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?

Helping SaaS build trusted content with third-party expertise • Co-Founder @ AudienceLed • GTM & Partnerships Operator • Your buyer trusts 👉 People, brands, and places they already transact with. Activate them.

I help SaaS revenue teams integrate third party expertise (the people, brands, and places) that influence their buyer to surround them (instead of spam them)  👉 where buyers already transact and spend their dwindling attention credits 👇

Buyers don’t believe brands as much as they believe the people, companies, & places they already work with and listen to.

That’s why your sales and marketing team need a network of trusted people in your ecosystem.

When you activate that network, you get:
👉Warmer doors opening faster
👉Higher win rates
👉Deals that close sooner
👉Bigger deal sizes

Proof I’ve lived this:
✅Built enablement programs that boosted partner retention by 70%
✅Created a partner motion that matched sales revenue with 1/3 of the headcount
✅Outperformed a full SDR + AE team using ecosystem plays
✅Scaled a business to $1M in less than 12 months → acquired

(And yes - I’m in the room developing relationships with the influential people your buyers already listen to.)

Activate an ecosystem-oriented modern go-to-market system that focuses on QUALITY and CONVERSION by:
1) Following me here for weekly systems sharing
2) Or DM me if you want me to show you how to:
- Map who your buyers already trust
- Layer partners into your GTM to build pipeline with less spend (without building any new systems)

Oh, I'm also writing a book on rewiring your mindset, which incorporates psychological, sociological, and philosophical concepts. Go-to-market with your market at www.audienceled.com

Will Taylor

2025 was weird. Hardest I ever worked. Most productive I've ever been. 2.5x'd our MRR.

Then learned MRR ≠ Cashflow. Oopsie!

Major lessons that I can fit into this short post:

1) To integrate partnerships into the business, you need to do all of the work for everyone else.

Not impossible, but exactly why agencies like AudienceLed exist.

Few are willing to (or know how) to do the work. We are doing it. Documenting it. Systematizing it. And (soon) putting it into software.

This is your opportunity. But you need to own it. So much so to build your own business for it, perhaps.

Peddling ideas and twiddling your thumbs feeling good about them will get you fired.

Doing the work, producing results, and making sure that when people think of YOU they are EXCITED and IMPRESSED... will bring you the success you crave.

Luckily, the bar is low.

2) Build your business like you are selling it now.

More efficient. More clear. You'll find the leaking holes, too.

Fire yourself (requirement for a successful exit) fast. Then move onto the next evolution.

Build an MVP. Document the process. Hire someone to own it. Empower them to level it up.

We're doing that. I want to exit this business in the next 3-5 years. So we're rolling up our sleeves to make that happen.

3) Sleep. Gym. Work. Repeat. (save weekends for rest, too)

Protect your mind, protect your peace. But don't let it distract you from doing the work.

When life throws lemons at you. Use them as a pillow. Lift them like weights. Eat them.

That analogy doesn't make sense.

Go outside and enjoy New Year's!
-----
Thank you to our clients, our partners, and most of all our team current and past Rob Carpenter, Sam Unietis, Coriena Hipple Merejo, Lydia Abbot, ♜ Arthur Castillo, Daniela Applegate, Jimmy Girot.

I am so incredibly grateful to have the support of my friends, colleagues, peers, and this network.

And a big big big big big thank you to all of the people, brands, and places I personally got to interview and put the spotlight on.

You make the ecosystem move. We'll help you move together.

More of that in 2026. I want to take you along for the ride.

Have a safe and wonderful start to the year. And get after it 💪

P.S. I'll be doing a more formal update soon. But 2026 will be big! It has to be.

If you don't know Nelson Wang, you should. He helps founders grow partner revenue from $0 to $200 million. How?

His tactical frameworks and straightforward, brass tax "here's the reality" consulting.

In a recent edition of his newsletter (subscribe here: https://lnkd.in/gcbJUAej) he highlighted a conversation with me:

"How Integrating Partnerships Into Marketing Reduces Work by 80% and 2X+ pipeline"

The takeaway? (and you gotta subscribe to see more!)
Partnerships need to be fully integrated with cross functional teams to truly amplify impact.

My post that inspired our chat: https://lnkd.in/gzmpxtCu

This is a lesson we learned very fast at AudienceLed. We went from a standalone video service to now a fully integrated demand gen program that works with third parties.

Here's why I appreciate Nelson Wang:
- He focuses on clear, specific tactics that are easy to understand
- He has "done the work" and proven out those tactics
- He embodies the core of partnerships and trust

Put all of this together, and you get a successful business.

This is inspiring the work we do at AudienceLed (clarity, specificity, do the work...).

He carries it in his own business and is seeing more success than most because of it.

If you need help with partnerships, speak with Nelson or check out his flagship products at https://lnkd.in/gTzxFRx3

And join 9,000+ on his newsletter! https://lnkd.in/gcbJUAej

Happy Holidays everyone! More content like this coming soon.

P.S. he's so great I referred my friend Marc Gaudett to him!

The VP of Marketing at LinkedIn just validated the B2B Partnerships motion, but also warns: "Wasted impressions won't just hurt performance..."

"...they'll erode our credibility."

And:

"In B2B trust is now THE most valuable outcome and the clearest path to seeing your budgets deliver real outcomes. But trust isn't built alone."

The best part?

He was speaking through the lens of a marketer. 

Not a partnerships professional. Not an influencer marketing person.

The VP of Marketing at the largest professional network in all of business.

Davang Shah goes on to speak about how working with creators will help to build brand trust NOT through transactional posts, but instead long term partnerships.

OUT for 2026:
- One-off transactional posts

IN for 2026:
- Strategic narrative and campaign alignment alongside experts with deep experience.

He shared the data that suggests this:
80% of B2B marketers plan to invest in community-driven content. 

"In 2026 expertise will be the new trust currency and creators are at the centre of that equation."

Decision makers do not make a decision based on one (clearly) transactional post. Nor do they do so with high-level, face-value content.

They make a purchase when they know that someone like them has reached the promised land they hope to reach.

Deep expert content > useless impressions.
----------
SEO, ads, and distribution are waning. This is no longer the competitive moat.

Unlock more reach. Better content. Higher trust. The help your customers want and need... all while making the community a better place because of YOU.

I share tactics about how to execute this each week. If you want the playbook, follow along. It's all being shared for free and being built in public.

This is what B2B sales taught me about helping my mom this holiday season (I actually mean it this time... unfortunately... but stick with me):

"Can I help you?"
🛑 Is a yes/no question. 
🛑 Easy to say "NO" to. 
🛑 Closed-ended question.

We WANT to help our moms / loved ones, right?

In sales, we want open-ended questions, to really uncover an answer on how we can help.

Instead, ask:
"How can I help?"

Or better yet (my favourite):
"What are the 2 things I can do to help you?"

✅ Open-ended.
✅ Assumes there's an answer.
✅ Forces thinking to provide a response.

Moms do a lot for us. My mom sure does. Especially around the holiday season. 

Let yours put her feet up and enjoy the holiday spirit.

You can stir some gravy, cut some carrots, mix a drink. 

Get off your butt!!!

In 2026 I predict more people will pander to your emotions, scrape over eachother for your clicks, & make you "comment X for Y" on posts with fake results. 🤡

Why?

Because algorithms reward this behaivour.

And unfortunately the "influencers" without real expertise have been doing this.

Fear of missing out.
Engagement bait.
Fake results.
etc.

As you step into 2026, consider these questions as the algo tries to rip every last second of your valuable time away from you:

"Why am I paying my attention to this content?"

"Do I actually trust this person? What reasons do I have? What proof do they have?"

"Are they actually an expert? What do others say about them?"

Be them an influencer, a consultant, an employee, or a business...

Do they have the stack of undeniable proof (and experience) to really show they are who they say they are?

And if you want to build that proof yourself, I'm documenting the playbook we are running...

For clients and for ourselves.

(P.S. You should do the same to my content as well...)

A Fortune 500 company booked a demo with a client after reading content we created with a third-party expert. Here's the system behind it:

Quality content brings in quality accounts.

I invited a third-party expert into the content.
Not as a guest quote.
Not as a logo swap.

We aligned the content to their existing narrative.

Then we did the work.
✅ Produced a deep blog post anchored in the expert’s POV
✅ Repurposed it into newsletter + social + video content
✅ Enabled the expert to post it natively to their own channel

What happened next mattered most:
- A Fortune 500 prospect saw the expert post
- Clicked through to the blog
- Engaged with the client’s qualification flow
- Booked a demo

The opportunity is now moving forward.

The best part?

The third party is now optimized to be featured in SEO/AEO for their own solution and services too. As our client grows, so will the exposure to the expert.

It's called a partnership.

Shared trust moving through the market the way buyers already move.

These are the real results when you go to market WITH your market instead of shouting at it.

This isn't just a strategy for SMB or early-stage PLG signups. It's working with enterprise buyers. 

"That deal would pay for all of my marketing spend to date"

Move together. Produce value together. Focus on quality in. Get quality out.

2026 is the year of collaboration ✌ 

P.S. if you want to do this yourself, I've been sharing this exact playbook in my tactical, no B.S. content series. Follow for more! About halfway through 30 posts detailing the exact processes.

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