How Airbase's VP of Marketing Drives Growth Through Customer Delight
by Michael Freeman
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What you'll discover
when watching MICHAEL's story
- Effective marketing requires balancing potential upside, available resources, and time to learning when designing experiments.
- Building trust through consistent branding is crucial, especially in risk-averse industries like finance technology.
- Delighting customers and turning them into advocates is one of the most cost-effective ways to build a sustainable brand over time.
- Product marketing has a broad scope of responsibilities, so ruthless prioritization is necessary to focus on the most impactful activities.
- Aligning product marketing efforts with sales processes requires listening, getting to the root cause of issues, and clear communication.
- Leadership in marketing involves setting clear expectations, hiring talented people, and helping team members feel successful in their roles.
- For early-stage startups, determining product-market fit and the right go-to-market strategy are equally important for long-term success.
Meet Michael Freeman - Vice President of Marketing @ Airbase
Michael Freeman is the Vice President of Marketing at Airbase, a software company specializing in procure-to-pay solutions. With a diverse background, Michael’s career journey is impressive.
He started at Walt Disney Company in their strategic sourcing department, gaining valuable experience in procurement and sourcing. This early exposure laid the foundation for his future roles.
Michael’s career then shifted to marketing, where he spent years marketing products to CFOs. This combination of procurement knowledge and marketing expertise made him an ideal fit for Airbase.
At Airbase, Michael leads marketing efforts for their comprehensive platform that handles payments, procurement, corporate cards, and expense reports. His role combines his passion for marketing with his deep understanding of the procure-to-pay space.
Michael’s approach to marketing leadership emphasizes clear communication, hiring top talent, and ensuring team members feel successful and valued.
Check out Michael Freeman's thoughts on product marketing and leadership.
In terms of aligning product marketing efforts with sales processes, Michael shares:
"Starts with listening. You gotta make people feel heard. And then within that, you gotta try to get to the root cause of what's really going on."
He also shares some common misconceptions about product marketing:
"Product marketing is the most misunderstood role in any marketing organization. It has the broadest scope of activities and responsibilities."
And his advice on leadership in marketing organizations:
"Leadership is really driving the clarity on expectations and objectives. And then making sure that you're aligned with all of the different stakeholders."
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