Nicole Wojno-Smith confronts the role of brand in the modern customer journey

Radically Transparent Published: March 17, 2022
Nicole Wojno-Smith confronts the role of brand in the modern customer journey

VP Marketing Nicole Wojno-Smith of Tackle.io talks through the modern B2B customer journey.

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Episode summary

The B2B customer journey has changed—far from the linear funnel most of us love to draw. Today, customers are taking charge and leading the sales process. They’re savvy, sophisticated, and they don’t want to be advertised to. They don’t want to hear from brands they’ve never heard of and haven’t been recommended by their peers. So how can we reach them?

In this episode, featured guest, Nicole Wojno Smith VP Marketing of Tackle.io, and host, Jennifer Gutman of Oktopost, talk through the challenges of B2B marketing in a modern customer journey that isn’t always measurable. With the rise of the dark funnel, and the increasing reliance of customers on their peers to make purchase decisions, it becomes harder to measure and replicate success.

Hot topics of this episode:

  • The dark funnel, or dark social, and how the sales funnel is changing.
  • How to adapt marketing initiatives to influence a customer journey that’s becoming less and less measurable.
  • Where word-of-mouth and branded marketing fits into the modern customer journey.

Meet Nicole

Nicole Wojno Smith is the VP of Marketing at Tackle.io, a cloud marketplace platform that empowers companies to list and sell products, manage their inventory and listings, and track their sales and revenue with ease. Nicole’s career took off from the agency world, where she started in PR and focused on healthcare IT.

She then shifted in-house to focus on building marketing teams from the ground up. Today, she leads her marketing team at Tackle.io to equip sellers with the ability to drive revenue on the world’s most popular marketplaces—and manage it all in minutes!

Known for scaling small marketing teams and building effective GTM programs, Nicole has founded and leads the Atlanta chapter of Pavilion, a community of business leaders focused on helping each other grow.

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Radically Transparent is a podcast geared towards the modern-day B2B marketer. Host Jennifer Gutman and her guests are a mixture of renowned marketing and sales leaders from B2B marketing organizations around the globe.

Each episode shines a light on the inner workings of B2B leadership– including what keeps successful CEOs, CMOs, VPs, and social media teams up at night, professionally. The conversations are real, raw, and authentic, all while revealing to listeners the unfiltered, not-so-known truths of today’s most interesting marketers.

Quickly becoming one of Oktopost’s most popular original podcast shows on the internet, new episodes air every Thursday on Radically Transparent, a podcast channel, built for marketers, by marketers.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How has the B2B customer journey fundamentally changed in today's market?

The B2B customer journey has evolved from a linear funnel to a more complex, customer-led process. Modern B2B buyers are sophisticated and proactive, preferring to conduct their own research, gather peer recommendations, and actively avoid traditional advertising, making the path to purchase less predictable and harder to measure directly.

What is the 'dark funnel' in B2B marketing, and why is it a challenge for marketers?

The 'dark funnel' refers to the unmeasurable interactions and informal discussions B2B buyers have outside of traceable marketing channels. This includes conversations on private social media groups, Slack communities, podcasts, and direct peer recommendations, making it difficult for marketers to attribute success and understand the full scope of influence on purchase decisions.

How can B2B marketers effectively measure and influence outcomes when the customer journey is less measurable?

While direct attribution in the dark funnel is challenging, B2B marketers can influence outcomes by focusing on brand building, fostering strong communities, and generating authentic word-of-mouth. Strategies include creating valuable, non-promotional content, encouraging advocacy, and investing in channels where peer discussions naturally occur to build trust and familiarity long before a buyer engages directly.

Why are peer recommendations and word-of-mouth critical for B2B buying decisions today?

Peer recommendations and word-of-mouth are paramount because modern B2B buyers prioritize trusted sources over brand advertising. They are highly skeptical of direct sales pitches and prefer validated experiences from their network or industry peers. A strong reputation built on authentic advocacy significantly influences their research and ultimate purchasing choices.

What role does brand play in reaching and influencing B2B customers operating within the dark funnel?

In a dark funnel environment, a strong brand acts as a foundational element of trust and recognition. While direct engagement might not be immediate, a well-established brand ensures that when a customer encounters your company through a peer recommendation or informal channel, there's an existing level of credibility and familiarity, making them more receptive to exploring further.

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