Navigating the Journey: Insights on Marketing, Fractional Work, and Building Demand
I recently had the chance to chat with Madhav Bhandari, the Head of Marketing at StoryLane, about his career path, the transition to fractional work (and back to a startup), his strategies for building demand in competitive markets. Madhav’s experiences shed light on navigating the evolving world of marketing while staying true to what drives creativity and impact.
How did you get into marketing?
When I got out of college, I always wanted to start my own business, but I didn’t know how to set one up. I thought, “Let me join a startup to learn the basics.” The first company I joined had just three people, and I was the third employee. We were a small startup, barely doing $10,000 a month.
I was handling everything—sales, marketing, and customer support—but primarily marketing. I learned on the job and started writing about what I was learning. This was back in 2013, and blogging helped me build a global network. I connected with CEOs and early-stage founders through my content, and those connections helped me land my next roles at companies like Hubstaff, Bonsai, and Clo-Oz.
About two years ago, I decided to go fractional. I was at a point in my career where I wanted to figure out what was next for me. StoryLane was one of the clients I worked with during that period, and that eventually turned into a full-time role.
What was your experience going fractional, and would you recommend it?
The reason I went fractional was because I had been in tech marketing for ten years and felt like I was tackling the same challenges repeatedly. It felt cyclical, and I stopped learning and feeling excited about my work.
I talked to my therapist about it, and something she said really stuck with me: “Do you hate everything about your job, or just parts of it?” I realized I loved some parts and hated others. She suggested removing the parts I hated for a year and focusing on what I loved. That’s what led me to go fractional—I wanted to rediscover my excitement for marketing.
Going fractional was good. You work across different industries and tackle a wide variety of problems, which keeps things interesting. But I learned that 30-40% of your time has to go toward business development—cold emails, calls, and pitching yourself. I’m not great at that; I prefer spending 100% of my time doing the actual work.
Ultimately, I missed the depth you get in a full-time role, where you can focus deeply on one product or challenge. That’s why I transitioned back, though I wouldn’t rule out going fractional again. There’s a time and place for it, but it’s not for everyone.
Building Demand in a Competitive Market
StoryLane operates in the interactive demo software category, which is still emerging. I’d say about 5% of the market is aware of it, but 95% either don’t know about it or aren’t convinced they need it. Our strategy is to focus heavily on that 95%.
One way we differentiate is by being the first vendor a buyer hears about. There’s a statistic that if you’re the first vendor in a buying cycle, there’s a 70% chance the buyer will choose you. That gives us a huge advantage.
We also focus on doing things differently, whether it’s launching features no one else in the category has or running unique marketing initiatives like award shows. We even collaborate with LinkedIn creators to make humorous, TikTok-style reels that introduce the concept of interactive demos. Humor works well—it helps our message reach hundreds of thousands of people and makes our brand memorable.
Is SEO still worth it?
I come from an SEO-heavy background. For years, it was the channel I felt most confident in, but over the past year, it became the least confident because of changes like AI and new search platforms.
Earlier this year, we tried an experiment. We took our blog content and replaced the text with interactive demos, ignoring the traditional rules of SEO. The results shocked us. Pages with interactive demos started outranking massive brands like Salesforce and HubSpot. Our monthly traffic grew from 25,000 to 220,000 in six months, and signups and revenue scaled with it.
This experiment taught me that SEO isn’t dying; the playbook is evolving. Today, it’s about combining SEO with great page experiences and strong brand recognition. With AI-generated content flooding the market, differentiation is key.
Advice for Aspiring Marketers
I’m surprised at how mature some 18- and 21-year-olds are now. The bar for entry into marketing is higher than it was when I started.
My advice is not to worry too much about salary in the beginning. Focus on joining a great company, even if it’s as an intern. The experience you gain early on will have a 10x or 20x impact on your career. For me, my stint at Hubstaff was a turning point—it opened doors to other roles and gave me invaluable learnings.
Once you’re in, look for high-priority but unpopular projects. These are often overlooked but can have a big impact. For example, product pages are critical for revenue but are rarely prioritized. If you take on these kinds of projects, you’ll provide value to leadership and position yourself for growth.
If you weren’t a marketer, what would you be?
I’d be a musician. I play guitar, and when I’m in the zone, hours just fly by. It’s one of those things where I feel completely immersed. It would be amazing to bring that level of passion and flow into day-to-day work.
Want to hear more from Madhav? You can follow along with Madhav on LinkedIn where he post regularly.
