HubSpot’s SVP of Marketing Kieran Flanagan on All Things B2B Marketing

Kieran Flanagan understands how to help B2B companies grow.

As the SVP of Marketing at HubSpot, Kieran strategizes all things go-to-market and AI for HubSpot’s marketing function. He built his career helping SaaS businesses grow internationally, having worked at Salesforce, Marketo, and Zapier (where he served as CMO).

Kieran also writes a newsletter and co-hosts the Marketing Against the Grain podcast, the largest marketing podcast in the world.

That is to say, he knows marketing.

Passionfroot was lucky to sit down with Kieran and discuss all things AI, GTM, and B2B creator marketing. Topics include:

• How to leverage AI in marketing
• Value of B2B creator marketing
• Tips for go-to-market efforts

How to leverage AI in your marketing role

In the age of generative AI, it would be remiss not to discuss how to harness the power of LLMs in your marketing role.

• Take advantage of AI tools

Anthropic’s Claude is Kieran’s favorite AI tool, so if you haven’t tried it out to streamline your tasks, you should.

“I really like Claude. I used to be a big fan of ChatGPT, and I've tried everything, but I find Claude superior. Their product team is doing great work, and I particularly like Artifacts.”

• Center AI in your go-to-market strategy

Think about how you can use AI to automate analysis and streamline your job as a whole.

Kieran is spearheading efforts to incorporate AI technologies into HubSpot’s marketing strategies and operations. With this, he aims to improve performance, enhance customer experiences, and maintain HubSpot’s competitive edge in the market.

• Use AI in creator marketing production

There are so many ways to use AI in marketing content. Use it to automate content production by feeding it past content, create templates for a certain kind of sponsorship, and generate and run campaigns based on established styles.

Taking advantage of B2B creator marketing

Don’t neglect the power of creator marketing space, even within B2B.

The B2B creator economy is becoming more lucrative — niche audiences are become more valuable due to their specificity and credibility. Even popular creators, such as top YouTuber Mr. Beast, are coming out with their own B2B tools.

Kieran: “Niche audiences are becoming more valuable as other channels become saturated. Social networks and platforms are favoring individuals over brands, giving creators an advantage. As brands start spending more in the creator economy, we'll see more creators enter this space.”

• Measuring the value of a creator partnership

The biggest challenge in B2B creator marketing is proving the impact creators can have on a brand’s success. It's essential to demonstrate the value that creators bring, as finance teams often spend time scrutinizing metrics from performance marketing.

Kieran: “You have to position how you want the value of creators to be understood and measured, as most will likely measure it through performance marketing. Inefficiencies in spending are becoming more apparent. Most tech companies are shifting towards efficiency, focusing on revenue per employee and similar metrics.”

Set up a framework to measure the impact of your campaigns. Like Anthropic’s Austin Lau said, it’s important to set up a data infrastructure to measure your success before beginning any project.

• Building engagement and brand presence

However, Kieran notes that the challenge with creators in B2B is that their audience size is often too small to deliver a significant ROI for large brands.

Instead, another good area to focus on is engagement and visibility. Creators can effectively shape and enhance brand perception, acting as creative spokespeople for your company. In a world where there is so little authenticity in advertising and media, creators can offer a refreshing method for building a brand name.

Kieran: “Using creators to shape the brand's perception and as an extension of brand campaigns is a more sustainable approach. We're seeing a return to pre-internet marketing strategies, where creativity and presence in popular spaces are key. Brands need to show up in engaging ways, and creators can play a big part in this.”

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Top tips for GTM efforts

• Target spaces with resources

Do you work for an AI company? You’re in luck — there’s an abundance of growing creators targeting the AI space. As a larger B2B company, there are also many opportunities to work with credible B2B thought leaders.

• Connect with decision makers

To convince your C-Suite of the power of creator marketing, pitch some famous creators that they already admire. CEOs and CFOs often respond positively when they see external validation of their brand.

Key Takeaways

1. Embrace AI for efficiency: Leverage AI tools like Claude to automate tasks, streamline content creation, and enhance marketing strategies, positioning your brand at the forefront of innovation.
2. Harness the power of B2B creators: Niche audiences are becoming increasingly valuable. Use creators to boost engagement and visibility, focusing on authentic brand perception rather than just performance metrics.
3. Connect with the right people to each other: Build relationships with creators who resonate with your brand and pitch them to your decision-makers. This can drive home the value of creator marketing and gain buy-in from your C-Suite.

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