🎙️ Co-Host of The B2B Playbook | 💭 Bringing Clarity to Demand Generation That Drives Revenue | The 5 BEs Framework

If you're in a small B2B marketing team, I'm guessing you've felt some of these pains:

❌ you're unsure if your brand awareness and thought leadership are getting results
❌ it's hard to show your marketing is making an impact on revenue
❌ you want more engagement with your content from Dream Customers
❌ you are in service of sales
❌ you look for B2B 'hacks' and tactics on sites like Hubspot and LinkedIn
❌ you struggle to get 'buy-in' on your content strategy
❌ your costs on advertising platforms keep going up
❌ you don't have time to document your strategy for your boss

---------------
So how can I help you?
---------------

With our 5 BEs Framework, that shows marketers exactly how to create more demand for your business

Here's what your life looks like after implementing it:
✔️ you have higher intent leads
✔️ you have faster sales cycles
✔️ you have more word of mouth and brand loyalty

Not to mention the other benefits:
✅ you have a system to build relationships at scale, and know how to demonstrate it's working
✅ you are able to show how demand generation wins you more business
✅ you build a community that will vouch for you
✅ sales love you as you send them more qualified buyers
✅ you have all the strategy and tactics you need
✅ you move beyond just 'thought leadership', and experts outside the marketing department help you create content
✅ your entire b2b demand generation strategy is documented for your boss

------------

So! Here's 2 ways you can use The 5 BEs Framework

1/
👉 Listen to The B2B Playbook podcast 🎙️

https://the-b2b-playbook.captivate.fm/listen

2/ 
👉 Get the strategy, tools & templates you need to generate new demand for your business

https://theb2bincubator.com/

Questions?

👉🏼 Shoot me a DM

George Coudounaris

Huge news - Kevin Chen and I are finally recording The B2B Playbook in-person! 
We also re-recorded our intro to reflect the evolution of the show. No longer is it just about B2B marketing - 

We're now covering how that connects to sales, customer success, product - and how each department can work together to align their revenue functions. 

This is an important move from us, and is one that has come from so many conversations with our audience. Marketers are always TRYING to to do their best - but there is so much misalignment in an organisation that means their best efforts are hamstrung 

So now when we discuss B2B marketing,
We can do it with the lens of how it fits in with the rest of the revenue function 

I feel this is an important step to build the bridge between marketers --> sales --> chief revenue / commercial officer

---

SO if you're interested in B2B marketing,
And the role it plays in the wider revenue team

OR

If you just want to make fun of our ugly mugs from 3 different camera angles

Follow The B2B Playbook, and subscribe so you don't miss an ep!

Sam Dunning went from 50k/mo to 200k/mo in 1 year. We run his LinkedIn Ads strategy - and most enquiries mention they found him on LinkedIn. Here’s how we helped get him there (and how we’ll help get to 400k/mo  this year):

BACKGROUND

Sam knew that LinkedIn was a key place he was reaching new potential clients organically with his content - but with the algorithm always changing and limiting reach, he knew LinkedIn Ads would be key to scale to the next level.

WHAT WE DID 

(1) We forced Sam to get brutally clear on his ICP 

With a very limited budget to start (1.2k/mo), we weren’t going to rely on LinekdIn’s native filters. We wanted a TIGHT company list that matched his ICP of B2B SaaS companies he serves best. 

So we got him to answer:
• Who are your best clients? 
• Who gets the most value?
• Which companies do you want more of? 

Turned that into firmographic filters, pulled a list, looked through it manually - so we knew we were getting in front of the right companies from Day 1. 
 
(2) Thought Leadership Ads became the growth engine

Across all our clients we’ve been seeing very strong results from Thought Leadership Ads. Its high engagement rates mean that you get better bang for your buck, and is a great place to start.

(Sam’s engagement rates are at 8-15%) 

But we don’t just boost any content. 

Before we started,
We mapped Sam’s best performing posts to the 5 Stages of Awareness

• Stages 1-3 → cold audiences
• Stages 3-5 → warm audiences

Then filled any content gaps.

Next step: every post needed a CTA.

Early-stage posts link to helpful resources.
Later-stage posts push toward booking a call.

Result?

Thought Leadership Ads consistently hit engagement rates as high as 15%, which meant Sam was everywhere his buyers looked.

Since then, we’ve layered in:

• Company page ads so Breaking B2B grows beyond Sam’s face
• Amplifying partner and client posts talking about working with Sam

So the brand scales, not just the founder.
 
(3) Constant Optimisation of Thought Leadership Ads

We judge the top performing Thought Leadership Ads by looking at:
• Engagement rate
• Cost per landing page click (a custom metric not available in platform)
• New subscribers
• High intent pages
• Calls booked

And we have a tight feedback loop with Sam on what’s landing to closed-won. 
 
(4) Acknowledge the reality of the buying journey 

Most prospects aren’t in-market today. Many have an SEO vendor they’re probably not seeing value from. 

Others are getting their business to the point where they can finally invest in SEO. 

With Sam, we help stay top of mind. So when they’re ready, they come straight to him. 
 
—

What’s next as Sam pushes toward his stretch goal?

• Upload a new company list to double audience size
• Increase spend to scale reach
• Scale top-performing ads into the expanded audience
• Grow company page ads so demand scales beyond the founder
 
Follow along as Sam and I share results from The B2B Playbook !

Last year we outranked Hubspot, Cognism and other monsters with SEO in just 67 days... driving pipeline and closed-deals for our demand gen course The B2B Incubator. And when I say "we" - I mean Sam Dunning did it for us. 

Time to see if he can help us do it again. Here’s Sam's battle-plan to scale inquiries from SEO/AEO in record time:

BACKGROUND.

We worked together a year back and outranked Hubspot driving pipeline and revenue in 67 days for ‘demand generation course’ and similar keywords. Now for The B2B Playbook we want to ramp inquiries for our core paid media services offerings to B2B SaaS. So Sam and the Breaking B2B team have crafted an aggressive plan to get SEO and LLM visibility and drive inbounds from high-intent dream clients as quick as humanly possible. 

Sharing it with you here. 
Lets dive in.


NET NEW CONTENT

Landing pages.

Focused on driving high intent leads from people needing our solutions.
Following problem, agitation solution framework. Plenty of social proof and FAQs to answer real sales call Qs.

- google ads agency for b2b (1.3k searches/mo)
- b2b meta ads agency (10 searches/mo)
- demand generation agency (1.5k searches/mo)
- linkedin ads agency

Listicle articles.

Sam tells us these rank super well in classic organic search and get pulled from like crazy in LLMs and AI search to get brand mentions. We'll include a quick summary + shortlist, larger comparison table above main list, at least 11 options, consistent subsections for each agency section, position us as #1 backed by customer research sharing pricing, differentiator, social proof and where we are a great and poor fit.

- best linkedin ads agencies for b2b (300 searches/mo)
- b2b saas marketing agencies (700 searches/mo)
- best google ads agencies [for b2b] (100 searches/mo)
- best demand generation agencies (350 searches/mo)


UPDATE EXISTING CONTENT

Landing page:
- linkedin ads agency

Turn the social proof under the hero into a slider with multiple images and intro with an H3 like “Real Results from Our LinkedIn Ads Clients.”

Add a customer testimonial block under “What to expect from our LinkedIn Ads Agency.” H2 something like “Hear From Our Clients”

Listicle article: 
- b2b marketing courses

Add shortlist table + adjust the title tag (cut “the ultimate list of” and make it “13+ best…”). Add any other options that make sense. Update last published date (LLMs often pull from fresh, relevant content).


EARN BACKLINKS

DA50+ niche relevant backlinks for:

- b2b linkedIn ads agency 
- linkedIn ads agency for b2b
- linkedin ads
- the b2b playbook linkedin ads agency
- Linkedin ads agency

We'll ramp up external listicle placements and backlinks again next month once all the net new content is written and published.

Follow along as Sam Dunning and I share learnings and results!

Anything we're missing in this plan?

It's time for us to get expert help with YouTube. At 1,506 subscribers, it's been a key touchpoint for new business at The B2B Playbook - and it has offset some of the reduced organic reach we're seeing from LinkedIn.

Step in Samu Kovács 

With Samu's help, we want to grow:
+ The velocity of new subscribers (currently 50 in last 28d)
+ The amount of business generated from YouTube

Currently our posting schedule is 4x 45min videos (episodes from The B2B Playbook) each week. 

With Samu's help, 
We're going to cut some best moments into 2x 10-15min clips for those who don't want to sit through the whole thing

It will also hopefully allow our video to rank for more, relevant terms. 

He's also helping us:
• increase the production quality of our video (more engaging intros, 3x camera angles)
• overlaying graphics and explainers
• ensuring we have clear CTAs  
• Improving our thumbnails for better CTR

And he's helping us do this across our agency services and educational programs. 

Of course making these the natural conclusion of our content - without selling. 

It's super important to us that we cover topics that our audience genuinely cares about, instead of just chasing volume. 

---

P.S. next steps I gotta fix that lighting in the background, and change the picture frames to be our lines of business instead!

And the screen in the background should have our logo on it. 

Follow along The B2B Playbook to see how we go! Will be sharing learnings along the way.

I've had 3 people separately DM this to me today - 
Our demand gen / B2B marketing course being recommended organically in the Exit Five community

Best of all - 

The recommendations are from people who joined the program, some who paid out of their own pocket - and others who had their company pay for them. 

We've had over 310+ B2B marketers now go through the program, and we're striving to make it better and better every cohort. 

Yes there are other options out there

But if you're looking for:
• a program that helps you take action, not just learn theory
• small cohorts with hands on advice, and live Q&As
• a toolkit to keep with you for your career

That's where we put our energy into - and we might just be the right fit for you

If you're looking to upskill, check it out below! Next cohort is launching end of February

----

(P.S. a huge thank you to our alumni community organically spreading the good word!)

Most B2B companies wait until the RFP to start gathering intel.
 
By then, it's too late to influence the outcome.
 
Actually, even if you don't work in RFP-driven markets, the principle still applies.
 
𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝘁.
 
This is the Sales & Marketing Feedback Loop we use at Chief Revenue School - a continuous validation system that runs throughout the customer lifecycle.
 
𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀:
 
→ Market Intel feeds the Catalogue (who they're with, what they like/don't like, what they'd change)
 
→ Leadership gains Strategic Visibility and can actually forecast based on real pipeline movement
 
→ Existing/Previous Customers provide the proof points that inform positioning
 
→ Delivery & Ops turns promises into reality (which feeds back into intel)
 
→ "Are They Worth It?" ensures you're qualifying on actual contract value, not vanity metrics
 
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀:
 
Even without an RFP process, this loop tells you when prospects are genuinely ready to buy, what messaging will resonate, which objections will come up, and what your delivery team needs to prepare for.
 
You're not waiting for a buying committee to form. You're learning what would make them form one in the first place.
 
You learn:
 
• What they actually care about
• What they're frustrated with
• When they'd realistically move
• What needs to be in the winning proposal (or pitch, or demo, or contract)

Plus permission to circle back at the right time. 
 
This is one framework from our upcoming book Closed Circuit Selling : Architect Predictable Revenue in an Unpredictable Market (out soon with Adem Manderovic)

You'll learn all about EXACTLY how Adem did this across industry sector to break national sales records

I wish I had Luke Winter's framework for being funny in B2B when I recorded season 1 of The B2B Playbook. I find it so painful to go back and listen to our foundational episodes - 

Because I thought it was important to try and share a bit of my personal life with the audience and make the laugh, or at least smile. 

So i'd start each episode with a 'bit' 
Letting loose a little slice of my internal Larry David 

And listening back now it's pretty cringe. 

I guess I was kind of on the right path - because humour is a very viable strategy to stand out and be remembered - even in B2B

Luke and his clients at Deadpan 💀 🎬 are proof of it

and he has a KILLER framework for actually being funny
(Luke thinks he's not funny himself - it's his framework he leans on - which I love) 

---

Watch the full episode from The B2B Playbook to get all the juicy details and tips (it was originally from our Full Circle Conference so there's loads of examples)

But some really key takeaways are:
• The B2B ads that work aren’t clever for the sake of it. They reflect something buyers already recognise. 
• A frustration they deal with weekly. 
• A situation they’ve complained about internally. 
• Something that makes them think, “Yep, that’s exactly it.”

When you do that:
• You earn attention earlier
• You build familiarity before demand exists

We talk about:
• Why showmanship matters before salesmanship
• Why one-off campaigns disappear but series compound
• How to use comedy frameworks without damaging credibility

And why “looking professional” is no longer enough

---

Watch, listen or READ the full episode below (available with slides)

Why don’t marketing’s leads close?

This question comes up in most B2B teams I speak to.

Sales says the leads are bad.
Marketing says the leads are fine. Blames Sales for not chasing hard enough

Everyone’s busy.
Pipeline looks full.
Revenue still misses.

Here's the reality (which makes sense when you think about it) 👇

Roughly 95% of your market isn’t in a buying window at any given time.
Only about 5% are actually ready.

But we treat every lead like they’re in that 5%.

So what happens?

• Form fills get treated as buying intent
• Sales + Marketing activity gets mistaken for progress
• Marketing keeps guessing timing
  
It puts the two departments against each other, and means that any intelligence gathered from one isn't passed onto the other. 

My view?

👉 The timing question can’t be answered by marketing alone.
It MUST get answered through 1:1 sales conversations.

Sales is the only function that can reliably learn:
– who’s actually in-market
– who’s not
– and what it would take to win

-----

It's not that the leads are bad. 

It's that we're trying to make people buy who are just not ready.

Why don't Revenue Leaders trust their pipeline anymore? 
Across the board, leaders are seeing deals slip, forecasts move, and close dates magically reset. 

To unpack what's really going on, 

I sat down with Phil Cleary - 21+ years at Salesforce, and someone who’s coached revenue teams across APAC for over a decade.

He’s seen every cycle.

Boom. Bust. AI hype. SaaS explosion. Cost-cutting waves.

It’s how buyer psychology and seller behaviour have shifted - and how most revenue systems haven’t caught up.

A few things we unpacked:

• Why FOMU (fear of messing up) is stronger than FOMO right now
• Why fake pipeline is often a measurement problem
• The 2x2 coaching model every sales leader should use
• Why “software with a service” is the future
• And why you are your calendar

One line from Phil stuck with me:

He questioned the “realness of the pipeline… how much of it is fabricated.”

Not fabricated through dishonesty.
Fabricated through optimism.

That means moving deals through stages without real proof, or confidence in deals that's unfounded.

Most revenue enablement strategy tries to fix this with better skills.

i.e.
Better discovery.
Sharper messaging.
More inspection.

But if the system doesn’t force you to answer basic viability questions, like who’s driving it, why now, what would stop it, what success actually looks like - instability keeps resurfacing.

---

Phil Cleary and Adem Manderovic go into why this isn't just a training issue, but an architectural one. 

If you’re leading sales, marketing or revenue right now and forecast calls feel heavier than they used to, this one’s worth a listen on The B2B Playbook 

---

Check it out below!

B2B Marketers - you don't need that new 'playbook' that's comment-gated on LinkedIn... THe biggest impact is going to come from applying the fundamentals with structure, clarity, and confidence. The only issue is,

Most marketers never get the time to do it, because we're stuck on the hamster wheel. 

And the best time to do that planning for 2026 is now
Everyone is back in action - and its time to build the strategy, get buy-in on it, and start executing

That’s why now’s the perfect time to work on the fundamentals most marketers never get around to:

+ Building and documenting your demand gen system
+ Aligning your strategy with sales and leadership
+ Setting up a repeatable framework you can actually scale

That’s exactly what The B2B Incubator is built for.

It’s a 6-week demand generation program designed to help you:
✅ Build and document your demand engine step-by-step
✅ Apply proven frameworks and templates directly in your company
✅ Get expert feedback and accountability so you’re not building in isolation

You’ll build alongside a small group of like-minded B2B marketers,
with live Q&As for guidance, collaboration, and support.
And you’ll walk away with a firm plan to execute in 2026 and tools to do it

(not just ideas)

Over 310+ marketers have completed the program so far.
Some now with their revenue team drive 70–80% of pipeline and have tripled qualified opportunities from the systems they built during it.

(And that's 'real' pipeline, with timing validated - not fake pipeline to inflate numbers. Of course, nothing happens in a vacuum — revenue’s a team sport.)

If you’re responsible for demand generation and want to:

+ Build a strategy you can point to
+ Create a system you can explain
+ And start 2026 with clarity, alignment, and momentum

👉 Details and application link are down below for cohort launching end of Feb

Spots are capped at 10 marketers per group.

Check it out below! 

#b2b #demandgeneration #marketingstrategy

Demand Generation Course with Live Q&As - The B2B Incubato

Generic GTM is dead → Go to my featured section for actionable GTM insights and elevate your marketing game 🔥| Co-Founder of TACK | Creating the category of People-first GTM 👥| 13+ Years in B2B Marketing 📈

I help B2B companies build go-to-market strategies that prioritize real connection because relationships, not just reach, drive growth.

After 14 years in B2B marketing, I’ve led field marketing, demand gen, community, and influencer programs. I know what works, what doesn’t, and what’s changed.

Too many companies still treat buyers like leads. That’s not how modern GTM works.

I’ve helped 35+ B2B brands shift from transactional tactics to connection-driven growth, building scalable strategies, launching communities, running 30+ webinars, and rolling out on-demand models that replaced bloated in-house teams.

Today, I work directly with brands, founders, and marketers to build go-to-market engines that scale—without the spam.

What I do:
→ Build integrated campaign strategies that drive pipeline
→ Coach creators and brands on influencer marketing
→ Design community-led and field programs that actually work
→ Speak on GTM, content, and creator-led growth
→ Act as a fractional marketing leader or advisor

📚 Author of B2B Influencer Marketing: Work With Creators to Generate Authentic and Effective Marketing (Kogan Page, 2025)

👋 Let’s work together: DM me or visit https://linktr.ee/NickBMarketing

Nick Bennett

I used to run monthly field marketing meetups.

80-100 field marketers would join virtually. We'd talk wins, losses, ideas. Same topic came up every single time.

Tracking.

Everyone had a CRM. Everyone had spreadsheets. Nobody had a simple way to show leadership what actually worked.

Event season is coming. I was lying in bed thinking about this problem again.

So I built something.

It's called Event Impact Tracker. Free. No login. Data stays in your browser.

Here's what it does:

→ Pipeline-first metrics (not badge scans)
→ Auto-calculates ROI and grades events A-F
→ Compares your results against industry benchmarks
→ Exports to PDF or CSV for leadership reports

I built this V1 in about 30 minutes laying in bed watching TV on Lovable last night. It's not perfect. But it solves the problem I kept hearing about for years.

Your CFO doesn't care about booth traffic. They care about pipeline and revenue. This helps you show them that.

No catch. No email capture. Just use it.

https://lnkd.in/eDQ7JirG

If you're heading into event season and need a better way to prove ROI, this might help.

Shoot me feedback! I want to improve this thing, and I'm also semi addicted now.

15+ Year B2B Marketing Leader Turned Founder | ABM, Field Marketing & Events, Influencer Marketing & More | DM Me to Learn More

A campaign that should've taken 2 weeks took me a few hours.

Not because I moved faster. Because there was nothing to wait on.

Most marketing teams aren't slow because they lack ideas. They're slow because they're waiting. Waiting on ops to pull a list. Waiting on copy approval. Waiting on sales to confirm follow-up. By the time everything aligns, the moment is gone.

The play was a cold pipeline re-engagement campaign.

We pulled accounts that showed intent over the past 6 months but never converted. Segmented by product interest and role. Launched a 3-touch email and LinkedIn sequence.

Total time from idea to live: one day.

What made it possible:

→ Segments already built in Common Room
→ Messaging templates ready to adapt
→ No dependency on ops for list pulls or triggers
→ Sales aligned on follow-up the same morning

Within the first week we had replies, meetings booked, and a handful of deals reopened.

The lesson isn't about moving faster. It's about removing the waiting before you need to move.

Segments defined ahead of time. Triggers ready to go. Ownership clear before the play even exists.

The fastest marketing teams don't sprint harder. They've already done the setup so execution is simple when the moment shows up.

What's slowing down your team's ability to act on ideas?

Most event marketers can't defend their budget.

Not because events don't work. Because they're reporting the wrong things.

Finance asks: What did we get from that $50K conference?

And the answer is usually badge scans and booth traffic. That's not ROI. That's activity.

Here's what an actual event report should include:

ICP Accounts Attended
How many Tier 1, 2, or 3 accounts had someone at the event? This tells you if you were even in front of the right people.

Contacts Added
Net-new contacts from attending accounts. Not total scans. New names in your CRM that didn't exist before.

Meetings Booked
Sales meetings scheduled as a direct result of the event. Not "good conversations." Actual meetings on the calendar.

Qualified Pipeline (New)
Net-new opportunities created post-event that meet your qualification criteria. Stage, ICP fit, value threshold. Real pipeline, not maybes.

Influenced Pipeline
Existing opportunities where the event helped move things forward. Deals that accelerated, re-engaged, or unstuck because of a conversation at the booth.

Closed-Won Revenue
Revenue from deals directly attributable or influenced by the event. The number finance actually cares about.

Then calculate two ROI metrics:

Pipeline ROI
(Qualified Pipeline + Influenced Pipeline) ÷ Total Event Cost
Use this to compare efficiency across events.

ARR ROI
Closed-Won ARR ÷ Total Event Cost
Use this for long-term performance.

One more metric worth tracking: Revenue Coverage in the Room. A directional estimate of potential new and expansion revenue based on who attended. Not a forecast. A planning tool.

When you report like this, the budget conversation changes completely.

You're not defending why events should exist. You're showing which ones deserve more investment.

What metrics do you use to prove event ROI?

P.S. let me know if there are metrics you want me to go deeper on here, too!

Everyone's chasing scale. Bigger booths. Bigger audiences. Bigger budgets.

Deals move faster in a room of 7 than a crowd of 700.

I'm joining a virtual panel on March 17th to talk about what's actually working in B2B events right now.

The session: "Events That Actually Convert: What B2B Marketing Leaders Are Doubling Down on in 2026"

Hosted by ConvergeX Connections with a small group of North American marketing leaders who are done with vanity metrics and ready to talk real ROI.

We'll cover what's working, what's been cut, and the experiments shaping event strategy this year.

I'll be sharing my take on micro events. Highly curated. 7-10 people max.

Why I'm doubling down on them:

→ Decision-makers actually show up
→ Conversations go deeper than badge scans
→ Deals move faster because you're not competing for attention

This is a peer conversation, not a webinar. They're keeping it small and curated to make sure the discussion stays tactical.

If you're a B2B marketing leader building your 2026 event roadmap, you can request a spot here: https://lnkd.in/ecF3E-fm

Spots are almost gone, only a few seats are left. Drop a comment if you're applying. Would love to see some familiar faces in the room.

Event ROI doesn’t break at the booth.

It breaks on Monday.

Because by Monday, the context is gone.

The rep remembers:

- the company name
- a vague pain point
- and that the conversation “felt good”

So the follow-up turns into: “Great meeting you at the event…”

Which is basically saying: “I have nothing specific to say.”

Here’s the simplest post-event operating system I’ve found that actually produces pipeline.

The 48-hour event follow-up OS

1) Before anyone leaves the venue, capture context (15 minutes)

Do a debrief while it’s still fresh.

3 Rules:
1.) everyone stays
2.) no laptops
3.) no “we’ll do it later”

For each priority conversation, capture 5 things:

- What problem did they actually say out loud?
- What’s broken in their current process?
- What do they care about personally? (risk, time, reputation, budget)
- Who else is involved? (names and roles)
- What’s the next step they agreed to?

If you don’t have those 5, you don’t have a lead. You have a badge scan.

2) Turn that context into something delegatable (30 minutes)

This is the move most teams miss.

Have reps record a 30–60 second voice note per priority account. Raw. Ugly. Specific.

Now anyone can write the follow-up. Because the “why” is preserved.

3) 24 hours later: send the follow-up that proves you were listening

One email. Short. No fluff.

Structure:

1 line: what you heard
1 line: what you’re sending (resource / recap / next step)
1 line: the ask (calendar link or two times)

If the follow-up doesn’t reference their world, it’s spam.

4) 48 hours later: score the event like an operator, not a marketer
Don’t report “leads.”

Report:
1.) ICP accounts engaged
2.) meetings booked within 14 days
3.) influenced pipeline
4.) one thing to change next time

That’s it.

Everything else is whatever.

What’s your team’s biggest follow-up failure mode today: no context capture, no ownership, or no SLA?

School vacation week starts Monday.

Here's what I think will happen vs. what will actually happen.

Expectation: I'll knock out that strategic project I've been putting off.
Reality: I'll negotiate screen time limits like a hostage negotiator by 9am.

Expectation: The kids will play quietly while I take calls.
Reality: Someone will scream "SHE HIT ME" during my most important meeting of the week.

Expectation: I'll maintain my normal work schedule.
Reality: I'll be answering Slack messages from the bathroom because it's the only room with a lock.

Expectation: We'll do fun family activities in the evenings.
Reality: Everyone will be too tired and annoyed with each other by 5pm.

Expectation: I'll meal prep healthy lunches.
Reality: Goldfish crackers count as a food group now.

A realistic survival guide for the week:

Step 1: Lower your expectations.
Step 2: Lower them again.
Step 3: Accept that "productivity" means everyone is still alive by Friday.

Here's the thing though. I'm taking the end of next week off. And it still feels weird to say that.

When you work for yourself, stepping away is harder than it sounds. There's always something. A client email. A project to tweak. A "quick" thing that turns into two hours.

But this is exactly why I went out on my own. The flexibility to be present when it matters.

So I'm logging off. Mostly.

To all the parents balancing work and a house full of chaos next week: I see you. We're all just trying to make it to the weekend.

Good luck out there.

Let's stop debating who owns event follow-up.

Because you're solving the wrong problem.

I've been in those post-event meetings. Marketing says sales didn't follow up fast enough. Sales says the leads weren't qualified. Everyone points fingers. Nothing changes.

Here's what I've learned after years of running events: the ownership question is a distraction. The real problem is context evaporating before anyone can act on it.

Think about it. Your rep has a killer conversation at the booth. Gets back to the hotel. Checks email. Has dinner. Flies home. By Monday morning, that conversation is a blur. Name, company, maybe a vague note in a spreadsheet.

Now they're supposed to write a personalized follow-up? Good luck.

The solution isn't assigning owners earlier. It's about capturing context before it disappears.

Here's what actually works:

→ 15-minute debrief before anyone leaves the venue
→ Every rep records a voice note for each priority conversation
→ Raw context while it's still fresh

That's it. No fancy system needed. Just capture the moment.

Why this works:

1. You get the real details. Not sanitized CRM notes written three days later.
2. Follow-up becomes delegatable. Anyone can listen to that voice note and write a solid email.
3. It eliminates the "I forgot what we talked about" excuse. Because you literally have a recording.

Effective follow-up isn't about who sends it. It's about having something valuable to say.

And you can't say something valuable if you can't remember the conversation.

Next event, try this. Debrief on-site. Voice notes for every meaningful conversation. Then watch what happens to your follow-up quality.

What's your system for capturing context before it disappears?

Your outbound isn't a messaging problem. It's a deliverability problem.

I watched a team spend three months optimizing subject lines, rewriting sequences, and testing new CTAs. Open rates stayed flat. Reply rates kept dropping.

Turned out 40% of their emails were landing in spam. They had no idea.

Here's the thing. You can have the best copy in the world. If your emails aren't hitting the inbox, none of it matters.

Most operators never check this stuff until something breaks. By then you've already burned your domain.

Here's what to actually monitor:

1. Sender Reputation

Check Google Postmaster Tools weekly. If your domain reputation drops to "Low" or "Bad," you're already in trouble. Aim to stay in "High" consistently.

Microsoft SNDS gives you similar visibility for Outlook. If you're selling to enterprise, this matters.

2. Authentication Stack

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC aren't optional anymore. They're table stakes.

But "set up" isn't the same as "configured correctly." Most teams have partial implementations that still leak trust signals.

Run a check monthly. If any of these are failing or misconfigured, inbox placement tanks.

3. Domain Age and Warm-Up

New domains need 2-4 weeks of warm-up before you scale. Sending 500 cold emails from a fresh domain is a fast track to spam.

Volume ramp matters too. Start with 10-20 emails per day. Increase gradually. Jumping from 50 to 500 overnight triggers filters.

If you're running multiple campaigns, use subdomains for outbound. Protect your primary domain reputation.

4. Inbox Placement Testing

Open rates lie. Tracking pixels fire even in spam folders sometimes.

Run seed list tests before launching campaigns. Know where your emails actually land across Gmail, Outlook, and corporate domains.

This is where Warmy comes in.

It automates warm-up, monitors inbox placement, validates your authentication setup, and flags issues before they tank your campaigns.

I've been using it to stress-test deliverability for outbound programs. The visibility alone is worth it.

If you want to boost your deliverability, drop a comment and I'll send you the link.

If your outbound has been underperforming and you've already optimized the obvious stuff, check your deliverability first.

It might be the invisible thing killing your pipeline.

https://lnkd.in/eDAEH22K

Most teams run ABM like a campaign.

Launch it. Measure it. Move on to the next one.

That's why most ABM programs fail.

ABM isn't a campaign. It's an operating system.

Here's the difference:

Campaign mindset: Pick some accounts, run ads, send emails, hope something sticks.

Operating system mindset: Build a repeatable engine with prioritization, signals, feedback loops, and clear rules for when to invest and when to cut.

The operating system has five parts:

1. Account Tiering

Not all accounts deserve the same effort. Build T1, T2, and T3 tiers based on revenue potential and strategic fit. Your T1 accounts get intensive, personalized engagement. T3 gets scaled plays. Stop treating every account the same.

2. Buying Group Mapping

Enterprise deals aren't won by reaching one contact. Map 6-10 stakeholders per account across functions. Operations, IT, Finance, whoever touches the decision. Multi-thread or lose.

3. Signal-Led Prioritization

Stop guessing who's ready. Track event engagement, website activity, content consumption, and sales intel. Prioritize accounts showing real signals, not just the ones sales "feels good about."

4. Channel Orchestration

Your channels should work together, not in silos. Events, content, paid, SDR outreach, sales follow-up. All coordinated around the same accounts at the same moments. Timing matters more than volume.

5. Investment Rules

This is where most teams fail. You need clear criteria for when to increase spend and when to cut it.

Invest more when:
→ Sales has real insight into the account
→ Multiple stakeholders are engaging
→ There's a clear path to pipeline

Cut when:
→ No meaningful engagement signals
→ No sales alignment or account knowledge
→ Activity isn't translating to opportunities

The teams that win at ABM aren't running better campaigns.

They're running a system that compounds over time.

Are you running campaigns or building a system?

Most teams start event marketing when they land at the airport.

By then you've already lost.

The companies generating real pipeline from events aren't doing anything fancy at the booth. They're winning in the 2-3 weeks before anyone shows up.

Here's the pre-event playbook that actually moves deals.

Step 1: Build your hit list early

Pull your target accounts attending the event. Cross-reference with open opportunities, churned accounts worth revisiting, and prospects who've engaged with your content recently.

You're not trying to meet everyone. You're trying to meet the right 15-20 people.

Step 2: Earn the meeting before you ask for it

Cold outreach saying let's grab coffee at the conference gets ignored. Everyone sends that.

Instead:
→ Reference something specific. Their recent funding round. A post they wrote. A challenge their company is likely facing.
→ Offer something useful upfront. A relevant resource. An intro to someone they should meet. A coffee voucher with no strings attached.
→ Make it easy. Suggest a specific time and place. Remove friction.

The goal is to feel like a warm intro not a cold pitch.

Step 3: Create a reason to be remembered

Most booths blend together. Same swag. Same pitch. Same forgettable experience.

Think about what would make someone talk about your booth at dinner that night.

→ Interactive elements that require participation
→ Giveaways tied to engagement not just badge scans
→ Conversations that feel like advice not demos

Step 4: Coordinate your team

Nothing kills event ROI faster than three reps talking to the same prospect while missing a decision maker two booths away.

→ Assign target accounts to specific people
→ Share context on each account before the event
→ Daily syncs to adjust based on who you've actually talked to

The event itself is just the middle of the funnel. The work before is what determines whether you leave with pipeline or just a pile of badge scans.

What's your pre-event outreach look like?

Most marketers build lists the old way.

One tool for companies. Another for contacts. A third for emails. Maybe a fourth for phone numbers.

By the time you've pieced it together, half the data is stale and you've wasted hours.

I've been testing FullEnrich Search and it changes the workflow completely.

Here's the exact play I ran last week:

I had 32 target accounts attending an upcoming conference. Needed to find every VP and Director of Marketing with verified emails before our pre-event outreach.

Step 1: Uploaded my account list as a CSV

Step 2: Applied contact filters
→ Title contains "VP" or "Director"
→ Department: Marketing
→ Seniority: Senior, VP, Director

Step 3: Hit search

143 contacts across all 32 accounts. 95% coverage.

Step 4: One-click enrichment

Verified emails and mobile numbers added instantly. No switching tools. No manual cleanup.

Total time: 12 minutes.

Old workflow would've been 2-3 hours across ZoomInfo, Apollo, and a separate enrichment tool. Plus the inevitable data gaps.

The difference is the waterfall. FullEnrich pulls from 20+ sources so you're not limited to one database's coverage. Contacts that don't exist in Tool A get found in Tool B or C.

If you're building ABM lists, event prospect lists, or campaign segments, run a free search and compare it to your current stack.

FullEnrich just made list building a lot faster.

https://lnkd.in/e9g7Dfq9

#FullEnrichPartner

Badge scans. Booth traffic. "Great conversations."

None of that is ROI.

And if that's what your event report looks like, you're about to lose budget.

Here's the framework I use when I want the CFO to stop debating and start funding.

The 3-Layer Event ROI Framework

Layer 1: Strategic Fit
Was the right audience even there?

→ ICP accounts in the room
→ Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3 breakdown
→ Which roles showed up (champion, decision maker, blocker)

If you can't answer this, everything below is noise.

Layer 2: Execution
Did we create next steps that sales can actually run?

→ Meetings booked (strict definition: on the calendar, owned by a rep, scheduled within 14 days, with a named next step)
→ "Follow up next week" is not a meeting
→ Net-new contacts from ICP accounts
→ Matched contacts already in CRM that were re-activated

Those are different outcomes. Report them separately.

Layer 3: Economic Impact
Did this create or move money?

→ New qualified pipeline: opps opened post-event that hit your bar (stage, fit, value)
→ Influenced pipeline: opps that existed pre-event where the event created movement (stage progression, timeline pulled forward, buying group expansion, deal re-engaged)
→ Closed-won revenue (when it matures)

This is where most event ROI is hiding. If you're not reporting influenced pipeline, you're undercounting events and overcounting everything else.

Two ratios that change the budget conversation:

Pipeline ROI = (New qualified + Influenced pipeline) ÷ Total event cost
ARR ROI = Closed-won ARR ÷ Total event cost

Event season is coming. Steal this before your next report.

$150 gift to a CMO. $60 notebook for procurement. Both delivered the same day.

That's not random acts of gifting. That's a Buying Committee Play.

And when it's coordinated with what each stakeholder sees on your website and in their inbox, it can pull deals forward. I've seen it cut 23 days off cycles and push win rates to 68%.

On March 18, I'm running a hands-on workshop at "Websites That Think" where we build this play from scratch.

What we'll cover:

→ The 3 buying group stages and the signals that tell you when to act (and why stage 1 is usually the wrong time to send anything)
→ The Champion Activation Play: why a $40-60 book timed to arrive the day before a demo can drive 90-95% show rates vs ~65% average
→ How to build role-specific website experiences so your CMO, Marketing Ops, and CFO don't see the same generic page
→ The full Buying Committee Play: what to send, to who, what it costs (~$410 for 4 people), and the triggers that kick it off
→ How to measure what's working: leading indicators that show pipeline movement before the deal closes

Before the workshop, there's a panel with Oana Manolache (Sequel.io), Adam Kaiser (6sense), Matt Hammel (AirOps), Amanda Kahlow (1mind), and Guy Yalif (Webflow) on how AI powers intent-aware website experiences and what shifts when buyers arrive from LLMs like ChatGPT.

If you run ABM or field programs and want a repeatable system for moving buying groups faster, this is for you.

Save your seat: https://lnkd.in/emMK7KSQ

Websites that Think Webinar

3 years ago I wrote a post about driving G2 reviews.

500k views. 1,500+ likes. 500+ comments. Over 200 DMs. Remember that? Was wild!

All I did was share what worked.

I've run this playbook multiple times since then. Just ran it again. 100 reviews in 3 days. Pushed us to 1,031 total reviews. We're averaging 85 net new reviews per quarter.

Word of mouth is our #2 source of inbound at Reachdesk.

This stuff compounds.

Here's the playbook:

1. Build your list with intent

Use your CRM to filter by customers who actually use the product, not one-off senders. The goal isn't to cherry-pick positive reviews. It's to get feedback from people with enough experience to give you something useful.

2. Write the email like a human

No corporate speak. Keep it simple: thank them, ask for the review, offer a gift when it's live.

3. Make confirmation easy

Instead of screenshots, I added a form where they drop their review link. Less friction. Easier to verify.

4. Send real gifts

Not gift cards. Actual things. The Amazon integration within Reachdesk lets me send stuff that feels personal, not transactional.

Conversion rate this time: ~40%.

But collecting reviews is only half the job.

Most teams let reviews sit on G2. That's a waste.

Here's how to activate them:

→ Tag by use case. Sales, marketing, CS, events. Now you have proof for every vertical conversation.
→ Mine for language. Customers describe your value better than you will. Use their words in ads, decks, and outbound.
→ Route feedback to product. Complaints are free research.
→ Identify champions. Detailed reviewers are case study and reference candidates.
→ Build a proof bank by objection. Sales should have reviews organized by the concerns they answer.

Reviews on G2 are social proof. Reviews organized and activated are a sales weapon.

Word of mouth being our #2 inbound source isn't just G2. It's the team doing great work across CS, product, and marketing. But reviews are one piece of the flywheel that compounds when you stay consistent.

The biggest mistake I made going fractional wasn't pricing.

It was saying yes too fast.

When you're solo, every "maybe" feels like revenue. So you take the call. You scope it live. You promise speed. You think you'll "figure it out."

And then 3 weeks later you're stuck in:

→ vague goals
→ 6 stakeholders
→ 0 decisions
→ "can you just…" requests at 9:47pm

So I built a filter.

Not a vibe check. A decision check.

Here are the 3 things I look for before I take on a fractional client.

1) A real owner (not a sponsor)

I don't mean "the CEO likes marketing." I mean a single person who:

→ owns the outcome
→ shows up every week
→ can say yes/no without a committee
→ will actually ship with you

If they can't point to an owner in the first conversation, here's what happens:

You become the owner.

You're chasing feedback. You're herding calendars. You're translating marketing into English for six different people.

Fractional doesn't fail because you didn't do enough.

It fails because no one inside the company is accountable for decisions.

Question I ask:
"Who is the person that will make the call when there are tradeoffs?"

If they hesitate, that's the answer.

2) A decision they're trying to make (not a hope)

"Grow awareness" is not a decision. "Do more demand gen" is not a decision.

A decision has a fork in the road.

Examples:

→ "We're choosing one ICP and building the Q2 plan around it."
→ "We're picking one primary channel for 90 days and committing."
→ "We're fixing activation or we're fixing pipeline, not both."
→ "We're repositioning the offer and changing the site copy."

If there's no decision, the engagement turns into activity: posts, decks, tweaks, random campaigns, busywork.

And you can't create leverage from busywork.

Question I ask:
"What's the decision you want to be able to confidently make 30 days from now?"

If they can't answer, you'll end up writing strategy that no one uses.

3) Protection for your time (constraints that make fractional work)

Fractional works when everyone respects the constraint.

Because your leverage is not "being available." It's making the right calls with limited time.

So I look for evidence they can operate like adults:

→ one Slack channel, not 12
→ weekly working session on the calendar
→ async updates in one place
→ a turnaround SLA (ex: feedback within 48 hours)
→ no "urgent" requests unless revenue is on fire

If they want full-time responsiveness on a part-time engagement, they don't want fractional.

They want an employee they can't afford.

Question I ask:
"How do you want to handle requests between meetings: async doc, Slack, or a weekly queue?"

If they say "we're pretty ad hoc," what they mean is: "You'll be on call."

I still lose deals because of this.

Good.

The goal isn't to be booked. The goal is to be booked on terms that let you do great work.

If you're solo/fractional right now, which part breaks most often: ownership, decisions, or time protection?

Most teams pick gifts by guessing.

Scroll through a catalog. Hope it lands. Cross fingers it feels personal enough.

That's not strategy. That's wishful thinking.

Personalized gifting works. We know this. The problem has always been the tradeoff: do it right and it takes forever, or do it fast and it feels generic.

Gifty removes that tradeoff.

It's an AI assistant built into Reachdesk that handles the research, matches gifts to role, region, budget, and goal, and drafts a note that actually sounds like you thought about it.

What used to take 15-20 minutes per send now takes a few.

That changes the math on when gifting makes sense.

You can use it for the high-value T1 plays you're already doing. But now you can also use it for the moments you'd normally skip because they weren't worth the time. The no-show follow-up. The deal that went dark. The post-event touch that usually gets deprioritized.

More personalized sends. Same bandwidth.

That's the unlock.

DM me if you want to see it in action.

Most teams pick gifts by guessing.

Scroll through a catalog. Hope it lands. Move on.

We're changing that at Reachdesk.

Coming soon.

DM me if you want a sneak peek 👀

Most teams use AI to write the email.

Wrong use case.

Use it to QA the email.

The fastest way to kill conversion is a mismatch you can't see anymore:

→ Email promise says one thing
→ Landing page delivers another
→ CTA is a vibe
→ You ship it anyway

Here's the exact prompt I use before I send anything to a list. Takes 5 minutes. Catches the dumb stuff that costs you pipeline.

👇 Copy this

GTM PREFLIGHT PROMPT

You are a B2B conversion editor. Your job: find mismatch, friction, and marketing fluff before I ship. Be direct. Be specific. Quote the exact line that triggered each issue.

PASTE YOUR ASSETS BELOW:
- ICP description:
- Offer (what they get, terms, price):
- Email draft:
- Landing page copy:

RULES:
- Assume the buyer is senior, skeptical, and skimming
- No generic feedback. Every suggestion includes the exact replacement copy
- If something works, say nothing. Only flag problems.

OUTPUT:

1. PROMISE ALIGNMENT
What does the email promise? What does the landing page promise? Score alignment 1-10. If under 8, write one revised email sentence that matches the page.

2. FIRST 10-SECOND OBJECTIONS
List the 5 reasons a skeptical VP would bounce before scrolling. For each: the triggering line → the objection → one rewrite.

3. FLUFF DETECTOR
Flag up to 4 lines that sound like marketing. Rewrite each to sound like an operator wrote it.

4. CTA CHECK
Is the current CTA a clear next step or a vague ask? Rewrite the CTA 3 ways. Each should name a specific action and timeframe (e.g., 'Book 15 min this week', not 'Let's chat soon').

5. TRUST KILLERS
Flag anything that feels exaggerated or salesy. Give the safer version.

6. PRIORITY FIXES
The 5 edits that will move conversion most, ranked.

---

If you try this, what did it catch that you would have shipped anyway?

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The Battle

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