NB Marketing

I partner with B2B companies to build and execute GTM programs that drive real pipeline and revenue. That includes:

- Running full-scale webinar and virtual event programs, from strategy to follow-up

- Leading in-person field events, pre-event outreach, onsite support, and post-event reporting

- Building ABM programs from the ground up or improving what’s already running

- Creating influencer and creator strategies tied directly to pipeline goals

- Supporting demand gen and content strategy across the funnel

- Reporting on performance and helping teams understand what’s working (and what’s not)

- Acting as a brand evangelist at events, on podcasts, and across LinkedIn

- Helping founders and teams grow their personal brands to drive real business impact

This isn’t a one-size-fits-all model.

Some clients bring me in to lead one area. Others tap into multiple. I flex based on what will move the needle the fastest.

Founder

Reachdesk

Events & ABM

Navattic

I play an important role in shaping their B2B marketing and Go-to-Market strategies, which laid the foundation for my work at TACK.

Key Contributions:

→ Developed GTM Strategies: Helped design and implement Go-to-Market that drive growth and customer engagement.

→ Optimized B2B Marketing Efforts: Advised on B2B marketing campaigns, leading to improved lead generation and conversion rates.

Marketing Advisor

Limelight

B2B Creators should be able to monetize their offerings more easily.

And with Limelight, now they can :)

Advisor

Underscore VC

Underscore Core Community member serving as a valued advisor to Underscore portfolio companies.

Core Partner

TACK

I co-founded TACK with a mission to revolutionize Go-to-Market strategies by putting people first. 

Our approach is designed to modernize how businesses connect with their audience, ensuring every interaction is human-centric and impactful. 

Here’s how we’re making a difference:

→ Created a seven-step approach that shifts companies from a company-first to a People-first strategy.

→ Built and Scaled TACK’s Three Pillars:

TACK Network: A GTM media network producing original content and authentic stories to support the brightest minds in B2B Go-to-Market.

TACK Insider: A membership community offering marketers and entrepreneurs access to hundreds of resources, weekly masterclasses, and personalized coaching.

TACK GTM: An on-demand services firm that partners with CEOs, Founders, and Marketing Leaders to design and implement People-first GTM strategies, driving growth and revenue.

Chief Customer Officer & Co-Founder

The Anonymous Marketer Podcast

This is The Anonymous Marketer. A podcast where we tackle the 
biggest questions from the B2B marketing community. 

But instead of bringing on guests for a quick chat, every question 
comes from an anonymous source. 

These are the questions B2B marketers have but are afraid to 
ask.

Let’s start the conversation.

Host

Airmeet

Senior Director of ELG (Event-Led Growth) & Evangelism

Alyce

Director of Evangelism & Customer Marketing

Director of Field, Community, and Partner Marketing

Director of ABM

Goldcast

Strategic Advisor

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

Most B2B companies spend $50K on events and forget the $500 that actually converts.

I watched a client blow their entire Q4 budget on a massive booth.
Premium location. Fancy screens. Full swag suite.

They got 47 badge scans.
3 follow-up calls.
Zero pipeline.

Meanwhile, I spent $500 on coffee cards the week before the same event.

Sent them to 20 target accounts with a simple note:
"I'll be at [Event]. Would love to buy you an actual coffee and chat about [specific challenge]."

18 showed up.
12 booked follow-ups.
4 became opportunities.
2 closed within 90 days.

Here's what most companies miss about event ROI:

➜ The magic happens in the 1:1 moments, not the booth traffic
➜ Pre-event outreach beats post-event follow-up every time
➜ A $25 coffee card outperforms a $2,500 dinner

My exact pre-event playbook:

1. **Three weeks out:** Pull the attendee list, match it to your ICP
2. **Two weeks out:** Send personalized gifts to top 20-30 targets
3. **One week out:** Follow up with calendar links for specific time slots
4. **Day of:** Skip the booth duty, focus on booked meetings
5. **Day after:** Send thank-you gifts to no-shows with "sorry we missed you"

The math is stupid simple:

Traditional event spend: $50K ÷ 3 opportunities = $16,666 per opp
Smart gifting approach: $500 ÷ 4 opportunities = $125 per opp

You don't need a bigger booth.
You need a better strategy.

And maybe some coffee cards.

15+ Year Marketing Leader turned Founder | I Help B2B Companies Generate Real Pipeline

I was the CMO's favorite marketer. I was also completely useless.

Sounds weird, right?

But for three years, that was me.

First one in the office. Last one out.
Every sales request? "Nick's on it."
Every fire drill? "Get Nick."
Every random idea at 4:47 PM on Friday? "Nick won't mind."

My calendar looked like a game of Tetris.
My to-do list had its own to-do list.
And my boss loved me for it.

"You're so reliable," she'd say.
"I can always count on you."

Meanwhile, I couldn't point to a single campaign that actually moved revenue.

Not one.

Because I was too busy being busy.

Too buried in execution to ask why.
Too reactive to build anything strategic.
Too afraid that saying no meant I wasn't valuable.

The breaking point came during a pipeline review.

Sales was struggling. The CEO was pissed.
And when they pulled up marketing's contribution?

Crickets.

All those late nights. All those "quick favors."
None of it mattered.

I'd been so focused on being helpful that I forgot to be effective.

That meeting stung. Bad.

But it also woke me up.

The next week, I did something that felt career-ending at the time:

I said no to a sales event request.

Not maybe. Not "let me see what I can do."

Just no.

"I need to focus on the product launch campaign. That's what'll actually drive pipeline this quarter."

The silence on that call was deafening.

But you know what?

The product launch crushed it.
We hit 127% of our pipeline target.
And suddenly, sales wasn't asking for random stuff anymore.

They were asking what I thought we should do.

Turns out being selective isn't selfish.
It's strategic.

Being intentional isn't lazy.
It's leadership.

And saying no isn't career suicide.
It's the only way to say yes to what actually matters.

These days, I work with multiple clients.
I protect my time like it's worth something.
Because it is.

And nobody calls me reliable anymore.

They call me effective.

That's the difference.

My 7-year-old just asked me what I do for work.

"I help companies tell better stories," I said.

She thought for a second.

"So you lie?"

I almost spit out my coffee.

"No, I help them explain things better."

"But if they need help explaining, maybe they're not doing good things."

Damn.

She's 7.

And she just nailed what's wrong with 90% of B2B marketing.

We've gotten so good at "storytelling" that we forgot the part where you need something real to talk about.

I see it everywhere:

➜ The startup with 3 customers and "market-leading" positioning
➜ The enterprise software that's "revolutionizing" manual data entry
➜ The consulting firm that's "transforming businesses" by running the same playbook from 2015

My daughter's right.

If you need a storyteller to make your product sound good, maybe the problem isn't the story.

Maybe it's the product.

The best marketing I've ever done?

It was for companies that solved real problems.

No gymnastics required.

Just clarity.

"We help sales teams follow their CRM processes" beats "We're democratizing revenue intelligence through AI-powered workflow optimization."

Every time.

Kids see through the BS because they haven't learned to be polite about it yet.

Maybe we should hire more 7-year-olds as consultants.

Or just remember what it was like to think that clearly.

Honest out-of-office messages we all want to send:

What I write:
"I'm out of office until Monday. For urgent matters, please contact..."

What I want to write:
"I'm not checking email. Neither are you. We both know this isn't urgent."

---

What I write:
"Thank you for your message. I'll respond when I return."

What I want to write:
"Bold of you to email me at 4:47pm on a Friday."

---

What I write:
"I'm currently traveling with limited access to email."

What I want to write:
"I have full access. I'm just choosing my kids over your 'quick question.'"

---

What I write:
"For immediate assistance, please reach out to my colleague."

What I want to write:
"For immediate assistance, please figure it out yourself like an adult."

---

What I write:
"I'll be back in the office Monday, November 18th."

What I want to write:
"I'll be back Monday. But emotionally? Tuesday afternoon at best."

---

We spend so much time crafting polite lies.

When really, we all just want boundaries that stick.

Happy Friday & enjoy the weekend. 

Turn on that OOO.

And actually mean it this time.

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

I've been tracking LinkedIn DM patterns for 6 years.

Not the exact numbers. But the weird behaviors people have before reaching out.

Like this guy who DMd me last week. Says he's been following me since early 2020.

Since I started posting basically.

Never liked a post. Never commented. Nothing.

Just... watching. For almost 5 years.

Then my random post about being useless despite being the CMO's favorite? That's what made him reach out.

Not my frameworks. Not my playbooks. Not the stuff I spent hours on.

The throwaway post I wrote in 10 minutes while annoyed.

"This is exactly my situation. Can we talk?"

This happens constantly.

I'll post about some GTM thing and get a DM about something completely different.

"Saw your post about ABM. BTW we need help with our entire marketing org. You available?"

Or my favorite:

"I never do this but I've been reading your stuff for like 3 years and we just fired our agency and I'm desperate."

I never do this but...

Dude, you're literally doing the thing LinkedIn was built for. Connecting with people who might help your business.

But we've made it weird somehow.

People feel guilty about reaching out. Like they're bothering me by potentially paying me money to solve their problems.

Meanwhile I'm over here specifically putting "DM me" in my headline.

The wild part is what actually triggers the DM.

It's never the post I think will drive business.

The post with 3 reactions where I admit I don't know something? Five DMs.

The post with hundreds of reactions about some framework? Cricket sounds.

Because people don't hire frameworks.

They hire humans who get their specific mess.

And they need to trust you first. Which apparently takes watching you show up for years before they work up the courage to type "hey."

Some lurker reading this has been following me since 2021. Has my posts saved. Thinks about reaching out every few weeks.

But doesn't.

Because... I don't know why actually.

Fear? Timing? Waiting for permission?

Look, half my business comes from people who finally said "screw it" and sent the DM they'd been thinking about for months.

The other half comes from people who responded to my DMs checking in on them.

That's it. That's the whole business model.

Show up. Share what's real. Stay consistent.

Eventually the right people reach out.

Not because you're the best.

But because you're the one they trust.

And trust takes time. Like, way more time than you think.

But it's worth it.

Because when someone's been watching you for 4 years, they don't need convincing.

They just need to know you're available.

I never took a GTM course. Here's my free 17-point playbook:

Spent $0 on certifications.
Made every mistake possible.
Built GTM strategies for 50+ B2B companies.

These aren't theories. They're scars.

**THE FOUNDATION (Before You Burn Cash)**

1. Your ICP isn't "everyone who could buy." It's the 20% who buy fast and stay forever.

2. Product-market fit is binary. You either have people begging for your solution or you don't. Stop pretending maybes are yeses.

3. If sales and marketing hate each other, you don't have a GTM strategy. You have two departments playing different sports.

**THE REALITY CHECK**

4. Your competition isn't who you think. It's Excel, email, and "doing nothing."

5. Nobody cares about your features. They care about their Monday morning problems.

6. "We're like Uber for X" isn't positioning. It's lazy.

7. Your pricing model reveals your strategy. Complicated pricing = confused strategy.

**THE EXECUTION**

8. Week 1 pipeline matters more than Year 1 projections. Start with 10 target accounts, not 10,000.

9. Your first 10 customers should come from founders selling. Not SDRs. Not ads. Founders.

10. One channel that works beats five channels that might work. Pick. Focus. Double down.

11. Content without distribution is a diary entry. Distribution without content is spam. You need both.

**THE HARD TRUTHS**

12. If your CAC payback is over 12 months in B2B, you're running a charity.

13. "Enterprise ready" is what you say when you can't close SMBs.

14. Your GTM motion should be boring. Boring scales. Clever dies.

**THE MULTIPLIERS**

15. Customer success is GTM. Your best leads come from happy customers, not cold outreach.

16. Speed beats perfection. A decent strategy today beats a perfect strategy next quarter.

17. Fire fast. Hire slow. The wrong GTM hire costs you 6-9 months, not just their salary.

**The Meta-Lesson:**

GTM isn't about frameworks or methodologies.

It's about talking to customers until your ears bleed.
Then building exactly what they're already trying to buy.

Everything else is just noise.

Save your $5K course money.
Spend it on plane tickets to visit customers instead.

That's the only GTM education that matters.

Why I turn down $20K/month retainers.

Sounds insane, right?

But I've learned something after taking on too many big-ticket clients who weren't ready to change.

Money doesn't fix misalignment.

I used to chase every high-value deal. Someone waves $20K/month in front of you, you take it. That's just math.

Except it's not.

Because what they're really buying is someone to blame when nothing changes.

They want you to own their problems without giving you the power to fix them. They need board deck fodder. A line item that shows they're "doing something" about their broken GTM.

Meanwhile you're writing strategies nobody reads. Running workshops nobody implements. Sending Slack messages into the void.

I spent six months doing this once. Made great money. Delivered zero impact.

Know what that does to you?

Makes you feel like a fraud.

Because you are one.

You're not doing marketing. You're just billing hours.

These days I'm brutal about qualification.

Not "do they have budget?"

But "will they actually do the work?"

Big difference.

The clients I work with now pay less. But every single week something ships. Something changes. Something moves forward.

Real campaigns launch. Real pipeline gets built. Real revenue happens.

I can point to actual stuff that happened because I showed up and did the work.

Not strategy decks. Not frameworks. Not advisory hours.

Just marketing that works.

That's worth more than any retainer.

I'm a marketer. I do marketing. If you're not ready for someone to actually get in your HubSpot and build things, I'm not your guy.

Even if you're waving $20K/month at me.

Your best business development strategy isn't saying yes to everything.

It's saying no to the wrong things.

Especially when they pay well.

Had a client burning $50K/month targeting enterprise companies.

Zero pipeline.

I made them pull their last 20 closed deals from their CRM.

Not a single enterprise logo. Not one.

Their biggest deal? 200-person startup that just raised Series B.
Their fastest close? Another Series B.
Their only renewal? Also Series B.

But they're out here cosplaying enterprise sales. Writing 60-page RFP responses for companies that'll never buy. Running campaigns targeting Fortune 500 VPs who don't know they exist.

Meanwhile Series B companies are literally begging for their solution.

Here's exactly how to find your real ICP:

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 1: 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 20-30 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘀

Pull this data:
- Company name
- Employee count (from their website, not LinkedIn)
- Industry
- Actual title of person who signed
- Title of your main champion
- What triggered them to look for a solution
- Days from first touch to close
- Deal size

Dump it in a spreadsheet. Takes 2 hours max.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 2: 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲

For this client, 75% of revenue came from companies 6-12 months post-Series B.

Why? That's when they hire their first real marketing ops person. That person walks in, sees the duct tape and prayers tech stack, and immediately starts googling solutions.

Every. Single. Time.

The marketing ops person was the champion. Their VP was the signer. The trigger was always the Series B.

That's an ICP. Specific. Repeatable. Real.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 3: 𝗥𝗲𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵

We killed their enterprise campaigns. All of them.

Instead:
- Built a list of every Series B from the last 12 months (Crunchbase export)
- Found the marketing ops person at each one (Sales Navigator)
- Created content about "scaling marketing ops post-Series B"
- Ran 20-person dinners called "The Series B Marketing Ops Survival Guide"
- SDRs only called these exact people

No spray and pray. Just laser focus on who actually buys.

Four months later: $1.2M in pipeline from Series B companies.

Your ICP isn't who you want to sell to.

It's who actually gives you money.

Big difference.

Most of you are chasing logos that'll never buy while ignoring the ones desperately trying to give you money.

This week I'm breaking down the five fundamentals everyone gets wrong.

Today was ICP. Tomorrow: Why your events are just burning cash.

Then webinars people actually show up for, ABM that drives pipeline, and influencer programs that aren't just gifting and praying.

Real stuff from real client work.

Save this. Do the exercise. Pull your last 20 deals tomorrow morning.

I guarantee you're selling to someone you didn't expect.

And ignoring the ones who actually need you.

When Mark decided to go back in-house after 2 years building TACK together, I understood completely.

Great opportunity. Perfect timing for him.

We'd built something incredible together. Amazing clients. Solid reputation.

But now I had a choice.

Find another partner.
Join a company.
Or bet on myself.

For about 48 hours, I wasn't sure which way to go.

Then the emails started coming in.

"Hey, we'd love to keep working with you."

"Can we continue our engagement?"

"When can you start with us?"

The clients wanted to continue.

With me.

That vote of confidence changed everything.

See, when you're part of a great partnership (and Mark was the best partner I could've asked for), you sometimes forget your individual value.

You credit the success to the team.
The synergy.
The combination.

Which is usually right.

But transitions force you to rediscover what you bring to the table.

Not better. Not worse.

Just different.

I see so many people stuck because they're waiting for perfect conditions:

➜ The ideal co-founder
➜ The complete team  
➜ The right moment

But sometimes growth comes from unexpected transitions.

Mark going back in-house wasn't an ending.

It was two new beginnings.

Him crushing it in his new role.
Me discovering I could build something solo.

Both paths equally valid.
Both of us winning in different ways.

Six months later, we both made the right choice.

He's killing it in-house.
I'm busier than ever solo.

And we still talk and share wins.

Because great partnerships don't have to last forever to be successful.

Sometimes they're meant to launch you toward what's next.

And that transition you're scared of?

Might be exactly what you both need.

8 things I'm thankful for this year:

1. Clients who don't need 62 slides to make a decision.

The ones who've been reading my stuff for years and just want to get started. No discovery deck. No stakeholder alignment. Just people who trust me to fix their broken GTM.

2. My 4pm hard stop.

Three kids who don't care about my pipeline metrics. They just want snacks and someone to blame for the mess they definitely didn't make.

Best daily reminder that none of this matters as much as we pretend it does.

3. Building something my kids can be proud of.

I grew up watching my parents grind themselves into the ground. 60-hour weeks were normal. Being present was optional.

My kids see me close the laptop at 4. They see me say no to calls during dinner. They see work has boundaries.

That's the real legacy I'm building.

4. The lurkers.

55,000 followers. Maybe 200 who actually comment. The rest of you have been here since 2020. Just... watching.

You're weird. But you're my weird. And half my business comes from you finally DMing after 3 years.

5. Bad clients who taught me good lessons.

The ones who wanted me to own their problems without power to fix them. Who paid well but made me feel like a fraud.

They taught me that $20K/month from the wrong client costs more than it pays.

6. Constraints that forced clarity.

Not having unlimited budget. Or time. Or resources. Because when you can't do everything, you get brilliant at the right things.

My best work happens before 4pm. Because it has to.

7. Actually doing marketing.

Not strategy decks. Not frameworks. Just stuff that ships and drives pipeline.

With people who get that simple beats complex. That done beats perfect. That showing up beats showing off.

8. Teaching my kids that success isn't about the hustle.

It's about knowing when to close the laptop. When to say no. When enough is enough.

Working from home means they see it all. The wins, the frustrations, the actual work. But mostly they see that dad's office door opens at 4pm. Every day.

Maybe they'll grow up thinking balance is normal. Not something you figure out after burning out three times.

That'd be worth more than any exit.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone trying to build something better than what we inherited.

For our kids. For ourselves. For the people counting on us to show up as whole humans, not just productivity machines.

We made it. Somehow.

Client spent $300K on events last year.

Zero attribution. Zero process. Zero idea what worked.

Just vibes and prayer.

They'd show up, scan badges, ship leads to sales, then move on to the next event.

Sales would call once, maybe twice. Mark them as "bad timing" in the CRM.

Rinse and repeat every quarter.

Meanwhile the CMO's asking why events don't drive pipeline.

Because you don't have an event system. You have an event habit.

Here's the actual system we built that fixed it:

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 1: 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀

Forget the 28 page strategy deck collecting dust.

We put everything on a single Notion page:
- Sarah owns pre-event outreach
- Mike owns day-of meetings  
- Jennifer owns follow-up
- We only talk about [one specific problem] this quarter
- Success = meetings booked, not badges scanned

That's it. Everyone knows their job.

First event with this system? 3x the pipeline. Same event as last year. Same budget. Just clarity on who does what.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 2: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 30-60-90 𝗺𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝘁𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳

30 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲:
Sales picks 20 dream accounts. Not 200. Twenty.
Marketing makes something useful for those 20.
SDRs actually reach out to humans at those companies.
Book coffee chats. Real ones.

𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗳:
Skip the booth shifts. Take the meetings you booked.
Write down what they actually said. Not "good convo."
Connect on LinkedIn while you're literally still talking.
Lock in next steps before they leave.

𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 (𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀):
Week 1: Send them the video you promised
Week 2: Send content about their actual problem
Week 3: CEO reaches out if they ghosted
Week 4: Either they're in pipeline or they're not

60 days later: Check what actually happened
90 days later: Decide if we're doing this again

Most teams are already planning the next event by day 3. That's why nothing ever improves.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 3: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 (𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴)

Q1: Run this system for 2 events. Document everything.
Q2: Run it for 4 events. Same playbook.
Q3: Run it for 8 events. Train someone else to own it.
Q4: You're running 12+ events with the same system.

We took a client from 4 events to 24 events using this exact process.

Didn't hire anyone new. Didn't buy fancy software. Just ran the same plays over and over.

Year 1: $800K spend, $400K pipeline
Year 2: $800K spend, $3.2M pipeline (same 8 events)
Year 3: $1.2M spend, $7.1M pipeline (scaled to 24 events)

The math is stupid but it works.

Because once you have a system, you just... run it more.

Your problem isn't that events don't work.

It's that you're starting from scratch every damn time.

This week I'm fixing the fundamentals everyone screws up.

Yesterday was ICP. Today was events. Tomorrow: Webinars people actually watch.

Try this for your next event. One playbook. 20 accounts. Actual follow-up.

Watch what happens when you stop winging it.

I hired someone from Google once. They lasted 3 months.

Not because they were bad.

Because I hired a logo instead of a marketer.

Here's the thing about hiring:

Most companies get starstruck by the wrong stuff.

They see "Ex-Meta" or "10 years in SaaS" and stop thinking.

Like those brands are some guarantee of performance.

They're not.

I've made every hiring mistake possible. 
Hired for pedigree. Hired for industry experience. Hired for culture fit.

And missed the only things that actually matter.

Here's what I look for now:

➜ Show me what you shipped, not where you worked
I don't care if you were at Amazon.
I care what you actually built there.

One candidate showed me a campaign that generated $2M in pipeline.
At a 50-person startup nobody heard of.

Guess who got the job.

➜ Tell me about a time you had no budget
Big company marketers often struggle at startups.

Why?

They're used to throwing money at problems.

The best marketers I know can drive results with $500 and some duct tape.

If they've never had to get scrappy, they'll struggle when resources get tight.

➜ Walk me through your biggest failure
Not the humble brag version.
The real one.

The campaign that tanked.
The strategy that backfired.
The budget you burned.

Then tell me what you learned.

Because marketers who've never failed hard haven't pushed hard enough.

➜ Show me how you think, not what you know
I gave every candidate the same exercise (paid ofc lol because it's silly to require people to do unpaid work):

"Our pipeline is down 30%. You have 90 days and $50K. What's your plan?"

The best answers aren't perfect.
They're thoughtful.

They ask smart questions.
They challenge assumptions.
They think in systems, not tactics.

➜ Prove you can move fast
Marketing moves at startup speed now.

Even at big companies.

If someone needs 6 meetings to make a decision, they're dead weight.

I look for people who shipped something last week.
Not last quarter.

The harsh truth?

Your industry experience is overrated.
Your big company background might be a liability.
Your certifications mean nothing if you can't ship.

What matters:

Results you can prove.
Problems you've solved.
Speed you can sustain.

Stop hiring resumes.

Start hiring proof.

20 year reunion tonight. Class of 2005.

We're old AF.

20 things from high school (2001-2005) my kids will never understand:

1. Burning the perfect mix CD. 3 hours for 18 songs to flow just right.

2. Your AIM away message being your entire personality. ~𝘉𝘳𝘉 𝘨𝘖𝘪𝘕𝘨 2 𝘵𝘏𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘓𝘓~

3. Waiting for your crush to sign on. That door opening sound still hits different.

4. Calling someones house and asking their parents if they were home. Pure terror.

5. T9 texting under your desk. Typing hey without looking: 4-4-3-3-9-9-9.

6. Racing home to catch TRL. Voting 100 times to keep your video at #1.

7. Downloading one song on Limewire. Three hours later: definitely wasnt a virus.

8. Your MySpace Top 8 causing actual drama. Moving someone from spot 3 to spot 7 = social murder.

9. Disposable cameras at school dances. Wait a week to see if any photos turned out. They didnt.

10. MapQuest directions printed out. Miss one turn and youre lost forever.

11. Blockbuster Friday nights. All the good movies gone.

12. Wearing your basketball shorts over your regular shorts. Fashion genius.

13. Popped collars. Sometimes two at once. Dark times.

14. CD player skipping every bump. AA batteries were currency.

15. Passing notes folded into impossible origami footballs.

16. LiveJournal posts that were just public therapy sessions.

17. Recording songs off the radio. DJ talking over the intro ruined EVERYTHING.

18. Razr flip phones. That satisfying SNAP when you hung up.

19. Facebook requiring a college email. So exclusive.

20. Actually wondering what people were up to. No updates. Just mystery.

My oldest thinks Im ancient.

Wait you couldnt just text them?
You had to REWIND movies?
The internet made noise?

They'll never know getting kicked offline because mom needed the phone.

Or fitting your whole life into 160 characters.

Or memorizing every word to that Eminem song because what else was there to do.

Tonight I'll see people I havent talked to since we thought Xanga was the future.

We'll pretend we havent been Facebook stalking for 15 years.

Someone will bring up that kid who burned a CD of just Who Let the Dogs Out 18 times.

We'll feel old as hell.

But man. Those were good times.

When social media meant writing on someones actual wall with a Sharpie.

When going viral meant everyone in third period knew by lunch.

When you had to actually show up to know what happened.

Class of 2005, we made it.

Even if our backs hurt now and we're in bed by 10.

No alternative text description for this image

Salary transparency will always be more powerful than salary negotiation.

Because it fixes the real problem.

Most people don’t know what they should be making.

They’re not choosing lowball offers because they’re bad negotiators.

They’re choosing them because nobody ever told them the truth.

And in a professional world where silence gets called maturity…
A lot of people stay stuck way longer than they should.

I remember the first time someone told me I was underpaid.

Not in a vague way. Not in a hint.

They gave me the exact number I should have been making.

And I didn’t get defensive. I got clarity.

Within six months, I was earning closer to what I was worth.

All because someone decided to be honest.

That’s the thing about transparency.

It doesn’t need a stage or a strategy.

It just needs someone to speak up.

Because you never know who’s quietly trying to figure it out on their own.

And you never know how much impact a single nudge could have.

If you’ve worked in tech for more than a few years, you’ve probably seen it.

The person who is brilliant but underpaid.

The team that gets away with paying everyone differently for the same job.

The job description that sounds fair until you talk to someone already doing the work.

These gaps exist everywhere.

And most of them stay hidden… unless someone speaks up.

That doesn’t mean you have to put your W2 on LinkedIn.

But it does mean thinking twice before calling it unprofessional to talk numbers.

Because transparency isn’t drama.

It’s protection.

It’s how people make informed decisions.

And in a world that keeps getting more confusing… clarity is a gift.

B2B Marketing Leader & Advisor | Author | GTM, ABM, and Events That Actually Convert

7-year-olds can be savages.

My daughter brought these to school the day after Halloween.
Said they were Skittles.

One kid laughed.
Another told her they weren’t real.
A third said, “those look fake.”

She didn’t cry.
She didn’t run to the teacher.
She looked them dead in the eye and said:
“You’re not eating it, so why do you care?”

➜ She’s 7.

Here’s some context:
My wife and I eat a little different.
Not fully paleo or vegan or any of that.
We just try to cut processed stuff when we can.

So when Halloween came, we let her trick-or-treat.
Then we let her “trade in” her candy.
She got some better swaps, like these organic Giggles.

She was proud.
She thought they tasted good.
But kids don’t care about that.
They care about what’s familiar.
What’s in the commercials.
What comes in the shiny brand-name wrappers.

And anything outside that bubble?
They will absolutely torch.

➜ Kids are honest
➜ Kids are observant
➜ And sometimes, kids are cruel

I’ve got nothing profound to say here.
Just that I felt bad watching her go through that.
Because I know what it’s like to feel othered.

You want to protect your kids.
You want them to fit in.
But you also want them to learn how to hold their ground.

And she did.
She stood there, toe-to-toe with her peers.
Didn’t fold.
Didn’t apologize.

That’s the kind of kid we’re trying to raise.

Strong.
Not loud.
Not mean.
But solid in who she is.

No matter what the label on the candy bag says.

I measured 47,000 impressions on a campaign once. My CFO asked me how much revenue it drove.

I had no idea.

That question haunted me for weeks.

Because I'd spent three months obsessing over every metric except the one that mattered.

Click-through rates? Tracked them.
Engagement scores? Built a whole dashboard.
Brand lift? Had the surveys to prove it.
Pipeline impact? 🦗

I thought I was being data-driven.

Turns out I was just being busy.

Here's what nobody told me early in my career:

The best marketers ignore most metrics.

Not because they're lazy.
Because they're focused.

They pick 2-3 numbers that actually connect to revenue:
➜ Qualified pipeline generated
➜ Deal velocity improvement  
➜ Customer acquisition cost

Everything else? It's just noise dressed up as insight.

I learned this the hard way during a board meeting.

The CEO pulled up our marketing metrics.
Pages and pages of green arrows pointing up.

"Great," he said. "So why is revenue flat?"

The room went silent.

That's when it clicked.

We'd built an entire reporting system around making ourselves look good.
Not around making the business grow.

The next quarter, I killed 80% of our dashboards.

Focused everything on pipeline contribution.
Made every campaign defend its existence with a revenue number.
Stopped celebrating vanity wins.

My team hated it at first.

"But what about brand awareness?"
"What about engagement?"
"What about our social metrics?"

Valid questions. Wrong priority.

Because here's the truth:

You can't deposit impressions.
You can't pay bills with engagement.
You can't grow a business on vanity metrics.

These days, when someone shows me a marketing report, I ask one question:

"How much revenue did this drive?"

If they can't answer, we're having the wrong conversation.

That CFO who stumped me years ago?
He did me a favor.

He taught me that being data-driven isn't about measuring everything.

It's about measuring what matters.

And what matters is what moves the business forward.

Not what makes marketing look smart.

389% engagement spike in 7 days.

People aren't just reading anymore.

They're saving. They're sending.

438 saves this week.
107 sends to colleagues.

You know what that tells me?

People don't save your frameworks.
They save your truth.

For a while, I played it safe on LinkedIn.

Professional insights. Marketing wisdom. Business advice that sounded smart.

Technically correct content that nobody remembered 5 minutes later.

Then I stopped writing for LinkedIn.

Started writing for humans.

My daughter calling me out for "lying" at work?
People saved that.

Admitting I was the CMO's favorite but completely useless?
People sent that to their teams.

The OOO messages we actually want to send?
People screenshot that.

Because they saw themselves in it.

The old way was comfortable.

Drop a case study. Share some metrics. Post a framework.

Nobody gets fired for that content.

But nobody remembers it either.

The new way feels exposed.

Shorter paragraphs that breathe.

Details that make it real. "4:47pm on a Friday." "$500 on coffee cards." "Organic Giggles."

Stories that start with tension, not teaching.

And most importantly:

Showing the mess, not just the lesson.

Because people don't connect with your polish.

They connect with your problems.

That 389% jump?

It's not because I became a better marketer.

It's because I became a worse robot.

And apparently, that's exactly what people needed to see.

We had every data signal imaginable. Our SDRs still couldn't book meetings.

CRM data? Check.
Intent signals? Check.
Usage analytics? Check.
Social activity feeds? Check.

47 different data sources telling us who to target.

Zero clarity on what to actually say to them.

One rep literally had 14 tabs open trying to piece together a single outreach message.

For a $250K opportunity.

Took him 37 minutes to write 4 sentences.

The prospect never responded.

I couldn't blame him.

We'd given him data overload, not intelligence.

So we built something different.

Fed all those signals into one AI model trained on:
- Our exact ICP parameters (not generic B2B)
- Our specific value props by persona
- Our actual customer language from closed-won deals

Now when a signal fires:

AI generates the message in 8 seconds.
Not generic "I noticed you visited our website" garbage.
But "Saw your team just expanded by 40% - that usually means [specific challenge we solve]."

Personalized to their exact moment.
In our voice.
Through their preferred channel.

Old way: 37 minutes per message. 2% reply rate.
New way: 8 seconds per message. 18% reply rate.

Our SDRs went from sending 15 messages a day to 150.

With 9x better response rates.

Not because they got better at writing.

Because we stopped making them cosplay as data scientists.

The truth about AI in GTM?

Generic AI is worthless.
"Personalization at scale" is an oxymoron.

But AI trained on YOUR:
- ICP patterns
- Messaging frameworks  
- Customer language
- Conversion data

That's not artificial intelligence.

That's amplified intelligence.

And it's exactly what Common Room enables with RoomieAI Spark.

Your data. Your voice. Your way.

Not another generic AI tool.

A GTM motion that actually sounds like you.

Just 100x faster.

#CommonRoomPartner

If your calendar’s always packed, that’s not a flex. It’s a red flag.

Most marketers I know feel like they’re sprinting all the time.

Back-to-back calls. Last-minute requests. A million to-dos.

And somehow… still feeling behind.

I used to think that was just part of the job.

Like, “Well yeah, of course I’m drowning. That means I’m valuable.”

Nope. Turns out I was just distracted.

Here’s what changed everything:

I wrote a strategy doc.

Not a giant 20-pager.

Just a simple one:
→ What we’re saying
→ Who we’re saying it to
→ Where we’re saying it

That was it.

Suddenly, I could spot the junk work.

And say no without guilt.

The busy days got lighter. The needle-movers got louder. Pipeline finally started to grow.

Here’s the part nobody tells you:

Strategy isn’t the fancy thing you do after the real work.

It is the real work.

You don’t need more hours.

You need more clarity.

Having 3 kids completely changed how I work.

And doubled my output.

Every day at 4pm, I close my laptop.

Childcare ends. Three kids. Just how it worked out.

You'd think that would limit what I could build.

Instead, I'm working on the best projects of my career.

Here's what nobody tells you about constraints: They don't shrink your impact. They multiply it.

Before kids: I was the guy who'd take any meeting. 7am? Sure. 6pm on Friday? Why not. Weekend strategy session? I'll bring coffee.

Now: 4pm hard stop.

No explanation. No apology.

Just "Gotta run."

You know what happened?

I started shipping twice as much.

Because those constraints forced me to figure out what actually drives results.

Used to spend 3 hours going back and forth on a strategy doc. Now I write it in one pass and ship it. Done.

That "let's brainstorm" meeting that always ran over? Killed it. Send me your ideas in Slack. I'll tell you which ones we're doing.

Those "quick syncs" everyone loves? Dead. If it's not worth a real meeting, it's an email.

Actually, it's probably not even an email.

I work on more interesting projects now than I ever did with unlimited time.

Why?

Because I can't afford to waste a single hour on nonsense.

No politics. No process for process sake. No meetings about meetings.

Just pure execution on stuff that matters.

Maybe once or twice a week I'll jump back online at 9pm after bedtime. Handle whatever needs handling. Usually takes 30 minutes.

But that's strategic, not reactive.

My clients don't hire me for my availability.

They hire me for my clarity.

When you work till 4 you get crystal clear on what moves the needle.

When you can't do everything, you get brilliant at the right things.

I'm working with companies I couldn't have dreamed of two years ago.

Building strategies that actually ship.
Creating content that drives real pipeline.
Fixing GTM problems everyone else just talks about.

All before 4pm.

Because at 4pm sharp, someone needs a snack, someone needs homework help, and someone definitely needs a bath because... I don't even know what that is on their face.

And honestly?

That mystery substance is usually the highlight of my day.

The old me thought success meant being always on. Thought I was crushing it because I answered Slacks at 10pm.

What was I even doing?

The new me knows success means being fully present.

Present for the work that matters.
Present for the people who matter.

No overlap. No guilt. No compromise.

Okay, sometimes guilt. Like when I'm on a call and hear absolute chaos upstairs. But whatever.

Having 3 kids didn't limit my career.

It taught me what a career should actually look like.

And it looks nothing like what I thought it would.

AudienceLed

112 experts interviewed and counting. 1082 pieces of content created and counting. 10 brands helped and counting. Building networks of trust for our. clients. We help teams go-to-market WITH their market. No one wants another AI-slop SEO blog post written by non-experts. Buyers want to hear from the exact people they trust. That's the brands, people, and places they listen to, transact and engage with daily. 

Our offer? A done-for-you service to generate demand and build fast-converting pipeline. We execute multiple expert-led campaigns deployed into your existing marketing systems, with additional distribution with and through third-parties.

We also help scale community & user generated content and throw events with the ecosystem.

DM me to learn more. 

And watch me change the way the industry looks at go-to-market in a paradigm shift, all while doing it ourselves.

Co-Founder & Chief Partner Officer

BD Paths

I help companies orchestrate their ecosystems with better partner operations. But... not all partners are made the same.

"We are hitting target but don't know how to scale" is too common. Become profitable by aligning partner types to the core revenue metrics within your business.

I am only taking on one other client, so DM me to see if there is availability.

Partnership Leaders

Member

nearbound.com

Getting Nearbound into the dictionary and distributing through network effects like no tomorrow. Nearbound sales + marketing will revolutionize the way you do business.

This section was post-acquisition of www.partnerhacker.com by www.Reveal.co where we rebranded to www.nearbound.com.

Director of Strategic Partnerships

*First hire as Head of Partnerships

- Supported key relationships that resulted in an acquisition in record time for a media company.
- Executed on ~$1million in sponsorship programs including communications, debriefs, reporting, engaging key stakeholders, and relationship management.
- Lead all project management for sponsorship programs resulting in over 1,000,000 impressions and 10,829 leads for our partners.
- Created a category for technology through marketing strategies related to brand, media, social, networking, partnerships, nearbound, and guerrilla tactics.
- Coordinated multiple internal stakeholders with clear tasks of who does what and by when, following DARCI models.
- Evangelized the nearbound category, partnerships, brands, our partners and sponsors all through content creation including social, long-form, short-form, video, audio, and event related content.

nearbound.com is the #1 source of clarity & guidance, news & journalism, opinion, and connection during the paradigm shift in B2B.

I made this a reality alongside our partners and peers. They all deserve a BIG thank you in these efforts.

Subscribe to the Nearbound Daily to get your PhD in partnerships :)

It's time to PartnerUp.

Director of Partnerships

Reveal

At Reveal I manage ISV partner relationships, as well as using nearbound strategies to get what matters most done: delivering value to the clients to ultimately drive more revenue.

I work with other tech vendors, consultants, and influencers in order to deploy partnerships expertise and value to our clients. We run referral, co-sell, and influence campaigns focused on educating and enabling the ecosystem.

Reach me at wtaylor@reveal.co if you'd like to partner with Reveal or want to learn more about nearbound.

Head of Partnerships

RevGenius

Uvaro

*First guest instructor, helped build the process for effective external instructor contracting and communications.

I believe in life-long learning and empowering others to become their best self - I am proud to participate in, and present during, internal + external events for Uvaro students. These events include demo days, in-class speaking engagements, and instructional sessions.

Some background on Uvaro:

The technology sector needs 250,000 new sales professionals, and our colleges and universities aren’t training them on all practical pieces. Uvaro is building a different type of education system - one that is focused on the objective of preparing students for a career in the talent-hungry tech industry. Simply put, Uvaro has created a better way to grow sales careers in tech.

Guest Instructor

Mailshake

*First and only partnerships hire

At Mailshake, I built the partnership program from the ground up. Here's a list of all things accomplished during my time with the team:

Partnerships:
- Engaged elite brands to get Mailshake a "seat at the cool kids' table"
- Achieved 135% of partner sourced revenue quota for Q1 2022
- Started strategic partnerships that filled gaps in client needs
- Guided integration partners in a "big fish:small fish" dynamic
- Aligned upsell initiatives with partner efforts
- Spent $0 on sponsorships

Business enrichment:
- Built the process for webinars + events from the ground up
- Created a sales playbook for marketing <> sales webinar handoff 
- Trained sales team to adopt and utilize video
- Coached sales team on how to capitalize on prospects warmed by marketing efforts
- Developed first iteration of ICP that aided in direction setting

Became a marketer:
- Executed on various marketing functions with no prior experience:
-- Drip campaigns, webinars, landing page development, social branding, a large summit event, affiliate marketing, SEO + backlink fundamentals, & creative content ideas

Director of Partner Marketing

Vidyard

*First Partner Enablement hire

Milestones:
- Increased partner retention by 70%
- Doubled total agency program revenue over 6 months through enablement initiatives
--- Revenue from partner program flipped from 20% partner-sourced clients and 80% partners to 80% clients and 20% partners.
- Partners are ready to sell services in 60-120 days

Day-to-day:
- Managed 120+ partner accounts ranging from co-sell agencies, referral partners, and technical partners
- Created training resources & co-sell models for partners, partner managers, and internal team
- Established end-to-end partner launch for more successful onboarding + enablement
- Developed a new certification that fast-tracked partner adoption, go-to-market readiness, and aligned better with overall company growth goals
- Built a partner directory for continued refer-back opportunities
- Launched PRM software + integrated into existing systems

Partner Enablement Manager

Bonfire Interactive

- "Municipal Rep of the Year, 2019" - closed highest ARR on immediate team during my first year of ever being an Account Executive
- Closed largest major city (by population) in company history
- Managed the largest multi-year contract upsell in company history, resulting in 2x ARR and a 12x TCV
- Oversaw 20 States in my territory, responsible for fully-operating my own opportunity generation
- Engaged with multiple C-Level executive roles to build relationships and ensure a strong business case to close business

- Maintained relationships with influencers in industry, ranging from large accounts, presidents of associations, educational experts, and those with a loud voice in the market
- Partnered with a BDR and was responsible to set prospecting strategies and provide ongoing mentorship as we prospected this patch together
- Regularly met with marketing to collaborate on national programs, local programs, travel programs, conference programs, and provide feedback
- Coordinated new approaches in selling to different personas, fast-tracking and increasing the success rate of sales cycles
- Pioneered cross-selling initiatives with sister companies to not only leverage relationships, but create strategic plans on how to facilitate an even stronger business case

Account Executive

*First BDR hire

- Developed 102 new opportunities worth $1,836,000 USD in pipeline, leading the BDR team in pipe and opportunity generation 
- Overachieved on quota (115%) and was thus moved from supporting a single rep on the commercial team, to three on the public team 
- Engaged with multiple different C-Level executives (CFOs, CIOs, CPOs) in both the private and public sectors 
- Trained and managed ongoing performance of team members, helping to onboard, create training materials, and conducting interviews to qualify potential hires

Business Development Representative

I make partnerships profitable with RevOps, sales signals & tactical playbooks • Advisor • Buyer alignment, signal selling, and partnerships • Tech stack recommendations • Stop selling on hard mode

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, brands, and 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 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 🤝

(5/30) Find who your buyers trust: A lost art in marketing 👉 a growing need in intelligent GTM. An in-depth tutorial. A no B.S. tactical content series:

Buyers trust people, not brands.

Here are 3 simplified spheres of influence:

1) Product-know-how
𝐖𝐡𝐨: Customers & agencies
𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞: Peer groups, socials
𝐖𝐡𝐲: Literally the buyer or helping the buyer implement the tech and see results
𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡: Very high
𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡: Relatively low (usually)

2) Product-adjacent
𝐖𝐡𝐨: Technology partners, analysts, bloggers/list makers
𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞: Socials, web, events, newsletters
𝐖𝐡𝐲: Hands-on technical knowledge (general), problem and market aware, generally solution aware
𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡: Medium-to-high
𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡: High

3) Product-aware
𝐖𝐡𝐨: Influencers, complementary tech, podcasts & media sponsorships
𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞: Socials, web, events, newsletters, podcasts, Slack communities
𝐖𝐡𝐲: Hands-on technical
𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡: Low-to-medium
𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡: Very high

Here are 3 ways we help clients find these 3 spheres of influence & where buyers spend time:

1) ICP attention analysis
- Are they tech-savvy & on LinkedIn? Or do they read legacy publications?
- Identified by actual volume of activity and/or traffic
- Use social analysis of actual engagement + volume of influencers
- Find the volume of in-person events
- Identify traffic sources (Google Analytics, ahrefs, Semrush, etc.)

Example: Cybersecurity is active on LinkedIn and X, but much more in-person events. Sales&marketing is VERY active on LinkedIn (not really X)

2) Market analysis
- Who are all the vendors in the space? How are they identified? Are there categories? Where does your company fall?
- A simple way to do this: Ask "What is the 'buying river' for our buyers? What do they buy before or after what we solve for?"
- There is a causal chain based on where you fit in the function you serve, so identify what "surrounds" your product... then you have a list of who your buyer likely already transacts with

Example: If you are Hubspot you're likely purchased first... then you need a document signing tool as you get more sales... etc.

💡 Hubspot got ahead here because of the help of Scott Brinker mapping the martech space!

3) Content topic analysis
- If you have a sense of generally where buyers are engaging, now go deeper and look at the content
- What are these influencers, other brands, etc. talking about? Who are they engaging with? Who do they partner with?
- Who talks about what we talk about? Are we using the same keywords?
- Summarize this into a high-level overview to determine if there is philosophical alignment and incentive to talk about the same things

Example: If the outbound pros are talking about effective cold emailing... then you could easily engage with them as an email tool, a signal tool, a data tool... as all of these topics would overlap and be relevant.

Ran out of space. More in the comments.

Please criticize this or ask me questions. I want to help.

Will Taylor

Helping marketers ⬆️ conversion rates w/ ⬆️ distribution & high-trust content • CPO @ AudienceLed • Run better demand gen with those your buyer already trusts: The people, brands, and places that have their attention.

(4/30) Maximizing event ROI: A multi-channel, multi-partner effort driving over 5,000 registrants. Take over with nearbound. A no B.S. tactical content series:

Goal:
More than 5,000 registrants.

Purpose:
Make enough noise in the market that buyers cannot ignore.

Outcome:
Company narrative reached organic virality where job descriptions, headlines, and even buyers' internal company exec meetings included the narrative. (It worked).

Modern example = Clay

How:
1) Map who buyers trust
- Wrote about this in (1/30) and (2/30), will detail further in the next iteration
- In short, ask your customers who they trust & the other vendors they work with

2) Speak to those they trust
- Approach the conversation with conviction about alignment with them.
- Speak boldly. Speak directly. Ask them if they believe in the mission.
- Build genuine relationships and loyalty, but without the fluff.

3) Put in place a compelling launch
- Large event or resource, etc.
- What is the benefit of participating? Needs to be large enough.
- This will incentivize participation after alignment in number 2.
- People need to get behind something. A movement. An event. An interesting, no B.S. resource. Should be so good they want to share it themselves (& you can incentivize this, too).

4) Make it stupid simple to participate
- Organization is critical. Document everything. Boil it down to a few sentences. Cut the fluff.
- Best done if you do most of the work for them. Pre-write email, social, blogs, etc. promos.
- Seriously, do the work for them. Deliver a package, with what they need to do, when, & if any approvals are needed. It should be as easy as copy & paste.

5) Ask them to invite their partners to participate
- Help them create more of their own alliances.
- Who do they know? Who else is interested? 
- Better for them. Better for you. A faster path to even more strategic relationships.
- Give them the "give" to prop up others on stage.

6) Do the work for them
- All the way down to the topics, speaking tracks, etc.
- No one wants to figure out how to prepare. Prepare for them as much you can (they will modify into their own words as they see fit)
- Make the deck. Write the copy. Create the image. Set the date. Remind them.
(Yes this is like 4 but this is how important it is)

7) Overcommunicate
- It will make them comfortable.
- It will help timelines not slip & will hold them accountable.
- If they said yes to participating, they want to. Don't let them down by missing the mark. Set a cadence of communication to make this happen.
- - - - - - - - - - -
This is a series dedicated to helping marketing and partnerships teams execute with excellence. No gimmicks. No fancy hooks. 

I’m Will, passionate about making markets move together and producing results. I’m the Co-Founder of AudienceLed, a demand gen marketing agency producing pipeline with existing spheres of influence and third-party expertise.

Please criticize this content or ask me questions. I’m here to help.

(8/30) The entire process of working with external voices. Step-by-step to execute effective relationship management. A no B.S. tactical content series:

1) Sourcing
Find the right people, brands, & places to work with.

- Leverage custom GPT with ICP context & organizing the information into a table (to copy & paste into a sheet)
- Find complementary brands, their existing partners, who is mentioned online, scrape their websites, & return back the data
- Enrich with a lookalike to capture the entire TAM of the ecosystem
- Enrich further with the specific people at each entity (tech, agency, podcast host, media company, etc)
- Validate by message-fit. Do they talk about/serve the same people? Find out through customer stories, trends they talk about, listed logos, & generally where THEY are showing up (sponsorships, events, etc.)
- Reach out to them with a gift first (invite them into the content campaign)
- Messaging should be custom to each category, deployed multi-modal (LinkedIn + email to start)
- Ensure the list is regularly hit in a multi-step cadence. Rotate them into other mediums if unsuccessful.
- Record an interview for most robust content that you can guide/control to fit your narrative.

2) Production
Take the context from the recording & create everything you can.

- Set the initial strategy to direct towards a common goal, & one that empowers your company.
- Ensure there is a "story" being captured, but ask for the information in multiple ways.
- Frameworks. Methodologies. Step by steps. Workflows. Anecdotes. Stories about outcomes. What's the one-two-punch?
- Analyze & find the best moments. Turn those into snippets. Enrich the snippets with more research, back with your data + industry data. Create the content.
- Make this a content factory line. Each step leads to the next. A person owns each part of the process. Make it easy & efficient.

3) Delivery
Deploy the content that's created & amplify. Fully integrated approach.

- Get approvals first from the third party. Ask for necessary consents.
- Make it so easy they can copy & paste. Tell them what, when, & where to distribute. Leave little room for thinking. If they want to give you feedback they will.
- Ensure there is a content calendar internally. How is it distributed on web, social, ABM/nurture campaigns, etc. What about ad dollars? What about your sponsorships - can they promote it too?
- Re-integrate the content over & over: Once you have enough, create a round-up of the expertise. Dedicate a newsletter. Re-feature them on an event or podcast.
- - - - - - - - -
This is a series dedicated to helping marketing & partnerships teams execute with excellence. No gimmicks. No fancy hooks. 

I’m Will, passionate about making markets move together & producing results. I’m the Co-Founder of AudienceLed, a demand gen marketing agency producing pipeline with existing spheres of influence & third-party expertise.

Please criticize this content or ask me questions. I’m here to help.

📣Network! We need your support 📣. One of my closest friends woke up to difficult news about her mom. On October 26, Nelda called an ambulance due to severe stomach pain. A CT scan revealed a large tumour on her ovary, a smaller one on her pancreas, and a spread of cancer cells throughout her abdomen. After weeks of testing, praying, and waiting, she received the devastating diagnosis of Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer.

Nelda is a fighter at heart and she is facing this with strength and courage. Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive disease that often shows no symptoms in its early stages, and by the time it’s detected, it has usually spread rapidly. Regardless of the treatment plan, pancreatic cancer often comes with a challenging prognosis.

During treatment, Nelda will be unable to fully tend to and care for Madison, her daughter with Down Syndrome. The current support options for adults with Down Syndrome are limited, with independent living waitlists that span more than twenty years. This has created a need for immediate and ongoing support for Madison while her mom focuses on treatment.

Nelda’s family is doing everything they can and would never want to ask for much from anyone, but the circumstances and logistics are complex and overwhelming. Many people have asked how they can help, so this GoFundMe has been created to offer support during a time when it is truly needed.

All funds raised will support Nelda through treatment and help provide care, stability, and future planning for Madison. I am Nelda’s niece, Brianna, and my goal is to help lift some of the weight off their family as they navigate this painful and uncertain time. Thank you for sharing, praying, and supporting them in this difficult chapter.

https://lnkd.in/gWds3qq6

We are almost at the goal. Help us get over the line.

LinkedIn probably won't like the link in this post, but it's important. Please if you read this share, comment, like, or at least send the gofundme link to someone you believe can help.

My grandma on my dad's side has beat cancer once (and another time very soon)! It is possible with the right treatment, support, and attitude.

My grandpa on my mom's side passed due to cancer in 2001.

I don't know much about it, but when my friend shared it's stage 4 pancreatic cancer... my heart dropped.

If you have anything to give, your support means the world.

Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends ❤️ 

And thank YOU for anything you can do.

Open article: Donate to Help Nelda Meinen fight Pancreatic Cancer & support Madison, organized by Brianna Kampman by gofund.me

Donate to Help Nelda Meinen fight Pancreatic Cancer & support Madison, organized by Brianna Kampman

(6/30) Why partnerships fail: A breakdown on misalignment and how to 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 get a seat at the table. A no B.S. tactical content series:

Taken from direct experience in-house, conversations across 1,000+ partner pros, deep interviews finding what works, & executing partnerships at scale as an agency.

1) You believe partners impact everything (or are told it's only pipe)

Not all partners are created equal. Your affiliate partner is not the same as your agency partner. 

You also can't just say that partners impact everything. 

Prove it.

If you cannot effectively manage up expectations, then the CMO or CRO will default to what they know and you will never have their teams care. YOU need to SHOW them where partners can impact & cannot.

Here's how:
- Map the buyer's journey.
- Identify what marketing touches (and how - with what activities and tech). The same for sales.
- Theorize where partners can (or have) impacted that buyer's journey. Example: Agency partners help post-purchase (mostly). Resellers pre-purchase. Media/affiliate partners on awareness and education.

Now you can more competently explain why & where we partner & with who. Also, you'll know what activities partners can plug into, as well as what tech affects each stage of the journey.

Layer in your TYPE of business (transactional solution? Or enterprise sale?) & you can even further manage expectations around the fact that partner may not be able to get you an immediate win in 30 days...

2) You blanket the same incentives across partners

Referral commissions only matter to some. SPIFFs are only as good as much as people care. 

What about:
- Quota relief for sellers? 
- Sending referrals to partner? 
- Increasing retention for partners? 

If you have an ideal partner profile, each one should have specific incentives. 

For agency partners, if you win them a client, that could change the course of their year (vs the 15% you offered them). 

The same goes internally. If you only throw money at a problem, people won't emotionally connect. But, if you relieve quota for your sales team, then that's another avenue of them achieving what they care about... versus some random new thing.

Here's how:
- Ask the person what they care about.
- Ideate how you can help them in multiple ways (& then ask again).
- Customize by partner category in your ideal partner profile. Then implement the plan.
- Optimize by identifying additional levers to pull. Does more commission % increase activity? Do the SPIFFs actually work? What about when you send more leads to partners? 
----
This is a series dedicated to helping marketing & partnerships teams execute with excellence. No gimmicks. No fancy hooks. 

I’m Will, passionate about making markets move together & producing results. I’m the Co-Founder of AudienceLed, a demand gen marketing agency producing pipeline with existing spheres of influence & third-party expertise.

Please criticize this content or ask me questions. I’m here to help.

(9/30) "How do you make them take action?" The most common question around working with influencers & partners. It's simple. A tactical content series:

Make it so easy they would be foolish not to take action.

Here's how we execute "Delivery" in our 3-part process.

1) Do the work for them

Seriously. Why would anyone act on behalf of you? Maybe if you pay them, but even then the output won't ever satisfy what you want to accomplish.

Pre-write the message. Write the copy of the content for them. Show up with GIFTS on a SILVER PLATTER.

Literally received an email today from a third-party we work with saying:
"I would just love to say we really appreciate how thoughtful and communicative you all are. We've worked with plenty of partners and it's just such a breath of fresh air to have everything be so streamlined for us!"

The bar is low. But treating people well and making it easy is table stakes. Period!

AND IT MOVES THE NEEDLE.

People WILL copy and paste what you write for them. If they don't they will make minor changes as needed. But if it's in their voice and uses their words... it's hard for them to say no to hit "send" or "post".

Here's how: 
- Capture their words (through existing content, or a recorded call)
- Align their words to their (and your) joint-narrative
- Find the best moments and turn that into content
- Make it multi-modal. Video clip + blog post + social post + email message + Slack message + etc.

Then you will overwhelm them with value.

2) Make it clear who does what & when.

You can't just throw things at people. It needs to be organized. It needs to be direct. This comes with proper project management.

Give a specific date and time. Tell them who is doing it. @ mention them, CC them in, address them directly on a call.

If you do this with #1... they know when they need to do the copy + paste. 

Clarity drives action.

Read that again! Clarity drives action!

And if that action is a < 2 minute task... it will inevitably be completed.

Also, this reflects on your ability to HELP them execute. If you are the one helping them achieve their goals, they will prioritize you.

Here's how:
- Give them one place to go (a doc, a Notion page, a tool/collaboration space)
- Give them a date and time of execution
- Tell them who should be doing the task (directly)
- Direct them to the one place to go
- Clarify the actions with a summarized CTA
- Send them a calendar invite for when they need to execute
- Reiterate what happens when they do it (the outcomes they care about)

Your professionalism will impress them.

------
This is a series dedicated to helping marketing & partnerships teams execute w/ excellence. No gimmicks. No fancy hooks. 

I’m Will, passionate about making markets move together & producing results. I’m the Co-Founder of AudienceLed, a demand gen marketing agency producing pipeline with existing spheres of influence & third-party expertise.

Please criticize this content or ask me questions. I’m here to help.

(7/30) The impact 3rd-party validation. Data, stories, & outcomes from working w/ people outside your company. A no B.S. tactical content series:

Last iteration I wrote about getting 5,000+ people to an event. Previously, we closed a $30,000 deal from content exposure from a third-party expert (attributed with organic mention).

These don't happen at the same scale, velocity, or conversion rate that direct provides. Here's why:

1) More distribution (less beholden to algorithms + limited owned channels)
- Open more channels to reach more of the TAM (attention-wise)
- You can even double-post back on your channel to re-use the content again

2) More trust (& less bias)
- Your marketer talking about what you do? Inherently biased. Likely not an industry expert.
- Another person outside of your company? Less biased. Likely more deep industry knowledge (including niche information)

3) Better brand (by association & the feel-good of making others famous)
- Everyone can promote their own thing. You can shout on the side of a street but not everyone will listen.
- If your brand becomes a platform for others to build off of... be it in their own revenue generation (or even just share of voice)... the more loyalty you'll build.

Who do you bring in? 
- In (5/30) I wrote about how to classify, research, organize, & incentivize third-party expertise.
- The people, brands, and places your buyer already trusts. That's your customers, the buyers themselves, complementary brands, formal partners, & more.

How you can think about this:
- Who do you trust more? The faceless brand? Or the influencer?
- When was the last time you purchased something just because a new product/brand was forced in front of you via an ad, search result, etc.
- Do you instead, go to your peers, influencers, reddit, etc. to make sense of a purchasing decision?
- Think... buying a car, choosing an accountant, etc. you need to FEEL trust. 

The outcomes (comment / DM for sources!):
- 2x higher conversion rates & faster deal cycles in partner-influenced deals
- In one example, Partner-influenced deals close 28 days faster than non-partnered deals.
- SDRs focusing on partner-led events find leads to be more responsive and higher-converting.
- Ecosystem-qualified leads from partnered content were ~100x more likely to close than cold ones in another example. 100x. That's 10,000% in percentage terms!

A co-branded ad campaign with 3+ partners drove:
- 971% more impressions
- 368% more engagement
- 1,806% more link clicks
- 314% audience growth

----
Today's inspired by Kyle Lacy!

This is a series dedicated to helping marketing & partnerships teams execute with excellence. No gimmicks. No fancy hooks. 

I’m Will, passionate about making markets move together & producing results. I’m the Co-Founder of AudienceLed, a demand gen marketing agency producing pipeline with existing spheres of influence & third-party expertise.

Please criticize this content or ask me questions. I’m here to help.

taplio

The Battle

Nick Bennett

Will Taylor 🤝

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreNick Bennett's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreWill Taylor 🤝's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Nick Bennett

Will Taylor 🤝

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);}Nick Bennett's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreWill Taylor 🤝's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreNick Bennett's LinkedIn Performance