Head of Content @ LASSO | Co-host of That's Marketing, Baby | Delivering daily cheat codes for small content teams

I'm a creative director turned content marketer and strategist with more than 20 years of experience conceptualizing and executing breakthrough work for B2C brands like Eggo, Rice Krispies, Blue Cross, Cottonelle, and McDonald’s, and B2B brands like Fastly and Island.

I have a knack for leading cross-functional teams toward a common goal, bringing order to the oft-chaotic creative process, crafting insight-driven global campaigns, and bringing stories to life via long- and short-form content.

Jess Cook

Ya girl has a new title:
 
VP, Marketing at Vector 👻
 
And while I do my office chair happy dance, I see this as part of a larger and very exciting trend.
 
The next generation of B2B marketing leaders 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 because brand and storytelling have become non-negotiable for growth.
 
In a world where being forgotten is the most expensive problem you can have, the marketers who can: 
→ Tell a story that sticks 
→ Build brand that competitors can't replicate 
→ Create content that makes people feel something
 
... are the ones that smart founders and CEOs will want leading the charge.
 
So to all my fellow content people out there wondering if you can make the leap to marketing leadership:
 
👏 This 👏 is 👏 your 👏 moment.
 
Your ability to translate audience insights into ownable marketing moments is not a nice-to-have anymore.
 
It's the underpinning of modern marketing strategy.
 
And I'm crazy excited to keep proving it with the entire Vector team.

I found this random tool online that lets you create videos that look like they're breaking through your LinkedIn feed.
 
Cost me $40.
 
Figured, what the hell. Let's try it.
 
So I made this little video ad of our ghosties lounging in a pool with a unicorn floaty that "breaks through" the bottom of the post and floats across your feed.

And people 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴.
 
The comments weren't about our product. They weren't even really about the message.
 
They were about the ad itself:
• "Ok, the unicorn floating out of the post got my attention... very clever!"
• "Broke my brain in the best way!"
• "I am HERE for that unicorn!"

Which is either a total failure or the most successful awareness ad we've ever run, depending on how you look at it.
 
But with:
• 100k+ impressions
• 6-second dwell time
• 2.6% CTR
• 3% engagement rate
... I'm going with the latter.
 
I think about this ad a lot when people talk about needing huge budgets to do "creative" B2B ads.
 
The tool was $40. The video took maybe an hour to put together. The ad spend was $5k over the summer.

And it's still one of our most memorable ads.
 
All while companies out there spend $50k on a single piece of "premium" content that looks exactly like everyone else's premium content and performs exactly how you'd expect: meh.
 
What if you just tried something weird instead?

Things that have me 🐝 buzzing right now:

• I FINALLY hired a Demand Gen marketer and they start in two weeks! (Any guesses who? 😏)
• Vector's 2026 all-company kickoff is TODAY! 
• We're doing a LIVE episode of This Meeting Could've Been a Podcast on 1/14 - you comin'?
• My kids went back to school! (Hallelujah. I love them. But it was time.)
• The Stranger Things finale still giving me all the nostalgic feels

What's making this first Monday of 2026 a little less Monday-like for you?

Here's what's keeping me up at night lately:
 
All the things that put Vector 👻 on the map—the podcast, the bold ad creative, the swag—operated mainly on vibes.

They happened (and worked) because we moved fast, took risks, and didn't overthink it.
 
But now we're growing. Trying to triple what we did last year.
 
Which means we 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 need the stuff that doesn't feel sexy but absolutely matters: processes, documentation, scalable systems, the "grown-up" marketing operations.
 
And I refuse to let building those things kill the magic.
 
Even though I know that's exactly what happens to most B2B brands as they grow.
 
They trade "let's try it" for "let's run it through legal." They trade bold for safe. They trade memorable for committee-approved.
 
I'm determined to figure out a different path.
 
Here's how I'm trying to think about it:
☝️ We can't sacrifice momentum for maturity. We have to figure out how to do both.
✌️ The cool stuff is what gets us noticed. But the systems are what let us capitalize on it.
 
So I'm working on: 
→ Protecting time for experiments (they stay sacred) 
→ Building repeatable frameworks for what's working (so we can do more of it) 
→ Hiring people who get excited by BOTH sides of this equation
 
I think the trick will be to figure out which magical, vibey things work the most, and scale them without diluting them.
 
Still figuring this out. (And will be for the foreseeable future lol) 
But that's what's keeping me up.

When Eric Linssen introduced me to Kelly Arndt, I was on month five of searching for THE demand gen marketer to join the Vector team.

I had a lot of boxes this person needed to check: 
→ Ads expert who could stand up and scale our paid engine
→ Mad scientist who could run Vector for Vector
→ Charismatic ambassador who could share our own use cases with customers and prospects
→ Player coach willing to build in public alongside with the rest of our marketing team
 
I wasn't going to settle. I wanted top 1% talent, and that meant being patient.
 
I interviewed 30+ demand gen marketers. All incredibly talented, some we came thisclose 🤏 to hiring, but they just weren't our person for one reason or another.
 
So when I met Kelly Arndt, I knew I'd hit the jackpot.
 
🎰 He has a content background (WHAT?!) so he gets that story matters as much as performance.
🎰 He's a systems builder and a true believer in compounding incremental growth.
🎰 He has a bias toward action, a penchant for killer dashboards, and an experimental mindset.
🎰 He speaks fluent customer because he is the embodiment of our power users.
 
Kelly starts at Vector today (!!!) owning all things paid and growth. 
 
Six months felt like forever, but good people are always worth the wait.

Narrator: 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥.
 

Here's what I didn't know was coming...

Josh posting "my head of marketing's on vacation, give me your worst ideas" and LinkedIn wholeheartedly accepting the challenge. Hundreds of suggestions. Everyone tagging me. Him hand-coding a website at midnight dedicated to his marketing crimes.
 
All while I'm in a pool in the Caribbean.
 
My mistake? 
Thinking he was joking when he dropped hints about "marketing plans" before I left.
 
His mistake? 
Not realizing I'd have WiFi.
 
The chaos that followed created the Josh & Jess dynamic that's still core to the Vector 👻 brand.
 
In the latest podcast episode of 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱'𝘃𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁, we break down:
→ How one joke post turned into one of our our biggest brand moments
→ Why Josh ended up shipping cards from his garage at $5 a pop (karma) 
→ The exact moment he realized marketing is harder than he thought 
→ How this accidental campaign shaped everything we do 
→ Why sometimes the best strategy is just trying something bold
 
People still ask if we planned it. The truth is I had no idea.
 
And somehow that made it perfect.

Raise your hand if you plan on updating your website content this year. 🙋‍♀️
 
(hint, your hand should be up)

The times, they are a-changing. There are SO many new way to get your content to work harder for you: feeding LLMs, creating buzz, handling objections, building trust, creating die-hard fans, and nurturing the 95% who aren't ready to buy just yet.

It's a LOT. 

But just breathe. Here's your first step. 👇
 
Get your ticket to 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗱 — THE event for all things B2B websites — happening February 9–11 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
 
Two full days of workshops (hosted by the amazing peeps below) on the stuff that actually makes B2B websites work:
→ Brand
→ Positioning 
→ Messaging
→ Conversion optimization
 
And, of course, Content — hosted by me!

I'll walk you through Vector's content strategy, page structure, AI processes, and more, so you can see how we turn content consumption into dolla dolla billz.
 
Also, South FL in in February? Big ol' cherry on top.
 
If you are SERIOUS about coming, (like serious, serious) DM me for my half-off promo code.
 
See you in Florida? ☀️
https://lnkd.in/gvmqwBiF

The message testing strategy Josh 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 knew about:
 

👉 Run a small ad campaign to test your positioning before launch day.
 
We launched a new product - Signal-Driven Ad Audiences - to see how people would respond to our new positioning, 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 before everything else went live.
 
And instead of spending months workshopping it to death, we ran an ad campaign around it.
 
→ Real budget on the line
→ Real buyers seeing it (contact-level ad audiences FTW)
→ Real engagement (or crickets)
 
The fastest way to see if messaging resonates with actual humans.
 
I know for a FACT I told Josh about this beforehand, though he claims otherwise. He literally approved the creative. 😆
(In his defense, he was probably thinking about 47 other things.)
 
But I digress...

Your ad campaigns can do double duty. They're not just for demand gen—they're also your fastest feedback loop on whether your message and offer actually land.

Joshua Perk 👻 and I dig into all things ads at Vector 👻 in the latest episode of 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱'𝘃𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 - out now!
 
AND if you dig what we're putting down, we're doing a LIVE episode next week. 😬 There's no telling what could happen. Get a front row seat with the link in the comments.

What's one of your Q1 marketing bets that's making you nervous?

Here's mine. 👇
 
Joshua Perk 👻 and I are recording a LIVE episode of 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱'𝘃𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 this Wednesday, January 14, at 12 pm ET.
 
No editing. No do-overs. Just us, talking through our entire 2026 marketing plan in real time.

We'll share:
→ The market forces that shaped our plan
→ Our 3 "big rocks" for the year
→ The channels we're putting most of our dolla billz into
→ Sneak peeks of our hiring, event, and influencer plans
→ How we'll know if any of this (gestures around wildly) is actually working
 
All delivered with our general weirdness... and nowhere to hide.
 
See you there?! 🤞
https://lnkd.in/g8GDaSw8

Hey, real quick...
 
Josh and I are doing a LIVE episode of the podcast in T minus 3ish hours—sharing Vector's entire marketing plan for 2026: big rocks, goals, hiring, the whole shebang.
 
Would love for you to be a part of it if you're free at 12 noon ET. (And if you're not, register anyway so you get the recording!)

Hope you can make it! https://lnkd.in/g8GDaSw8

Jess and Josh from Vector standing against a blue background with pink and yellow geometric shapes. Text reads 'This Kickoff Could've Been a Podcast LIVE! with event details 'Jan 14 @ 12pm ET' and 'TODAY!' on sticky notes. Vector logo and ghost mascot appear in bottom right corner.

I already have seven conferences lined up on my calendar this year. 😳

Some we're sponsoring.
Some we're going to see and be seen.

But the one I KNOW is going to level up my skills (and confidence) as a newly minted VP of Marketing?

The Exit Five Marketing Leadership Retreat
🌵 March 18-20 in Paradise Valley, AZ

A two-day working session with people who've been running marketing for years and can help me answer some of the questions I'm wrestling with right now:

• How do we keep our brand narrative focused as our team grows?
• What are the next key hires that will continue to propel our growth? 
• How should we adapt if we're not hitting our goals?
• How do we outdo what we did last year?
 
The group is small. The conversations are real. And there's nothing like learning from people who've already made the mistakes you're about to make.
 
There are only 100 spots and it's already half full. So, if you're new to leadership, a seasoned pro, or just want to pressure-test your thinking with other marketing leaders, come join me.
 
Details here:

Open article: Marketing Leadership Retreat | March 18-20, 2026 by bit.ly

Marketing Leadership Retreat | March 18-20, 2026

Nick Zeckets

Nick is a product-driven growth leader with experience at the executive leadership level for large publicly traded companies as well as being a serial founder and CEO (two MarTech exits) and currently running Smoke Signals AI - the first AI-first HubSpot agency that wraps content, signals, AI and workflows into programs that generate real pipeline.

CEO, co-founder

This is the most exciting work I've ever had the pleasure of being a part of.

At Air Traffic Control, our team has enabled any marketing software from email to web with personalization features. Not segments. Not logic building. True machine learning that dynamically serves up content, products, and anything else a customer can dream up to *each* person.

We're growing rapidly and I welcome the opportunity to share our vision for mass-personalization with you.

So, I had a heart attack.

First, if you were all set for our AI in GTM lunch tomorrow.... we're moving it to later in February because, well, your host (me) isn't available. :-)

Second, yes, I'm fine. I'll be fine. But yeah, it was scary.

Third, from my team to our co-sponsors on the event, the response was NOT, "oh, damn. Now what do we do with the event?" It was, "hey, are you ok? How can I help? We've got this for you. Go get better."

I think this is because of who I try very, very hard to surround myself with. And I'm very thankful for it. Yes, I'm signing off now. But I wanted to make sure folks knew about the lunch. Really excited about it and hope everyone else is, too.

Most GTM AI is nonsense. Let's clear things up.

I don’t share much about my personal life. I’m proud of it. My family. My friends. But life is immense - running Smoke Signals AI . Getting ready to reveal a new agent layer for HubSpot (shhh). Kids across middle school, high school and college. So I started lifting heavy. And it’s saved me in a lot of ways. Tonight was a PR. But the second rep was a brutal fight and I’m proudest of that more than hitting 573.1 lbs. I like how being able to make that happen translates to work. A lot. If you were ever curious about the sport, drop me a line.

Next week on 1/22 in Boston Kelly Cheng, CMO of Goldcast, is going to share how her team is 10xing their content strategy with AI, repurposing their videos to extend  reach across the buyer journey.

I'm really looking forward to this.

Do you run webinars, a podcast, internal video?

I'm willing to bet you're NOT getting nearly the mileage out of it that you can. And the walls that I hit are:

1) Video is incredible source material, but video output is less forgiving than text.

2) Where does video output get deployed and how? Emails, landing pages, DMs, social? And to drive what impacts and where in the journey?

If you're a senior revenue leader join us. We're buying lunch. You know where to find the details.

I appreciate this data. I also think it’s a crisis.

Founders making $75K/year has *never* been sustainable. And it’s ruining startups.

Sure, if you’re a single 25 YO living with roommates, it works.

But there’s a preponderance of data showing that older founders outperform. They have networks, deeper problem knowledge, management experience, etc.

So when investors/boards push founders to pay themselves at this level because of “benchmarks,” they’re discounting who they’re backing.

Here’s what happens for those people:

- all vacations get cancelled
- holidays and their kids’ birthdays become meager
- everything has to be about an exit so long-term planning becomes impossible
- there’s no room for error leading to poor team management due to immense stress
- founders suffer depression, relationships fail

I had someone early last year tell me that as CEO in their company I’d be paid 25% less than what it costs each month to feed my family and keep our mortgage paid. I told them to pound sand.

As a founder, my strong suggestion is to build a business that drives real earnings for yourself. Don’t build to exit. Build for profit. And avoid outside capital any way you can.

A $2MM ARR business on $500K in burn is an INCREDIBLE LIFE.

As a founder to investors: do NOT act like this. If you want to fund young and hungry early 20’s founders, cool. They’ll be ok on lower salaries (but check in on their financial health). If you want to back experienced managers with rich networks, make sure they get paid enough to focus on the business you invested in. But seriously stop using benchmarks like these as a weapon.

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Jess Cook

Nick Zeckets

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The Battle

Jess Cook

Nick Zeckets

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

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);}Jess Cook's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreJess Cook's LinkedIn Performance