Head of Content @ LASSO | Co-host of That's Marketing, Baby | Delivering daily cheat codes for small content teams

I'm a creative director turned content marketer and strategist with more than 20 years of experience conceptualizing and executing breakthrough work for B2C brands like Eggo, Rice Krispies, Blue Cross, Cottonelle, and McDonald’s, and B2B brands like Fastly and Island.

I have a knack for leading cross-functional teams toward a common goal, bringing order to the oft-chaotic creative process, crafting insight-driven global campaigns, and bringing stories to life via long- and short-form content.

Jess Cook

Ya girl has a new title:
 
VP, Marketing at Vector 👻
 
And while I do my office chair happy dance, I see this as part of a larger and very exciting trend.
 
The next generation of B2B marketing leaders 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 because brand and storytelling have become non-negotiable for growth.
 
In a world where being forgotten is the most expensive problem you can have, the marketers who can: 
→ Tell a story that sticks 
→ Build brand that competitors can't replicate 
→ Create content that makes people feel something
 
... are the ones that smart founders and CEOs will want leading the charge.
 
So to all my fellow content people out there wondering if you can make the leap to marketing leadership:
 
👏 This 👏 is 👏 your 👏 moment.
 
Your ability to translate audience insights into ownable marketing moments is not a nice-to-have anymore.
 
It's the underpinning of modern marketing strategy.
 
And I'm crazy excited to keep proving it with the entire Vector team.

I found this random tool online that lets you create videos that look like they're breaking through your LinkedIn feed.
 
Cost me $40.
 
Figured, what the hell. Let's try it.
 
So I made this little video ad of our ghosties lounging in a pool with a unicorn floaty that "breaks through" the bottom of the post and floats across your feed.

And people 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴.
 
The comments weren't about our product. They weren't even really about the message.
 
They were about the ad itself:
• "Ok, the unicorn floating out of the post got my attention... very clever!"
• "Broke my brain in the best way!"
• "I am HERE for that unicorn!"

Which is either a total failure or the most successful awareness ad we've ever run, depending on how you look at it.
 
But with:
• 100k+ impressions
• 6-second dwell time
• 2.6% CTR
• 3% engagement rate
... I'm going with the latter.
 
I think about this ad a lot when people talk about needing huge budgets to do "creative" B2B ads.
 
The tool was $40. The video took maybe an hour to put together. The ad spend was $5k over the summer.

And it's still one of our most memorable ads.
 
All while companies out there spend $50k on a single piece of "premium" content that looks exactly like everyone else's premium content and performs exactly how you'd expect: meh.
 
What if you just tried something weird instead?

Here's what's keeping me up at night lately:
 
All the things that put Vector 👻 on the map—the podcast, the bold ad creative, the swag—operated mainly on vibes.

They happened (and worked) because we moved fast, took risks, and didn't overthink it.
 
But now we're growing. Trying to triple what we did last year.
 
Which means we 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 need the stuff that doesn't feel sexy but absolutely matters: processes, documentation, scalable systems, the "grown-up" marketing operations.
 
And I refuse to let building those things kill the magic.
 
Even though I know that's exactly what happens to most B2B brands as they grow.
 
They trade "let's try it" for "let's run it through legal." They trade bold for safe. They trade memorable for committee-approved.
 
I'm determined to figure out a different path.
 
Here's how I'm trying to think about it:
☝️ We can't sacrifice momentum for maturity. We have to figure out how to do both.
✌️ The cool stuff is what gets us noticed. But the systems are what let us capitalize on it.
 
So I'm working on: 
→ Protecting time for experiments (they stay sacred) 
→ Building repeatable frameworks for what's working (so we can do more of it) 
→ Hiring people who get excited by BOTH sides of this equation
 
I think the trick will be to figure out which magical, vibey things work the most, and scale them without diluting them.
 
Still figuring this out. (And will be for the foreseeable future lol) 
But that's what's keeping me up.

When Eric Linssen introduced me to Kelly Arndt, I was on month five of searching for THE demand gen marketer to join the Vector team.

I had a lot of boxes this person needed to check: 
→ Ads expert who could stand up and scale our paid engine
→ Mad scientist who could run Vector for Vector
→ Charismatic ambassador who could share our own use cases with customers and prospects
→ Player coach willing to build in public alongside with the rest of our marketing team
 
I wasn't going to settle. I wanted top 1% talent, and that meant being patient.
 
I interviewed 30+ demand gen marketers. All incredibly talented, some we came thisclose 🤏 to hiring, but they just weren't our person for one reason or another.
 
So when I met Kelly Arndt, I knew I'd hit the jackpot.
 
🎰 He has a content background (WHAT?!) so he gets that story matters as much as performance.
🎰 He's a systems builder and a true believer in compounding incremental growth.
🎰 He has a bias toward action, a penchant for killer dashboards, and an experimental mindset.
🎰 He speaks fluent customer because he is the embodiment of our power users.
 
Kelly starts at Vector today (!!!) owning all things paid and growth. 
 
Six months felt like forever, but good people are always worth the wait.

Narrator: 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥.
 

Here's what I didn't know was coming...

Josh posting "my head of marketing's on vacation, give me your worst ideas" and LinkedIn wholeheartedly accepting the challenge. Hundreds of suggestions. Everyone tagging me. Him hand-coding a website at midnight dedicated to his marketing crimes.
 
All while I'm in a pool in the Caribbean.
 
My mistake? 
Thinking he was joking when he dropped hints about "marketing plans" before I left.
 
His mistake? 
Not realizing I'd have WiFi.
 
The chaos that followed created the Josh & Jess dynamic that's still core to the Vector 👻 brand.
 
In the latest podcast episode of 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱'𝘃𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁, we break down:
→ How one joke post turned into one of our our biggest brand moments
→ Why Josh ended up shipping cards from his garage at $5 a pop (karma) 
→ The exact moment he realized marketing is harder than he thought 
→ How this accidental campaign shaped everything we do 
→ Why sometimes the best strategy is just trying something bold
 
People still ask if we planned it. The truth is I had no idea.
 
And somehow that made it perfect.

Raise your hand if you plan on updating your website content this year. 🙋‍♀️
 
(hint, your hand should be up)

The times, they are a-changing. There are SO many new way to get your content to work harder for you: feeding LLMs, creating buzz, handling objections, building trust, creating die-hard fans, and nurturing the 95% who aren't ready to buy just yet.

It's a LOT. 

But just breathe. Here's your first step. 👇
 
Get your ticket to 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗱 — THE event for all things B2B websites — happening February 9–11 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
 
Two full days of workshops (hosted by the amazing peeps below) on the stuff that actually makes B2B websites work:
→ Brand
→ Positioning 
→ Messaging
→ Conversion optimization
 
And, of course, Content — hosted by me!

I'll walk you through Vector's content strategy, page structure, AI processes, and more, so you can see how we turn content consumption into dolla dolla billz.
 
Also, South FL in in February? Big ol' cherry on top.
 
If you are SERIOUS about coming, (like serious, serious) DM me for my half-off promo code.
 
See you in Florida? ☀️
https://lnkd.in/gvmqwBiF

The message testing strategy Josh 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 knew about:
 

👉 Run a small ad campaign to test your positioning before launch day.
 
We launched a new product - Signal-Driven Ad Audiences - to see how people would respond to our new positioning, 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 before everything else went live.
 
And instead of spending months workshopping it to death, we ran an ad campaign around it.
 
→ Real budget on the line
→ Real buyers seeing it (contact-level ad audiences FTW)
→ Real engagement (or crickets)
 
The fastest way to see if messaging resonates with actual humans.
 
I know for a FACT I told Josh about this beforehand, though he claims otherwise. He literally approved the creative. 😆
(In his defense, he was probably thinking about 47 other things.)
 
But I digress...

Your ad campaigns can do double duty. They're not just for demand gen—they're also your fastest feedback loop on whether your message and offer actually land.

Joshua Perk 👻 and I dig into all things ads at Vector 👻 in the latest episode of 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱'𝘃𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 - out now!
 
AND if you dig what we're putting down, we're doing a LIVE episode next week. 😬 There's no telling what could happen. Get a front row seat with the link in the comments.

What's one of your Q1 marketing bets that's making you nervous?

Here's mine. 👇
 
Joshua Perk 👻 and I are recording a LIVE episode of 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱'𝘃𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 this Wednesday, January 14, at 12 pm ET.
 
No editing. No do-overs. Just us, talking through our entire 2026 marketing plan in real time.

We'll share:
→ The market forces that shaped our plan
→ Our 3 "big rocks" for the year
→ The channels we're putting most of our dolla billz into
→ Sneak peeks of our hiring, event, and influencer plans
→ How we'll know if any of this (gestures around wildly) is actually working
 
All delivered with our general weirdness... and nowhere to hide.
 
See you there?! 🤞
https://lnkd.in/g8GDaSw8

Hey, real quick...
 
Josh and I are doing a LIVE episode of the podcast in T minus 3ish hours—sharing Vector's entire marketing plan for 2026: big rocks, goals, hiring, the whole shebang.
 
Would love for you to be a part of it if you're free at 12 noon ET. (And if you're not, register anyway so you get the recording!)

Hope you can make it! https://lnkd.in/g8GDaSw8

Jess and Josh from Vector standing against a blue background with pink and yellow geometric shapes. Text reads 'This Kickoff Could've Been a Podcast LIVE! with event details 'Jan 14 @ 12pm ET' and 'TODAY!' on sticky notes. Vector logo and ghost mascot appear in bottom right corner.

I already have seven conferences lined up on my calendar this year. 😳

Some we're sponsoring.
Some we're going to see and be seen.

But the one I KNOW is going to level up my skills (and confidence) as a newly minted VP of Marketing?

The Exit Five Marketing Leadership Retreat
🌵 March 18-20 in Paradise Valley, AZ

A two-day working session with people who've been running marketing for years and can help me answer some of the questions I'm wrestling with right now:

• How do we keep our brand narrative focused as our team grows?
• What are the next key hires that will continue to propel our growth? 
• How should we adapt if we're not hitting our goals?
• How do we outdo what we did last year?
 
The group is small. The conversations are real. And there's nothing like learning from people who've already made the mistakes you're about to make.
 
There are only 100 spots and it's already half full. So, if you're new to leadership, a seasoned pro, or just want to pressure-test your thinking with other marketing leaders, come join me.
 
Details here:

Open article: Marketing Leadership Retreat | March 18-20, 2026 by bit.ly

Marketing Leadership Retreat | March 18-20, 2026

B2B marketer with a content DNA | Sr. Marketing manager @Adnovum | Content creator at 💖

I’ve spent the last decade building and scaling B2B marketing engines across sales-led and SaaS companies in cybersecurity, IT, MarTech, and venture building, blending organic growth, product marketing, positioning, and GTM strategy to drive actual pipeline, not just impressions. 

Along the way, I grew a community of 52,000+ business professionals who follow my practical takes on strategic marketing, AI workflows, and organic growth. 

My superpowers:
- Turning complex products into clear, compelling narratives.
- Building integrated campaigns that grow and engage audiences. 
- Thinking in systems, not silos. Picking up new skills with a ton of curiosity. 
- Mentoring and motivating teams. 

Today, I split my time writing and growing The Workflow (my newsletter on AI-powered marketing systems), partnering with MarTech and AI companies, and advising B2B teams on organic growth, product marketing, positioning, and GTM strategy. 

Open to contract work (consulting, advisory & content creation) and full-time opportunities where my skill set can make an impact.

If you want to discuss a collaboration: 📩 lattanzio.sara@gmail.com

Sara Stella Lattanzio

💰How I’d spend my marketing budget in 2026💰
(probably not the way most people expect)

1/ Community

Not (only) to chase LLM recommendations, but to finally get closer to real users and stop letting opinions drive content and product decisions.

2/ AI training for the marketing team

Not to replace people or turn marketers into engineers, but to make good teams operate better: less Frankenstein DYI-tooling, clearer processes, shared knowledge.

3/ A content repurposing engine

Not to be everywhere, but to consistently show up where the audience pays attention. One strong long-form pillar, a few smart seed channels, and an email list you actually own.

4/ A subject-matter expert on the team (part-time)

Not to complicate org charts, but to kill content bottlenecks, bring fresh insights straight from the source, and finally retire “don’t we have a marketing team for that?”

5/ Partnerships

Not just to 10x distribution, but to build an ecosystem where the traditional roles of creators, customers, partners, and resellers start to merge.

TL;DR
All in on relationships, original content, and solid processes, with AI helping us move faster and (occasionally) better.

B2B Marketing Leader & Advisor | Content marketing & GTM | Writing & building @The Workflow | Top 20 🇨🇭 LinkedIn creators

It’s 2026 and you want your organic traffic and clicks back the same way you want your old LinkedIn reach back.

I get it. I miss both too. Unfortunately, neither is coming back.

And that’s fine, because traffic was never the end goal. 
It was just the easiest thing to measure.

What actually changed isn’t “SEO performance”.
It’s search behavior.

👵 The old way (RIP):
Google → blue links → blog → nurture → conversion

👶 The new way:
ChatGPT / Google AI / Reddit / LinkedIn → brand mentioned → brand remembered → direct or branded search → pricing / comparison → conversion

Notice what’s missing?
The clicks you’re still reporting on.

📚 Here’s what content teams are seeing, now confirmed by a Semrush study (1000% worth checking out): https://bit.ly/4jpU9RK

→ Google still drives traffic for 93%, but its monopoly is fading
→ LinkedIn, email, and direct are growing as brand-led channels
→ 57% report declining organic traffic. Only 26% see any revenue impact
→ AI-driven visitors are 4.4× more likely to convert than classic organic traffic

So this isn’t a traffic collapse.
It’s a click collapse.

How to measure content marketing in 2026:
→ Growth in branded search
→ Online visibility BEYOND Google
→ Brand mentions and citations in AI answers
→ Assisted conversions from AI, social, and communities
→ Performance of homepage, pricing, and comparison pages

If your board still asks for traffic, your job this year is to teach them what actually drives revenue.

-
#AIsearch #SEO #SemrushPartner

Brand partnership • B2B Marketing Leader & Advisor | Content marketing & GTM | Writing & building @The Workflow | Top 20 🇨🇭 LinkedIn creators

❓Why are you still measuring your content with clicks❓

I don’t think people realize how often you have to repeat the same thing [over and over and over] to grow...anything really.

We’ve grown The Workflow to 1,100+ subscribers with 6 issues live, and no, it didn’t happen because of one viral post. It happened because we kept repeating ourselves constantly.

⇒ I post about it 1–2 times a week.
⇒ Guests post about it on their accounts.
⇒ Diandra posts about it 1–2 times a week.
⇒ We post 4× a week on our LinkedIn company page.
⇒ I shamelessly plug it in interviews, articles, and websites.
⇒ I pitched it at Christmas dinner to my parents and my cousin.
⇒ The link to subscribe is in our bios, headers, featured sections.

Every post brings a few familiar names from our 85K+ LinkedIn followers onto the list. And not because they didn't get the memo before.

First time? Ignored.
Second? “Already subscribed to enough stuff.”
Third? “Looks good, but I already follow them on LinkedIn.”
Fourth? Clicked. Subscribed. BAM.

Another example:
Only ~20% of readers click on newsletter links.
Which is a sin, considering we drop custom templates and prompts in every issue.

Last week, we repackaged 3 months of prompts into our first Prompt Vault [proof: https://lnkd.in/d3wxEFZQ].
Same content. New format. CTR? 40% (!)

It’s not black magic. It’s saying the same thing 50 times without sounding like a sleazy car saleswoman.

If it’s worth hearing, it’s worth repeating.
...but make it worth hearing first!

Are you still talking about demand generation? Soooo 2021.
2026 is about demand MANIFESTATION 

Here’s how it works:

🕯️  Light some incense
🧘‍♀️ Grab your yoga mat
💎 Wodo-wodo your crystals
💰 and simply manifest the pipeline you want to close this quarter.

Repeat “I’m a lead magnet” three times, and your chances of achieving that will go up by 90%. 

I tested this ritual to manifest being in the same video with some of my favorites [Diandra, Rolf, Nike, Tycho, and Steven].

Here's the proof it REALLY works.

B2B Marketing Leader & Advisor | Organic growth & GTM | Writing & building @The Workflow

taplio

The Battle

Jess Cook

Sara Stella Lattanzio

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreJess Cook's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreSara Stella Lattanzio's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Jess Cook

Sara Stella Lattanzio

Followers

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);}Jess Cook's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreSara Stella Lattanzio's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreJess Cook's LinkedIn Performance