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The Exit Five Podcast

Exit Five

The #1 resource for B2B marketing professionals. Each week, hosts Dave Gerhardt and Dasha Shakov sit down with B2B marketers to break down everything from strategy and leadership to the channels and tactics that drive growth, plus what it takes to build a career in marketing. You'll find real ideas you can put to work right away, and the gut check and inspiration to keep getting better at your job.

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  • #390
    September 14 · 54 min

    How One Agency Turns One Shoot Day Into 50-Plus Video Ads (With Connor Lewis of Studio Lewis)

    #390 | Dasha sits down with Connor Lewis, founder of Studio Lewis, who's produced 800+ B2B video ads for ClickUp, Zapier, and Ahrefs. Connor gives away the formula he tells everyone to copy. Plus, the system he uses to turn customer research into a dozen testable scripts. He breaks down three real ads on the record (why Monday.com's Viking ad works, and where the classic motion-graphics launch video actually belongs). He also explains how he got 56 ads out of a single shoot day using hook alternates and the three proof points that get video budget approved, and why he won't put AI-generated video on the feed. Timestamps (00:00) - Intro (07:51) - Good Ad, Bad Ad: Three Examples Broken Down (18:03) - Why an Ad Doesn't Land (23:08) - Script Blocks: Turning Customer Language Into Scripts (29:54) - The Formula to Copy If You're Starting Out (32:33) - Human Ads vs Motion Graphics (34:49) - Structuring a 12 Hour Shoot Day (38:01) - How Six Creatives Became 56 Ads (40:37) - Where AI Belongs in Video Production (45:00) - Getting Video Budget Approved and What It Costs Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/ *** Brought to you by: Zoom Webinars & Events – The virtual event platform built to help B2B marketers run webinars that actually drive pipeline, with branded registration pages, live engagement features, and built-in tools to repurpose sessions into clips and content. Learn more at zoom.com/exitfive. Convertiv - A B2B marketing agency that helps enterprise teams build an AI-powered go-to-market strategy, specializing in AEO. Podcast listeners get a free AI search review showing how you stack up against competitors. Learn more at convertiv.com/exitfive. Optimizely - the AI platform for marketers. Build your own AI agents or pull from a directory of 50+ pre-built ones for marketing use cases. Their new Virtual Teammates can join meetings, complete tasks, support campaigns, and keep your website optimized. Learn more at optimizely.com/exitfive. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand gen agency helping high-growth cybersecurity and enterprise software companies show up earlier in the buying journey, combining AEO, modern paid advertising, and a dedicated go-to-market engineering team. Podcast listeners get two free media planning sessions to find out what channels are driving the best ROI. Learn more at compoundgrowthmarketing.com/exitfive. Customer.io - An AI powered customer engagement platform that help marketers turn first-party data into engaging customer experiences across email, SMS, and push. Learn more at customer.io/exitfive. *** Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production. They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast. Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest. Visit hatch.fm to learn more

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  • #389
    September 10 · 50 min

    What to do when Organic Traffic Drops (with Kristina Frunze, Webview SEO)

    #389 | Dasha sits down with Kristina Frunze, founder of WebView SEO, who's spent 10 years in SEO and the last 3 running experiments on AI visibility for B2B SaaS. Kristina gives away the framework she uses with every client – SEO is the foundation, AI search is the roof. Plus, the 60/20/20 content split that puts the bottom of funnel pages first. Kristina also talks through the 3-layer attribution model she uses to show leadership what the work is doing when organic clicks are down. She walks through a full client case study on the record (a construction tech company that tripled AI overview citations in six months and lifted bottom of funnel visibility 46%). She also explains the 5-step checklist that makes content worth citing, and why she scores every competitor against real criteria before publishing a comparison page. Also: the Reddit strategy that got her clients' comments wiped out and what replaced it, and why she now believes AI search depends more on off page than on page. Timestamps (00:00) - Intro (03:05) - Decoding SEO, AEO, and GEO (06:41) - Reframing a Traffic Drop Around Leads (08:06) - The 60/20/20 Content Split (14:20) - Three Layers of Visibility Attribution (21:07) - Tracking AI Traffic Inside GA4 (26:46) - The Checklist for Content LLMs Will Cite (31:08) - Case Study: Tripling AI Citations in Six Months (44:26) - The Reddit Strategy That Got Wiped Out (47:08) - Why Off Page Now Beats On Page Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/ *** Brought to you by: Zoom Webinars & Events – The virtual event platform built to help B2B marketers run webinars that actually drive pipeline, with branded registration pages, live engagement features, and built-in tools to repurpose sessions into clips and content. Learn more at zoom.com/exitfive. Convertiv - A B2B marketing agency that helps enterprise teams build an AI-powered go-to-market strategy, specializing in AEO. Podcast listeners get a free AI search review showing how you stack up against competitors. Learn more at convertiv.com/exitfive. Optimizely - the AI platform for marketers. Build your own AI agents or pull from a directory of 50+ pre-built ones for marketing use cases. Their new Virtual Teammates can join meetings, complete tasks, support campaigns, and keep your website optimized. Learn more at optimizely.com/exitfive. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand gen agency helping high-growth cybersecurity and enterprise software companies show up earlier in the buying journey, combining AEO, modern paid advertising, and a dedicated go-to-market engineering team. Podcast listeners get two free media planning sessions to find out what channels are driving the best ROI. Learn more at compoundgrowthmarketing.com/exitfive. Customer.io - An AI powered customer engagement platform that help marketers turn first-party data into engaging customer experiences across email, SMS, and push. Learn more at customer.io/exitfive. *** Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production. They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast. Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest. Visit hatch.fm to learn more

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  • #388
    September 8 · 37 min

    Why B2B Marketers Need to Start Thinking Like Media Companies with Melissa Rosenthal

    #388 | Dave sits down with Melissa Rosenthal, co-founder of Outlever and former CCO at ClickUp, CRO at Cheddar, and VP of Creative at BuzzFeed, to talk about why most B2B content strategies fail because they're measured like ad campaigns instead of built like an actual media outlet. Melissa breaks down how she trains writers to think like journalists instead of bloggers, why third-party trade publications tend to outperform company blogs, and what it actually takes to run a media operation instead of just posting content. They also get into her wild LinkedIn distribution playbook - five posts a day, no rules followed - and whether AI can ever replace real editorial judgment. Timestamps (00:00) - - Today's guest: Melissa Rosenthal, co-founder of Outlever (01:58) - - From Buzzfeed to Cheddar to ClickUp (06:33) - - Why most B2B content strategies get abandoned too soon (09:20) - - The B2B companies actually winning at content right now (10:32) - - What building a real media company looks like from the inside (12:22) - - Training writers to think like journalists, not bloggers (16:48) - - Should your content live on your own site or somewhere else (21:57) - - Why separating the newsroom from marketing makes content credible (24:55) - - Her LinkedIn playbook: five posts a day and breaking every rule (26:23) - - Why the biggest wins never show up in the analytics (28:36) - - The obvious question nobody in B2B wants to answer (32:18) - - Can AI ever replace real editorial judgment Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/ *** Brought to you by: Zoom Webinars & Events – The virtual event platform built to help B2B marketers run webinars that actually drive pipeline, with branded registration pages, live engagement features, and built-in tools to repurpose sessions into clips and content. Learn more at zoom.com/exitfive. Convertiv - A B2B marketing agency that helps enterprise teams build an AI-powered go-to-market strategy, specializing in AEO. Podcast listeners get a free AI search review showing how you stack up against competitors. Learn more at convertiv.com/exitfive. Optimizely - the AI platform for marketers. Build your own AI agents or pull from a directory of 50+ pre-built ones for marketing use cases. Their new Virtual Teammates can join meetings, complete tasks, support campaigns, and keep your website optimized. Learn more at optimizely.com/exitfive. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand gen agency helping high-growth cybersecurity and enterprise software companies show up earlier in the buying journey, combining AEO, modern paid advertising, and a dedicated go-to-market engineering team. Podcast listeners get two free media planning sessions to find out what channels are driving the best ROI. Learn more at compoundgrowthmarketing.com/exitfive. Customer.io - An AI powered customer engagement platform that help marketers turn first-party data into engaging customer experiences across email, SMS, and push. Learn more at customer.io/exitfive. *** Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production. They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast. Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest. Visit hatch.fm to learn more

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  • #387
    September 3 · 52 min

    Writing for Humans: The Real AI Workflows Behind Great B2B Content

    #387 | Six B2B marketers share tactical plays for using AI to make content that doesn't sound like AI. This Exit Five Live session breaks down a set of specialized agents that lifted blog traffic 700% in six months, a 23-step agent that researches and writes AEO content straight into WordPress, and the winning play: turning original survey data into an ownable narrative. Also on the agenda: a structured review process that replaces vibes-only QA, a Claude skill trained on stakeholder feedback so drafts land pre-aligned, and five rules for using AI to learn faster without outsourcing your thinking. One thing the full group agreed on: the human stays in the loop. Timestamps (00:00) - - Intro and the Exit Five Live Format (03:47) - - Meet the Lineup (07:38) - - Build a Digital Team of Specialized AI Agents (14:33) - - Before the Prompt and After the Prompt (21:42) - - A 23-Step Agent That Writes AEO Content for LLMs (30:11) - - Turn Original Research Into a Content Differentiator (33:20) - - Treat Your Edits as Training Data (35:55) - - Faster to Content and Faster to Internal Buy-In (43:19) - - Rules for Learning With AI (49:16) - - The Winning Play Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/ *** Brought to you by: Zoom Webinars & Events – The virtual event platform built to help B2B marketers run webinars that actually drive pipeline, with branded registration pages, live engagement features, and built-in tools to repurpose sessions into clips and content. Learn more at zoom.com/exitfive. Convertiv - A B2B marketing agency that helps enterprise teams build an AI-powered go-to-market strategy, specializing in AEO. Podcast listeners get a free AI search review showing how you stack up against competitors. Learn more at convertiv.com/exitfive. Optimizely - the AI platform for marketers. Build your own AI agents or pull from a directory of 50+ pre-built ones for marketing use cases. Their new Virtual Teammates can join meetings, complete tasks, support campaigns, and keep your website optimized. Learn more at optimizely.com/exitfive. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand gen agency helping high-growth cybersecurity and enterprise software companies show up earlier in the buying journey, combining AEO, modern paid advertising, and a dedicated go-to-market engineering team. Podcast listeners get two free media planning sessions to find out what channels are driving the best ROI. Learn more at compoundgrowthmarketing.com/exitfive. Customer.io - An AI powered customer engagement platform that help marketers turn first-party data into engaging customer experiences across email, SMS, and push. Learn more at customer.io/exitfive. *** Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production. They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast. Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest. Visit hatch.fm to learn more

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  • #386
    August 31 · 49 min

    B2B Ads that Don't Suck (with Shlomo Genchin, Unbore.com)

    #386 | When your ad budget is zero but your creative ambition isn't, three simple techniques can still make you scroll-stopping. Dasha Shakov sits down with Shlomo Genchin, founder of unbore.com, the "unofficial school for B2B ads," to break down what actually makes a B2B ad good. Shlomo walks through his two-part research process for beating the blank page, then unpacks three frameworks - A World Without, Visual Analogy, and Personification - behind some of his highest-performing client campaigns. They also get into hiring actors on a budget, winning over a nervous CEO, and why Shlomo believes advertising should follow culture instead of trying to lead it. Plus his honest take on where AI actually helps and where it still falls flat. Tools & swipe files reddit.com/answers adfolio.design blackcamel.agency/b2b-video-ads-library Ads referenced (but not shown) Fibbler’s AI ad Timestamps (00:00) - - Welcome: Shlomo Genchin (01:51) - - How ad school and B2B's "Wild West" pulled Shlomo out of the agency world (07:05) - - Beating the blank page: practical research vs. personal research (13:15) - - The biggest myths about creativity, and how to "steal like an artist" (16:29) - - The three pillars of a great B2B ad, and technique #1: World Without (21:35) - - Technique #2: Visual analogy, and why a winning ad can run for years (29:45) - - Technique #3: Personification, and how to hire actors on a budget (38:05) - - Getting a nervous leadership team to say yes to a fun idea (42:04) - - AI philosophy: why advertising should follow culture, not lead it (46:11) - - The highest-leverage move for a team with zero ad budget Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/ *** Brought to you by: Zoom Webinars & Events – The virtual event platform built to help B2B marketers run webinars that actually drive pipeline, with branded registration pages, live engagement features, and built-in tools to repurpose sessions into clips and content. Learn more at zoom.com/exitfive. Convertiv - A B2B marketing agency that helps enterprise teams build an AI-powered go-to-market strategy, specializing in AEO. Podcast listeners get a free AI search review showing how you stack up against competitors. Learn more at convertiv.com/exitfive. Optimizely - the AI platform for marketers. Build your own AI agents or pull from a directory of 50+ pre-built ones for marketing use cases. Their new Virtual Teammates can join meetings, complete tasks, support campaigns, and keep your website optimized. Learn more at optimizely.com/exitfive. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand gen agency helping high-growth cybersecurity and enterprise software companies show up earlier in the buying journey, combining AEO, modern paid advertising, and a dedicated go-to-market engineering team. Podcast listeners get two free media planning sessions to find out what channels are driving the best ROI. Learn more at compoundgrowthmarketing.com/exitfive. Customer.io - An AI powered customer engagement platform that help marketers turn first-party data into engaging customer experiences across email, SMS, and push. Learn more at customer.io/exitfive. *** Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production. They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast. Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest. Visit hatch.fm to learn more

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  • #385
    August 27 · 46 min

    How to Win with Webinars: 5 B2B Marketing Pros Share Revenue-Driving Plays

    #385 | Five B2B marketers share their single best-performing webinar play - with the real numbers to back it up. This Exit Five Live session breaks down the exact tactics behind a signup flow that 5x'd conversions, a post-webinar follow-up system that closed $1M in pipeline in a week, and a series format built to compound results instead of resetting with every session. You'll also get a look at running a webinar program like an in-person conference, and how to borrow an influencer's audience to solve the cold-start problem. Real plays, receipts, and step-by-step mechanics you can steal for your own program. Timestamps (00:00) - - Why Exit Five Live exists, and today's webinar bracket format (06:01) - - Turning the thank-you page into a qualifying survey to 5x conversions (13:06) - - Building a webinar series that compounds instead of resetting each time (20:01) - - The post-webinar follow-up system that closed $1M in pipeline in a week (23:14) - - Building AI agents to personalize that follow-up at scale (27:31) - - Structuring a webinar series like an in-person conference (33:09) - - Borrowing an influencer's audience to solve the cold-start problem (35:55) - - Automating content repurposing from one webinar transcript (40:09) - - Why first-party research is the real lead magnet (40:49) - - Live vote, the winning play, and closing announcements Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/ *** Brought to you by: Zoom Webinars & Events – The virtual event platform built to help B2B marketers run webinars that actually drive pipeline, with branded registration pages, live engagement features, and built-in tools to repurpose sessions into clips and content. Learn more at zoom.com/exitfive. Convertiv - A B2B marketing agency that helps enterprise teams build an AI-powered go-to-market strategy, specializing in AEO. Podcast listeners get a free AI search review showing how you stack up against competitors. Learn more at convertiv.com/exitfive. Optimizely - the AI platform for marketers. Build your own AI agents or pull from a directory of 50+ pre-built ones for marketing use cases. Their new Virtual Teammates can join meetings, complete tasks, support campaigns, and keep your website optimized. Learn more at optimizely.com/exitfive. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand gen agency helping high-growth cybersecurity and enterprise software companies show up earlier in the buying journey, combining AEO, modern paid advertising, and a dedicated go-to-market engineering team. Podcast listeners get two free media planning sessions to find out what channels are driving the best ROI. Learn more at compoundgrowthmarketing.com/exitfive. Customer.io - An AI powered customer engagement platform that help marketers turn first-party data into engaging customer experiences across email, SMS, and push. Learn more at customer.io/exitfive. *** Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production. They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast. Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest. Visit hatch.fm to learn more

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  • #384
    August 24 · 46 min

    Marketing to B2B buyers who aren't on LinkedIn (with Clare Corriveau, VP Marketing, Tekmetric)

    #384 | A lot of people say B2B marketing is boring - those people couldn't possibly be in B2B. Take Clare Corriveau, VP of Marketing at Tekmetric: her buyer is an auto repair shop owner who isn't on LinkedIn, doesn't check email, and isn't downloading anything. Clare walks through how Tekmetric built its messaging around a founder who ran a shop for a decade, why every new hire visits an actual shop before touching a campaign, and how peer groups and an unmanaged 6,000-member Facebook community became a real lever in the company's growth engine. This episode focuses on marketing to an overlooked B2B category, and the huge upside that comes with it. The opportunity is anything but boring. Timestamps (00:00) - - Why "boring" B2B categories are actually the biggest opportunity (06:00) - - Why a founder who ran a shop for 10 years shapes every messaging decision (11:00) - - Events at scale: 100+ a year, plus a 1,000-person first-time conference (17:00) - - What the VP of Marketing job really is (21:00) - - Hiring humans when everyone is saying AI will replace them (24:00) - - Betting on channels the team almost skipped: Bing and Facebook (26:00) - - Peer groups and a 6,000 member Facebook community (30:00) - - How to get customers to love, support, and defend your brand (37:00) - - The real competitor is status quo (38:00) - - Why new hires visit a real shop before they touch a campaign (45:00) - - The opportunity: 5% market share in a category growing 50% a year Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/ *** Brought to you by: Zoom Webinars & Events – The virtual event platform built to help B2B marketers run webinars that actually drive pipeline, with branded registration pages, live engagement features, and built-in tools to repurpose sessions into clips and content. Learn more at zoom.com/exitfive. Convertiv - A B2B marketing agency that helps enterprise teams build an AI-powered go-to-market strategy, specializing in AEO. Podcast listeners get a free AI search review showing how you stack up against competitors. Learn more at convertiv.com/exitfive. Optimizely - the AI platform for marketers. Build your own AI agents or pull from a directory of 50+ pre-built ones for marketing use cases. Their new Virtual Teammates can join meetings, complete tasks, support campaigns, and keep your website optimized. Learn more at optimizely.com/exitfive. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand gen agency helping high-growth cybersecurity and enterprise software companies show up earlier in the buying journey, combining AEO, modern paid advertising, and a dedicated go-to-market engineering team. Podcast listeners get two free media planning sessions to find out what channels are driving the best ROI. Learn more at compoundgrowthmarketing.com/exitfive. Customer.io - An AI powered customer engagement platform that help marketers turn first-party data into engaging customer experiences across email, SMS, and push. Learn more at customer.io/exitfive. *** Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production. They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast. Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest. Visit hatch.fm to learn more

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  • #383
    August 20 · 47 min

    YouTube for B2B Marketing (with Samu Kovács)

    #383 | YouTube is the second-largest search engine on the planet, yet few B2B marketers know how to use it optimally. Dasha Shakov, the newest Exit Five podcast host, sits down with Samu Kovács, founder of the B2B YouTube agency KS Media, to unpack why he calls YouTube the hedge against AI slop. Samu breaks down the research process his team runs before writing a script, what belongs in a hook that keeps people watching, and how clients repurpose high-performing LinkedIn posts into YouTube videos instead of starting from zero. They also cover the realistic 90-day timeline for results, how to tell if YouTube is lifting your other channels, and the exact AI stack his team uses for scripting and thumbnails. Timestamps (00:00) - - Why YouTube is B2B marketing's hedge against AI slop (02:19) - - Who hires a B2B YouTube agency, and why YouTube still scares most marketers (06:26) - - The direct and indirect ROI of nailing YouTube (08:33) - - Where YouTube fits in the funnel, and when a niche is too small for it (13:33) - - Mapping ICP pain points, then reverse-engineering proven video formats (19:54) - - Doing the research yourself, and diagnosing a failed YouTube strategy (22:39) - - The hook, the structure, and repurposing LinkedIn content into scripts (33:09) - - Publishing cadence and the realistic 90-day timeline (35:44) - - Shortening sales cycles and proving YouTube's impact across channels (39:42) - - Where AI fits in the process, from research to scripting to editing (44:22) - - Samu's exact AI model stack Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/ *** Brought to you by: Zoom Webinars & Events – The virtual event platform built to help B2B marketers run webinars that actually drive pipeline, with branded registration pages, live engagement features, and built-in tools to repurpose sessions into clips and content. Learn more at zoom.com/exitfive. Convertiv - A B2B marketing agency that helps enterprise teams build an AI-powered go-to-market strategy, specializing in AEO. Podcast listeners get a free AI search review showing how you stack up against competitors. Learn more at convertiv.com/exitfive. Optimizely - the AI platform for marketers. Build your own AI agents or pull from a directory of 50+ pre-built ones for marketing use cases. Their new Virtual Teammates can join meetings, complete tasks, support campaigns, and keep your website optimized. Learn more at optimizely.com/exitfive. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand gen agency helping high-growth cybersecurity and enterprise software companies show up earlier in the buying journey, combining AEO, modern paid advertising, and a dedicated go-to-market engineering team. Podcast listeners get two free media planning sessions to find out what channels are driving the best ROI. Learn more at compoundgrowthmarketing.com/exitfive. Customer.io - An AI powered customer engagement platform that help marketers turn first-party data into engaging customer experiences across email, SMS, and push. Learn more at customer.io/exitfive. *** Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production. They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast. Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest. Visit hatch.fm to learn more

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  • #382
    August 17 · 51 min

    From Startup to IPO: How the CMO of Varonis Has Kept the Same Job for 15 Years, ft. Rob Sobers

    #382 | Rob Sobers has been CMO of Varonis for 15 years - through its growth from startup to public company doing over $700 million in revenue. Dave talks with Rob about how he's stayed sharp enough to keep the job this long, starting with the fact that as an engineer, he still writes JavaScript and even fixes bugs on the Varonis website from time to time. Rob explains why no manager on his team oversees work they don't do themselves, why he'd rather keep marketing simple than layer on complexity as the company scales, and his "reasonableness test" for deciding which programs don't need to be forced into a pipeline number. They also cover his approach to saying no to his own team, and why longevity gives him a wider lens on the business. Ever listen to our podcast and think: "Exit Five should feature me"? This is your opportunity to get in front of 40k+ B2B marketers, including CMOs, VPs, and marketing leaders, who are looking for talent, inspiration, and ideas to improve their marketing. Apply to the Experts Network for a chance to be our next podcast guest. Timestamps (00:00) - - Meet Rob Sobers, CMO of Varonis for 15 years (01:18) - - Why Rob still writes JavaScript and fixes bugs on the website (05:06) - - Learning a new marketing discipline every time he was out of his depth (05:55) - - Why there are no career middle managers on the Varonis marketing team (07:24) - - The communication tax of overstaffing a team (09:59) - - Keeping goals dead simple: opportunity creation as the north star metric (14:28) - - Getting good at saying no to his own team, but not too good (18:02) - - The reasonableness test: why not everything needs a pipeline number (20:49) - - Reverse-engineering the marketing budget from the revenue number (23:04) - - What separates a CMO from a VP of Marketing (26:26) - - The ClickUp $1M "one-person marketing team" debate (35:26) - - Marketing to skeptical CISOs, acquisitions, and why B2B brands need a mascot Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/ *** Brought to you by: Zoom Webinars & Events – The virtual event platform built to help B2B marketers run webinars that actually drive pipeline, with branded registration pages, live engagement features, and built-in tools to repurpose sessions into clips and content. Learn more at zoom.com/exitfive. Convertiv - A B2B marketing agency that helps enterprise teams build an AI-powered go-to-market strategy, specializing in AEO. Podcast listeners get a free AI search review showing how you stack up against competitors. Learn more at convertiv.com/exitfive. Optimizely - the AI platform for marketers. Build your own AI agents or pull from a directory of 50+ pre-built ones for marketing use cases. Their new Virtual Teammates can join meetings, complete tasks, support campaigns, and keep your website optimized. Learn more at optimizely.com/exitfive. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand gen agency helping high-growth cybersecurity and enterprise software companies show up earlier in the buying journey, combining AEO, modern paid advertising, and a dedicated go-to-market engineering team. Podcast listeners get two free media planning sessions to find out what channels are driving the best ROI. Learn more at compoundgrowthmarketing.com/exitfive. Customer.io - An AI powered customer engagement platform that help marketers turn first-party data into engaging customer experiences across email, SMS, and push. Learn more at customer.io/exitfive. *** Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production. They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast. Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest. Visit hatch.fm to learn more

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  • #381
    August 13 · 48 min

    The Strategy Behind Canva’s B2B Growth with Emma Robinson and Kristine Segrist

    #381 | Dave sits down with Emma Robinson, Head of B2B Marketing at Canva, and Christine Siegrist, VP of Consumer Marketing at Canva, to talk about how the two teams operate as one org instead of fighting over lead credit. They get into Canva's matrixed structure across consumer, B2B, and international, how signals from free users turn into team and enterprise upgrades, and why Canva built a dedicated data science team so marketers can make bigger creative bets instead of smaller, "provable" ones. They also unpack the Love Your Work campaign, why out-of-home ads make a consumer brand feel legitimate to enterprise buyers, and the lessons Emma and Christine carried over from their time at Google and Meta. Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/ *** Brought to you by: Zoom Webinars & Events – The virtual event platform built to help B2B marketers run webinars that actually drive pipeline, with branded registration pages, live engagement features, and built-in tools to repurpose sessions into clips and content. Learn more at zoom.com/exitfive. Convertiv - A B2B marketing agency that helps enterprise teams build an AI-powered go-to-market strategy, specializing in AEO. Podcast listeners get a free AI search review showing how you stack up against competitors. Learn more at convertiv.com/exitfive. Optimizely - the AI platform for marketers. Build your own AI agents or pull from a directory of 50+ pre-built ones for marketing use cases. Their new Virtual Teammates can join meetings, complete tasks, support campaigns, and keep your website optimized. Learn more at optimizely.com/exitfive. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand gen agency helping high-growth cybersecurity and enterprise software companies show up earlier in the buying journey, combining AEO, modern paid advertising, and a dedicated go-to-market engineering team. Podcast listeners get two free media planning sessions to find out what channels are driving the best ROI. Learn more at compoundgrowthmarketing.com/exitfive. Customer.io - An AI powered customer engagement platform that help marketers turn first-party data into engaging customer experiences across email, SMS, and push. Learn more at customer.io/exitfive. *** Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production. They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast. Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest. Visit hatch.fm to learn more

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  • #380
    August 10 · 52 min

    60-Minute B2B Blitz Part 2: 8 Marketers Share Their Best Plays from 2026 (So Far)

    #380 | Eight B2B marketers get two minutes each to pitch the single best marketing play they ran this year - and the crowd votes on who moves forward. Dave Gerhardt and Dasha Shakov hosts the second round of the Exit Five B2B Marketing Blitz, and this episode covers a lot of ground: updating old blog content to win AI search citations, turning product into research that got a company's CEO in front of Congress, an AI agent that rewrites website copy for different buyer personas, why LinkedIn articles are quietly dominating AI search results, scaling influencer marketing from a tiny four-creator pilot, a multi-channel brand campaign built around customer wins, and how one team turned a physical book into a 65x return on target accounts closed. Tune in to find out who makes it through to the second round, and who was ultimately crowned the Blitz MVP. Timestamps (00:00) - - The B2B marketing Blitz kicks off (03:56) - - Turning sales, success, and support calls into content gold (06:48) - - Updating old blog content to win AI search citations (08:58) - - Using your own product to get your CEO in front of Congress (11:09) - - An AI agent that rewrites content for different buyer personas (15:38) - - Why LinkedIn articles are winning AI search citations (17:49) - - Scaling influencer marketing from a tiny pilot to a full program (20:18) - - A multi-channel brand campaign built around customer wins (22:39) - - Turning a physical book into a 65x return on target accounts (26:43) - - The exact AI workflow behind the content optimization play (35:40) - - The specific questions to ask sales, success, and support teams (42:53) - - Following up a book launch with an account-based magazine Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/ *** Brought to you by: Zoom Webinars & Events – The virtual event platform built to help B2B marketers run webinars that actually drive pipeline, with branded registration pages, live engagement features, and built-in tools to repurpose sessions into clips and content. Learn more at zoom.com/exitfive. Convertiv - A B2B marketing agency that helps enterprise teams build an AI-powered go-to-market strategy, specializing in AEO. Podcast listeners get a free AI search review showing how you stack up against competitors. Learn more at convertiv.com/exitfive. Optimizely - the AI platform for marketers. Build your own AI agents or pull from a directory of 50+ pre-built ones for marketing use cases. Their new Virtual Teammates can join meetings, complete tasks, support campaigns, and keep your website optimized. Learn more at optimizely.com/exitfive. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand gen agency helping high-growth cybersecurity and enterprise software companies show up earlier in the buying journey, combining AEO, modern paid advertising, and a dedicated go-to-market engineering team. Podcast listeners get two free media planning sessions to find out what channels are driving the best ROI. Learn more at compoundgrowthmarketing.com/exitfive. Customer.io - An AI powered customer engagement platform that help marketers turn first-party data into engaging customer experiences across email, SMS, and push. Learn more at customer.io/exitfive. *** Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production. They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast. Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest. Visit hatch.fm to learn more

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  • #379
    August 6 · 41 min

    How to Talk to Finance About Marketing Budget with Patrick Shea (Global Head of Marketing at BlueVoyant)

    #379 | Dave sits down with Patrick Shea, SVP of Global Marketing at BlueVoyant, to discuss how enterprise marketing really works inside a $175 million cybersecurity company built heavily on partnerships. Patrick breaks down the difference between hyperscaler tech alliances and reseller partnerships, how BlueVoyant defines and qualifies leads by account rather than volume, and why he treats partnership stakeholders like a market of their own. They also get into the cost-per-opportunity formula Patrick uses to win budget back from finance, why he's trying to kill long-term planning in favor of annual focus areas and the wild HubSpot coincidence that made him responsible for Dave's success. Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/ *** Brought to you by: Zoom Webinars & Events – The virtual event platform built to help B2B marketers run webinars that actually drive pipeline, with branded registration pages, live engagement features, and built-in tools to repurpose sessions into clips and content. Learn more at zoom.com/exitfive. Convertiv - A B2B marketing agency that helps enterprise teams build an AI-powered go-to-market strategy, specializing in AEO. Podcast listeners get a free AI search review showing how you stack up against competitors. Learn more at convertiv.com/exitfive. Optimizely - the AI platform for marketers. Build your own AI agents or pull from a directory of 50+ pre-built ones for marketing use cases. Their new Virtual Teammates can join meetings, complete tasks, support campaigns, and keep your website optimized. Learn more at optimizely.com/exitfive. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand gen agency helping high-growth cybersecurity and enterprise software companies show up earlier in the buying journey, combining AEO, modern paid advertising, and a dedicated go-to-market engineering team. Podcast listeners get two free media planning sessions to find out what channels are driving the best ROI. Learn more at compoundgrowthmarketing.com/exitfive. Customer.io - An AI powered customer engagement platform that help marketers turn first-party data into engaging customer experiences across email, SMS, and push. Learn more at customer.io/exitfive. *** Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production. They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast. Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest. Visit hatch.fm to learn more

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  • #378
    August 3 · 49 min

    The Viral Marketing Bets Behind High-Growth Voice AI Company Bland.ai, with Ethan Clouser (Head of Marketing)

    #378 | Dave sits down with Ethan Clouser, Head of Marketing at Bland AI, to talk about running marketing at a 22-year-old-founded, enterprise voice AI company that just raised $100 million - at 22 years old himself. Ethan breaks down Bland's early viral bets like the "Still Hiring Humans?" billboard, why they bought Soulja Boy's voice rights for an AI phone campaign, and how a giant red telephone car became one of their best marketing investments. Not to mention, Bland AI's marketing team built its entire website with Claude Code - coded by a guy who'd never written a line of code before. They also get into Bland's daily stand-up and KPI system, why "Voice AI for regulated industries" works as a homepage headline, and how to stand out when 200 competitors are all saying the same thing. Timestamps (00:00) - - Intro to Ethan Clouser, Head of Marketing at Bland AI (02:26) - - The failed no-code startup that accidentally turned Ethan into a marketer (06:14) - - Cold LinkedIn outreach and how Ethan landed the head of marketing job (09:09) - - The "Still Hiring Humans?" billboard bet that built Bland's early brand (13:46) - - Filling the marketing gaps Bland was missing: SEO, AEO, and reputation (17:56) - - Why "Voice AI for regulated industries" works as a homepage headline (20:34) - - Vibe-coding Bland's entire website with Claude Code (23:42) - - Bland's daily marketing stand-up and how KPIs decide which bets get made (31:29) - - Buying Soulja Boy's voice rights for an AI phone campaign (40:05) - - Standing out in a market crowded with 200 voice AI competitors (43:34) - - Why marketing, sales, and product alignment matters more than sales-marketing alignment Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/ *** Brought to you by: Zoom Webinars & Events – The virtual event platform built to help B2B marketers run webinars that actually drive pipeline, with branded registration pages, live engagement features, and built-in tools to repurpose sessions into clips and content. Learn more at zoom.com/exitfive. Convertiv - A B2B marketing agency that helps enterprise teams build an AI-powered go-to-market strategy, specializing in AEO. Podcast listeners get a free AI search review showing how you stack up against competitors. Learn more at convertiv.com/exitfive. Optimizely - the AI platform for marketers. Build your own AI agents or pull from a directory of 50+ pre-built ones for marketing use cases. Their new Virtual Teammates can join meetings, complete tasks, support campaigns, and keep your website optimized. Learn more at optimizely.com/exitfive. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand gen agency helping high-growth cybersecurity and enterprise software companies show up earlier in the buying journey, combining AEO, modern paid advertising, and a dedicated go-to-market engineering team. Podcast listeners get two free media planning sessions to find out what channels are driving the best ROI. Learn more at compoundgrowthmarketing.com/exitfive. Customer.io - An AI powered customer engagement platform that help marketers turn first-party data into engaging customer experiences across email, SMS, and push. Learn more at customer.io/exitfive. *** Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production. They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast. Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest. Visit hatch.fm to learn more

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  • #377
    July 30 · 42 min

    High-Value Brand Assets Most B2B Companies Haven't Tapped Yet (with Louis Grenier, Founder of Stand The F*ck Out)

    #377 | 80% of B2B brands are completely forgettable - and it's not because their product is weak. Dave sits down with Louis Grenier, founder of Stand The F*ck Out and author of the book by the same name, to unpack a study he ran scoring 100 B2B companies on how distinctive their brands actually are. Louis breaks down the real difference between "distinctive" and "different," why almost no B2B SaaS company has a mascot (and why that's a missed opportunity), what Wiz and Mutiny are doing that most brands aren't, and why sound might be the most underused brand asset in marketing. They also get into how Louis built the entire 100-company study himself using Claude Code and parallel AI agents, and why picking a lane and committing to it beats chasing the "perfect" idea. Timestamps (00:00) - - What makes a brand distinctive vs. differentiated (03:35) - - Why brand distinctiveness matters more in the age of AI (05:54) - - Inside the study: scoring 100 B2B brands on 8 assets (07:49) - - Wiz and Mutiny: two brands that stood out (12:12) - - Why almost no B2B SaaS company has a mascot (15:39) - - How to get buy-in for a risky brand idea internally (17:29) - - The research behind how brand memories are actually built (20:35) - - Linear: picking a lane and going all in (24:01) - - Why sound is a brand asset most companies ignore (30:58) - - How Louis built the study using Claude Code and AI agents Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/ *** Brought to you by: Zoom Webinars & Events – The virtual event platform built to help B2B marketers run webinars that actually drive pipeline, with branded registration pages, live engagement features, and built-in tools to repurpose sessions into clips and content. Learn more at zoom.com/exitfive. Convertiv - A B2B marketing agency that helps enterprise teams build an AI-powered go-to-market strategy, specializing in AEO. Podcast listeners get a free AI search review showing how you stack up against competitors. Learn more at convertiv.com/exitfive. Optimizely - the AI platform for marketers. Build your own AI agents or pull from a directory of 50+ pre-built ones for marketing use cases. Their new Virtual Teammates can join meetings, complete tasks, support campaigns, and keep your website optimized. Learn more at optimizely.com/exitfive. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand gen agency helping high-growth cybersecurity and enterprise software companies show up earlier in the buying journey, combining AEO, modern paid advertising, and a dedicated go-to-market engineering team. Podcast listeners get two free media planning sessions to find out what channels are driving the best ROI. Learn more at compoundgrowthmarketing.com/exitfive. Customer.io - An AI powered customer engagement platform that help marketers turn first-party data into engaging customer experiences across email, SMS, and push. Learn more at customer.io/exitfive. *** Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production. They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast. Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest. Visit hatch.fm to learn more

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  • #376
    July 27 · 55 min

    Paid Ads Playoff: Proven B2B Plays That Turn Spend Into Pipeline

    #376 | Eight marketers. Two minutes each. One live bracket to crown the best-performing paid ad play. We brought back the Blitz Exit Five Live session format - this time for the Paid Ads Playoff: a head-to-head paid ads showdown, where marketers pitch their single best ad from 2026 in real time to our live voting audience. The plays cover a lot of ground: scroll-stopping creative for an unfamiliar category, testing TV as a full-funnel channel, measuring out-of-home, a 9-minute LinkedIn video that beat every short clip, incentivized demo offers, ChatGPT ads, fighting Google's AI Overviews in paid search, and the most creative ad creative you've ever seen. Presenters include Alexander Goodwin (Fingerprint), Stefanie Wlotzki (SurveyMonkey), Jake Newby (Lendio), Anthony Blatner (Speedwork), Dylan Wingrove (Pacvue), Kenna Rooney (EasyLlama), and Shlomo Genchin (Unbored.com), co-hosted by Jess Cook of Vector. Timestamps (00:00) - - Welcome to the Paid Ads Playoff format (05:32) - - Making an unfamiliar B2B category scroll-stopping on paid social (08:04) - - Testing TV as an always-on demand channel (10:23) - - Measuring out-of-home ads with control markets (13:03) - - Why a 9-minute LinkedIn video beat every short clip (15:48) - - Q&A: targeting, TV attribution, and matching creative to the platform (25:49) - - Incentivized demos and gift-card offers that convert (28:32) - - Testing ChatGPT ads and shifting budget out of Google (32:40) - - Fighting back against Google's AI Overviews in paid search (34:50) - - The soap opera ad and turning boring software into a story (48:13) - - Tracking signals and structuring content for a long-form ad (55:05) - - The analogy framework behind the year's best-performing ad Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/ *** Brought to you by: Optimizely - the AI platform for marketers. Build your own AI agents or pull from a directory of 50+ pre-built ones for marketing use cases. Their new Virtual Teammates can join meetings, complete tasks, support campaigns, and keep your website optimized. Learn more at optimizely.com/exitfive. Webflow - A website platform built for the agentic web, letting modern marketing teams build fully custom sites that perform in AI search with no developer needed. Learn more at webflow.com/for/exitfive. Zoom Webinars & Events – The virtual event platform built to help B2B marketers run webinars that actually drive pipeline, with branded registration pages, live engagement features, and built-in tools to repurpose sessions into clips and content. Learn more at zoom.com/exitfive. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand gen agency helping high-growth cybersecurity and enterprise software companies show up earlier in the buying journey, combining AEO, modern paid advertising, and a dedicated go-to-market engineering team. Podcast listeners get two free media planning sessions to find out what channels are driving the best ROI. Learn more at compoundgrowthmarketing.com/exitfive. *** Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production. They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast. Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest. Visit hatch.fm to learn more

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  • #375
    July 23 · 37 min

    How to use Claude Code to Scale LinkedIn Ads with Anthony Blatner (Founder, Speedwork)

    #375 | If you can double your ad's click-through rate, you can usually cut your cost-per-click in half. Anthony Blatner, founder of Speedwork, sat down with Matt Carnevale to walk through how he's using AI to run LinkedIn ads at scale for clients right now. The conversation covers connecting Claude Code directly to the LinkedIn Ads API to automate bid management and reporting, building personalized ad campaigns, landing pages, and lead magnets for dozens of segments at once, and using account-based marketing principles to get LinkedIn's algorithm to reward you with lower costs. It also gets into avoiding content that reads as obviously AI-generated, running competitor conquest campaigns, and building target account lists for niches LinkedIn doesn't have a clean filter for. Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/ *** Brought to you by: Optimizely - the AI platform for marketers. Build your own AI agents or pull from a directory of 50+ pre-built ones for marketing use cases. Their new Virtual Teammates can join meetings, complete tasks, support campaigns, and keep your website optimized. Learn more at optimizely.com/exitfive. Webflow - A website platform built for the agentic web, letting modern marketing teams build fully custom sites that perform in AI search with no developer needed. Learn more at webflow.com/for/exitfive. Zoom Webinars & Events – The virtual event platform built to help B2B marketers run webinars that actually drive pipeline, with branded registration pages, live engagement features, and built-in tools to repurpose sessions into clips and content. Learn more at zoom.com/exitfive. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand gen agency helping high-growth cybersecurity and enterprise software companies show up earlier in the buying journey, combining AEO, modern paid advertising, and a dedicated go-to-market engineering team. Podcast listeners get two free media planning sessions to find out what channels are driving the best ROI. Learn more at compoundgrowthmarketing.com/exitfive. *** Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production. They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast. Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest. Visit hatch.fm to learn more

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  • #374
    July 20 · 43 min

    How to Build a Brand in B2B with Ryan Narod (VP of Marketing at Rippling)

    #374 | Most B2B marketers think brand means bigger budgets. This episode shows otherwise. Dave sits down with Ryan Narod, VP of Marketing at Rippling, to talk about what it actually takes to build a brand people recognize in B2B. Ryan walks through the real campaigns behind that shift - from scrappy iPhone videos and webinar promos to high-production customer films and their Super Bowl commercial. Ryan breaks down how he built a content flywheel, why injecting real humans into every piece of content matters, and how they measure brand impact without losing accountability to pipeline. It's a practical look at going from growth-only marketing to a brand with real personality, with examples you can steal no matter your budget. Timestamps (00:00) - - Today's guest: Ryan Narod, VP of Marketing at Rippling (02:44) - - What Rippling actually does and why HR, finance, and IT live under one roof (07:00) - - Why brand building starts with content and story, not billboards and TV ads (09:00) - - Building a content flywheel out of interviews, written pieces, and video (13:10) - - Getting the brand story straight across personas and the C-suite (18:30) - - Marketing plays in action: from scrappy iPhone videos to big-budget customer films (27:09) - - How to build a brand on a startup budget without Rippling's resources (29:33) - - Comparing production value head to head: a big-budget campaign vs a lo-fi one (32:29) - - How Rippling measures brand marketing with mixed media modeling and incrementally testing (39:49) - - Inside the Super Bowl ad and the reverse timeline it took to pull off Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/ *** Brought to you by: Optimizely - the AI platform for marketers. Build your own AI agents or pull from a directory of 50+ pre-built ones for marketing use cases. Their new Virtual Teammates can join meetings, complete tasks, support campaigns, and keep your website optimized. Learn more at optimizely.com/exitfive. Webflow - A website platform built for the agentic web, letting modern marketing teams build fully custom sites that perform in AI search with no developer needed. Learn more at webflow.com/for/exitfive. Zoom Webinars & Events – The virtual event platform built to help B2B marketers run webinars that actually drive pipeline, with branded registration pages, live engagement features, and built-in tools to repurpose sessions into clips and content. Learn more at zoom.com/exitfive. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand gen agency helping high-growth cybersecurity and enterprise software companies show up earlier in the buying journey, combining AEO, modern paid advertising, and a dedicated go-to-market engineering team. Podcast listeners get two free media planning sessions to find out what channels are driving the best ROI. Learn more at compoundgrowthmarketing.com/exitfive. *** Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production. They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast. Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest. Visit hatch.fm to learn more

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  • #373
    July 16 · 44 min

    Why AEO in 2026 Is Just the Evolution of SEO with Rebecca Busk (CEO, Kvalifik)

    #373 | Dave sits down with Rebecca Busk, CEO and Partner at Kvalifik, to talk about what it actually takes to show up in AI search. Rebecca breaks down the three types of prompts you need to rank for - foundational, core, and must-win - and why most AEO content fails because it's too generic to ever get cited. They get into the technical side of AEO like crawlability and schema markup, why Reddit and community platforms carry more weight than LinkedIn in AI citations, and a ten-point checklist for content quality you can run against your own site today. Check out Webflow's free AEO assessment here. Timestamps (00:00) - - Thank you to Webflow (01:59) - - Why AI search is quietly rewriting how B2B buyers find vendors (02:42) - - From agency employee to owner: buying an agency (05:19) - - How to build marketing expertise without a marketing degree (09:56) - - What AEO actually means, and a real example of how it narrows buying decisions (13:38) - - Why you shouldn't write AEO content with AI (17:04) - - Rethinking content strategy: what buyers actually ask before they buy (22:05) - - Crawlability, schema markup, and a technical checklist for showing up in AI search (31:12) - - Ten things to check for content quality right now (38:18) - - What builds real authority in AI search, and whether PR still matters

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  • #372
    July 13 · 37 min

    How to Upgrade Your Webinar and Email Strategy for 2026 with Jay Schwedelson (Founder, SubjectLine.com)

    #372 | Dave sits down with Jay Schwedelson, founder of subjectline.com and Guru Media Hub, one of the sharpest tactical minds in email, webinars, and live content. Jay explains why so many B2B marketers get live content wrong from the very first step, and how small shifts in packaging can completely change who shows up and who doesn't. They dig into the psychology behind when people actually open and engage with email, why shorter almost always wins, and the habits that quietly keep you out of the spam folder. Jay also shares the specific email and send-day habits he swears by, a few of his go-to tricks for getting people to actually reply, and how he thinks about testing your way to what works for your own audience. Timestamps (00:00) - – Why "webinar" might be costing you registrations (01:12) - – Meet Jay Schwedelson and the virtual event he built to 30,000 people (06:26) - – A simple trick to get more people to actually show up live (08:44) - – Why giving everything away on-demand might be a mistake (10:23) - – The case for live, human connection in an AI-saturated world (13:00) - – The send times most B2B marketers are sleeping on (15:18) - – How to package and name your content so people actually want it (22:02) - – The newsletter habit that makes people stick around (26:09) - – Small email tweaks that quietly boost open rates and deliverability Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/ *** Brought to you by: Optimizely - the AI platform for marketers. Build your own AI agents or pull from a directory of 50+ pre-built ones for marketing use cases. Their new Virtual Teammates can join meetings, complete tasks, support campaigns, and keep your website optimized. Learn more at optimizely.com/exitfive. Webflow - A website platform built for the agentic web, letting modern marketing teams build fully custom sites that perform in AI search with no developer needed. Learn more at webflow.com/for/exitfive. Zoom Webinars & Events – The virtual event platform built to help B2B marketers run webinars that actually drive pipeline, with branded registration pages, live engagement features, and built-in tools to repurpose sessions into clips and content. Learn more at zoom.com/exitfive. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand gen agency helping high-growth cybersecurity and enterprise software companies show up earlier in the buying journey, combining AEO, modern paid advertising, and a dedicated go-to-market engineering team. Podcast listeners get two free media planning sessions to find out what channels are driving the best ROI. Learn more at compoundgrowthmarketing.com/exitfive. *** Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production. They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast. Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest. Visit hatch.fm to learn more

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  • #371
    July 9 · 46 min

    From $3M to $50M ARR Without Paid Ads with Alex Howe (SVP Marketing & Growth at Funnel Leasing)

    #371 | Most B2B companies gate everything and hide their pricing. Funnel Leasing does neither, and grew from $3 million to $50 million in revenue anyway. Dave sits down with Alex Howe, SVP of Marketing and Growth at Funnel Leasing, to talk about how he built that growth engine with no marketing background, no paid ads, and no sales team pressure. They get into why his whole philosophy is built around being different rather than better, why ungating everything (including pricing) builds more trust than gating ever could, and how to prove marketing is working without hard metrics like a two-week sales cycle. Plus: how a background in political PR shaped his approach to getting attention, the event marketing stunts that actually got prospects talking, and why messaging should keep evolving without ever losing its core story. Timestamps (00:00) - - Introduction (05:32) - - Be Different, Not Just Better (09:13) - - Why You Should Ungate Everything, Including Pricing (13:34) - - How to Prove Marketing Is Working Without Hard Metrics (18:38) - - A Great Product Makes Marketing Easier (24:54) - - Build a Point of View by Staying Close to Your Customers (27:10) - - Creative Event Marketing Beats a Boring Booth (31:00) - - What a PR Background Teaches You About Getting Attention (35:59) - - Hire Specialists and Give Them Ownership (39:00) - - Why Differentiation Matters More Than Ever in the AI Era Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/ *** Brought to you by: Optimizely - the AI platform for marketers. Build your own AI agents or pull from a directory of 50+ pre-built ones for marketing use cases. Their new Virtual Teammates can join meetings, complete tasks, support campaigns, and keep your website optimized. Learn more at optimizely.com/exitfive. Webflow - A website platform built for the agentic web, letting modern marketing teams build fully custom sites that perform in AI search with no developer needed. Learn more at webflow.com/for/exitfive. Zoom Webinars & Events – The virtual event platform built to help B2B marketers run webinars that actually drive pipeline, with branded registration pages, live engagement features, and built-in tools to repurpose sessions into clips and content. Learn more at zoom.com/exitfive. Compound Growth Marketing - A full-funnel demand gen agency helping high-growth cybersecurity and enterprise software companies show up earlier in the buying journey, combining AEO, modern paid advertising, and a dedicated go-to-market engineering team. Podcast listeners get two free media planning sessions to find out what channels are driving the best ROI. Learn more at compoundgrowthmarketing.com/exitfive. *** Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production. They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast. Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest. Visit hatch.fm to learn more

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Showing 21–40 of 49 episodes