Kelly Hopping didn’t plan on a career in marketing. An unexpected reorg shifted her from product development into product marketing, and that twist set her on a path from B2C to leading B2B marketing at some of the world’s top tech companies.

In this episode of B2B Marketing Unlocked, Kelly joins host Jony Mansilla to share how she became CMO at Demandbase, how her team drives 90-95% of company wide pipeline, and why events, authentic customer stories, and “performance branding” are at the heart of their strategy. She also breaks down what’s working now for enterprise pipeline, how they’re integrating AI into their workflows, and the career lessons she wishes more marketers learned earlier.

What You’ll Learn:

• How Kelly moved from engineering into a CMO role

• How Demandbase structures marketing and SDRs to drive pipeline

• What’s working now for brand awareness and enterprise demand

• How Kelly balances brand-building with performance marketing

• How Demandbase uses AI to improve efficiency and SDR productivity

Kelly Hopping is the Chief Marketing Officer at Demandbase, where she leads the company’s brand, product marketing, growth programs, and sales development team. Her team drives most of Demandbase’s pipeline by combining account based strategy, smart use of AI, and tight sales-marketing alignment. Kelly brings experience across both B2C and B2B tech, with a focus on clear storytelling, practical demand generation, and developing strong marketing leaders.

This podcast is brought to you by Jony Studios, where we help B2B brands turn conversations into content systems that build trust, generate pipeline, and attract ideal customers. Learn more at jonystudios.com.

Highlights:

• [00:00] Introduction

• [01:01] Kelly’s journey into B2B marketing

• [02:59] Inside the Demandbase marketing team

• [04:54] Target customers and decision-makers

• [06:43] Authentic customer-led conversations

• [08:52] Driving 90–95% of pipeline

• [10:35] Events and webinars that perform

• [12:46] Tracking event impact and data

• [16:50] Balancing brand and performance

• [18:49] Tools and workflows Demandbase relies on

• [21:38] Integrating AI into marketing and sales

• [24:56] Recent campaigns and ABM ecosystem plays

• [27:34] Challenges in today’s marketing landscape

• [30:52] Lessons from experiments and flagship events

• [33:40] Career advice for future marketing leaders

Episode Resources:

• Kelly Hopping on LinkedIn

• Demandbase Website

• Courageous Marketing (book by Udi Ledergor)

• Jony Mansilla on LinkedIn

• Jony Studios Website

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