Devin Bramhall

Co-host: Don't Say Content. Marketing Advisor. Agency Growth Strategist. Former CEO of Animalz.

Your CEO doesn't hate marketing. They hate that you can't prove that it works.

I know because I've been the marketer pitching brilliant strategies that get shelved and the CEO wondering why marketing feels like an expensive black box.

After 15+ years building content strategies as a marketer and tripling Animalz to nearly $12M ARR as CEO, I realized the real problem:

We're optimizing for activities instead of outcomes. Checking boxes instead of driving growth.

The dirty secret? Most "content marketing strategies" are just glorified to-do lists.

My book "B2B Content Marketing Strategy" shows why "do more marketing" is killing growth and what to do instead.

Now I help companies stop doing marketing and start growing businesses as a fractional Chief Growth Officer.

If you're tired of: 
→ Defending your work instead of leading with it 
→ Following frameworks that feel like busy work 
→ Watching brilliant ideas die in committee

You're in the right place.

I help marketers ask better questions. Not “what content do we need?” but “what does the business need to grow?'"

Get weekly no-BS takes on growth: devinbramhall.com/newsletter

Chief Executive Officer

I used to think being a good marketing leader meant I had to be the smartest person in the room.

Spoiler: I wasn't. And trying to be made me worse at my job.

Here's what no one tells you about the shift from doing to leading, it's not about working harder or knowing more. It's about letting go of being right.

When I first moved into leadership, I apologized constantly. "Sorry, I don't have that data yet." "Sorry, let me circle back on that." I thought humility meant admitting what I didn't know.

Turns out, that just made everyone nervous.

The shift happened when I stopped apologizing and started owning my stance—even when I couldn't prove it yet. "Here's what I'm seeing. Here's the direction. Let's course-correct if we're wrong."

(Confidence isn't about being right. It's about having a POV and moving forward.)

But here's the part that actually broke me: letting go of execution.

I was still writing the copy. Still building the decks. Still the one "who could just do it faster." Classic Cinderella syndrome, if you're scrubbing the floors, you're not running the house.

And leadership? That's selling the strategy internally. Pitching to the CEO. Shaping the narrative before anyone else does. Your team can execute. You need to build the conditions for them to win.

The hardest lesson: You're not an IC anymore. Stop asking permission.

Don't say "I'd like to try this approach." Say "Here's what we're doing and why it's going to work."

Your CEO doesn't ask permission to make calls on incomplete data. Neither should you.

Marketing leadership isn't about having answers. It's about having conviction when no one else does.

Chief Growth Officer [Fractional]. Author: “B2B Content Marketing Strategy” out now on Amazon

Your CEO is asking you to "do more content" because they don't know what else to tell you.

They don't understand demand generation. Or brand positioning. And they definitely don't understand why the leads aren't converting.

So they default to: "We need more content."

And you? You're drowning in a backlog of blog posts no one will read, social posts that get 12 likes, and webinars with 3 attendees.

This is a leadership problem.

When leadership can't articulate strategy, they ask for activity. When they can't measure what matters, they count outputs. When they can't defend marketing to the board, they ask you to "do more" and hope something sticks.

I've watched this destroy marketing teams. The CEO who demanded 50 blog posts a quarter but couldn't tell me what outcome we were driving. The VP who obsessed over social followers while pipeline sat at zero. The board that wanted "more brand awareness" with zero patience for how long that actually takes.

When executives don't know how to evaluate marketing, they measure what's easy to count.

Stop asking for permission to do less. Defend focus instead.

The next time someone asks for "more content," I ask them:

More content to achieve what outcome? What are we trying to change about the business?

If they can't answer that, you have a strategy problem. No amount of content will fix it.

Ask me to be on your podcast, and I'll say yes.

Here’s why I’m saying that out loud.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the conversations I actually want to have this year and the rooms I want to be in. And when I look at most marketing podcasts, there’s a gap.

A lot of them talk about the work without ever having had to own it. Same advice, different guest. And most of it has never had to survive a CEO, a board, or a real budget.

I’ve been a marketer, then a CEO, and now I work as a fractional CGO. I helped grow a content business from $1.8M to $12M. I’ve had to explain why things failed, not just why they should work. I’ve had to decide what to stop doing when the math didn’t work.

And that changes how you talk about growth.

I know why leadership doesn’t trust marketing. I know why good strategies get shut down. And I know what actually changes those conversations. It’s not more activity, and it’s not better decks.

I’m not interested in checklist episodes or framework tours. I care about how growth actually works inside companies. Where it breaks. Where marketing loses credibility. What it’s like when you’re responsible for the outcome.

So yeah. That’s the ask.

If you run a podcast for B2B marketers or founders who want a real conversation and not another playbook recap, I’d love to join.

DM me if it makes sense.

For B2B marketers feeling overwhelmed...

Don't do more.  
Do less.  
That's strategy.

I was on IN CLEAR FOCUS with Adrian Tennant talking about my book, and this keeps coming up. Marketers asking what to do with shrinking budgets, impossible timelines, and pressure from all sides.

My answer pisses people off: Stop.

Don't add one more thing. Don't optimize one more channel. Don't layer on one more tactic because some newsletter said you should.

Think for yourself.

Look at what's actually in front of you. The resources you already have, the people inside your company, the relationships you've already built.

Work with that.

When I was CEO, I turned "outcomes over activities" into our operating mantra. When clients said "I want thought leadership," I'd ask: "Why? What outcome are you trying to achieve?"

Sounds obvious. But most marketers skip this because they're too busy executing someone else's playbook.

Here's what I know after growing a company from $1.8M to $12M:

The smartest strategy is the fewest actions that deliver the greatest results.

Not the longest content calendar.  
Or the most channels.  
And not the busiest team.

The question isn't "What should I be doing?"

It's "What outcome am I trying to drive? And what's the simplest path there?"

Keyword-based content plans? Those worked when you had growth-at-all-costs funding and could throw money at ranking.

That model died in 2023.

But most marketing teams are still operating like it's 2019. Writing more articles. Posting more content. Cranking the wheel harder.

And wondering why nothing's moving.

Because activity doesn't equal impact.

Your CEO doesn't care how many blog posts you published. They care whether those posts influenced pipeline, shortened sales cycles, or reduced CAC.

So if you're drowning right now, here's your permission slip:

Do less. Think more. Start with what works.

Don't go to playbooks. Don't look at what anyone else has done.

Look at what's physically in front of you and build a strategy to do less and accomplish more.

That's the shift I cover in 𝘉𝟚𝘉 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘺 (you can find it on Amazon). Moving from predictable, exhausting activity loops to strategies that actually create leverage.

If you're tired of running in circles, maybe it's time to stop running.

Full episode is linked below if you're curious.

(Thanks to the Bigeye team for having me on.)

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Here's everything I'm using to build my business.

People keep asking how I'm managing the consulting, the newsletter, the courses, the membership I'm launching.

The answer: eight tools and a clear hypothesis about what you need.

What I'm testing:

Courses on Maven using the frameworks I use with clients (how to get C-suite buy-in, how to build a growth strategy, that kind of thing). A newsletter. And advisory sprints for people who need focused help right now. A membership for marketing leaders who want strategic coaching without agency pricing. 

I'm not guessing. I'm testing with real people and iterating based on what I learn.

The 8 tools:

-Zoom – client calls, meetings
-Granola – meeting notes (I know Zoom does this, but the UI is better)
-Squarespace - for my core website 
-beehiiv – newsletter, courses, membership platform
-Stripe – cuz payments
-Ordinal – where I collaborate and schedule my LinkedIn content
-PhantomBuster – LinkedIn growth
-Alertmouse – tracks when people mention my name or key phrases

That's it. No complex funnels. Just what I need to get products in front of people and learn what resonates.

Most people spend months planning in private, then launch to crickets because they built what they 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 people wanted.

I'd rather build fast, test real demand, and adjust based on what works.
That's what building in public gets you: immediate feedback instead of assumptions.

I'll share what I learn as I go.

Anything you're curious about?

Here I am reading Glassdoor reviews about me out loud.

Yes, really.

From 2020-2022, when I was CEO of a content marketing agency, my former employees had *opinions* about me.

So I pulled out the meanest ones and decided to read them on camera.

At the time? I was devastated. Rookie CEO. Didn't know this was normal.

Now? I can giggle about them.

Some of these were harsh but fair. Others... well, you can decide for yourself.

If you've ever been the villain in someone else's work story, you'll get it.

Stay tuned for part 2.

John Short

CEO at Compound Growth Marketing

I spent the first decade of my career building demand generation teams at Monster, LogMeIn, Yesware and Workable. During my time in operating roles I saw the market of B2B tech grow faster than the supply of B2B marketing talent, which created an opportunity to build a demand generation focused firm. 

We have built CGM different than the agencies I worked with when I was in-house. We built the Predictable Demand System to integrate strategy, demand generation, demand capture and GTM engineering to support the businesses we work with on a deeper level.

Compound Growth Marketing delivers transformative go-to-market results for B2B tech businesses by blending strategic consulting with expert execution across the entire customer acquisition journey. Our Predictable Demand System operationalizes GTM strategy, GTM engineering, demand generation and demand capture as a unified system that drives sustainable business outcomes.

Core Member

The Underscore Core is a curated group of exceptional entrepreneurs, executives, and experts who work in partnership with Underscore VC, an earliest stage venture capital firm, to identify transformative entrepreneurs and support them as they build iconic companies. Core Members have collectively built hundreds of companies, created thousands of jobs, served millions of customers and created billions of dollars in value for their stakeholders.

A couple of years ago, I was working through some real challenges in the business.

I spent a round of golf with Phil Colacchio, John Humphrey, and Jim Schaefer.  We played, talked, and unpacked what was actually going on in our companies. No agenda. No posturing. Just experienced operators thinking through problems together.

It was refreshing, and though I’d taken the day off I t was productive.

That round stuck with me. It planted the idea that I needed more consistent access to peers they trust, and that golf creates a rare environment where real meaning gets done without forcing it.

But I couldn’t get into the idea of YPO, EO or Vostage. Those felt stale.

Since that experience ive thought about building a CEO group.

The group is intentionally small, six to eight CEOs. People actively making decisions around growth, leadership, capital, and focus. Two CEOs are already committed, and I’m being deliberate about who joins next.

The structure is simple and disciplined.

We meet monthly in mandatory sessions to go through current challenges, pressure-test decisions, and keep momentum between offsites. These are practical working conversations designed to help CEOs think clearly while issues are still manageable.

Twice a year, we will meet in person at great golf destinations. These offsites are a mix of golf and structured work sessions. Golf provides time and space to connect. The sessions are focused, grounded in real businesses, and shaped by what the group is dealing with at that moment.

This is for CEOs who value clear thinking, trusted peers, and time set aside to work on the business.

If that sounds useful, I’m happy to share more.

Most brands are overlooking CTV in their media mix and opting to use Linkedin & Google Ads instead.

The perception is streaming TV is either too expensive, too hard to measure, or "just a brand play" that doesn't drive pipeline.

Meanwhile, the brands that figured out how to integrate CTV into their demand strategy are seeing 3x lift in lead generation and significantly lowerered cost for low funnel conversions.

The gap isn't in the channel, it's in how you measure and sequence it.
That's why we're bringing together Kira Federer, VP of SMB Marketing at Paramount, and Kym Parker, SVP of Demand Generation at Compound Growth Marketing, to break down what actually works.

Here's what they'll cover:
📺 Real campaign data showing how CTV audiences convert at 313% higher rates when properly warmed 
📺 How to structure media tests when you don't have unlimited budget 
📺 Why attention channels matter more as social feeds become increasingly saturated
📺 Practical tactics for sequencing brand and demand activities across B2B and B2C motions

Kym will share the campaign structure, budget allocation, and measurement setup that produced these results for projects she's worked on.

Whether you're in B2B or B2C, if you're trying to balance brand building with performance targets, and need to prove both are working, this session will give you a playbook.

Who are my Boston agency peeps in B2B marketing?

I'm looking at co-hosting a dinner in February for agency executives who do a lot of work with Linkedin and other B2B advertising. 

My goal is simple. Connect, share ideas, and talk about how we can help each other with things from hiring to agency operations to what you're seeing in the market place. 

Dinner will be covered and the restaurant will be great. 

If it works and everyone has fun, I'll do it again. 

Who is interested?

Positive relationships compound. Lifes to short to be transactional. 

The people who lift you up have far more impact than people who may seem to tear you down.

This is a shoutout to the people who take time to mentor, advise, support, cheer on, and more.

I've seen behavior I never imagined. Stealing, lying, cheating, and more. People don't always grow up...

But the negative forces are not nearly as powerful as the positive forces.

The Saturday morning calls with people who have nothing to gain from helping you. The advisors who genuinely care about your success. The clients who trust you with their most important problems. The team members who believe in what you're building.

Those people lift you higher than anyone else can bring you down.

To everyone who's supported us, offered advice, or just believed in what we're doing at CGM. Thank you. 

Find these people, nurture your relationships with them. Avoid being transactional, build relationships. 

I try to manage this through:
- Finding in-person time a couple of times a year
- Sending updates with what's going on with our business
- Proactively trying to provide value through intros, etc. 
- Giving advice when asked
- Making sure I follow up when people follow up

Relationships compound.

This is part of the reasons I'm building a small community of CEO's to support each other and connect through golf. DM if interested.

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The Battle

Devin Bramhall

John Short

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Engagements

Likes

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