Pricing and Commodities Trading | Noah Thomas from Mintec Global

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Welcome to today’s episode. Let’s talk about today’s guest. We have Noah Thomas, Head of Growth Marketing out there with Mintec Global. How are you doing today, Noah?

Noah Thomas: Great. Thanks for having me.

Ernesto: It’s great to have you on today’s show, and I’m sure our listeners are curious to know what Mintec is all about. So let’s start with that. In your own words, Noah, can you tell us a little bit more about what Mintec is all about?

Noah Thomas: Sure, absolutely. Mintec is the world’s leading independent provider of global commodity price data, price forecast, and market intelligence—specifically for food, consumer product goods and capital goods, as well as the supply chain, things like freight and looking at those kind of shipping costs as well.

Ernesto: That’s awesome to hear. I haven’t heard of anything like that so far, so I’m curious to learn a little bit more—and so that way our listeners can get a better understanding as well.

What would you say you saw for clients? Would it be the pricing—getting the best price out of the commodity?

Noah Thomas: Yeah, absolutely. A lot of the markets that we serve are food-based. So you can think like a food manufacturer—like a Kraft Heinz—or maybe a food retailer where they’re buying up large amounts of food.

As well as manufacturers, those in financial markets that are buying and selling commodities.

And what we do is we basically have these price reporting agents—these experts in specific commodities—that go out and talk to different buyers and sellers of these products and understand where the price is at, so that both buyers and sellers can negotiate a fair price.

Ernesto: Oh, that’s awesome to hear. So who would you say are your primary clients then? Is there a vertical you guys like to go for?

Noah Thomas: Absolutely. We best serve those in the manufacturing space—manufacturers, anyone in food, those in retail, commodities traders… someone that independently sells like eggs or grapeseed oil or something like that.

And then also financial market traders and industrial suppliers—those looking for the price of steel as an example. Those are the kinds of customers that we serve.

Ernesto: That’s quite a big range there for you guys. Awesome to hear that.

How does your audience typically find out about Mintec? What would you say is a top client acquisition channel for you guys?

Noah Thomas: Mintec has been around for about 30 years and has a really great brand story. We’re well known in the ag-food space.

I think most people find us via search in two ways. Organic search from some of our expert articles—we have pretty good SEO on that front.

And then also from our paid acquisition channels, whether it’s LinkedIn or Google PPC, or even Bing ads. So that’s the primary source—plus a little bit of direct traffic and some paid.

Ernesto: Definitely. And that traffic does get on the website—and I’m here on it, mintecglobal.com. What role does the website play for your client acquisition?

Noah Thomas: It’s front and center. It’s absolutely the first thing our customers interact with. It’s how our users log into our product as well. It’s really just the front page for the start of the journey for most customers.

Ernesto: Awesome. Great to hear that. And is there anything you’ve learned about what makes a great converting website? Any tools, tips, methods, or approaches you’d recommend?

Noah Thomas: Testing is king, but tracking is even better. Having a method and following that method as closely as possible.

Really understanding what an A/B test is, and not A/B testing too small. Not just looking at your competitors when optimizing a page—whether it’s a landing page or a homepage revamp—but broadening your horizons to websites you really like and understanding how you can A/B test those ideas for your brand and solutions.

And making the website a home for both net new logos and existing customers, making sure you’re supporting them as well.

Ernesto: Definitely great to hear that. Let’s switch gears a little bit and talk about you as a leader—being Head of Growth Marketing at Mintec. What are some key tasks you focus on day to day?

Noah Thomas: We look at full lifecycle marketing—from customer acquisition all the way to renewal.

We look at what we can do best for our customers, how we can fit into their needs, whether it’s expansion opportunities—like a certain account wanting access to the analytics platform Mintec offers with forecasting, so they can expand past just price data.

We look at how we can grow accounts to be good partners.

And then for new logos: where’s the green space, what’s the best product-market fit as we roll out net new products in 2024, what markets do they serve, where are we looking to expand, and how we can help customers achieve their procurement goals.

Ernesto: That’s a full plate. And you mentioned acquisition—what about competitors? I heard you acquired four companies this past year.

Noah Thomas: Yeah, absolutely. In January, Mintec acquired AgriBriefing, which holds four brands: Urner Barry, which is the price leader in the U.S. for protein. They also acquired Strategie Grains, Feedinfo, and Tropical Research Associates.

So we have this big portfolio of brands now. It took Mintec’s offering and added experts in different spaces, and we’re able to enhance the platform with the data they have.

And going forward, we have some really cool plans coming up in 2024.

Ernesto: That’s great to hear. And with all the overwhelming content out there, where do you go to learn, grow, and keep up to date with everything in marketing, Noah?

Noah Thomas: I’ve tried over time to be on top of my learning management. One thing that’s a little old school but really helpful is RSS feeds.

There’s a series of websites I keep bookmarked—like Moz, since I started as an organic marketer. I also look into the Google developer blogs and keep up with changes like the E-E-A-T update, and email updates from Google and Yahoo that are top of mind for us.

I also follow market leaders on LinkedIn, and balance that with their personal blogs and an RSS feed to digest it all together.

Ernesto: That’s great to know. A little old school, but still fresh and always up to date.

Let’s jump into our rapid fire question round. You ready for them?

Noah Thomas: Let’s do it.

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

Noah Thomas: Hug Your Haters by Jay Baer.

Ernesto: All right. Interesting read. Now—what is one single thing that Mintec is focused on at the moment the most?

Noah Thomas: Personalization through automation.

Ernesto: Very important. And going with the next question—if there were no boundaries in technology, what would be the one thing you’d want fixed for your role as a marketer today?

Noah Thomas: I love this question. If there were no boundaries, the thing I’d want fixed is a very easy, simple, decipherable data pipeline to visualize the full buyer journey.

Today, lots of marketers work out of many systems—like a marketing automation system and a CRM. To unify those and show a full funnel journey at a C-suite level can be difficult.

You have tools like Looker or Domo, but often there are compromises where you cut pieces out. Having a living, breathing full funnel cycle that’s easier to maintain and monitor would be the dream.

Ernesto: Dreams are possible. With AI getting bigger every year, I think things keep getting easier.

Now—if there’s one repetitive task you could automate, what would that be?

Noah Thomas: It changes day to day. I try to follow the quadrant theory—what’s important, what’s necessary, what has the biggest impact on revenue.

The one repetitive task that’s been a through line for me over the last five years is pulling quarterly reports. I’d love to automate that and have it in a more living, breathing function. It would save a lot of time at the end of quarters.

Ernesto: Definitely. And lastly—you’ve got a lot of experience in marketing. What’s one piece of advice you would give yourself if you were to restart your journey as a marketer today?

Noah Thomas: Pause and listen longer.

There are a lot of wise people I’ve learned from—my last VP Marilyn Mead, who’s a brilliant marketer, and my early startup journey at CommerceIQ where I was employee number three and we grew to 90.

You learn a lot through hard work and mistakes, but people also give you life advice early in your career that can save you a lot of pain if you really absorb it.

So: pause and listen.

Ernesto: Great advice—not just for yourself, but for everybody. Thank you for that.

Noah, thanks a lot for being on the show with us today. Last word—if someone forgets everything about the interview today, what’s the one thing they should remember about Mintec?

Noah Thomas: Mintec is here to help you in your pricing and commodities trading. If you have any question about how much you’re paying for something and you want to know if it’s justified, Mintec is the go-to platform.

It’s been around a long time, has reliable pricing data, and experts put out great content on the website. So go check it out.

Ernesto: Awesome. Thank you so much for being on. To our listeners—thank you so much for tuning in, and looking forward to our next episode at Pathmonk Presents. Thanks a lot, Noah.

Noah Thomas: Thank you.