By Lee Odden

Relationships and connecting with people on a human level has always been important in business and B2B marketing. Social technologies and platforms promise to enable those connections and they often do.  Whether one to one, one to many or many to many, relationships drive business and at scale, it is communities based on relationships that are at the center of what people working in B2B marketing are increasingly hungry for.

That’s why my next guest on the Beyond B2B Marketing podcast is so timely and relevant to our community of B2B Marketers (watch or listen)

For this latest episode I had the pleasure of speaking with Kathleen Booth, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Growth at Pavilion. If you’re not familiar, Pavilion is a community of over 10,000 GTM (go to market) professionals and Kathleen is an important face of the company championing the community and all that it stands for.

Our conversation covered Kathleen’s journey to Pavilion, the unique structure of the Pavilion community, and the specific needs of go-to-market leaders that it serves. We also talked about the importance of community in career development, the role of in-person events, and the challenges of building successful communities. In the current business environment, we’d be remiss not to share insights on leveraging AI in marketing, creating value on LinkedIn, and the lessons Kathleen has learned from both business and personal experiences. We wrapped up with learning about where Kathleen’s finds inspiration in her career which is something I think you’ll want to hear.

Chapters from this interview:
00:00 Introduction to Pavilion and Kathleen Booth
02:44 Understanding Pavilion’s Community Structure
06:00 The Role of Community in B2B Marketing
09:02 Moments That Matter in Career Development
11:44 Building a Brand Community
15:05 Choosing the Right Community Model
17:50 Opportunism vs. Intentionality in Community Building
20:55 Challenges in Community Growth
23:52 The Importance of Events in Community Engagement
27:35 The Importance of Community in the Age of AI
29:06 Building Meaningful Connections in B2B Marketing
30:56 The Long Game: Community Over Sales
32:10 Exploring Non-Traditional Advertising Channels
36:18 Creating Value on LinkedIn
41:48 AI in Marketing: Opportunities and Pitfalls
45:51 Lessons from Life: Communication and Leadership
48:47 Finding Inspiration and Motivation in Work

Listen to the full interview with Kathleen here:

Watch our full conversation here:

Be sure to connect with Kathleen on LinkedIn and check out the Pavilion community here.

If you’d prefer a text summary of our discussion about building community in the B2B world, we have you covered:

In the most recent episode of the Beyond B2B Marketing Podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with Kathleen Booth, a true “marketer’s marketer” and the current SVP of Marketing and Growth at Pavilion. Our conversation was a deep dive into the power of community, a topic more relevant than ever in today’s digital-first world. Kathleen, who was a member of Pavilion before joining its leadership, shared how the 10,000+ member …read more

Source:: Top Rank Blog

Author: Aaron