This edition of Pro Interviews features Marte Stenbro. Marte’s knowledge of sales and marketing integration combined with her passion for technology give her a unique business prespective. She’s worked with a number of Swedish startups and helped them get to the next level.
Pagezii — Marte, please tell us a bit about yourself.
Marte — Over the past 10+ years, my professional focus has been centered on developing and promoting businesses. I’ve worked with a number of entrepreneurial startups in the Nordics, with the common denominator being sales and marketing alignment. Currently I’m working with account management at Leadteq, an Oracle Gold partner within Oracle CX, focusing on the Marketing cloud.
Pagezii — What initially sparked your interest in software and technology?
Marte — It started back in 2003. The company I was working for had a game-changing idea – to track website visitor data and make that data accessible to sales teams. When we introduced this idea to the market, the reaction was amazing! It was the easiest thing I’ve ever sold; what company wouldn’t want to know who’s interested in their business?
It was the easiest thing I’ve ever sold
Pagezii — Are there any cool marketing and sales apps you’ve recently come across?
Marte — One that stands out is Oracles BlueKai. It’s cloud-based big data platform that lets a company personalize online, offline, and mobile marketing campaigns – all in one!
It’s not an app per se, it’s actually a digital management product. It’s definitely the coolest, most powerful DMP you’ve ever heard of.
Pagezii — How is the startup scene in Sweden like?
Marte — The startup scene in Sweden is very positive. There’re a lot of talented and driven individuals working here. I’ve even noticed our school systems beginning to embrace the startup culture; encouraging young people to explore their entrepreneurial spirit. On the other hand, a challenge facing startups is finding and attracting the right competence. It’s not easy for Swedish Entrepreneurs to have democratic ownership over what they create.
Pagezii — Are there any cultural factors at play within the different Nordic countries that a digital marketeer should be aware off?
Marte — That’s an interesting question. I’m not sure if people would agree with me on this, but as a Norwegian living in Stockholm, I feel that Sweden is more international and European than Norway.
I’ve found Norwegian audiences are more patriotic, and are more receptive to marketing in their native language. Swedish audiences are different – they prefer to think of themselves as more “cosmopolitan”.
Pagezii — With everything going digital, do you see the roles of Sales and Marketing becoming even more integrated?
The job of a marketer has changed enormously
Marte — Definitely! The sales team expects marketing to deliver sales qualified leads. The job of a marketer has changed enormously. With new tools creating new opportunities, the technical knowledge needed to process large data sets is more important than ever. That being said, it has also gotten much easier to measure the quality of the job delivered.
Pagezii — Marte’s years of experience with Swedish startups has given her invaluable knowledge into the tech business. Thank you, Marte, for sharing your expertise.
