Demand gen and customer marketing are often seen as separate. But what happens when they work as one?

Rodrigo Souto, Senior Director of Demand Generation at Zappi and former customer marketing leader at HubSpot, shares lessons from a career leading global programs across advocacy, PLG, and demand. At HubSpot, he built a unique playbook for tying customer marketing to revenue by connecting proof, product, and performance.

Now at Zappi, Rodrigo is leading both demand gen and customer marketing together, proving how aligned teams drive faster results. He breaks down why references and expansion are underrated growth levers, how to show impact with limited resources, and where AI helps scale without losing the human touch.

What you’ll learn:

• Why putting customer marketing under demand gen unlocks budget and attribution
• How to prove the revenue impact of advocacy programs (even with small teams)
• Why scaling starts with deep customer understanding, not just more content

Episode Outline:

(00:00) Introducing Rodrigo Souto

(00:41) Rodrigo’s path from HubSpot to Zappi

(05:29) Lessons from international markets and product-led growth

(10:25) Leading demand gen with a customer-first mindset

(12:36) Why customer marketing now reports into demand gen

(14:54) Breaking down the budget and attribution challenge in customer marketing

(19:00) References and referrals as clear revenue levers

(23:52) How to use AI to scale output without losing human touch

(27:52) Getting started with revenue-backed customer marketing

(29:44) Practical advice for growing into a marketing leadership role

(33:55) Closing thoughts on strategy, trust, and leadership in customer marketing

Customer advocacy is often measured like demand gen, but what if it’s closer to brand?

Lauren Turner, CEO and Founder of CustomerCentrx, explains why advocacy is a long-term play, how communities can unlock retention rates as high as 99%, and why even unhappy customers can become your strongest allies when they feel heard. She also zooms into the importance of breaking down silos between marketing, success, sales, and product so customers experience one cohesive brand, not a fragmented one.

Lauren shares practical strategies for proving advocacy’s impact without relying on vanity metrics, plus how to embed advocacy into company culture from day one. And, in a fun twist, she draws lessons from improv comedy on active listening, iteration, and silencing your inner critic, which are skills every customer marketer can use.

What you’ll learn:

• How communities can drive retention rates as high as 99%
• Ways to turn unhappy customers into loyal advocates
• Practical strategies to measure advocacy’s impact without vanity metrics

Episode Outline:

(00:00) Community as advocacy at scale

(00:32) Introducing Lauren Turner and CustomerCentrx

(01:27) From product to marketing to advocacy

(03:11) Why advocacy is more like brand than demand gen

(04:34) Long-term relationship plays vs. short-term revenue goals

(07:43) Turning unhappy customers into loyal allies

(09:36) Where to start when building a customer marketing function

(13:12) Breaking silos: aligning CS, marketing, sales, and product

(18:08) Measuring advocacy’s impact without vanity metrics

(24:25) How AI can support, but not replace, human connection

(29:56) Improv, balance, and lessons outside of work

Customer success and customer marketing are often seen as separate functions. But what happens when they work as one?

Emily Cid, Senior Director of Customer Success at Champion, shares her journey from account executive to customer advocacy leader, offering an inside look at what it takes to build human-first, revenue-aligned teams. With experience across sales, success, and marketing, Emily reveals how aligning internal teams around customer outcomes drives both retention and growth.

Emily zooms in on practical ways CS and marketing can partner more effectively: from shared KPIs to advocacy programs that actually scale. Plus, she shares how curiosity and empathy power everything from strategy to leadership.

What you’ll learn:

• How to unite customer success and marketing to drive advocacy and impact
• Why shared KPIs are critical for customer-led growth
• How to lead with a human-first mindset while delivering business outcomes

Episode Outline:

(00:00) The power of curiosity in customer relationships

(01:05) Introducing Emily Cid and her customer-first career path

(03:02) What drew Emily to Champion and the customer-led growth mission

(04:35) The common thread across her AE, CS, and marketing roles

(06:31) Building empathy across siloed teams

(08:18) The missing connection between CS and customer marketing

(09:45) What real customer centricity looks like in practice

(11:20) Advocacy as a CS metric and force multiplier

(13:16) Proving impact through measurable advocacy outcomes

(17:06) How multiple champions in an account impact retention

(18:16) Making customers successful in the new AI era

(20:27) Human-first leadership and career development

(23:29) Hot takes on what customer marketers get wrong

(24:42) The future of customer marketing as a strategic function

(26:20) Final advice for aspiring customer-centric leaders