Lead Generation to Unlock Data’s Potential | Doug Kimball from OntoText

Ernesto Quezada: Pathmonk is the intelligent tool for website lead generation. With increasing online competition, over 98% of website visitors don’t convert. The ability to successfully show your value proposition and support visitors in their buying journey separates you from the competition online. Pathmonk qualifies and converts leads on your website by figuring out where they are in the buying journey and influencing them in key decision moments. With relevant micro-experiences like case studies, intro videos, and much more, stay relevant to your visitors and increase conversions by 50%. Add Pathmonk to your website in seconds. Let the AI do all the work and get access to 50% more qualified leads while you keep doing marketing and sales as usual. Check us on pathmonk.com. Welcome to today’s episode. Let’s talk about today’s guest. We have Doug from On The Text, CMO with them. How are you doing today, Doug?

Doug Kimball: I’m doing fantastic, thank you.

Ernesto: Great to have you on. I’m sure our listeners are tuning in wondering what On The Text is all about. So, in your own words, Doug, can you tell us a little bit more?

Doug: I’ll try to break it down. We are a semantic knowledge graph company, and I probably lost people in the first two seconds of that, so I’ll make it a bit more interesting. If you look at any kind of search engines out there, like Google, LinkedIn, or IMDb, they use what’s called graph technology behind that. To take it even a step further, what we’re truly all about is helping businesses connect the dots of their data. Think about all the different pieces of information out there—all the dots, all the data bits. How do you bring those together, understand them, and find insights in the data across an enterprise organization? That’s fundamentally what we do with a very powerful knowledge graph database that allows people to make connections and relationships between their data.

Ernesto: All right, awesome. Great. So that way, our listeners who are tuning in could get a good understanding of On The Text. What would you say is the key problem that you solve for clients?

Doug: The key problem we solve is bringing together all the different data they have. There’s structured data and unstructured data. Unstructured data includes PDFs, documents, videos, and files. Companies trying to understand the answers to their questions—often complex, multi-parameter questions—use our technology to make those connections and drive deeper interactions. We go beyond relational databases of tables and rows, helping identify connections in the data that aren’t immediately obvious. Complex data answers are what we help uncover.

Ernesto: All right, awesome to hear that. So then, who would be your ideal customer profile? Is there a vertical or segment niche that you focus on?

Doug: Life sciences, healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, retail, and automotive are big for us. Four of the top ten automotive companies use our GraphDB product for research and development. Life sciences companies use it to bring drugs to market ten times faster. Financial services use it for fraud detection and analysis. Essentially, anyone with data challenges—regardless of format or storage—can benefit from our solutions.

Ernesto: Definitely. How would someone typically find out about you? What would you say is a top client acquisition channel for On The Text?

Doug: We’ve struggled with awareness. Interestingly, our product, GraphDB, is often more well-known than our company name. Our website is our biggest conversion tool. Social media has also been significant—we’ve increased our LinkedIn followers by 3,500 in just over a year, leading to more engagement and conversions. We also focus on outbound marketing, events, webinars, podcasts, and similar activities to raise awareness and generate leads.

Ernesto: Great to hear. For our listeners, you can check them out at onthetext.com. What role does the website play in client acquisition?

Doug: Education is key. Whether someone is new to the concept of knowledge graphs or wants in-depth technical details, our website serves as a resource. It provides case studies, white papers, videos, infographics, and more to guide visitors through their journey of learning and exploration.

Ernesto: Definitely. Is there any tool, tip, or method you would recommend to our listeners for lead generation?

Doug: Keep it simple. Don’t impress people with a flashy website; impress them by making it easy to find answers. If visitors can’t quickly navigate your site and access relevant information, they’ll leave. Focus on guiding them through a seamless journey from interest to conversion.

Ernesto: Great advice. Let’s switch gears and talk about you as a leader. As the CMO at On The Text, what are some key tasks you focus on daily?

Doug: My primary goal is to remove obstacles for my team. Whether it’s solving small problems or addressing larger strategic challenges, my focus is on enabling them to succeed. I bring strategy and vision to the table, support cross-functional collaboration, and mentor the team. I’m also hands-on, drawing on my product marketing experience to contribute directly when needed.

Ernesto: Great insights, Doug. Let’s jump into our rapid-fire questions. Are you ready?

Doug: I’ll try.

Ernesto: What’s the last book you read?

Doug: Secrets of Influence by Matt Brown. It’s about understanding how to influence people in an organization and manage time effectively.

Ernesto: Great read. What’s one thing your company is focused on the most right now?

Doug: Awareness and lead generation. They’re tightly coupled—awareness drives leads.

Ernesto: If there were no boundaries in technology, what’s one thing you’d fix in your role as a marketer?

Doug: Highly personalized website experiences. Imagine a website that greets you by name, knows your interests, and serves you tailored content instantly.

Ernesto: If you could automate one repetitive task, what would it be?

Doug: Filtering out irrelevant and inaccurate sales pitches in my inbox.

Ernesto: Lastly, what advice would you give yourself if you were to restart your marketing journey today?

Doug: Get more training early on. While I’ve learned a lot on the job, formal training would have helped me understand inbound marketing and other processes more quickly.

Ernesto: Great advice, Doug. Thanks so much for being on the show. If someone forgets everything about the interview, what’s the one thing they should remember about On The Text?

Doug: We connect the dots of your data so you get better insights.

Ernesto: There you have it! Listeners, you can check them out at onthetext.com. Maximize the value of your data. Doug, thank you so much for joining us. To our listeners, thank you for tuning in. See you in the next episode of Pathmonk Presents.

Doug: Thank you.