It shouldn’t happen, but it does. In your quest for self-development and fresh perspectives, you eagerly open a blog post promising to summarise the leading industry experts working within your niche. You start to scroll slowly down the page, finally reaching the end of the article. You scroll back up again, heart sinking. Scanning down once more – more slowly, resigned this time – your fears are confirmed. Not a single woman listed.
This kind of lazy representation does more than silence female expertise and experience, it sends a dangerous message, adding false validation to outdated, gender-based assumptions, and signalling to the women just starting out in the industry that there’s no place for them at the top table.
SaaS has never been a boys’ club, and shouldn’t be made to feel like one because of lazy, misinformed industry coverage. Coming up with this list was easy; we could have made it twice as long. The following article showcases twenty women kicking SaaS in the world of marketing, and comes with a strong recommendation for everyone to follow them, regardless of gender.
Tara Hunt: The Strategist
Find her on Twitter here.
Follow her for: Her excellent podcast, Anatomy of a Strategy
With almost two decades of experience at the bleeding edge of digital marketing, the pioneering Tara Hunt is many people’s first port of call for information on how the social web is changing modern business. The founder of digital marketing agency truly, she is known for her shrewd take on results-focused strategy, and this expertise has won her an army of followers – over 200,000 of them on LinkedIn alone. A regular on the speaking circuit, her Slideshare presentations have been viewed almost 2 million times, and we’d highly recommend bookmarking her profile as it’s a goldmine of close to 100 insightful and illuminating windows to the world of relationship led and inbound marketing.
Sophia Eng: The Champion
Find her on Twitter here.
Follow her for: Growth Mentorship advice
In addition to being an eloquent champion for women and minorities in the world of start-up tech (if you didn’t read her viral response to a Google engineer’s quasi-scientific attempt to shut down women in STEM back in 2017, now is the time) Sophia Eng leverages her considerable experience in the world of growth marketing to help those rising up through the industry’s ranks via GrowthMentor. As well as providing mentorship, and heading up marketing at Trade The Firth, she also found time to talk to us as a guest on the SaaS Revolution Show, where we discussed the importance of diverse leadership in order to foster innovation. We’re honored to have her joining us at SaaStock West Coast later this fall.
Karima-Catherine Goundiam: The Collaborator
Find her on Twitter here.
Follow her for: International business development expertise
The award-winning CEO and founder of well-respected full-service digital firm Red Dot Digital, Karima-Catherine’s expertise lies in data-driven strategic business transformation. In 2018, she was awarded the Joanna Townsend Excellence Award for Leadership in International Trade, in recognition of her outstanding support for women’s international business development. With a history of strategic roles at global companies such as Deloitte and Ford, the common thread throughout her career has been faith in the power and ability of collaboration to unlock potential for all involved.
Sydney Sloan: The Natural Leader
Find her on Twitter here.
Follow her for: Customer experience expertise
CMO at Salesloft since the summer of 2018, Sydney Sloan is a tech investor & advisor with considerable strategic, product management and customer experience expertise. Acting as an advisor to ABM platform Folloze and marketing automation experts Marketo, she also has a strong track record of building global teams and is often singled out for particular praise in terms of her leadership abilities within the sector.
April Dunford: The Positioner
Find her on Twitter here.
Follow her for: Tips on nailing product positioning
When it comes to product marketing, April Dunford’s experience really is second to none. With a quarter of a century working at the executive level for startups and global tech giants alike, she now shares her vast knowledge as a positioning consultant, entrepreneur, board member, angel investor and advisor. If you’re looking for a thorough briefing on product positioning, do yourself a favor and get her book “Obviously Awesome” on next day delivery. This best-seller, which has won five-star ratings across the web, dives deep into the intricacies of positioning, value proposition and really understanding what makes your audience tick. April was a guest on the SaaS Revolution Show back in April; catch up here.
Jada Balster: The Contributor
Find her on Twitter here.
Follow her for: B2B marketing expertise
Chances are you’ve already read several pieces by Jada, a respected thought-leader in the marketing and business space, who regularly contributes to publications such as Marketing Week, B2B Marketing, The Telegraph, The Drum, CrunchBase, and Creative Review. In addition to this, she’s a regular at industry events including our very own Saastock, B2B Ignite, Sales Hacker London, Marketing Week Live and Festival of Marketing, as well as being a member of the judging panel for the B2B Marketing Awards and The Drum Creative Awards., Vice President Marketing @Workfront, Jada has extensive EMEA experience and was recently named as one of MarketingB2B’s Top Women In Tech.
Georgiana Laudi: The Guru
Find her on Twitter here.
Follow her for: Professional development tips
When it comes to the track record that Georgiana Laudi trails behind her, the stats really do speak for themselves. 864% revenue growth for Unbounce in just three years. $1M to $15.6M in Annual Recurring Revenue, all without any major funding and in just five years. Today acting as a marketing exec for hire with Elevate, Georgiana also co-founded the extremely popular Forget The Funnel, where she distills her expertise into amazingly helpful resources, SaaS marketers level-up and become strategic leaders with free workshops and in-depth training. We’d like to thank her again for speaking at SaaStock East Coast last month.
Lidia Lutten: The Communicator
Find her on Twitter here.
Follow her for: Communications best practice
Based out of Amsterdam and currently enjoying the role of VP Marketing at social intranet platform, Happeo, Lidia Lutten is on a mission to make the world of comms work harder and smarter through innovative, intuitive technology. Another fantastic guest on The SaaS Revolution Podcast, we highly recommend checking out her insightful take on running revenue-driven marketing, for her take on moving beyond the “vanity metrics” of lead numbers, engagement and awareness and towards a more impactful strategy, that works in harmony with sales and drives real difference on the bottom line.
Gemma Davies: The Balance Bringer
Find her on Twitter here.
Follow her for: Account-based marketing best practice
Gemma Davies is another stickler for accountability within marketing, championing the need for the sector to prove its strategic value at the highest levels of business. Currently, Director of ABM at Service Now, her expertise in account-based marketing is extensive. She also holds the roles of Board Advisor and Membership Lead within the Women In Marketing (WiM) community interest group, extolling the importance of feminine qualities – empathy, soft power, emotional intelligence – that women can bring to the world of business and politics, by the introduction and promotion of balance.
Maureen Blandford: The Advisor
Find her on Twitter here.
Follow her for: B2B Complex Sale Knowledge
Named one of thirteen top Inspirational Marketing Leaders by LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, Maureen Blandford has an impressive pedigree to her name. A self-confessed “B2B Complex Sale Superfan,” her career to date has included VP Marketing for Growth at GrowthIntel, CMO for Software Improvement Group and a number of high profile advisory roles, including Code4Thought. Well worth a follow on LinkedIn for excellent, insightful articles.
Katelyn Bourgoin: The Scientist
Find her on Twitter here.
Follow her for: Customer research and ranking expertise
As an industry, the world of marketing is well-used to having allegations of “fluff” flung at it from those on the outside. Katelyn Bourgoin, a serial entrepreneur and self-confessed growth geek, is leading the charge towards data-driven strategy, removing the guesswork and poorly targeted campaigning that leaves so many promising companies floundering in their early stages. The proof, as ever, is in the conversion rates, which Katelyn seems to send skyrocketing. A key element of her strategy; stop chasing the wrong customers. If this sounds like something your business is crying out for, we strongly suggest heading to her site to check out the free customer ranking calculator tool on offer.
Amber Naslund: The Content Queen
Find her on Twitter here.
Follow her for: Content marketing wisdom
With over two decades of digital marketing expertise to her name, today Amber Naslund is responsible for building and executing high-performing content marketing strategies as a senior content marketing evangelist at LinkedIn. She co-authored a best-selling social business book “The Now Revolution” which lays out seven shifts to make your business “faster, smarter and more social,” and also shares her experience from the stage, with regular speaking gigs that receive rave reviews for their insightful and authentic nature.
Rachel Happe: The Connector
Find her on Twitter here.
Follow her for: Top tips on community and connection
Rachel notably co-founded The Community Roundtable, the premier resource for community management research, training, tools, and networking in the world. As well as supporting business leaders in developing their community and social business strategies, she has spent the last 20 years helping organizations implement emerging technologies to advance their business strategies. Ultimately it’s her deep understanding of the power and potential of modern networked communications that make Rachel such a key figure in the world of social business.
Leela Srinivasan: The Talent Spotter
Find her on Twitter here.
Follow her for: Delivering data insights
Recently announced as the newest member of Upwork’s board of Directors, Leela Srinivasan is CMO of SurveyMonkey, and well known for her detail-oriented and strategic marketing brain. Having previously headed up the full spectrum of marketing efforts over at recruitment platform Lever, Leela’s has a thorough grasp of the talent market and the unique challenges it brings to the business, and so brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this role.
Christine Bailey DBA: The Doctor
Find her on Twitter here.
Follow her for: SMB specialism
CMO at Valitor, Christine Bailey was recently named amongst B2B marketing’s elite women by MarketingB2B and was shortlisted for the global Women in Marketing award in 2018. A well-known thought leader and experienced speaker, delivering talks for TedX and Forbes. In addition to all of this, she holds a doctorate in use of customer insight for customer acquisition, development & retention. This LinkedIn article makes interesting and timely reading.
Sarah Kennedy Ellis: The Volunteer
Find her on Twitter here.
Follow her for: Enterprise-scale solutions
Chief Marketing Officer at Marketo since 2017, Sarah Kennedy Ellis ability to wrestle with the thorniest of marketing challenges is what gets her out of bed in the morning. In addition to her role as VP Marketing for Adobe Digital Experience, Sarah also has a lot of admirable voluntary work to her name, with many years spent assisting the promotion and growth of the Junior League Of Dallas, an organisation which seeks to promote voluntarism, develop the potential of women and improve the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers.
Meghan Keany Anderson: The Growth Coach
Find her on Twitter here.
Follow her for: The excellent Growth Show podcast
VP of Marketing at HubSpot, Meghan Keany Anderson somehow also finds time to serve as an advisor to United Way, HelpScout and Evertrue. The Growth Show podcast, which she hosts, also comes highly recommended and serves to act as a guiding light for founders and entrepreneurs seeking to see a business, idea or movement gain momentum. The show regularly makes top marketing podcast lists, so if it’s not already one of your regular downloads, you know what to do.
Heather Zynczak: The GTM Guide
Find her on Twitter here.
Follow her for: Go-to-market strategy
Throughout her 20-year career, Heather Zynczak has held executive marketing positions at some of the world’s largest and fastest-growing enterprise tech companies and should be your first port of call for go to market strategic expertise. Currently holding a position as Chief Marketing Officer for Pluralsight, she is passionate about a data-driven approach to marketing, as well as championing women in tech. A regular community contributor on both topics, she has been published in Fast Company, Forbes, Fortune, Inc., and many other high-profile publications.
Tara Robertson: The SaaS Superfan
Find her on Twitter here.
Follow her for: Voice of customer authority
Recently interviewed for the SaaStock blog, Tara Robertson’s passion for the world of SaaS is secondary only to her enthusiasm for promoting modern, customer-centric marketing strategy within it. Heading up Leads Marketing Strategy at Sprout Social, her trajectory has been cemented by incredibly impressive results for the company, more than doubling the revenue goals they set themselves in the first year alone. An advocate of the “Jobs To be Done” methodology, Tara can often be found on the road, delivering workshops and keynotes at high profile events around the globe, including the most recent SaaStock East.
Meagen Eisenberg: The Scaler
Find her on Twitter here.
Follow her for: Marketing at scale
Having made the move from MongoDB to TripActions at the start of the year, Meghan Eisenberg’s track record to date is exemplary, with 8 successful exits under her belt since 2011 as an operator and advisor, including 2 IPOs and 6 mergers and acquisitions. This experience of using data-driven strategy to help boost scaling companies has cemented her reputation for an ability to laser-focus in on the areas where business practice can be optimized to the greatest effect for companies keen to grow.
As we trust this article has amply illustrated, expert female voices are out there, contributing incredible content to online platforms, recording hilarious, insightful podcasts, writing best-selling business books and wowing international crowds at conferences around the globe.
Take some time to explore the gender balance of the voices that your social media is currently tuned to; adding to the richness of your main sources of inspiration and thought leadership can only ever be a good thing – after all, understanding and appreciating diversity of voice, desire, motivation and experience is what great marketing is all about.