When asked about giving advice to filmmakers just starting out in the industry, renowned director Frank Capra delivered this sentiment in 1978: “Don’t follow trends, start them.” However, his words reflect a much bigger truth still relevant 32 years later in the tech industry: To expect growth by implementing a popular trend can often create expectations that don’t meet reality.
That’s why, at Immersive Labs, innovation is about personal growth and direct experience — not just following trends or relying on the hottest metrics.
“We have an annual budget set aside for each team to use for professional development,” said Senior Director of Marketing Cate Cross. “With this expenditure comes the expectation that the team feels welcome to recommend new products to expand our effectiveness.”
Like trying anything new, there is no guarantee that the final result will reflect initial expectations. And at Immersive Labs, that’s exactly the point. Built In Boston sat down with Cross to learn more about how her marketing team embraces individual learning with a growth mindset to stay ahead of the curve and deliver the best possible products to their customers.
What are some of the innovative methods or technologies you’re currently using to reach potential customers?
At Immersive Labs, we are all about growth marketing. You’ve likely heard of the growth mindset — apply those same principles to marketing and you have a view into our approach. The marketing team at Immersive works to drive toward a common goal, experiment and measure for success, and change course quickly when those experiments fail.
We are currently building out our team to enable better use of marketing ops data for agility in our marketing practices and for better sales enablement. Overall, the use of objectives and key results keeps us all on track to work together toward a shared set of goals.
What is a growth mindset?
How do you stay abreast of the latest trends in marketing tech and evaluate whether a new technique or technology might work for your team?
When it comes to innovation, the company as a whole — not just the marketing team — believes that our people are our greatest asset. We have an annual budget set aside for each team to use for professional development. With this expenditure comes the expectation that the team feels welcome to come to the table to recommend new and innovative products to expand our effectiveness and the marketing technology stack.
We also encourage our team members to grow personally by providing a Learn Anything Fund for each individual at Immersive Labs on an annual basis. By allowing our people to grow personally, we hope that they bring a fresh and innovative perspective with them to work.
We also provide an annual stipend for mental health support. Immersive Labs strives to be an environment of support and acceptance where we can be open with each other. But we also know that when it comes to issues of mental health, sometimes we need more support than even our most understanding colleague can offer.
By allowing our people to grow personally, we hope that they bring a fresh perspective to be innovative with them to work.”
What technology trends are you currently following in the marketing space?
With roots in design, SEM and the technical end of websites, I am especially interested in the impact that account based marketing has on the sales funnel. Immersive Labs is currently using ABM in various ways of experimentation to understand its reach for our market.
.jpeg)
