Marketing for Developers 2026

Justin Jackson and Lars Lofgren dive deep into how AI and LLMs are fundamentally changing marketing, SEO, and content strategy. They discuss why founder-led marketing has shifted from being a "cheat code" to a requirement, the death of traditional attribution, and practical strategies for succeeding in this new landscape.Lars Lofgren has worked with Automattic, Dropbox, Crazy Egg, and Kissmetrics. Previously built a $7M annual revenue affiliate business.Justin Jackson is the co-founder of Transistor.fm, and the creator of Marketing for DevelopersTimestamps:0:00 - Introduction - Background on Lars's career and expertise in marketing and SEO0:50 - Why founder-led marketing is essential in this new era6:22 - What's a big ranking factor for LLMs and Google these days?8:05 - Lars's approach to LinkedIn: deeply personal, vulnerable, and real storytelling11:16 - The old SEO playbook doesn't work anymore14:54 - What matters now? Building presence across the entire web (Reddit, reviews, social) 19:09 - People are still looking for the same thing: "What's the best product for me?"20:53 - Founder-led marketing is what wins25:34 - Become the influencer or pay influencers26:30 - The state of paid advertising38:21 - [ Become a member at https://marketingfordevelopers.com to hear the rest of the episode ]39:18 - When everyone can build software... distribution becomes even harder41:17 - Maybe in the future, there will be no websites? Just API endpoints for LLMs to hit?42:09 - Right now, people want to connect with humans; they want to connect emotionallyKey Takeaways:1. Founder-led marketing is now mandatoryBuilding a personal brand and audience is no longer optional for B2B success2. Entity footprints matter more than content qualityPresence across Reddit, reviews, social platforms, and other sites matters more than having the best blog content3. Attribution is deadEmbrace faith-based marketing and focus on genuine engagement over trackable metrics4. LLMs favor established categoriesPosition yourself in segments that LLMs already understand, not creative new categories5. Turn your marketing team into influencersHave employees build personal brands on their own accounts, not just company channelsThe arbitrage opportunityMarketers willing to invest without perfect ROI tracking will have a massive advantageConnect with LarsLinkedInNewsletter

The goal of the show is to publish interviews with builders and marketers navigating the challenges of marketing software and digital products in the AI age.Artificial intelligence and LLMs have changed the game. For one, many more people will be building apps and products because it's much more accessible with tools like Claude Code. And that just means more competition and makes it harder to stand out.Additionally, AI has changed how people choose the products they buy. We need a new approach. The old marketing handbook no longer works.In 2026, I'm rewriting the Marketing for Developers book for the AI era. In the meantime, you can read the original book published in 2015 on marketingfordevelopers.com for free.Thanks for adding this to your podcast player. You will be notified when I publish the first episode.LinksRead the original Marketing for Developers book (2015)Join the list for early access to new book chaptersTransistor.fm - podcast hosting: https://transistor.fm