Product Marketing
Writing Sample
The inspiration to write about text analysis stemmed from an onboarding call that I sat in on. While each feature is rather complex and dry on its own, I was asked to chime in during the call to explain how valuable and approachable they are. While we previously drafted communications for each individual release, nothing tied it all together and adoption was lagging. The intent of the article was to draft an easy to digest narrative with enough relatable detail that readers would understand what the feature is and envision how to put it to use in their organization.
To generate the likely scenarios, I stole from my experiences sitting in on other calls. The focus of the piece leaned more toward account managers and feature adoption, yet on Slack it brought cheers from both account managers and the sales team. Many of whom promptly shared it on LinkedIn.
Marketing Videos
Please view in full screen
Bang the Table’s four minute platform demo video serves as their most important online sales asset. Reinventing it was the biggest project of my second month in the role. While in retrospect I’d do it much differently, the prescribed purpose was to cover a ton of ground. Prepare to drink from a firehose and learn a lot about the platform. Nowadays, my mission is to bring story design into all of my productions and this misses that mark. However, it yielded a positive impact on sales and received praise from my colleagues across all departments.
Sales enablement campaign
This was produced on a short turnaround to spark sales by end of year. My focus was on delivering a compelling script and getting the video to a deliverable state as soon as possible.
French Platform Demonstration video
Creating a French video required taking a step back at the processes I use to create a video. It was a big effort, but my plan made it quite manageable.
Remote video productions
This video was a collaborative effort with a colleague on the sales team, Michelle Stevens. Over Google Meet, we worked together every step of the way to create a coherent message that would drive traffic to our new demo site and then register for her upcoming webinar. Ultimately, the webinar received so many registrations that we upgraded our Zoom membership to allow for more participants.
Simplifying complex feature releases
During my fifth week on the job I wrote and narrated a video for the first time. My intention was to deliver a dead simple explanation of an otherwise complicated new feature.
Appearance Editor was critical to securing some renewals in the Australian market, and it was imperative to use an Australian accent. This video was created in collaboration with a colleague in Australia. I pitched the project, wrote a script, and rehearsed/recorded the audio in a live format through video conferencing. Once I had the audio, I was able to quickly round it out for use in an email campaign.
Efficient use of thought leadership
Not everyone can watch an hour-long webinar. Even if a segment addresses something that a prospect might search for on Google, there is no way they’ll discover it inside of a gated webinar on wistia. I began posting highlights of our best webinars, allowing us to get the most value from the work they were already doing. The strategy delivered easy wins on social media, grew our Youtube channel, and helped to fuel more engaging webinar recap articles on our blog
In Product Communications using Appcues
This Appcues project was to designed support existing administrators in transitioning over to our newly overhauled website editing interface. My approach was slightly unconventional. What isn’t shown here is that there was a welcome video upon the first load of the new feature’s URL, which explained that this checklist is to serve as a guide that they can always refer. In the context of this feature, there was palpable apprehension amongst organizations around adopting the incredible new interface. After all, it involves setting up a new website design. The checklist was designed to make them feel supported and comfortable enough to experiment.
2017-2019
Generating Demand for a Hardware Startup
This time period is how I learned that I wanted to be a Product Marketing Manager. I will soon make this into a blog post and spiff it up. But one year after graduating from college, I worked to launch a product on Kickstarter called Specdrums. It’s a highly innovative product that people really need to see before believing. Here’s my favorite 1-minute product explainer video. Having spent just one month working towards the launch of Specdrums, my pre-launch title on the Kickstarter page was Content and Council. It didn’t matter to me what I was called. Halfway through the campaign, it was clear that I’d become a lasting executive member of the team. My bachelor’s degree was in entrepreneurship and my work experience was in marketing, market development, and content production.
Backstory: In 30 days we raised $188k and won the Red Bull Launchpad competition. Through Red Bull, we began attending many events and trade shows, including Tech Crunch Disrupt, SXSW, Philly Tech Week, Future of StoryTelling (FoST NYC), and Collision. The following year we won $75k through the University of Colorado’s New Venture Challenge. Within 10 months of launch, we were acquired (and hired) by Sphero.
Customer Discovery: As orders came through on Kickstarter, we noticed a trend with music educators and included some messaging for them on our campaign page. Soon thereafter, I began contacting educators (who ordered placed an order) to listen and uncover how our product could provide value to them. Then I contacted more local educators and potential influencers. Each of these relationships proved critical to developing the market. After the campaign, I was able to warm them up to be on camera while we talked. And I was able to generate critical testimonial assets for our pre-sales marketing efforts and attracted more champions across the nation.
Below is a compilation of many testimonial interviews filmed during that time period, spanning musicianship, parenting, STEM education, and music education.
In producing units to fulfill Kickstarter orders, we ordered additional units to begin pre-sales on our website a few months later. From releasing testimonials on our social media accounts, we soon had more demand from educators than we could fulfill due to the average order sizes. Our pre-sales efforts had to be put on hold until we caught up on existing orders around three months later. We continued to market ourselves to educators on social media and continued to receive formal requests to buy our product from schools. We had a lot of what I would call good problems when it came to demand.
At that point, we knew we needed to scale and were already in conversation with Sphero. Our success with teachers was a key selling point for Sphero, as they transitioned their company's focus away from licensed goods and doubled down on education. The acquisition was made official in May 2018.
Within the next 12 months we redeveloped the hardware, created an additional companion application, reinvented out packaging, and more. About six months later, we launched the product at CES 2019 winning Best in Show by WIRED Magazine. Shortly thereafter, I assisted in the launch of Sphero’s newest educational robotic on Kickstarter which raised $1 million. Before departing Sphero, our product was being featured in an interactive display at each of Apple retail store’s.
2015-2017
My Backstory in Content Marketing.
After serving as the President of Oklahoma State’s Entrepreneurship club and taking a term on exchange at Portland State, I wanted a new challenge in the real (business) world.
To gain exposure to more industries and their marketing challenges, I began freelancing for small and medium-sized businesses. Freelancing was always about solving business needs. I taught myself how to use a camera and edit video between business courses at OSU.
Within about 18 months I served over a dozen clients and generated enough savings to move to Colorado.
Below are some of my client’s and work examples.
Client
Gaillardia Country Club
Gaillardia Country Club had an image across Oklahoma City that needed to be carefully updated. Although Gaillardia has a stunning facility and many members, it needed to present itself differently to attract younger family memberships. The culture of the club was known for being aged up, rigid, and more formal than it is.
To achieve this, my aim was to completely avoid the cliche fashion video vibe one might expect from a club with a 100,000 sq. ft. castle in the middle. I captured real moments over staged moments. And guided executives through improvising on talking points rather than scripted banality.
Photo Gallery
Automotive Cinematography
My first large client was Bob Moore Auto Group and their premium brands: Porsche, Maserati, Audi, and Land Rover.
Edible Cinematography
My sister wanted to test out video advertising for her food blog, Cookie & Kate. While we really wanted to use natural light, varied cloud conditions that week left us unable to leverage natural lighting. I did my best to construct a workable lighting setup with high CRI daylight LEDs and clamp lights. We created about seven videos that weekend. Since then, videos have proved to be a successful addition to her blog and social media presence.
Real Estate
It was fun to tour so many nice homes and practice my shooting.
First 18 months in review
From not knowing how to run a video camera or edit video, to having a dozen clients. My first 18 months of work may not be pixel perfect, but I am proud of how I managed to capture moments and create value for clients while continuing studies at Oklahoma State University.