Devin Bramhall

Co-host: Don't Say Content. Marketing Advisor. Agency Growth Strategist. Former CEO of Animalz.

Your CEO doesn't hate marketing. They hate that you can't prove that it works.

I know because I've been the marketer pitching brilliant strategies that get shelved and the CEO wondering why marketing feels like an expensive black box.

After 15+ years building content strategies as a marketer and tripling Animalz to nearly $12M ARR as CEO, I realized the real problem:

We're optimizing for activities instead of outcomes. Checking boxes instead of driving growth.

The dirty secret? Most "content marketing strategies" are just glorified to-do lists.

My book "B2B Content Marketing Strategy" shows why "do more marketing" is killing growth and what to do instead.

Now I help companies stop doing marketing and start growing businesses as a fractional Chief Growth Officer.

If you're tired of: 
→ Defending your work instead of leading with it 
→ Following frameworks that feel like busy work 
→ Watching brilliant ideas die in committee

You're in the right place.

I help marketers ask better questions. Not “what content do we need?” but “what does the business need to grow?'"

Get weekly no-BS takes on growth: devinbramhall.com/newsletter

Chief Executive Officer

So why am I starting a newsletter when there are already ten thousand marketing newsletters? Fair question.

I got tired of having the same conversation in private that nobody's having in public.

Every week, I sit with marketing leaders who are smart, capable, doing everything right on paper, and still getting crushed. Because the company around them is broken in ways nobody talks about.

The CEO who says "I trust you" and then rewrites your strategy in a board meeting. The founder who hired you to lead marketing but won't let you make a single decision without their sign-off. The reorg that has nothing to do with performance and everything to do with politics.

I hear these stories constantly. From my advisory clients. From my coaching sessions. From people in my comments and DMs who just need someone to say "no, you're not crazy."

So why is everyone learning this stuff alone?

I've also been the CEO. I have been the person making the calls that marketers complain about, and I've been the marketer complaining. I know what both sides are thinking because I've been both sides.

That's what Good Question is. 

I take real stories, real situations, change the names, and break down what actually happened. The human problem. The politics, the miscommunication, the thing nobody in the room said out loud.

Get my newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/ehqXFYNB

First edition arriving in your inbox soon.

Chief Growth Officer [Fractional]. Author: “B2B Content Marketing Strategy” out now on Amazon

I’ve been a CEO. I’ve also advised dozens. And I can tell you... 

I've watched the same person look at the same marketing report on a Monday and love it. 

Then Wednesday? "I don't know why you're showing me this."

Same numbers. Same deck. The CEO had a different week.

And like, that's not a criticism. That's just the job. Being a CEO means you're thinking about 500 things in the next half hour. Your marketing report is maybe thing #387.

So my PR team sends me this question...
"What's the best ROI metric marketers should track in 2026?"

And I wrote this very long answer that was basically me being like, this is the stupidest question I've ever heard. It depends on the industry, the company, the CEO's literal individual personality. (I was nicer about it. Slightly.)

Because every CEO is different. Every person you report to is different. And what I keep trying to tell people is, your job isn't to prove marketing works with the perfect dashboard.

Your job as a marketing leader is to figure out what story your CEO will hear, what they'll say yes to, and what they can go brag about.

Like, give your CEO one killer data point the week before they go to a big dinner or conference. Something specific. Something they can drop in conversation. They'll tell you they don't care about vanity metrics, but THEY DO. They love those bragging rights. They just don't want to see the whole spreadsheet.

And get other people on the team whispering in their ear. Multiple people. So the CEO's hearing it from everywhere.

That's when you start actually making an impact. When your CEO looks good and lets you keep doing the work you know is right.

We keep debating metrics like there's a universal answer. There isn't. There's a human sitting across from you. Speak to them.

Anyway... I got into this more with Ross Hudgens on his podcast. 

Link in comments if you want the full rant.

Speak their language

I'm attending the CMO Alliance Summit in NYC this March.

85+ CMOs and marketing leaders in a closed, peer-focused environment. We're digging into why CEOs don't trust marketing by default, what actually earns that trust, and how you shift from defending your work to owning business outcomes.

If you want to build real trust with your CEO, this is worth your time.

It's invitation-only. DM me for an invite.

Shoutout to the CMO Alliance

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Everyone says the best marketers think like CEOs.

I've been both. They're wrong.

When I first started sitting in exec meetings, I was so focused on proving I was smart I missed every signal in the room. What the CEO actually cared about. Why they were pushing back. Gone.

That was the whole mistake.

I didn't need to think like a CEO.
I needed to pay attention like a marketer.

The CEO is an audience.
The CFO is an audience.
The annoying executive who suddenly has very strong opinions about marketing is definitely an audience.

You do not win those people over by becoming them.

You win them over the same way marketing works anywhere else. Study what they care about. Figure out why your pitch isn't landing. Then run a campaign on them like the marketer you are.

That is the job.

Talked about this Jordan Ogren on the On Marketing podcast and honestly went off more than I planned. If you want the full rant, link's in the comments.

So CEO buy-in is my thing now. 

I didn't pick it. I honestly kind of stumbled into it.

When Margaret Kelsey and I were doing our podcast Don't Say Content, we started talking about the disconnect between CEOs and marketing. 

First time we talked about how companies fail when the CEO and the GTM org aren't even speaking the same language? 

It was our best episode. By whatever the podcast metrics are. So we tried it again, slightly different angle. Same result.

And I was like OK that's interesting.

Then I started looking at my LinkedIn posts differently. I started paying attention to saves. Sends. Shares. Those are completely different-level signals than someone hitting the like button.

And what I care about the most is where people are deeply engaged. Where I see a real problem to be solved. And it was THIS topic.

But I didn't just go all in on this immediately. 

I spent years kind of figuring out what mattered within it. Testing it. Narrowing. What specifically about CEO buy-in? Which part of that conversation? What's the thing marketing leaders actually need?

And this is the part nobody wants to hear because it doesn't come with a template. You need to stop looking for proof. Stop asking for feedback. Stop looking at what your friends are doing.

What you need to do is think for yourself. Come up with an idea. Have enough leading indicators that it could work. Then go put together logical experiments to see if it will.

That's it. That's the whole strategy. Follow signals. Test. Narrow. Commit.

Nobody gave me permission to go all in on CEO buy-in. I just followed enough signals that I trusted myself to try.

Ross Hudgens and I talked about this, the whole thing about why nobody wants to hear "think for yourself" as strategy advice.

It's a good conversation if you're in this headspace right now. I'll link it below.

𝘖𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘛𝘶𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

Happy snow day to all those who celebrate.

Gwen Lafage 🐝

VP Marketing, Global Brand and Content @ Sinch 🚀 I B2b tech marketing leader, brand builder

Why do you need a strong brand? 
Because it is the only true differentiator that can’t be copied. And yes that’s also true for b2b companies. 

Think about it: products and features are all becoming the same. Sure you can be a little cheaper or a little better. But why not use your brand to win instead? Your brand is your future-proof competitive edge. 
A strong brand means recognition, credibility, trust, loyalty. 

And that’s why I’ve dedicated my career to building strong brands. BRAVE brands. Brands that connect with people. Brands that dare to be different. Brands with strong beliefs. Brand that build new categories and become their kings. 

I personally believe in the power of communication and creativity. I believe in doing things with passion and taking risks. I spent 10 years in the best Ad agencies in London and Paris, working on the world's leading consumer brands. In my late 20s, I traveled the world for one year. In my 30s, I opened an art gallery in San Francisco before going back to marketing and branding for B2B tech companies in Silicon Valley. In 2017 I moved to Sweden to open the European office of a b2b tech creative agency. 
In 2023 I came back to the US to continue to lead the brand growth of one of the fastest growing tech company in the world, Sinch. 

I’m now VP of Brand at Sinch, where I lead global brand strategy, though-leadership, communications, global events and creative direction for one of the fastest growing tech companies in the world. 

Bottom line: when I want to do something, I make it happen. 
I apply this ‘can-do-attitude’ to everything I do. 

I am always looking for new challenges, opportunities, and learnings, and I love networking and sharing knowledge with other professionals in my field.
Feel free to get in touch.

Specialties: B2B Marketing, Marketing Strategy, B2B SaaS Marketing, Data-driven Marketing, Growth Marketing, Inbound Marketing, Digital Marketing, Branding, Messaging, Content Marketing, Demand Generation, Account-Based Marketing, Engagement Marketing & Events, Project Management, Client Relationship Management, New Business, Campaign Management, Leadership, Operational Excellence.

Interests: B2B Marketing, Brands, Design, Technology, SAAS, Startups, Growth, Women in Tech, Green Tech, Sustainability, Meditation.

Executive member

The Pavilion is a private, invitation-only community of sales and marketing executives at growth-focused companies.

I’ve lost count of how many MWCs I’ve been to. This year felt different.

The tech was impressive, the crowd huge, the booths as big as always, everyone talked about AI, the parties were fun. That’s every year now.

What was different is harder to point at.

It’s a chat on a bus to the Google after-party with someone you’ve never met. 
The late-night discussions where the real thinking happens. 
And the booth conversations that start somewhere completely new: a lot less “So what does Sinch do?”  and a lot more “we’ve been wanting to talk to you.” 😃

That’s new.

It doesn’t happen by accident. Weeks of event prep, months of brand work, the refresh that we’ve been building in pieces. 🐝
You do all of that and you wonder if it will land.

Then one day, Barcelona. 🔥

The brand showed up this week. Really showed up. And so did we! 

Sinch is building the future of communications. This week, Barcelona felt like proof.

Momentum is quiet. Until it becomes visible.
We’re going up, up, up. It’s our moment. 🚀

And we’re just getting started.​​​!!

#MWC2026 #WeAreSinch

We built carousels for IWD this year. 
Real women at Sinch already changing perception every day. 
The line between honest and performative can be very fine. Do you think we got it right?

Every year I wonder if awareness days like this actually move anything. 
Every year I decide to post anyway. Because the alternative is cynicism, and awareness is the first step to changing default images. 

Picture a CEO, a tech sales leader, an AI engineer. 
Most of us still see a man first. 

The women in these carousels aren't waiting for a spotlight, they're already doing the work, and we're just making that visible.
That's what today is for. More than a one-day celebration, it's about awarenes. And the quiet belief that visibility, over time, shifts something.

It's on all of us to keep showing up. 
Today and every day.

#IWD2026 #InternationalWomensDay #WomenInTech #WeAreSinch

Sinch IWD 

What my week felt like: 🔄

👉 Context switching is the tax you pay for scope.

Early in my career, I could spend days deep in one project. Now it’s a constant zoom in, zoom out. 😅

In a single day, I might:
✅ workshop a campaign concept
✅ present OKRs to leadership
✅ give feedback on a strategy deck
✅ review branded search & campaign KPIs
✅ prep annual performance reviews
✅ go back and forth with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini
✅ answer Slack from 100 people
✅ review candidates
✅ approve booth design
✅ talk to finance about budget
✅ post on LinkedIn 😉

Strategic to tactical. Creative to analytical. Coach to peer to operator. Sometimes before lunch! 

That shift is not accidental. It is the role.

What I have learned is that the risk is not the switching itself. It is losing altitude, stepping in too often. Going deep when the bigger value is direction.

The difference between energized and spinning is rarely workload. It is intention.

The real skill is knowing when to dive and when to stay high.

Some days I touch ten things without finishing any of them.

👉 Leadership is not about finishing everything. It is about moving everything forward.

What’s the ROI of SKO? 
Asking for a friend…

It’s been SKO season for weeks. 😅

My feed is full of keynote energy, matching hoodies, and sales teams getting fired up for the year ahead. 🔥

This year I’m noticing a shift. 
More companies going beyond the Sales Kickoff. Revenue KO. Business KO. Marketing, CS, product all in the room together with sales. 
The idea: shared energy across the whole org is worth more than energy within one team
Probably makes sense, right? 
If the goal is alignment before the year gets chaotic, why limit it to one function?

But these events are also getting bigger every year. More days, more prep, higher-end production, more people flying in from everywhere.
👉 More budget. More work for the organizing team.

Funny how in B2B marketing, we justify everything, we measure everything, we attribute everything. SKO seems to be the one thing that gets a pass!! 😉

So I’m curious: what do you do, and what does success actually look like for you? 
How do you make sure that Jan/Feb energy drives impact after April?

What did you build on Lovable yesterday?

After a week away for work, Sunday had to be a family day. No work stuff.
So I spent the afternoon building with my son. 

⚽ We shipped a cool penalty game.  
🇫🇷 Then we made a French dictée app connected to Claude to help him practice: his favorite manga characters, little rewards and fun quotes, a fun experience. 
Writing recognition isn't perfect yet but we had fun and I even made him prep this week's dictée without (too much) drama!

At dinner he asked if there was an API key to connect Lovable to Roblox. 😂 
Ok there isn't. But nine years old!! 🤯 

Big FOMO missing the Stockholm event with my Swedish 🦹‍♀️  Frida Ahrenby 🧚🏼, Fredrika Bennison, Johanna Fagerstedt and co.
But I touched grass, had lunch with family, and apparently I'm quietly raising a developer who uses Claude and Lovable before he can spell in French!!

I'll take it 😁 

#SheBuildsonLovable
#IWD2026

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The Battle

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Devin Bramhall's LinkedIn Performance

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