We hear all the time that marketers at their core are storytellers. And there’s no better way to sell your product than to put a story behind it. But what if your product is not really a product? What if the product is simply just analytics? How do you brand that experience? Jim Sinai was presented with that very challenge when he helped launch Einstein, Salesforce’s A.I. for CRM, and he said there were two key things that stuck out about that experience.

“There’s two actually really important lessons for all the marketers out there. One, research is important, but having a gut and a conviction is also important. Marc had this instinct that it needed to have a persona and it needed to be identifiable and it needed to be something that people could look at and grab onto. The other was that you’ve got to pitch the story. You can’t tell the story when you’re trying to sell someone on something that it’s right or wrong, you can’t just tell them why, you’ve got to go into pitch mode as though you’re talking as you’re selling the story to the press.”

While Jim is fond of his days at Salesforce, he’s now the SVP of Marketing at Procore, a company that is making waves in the construction industry by helping companies get things done quicker, but most importantly on time. On this episode of Marketing Trends, Jim dives into what is making Procore stand above its competitors: including how to best understand and relate to your customers, and why every marketing strategy needs to start by identifying your unfair advantage.

Main Takeaways

• Know the Language: When you’re doing vertical SaaS, especially in an industry such as construction, it’s important to speak the language that your customers can understand. Instead of simply telling your consumer you have A.I., tell them how the A.I. benefits them.
•  Customers > Logos: Successful businesses are built on existing and returning customers. This is why it’s incredibly important to continuously maintain a high level of customer service. By creating brand loyalty, and really working to gain a complete understanding of who your customers are, you can then use that knowledge in messaging and marketing tactics rather than relying on flashy logos or branding.
• What’s Your Unfair Advantage: It may sound like Marketing 101, but one of the most important things a marketer can do is gain an understanding of what their unfair advantage is in the marketplace is, and then exploit that unfair advantage to win the trust and loyalty of customers.

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Marketing Trends podcast is brought to you by Salesforce. Discover marketing built on the world’s number one CRM: Salesforce. Put your customer at the center of every interaction. Automate engagement with each customer. And build your marketing strategy around the entire customer journey. Salesforce. We bring marketing and engagement together. Learn more at salesforce.com/marketing.

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