Space Marketing Playbook, with Brian D'Erario (Payload)

This week’s Pathfinder pod features Brian D’Erario, the man who keeps the lights on at Payload as the Director of Client Partnerships. Brian’s role is to bring in all the revenue that makes everything at Payload possible (no pressure, Brian!).  With experience working with over 97 partners, Brian has been instrumental in shaping Payload's approach to brand awareness and lead generation.Brian shares his journey from selling B2B hardware and software to government contractors, to his time at Morning Brew, and finally joining Payload to drive partnerships in the space sector. We explore Brian's background, including his work with various industries and his insights into the unique challenges of marketing within the space industry. We also discuss:The marketing strategies that space companies often overlookThe importance of brand awareness even during the R&D phaseHow startups can compete with the primesThe role of content in engaging B2B audiencesEffective conference strategies for maximizing impactAnd much more… • Chapters •00:00 - Intro01:04 - What does Brian do at Payload?01:51 - Brian's background04:33 - Morning Brew08:09 - Initial assessment of space marketing strategies10:39 - Do space companies market themselves well?12:27 - Marketing your product before you start selling19:46 - Brand awareness vs lead generation27:40 - When does it make sense for a startup to spend money on marketing?31:44 - How can a startup develop a marketing plan for a product that competes against a prime competitor?34:46 - Creating engaging B2B content41:31 - Agency vs in-house43:39 - Conference strategies47:44 - The Marketing Playbook52:53 - Brian’s publication55:11 - Partnerships consultant57:15 - From hockey to pickleball • Show notes •Brian’s Marketing Newsletter — https://payloadspace.com/marketing-deep-tech-newsletter/Brian’s socials — https://twitter.com/derariobMo's socials — https://twitter.com/itsmoislamPayload’s socials — https://twitter.com/payloadspace / https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspacePathfinder archive — Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@payloadspacePathfinder archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/episodes • About us •Pathfinder is brought to you by Payload, a modern space media brand built from the ground up for a new age of space exploration and commercialization. We deliver need-to-know news and insights daily to 19,000+ commercial, civil, and military space leaders. Payload is read by decision-makers at every leading new space company, along with c-suite leaders at all of the aerospace & defense primes. We’re also read on Capitol Hill, in the Pentagon, and at space agencies around the world.Payload began as a weekly email sent to a few friends and coworkers. Today, we’re a team distributed across four time zones and two continents, publishing five media properties across multiple platforms:1) Payload, our flagship daily newsletter, sends M-F @ 9am Eastern2) Pathfinder publishes weekly on Tuesday mornings (pod.payloadspace.com)3) Polaris, our weekly policy briefing, publishes weekly on Tuesdays4) Payload Research, our weekly research and analysis piece,  comes out on WednesdaysYou can sign up for all of our publications here: https://payloadspace.com/subscribe/