You need to do boring marketing. However you cut it, it still works. But Marc Thomas, Senior Growth Marketer and Podia, threw me a caveat: If everyone is doing the same thing—and sounding the same—then how the hell are you supposed to differentiate? Well, Marc helped me answer this question in this episode of Maker Mixtapes. You'll learn: - What Marc learned marketing a product nobody wanted - How he’s powering creative content creation here on LinkedIn - As well as the creative campaigns he’s advocating for over at Podia - How to use his “Rinse & Repeat” framework to create unique narratives - A tongue-in-cheek marketing campaign that never saw the light of day And boatloads more. Follow Marc on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iammarcthomas/ And on his website: https://www.positivehuman.co/

Danielle Messler is the Head of Marketing at Founderpath, a finance platform that offers non-dilutive capital to SaaS startups who want more flexibility when growing and going all-in on their businesses. In this episode, Danielle shares the methodology she's built to transform events into evergreen content. You'll learn: - How to bring together thousands of your ICP under one roof - The content frameworks that actually engage - Ways to avoid making your events "stale and boring" - Methods of spinning your event content into evergreen assets - Why Founderpath uses events as a brand-building tool And much more! Enjoy.

Zoe Hartsfield leads evangelism and influencer marketing at Apollo.io, a sales platform building the go-to end-to-end tool for all things prospecting and lead sourcing. In this conversation, we don’t waste any time jumping into practical, tactical, and actionable nuggets. We cover everything from the importance of personalization in all aspects of messaging and outreach, and why making your customer the hero of the stories you share are a key component to strengthening your brand narrative. Zoe also shares her approach to building personal and executive branding programs to establish engaged audiences and credibility—an approach that opens up a world of opportunities for bringing together your community and building trust with them. There’s a whole host of nuggets dropped throughout this episode, many of which tie back to buyer psychology. A critical principle for marketing no matter what playbook you read from. - Follow Zoe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoehart/ - Check out Apollo: www.apollo.io

Tom Hunt is the founder of Fame, a done-for-you agency that helps B2B brands produce, promote, and generate new business from their podcasts. In this episode, Tom candidly shares his entrepreneurial journey and, generously, his entire podcasting strategy. He shares how he comes up with the premise for an effective B2B podcast, finding your unique edge, leveraging guest influence, and the importance of community building. His methods of differentiating content and using podcasts as a platform for thought leadership is a solid playbook for anyone looking to build a podcast. One that builds influence, generates new business, and gains you and your brand “Fame”. Enjoy!

Eric Doty is the Content Lead at Dock. In this episode, Eric shares his entire system for running organic growth and demand generation as a one-man content band. Eric shares how he sources and manages the best writers, why quality standards are imperative to compete in 2024 and beyond, and why, now more than ever, marketers must prioritize business results by covering the basics before experimenting with new creative applications to content.

Sophie Neal (better known as Sophie Etc.) is a social media marketing consultant and content creator sharing all about the local food scene in Milton Keynes. In this episode, Sophie shares how she's taken the experiences and systems she’s spent building her personal brand and community, how she built her large and highly engaged following around a passion for local food, and how she galvanized her audience into a truly passionate community—both online and in-person.

Nolan McCoy is the Head of Video and Creative Content at Chili Piper. In this episode, Nolan shares his approach to media content and how to produce engaging and creative videos that not only earn attention, but generate real business results for the business. He also dives into how he's testing TikTok as a B2B brand, the frameworks they put in place at Chili Piper to foster creativity across the entire organization, and his predictions for the future of content marketing.

“Build a media brand is fashionable advice in the marketing world today. But what does it actually mean? Obaid Durrani, Head of Content and Brand at Hockeystack, has nailed the execution. With their Netflix-style streaming platform, The Flow, and his unique approach to social content, he’s brought together other creators to produce educational and, frankly, entertaining content in a serialised format. In this episode, Obaid shares his entire approach to producing B2B media content that not only garners huge amounts of attention, but attracts an audience of all seniorities to HockyStack. He was generous enough to share the principles and building blocks of his “Easy Mode” framework and talk us through what it takes to build high-quality content at all funnel stages.

Chelsea Castle is the Senior Content Director and Lavender, an AI email sales coach that's changing the way that B2B brands (and the people behind them) intract with their audiences on social media. They're one of the most fun SaaS brands in the space right now. In this episode, Chelsea shares the philosophy behind Lavender's content strategy, how her background in journalism paved the way for her career in content marketing, and how the way your content makes your audience feel is just as much as the value you deliver.

Josh McMillan is the CTO of Contact, a simple model booking platform that’s disrupting not only the way talent is sourced and booked, but how fairly they’re paid and compensated. We cover how his time at brands like Deliver shaped him into the software engineer and product creator he is today, what goes into leading a team of developers and product designers, and how to make sure they develop professionally when joining your startup. We also talk about his work at Poolside.fm, one of my favourite apps on the internet, and how they landed on the unique and delightful aesthetic it’s well known for today.

Jack Butcher is the founder of Visualize Value, where he's built a community of nearly 3,000 builders, entrepreneurs, and founders, providing them with principle-based courses that teach people the foundations of design, building audiences, and so much more. Here, we talk about how Jack grew his audience from 5,000 to over 110,000 followers in under 12 months, what he learned from running a design agency, and how he’s sold his work in the form of NFTs for the Etherium equivalent of $10,000.

Andy Whyte is the founder of MEDDICC, where he’s written a book, produced a course, and creates incredibly in-depth content around the sales methodology of the same name. Here, we talk about applying this methodology to build customer trust, how he self-published his book, and building a niche YouTube channel that averages 2,000 views per video.

Corey Haines is the founder of SwipeFiles, a newsletter and community that provides new marketing ideas from brands who have done it. We chat about how he manages multiple projects, creating content on Twitter, the future of communities, and applying new marketing approaches from other industries—sharing how he did just this with Calendly competitor SavvyCal.

Jason Bradwell is Senior Marketing and Communications Director at Deltatre, a technology partner for sports and entertainment brands that take care of, well, almost anything technology-related you can think of. Jason and I talk about how his background in theatre and sales contributed to his success as a marketing leader, the importance of B2B branding, and why B2B companies should be experimenting with channels like Twitch.

Kerstin Reichert is the SEO Digital Marketing Manager at Tide, a fintech company in the UK offering small business current accounts, company registration services, and much more. We talk about Kerstin’s time leading SEO at TSB, how this compares to life at a fast-paced fintech startup, and how she goes about building SEO architecture from the ground up.

Gemma Joyce is the senior content manager at Brandwatch, a digital consumer intelligence platform that helps brands understand their customers. Gemma shares her approach to data-driven content, particularly on why they focused on consumer trends early on to generate buzz, and how she goes about building a narrative around the owned data that Brandwatch has available.

Kristen LaFrance is Head of Resilient Retail at Shopify, a show dedicated to sharing real stories of struggle and breakthrough that retail business need right now. Here, Kristen doesn't hold back on her podcast production process, as well as the importance of having a premise for your show, and setting your guests up for success.

Nitsan Peled is the Director of Content at Optimove, a CRM platform for B2C brands. He also acts as editor-in-chief for a sister editorial brand Post Funnel. Here, we talk about how his experience as a sports journalist set him up for the tech world as a content director, and the benefits of creating a separate editorial brand to capture wider audiences.

Erin Ellis is the Content Marketing Manager at Vidyard, an online video platform. Here, we talk all about her start in the world of content marketing with a focus on sales enablement, Vidyard's approach to content production & distribution, and how she empowers other creators within the organization to get involved in marketing.

Josh Lachkovic is the founder of The Wine List, a subscription service that lets you discover rare bottles while learning the fundamentals of wine as you taste. Here, we talk about his time leading growth at Thriva, building out a team that still excels today. We also dive into why he started The Wine List, as well as the story behind their recent crowdfunding campaign.

Kameron Jenkins is the Content Lead at Shopify, where she's currently in charge of growing their retail arm through content marketing & SEO. Here, we talk about her approach to content marketing and, more fascinatingly, her journey to becoming a marketing leader. This episode is a must for anyone looking to start or advance their career in marketing

Simon Brown is a co-founder at House of Cans, a retail beer shop based in London like no other. They partner with artists and illustrators to feature them on their cans, creating not only a unique spin on a traditional business model, but providing a delightful experience for customers alike. If you're interested in the business of beer, this one is for you.

Gaetano DiNardi is the Director of Growth at Nextiva. Gaetano and I have worked together on several occasions over the years, and I knew this conversation was going to be full of gold. We talk about demand generation made simple, an acquisition-first SEO approach, and why his team has ditched quarterly marketing plans in favour of bi-weekly sprints.

Rand Fishkin is the co-founder of SparkToro, an audience intelligence platform. Here, we dig deep into why he created SparkToro, and how he built his list of beta users ready for launch day. We also talk about his content strategy, why he creates content for conversations instead of algorithms, and a compelling argument for watching Steven Universe.

Elise Dopson is a freelance content writer and founder of Peak Freelance. In this episode, we chat about refreshing content to get better results, finding the right angle or niche for a new blog, and how to become a stronger writer.

Andrew Wallace is the Managing Director and CPO at SmileBack, a SaaS product in the customer satisfaction space. Andrew shares his journey from journalism to product, as well as his advice for stimulating growth by adding value to customers, and the ingredients to build a world-class product they love.

Erica Schneider is the Director of Editorial at Grizzle, the organic growth, content marketing & SEO agency that I run. Over the last two years, Erica and I have worked with dozens of writers and clients, creating a well-oiled content operations machine as a result. Here, we lift the hood on our editorial systems, share how to find and hire great content writers, and polish content into high-performing blog posts, ebooks and more.