“What’s the minimal amount of information you can give someone to help them make a decision? That’s always the advice I give to people I manage.”
Natalie Naik, Head of Marketing at SharpLaunch
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In this episode of Executive Conversations Natalie Naik shares her experience launching a B2B marketing function from scratch inside a traditionally D2C-focused company. Natalie tells us how she navigated educating leadership unfamiliar with B2B marketing, especially around handling long sales cycles and fundamentally different KPIs.
Natalie also touches on selecting the right channels for niche B2B markets, advocating for organic growth, ABM, and partnerships over paid channels. Throughout the episode, Natalie provides practical insights into influencing stakeholders, simplifying executive communication, and driving effective collaboration with sales teams in a rapidly evolving marketing landscape.
In this episode, we talk about:
- Executive buy-in
- B2B marketing strategy
- Sales and marketing alignment
- Marketing leadership
- Buyer journey optimization
Takeaways
- Simplifying executive communication: Natalie highlights the value of concise communication—focusing on context, desired actions, and outcomes—to drive executive decisions.
- Educating leaders on B2B marketing: Strategies for effectively explaining B2B’s longer buying cycles and different KPIs to D2C-focused executives.
- Balancing sales input strategically: How to leverage sales feedback proactively without becoming an order-taker, using collaborative sessions to prioritize marketing activities.
- Choosing channels wisely: Emphasis on events, ABM, partnerships, and organic over paid channels in highly niche B2B markets.
- Immediate alignment and action: Conducting early-stage workshops to quickly identify friction points and create actionable marketing strategies aligned with sales.
Time chapters
[00:06] Introducing Natalie and her first official head of marketing role
[01:39] Starting from zero: building B2B marketing in a D2C-first company
[03:26] Structuring from chaos: formalizing sales-driven GTM efforts
[04:49] Explaining long sales cycles to short-term thinkers
[05:56] Choosing channels that actually move the needle
[07:03] Leading without precedent: influencing when no one understands B2B
[08:18] Streamlining communication for faster decisions
[09:51] Using audience context to tailor leadership messaging
[11:41] What changes (and doesn’t) in a more mature company
[12:24] Managing expectations in the age of AI speed
[13:49] Running five channels without stretching yourself thin
[15:34] Collaborating with sales to set the right priorities
[16:48] Running a friction workshop to map the buyer journey
[18:42] Turning sales feedback into a strategic roadmap
[19:31] Staying in control without shutting down ideas
[20:25] Picking your two best plays and executing them well
About Natalie
Natalie Naik is a B2B marketing leader with a strong track record in fast-growing SaaS startups. Currently serving as Head of Marketing at SharpLaunch, she has built B2B marketing functions from the ground up and led go-to-market initiatives to expand into the U.S. market. Natalie specializes in aligning marketing and sales teams to drive top-of-funnel growth.