Avetis Ghazaryan Of Growth Hunter: 5 Tips for Your B2B Marketing Strategy

An Interview With Rachel Kline

Consistent with my overall marketing philosophy, I highly value engagement data as it directly reflects our buyers’ preferences and behaviors. This data is a crucial tool for understanding what content resonates with our audience and through which channels. Unlike third-party intent data, engagement data provides real-time insights into how our audience interacts with our brand.

The B2B marketing landscape is a complex and evolving space, with its unique challenges and opportunities. Navigating it effectively requires well-thought-out strategies and insightful tactics. With a myriad of digital channels available, what are the best ways to connect, engage, and convert potential business clients? As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Avetis Ghazaryan.

Avetis Ghazaryan is a tech entrepreneur with a decade of experience in driving growth for early-stage tech companies. Leading various marketing initiatives, he discovered the key to achieving exponential demand and pipeline growth lies in aligning marketing efforts with high-congregation moments. Avetis founded Growth Hunter, a central hub for Momentum Marketing, designed to assist early-stage startups in seamlessly integrating high-impact marketing strategies into their operations, demonstrating his commitment to providing innovative and practical marketing solutions in the tech landscape.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share your personal backstory with us?

Originally from Armenia, my background is deeply influenced by European culture and education. Moving to the United States to study at Columbia University, I pursued my entrepreneurial drive and started a marketing and demand generation agency. This experience allowed me to work with various early-stage SaaS companies, where I saw firsthand the challenges in driving demand for startups.

When I found out that only 3% of startups succeed, I started focusing on boosting demand for startups with limited brand recognition. Over time, I developed a successful strategy that was focused on aligning marketing initiatives with high-congregation moments. Now this strategy is further enhanced by advancements in AI, particularly in Chat GPT, making this approach even more practical and effective. My goal is to share this knowledge to help other Marketers in tech achieve predictable growth in marketing and business development to ultimately help their startup companies succeed.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful for who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

A key figure in my journey was my mentor, Professor Padma Desai. I had the privilege of working with her as a research assistant on her book. Professor Desai’s journey as an immigrant moving to India to the United States and establishing her academic footprint strongly resonated with me. Her resilience, commitment to her vision, and strength as a female leader in academia were deeply inspiring.

She had a unique approach to complex economic and social issues, coupled with her academic rigor, that greatly influenced my own problem-solving methods. The two years I spent learning from her were invaluable, shaping the way I approach decisions in the tech industry. Her memoir, “Breaking Out: An Indian-American Journey,” is a testament to her remarkable life and insights.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

A quote that has profoundly influenced my perspective is by George Bernard Shaw: “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” This resonates deeply with me, especially in my professional journey. It underscores the idea that our paths are not predestined or found; they are actively crafted by our choices, actions, and the challenges we embrace.

This quote has been particularly relevant in my career, especially in the ever-evolving tech industry. It reflects the proactive approach I’ve taken — not just waiting for opportunities but actively shaping my path and responding creatively to the challenges and changes in the industry. This mindset of ‘creating oneself’ is what I believe drives innovation and growth, both personally and professionally.

Can you share with us three strengths, skills, or characteristics that helped you to reach this place in your career? How can others actively build these areas within themselves?

Looking back on my career, there are three main strengths that really stand out as key to my success. Each of these strengths has played a crucial role in overcoming challenges and seizing opportunities, shaping my professional journey.

• Embracing Multiple Perspectives: Early in my career, I realized that there is no single truth in any situation; it’s all about perception. Accepting this opened my mind and helped me grow both personally and professionally. It taught me to never limit my understanding to just one point of view. This approach has been instrumental in allowing me to adapt to different situations and find innovative solutions to complex problems.
• Welcoming Challenges: I’ve learned to accept challenges as they come, understanding that each one brings a new opportunity for personal growth. Facing these challenges head-on has not only helped me learn more about myself but has also allowed me to develop resilience and adaptability — qualities essential in the ever-changing tech landscape.
• Commitment to Delivery: One of the most important principles I adhere to is the commitment to deliver on what I’ve signed up for. This has been crucial in my professional journey, as it has helped me build a strong network based on trust and reliability. Whether it’s meeting a project deadline or fulfilling a promise to a team member, ensuring that I deliver has cemented my reputation as a dependable leader and professional.

Which skills are you still trying to grow now?

Currently, I’m deepening my focus on data and research, especially in areas like predictive analytics and data interpretation. This effort is driven by my commitment to better understand buyer engagement and preferences through data. My goal is to not only enhance my understanding of handling complex data sets but also to learn how to effectively apply these insights in creating impactful marketing strategies.

This journey is part of a larger vision to merge academic insights with practical business applications, particularly important as AI and data privacy continue to shape our industry. I believe there is a significant opportunity for the business community at large to advance in these areas, particularly in harnessing these evolving technologies for more informed and strategic decision-making.

Let’s talk about B2B marketing. Can you share some insights into how you perceive the current landscape of B2B marketing?

In the B2B marketing world, we’re at a pivotal moment where significant changes are on the horizon, mainly influenced by buyer behaviors and the integration of AI. Today, B2B buyers are swamped with marketing content, but much of it lacks specific relevance or value, leading to content fatigue. This issue is compounded with the rise of AI-generated content. While AI boosts efficiency, it often scales up the production of non-targeted content.

For instance, the recent outreach.io update concerning Gmail and Yahoo Mail’s spam regulations. This change categorizes any account sending over 5000 emails a day as a ‘bulk sender,’ and those labeled as such with a high spam report rate face potential email blocking. These changes are a direct response to the overwhelming volume of content, often irrelevant, bombarding buyers daily. Similarly, the unregulated use of AI in content creation, while exciting for its scale and speed, may lead to a saturation of low-quality content if not carefully managed.

I still remain positive that there’s a growing realization among both businesses and buyers for the need for more personalized, value-centric marketing. AI can be a powerful tool in this transformation, but it requires strategic thinking and specific methodologies to ensure that the content created genuinely addresses buyer problems and stands out in an overcrowded market.

How have recent market trends and changes influenced your approach to outperforming competitors?

The tech industry this year faced numerous challenges, including more diverse buying groups, slower sales cycles, and buyers hesitant to engage with sales activities. Outperforming competitors, to me, means gaining the buyer’s preference, ensuring they choose our solutions over others.

My strategy has been a steadfast focus on the buyer. Delivering the right message to the right buyer at the right time has consistently been effective. By identifying current buyer priorities and aligning solutions to address their specific pain points, I’ve been able to maintain robust top-of-funnel growth. This buyer-centric approach, both inbound and outbound outreach, has been key for me.

B2B buying cycles can often be lengthy and complex. How do you maintain engagement and nurture leads throughout the various stages of the buyer’s journey?

My focus remains on adapting to the evolving needs of different buyer groups. The goal is delivering content that resonates with their current priorities and concerns. This involves a continuous process of identifying the specific group we’re engaging with, understanding what’s top of mind at that moment, and creating personalized content that addresses their needs throughout their journey.

For instance, early in the sales cycle, pricing might be a central concern, while aspects like security and integration gain prominence as discussions progress. This adaptive approach ensures that our messaging stays relevant and engaging every step of the way.

Personalization is gaining prominence in B2B marketing. What are some ways marketers can effectively leverage data to deliver personalized experiences?

Personalization is more necessary than ever in today’s B2B marketing world. My approach involves two main dimensions. First, I focus on offering solutions that address the immediate business challenges and priorities of the buyers. This requires a deep understanding of what the organization needs and where their current processes might have gaps that our solutions can fill effectively. The second dimension involves leveraging our own engagement data to understand buyer preferences in terms of engagement with our business.

Combining these two approaches — addressing buyer needs and aligning with their engagement preferences — has proven to be highly effective in delivering personalized experiences that resonate with our target audience.

ABM has also gained traction for its personalized approach to targeting high-value accounts. What advice would you give to fellow B2B marketers looking to adopt this strategy?

Adopting ABM, or Account-Based Marketing, is increasingly essential in today’s B2B landscape, largely due to buyers engaging better with more personalized content. My advice to fellow marketers is to proactively integrate ABM into their strategies, utilizing AI to enable this at scale.

Based on my experience, I recommend following a 20/80 rule — dedicating 20% of efforts to highly personalized ABM for targeted accounts and 80% to traditional inbound marketing. This approach has consistently yielded stronger leads and higher conversion rates from the ABM segment. Tools like ChatGPT4 today can help streamline and develop ABM campaigns at scale, making the process more effective and manageable for marketing teams.

What are 5 Tips for Your B2B Marketing Strategy to Help You Beat Competitors?

In my approach to marketing, the key philosophy is to close the gap between your company and the buyer. Ultimately, the success in beating the competition boils down to whether the buyer chooses your solution over others. This principle guides the core of my marketing strategies, ensuring that every tactic and initiative is aligned with the goal of making our solution the preferred choice for the buyer. It’s this buyer-focused approach that drives the success of the following strategies, each aimed at effectively engaging and winning over the target audience.

1. Deeply Understand Your Buyers

In my journey with B2B marketing, truly understanding the buyers has been a cornerstone. This goes beyond basic demographics; it’s about immersing in their world, understanding their challenges and needs. My experience has taught me this: analyzing 10K reports, diving into sales call recordings, and engaging directly through interviews and webinars has been invaluable. These methods have provided me with rich insights into what our buyers prioritize and prefer. Organizing customer webinars, in particular, has been a game-changer, revealing behavioral patterns that have shaped our content strategies, ensuring they align closely with our audience’s expectations and interests.

2. Align Your Marketing on High-Congregation Moments

High-congregation moments are pivotal opportunities in B2B marketing, where your target audience is concentrated and highly receptive. These moments often align with major industry events or significant market shifts, drawing significant attention from potential buyers. In my experience, as I detailed in this article, strategically aligning marketing efforts with these moments can profoundly impact pipeline growth and sales opportunity creation.

By identifying and leveraging these moments, as I did with Snaps during the Instagram DM automation feature release, we saw a significant increase in qualified leads and sales, demonstrating the power of this approach in capturing and engaging the focused attention of our target market.

3. Emphasize Visionary Storytelling Over Pitching Your Product

In B2B marketing, particularly for enterprise-level sales, I’ve found that a shift from traditional product promotion to storytelling is more effective in driving demand. It’s about painting a picture of the future for the buyers, showing them how their business can evolve and succeed with the help of our solutions.

One effective way to achieve this is through customer success stories. Letting existing customers narrate their journey of transformation with our solutions allows potential buyers to envision similar success for their own businesses. These stories serve as powerful testimonials, illustrating the practical application and real-world impact of our offerings.

This strategy also aligns marketing efforts more closely with the sales team. While marketing sets the stage by crafting and communicating a compelling vision, the sales team can then step in to map specific features and capabilities to the buyer’s unique business needs and outcomes. By doing so, we ensure a cohesive narrative throughout the buyer’s journey, making our approach not just about selling a product, but about championing a pathway to success for our clients.

4. Prioritize Engagement Data for Strategic Insights

Consistent with my overall marketing philosophy, I highly value engagement data as it directly reflects our buyers’ preferences and behaviors. This data is a crucial tool for understanding what content resonates with our audience and through which channels. Unlike third-party intent data, engagement data provides real-time insights into how our audience interacts with our brand.

The strategy here is simple: analyze and act on this data. Look at which channels are most effective and what types of content generate the most interest. This could mean adapting your focus towards certain social media platforms, email marketing techniques, or content styles.

For example, in outbound sales efforts, engagement data is a guiding light for me. If a particular email template or content topic shows higher engagement rates, I shift my approach to capitalize on this. It’s a dynamic process, ensuring that marketing efforts are not just about broadcasting messages, but about engaging in a meaningful dialogue with your audience.

For instance, I might experiment with a new channel like LinkedIn. Upon observing engagement on a specific tactic, I delve into analyzing why it worked and continue testing along those lines. This specificity helps me understand not just what works, but also why it works, enabling me to fine-tune my strategies effectively.

In essence, by consistently delivering content that our buyers show interest in, and through their preferred channels, we achieve higher engagement and better conversion rates.

5. Utilize Your Data to Guide AI in Content Creation:

My recommendation for effectively leveraging AI in content creation is to always use your engagement data as the guiding force. It’s essential to avoid the pitfall of allowing AI to autonomously dictate your content strategy. Instead, AI should be seen as a tool that you direct, informed by the insights from your audience engagement. This involves training your AI systems to recognize and adapt to the patterns and preferences that have yielded high engagement with your target buyer segments.

For instance, when asking AI for email content recommendations, it’s crucial to provide it with examples of email formats and styles that have been successful with specific segments of your audience. Explain to the AI why these formats worked, so it can understand and replicate the key elements that resonated with your audience. This approach ensures that the AI-generated content is not only efficient and innovative but also deeply aligned with what your audience has shown to prefer.

In summary, let your buyer engagement data lead the way in AI content creation. This method guarantees that your content, while benefiting from AI’s efficiency, remains relevant, engaging, and tailored to your audience’s needs and preferences.

How do you utilize data or AI to refine your B2B marketing approach, and what tools have been particularly impactful in gaining a competitive advantage?

I utilize buyer engagement data to refine my B2B marketing strategy. This data is crucial for understanding which types of content and communication channels resonate best with our target audience. By continuously generating and testing different forms of content, I can closely monitor their performance in terms of engagement and conversion.

Incorporating AI into my B2B marketing strategy is a direction I’m actively exploring, particularly for its potential in data analysis. AI tools have the capability to process large volumes of data efficiently, uncovering trends and patterns that might not be immediately obvious. This can be a game-changer in understanding buyer engagement and preferences more deeply.

However, a significant consideration in this process is data privacy. Many companies are cautious about using platforms like ChatGPT due to concerns about uploading sensitive data into public or shared environments. This awareness is shaping how I view the future use of AI in marketing.

Looking ahead, I envision a scenario where secure, privacy-compliant AI tools become more prevalent, allowing for the safe analysis of sensitive customer data. This would enable marketers to harness the power of AI for personalized and effective marketing strategies without compromising on data security.

The key will be in finding that balance between leveraging AI’s analytical strengths and maintaining strict data privacy standards, which I believe will be a major focus in the evolution of AI-driven marketing tools and strategies.

Which digital channels have you found most effective in reaching your target audience, and how do you optimize your presence across these channels to outshine competitors?

LinkedIn has been a game-changer for me. It’s transformed from a recruitment platform into a hub for business and thought leadership. An increasing number of buyers are turning to LinkedIn to keep up with the latest in tech and business. By leveraging systematic outreach on this platform, I’ve seen a major influx of top-of-funnel opportunities.

In my experience the sooner you invest in new digital channels the more substantial advantages will be. This was evident with LinkedIn’s shift towards thought leadership, where early adopters gained a substantial following, and the same trend has been observed with podcasting.

My advice is to keep an eye on emerging channels where your target buyers are congregating and build presence in those platforms. Currently, I’m intrigued by the potential of Threads by Meta. It’s about being proactive and strategic in identifying and utilizing new channels to stay ahead of the game.

Are there any underrated skills or qualities that you encourage others not to overlook?

The tech industry is highly competitive and complex, filled with uncertainties. In my experience I’ve found that qualities like grit, hunger, and commitment are fundamental, especially with early-stage companies. These traits often take precedence over specific professional skills or work experiences.

As a leader, my role is to set a vision and establish processes that lead towards achieving that vision. I expect my team to bring the energy and commitment necessary to follow these processes, contribute to their iteration, and ultimately help achieve our collective goals. It’s these qualities — grit, hunger, and commitment — that enable individuals to excel and contribute meaningfully in a dynamic and challenging environment like the tech industry.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

If I could start a movement, it would be about helping people understand data better and use AI in the right way. In today’s world, where everything is becoming digital, knowing how to read data and what it means is really important. This movement would teach people from all kinds of backgrounds how to use data to make good decisions.

At the same time, I’d focus on making sure AI is used the right way. As AI becomes a bigger part of our lives and work, we need to use it carefully and ethically, especially when it comes to respecting people’s privacy. Educating people about data and ethical AI can lead to better choices in business, government, and everyday life.

This movement could make society more informed and prepared for the digital age, leading to more innovation and fairness for as many people as possible.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

If given the opportunity, I would appreciate a private breakfast or lunch with Peter Thiel. His experience as a tech industry veteran who has navigated various business cycles, including the early internet boom, and his role in launching successful ventures, provides a wealth of insights. We are now entering a new era dominated by AI, a field that is reshaping the business landscape. I believe AI is opening new dimensions for businesses to operate in.

Discussing perspectives and ideas with someone of Thiel’s caliber about the potential impact and future possibilities of AI in the business world would be incredibly enlightening and inspiring. His experience and foresight could offer unique insights into navigating this emerging and rapidly evolving landscape.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.