Issue #4: 12 lessons from 15 years of building customer marketing
Welcome back to The Customer Continuum.
Issue #4.
It’s Thanksgiving week. A good time to reflect on what we’re grateful for.
I’m grateful for this community. 300+ of you showing up every week to learn, share, and build better customer-led growth initiatives.
So this week, instead of frameworks, I’m sharing something personal.
12 lessons from 15 years of building customer marketing. Not just the principles. The stories behind them.
The failures that shaped me. The breakthroughs that changed my approach. The things I wish I’d learned sooner.
I grew up as a shy kid. Afraid of speaking up. I didn’t make eye contact. The idea of taking on a senior leadership role? Impossible.
But mentors changed that. They taught me that influence isn’t about being the loudest voice in the room. It’s about solving problems people actually care about.
These 12 lessons are how I went from that shy kid to leading customer marketing at scale.
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BEFORE WE START: A THANK YOU
Because this community has shown up every week, I’m giving back:
EVERYONE GETS: My Kevin Lau GPT, your co-pilot for customer-led growth which includes 5+ years of frameworks, playbooks, and strategies that I’ve developed (details and access link at the bottom).
Now, let’s dive into the lessons.
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LESSON 1: STOP PITCHING PROGRAMS. START SOLVING BUSINESS PROBLEMS.
THE STORY:
Early in my career at a startup called NetBase, I wanted to launch a new advocacy program using Influitive and gamification.
I built the perfect pitch.
It got rejected.
So I went back and rebuilt the entire scope. But this time, I focused on understanding my audience first.
Not what I wanted to build. What they actually needed.
I mapped the problems Product was trying to solve. The retention challenges Success was facing. The proof gaps Sales/Marketing was struggling with.
Then I showed how advocacy solved their problems.
At a later company (F5), Product co-funded the program with us. They saw it as their solution, not just mine.
I learned: Nobody cares about your program. They care about their problems.
When you solve their problems first, budget finds a way.
THE APPLICATION:
Before you pitch your next program, ask:
→ What problem does Product need solved?
→ What keeps Success up at night?
→ What would make Sales hit their number?
Solve those first. With or without your program.
Once they see you as a problem-solver, not a program-pitcher, everything changes.
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LESSON 2: YOUR CUSTOMERS DON’T CARE ABOUT YOUR ROADMAP. THEY CARE ABOUT THEIR OUTCOMES.
THE STORY:
This happened at multiple companies throughout my career.
I’d be in QBRs or customer meetings where Product would present the roadmap. New features. What’s coming in the next 18 months.
And I’d watch customers glaze over.
They’d be polite. But you could tell they didn’t care.
What they actually wanted to talk about: “How do we hit our goals this quarter?”
That’s when I learned my job as a customer marketer isn’t to amplify the roadmap.
It’s to understand their desired outcomes first. Then connect them to other customers who’ve achieved similar results.
I’m a big believer in a flywheel. Aligning what customers expect back to what you actually promised them.
It’s not about promoting features. It’s about facilitating outcomes.
When you do this - when you help customers succeed with what they already have - they become raving fans.
THE APPLICATION:
Stop amplifying product roadmaps in customer conversations only.
Start facilitating peer connections and outcome-based discussions.
In every customer interaction, ask: “What does success look like for you in the next 90 days?”
Then connect them with customers who’ve achieved that outcome.
Trust comes from helping them win, not from pitching what’s next.
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LESSON 3: PROOF ISN’T JUST STORIES. IT’S SOLVING THE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL PROBLEM.
THE STORY:
At Marketo, we had a huge problem.
Too many teams hitting customers with too many programs.
Marketing wanted case studies. Sales wanted references. Success wanted stronger relationships. Product wanted beta testers.
All disconnected. All overlapping. All hitting the same customers from different directions.
It wasn’t just inefficient. It was breaking trust.
Customers were overwhelmed. They’d say yes to one team, then get asked by another team the next week.
That’s when we built Advocate Nation. Not just to identify more customer handraisers but to solve the coordination problem.
One system. All teams could align their programs and initiatives back to the preferences of the customer. Customers weren’t bombarded from all directions.
We consolidated overlapping programs. Created air traffic control for customer engagement.
The result? Better customer experience. More proof captured. Stronger relationships.
THE APPLICATION:
Don’t just capture proof and be known as the team begging for customer stories. Solve the coordination problem.
Map every team that touches customers. Show them how one coordinated system benefits everyone.
Make it easy for all teams to access customer insights without overwhelming the customer.
When you solve for customer experience, proof becomes a byproduct.
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LESSON 4: TELLING THE DATA STORY MATTERS MORE THAN HAVING PERFECT DATA.
THE STORY:
At one company, we had 35,000 members in our advocacy platform.
Sounds impressive, right?
But only 3% were actually engaged.
That’s a vanity metric. Meaningless.
But here’s what I learned: How you tell that data story internally matters more than the number itself.
I didn’t wait until I had perfect data. I started with a hypothesis.
“Customers that are in one or more of our programs have a 10x more likelihood to renew…let’s find out how to get the data to tell the story.”
I partnered with Product, Success, and Marketing to prove it.
We tracked active participation instead of total members. We measured outcomes, not activities.
And that story - showing we were thinking strategically about what moves the needle - got us budget.
THE APPLICATION:
You don’t need perfect data to start.
Prove a hypothesis. Show you want to move the needle. Partner with others to prove the outcome.
Tell the story of what you’re learning, even before you have all the answers.
This is how you get budget. This is how you build cross-functional relationships.
By showing you’re thinking strategically about outcomes, not just executing programs.
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LESSON 5: THE BEST ADVOCATES AREN’T ALWAYS YOUR BIGGEST CUSTOMERS. THEY’RE THE ONES WHO SEE VALUE.
THE STORY:
Throughout my career, I’ve seen companies make the same mistake.
They target their biggest customers for advocacy. Highest revenue. Most seats. Seems logical.
But those customers aren’t always your best advocates.
The best advocates are the ones who see value. Where there’s a match between what they expect and what you deliver.
It’s not about how much they spend. It’s about whether you’re solving their actual problems.
Sometimes your mid-market customers who’ve been live for 12 months and hit their goals are your strongest advocates.
They have stories. They have metrics. They have enthusiasm. And they can help you influence others. Go where the action is happening.
THE APPLICATION:
Don’t confuse size with success.
Your best advocates are customers who:
→ Have been live long enough to see results
→ Hit their desired outcomes
→ See a match between their expectations and your delivery
Revenue doesn’t matter. Results do.
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LESSON 6: CREATE PROGRAMS SO VALUABLE THAT CUSTOMERS COMPETE TO JOIN.
THE STORY:
This lesson applies to everything: CABs, Champion programs, Awards, User Groups.
Early in my career, I chased customers to participate. I begged them to join programs.
It was exhausting. And it didn’t work.
Then I learned to flip it.
At Marketo, I started doing intake calls before CAB meetings. I’d ask:
“What do you want to get from this experience?”
Then I’d tailor the agenda to what they told me. Give them exactly what they asked for.
Suddenly, customers started saying: “When’s the next one?”
I did this through the Adobe acquisition. Through multiple companies. The principle holds.
When you build programs around what customers actually want - not what you want to show them - they compete to join.
I applied this same approach to our Champions program at Marketo. We created a formal charter that outlined clear expectations: what we expected from them, what they’d get in return.
Product got invested. They shared roadmaps proactively. Created beta access.
We built engagement opportunities like speaking at Adobe Summit.
And instead of chasing people to join, customers started begging to be part of it. They had to apply and show why they deserved to be included.
We went from dozens of applications from customers to hundreds. And now that program continues to live on across 7 different Adobe products.
THE APPLICATION:
Stop building programs based on your agenda.
Start with the customer POV. Ask what they want. Deliver on it.
WIIFM - what’s in it for me.
Whether it’s a CAB, a Champion program, an Awards program, or User Group leadership - make it about peer value and their growth.
Create a charter. Set clear expectations. Make the value undeniable.
If you’re constantly chasing people to participate, you’ve built it wrong.
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LESSON 7: BUDGET GROWS FROM $500K TO $2.5M THROUGH CO-FUNDING & SHARED OUTCOMES.
THE STORY:
I’ve gone from managing $100k to over $5M in customer marketing budget.
That 4x growth didn’t come from one leader approving everything.
It came from co-funding across teams. And from learning and iterating from company to company.
At one company, I needed significant budget for a retention program.
I knew Marketing couldn’t fund it alone.
So I mapped every stakeholder who’d benefit:
→ Product wanted better adoption metrics
→ Success wanted lower churn
→ Marketing needed more proof
I showed each of them how this program solved their problem. In their language. With their metrics.
Then I proposed: Let’s co-fund this.
Shared ownership. Shared accountability. Lower individual risk.
Approved in one meeting.
THE APPLICATION:
Stop asking one person for all the budget.
Find every team that benefits from your program.
Show them the business case in their language.
Propose co-funding.
When multiple leaders say yes, budget finds a way.
And remember: The skills you build managing $500K prepare you to manage $5M. Think two roles ahead.
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LESSON 8: SMALL TEAMS CAN HAVE ENTERPRISE IMPACT WHEN YOU’RE THE QUARTERBACK.
THE STORY:
At startups, I was a team of one.
At Marketo, I started with a team of 4.
At Adobe, it became a team of 6, then 15 over time.
At Freshworks, it grew from 15 to 30.
While the incremental growth sounds great, every time I thought: “I need more people to do this right.”
I was wrong.
The best programs I built came from constraints.
When you have a small team, you can’t do everything. So you focus on what compounds.
You become the quarterback. You orchestrate other teams.
Product helps with data. Success helps with engagement. Marketing helps with campaigns.
You don’t build programs based on a remit or an org chart. You build based on the value you’re driving to the customer.
You don’t build your own team for everything. You leverage the ecosystem.
THE APPLICATION:
Stop waiting for more headcount.
Think: “What’s the one program that, if successful, makes everything else easier?”
Build that first. Make it repeatable. Make it scalable.
Orchestrate other teams to help you execute.
Become the quarterback. Create plays that others can run.
Headcount doesn’t equal impact. Strategy does.
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LESSON 9: ALWAYS THINK TWO ROLES AHEAD.
THE STORY:
When I was evaluating leaving Adobe, I talked to a mentor that helped me think bigger about where I wanted to go.
I was trying to decide: Do I take this next role?
He told me: “Don’t think about this role. Think about the role after this one.”
That changed everything.
He said: “What skills do you need to develop in this role that will prepare you for the one after it?”
That’s when a lightbulb switched for me. In the span of 3.5 years, I went from Senior Manager to a first time VP because I stopped optimizing for my current role and started building skills for the next one.
And here’s what I learned: Management isn’t everything.
It’s not about the title. It’s about taking responsibility for others. Investing in their success, not just your own.
A lot of people think being a manager is the goal. But it’s not about authority. It’s about having a vested interest in seeing others succeed.
THE APPLICATION:
When evaluating your next role, ask:
→ What skills will this role give me?
→ How will those skills prepare me for the role after this?
→ Am I optimizing for title or for growth?
And if you want to move into leadership, understand: It’s not about managing people.
It’s about taking responsibility for their success. That’s the real shift.
Think about what you want to learn in this role that will serve you in the next one.
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LESSON 10: COMMUNIT CAN BUILD YOUR BRAND OR DESTROY IT.
THE STORY:
In 2011 I just joined Google.
I was starstruck. Working for a company like this? It felt surreal.
I was working on building out Google TV’s social presence on Google+ (remember that thing)?
I was excited. So I posted on Facebook:
“Something big launching Monday. Stay tuned.”
I thought people would be excited.
Instead, the news picked it up. They thought we were launching a new product offering.
The hype exploded. And when Monday came? We launched a Google+ page.
That’s it.
I almost got fired.
I learned: Community is powerful. And you have to respect that power.
You can’t overpromise. You can’t hype without substance. You can’t take advantage of that trust.
It breaks relationships. It makes your programs less valuable.
That failure taught me the impact of community on your brand. And it shaped how I approach customer marketing to this day.
THE APPLICATION:
Respect the power of your community.
Underpromise and overdeliver.
Build trust slowly. Don’t chase viral moments at the expense of credibility.
Solve for customer experience. Don’t just use them for your own gain.
Community can build your brand or destroy it. Treat it with care.
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LESSON 11: INVEST IN MENTORS EARLY. IT COMPOUNDS.
THE STORY:
I never got my MBA, but when I was 25 years old, I invested $30,000 in a mentorship program.
That’s a lot of money for a 25-year-old.
But it changed my entire career trajectory.
I worked with a well-known social media influencer who taught me about relationship marketing.
She showed me that marketing isn’t about campaigns. It’s about relationships.
That became the foundation for everything I do in customer marketing.
Taking a B2C relationship marketing approach and applying it to B2B at scale.
That $30K investment when I was 25 gave me skills I’ve used for 15+ years.
It became the foundation for how I think about customer-led growth, advocacy, and building trust across the entire customer journey.
THE APPLICATION:
Don’t wait until you’re too senior to invest in mentors.
Do it early. When it’s uncomfortable. When it stretches you.
The skills you build compound over time.
Find people who’ve done what you want to do. Pay them. Learn from them.
That investment will return 100x over your career.
Mentors and coaches shaped my influence. They can shape yours too.
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LESSON 12: QUIET CONFIDENCE BUILDS INFLUENCE IN THE ROOMS THAT MATTER.
THE STORY:
I grew up as a shy Asian kid.
I didn’t speak up. I didn’t make eye contact. I avoided the spotlight.
For someone like me, the idea of becoming a VP seemed impossible.
But a few years ago, I joined an Asian American Leadership Mentor Program because I realized something:
There aren’t many Asian leaders in senior positions. And one reason is that many of us suffer from an identity crisis and imposter syndrome.
We’re taught to be quiet. To not stand out. To let our work speak for itself.
But in most organizations, that doesn’t work.
Here’s what I learned: It’s not about being the loudest voice in the room.
It’s about building quiet confidence.
You build so much credibility through your work, through solving real problems, through building strong partnerships - that when you speak, people listen.
It’s not about speaking the loudest. It’s about having influence in the rooms that matter.
So I forced myself to break out of my shell.
I made myself more visible. I built strategic partnerships. I created exposure for my work.
And through that process I realized that one of my superpowers is being a connector of people.
That’s how I went from Senior Manager to VP in 3.5 years.
And here’s what I want you to understand: This isn’t just about Asian leaders. It’s universal.
If you want to move into senior roles, you can’t wait for your work to be noticed.
You have to build partnerships. You have to drive influence. You have to create your own leadership presence.
But not by being the loudest. By being the most credible.
THE APPLICATION:
If you want to move into senior leadership, visibility isn’t optional.
Your work won’t speak for itself. You have to speak for it.
But it’s not about volume. It’s about influence.
Build credibility through solving real problems.
Build partnerships across teams.
Make your work visible to the people who matter.
When you speak, make it count.
That’s quiet confidence. That’s how you build influence.
And remember: Advocacy doesn’t have to be just a finite point at the end of the customer journey.
By building trust across the entire ecosystem - both presales and post-sale - that’s where the magic unlocks.
Through the 7 pillars of customer-led growth that I’ve been sharing throughout this entire content journey.
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THANK YOU
Building The Customer Continuum has been one of the most rewarding projects of my career.
300+ subscribers. Messages saying “this helped me get budget approved” or “this changed how I think about customer marketing.”
That’s why I do this.
To celebrate, I’m giving back to this community.
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MY GPT
EVERYONE GETS: My Kevin Lau GPT.
I’ve been building this since January 2025. It’s trained on 5+ years of my presentations, frameworks, and playbooks.
Think of it as your personal customer marketing advisor available 24/7.
HERE’S HOW TO USE IT:
While it comes with 20-30 pre-loaded conversation starters, here are some other example queries to get started:
For Budget & Strategy:
→ “Create a 90-day customer-led growth plan with KPIs, owners, timelines.”
→ “What would Kevin do to get budget approved for an advocacy program with a skeptical CFO?”
→ “How should I build a business case for customer marketing when leadership doesn’t see the value?”
→ “What metrics should I track to prove customer marketing ROI?”
For Program Design:
→ “How do I structure my first CAB meeting to maximize value?”
→ “What’s the best way to launch an advocacy program with no budget?”
→ “How should I design a customer awards program that generates proof at scale?”
For Stakeholder Management:
→ “How do I get Product and Success aligned on customer proof?”
→ “What’s the best way to approach cross-functional budget requests?”
→ “How do I build credibility with executives as a team of one?”
For Career Development:
→ “How should I position myself for a senior customer marketing role?”
→ “What skills should I develop to move from individual contributor to a manager?”
→ “How do I demonstrate strategic value when my work feels invisible?”
The GPT responds the way I would: tactical, direct, and based on what’s actually worked across my career.
»Access the Kevin Lau GPT GPT here.«
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And as a reminder, one of my subscribers will be selected for a 45-minute 1:1 coaching session with me.
We’ll talk about whatever you need:
→ Building your advocacy program
→ Getting budget approved
→ Designing your CAB
→ Career strategy
→ Navigating organizational politics
→ Anything customer marketing
NEXT WEEK
Back to tactical frameworks.
How to design Customer Advisory Boards that executives actually want to join.
The structure. The invitation strategy. The agenda that makes customers say “when’s the next one?”
Until then, thank you for being part of this journey.
Stories beat tactics. Always.
— Kevin