Artificial intelligence mimics our own human intelligence and enables technology to see, hear, speak, move, or write. This is important for the business and social media world, since AI can eventually create drafts for ads or even write social media posts for you. But how does AI actually work, how does it relate to B2B marketing space, and why is it important for social selling. These and other questions we are discussing with AI and B2B marketing expert Apoorv Gehlot.Apoorv is Founder and Board member at Matellio Inc., a software engineering services company with a focus on product design and development. Matellio operates in the areas of AI, ML, IoT, Embedded, Cloud computing, web and mobile driven solutions.Listen to the episode to learn:1.Where is AI in marketing on its life cycle? Is it still in hype or are there real practical applications? 2.How can you classify AI? 3.What AI application should marketers think about first? How do you go about it? 4.If you consider AI deployment: Do you develop it in-house, do you buy solutions, do you buy pre-products? What are the steps? What skills do you need inside your organization?5.AI in social selling/social media: content creation, analytics, targeting6. Do today's marketing departments need AI to be successful in the future?Additionally, we're covering some fun facts about chef's hats, oranges and the best tiramisu in Silicon Valley. Don't miss it!

Milan Ruzicka is Co-Founder, COO Global, and CEO Europe of the social selling company ReadyForSocial. He has 20+ years of B2B enterprise marketing experience focusing on turnarounds and business growth, telco, and tech.  He's also the analytical "mastermind" of ReadyForSocial and loves to prepare meaningful data for his clients.In this episode, Milan shares his insights into the cost, KPIs and the ROI of social selling:what does social selling cost?how to measure the success of your social selling program?how much engagement should your sales people get?and: what is the ROI of social selling?      Listen to our episode to hear these and other learnings directly from Milan.

Wiebke Kraus is Digital Marketing Manager at SPS, a leading outsourcing provider for business processes solutions and document management.  Wiebke has been involved in the planning, development and implementation of integrated marketing campaigns, as well as in her company’s social media marketing and social selling program for the German market. In this episode you learn:o  what is the role of social selling in today's digital marketing?o   social media marketing vs. social selling: what is the difference?o   how can marketing support their sales team? (trainings, tools, content, individual support)o   the role of tools in digital sales enablement & social selling.Wiebke is passionate about digital marketing, audiovisual media, technology and storytelling. Prior to joining SPS, Wiebke has held various marketing positions at companies like Sky Germany - Europe’s leading media and entertainment company and part of the Comcast group - and Red Bull Media House - an award-winning, global multimedia company with a focus on sports, culture and lifestyle content.  

Ronnell Richards has more than 20 years of experience as a successful entrepreneur and sales leader. His varied background includes roles as an account executive, president, and managing partner in telecommunications. Ronnell also excelled as marketing director in the healthcare industry, consistently achieving top accolades, and has experience in channel and partner development.Ronnell loves sharing his knowledge and inspiring others. That’s why his current focus is on helping entrepreneurs create and execute go-to-market strategies and grow their sales & business. He is also the managing partner, creator, and host of the “Business & Bourbon” community of business leaders and entrepreneurs who share their knowledge and wisdom.Next to that, Ronnell is the host of the top-rated podcast “Business And Bourbon with Ronnell Richards,” which has been featured in Forbes and Inc. magazine.In this episode, you will learn:The keys to successful and sustainable community building.How to capture the attention of people in today’s busy world.How marketers can create their personal professional brand. How to use social media & social selling to achieve your goals.… and much more. Listen in as Ronnell shares his incredible knowledge with you.

Andreas Klauser is a senior tech marketing leader in the B2B enterprise space. After holding various marketing leadership positions at HP and T-Systems International, he joined Zoom in November of 2021. Now, he is leading and building out Zoom's marketing organization across the EMEA region.In his previous position as VP of Field Marketing at T-Systems, he has successfully implemented a global social selling program for hundreds of colleagues in sales and beyond. In his current role at Zoom, he is in the process of rolling out a program across Europe and Asia.  In this episode, you will learn best practices for marketers when it comes to:setting up your social selling program and creating traction organically throughout the organization.who to start your program with (how to choose the people and business unit to begin with).how to secure sales leadership buy-in.how to keep your organization engaged for the long haul.how to define success along the timeline of your program, including a focus on marketing & sales KPIs.proving content to your (sales) organization, and much more.… and much more. Listen in as Andreas shares valuable hands-on advice and experience!

In this episode, Milan Ruzicka, B2B enterprise marketing expert, shares cutting-edge insights and learnings from the B2B Marketing Exchange*, one of the top B2B conferences in the United States. Some of his key takeaways for the marketing of today & tomorrow include:the digital marketing industry is evolving with accelerating speed and complexity, the vendor market outpacing the needs of their customers.the change in buying behavior towards primarily digital brings new needs in terms of technology, operating models and the skillset required of marketers.customer intent becomes a critical factor, as well as allowing prospects to go through the entire customer journey in their medium of choice.the interest in social selling is growing with about a third of attendees indicating they want to talk about it. Listen to our episode to hear these and other learnings directly from Milan.

Zac Wood is a seasoned sales professional with 15 years of experience in Sales & Sales Management Excellence. Zac has a track record of surpassing sales quotas, increasing revenue, and growing market share. He has used LinkedIn to advance his business success for over 10 years. His approach to sales is to build relationships and understand what jobs need to get done for the client. Listen to this episode to learn more about how Zac sees the role of social media in modern sales. We talk about how sales teams and their organizations benefit from social selling, what challenges sales people face when integrating social selling into their day-to-day work, and how marketing can support them for optimal results.  

Sander Biehn is founder and CEO of Thought Horizon, LLC, and a pioneer of social selling. After a successful sales career at AT&T, he founded his company in 2013, helping organizations build, manage, and succeed using social selling.We talk with Sander about:- how social selling can complement account-based marketing- how organizations can implement social selling to build relationships and grow business with defined accounts- hands-on tips for marketers and sellers who want to use social selling as part of their ABM approachPlus: Sander share his own beginnings and his success story with social selling, working as an enterprise Account Executive in the telecommunications industry before founding his own social selling company. 

We talk with Björn Radde - VP Digital Experience at T-Systems - how he is integrating social selling in the digital marketing and sales strategy at his company. The topics we cover include:How can companies influence buyers in today’s busy, digital world? Why is social selling uniquely positioned to help businesses build relationships with their prospects? How can you get your organization started with social selling?Key success factors of social sellingBjörn's personal social selling routine   Bonus: A short excursion into the world of NFT (non-fungible tokens) and their role in digital marketing.Björn Radde is VP Digital Experience at T-Systems International - one of the world's leading vendor-independent digital services providers. Before joining T-Systems, he held various senior digital marketing roles in technology, internet, and hospitality industries.

In our introductory episode, Straight to Business host Lisa Davidson gives an overview of our podcast and what you can expect. In short: Straight to Business helps B2B marketers master the world of social selling. Lisa Davidson is joined by social selling expert Monika Ruzicka and varying guest speakers from marketing and sales, to discuss the strategic and operational elements of bringing social selling to your organization and making it successful.