Insights
Notes on B2B marketing, AI, and revenue.
Notes on B2B marketing, AI, GEO, demand generation, and revenue. Long-form thinking from a Boston-based marketing executive. 100 posts and counting.
Customer Marketing
- How to Run a Win/Loss Program with 8 Customers Win/loss is supposed to require dedicated headcount and a research firm. It does not. Here is the lightweight version.
- Customer Marketing Is Demand Gen in Disguise Customer marketing is treated as a retention function. It is also one of the highest-ROI demand gen channels.
- Logos vs Quotes vs Case Studies All three are customer evidence. They serve different purposes. Here is when to use which.
- The Case Study That Won Three Deals A single well-built case study can be worth more than a quarter of marketing campaigns. Here is the format that does it.
- Reference Calls as a Marketing Asset Reference calls are sales tools. They are also a marketing program that needs to be built and managed.
- NPS Is a Vanity Metric Net Promoter Score is the most-used customer metric in B2B and the least decision-useful. Here is what to use instead.
- CES vs CSAT vs NPS: Picking the Right One Three customer satisfaction metrics. Each measures something different. Here is how to pick.
- Why Reviews Sites Are the New Analyst Reports Gartner used to be the trust signal. G2 and Capterra are now where the real evaluation happens.
- G2 Strategy for Companies That Aren't Salesforce G2 is not just for category leaders. Here is the playbook for smaller companies competing for category presence.
- Capterra vs G2 vs SoftwareSuggest for SaaS Discovery Three review sites, three different audiences. Here is how to allocate effort.
- Why Marketing Should Own Onboarding Onboarding is usually CS-owned. The marketing case for owning it (or co-owning it) is strong.
- Marketing's Role in Net Revenue Retention NRR is treated as a CS metric. Marketing has a meaningful lever on it. Here is how.
Hiring
- Hiring Your First Demand Gen Manager The first demand gen hire is the most important early-stage marketing hire. Here is the profile that works.
- Hiring Your First Content Lead Most first content hires fail because the role is misdefined. Here is how to define it and who to hire.
- The Marketing Org Chart at $5M ARR At 5M ARR, marketing is 1-3 people. Here is the right structure and the trap to avoid.
- The Marketing Org Chart at $20M ARR At 20M ARR, marketing scales to 5-10 people. Here is the structure that works and the priorities for hiring.
- The Marketing Org Chart at $50M ARR At 50M ARR, marketing is 15-25 people, the CMO has functional VPs, and the systems become the differentiator.
- Fractional CMOs vs Full-Time: An Honest Decision Tree Fractional CMOs are a real option, not a compromise. Here is when to hire one and when to hold out for full-time.
- The Job Description That Attracts Senior Marketers Most senior marketing JDs read like a checklist of buzzwords. Here is how to write one that actually pulls applicants.
Brand
- Built from Zero: Three Patterns That Compound Marketing programs built from scratch share a structure. Find the wedge, install the system, compound the brand.
- Trust Is the Asset. Pipeline Is the Receipt. In trust-driven categories, marketing's job is to compound credibility. Pipeline follows automatically when credibility hits a threshold.
- The 7-11-4 Rule and What It Misses Google's 7-11-4 framework is a useful prompt, not a strategy. Here is how to apply it without being shallow.
- Brand Without a Brand Manager Brand is built by every customer-facing artifact, every day. You do not need a brand manager. You need brand discipline.
- Positioning vs Messaging vs Story Three terms used interchangeably and incorrectly. Here is the honest distinction and why it matters.
- The Three Sentences That Should Live on Your Homepage Most B2B homepages bury the lede. The hero needs three sentences: who you serve, what you do, what changes.
GEO
- Generative Engine Optimization Explained GEO is the discipline of getting your company surfaced, cited, and recommended by AI assistants. Here is the full mechanic.
- Why Your Site Should Have an llms.txt llms.txt is a one-file directive that tells AI assistants what your company does, who it serves, and what to cite. Five minutes, real GEO impact.
- JSON-LD Is the New Meta Description Meta tags get you a snippet. JSON-LD gets you in the knowledge graph. Here is what to ship.
- AI Overviews and What They Mean for B2B Google's AI Overviews are reducing click-through to traditional results. Here is the strategic response.
- The Three Surfaces of AI Search: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AIO Each AI search surface behaves differently. Here is how each works and how to optimize for all three.
- How to Get Cited by ChatGPT Getting cited by ChatGPT is a function of training data presence, retrieval signals, and entity clarity. Here is the playbook.
Demand Generation
- The Death of the MQL MQLs measure marketing's activity, not revenue's reality. Here is what to use instead.
- Pipeline Is Marketing's Job, Not Sales' If marketing does not own qualified pipeline, marketing is decoration. The org chart should follow the number.
- Outsourcing Demand Gen: When It Works Agencies fail at demand gen 80 percent of the time. Here is the 20 percent of cases where they work.
- Webinars in 2026: Dead, Alive, or Evolved? Webinar attendance is way down. Webinar pipeline is not. Here is what changed and what works now.
- The Honest Math of Demand Gen ROI Most demand gen ROI calculations are fiction. Here is how to do the math honestly.
Conversion
- Hero Section Tests That Actually Move Pipeline A/B testing CTAs and button colors is theater. Here are the hero tests that move real revenue.
- Demo Request vs Free Trial vs Self-Serve The default 'request a demo' CTA does not fit every buyer. Here is how to pick the right primary CTA for your motion.
- The Case for Calendar Booking on Every Contact Form Forms drop off. Calendar links convert. Here is how to redesign every contact form in your funnel.
- Why Your Contact Form Should Have Three Fields, Not Twelve Every additional form field costs you 5-10 percent of completions. Most B2B forms have 4 fields too many.
- Conversion Rate Optimization for Long Sales Cycles CRO playbooks assume a single conversion event. B2B has a hundred. Here is how to optimize end-to-end.
Leadership
- The CMO Job Has Two Modes: Build and Scale Building a marketing function and scaling one are different jobs. Most CMOs are good at one. Know which you are.
- Why Most CMOs Get Fired in 18 Months The average CMO tenure is the shortest in the C-suite. Here is the structural reason and how to extend it.
- The Honest Case for Founder-Led Sales (Even with a CMO) A great CMO does not replace founder-led sales in early stages. They amplify it. Here is how the relationship works.
- Why Your CRO Should Be Marketing's Closest Ally The CRO is not marketing's customer. They are marketing's co-conspirator. Here is how to build the alliance.
Paid Media
- Sponsored Newsletters That Convert Newsletter sponsorship is the most underrated paid channel in B2B. Here is how to find and execute the right placements.
- Programmatic Display in B2B: Almost Always a Waste Programmatic display rarely produces measurable B2B pipeline. Here is when it does and when to skip it.
- LinkedIn Ads Done Right LinkedIn Ads is expensive but precise. Here is the playbook that produces real B2B pipeline.
- Google Ads for B2B SaaS in 2026 Google Ads is harder than it was, partly because of AI Overviews. Here is the playbook that still produces results.
Technical SEO
- Robots.txt for the AI Era Your robots.txt is probably outdated. Here is the 2026 version that handles AI crawlers correctly.
- IndexNow: A 5-Minute SEO Win IndexNow tells search engines about new content immediately. It is free, fast, and underused.
- Crawl Budget for Small B2B Sites Crawl budget is usually not your problem. Here is when it is and what to do about it.
- Core Web Vitals for B2B Marketers Core Web Vitals are a ranking factor and a UX signal. Here is what each metric means and how to fix it.
Attribution
- How to Read an Attribution Report Without Lying to Yourself Attribution reports are useful, dangerous, and almost always misread. Here is how to interpret them honestly.
- The Case Against Last-Touch Attribution Last-touch attribution makes paid search look like a hero and brand look like a cost. Both readings are wrong.
- Why Marketing-Sourced Pipeline Is the Wrong North Star Sourced pipeline rewards marketing for owning the form fill and ignores marketing's influence on every other deal. Use influenced.
AI
ABM
MarTech
- The Single-Stack Argument: HubSpot or Salesforce, Not Both Running both HubSpot and Salesforce is a tax on every report you will ever produce. Pick one and live with it.
- The 6sense vs Demandbase Decision Both are excellent. Both are expensive. Here is how to pick the right one for your stage and motion.
RegTech
- Marketing in Regulated Categories: A Tactical Playbook Regulated buyers do not click 'request a demo.' They Google, ask peers, and read analyst reports. Here is how to win them.
- Why RegTech Buyers Don't Click 'Request a Demo' The form is the wrong CTA for compliance buyers. Replace it with calendar links, briefings, and content gates.
Marketing Operations
ICP
Sales Enablement
Operations
Positioning
- The April Dunford Method, Applied April Dunford's positioning framework is the best in B2B. Here is how to actually apply it without the four-day workshop.
- Why 'Category Creation' Is Mostly Bad Advice Category creation is rare, expensive, and almost always the wrong strategy. Here is what to do instead.
Field Marketing
PR
- The Founder LinkedIn Playbook Founder LinkedIn is the single highest-ROI marketing channel for most B2B companies. Here is the playbook.
- Why Your Marketing Team Should Post on LinkedIn Most B2B marketing teams post under the company brand. The leverage is in personal accounts. Here is how to activate the team.
Distribution
Content
- Substack for B2B Founders: A Pragmatic Take Substack is the new long-form. Here is when it works for B2B founders and when it does not.
- Podcasting as a Marketing Channel: When the Math Works Branded podcasts have a poor track record. Here is the rare case where they work and the common case where they don't.