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.

Co-Founder, CXO+CMO @ Maro 🔥 | Experience Designer, Brand Builder, GTM Navigator

Seasoned executive specializing in experience design at the intersection of UX, go-to-market, and cybersecurity. For nearly 20 years, I’ve shaped how people engage safely with technology by designing digital experiences and security tools that are powerful, intuitive, and human-centered.

I’ve focused on reframing cybersecurity’s hardest problems as design opportunities: first at Komand, where I was the founding designer driving SOAR innovation, and then at Rapid7, where I led UX globally and translated SIEM, MDR, and endpoint protection into workflow-first experiences for SOC teams. And now as Co-Founder and Chief Experience and Marketing Officer of Maro, we're redefining how the industry approaches human risk with cognitive security by shaping behavior at the point of decision.

I Believe:
• Value is at the heart of experience, and experience is how we go about delivering value. Everyone is an equal owner in ensuring the best value and experience for our customers!
• Humility, empathy, and curiosity are the roots of success. Attitude dictates everything. Be optimistic. Inspire others.
• You are as great as the team around you, so surround yourself with people that want to do spectacular things! I'm lucky to say I've found that group.

Gwen Betts

Posting on IWD probably feels performative. But it is especially important to NOT be silent right now BECAUSE our rights are directly under fire. Regression is NOT an option. Speak your power loudly, and celebrate the women who inspire you!

A few of mine?

First, my older sister Alexandria Betts.

She's a certified Flight Paramedic, the safety officer for her base, and she just won Crew Member of the Year within her program.  She displays SERIOUS badassery.

Even with a family and a full schedule, she still finds ways to improve ProMedica's and The MetroHealth System (Cleveland, OH) care programs, especially for medically underserved populations.

Did you know she led the charge to create improved pediatric protocols and train flight teams on them because she felt a gap in emergency care management? This led to new Handtevy bags being established and stocked across Promedica and Metro flight bases throughout Northwest and Northeast Ohio. All her charge! 

Recently, she was the only medic presenting at a conference of MDs, DPNs, and RNs. Her topic? Strengthening ICU and flight team collaboration to drive better patient outcomes.

Alex is exceptional at what she does, and more peole should know it! She is THE example of a woman LIVING her power without apology, in a space that is still very much male-dominated.

Second, my co-founder and friend Jen A.. I've already waxed poetic about the first time we met, how she gave me the at-bats to do great things, how her example as a founder blazed the path for me to even consider it, and so much more. Even as we build together at our third company, I find myself in awe of her  prowess and just love working alongside her.

Third and finally, the many women that have inspired and shaped me in ways that I can never put words to. In no particular order: Deidre Harkins Tiana Lindley Thao Swimelar Lena Prickett Juliana Casale Sarah Salbu Young Devin Bramhall Arestia Rosenberg Lauren Landry Liz Firger (Gottbrecht) Louise Craven Laura Ellis Anna Hatton Katie Weagle Caroline Kennedy Nancy Li Laura Grace Ellis Katie Ledoux Deidre Diamond Sarah Merlin Caitlin Condon Fernanda Gavinelli FABIANA YAMAUE Soumya Nagesh Meg Scarborough Meaghan (Donlon) Buchanan Kelly L. Crummey Flora Felisberto Emily Rippe Desmond Katie Pasionek and so so many more!

May our light shine brightly and lead the way in dark times. 🌟

Co-Founder, Chief Experience Officer @ Maro 🔥 | Experience Designer, Brand Builder, GTM Navigator

Jadon Cruz Montero and Gabriel Sechrist have already said it best re: our first Maro Roadshow in Boston... Great turn out, fantastic people, collaborative discussion, you name it. (Thomas Smolinsky, CISSP, we're borrowing "Liars, Laggards, and Learners" ;)

But my favorite part was putting Maro in front of security practitioners and watching them explore the behavioral context behind how people actually use these tools. Also, the RPG was pretty spiffy. Shoutout to my FluxCappies!!

There are still many unresolved questions around AI regulations and how far their reach will extend. We're here to help you navigate it at the people and decision layer, so stay tuned for future sessions! 

Big thanks to Jim Haynie and everyone that participated! You were the best part of the day. :)

P.S. Enjoy this gif of Gabe dancing gleefully while modeling the new Maro polos!

Question for my security friends (reposts/shares appreciated 🙏 ) 

Are there specific AI security and governance online courses you would recommend?

Where are you sending your teams to right now to up-skill in this area?

How do you determine the right course for your teams?

This is a gentle UI design PSA to stop putting boxes in boxes in boxes. There are so many other grouping interactions patterns to explore information display.

FABIANA YAMAUE knows what I’m talking about. 😂💚

#Boxception

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The Battle

Devin Bramhall

Gwen Betts

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Posts

Engagements

Likes

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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