Shaping GitLab’s Integrated Growth and Inbound Marketing Team
A Journey of Strategic Transformation
During my interview with Todd Barr, then CMO of GitLab, he presented a challenging scenario. He opened GitLab’s homepage, shared his screen, and asked for my insights on enhancing it. It was an excellent yet tricky question from Todd.
Several thoughts raced through my mind:
"Did Todd specifically request any element on this homepage?"
"Is this homepage a favourite of the CEO?"
"With only a few days of preparation, do I fully grasp the priorities and context?"
I observed, “The homepage has a lot going on, making it challenging to pinpoint a starting point. This complexity might also overwhelm potential customers.” Todd appreciated this perspective, and consequently, he offered me the position.
This encounter occurred in May 2020. My mission at GitLab was to elevate the Digital Experience team within the Growth Marketing segment of the Marketing organization.
My first year was filled with various tasks: redesigning the organization, refining processes, hiring new team members, and, regrettably, making some tough firing decisions.
Working closely with Marketing leadership, I redefined my team’s scope. This involved narrowing our focus but expanding our responsibility for Inbound Marketing and upper-funnel metrics.
Together, we established an effective iteration process. We then articulated our purpose, vision, mission, and objectives:
🙌 Purpose
Why we exist
We take a customer-centric approach to educating prospects on how GitLab enables them to deliver software faster and more securely.
🔮 Vision
Where we’re going
Wherever DevSecOps or DevOps is mentioned, GitLab is there.
🎯 Mission
What we do
We drive improvement to GitLab’s user journeys, marketing site experience, and conversion funnel.
📈 Objectives
Increase site engagement (lower bounce rate, increased pages per visit, form fills, etc.)
Increase free trials
Increase quality sign-ups
Increase traffic to the Marketing Site
GitLab is a documentation culture so you can review win depth how the team I established operates here:
Digital Experience Handbook
https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/digital-experience/
In 2021, interest rates were still extremely low and SaaS companies were laser-focused on growth. It was easy to get funding for resourcing and I had proven that I could make a material impact on the business. As such, I developed the following plan to grow GitLab’s Digital Experience team. This proposal became the foundation for the continued success of GitLab’s Marketing site.
