Mastering Email Marketing for SMBs | Geoffrey Blanc from Cyberimpact

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 Geoffrey from Cyber Impact, general manager with them. How are you doing today, Geoffrey?

Geoffrey Blanc: I’m doing great. What about you?

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

Geoffrey: Yeah, sure. Cyber Impact is a Canadian email marketing platform, basically tailored for small and medium businesses, nonprofit organizations, and government entities. We offer a user-friendly interface that helps businesses manage and automate their email marketing efforts. From simple newsletters to marketing automation, our strength lies in compliance, especially here in Canada with CASL, the Canadian anti-spam legislation. We also have other laws here, like Law 25, focusing more on security and privacy as well. So that’s what summarizes the Cyber Impact platform, definitely.

Ernesto: Okay, awesome. Great to hear that. And so that way our listeners could get a good understanding of your company, Geoffrey, what would you say is the key problem you guys like to solve for clients?

Geoffrey: The key problem is, well, it’s not a key problem. We’re trying to make email marketing easier, very simple to use, at the right price as well. Like I said, it’s for small and medium businesses, nonprofit organizations, or government entities. We want to provide a product that is strongly aligned with Canadian laws and very easy to use.

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

Geoffrey: Not really, but we’re more focused on SMBs, small and medium companies, nonprofits, and government. We’re starting to become very strong mainly because they have more restrictions in terms of security and privacy. So that’s what we’re focusing on. It’s a great target for us. We don’t go into e-commerce or websites. That’s not our strength. We always make sure that we’re fully transparent about that. We focus more on companies that want to have more standard newsletters but also want to implement marketing automation. There are also domains where we are stronger, like the hospitality domain, because we can connect to different third-party solutions, PMs, ERPs. So those are some verticals that we are good at.

Ernesto: Okay, awesome. Great. Thank you so much for sharing that. How would somebody find out about Cyber Impact? Is there a top client acquisition channel for you guys?

Geoffrey: It’s slowly shifting. There’s, of course, our website, so we put a lot of effort into our SEO and do a bit of AdWords as well. Apart from that, our product is freemium, so that brings in different clients because they can try the platform and play with it without any restrictions. That’s a great tool for acquisition. We’re also doing outreach, contacting companies directly that we think might be a good fit. We do a lot of demos. We have a strong affiliate program, not your standard affiliate program using PartnerStack or anything like that. It’s built in-house. We target marketing agencies, communication agencies, offering our product either as a white-label solution or as a reseller solution. It’s getting more traction, so that’s a great acquisition channel. We’re starting to do more in-person discussions, going to different events. Next year, I’ll be traveling across Canada to be part of different events and reach more people. So in-person events and one-on-one is also a great acquisition channel or just to get the brand more exposure.

Ernesto: I definitely agree. Those events took a dip during the pandemic and afterward, but they’re coming back strong. Good to hear that from you, Geoffrey. And so that our listeners who are tuned in can visit you, they can check you out at cyberimpact.com. What role does the website play for client acquisition?

Geoffrey: Obviously, we’re a SaaS business. The role of the website is super important because we’re more of a PLG system, where the growth of the company is led by the product. We have a freemium version, so people can try it, upsell themselves, and get going with the platform. But with the growth we’re trying to achieve, there’s also an SLG play where we’re involving more sales. We’re doing the affiliate channel, outbound communication, and one-on-one discussions. We do more sales demos. Our website also plays a strong role in SEO. We have a strong blog with a lot of useful content, a robust FAQ section, and detailed documentation for every feature. This helps add to our credibility and enforce the product and company brand. One challenge is working in both languages since we’re based in Quebec, a bilingual province. Everything has to be in French and English, adding a lot of work and sometimes slowing us down compared to other products. But we focus on those two languages.

Ernesto: Okay, perfect. Thank you so much for sharing that. On that note, is there any tool or method you would recommend to our listeners for website lead generation?

Geoffrey: The only thing I could recommend, especially if you’re into PLG, is to simplify the onboarding process. It’s super important. Make sure it’s very easy to set up either a freemium or SLG mode. Add a human touch to your process. We have a chat system with real people answering questions, not AI-first answers. When you open the chat, you talk to someone right away. It makes a lot of difference to the company, product, and brand. It costs more and adds staffing, but having that human touch makes a huge difference in the sales or onboarding process.

Ernesto: Thanks so much for sharing those tips. Geoffrey, let’s switch gears a little bit and talk about you as a leader at Cyber Impact. What are some key tasks you focus on in your day-to-day work?

Geoffrey: On a day-to-day basis, since we’re in super aggressive growth mode, I’m really focused on client acquisition, looking for new ways to acquire new clients and ensure good client retention. I’m always looking for new affiliates, talking to different marketing or communication agencies, and focusing on brand awareness. I also keep an eye on the competition, looking into what they are doing and any new releases. This helps me strategize and make sure I’m aligned with the vision. It’s part of my day and helps me take the right decisions.

Ernesto: Sounds like you have a full plate. In between those times, how do you stay up to date on your marketing news, strategies, and trends? Is there a preferred channel you like to go with?

Geoffrey: I always have my LinkedIn open. I follow a lot of people and businesses, and LinkedIn provides the information I need. I also subscribe to a lot of newsletters. It’s a great way to get informed without looking into different websites. I appreciate getting information directly in my mailbox because my days are pretty stacked with tasks. At night or early in the morning, I take the time to look at different newsletters. I also read local and non-local business blogs and listen to different podcasts. The one I always listen to is the Digital Marketing Podcast on Spotify. I’ll start listening to Pathmonk more and more for sure. When a subject is interesting, I try to take that 25-30 minutes to grab the information.

Ernesto: Great. Thank you so much for that. Let’s switch to our next section, Geoffrey, which is our rapid-fire question round. Are you ready?

Geoffrey: Yeah, sure. Awesome.

Ernesto: First off, what is the last book that you read?

Geoffrey: To be honest, I don’t remember the last book, but the last book I read was for my PMP certification. My background is in project management, which is strongly related to being a general manager. I really like the PMBOK. It’s not a fun book to read, but the information is in there, especially the data related to the different project management processes and knowledge areas. It’s related to any level in the company or any department. We’re always doing project management in a way, and that book has the basics.

Ernesto: Great read. Next, what is one single thing that Cyber Impact is focused on the most?

Geoffrey: We’re focused on growth and client acquisition. We’re also focused on the product roadmap, making sure we have nice and cool features but stay very simple to use. We want to make sure the features we have are being used by our users. We’re also working on security and privacy, making it a priority on a daily basis.

Ernesto: If there were no boundaries in technology, what would be the one thing you want to fix for your role as a marketer today?

Geoffrey: No boundaries? I’d like the integration of ChatGPT or any AI into my life. I’d like a great speech-to-text system. I’m always writing, and sometimes it’s very repetitive. A speech-to-text system that makes suggestions would be great. I know something like that exists or is coming to the market, but I’d like to integrate that into my life.

Ernesto: Perfect. If there’s one repetitive task that you could automate, what would that be?

Geoffrey: Sending emails, writing emails. It’s a killer. I spend too much time on that. If I could have a speech-to-text system that works well, that would be great. I wouldn’t have to spend so much time writing emails or on LinkedIn. It would save a lot of time during my workweek.

Ernesto: I think we’re reaching that point with all these LLMs coming out. We’ll see what the future holds for emails. Lastly, you have a lot of experience, but what is one piece of advice you would give yourself if you were to restart your journey as a marketer today?

Geoffrey: Don’t be afraid of competition. Compare yourself to the competition and make your place. I’ve restrained myself too many times, thinking I wasn’t ready or the competition was better. There’s always a way to find an edge. Present yourself, find a feature that someone doesn’t have, and brand yourself. Go out there, even if you make mistakes or have ups and downs. Make sure you’re up against the competition and promoting yourself as much as you can.

Ernesto: Great advice. Thanks so much for being on the show with us today. I want to give you the last word. If someone forgets everything about the interview today, what is the one thing they should remember about Cyber Impact?

Geoffrey: We are the best Canadian email marketing platform on the market right now. Just give it a try, and you’ll see that we are different, simple to use, and have all the features you need.

Ernesto: Thank you so much for being on. To our listeners, thank you for tuning in. I’m looking forward to our next episode at Pathmonk Presents. Thanks a lot, Geoffrey.

Geoffrey: All right, thank you very much. Have a wonderful day.