The Hobbit: B2B Marketing Lessons from Middle Earth with ChurnZero CMO Hunter Montgomery

If you don’t have a map, you’re lost. How do you know where you’re going or even what the next step is? 

This is true whether you’re navigating Middle Earth or content creation. We’re here to help you get oriented.

In this episode, we’re taking marketing lessons from The Hobbit with the help of our special guest, CMO at ChurnZero, Hunter Montgomery.

Together, we talk about drawing a map, finding a mentor who will push you out of your comfort zone, blocking and tackling, and getting your partners to tell your story.

About our guest, Hunter Montgomery

Hunter Montgomery is Chief Marketing Officer at ChurnZero, customer success platform providers. Hunter is a results-driven marketing professional with more than 25 years experience developing, executing and measuring global sales and marketing strategies and campaigns. He has held executive and upper management roles at Higher Logic, Vocus (now Cision), and Verizon. 

What B2B Companies Can Learn From The Hobbit:

• Draw a map. Have a plan for your content from creation to promotion, reuse, repurposing and beyond. Hunter says, “You can't just start out thinking, ‘Well, I'm here and I want to get there. I'll figure it out along the way.’ You gotta have a plan. You have a map. You will get things thrown at you and so know it's going to change a little bit along the way. But you just can't say, ‘Well, I'll know when I get there.’ That doesn't really work.” The Hobbit starts with a map. And just like how the reader can find their bearings throughout the story by revisiting the map, a content map or plan is useful for marketers too. The map gives you your foundation to be prepared and guide you along the way. And it’s also super satisfying to look back at your map and see how far you’ve come.
• Find a mentor who will push you out of your comfort zone. This is undoubtedly Gandalf. Because hobbits are creatures of comfort, it’s Gandalf who gives Bilbo the push to go on an adventure. So find your Gandalf. Ian says, “It doesn't actually have to be someone you know. It could be someone you listen to on a podcast. It could be someone who is out in the culture, who you follow on Twitter, or it could be someone that you know personally.” He says, “Gandalf is the one who recognizes with Bilbo, ‘I think there's something unique about you, and I think that you need this push.’ And it's just special. It's one of the great things about this story, is that Gandalf believes that Bilbo can do it.”
• Block and tackle. Hunter says, “Sometimes you just got to get the basic stuff done every day, little by little. Two months, three months, six months, a year later, you're where you needed to be. And I think people sometimes just track it out. They want the big and the brash. You gotta go big sometimes. You gotta take big risks and be creative. And I totally believe you have to do that. And when people zig, you gotta zag.  But a lot of other times, you just gotta get it done. And so I think Bilbo was the one who did that.”
• Partner up. Don’t be the one telling your audience how great you are. Find partners who will do that for you. It builds credibility and trust. Hunter says, “It could be vendors, could be thought leaders, bringing them in. Have them talk, have them validate customers. Customers are great for content. We have a community, so you hear from them on that, but don't be the source. Just try to find other places, other people to tell your story, because they can do it better. And they’re more legitimate in the eyes of the buyer in many ways.”

Quotes

*”Finding people to collaborate, there's co-marketing, there's co-creating. Co-creating content with your ideal customers or prospects is so important. Cause we always try to figure out like, ‘What do they want to hear? Why don't we just go make it with them?’” - Ian Faison

*”The content needs to match the journey. Customer journey mapping is one way of doing it. But I think that that can be too specific to your actual exact journey of your customers. And I think you need to sometimes pull back from that and have a bigger picture. Have a map, but don't let it restrict what you do.” - Hunter Montgomery

*”People are pretty poor at telling their own stories. But if you ask enough questions to get the right answers and dig in there, then you can really find those pearls of wisdom and put that stuff together in a really meaningful, digestible format.” - Ian Faison

*”Just go after something. Take a leap of faith in something that you feel strongly is going to work. - Hunter Montgomery

Time Stamps

[0:55] Meet Hunter Montgomery, CMO at ChurnZero

[1:32] Hunter Montgomery's Hobbit-Inspired Marketing Insights

[3:33] The Hobbit's Origin Story: From Bedtime Tales to Global Phenomenon

[8:50] Marketing Lessons from Middle Earth

[15:57] The Power of Maps in Storytelling and Marketing

[21:49] Exploring Bilbo's Unassuming Heroism

[22:48] Marketing Lessons from Gandalf's Mentorship

[24:18] B2B Marketing Insights and Strategies

[27:00] Leveraging Content and Partnerships in Marketing

[31:47] Evolving Event Strategies and Content Creation

[35:20] Navigating the Tech Stack and Data Integration

[38:52] Strategic Content Planning and Execution

Links

Read The Hobbit

Connect with Hunter on LinkedIn

Learn more about ChurnZero

About Remarkable!

Remarkable! is created by the team at Caspian Studios, the premier B2B Podcast-as-a-Service company. Caspian creates both nonfiction and fiction series for B2B companies. If you want a fiction series check out our new offering - The Business Thriller - Hollywood style storytelling for B2B. Learn more at CaspianStudios.com. 

In today’s episode, you heard from Ian Faison (CEO of Caspian Studios) and Meredith Gooderham (Senior Producer). Remarkable was produced this week by Meredith Gooderham, mixed by Scott Goodrich, and our theme song is “Solomon” by FALAK. 

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