For Iterable, 2021 was a year of progress, change, and celebration; progress in advancing the Iterable platform to meet the evolving needs of our customer, change in our way of work and collaboration, and celebration in the growth of our company and the successes of our customers.
Platforms like Zoom, Slack, Miro, Workboard, and more have enabled our continued collaboration, keeping us close while remote. And for our customers—the brands and businesses leading the charge on customer connection—our platform made the transition from in-person to online not only feasible, but profitable.
As we close the door on 2021, many are wondering what the new year will hold. While we don’t know what apps or acronyms will dominate the industry this year, what we do know is that we’re ready for whatever comes our way. Here to help the Iterable Community take advantage of the opportunities that 2022 presents is a new member of the Iterable team: Adriana Gil Miner, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).
A marketing executive with over 20+ years of industry leadership experience, Adriana (“Adri”) has made a career in communicating and connecting. There’s no one better suited to tell us more about Adri’s journey to Iterable, and her plans for our team and our Community, than the Chief Storyteller herself.
Read on to learn more about Iterable’s new CMO:
Tell us about yourself!
I am from Venezuela and came to the United States in ‘99 pursuing a dream to become a global citizen. New York was the perfect melting pot to meet the world in one place.
I am the daughter of an Argentinian immigrant and grew up in an Argentinian culture bubble inside Venezuela so I always felt a little bit of an outsider, even in my own country. That feeling gave me the ability to be an observer of human culture and behavior and it attracted me to writing and storytelling from an early age.
I also had the good fortune to grow up in a very ‘techie’ family—both my parents were engineers. My mother was a CIO so I had exposure to a lot of advanced technology in my household. I remember when email was starting out and my parents had access to it because they had been university professors. The first time I saw the internet (text based then) I felt the world would completely change because of it and I wanted to be part of it.
Little did I know that combining my love for technology and storytelling were going to be the defining skill of my professional career. I started out doing data analysis (aka copy and pasting numbers into a spreadsheet and creating reports) and I realized that data was a proxy for human behavior. There were stories hiding in that data that I could make shine and base strategies from them. That took me to working in one of the world’s best brands, American Express, where I learned the power of a truly customer service oriented organization.
Then, I jumped into PR at Weber Shandwick, one of the best firms in the world, where I got started with Tableau as a client. They were a tiny startup then but from the get-go, I knew Tableau would change the world so I joined them and experienced an amazing growth ride with them. So here I am, still doing the same thing I started out with: data and stories.
How has the marketing landscape evolved since you started your career?
Over the past few decades, community and storytelling have found their footing in marketing. Businesses that are successful in building connections yield higher LTV and higher revenue than their peers and competitors. The value of community and connection has been especially explicit during the COVID-19 pandemic, as digital communities and online conversations were, for some, the only form of human interaction.
At the same time, consumer values evolved, and their expectations shifted; consumers prefer to shop with brands they feel emotionally connected with, bringing the power of storytelling to the forefront of brand marketing mantras. What draws people (or brands and consumers) together better than a shared experience and a great story?
Suffice it to say, marketplace power dynamics have completely shifted, technology is an equalizer among brands. With technology, the entire supply chain has been disrupted and you have thousands of direct-to-consumer brands that are able to build deep connections with their customers and rival the big established brands. A string of factors—like consumers’ growing willingness to try new products and services, digital transformation, and fresh consumer demands on experience and privacy—have prompted the shift in scales. Control traditionally held by companies and corporations has started to transition to the hands of the very people those organizations serve. This is the age of the customer.
And I’m loving it. It’s what led me to Iterable.
Why Iterable?
Iterable was founded on a single vision: to help brands—no matter their size, or the circumstance—connect customers with experiences that bring them joy. They deliver on this vision every day by equipping some of the most innovative companies around the globe with the tools they need to establish deep, meaningful, and profitable connections. Iterable levels the playing field for brands and marketers by empowering teams and companies of all sizes with the tools they need to power conversations and connections.
When I was first introduced to Iterable, I reached out initially to its customers. Why? Because I, like our friends at Forrester, believe that companies should serve customers at a level that borders on obsession. This obsession isn’t an option. It’s a non-negotiable. I learned this reality quickly in the B2B space, where customer satisfaction underpins survival. As a marketer, I wanted to see how Iterable partners for growth—how they tangibly help their customer community.
My first Iterable customer conversation was with the marketing lead at Pacaso, a platform that makes it easier to buy, own and sell a shared second home in high-end vacation markets. Pacaso (launched in 2020) was looking for a partner that would help their company scale with speed and efficacy. Enter, Iterable, which helped support Pacaso’s incredible growth across more than 30 top second-home destinations around the world.
Another impactful discussion was with one of Iterable’s sustainable retail customers. The brand, interested in ramping up their cross-selling strategy, was initially searching for a platform that would provide access to critical customer insights. With Iterable, they gained access to so much more: access to customer intelligence as well as insights, the ability to intelligently segment and target key audiences, and, importantly, a partner to guide their strategic growth.
It became clear through these discussions that Iterable is not just enabling growth with its technology. We are partners in growth. We are in the trenches with our customers—sleeves rolled up and ready to help our community connect with their customers: consumers. Customer-obsession is a shared trait with this company.
That’s what makes Iterable unique. That’s what makes Iterable extraordinary.
What’s your vision for Iterable?
Having recently announced our surpassing the $100M Annual Recurring Revenue Milestone, and on the heels of a Series E funding celebration, our success is a proof-point of our continued disruption of the marketing technology industry. But what’s behind the revenue milestones is what matters most.
In the last six months alone, Iterable has been recognized as the Best SaaS Company to Work For and Brand Affinity was named Product of the Year by the Sammys. We’ve been ranked as a Top Company Where Women Want to Work, and recognized as the Best App Engagement Platform. Why bring up these awards and accolades? Because Iterable isn’t just leading the marketing technology industry, we’re leading the marketing industry and dominating the tech industry.
Our product and performance is excelling because we build an unparalleled culture of work—one that invests in inclusivity, celebrates diversity, and champions our workforce. Iterable is successful because our people are our priority. Profit and innovation? Byproducts of a thriving workforce.
Iterable wins in our space because we are innovative. We try new things. We fail fast. And, more than anything, we help our customers grow. As CMO, I have a chance to lead a team that is dedicated to creative problem-solving and customer success. I have the opportunity to serve and work with marketers, to help them navigate this new era of customer engagement catalyzed by the pandemic. We’ll work together to build deep customer connections that will sustain growth for their organizations in the short and long term.
How will you help Iterable get there?
When done correctly, marketing can be an accelerator for business growth, fueling holistic collaboration, creativity, and connection between teams, partners, customers, and competitors. My job—Chief Marketing Officer—is to fuel this acceleration by guiding our growth.
My first task? To break down all silos. They can’t exist. Not in your data. Not in your thinking. Not in your business knowledge. Not in your organization. Not in your marketing.
One of the most important skills to develop as a marketer is your ability to provide connected experiences. With COVID complicating things, it’s more crucial now than ever before. A connected experience for customers is a seamless experience. A great experience. And great experiences drive loyalty, retention, and revenue.
Much like the marketing channels need to be connected, so does your organization. You should actively be building relationships and rapport with actors in different departments—Operations, Strategic Services, Sales, and Finance. Understand what they do, and how it relates to your role. You can leverage this knowledge and familiarity to create connected experiences for all types of consumers, and more clearly define how your role contributes to the business as a whole.
Brand perception is everything in this economy. And it’s the CMO’s job—my job—to ensure that the perception is positive and unwavering.
New Year, New CMO
From customer expectations and brand-customer interactions, to the way we work and employee priorities—a lot has changed in the last year. Some of these changes will accelerate in 2022, presenting a challenge for brands and businesses to ramp up their investments to meet growing consumer expectations.The brands that succeed in this environment will be the ones that invest in the intangible—partnership.
We’re excited to add a CMO like Adri to our growing team. Adri will play a pivotal role in establishing a sense of unity and collaboration for the entire Iterable ecosystem. Her partnership will help power the growth of our customers, ensuring a successful new year and beyond.
Join Adri at Activate Virtual on Wednesday, April 6, where you’ll hear from industry leaders and expert marketers to see how your marketing moments can build a lasting impact!
