Devin Reed

Yo! I help SaaS marketers and Founders grow their audience, brand, and pipeline with strategic content. 

My portfolio
→ 2x Head of Content at billion-dollar startups (Gong, Clari)
→ Scaled Gong’s brand and content from $20M → $200M ARR 
→ Advised some the fastest-growing startups, including Notion, Wiz, AudiencePlus, and many more.

I also share everything I've learned through via my newsletter, cohort training, and videos series:

✅ The Reeder Newsletter: www.thereeder.co/newsletter

🍿 Reed Between The Lines show: youtube.com/@TheReederCo
(also available on Spotify and Apple)


Now that you're all signed up, let's make waves 🌊

Founder, Writer, Advisor

I create content strategies for fast-growing startups and solo creators who want to grow their audience, brand, pipeline, revenue, and income. 

-Content strategy
-LinkedIn strategy 
-Content marketing
-Outbound sales messaging
-Keynotes for industry and internal events 

✅  Website: thereeder.co
✔️ Email: devin@thereeder.co

B2B marketing is going through a brutal shift. Here's what 2026 is looking like after talking to 17 marketing leaders this year

1. "AI-first" strategy is big a** red flag
 Companies optimizing for efficiency over effectiveness will wonder why their content gets zero engagement. Turns out, when everyone uses the same AI tools, everyone sounds the same. Boring doesn't compound.

2. Paid ads are costing more and converting less and less 
This is what happens when there are no more "in-market" people left to target. So companies keep increasing ad spend, hammering the wrong message to the wrong 95%. The winners? They're investing in owned audiences.

3. LinkedIn thought leadership ads are exploding
Organic reach is cheap on LinkedIn. Thought leadership ads let you boost what's already working to the exact accounts you want. It's possibly the best underrated distribution play available.

4. Taste is the new differentiator 
When anyone can create content, who can create *different* content wins. That means hiring someone who understands strategy AND knows what makes people stop scrolling. You can't hire a VA to "do social" and expect massive growth.

5. The 95-5 split is undeniable 
CMOs are realizing that most of their budget targets the 5% actively buying. Meanwhile the 95% who aren't in-market yet are mostly ignored. They're flipping their spend and focus to earn mindshare now, knowing it'll turn into pipeline later. 

Here's the pattern: you can't buy attention anymore. You have to earn it.

The teams betting on relationships, owned audiences, and human creativity will lap everyone else.

What did I miss? What trends are you seeing?

I help B2B marketers and execs build durable content systems | Founder @ The Reeder | 12K+ newsletter readers

LinkedIn has changed a TON. Everyone's reach is down. Here's what good looks like based on an analysis of 50,000 posts in January.

Context:
I help execs launch their LinkedIn strategy and posts. 

So I study proven formats and aim for outliers every day. 

Execs usually have 5k-10k connections. So when we break 5,000 impressions, that's a win. 

When we break 10,000? That's MASSIVE.

Worth knowing how you stack up before you quit.

Check out the data 🔽

Here's what jumps out to me:

If you have 5k-10k followers and you're consistently hitting 1,000-2,000 impressions? You're in the top 25%. That's strong.

Breaking 5,000? You're in the top 10%. That's elite.

The hardest part about LinkedIn is that no one tells you if you're winning. 

The algorithm has gotten tighter, but the bar is lower than you think.

Don't quit because you're comparing yourself to influencers with 100k+ followers.

Compare yourself to your tier. Then try to move up one level.

—
Source: The Shield AI Index

PS: I share tips for improving your content every Saturday in my newsletter: https://lnkd.in/eBfWYaAC

Brand, Content and Product Marketing at Clari. Ex Salesforce, Gong, Talend

I help B2B SaaS companies go from “what do you do again?” to “how did I live without this?”

Over the last 10+ years, I’ve led marketing at some of the most iconic (and category-defining) companies in tech — Salesforce, Gong, Clari — and now Cordial. From brand storytelling to GTM strategy, my teams have designed categories, launched products, repositioned companies, and created campaigns that punch way above their weight.

Today at Cordial, I’m focused on helping retail brands win the battle for attention — with smarter AI, deeper customer signals, and personalized messaging that actually performs.

I also teach with the Product Marketing Alliance and nerd out about positioning frameworks, lightning strikes, and the psychology behind why messages stick.

If you’re a fellow marketer, builder, or founder — let’s connect.

Julien Sauvage

The hardest thing I’ve had to deal with in Product Marketing isn’t positioning, messaging, or launches.


It’s explaining what PMM actually does.
And why it matters.

That gap shows up in small places long before it shows up in strategy debates.

Want a concrete example?
Suuuure.


Let’s take... building a webpage.

I’ve seen this play out a hundred times:
-Worst case: PMM isn’t involved at all.
-Still bad: PMM drops a messaging doc and disappears.
-Better: PMM sends messaging and a first pass at copy.
- Best: PMM owns the message, Creative shapes the page, PMM writes v1, then it goes to web.

Yes, the “best” version looks heavier. But it’s actually always the fastest.

Because PMM isn’t a handoff function… it’s a *connective* one.

➔ When that’s not clear, PMM gets pulled in late, used tactically, and measured on vibes.

➔ When it is clear, it becomes the thing that aligns Product, Creative, Field, and Web around one story.

What’s helped me over time isn’t a single tactic, it’s repetition.

Saying what PMM owns.
Showing what changed because PMM was involved.
Being explicit about what we’re not doing.
And letting partners explain the value when it clicks for them.

If PMM feels misunderstood where you are, that’s pretty normal.

Clarity isn’t a prerequisite for the role.
It’s part of the work.

Julien Sauvage 🥖

CMO @ Cordial | Ex-Gong, Clari, Salesforce, Talend | Investor | Advisor | Positioning Nerd

A zebra.
Disco balls.
A champagne wall shaped like a T.
A room full of people smarter than me.

What do these have in common?

They were all at our TKO at Cordial.

Yes. TKO. Team Kick Off.
TKO > SKO.

Yes, there was a life-size zebra on stage. No, I still don’t have a fully rational explanation.

But here’s the thing about kick offs:
You can make them about slides.
Or you can make them about signals.

The zebra might be a reminder that standing out is not optional. In a market where every platform claims “AI” and “personalization,” blending in is the fastest way to lose.

The disco balls and the slightly over-the-top venue? Energy matters.
If we’re asking teams to go build product and pipeline, close enterprise deals, and push the category forward, the least we can do is create a moment that feels different.

The champagne wall in the shape of a T? Details. We’re here to WIN.

So, yeah:
the real headline wasn’t the decor.

It was the conversations in the seats.
The debates.
The commitment to tighter execution.
The uncomfortable questions about what needs to change in FY26.

A good TKO doesn’t just hype the room.
It sharpens it.

Grateful for a team that leans in.
And yes, keep a zebra around just in case. 🦓

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I’ve tried to measure brand in every possible way.
Only to get raised eyebrows when explaining  it to non-marketers.

- Social followers❓
- Branded Google search volume❓
- AI search rank❓
- Mentions from buyers on Gong calls❓

Each one sounds reasonable.

Buuuut:

- Social followers can be a vanity metrics, unless your ICP overlaps with your audience.
- Branded search is great, but it lags and tells only a fraction of the story.
- AI search is still limited in volumes.
- Gong mentions... well, they only show up once you’re already in a deal.

- - -

So, recently, I went back to something very simple. Borrowed straight from B2C.

➔ Aided and unaided brand awareness.

Ask 100 people in your ICP.

First:
“When you think about [your category], which companies come to mind?”
That’s unaided.

Then:
“Have you heard of X, Y, Z?”
That’s aided.

We used Wynter for it (big fan).

Define your ICP clearly. Title, segment, industry, region. Be disciplined. Don’t ask your friends. Don’t ask your customers only. Don’t ask people who already follow you.


We used this at our kickoff last week. Everyone got it in 30 seconds.

It gives you a north star.

- - -

*From there*, you layer in the channel diagnostics:

- Social engagement within ICP
- Branded and non-branded search trends
- AI search visibility
- Direct and organic web traffic
- Gong mentions (early-stage, not just late-stage)
- Share of voice in media and analyst coverage
- Etc.

Is a brand awareness survey perfect? No.

Sample size can be small. It’s not always statistically bulletproof. And it won’t satisfy every spreadsheet purist.

But it forces the right question:

When your buyer thinks about the problem you solve, do you exist in their head?

Everything else is optimization.

That part is brand.

A slightly controversial take, especially coming from me:

Strategic narratives are overrated.

Also underrated.

They’re overrated by the people who practice them.
Because we sometimes talk about them like they’ll save the company on their own.

They won’t.

A narrative that never touches channels, campaigns, or actual execution is just a nice document.

It feels strategic.
It changes very little.


- - -


At the same time, strategic narratives are deeply underrated by people who’ve never seen one work.

If you’ve only experienced tactics without a story, it’s easy to dismiss “narrative” as fluffy or academic.

Until you see what happens when teams finally align around the same idea.


- - -


The truth sits in the middle.
A narrative isn’t the work.

➔ It’s the thing that makes the work make sense.

It has to be 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥.
   𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥.
   𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥.
   𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥.

And constantly dragged back into the mess of channels, activations, and tradeoffs.

When that balance is off, narratives feel useless.

When it’s right, everything moves faster.


That’s the part no one really talks about.

Valentine’s Day.

A small love letter.

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤
💙 Positioning that actually positions.
💙 A point of view that makes a few people nervous.
💙 PMM in the room before the page is built.
💙 Brand work Sales can use on a real call.
💙 Speed without sloppiness.
💙 Big ideas that sound irrational for five minutes.
💙 Agents that ship work, not slides.
💙 Dashboards no one applauds but everyone relies on.
💙 My team at Cordial  
💙 A croissant truck with a QR code that somehow becomes strategy.


𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤
💙 Charades with my kids.
💙 Poems about the sea.
💙 Walks at the beach.
💙 My friends.
💙 Great pourovers.
💙 Baroque opera played a little too loud in the living room.
💙 Punk rock 🤘

Marketing is a strange thing to love.

But when it gets aligned, it feels right.

Whether you like Valentine’s Day or not (i actually don’t ), don’t forget to self reflect about the people and things you love… and tell someone about them.

💙

I never thought I’d be comfortable being surrounded by two men with better hair than me.

And yet, here we are.

Come join our next episode of “Don’t Do That”:

https://lnkd.in/dn7iNHew

The Life Science & Healthcare Marketer | CEO of Sirona Marketing | GTM Advisor for Life Sciences SaaS, Healthtech, Healthcare & AI Companies | UCLA Fielding School of Public Health | UCSD Chemistry & Biochemistry

Guess who's back?! The 3 marketing amigos (Ali Hanyaloglu, Julien Sauvage 🥖 and me) are hosting another fun session of "Please Don't Do That" where we'll banter about how to fail at marketing. Join us!

Please Don’t Put All Your Marketing Eggs in the Pipeline Bucket

Me and my two kids yesterday:

Me, feeling a bit emotional:
What’s beautiful in all this… is that the two of you will always have each other.
You’re brothers.
You’ll forever remain brothers.

My youngest (7):
Dad, I’m not your son.

Me:
🤔 / 😂

AI just made average execution free: emails, code, decks, research.

So what’s left as the real differentiator?

—

The best sales rep I know runs every call through AI.

She gets the summary.
The objections list.
The next-step draft.

Then she listens to the recording again.

Why did the CFO pause there?
Why did the champion change tone?
What problem are they circling but not naming?

She uses AI for speed.
But she wins because she leans into 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺.

—

The best engineers build with AI open all day.

Claude Code drafts.
Tests get generated.
Refactors are suggested.

Then they try to break everything.

What happens with bad inputs?
What happens under real load?
Why did the model choose that logic path?

They assume the first answer is incomplete.
That reflex has a name: 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺.

—

The best product marketers know how to prompts AI for positioning, messaging, campaign angles.

The output looks sharp.
Structured.
Confident.

But:
They doesn’t trust it.

Does this sound like our customers?
Did anyone actually say this on a Gong call?
If this is so clear, why are deals still stalling?

They pressure-test the narrative against reality.
Again, 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺.

—

And then there’s a deeper layer.

The sales leader who experiments with building their own prospecting agent.

The engineer who fine-tunes a model instead of just calling the API.

The marketer who wires together workflows and builds their own GPT to analyze pipeline.

All that, not because it’s trendy.

Because they want to understand how it works.

They don’t just use AI.
They explore it.
They poke it.
They build with it.

That same quality, pointed at the tool itself:
𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺.

—

AI compresses doing.
It does not replace thinking.

In tech today, the #1 quality isn’t speed.
It isn’t access to tools.
It isn’t being “AI-native.”

It’s the instinct to question the output.
To dig past the summary.
To open the black box and look inside.

When answers are abundant, the edge goes to the people who still want to understand.

𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺.

More pipeline won’t fix fuzzy positioning.

It just makes it more expensive.

Talking about this in an hour on:
“Don’t Put All Your Marketing Eggs in the Pipeline Bucket.”

Clarity. Win rates. AI hype. Punk rock.

Join if you’ve ever tried to solve strategy with volume.

Link 👇

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The Battle

Devin Reed

Julien Sauvage

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Devin Reed's LinkedIn Performance

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