Modernizing Marketing at an IT Services Company with Jennifer Rathgaber of SQA

During this episode of Tech Qualified, Tristan Pelligrino and Justin Brown chat with Jennifer Rathgaber, the Senior Marketing Manager at SQA (Software Quality Associates). Jennifer talks about her tenure with a B2B SaaS company focused on associations/nonprofits and her transition to a role at SQA. With SQA, Jennifer is now focused on modernizing a business which has been relatively stagnant on the marketing side of things for almost twenty years. Highlights Jennifer talks about her past experiences in the marketing world - recently transitioning from a B2B SaaS company. In previous roles, Jennifer has worn several different hats - responsible for demand generation, content development, digital marketing, branding, and every other leg of marketing that you can think of. Jennifer discusses how SQA is primarily a services firm and it helps other organizations transform digitally. SQA is predominantly a regional company, focused mostly in the New England area. For the most part, SQA has experienced stagnant growth as of late and there are initiatives in place now to optimize for growth. Before arriving, SQA really had a passive marketing strategy, where an agency was driving the team and Jennifer came in to really kick off demand generation. Right now, Jennifer is crafting the customer journey and still working through the process. SQA actually has two sides of their business - services and then staff augmentation where they are responsible for recruiting and placing specific roles. SQA is using a variety of pillar pieces to then use for a foundation of shorter pieces of content - webinars, panel discussions and longer white papers. Jennifer has found that it’s important to weave in thought leadership content in a variety of situations - from PPC to email outreach. Jennifer has leveraged internal subject matter experts to get a sense of the ideal customer at SQA. Many internal resources have been buyers of their types of services in the past. Key Points Jennifer compares and contrasts services with B2B SaaS, “In the B2B SaaS space, that was a little more black and white, where if you hit somebody with an email, they raise their hand saying, yes, I want a free demo - that's an MQL. If they go to an SDR, then they go to the sales team. The services space I'm finding is a lot more different. The services space is more of a long game.” Jennifer mentioned “I have to stop being so focused on MQLs and be more focused on the relationships that we're building. Whether it be through marketing or through sales or a combination of both...” Resources Jennifer Rathgaber: LiThis episode is produced by New North.  New North is a strategic B2B marketing agency specializing in working with tech companies. Going beyond conventional tactics, we craft a personalized marketing strategy, conduct research, lay a solid foundation, execute dynamic campaigns, and continuously refine our approach through analysis. With New North, your small, scrappy marketing team transforms into a powerful growth engine, achieving your goals with less pressure and more precision.