Soumya Singh: A Marketer’s Journey in Customer Marketing

Welcome to Marketer Interview, where we talk to exciting marketers about their journeys, challenges, and successes.

Today, we are delighted to have Soumya Singh, Marketing Manager at VOICEplug AI, join us. Soumya is an APAC 40 under 40 awardee for her contribution to marketing practices in the Communications Industry.

She is an expert in customer marketing, channel marketing, social media, demand generation, GTM strategies, and growth marketing.

In this interview, we will learn about Soumya’s career path, her experiences, and the tools and software she uses to excel in her role.

Can you tell us about your marketing journey?

I have always been passionate about marketing and how it can create meaningful connections between brands and customers.

Growing up, I was intrigued by the power of storytelling and how it can be used to shape people’s perceptions.

This inspired me to pursue a career in marketing, where I could use my creativity to craft stories that would resonate with consumers and build strong relationships between brands and their audiences. From creating engaging content to managing campaigns, there is always something new to learn and overcome.

I’m very fortunate to have worked with Jay Ruparel, CEO of VOICEplug, during my time at Azure Knowledge Corp. I was part of his team in marketing and followed with excitement when he started VOICEplug.

When I heard about it, I reached out to him and was thrilled when he offered me a job! When we first met, I knew that this startup was something special.

Six months later, here I am, having the time of my life! VOICEplug is like a second family – more than half of our team are women, and working alongside Jay and the rest of the crew has been an absolute pleasure.

VOICEplug is about more than just providing quality service and excellent products. It’s about transforming the industry with AI technology. That’s my personal experience at VOICEplug, and that’s why I feel so privileged to have been a part of this team.

What inspired you to specialize in customer marketing and growth marketing?

A successful marketing journey is like a well-oiled machine. It requires the right combination of elements to ensure it runs smoothly and reaches its desired outcome.

From understanding your target audience and creating compelling content to optimizing your campaigns, each element is essential in ensuring your marketing journey is successful.

As a marketing manager, it is crucial to understand how customer marketing, channel marketing, social media, demand generation, GTM strategies, and growth hacking can be used to create successful campaigns.

With the proper knowledge and tools, you can develop effective strategies to help you reach your target audience and drive more sales.

By leveraging the latest technologies and trends, you can create campaigns that are tailored to your target audience. This will enable you to maximize your campaigns’ effectiveness while increasing ROI.

Can you share a project or campaign you worked on that you’re proud of?

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) campaigns have always been the most efficient way for me to generate leads, close deals, and increase revenue.

ABM campaigns are highly targeted, allowing you to reach out to the right people with the right message at the right time.

I have found that using LinkedIn as an ABM platform has been particularly effective in targeting IT decision-makers.

With this platform, I can identify my target audience and create tailored messages that resonate with them. This has helped me generate a more extensive pipeline of potential customers and generated meetings with them, often resulting in large orders.

At my previous company, Poly, I was responsible for launching multiple ABM campaigns on LinkedIn to promote meeting rooms and personal devices for remote and hybrid working.

These campaigns targeted specific accounts and individuals with tailored messaging that resonated with their needs. Through these campaigns, we were able to drive awareness of our products, build relationships with key decision-makers, and increase sales.

How do you prioritize and balance your various marketing responsibilities?

The best way to prioritize and balance various marketing tasks is by creating a plan that outlines the steps needed for each task.

This plan should include timelines for when tasks should be completed, budget allocations for each task, and an assessment of what resources are needed for each task.

By doing so, I am focusing on the most critical tasks while ensuring that all other tasks are still completed on time. So, yes, automation tools add value to my daily activities.

Can you tell us about a challenge or failure you faced in your marketing career?

Managing multiple stakeholders can be a daunting task.

It is crucial to prioritize and manage the competing demands of different stakeholders to ensure that all parties are satisfied. Therefore, I always create effective communication strategies between stakeholders.

This ensures that everyone clearly understands expectations, deadlines, resources needed, etc., which will help reduce confusion and conflict among stakeholders.

What are some emerging trends in marketing that marketers should be aware of?

Today’s marketing leaders have a huge challenge ahead of them when it comes to striking a balance between customer data, personalization, and trust.

But there’s also an opportunity: the brands who do this well have a chance to grow relationships and win customers for life. There’s never been a more exciting time to be a marketer.

With the growing demand for personalized customer experiences, marketers are turning to AI to help. They leverage CRM & ABM platforms and AI tools to capture and unify data. These tools are proving beneficial in helping marketers meet the ever-growing demands of customers.

Content marketing planning will continue to be driven by SEO/strategic planning, compelling storytelling, and consistent content. However, in light of tight budgets, marketers must prioritize ROI and focus on what brings the most profitable returns.

What role do data and analytics play in your marketing strategy?

Lead generation is different from demand generation. Our approach to demand generation focuses on leveraging the power of SEO/Content Planning, Social Media, Event Marketing, and PR, as well as Referrals, to drive results.

At VOICEplug, we recognize the need for comprehensive data analysis and have invested heavily in optimizing our SEO/SEM strategy.

We have collaborated with a digital marketing agency and are committed to closely monitoring the performance of our campaigns to ensure maximum ROI.

By leveraging the power of data analytics, we can gain valuable insights into our target audience and make informed decisions that drive better results.

How do you collaborate with other teams to ensure alignment and success in your marketing efforts?

Keeping in touch regularly and having at least one weekly conversation with the Product & Engineering team is a crucial practice of my workflow.

This helps set the proper alignment and ensures expectations are met, mainly when working with Co-Founder/CEO Jay Ruparel.

Can you walk us through your process for developing and executing a successful GTM strategy?

Developing an effective GTM strategy is essential for any business that wants to succeed in today’s competitive marketplace.

It requires careful planning, research, and market analysis before deciding on the best approach. A successful GTM strategy will help you maximize your reach and increase your visibility, allowing you to reach more customers and generate more sales.

It is crucial that the GTM strategy is aligned with the overall business goals and is reviewed and adjusted periodically. To accurately evaluate the success of your GTM strategy, I measure various metrics such as website traffic, ROI from content marketing and SEO, customer satisfaction, and Inquiries v/s sales conversions.

What tools and software do you use to optimize your marketing efforts and make your job easier?

Hubspot, Canva, Beautiful.ai, Google Search Console