Balancing Brand and Demand Gen in B2B Marketing with Jason Ing and Gusto

“Oftentimes we conflate brand marketing and mass marketing and we assume that they’re the same. It’s really about how you deliver that narrative through whatever channels make sense for you.”

Jason Ing, Chief Marketing Officer at Gusto, joins Krystina Rubino on Growth Talks to share his journey from B2C marketing with global tech giants like Microsoft and Amazon to leading B2B marketing strategies at Gusto.

He explores the balance between brand and demand generation and highlights how storytelling and emotion shape decision-making in the B2B space. Jason also offers a behind-the-scenes look at how Gusto builds trust and brand consistency while providing HR and payroll services to small and medium-sized businesses.

🗝️ Key Takeaways:

• Start with demand gen marketing to find those short term wins. Then once you’ve mastered product market fit, move onto brand marketing for your long term growth. 
• When making decisions on where to put your marketing dollars, make sure the ‘feels right’ doesn’t exceed 15-20%—and be sure to keep tabs on paid performance trends at all stages of the funnel after you layer in brand spend. 
• Creative consistency builds trust AND recall. Be sure to be solid in your “why,” and make sure that everything from ads to customer support get behind that vision.
• The best B2B marketing creative is based in storytelling. Find a way to blend the emotional and rational. 
• Qualitative insights go beyond metrics. Listening to customers reveals opportunities that data alone can’t—like the potential impact of placing the niche ad in front of the right audience at the perfect time.

⏰ Timestamps

00:00 Introduction to Jason Ing and his transition from B2C to B2B marketing

01:22 Balancing brand and demand gen for B2B growth

06:01 How storytelling influences B2B decision-making

08:41 Creating brand consistency across channels

12:26 Using qualitative research to drive strategy

18:40 Experimenting with channels while maintaining budget control

27:22 The role of trust and loyalty in long-term growth

37:00 Final thoughts and advice for marketers

🔗 Mentioned in this episode:

• Gusto: www.gusto.com
• AWS: www.aws.amazon.com
• Xbox: www.xbox.com
• Procter & Gamble: www.pg.com

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