In this episode of Women in B2B Marketing, Jane Serra sits down with Shannon Howard, Director of Customer and Content Marketing at Intellum, to talk about the real work behind building lasting customer relationships that drive retention, advocacy, and long-term brand love.

From her early days in B2C to leading customer marketing in SaaS, Shannon shares how she has learned to scale connection without losing the human touch. The conversation covers what customer marketing really owns (hint: it is not just case studies), how to enable internal teams to advocate alongside your customers, and the power of being relentlessly curious about the people you serve.

Jane and Shannon get into:

• Why customer marketing is about more than just advocacy and what else belongs under its umbrella
• How to stay close to your customers even without a big team or budget
• The overlooked art of marketing internal programs like customer education
• Why reverse multithreading and relationship redundancy matter more than ever
• Approaching customers for feedback in ways that feel natural, not transactional
• Turning negative experiences into opportunities to create new advocates
• The value of surprising and delighting customers, including supporting causes they care about
• How customer marketing can also play a big role in Customer Success enablement
• Expanding the definition of “customer” to include past, future, and even non-paying advocates
• Building trust with customers by treating them like people, not just personas

Key Links:

Guest: Shannon Howard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonlagassehoward/

Host: Jane Serra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janeserra/

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** Originally published on May 8, 2024 **

Katie Berg coined a phrase in this episode that stuck with me so much I literally made stickers: F*ck it Energy. It’s about saying yes to big, scary opportunities, chasing fear instead of avoiding it, and putting yourself out there even when you’re not sure you’re ready.

And honestly? I think we could all use a little more of that energy right now - which is why I’m bringing this one back from the archives. Katie’s story of building Klue’s Compete Network from scratch and carving her own path in marketing is just as powerful today as it was when we first recorded.

Should I bring Katie back for a follow-up? DM me, comment, or leave a review to tell me what you’d love us to cover next.

– Jane

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In this episode of Women in B2B Marketing, host Jane Serra sits down with Katie Berg, VP of Marketing at Klue, to dive into how she turned a scrappy idea into one of the most innovative owned media plays in B2B: the Compete Network.

From starting her career in events marketing and taking a bold leap to work in Zambia, to building Klue’s media hub that now fuels their category leadership, Katie shares the real story of saying yes to big risks, chasing fear, and creating content that actually lands.

Jane and Katie dig into:

• How the idea for the Compete Network was born (on a run!) and why it stuck
• The scrappy steps Klue took to build a media hub before owned media was “a thing”
• What it really takes to launch and scale multiple shows under one brand
• Why consistency and format matter as much as the content itself
• Lessons learned from producing four podcasts at once - and what Katie would do differently
• How teasers and “movie-style” launches helped Klue’s shows break through
• The future of B2B media hubs
• Why attribution alone isn’t enough - and how qualitative feedback can be a marketer’s gold mine
• Why women need more “f*** it energy” in content creation

Key Links:

Guest: Katie Berg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiepberg/

Host: Jane Serra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janeserra/

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In this episode of Women in B2B Marketing, host Jane Serra chats with Shachar Oren, co-founder, CRO, and CMO at EX.CO—a rare triple-title leader with a journalist’s storytelling soul and a sharp eye on revenue.

Shachar’s unconventional journey from writing film reviews to building a video-first adtech company is full of insight for any marketer navigating career pivots, cross-functional leadership, and the ever-blurry line between brand and revenue. She shares what it’s really like owning both sales and marketing, how it’s changed her approach as a CMO, and why she believes marketers need to stop undervaluing themselves.

Jane and Shachar dig into:

• What it’s like to lead both marketing and sales as a co-founder
• How a background in journalism led Shachar into B2B tech and startup leadership
• The power of sitting in on sales calls - and how it transformed her team’s approach
• Why sales decks often fall short, and how to build enablement materials that sellers actually use
• What led EX.CO to eliminate webinars and double down on events
• How offline tactics like in-person events and direct mail became their top growth channels
• Why marketers struggle to get internal credit - and how to start changing that
• The nuances of tying marketing roles to revenue goals and compensation
• What the lack of CMOs on corporate boards says about how marketing is perceived
• How reframing our own value as marketers can shift our influence inside the org
• Navigating the balance between creativity, storytelling, and business outcomes
• Building community through thoughtful, hybrid campaigns that connect people online and off

Key Links:

Guest: Shachar Orren: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shacharo/

Host: Jane Serra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janeserra/

Shachar's Article on Fast Company: https://www.fastcompany.com/91265760/numbers-and-narratives-the-strategic-advantage-of-uniting-the-cmo-and-cro-roles

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