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How to grow B2B SaaS Companies: Demand Generation Best Practices - An Interview with Edward Ford

Picture of Nicholas Page   Nicholas Page  ·  2 minute read

In this episode of Tech Marketing Trends, Brightvision CEO Jakob Löwenbrand welcomes Edward Ford, Demand Generation Director at Supermetrics. Together, they discuss the company's incredible growth journey—from a 25-person startup to a global SaaS powerhouse—and how strategic focus, evolving channels, and marketing intelligence have fueled demand generation. Edward shares his lessons from scaling a marketing team, why data is cyclical (not linear), and how to balance long-term brand building with short-term performance. If you’re in B2B tech or SaaS marketing, this episode is packed with practical insights.

 

 

Start small, grow smart

Edward shares how he joined Supermetrics as the fourth marketer when the company was still early-stage and product-led. His first day involved launching a new integration on Product Hunt—and wearing nearly every marketing hat, from content and events to website ops. Over time, as the company scaled to over 450 employees and surpassed $50M in ARR, he emphasized the importance of building specialization into the team and giving away responsibilities to experts.

“Any early-stage marketer knows—you’re wearing so many marketing hats. The job is to give those hats away as you grow and scale.” - Edward Ford

 

 

Prioritize with purpose

Despite the temptation to try every marketing tactic, Edward explains that focus and prioritization were critical in the early days. The Supermetrics team adopted a “three big bets” approach per year, leaning heavily into marketplace distribution, SEO targeting high-intent searches, and paid search. Each year, a new channel was added strategically, with performance, podcasts, events, and community joining the mix over time.

“From a 45-minute customer interview, you can repurpose a huge amount of content across podcasts, social, email, and case studies.”

 

 

Bring your voice and your customers’ into your content

Edward shares how Supermetrics evolved their podcast from guest interviews to include internal voices and customers. By testing messaging on the podcast, on LinkedIn, and at events, the team ensures their content resonates. Customers also contribute to events, case studies, and social posts, offering authentic validation of the brand’s impact.

“From a 45-minute customer interview, you can repurpose a huge amount of content across podcasts, social, email, and case studies.”

 

 

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Plan smart, not long

Instead of obsessing over strategy decks, Edward urges marketers to start with one simple question: why are we doing this? Clear reasoning, tradeoff decisions, and alignment on objectives are more valuable than overcomplicating planning. Supermetrics uses OKRs split by funnel stage to balance top-of-funnel brand work with bottom-of-funnel revenue-driving efforts.

“I don’t really like the word strategy—it’s a fancy word for plan. Just be clear about what you’re doing and why.”

 

 

Data is a circular lifecycle, not a funnel

When it comes to marketing data, Edward challenges the traditional linear model. Instead, Supermetrics operates with a cyclical view—where on-demand and centralized data feed analysis, which fuels insight, which then feeds activation via conversion APIs. The goal: move from insight to foresight, and continuously optimize based on where your next marketing dollar will have the most imp

“Data isn’t linear—it’s a life cycle. The best teams are using it to move from looking backward to looking ahead.”

 

 

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