Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
OhHello - Patrick Reiter
56 Plays1 year ago
Episode 50 -
Welcome Patrick Reiter - our featured "Hello" (aka a mentor on the OhHello.io platform)
Growth & Marketing Leader
A Growth and Marketing Leader with broad experience across business categories and marketing
functions, combined with personal, hands-on experience in virtually every aspect of Marketing.
Experiences at large, public companies and nimble start-ups spanning e-commerce, retail,
education, automotive, and media made this possible.
A Business Marketer, with a track record of delivering global revenue growth and improving
profit metrics at companies such as Target, Etsy, and Codecademy.
A Consumer Marketer adept at customer acquisition, retention and unlocking customer advocacy
to drive growth.
A Builder who has launched new products and functions, built and developed teams and realized
new capabilities.
A few career highlights:
● Customer insights inspired moving the Etsy brand position from a destination for unique
gifts to Relevant Everyday, increasing the total addressable market and bolstering revenue
● Launching the Marketing function at Codecademy as a catalyst for the next stage of
growth, enabling Series D funding and eventual acquisition by a strategic competitor
● An entrepreneurial spirit and eye for opportunity led to the formation of Roundel,
Target’s Retail Media Network. Obsessed by the notion of reaching specific customer
segments (like cereal buyers) anywhere in the digital media ecosystem and connecting
media to purchases to improve customer insight and marketing measurement (closed
loop)
● Challenged by General Motors to move their dealer groups toward digital marketing, he
developed a “local” digital strategy and playbook featuring media, creative and reporting
services
Patrick currently resides in Minnesota with his partner Lisa and their two children. Outdoor
activities are a favorite, including long walks with their dog Teddy, running, golfing, and
swimming at their “up north” lake cabin. A deep love and respect for great bagels and pizza
remains from his time spent living in New York.
Patrick holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Patrick's Background
00:00:10
Speaker
All right. Oh, hello, Patrick. Hi, Jeremy. How are you? I'm great. I'm great. How are you? Good. Yeah. Yeah, I'll take the Yeah, we'll take the Yeah. We had a fun fun catch up a few weeks back. And a great session just now before we hit the record button. I have the pleasure of knowing who you are, Patrick. But why don't you tell our listeners are fans? Who do I have the pleasure of speaking with right now?
00:00:37
Speaker
Let's see, my Twitter, I guess it's X now, my Twitter description says, I think it's human being, dad and marketer in that order. So I guess in the really simplest terms, that's me.
00:00:53
Speaker
But I'm a lover of outdoor sports and adventure. I'm very casual at all that stuff, but I like to run and bike and play golf and just about anything outdoors. I've got two kids. They're both teenagers, which is fantastic and challenging. And it's like a new era of parenting because it's so much different than it used to be. But it's good.
00:01:19
Speaker
And I am a marketer, and I would say I'm more of like a growth-oriented marketer. I've always been kind of data-driven, outcome-driven. I think about frameworks and actions and outcomes and resources. But lots of different ways to do that. But I would say probably a growth marketer at heart is what I am.
00:01:43
Speaker
We'll take that. I love how you started it off with human being, dad, marketer kind of going from top of the funnel down to the bottom of the funnel. Yes. Totally. Totally. That was great.
Career Journey and Marketing Insights
00:02:00
Speaker
You reside in the Minneapolis St. Paul area. You've lived in New York. Why tell us a little bit more about what defines you as a growth marker and just a little bit more about some of your experiences?
00:02:13
Speaker
Yeah, well, I started my career on the media side at agencies, and then I moved to Target. I was at Target for many years, starting on e-commerce. I always had an e-commerce role throughout my tenure there, but helped them build some marketing capabilities with their customer data, target audiences, measurement, what we call closed loop reporting, so the ability to connect
00:02:39
Speaker
sort of exposure to a marketing asset and then buying something in store online, which was really neat because we could understand what's the incremental revenue from these ad campaigns and things like that, which was pretty cool. And then eventually packaged a lot of those capabilities into what is today called round out. Let's their retail media network.
00:03:00
Speaker
So that was seminal for me. I learned a ton of target, a lot of great experiences. You helped create Roundel. That's when we first met about a decade ago through, through my good friend Phil Numerick. So yeah, you did some great things at Target. Yep. Trying to add video to our network, Bullseye marketplace is what it was called back then. I don't know if it still is, but Adam Dieruff, I think still runs it though. So go Adam.
00:03:28
Speaker
And then I went to Etsy, so more e-commerce, and then moved into the startup space where I kind of have been for the past three or four years. And that kind of complemented my big company experience and my agency experience. So very different, but it enabled me to get closer to the business, business strategy, be part of a leadership team. I built a marketing function for Code Academy, which was exciting and
00:03:59
Speaker
just so much. I still think back to all the things that we did during that era. And I'm like, wow, I can't believe we did that in that period of time. It was crazy. But that's how startups are. So very, very different from something they target or even agency, but additive. So I had a lot of different experiences and learned a lot along the way and was exposed to a lot of different ways of working and philosophies and different businesses and people.
00:04:26
Speaker
different businesses and different people and going from just some giant companies to some small to some startups. That's a very unique skill set. I can relate from being at some some big companies and being at some tiny startups and some other great places in between it, it really helps define and nurture who you become. And so with that said, help us understand a little bit more about your, your skill set that you're going to be sharing with the Oh, hello community.
Growth Marketing Approach Explained
00:04:55
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, as I mentioned before, I think, you know, growth marketing is probably my core. And so what I typically like to do, and I think it illustrates kind of where my strengths are, is come into a company and assess, you know, what is the current state of their business? What does the customer funnel look like? What are their key metrics or what should they be?
00:05:21
Speaker
Understanding the data is always a key thing I like to do. So I like to jump into the platforms myself and really understand the data. Really like to understand the customer experience. So if it's an app, I'll download the app. I'll go through everything. I'll sign up for the email, but I become the customers as much as I possibly can to really get deep into the customer and user experience.
00:05:42
Speaker
And then financial, you know, and if you're, if you're at an agency, it can be harder because you don't always have access to all the finances. But if you're a consultant or if you're internal, getting access to the financial data is key. So those are kind of the three areas that I was delved deeply into to really understand. And then I compliment that with input from stakeholders. So just meeting people, having conversations, understanding what's been done before, what are the pain points,
00:06:10
Speaker
You know, what are the aspirations and pulling all that together gives a pretty good assessment of kind of where companies at. And from there you can translate that into potential opportunities. And so I think about that as a selection set of optionality. Here are the things that we could do. Here's the level of effort. Here's the potential outcome. And then you make selections off of that. What are the things that we're really going to pursue? And then from there you get into a,
00:06:37
Speaker
kind of a road mapping process. And I like to use quarterly OKRs, but it's just a quarterly plan. And then if we're getting really granular, I'm a huge fan of agile. So I do like, I like sprints, I like stories, I like efforts, single points of accountability. And that's a great way to get things done. And so we then connect, we select our actions and then we observe the outcomes and we iterate as we go.
00:07:03
Speaker
to hopefully get a really great result. So that's what I do. That is experience right there. So from operational efficiencies, to measurement, to data, to customer experiences, to testing and re-shifting where the product should be, elevating it to make it work best, that's pretty impressive.
Balancing Personal and Professional Life
00:07:28
Speaker
What would you tell your younger self just looking back throughout your career if you, you know,
00:07:33
Speaker
you look over your shoulder and you think, huh, what do I tell my two teenagers? What do you tell your younger colleagues that you might be a little bit younger than you in terms of what excites you about mentorship and things to look back on? Well, I think there's a maybe a couple different questions there. One is that the advice that I give my teenagers, at least like sort of pseudo professional advice is
00:08:01
Speaker
You know, be great at something. If you're great at something, you'll be fulfilled. But I also think really good things happen.
00:08:08
Speaker
My daughter was asking me, do I have to go to college? And I was like, actually, you don't. You should go to college if that's the right path for you. But you've got to be good at something. And if you are, there's a lot of other good things that can happen then from that. So I think that advice applies to everyone. Be great at something. Find your thing and be great at it. That's really, I think, a great way to think about an approach, your professional life.
00:08:36
Speaker
In terms of advice I would give myself, that was advice I got because my grandpa had told my dad that and my dad had told me and I kind of bought into it. That was advice I got. So that's not the advice I needed because I got it. The advice that I needed, I think, that I would go back and tell my younger self was,
00:08:58
Speaker
Treat relationships and people just like you would a business task. And by that, I mean prioritize that and say no to things to prioritize that because time is finite. And so you will have to make choices, we all do. Making time for people is critical, not only to help others, but to help yourself. There's something nourishing about community and engaging with other people and helping others that isn't
00:09:27
Speaker
in some ways kind of selfish in a way because it's for me, I'm helping you because it makes me feel great, right?
00:09:35
Speaker
But I think that's so important to prioritize it and think about it as something that you have to do. It's not optional because it's easy to let all the other things be prioritized. And then at the end of the day, realize like I didn't make enough time to go to that conference, to meet with that person, just to spend time developing an individual development plan for this person on my team, whatever it might be, like prioritizing those things is really key. And I felt like,
00:10:05
Speaker
I definitely didn't understand that earlier in my career. And then even mid-career, I wish I had prioritized it more than I did. So that's the area when I'm really thinking, you know, middle of the night, you know, I don't know about you, but I've kind of self-critical and I analyze things.
00:10:22
Speaker
But that's the area I was go back to is like, I wish I had prioritized that more than I did. And so that's definitely the advice I would give anyone but definitely give my my younger self. Amazing. Well, and thank you for taking my my several questions and molding it into the answers that made a lot of sense from your experiences and your daughter's experience upcoming experiences as well.
Influence of Mentors and Values
00:10:46
Speaker
great hearing that kind of feedback and the guidance that your father and grandfather gave to you. With that said, when we think about your father, your grandfather, who are some mentors? Who are some mentors? Who are some people that have had a profound impact on your professional career thus far? Yeah, I mean, certainly my dad is the biggest. He was an attorney, worked for a big law firm,
00:11:12
Speaker
That firm kind of fell apart. I think there were some egos involved. It was kind of top lawyers that ran the firm and he made the decision and in some ways was kind of forced out on his own.
00:11:25
Speaker
kind of mid-career. And my dad was amazing, but he wasn't really a business person. He practiced law. And practicing law and running the business are not the same thing, but if you want to run a law firm, you've got to do both.
00:11:42
Speaker
And so I think he learned a lot on that journey and I learned a lot in that journey. And there's a million nuances we could talk about there. But one of the things that struck me that I think I learned from him just by observing who he was.
00:11:57
Speaker
was that he was very principled. He never wavered on his principles, even when it was highly inconvenient to do so. And that I completely respect. I think it's not that common that people will unwaveringly stick true to their principles. And he always did. So I'll always respect him from that. And I learned by sort of observing that and being a part of that. So that was the...
00:12:25
Speaker
probably the biggest thing. And then most of the other good advice he gave me, I ignored. That's what kids do. So there's a million of those examples. I remember he was like, Patrick, you should get involved in this technology and data stuff. It's going to define the next generation. I was like, nah, journalism school. So
00:12:48
Speaker
things like that, but that's what kids do. They, they ignore their parents. So he was a huge influence. And then like professionally, I think just so many moments there was in my first draw, I got a job at an agency right at a college and I was so happy and proud of that. And I knew nothing. I can't believe they hired me because I had like no skills, but they did. And I was kind of this junior media planner and
00:13:16
Speaker
this out-of-home company had forged my signature on a contract. And I was like, honestly, it's not my signature. And I was like, look, I'm left-handed, thankfully. And they were like, wow, you are. They're like, this isn't your signature. I'm like, no, it's not. And the like, he was an account guy. I was in the media team at the time. But this account lead for the account
00:13:39
Speaker
Send me made made sort of wrote this card for me that was so thoughtful and talked about you know being true to your principles and trusting others and just all these important. Topics and you know i was a year into my career i was you know sort of nobody.
00:13:59
Speaker
But he took the time to write that card to me. And that always struck me as somebody who did something they didn't have to do, acted out of humanity and decency, and really made me feel supported and in the organization. So acts like that have really stood out to me. And then, as you know, you meet so many good people along the way. I mean, I feel like I've got
00:14:23
Speaker
In many ways, everyone is a mentor in some ways. You know, I think about people that have passed on their team. Yeah. Toss us a few. Toss us a few people. Well, boy, I mean, well, for one, Rich Sutton, I worked for at WebMD. He was the chief revenue officer there and he's been at a bunch of different roles since. But we've always stayed close, you know, ever since I worked for him at WebMD.
00:14:51
Speaker
We get out together and golf once in a while, which is fun, but he's always just, you know, really straightforward. He won't sugar coat things. So if you really want like a hard truth, you know, I can, I can run something past him and he'll give me a straightforward answer.
00:15:08
Speaker
And somebody who's altruistic, you know, somebody who's always going to help you no matter what because they're, they're just a friend. So he's certainly one that comes to mind. Another one is that for whatever reason, so Adam kind of built and runs or did in the, in the past ran bullseye marketplace, which is a media network that we built.
00:15:28
Speaker
at Target, really the origins of it were to avoid kind of ad fraud and be in good places on the open internet because the open internet isn't in aggregate such a great place. But we would mark certain places, certain sites and pages with a tag and then we would know like this is a place that we want to be. We're comfortable in this contextual environment.
00:15:49
Speaker
So Adam built that up, but one of the people on Adam's team was Kyle plug and cool. And he just always had a great approach and a balance and everything like I'm somebody that gets really stressed out I can get really focused, maybe some type eight sort of tendencies.
00:16:07
Speaker
and he was always like big picture you know we're gonna get through this cool is the other side of the pillow knew i was new how to sort of engage with people and not get stressed out about things so you know from a like how to be day to day and just to be like relatable and
00:16:26
Speaker
for lack of a better term, like be cool, like I think Kyle, he definitely stood out to me and I looked at him was like, man, I got to be more like that, you know, so I think people and yeah, that's maybe not an example you would expect, but I definitely it I was conscious of that.
00:16:46
Speaker
That's meaningful and it's meaningful for you to be able to say that because mentorship is equally friend-torship. It's people that you work with, that you learn from, they learn from you. It all goes full circle in the sense of altruism of what we talked about earlier. That's great. Thank you for dropping their names.
Commitment to Alzheimer's Association and Final Thoughts
00:17:05
Speaker
Patrick, as you know, you're going to be able to donate to 40 to 50 different charitable causes within our platform. But if there are others that are near and dear to your heart, what would one be something that's meaningful to you? Alzheimer's Association. That's an easy one. Unfortunately, my dad had Alzheimer's and passed on from Alzheimer's. So that is that is the right one for me.
00:17:28
Speaker
Yep. Well, thank you. Any other, and it's a very important cause. I'm with you on that. Any other parting words of wisdom or advice that you want to give to the Oh, hello community.
00:17:40
Speaker
No, I mean, I guess I would say one of the things that I found is important is just ask. When I don't know something, we all have networks. If your first connection doesn't know something, it's probably a connection of theirs that does. And I feel like for a long time, maybe I was too kind of closed in, afraid to ask, afraid to reach out.
00:18:00
Speaker
showing that vulnerability, reaching out, asking the question is so important. And I feel like that was a big milestone for me to kind of reach. And so I would offer that up to others too. If they feel that way, go for it. Ask the question. There's somebody who can help you. Love it. Patrick, this was great. Just ask, just ask. Great feedback. This was a fun session. We appreciate you. Thank you, my friend. Thank you very much for joining. Thanks everybody for listening.
00:18:31
Speaker
Take care. Thanks Patrick. Bye bye.