Emily Popson, senior director of growth marketing at CallRail, joined the Women in B2B Marketing podcast hosted by Jane Serra to discuss the importance of cross-functional collaboration and building empathy among teams.

In their conversation, they discuss the role of demand generation, creating mechanisms that convert prospect interest into actionable leads. "The demand gen team focuses on turning demand creation into demand capture, getting people into the free trial experience," Emily explains. Ensuring a seamless free trial experience is part and parcel of her team's strategy.

Emily underscores the importance of a well-optimized website in conversion and revenue generation. "The UX, web strategy, and SEO teams play a vital role in proving the effectiveness of the demand gen efforts," she asserts. Continuous conversion rate optimization (CRO) testing is key in this, with color palettes, form fields, and messaging being critical elements in the process.

Customer marketing is another essential component in driving revenue. It aids in cross-selling, upselling, and maintaining advocacy, thereby keeping the revenue engine running. She also highlights the need for trust-building channels and tactics, such as third-party validation and voice of the customer campaigns, for credibility and revenue-driving.

Emily's leadership style is one of unity and collaboration. Regular meetings, free-sharing of information, curiosity, and empathy are at the core of her team management strategy. She also promotes using icebreakers to cultivate personal connections and encourage team cohesion.

Emphasizing the value of PLG, she stresses the need for a well-crafted onboarding experience. Collaborative efforts between marketing and product teams are pivotal to optimizing the entire user journey.

Emily also advises against relying on a single channel for all communications. Instead, she suggests, channels should be evaluated based on their effectiveness for specific personas and industries.