The CustomerX Files

On this episode of The CustomerX Files, Alison is joined by Matt Egan, Global Content Director at Foundry, and Doni Lerner, Vice President of Strategy at PeerSpot. Creating content is a cornerstone of the job for most marketers, but with the evolution of content creation strategies and tactics, it's difficult to find focus and success. Matt and Doni discuss recent industry research related to content creation and consumption alongside observations about what it now takes to really craft meaningful content that impacts buyers.

On this episode of The CustomerX Files, Alison is joined by two powerhouses in the customer community space: Mary Green, Co-Founder of clubCX and Jenna Feldman, Customer Advocacy Marketing Manager at AlphaSense. For a long time customer advocacy and community were viewed as separate entities within marketing. Lately, they've become much more entwined. Why? Like so many things related to the customer experience, they are simply better together - listen and learn about building a strong customer community, launching a program, and how community should be at the heart of a customer-led marketing strategy.

On this episode of The CustomerX Files, Alison is joined by Evan Huck, CEO & Co-Founder at UserEvidence. The quality versus quantity debate isn't new, but with the evolution of the buyer's journey and more reliance on social proof and user reviews, it may be closer to a solution. Alison and Evan discuss the role of social proof through the buying cycle, how consumers are becoming more savvy, and yes, why quality over quantity matters.

On this episode of The CustomerX Files, Alison is joined by Natalie Anillo, Senior Product Marketing Manager of Worldwide Customer Advocacy at Microsoft Security. What exactly do we mean by organic customer advocacy? How are we as customer advocacy professionals responsible for owning corporate brand? And how do the two intersect? Tune in to learn more about how goals for advocacy professionals really find common ground, regardless of the size of your organization. And learn from one of the most thoughtful customer advocacy professionals in the business about how she drives value and awareness for one of the world's largest brands.

On this episode of The CustomerX Files, Alison is joined by Emily Amos, Founder & CEO of Uplift Content. This is a discussion about all things content, specifically customer case studies - everything from creation to measurement. What role does AI play in the future of content creation? How can we be more meaningful and impactful with case study metrics? And what's a way to increase content creation without losing authenticity? Tune in to find out - tons of pearls of wisdom in this one!

On this episode of The CustomerX Files, Alison is joined by Tjitske de Vries, Global Community Relations Manager at Malwarebytes, to discuss the ways that advocacy has evolved over the past five years - and how it impacts us personally as well as professionally. This "winding road" discussion covers everything from being a working mom and woman in tech, to the differences between advocacy in B2B and B2C worlds, and arrives at a final destination of how advocacy can be used to permeate and improve overall corporate culture.

On this episode of The CustomerX Files, Alison is joined by Kevin Lau, the Senior Director of Customer Advocacy & Experiential Marketing at F5. We know there are many reasons why customer retention is important; but perhaps it’s even more critical as the economy continues to shift and customers (rightfully so) have reason to ask more of their partners and vendors. Kevin and Alison discuss just that: how do we (re)focus our attention as marketers on customer retention?

On this episode of The CustomerX Files, Alison is joined by Joe Kevens, Director of Demand Generation at PartnerStack.  Most agree that there are things that just go better together: peanut butter and jelly, Bert & Ernie, and yes, customer marketers and demand generation professionals. Yet, even though part of the same team, different goals and areas of focus often leave demand generation professionals and customer marketers out of sync. Joe & Alison discuss how we can bridge this gap and improve/inspire collaboration, better alignment, and they air some typical grievances between the two groups along the way - in the spirit of problem solving and collaboration, of course.

On this episode of The CustomerX Files, Alison is joined by Kyle Yantis, Associate Director of Customer Success at SlapFive. It’s no secret; the past several months have been hard on marketers. Budgets and resources diminished, workloads increased, and transformation of roles. It’s no longer worth debating whether strong metrics belong in customer marketing. Metrics and showcasing ROI belong in marketing, period. It doesn’t matter which area of marketing you sit, we are the intersection of science and storytelling. In the episode Kyle provides concrete, actionable examples of ways to apply discipline and measure outcomes in areas such as operations, governance, and organizational impact. During a time when buying and implementing new technology might not be happening, it is advantageous to do the hard work — gain relationships, internal buy-in, and capital so when it comes time to expand a program, implement a new tool or technology, or ask for another resource, you’re well positioned for success.

On this episode of The CustomerX Files, Alison is joined by Valeria Gomez, Customer Marketing Programs Manager at AirTable. We’ve experienced a lot over the past couple of years, from a global pandemic to an economic roller coaster. We’ve all been impacted personally, of course, and many of us have felt the whiplash professionally as well. So what do we do when our customer advocacy outlook changes — lack of tools and technology resources, slashed budgets, reduced headcount. Does this mean the end of our advocacy efforts? Absolutely not - it simply means that we get creative and turn to a more grassroots approach — an approach which can still deliver a maximized program and experience for customers.

In this episode of The CustomerX Files, Alison is joined by Ana Kutcher, Customer Advocacy Manager at Wiz.This episode is right on time as customer marketers and advocacy professionals are doing more with less, automating processes, and focused on metrics. Looking at tools and technology just makes sense.As such, in this episode, Tools & Technology: Setting yourself up for Success, Alison and Ana discuss the different mechanisms to measure and execute goals in the most efficient way, and set yourself up for success. As Ana said, "Tools and technology are so foundational...a small decision today has a huge impact on tomorrow."

The difference between customer marketing and advocacy is a favorite debate topic within our industry. Let’s face it, the terms are used interchangeably, defined differently by organization, and often result in an awful lot of scope creep, especially for young CM&A professionals. And just as frustrating, sometimes, as the naming conventions, is the constant battle of having to deprioritize strategic initiatives in order to support fire drills or more tactical activities. So on this episode of The CustomerX Files, we are joined by Taylor Page, Director of Customer Marketing & Advocacy at Kong. We discuss how to change the wheel…let’s get away from the hamster wheel and embrace the flywheel. Listen to hear Taylor’s advice on career, naming conventions, and suggestions on how to advance your role within this industry - trust us, there are multiple pearls of wisdom embedded in this conversation!

In this episode, Alison chats with Jeff Gabel, Customer Advocacy Lead at ServiceNow, about the importance of building bridges with internal stakeholders. The conversation features excellent advice on engaging with sales, how to develop, deepen, and strengthen relationships, and how to tactically do so without jeopardizing the integrity of your reference/advocacy program.The CustomerX Files is brought to you by PeerSpot. In a market full of hype, PeerSpot's buying intelligence platform is where tech pros go to get practical, reliable information on enterprise technology. You work too hard to build strong customer relationships. It's time to leverage those relationships in a way that maximizes value for your organization and minimizes customer effort. PeerSpot's approach to customer-driven content empowers customer marketers and advocacy professionals that strive to achieve the gold standard within their industry. For more information, check out: http://marketing.peerspot.com

In this episode Alison chats to David Sroka, CEO of Point of Reference, about evolving customer reference management to address customer advocacy as a whole.The Customer X files is brought to you by PeerSpot. In a market full of hype, PeerSpot's buying intelligence platform is where tech pros go to get practical, reliable information on enterprise technology. You work too hard to build strong customer relationships. It's time to leverage those relationships in a way that maximizes value for your organization and minimizes customer effort. PeerSpot's approach to customer driven content empowers customer marketers and advocacy professionals that strive to achieve the gold standard within their industry. For more information, check out - http://marketing.peerspot.com/

On this episode, Alison is joined by Alteryx's Luis Gonzalez, Global Customer Advocacy Manager and Michele Babnick, Manager of Global Onboarding, to talk about how to create a customer-centric culture across your company. Tune in for awesome examples of how customer advocacy professionals can make a difference not only outside of the company, but inside as well.Connect with Alison, Luis, and Michele on LinkedIn:Alison BukowskiLuis GonzalezMichele BabnickThe Customer X files is brought to you by PeerSpot. In a market full of hype, PeerSpot's buying intelligence platform is where tech pros go to get practical, reliable information on enterprise technology. You work too hard to build strong customer relationships. It's time to leverage those relationships in a way that maximizes value for your organization and minimizes customer effort.PeerSpot's approach to customer driven content empowers customer marketers and advocacy professionals that strive to achieve the gold standard within their industry. For more information, check out marketing.peerspot.com.

On this episode, Alison is joined by Barbara Thomas, Senior Customer Advocacy Manager at Imprivata, to talk all things customer award programs.Connect with Alison and Barbara on LinkedIn:Alison BukowskiBarbara ThomasJoin the discussion on October 4th here: https://pages.peerspot.com/peerperspectiveThe Customer X files is brought to you by PeerSpot. In a market full of hype, PeerSpot's buying intelligence platform is where tech pros go to get practical, reliable information on enterprise technology. You work too hard to build strong customer relationships. It's time to leverage those relationships in a way that maximizes value for your organization and minimizes customer effort.PeerSpot's approach to customer driven content empowers customer marketers and advocacy professionals that strive to achieve the gold standard within their industry. For more information, check out marketing.peerspot.com.

Straight from The PeerSpot Network, this is The CustomerX Files.The CustomerX Files is a twist on the traditional podcast where we talk about all things customer marketing, advocacy, and experience. We're bringing you candid conversations with thought leaders that bring our community closer…and then follow it up with an open invitation for all of us to continue the conversation. We’re opening up the vault and pulling out the CustomerX Files!