Episode 562 Marketing Automatation With Andrew Seidman

---

Show Summary

This podcast episode from “The SDM Show” features a discussion between host Rob Cairns and guest Andrew Seidman, a co-founder at Digital Reach, an agency specializing in marketing automation. The conversation centers on Seidman’s journey into marketing automation, highlighting the importance of operational and business understanding for marketers to effectively connect business needs with abstract technical solutions. They explore common challenges faced by companies, such as poor data management, lack of documentation, and disconnects between IT and marketing departments. Seidman emphasizes the CRM as a critical hub for data, the role of marketing automation tools as “action arms,” and the value of clean, integrated data systems. The discussion also touches on the timeframes and costs associated with revamping data systems, the types of companies Digital Reach serves, and the significance of building trusted partnerships with clients.

Show Notes

In this episode, Rob Cairns is joined by Andrew Seidman to discuss the intricacies of marketing automation and RevOps. Andrew shares his journey into this specialized field, emphasizing the importance of a well-rounded business background for marketers.

Andrew’s Journey to Marketing Automation

Andrew started his career in operations at Digital Reach, handling everything from payroll to invoicing. He quickly realized the need for better reporting on client ad performance, especially with Google search ads. This led him to explore how leads were tracked and where data resided, prompting his early engagement with platforms like Marquetto. His path from simple reporting questions to understanding data philosophy, architecture, and information flow within a system was organic, driven by the goal of making better business decisions. This operational experience was key to building Digital Reach’s RevOps and marketing automation services.

The Value of a Business Background in Marketing

Rob highlights the critical role of a business background for marketers, a point Andrew strongly agrees with. Andrew notes that marketers are increasingly asked to be strategic, connecting operational flows to their initiatives. He provides an example of a client struggling with duplicate data, costing them a quarter-million dollars per lost deal. Andrew explains how an operational background helps frame this as a business problem, not just a data issue, making it easier for CMOs to understand the value of investing in data hygiene.

Bridging the IT-Marketing Disconnect

The conversation touches on the common disconnect between IT and marketing departments. Andrew advocates for a desiloed approach and a RevOps organizational structure rather than separate marketing operations (MOPs) and data operations (DOps) teams. He stresses that a data system should serve the entire company’s customer experience, sales, and marketing efforts, acting as one continuous lifecycle.

The Challenge of Data Systems and Documentation

Many companies possess existing data systems, but these often suffer from poor architecture and a lack of consistent documentation. Andrew points out that organizations tolerate data problems until they become severely painful to revenue. Digital Reach’s approach to fixing these issues involves:

• Auditing data intake: Establishing approved methods for data entry.
• Validation rules: Preventing incorrect data from entering the system.
• Duplicate rules: Automatically preventing duplicate records.
• Data hygiene reports: Proactively identifying and flagging incorrect data, such as records owned by inactive employees.

Andrew notes that despite the importance of documentation, very few companies maintain it, leading to significant problems when there’s staff turnover in data systems management. Digital Reach addresses this by providing training guides and videos for every module they build for clients.

CRM as the Data Hub

The discussion shifts to where data systems typically begin. Andrew explains that while a product-based company might have a large data warehouse for product user information, the CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system — often Salesforce or HubSpot — is usually the center of the marketing, sales, and customer experience data environment. It serves as the source of truth, with everything plugging into it. The marketing automation tool (like Marketo or HubSpot) then acts as the “activation arm,” using this clean data for emails, advertising programs, sales outreach, notifications, and automated alerts. Ideally, the CRM and marketing automation tool have a bidirectional, 100% sync with no errors, a state Digital Reach strives for with its own operations.

Engagement Process and Client Types

Digital Reach categorizes clients into enterprises (10 or more in-house marketers) and startups.

• For enterprises, a full “go-to-market roadmap” (inclusive of RevOps, data systems, pipeline generation, brand, content, website, ads, creative) typically takes two to three months. A RevOps-specific audit for enterprises takes one to two months.
• For startups, a full roadmap takes about four weeks, with a RevOps audit taking one to two weeks.

Client revenue varies widely, from startups that have raised $50-100 million but are generating $5-10 million in revenue, to global brands with multi-billion dollar revenues. Andrew notes that they generally don’t work with seed or Series A companies due to tighter budgets and higher intensity.

The Importance of Partnership and Trust

Andrew emphasizes that mutual trust is the most crucial element in client relationships. He recounts an incident where he accidentally caused a data wipe for a billion-dollar company due to a workflow error. Because of the pre-existing trust, the client worked with him and their IT team until the data was restored, preventing any negative consequences. This highlights that mistakes happen, but how they are handled within a trusted partnership is what truly matters.

Fun Questions: Music, Travel, and Reading

• Music Playlist: BB No Money, Magdalina Bay, and Rage Against the Machine.
• Dream Vacation: India, excited for an Indian wedding and the food.
• Current Reads: Red Rising series (fiction) and Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows (non-fiction), a book highly recommended for its insights into feedback loops and building trust in business.

---

What challenges have you faced with data integrity or system integration in your marketing efforts?