Streamlining Marketing-IT Dynamics for Content Management | Jeff Brokaw from BILDIT

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. 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 Jeff from BILDIT, CMO with them. How are you doing today, Jeff?

Jeff Brokaw: I’m doing great. How are you doing today?

Ernesto: I’m doing great. Thank you so much for asking. And, well, Jeff, I’m sure our listeners are tuning in, wondering what BILDIT is all about. So let’s kick it off with that. Jeff, in your own words, tell us a little bit more.

Jeff: Yeah, absolutely. BILDIT is a headless CMS (Content Management System) for web and mobile apps. In layman’s terms, we empower marketing teams to do app updates, promotions, sales, and push notifications without the reliance on IT. Our target customers are usually larger retail brands doing about $20 million and up in revenue that don’t want to have to wait on their IT teams to push out sales, promotions, and updates.

Ernesto: Okay, interesting. And so that way, our listeners could get a good understanding of your company. What would you say is the key problem that you like to help your clients with?

Jeff: Yeah, so our key problem is the reliance on IT teams. A lot of these companies—I’ll throw out one of our larger clients, Belk, who’s a $4 billion-a-year company in retail—used to have their marketing team send emails to their IT team saying, “This is going on sale Friday to Sunday.” Then at this time, they’d send an email saying, “You need to do a push notification.” And on Sunday at 9 p.m., “We need to remove the banner off the website and the mobile app.” Obviously, the IT teams hate that. The developers don’t like it, and the marketing teams don’t like being constrained and having to bug them. With our headless, no-code content management system, we bypass their need for simple updates like that so marketers can focus on what they do and generate more revenue.

Ernesto: Okay, awesome. So then, is there a certain vertical segment that you guys like to go with, or is there an ideal ICP for BILDIT?

Jeff: Yeah, so right now, our core focus—and we are expanding into a few new markets—has been large e-commerce retailers. I know you’re down in Mexico, so El Palacio, for example. They’re essentially like a Nordstrom, a high-end luxury retailer. They partnered with us about six or seven months ago. They had no mobile apps. Since partnering with us, they’ve exceeded $30–$35 million in revenue. So, yeah, large retailers. We’re also starting to do some initiatives with hotels for mobile checkouts and room service to help them generate recurring customers.

Ernesto: Definitely. I think the hotels would be really nice. There are a couple of times where you want something done easily, right? Instead of calling, if it’s just on a mobile app, that would be awesome to have for sure. Awesome. And so, how would somebody usually find out about BILDIT? Is there a top client acquisition channel for you guys?

Jeff: Yeah, so right now, I was just brought on as the CMO a little over a month ago. BILDIT was doing no outbound marketing; it was all word of mouth. We have about 11 customers now, and over half of them are doing over a billion dollars a year in revenue. So, we were getting word of mouth that way and really testing out the product, which has been in development for about six years. We’re currently raising a round of funding, which should close in the next three to four weeks, to push all our efforts toward marketing. We’ll be doing about a 50/50 split of inbound and outbound.

Ernesto: Okay, interesting. So, that way, our listeners could get a good overview of you guys. They can always check you out at buildit.co. What role does the website play for client acquisition then?

Jeff: A website is your business card. Nobody’s going to take a phone call with you or even consider your company without going there and getting more product details. What a lot of companies are doing really well—and one of our main initiatives—is creating very targeted landing pages for each vertical and each customer. For example, someone from a retail store won’t care about what we can do for hotels, and vice versa. Getting that message across so it feels like you’re speaking directly to that client is super important through PPC ads, SEO initiatives, etc.

Ernesto: Awesome. Great to hear that. Are there any tools or tips that you would recommend to our listeners for website lead generation?

Jeff: There are so many tools out there. For example, we look at big companies like Salesforce Commerce Cloud, which has likely spent hundreds of millions of dollars on marketing. I use SpyFu to look at historical keyword research and PPC ads. If they’ve been running the same campaign for 6–18 months, it’s likely working. If they’ve stopped one after 30–60 days, it probably wasn’t. There’s a lot of information and tools like Wayback Machine to get an outline of what has worked and what hasn’t in your market.

Ernesto: Okay, interesting. Thank you so much for that input for our listeners. And, well, let’s switch gears a little bit and talk about you as a leader. What are some key tasks you like to focus on in your day-to-day work there at BILDIT?

Jeff: As I mentioned, I’m only about a month into this role. I’ve been friends with the CEO for about seven years, so it’s really about outlining priorities. I view this as more of a startup, even though we are an established brand bringing in good revenue. Since marketing efforts are new to us, my focus has been on getting our brand messaging solidified. Before you have your messaging intact, you can’t build upon it. From there, it’s keyword research, building out landing pages for different verticals, and creating variations. My goal is to have around 200 variations of landing pages in the next six months. We’ll A/B test, see what works, scale up what’s working well, and cut back or eliminate what’s not. I’m a big data nerd, so I keep a close eye on key metrics and analytics. It’s about constantly evolving and never sitting still.

Ernesto: Yep, I totally agree with you. In marketing, the moment you think you’ve cracked it, everything changes the next day. It’s a constant evolution. So, how do you like to stay up to date with all the news, trends, and strategies in the marketing world? Is there a preferred channel you go with?

Jeff: LinkedIn is a big one for me. I also love mastermind groups. In fact, after this, I’m meeting with a group of marketers flying into Charlotte, North Carolina, including some AI leaders. Networking at in-person events is a big one for me. For day-to-day, I follow thought leaders on LinkedIn and constantly read new books. Right now, I’m re-reading Crossing the Chasm, which is more than 20 years old but still incredibly relevant. It’s about constantly learning and talking to others.

Ernesto: Great to hear that. And, well, let’s jump into our next section here, which is our rapid-fire question round. Are you ready for it?

Jeff: I am.

Ernesto: All right, first off, what is the last book that you read?

Jeff: The last book I completed was The SaaS Marketing Playbook. It’s a great resource for anyone in this space.

Ernesto: Awesome. Next up, if there were no boundaries in technology, what’s the one thing you’d want to have fixed for your role as a marketer today?

Jeff: I think the future is in AI, and we’re just scratching the surface. If there’s one tool I could rely on, it would be AI to streamline processes. We’re actively working on AI initiatives with our engineers, and I think 10 years from now, we’ll look back and realize how far we’ve come.

Ernesto: Definitely interesting. Next, if there’s one repetitive task you could automate, what would it be?

Jeff: Intro calls. Sometimes, repeating the same questions multiple times a day can feel robotic. If there were a way to automate the first five minutes of those calls—maybe with a deepfake of myself—that would be amazing!

Ernesto: That’s a unique one! And lastly, Jeff, you have a lot of experience in marketing. What’s one piece of advice you’d give yourself if you were to restart your journey as a marketer today?

Jeff: My advice would be to start attending in-person networking events much earlier. For years, I relied on digital communication, but once I started meeting people face-to-face, my career really took off. There’s nothing like shaking hands and building relationships in person. Also, growing a distinctive beard helped—it made me memorable at events!

Ernesto: Great advice! Networking really does make a difference. And, well, we’re coming to the end of the show here, Jeff. But before we wrap up, I want to give you the last word. If someone forgets everything about this interview, what’s the one thing they should remember about BILDIT?

Jeff: The one thing to remember is that BILDIT eliminates the reliance between marketing and IT. Marketers already have enough on their plates, and our tool ensures they can focus on what they do best without unnecessary hurdles.

Ernesto: Awesome to hear that. To our listeners, you can always check them out at buildit.co. Jeff, thank you so much for joining us on today’s episode. And to our listeners, thank you for tuning in. I’m looking forward to our next episode of Pathmonk Presents. Thanks a lot, Jeff!

Jeff: Thank you!