As our team grows, we want to make sure you get to know each of us. Today, we sat down with one of our newest member, Nicolas de La Villiardière, or NicoDLV as we call him, part-time CMO at iytro.
Can you share a bit about your professional experience before joining iytro as a Part-Time CMO?
Before joining iytro, I was the Head of Marketing and Acquisition at Okarito, the travel platform. I was the first marketing hire which meant I had to build everything marketing related from scratch. I created their marketing strategy, defined KPIs, acquisition channels, etc. A year after I joined the company, Okarito was acquired by French unicorn, Swile. During the acquisition process, I was tasked with managing the CRM migration and became more of a project manager than marketer; something I really enjoyed.
After the acquisition is when I left Okarito and joined iytro. I liked the idea of being able to work with multiple clients in varying industries. I enjoy a good challenge so the idea of having multiple clients at the same time was something that really interested me, it allows me to learn and try to execute at a faster rate. It also exposes me to new businesses, products, people in different industries and lets me see different marketing processes.
What does a typical day as a Part-Time CMO at iytro look like?
There's no such thing as a typical day, every day is so different but they do contain the same parts. At iytro, I play two roles: that of a CMO and that of a project manager. I have weekly check-ins with clients to ensure that projects are running smoothly and to see if anything needs to be tailored along the way. I mostly function from an execution standpoint, this is where the project manager side comes in, to make sure that deadlines are met but I also have the experience and knowledge to alter their marketing strategy if needed. These weekly meetings are really beneficial for my clients. They allow us to have a designated meeting time to discuss anything and everything, even if there are no updates to discuss they know they always have that available.
Why do you enjoy working with startups?
Startups have an end vision. They know what they want to be and an overview of how to get there. It allows me, as their Part-Time CMO, to have a lot of operational and manual input. It's a fast moving environment that requires everyone involved to make decisions quickly and often these decisions can provide results within a few weeks or even days. Larger companies have developed their processes over years but with startups, you have the opportunity to make impactful decisions. There are no repeatable processes, budgets etc. You are building everything from scratch and that means that there are endless opportunities for creativity.
What are some common marketing mistakes you see when working with startups?
I can give you quite a few. A lot of the time I see companies integrate a blog into their website and create mounds of content with the hope of generating website traffic or leads but the content doesn’t do its job. Content needs to serve a purpose and it needs to be SEO friendly. This is a part of what I work on with a lot of clients.
I also often see a lack of consistency in a company’s messaging. The company website has been built but nothing on it shows the product’s attributes or the added benefits it provides clients. Along with that, a lot of companies do not track their strategies. Data is needed to make informed decisions.
What marketing practices do you recommend for startups?
I recommend they test A LOT. Anything from SEO to SEA. From a B2B perspective, Facebook and LinkedIn ads provide them with great opportunities to gain traction. It’s a bit more expensive but it's often worth trying out.
Also content can always generate leads. Think about ebooks and other informative content. With content it's important to receive feedback from potential users and/or your team before putting it out to a larger audience.
Do you have any podcast or book recommendations?
My favorite podcast is Growthmakers and the two books I recommend are The Lean Startup by Eric Ries and The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell.
If you're interested in working with one of our part-time CMOs, Get in Touch.
