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Marketing At Appian: Break Out Of Silos And Own Decisions

Appian App Icon Tonya Severance and Ben Dudley

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To thrive on the Appian Marketing team, you don’t need a traditional marketing background to succeed. Here are three traits you do need:

  1. Willingness to own projects and decisions 
  2. Curiosity and excitement about telling our product stories 
  3. Ability to adapt and embrace change

To find out more about what the Appian Marketing team and culture is really like, we asked two team members to share their experiences. 

Meet Tonya Severance, Senior Manager, Product Marketing.

  • Located in Greenville, South Carolina
  • Joined Appian in April 2021

Feeling like I belonged in my first month.

I was first drawn to Appian because of the software itself. I was impressed with how it has everything you’d need to automate business processes in one platform. It was really exciting to me. From my first interview, it was clear the potential of marketing such an exciting product was what others were driven by too, and that made me want to be a part of the team even more. 

I’ve been working remotely since 2010 and been in many online trainings. However, I’ve never experienced an onboarding process as thoughtful and engaging as the onboarding at Appian. 

Here’s a few aspects of onboarding in my first month that stood out to me:

  • Bootcamp on how to use the software and develop applications in our Appian product. 
  • Sales onboarding about how to sell the product and how the Sales team works. As a Product Marketer, this was super helpful and I haven’t experienced this at other companies.
  • Opportunities to get to know other people from different teams in the onboarding class.

From the interview process and throughout my first month, I always felt like the team was rooting for new hires and focused on setting people up for success. It's been a lot of learning from the start, but it wasn’t sink or swim. Everyone is here to help and deliberate about providing opportunities where you’re connected and engaged. 

The people are so dependable, value your input, and there’s an undercurrent of kindness. I often get off the phone with someone new feeling so energized and thinking — did I just meet my new best friend? It’s that kind of energy and drive that people here leave you with, and it’s inspiring. 

Marketing is collaborative across teams, not siloed.

In past marketing roles, I’ve found it common that Marketing teams live in a silo and don't have a front row seat in product strategy discussions. I was pleasantly surprised that this is very much not the case at Appian! 

I realized this in my first week when I had meetings set up with so many different teams including Customer Success, Solutions Consulting, and Product Engineering. When you’re working in a silo, you often get looped in too late, which makes it frustrating to do your job well. 

At Appian, I noticed from the start that people are comfortable asking a lot of questions to other teams, everyone is brought into product discussions, and engineers are integrated into the Marketing team. I quickly learned that there’s no walls or barriers to reaching people to ask for information or get involved in projects. I was impressed with how accessible leadership is here too, like our CMO, Denise Vu Broady, at our monthly Marketing all hands meetings, which are always transparent and lead to great discussion. 

In other big tech companies I’ve experienced, there can be a real competitive energy where it feels like you need to prove yourself, and that works for some people. But that’s not what I was looking for, and I never felt that here. At Appian, collaboration over competition is really valued and it’s more about how everyone has a role to play, and something to contribute. We’re all on the same team with the common goal of making our product the best it can be and helping our customers. 

Meet Ben Dudley, Director, Community Experience.

  • Located in McLean, Virginia 
  • Joined Appian in 2017

From Chemical Engineer to Product Manager.

I don’t have a traditional marketing background, and not only is that accepted, but it is embraced at Appian. That’s how I knew this was a culture I could see myself thriving and growing my career in.
My schooling was in chemical engineering, then I worked at the New York Stock Exchange as a Business Analyst, and then in ERP software consulting. I wanted to work in tech and was intrigued by the Appian product and its potential with customers. 

Working on Appian Community and Appian Community Edition, I could use my expertise and interest in the technical side of the product, while getting the opportunity to market and build out the function. It showed me you can do great product-led marketing work that’s incredibly successful without a traditional marketing background. We celebrate those differences on the Marketing team. We do a great job at finding what people are good at, and allowing them to focus on those areas.

Being eager to learn, curious, and not afraid to take ownership over projects is important to thrive here. I really don’t like being micromanaged, and that’s something I’ve never experienced at Appian because autonomy and trust is part of the team culture. 

Being trusted with decision-making.

What I’ve found unique about the Appian Marketing team is the real focus on putting people in decision-making positions where they can own projects. That has definitely been helpful in growing my career here. 

With junior or early career roles, we are deliberate about finding opportunities for them to own projects, and be the person deciding success and failure. It creates a culture of trust and accountability right from the start, and provides opportunity for growth.

Join a dynamic, close-knit team. 

Appian Marketing is a lively and exciting team to be part of if you’re adaptable and interested in getting involved in many different areas. We can be a little nerdy in the best possible way — I love digging deep with people into our product on how to solve problems and find the right answer, not just the easy answer. 

For me, the relationships I have with people here is a main driver of why I’ve been successful. Appian team members are curious and supportive, the kind of people who will always raise their hand to help. It’s no surprise people form close bonds here, and I’ve met some of my best friends working at Appian on and outside the Marketing team — we get together outside of work and some even came to my wedding!

Why now is the best time to join marketing at Appian.

People are re-evaluating what work means to them since the pandemic, and being surrounded by a supportive team at a place that values flexibility and work-life balance is important. We’ve embraced that and hired people for hybrid and remote roles recently, and encouraged people to take time to recharge.



For our Recharge Day, Shiv Sagar Raghavendra, Senior Marketing Analyst, posted about how he spent the day hiking outdoors. 

Since I joined Appian in 2017, I’ve seen the Marketing team double in size, grown in my career through four different roles, and been part of the shifted focus to product-led marketing initiatives, especially with Appian Community

It’s been a fun, challenging experience and if you like impactful work, want to be part of a growing team, and are eager to learn about low-code automation, whether you have a formal background in marketing or not — the Appian Marketing team may be for you!

See our Appian careers page for more information about career opportunities.

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Written by

Tonya Severance and Ben Dudley

Marketing team members