Jennifer Hopkins, SVP of Marketing at Sonar -- But, what if it was YOUR money???

In this episode of "YouShouldTalkTo," our host Daniel Weiner chats with this week’s guest Jennifer Hopkins, the SVP of Marketing at Sonar. Jennifer is a powerhouse in the marketing industry and has personally witnessed how much the industry has changed over the years. Everything from cold calling to consumer spending is completely different from when she started. One thing that stood out to her was how and why marketers are using the company’s budget. She shared an incredibly insightful story about a manager who asked a marketer if they would spend $100,000 of their own money on a project they pitched. He asked if they had analyzed the data and were absolutely sure that this was the best use of their funds. That question gave Jennifer a new perspective on her work and she considers it with every new project. When asked about her worst agency experience, Jennifer opened up about an issue she keeps running into with large agencies. They just keep getting in their own way. By valuing their internal processes over the client's needs, they delay the work that they were hired for in the first place. She’s even had to go through 30 days of an onboarding process that could have been done in a 2-hour Zoom call. To avoid getting in their own way, Jennifer says that agencies should remember why the client hired them and prioritize that. Cold calling has also changed significantly in the marketing industry. Nowadays, marketers tend to tune things out, especially if these calls are unsolicited or done in poor taste. They’ve even gone so far as to call three or four times in a row which makes her think it’s a family emergency! Her advice is to cut it out. It’s a terrible practice and ruins your chances of working with her.  Check out this week’s episode to hear more of Jennifer Hopkins’s invaluable advice for this ever-changing industry. Guest-at-a-Glance💡 Name: Jennifer Hopkins💡What they do: SVP of Marketing at Sonar 💡 Where to find them: LinkedInKey InsightsGrowth Efficiency In this week’s episode, Jennifer shares an incredible story of perspective and efficiency. The question, “What would you do if we’re your money,” has influenced her work ever since she’s heard it. As a result, she’s rejected the idea of growth at all costs and prioritized proposals that are best backed up by data. No BSOne of the best things an agency can do for her is cut the BS. One agency she hired quickly aligned with her North Star metric and called themselves out when they didn’t make it. That kind of honesty, as well as a plan to better their results, established a level of trust that Jennifer really appreciated. Prioritizing North Star Metrics The best agencies are the ones that focus on what the clients want, not fluff metrics. Jennifer’s best experiences have been with agencies who prioritized the North Star metrics and delivered what she needed. It sounds simple but not every agency is as authentic as they claim to be.