B2B Better

We help B2B brands launch shows that turn their point of view into pipeline. If you're launching a podcast (or have one already) and are not sure how it can hit your bottom line, book a meeting with Jason: https://meetings-eu1.hubspot.com/jason-bradwell/youtube-meeting-link Most B2B marketers are drowning in content and starving for pipeline. Joel Harrison has spent 23 years building media empires in B2B – and he's finally putting his cards on the table. In this episode of Pipe Dream, Jason Bradwell sits down with Joel Harrison, founder of the B2B Marketing publication and host of the Trust and Influence in B2B podcast. Joel brings a rare perspective to owned media: he has built a media company from scratch, exited the operational role he created, and then rebuilt his personal brand through podcasting and thought leadership content. The result is a frank, practical conversation about what it actually takes for B2B organisations to communicate with authority in an AI-saturated world. Joel shares why he launched his podcast after abandoning plans for a book, how he has evolved from audio-only to a full content flywheel spanning YouTube, LinkedIn newsletter, and LinkedIn Live, and why trust – not technology – is the defining challenge for B2B marketers right now. He also makes a compelling case for humanisation as the antidote to AI-generated commodity content, arguing that brands which put real people and genuine points of view at the centre of their marketing will win long-term. The conversation turns candid when Joel addresses why marketing still struggles to earn a seat at the board table, and what it will take to change that dynamic. Key Takeaways ◼️ How to build a content flywheel from a single podcast – why launching with audio alone limits your reach and how adding video, newsletter, and live formats accelerates audience growth. ◼️ Why trust is the defining issue in B2B marketing right now – and how AI-generated content is making the problem worse, not better. ◼️ How to use AI as an enabler of thought leadership, not a replacement for it – the distinction between repurposing genuine perspectives and using AI as a crutch for a missing point of view. ◼️ Why B2B marketing still struggles to earn board-level credibility – and what marketers must do to speak the commercial language that CEOs and CFOs actually respond to. ◼️ How to hook your audience in the first 30 seconds – the simple structural shift Joel made after a year of podcasting that reduced early listener drop-off. ◼️ Why incremental improvements beat big production budgets – and why your point of view matters far more than your studio setup. Chapter Markers 00:00 Intro 02:15 Joel's journey: from founding B2B Marketing magazine to podcasting 07:40 Building a content flywheel across audio, video, and LinkedIn 13:05 The biggest lessons from year one of running a podcast 18:30 What "thinking like a media company" actually means in B2B 23:10 Why marketing still fails to prove its value to the board 28:45 How AI enables thought leadership without replacing it Relevant Links and Resources Joel Harrison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joel-harrison/Trust and Influence in B2B Podcast: [search on Spotify / Apple Podcasts]B2B Marketing (publication Joel founded): https://www.b2bmarketing.netTools mentioned by Joel: Riverside, Claude, ChatGPT, Fireflies What's Next If this episode got you thinking about how your organisation can build content that actually earns trust and drives pipeline, don't sit on it – take the first step and book a conversation with the B2B Better team today. Useful Links Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonbradwell/Listen to Pipe Dream on Podbean: https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/bac4p-2a0121/Pipe-Dream-PodcastLearn more about B2B Better: https://www.b2b-better.com

We help B2B brands launch shows that turn their point of view into a pipeline. If you're launching a podcast (or have one already) and are not sure how it can hit your bottom line, book a meeting with Jason: https://meetings-eu1.hubspot.com/jason-bradwell/youtube-meeting-link Most people want a community. Mark Masters actually built one, and it took 13 years, one Thursday newsletter, and the quiet conviction that belonging matters more than scale. Mark Masters, founder of You Are the Media (YATM), joins Jason Bradwell on Pipe Dream to tell the full story of how a scrappy newsletter started in October 2013 grew into one of the most distinctive professional learning communities in the UK. Based on the south coast of England, YATM is a community built around a simple but powerful idea: all of us are better than one of us. Mark shares how YATM evolved from a zero-budget newsletter into a multi-layered owned media ecosystem spanning regular Lunch Club events across the country, an online membership space, and the flagship Creator Day conference in Poole. He is candid about the mistakes made along the way, the temptation to chase scale, and why the format of his events involves breaking world records with Post-it notes and chocolate oranges. This episode is essential listening for any B2B marketer or founder thinking about building a content-led community. Mark's journey is a masterclass in patience, consistency, and leading with genuine values rather than vanity metrics. Key Takeaways ◼️ How to build a community without a budget -- start with a consistent piece of content, as Mark did with a free weekly newsletter, and let trust compound over time before layering in events or membership. ◼️ Why jumping straight to a Slack group will destroy your community -- an empty playground repels new members; build audience first, then create spaces for them to gather. ◼️ How to define your community's values in a way that creates real association -- lead with emotive, human ideas like self-sufficiency, creativity or belonging rather than industry jargon or tactics. ◼️ Why scale is the wrong north star for community-led growth -- Mark deliberately caps Creator Day at 300 attendees so he can deliver a meaningful experience rather than a diluted one. ◼️ How to separate your personal brand from your community brand -- trust and format are the keys; document what works, then find community members who embody your values to carry it forward. ◼️ Why consistency over 13 years beats any campaign -- not one newsletter repurposed or copy-pasted since 2013; showing up reliably is the single biggest differentiator in owned media. Chapter Markers 00:00 Intro 02:00 What Is You Are the Media and Who Is It For? 04:00 How a 2013 Newsletter Became the Foundation for Everything 07:00 The Chain Effect: How Community Grows Slowly But Compounds 09:30 The Core Promise of YATM: Confidence and Friendship 12:30 The Owned Media Flywheel: Content, Community and Events 14:00 What to Do (and Avoid) When Building a B2B Community 19:00 Scaling YATM: Lunch Clubs, Creator Day and What Comes Next Relevant Links and Resources You Are the Media website: https://youarethemedia.co.uk Creator Day 2026 (Poole, May): https://youarethemedia.co.uk Mark Masters on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markmasters/ YATM Newsletter: Sign up at youarethemedia.co.uk What's Next If this episode has you thinking differently about how you build audience and community around your brand, take the first step today. Subscribe to Mark's Thursday newsletter at youarethemedia.co.uk and see 13 years of consistency in action. Useful Links Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonbradwell/ Listen to Pipe Dream on Podbean: https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detai... Learn more about B2B Better: https://www.b2b-better.com

This episode is brought to you by B2B Better. Richard cut CAC by 27% by ditching billboards and investing in owned content — podcasts, videos, and customer interviews that actually moved the needle. That's exactly the kind of content engine we help B2B service businesses build. If you want a podcast that drives pipeline, not just downloads, visit b2bbetter.com. If you think B2B buying is purely rational, this episode is your wake-up call. In this episode of Pipe Dream, host Jason Bradwell sits down with Richard Dedor, Senior Client Strategist at Vericast, to unpack what a decade of B2C financial services marketing can teach B2B marketers about differentiation, storytelling, and cutting through a commoditised market. Richard's core point is clear: stop overthinking your product and start understanding the emotion behind the buying decision. Every purchase — whether it's a checking account or a six-figure SaaS contract — starts with a pain point. The businesses that win are the ones that lean into that pain and make the buyer the hero. The cheeseburger analogy says it all. McDonald's, In-N-Out, Wendy's — they're all selling the same thing but winning different customers by knowing exactly who they're for. B2B is no different. You don't need a revolutionary product. You need a sharper story built around the right ingredients for the right target market. The conversation gets tactical on CAC reduction. Richard's team cut acquisition costs by 27% by reallocating budget away from vanity spend — billboards chief among them — and investing in owned content instead. Podcasts, videos, webinar series, and customer interviews that spoke directly to real pain points. A billboard reaches everyone and no one. A customer interview that mirrors exactly what a prospect is feeling reaches the right person at the right moment. For B2B marketers dealing with long sales cycles and buying committees, hold the macro message steady and pivot the micro-messaging for each stakeholder in the room. And when compliance is standing between you and a good idea, make them your second-best friend — walk them through the concept one friction point at a time and help them get themselves to yes. People buy with emotion. Even in B2B. Especially in B2B. That's what you should be tapping into. Chapter Markers 00:00 - Introduction: Richard Dedor and a decade in B2C financial services 02:00 - The cheeseburger analogy: differentiation in commoditised markets 04:00 - Growing brand awareness by 50% and bridging it to conversion 06:00 - In-market moments and rare switching windows in financial services 08:00 - What B2B marketers should steal from the consumer playbook 09:00 - Micro-messaging pivots within a stable macro message 10:00 - Cutting CAC by 27%: stop spending on billboards 11:00 - Investing in owned content: podcasts, videos, and customer interviews 13:00 - Testing, killing, and doubling down on what works 14:00 - Working in regulated environments: making compliance your ally 16:00 - How to present ideas to legal and compliance teams 18:00 - Walking compliance through friction points one step at a time 20:00 - The one thing B2B companies get wrong about differentiation 22:00 - People buy with emotion — even in B2B Useful Links Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn Connect with Richard Dedor on LinkedIn Visit Richard Dedor's website Read Richard's writing on HubSpot and Medium Explore B2B Better and the Pipe Dream Podcast

This episode is brought to you by B2B Better. Ross helps businesses prove that their marketing is driving revenue — and that's exactly the problem we help B2B service businesses solve with video-first podcasts. We build content systems that don't just generate attention, they generate pipeline your sales team can actually point to. Visit b2bbetter.com to see how we do it differently. Your thought leadership campaign is running. People are watching, listening, and engaging — but when your CFO asks if it's actually driving revenue, you've got nothing to say. In this episode of Pipe Dream, host Jason Bradwell sits down with Ross Breckenridge, Managing Director of Breckenridge and HubSpot Platinum Partner, to tackle the attribution problem that almost every B2B marketing team has but nobody wants to admit. Ross's core point is clear: this isn't a marketing problem. It's a business problem. Until your marketing, sales, and customer success teams are operating from a single unified strategy and a single tech stack, you'll never get the visibility you need. The conversation starts where Ross always starts with clients: customer journey mapping. Before you touch an attribution model, you need to understand where each content asset sits in the buying process — lead gen, nurture, sales enablement, or renewals. Most companies skip this step and end up measuring the wrong things entirely. From there, Ross unpacks the dark funnel and explains why the HubSpot Campaigns tool is the home of the marketer's attribution reporting. Bundle your content assets into one campaign, track who was created as a new contact and who was simply influenced along the way, and map that all the way through to closed-won revenue — including renewals that happen two years after someone first engaged. But none of it works if sales is living in a different system. The connection between content and revenue only becomes visible when marketing, sales, and customer success are using the same tools and held to the same SLAs. One client found that leaving a lead for more than 48 hours dropped their conversation rate from 70% to 20%. That kind of clarity only exists when everyone is looking at the same data. If you're tired of defending your content budget with correlation and vibes, this episode gives you the framework to fix it for good. Chapter Markers 00:00 - Introduction: Ross Breckenridge and Breckenridge Agency 02:00 - HubSpot onboarding, integrations, and the RevOps focus 04:00 - Is attribution a tools problem, a strategy problem, or the wrong metrics? 05:00 - Customer journey mapping as the foundation of all attribution 06:00 - Picking one attribution model and staying consistent 08:00 - The dark funnel: what it is and how HubSpot brings it to light 10:00 - Content-sourced vs content-influenced pipeline: the key difference 11:00 - The HubSpot Campaigns tool as the marketer's attribution home 13:00 - Connecting content consumption to leads, deals, and closed revenue 15:00 - Why attribution is a business problem, not a marketing problem 16:00 - Building the business case to get sales and CS on the same page 17:00 - SLAs, shared accountability, and the 48-hour lead follow-up rule 19:00 - Working in silos vs being more than the sum of your parts 21:00 - AI, buyer research, and why being genuinely helpful never changes 23:00 - Where to find Ross and learn more about Breckenridge Useful Links Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn Connect with Ross Breckenridge on LinkedIn Visit Breckenridge — HubSpot Platinum Partner and RevOps specialists Email Ross directly at ross@breckenridgeagency.com Explore the HubSpot Campaigns tool for attribution reporting Explore B2B Better website and the Pipe Dream podcast

We help B2B brands launch shows that turn their point of view into pipeline. If you're launching a podcast (or have one already) and are not sure how it can hit your bottom line, book a meeting with Jason: https://meetings-eu1.hubspot.com/jason-bradwell/youtube-meeting-link -- Adam Holmgren turned three years of consistent LinkedIn posting into a $700K ARR SaaS business—without cold outbound, without a sales team, and with 80% of growth coming from organic content amplified by thought leader ads. In this episode of Pipe Dream, Adam Holmgren, co-founder and CEO of Fibbler, breaks down exactly how he built an attribution platform for SMBs by first building an audience of 25,000 marketers. Before launching Fibbler in May 2024, Adam spent years developing his point of view on demand generation, paid advertising, and attribution whilst at GetAccept—publishing consistently, giving value, and never asking for anything in return. When he finally launched his product, his audience was ready. Within two months, he had 50 paying customers purely from his network. But Adam didn't stop there. He shares the pivot that changed everything: shifting from organic-only to investing 50% of revenue into thought leader ads, specifically targeting the US market where LinkedIn ad spend is highest. The result? 400-500 signups per month, with 80% directly attributed to organic content plus paid amplification. Adam also reveals his weekend content system, his four content pillars (paid ads, brand building, founder-led growth, and personal), and why he believes distribution and brand are now the only real moats in a world where AI makes product features commoditised. Key Takeaways How to validate demand before launching: Build an audience first by giving value for years without asking for anything—then when you finally ask, conversion rates skyrocket. Why thought leader ads outperform traditional LinkedIn ads: Organic posts that already resonate are "battle-tested"—amplifying them with paid reach to new audiences dramatically improves ROI compared to brand account ads with CTAs. How to structure a sustainable content system: Plan content on weekends around 3-4 clear content pillars, schedule posts for the week, then stay active in comments during weekdays instead of writing on the fly. Why founder-led brands win in crowded markets: With 250,000-300,000 martech solutions available, distribution and brand are the only defensible moats—features alone won't differentiate you. How to convince sceptical executives to invest in brand: Start small, prove early signals (engagement from ICP, content mentioned in sales calls), then scale once you demonstrate pipeline impact over 3-6 months. The perfect LinkedIn post formula: Strong hook that creates curiosity or promises value + tactical insight or lesson learnt + no product pitch (let people discover you organically). Relevant Links and Resources Connect with Adam Holmgren on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-holmgren/Learn more about Fibbler: https://fibbler.co What's Next If you're building a B2B brand and struggling to justify investment in owned media, start by building one person's audience consistently for 90 days—then amplify what works. The compounding effect is real. Useful Links Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonbradwell/Listen to Pipe Dream on Podbean: https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/pipe-dreamLearn more about B2B Better: https://www.b2b-better.com

This episode is brought to you by B2B Better. We turned down SaaS clients and e-commerce brands to become the only video-first podcast agency for service-based B2B businesses. Specificity is the strategy.  If you've ever said "we can do that" to every client who walks in, this episode is your wake-up call. Host Jason Bradwell breaks down why niching down is the fastest path to becoming the obvious choice, and why being a bit of everything for everyone means you're actually nothing for nobody. Jason's core point is clear: when he set out to build B2B Better, he committed to being specific on two levels - who they serve and what they do. Not just B2B, because B2B is a hemisphere. They went one layer deeper: service-based businesses. Consulting firms, agencies, system integrators, compliance specialists. Companies that sell expertise, not products. People, not software. Trust and relationships, not features and pricing. That's what lends itself to their service: video-first podcasts that turn your point of view into pipeline. Nothing else. The same principle applies to podcasts. When a client says they want to launch a show, Jason's first question is: what's your superpower? Here's the formula. "This is a podcast about X, and unlike other podcasts about X, only we do Y." Most B2B podcasts fail this test. They say "we're a podcast about technology" or "leadership" or "AI." So are thousands of others. There's no "and." There's no reason to choose you. Add the "and" and everything changes. One show in the B2B Better portfolio is Data and Biotech: "a podcast about data science, and unlike other data science podcasts, only we explore it through the lens of biotech manufacturing." Suddenly if you're a data scientist in biotech, there's only one show for you. That specificity drives 75% to 80% episode completion rates, nearly double the industry average because every listener is exactly the right person. The fear of niching down is real. Every founder worries about leaving money on the table. But saying yes to everyone dilutes your positioning, creates operational inefficiency, and kills pricing power. What actually happens when you niche properly: the funnel gets narrower at first, but the people who raise their hand are perfect fits. They convert faster, pay more, stay longer, and refer others in the same niche. Year one it feels limiting. Year three it feels like leverage. Year five it feels like a moat. The framework to choose your niche: look at your best clients, not biggest. Validate the economics. Test your thesis before announcing publicly. Then commit hard and communicate clearly—change the website, the LinkedIn, the pitch deck. Say who you serve and who you don't. Resonance over reach. Always. Chapter Markers 00:00 - The "we can do anything" agency problem 01:00 - Why B2B isn't a niche, it's a hemisphere 02:00 - Choosing service-based businesses as the core niche 03:00 - Selling expertise, not products: why podcasts fit perfectly 04:00 - Video-first podcasts and the full service offering 05:00 - The superpower formula for podcast positioning 06:00 - Data and Biotech: the power of the "and" 07:00 - 75 to 80% completion rates and what resonance looks like 08:00 - Deeply engaged beats loosely interested every time 09:00 - Addressing the fear of leaving money on the table 10:00 - How niching compounds: pricing, referrals, close rates 11:00 - Four-step framework to choose your niche 12:00 - Specialists compound, generalists reset to zero 13:00 - Resonance is a revenue metric, reach is vanity 14:00 - Direct, systematic, results-driven: the B2B Better approach 15:00 - Write your "and" statement this week Useful Links Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn Listen to Pipe Dream on Podbean Explore B2B Better website and the Pipe Dream podcast 

This episode is brought to you by B2B Better. Most owned media audits produce 50-page reports with vague recommendations and zero next steps. We give you four questions, 90 minutes, and a clear decision: kill, fix, or scale.  If your podcast has downloads but no pipeline, this episode shows you how to audit your entire owned media strategy in 90 minutes and walk away knowing what's broken and how to fix it. Host Jason Bradwell breaks down the Four R Framework — Reach, Resonance, Revenue, and Repeatability — plus a decision tree to kill, fix, or scale. Jason's core point is clear: most owned media audits are useless. They take weeks and produce reports filled with vanity metrics. Today you get four questions that reveal everything in 90 minutes. Reach is the least important. It can be bought. If you turn off ads tomorrow, what happens? That tells you whether you have real distribution or rented attention. Resonance is where it gets interesting. Jason would rather have 100 views at 85% consumption than 10,000 views at 20%. The 100 who watch the whole thing are deeply engaged. The 10,000 who clicked away were never going to buy. For video, 50% consumption is good, 70% is excellent. For podcasts, 50% is good, 75% is excellent. Revenue asks: is your strategy generating commercial results? The benchmark: 30 to 50% of closed deals should have at least one content touch. Content-influenced deals should close 20 to 30% faster. If attribution is weak, you have an activation problem, not a content problem. Repeatability determines if your strategy works long term. You should produce content four to six weeks in advance without overtime. If you're in hero mode with one person holding everything together, you need systems, not heroics. The decision tree is simple. High reach but low resonance? Fix the content. Low reach but high resonance? Scale distribution. Low everything? Kill it. High everything but low repeatability? Fix operations first. Chapter Markers 00:00 - Why most owned media audits are useless 01:00 - The Four R Framework and why reach matters least 02:00 - Resonance and consumption rate benchmarks 03:00 - 100 views at 85% beats 10,000 at 20% 04:00 - Revenue attribution and pipeline influence 05:00 - Direct vs influenced vs self-reported attribution 06:00 - Repeatability and sustainability benchmarks 07:00 - Hero mode vs documented processes 08:00 - The decision tree: kill, fix, or scale 09:00 - High reach but low resonance means fix content 10:00 - What to do on Monday morning based on your audit 11:00 - Fix activation by emailing sales directly 12:00 - Four questions, 90 minutes, one action 13:00 - Get the full audit template with benchmarks Useful Links Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn Listen to Pipe Dream on Podbean Explore ABM reporting in HubSpot for tracking accounts touched Explore B2B Better website and the Pipe Dream podcast 

George Terry built a LinkedIn ads agency by doing what he preaches: posting consistently, building a personal brand, and measuring ROI by channel. We help B2B companies build the same kind of owned media system.  If you run a service business and want to know what a LinkedIn-first pipeline actually looks like in practice, this episode is it. Host Jason Bradwell sits down with George Terry, Co-Founder of Winbox, a LinkedIn ads agency working with 50+ B2B brands, to unpack how they've built a system where personal brands drive more pipeline than any other channel. George's core point is clear: nobody goes on LinkedIn to hang out with brands. Everyone's there to hang out with people. Brands are boring. Personal profiles are the best distribution channel on LinkedIn right now, and the challenge is finding people in your company who are willing to get out there and back the business. Winbox segments pipeline into referrals, inbound, and events. Referrals close fastest but can't be your only channel. Events generate volume at the top of funnel but deals are smaller. Inbound from marketing, meaning people who sought them out because they trust the brand, generates the largest deal sizes by far. Why? Because buyers coming to you with trust come with bigger budgets. The move upmarket changed everything. When Winbox decided to stop working with small budgets and target companies spending £10k a month or more on LinkedIn ads, their market shrank dramatically. That forced a shift to an account-based approach: a defined list of 2,500 companies across UK and Europe, and everything; ads, content, targeting, focused exclusively on that list. The metric they obsess over is market saturation: reaching 50 to 80% of that list four to eight times a month. Hit that and you're influencing decision-making when buyers enter a cycle. Miss it and your marketing may as well not exist. The content system behind this is simpler than it sounds. George spends two hours a week on content creation, records voice notes on walks to capture ideas, and polishes them up on Monday mornings. Five days a week posting, a monthly video podcast, 40 LinkedIn posts, eight video shorts, four newsletters, a webinar, and a quarterly event. The machine behind it does the heavy lifting but the principle is the same for anyone starting out: done is better than perfect. Post the rubbish. Get the reps in. The five-year journey started with two likes. Chapter Markers 00:00 - Introduction: George Terry and Winbox  01:00 - From content business to LinkedIn ads agency 02:00 - How Winbox acquires clients today  03:00 - From personal networks to personal brands  05:00 - Pipeline breakdown: referrals, inbound, events  06:00 - Why inbound generates the largest deal sizes  08:00 - Multi-channel attribution and why black and white thinking fails  10:00 - Three or four channels done well beats eight done badly  11:00 - Starting over: invest earlier and move upmarket sooner  13:00 - Shifting to account-based marketing with a defined company list  14:00 - Market saturation: 50 to 80% reach, four to eight times monthly  15:00 - Cyclical buying patterns and summer brand-building  17:00 - Personal brands vs brand accounts on LinkedIn  18:00 - Why people buy agencies because of people, not logos  19:00 - Content mix: formats, frequency, and community engagement  20:00 - The weekly content system: two hours, voice notes, Monday polish  21:00 - Done is better than perfect: posting, reps, and consistency  26:00 - ICP clarity as the non-negotiable from day one Useful Links Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn Connect with George Terry on LinkedIn Visit Winbox Check out LinkedIn Ads Insider on YouTube, Apple Podcast, and iHeart Explore B2B Better website and the Pipe Dream podcast

This episode is brought to you by B2B Better. Stop sending "just checking in" emails. We build owned media systems that give your sales team actual reasons to reach out, turning podcasts into sales enablement assets that move deals forward. If your sales reps send "just checking in" emails to prospects who've gone quiet, this episode explains why those fail and what to do instead. Host Jason Bradwell breaks down how to create milestone moments, legitimate, value-led reasons to reach out through long sales cycles without sounding desperate. Jason's core point is clear: most B2B sales cycles are brutally long, but sales teams don't know how to stay present without being annoying. The traditional approach fails. Discovery call, proposal sent, then "just checking in" emails with no response. Twelve months later, the prospect went with a competitor because "you didn't understand our business." After month two, you had nothing valuable to say. 95% of B2B Better's clients have sales cycles over six months. And 95% of your customers are out of market at any given time. Your job is to stay present so when they flip to being in market, they think of you first. Most owned media falls apart here. Marketing creates beautiful content. Sales sees it but has no idea how to use it in actual sales motion. Marketing measures downloads. Sales measures meetings. Different languages, different outcomes. Milestone moments fix this. Month one: send proposal plus a podcast clip addressing their exact challenge. Month three: benchmark report. Month four: webinar invite. Month five: customer story. Month six: check in with context. Months seven to twelve: new episodes create new reasons to reach out. Month eighteen: deal closes because you felt like a partner. B2B Better's sales enablement kits deliver three clips with email copy, key graphics, follow-up sequences, and tags showing which funnel stage each piece serves. One innovation: sales stitch videos where reps record 30-second reactions to clips. Personal brands beat company brands these generate thousands of views when originals get hundreds. This works with three things: marketing-sales alignment through quarterly planning, infrastructure for sales to contribute to production, and attribution through CRM tracking plus conversations about where content surfaces in deals. Chapter Markers 00:00 - The "just checking in" problem that kills deals 01:00 - Context on long sales cycles and 95% out-of-market buyers 02:00 - Why owned media strategies fall apart at sales activation 03:00 - Traditional approach: proposal to dead deal in 12 months 04:00 - Milestone moments approach: 18-month cycle done right 06:00 - What qualifies as a milestone moment 07:00 - Timing and sequencing content to the buyer journey 08:00 - Sales enablement kit components 09:00 - Tags and metadata for searchable, attributable content 10:00 - Sales stitch videos: personalising content at scale 11:00 - Why personal brands beat company brands in B2B 12:00 - Three requirements: alignment between teams 13:00 - Infrastructure for sales to contribute to production 14:00 - Attribution: quantitative and qualitative tracking 15:00 - The challenge: audit your last five gone-quiet emails Useful Links Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn Read the Ehrenberg-Bass 95-5 rule research Explore HubSpot CRM for tracking content touches Check out Salesforce CRM Explore B2B Better website and the Pipe Dream podcast 

Most B2B companies struggle to turn marketing into measurable pipeline. At B2B Better, we build owned media systems that sales teams actually use to close deals, shortening cycles, improving reply rates, and directly influencing revenue. If you're tired of content that looks good on paper but doesn't move the business forward, visit the links in the show notes to learn how we do it differently. If your best clients won't sign case studies because legal says no, this episode shows you exactly how to flip that dynamic. Host Jason Bradwell shares how he cracked this problem working in broadcast media tech, where sports properties refused to give free logo rights to vendors they were already paying. Jason's core point: legal teams don't fear telling the story, they fear losing control over how it's told. Traditional case studies feel like monumental approval chains with multiple drafts and stakeholder reviews. It's easier to just say no. Jason worked for a tech company serving major sports media properties. The opportunity seemed obvious: tell stories about household name clients. But sports rights holders get paid millions for sponsorship rights. Why would they give a tech vendor free permission to use their name for marketing? Most teams try tactics that don't work: anonymous case studies nobody believes, paying for logo rights, using old logos without permission, or giving up entirely and competing on price. Here's what changed. When Jason's team sat down with legal teams, they learned it wasn't fear of the story—it was fear of losing control and bandwidth nightmares. So they launched a podcast with a different value exchange. Instead of "come talk about how great we are," the pitch was "come talk about your work and how you see the industry evolving." Questions submitted in advance. Full approval. Nothing goes live without sign-off. A VP of digital from a major sports league who'd said no to every promotional request for years agreed almost immediately. When Jason asked why, the answer was clear: "For years you've been asking me to do things for you. But this time you asked me to do something for me." The unlock is simple. Traditional case studies ask for public endorsement with high risk and zero personal upside. Editorial podcasts offer a platform to showcase expertise, professionally produced content they can use, and full control. The acceptance rate jumps from 5% for case studies to 70% for editorial podcasts. Sales can share clips without requiring testimonials, and the credibility is more authentic because it doesn't feel like marketing. Chapter Markers 00:00 - The legal blocker problem across every sector 01:00 - Working with sports media properties that wouldn't give logo rights 02:00 - Why GDPR and compliance make traditional case studies nearly impossible 03:00 - Four failed attempts most teams try 04:00 - What legal and compliance teams actually fear 05:00 - How podcasts flip the value exchange 06:00 - The breakthrough moment with the VP of digital 07:00 - Why "look how great they are" beats "look how great we are" 08:00 - Traditional case study vs editorial podcast value exchange 09:00 - The counterintuitive power of implied association 10:00 - The seven-step execution process 11:00 - Using content strategically in sales without testimonials 12:00 - Acceptance rates and ROI timeline 13:00 - Why this works even for clients who'd sign case studies 14:00 - The challenge: Email your top 10 blocked clients Useful Links Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn Check out The Tim Ferriss Show and The Twenty Minute VC Explore B2B Better website and the Pipe Dream podcast 

If your podcast has 10,000 downloads and only two sales meetings, Jason's take is blunt: you're doing everything wrong. In this solo episode of Pipe Dream, host Jason Bradwell breaks down why most B2B podcasts become expensive therapy sessions for executives who like hearing themselves talk, and more importantly, how to fix it. Jason's core point is clear: downloads don't pay salaries, pipeline does. Most B2B podcasts fail commercially for four reasons. They borrow strategy from B2C entertainment instead of building revenue assets. They optimise for vanity metrics because that's what vendors sell. They exist in a silo with no connection to sales motion or funnel stages. And the generic interview format doesn't map to the buyer journey. The problem isn't production quality or download numbers. The problem is that marketing makes the show, sales doesn't know it exists, and when sales don't use it, it's just an expensive content theatre. One 45-minute conversation with a random influencer doesn't help a prospect at the consideration stage trying to figure out if you can actually deliver results, or help a champion sell your solution internally to their CFO. Instead of downloads, impressions, and social shares, here's what actually matters. Leading indicators like enterprise guests booked from your ABM lists, meetings created attributed to podcast touch, and accounts touched. Commercial outcomes like deal stage acceleration, rep usage in sequences and discovery calls, and pipeline influenced. That's the difference between vanity metrics and revenue metrics. One makes marketing feel busy, the other moves the business forward. Jason shares a real example. A B2B tech company ran a podcast for 18 months with 40 episodes, a few thousand downloads, and zero pipeline influence. They interviewed random influencers because "that's what podcasts do." Their sales team had never heard of the show. B2B Better killed the influencer strategy and started interviewing their own clients, CTOs and engineering leaders who'd worked with them but would never sign traditional case studies due to compliance constraints. They packaged content as battle cards and sales enablement artifacts, not social clips. Within 90 days, sales used clips in 60% of discovery calls, influenced £3 million in pipeline, and improved outbound reply rates by 34% when reps included a 92-second client clip in sequences. Same production effort, completely different outcome. The only difference was strategy. Here's the process. Audit your funnel gaps to find where deals actually stall. Map content to that stage. Design multi-segment episodes that serve different funnel stages, not one 45-minute interview that does nothing particularly well. Package for sales with battle cards, objection handlers, and committee packs. Measure commercial impact through meetings created, accounts touched, pipeline influenced, and deal velocity, not downloads. If you can't answer "which specific deals will this help us close," you're not ready for a podcast. You don't have a content problem, you have a strategy problem. Stop trying to be Joe Rogan. You're building a revenue asset, not an entertainment show. Chapter Markers 00:00 - Why downloads don't pay salaries, pipeline does 01:00 - The word podcast has become a red herring 02:00 - Four reasons B2B podcasts fail commercially 03:00 - No connection to sales motion equals content theatre 04:00 - Revenue metrics that actually matter 05:00 - Real example: Zero to £3 million pipeline influenced 06:00 - The process: Audit, map, design, package, measure 07:00 - Multi-segment episodes serving different funnel stages 08:00 - Most teams shouldn't have a podcast yet 09:00 - The activation test: Ask sales if they've used it Useful Links Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn Listen to Pipe Dream Podcast on Podbean HubSpot ABM reporting guide for tracking accounts touched Explore B2B Better website and the Pipe Dream podcast 

If you're tired of chasing "flash in the pan" tactics that promise overnight results, this episode is your reality check. In this episode of Pipe Dream, host Jason Bradwell sits down with Dev Basu, CEO of Powered by Search, to unpack how to build an inbound-only growth motion that actually compounds over time instead of burning out your team and budget. Dev's core point is clear: stop creating remixable AI content and start building lived-experience content that creates goodwill as a moat. The marketers winning today aren't the ones doing more, they're the ones doing the simple things better and measuring what actually matters. For 16 years, Dev has helped VPs of marketing and CMOs at B2B SaaS companies build predictable pipeline without cold outreach. His approach targets two groups: the 5% in-market demand actively looking for solutions, and the 45% of right-fit customers who don't wake up thinking they need your software but would benefit from it. Dev walks through Powered by Search's playbook, which drives more than half their inbound leads through LinkedIn alone. His SAGE framework (Simple, Actionable, Goal-oriented, Easy to consume) focuses on publishing content about how they've done something, not generic how-to advice. This lived-experience approach can't be copied through ChatGPT or Claude, building genuine goodwill that compounds over time. The conversation breaks down the "do more, do better, do new" framework. Most companies don't need revolutionary tactics, they need to optimise existing channels ruthlessly. AI plays a role, but it's about speed, not strategy. Dev uses AI to accelerate production once they know what good looks like, not to figure out what to say. Then Dev drops the tactical goldmine: the 3x10 rule. Get 10% more right-fit traffic, reduce acquisition cost by 10%, and increase average contract value by 10%. When you stack these three improvements, they compound to roughly 30% more pipeline. He guarantees this in 90 days and explains exactly how, from internal linking to push pages onto page one of Google, to cutting wasted ad spend, to targeting slightly larger companies with higher willingness to pay. If you want a blueprint for building predictable B2B SaaS demand generation without the hype, this conversation delivers. Chapter Markers 00:00 - Introduction: Dev Basu and the inbound-only motion  01:00 - The 5% in-market demand vs 45% right-fit customers  02:00 - Eating your own dog food: How Powered by Search acquires clients  03:00 - The problem with flash in the pan tactics and LinkedIn slop  04:00 - SAGE content framework: Building goodwill as a moat  05:00 - Triangulating attribution to prove LinkedIn drives half the pipeline  06:00 - Lived-experience content you can't remix with AI  08:00 - The playbook: Five pillars of demand generation  13:00 - Do more, do better, do new: The framework for prioritisation  16:00 - Using AI for speed, not strategy  20:00 - Buyer psychology and why nobody wants to "get a demo"  22:00 - The 3x10 rule: 30% more pipeline in 90 days  23:00 - Getting 10% more traffic with simple internal linking  24:00 - Cutting wasted ad spend to reduce CAC by 10%  25:00 - Moving upmarket slightly to increase ACV by 10%  26:00 - The Grand Slam offer and guarantee  27:00 - Where to learn more about Powered by Search Useful Links Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn Connect with Dev Basu on LinkedIn Learn more about Dev Basu Explore Powered by Search and the Grand Slam Offer Check out Clay for enrichment Explore B2B Better website and the Pipe Dream podcast

Level up your B2B marketing and build a brand that actually stands out: subscribe to the Pipe Dream podcast from B2B Better for narrative-driven B2B marketing strategy, media-led content ideas, and practical GTM frameworks from host Jason Bradwell. If "thinking like a media company" feels like empty advice, this episode shows you exactly what it means in practice. In this episode of Pipe Dream, host Jason Bradwell sits down with David Rowlands, Head of Product at B2B Marketing and Propolis, to unpack how a traditional magazine and events business transformed into a community-led subscription media model during the pandemic. David's core point is clear: in a world flooded with AI-generated content and collapsing trust, B2B marketers need to move beyond helpful content and start creating valuable, memorable work. The kind buyers remember weeks later because it's built on proprietary data, real CMO conversations, and peer learning you can't get anywhere else. When COVID-19 hit, B2B Marketing's events business went on indefinite hold overnight. At the same time, digital publishing barriers disappeared and trust collapsed. Anyone could write a blog or publish a report, creating massive noise. B2B marketers needed a place to get clear answers and learn from peers without sorting through the chaos. That's how Propolis was born. B2B Marketing formalised their Leaders Program into a subscription model around expert advisory, private community, and proprietary benchmarking. Instead of competing on helpful content anyone could replicate, they built something AI fundamentally can't: genuine community combined with anonymized member data that powers insights like the Propolis Community Index. David explains why this matters beyond B2B Marketing. The brands winning attention aren't publishing more content, they're creating distinctive IP that connects community, insights, training, and events into one ecosystem. And heading into 2026, measurement and attribution remain the core challenge, not because the tools don't exist, but because proving marketing's commercial impact still feels like an uphill battle. The conversation also covers what AI means for B2B marketing teams right now. While 91% of marketers are experimenting with AI, the real challenge isn't adoption, it's knowing where AI helps versus where it creates problems. The marketers struggling most are stuck in lead generation mode, unable to have strategic conversations about marketing's actual impact on revenue. If you want a blueprint for building a media-first B2B strategy without the "more content" trap, this is it. Chapter Markers 00:00 - Introduction: David Rowlands and the transformation of B2B Marketing  02:00 - From editorial assistant to Head of Product during COVID  03:00 - The pivot moment: Events disappear and trust collapses  05:00 - How Propolis was born from the Leaders Program  07:00 - What "thinking like a media company" actually means  11:00 - Building the Propolis Community Index with anonymized member data  16:00 - Helpful versus valuable content: Creating memorable work  21:00 - Why proprietary data and community can't be replicated by AI  26:00 - The AI content flood and how to differentiate 30:00 - Measurement and attribution challenges heading into 2026  33:00 - Skills marketers need: Communication and financial acumen  36:00 - Why junior marketers need these skills more than anyone  38:00 - Where to learn more about Propolis and B2B Marketing Useful Links Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn Connect with David Rowlands on LinkedIn Explore Propolis and the Propolis Community Index Visit B2B Marketing Listen to The B2B Marketing Podcast Explore B2B Better website and the Pipe Dream podcast

If you're creating a dozen LinkedIn clips, X posts, blog articles, and email newsletters from every podcast episode because you can, this episode will change how you think about repurposing forever. In this solo episode of Pipe Dream, host Jason Bradwell breaks down why most B2B teams get content atomisation completely wrong and what to do instead. Jason's core point is clear: just because you can create 50 things from one piece of content doesn't mean you should. The real problem isn't lack of effort, it's creating a little bit of everything instead of focusing on the few assets that actually move prospects through the buyer journey. Most teams are building redundancy, not results. The appeal of content repurposing is obvious. You record one 60-minute podcast episode and suddenly you can create clips for LinkedIn, X, Instagram, blog posts, newsletters, listicles for SEO, and ads. At the end, you've got 50 things from one episode. Sounds amazing, right? But that mindset creates massive redundancy because you're not asking the critical question: should you actually create all of this? Can you create clips for X? Sure. But are your customers actually on X? Only three people subscribe to your newsletter, so why spend the time turning this into an email? What B2B Better does instead is map the content they create from one flagship piece against the buyer journey, specifically the stages of buyer awareness: unaware, problem aware, solution aware, and product aware. When you map these stages on a grid, you can identify how to plug each gap using different distribution channels. Take the unaware stage. There's a subset of your target audience that's unaware a massive problem is facing them. How do you reach them? B2B Better typically suggests running ads on platforms like LinkedIn or Google using content from your podcast that educates them about the problem. But you can't just hope that content naturally comes out of your recording. You need to script for it ahead of time. If you're running a guest-based podcast, ask questions that evoke answers and perspectives that educate unaware customers about the problem they're facing. Now flip to the product aware stage. These are people who know about the problem and solutions available, but don't have enough trust in your product to pull the trigger. For this stage, interview your existing customers and have them talk about their experiences using your product or service. Then turn that content into something your sales team can use to hit leads who have already demonstrated interest in your business. This is the tipping point that moves them from uncertainty to actually picking up the phone. This exercise of mapping different content types to different stages of buyer awareness is incredibly useful in evaluating not what content you could create, but what content you should create that's actually going to move people from podcast to pipeline. If this is an exercise you're interested in learning more about and you'd like B2B Better to run it with you, drop them an email or message using the details in the show notes. Chapter Markers 00:00 - Why B2B businesses get repurposing wrong 01:00 - Creating the wrong things instead of what matters 02:00 - Just because you can doesn't mean you should 03:00 - Mapping content to buyer awareness stages 04:00 - Targeting the unaware stage with strategic ads 05:00 - Building trust with product aware prospects 06:00 - Moving people from podcast to pipeline Useful Links Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn Learn about Stages of Awareness framework Explore Content Atomization strategies for B2B Explore B2B Better website and the Pipe Dream podcast 

If "becoming a media company" feels like a vague buzzphrase inside your organisation, this episode gives you the real definition. In this solo episode of Pipe Dream, host Jason Bradwell breaks down what it actually means for B2B companies to adopt a media-first mindset and why it's not about chasing views or trying to be BuzzFeed. Jason's core point is clear: becoming a media company means setting yourself up to be a consistent source of trust for the right prospects, through regular cadence and a strong point of view. It's not about impressions or virality, it's about achieving resonance with your prospective customers. And if you don't move toward a media-first mindset, you'll stay stuck in campaign mode, keep starting from zero with cold outreach, paid ads, and SEO, and get increasingly commoditised. The resistance to this shift often comes from short-term thinking. Marketing teams want to see leads now, conversion yesterday. Building trust takes time, and when leadership can't draw an explicit line from content to revenue in the short term, these initiatives start to feel like distractions, especially in volatile economic environments. But companies that don't make this transition will face three fundamental problems. One: they'll be stuck in campaign mode forever. Two: they'll always be starting from zero; cold outreach, paid ads, SEO, all starting from scratch every time. Three: they'll be totally commoditised. Everything they do from a marketing standpoint can and will be replicated by competitors if it isn't already. So how do you navigate the shift into a media-first mindset? Jason offers three critical moves. First, stop thinking about campaigns and start thinking about systems. Build a workflow across your content production that allows you to consistently demonstrate a strong point of view without burning out your team. Second, stop renting attention on borrowed platforms and start focusing on the platforms that allow you to own that attention: your podcast, your newsletter, your website. Third, move away from a content calendar and move into an editorial strategy. This isn't about getting 100,000 people on your website tomorrow, it's about getting the 100 right people today. When B2B companies make this shift, several things start to happen. Outbound gets easier because people start recognising you when you land in their inbox. Sales cycles get shorter because people already trust you across the entire buying committee. Deals get less fragile because you've already demonstrated your value from the start of their buying journey. Inbound starts to balance outbound, content drives actual pipeline, and sales begin to use your marketing assets as intended. If you're ready to stop chasing impressions and start building consistent trust, this episode is your practical roadmap for making the media-first shift without burning out your team. Chapter Markers 00:00 - Introduction: What does becoming a media company actually mean? 01:00 - Defining a media company in B2B context  02:00 - Why B2B companies resist the media-first mindset  03:00 - The attribution gap and short-term thinking  04:00 - Three problems companies face without the shift  05:00 - How to navigate into a media-first mindset  06:00 - Editorial strategy over content calendars  07:00 - What happens when B2B companies make the shift  08:00 - How to get started with B2B Better Useful Links Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn Check out the Pipe Dream Podcast on Podbean listing Learn about Owned media and Editorial mindset for B2B marketing Explore B2B Better website and the Pipe Dream podcast 

If your outbound is getting ignored, it's not your reps, it's the volume-over-value playbook. In this solo episode of Pipe Dream, host Jason Bradwell breaks down why traditional cold outreach is failing and how owned media can transform your outbound from extractive spam into contextual, value-first conversations that actually get responses. Jason's core point is blunt: AI has flooded inboxes, trust is at an all-time low, and "Can I grab 15 minutes?" reads as extractive instead of helpful. The numbers back this up. Most B2B buyers receive 20-50 outbound emails per day, and there's zero differentiation between them. Our sensors for AI-generated outreach are sharper than ever, which means prospects tune out before they even finish reading. The real cost to your business? SDR burnout, wasted resources, and eroded brand trust. When you're sending volume over value, pipeline becomes a numbers game instead of a game of generating quality, value-first relationships. And that "Can I grab 15 minutes?" CTA puts the burden on prospects to figure out if you're even relevant, it's extractive, not value-driven. The alternative is contextual outreach powered by owned media. Instead of leading with "we have a solution that we think is relevant to you," you lead with "we created a piece of content that we think is relevant to you because we know it's relevant to all the other prospects and personas we're interviewing on our podcast. Curious to know what you think." Here's how it works: build a piece of content IP (podcast, newsletter, YouTube series) with a clear point of view, co-designed with sales around real buyer challenges. Then lead outbound with relevant insights before you ever ask for time. That's the difference between cold and contextual outreach. Cold is a stranger asking for a prospect's time. Contextual is when you're perceived as an informed peer offering relevant insights to your target audience. Owned media used this way gives you credibility and gives value before the ask. And the results speak for themselves: traditional cold outbound rates hover around 2% on a good day. Contextual outreach using owned media can see outbound reply rates go as high as 10-15% and the replies are more substantive than "I'm not interested." They're often "thank you for showing me this content, let's stay in touch." Over 3-12 months, this approach creates a compounding effect: higher reply rates mean more at-bats, warm outreach converts better than cold, and prospects who don't reply now might reach out later because you started the relationship from a position of value rather than an ask. If your outbound program feels broken, this episode is a practical reset on how to use owned media to build credibility first and pipeline second and avoid the extractive playbook that's killing response rates. Chapter Markers 00:00 - Introduction: Why traditional cold outreach is dying 01:00 - The inbox overload problem (20-50 emails/day) 02:00 - What "Can I grab 15 minutes?" really says to prospects 03:00 - The owned media alternative: content IP that demonstrates POV 04:00 - How to align sales + marketing around contextual outreach 05:00 - Results you can expect: 2% vs 10-15% reply rates 06:00 - The compounding effect of value-first relationships Useful Links Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn Explore B2B Better website and the Pipe Dream podcast 

Remember when SEO was the backbone of B2B content strategy? Sean Blanda thinks that era is ending. In this episode of Pipe Dream, host Jason Bradwell reconnects with Sean, former VP of Content at Crossbeam and founder of Gate Check Studios, to unpack what Google AI summaries, LLMs, and the “slop wars” mean for marketers still renting reach from algorithms. They dig into why companies keep pouring budget into rented channels even when they know they should own their audience. Sean points to the “measurement effect”: if it's easy to track, it feels effective. Owned media is harder because it requires patience (often 9–12 months), conviction, and a real point of view. And he's honest that it's not for every business: if you're selling a true commodity and performance marketing works, that might be the right play. But for many B2B brands, the real truth remains: a human buyer has to believe in you. Then comes the accelerant: the slop wars. With LLMs, the market flooded with AI-generated content, making generic “SEO blogs” even easier to ignore. In that noise, the advantage shifts to people and companies with real expertise, strong storytelling, and distinctive perspectives regardless of platform. A key takeaway: AI is a tool, not a strategy. It can speed up execution, but it can't replace fundamentals; clear goals, audience understanding, and a message worth remembering. Sean argues the hardest part isn't tactics; it's conviction. Brands fear alienating anyone, but trying to appeal to everyone is how you end up forgettable. They also talk about distribution in a creator-driven world. Instead of gambling on a single algorithm, Sean suggests partnering with niche creators who already have the audience you want. And if you're building an internal content team, he likes an “SNL model”: develop creators, amplify them, and accept that great talent may eventually move on, your point of view and process should outlast any one person. Bottom line: if SEO is weakening under AI summaries, this episode lays out what to do next. Stop relying solely on rented reach, build owned media only when it fits your GTM, and win with clarity, patience, and a differentiated perspective in a sea of AI sameness. Chapter Markers 00:00 - Introduction: Full circle from COVID to AI 02:00 - Sean's journey from Crossbeam to Gate Check Studios 05:00 - The moment SEO's backbone started crumbling 08:00 - Why B2B companies still rent reach from algorithms 12:00 - The measurement effect vs patience and conviction 16:00 - What turbocharged the shift: the slop wars 20:00 - AI as tool, not strategy 24:00 - The biggest challenges: patience and point of view 28:00 - How to develop your brand's point of view 32:00 - Getting executive buy-in with examples and ROI 36:00 - The rise of niche creators and partnership opportunities 40:00 - The Saturday Night Live model for content teams 44:00 - Devil's advocate: when owned media isn't the answer Useful Links Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn Connect with Sean Blanda on LinkedIn Visit Gate Check Studios Check out Sean's website at seanblanda.com/about Visit Human Internet Explore B2B Better website and the Pipe Dream podcast

Can AI create great content? Sure. Can it create content that actually moves people? That's the question at the heart of this episode, where host Jason Bradwell sits down with Melanie Deziel, former (and first-ever) editor of branded content at The New York Times and author of The Content Fuel Framework and Prove It, to explore what makes content truly defensible in the age of AI. Melanie looks back on her NYT work and explains why the most memorable branded content leans into experiences AI can't replicate. She points to projects built on real reporting; interviewing people, gathering lived stories, capturing sensory detail, and earning emotional truth. ChatGPT can't call someone up, build trust, or understand the texture of human experience firsthand. The more human your content is, the safer it is from commoditisation. The conversation then turns to Prove It and the reality that skepticism was already at an all-time high before AI went mainstream where fake news, deepfakes, and “alternative facts” made audiences harder to convince. Now, with synthetic content everywhere, empty claims are even easier to dismiss. Melanie's argument is simple: the brands that win won't just say things they'll prove them with evidence, specifics, and credible support that goes beyond generic marketing language. Jason asks about AI ethics, and Melanie draws a parallel to the early days of sponsored content labeling. Her view is that disclosure matters because trust matters but the bigger test is whether the content genuinely adds value. AI-assisted work can still be meaningful if it's transparent enough and actually useful. On creativity, Melanie argues that while AI can generate unlimited ideas, it often produces similar outputs when everyone uses the same tools and prompts. What makes ideas interesting is the fuel AI can't access, your memories, curiosity, experiences, and perspective. That's why she still believes structured creativity beats random brainstorming: a strong process consistently produces better work than chasing “inspiration.” Melanie also shares how she uses AI in practice: speeding up research, checking blind spots and biases, and acting like a verbal processing partner without outsourcing the actual strategic thinking or full creative execution. She wants AI to buy back time so she can do more of what she loves: creating. Chapter Markers 00:00 - Introduction: Defining modern branded content 02:00 - What makes content defensible in the AI age 04:00 - Buyer skepticism and the Prove It framework 06:00 - The ethics of AI-generated content 09:00 - When AI helps creativity vs flattens it 13:00 - How Melanie actually uses ChatGPT 15:00 - Building multiple forms of media and IP 18:00 - Creative side quests and pulling threads 21:00 - Divergent vs convergent thinking 23:00 - Advice for risk-averse marketing cultures Useful Links Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn Connect with Melanie Deziel on LinkedIn  Explore Melanie's website melaniedeziel.com Visit Creative Constructs Explore B2B Better website and the Pipe Dream podcast 

"Use AI to do more!" might be the worst advice B2B marketers are getting right now. In this episode, host Jason Bradwell sits down with Charlie Riley, Head of Marketing at OneScreen.ai, to talk about why mass personalisation is backfiring, how to actually build stakeholder buy-in for thought leadership, and why being a marketing team of one forces you to make better strategic choices. Charlie breaks down his approach to aligning sales and marketing around LinkedIn advocacy, creating non-scalable experiences that actually convert, and using out-of-home advertising as both a brand and demand gen play. If you're drowning in AI tools and wondering what actually moves the needle, this conversation will reset your thinking. Jason and Charlie start by tackling the conventional wisdom that AI lets you "do more", more outreach, more personalisation, more content. Charlie's take? That approach is creating AI slop that people see right through. He explains why marketers are starting to swing back toward doing fewer things better, especially things that can't scale (spoiler: that's where the magic happens). As a marketing team of one at OneScreen, Charlie's had to get ruthless about focus. He shares his three-to-five channel strategy: LinkedIn (organic and paid), visual content showcasing real OOH campaigns, and live events like Drive and Spring. He explains how these channels create an owned media flywheel, content feeds community, community shows up at events, events create more content. They dig into LinkedIn strategy, and Charlie makes a key point: people don't work with brands, they work with people. OneScreen focuses more on executive and team member profiles than the company page. Charlie shares practical tactics for getting internal buy-in, finding a champion, helping them time-block 15 minutes daily for LinkedIn, and gamifying the process for competitive salespeople. Jason shares his own experience trying to roll out an advocacy program across an entire sales team (spoiler: it failed) before pivoting to work with two or three champions who were already posting. Once they could show millions in attributed pipeline, executive buy-in came naturally. Charlie adds that you have to get into the psychology of each function, salespeople want commission, CS wants retention bonuses, and CFOs want shorter sales cycles. If you're a B2B marketer feeling pressure to "do more with AI" or struggling to get internal stakeholders bought into content and thought leadership, this conversation offers a refreshingly practical alternative. Charlie's insights on doing fewer things better, building advocacy programs that actually work, and creating experiences that don't scale will help you cut through the noise and focus on what genuinely drives results. 00:00 - Introduction: Marketing as psychology 02:00 - Why "do more with AI" is backwards 05:00 - Building marketing as a team of one 07:00 - Three-to-five channel strategy 09:00 - The owned media flywheel 11:00 - People work with people, not brands 13:00 - Getting executives to share on LinkedIn 15:00 - Internal advocacy: finding your champion 18:00 - Gamifying LinkedIn for salespeople 20:00 - The blank check question: curated experiences Connect with Charlie Riley on LinkedIn and on his website charlieriley.com  Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn Subscribe to Beyond the Billboard (Apple Podcasts)  Visit OneScreen.ai Explore B2B Better website and the Pipe Dream podcast 

“We help companies drive growth. We deliver innovative solutions. We're customer-focused.” Sound familiar? If it does, your positioning probably sounds like everyone else's, and in a world where ChatGPT can generate endless value props in seconds, that sameness is now a real threat. In this episode of Pipe Dream, host Jason Bradwell talks with Christian Klepp, co-founder of EINBLICK Consulting, about why vanilla positioning is collapsing under AI pressure and how to build differentiation that actually holds up. Christian argues that the brands that win won't be the ones publishing more AI content. They'll be the ones doing deeper customer research, crafting a clearer point of view, and using subject matter experts as a defensible moat. Jason opens with the core problem: AI made generic messaging catastrophically easy to ignore. Christian explains what's changed recently, buyers increasingly use AI-assisted search and comparison tools that see through fluff faster than ever. It's no longer enough to say “we have AI.” Buyers want specifics: what is AI doing, how does it create value, and why should they trust your approach? They also address the pressure many agencies feel as clients expect AI to make everything cheaper and faster. Christian's take is that AI has no “soul”, no nuance, humor, lived experience, or real context. The winning strategy isn't volume (100 AI-generated blogs), t's choosing fewer topics and creating truly insightful, differentiated content that reflects real expertise. Christian explains why companies end up with bland positioning: fear of alienating prospects, cultures that reward safe messaging, and internal misalignment about what truly differentiates them. He's seen teams stuck in endless debates, leading to either analysis paralysis or messaging based purely on internal assumptions. His solution starts with a research strategy. He compares it to building a house - you wouldn't build without a blueprint. Likewise, you shouldn't build positioning without deep customer interviews that uncover why buyers chose you, what triggered the decision, and what language they use to describe value. That customer voice becomes the foundation not boardroom opinions. And if you think you don't have differentiation? Christian argues it's there, but often hidden. The answer lives with your customers and SMEs, you need to dig through interviews, sales calls, and objections to find the real demand triggers. Companies producing generic content will drown in sameness. Use AI intentionally, not as a replacement. Tap SMEs, listen to sales conversations, and build messaging from real expertise. If your positioning could've been written by anyone or any AI, this episode is the wake-up call you need. 00:00 - Introduction: The uncomfortable truth about your positioning 02:00 - Meet Christian Klepp and EINBLICK Consulting 04:00 - What's changed since AI went mainstream 07:00 - The agency tension: AI expectations vs actual value 11:00 - Why AI content lacks soul (and why that matters) 14:00 - Why companies default to vanilla positioning 18:00 - Using market research to break internal misalignment 22:00 - What to do when differentiation isn't obvious 26:00 - Differentiated perspective vs being opinionated 30:00 - The cybersecurity firm that got it right 34:00 - Is the media the new competitive moat? 38:00 - What happens to companies that don't adapt 42:00 - Final advice: Interview SMEs and sit in on sales calls Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn Connect with Christian Klepp on LinkedIn Visit EINBLICK Consulting Check out B2B Marketers on a Mission Podcast Explore B2B Better website and the Pipe Dream podcast

You've nailed product-market fit, so why isn't anyone buying? In this episode of Pipe Dream, host Jason Bradwell sits down with messaging strategist Diane Wiredu to unpack why message-market fit matters just as much as your product, and how many B2B companies accidentally sabotage themselves by simplifying their messaging into vague, meaningless fluff. They start by defining message-market fit: when your messaging resonates with what buyers care about not just what you think sounds clever. Diane argues that SaaS teams often obsess over product-market fit while ignoring messaging, so even great products can fall flat. Signs you've found include shorter sales cycles, better-fit engagement, attracting the right prospects, and crucially, repelling the wrong ones (because not everyone should be your customer). A major theme is the clarity vs. simplicity trap. Diane says “simplify your messaging” advice is often misapplied: in the rush to be punchy, companies strip out meaning and end up with websites full of phrases like “reimagined” or “easy to use” that say nothing. Clarity isn't about being short, it's about being meaningful, valuable, and relevant. Sometimes that takes full sentences and detail, especially when selling to technical buyers like engineers who don't need to be talked down to. Jason then asks how service businesses differentiate in crowded, “commodity” categories like agencies, consultancies, and law firms. Diane introduces her differentiation stacking framework: instead of chasing one radical USP, stack multiple real differentiators your approach or methodology, delivery model (sprints vs. retainers), expertise and credentials, and your process. It's marginal gains thinking: being slightly better across several areas adds up to something genuinely distinctive. She references her ROAR framework as an example of how a clear method can anchor positioning. They also dig into internal alignment, which Diane calls the biggest KPI for messaging work. She insists CEOs should be involved because without leadership buy-in, the work won't stick. Messaging isn't just marketing, it's strategy. Align the CEO, head of sales, and head of revenue first, then roll it out top-down. Otherwise you'll build “great messaging” that never gets used. On AI, Diane's stance is grounded: it should execute and optimize, not replace strategic thinking. She uses it for extraction, synthesis, and stress-testing ideas, but warns that outsourcing strategy to AI leads to commodity messaging. Do the thinking yourself, then use AI to improve output. If your B2B company has a strong product but messaging that sounds like everyone else's, or you can't align internal stakeholders, this episode offers practical frameworks to stand out and convert. 00:00 - Introduction: From concept to commercial results 01:30 - Why B2B Better is a podcast marketing agency 03:00 - Phase 1: Strategy development and the show blueprint 06:00 - Phase 2: Funnel mapping and the distribution grid 09:00 - Phase 3: Pre-production essentials 11:00 - Phase 4: Creative treatments—producing vs production 14:00 - Phase 5: Integrated campaigns and smart distribution 17:00 - Phase 6: Reporting and optimization 20:00 - How to get started with B2B Better Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn Connect with Diane Wiredu on LinkedIn Learn more about SaaStock Visit Diane's website at Lion Words Use Claude and ChatGPT for you messaging work Explore B2B Better website and the Pipe Dream podcast

Level up your B2B marketing and build a brand that actually stands out: subscribe to the Pipe Dream podcast from B2B Better for narrative-driven B2B marketing strategy, media-led content ideas, and practical GTM frameworks from host Jason Bradwell. Ever feel like AI is the new “pivot to video”? Recorded live at SaaStock, Jason Bradwell sits down with repeat guest Danielle Parker to ask whether we're living through an AI hype bubble and what that really means for B2B marketers, content engines, and your career. They dig into how AI is reshaping B2B marketing strategy in practice: which entry-level tasks are most at risk, why teams might get smaller (but not disappear), and what B2B buyers actually expect now that ChatGPT can answer basic questions in seconds. The conversation cuts through generic “AI for marketers” takes and focuses on building media-led, narrative-driven brands with a clear, differentiated point of view. Danielle also walks through her unconventional path from municipal bond analyst to running a 100K+ food Instagram (Boston Brunch Guide), growing Mel Robbins' audience past 1M, and helping build ProfitWell's Recur Media into one of B2B's best examples of serialised, media-first content. She and Jason unpack what it really takes to launch a show, avoid the “repurposing industrial complex”, and use frameworks like B2B Better's distribution grid to map episodes across the full awareness journey. Finally, they explore the one marketing skill Danielle believes is truly AI-proof: events and face-to-face experiences and why companies are hiring dedicated events marketers earlier than ever. Subscribe to catch every episode. Leave a review to help others discover the show. Share with security professionals or B2B marketers trying to break through technical noise. Follow B2B Better on LinkedIn for weekly insights. 00:00 - Introduction: Reconnecting at SaaStock where they first met  01:30 - The biggest challenge for B2B brands right now  02:30 - Are we in an AI hype bubble? 04:00 - What B2B buyers actually expect in 2025  06:30 - Why your people and point of view are your biggest differentiator  07:00 - Danielle's journey: From bond analyst to Boston Brunch Guide  08:30 - Growing Mel Robbins' Instagram from 30K to 1M+ followers  10:00 - ProfitWell as the gold standard for media-led B2B companies  11:30 - How Recur Media impacted ProfitWell's acquisition valuation  12:30 - Launching Boxed Out during COVID & the D2C ASMR video  14:00 - Why distribution needs to be part of the plan from day one  15:30 - Turning six ABM podcast transcripts into one comprehensive guide  17:00 - The content repurposing trap: Quality over quantity  18:30 - The distribution grid framework explained  21:00 - What AI absolutely cannot replace  22:00 - Why events marketing is having a major moment  23:30 - Being a person people want to do business with: The ultimate AI-proof skill Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn Connect with Danielle Parker on LinkedIn Learn more about SaaStock Explore B2B Better website and the Pipe Dream podcast

Most B2B podcasts fail because they skip strategy and jump straight to recording. In this solo episode of Pipe Dream, host Jason Bradwell breaks down B2B Better's Podcast to Pipeline Framework, a six-step system designed to turn a podcast from a “nice content idea” into a revenue-generating GTM asset. Jason's core point is that marketing strategy matters more than microphones. The goal isn't to ship episodes, it's to create commercial momentum. That's why B2B Better positions itself as a podcast marketing agency, not just a production company: a podcast should drive pipeline, create revenue, and ultimately turn a profit. Anything else becomes a vanity project that dies after a handful of episodes. From there, he walks through the six phases: 1) Strategy development (the most skipped step). Instead of asking what gear to buy, brands should define what success looks like, who the audience is, and what messages matter. Jason runs strategy workshops with stakeholders across marketing, sales, product, and leadership to build a “show blueprint” that clarifies the what/why/who/how and prevents random feedback from derailing things later. 2) Funnel mapping. Most companies treat podcasts as top-of-funnel awareness only, but Jason argues podcasts can move buyers through awareness, consideration, evaluation, and conversion when you map content intentionally. He introduces B2B Better's distribution grid to align segments and content to different buyer awareness stages and distribution paths. 3) Pre-production. This is the setup work that makes recording smooth: scripting, guest booking and research, and establishing visual/audio treatments so the show feels consistent and intentional. 4) Creative treatment. Here Jason draws a key distinction: production is editing raw footage into a finished episode, while producing is editorial oversight and strategic control to ensure the episode hits the right messages. Many brands only buy production, but what they really need is a producer who can guide the conversation and keep the content aligned to the goal. 5) Integrated campaigns. Distribution and promotion shouldn't be “repurpose one episode into 100 assets.” Jason pushes back on that trend because it often creates redundant content that doesn't move the needle. Distribution has to match the objective: brand awareness might mean short clips plus paid spend; ABM might mean sales enablement and targeted account plays. 6) Reporting and optimisation. A show isn't static. Someone needs to review performance at the episode, channel, and show level with what's working, what isn't, and what market feedback is signaling and then feed that back into strategy (stay the course, pivot, or double down). If you're launching a B2B podcast or already have one that feels like it's going nowhere, Jason's framework is a practical way to treat podcasting like the GTM asset it should be, align every phase to commercial outcomes, and avoid the “six episodes then abandon it” trap. 00:00 - Introduction: From concept to commercial results 01:30 - Why B2B Better is a podcast marketing agency 03:00 - Phase 1: Strategy development and the show blueprint 06:00 - Phase 2: Funnel mapping and the distribution grid 09:00 - Phase 3: Pre-production essentials 11:00 - Phase 4: Creative treatment - producing vs production 14:00 - Phase 5: Integrated campaigns and smart distribution 17:00 - Phase 6: Reporting and optimisation 20:00 - How to get started with B2B Better Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn Check out Jason's several tools in building guest lists: HubSpot CRM Clay Apollo Explore B2B Better website and the Pipe Dream podcast 

Want to book amazing podcast guests that actually match your ICP? In this solo episode of Pipe Dream, host Jason Bradwell shares his playbook for finding and booking ideal guests without turning the interview into a thinly veiled sales pitch. Jason starts with the elephant in the room: yes, you can invite guests who are also potential customers, but you cannot Trojan horse them. If you bring someone on the show and pitch them live, you create a bad experience for the guest, your audience, and your reputation. The rule is simple: content-first, always. Focus on a great conversation and a genuine value exchange, then let the relationship deepen naturally over time. Next, he breaks down where to find great guests. First: your immediate network. Start with executives, employees, customers, partners, and trusted connections, people who already know you and will say yes faster. Those first few episodes build credibility and social proof, which makes outreach to strangers dramatically easier. Second: your CRM. Jason recommends targeting lapsed prospects accounts you haven't engaged with in weeks or months and using the podcast as a re-engagement mechanism. If you run an ABM strategy, this is especially powerful: you can target high-fit accounts, invite the right people, and start meaningful conversations without a sales agenda. From there, Jason walks through prospecting tools. LinkedIn Sales Navigator helps with demographic and firmographic targeting, and tools like Apollo and Clay can help you build precise guest lists at scale. But the sleeper channels are Slack communities and conference speaker lists. In industry-specific Slack groups, people don't ignore direct notifications the way they do email or LinkedIn DMs. Jason notes content-first outreach can reach 60–70% response rates in the right communities. And conference speakers are already primed to share expertise, so their speaking topic becomes an easy hook to start the conversation. Once you've built your target list, Jason outlines a two-step outreach sequence. Message one is intentionally short: introduce the show, explain why you're reaching out to them, and ask if they'd like more details, no episode pitch, no long explanation. Message two comes after they've shown interest: reinforce why it's worth their time (downloads, guest lineup, maybe even payment) and share a personalised episode angle based on their experience, proving it's a real content opportunity, not random outreach. 00:00 - Introduction: Finding and booking dream guests 01:00 - The Trojan horse trap: content-first always 02:30 - Where to find guests: start with your network 04:00 - Mining your CRM for lapsed prospects 05:30 - Using LinkedIn, Apollo, and Clay for targeting 07:00 - Sleeper channels: Slack communities and speaker lists 09:00 - The two-message outreach sequence 11:30 - Message one: gauge interest only 12:30 - Message two: personalise and reinforce value 14:00 - How to get 60-70% response rates Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn Check out several tools in building guest lists: HubSpot CRM Clay Apollo Explore B2B Better website and the Pipe Dream podcast 

Most companies treat LinkedIn like a megaphone. AlleyOop turned it into a reality show. In this episode, host Jason Bradwell sits down with Gabe Lullo, CEO of AlleyOop, to unpack how his sales development agency scaled from 25,000 to over 1.2 million LinkedIn followers by empowering employees to build their personal brands, not pushing a corporate page. Gabe breaks down the playbook: hiring people who want to be on camera, building an in-house media team, running internal podcasts that never get published, and tying content performance directly to commission. This isn't theory, it's a proven system filling enterprise calendars with qualified meetings. Jason and Gabe dive into AlleyOop's 16-year evolution from traditional outbound to organic LinkedIn content. The real insight? Gabe stopped caring about the company page and focused entirely on employee personal brands. They aggregated all employee profiles (originally 25K followers, now 1.2M) and turned their team into documentary subjects. Employees aren't forced to post, but those who participate get full support: professional video editing, copywriting, and a content calendar. Gabe walks through hiring - candidates now submit sample social posts during interviews and how they set people up for success. They run internal podcast-style interviews, chop them into posts, send them to copywriters for frameworks, then hand them back to employees to personalise. The feedback loop is built around incentives. Sellers get more leads (more commission). Recruiters attract more candidates (more placements, more money). Everyone's financially tied to content performance, so buy-in is organic. Gabe measures success not just by impressions, but by whether prospects recognise team members before demos, cutting 60% of the typical sales pitch. Jason asks about the CEO fear: won't employees get poached if we build their brands? Gabe's answer: people leave anyway. AlleyOop actually built a business model around clients hiring their reps and gets paid when it happens. Companies trying to poach probably aren't investing in teams like AlleyOop does, so culture becomes retention. Looking to 2026, Gabe's taking the human-first approach from the feed into DMs. LinkedIn's becoming the new email inbox (buried in automation), so they're building tools for real one-on-one conversations that convert faster. If you're trying to activate your team on LinkedIn without it feeling forced, this episode is your blueprint. Gabe proves you can build a scalable, revenue-driving content engine by supporting people instead of controlling them. Whether you're in sales development, professional services, or any people-first business, these principles will transform how you think about employee advocacy. 00:00 - Introduction: BDR as a service and people-first growth 02:00 - AlleyOop's 16-year evolution and go-to-market 04:30 - Doubling down on LinkedIn content 3-4 years ago 07:00 - From 25K to 1.2M followers: the aggregation strategy 10:00 - Hiring for content: asking candidates for sample posts 13:00 - Setting employees up for success: the in-house media team 16:00 - Internal podcasts, videographers, and copywriters 19:00 - Feedback loops: 70/30 business vs personal content 22:00 - Tying content to commission: financial buy-in 25:00 - Measuring success: recognition before demos 28:00 - Overcoming the "they'll get poached" objection 31:00 - 2026 strategy: taking conversations into DMs 34:00 - Where to find Gabe and AlleyOop Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn Connect with Gabe Lullo on LinkedIn Subscribe to Do Hard Things Podcast on Apple Podcasts Visit AlleyOop's official site Explore B2B Better website and the Pipe Dream podcast

Learn how B2B teams can scale creative operations, cut the busywork, and show up consistently with content that resonates. Charging by the hour? You're leaving money on the table. In this episode, host Jason Bradwell sits down with Jonathan Stark - author of Hourly Billing Is Nuts and host of the Ditching Hourly podcast - for a masterclass in pricing, positioning, and why daily publishing changed everything for his business. Jonathan breaks down why hourly billing traps experts in low-profit margins, the difference between cost-plus and actual value-based pricing, and his "scope last" principle that flips traditional consulting on its head. He also shares how publishing daily helped him build a loyal audience, deepen his expertise, and turn strangers into superfans. Whether you're a solo consultant or running a B2B service business, this conversation delivers clear, actionable frameworks to work less, charge more, and stand out. Jason and Jonathan dive straight into why hourly billing is fundamentally broken. It punishes efficiency, caps your income, and makes clients focus on time instead of outcomes. Jonathan explains the "fixed pricing trap" most consultants fall into, they think they're doing value-based pricing when they're really just doing cost-plus (estimate hours, multiply by rate, add margin). Real value-based pricing starts with understanding what success is worth to the client. The conversation shifts to Jonathan's signature principle: scope last. Instead of leading with what you'll do, lead with the outcome the client wants and price based on that value. Only after they say yes do you figure out the most efficient way to deliver it. This requires strong positioning, becoming the only choice for a specific problem, not the cheapest option among many. They explore how daily publishing transformed Jonathan's business. He's published something every single day for years, creating what he calls "asymmetric intimacy" his audience feels like they know him deeply even if they've never met. This built trust at scale and turned his owned media into a long-term growth engine that compounds over time. Jonathan shares practical newsletter tactics: the capture phase (getting people on the list), writing cadence (daily works for him), and why podcasting is like building localized celebrity. They also discuss burnout risks, how AI fits in (spoiler: it's a tool, not a replacement for thinking), and Jonathan's advice for anyone launching a podcast or daily newsletter: done is better than perfect, just start. If you're stuck in the pricing-versus-scoping cycle or charging by the hour and feeling trapped, Jonathan's frameworks will fundamentally shift how you think about your business. This isn't theory, it's battle-tested advice from someone who's helped thousands of consultants escape the hourly trap. Plus, his insights on daily publishing offer a blueprint for building trust and authority in any B2B market. 00:00 - Introduction: From developer to pricing evangelist 01:30 - Why hourly billing is broken 04:00 - The fixed pricing trap and cost-plus confusion 06:00 - What value-based pricing actually looks like 08:00 - Scope last: price outcomes, not inputs 10:00 - Positioning: become the only choice 13:00 - Daily publishing and asymmetric intimacy 16:30 - Owned media as a growth engine 20:00 - Newsletter tactics and writing cadence 23:30 - Podcasting builds localized celebrity 26:00 - Burnout, AI, and sustainability 30:00 - Advice for launching a podcast or daily list 34:00 - Done beats perfect—just start 38:00 - Final takeaways on pricing and standing out Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn Connect with Jonathan Stark on LinkedIn Visit Hourly Billing Is Nuts Visit Ditching Hourly Explore B2B Better website and the Pipe Dream podcast

B2B marketing doesn't have to mean mediocre design, generic messaging, and content no one reads. In this episode of Pipe Dream, host Jason Bradwell sits down with Dmitry Shamis - former HubSpot creative leader and founder of OhSnap!, a brand systems agency helping marketers build creative that's both scalable and standout. Dmitry gets brutally honest about channels - 95% of his business comes from LinkedIn. Not just frameworks and case studies, but gardening updates and dumb kid stories. Because you want to work with people you actually like. This sparks a great discussion about the line between being human and being cringey (looking at you, banana peel LinkedIn posts). Jason throws him a hypothetical: $50K to build an audience, what do you do? Dmitry's answer: invest in brand systems. When you have templates ready, you focus on what you say, not how it looks. That's the foundation for everything else. They circle back to AI. What are we catastrophizing? The "you wrote this with AI" police. If the work is good, it's good. The real danger? People getting lazy and outsourcing their thinking. Dmitry's mantra: never outsource your thinking. His desk is covered with notebooks because side thoughts never make it into transcripts. He comes to AI with a fully baked idea - he doesn't ask it what the story is. They close with Dmitry shouting out Jess Cook at Vector for building a personality-led brand without a massive budget - a perfect blueprint for scrappy B2B teams. If you're feeling pressure to create more, post more, be everywhere, this is your reality check. The future isn't volume - it's consistent quality that resonates. Whether startup or enterprise, Dmitry's principles on brand systems and intentional content will help you build smarter operations. Expect practical advice, real talk, and a little fun along the way. Whether you're scaling a startup or running creative at an enterprise brand, this episode will help you build smarter, more sustainable content operations - and create marketing that actually moves people. 00:00 – Intro: Scaling creative without burnout 01:30 – What Dmitry learned running creative at HubSpot 03:00 – The rise of brand systems in B2B marketing 06:00 – Using AI to remove the busywork (not the thinking) 08:00 – Why most content fails (and what to do instead) 10:00 – How to make LinkedIn actually work for your brand 13:30 – Authenticity vs cringe: Finding your tone online 17:00 – Stop chasing impressions. Start tracking DMs. 21:00 – The forgotten power of adding a CTA to content 24:00 – How to stay creative with systems and structure 27:00 – AI fear factor: What should marketers *really* worry about? 30:00 – The antidote to lazy content in the AI age 33:00 – B2B brands and creators Dmitry admires 36:00 – Where to find Dmitry and more resources Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn Connect with Dmitry Shamis on LinkedIn Visit OhSnap! agency Visit The Brief Creative newsletter  What's Your Process? podcast on Spotify and Apple. More at B2B Better website and the Pipe Dream podcast

What happens when cyber risk leaders stop speaking in acronyms and start telling stories? In this episode, host Jason Bradwell sits down with Jeffrey Wheatman, SVP of Cyber Risk Strategy at Black Kite and longtime cybersecurity evangelist, to talk about how to lead with problems, not products. From decades advising CISOs at Gartner to launching the panel show Third Party, Jeff shares what he's learned about building trust, breaking down "terminal uniqueness," and why vendors need to collaborate on educating the market instead of competing. If you care about cutting through noise in a saturated market, this conversation is packed with insights you can actually use. Jason and Jeff dive into why so many cybersecurity vendors fall into the trap of "terminal uniqueness" believing they're so different that they can't learn from anyone else. Jeff explains why this mindset kills effective marketing and how leading with the problem, not your product features, is the only way to break through. They explore why CISOs won't talk to sales teams (hint: it's not personal, it's about trust) and why the cybersecurity industry desperately needs more collaboration. Jeff makes a compelling case that we're at war with ransomware networks, yet vendors refuse to talk to each other about how to educate buyers. The conversation shifts to buyer awareness stages and where most marketing completely misses the mark. Jeff shares his framework for thinking about audiences beyond just problem-aware buyers, and why "hallway therapy" at conferences builds more trust than any keynote ever will. Jason asks Jeff how he'd spend $100K to build an audience (not a campaign), and Jeff's answer revolves around creating spaces for real conversation, which is exactly what led him to launch Third Party, a panel show tackling cybersecurity topics with both strategic and tactical depth. They wrap with Jeff's shoutouts to creators doing cyber content right and key takeaways for B2B marketers trying to build trust in technical markets. Whether you're a security vendor struggling to differentiate, a CISO trying to communicate risk to the board, or a B2B marketer in any technical space, Jeff's insights on problem-first storytelling and building genuine community will transform how you think about reaching your audience. This isn't about more content, it's about better conversations. Subscribe to catch every episode. Leave a review to help others discover the show. Share with security professionals or B2B marketers trying to break through technical noise. Follow B2B Better on LinkedIn for weekly insights. 00:00 - Introduction: Cutting through cyber noise 01:30 - Jeff's journey from Gartner to Black Kite 04:00 - Terminal uniqueness: the "we're different" trap 07:00 - Lead with problems, not product features 09:30 - Why CISOs avoid sales conversations 13:00 - We're at war: Why vendors need to collaborate 17:30 - Buyer awareness stages marketers miss 20:00 - Why competitors won't talk (and should) 24:00 - Hallway therapy beats keynotes 27:00 - The $100K audience-building question 30:00 - Launching Third Party panel show 35:00 - Strategic + tactical content together 38:00 - Cybersecurity creators doing it right 42:00 - Key takeaways for B2B marketers Connect with Jason Bradwell on LinkedIn Connect with Jeffrey Wheatman on LinkedIn Visit Black Kite podcast/resource hub Visit InfoSec World's official site Explore B2B Better website and the Pipe Dream podcast

Level up your B2B marketing and build a brand that actually stands out: subscribe to the Pipe Dream podcast from B2B Better for narrative-driven B2B marketing strategy, media-led content ideas, and practical GTM frameworks from host Jason Bradwell. Tired of AI-generated spam clogging up your inbox? So is everyone else. In this episode, host Jason Bradwell sits down with Mike Adams - founder of Intro Stars and host of The Super Connectors podcast - to talk about why the future of B2B isn't more automation, it's better relationships. Mike shares how he's building a marketplace that turns warm introductions into real business growth, why "super connectors" are becoming the most valuable people in tech, and how any B2B company can launch their own referral program without it feeling sleazy or transactional. If you're tired of cold outreach that doesn't work and LinkedIn DMs that make you cringe, this conversation is for you. Jason and Mike start by tackling the elephant in the room - AI-driven lead generation is failing spectacularly. Everyone's inbox is flooded with personalised-but-not-really messages that feel increasingly desperate and spammy. Mike explains why this approach is burning bridges instead of building them, and what smart B2B companies are doing instead. They dive into the mechanics of building a warm referral program that actually works. Mike breaks down the key components: clear terms and conditions so everyone knows what they're signing up for, intro success fees that align incentives properly, and systems that make it easy for people to make quality introductions without it becoming a second job. The goal isn't to turn everyone into a salesperson - it's to create a structure where natural connectors can do what they already love doing, but with better outcomes for everyone. Mike also unpacks what makes someone a "super connector" and why these people are becoming increasingly valuable in B2B. It's not just about having a big network - it's about being someone who genuinely enjoys bringing people together and has built enough trust that when they make an introduction, both sides pay attention. Mike's even created a super connector certification badge for people who excel at this, which is becoming a real differentiator in the market. They explore how the "intro economy" is emerging as a counter-movement to the automation-everything trend. While AI can do a lot of things, it fundamentally can't build the kind of trust that comes from a warm introduction from someone you respect. Mike shares stories from his time at Zoom, Apple, and HP about how the best deals always came through relationships, not cold outreach. The conversation gets really practical when Mike walks through how to structure an introductions marketplace - what incentives work, how to track success, and how to keep quality high when you're trying to scale. He's learned a lot from building Intro Stars, and he's refreshingly honest about what's worked and what hasn't. Throughout the episode, both Jason and Mike keep coming back to a central theme: in an age where anyone can automate outreach at scale, the real competitive advantage is being genuinely human. Building relationships takes longer, but the ROI is dramatically better and the relationships actually last. If you're a B2B marketer watching your response rates plummet while your competitors keep cranking up the automation, this conversation offers a different path forward. Mike and Jason make a compelling case that the antidote to AI spam isn't better AI - it's better relationships. Whether you're at a startup trying to get your first customers or a scale-up looking to break into enterprise, the principles Mike shares about warm introductions and super connectors can transform how you think about growth.

The B2B marketing playbook you spent a decade perfecting just died. ChatGPT just killed it. When information is free and instant, what's left for B2B marketers to do? And how are the smartest companies adapting? Each week, Jason Bradwell profiles the B2B brands that stopped competing on information and started building media that actually differentiates. Personality-driven content, opinionated points of view, and strategies that work when 'helpful content' is no longer enough. From founders turning expertise into media empires, to marketing teams using shows as full-funnel growth engines, to sales leaders building audiences that outlive their products - these are the companies rewriting the rules in real time. This isn't another podcast about content strategy. It's about survival, differentiation, and what actually works in the post-AI marketing landscape. If you're a B2B marketer, founder, or GTM leader who senses the ground shifting - and you're looking for proof of what works now - this is your show. Hosted by Jason Bradwell, founder of B2B Better, an owned media marketing agency helping B2B companies build media that matters. New episodes... all the time. Learn more at http://www.b2b-better.com

In this episode of B2B Better, I sit down with Emir, the co-founder and CEO of HockeyStack, to explore the strategies that fueled the company's meteoric rise from zero to 150 customers, including industry giants like ActiveCampaign. Emir shares how HockeyStack transitioned from a product analytics tool to a powerhouse in B2B marketing, embracing pipeline generation as a company-wide mission. We discuss the evolution from inbound-led growth to the strategic introduction of outbound tactics, the challenges of balancing these approaches, and the importance of fostering a collaborative culture across teams. Whether you're a SaaS founder, a marketer, or just looking for actionable insights on scaling, this conversation is packed with value. We also cover his view on how LinkedIn influencer marketing is evolving—and why Emir thinks it might soon face diminishing returns. Plus, you'll hear expert advice on outbound campaigns from Rob at Sopro - from how to build and balance them against an inbound programme. Episode Highlights Emir shares the origins of HockeyStack and how it identified the need to help companies understand customer conversion journeys.From inbound to outbound: what prompted HockeyStack to expand its marketing playbook.How HockeyStack integrates pipeline generation into every department and creates a company-wide mission.Why Emir believes influencer marketing's golden age might be nearing its end.Rob from Sopro breaks down the metrics that matter most in outbound campaigns. Exclusive Offer for B2B Better Listeners Quick reminder that all B2B Better listeners are eligible to receive double the number of outreach credits for their first outreach campaign with Sopro.  Use them to experiment with some new messaging, try and open up a new market outside your network, or simply double your chances of closing more deals with your ideal customer.  Visit sopro.io/b2b-better-offer to find out more. 

In this episode of B2B Better, I sit down with Alina Vandenberghe, co-founder of Chili Piper, to dive deep into the world of B2B marketing, company culture, and how to strategically align your team for maximum impact. Alina shares her unique approach to building a thriving company culture, harnessing employee advocacy on social media, and the bold tactics that set Chili Piper apart—like displaying real-time ROI at events. We also explore Alina's data-driven methods for generating qualified leads, measuring true impact beyond vanity metrics, and creating a marketing strategy with limited resources that scales sustainably. To top it off, Vic from Sopro joins us with insights on bridging the gap between sales and marketing for seamless success. Whether you're an entrepreneur, marketer, or just looking to understand the power of alignment and strategy, this episode is packed with actionable takeaways on driving measurable growth. Links & Resources: Alina Vandenberghe on LinkedInVictoria Heyward on LinkedIn Exclusive Offer for B2B Better Listeners Quick reminder that all B2B Better listeners are eligible to receive double the number of outreach credits for their first outreach campaign with Sopro.  Use them to experiment with some new messaging, try and open up a new market outside your network, or simply double your chances of closing more deals with your ideal customer.  Visit sopro.io/b2b-better-offer to find out more. 

In this episode of B2B Better, I'm joined by Billy Hamilton-Stent, Chief Strategy Officer at Publicis Pro, to discuss assumptions in B2B marketing. We discuss how unchecked assumptions can derail even the best marketing strategies and why balancing data, intuition, and critical thinking is the key to long-term success. Billy shares insights from Publicis Pro's latest report on SMB marketing challenges and myths, while we explore real-world examples of how businesses can overcome misguided assumptions to achieve better results. We also talk about the importance of blending quick fixes with long-term strategic thinking and how to recognize when you're relying too heavily on assumptions in your demand-generation efforts. This episode has actionable takeaways for any marketer or business owner looking to challenge the status quo and make smarter decisions. Links & Resources: Publicis Pro's SMB Marketing ReportBilly Hamilton-Stent on LinkedIn Exclusive Offer for B2B Better Listeners Quick reminder that all B2B Better listeners are eligible to receive double the number of outreach credits for their first outreach campaign with Sopro.  Use them to experiment with some new messaging, try and open up a new market outside your network, or simply double your chances of closing more deals with your ideal customer.  Visit sopro.io/b2b-better-offer to find out more. 

In this episode, I'm excited to be joined by Yiuwin Tsang, CEO of Disruptive Thinking.  I was really interested in speaking with Yiuwin to unpack his journey in finding differentiation in an incredibly saturated sector - B2B marketing services.  During this interview, he took us through his journey from a blank slate to a thriving agency, sharing his blueprint around three core pillars of growth - building the right team, implementing discipline around business development, and getting to grips with the customer journey - all while building the right systems and process to track and analyse efforts.  If you work in a small, service-led business and are hitting a wall when it comes to growth - this is the episode for you. — Big thanks to Sopro for sponsoring this week's episode of B2B Better. They just published "The State of Prospecting 2024" - a bumper report that offers data-backed advice on optimizing outreach. You can check it out by visiting this link.  https://sopro.io/b2b-better/

In this episode, I speak with Frans Swarttouw, Founder of GETTING THE MARKET I was really interested in speaking to Frans as a fellow owner of a creative services business - and one that is so niche in its target market to boot. How does the company differentiate from more generic, we do all things for all people, type agencies? What are the advantages and disadvantages of being so laser-focused on a specific niche? And when you have become the big fish in a small pond - what comes next? How do you expand in a meaningful and sustainable way? To answer these questions, Frans shared his insights on developing a personalised email campaign targeting new geographies and how he approaches validating a prospecting ‘hypothesis' through A/B testing. You can visit the GETTING THE MARKET website here: https://gettingthemarket.com/ — Big thanks to Sopro for sponsoring this week's episode of B2B Better. They just published "The State of Prospecting 2024" - a bumper report that offers data-backed advice on optimizing outreach. You can check it out by visiting this link.  https://sopro.io/b2b-better/

In this episode, I speak with Xanthe Vaughan Williams, Co-founder of Fourth Day. I started my marketing career working in PR and have always been involved in it in some way or another, working both in-house and agency-side. What has struck me over the last decade is that - particularly in B2B - there are some pretty fundamental misconceptions about what PR actually is AND how to build a programme that drives real results. During this conversation, Xanthe and I dissect the blurring lines between earned, owned and shared media, building value and credibility through third-party endorsements, and developing a successful multi-channel strategy centred around your company founder. — Big thanks to Sopro for sponsoring this week's episode of B2B Better. They just published "The State of Prospecting 2024" - a bumper report that offers data-backed advice on optimizing outreach. You can check it out by visiting this link.  https://sopro.io/b2b-better/

In this episode, I speak with Callum McGranaghan, Director & Head of Paid Social at Social for Good.  We had a great conversation on the power of niching down in service-led businesses and its impact on their prospecting campaigns - especially when combined with low-ticket, high-impact projects to get their foot in the door with new clients. Callum also shared the importance of multi-channel outreach, and how segmenting your audience profiles is crucial for standing out in crowded markets. He also shared his journey at Social for Good, which involved really understanding what drives customer decision-making and then using this research to develop a value proposition that aligns with those needs. This episode is a must-listen for service-based businesses looking to understand how focusing on their core value proposition can drive real-world commercial results. — Big thanks to Sopro for sponsoring this week's episode of B2B Better. They just published "The State of Prospecting 2024" - a bumper report that offers data-backed advice on optimizing outreach. You can check it out by visiting this link.  https://sopro.io/b2b-better/ — Follow Callum here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/callum-mcgranaghan/

In this episode, I speak with Joel Klettke, Founder of Case Study Buddy. We had a great conversation on B2B case studies - namely, how to create ones that stand out from the usual legal-has-killed-all-joy-from-this-piece-of-content crap that fills our feeds. We also covered a topic near and dear to my heart - what can I do to convince a sceptical customer to sign off a case study? There are a bunch of different methods Joel shared, but the one that stood out to me was creating an 'anonymous' case study. Follow Joel here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelklettke?originalSubdomain=ca

In this episode, I speak with Nick Patterson, Co-CEO of Storm & Shelter.  We had a great conversation on how marketers in niche, service-led businesses can evolve beyond relying solely on referrals and word-of-mouth to generate new business opportunities. Nick shares how Storm & Shelter successfully developed and launched a 1:few email outreach strategy that complimented their existing marketing efforts. This was in response to the tough economic climate we find ourselves in and tougher competitive conditions.  He also shared the secret sauce of the campaign, which involved a deep dive into branding and understanding their unique value proposition.  I love this interview as it talks directly about solving the key challenge every small, service-based business finds itself trying to solve - generating more business at scale.  — Big thanks to Sopro for sponsoring this week's episode of B2B Better. They just published "The State of Prospecting 2024" - a bumper report that offers data-backed advice on optimizing outreach. You can check it out by visiting this link.  https://sopro.io/b2b-better/ — Follow Nick here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickstormandshelter/ 

Got something special for you this week - a podcast swap! I always say that running a successful podcast is 40% creation and 60% distribution. And if there's someone who knows anything about effectively distributing content - it's Justin Simon. Host of the Distribution First Podcast and Founder of a consulting firm that specialises in helping B2B brands build content strategies with distribution at their core, Justin is someone I deeply respect. So, when I listened to his recent episode on ranking the three major content distribution buckets - I had to find a way to share it with you all. It addresses the main challenges brands face in making their work visible amongst all the commodity content flooding our feeds. In this episode, you'll learn: Why most companies' strategies leave their work hidden from their audience.Why relying solely on SEO can be limiting and the potential pitfalls that come you'll run into.The challenges of using rented channels like LinkedIn, Twitter, or Threads to reach your audience (and why they should be part of your distribution arsenal anyway). If you like this episode, I highly recommend checking out Distribution First wherever you find your podcasts - Apple, Spotify, he's on them all. ** Have you thought about launching a podcast for your brand but aren't sure where to start? Book 60 minutes with me to brainstorm some ideas and get practical advice on how to create a show your customers care about. Totally free. Drop me an email at jason@b2b-better.com or book a time to chat with me using this link: https://www.b2b-better.com/podcast-assessment You can also follow me on LinkedIn. Head over here: linkedin.com/in/jasonbradwell

Me and Neil Weaver - Content Creator and Editor at Modo Energy - I dive into the challenges and strategies of modernising marketing in industries traditionally resistant to change. We talk about Modo's approach to content marketing, specifically its play into building a media brand. Key discussions include: The intersection of sales and marketing at Modo and the collaborative effort to produce customer-centric content.The effectiveness of video content and podcasts in storytelling and audience engagement.Challenges in measuring content marketing success and aligning with business objectives.Modo's future plans, including a rebranding effort and global expansion, while maintaining its unique position in the energy sector. ** Have you thought about launching a podcast for your brand but aren't sure where to start? Book 60 minutes with me to brainstorm some ideas and get practical advice on how to create a show your customers care about. Totally free. Drop me an email at jason@b2b-better.com or book a time to chat with me using this link: https://www.b2b-better.com/podcast-assessment You can also follow me on LinkedIn. Head over here: linkedin.com/in/jasonbradwell

In this episode, I speak with Meghan Keaney Anderson, VP of Marketing at Jasper. We met on stage at SaaStock in Dublin and had a fascinating conversation on the application of AI in marketing strategy. Sure, we all know how to whip up a blog post or create an image of a duck playing the trumpet. But can artificial intelligence help us with budgeting, competitive analysis, developing strategic insights, and journey mapping? That's what we set out to answer. What I love about this interview is the importance Megan places on leveraging tools like Jasper to generate business-critical outcomes rather than simply tactical outputs. If you're being asked by your C-suite to explain the role of AI in your marketing strategy in 2024, this is the episode for you. ** Have you thought about launching a podcast for your brand but aren't sure where to start? Book 60 minutes with me to brainstorm some ideas and get practical advice on how to create a show your customers care about. Totally free. Drop me an email at jason@b2b-better.com or book a time to chat with me using this link: https://www.b2b-better.com/podcast-assessment You can also follow me on LinkedIn. Head over here: linkedin.com/in/jasonbradwell

In this episode, I speak with Nathan Latka, CEO of FounderPath. We met on stage at SaaStock in Dublin and had a fascinating conversation on his journey to create a podcast that is listened to by tens of thousands of SaaS professionals each and every month. Nathan's show - SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups and Founders - recently hit the 25 MILLION download mark over 3,300 total episodes. It's a masterclass in consistent, high-quality execution. We also talked at length about why getting people to disagree with you is a driver for audience growth. He asked me before we went on to hold no punches. You tell me if you think I achieved that. ** Have you thought about launching a podcast for your brand but aren't sure where to start? Book 60 minutes with me to brainstorm some ideas and get practical advice on how to create a show your customers care about. Totally free. Drop me an email at jason@b2b-better.com or book a time to chat with me using this link: https://www.b2b-better.com/podcast-assessment You can also follow me on LinkedIn. Head over here: linkedin.com/in/jasonbradwell

**Thanks to Hubspot for sponsoring this episode.** Today, I spoke with Leslie Venetz, Founder of Sales Team Builder. It's budgeting season, and you know what that means! Marketers across the globe are sitting down to try and figure out whether spending a six-figure sum on a booth at a trade show is still a good idea. Especially when that booth has historically yielded little to no ROI. There has to be a better way, right? That's what Leslie and I try to answer. We sat down to discuss why a lot of trade show activations fail to deliver a return on investment, how to strategise for brand awareness versus pipeline generation, and why ego plays a big role in decisions around marketing spend. This is a must-listen for anyone who is responsible for delivering a trade show activation and needs some fresh thinking on how to justify the expense. ** Have you thought about launching a podcast for your brand but aren't sure where to start? Book 60 minutes with me to brainstorm some ideas and get practical advice on how to create a show your customers care about. Totally free. Drop me an email at jason@b2b-better.com or book a time to chat with me using this link: https://www.b2b-better.com/podcast-assessment You can also follow me on LinkedIn. Head over here: linkedin.com/in/jasonbradwell

In this episode, I speak with Lauren Lynch, who previously was Director of Marketing at Set Solutions, a Trace 3 company. We had a really interesting conversation on a strategy she deployed to both fund and grow a popular podcast with IT professionals by leveraging 'Marketing Development Funds' - i.e. budget she was awarded through reseller agreements to run promotional campaigns. Lauren went right back to the start of the initiative, from how she got started, won buy-in from the C-suite, looked beyond downloads as a success metric and discovered new, unique ways of driving growth. I also share some tips on how to capture email addresses from a brand-owned podcast (something you NEED to be thinking about if you want CFO sign-off) and how to attribute success to the medium. Hint - it's not downloads. This is a must-listen for anyone who wants to launch a media brand, start a podcast, or experiment with new channels but need to know how to get buy-in from the C-suite. ** Have you thought about launching a podcast for your brand but aren't sure where to start? Book 60 minutes with me to brainstorm some ideas and get practical advice on how to create a show your customers care about. Totally free. Drop me an email at jason@b2b-better.com or book a time to chat with me using this link: https://www.b2b-better.com/podcast-assessment You can also follow me on LinkedIn. Head over here: linkedin.com/in/jasonbradwell Thanks to Tyler Wade for producing this episode of B2B Better. 

In this episode, I talk to Gia Laudi, Co-founder of Forget the Funnel.  We talk about why the conventional marketing funnel is fundamentally broken (so stop using it) and what needs to take its place - actually talking to customers to figure out what they need and how to build a strategic plan that moves the needle.  Gia also shares a step-by-step breakdown of her Customer-led Growth Framework, developed alongside Co-founder Claire Suellentrop, how to gather insights when actually getting a client on the phone is impossible, and what customer discovery looks like in startup versus enterprise. This episode is a must-listen for anyone who cares about building strategies grounded in real-world insights versus following outdated frameworks or hyped-up “growth hacks”. You can order the Forget the Funnel book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Forget-Funnel-Customer-Led-Predictable-Recurring-ebook/dp/B0C386KSTG  ** Have you thought about launching a podcast for your brand but aren't sure where to start? Book 60 minutes with me to brainstorm some ideas and get practical advice on how to create a show your customers care about. Totally free. Drop me an email at jason@b2b-better.com or book a time to chat with me using this link: https://www.b2b-better.com/podcast-assessment You can also follow me on LinkedIn. Head over here: linkedin.com/in/jasonbradwell Thanks to Tyler Wade for producing this episode of B2B Better.

In this episode, I talk to Amanda Natividad, VP of Marketing at SparkToro. We talked about how to think about modern-day content marketing in B2B - from figuring out what your audience cares about (even without talking to them) to scaling a content programme on a shoestring. Amanda also shared her thoughts on whether ChatGPT will soon drive us all out of a job. (Hint - it won't) This is a must-listen for anyone who cares about creating unique, differentiated content that customers actually care about. Thanks to my friends at Sopro for sponsoring this episode. You can download their State of Prospecting 2023 report here: sopro.io/b2bbetter *** Have you thought about launching a podcast for your brand but aren't sure where to start? Book 60 minutes with me to brainstorm some ideas and get practical advice on how to create a show your customers care about. Totally free. Drop me an email at jason@b2b-better.com or book a time to chat with me using this link: https://www.b2b-better.com/podcast-assessment You can also follow me on LinkedIn. Head over here: linkedin.com/in/jasonbradwell

In this episode, I talk to Andrew Davies, CMO of Paddle. We talked about the recent launch of Paddle Studios - the premier new media platform for SaaS leaders - and why it exists, how the team develops, tests and ships new ideas using a 5-step framework, and how much Netflix inspired the final product. This is a must-listen for any B2B brands who have ever asked themselves "Should we build a media company?" Thanks to my friends at Sopro for sponsoring this episode. You can download their State of Prospecting 2023 report here: sopro.io/b2bbetter *** Have you thought about launching a podcast for your brand but aren't sure where to start? Book 60 minutes with me to brainstorm some ideas and get practical advice on how to create a show your customers care about. Totally free. Drop me an email at jason@b2b-better.com or book a time to chat with me using this link: https://www.b2b-better.com/podcast-assessment You can also follow me on LinkedIn. Head over here: linkedin.com/in/jasonbradwell

In this episode, I talk to John Rougeux, Partner at Category Design Advisors. We talked about what category design ACTUALLY means in B2B, the eight levers to pull to build a business that is radically different, and how to think about category design against company positioning. You can learn more about John at www.categorydesignadvisors.com And the Christopher Lochhead article we referenced can be found here: https://categorypirates.substack.com/p/8-category-levers-how-to-build-a *** Have you thought about launching a podcast for your brand but aren't sure where to start? Book 60 minutes with me to brainstorm some ideas and get practical advice on how to create a show your customers care about. Totally free. Drop me an email at jason@b2b-better.com or book a time to chat with me using this link: https://www.b2b-better.com/podcast-assessment You can also follow me on LinkedIn. Head over here: linkedin.com/in/jasonbradwell

In this episode, I talk to Lucy Heskins, Founder of Oh Blimey. We talked about the components of an early-stage marketing strategy, how to acquire your first paying users and whether your first hire should be in-house or outsourced. This is a must-listen for startup founders or first marketing hires stuck on where to focus time, energy and resources. *** Have you thought about launching a podcast for your brand but aren't sure where to start? Book 60 minutes with me to brainstorm some ideas and get practical advice on how to create a show your customers care about. Totally free. Drop me an email at jason@b2b-better.com or book a time to chat with me using this link: https://www.b2b-better.com/podcast-assessment You can also follow me on LinkedIn. Head over here: linkedin.com/in/jasonbradwell

Raw, authentic, slightly tired... no, this is not the description of my upcoming country album. In this episode, I take the microphone solo for an (almost) non-stop brain dump on a bunch of questions that have been asked by my podcast clients over the last few months. What's covered: How do I overcome my fear of hosting a podcast? What metrics should I measure when producing a podcast? Do you have a favourite podcast? What is it? How do I generate customer insights from my podcast series? What does an MVP podcast tech stack look like? This is a must-listen for anyone thinking about launching a B2B podcast (or enjoy the sound of an Englishman droning on for 30 minutes). *** Have you thought about launching a podcast for your brand but aren't sure where to start? Book 60 minutes with me to brainstorm some ideas and get practical advice on how to create a show your customers care about. Totally free. Drop me an email at jason@b2b-better.com or book a time to chat with me using this link: https://www.b2b-better.com/podcast-assessment You can also follow me on LinkedIn. Head over here: linkedin.com/in/jasonbradwell