HubSpot Partner & Provider Spotlight: Desiree Whitehead, Founder, Howl Marketing
Some of the best perspectives on HubSpot's product come from those who use it every day. In this new interview series, we profile HubSpot partners, ...
Some of the best perspectives on HubSpot's product come from those who use it every day. In this interview series, we profile HubSpot partners, providers, and customers, and ask their thoughts on what our product team should keep in mind while solving for them, and where the future of the industry lies.
In this installment, we chat with Miles Ukaoma, VP of Sprocket Rocket and Head of Growth Driven Design at HubSpot partner agency Lean Labs.
How did you first come to work with HubSpot's products?
In 2015 we made the transition from WordPress to HubSpot. The captivating promise of HubSpot was that it would serve as a one-stop-shop for all our marketing efforts. I believe many of us in the digital marketing space have created or encountered "The digital marketing Frankenstein."
If by some chance you are the exception — picture a marketing tech stack made up of various third-party plugins and applications that organizations cobble together to create solutions for their challenges. HubSpot released us from having to coordinate dozens of tools in our tech stack.
After 5+ years in the HubSpot ecosystem, we've been able to streamline our processes with a single record of truth, allowing the entire organization to provide the best possible experience for the brands we have the opportunity to partner with.
What does true growth mean to you?
Growth means developing the skill set and abilities to accomplish a goal or realize what we desire through dedication and hard work. We don't work with companies who are just trying to make a buck. We work with brands that offer products and services that solve their customers' problems. These are brands that deserve to win, and by helping them grow, they can have a greater impact and deliver results to more people.
It isn't easy to grow or optimize what can't be measured, so my approach is a data-oriented one. At Lean Labs, we view ourselves as a growth team that helps deserving brands outsell and outgrow the competition. I believe it's important to note that every organization starts in different places and with varying end goals in mind. Therefore, how we define success needs to be flexible for each brand. That's why we set a quarterly north star metric for each organization. A critical aspect of the north star is that it should be a leading indicator of future success.
What's your favorite feature within the HubSpot product?
I love all of the A/B and multivariate testing features available right out the box with HubSpot. As a data-driven growth team, we rely on the ability to A.B.C. (always be challenging) our assumptions, beliefs, and the status quo via split test. The ease at which we can set up, monitor, and validate each test makes HubSpot a no-brainer for any brand looking to implement growth-driven design.
In addition to being a marketing pro, you're also an Olympian. What's the most important lesson you've taken from that experience into your current career?
In a former life, I was a professional track and field athlete sponsored by Adidas. I competed in the 2016 Rio Olympics and earned the O.L.Y. (Olympian) title as a result. For me, athletics served as a practical teacher of Kaizen, or "change for the better."
In the running events that I competed in, milliseconds determined the difference between victory and defeat. I learned that minor things make the most significant differences. However, if you focus on the wrong items, your efforts and results will flounder. Do the right thing and do the thing right.
The ability to focus on the small details that separate success from failure while parsing the signal from the noise was my most important lesson. Some spectators may view athletic feats and accomplishments as effortless or the result of genetic chance. But for the initiated, we understand that luck is where preparation meets opportunity.
In your opinion, what's the most important thing for HubSpot's product team to keep in mind when solving for customers today?
It's more important than ever for teams to have everything they need to make marketing decisions on one platform. The more tools you use, the greater the chance that something slips through the cracks. HubSpot should ask, "How can I help my customers have all the tools they need without having to incorporate other platforms or tools?"
In addition, HubSpot has always been laser-focused on their purpose and whom they serve. This customer-centric view of the market is, without question, one reason HubSpot has done so well. As the product team aims to add new features and tools to the platform, using that customer-centric lens to clarify the purpose of new solutions and precisely whom it benefits will be the most important things to keep in mind.
In addition, HubSpot has always been laser-focused on their purpose and whom they serve. This customer-centric view of the market is, without question, one reason HubSpot has done so well. As the product team aims to add new features and tools to the platform, using that customer-centric lens to clarify the purpose of new solutions and precisely whom it benefits will be the most important things to keep in mind.
What's one small thing that makes a difference when it comes to choosing what kind of marketing software you use?
When picking new Martech, I often ask myself two questions. 1. Does this integrate easily into my existing stack, and 2. Are the added benefits worth the additional friction needed to complete a given task? If the answer is no to either, I tend to look for alternatives to solving my challenge.
What about one big thing?
Not having to switch platforms every time the organization grows. Having all the content, contacts, analytics, and pre-customer touchpoints in one place is quite a force multiplier as the company grows and scales. Ideas are cheap. Execution is everything. Therefore, I seek out marketing software that allows my team to be more efficient and execute at a higher level.
What's one prediction you have about the future of marketing and demand generation?
As buyer intent data becomes easier to collect, I believe personalized customer-centric marketing will come to the forefront. At its core, the purpose of marketing is to change beliefs with the intent of a sale. The ability to provide the right message at the right time is paramount to the effectiveness of all our marketing efforts.
Our websites can provide us with all kinds of buyer intent data, which can better align with each visitor's goals, pain points, and jobs to be done. As a result, each touchpoint will output more personalized marketing aimed at helpful ways to move prospects through the buyer journey.
What do you want to see more B2B software companies focusing on this year?
I think many organizations will be asking themselves how they can cut software rather than add new ones. As a practitioner, I feel that integrating one solution with another makes a world of difference in the tools I choose to keep in my software stack.
Want more profiles of tech industry leaders? Check out our Name Dropping series.
Interested in working with a product team that solves for marketers, salespeople, and developers alike? Check out our open positions and apply.