LU 385: How Smartsheet Built a $270M Revenue Machine Using Creative Marketing with CMO Anna Griffin (Podcast)

The more agile companies can be in the current volatile landscape, the better. Smartsheet is a collaboration software platform that helps companies optimize functionality and one of the things that makes it different is that it is not purpose-built. With 2572 documented use cases to date, Smartsheet possesses the kind of wide applicability that companies need to stay light-footed enough to keep up, and all without having to write a line of code! Today we have its CMO, Anna Griffin, join us on the show to talk more about how the software works as well as speak to the things that make her tick and how she got to be where she is today. Anna gets into her journey into the B2B space and what feeds into her out of the box approach to marketing. We turn our attention to Smartsheet next and hear from Anna about the platform’s fluidity and how they approach marketing it when the product does so many different things. She makes a case for how well the software lends itself to bottom-up adoption, and then we hear a few metrics that prove many larger firms are taking to it in a top-down way too. Anna gets into some of her unusual strategies for winning over these big enterprise clients next, and from there we dive a bit more into the places she finds her inspiration. For all this and more from a unique CMO with a flair for marketing and an equally outstanding product that is here to stay, be sure to tune in!

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:21] Before we jump into today’s interview, please rate, review, and subscribe to the Leveling Up Podcast!
• [00:50] How Anna arrived in the B2B space bringing an emotional approach to marketing.
• [02:20] The range of uses for Smartsheet – its agility – and why this means they need a CMO.
• [04:57] Competitors of Smartsheet like AirTable that give an idea of what the platform does.
• [05:36] How Smartsheet makes money and spreads due to its wide applicability.
• [07:48] That Smartsheet is built for scale and is adopted in bottom-up and top-down ways.
• [09:05] How valuable such a flexible product like Smartsheet is in an agile environment.
• [09:38] Metrics that show how Smartsheet is attacking top-down marketing.
• [10:27] How Smartsheet markets itself when it’s capabilities are so wide.
• [11:44] The success of community and traditional marketing for Smartsheet.
• [13:30] Anna’s mashup mindset: How she combines pep talks and more into marketing.
• [15:35] Where Anna gets her inspiration, from country music to her favorite books.
• [16:53] The ‘Uberization’ of customer service that has upped customer expectations.
• [17:26] Anna’s favorite business tool and some of the podcasts she listens to regularly.
• [19:05] Why Anna’s favorite business book is Pretty Good Advice.

Resources From The Interview:

• Anna Griffin on LinkedIn
• Smartsheet
• NoCode
• AirTable
• Microsoft
• Google
• Monday
• Asana
• Apple
• Steve Wozniak
• Wall Street Journal
• The Last Dance
• Jeff Rosenblum
• Uber
• Instagram
• OZY
• Shelley Zalis on Twitter
• The Female Quotient
• Leslie Blodgett on Instagram
• Bare Escentuals
• Must read book: The Great Gatsby, Friction, Pretty Good Advice

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