During the 196th episode of “Marketing Today,” I interview Dave Gerhardt, the chief marketing officer of Privy. Gerhardt was formerly the vice president of marketing at Drift, has been featured in numerous national publications and co-authored the book “Conversational Marketing.”

We discuss how Gerhardt’s early interest in working for a startup led him to join Privy at a previous point in his career. Then we learn how Gerhardt later leveraged his podcast to land a job at Drift. He also shares insight into building out a highly efficient marketing team.

Gerhardt has excellent advice for creating your personal brand and starting a podcast. “If you start with a show first, you can get all the other content with it.” In his view, audio drives everything. He adds, “Even if nobody listens to our show, we’re going to get enough content to feed our funnel for a year if we do it right. That alone is worth the investment.”

Gerhardt also shares why he went all-in on growing his following on LinkedIn and how he moved many of his marketing conversations over to paid subscribers on Patreon. He says, “If you can continue to understand people, and just evolve with whatever comes with that, I think that’s how you become successful in the long term.” Gerhardt’s passion for marketing comes through as he emphasizes the importance of continuous learning and a focus on creativity as the marketing world shifts.

Highlights from this week’s “Marketing Today”:

  • Dave shares his background and how he became involved in marketing. 01:30
  • Dave describes how his interest in working at a startup led him to join Privy for the first time and where he went after that. 03:26
  • Learn how Dave landed a job through a connection he made on his podcast. 05:19
  • Learn more about Privy. 08:58
  • Dave shares his vision for his marketing build-out at Privy. 11:33
  • Dave’s theory about how demand gen can work on his team. 15:38
  • How to measure brand awareness without a big survey. 17:25
  • Why podcasts are the form of marketing you can gain the most leverage from when done right. 19:07
  • Learn how Dave is currently using Patreon as a platform. 21:26
  • Why he feels that even ten subscribers would make the Patreon experiment worthwhile. 25:06
  • What’s next for Dave at Privy in 2020? 26:10
  • Is there an experience in his past that defines who he is today? 28:10
  • What advice would he give his younger self if he had to start all over? 29:39
  • Are there any brands, companies or causes that JT follows that he thinks other people should take notice of? 30:52
  • Is there a threat or an opportunity he thinks marketers should be aware of as they enter 2020, or is there something he thinks marketers need to be doing? 32:14

Resources Mentioned:

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Alan B. Hart is the creator and host of “Marketing Today with Alan Hart,” a weekly podcast where he interviews leading global marketing professionals and business leaders. Alan advises leading executives and marketing teams on opportunities around brand, customer experience, innovation, and growth. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies, but he is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine startups.