Feature
First, the good stuff.
Mark Zuckerberg has no secrets beyond what the public already knows about him.
The movie, "The Social Network" was BS.
Justin Timberlake made Sean Parker seem like a rockstar when he's really just a nerd.
And the jury's out whether Darian Shirazi, Facebook's first intern, was portrayed in the movie.
(Ah. The self-indulgent reporter Facebook stuff is out of the way.)
We caught up with former Facebooker Shirazi, now 27, to talk about the marketing software industry.
His two-year run as intern and employee at Facebook behind him, Shirazi went on to invest in several technologies before launching three years ago what's now Radius, a San Francisco B2B real-time marketing intelligence platform company that's up to about 60 employees.
Here's what we learned about Shirazi and his company:
He Believes in Marketing Relationships
Shirazi's company teamed with CEB for a study released yesterday that revealed B2B marketers are not using social media’s full potential. Only a third of marketers mine social data for new business, and just 4 percent gather owner data for better leads.
The study included research of 880 SMBs across North America.
Success on social is about connecting with the stakeholders of prospect companies, Shirazi told CMSWire.
When establishing relationships with prospects -- actual human relationships -- B2B marketers are "significantly more likely to close a deal."
"These owners are on Facebook," he added. "They use it for their personal lives and it ends up being very connected to their business lives. I know some marketers and salespeople who are friends with their biggest clients on Facebook. At the end of the day we're all humans, and the less programmatic it is and the more it is about relationships and what value can be brought to both parties, the better the sale is, the better the deal is, and the more likely you are to have a positive relationship."
He Likes Facebook's Power
All bias aside, Shirazi said Facebook is "clearly the leader" when it comes to successful B2B marketing channels because it has the "largest distribution."
LinkedIn, he said, is second, but that's more on the enterprise side. Shirazi said Twitter follows, but there's "a lot of noise. I think it's more of a passive channel."
"But those are the top three that really matter," he said. "Facebook has had tons of success. Retargeting works really well, and reaching out to business owners directly. Google has been the marquee channel around B2B advertising, but it's sort of impersonal."
He's Passionate About Radius
Shirazi has built Radius from a three-employee startup three years ago to a 60-employee machine tracking 30 million businesses with its "massive data set."
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The Radius platform plugs into existing CRMs and analyzes existing customer bases while understanding where companies are most successful.
"We can help target your marketing and get more focused on the right channels with new leads," Shirazi said. "We can provide new opportunities you haven't gone after before or revitalize old opportunities you have already marked closed."
The year 2015 will be all about analytics, he said. His team's analytics platform and "incredible data set" is what makes it stand out.
"We're targeting marketing campaigns directly from Salesforce," Shirazi said.
He Won't Divulge Zuckerberg Secrets
No goods on your former boss at Facebook?
"Everyone in the world knows everything about Mark Zuckerberg," Shirazi told CMSWire. "He's the most famous person alive."
The Movie Was Garbage
Asked his thoughts about the authenticity of the Facebook-inspired movie, "The Social Network," Shirazi said, "It was a great work of fiction."
As for a role in the movie, Shirazi was mum on that topic, too.
"I can't answer that question, sorry," he told CMSWire when asked if he was portrayed.
When asked about Justin Timberlake's role as Sean Parker and its authenticity, Shirazi said, "Justin Timberlake has some really good songs out these days."
But he got back on point, telling CMSWire, "not many people know that Sean was a programmer and hacker. He's a really nerdy guy. He loves computers. Justin Timberlake made him seem like this guitar rockstar when he's really as much a nerd as we all are."
Part of 'Dedicated' Team
Facebook, Shirazi recalled, was "not any different from any other startup I've been involved in. I've seen startups fail or have monster success. We were so dedicated to the mission there. Being dedicated to the mission is important."
