Think like a media company

Why on earth would a B2B software tool create an animated cartoon series? --- In this episode, Chris Savage (CEO of Wistia) explains why they created an animated cartoon series + why they're so invested in creating branded content as a B2B company. 

Todd Clouser has quickly become one of the most recognisable faces in the B2B marketing community.  How?  One word: TikTok.  But not in the way you probably imagine.  He's not become a "Tok influencer" on the platform itself. No - he's leveraged TikTok style content to grow his following on LinkedIn.  i.e. repurposing TikTok's onto LinkedIn. During this conversation - I chatted with Todd about his journey with TikTok and he's been able to leverage the platform to grow his LinkedIn following. We also chatted about the state of B2B creators and why Todd thinks creators are now some of the most important individuals inside a company. 

Smart companies are either building OR acquiring media companies. 🤔 Why? Audience = very strong moat. Features can be copied, services can be replicated but you know what can't be copied? ✅ An audience. (Well... at least not overnight anyway) Justin Simon and the team at metadata.io understand this better than probably anyone else. From their podcast Demand Gen U to how they go about content repurposing, they've mastered the art of getting + retaining attention.

How does a niche B2B podcast generate 1,000+ downloads a week?? Yeah, I know - when Conor first told me this I was shocked (in a really good way) 1,000 downloads for a B2B company podcast is INSANE so I had to get him onto the pod and find out exactly how they've been able to do it!

In this podcast I chatted with Nate Odell about how he and the team at Scratchpad approach product marketing content. We also talked about B2B influencer marketing and how that's changing how content is created.

"B2B influencer marketing" 🤳 When you think of the term "influencers" OR "influencer marketing" What comes to mind? 🤔 Probably... 👉 Instagram models promoting skin-care products & toothpaste on their profiles. 👉 Tiktoker's dancing and inserting random product placements. 👉 Joe Rogan selling supplements on his podcast. ...right? But - probably not: B2B influencers partnering with -> B2B SaaS companies to promote -> B2B software products And you probably don't think about it. Because it's something that's still in the VERY early days of adoption. --- Yet - individuals like Evan Patterson 🥂 have already been doing this for years... (Working as a brand ambassador for dozens of B2B SaaS brands) Which is exactly why, I wanted to bring on for this episode and talk everything "B2B influencer marketing" And hear how he thinks about it both from a: ✅ Brands perspective. But also from an... ✅ Individuals perspective. And honestly... This conversation *really* opened my eyes to what's possible in this space. From how salary compensation changes when you've got an audience to how B2B brand partnerships work... there's a lot of gems to digest from this conversation.

Does the CEO have to be the face of the brand? OR: Can it be another individual within the company? If you follow most of the "marketing-fluencers" on here... they'll probably have you believe that it has to be CEO. And that if it's not the CEO - your content will FLOP and won't "resonate as much" But... here's the reality: ❌ Not every CEO can dedicate their time to creating content for LinkedIn (insert other channels) like Chris Walker can. ❌ Not every CEO has that DEEP level of industry expertise to allow them to create content that will *actually resonate* with their audience. ❌ Not every CEO is a great natural content creator (whether that be written/video etc.) yes 'content creation' is a skill and CAN be learned BUT talent is also a thing and there are some really talented creators out there. --- Jorge L Soto is a PERFECT example of a non-CEO "brand face" Since joining Reprise as Head of Content & Community he's helped them build their brand... from pretty much scratch. Creating FOUR different content series': ✅ Demo Diaries Podcast ✅ The Product-Led Revenue Show ✅ Executive Talks on LinkedIn ✅ Reprise Revenue Leadership + a whole bunch of other content assets. That have collectively helped Reprise build a really strong audience base and drive significant pipeline. For me, Jorge is someone that acts as a great reminder that: ⭐️ You can still build a really strong brand *even when* your CEO isn't front and centre stage. --- In my latest episode of 'How We Make Content' I chatted with him/Jorge about how he's executed this brand/content model... And his thoughts about the "media company" model that's being talked about a lot at the minute on LinkedIn. Honestly - this was my favourite conversation on the podcast to date. *Super actionable and straight to the point. If you're a content marketer trying to figure out this "brand marketing" and "media company" thingy. Give it a listen :)

Arnold Ma… CEO of award-winning Chinese digital marketing agency - Qumin. And also one of the most ‘brand-driven’ B2B CEO’s I’ve ever met. From filming internal company vlogs to building a media company… Arnold and the team at Qumin… live and breathe content as a company. And what particularly fascinates me about these guys, is how quick they’re to iterate on new ideas... And you know - look, Arnold was very frank with me during this conversation - they’ve tried lots of things that haven’t worked. But one thing that’s remained consistent: is that they’ve never stopped. My conversation on today’s podcast goes behind the scenes of Qumin’s content engine and into the mind of Arnold Ma.... a CEO who really understands marketing.

Vidyard have dominated their category 👑 And I think A LOT of it comes down to how they've structured their content-engine... ⭐️ Blog. ⭐️ Employee social strategy. ⭐️ Media brand (Sales Feed) ...as a company they've embraced several different content plays that have allowed them to be positioned as the 'go-to-solution' And so for my 2nd conversation of my new series "How We Make Content" I wanted to go completely under the hood and find out: A) How they approach "content" as a marketing team but also as a company. And... B) How each of those 'content plays' (blog, employee social strategy & media company Sales Feed) are produced and what makes them unique. To do this, I invited on Erin Ellis - Head of Content at Vidyard... And we discussed everything from: ✅ How they revamped their blog to shift from 'generic marketing blog' to 'niche/focused blog' ✅ How they approach their employee social strategy and get individuals within the company to become their own creators. ✅ Why they decided to build their own separate media brand, Sales Feed + their content strategy for that brand. It's not a conversation that will disappoint.

Firebolt are a fascinating case study in what happens when the ENTIRE company gets onboard with the marketing/content strategy. From a podcast hosted by the co-founders (who're both Brothers) to an April fools Mockumentary video... they're truly living and breathing "content" as a company.  Which is why it's no surprise, that since launching in 2019 they've grown now to over 114 people and are now on the same level-playing field as Goliaths like Snowflake.  During my discussion with their Director of Demand Generation, Itay Waisman we discussed:  ✅How their 5-person marketing team is structured (and how they operate like a Jazz band) ✅How they come up with really creative content ideas (it's not what you expect) ✅How they rethought the "traditional product demo"  ✅How they created a viral product ad (it got 44,000 views on YouTube alone) I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did recording it :)