Generic GTM is dead → Go to my featured section for actionable GTM insights and elevate your marketing game 🔥| Co-Founder of TACK | Creating the category of People-first GTM 👥| 13+ Years in B2B Marketing 📈

I help B2B companies build go-to-market strategies that prioritize real connection because relationships, not just reach, drive growth.

After 14 years in B2B marketing, I’ve led field marketing, demand gen, community, and influencer programs. I know what works, what doesn’t, and what’s changed.

Too many companies still treat buyers like leads. That’s not how modern GTM works.

I’ve helped 35+ B2B brands shift from transactional tactics to connection-driven growth, building scalable strategies, launching communities, running 30+ webinars, and rolling out on-demand models that replaced bloated in-house teams.

Today, I work directly with brands, founders, and marketers to build go-to-market engines that scale—without the spam.

What I do:
→ Build integrated campaign strategies that drive pipeline
→ Coach creators and brands on influencer marketing
→ Design community-led and field programs that actually work
→ Speak on GTM, content, and creator-led growth
→ Act as a fractional marketing leader or advisor

📚 Author of B2B Influencer Marketing: Work With Creators to Generate Authentic and Effective Marketing (Kogan Page, 2025)

👋 Let’s work together: DM me or visit https://linktr.ee/NickBMarketing

Nick Bennett

I wasn't a brand marketer.

I was the "pipeline now" guy. The "just get meetings" guy. The "who cares about brand when we need revenue" guy.

Then I watched the same movie play out at company after company.

10 things I learned the hard way about brand in B2B:

1. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗦𝗗𝗥 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝟮𝟬𝟬 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴? 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝘅. You're literally paying for invisibility. In time. In burnout. In missed quota.

2. "𝗙𝗶𝘅 𝗽𝗶𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗲'𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱." I've heard this from every CEO. It's like saying "let me drown first, then I'll learn to swim."

3. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴? They're not better. They're just... known. Familiarity beats features every damn time.

4. "𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗮𝗴𝗲." No, they just have no idea who you are. There's a difference between a bad lead and a cold lead. Brand warms them up before sales even talks to them.

5. 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀. That competitor who's been blogging for 3 years while you were "waiting for budget"? Yeah, good luck catching up now.

6. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱. It's underspending. Ask me how I know. Actually don't. It still hurts.

7. 𝗪𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟮𝟰 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝟲. Same close rate. Only difference? People had heard of us. That's 18 touches your SDRs don't have to make.

8. 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗖𝗔𝗖 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝗮𝗰𝗸. But nobody wants to hear that in a board meeting when pipeline is down 40%.

9. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱: "𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗖𝗔𝗖 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗽?" Also every board: "Cut brand spending, we need pipeline now." Make it make sense.

10. 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗳𝗳𝘆 𝗕𝗦. It's the difference between cold calling 100 people and having 10 people call you.

If I could go back and slap 2010 me:

Start content on day one. Not after product-market fit. Not after Series A. Day. Freaking. One.

Put 30% into brand even when it hurts. ESPECIALLY when it hurts.

Stop measuring brand impact at 30 days. That's like planting seeds and digging them up next week to see if they grew.

Document everything. Share the ugly parts. Be known for something before you try to sell something.

The brutal truth?

While you're in another meeting debating whether brand is "worth it," your competitor just became the default choice in your prospect's mind.

And once they own that mental real estate?

Your 10% better features mean exactly nothing.

15+ Year B2B Marketing Leader Turned Founder | ABM, Field Marketing & Events, Influencer Marketing & More | DM Me to Learn More

After working with 35+ B2B brands in 3 years, here's what's actually going to matter in 2026.

Not predictions. Not hot takes. Just patterns I keep seeing with companies that are winning right now.

𝟭. 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝗕𝗠 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀.

Every company says they do ABM. Maybe 10% actually do it right.

The difference? They pick 25-50 accounts MAX. They know the actual humans involved. They create experiences, not campaigns.

One client went from 500 target accounts to 30. Pipeline went up 3x.

𝟮. 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿-𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴.

The companies growing fastest? They're not doing it alone.

Customer co-marketing. Influencer partnerships. Integration partners running your events. One customer selling to another customer.

Solo marketing is dead. Everything is partnerships now.

𝟯. 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 + 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿.

Stop arguing about brand vs performance. You need both.

The winning formula I'm seeing: 30% brand, 70% demand. But that 30% makes the 70% work 10x better.

We went from 24 touches to 6 at one company. Just because people knew who they were.

𝟰. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰.

The 500-person conference still exists. But the ROI is in the 8-person dinner.

VIP experiences. Executive roundtables. Customer advisory boards. Micro-events in tier 2 cities.

Quality > Quantity. Every single time.

𝟱. 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀.

Not just case studies. Not just referrals.

Customers creating content. Running webinars. Speaking at your events. Closing deals for you.

The best GTM teams are turning customers into an extension of their team.

𝟲. 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹.

Not because of AI. Because CFOs are done with 120+ tools.

The companies winning? They have maybe 15-20 core tools. Everything else is noise.

Pick platforms, not point solutions.

𝟳. 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲-𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆.

Your buyers are people with actual problems, actual budgets, and actual bosses breathing down their necks.

Talk to them like humans. Solve real problems. Make their lives easier.

The companies that remember this are the ones still growing.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵?

None of this is revolutionary. It's just hard to execute.

But after 15+ years in B2B, I can tell you:

The basics done well beat innovation done poorly. Every time.

Anything you disagree with on the list?

Nobody talks about the hardest part of internal marketing.

Getting your own team to actually give a shit.

I've watched brilliant campaigns die because sales didn't get it. Product roadmaps derail because engineering thought marketing was just making things pretty. Budgets vanish because finance saw us as a cost center.

Know what actually works? Stop trying to convince everyone. Start making them part of it.

Here's how I rally stakeholders without the corporate theater:

1. Anchor on one outcome, not 47 metrics

This campaign creates 30 meetings by March 31st.

Not impressions. Not MQLs. One number everyone understands.

2. Make ownership embarrassingly clear

Sarah owns email. Tom owns landing page. Mike owns enablement.

No we'll figure it out together BS. You own it or you don't.

3. Translate, don't escalate

Sales: This gets you 30 meetings
Finance: $50K investment, $500K return
Product: Positions feature X as differentiator

Same campaign. Three languages. Zero confusion.

4. Kill the weekly status meeting

Monday Slack update. Three bullets:
✅ On track
⚠️ At risk (why)
🔴 Blocked (need X)

2 minutes to read. No calendar invites.

5. Make fast decisions when shit gets messy

Sales wants A. Product wants B. Here's the tradeoff. I recommend A. Deciding by 3pm.

No committee. Just clarity.

6. One doc to rule them all

Not 14 decks. One living document:
Goal. Owners. Timeline. Status.

7. Bring sales in before you build

What would make this actually useful?

They shape it = They sell it.
They're surprised = They sabotage it.

8. Share wins like your job depends on it

That campaign? 12 meetings. $2M pipeline. Here's what worked.

Public wins create believers.

The brutal truth?

Your stakeholders don't care about your marketing strategy. They care about their problems.

Show them how you solve THEIR problems, and they'll fight for your budget.

Show them another PowerPoint, and they'll find reasons to say no.

I spent years trying to educate stakeholders about marketing.

Now I just show them what's in it for them.

Works every damn time.

LinkedIn's year in review was like getting a participation trophy from your kid's soccer league.

Congrats! You existed on our platform!

Meanwhile, ŌURA just dropped me 18 shots of actual data. Not 3. Not 5. EIGHTEEN. 

242,792 steps. 131 crowns. Sleep scores. Recovery trends. Stress patterns over time. And that's just what I could screenshot before my thumb got tired.

The kind of data that makes you go holy shit, I did that?

Not you posted 47 times or whatever vanilla metric LinkedIn thinks matters.

Here's what kills me about year in reviews:

Most companies treat them like automated birthday cards.

Generic. Forgettable. Zero emotional connection.

But when you show me I walked the equivalent of Boston to Philly and back? That I earned 131 daily crowns for hitting my goals? That my sleep improved when I started that evening routine?

That's not a recap. That's a mirror.

The companies that get this right understand something simple:

Data without context is just numbers.
Data with YOUR context is a story.

Spotify doesn't just say you listened to music. They show you discovered 847 new artists and played that one embarrassing song 97 times at 2am.

Strava doesn't say you exercised. They show you climbed the equivalent of Everest twice.

Oura doesn't say you wore a ring. They show you exactly how your body responded to every decision you made this year.

Why this matters for every company:

Your customers are doing incredible things with your product. But you're sending them PDFs that say thanks for being a customer.

Show them their journey. Their growth. Their wins they didn't even know were wins.

Make them feel something about their own progress.

4 years as an Oura customer (not sponsored but seriously, Oura, let's talk 👀) and this is the first year in review that made me actually proud of data.

Not because the numbers were good.

Because they told MY story.

Your move, LinkedIn. Maybe next year show me which posts actually moved someone's career forward instead of you got 73 reactions.

Until then, I'll be over here staring at my 242,792 steps wondering how my knees still work.

What's the best year in review you've gotten? The one that actually made you feel something?

As a Fractional Marketing Director, I work with startups to: 

- Create brand experiences that resonate with their audience.
- Tell stories through content and different media that catch potential customers and drive conversions.
- Build authentic communities and partnerships that give product insights as well as customer loyalty.
- Develop GTM strategies and product validation for early-stage start-ups. 
- Build marketing operations to support all of the above. ;)

Fractional Marketing Director

Bryr

Together with my sister, we created Bryr (meaning care in Swedish), a collaboration app created for you, a loved one of someone who needs support in their daily life due to old age, illness, or other cognitive impairment. Bryr aims to help you and your family stay informed and organised by sharing information about the person you care about in an easy and collaborative way.

Co-Founder

AskNicely

Responsibilities included: 

- Community Management: including Production & Event Management, social media and more. 

- Content Creation: Including video for social media, educational content, marketing material and podcast.

- Strategic Partnership: I lead our social media influencer strategy from strategic decisions to recruitment including brands like Disney, Starbucks, Marriott Hotels, Sun Country Airlines, ServiceNow and more. I worked closely with the Director of Strategic partnership for sponsorships and joined collaboration opportunities. 

- Brand Strategy: I was responsible for the Frontline Magic brand and production of visual identity and overall concept design. 

- Team Management: I managed a team of external designers, copywriters, and event producers. Internally I collaborated and worked with the teams across Marketing, Product, Sales and Customer success. 

Some highlights: 
- I led the production from brief to final execution of a one-day online Summit that generated over 2000 registrations, with over 20 speakers. The event received NPS of 71 with steady attendees throughout the day of 70%. 

- I built strategic partnerships with industry influencers and partners from Fortune 500 companies that created sales and sponsorship opportunities.

Community Evangelist

Girl Power Podcast

Founder/ Podcast Host

YWCA Auckland

The Y is part of the world’s largest women’s organisation, a global network of 25 million women leading social and economic change in more than 100 countries worldwide. 

Responsibilities included: 
- Leadership: Stakeholder management, creative agency management, team management. 

- Branding: Creative concept development, visual language, and concept and content execution including web, social print, video, and photography. 

- Event and Awards: I managed and was part of the execution team for several in-person events with 500+ attendees including the GenderTick Awards and the 18x18 exhibition. 

- Influencers and Advocates: I was responsible for our social media strategy that generated a national influencer program with several young ambitious women advocating for YWCA values to drive brand awareness for the organisation. 


Some highlights: 
- Within my first 6 months I had done a national re-brand launch including a sold-out immersive exhibition called 18x18 telling real stories from 18, 18 years old women sharing their concerns about their generation. The project got recognised on national news and generated in new strategic partnerships, sponsorships and an increase in donations. 

- For the first time in history all local YWCA across New Zealand came under one united brand and voice. (Before they had all operated under their own brand and there had been no joint marketing efforts across the different locations). 

- The re-branding of YWCA was one of the Finalists for Best Design Awards, 2020
brought to you by the Designers Institute of New Zealand.

Brand Engagement Director 

The Mind Lab

Responsibilities included: 
- Strategy: Worked closely with the GM and the founder of The Mind Labs to develop the marketing strategy based on business goals. I was responsible for coming up with ideas, turning them into a brief and collaborating with stakeholders and managing the team to deliver unique ideas on project objectives. 

- Leadership: Managed and lead the team of copywriters, videographers, designers, and marketers to deliver integrated marketing campaigns.

- Brand: I project management and collaborated with external design agencies to ensure that new projects such as digital learning platforms, websites, and integrated marketing campaigns were delivered on brand, within the set time and budget, and within scope. Many times I worked as the link between the internal stakeholders, the internal production team and the customers to ensure we delivered creative concepts suitable for the market.

Creative Director

Axel & Berg Photography 

Some highlights: 
- I worked as a professional photographer and storyteller travelling across the world (60+ countries) to places like USA, India, Thailand, Nepal, and Europe to photograph and take part in workshops to educate other photographers. 

- I filmed the wedding of a well-known rockstars wedding in Los Angeles. (If you hire me I might tell you who;)

Founder & Visual Storyteller

Municipality of Sundsvall

As Marketing Manager, I worked on strengthening the brand for the public school system in Sundsvall, Sweden. 

Some highlights: 
- Delivered an integrated marketing campaign for implementing the vision of becoming the highest-ranked school in 2021 in the country reaching 3500 employees. 
- Creative concept development and execution of a local Awards night for 3500 teachers. 

- Project management - including content creation, stakeholder management, and testing and content adding for 30 new websites. 

- I led the rollout and implementation of a re-brand for the local High-school that included a united brand launched with an event, new website and a printed magazine where I led the production of content, design and distribution of the magazine to over 5000 households. 

This re-brand generated an uptake in applications for schools and a united brand across the different faculties that had never been possible to achieve before.

Strategic Marketing Manager

Unganhörig

I founded a charity to create awareness about dementia and support to families with a family member affected by it after my mum was diagnosed in an early age and I felt like there was a lack of knowledge and support for young people in my situation. After my mum passed away from the disease I sold the charity to a National Organisation working with research and support for Dementia. 

Some highlights: 
- The Charity became the leading support resource for young families with relatives affected by dementia providing community, content and support for 2000+ families. 

- I travelled across Scandinavia to talk at over 100 different events with everything from 10 to 1000 of attendees. (Audience including researchers, healthcare professionals and relatives to people with Dementia). 

- I appeared on National news regularly lobbying for more support to young families effected by dementia. 

- I got awarded and recognized for my influence and leadership by the Swedish king Carl XVI Gustaf's Young Leadership Foundation.

- I worked with other non-for-profit organisations like Rotary to provide a support program to young adults so that they could still continue with "normal" activities such as sports, and school events that required support from parents. (meaning they had someone outside of their family that they could call to get a ride to training or help with homework for example).

Founder

Centrala studiestödsnämnden CSN

Customer Service Analyst

◔ Fractional Marketer and Creative Problem Solver Helping Startups Globally to Grow Community Through Content, Brand & Event

▲ Hey 👋 Your Fractional Marketing & Community Leader here! ▲ 

In short... 
I help you define your brand and set up the marketing engine, develop a strategy for you, and find creative ways to execute it. 

I am a...
▲Creative Problem Solver 
❀ Change Maker 
♀Women’s Rights Advocate 
✺Citizen of the World 
✮Lifetime Adventurer

⭐ Areas of Expertise

○ Marketing strategy ○ Brand management ○ Market research ○ Campaign management 
○ Communication ○Creativity ○Team leadership ○ Operational management ○ Product development & Go to market strategy  ○ Corporate Social Responsibility 

⭐ Personal Strengths

━ Opportunist
━ Lifelong learner
━ Strategist 
━ Executor (aka chaos wrangler)
━ Experience maker 
━ Creative problem solver
━ Community builder
━ Visualisation Director 

⭐ My Experiences

▲ 15 years of experience in marketing 
▲ Develop and execute GTM marketing strategies for B2B & B2C
▲ Manage brand reputation and crisis communications
▲ Hired and managed teams in early-stage startups 
▲ Execute social media marketing campaigns and engagement
▲ Overseen budget 
▲ Roadmap development
▲ Lead product launches and go-to-market strategies for early-stage B2B & B2C startups
▲ Optimise customer journey and enhance user experience
▲ Build and manage relationships with key stakeholders and partners 
▲ Develop content marketing strategy and editorial calendar
 

I am looking forward to connecting!

☎️ +64 22 039 9889

📍 I am currently based in Auckland, New Zealand, and work fully remotely.

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Nick Bennett

Susanne Axelsson ✨

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