Balancing Brand and Performance Marketing in B2B SaaS With Mike Braund

About Guest

Mike Braund is the Senior  Director of Marketing Operations and Digital Marketing at Iterable, an AI-powered, multi-channel communications platform. He leads cross-channel orchestration efforts, overseeing Martech, account management, email, web, and analytics to drive pipeline growth and operational efficiency. 

In this episode…

Standing out in B2B SaaS marketing requires mastering more than just performance metrics and automation tools. With budgets tightening and the buyer’s journey growing longer, how do leading marketers balance long-term brand building and short-term revenue generation?

According to Mike Braund, a seasoned marketing leader with a deep background in operations and analytics, achieving that balance starts by connecting data with gut instincts. He highlights the importance of testing hypotheses quickly through iterative campaigns, using data to validate direction without stalling creative momentum. This blend ensures marketing efforts perform and resonate. Creative constraints can unlock innovation, especially when teams are empowered to move fast with limited resources.

In this episode of the Revenue Engine Podcast, host Alex Gluz sits down with Mike Braund, Senior Director of Marketing Operations and Digital Marketing at Iterable, to discuss how to align brand and performance marketing in B2B SaaS. They dive into the role of data-informed creativity, how team structure can enable efficiency, and the importance of full-funnel thinking. Mike also shares lessons from leading paid media and operations under one unified strategy.

A glimpse of what you will learn

• [1:09] Mike Braund’s role at Iterable and how the platform powers multi-channel marketing with AI
• [4:06] Why Mike joined Iterable and how the company’s mission aligns with his values and expertise
• [5:07] How gut instincts and data guide marketing strategy and experimentation
• [7:13] How resource limitations spark creative marketing solutions
• [9:41] Why Mike took on marketing ops and paid media, and how the integration enhances execution
• [19:46] Top challenges facing B2B SaaS marketers in 2025, from brand investment to budget constraints

Resources Mentioned in this episode

• T.A. Monroe Digital Agency
• Alex Gluz on LinkedIn
• Mike Braund on LinkedIn
• Iterable
• Tableau
• Adriana Gil Miner on LinkedIn
• Wade Tibke on LinkedIn
• Bryan Law on LinkedIn

Quotable Moments

• “Gut feeling for me is like often where the hypothesis comes from.”
• “Limitations or constraints are key to sparking innovation.”
• “Marketing operations and the data side of things are almost always a part of that process.”
• “People want to be part of the ideation process of what's going to be in market.”
• “The rigor around technology expenses has just gotten so much tighter.”

Action Steps

1. Balance data and gut instincts in campaign planning: Using intuition to form hypotheses and data to validate them leads to faster, smarter decisions.
2. Embrace constraints to drive creativity: Limited resources can spark innovative ideas that improve efficiency and boost campaign impact.
3. Unify paid media and operations teams: Integrating these functions streamlines execution, improves data flow, and enhances marketing performance.
4. Engage cross-functional teams early in planning: Involving stakeholders in ideation increases buy-in, satisfaction, and the quality of go-to-market strategies.
5. Align brand and performance marketing efforts: Coordinating awareness and conversion strategies strengthens your funnel and maximizes long-term ROI.

Sponsor for this episode

This episode is brought to you by T.A.Monroe Digital.At T.A.Monroe, we build world class revenue engines for B2B SaaS companies. What that means is we do everything behind the scenes to generate you tons of qualified leads, opportunities and customers.

1. We build highly effective marketing systems and scale their profitably through our demand generation strategies.
2. We think scientifically on how to scale your demand and revenue.
3. We bring decades of experience.

Email us at alex@tamonroe.com or visit www.tamonroe.com today to schedule a strategy session or learn more about our mission.