Mastering the Art of Purposeful Marketing | Tiffany Huard from Benevity

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. 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 out at pathmonk.com. Welcome to today’s episode. Let’s talk about today’s guest. We have Tiffany Huard from Benevity, senior demand generation manager with them. How are you doing today, Tiffany?

Tiffany Huard: I’m good, Ernesto. Thanks a lot for having me.

Ernesto: It’s great to have you on, and I’m sure our listeners are tuning in wondering what Benevity is all about. So, let’s kick it off with that. Tiffany, in your own words, can you tell us a little bit more?

Tiffany: Yeah, for sure. So at Benevity, essentially what we offer is a corporate purpose platform. So what do I actually mean by that? Benevity is really focused on employee engagement. So in essence, helping companies retain their talent by building a more engaged, more inclusive culture through things like employee giving and volunteering, as well as supporting affinity groups or employee resource groups. We’ve also been in the granting space for some time, helping organizations streamline their grant management processes and drive meaningful impact in the communities they invest in. So really, we’re all about doing good, which is a pretty great thing to be able to do.

Ernesto: Definitely. Awesome to hear that. So, for our listeners who are tuned in, what would you say are the key problems that you guys like to solve for clients?

Tiffany: The problems we’re solving depend on the product area, but we’re really trying to help social impact teams, along with granting teams, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging teams, run their various programs more efficiently and streamline a lot of the work they’re doing so they can focus more on high-level strategy instead of spending all their time on the manual execution of their programs. We also want to help clients leverage reporting that allows them to show the impact of their social impact program, the impact of their granting program to their internal and external stakeholders. So that’s, in a nutshell, what we’re trying to solve for.

Ernesto: Definitely. Great to hear that. Is there a certain vertical segment, or is there an ideal ICP for Benevity?

Tiffany: Honestly, we serve a pretty wide range of companies. Our client base is made up of over 900 brands, spanning across industries. You can think about anything from UPS to Levi’s to John Deere to Visa. It’s a broad range. Essentially, any organization that has a social impact program, wants to help their employees with giving and volunteering, has employee resource groups, or has a granting program, really anyone can fall into that.

Ernesto: That’s awesome to hear. You mentioned big companies like UPS, GE, Levi’s, John Deere. How would a company find out about you? Is there a top client acquisition channel for you guys?

Tiffany: I’ll speak specifically to the audience I focus on, which is the DEIB audience. I worked as the campaign manager for the launch of Benevity Affinity Groups, an employee resource group management platform. A big part of the launch was to connect with that DEIB audience, which was quite new for us at the time. The channels I’ve focused on, which have yielded success, especially in building a net new audience, have been paid social and sponsored events, primarily because of the ability to target well. Another channel I’ve leaned into is dark social channels, specifically around community. Part of the launch involved a sponsored webinar, and I noticed significant engagement in the chat. People wanted to connect and keep the conversation going after the event, which was amazing to see. I quickly spun up a follow-up email inviting folks to join what’s essentially become a discussion group that hosts casual sessions where they can connect and discuss their challenges in the DEIB space. We started with around 60 members, and now we have over 500 members, bringing folks together once a month to discuss their challenges. Building this community has been impactful and has allowed members to become familiar with Benevity in a setting that offers value. As marketers, we understand that you can’t force someone to buy your product, but you can help them see the value and remain top of mind. Community is a fantastic way to stay engaged with your audience and remain top of mind as someone who provides value and is a partner.

Ernesto: That’s awesome to hear, and the community you’ve created sounds great. So, how does the website play a role in client acquisition?

Tiffany: The website definitely plays a role in client acquisition. People can request product demos through the website and learn about our products. But one of the roles our website serves well is being a great place for our audience to find content that helps them solve their challenges and run their programs more efficiently. We can’t force someone to buy our product, but we can become a trusted source of knowledge for our audience and consistently deliver value. Our website has fantastic content resources, including blog posts, ebooks, guides, industry reports, webinar recordings, and podcast recordings. All this content helps our clients and prospective clients out and positions us as a partner to them.

Ernesto: Definitely important. Are there any tools, tips, or methods you would recommend to our listeners for website lead generation?

Tiffany: Video content is huge. People are consuming a lot of video content right now, and video content that highlights product features can make a big difference. Including more of this in your websites or landing pages can not only increase conversions but also improve the quality of conversions. Buyers are a lot more interested in self-serving these days, and letting folks see the platform on their own can help them make a more informed decision about whether a demo is the right next step, which leads to higher quality conversions. We’ve tested this specifically with landing pages and seen success.

Ernesto: Great, thank you for sharing those tips and methods, Tiffany. Let’s switch gears a bit and talk about you as a leader. As the senior demand generation manager for Benevity, what are some key tasks you focus on in your day-to-day work?

Tiffany: It’s a little different every day. I run that monthly DEIB discussion group, which takes some of my focus. I also work on a lot of vertical video content with our team that we run through our paid media, which has been fun to work on. I regularly connect with different industry associations to see how we can partner and work together. These are the pieces that bring me the most joy.

Ernesto: Great to hear that. Are there any channels you use to get the best marketing news, strategies, and trends?

Tiffany: I feel fortunate to work with such a brilliant team, and we do a lot of resource sharing among ourselves. We set up a monthly study group to discuss a resource that someone had picked, which gave us cool ideas to pilot in the business. I find a lot of my content through Slack, either in different marketing communities or channels we share with our agency. There’s also great content from creators on LinkedIn and TikTok. There’s no shortage of ways to learn right now.

Ernesto: Definitely. Now, let’s move on to our rapid-fire question round. Are you ready?

Tiffany: I’m ready.

Ernesto: What’s the last book you read?

Tiffany: Maybe I’m not ready. I can’t recall which I read first, but it was either “Crossroads” by Jonathan Franzen or “White Women” by Regina Jackson and Saira Rao. Both are great reads.

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

Tiffany: Attribution. If there was a magic button for perfect attribution, that would be any marketer’s dream.

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

Tiffany: Video editing. I do a lot of verticals, and if I could automate editing, I wouldn’t have to watch myself on camera repeatedly.

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

Tiffany: I would surround myself with people who are smarter than me in areas I want to grow in. When I joined Benevity, I felt intimidated by the caliber of my teammates, but now I see that joining a team that challenges you is a gift. I’ve learned so much and wouldn’t have had the same growth if I had joined a team where I was the most experienced. I would encourage myself to listen more, not feel the need to be an expert in everything, and come from a place of learning.

Ernesto: That’s great advice. If someone forgets everything about the interview today, what’s one thing they should remember about Benevity?

Tiffany: Remember to check us out. Benevity is doing great things to help corporations engage their employees in giving and volunteering and giving back. There’s a lot of cool stuff going on.

Ernesto: You heard it, listeners. Check them out at benevity.com. Tiffany, thank you so much for being on. To our listeners, thank you for tuning in, and I’m looking forward to our next episode at Pathmonk Presents. Thanks a lot, Tiffany.