How To Create a Marketing Persona for the CTO

If you want to market new technology products B2Bs you need to engage the CTO. Marketing to the CTO requires an understanding of who they are and what they do.  “A CTO is a sort of ombudsman for all parts of an organization's technologies,” says Ty Roberts, who currently runs strategic partnerships at TIDAL, JAY…

The post How To Create a Marketing Persona for the CTO appeared first on Eric Schwartzman.

If you want to market new technology products B2Bs you need to engage the CTO. Marketing to the CTO requires an understanding of who they are and what they do. 

“A CTO is a sort of ombudsman for all parts of an organization's technologies,” says Ty Roberts, who currently runs strategic partnerships at TIDAL, JAY Z’s global music and entertainment platform committed to creating a deeper connection between artists and fans. 

TIDAL is a pioneer in giving its subscribers exclusive access to high-profile music, videos, original content, livestreams, tickets, merchandise and live experiences fans cannot find anywhere else. The platform’s original content includes the “On Air” podcast network, original video series, artist documentaries and more.

Ty is the former CTO of Warner Brothers Music. I worked with him when he was CTO at Gracenote, a company I handled public relations for for nearly a decade.  When I was there, we created an internet music ranking chart with Billboard.

In this exclusive interview, you'll have a chance to get inside the head of a senior-level CTO and learn why they adopt new technologies and products and what it takes to motivate them to buy.

A CTO is quite different from a CIO. CIOs are typically more focused on data and technology in support of product development whereas the CIO tends to focus more on managing email servers and internal systems.

In order to sell new technology to the CTO, the CTO has to be able to sell it to the CEO. So the most successful CTOs are those who are able to win and maintain the trust of the CEO.  Ty goes into what it takes to earn the trust of the CEO and what types of resources from vendors are most helpful in securing that trust.

You can size up a CTOs ability to win the trust of the CEO by analyzing specific character traits which Ty outlines in this interview. If the CTO doesn't have those traits, it's going to be very difficult to sell the CEO through them. 

When you're demoing new technology products to CTOs there are specific things to feature and things to avoid. Ty shares about his experience in decades of demos and vendor pitches and reveals what works and what doesn't.

And once you've sold new technology through the CTO, you need to figure out how to drive and sustain utilization so that deployment stays successful for the long haul and they keep it up and running. Ty goes into the details of that process as well. 

The post How To Create a Marketing Persona for the CTO appeared first on Eric Schwartzman.