Like many of our former podcast guests, Avinash Srivastava wound up working in marketing after studying something completely different. Avinash earned an engineering degree in his native India, and then found his way into the world of marketing on a whim. Today, he is a product and content marketing specialist at global fintech enterprise SaaS company HighRadius.

In today’s episode, Avinash joins Shaheen Samavati to talk about the most important things he’s learned throughout his journey in marketing—especially when it comes to telling great stories and leveraging those from others.

Avinash also offers tips for navigating the challenges of marketing when you’re not physically located in the markets you’re working in, plus great advice for those just breaking into the industry.

You can watch the full conversation in the video above or on YouTube, and listen to the podcast on Apple or Spotify.

Rapid-fire recs  

  • Recommended reading:
    • The Product Marketer’s Guide To Punchy Messaging by Emma O’Brien. “I came across Emma and later her book on LinkedIn. I don’t read a lot of marketing books, but I’m a big fan of ebooks like these.”
    • An Introduction to Product Marketing OKRs by Richard King from Product Marketing Alliance. “This is a great piece to read and refer back to. It’s also an example of another great read I found on LinkedIn.”
  • Productivity hacks:
    • Calendar management. “I think a lot of people in the younger generation—my generation—are not great at it, and we struggle with creating boundaries between our personal and professional life, especially in the work-from-home era we’re in right now. I think you should schedule everything—all of your breaks, all of your downtime—and really respect your windows for relaxation.”
    • Network. “If you work in marketing, you have to tell stories. And the best stories come from speaking with other people. So make sure that you network. Use LinkedIn or use any other tool you prefer. Join content marketing groups. Network with the intention of using conversations for new stories and new ideas.”
    • Communicate better with your team. “Speak more with them, schedule catchups, seek to understand one another.”
  • Source of inspiration: “I don’t have one person who I’d consider a role model or source of inspiration. Instead, I find inspiration all over. I’ve been fortunate to have worked with some fantastic people, like my VP and my former manager. I appreciate all the great advice people give me, and I try to pass it along to others.”
  • Preferred platform:
    • LinkedIn. “There’s so much great content available on LinkedIn that you can access and download for free. The networking capabilities are fantastic, and LinkedIn Learning is an infinite pool of learning. If you take advantage of all that it has to offer, it’s a great resource.”
    • HubSpot. “This is another great tool with fantastic course offerings through their HubSpot Academy. They go beyond scratching the surface and really try to deep dive into topics.”

“The best stories come from speaking with other people. Just go out and find them.”

Connect with Avinash and Shaheen on LinkedIn.

This post was edited by Mary Kresge.

For more insights into telling great stories in marketing:

To read the full transcript, click on page number 2 below.

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