass. If you invite 20 people to an intimate event and get 10 focused leads, and three to five of those convert to pipeline, that’s an amazing result—often the same number you’d get from a huge conference.
What are your most significant challenges when hosting events?
At Lynx Tech, our biggest challenge is brand awareness. We have been in the market for 30 years, but under the Lynx Tech name, it has only been about a year and a half. It’s hard to get noticed by large financial institutions when you have big, consolidated competitors.
However, once we get to talk to the right people, our solution speaks for itself. To overcome this challenge, I don’t try to host our own events just yet. Instead, I partner with our established business partners. They help us get in front of the right customers and lend us their credibility while we build our own.
What career advice would you give to anyone starting in the marketing industry?
It may sound cliché, but you have to love what you do and be very focused. The key to making a huge difference in your career is to focus on delivering a great customer experience. If you make that your priority from the marketing side, that is a winning strategy.
What do you believe is the biggest opportunity for field marketers today?
With the explosion of AI, you have unlimited possibilities to create amazing experiences. However, the biggest opportunity right now is to combine this new technology with a return to in-person events.
After a few years of fully digital experiences during the pandemic, customers are eager to participate in person and build real connections. It’s time to go back to “old-fashioned” events, but customised to today’s needs. I believe the market has shifted away from large conferences where attendees are passive listeners. Now, senior executives want to participate, share their experiences, and engage in smaller, more intimate settings. The opportunity is to use AI to craft powerful campaigns while bringing people together for meaningful, in-person interactions.
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