26: Proof Positive that Social Selling Works w Nimble CEO Jon Ferrara

Customer experience is at the core of marketing success. Nimble founder and CEO Jon Ferrara explains where and how brands should be targeting their messages in Part II of his interview on the Renegade Thinkers Unite podcast. Ferrara grew Nimble out of the idea that brands do best when customers recommend them to their networks. Nearly nine years later, Ferrara's business is stronger than ever and venturing into new marketing frontiers. During his extensive tenure in marketing, Ferrara learned that business doesn't have to be impersonal. In fact, his experience at GoldMine CRM—and eventually Nimble—demonstrates that the best marketing strategies are personal in nature. Ferrara says, "I think the mistake that many businesspeople make is that they make business about business…[but business] is about connecting with people. That's why they'll remember you." Jon walks the walk on that philosophy, sharing both his personal and private social accounts with the people in his network to this day. Ferrara didn't originally foresee GoldMine, his first business venture, taking a turn towards customer-centricity. "GoldMine actually started out as an accounting software company," he says. "I needed something to manage the relationships, so I built and designed GoldMine to do that. It turned out that GoldMine really was our future and we had to pivot." Ferrara's strategy at GoldMine was to "build relationships with editors and writers so [consumers would] see us being written about in publications, and then we started slipping in radio ads and airplane ads."  Nimble, which launched in 2008, capitalizes on that same influencer-driven approach. "We're here to help those influencers build their brands in social sales and marketing by helping them inspire and educate our customers," he states. "So it's a win-win situation." The company anticipates user counts of multiple millions in the near future. One of Ferrara's top priorities is helping Nimble's marketing team strike the right balance between telling a unified brand message and genuinely opening up to potential partners. He says, "The relationships happen at that one-to-one level across your team members, but you still need to have a unified message, be consistent about that messaging, drive the high-level stuff, and then integrate." Knowing that he's serving his customers is Ferrara's biggest reward, and he takes every compliment to heart. "When somebody stops [me] on the street and says, 'you know, Jon, you changed my life with GoldMine,' or 'you're changing my life with Nimble,' that's the best," he claims. "That's why we do what we do." Meet the Guest Jon Ferrara is a social marketing sensei. As a co-founder of GoldMine CRM, he innovated new ways for marketers to build relationships with customers. Ferrara launched Nimble in 2008, the next-generation CRM product for small businesses. Ferrara provides top-notch social customer relationship management to marketers everywhere. He currently serves as Nimble's founder and CEO, where he specializes in entrepreneurship, product innovation and brand and identity development. What You'll Learn  How customer experiences can expand your brand more rapidly than advertising can. Best practices for managing customer relationships. The importance of helping social influencers succeed in your audience's niche. The value of having a unified brand message. How to cook a chuck roast (seriously!)