Marketing Engine

This is a deep dive in the VRIFY case study.

As VP Marketing, I rebuilt the marketing engine so the category story turned into meetings and proofs, not just awareness.

Attention is not enough.

The marketing engine turns the category story into demand: find the right people, tell the right story, earn a meeting, and carry momentum.

The operating loop was proof → demo → win.

We rebuilt five pillars, Content, Digital Experience, Lifecycle, Paid/Social, and Events, on a single cadence and scorecard, so every sprint we moved the numbers we cared about.

What changed: we stopped shipping disconnected campaigns and ran one system tied to the scorecard, ABM focus, and Sales stages.

Built

• One scorecard and sprint cadence that connected Demand, ABM, and Sales.
• Five pillars that shared the same message house and measurement.
• An event spine (PDAC, Beaver Creek, Denver Gold) with pre, during, and post orchestration.

1) Goals (what success looks like)

• Find & qualify: grow the right sessions, not just sessions.
• Create meetings: lower cost/meeting while increasing meeting quality.
• Advance proofs: raise proof→demo conversion by tightening the through-path.
• Compound: build a system that improves with every campaign and event.

2) Diagnosis (starting point)

• Site traffic was extremely low in key geos. Relevance and engagement were uneven.
• Content was strong in pockets, but format and distribution were inconsistent.
• Lifecycle messaging was generic, with limited role and tier personalization.
• Social leaned to awareness, with a weak feedback loop to Sales.
• Events produced spikes without systematic pre-event and post-event orchestration.

3) Operating model (cadence and decision rights)

• Biweekly sprints: one scorecard for Demand (sessions, demo requests, cost/meeting), ABM (coverage, meetings/account, pipe by tier), and Sales (stage conversion, cycle days).
• Monthly: theme selection, experiment readouts, SEO/Content/Lifecycle backlog.
• Quarterly: OKR commits, budget reallocation, big-bet launches.
• DRIs: Content, Digital Experience (site/AEO/GEO/SEO/CRO), Lifecycle, Paid/Social, Events, each with clear inputs and outputs into ABM and Sales.

4) Content system (first on purpose)

Objective: publish fewer, better assets mapped to ABM and the event spine.

• Message house to templates: category explainer, product one-pagers (DORA, Viz), case study format, analyst brief, executive POV and thought leadership.
• Editorial rhythm: monthly theme; weekly ship cadence; review with Sales/GeoSci for credibility.
• Distribution: pre-event warmups; post-event recap packs; customer co-marketing.
• Measurement: asset-assisted meetings, assisted pipe, content-sourced sessions.

5) Digital experience (DX)

Objective: make the site the fastest path from interest → qualified demo.

• Speed & stability: PageSpeed cleanup; image/video discipline; render-blocking fixes.
• AEO/GEO/SEO: striking-distance improvements; click-loss recovery on top pages; new topic pages tied to use cases.
• CRO: simplified paths to demo; role-specific landers; social proof modules; form strategy (progressive profiling plus enrichment).
• Measurement: sessions, demo requests, demo rate, SERP CTR; contribution to meetings.

6) Lifecycle (email and automation)

Objective: role/tier‑aware journeys that advance to proof.

• Foundation: HubSpot hygiene and governance, and shared naming.
• Personalization: CEO vs VP Exploration tracks; persona-specific proof offers; time-boxed event drips.
• Snippets: reusable blocks for proof callouts, demo highlights, and case stats.
• Measurement: reply rate, demo lift, proof→demo, influenced pipe.

7) Paid and social

Objective: amplify high‑intent demand and close gaps in ABM coverage.

• Targeting: role/firmographic audiences; geo and event windows.
• Creatives: proof-first ads (before/after visuals, 3D slices, quantified outcome callouts).
• Employee advocacy: enable share-packs; track share→meeting uplifts.
• Measurement: cost/meeting, paid-assisted meetings, paid-sourced pipe.

8) Events (field): the spine

Objective: turn PDAC, Beaver Creek Precious Metals Summit, Denver Gold into meeting factories.

• Pre: ABM warmups (exec plus technical tracks), scheduler live, VIP lists.
• During: Always available demo rhythm; private sessions; leadership meetups; same-day follow-ups.
• Post: recap assets within 24h; pilot offers; case capture for Content.
• Measurement: meetings, event-window demo rate, event-sourced pipe.

9) Experiments (examples)

• Click-loss recovery on top pages (SEO): lift CTR and protect high-intent traffic.
• Role-specific landers: increase demo requests and demo rate with clearer paths by persona.
• Proof-first nurture: move engaged accounts from interest to proof faster.

10) What changed and results

• The website became a qualified demo engine, not a brochure.
• Content shipped as reusable proof, faster to assemble and easier to distribute.
• Lifecycle moved from generic nurture to persona-specific accelerants.
• Paid focused on meetings and SQLs, not vanity metrics.
• Events became planned spikes with measurable afterburners.

Results

• Sessions ↑ 1200%; demo rate ↑ +25%.
• Event impact (PDAC 2025): demo requests ↑ +65% within the launch window.