Welcome to Don’t Say Content, a new podcast hosted by Devin Bramhall and Margaret Kelsey.Are you a:—a leader of people?—creative-minded individual?—someone who enjoys a good spicy take?Every Tuesday Devin and Margaret say what’s really on their minds about the marketing industry. After over 10 years in the industry, they are bored with the current state of marketing. So they made a podcast to inspire themselves and fellow marketing leaders who feel the same. They aren’t sharing tactics, playbooks or guides. They aren’t interviewing smart people (or anyone) about marketing. They are talking to each other about why they are annoyed with marketing and what they think needs to change to make it better. Plus, get weekly predictions from futurist astrologer, Jenn Hirsch, founder of Soulful Wealth.For more from Devin + Margaret, head to dontsaycontent.com.Follow Devin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devinbramhall/Follow Margaret: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaret-kelsey-104abba/Follow Jenn: https://soulfulwealth.substack.com/Created in partnership with Share Your Genius.Follow Devin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devinbramhall/Follow Margaret: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaret-kelsey-104abba/Created in partnership with Share Your Genius.
In this replay episode, we dive into fear and what it can do when left unresolved. And spoiler alert, it keeps us from being productive, connecting with others, and ultimately from personal and career growth. It also never goes away and in fact, can become an even bigger obstacle as you progress in your career. Whether you work for yourself, run a team or a company, fear surfaces over and over to present unique challenges. But when you learn how to work with fear, it can lead to a kind of bravery and curiosity that transforms your creativity and career. So we invited fear to the table for a little chat. Listen as we share our experiences navigating fear professionally and personally, publicly and privately, alongside each other and their most trusted community (including some top-tier advice from Momma Bramhall).Resources:Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.dontsaycontent.com/Created in partnership with Share Your Genius: https://www.shareyourgenius.com/
In this replay episode, we summarized the "state of marketing" and what we were looking forward to in the future. Are we there yet? You decide. But we can tell you we’re (still) looking forward to some genuine human connection and fostering authentic content creation in the coming year more than we are into slangin’ the same old worries we’ve been talking about (idk, marketing/exec alignment, AI takeovers, and old school marketing strategies, to name a few).Resources:Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.dontsaycontent.com/Created in partnership with Share Your Genius: https://www.shareyourgenius.com/
This replay episode might be one of our favorites of all time.Audacity - or as the kids call it: delulu. You need more of it in your life.In this episode, we explore our own relationship with audacity, how to cultivate it, why it’s so elusive to maintain, and why it’s so important at this (and any point) in your career.Resources:Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.dontsaycontent.com/Created in partnership with Share Your Genius: https://www.shareyourgenius.com/
In this replay episode, we look back at a discussion we had in Q4 last year around the problems our CEO and founder friends face. Since many of their problems felt, at the time, like nothing new, you can see how we wanted to revisit these again this year. Because even if the problem isn't a new one, that doesn’t mean they aren’t any easier to handle. So we hope our discussion will help bring you back to reality, center your actions around progress, and give you jumping-off points for solving these common problems among your leadership teams.Subscribe to our newsletter: https://dontsaycontent.substack.com/Created in partnership with Share Your Genius: https://www.shareyourgenius.com/
In this replay episode, we revisit the stories our CEO & founder friends shared with us last year about what topics are keeping them up at night. While they've probably moved on from these problems, they're still problems that plague many a founder and marketing department in our industry. We channel their full consultative skills and reference their experience in similar situations and roles to answer these three main questions:How do you build a marketing team that buys into your bigger mission and vision? Not spammy tactics. How do you combat analysis paralysis in a small marketing department? How can you embrace and maximize the messiness of the marketplace right now? Connect with Devin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devinbramhall/Connect with Margaret: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaret-kelsey-104abba/Subscribe to our newsletter: https://dontsaycontent.substack.com/Subscribe to Devin's new newsletter, Ta Gueule: https://www.devinbramhall.com/newsletterCreated in partnership with Share Your Genius: https://www.shareyourgenius.com/
In this replay episode, we take a look back on the content strategies of the past, and of the past/present when this was recorded (in 2023). Where is content marketing headed? Where has it been? What can we take with us into 2025? Things we discuss include personal branding, relatable content, and value-additive content—which never go out of style. Connect with Devin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devinbramhall/Connect with Margaret: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaret-kelsey-104abba/Subscribe to our newsletter: https://dontsaycontent.substack.com/Subscribe to Devin's new newsletter, Ta Gueule: https://www.devinbramhall.com/newsletterCreated in partnership with Share Your Genius: https://www.shareyourgenius.com/
We’re back! With a quick bonus episode before season 5 kicks off in January 2025. We’re keeping the feed rolling until then with some replays and bonus episodes to keep you company, and in this bonus episode, we’re catching you up on what we’ve been up to lately. Hope you enjoy, and see you in January!Connect with Devin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devinbramhall/Connect with Margaret: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaret-kelsey-104abba/Subscribe to our newsletter: https://dontsaycontent.substack.com/Subscribe to Devin's new newsletter, Ta Gueule: https://www.devinbramhall.com/newsletterCreated in partnership with Share Your Genius: https://www.shareyourgenius.com/
In this replay episode, Devin and Margaret share stories from their experiences working with founders/CEOs in-house and agency-side over the last decade to discuss the issues at play in the CEO/founder and marketing leader relationship. Some bigger themes they cover are the importance of shared language and understanding of metrics, how communication and trust impact the CEO/head of marketing relationship, and the balance between brand and funnel, and why CEOs and founders should step back from leading marketing departments. Plus Devin shares what she learned from being CEO and working with her marketing team, as well as anonymous stories from their clients.Resources: Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.dontsaycontent.com/Created in partnership with Share Your Genius: https://www.shareyourgenius.com/
Welcome back to Don't Say Content! While we gear up for season 5, we are re-releasing a timely episode on marketing attribution, AI in content strategy, and the evolution of SEO and brand awareness. To get even more specific, we dive into the ongoing debate over the relevance of attribution models, the necessity of integrating quality relationship-building content, and the balance between human-centric and algorithmic approaches. Enjoy!Resources: Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.dontsaycontent.com/Created in partnership with Share Your Genius: https://www.shareyourgenius.com/
On this bonus episode, you'll hear our own Devin Bramhall in conversation with Alex Kracov from Dock on his show, Grow and Tell. They talk about how startups should be thinking about content, how she scaled Animalz, and how she grew our podcast, Don't Say Content.Check out Grow and Tell here: https://www.dock.us/grow-and-tell
In this replay, we're talking about one of those tough moments in leadership. You’re ready to hire marketing talent (either your first hire or a head of marketing), but you don’t have a background in marketing.What background do you look for? How do you set them up for success?We’ve seen the downward spiral of failure: your VCs/board giving bad advice, a lack of shared language around marketing roles and responsibilities, an over-indexing on tactics and copy edits— and they all lead to a revolving door of bad-fit marketers coming in and out of your organization. Devin and Margaret explore how to successfully hire for and manage a role that you’re not an expert in—on this episode of Don’t Say Content.Resources: Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.dontsaycontent.com/Created in partnership with Share Your Genius: https://www.shareyourgenius.com/
Just like Content Marketing, growing an audience (organically) takes consistent investment and patience. How much time depends on your resources, strategy and - perhaps most importantly - how broad of a community you're trying to build. Plus a whole bunch of other questions and factors within those areas. We've learned a lot while building Don't Say Content with Share Your Genius, so today we're going to share all the things we tried, what really happens, and how we view audience-building strategy after 2 years of building our own.
In this episode, Devin Bramhall joins Ashley McGovern and Melissa Moody on their show, 2 Pizza Marketing.Like what you hear? Check out their show here: https://www.2pizzamarketing.com/Resources: Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.dontsaycontent.com/Created in partnership with Share Your Genius: https://www.shareyourgenius.com/
In this replay episode, we're revisiting lessons we've learned around failure.Did you just get fired? Spend a bunch of money on a marketing project or campaign that didn’t work? It can feel like marketing failures are happening today at a higher rate than ever before. Markets are changing; buyer’s processes, decision-making, and budgets are in flux; and companies are switching up their marketing organizations and leadership. Devin and Margaret explore our own relationship with failure—and what you can do next—on this episode of Don’t Say Content. Resources: Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.dontsaycontent.com/Created in partnership with Share Your Genius: https://www.shareyourgenius.com/
We’ve talked about a lot of things the past 17 episodes—so where have we landed among the strategies and thoughts and endless fodder around the “state of marketing” at the end of this season? Well, we can tell you we’re looking forward to some genuine human connection and fostering authentic content creation in the coming months more than we are into slangin’ the same old worries we’ve been talking about (idk, marketing/exec alignment, AI takeovers, and old school marketing strategies, to name a few). So tune in for a snorkel (not a deep dive) through the topics we’ve covered in season 4, and we hope you’ll stay tuned in for some bonus content to come before season 5 drops this fall. Catch ya later, you jerks. 😉Resources: Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.dontsaycontent.com/Created in partnership with Share Your Genius: https://www.shareyourgenius.com/
When times are changin' the rigidity of prescriptive playbooks simply don't work. Instead, companies need adaptive strategies that enable them to capitalize on timely opportunities (the term "growth hacks" comes to mind - with shame), and experiment constantly all while making progress towards their growth goals. Is this the marketing utopia we've all been waiting for? Who knows, but we're excited to hear more about this new, more flexible approach from founder/CEO of Minuttia & GrowthWaves, George Chasiotis.Resources: Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.dontsaycontent.com/Created in partnership with Share Your Genius: https://www.shareyourgenius.com/
For all the hype around marketing right now, very little is actually happening besides Google solidifying its dictatorship over businesses trying to use the internet for some free marketing. Nothing is free anymore it seems, except the public displays of insanity by humans on the internet. It’s basically become an adult children’s book of attempted quips gone wrong, and we love it. It’s a stage for guileless dopes fighting for fame in small, dark corners and megaphone platforms alike. This week, instead of trying to flip nothing burgers into $50 wagyu appetizers topped with fake truffle oil, we’re using the internet for the thing it’s best at: free fun. Gather round, children, it’s storytime, and all your favorite characters are here. Links from the show:Chocolate Meditation Collection: https://www.vosgeschocolate.com/products/chocolate-meditation-collectionHeike Young's Video: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/heikeyoung_if-i-talked-to-my-kids-like-some-brands-talk-ugcPost-7196524826096730112-DES-Clark Barron's post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/clarkbarron_if-i-see-another-marketing-post-on-linkedin-ugcPost-7197237317206425600-zI8xResources: Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.dontsaycontent.com/Created in partnership with Share Your Genius: https://www.shareyourgenius.com/
We had just recorded an episode about CMOs being anxious when Devin attended AudienePlus’s Golden Hour conference, where the IRL of stressed-out and disillusioned marketers was not only the prevailing topic but also the mood of attendees. This one-day event was a cathartic gathering of senior marketers eager to get their feelings out (then drink them away) amidst the golden strangeness of fake paparazzi, Lindsey Sterling’s eating disorder, and a decadent setting that didn’t quite convince any of us that everything is going to be OK—but did show us that we’re not alone. And that felt pretty good. Resources: Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.dontsaycontent.com/Created in partnership with Share Your Genius: https://www.shareyourgenius.com/
Experimentation is the Queen of Marketing Strategy these days as Martech continues to evolve, GenAI content becomes the new keyword stuffing and Google follows their hearts on SERPs in what seems like a midlife crisis-induced mushroom trip. No one knows what’s going to happen, so the best marketing strategy today involves testing & play to determine the best tactical mix for your business. Ned MacPherson, Chief Growth Officer of Power Digital is here this week to share what trends he’s noticing in CRO right now and his thoughts on the future of marketing strategy.Resources:Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.dontsaycontent.com/Created in partnership with Share Your Genius: https://www.shareyourgenius.com/