How to find the best angles with Linda Kerr, Director of Marketing at ActZero
"Ask the right questions, find the best angles, do marketing that works"
Read time: 4 minutes
The following is a conversation with Linda Kerr — journalist turned SaaS marketing leader, lover of stories and language, world traveler — where she educates us on how to find the best market angles.
Tell readers about you.
I started in journalism, and it turned out to be the best foundation.
My entire career has been about telling stories and packaging interesting things in an easy-to-follow way.
I've had a non-linear career path and traveled a lot, which forced me to constantly figure out who I am and be creative in finding work.
So all that made you adaptable?
Absolutely. The market changes, and you have to quickly adapt to tell a new, better story. There's a “scrappiness” to journalists that's really useful in startup marketing. We're always trying and experimenting.
I've worked in a company with less than 10 customers. In marketing, there's a lot of talk about doing more with less. When you have just 10 customers and are building everything from scratch, that's the epitome of doing a lot with a little.
Does this “scrappiness” naturally bring you closer to sales, product, customer success, etc.?
Absolutely, you need to be connected with everyone. And always look for any possible angle. I can sell or market anything. I just need to find the right angle.
Can you give an example?
At my current company ActZero — the cybersecurity field has like 10 million companies. We have amazing AI, but so does everyone else.
Not all are direct competitors due to the size of the ecosystem but we get the question, "What sets you apart?" a lot.
I persistently dug deeper with sales and customer success to unearth our unique story. And through extensive exploration, I realized our story is rooted in the company's inception. ActZero implies zero action needed from the customer, while AZ represents the A to Z range of our comprehensive services.
Our aim was to make cybersecurity widely accessible and affordable, democratizing it for any business size. That's a market angle that works: offering top-tier cybersecurity affordably.
Marketers make competing on pricing this evil taboo. But JetBlue for example focuses on being a value airline. If they can succeed by emphasizing pricing, why not us? We talk about affordability, especially for smaller companies who usually can't access advanced services. That’s a part of the unique value.
You bring such a high level of curiosity to your work.
If you aim for meaningful work, start with curiosity.
Curiosity is the mental model that works.
Back to the “story”. Which team… owns it?
While everyone contributes and you gather all these perspectives, marketing should be the one writing it down (and therefore “owning” it).
But the most important part is the CEO’s complete buy-in. Without it, the story falls flat. It needs to emanate from all directions, with the CEO championing it in presentations and meetings and embedding it throughout the org.
But what about sales teams? How do you make sure sales doesn’t view marketing materials as too fluffy or disconnected?
Constant alignment. Which is hard work.
Whenever I start at a company, I want to be on the sales calls. Either listening in or reviewing recordings.
The framing could be improved. It should be simpler. In tech we often overcomplicate what we give to sales, which leads to them not using it effectively. We need to strip it back to basics.
What’s something most marketers don’t do that’s worked for you?
You should be on the sales floor at trade shows.
Talk to people at your booth and observe their reactions and body language. Remember these details and note them down later. This kind of direct feedback is invaluable “data” that you can use.
When I worked at an EdTech company, we'd ask people passing by our booth, “Do you have students without internet connection?”
The responses we got became a key angle for us. That simple question turned into our most effective hook. Trade shows offer great opportunities to test language right there and then.
The fact that it’s happening in real life matters a lot?
If you see someone’s eyes glazing over, it’s a clear sign. I tell new hires to go to trade shows. I tell them, “Go there, try your pitch, and fine-tune it based on the responses.”
Having the sales team there too is great for collaboration. You can see how they pitch, what resonates, what doesn’t, and the kind of questions engage people. But the key is to experiment.
What other sources do you tap into?
I love to talk to the executive team about the origin of the company name. A lot of thought goes into naming a company. Why that name?
ActZero is an example. The service is so effective that it requires zero action from you. The A & Z in the name signifies covering everything from A to Z.
So in our web copy I play on the name – phrases like “zero risk,” “zero tolerance.” Understanding the vision starts with asking “why” about the name. It usually has meaning. Speaking with founders about the founding story often reveals an angle to explore.
Any final thoughts?
I can’t stress “keep it simple” enough. Most marketing is so cluttered.
Clarity wins in bull markets and bear markets.
The messages that are short, simple, and easy to grasp stand out. And you need to act quickly – no delays. Do it, send it.
I’m fascinated by the developments in AI. I’ve managed to make it work in my favor. Because of the solid foundation we've built and finely-tuned tools, I can ship great content rapidly.
Look beyond B2B. Avoid getting stuck in a single mindset. B2C is full of brilliant ideas. You can easily become mentally confined to your niche if you don’t broaden your perspective.
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