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View this post on the web at https://newsletter.mkt1.co/p/mutiny-growth-lessons 👋 This is a monthly free edition of MKT1 Newsletter—a deep dive into a B2B startup marketing topic, brought to you by Traction Complete [ https://substack.com/redirect/c986ad2d-3617-4213-9f96-74d99b7252cf?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Omni Lab [ https://substack.com/redirect/14d810ba-f31f-46d4-9d65-9a5cac66290b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/594c39c4-8f29-403c-b042-83801f61f262?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. 📅 Save the date 7/28: MKT1 MCP Showcase featuring live demos in Claude from Airtable, Attio, Framer, Mutiny, Profound & Softr, RSVP here [ https://substack.com/redirect/15bdb631-d2d8-44e0-bfef-c20246d7dee7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (free to all). ⬆️ Upgrade to a paid subscription for: Full access to our new [ https://substack.com/redirect/bdf1dbef-041a-46c9-9d53-05551ab6a359?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/bdf1dbef-041a-46c9-9d53-05551ab6a359?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | 100+ templates & resources [ https://substack.com/redirect/b48bd59d-c9c5-47d2-a508-362a5ee0e3b9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | Post to [ https://substack.com/redirect/399f7e63-33d7-4347-ab95-fd121656e830?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 Job Board [ https://substack.com/redirect/399f7e63-33d7-4347-ab95-fd121656e830?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | MKT1 Newsletter Archive [ https://substack.com/redirect/cda4016e-1c4b-4ed1-9ca9-56e36aaa2c94?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | $40K+ in discounts in the [ https://substack.com/redirect/2ba24863-bd87-4785-98e7-9a65924a75ea?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 Perk Stack [ https://substack.com/redirect/2ba24863-bd87-4785-98e7-9a65924a75ea?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Last week, I read a LinkedIn newsletter from start to finish for the first time in a long time. And it inspired me to do something I’ve never done before: to “repost” something that’s already been published in full. The author of this newsletter isn’t a mega-creator with 100,000 followers (we all see those posts). Matt Ratchford [ https://substack.com/redirect/1d035f57-f4a2-486c-bb48-004f18ccbd83?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] is a scrappy marketer on a small team at a growth-stage startup. Specifically, he’s the Growth Marketing Lead at Mutiny [ https://substack.com/redirect/6efcd269-d338-4dd1-b42d-5dc017e79971?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], an AI agent for GTM teams. Matt, like many of you reading this, is doing the work of a “Gen Marketer [ https://substack.com/redirect/370d9692-35fd-4e85-bf72-4fea2a36c042?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]” every day. He sets strategy and goals, while executing in an AI-forward way (but not in an unattainable, braggadocious, top-1%-AI-pilled-power-user way). Matt’s newsletter series [ https://substack.com/redirect/7be8e6fc-ca91-43c4-b7b2-432db0dc6757?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] not only shows the Gen Marketer skillset in action (more details below), but his posts reinforce so many things I’ve written about over the years in practice (not just in theory). So I’m sharing his latest newsletter plus shorter excerpts from his entire series, where he documents how he’s building Mutiny’s growth engine week-by-week. It’s different from most build-in-public content—it includes the misses, it’s specific, it’s unglamorous, and it sounds like it’s from a real human, an unfortunate rarity today. But don’t worry, this isn’t just a repost. In true MKT1 fashion, my commentary after the post exceeds the word count of the newsletter I’m sharing. Recommended products & agencies We only include sponsors we’d recommend personally to our community. If you are interested in sponsoring our newsletter, email us at sponsorships@mkt1.co [ mailto:sponsorships@mkt1.co ]. Traction Complete's [ https://substack.com/redirect/c986ad2d-3617-4213-9f96-74d99b7252cf?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] data agents keep accounts deduped, leads matched, and hierarchies accurate inside Salesforce. Because building AI workflows and campaigns on messy CRM data just creates a bigger mess. Used by Mops and Demand gen teams at Miro, Asana & Zoom. 🔓 Traction Complete Offer: Mention MKT1 [ https://substack.com/redirect/c986ad2d-3617-4213-9f96-74d99b7252cf?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and pay nothing while they migrate and upgrade your flows. — Omni Lab [ https://substack.com/redirect/14d810ba-f31f-46d4-9d65-9a5cac66290b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] helps growth-stage startups scale their paid media & demand gen strategy. They focus on building early brand awareness, expanding reach, and optimizing for revenue, not just top-of-funnel metrics. 🔓 Omni Lab Offer: Mention MKT1 [ https://substack.com/redirect/14d810ba-f31f-46d4-9d65-9a5cac66290b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] to get a $2500 paid media assessment free (10 available). — Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/594c39c4-8f29-403c-b042-83801f61f262?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] is the agentic CRM for GTM teams. New updates to agents and workflows let you act on your data through a single prompt—Ask Attio—and its MCP. 🔓 Attio Offer: MKT1 subscribers get 15% off your first year [ https://substack.com/redirect/594c39c4-8f29-403c-b042-83801f61f262?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. 📅 See Attio’s Claude Connector demoed live at our MCP Showcase on 7/28 [ https://substack.com/redirect/15bdb631-d2d8-44e0-bfef-c20246d7dee7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. In this newsletter: This issue is a bit different. I’m sharing Matt Ratchford’s full post: “Week 10 Building Mutiny’s Growth Engine: 5 Words can make a big difference,” [ https://substack.com/redirect/7be8e6fc-ca91-43c4-b7b2-432db0dc6757?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] then a few more excerpts from earlier posts in the same series—with notes and takeaways from me of course. Give him a follow [ https://substack.com/redirect/97b7c3e8-004f-49f5-a73d-3d888ea0986e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and follow along with the series if you enjoy what you read. What’s a Gen Marketer? (important context first) Full share of Matt’s latest newsletter with my favorite parts highlighted (his words are in the gray boxes throughout this newsletter) Kramer’s takeaways: 5 lessons for Gen Marketers More (shorter) excerpts & more of my takeaways from the rest of Matt’s series RSVP to the MKT1 MCP Showcase on 7/28 [ https://substack.com/redirect/15bdb631-d2d8-44e0-bfef-c20246d7dee7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Coming up on July 28th is our next MKT1 MCP Showcase. This time we’ve invited GTM & product leaders from Airtable [ https://substack.com/redirect/a4b4ecfa-97bc-46a3-a078-a323a618f1f9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/91e327a7-d1e6-4e49-89e1-b8b075aa7378?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Framer [ https://substack.com/redirect/e1d8275e-2339-47ad-bfca-bb3363b2d526?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Mutiny [ https://substack.com/redirect/0f2cb327-492d-4b87-b292-e56d1ffa8761?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Profound [ https://substack.com/redirect/7a32a1ef-f814-4f17-b33a-957e4c579475?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and Softr [ https://substack.com/redirect/05025f6a-a9da-4ff3-977a-05ae4f37f834?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] to show you how to use their MCP Servers (aka Claude Connectors). Get a crash course in using Claude with these tools in 90 minutes, starting at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET. I’ll be hosting, and guests will be demoing live and answering your questions. Yes, it will be recorded, but there’s a rumor we’re giving away a door prize or two to live attendees. Now onto the newsletter… Important context: What’s a Gen Marketer? I introduced the Gen Marketer concept last year [ https://substack.com/redirect/370d9692-35fd-4e85-bf72-4fea2a36c042?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and ran a half-day Gen Marketer Summit [ https://substack.com/redirect/554ada48-2811-4049-ab42-08e9aa399ce2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] on it in Dec 2025. I believe all marketers can benefit from gaining this generalist skillset. It’s what it takes to stand out in our AI-heavy, agentic world: channels are saturated, content is infinite, products are easier than ever to build, and GTM teams are shrinking. The marketers who can go deep with AI and agents, focus on high-impact campaigns, stay nimble, and learn fast in any area will out-execute the rest. “It’s the era of the competent generalist. Every team needs someone who can start things, go deep, hold the whole picture, and take a lot of shots at goal. Everything is changing and nobody actually knows what they’re doing so being able to try it all is super important.” – Matt Ratchford, Week 5 (and 6) of building Mutiny’s growth engine: The thing I’d been avoiding [ https://substack.com/redirect/a9d4de88-90f9-44fe-8e85-f5b631302b50?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Part 1: Matt Ratchford’s newsletter repost + my commentary Here’s Matt’s full newsletter, republished with full permission (minor edits for brevity). My takeaways are below the repost, and I couldn’t resist highlighting some of my favorite parts throughout as well. Originally published July 2, 2026 [ https://substack.com/redirect/7be8e6fc-ca91-43c4-b7b2-432db0dc6757?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] on LinkedIn: Week 10 of building Mutiny’s growth engine: 5 words can make a big difference This is part of my weekly series documenting what we’re building inside our growth org. Where we’re focused, what’s working, what’s surprising, and everything in between. Let’s go, we made it to double digits. Still feels like I’m speaking into the void but hey, you don’t create luck by sitting around and doing nothing. Aside from MKT1: Not anymore Matt, this just got sent to 83K+ MKT1 subscribers! Coming out of launch and getting back to the growth work Monday felt like day one of a new job. Somewhat disoriented, coming off a launch, trying to refocus on the steady-state growth levers we need to get back to. Tying up loose ends. Getting everyone the credits we promised. Reviewing plans and updates from agencies that haven’t gotten the attention they deserved over the past two weeks. The stuff you hate to admit but it’s the truth. There was plenty to feel good about first, so let me start there. The good stuff coming out of launch Earned media. We landed a spot on one of the largest GTM podcasts out there, with a chance to contribute to their audience of 150,000 sellers. When you’re a small team trying to get loud, borrowed audiences like that are worth a lot. The video landed. Great buzz and feedback on the raccoon video [ https://substack.com/redirect/93f612d2-fb5e-4378-a085-bfacc87e8e7a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Mutiny brand love is coming back, and you can feel it. Then I looked deeper at the numbers underneath it, and something was off. Something’s not adding up here While we saw a significant increase in people trying the product from launch, it wasn’t quite what we expected. When I dug into the data, the web traffic spiked disproportionately more than the free sign-ups did. We clearly had a conversion problem. We got people to show up but the message didn’t do its job once people got there. So, where does any logical person start with a conversion problem? The headline, of course. So I hopped into Framer, spun up a quick A/B test on a variation of the hero headline, and boom. A 71% increase in conversion immediately. OK, so the message didn’t land. What did we learn? Specificity in the fewest amount of words matter. “Take accounts from cold to closed” was too promissory, not specific enough, and didn’t lean into our differentiation. The new headline - The GTM assistant built for customer-facing work - is more specific, leans into our strengths more, and differentiates us against what Claude can deliver for a salesperson. That last part matters. Mutiny is AI built for GTM, pre-loaded with the skills and playbooks reps actually run, that can deliver customer-ready collateral. A general model cannot deliver that to you out of the box. With so much hubbub around AI and what it can and cannot do, you have to lean into what makes you different. We launched outbound, and it worked a little too well Week one of outbound went really well. So well, in fact, that we couldn’t keep up with what we were promising people. The offer was great: we’d send personalized assets that help you land your most important account. Classic use of Mutiny. Great, until 30 companies say yes within an hour and you have no internal resources to actually deliver on it. So I paused the campaign, personally delivered everything that needed to get delivered, and then we went back to the drawing board on how to keep this low-lift while still driving what matters. We started with the high-volume approach and quickly realized we were spending time on accounts that weren’t a high priority for us. At our stage, the most important thing to build is social credibility. The way you build it is you land really great logos and you create stories about the success of those companies with your product. We don’t have a BDR, and we have one AE who has to protect his time. So we need to pick the accounts we would move mountains for, be laser-focused on them, and drive everyone else to product sign-ups with credits to incentivize them to try it. So we re-oriented around a very short list of Tier 1 accounts. I hand-picked them myself. I started with our original Tier 1 list of 400 accounts and selected the ones we would want to put on our website. Instead of orienting around quantity of meetings, we’re orienting around quality of meeting. My hope is that we can land 15 meetings from this list of 214 accounts in the next six weeks, and 5 opportunities opened with them. That’s a win and would prove that outbound is a credible channel for us. What the numbers look like Sign-ups are steadily increasing, but no breakout channel yet. We need to break through the glass ceiling on one of our channels. Deep focus will get this done. About 50% of new users came from existing user invites or word of mouth. We have viral growth once we land someone. We just need to land more. That’s the whole game, and it’s much easier said than done. Channels by volume of sign-ups: Search (12%), LinkedIn (9%), AEO (6%). Although I still think “search” is a bit of a black box that I’m unsettled by. Website traffic keeps climbing, which is a positive signal on top-of-funnel awareness. Now we need to convert more of it. The next milestone We’re planning our next milestone, and the theme is to go from 0 to 1 into 1 to 10, and FAST. Here are the goals for the next 6 weeks that scare the &%#$ out of me: 10x sign-ups from AEO Double revenue Prove outbound as a viable channel It’s wild to think that these are even possible but 1) I think they are, and 2) better to shoot high, miss and still land is a really good spot. Where this leaves me Next week I’m deep in the weeds. Back to the drawing board to figure out how to 10x output. Stay with me and you’ll figure out how we’ll deliver on this. If you’re building your own growth engine and trying to force a step-change out of a single channel, shoot me a DM. ➜ Kramer’s takeaways for Gen Marketers Hope you enjoyed reading the play-by-play of someone thinking through growth challenges in real time. Most marketers only publish the wins, after the fact, so I found it very refreshing! If you’ve been reading MKT1 for a while, much of what Matt said may bring to mind some MKT1 frameworks. Here are 5 lessons from his post connected back to said “Krameworks,” all things I find myself repeating to marketing leaders: focusing on big bets, taking an account-driven approach, being specific and human in the AI era, investing in brand at every stage, and setting goals you actually use daily. 1. Focus on big bets, avoid random acts of marketing Matt’s post reinforces a lesson I constantly preach: “Winning” doesn’t come from saying yes to every request, copying other companies, or spreading yourself too thin. It comes from extreme focus: finding strategic bets that fit your startup, setting related goals, and doing day-to-day work that connects back to your strategy and goals. Matt focused on the Mutiny launch almost exclusively the week before and let his other work with agencies and contractors go, knowing he’d pick it back up later. This is actually how I personally operate at MKT1. I think in terms of “newsletter weeks,” “catch-up days,” and “project days.” Newsletter weeks are all-out sprints. My team knows not to bother me unless it’s urgent…these things take time and extreme focus, and they pay off! In Matt’s newsletter series itself, he even combined weeks 5 and 6 into one post, recognizing the launch took precedence over documenting his process. This is why I never commit to anything weekly or a set MKT1 Newsletter cadence by the way, I publish when I have something high-quality enough to ship. Matt’s goals actually steer his week, not just sit in a doc he never looks at. He’s setting them at a cadence that works for him and Mutiny’s pace with “three scary six-week goals.” He recognizes that he needs to test multiple channels. He’s in the experiment and learning phase, but he knows he needs to ultimately find a breakout hit. I frame this as making sure every bet has a chance to be a big bet. More on adding Big Bets to Claude as context ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/f806aa0a-6e09-4f3d-a02a-773759775da9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] I love this line he quotes from Jaleh, Mutiny’s Co-Founder and CEO, in Matt’s Week 5-6 newsletter (more on this below): “If you’re doing two things, you’re just doing the more important one, less.” 2. Know your top accounts, even with a PLG motion Even though you can sign up and adopt Mutiny without talking to sales, they aren’t shying away from being account-driven and running outbound to their priority accounts. With all the enrichment data and signals available, most business models can’t afford not to run a motion like this. More on what I call account-driven GTM and why it’s essential in the AI era ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/8bcc14e8-4524-4ff1-bfb4-21b10a81af36?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] He picks the accounts he’d “move mountains for” and goes all-in on those with personalized outbound, everyone else is pushed to self-serve signup with free credits. He’s focused on quality of meeting over quantity, especially given the small team size. And he has different routing, rules and marketing activities for different types of accounts. He recognizes the value of not only driving high-revenue accounts, but also accounts that build social credibility: great logos and the stories that come with them. They aren’t just sending spammy emails requesting a meeting. That doesn’t make sense given their self-serve model and ease of use—and what their product does! Instead, they send an asset made with Mutiny to help the prospect win a customer to both add immediate value and show what’s possible with the product. With outbound campaigns, value-add content matters as much as the targeting and deliverability—you have to get both the fuel and engine [ https://substack.com/redirect/fab818ea-31ee-4bb6-bf40-eb22a969a2a5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] right for it to work. 3. Specific and human messaging wins in the AI era All AI products are starting to sound the same, especially with GTM tools, where everything sounds like an all-purpose AI for everything marketing and sales teams do. It’s okay to niche down, and to sound like a person while you do it (in fact it’s way better when you do this). And it shouldn’t be difficult to decipher who a product is for, what it is, or why it’s better than the alternatives, which happen to be the three questions in the MKT1 positioning framework [ https://substack.com/redirect/5398356c-88e9-484f-b857-1b64eb0b3ae7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. The Mutiny launch in June drove a ton of traffic but didn’t move sign-ups quite as much. Matt diagnosed the conversion issue as a messaging problem—then tested his hypothesis. He got a 71% lift on a headline test: “specificity in the fewest amount of words matter.” He sharpened the positioning by figuring out what to compare Mutiny against—which makes writing the “why it’s better” part of positioning way easier. The new headline “differentiates [Mutiny] against what Claude can deliver for a salesperson.” 4. Brand matters Building a recognizable brand is another clear way to stand out when everything feels the same. Mutiny does this in two big ways: a strong visual brand they carry through everything from campaigns to web design and video. And to expand their reach, they tap their ecosystem [ https://substack.com/redirect/bd51e90b-11d2-46c9-83da-7fd24e4ae13d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] of customers, partners, and influencers. Mutiny has always had a fun brand, raccoon mascot and all. They relaunched the company with a new product, their GTM agent, and needed a strong introduction. The launch video did that. It puts the raccoon front and center, but describes the new product clearly. Even as they step on the gas to acquire new customers, they aren’t only doing the work that ties directly to pipeline. Matt values brand-building too, even without exact numbers to point to: “Mutiny brand love is coming back, and you can feel it.” And it wasn’t all video and web design. Matt landed Jaleh, Mutiny’s co-founder and CEO, a guest spot on a GTM podcast in front of 150,000 sellers: “When you’re a small team trying to get loud, borrowed audiences like that are worth a lot.” 5. Set your numbers, and actually look at them Matt doesn’t just set goals and use them day to day, he actually tracks the numbers closely enough to figure out what’s working and what to do next. On small teams this is often what slips, because nobody is asking for the report. You have to be disciplined enough to do this yourself, and hold yourself accountable for the results. He shoots high on purpose: “better to shoot high, miss and still land is a really good spot.” But ambitious doesn’t mean hand-wavy. He breaks each goal down into numbers he can actually work toward, like outbound: “My hope is that we can land 15 meetings from this list of 214 accounts... and 5 opportunities opened with them.” He counts two kinds of wins: revenue and learning. Both are super important! His example: “[Hitting outbound targets] is a win and would prove that outbound is a credible channel for us.” Matt watches numbers at every lifecycle stage, and conversion too, so he can diagnose where the real problem is. Here’s a great example: “About 50% of new users came from existing user invites or word of mouth. We have viral growth once we land someone. We just need to land more.” Part 2: More lessons from Matt’s series Across the rest of his newsletter series, Matt shows the Gen Marketer skillset [ https://substack.com/redirect/d448f93a-ab84-4c65-be52-9e571e34abd8?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] in action, with tangible examples of what’s working for B2B startups right now: using ecosystem marketing in creative ways, approaching AEO the right way, and testing campaigns fast, then doubling down with specialist help. I’ll share excerpts that stood out to me as the best examples of what Gen Marketers should focus on. 1. More on focusing on big bets Here’s an excerpt from Matt’s Week 5 (and 6) of building Mutiny’s growth engine: the thing I’d been avoiding [ https://substack.com/redirect/a9d4de88-90f9-44fe-8e85-f5b631302b50?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], on what running marketing alone actually costs: Here’s the catch to all of this. I’m a one-man band. Anything real I want to get done takes my full focus, which means I’m constantly making the same uncomfortable call: what is the single most important thing I can be doing right now, and what am I willing to drop to do it? Jaleh says it best. “If you’re doing two things, you’re just doing the more important one, less.” So right now, that means AEO takes a back seat while I pour almost everything into vendor selection, design, web updates, messaging, positioning. More PMM than anything. It’s slow, it’s a lot of calls, and none of it feels like progress until it suddenly does. But the team we’ve assembled out of it is a powerhouse, and I think we’re going to crush. More of this to come. ➜ Kramer’s takeaways for Gen Marketers No matter the size of your team, you should apply the focus you would as a one-human band. As Matt describes, that means constantly deciding the single most important thing to do right now, and being honest about what you’re dropping to do it. This excerpt also gives you the context for the Jaleh quote I share above. Gen Marketers need to figure out what works, then double down. But for the double down, it’s often best to hand the work off to a specialist who can go even deeper. By making time to assemble a “powerhouse” team of specialists, Matt is prepping to be able to do this so he doesn’t have to stop momentum when he finds what works. 2. More on knowing your top accounts Here’s an excerpt from Matt’s Week 7 of building Mutiny’s growth engine: the report card [ https://substack.com/redirect/754dfe96-bdc3-455b-a961-0d4b79f9ae20?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], where the outbound motion you read about in the full Week 10 newsletter got its start: We’re about to test some outbound, very conveniently timed to kick off on launch day. So if you get unusually well-timed outreach, I’m not sorry. This is more experiment than anything at this point. You can see Jaleh’s post about this if you want to see the rationale behind why we are doing this. [excerpted below] I’m a little excited to throw my BDR hat back on. The one thing I don’t want is to touch any of the system implementation, so we’re partnering with an agency to see if they can ramp up quickly and do it well. That rationale, from Jaleh’s LinkedIn post [ https://substack.com/redirect/5cc0b617-21bc-4133-8b30-b5775acac5c6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] on breaking her own 10-year rule, is worth reading, so here it is: ➜ Kramer’s takeaways for Gen Marketers This is where the outbound motion Matt talks about in the week 10 newsletter started: as a small experiment. They tested, it “worked a little too well,” and they re-oriented around a short list of accounts worth going deep on. You don’t have to launch account-driven GTM as a big program, you can test your way into it. The roles of in-house and agency resourcing are changing. The new model, especially on small teams: generalists in-house, specialists brought in once something’s proven (not before it’s proven, and not by default). I’ve seen this first-hand, repeatedly over the last year, tracking this closely since my post on Gen Marketers [ https://substack.com/redirect/370d9692-35fd-4e85-bf72-4fea2a36c042?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. 3. More on specific and human messaging Here’s an excerpt from Matt’s Week 8 of building Mutiny’s growth engine: operating without all the pieces [ https://substack.com/redirect/60dc2b21-601b-420c-be17-b5be2e6e044c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], from the lessons he pulled out of rewriting the Mutiny website: I was exaggerating last week when I said that we were on v5001 of the website but in reality we are on v8 of the web copy... and now structure. Every time I do this, I am reminded of the same lesson, and I relearned it again this week. Less is more. A few things that actually moved it forward: Use stupidly plain language. If it reads clever, it’s probably too clever. Although not the sexiest form of marketing, the clearest sentence wins almost every time. The principle we live by is 80% accurate, 100% clear. A real example from this week, our integrations section: v1 read “Anywhere you work, with everything you know.” v2 reads “Works with all your favorite tools.” The first sounds good in a vacuum. The second one a visitor actually understands in half a second, and that’s the whole point. ➜ Kramer’s takeaways for Gen Marketers I couldn’t agree more with Matt’s “stupidly plain language” rule. I’m always advocating for clear over clever [ https://substack.com/redirect/53e2d5bd-baed-4a5a-aa7a-6703833f2420?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: Don’t spend hours micro-optimizing copy to be pithy when you could just write the way a human (in your target audience) speaks. Visitors give your homepage a few seconds, and if they can’t tell who it’s for, what it is, or why it’s better, the copy failed. “V8 web copy” makes me pause. Iteration is a good thing, but at some point another round of micro-edits might not be worth it. The questions I’d ask: Are you getting true benefits from these changes? Would testing one big change get you further? And do you have the web traffic to run these tests? Is this a too-many-stakeholders problem? Want to know if your homepage clears the positioning bar (who it’s for, what it is, why it’s better)? The MKT1 MCP has a homepage positioning skill for exactly this: point it at your URL and it checks for you. Install instructions at mcp.mkt1.co [ https://substack.com/redirect/d53d95e5-6968-4c4b-8310-b3f340481a09?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] ➜ Matt’s right: copy reads differently in a doc than on a designed page. Get it into Figma [ https://substack.com/redirect/ee3519fe-15a7-461f-a53a-3b62159083c3?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] early like he does, or better yet a prototyped or draft page. Building pages directly in Claude makes this fast, and you can try the Figma MCP or Framer [ https://substack.com/redirect/92f01105-a9da-45a6-bde5-ca0885b016e1?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] MCP to connect Claude to the tools you already use. Come see Framer demo their MCP at our MCP showcase on 7/28 [ https://substack.com/redirect/15bdb631-d2d8-44e0-bfef-c20246d7dee7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] ➜ 4. More on why brand matters Also from Week 7, a very smart ecosystem marketing meets AEO strategy: One off-site play I’m weirdly proud of: I found an emerging AI-native sales enablement tool, technically a competitor of ours, and noticed they were publishing a lot of strong content around [incumbent] and [incumbent] alternatives. As a fellow emerging player, I know you can’t take on the incumbents alone. So I pitched their Head of Marketing a simple idea. Let’s team up on our best-performing content and squeeze the big guys out together. Win together. It worked. Now we’re in all of their top content with the LLMs, and they’re in ours. You can’t do this alone. Just find your angle. And from Week 9 of building Mutiny’s growth engine: the choreography behind a launch [ https://substack.com/redirect/3575f4be-736d-4c35-958c-d465e02a7da2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], where he gets customers, execs, and investors to all amplify the launch at the same moment: Which means you need to orchestrate all of this at once so the swarm activates at the same time. Easier said than done. How do you actually pull that off, you ask? Calendar invites, of course. Yes. You literally send the people you want posting about you a calendar invite, reminding them you’re launching. Then the moment the posts go live, you update that same invite with the links and (you guessed it) fire off the “event updated” notification. Make it as easy as humanly possible for them to fulfill your ask. ➜ Kramer’s takeaways for Gen Marketers I always say focus on your complements [ https://substack.com/redirect/bd51e90b-11d2-46c9-83da-7fd24e4ae13d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] as much as your competitors, and that building a category takes more than one company. Matt’s work with the fellow emerging player put both into action: At first blush these two look like competitors, but they have more to gain from each other than to lose. Very sharp thinking! This ecosystem idea works especially well for AEO too: LLMs recommend based on consensus across sources, so showing up in each other’s content lifts both companies. Ecosystem marketing and AEO compound each other. Everyone says yes to amplifying your launch, then almost nobody posts at the right moment. The calendar invite to friendlies works because it removes the remembering and makes fulfilling the ask nearly effortless. (To be clear: This is for customers, execs, and investors who already agreed to help. Putting invites on strangers’ calendars as an outbound play is not cool, don’t do that.) 5. More on setting your numbers, and actually looking at them One more from Week 7 [ https://substack.com/redirect/754dfe96-bdc3-455b-a961-0d4b79f9ae20?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Matt’s report card on himself: I graded myself this week. Here’s where I landed. Launch: A AEO: C+ LinkedIn: C- Sign-ups: A And here are details from the AEO section, where he graded himself a C+: I’ve noticed a very clear pattern about AEO. The more you put in, the more you get out. You’re reading that thinking “yeah, no sh*t.” But the correlation between effort and outcome is more apparent here than it is any other area that I’m working on. Our rule: It’s our job to figure out what to do, how to do it, get it off the ground, and prove results. Once we know what’s working, we can outsource it. We are in the back half of that process now. The results: the share of total sign-ups coming from LLM traffic is up 100% week over week. Not just because of this, of course. But because of the compounding effect of the last 7 weeks. ➜ Kramer’s takeaways for Gen Marketers The report card format is worth copying. Regularly grading yourself against your goals and big initiatives keeps you honest. It’s okay to get bad grades... just not in the subjects that matter most to your success right now (I let myself fail accounting in business school, for instance). Matt’s looking at LLM citations and traffic. While many marketers ignore web traffic or think of it as a vanity metric, it can be a very useful leading indicator, especially when broken down by source and new user sessions. AEO is a bit frustrating: It drives fewer clicks than search and is therefore harder to track. But I like Matt’s approach of tracking the share of sign-ups that come from LLM traffic, which shows whether the channel is actually gaining ground on your other channels. My favorite tool for this: Profound [ https://substack.com/redirect/ebfe4415-74fa-4d0f-97ca-dd8c8162694e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], who is joining our upcoming MCP showcase. And he remakes the point from an earlier excerpt: Once he knows what’s working, he hands it off to a specialist. He proves it out himself first, then outsources the double down. It’s time to develop a Gen Marketer skillset Whether you’re a first marketer, a marketing leader, or one member of a bigger team, this is the skillset to develop [ https://substack.com/redirect/d448f93a-ab84-4c65-be52-9e571e34abd8?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (and to hire for). You need to optimize for speed of learning and double down on what works. Competing with AI-native marketing teams demands it. And you need to use AI to deepen and broaden your skillset at the same time, going deeper in the areas you know while covering ground you couldn’t before. That’s what you just watched Matt do in 10 weeks: He launched a repositioned product, stood up outbound, doubled LLM-driven sign-ups, rebuilt the website, and helped ship a very fun launch video. Plenty of bigger teams have shipped way less than that in the last 2.5 months. To be clear, the goal isn’t to run Matt’s exact plays and campaigns. Copying another company’s playbook is never what I advise and leads to my mortal enemy: random acts of marketing [ https://substack.com/redirect/2f10cbed-0f47-49bd-9fc2-4176ec2be9e2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. His tactics work because they fit Mutiny’s product, stage, GTM motion, and advantages. What transfers is the skillset and system. More on building a strategy unique to your company, in Claude [ https://substack.com/redirect/19df9153-1c52-44c4-b387-0951b447a78e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] ➜ Thank you to Matt [ https://substack.com/redirect/1d035f57-f4a2-486c-bb48-004f18ccbd83?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and Jaleh [ https://substack.com/redirect/07260cc1-c7c3-4c1f-8efa-6bfc76ac07ed?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] for permission to republish and dissect Matt’s newsletters! If you know someone else documenting their work this honestly, send them my way. Feedback welcome: This is my first post of this style, so let me know your thoughts. Love it, hate it, want more of these?! Subscribe to get the next edition of MKT1 newsletter straight to your inbox. Spoiler: It’s about building team-wide systems in Claude. And don’t forget to RSVP to our MKT1 MCP Showcase on 7/28 [ https://substack.com/redirect/15bdb631-d2d8-44e0-bfef-c20246d7dee7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] ➜ More from MKT1 🙏 Brought to you by: Traction Complete [ https://substack.com/redirect/c986ad2d-3617-4213-9f96-74d99b7252cf?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], whose agents keep your CRM data clean; Omni Lab [ https://substack.com/redirect/14d810ba-f31f-46d4-9d65-9a5cac66290b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], the paid media & demand gen agency; and Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/594c39c4-8f29-403c-b042-83801f61f262?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], the agentic CRM for GTM teams. 🔌 Event - MCP Showcase: On July 28th at 1pm ET / 10am PT we’re hosting a showcase [ https://substack.com/redirect/15bdb631-d2d8-44e0-bfef-c20246d7dee7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] with 6 MCPs marketers should know. Airtable, Attio, Framer, Mutiny, Profound, and Softr will join me to walk through their MCPs, live in Claude. 🖥️ Webinar - Building an AEO practice: Join me and Profound’s Nick Lafferty for a live MCP build session on July 23 at 1pm ET / 10am PT [ https://substack.com/redirect/bc88fc84-ec64-4563-b0a8-e9598c677aa8?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. We’ll show 3 AEO workflows you can run yourself with Claude and Profound. Register here [ https://substack.com/redirect/bc88fc84-ec64-4563-b0a8-e9598c677aa8?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. 💬 Bring this newsletter to Claude: Chat with this newsletter with this pre-built prompt [ https://substack.com/redirect/f5a1b413-c753-4325-a725-05f3dc87d6a5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] or search for any newsletter with our MKT1 MCP [ https://substack.com/redirect/2d2076d7-6b99-4707-be77-45dc7cc15598?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. 🤖 MKT1 MCP Server: Add MKT1 skills to your LLMs. [ https://substack.com/redirect/b4a93f26-7bf6-4c7b-abb7-d5fbdb608589?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Paid subscribers get our full library of 25+ skills and templates including the /homepage-positioning and /marketing-strategy-setup skills mentioned in this newsletter. 🧑‍🚀 MKT1 job board - new & improved: Jobs from the MKT1 community [ https://substack.com/redirect/399f7e63-33d7-4347-ab95-fd121656e830?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (it’s free to post as a paid subscriber). And our candidate form [ https://substack.com/redirect/2937f504-a2c0-43a5-b382-de06a23e4d1b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] if you’re looking for a new role (option to remain anonymous included!). 🥞 MKT1 Perk Stack - New Perk: Exclusive discounts worth $40K+ [ https://substack.com/redirect/2ba24863-bd87-4785-98e7-9a65924a75ea?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] on our favorite GTM tools. For annual & superfan paid subscribers only. We just added 3 months free of Granola [ https://substack.com/redirect/1a3e3e59-562e-49ac-a147-e72ef6cc746a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], check it out! 🧰 Template & resource library: We have 100+ templates and resources [ https://substack.com/redirect/b48bd59d-c9c5-47d2-a508-362a5ee0e3b9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] available to paid subscribers in our template & tool library. 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View this post on the web at https://newsletter.mkt1.co/p/billboard-drive-by-2 👋 This is a monthly free edition of MKT1 Newsletter—a deep dive into a B2B startup marketing topic, brought to you by Framer [ https://substack.com/redirect/5ba7b50f-75ca-429f-a7f5-1675c855a1bf?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Profound’s AEO build session [ https://substack.com/redirect/3cd09e08-4f7a-4222-a9d2-63d7a93cb4a0?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and 42 Agency [ https://substack.com/redirect/2fa0484a-6ae0-4dbd-885a-a78f9d061c69?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. 📅 Save the date: MKT1 MCP Showcase featuring 6 GTM presenters on 7/28, RSVP here [ https://substack.com/redirect/54ddfbd8-228d-496f-bfd9-7f8185394084?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (free to all) ➜ Upgrade to a paid subscription for: Full access to our new [ https://substack.com/redirect/e8cc3cd1-8022-49cd-8c88-ce4b15360e08?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/e8cc3cd1-8022-49cd-8c88-ce4b15360e08?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | 100+ templates & resources [ https://substack.com/redirect/9c5531c2-7faf-473a-b33e-b891efd401d4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | Post to [ https://substack.com/redirect/e8ef3df9-c319-4f2e-a349-c142751e697d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 Job Board [ https://substack.com/redirect/e8ef3df9-c319-4f2e-a349-c142751e697d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | MKT1 Newsletter Archive [ https://substack.com/redirect/45126095-9a6d-4b01-a81a-670ab82f7389?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | $40K+ in discounts in the [ https://substack.com/redirect/39c97eca-87c9-4ba4-8b27-a3ccf6de3923?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 Perk Stack [ https://substack.com/redirect/39b01493-b492-4265-947d-2c3a70aecf11?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] A billboard might look like the easiest creative format in marketing: a few words, one image, done. But that’s exactly what makes it deceptively hard. Your one idea needs to land with your audience in a few seconds, or you’ve spent a lot of money on nothing. I want to help you get this right, for your sake, for your company’s sake, and for the people moving through the streets of San Francisco and beyond looking at these billboards! So, to prep for this 2-part newsletter series, I drove around SF with Maya Spivak [ https://substack.com/redirect/f4eade4a-5231-4f9b-8df2-b9068965d591?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], one of my go-to brand and billboard experts (among other things), analyzing all things out-of-home. And we of course recorded it and made a video series too called Billboard Drive-By. [ https://substack.com/redirect/4bc3f030-2cdb-46cf-994a-0eb4d1e3b762?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] In part 1 of the series, [ https://substack.com/redirect/917af5aa-e424-4fe0-8e0d-24d3ba39e18e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]I covered how to decide if you should buy a billboard at all. You need both billboard <> startup fit and a real goal for buying OOH right now. So let’s assume you’ve got both: The channel makes sense for your company, and you’ve got a solid reason (not just “a competitor bought some billboards”). Now you have to decide what actually goes on the billboard. Much like a homepage hero, you have limited space to lay out your positioning: at least who it’s for and what it is, and if it fits, why it’s better. Unless you’re Anthropic, Nvidia, or Apple, which you’re not. But unlike a homepage hero, a billboard gets read at 65 mph, by people who weren’t looking to be sold anything, just trying to get from point A to point B. This newsletter walks you through my 4-step framework for making standout billboard creative, complete with tests and checks. Plus, I’ve reviewed 5 of the billboards Maya and I saw in the wild with help from our new /billboard-creative skill trained on all the context in this newsletter. The skill is in the MKT1 MCP [ https://substack.com/redirect/a2cb2633-398d-4a10-bc53-2c6e88ea4272?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] for paid subscribers, so before your creative hits the highway, you can run it through all the checks. Recommended products & agencies We only include sponsors we’d recommend personally to our community. If you are interested in sponsoring our newsletter, email us at sponsorships@mkt1.co [ mailto:sponsorships@mkt1.co ]. Framer [ https://substack.com/redirect/5ba7b50f-75ca-429f-a7f5-1675c855a1bf?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], the site builder, just launched Agents, right inside the Canvas. You keep the structure and editing control you need for a full company website, and get the speed and capabilities of an Agent working alongside you. 🔓 Offer: Get 30% off annual pro [ https://substack.com/redirect/5ba7b50f-75ca-429f-a7f5-1675c855a1bf?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] with the code: MKT1. — 42 Agency [ https://substack.com/redirect/2fa0484a-6ae0-4dbd-885a-a78f9d061c69?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] is a MOPs & paid media agency that kicks off differently. They start with a Revenue Opportunity Analysis that digs into your ad accounts, CRM, and closed-lost deals to find where revenue is leaking. Then they fix it. 🔓 Offer: First 5 companies to redeem get 15% off a revenue opportunity analysis [ https://substack.com/redirect/b5dd0c29-fcd9-424f-afe2-d393d9b8440c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. — Join me and Profound for an AEO build session on July 23 [ https://substack.com/redirect/3cd09e08-4f7a-4222-a9d2-63d7a93cb4a0?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: Nick Lafferty of Profound, the AI workbench built for marketers, and I will build the 3 AEO workflows all marketers need in Claude with Profound’s MCP. 🔓 RSVP: Register for the free event here [ https://substack.com/redirect/3cd09e08-4f7a-4222-a9d2-63d7a93cb4a0?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. In this newsletter: This 2-part newsletter—with videos from a Billboard Drive-By [ https://substack.com/redirect/4bc3f030-2cdb-46cf-994a-0eb4d1e3b762?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] with Maya Spivak and a Claude skill [ https://substack.com/redirect/a2cb2633-398d-4a10-bc53-2c6e88ea4272?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] for reviewing billboard creative—helps you make informed OOH (out-of-home) decisions. 📍 Part 2 (this newsletter): What should you put on a billboard? 4 steps to make standout billboard creative: [ https://substack.com/redirect/d8779d9d-8f32-491c-9457-94b54b9498fd?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] 1) Catch your ICP, 2) Nail the message, 3) Make it legible, 4) Bring the magic Billboard reviews: [ https://substack.com/redirect/763ecf10-8177-4c88-97e2-f40349990c0d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] [ https://substack.com/redirect/763ecf10-8177-4c88-97e2-f40349990c0d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]Baseten, Rippling, Braintrust, Framer More MKT1 OOH content and resources: ⏪ Part 1 of this series: Should you do an OOH buy? [ https://substack.com/redirect/917af5aa-e424-4fe0-8e0d-24d3ba39e18e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] [ https://substack.com/redirect/917af5aa-e424-4fe0-8e0d-24d3ba39e18e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] This newsletter helps you figure out if you have billboard <> startup fit and a solid goal. Start here when you get your next request to buy billboards! It also features a full FAQ about buying OOH [ https://substack.com/redirect/acd9290a-7124-4624-98d2-392b1170895b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. 🤖 Billboard-Creative skill: We built a skill for checking billboard creative, available in the MKT1 MCP [ https://substack.com/redirect/a2cb2633-398d-4a10-bc53-2c6e88ea4272?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] for paid subscribers. 📺 Billboard Drive-By: 11 mini-episode video series [ https://substack.com/redirect/4bc3f030-2cdb-46cf-994a-0eb4d1e3b762?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] with Maya Spivak About Maya: Maya Spivak [ https://substack.com/redirect/d051caea-1eb3-466d-b0a6-c414d651ed62?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] loves building and supporting beloved tech brands. After 15 years of full-time, in-house brand marketing leadership, Maya started an independent microagency called Marketing.fan [ https://substack.com/redirect/be532948-6adf-4059-94b2-628fdbc1568c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] where she and a small team of creatives build and execute brand marketing campaigns and promotional media strategy. Although Maya enjoys all types of brand marketing, positioning, storytelling, and experiential projects…about 80% of her business is out-of-home media buying and management. It’s what the people want! And now, on to the newsletter… 4 steps to make standout billboard creative Step 1: Catch your ICP First things first, the person you are trying to reach needs to realize your creative is attempting to speak to them, immediately, before they zoom by. There are 3 ways to do this, make sure you check the box on at least 1: Write copy that directly says who it’s for: Name the audience specifically, like “marketers”, “AI engineers”, etc. Write copy that describes your product in an audience-specific way: If you don’t expressly name your audience, explain your product in a way that your audience knows it for them. e.g. Baseten’s [ https://substack.com/redirect/d744781b-679e-46aa-8ea3-0b133e1f1bd7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] billboard doesn’t say “AI engineers,” but it does say the word “inference” which speaks to them specifically. Show with visual language who it’s for: A stylized product shot, a photo, an illustration, etc. that signals the category or crowd before they read a word. This is harder to pull off, but powerful when it lands. Note: Social proof is also a great visual signal of who it’s for. If peers use it, it tells you the ICP and builds credibility. Step 2: Nail the message You’ve caught your ICP’s eye. Now you’ve got a second to make your impression count by saying something that matters to them. Ideally your billboard covers the same things a homepage hero does: who it’s for, what your product is, and why it’s better (than the alternative) [ https://substack.com/redirect/a0e74d96-98c6-450f-a248-ed0a741d3471?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. But that’s hard to do in a contained space. So which parts you actually include depend on the level of awareness, aka how much your ICP already knows about you. There are 2 parts to this process: 2A. Figure out your audience’s awareness stage Factor in not only the demographics and firmographics of who you want to reach (including the city your OOH buy is in), but also your ICP’s “awareness level.” And if you aren’t sure, assume the OOH audience is less aware than you think—because many people won’t be in your ICP at all. Unaware: They don’t even know they have the problem your product solves yet. Problem aware: They recognize the pain point, but don’t know a viable solution exists. They don’t know you or your competitors’ products exist. Solution aware: They know solutions in your category exist, but don’t know your product specifically. Product aware: They know you offer a solution to the problem. Brand & product aware: They know you as an option in the category, recognize your logo, and if someone said your name they’d know what your product does. 2B. Match the message to that stage The more awareness you have, the more options you have for what you can say. If your audience is… Unaware → problem aware: Speak to the pain. e.g. Vanta's "Compliance that doesn't SOC too much" names the pain, compliance is a slog, with a wink. Problem → solution aware: Explain the solution. e.g. CodeRabbit's "AI code reviews" just says what it is. Solution → product aware: State why you’re better than other solutions. e.g. Rippling’s [ https://substack.com/redirect/b10d5731-6bd9-4861-b907-a8ff6c0182b2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] “HR, IT, and Finance in one” copy implies it’s better than stitching together tools. Product → brand aware: Share a bold brand message, you’ve earned it. e.g. ChatGPT runs photos with just their logo and no explanation and Figma's boards say "Made in Figma" with not much else. Creative fails when you assume your audience has more awareness than they do. You can’t say you’re the best solution in a category when no one has any idea what the category means or why it exists. You can’t just throw your logo up with no context if no one has ever seen it before. To reinforce this point: You aren’t ChatGPT… So a random photo on a billboard with just your logo will likely be a waste Actual photo of me if you try to emulate an OpenAI billboard for your growth-stage B2B startup: And here’s what Maya and I had to say about those ChatGPT photo billboards. We think one line of copy, like “In the moment…” would have gone a long way. Watch this episode & the rest of the Billboard Drive-By series on YouTube. ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/3db4c76d-4946-46a4-8dca-6f3d8c808d5c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] 2C. Final check: Does your copy cover positioning basics? Positioning [ https://substack.com/redirect/4837ee33-0411-4ed0-8af5-a8abd5d8c959?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] should answer who your product is for, what it is, and why it’s better (than the alternative). You usually can’t fit all of this on a billboard, and you shouldn’t force it. The priority is matching the message to the audience’s awareness level. But if you can cover all three positioning basics without cluttering the board, that’s major bonus points! Who it’s for: Does it name the audience directly or imply it through copy and visuals? What it is: Does it name the category or describe the product? Why it’s better: Does it explain why it’s a better choice than the alternative? Note: So much copy sounds exactly the same right now, “agents” and “AI for [x]” all blend together. If your “what it is” could just as easily be 500 other products, it’s not specific enough! Fun game: Count the % of billboards that say AI or agent as a passenger (not a driver) next time you take an SF drive. Watch here [ https://substack.com/redirect/28a04333-59ad-4c2f-ac8f-fe0955a8d856?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/7db09de9-bca5-4276-9079-276a1b48ddc2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Just for fun: One billboard stood above the rest when it came to nailing positioning… “It’s telling me what it is: ad space. It’s available: why it’s different. Who it’s for: Anyone buying ad space. And it has a phone number, call to action!” –Emily Kramer Watch this episode & the rest of the Billboard Drive-By series on YouTube. ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/7db09de9-bca5-4276-9079-276a1b48ddc2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] For more on positioning in general, read the MKT1 positioning guide newsletter [ https://substack.com/redirect/4837ee33-0411-4ed0-8af5-a8abd5d8c959?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. You can also run my /homepage-positioning-audit skill in the MKT1 MCP ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/e875d7b9-4667-466f-a41f-40339b7dec08?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Step 3: Make it legible A billboard gets read while in motion. Sounds obvious, but OOH creative often doesn’t seem to be designed with this in mind. A driver has 3–6 seconds, an on-foot commuter a little more, and someone on one of those rental electric scooters—well please just focus on not hitting a pedestrian, not on the OOH. Point is, if someone can’t take the creative in at the speed they’re moving, the buy was pointless. 3A: Logo test. Can you read the logo? Sounds so obvious, but I so often can’t decipher the darn logo! 👍 Rule of thumb: The logo should be roughly 10-15% of the total billboard area. While logo size matters, the exact percentage matters less than placing it where the eye actually lands. And if you buy lots of placements, you almost definitely shouldn’t put the logo in the same spot each time because the angle, the traffic pattern, and what’s blocking the view all differ. 3B: Text test. Is the font big enough? 👍 Rule of thumb: 1” letter height for every 10 feet of viewing distance. That’s 3 feet of letter height when read at 300 ft! If the text doesn’t look too big on your laptop, you’re doing it wrong. Go bigger than you think. Bonus: Going big on text also forces you to be succinct, which leads us to the next test. 3C: Concept test. Is it saying just enough, or too much? 👍 Rule of thumb: 1 idea, 6–8 words, max. Think about both the number of words in your key message and how many “concepts” or ideas you’re covering with the words and the visuals. 1 is best, 3 is way too many. When choosing the “concept” or “idea,” remember to think through step 2: Figure out the level of awareness of your target audience, and choose the idea that matches best with that stage. e.g. Kong goes all in on the "not a dog toy" concept. The headline ("We do NOT sell dog toys"), the visual (a gorilla puzzling over the red dog toys in its hand), and the tagline ("Unleash AI Connectivity") all push the same single idea: this Kong is the AI connectivity company, not the dog-toy brand you're picturing. Three elements, one takeaway. That's one concept, delivered three ways, not three concepts fighting for attention. Watch us review it here [ https://substack.com/redirect/dbbb8246-5610-411c-9849-ce3b80b98e7a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]or read a LinkedIn post from their team about it here [ https://substack.com/redirect/c49c2626-3c3c-41a4-ad18-0ece1b27e38d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/7db09de9-bca5-4276-9079-276a1b48ddc2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Note: If you have a small tagline with your logo, I don’t count that as a second concept, but it does add to the clutter. 3D: Design elements test. Are the visual elements complementary? 👍 Rule of thumb: If you are unsure whether the visual needs to be there, it doesn’t. Cut it! The visuals (color, imagery, photo, illustration, layout, etc.) should reinforce the copy and concept, not fight it or just sit there as decoration. Whether you go bold or minimal, every visual choice should earn its place by supporting the concept. Be “purposeful” with your design elements Way back when I led marketing at Asana we had a brand value of being “purposeful.” We evaluated everything against this in design reviews (as well as 3 other values), and if anything at all was superfluous it got cut. Those thumbs-up emojis I put in this section probably would have even been cut. You might not need to be this stringent, but it is a good lens! Here’s an example of a design element that says nothing from Fin’s billboard…what is that orange blob? Also Fin/Intercom has since been acquired by Salesforce, so expect this orange blob to turn Salesforce blue soon! Watch this episode & the full Billboard Drive-By Series ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/dbf22882-beef-41f7-8eaa-6be9e0cb1ae5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] 3E: Color contrast test: Does it become a blur at a distance? 👍 Rule of thumb: Aim for a contrast ratio of at least 7:1 between your text color and background color, ideally 10:1 or higher. Contrast ratio = relative luminance of the lighter color / darker color, on a scale from 1:1 (no contrast) to 21:1 (high contrast). For reference, the web standard set by WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) is 4.5:1 to 7:1. The billboard needs to be higher contrast. Two colors that look fine together on your laptop but sit at the same brightness can blur together at a distance. Squint till the color drops out and see if the text still pops, or pull the hex values and compute the contrast ratio (or run our /billboard-creative skill in the MKT1 MCP [ https://substack.com/redirect/e875d7b9-4667-466f-a41f-40339b7dec08?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] to have Claude calculate it for you!) 3F: Shrink test: Do all the elements work together when you’re really far away? 👍 Rule of thumb: Shrink the creative to business-card size, print it out, hold it at arm’s length, and see if it still works. This is the catch-all test. All of the elements above need to come together to land in one composition. And just because you “pass” the other 5 tests doesn’t mean you’ll pass this one. This is also another good chance to check for clutter: Does everything need to be there, from the visual elements to the copy to that tagline? Step 4: Bring the magic This is the last element, and the hardest to pin down: the magic. The thing that makes an OOH—actually all creative—memorable instead of just run of the mill. Even if you follow every rule so far, your billboard still might not land. And even if you break several of the rules, you could still hit upon so much magic that the rules don’t matter at all. That’s the thing about creative, sometimes breaking the rules wins. Here are some things to think about when trying to find the magic, and avoid the dreaded “what were they thinking?” outcome: 4A: Cooks in the kitchen test: Did too many people weigh in and water it down? 👍 Rule of thumb: Avoid creative everyone is neutral on. That means it has no magic. The most effective creative, no matter the medium, usually has a point of view. The more people who have to sign off, the safer and blander it gets [ https://substack.com/redirect/a4005320-04c7-4514-8950-9e925bb89d2b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. The thing that made it work gets erased. A few signs to look for to make sure you are keeping the “magic”: You want a champion, but also some detractors: Someone who loves it enough to go to bat for it, and a few people who don’t love it… Pressure-test the dislike: Do the detractors hate it because it’s just not their aesthetic (fine), or for a very good reason (it’s controversial, doesn’t land)? If everyone is just “fine” with it, it’s been watered down. This isn’t a great outcome. If you ended up at “watered down,” it can help to go back and review the first concepts you had, were those stronger than what you ended up with? 4B: Try-hard test. Are you being clever, or just trying too hard? “You gotta look up your meme-speak…I like being hip and with it, but you gotta look up the source of the memes [when designing creative].” –Maya Spivak 👍 Rule of thumb: If you’re asking yourself this question at all, you’re probably trying too hard. Clever, bold, and opinionated works when it lands, but you want to be sure it will. If people don't get it, or it leaves them feeling bad (cringe, exclusion, confusion), it backfires. Be clear over clever, always, in all B2B creative. Puns / wordplay: Frequently done, but it’s not for every audience, and it needs to land fast. Pop-culture references: Only work if most of your ICP knows the reference, don’t get too obscure (I love a cult classic film and some 2000s indie rock, but these references probably won’t land—I might still try in a newsletter, but certainly not on a billboard). Cryptic inside jokes: Work if you’re comfortable zeroing in on just the people who’ll get it, and confusing the crap out of everyone else. Shock / provocation: Turns heads, but everyone’s line is different, be careful. As a general rule, let’s stop being offensive, just collectively? Deal? High art / abstract: Beautiful and simple works for some brands, but can feel forced if you don’t spend time really developing the aesthetic (it’s harder than it looks!) Some examples of “cringe” in my personal opinion Apologies to the marketers and creatives that worked hard on these, I know it’s a tough job. And this is just one person’s subjective opinion… Nooks, “Sales-maxxing”: The “-maxxing” phrase is everywhere right now and it does not have a positive connotation for me. If you’re going to use meme-speak, make sure you actually know how it lands. Artisan, “Stop Hiring Humans”: It turned heads, and got talked about, and is memorable, but going anti-worker crossed the line for a lot of people and I wouldn’t want so much negativity around my product. Flex, “AI-native banking designed for the 1%. Now yours.”: The “Now yours” is meant to flip the 1% from exclusion to invitation, but at 65 mph that second line can get missed, leaving just “the 1%” which alienates. If you want to signal premium there are better ways to do this. Vanta, “Don’t SOC-block your engineer”: A crude-to-many refresh of their great “Compliance that doesn’t SOC too much” billboard. They had the magic and swapped it for a try-too-hard pun. Don’t break what works. See these examples and more in our “Stop doing this” Billboard Drive-By episode ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/3f8a9706-9dfc-43ea-b8dc-583ec4c632a7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] If you aren’t sure whether the variety of clever you’re putting out there is of the magical variety or the confusing variety, test it: Send it to a few people you trust in your ICP or run a display ad or social test first. One caution: Getting too much feedback can lead to lowest-common-denominator creative too, this is just to gut-check the clever part. “What I’d do is take a screenshot of your creative send it to some people that you trust, but you prompt with “Thoughts?” Not “Oh, I’m planning to make this live.” If you give people too much, you know that will sway their input. As unaided as you can get it, that’s how you ask.” –Maya Spivak Watch here ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/1b097e63-f8a5-4ff1-975e-b5b0f329be1a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] 4C: Memorable test. Will your audience remember this? 👍 Rule of thumb: If it doesn’t make your ICP think or feel something (preferably positive), they won’t remember it when they are considering solutions. Did the creative all come together in a way that feels magical, or at least memorable? I don’t have a solid rubric for this one. It’s a feeling. It’s for you, your team, and the viewer to determine. During our drive-by, PostHog stood heads above the rest on this [ https://substack.com/redirect/0a3c9888-c209-4b3a-918a-59776371ec5a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Multiple placements need to stand alone, and fit together The most captivating and worthwhile OOH buys include more than one placement. But, you can’t assume everyone will see all of them, so each one has to work on its own. That said, if someone does see them all, make sure they work together too. In our drive-by, CodeRabbit [ https://substack.com/redirect/a0779ff6-3e90-4d93-91f7-fa348591ced5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]took over a whole train station, with tons of creative across a bunch of different concepts. Some were solid (pacman-style bug bashing), some missed the mark. It makes you wonder if there were too many cooks in the kitchen and they just said, “Let’s go with one of each.” Also, if you’ve got that much creative real estate, you should cover all three Ws: who it’s for, what it is, and why it’s better. CodeRabbit did succeed at this, but there were so many messages it was hard to parse. See our full CodeRabbit commentary, plus more OOH best practices in this episode of Billboard Drive-By ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/7db09de9-bca5-4276-9079-276a1b48ddc2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] JUST ANNOUNCED: MKT1 EVENT JOIN US FOR OUR FREE MCP SHOWCASE ON 7/28/26 Featuring Framer [ https://substack.com/redirect/cf35df92-04f4-4ebc-bd35-2c8946615d98?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Profound [ https://substack.com/redirect/aac457fa-f5f0-4647-998e-3af056ac4a38?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/6566e069-5559-41e0-8ea7-69dd43f93149?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Mutiny [ https://substack.com/redirect/6036c3b5-4f5c-49f7-8c0f-85dd89f20c0a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Softr [ https://substack.com/redirect/580fe457-2a8f-4e0c-9122-8d180a03be17?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] & Default [ https://substack.com/redirect/4fd03196-1fe1-4e78-beff-163d4487b0bd?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] showing marketing workflows with their MCPs in Claude Back to the newsletter…and my reviews of actual creative. The billboard reviews Now it’s time to apply these principles to actual OOH creative I saw on my billboard drive-by with Maya. I built the entire review process described above into a /billboard-creative skill in the MKT1 MCP [ https://substack.com/redirect/e875d7b9-4667-466f-a41f-40339b7dec08?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], so I’ll run each creative through the skill for a review, and add my own commentary. Upgrade to a paid subscription to access the MKT1 MCP, including the /billboard-creative skill (and 25+ more!) Review: Baseten - Inference x 10 My take I’m including this review because after I painstakingly (really though) built the rubric and trained the Claude Skill, I still disagreed with some of Claude’s assessment of the repeating “inference” billboard on the left (see scorecard below). Billboard reviews are subjective…and maybe also I’m just nicer than Claude?! On paper the logo’s too tiny and the green nearly vanishes into the pink at a distance. But Baseten has blanketed SF in this campaign, with bus sides, shelters, and multiple billboards, so by the time you pass this one you know it’s Baseten (though they should still size up that logo). I love this geometric, repeated-type treatment and this palette (clearly my aesthetic, see MKT1’s brand). And it zigs while every other AI company zags into the same blues and blacks. Paired with its friends on the buses, this one brought the magic for me. It pops! More on my take in the video below! Baseten billboard review from MKT1’s Claude skill These summary cards were produced by the /billboard-creative skill in the MKT1 MCP [ https://substack.com/redirect/e875d7b9-4667-466f-a41f-40339b7dec08?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (and appended with my personal review). I trained this extensively, so think of this as me + Claude talking, but sometimes we will disagree… Step 1: Catch the ICP → Pass Says who it’s for: No, it never names the audience directly. Describes the product in an audience-specific way: Yes, “inference” is the category word for running AI models in production, and to an AI engineer it instantly signals what Baseten does. Visual language implies who it’s for: No, the pink field and repeated-word pattern are brand styling, not an audience signal. Step 2: Nail the message → Pass Awareness level: Claude’s guess is the ICP in the Bay Area is solution aware, leaning product aware. AI engineers know inference solutions exist, and many already know Baseten. Message type: It explains the solution (”inference” says what Baseten is for), and it serves double (well more like 10x) duty as a repeated, bold brand message claiming the category. It meets a solution-aware ICP where they are. Positioning basics: Covers what the product is (”inference”), and who it’s for is implied indirectly through “inference,” but there’s no why-it’s-better claim. That’s okay though, limited space! Step 3: Make it legible → Miss Logo size: miss, the green “baseten” tag is tiny, well under 10%, and buried in the middle of the word. Text size: succeeds, “INFERENCE” is enormous and reads far down the road. Concept: succeeds, a single word and a single idea. Design elements: pass, the embossed repeated-word pattern reinforces the one word, and the pink pops against sky and concrete. Color contrast: mixed, black on the brand pink (#FFA9FD) is ~12:1, well above the suggested 7:1, so “INFERENCE” is razor sharp. But the green logo (#19E76E) and the pink sit at nearly the same brightness (~1:1), so the logo melts into the field at a distance. Shrink test: miss, shrunk down “INFERENCE” still reads, but the logo disappears, so you can’t tell who it’s from. Note: I disagree with Claude here. I think it’s legible enough given the city is plastered in Baseten OOH! And as I mentioned in “my take,” I think the design elements are more than a pass but a “succeeds” (I love this aesthetic). Step 4: Bring the magic → Pass Cooks in the kitchen test: my quick take is it wasn’t watered down. The copy is one bold category word, not generic AI boilerplate, and the hot-pink field is genuinely distinctive. Try-hard test: succeeds at not being try-hard. The one word is clear, not a pun or an in-joke. The only risk is it’s cryptic to anyone outside AI, a fine trade because Baseten ICP will get it. Memorable test: the pink field and the giant word are striking, so you’ll remember the board. The open question is whether you’ll remember it was Baseten. Note: I also slightly disagree with Claude here, for me this creative brought the magic. Watch us review Baseten’s creative live on our drive-by Why does my brain read it as bass-eh-ten though?! Watch this episode & the rest of the Billboard Drive-By series on YouTube ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/d744781b-679e-46aa-8ea3-0b133e1f1bd7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] It’s working because it zigs when all the rest of the AI companies are zagging, right?” –Maya Spivak Review: Rippling - Dr. Evil Diabolical My take I chose this Rippling “street furniture” sign on the left because, unlike a lot of OOH, it actually tries. It reaches for a real concept (all-in-one software is “diabolically good, muahaha”). It takes a swing at a cultural reference, and it pulls a clever money-saving move in the process: evoking Austin Powers’s Dr. Evil without licensing the official IP, a smart, cheap way around expensive creative. The cat and the finger on the mouth work without needing Mike Myers. Reaching for a reference like that is a real risk, and for me it didn’t land, the nod feels dated and the copy could be tighter. But that’s subjective, and I’d rather a billboard swing and miss for some (as long as it doesn’t offend someone), than play it safe. And I did leave the Billboard Drive-by video shoot remembering it… Rippling review from MKT1’s Claude skill Step 1: Catch the ICP → Succeeds Says who it’s for: Yes, “HR, IT, and Finance” names the three buyers outright. Describes the product in an audience-specific way: Not necessary, names the buyers directly Visual language implies who it’s for: No, the cropped hand-to-chin pose sells the “diabolical” joke, not the HR, IT, and Finance audience. Step 2: Nail the message → Pass Awareness level: Claude’s guess is the ICP (HR, IT, and Finance leaders) is brand & product aware. Rippling spends heavily on brand and is everywhere, so most buyers already recognize the logo and know what Rippling does. Message type: It explains the solution (”HR, IT, and Finance in one”) and states why it’s better (the “in one” all-in-one differentiation), with “Diabolically good” as a brand flourish it’s earned at this awareness level. The message matches the broad audience’s range of awareness levels. Positioning basics: Covers who (HR, IT, Finance, named) and what (one platform for all three), with why implied through “all in one.” All there, if all-in-one is truly a benefit to all the audiences. Step 3: Make it legible → Miss Logo size: pass, the Rippling wordmark reads clearly under the copy, though it’s on the smaller side. Text size: miss, readable up close, but on the curve of the column it could stand to be bigger. And the line breaks hit at weird breakpoints (the headline breaks at "HR, IT, and / Finance in one?" which splits the list awkwardly). Concept: pass, it's one cohesive concept, "all-in-one is diabolically good," told across both halves, the copy delivers "all-in-one" and the Dr. Evil pose delivers "diabolical." One idea, not two, though the copy runs a little long at about nine words. Design elements: pass, the cropped finger-on-face pose ties to “diabolically good,” but it only really lands if you read it as a Dr. Evil/Austin Powers reference. Color contrast: pass, white type over the dark photo holds up on the darker areas, less where it crosses the lighter skin tones. Shrink test: miss, shrink the entire creative down, not just the text, and it falls apart, the dark cropped image goes to a blob and the small text becomes illegible, so the whole thing stops working. Step 4: Bring the magic → Pass Cooks in the kitchen test: It wasn’t watered down, there’s a clear point of view and a real creative swing. Try-hard test: As is, the Dr. Evil pose leans on a 25-plus-year-old Austin Powers reference that can read dated to today's buyers. This feels a bit try-hard. The diabolical idea has legs, but could have landed somewhere better. Memorable test: The diabolical angle is memorable if you catch it and the brand is clear, but the dated reference splits the audience into 3: people who get it and like it, people who get it and don’t like it (Kramer), and the people who don’t get it. Note: My suggested copy from the drive-by is tighter than what's on this street furniture, if I do say so myself: “HR, IT, and Finance in one: Diabolical." beats the current copy on simplicity and legibility. You don't need "Diabolically good?", the question mark kills it, the word good doesn’t add to it. Watch us review Rippling’s creative live on our drive-by Watch this episode & the rest of the Billboard Drive-By series on YouTube. ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/e471a7b9-d2d2-48c0-8ad8-5fedabc33678?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] “ Most of the people buying Rippling right now might not even remember this reference…There’s so many more interesting things you can do for diabolical or diabolically good than a throwback ad.” –Emily Kramer Note: Austin Powers was never it for me… Review: Braintrust - Brain rot My take Sorry, another billboard for AI engineers, but they’re everywhere! I’m reviewing the Braintrust billboard on the right because I saw some of their creative on our drive-by (image on the right), but wasn’t wowed by any means. Then their VP of Marketing, Morgane Palomares, posted about this new billboard, [ https://substack.com/redirect/7850bb59-91e0-481f-a2fb-f038fa0b7463?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and it stood out. It hits just the right level of internet slang with “brain rot,” that nods to the name “Braintrust”, while still explaining who Braintrust is for and what Braintrust is. It’s simple, but it really works for me. No surprise: Morgane came from Vercel, which consistently nails billboards that give a wink or head nod to their exact ICP. Braintrust billboard review from MKT1’s Claude skill Step 1: Catch the ICP → Succeeds Says who it’s for: No, doesn’t names the role specifically Describes the product in an audience-specific way: Yes, “your agent has brain rot” speaks the exact language of people building AI agents, and “observability for AI” says what the product is. Visual language implies who it’s for: Partly, the faint data pattern reads as a technical tool, but it’s subtle. Step 2: Nail the message → Pass Awareness level: Claude’s guess is the ICP in NYC is solution aware. AI engineers building agents know observability and eval tools exist, and many already know Braintrust. Message type: It both speaks to the pain (”your agent has brain rot”) and explains the solution (”observability for AI”). Speak to the pain works at any awareness stage and explaining the solution is essential when trying to build solution and product awareness. The message matches and doesn’t overreach. Positioning basics: Covers who it’s for, what the product is, but not why it’s better (which is okay, because of the audience’s awareness level). Step 3: Make it legible → Pass Logo size: pass, wordmark bottom-left, reads clearly. Text size: pass, headline legible (could go bigger); secondary text small but going bigger may clutter the core message. Concept: succeeds, five words, one idea. Design elements: pass, the data pattern reinforces observability without fighting the copy. Color contrast: pass, white on blue, specifically, #2B1EEB is 8.4:1, is above the 7:1 billboard contrast target. Shrink test: pass, headline and logo carry it; category line and URL disappear at small size though. Step 4: Bring the magic → Succeeds Cooks in the kitchen test: succeeds, not watered down; current and opinionated. Try-hard test: succeeds (at not being try hard), clever and lands, bets on the ICP knowing “brain rot” but that’s a safe enough bet Memorable: succeeds, funny, current, brand clear. No video for this one, this was a post-drive by series add! Review: Framer - We get design My take I chose to review this one (on the left) because it’s just extremely clear. It states exactly what Framer is and who it’s for. It nails the fundamentals: high contrast, big font, big logo. What I really love, though, is that the whole thing speaks to the art of crafting something. The glowing finger subtley nods to Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam fresco at the Sistine Chapel without being snobby, the human hand speaks to craft even without the reference, and they don’t slap the word “AI” on it like every other billboard. The second Framer board on the right works too, speaking to a different pain (shipping fast without compromising what enterprise needs) and tying it together with the same visual language. I may be biased since I partner with Framer, but I don’t think so. I think this is just good billboard creative. Framer billboard review from MKT1’s Claude skill Step 1: Catch the ICP → Succeeds Says who it’s for: It says design, but not designers (close enough?!) Describes the product in an audience-specific way: Yes, “the only site builder that gets design” says what it is and implies who it's for in one clean line. Visual language implies who it’s for: Partly, the dark premium design-tool look reads as a creative tool. Step 2: Nail the message → Succeeds Awareness level: Claude’s guess is the ICP in the Bay Area is solution aware, leaning product aware. Designers know site builders exist, and many already know Framer. Message type: It explains the solution (”site builder”) and states why it’s better (”the only one that gets design”), and it layers for the OOH spread, the plain “site builder” carries anyone less aware while “gets design” rewards the designers who already know the category. It matches and doesn’t overreach. Positioning basics: Covers who (implied through “gets design”), what (a site builder), and why (the only one that gets design, a real benefit to designers who value design). All three in one clean line. Step 3: Make it legible → Pass Logo size: pass, the Framer wordmark sits top-left, white on black, and reads clearly. Text size: pass, the headline is large and legible, it could be even bigger though. Concept: succeeds, one idea in seven words, and the finger-to-icon visual reinforces the same “craft” concept Design elements: pass, the glowing finger-to-icon visual reinforces the design and craft angle, but it’s busy and competes with the text. Color contrast: white type on the black field is 21:1, the maximum contrast possible on this scale. Shrink test: pass, shrunk down the logo and text are still legible, but the image may get murky and compete too much. Jurre H. from Framer talks about designing billboards, compared to designing for web, in this LinkedIn post ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/aa070d0d-a5ef-43dc-bfb6-be3f3dce7480?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Step 4: Bring the magic → Pass Cooks in the kitchen test: this isn’t watered down, there’s a clear point of view (”the only one that gets design” throws mild shade at every other site builder without being too combative) and a premium, distinctive visual. Try-hard test: It’s clear over clever, not try hard. The Creation of Adam visual could be try hard if they literally used a fresco-style image, but it’s produced well and so, so subtle. Memorable test: The premium black board and the sharp “gets design” line are memorable. Combined with all the other OOH around town, its even more memorable. Watch our live review of Framer’s billboards here [ https://substack.com/redirect/ffe2a710-0ac0-4db4-9e5d-bfbb11d5bdee?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/4eb1a974-e4a8-48ad-a72e-060ce864872a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Now I’m sending you on your way to plaster the highways with more effective creative… I wrote 2 newsletters, wrote ~12,000 words, made 10+ videos, and built a 300-line skill on OOH…I think I can safely say MKT1 readers are now armed with clearer ways to make OOH decisions. And remember, this creative advice is for billboards, street furniture, bus wraps, etc, but it does apply universally: Don’t assume people have more context or awareness than they do. Don’t copy creative from a company with more awareness and experience in the channel than you. Have a point of view. Take risks. But don’t cross the offensive line. Keep too many cooks out of the kitchen, but still get enough honest feedback that the creative doesn’t flop (and that feedback can come from an LLM now, they don’t have feelings…I don’t think). And if you still aren’t sure what to do for OOH, or just need some extra hands, call my Billboard Drive-By co-host, Maya Spivak [ https://substack.com/redirect/f4eade4a-5231-4f9b-8df2-b9068965d591?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. We may even do another Drive-By, on a double-decker tourist bus or something, and invite friends along. No promises, but it’s a stretch goal for me in 2027! In the meantime, enjoy the videos on YouTube [ https://substack.com/redirect/4bc3f030-2cdb-46cf-994a-0eb4d1e3b762?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], create a /gaccs-brief with our Claude skill to get alignment on your next OOH project, then chat with the /billboard-creative skill (also in our MKT1 MCP [ https://substack.com/redirect/62ca71cf-31ad-4b80-bd84-c3cc2ef3e04c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] for paid subscribers) to review your billboard creative—or another company’s just for fun. Want to evaluate your own billboard creative? Get the MKT1 MCP for paid subscribers and ask it to run the /billboard-creative skill! Plus access 25+ additional skills including AEO audits, homepage audits, competitive battle card creators, brief generators, job board search, candidate reviews, etc. Even more from MKT1 🙏 Brought to you by: Framer [ https://substack.com/redirect/5ba7b50f-75ca-429f-a7f5-1675c855a1bf?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], the site builder now equipped with Agents; Profound’s AEO build session [ https://substack.com/redirect/3cd09e08-4f7a-4222-a9d2-63d7a93cb4a0?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]; and 42 Agency [ https://substack.com/redirect/2fa0484a-6ae0-4dbd-885a-a78f9d061c69?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], the Demand Gen and MOPs agency. 💬 Bring this newsletter to Claude: Chat with this newsletter with this pre-built prompt [ https://substack.com/redirect/7bcac8fd-b5cd-40c3-ad65-2bdee1605369?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (free) or use the /billboard-creative skill in our MKT1 MCP [ https://substack.com/redirect/a2cb2633-398d-4a10-bc53-2c6e88ea4272?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (paid subscribers). 🖥️ Webinar - Building an AEO practice: Join me and Nick Lafferty for a live MCP build session on July 23 at 1pm ET / 10am PT [ https://substack.com/redirect/9e17e0b4-7337-4eca-8a87-766bd8e75bcd?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. We’ll show 3 AEO workflows you can run yourself with Claude and Profound. Register here [ https://substack.com/redirect/9e17e0b4-7337-4eca-8a87-766bd8e75bcd?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. 🔌 Event - MCP Showcase: On July 28th at 1pm ET / 10am PT we’re hosting a showcase [ https://substack.com/redirect/54ddfbd8-228d-496f-bfd9-7f8185394084?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] with 6 MCPs marketers should know. Attio, Default, Framer, Mutiny, Profound, and Softr will join me to walk through their MCPs, live in Claude. 🤖 MKT1 MCP Server: Add MKT1 skills to your LLMs. [ https://substack.com/redirect/a2cb2633-398d-4a10-bc53-2c6e88ea4272?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Paid subscribers get our full library of 25+ skills and templates, including the /billboard-creative skill featured in this newsletter. 🧱 MKT1 Buildathons: Watch our 5/27 Buildathon [ https://substack.com/redirect/a6a7b236-143f-4771-9a78-8dd86408fd48?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] to learn more about the MKT1 MCP Server (the event was just for paid subscribers, but anyone can catch up on the replay). You can also watch the replay of our first Buildathon [ https://substack.com/redirect/c89a0164-466a-41d7-ba9d-7079332f27e3?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] to see how to build a /marketing-strategy-skill in Claude Code. 🪢 Get on our Slack waitlist: We launched a Slack community just for talking about using Claude Code or Cowork and/or our MCP Server. It’s invite-only for paid subscribers using the MKT1 MCP Server. Get on the list ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/0601a953-8db5-4dab-8d9d-4eea6aba6efa?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] 🧑‍🚀 MKT1 job board - new & improved: Jobs from the MKT1 community [ https://substack.com/redirect/e8ef3df9-c319-4f2e-a349-c142751e697d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (it’s free to post as a paid subscriber). And our candidate form [ https://substack.com/redirect/5716f20f-a291-49b8-88ce-8b3d41d220c6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] if you’re looking for a new role (option to remain anonymous included!). 🥞 MKT1 Perk Stack - New Perk: Exclusive discounts worth $40K+ [ https://substack.com/redirect/39b01493-b492-4265-947d-2c3a70aecf11?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] on our favorite GTM tools. For annual & superfan paid subscribers only. We just added 3 months free of Granola [ https://substack.com/redirect/cab63b95-e3b8-49ea-98c3-566dd4df7e4a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], check it out! 🧰 Template & resource library: We have 100+ templates and resources [ https://substack.com/redirect/9c5531c2-7faf-473a-b33e-b891efd401d4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] available to paid subscribers in our template & tool library. 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View this post on the web at https://newsletter.mkt1.co/p/sf-billboard-drive-by-1 👋 This is a monthly free edition of MKT1 Newsletter—a deep dive into a B2B startup marketing topic, brought to you by Framer [ https://substack.com/redirect/b083135f-964b-46b6-a107-f67887649436?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Closing Media [ https://substack.com/redirect/aa8dc386-f3ab-4140-91c1-92c64016684a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and RevenueHero [ https://substack.com/redirect/ba5c587d-831c-4ecc-b628-cd65aa2e1347?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Upgrade to a paid subscription for: Full access to our new [ https://substack.com/redirect/3af43437-e03d-4ba4-9540-9d75e782dabb?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/3af43437-e03d-4ba4-9540-9d75e782dabb?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | 100+ templates & resources [ https://substack.com/redirect/3def8eea-0337-4229-a838-7500e303187f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | Post to [ https://substack.com/redirect/81f30483-c925-4000-96a2-0cad7eccc1c3?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 Job Board [ https://substack.com/redirect/81f30483-c925-4000-96a2-0cad7eccc1c3?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | MKT1 Newsletter Archive [ https://substack.com/redirect/6a90c272-0bc1-40fd-b69b-8135e67a44de?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | $40K+ in discounts in the [ https://substack.com/redirect/c29b92a1-6424-4d35-b044-7dc3311b04b7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 Perk Stack [ https://substack.com/redirect/61b46c14-96c7-45a0-ba99-a17a36358191?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] “We should buy some billboards.” If you’ve been a marketer for long enough, or maybe even not long at all, you’ve gotten this request. Some of us have gotten more absurd versions of this request: “Can we put a Beyoncé quote on a billboard?” or “Can we buy all the remaining Bay Area billboard inventory for the rest of the year (even though that’s 100x our annual marketing budget)?” Just hypothetically. Which begs the question: Can out-of-home (OOH), or more specifically billboards of the San Francisco freeway variety, coming in at $20–50K a month, ever actually be worth it? About a year ago, I was at lunch with Maya Spivak [ https://substack.com/redirect/85eab23f-4a82-4740-b6a9-1edfc8f49350?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], one of my go-to brand and billboard experts (among other things). I told Maya she needed to make a TikTok of her commenting on billboards. This spring, we finally hit the road with her go-to videographer, Gusto Lopez [ https://substack.com/redirect/0951aafc-4181-4bcd-acda-8a1b914449c4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and an Uber driver who was a great sport (we tipped him well, of course). We paraded around SF and the South Bay, with a u-turn on Treasure Island, providing billboard commentary. These aren’t going on TikTok, but they are going in this newsletter and on Substack. We think they’re entertaining, but you can be the judge. After going on what OOH vendors call a “market ride” with Maya, here’s where I landed: I think these pricey billboards and bus wraps can be worth it, but a lot has to go right, and usually a lot goes wrong. Here’s a sizzle reel of our Billboard Drive-By series: Recommended products & agencies We only include sponsors we’d recommend personally to our community. If you are interested in sponsoring our newsletter, email us at sponsorships@mkt1.co [ mailto:sponsorships@mkt1.co ]. Framer [ https://substack.com/redirect/b083135f-964b-46b6-a107-f67887649436?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: DoorDash, Perplexity, Mixpanel, and Mutiny’s websites are all built on Framer. From early-stage startups to Fortune 500s, Framer is the website builder I personally recommend. It works like your team’s favorite design tool, with AI-powered building, integrated A/B testing, and one-click publishing. 🔓 Offer: Get 15% off a Yearly Pro plan [ https://substack.com/redirect/f86ba420-ed67-49c9-b594-0bd1355ef1ce?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] with code MKT15. Annual MKT1 Subscribers get 30% off a Yearly Pro plan in our Perk Stack [ https://substack.com/redirect/c29b92a1-6424-4d35-b044-7dc3311b04b7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. — Closing Media [ https://substack.com/redirect/aa8dc386-f3ab-4140-91c1-92c64016684a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] is a boutique agency that runs LinkedIn and Google campaigns for growth-stage startups. They know the best ways to build and scale ad campaigns in 2026 (hint: thought leader ads and video!) and have years of expertise (I worked with them in 2018!). 🔓 Offer: Reach out to Closing Media here [ https://substack.com/redirect/aa8dc386-f3ab-4140-91c1-92c64016684a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] & mention MKT1 to get $5,000 of free ad spend for your next campaign. — RevenueHero [ https://substack.com/redirect/ba5c587d-831c-4ecc-b628-cd65aa2e1347?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] is how companies like Clay, Customer.io and Freshworks auto-enrich, route, and book meetings in seconds. And they have great data too, a recent report on 1M+ form submits showed their top customers book 88% of qualified leads - report is here [ https://substack.com/redirect/bb9aea4b-a077-4b0c-8e18-e53b09f52428?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]! 🔓 Offer: Get the report [ https://substack.com/redirect/bb9aea4b-a077-4b0c-8e18-e53b09f52428?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and mention MKT1 to get 15% off [ https://substack.com/redirect/ba5c587d-831c-4ecc-b628-cd65aa2e1347?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] if you buy before 7/31. In this newsletter: In addition to sharing 11 mini-episodes from our “Billboard Drive-By” video series*, this 2-part newsletter will arm you with rubrics to have an actually thoughtful response when you get or make a billboard request. *Quick note: This was really an OOH drive-by, not just a billboard one. OOH covers all the out-of-home media you can buy, from digital billboards to bus sides and wraps to hand-painted walls to subway ads. Part 1 (this newsletter): Should you do an OOH buy? Whether that’s NYC subway takeovers or billboards along the Bay Area “Skyway” this newsletter helps you figure it out. Section 1: Do you have billboard <> startup fit? Section 2: What’s your goal for being on a billboard right now? Section 3: OOH planning & buying FAQ Part 2 (later this month): What should you put on a billboard? This will cover all things creative, plus my reviews of real SF billboards and more video clips! Bonus: Chat with this newsletter in Claude with this pre-built prompt ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/265d1e29-c675-4d8a-9c74-4f074a98600b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] About Maya: Maya Spivak [ https://substack.com/redirect/85eab23f-4a82-4740-b6a9-1edfc8f49350?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] loves building and supporting beloved tech brands. After 15 years of full-time, in-house brand marketing leadership, Maya started an independent microagency called Marketing.fan [ https://substack.com/redirect/b9eaf0e7-e51b-40a9-9816-799e29b15fd7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] where she and a small team of creatives build and execute brand marketing campaigns and promotional media strategy. Although Maya enjoys all types of brand marketing, positioning, storytelling, and experiential projects…about 80% of her business is out-of-home media buying and management. It’s what the people want! And now, on to the newsletter… Do you have billboard <> startup fit? AKA: Just because you can buy a billboard, doesn’t mean you should buy a billboard “A lot of times the earlier-stage companies try to copy the big companies. They have a bunch of awareness. For example, Figma. Most people in tech know what that is, so they can take more risks. They’ve earned the right to be a little obscure.” –Maya Spivak Billboards (and all expensive out of home buys) often go wrong from the start at startups. Someone requests a billboard because they saw one from some other company and think it’ll work for yours. You don’t have the same audience, company stage, business model, or strengths as that company; nor do you know if it even “worked” for them. So don’t just copy a competitor or much later stage company! OOH, like any other channel, needs to be a fit for your company across multiple variables. A billboard can be right for your audience and wrong for your business model, right for your company stage and wrong for your budget. So before you buy, check all four. Want an example of a company that has all 4? PostHog. “It makes you ask this question: Who would do that? And the answer is PostHog would do that. That level of gumption and daring is super cool… It’s not going to work for every company, but it works uniquely well for PostHog. And they’ve been doing this for years. It’s not something you pick up in a quarter.” –Maya Spivak How to check if OOH makes sense for your company 1. Audience fit You have audience fit if… You know who your audience is, specifically. And likely your audience is either massive (e.g., Notion, where a huge chunk of people are potential users) or tightly concentrated geographically. Either way, you need the impact of this format to be worth all the money you’ll spend reaching people who don’t matter. What else to consider: While you can get increasingly more targeted with enrichment and signals on other channels (like paid ads, which I covered in my last newsletter [ https://substack.com/redirect/08551a4f-18a2-48c4-99ec-9ed4ccd2aacf?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]), out-of-home is the same as it ever was: a blunt instrument for reaching your audience. Reps from OOH vendors will give you impression data so you know how many people drive or walk by, but that’s about it (More on how this works in the FAQ section below). The CPM for the people you actually want to reach is nearly impossible to determine. Start by understanding who your audience is and evaluate all channels and all varieties of OOH (we have a skill for this in our MCP [ https://substack.com/redirect/be22ec0c-5f8a-4a33-851d-f9632de07514?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]!). OOH isn’t just billboards, after all—you can be on the radio and on TV, and your ability to target audiences hinges on crisply knowing who they are. Now you might think, just buy when the conference for your audience comes to town. And you can. Or you can get creative and send trucks with your logo driving around town. But this isn’t a secret, so that inventory is in very short supply. Bottom line: If your audience is too scattered or too small, OOH probably isn’t your channel, and there are better ways to reach them. 2. Business model fit You have business model fit if… A short, high-impact message can effectively drive awareness among your buyers. What else to consider: Whether it makes sense for your business right now depends on your stage, product-market fit (PMF), how people buy (and how many stakeholders are involved), and how many accounts sit at each stage of your funnel. OOH isn’t just an awareness play, it’s a very specific kind of awareness. A billboard only buys short, high-impact, shallow awareness, so if what you really need is deeper education, experiences, or relationship-driven recommendations, it won’t work. And if you’re pre-PMF, it’s likely not the way to figure that out. You need to be able to convert the people you make aware, after all! As mentioned, you need to be comfortable without direct attribution from billboard to closed deal. Measurement will never be clean, but I think some back of envelope math is still worth the thought exercise. How many deals would you need to influence or close? How does that pencil out against your contract value and target CAC (customer acquisition cost)? Here’s what to think about specifically for your GTM motion: PLG: It’s a fit because you likely have a broad audience and therefore fewer wasted impressions, but contract value and CAC are usually lower with PLG motions, so the math may not math out when all’s said and done. Sales-led: It’s a fit because sales-led businesses often target enterprises and have higher contract values, so you can make the whole billboard cost back on a single deal. But you likely have a more niche target audience, so you’re paying for more waste hitting a broad crowd. Remember (I can’t say this enough): “Our competitor bought billboards” doesn’t mean you have business model fit too. They might not have had it either or evaluated the buy carefully. 3. Execution fit You have execution fit if… Your company can deliver a billboard that turns heads (well, hopefully not while driving), and run campaign work on other channels to amplify the impact. What else to consider: Two major things here. First, OOH rewards companies whose strength is bold, memorable, opinionated creative (both from a design and messaging perspective). PostHog, Notion, and Ramp pull it off because brand and creative are core to how they market. If that’s not a strength of yours, a billboard is an expensive place to learn it. And yes you can hire an agency to help, but if your company doesn’t know who it is and what it wants to say, no agency or contractor can fix that (not even Maya and she’s great at this!). You’ll just end up with the lowest common denominator that everyone can agree on. Second, a billboard or larger OOH buy doesn’t work alone. It’s about concentrating impressions so you seem like you’re everywhere (to the right people) for that moment. So before you buy, plan how the rest of your marketing will piggyback off OOH for a halo effect (or the other way around). If you’re doing a big SF buy, are you hosting an event or conference there soon that your website can promote? Will you run LinkedIn ads targeted at Bay Area accounts with the same creative and messaging? Will your founders be in town taking meetings during that window? Do you have a new product or offering to announce on your website? Here are a couple of examples of extending an out-of-home campaign: Clay [ https://substack.com/redirect/5f92ce26-fdd8-42a5-a818-5b70e02ddd07?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] brought theirs from the billboard to social with a brand campaign launch video [ https://substack.com/redirect/2a774306-0a6f-4e7f-8c6c-055a2ced9f3c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. And LlamaIndex [ https://substack.com/redirect/262019e7-c4b0-438f-9a19-fc4a0dc8654e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] used a “meet us at these events” as CTA for their SF OOH buy. 4. Budget fit You have budget fit if… You can afford enough placements to actually be seen and hit the goal and audience you are trying to reach. You also need to be able to cover both the media and creative. What else to consider: I don’t think marketers think enough about opportunity cost, and that’s especially true with OOH. It’s not just do you have the money, it’s whether this is the best place to spend it. If you just respond to every request, you’ll not only end up doing random acts of marketing [ https://substack.com/redirect/9457cb6a-e040-4070-9836-18cd56191790?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], you’ll burn through your budget without placing big bets on the things that play to your company’s advantages. Also, being “seen” in a city takes a mix of placements, not one unit (more details in the FAQ at the end). Given this, OOH also has a way of sneaking up on your budget. Creative costs also vary a lot by format: A hand-painted billboard costs way more than a vinyl one. Does that matter if your creative wasn’t designed to be hand-painted? Probably not. Digital billboards (DOOH, an acronym I just learned for digital out of home) can be cheaper to produce, but your ad might rotate with other companies’ creative you can’t control. Buying a bunch of units in different sizes and formats can become a real time suck and design expense. As mentioned, you can’t measure OOH the way you can your other channels. Some companies try to compare a mid-size market where they ran a big buy against one where they didn’t (e.g. Boston with OOH and Seattle without). And some of this comes down to budget specifically. Larger, public companies can often afford brand awareness studies, but most growth-stage B2B startups can’t. For some companies, that measurement gap just isn’t a risk they’re comfortable taking. Don’t force it! Final fit check: Company alignment Even if you have billboard <> startup fit across every angle described above (and have a clear goal, which I cover in the next section), that still doesn’t mean you should do the OOH buy. OOH is very visible to the people who work at your company, especially if you’re headquartered in the same city. You’ll get critiques no matter what, so it’s important to have buy-in from leadership. Note: I don’t mean buy-in on the creative itself, since getting everyone to sign off on the creative kills the boldness. I just mean buy-in on the idea of spending on billboards at all. Why do you need to be on a billboard right now? AKA: Nail down the goal when your founder requests a billboard (or 100) “It’s a stunt. It’s a flex. A lot of this regional billboard phenomenon is some amount of flexing. So many of these billboards are locked down for years in permanent contracts. In times like this, every company is trying to get out there, but there’s such limited inventory.” –Maya Spivak So you’ve got billboard <> startup fit, which tells you a billboard could work for your company, not that you should lock a few in for next quarter. For that, you need a proper goal. Usually that goal lives in the billboard requester’s head, and part of your job is to get it out so you can establish if you can meet that goal with the resources available. That may mean forcing them to get really honest about the reason they really want this. I’ve identified 4 high-level goals or reasons for an OOH buy, and specifically for buying a big billboard on a Bay Area freeway (for the cost of a house in many areas of the country). Some of these goals can be combined, but make sure you know the primary goal. How to choose your goal (be honest!) 1. “We’ve arrived” In this case, the goal is to build awareness for your brand or product, meaning to get the word out that you exist. Maybe you’re fresh off a big Series B and decide a billboard is how you buy your way into recognition. ⚠️ Watch out: If this is your goal, you may be strapped for cash, struggle to nail creative, or have other “lower hanging fruit” opportunities. It might not be worth doing if you can barely do it. 2. “We’re still here” The goal is to continue your brand awareness and recall, often with a sub-goal of getting the word out about something new, like a product or even an event. ⚠️ Watch out: It’s hard to know if you’ve really graduated from “we’ve arrived” to “we’re still here.” When in doubt, assume some of the people you’re trying to reach don’t know who you are. That’s especially true when you’re hitting non-Bay Area cities. 3. “We’ve made it, insiders” The goal is to celebrate with your team. This has become common with the Nasdaq or Times Square digital billboards you get for literally seconds in rotation with other ads: Your team is delighted, goes and takes a photo, shares it on social, and you may get a little halo effect. You can do a similar thing for customers, even including them on the billboard (but please, no one ever put my face at 10x size in Times Square). ⚠️ Watch out: Sometimes teams agree on this goal up front, then wonder why “nothing happened” after they bought the billboard. This is why you always need a GACCS Brief [ https://substack.com/redirect/75679229-d427-4ded-b622-c393087793d9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and need to write down the goals! 4. “Come join us” In this case, the goal is name recognition with people you want on your “team”: candidates or investors. The idea is that when you reach out to a candidate or an investor, they think “oh, I’ve seen that name before.” I usually think this is a scapegoat reason, meaning they are trying to justify a billboard they just want. But it can work in specific scenarios, say you are opening a new office in Salt Lake City and want to announce yourselves in that market where costs are a bit lower. ⚠️ Watch out: The jury’s out on whether this is the best way to build awareness with such a concrete audience. And then there’s always the non-reason reason: “We just want to” This is the worst reason, obviously, but sometimes it’s the most honest. Maybe your founder just really wants to put up another billboard that says “We’ve got agents” next to all the others. If it’s what your founder really wants and it doesn’t affect other budget line items you really need to fight for, sometimes you just gotta do it anyway. But at least make a brief and try to get concrete on what success looks like. But do you absolutely need a billboard to announce you now have AI and agents?! Maya: “Must you get the word out that you’re doing something with AI or agents, or can we just promote what you built and what you’re selling, and assume it has AI in it?” Kramer: “When do we get to the point where it’s just assumed?” You checked both boxes, now make a GACCS Brief If you have billboard<>startup fit and a reasonable goal for an OOH buy, you still need a plan. And I recommend planning in the form of a GACCS Brief [ https://substack.com/redirect/75679229-d427-4ded-b622-c393087793d9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], as always. If you’ve answered the two questions above well, your GACCS Brief should mostly write itself: Goal: Covered above! There are really only four options. Audience: Get specific about who you want to reach, and honest about where they are. A target account list makes this easier. Creative: Start with a high-level concept, then add the specific requirements later. Channel: Ideal locations and OOH types. Stakeholders: Who signs off before you spend the money, who approves the creative, etc. Reminder: We’ll get into the creative part in more detail in the next newsletter We’ll show you how to decide what goes on a billboard, reviews of real OOH in San Francisco, and more videos in this series. In the meantime, you don’t want to spend millions only to realize the format and the concept don’t fit. The bold, opinionated billboard is the thing that makes the buy worth it (and the thing most likely to get watered down by committee and make you fall flat on the freeway). So start thinking through your creative before you buy, because the concept should shape which format you choose. Maybe a freeway billboard isn’t even right, because the best version of your idea is a bus-side pun. After you do the buy, iron out the creative details with the exact dimensions and requirements in mind. Preview of newsletter part 2: Make creative that turns heads and fits your company “It’s like a homepage… I’m always looking for: What is it? Who’s it for? Why is it better than the alternative?” –Me during the Billboard Drive-By FAQ: OOH planning & buying This video covers some of the amazing things Maya taught me about billboards and here are more questions we get frequently (and more in this LinkedIn post) [ https://substack.com/redirect/8ec232c9-d02a-4c89-9ba7-d8ba12521d8e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. “You can do a ride-along per vendor. They’ll do it for free, so you might as well. Especially if you’re unfamiliar with a city, it’s worth the plane flight to see the spots.” –Emily Kramer Beyond billboards: What are all my OOH format options? OOH is a whole family of formats, not just the freeway billboards and bus wraps I focused on in this newsletter and our videos. It includes all of the below and more: Billboards: Bulletins (the big 14’x48’ highway ones), wallscapes and murals (on the sides of buildings, sometimes hand-painted), and digital billboards (LED screens that rotate creative). The classic B2B tech play on the SF freeways—and in many other cities the home to infinite injury lawyer billboards. Airports: Backlit dioramas, concourse “spectaculars” (yes they are called that), video walls, lounge sponsorships. You can reach business travelers when they are in their worst moods! Transit: Bus wraps, subway and rail cards, station takeovers, taxi tops, and truck-side mobile billboards. Reaches commuting professionals in dense metros, and can make a lot of sense around conferences. Place-based: Screens in offices, elevators, gyms, stadiums, and movie theaters. Good for reaching some niche audiences, but it doesn’t deliver the big brand moment so many startups are after. Street furniture: No, not the couch left on the street, but bus shelters, benches, kiosks, newsstands. Eye-level and seen at walking speed not driving speed. Spectaculars: The giant custom illuminated displays in iconic spots like Times Square and Sunset Strip. Mostly a flex, requires a lot of different creative, and very expensive. Wild postings and experiential: Wheatpaste posters on construction barricades and walls, pop-ups, projections, and the 3D anamorphic “fake OOH” made to go viral on social. More popular in B2C than B2B. What does a billboard actually cost? Just covering literal, massive billboards here, no other out of home because this newsletter would be way too long. Claude will give you a pretty good summary, and you can start by asking Claude about this newsletter with this pre-built prompt. [ https://substack.com/redirect/265d1e29-c675-4d8a-9c74-4f074a98600b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] In the Bay Area, where we drove, a premium 101 freeway static board runs $20K–$50K+ for 4 weeks, and in the city a SoMa wallscape is around $40K. Manhattan is very similar for a standard billboard, with Times Square spectaculars (the giant custom-built illuminated displays that wrap a whole building face) hitting six figures a month. But you can get one of those 15-second spots you see people post photos with on Linkedin (like the Nasdaq tower) for a few thousand bucks for a number of showings throughout the day if you just want the photo op. Other cities are cheaper for a monthly billboard. Chicago and Boston run from $3K–$15K. Boston reportedly has tight inventory because MA billboard laws are strict. That said, I was driving in and around Boston this weekend and I don’t think I saw a single tech billboard. Opportunity? Nashville, Denver, and Austin are around $2K–$5K, and small or rural markets are $500–$2K for a month of a billboard. But the price of one billboard isn’t really the question to ask. Most people want to know what it costs to be “felt” or “seen” in a city and that requires multiple placements usually across mediums. To be felt in San Francisco, Maya recommends a mix of placements to her clients: something on the highway, a few billboards in the city, some bus shelters in key neighborhoods, and a handful of buses. That’s Maya’s minimum recommended mix to give a startup a real shot at recognition and in turn seeing the feedback come through on social (LinkedIn, X, Reddit). A note on supply and demand: One of the reasons billboards are so expensive in San Francisco: Proposition G [ https://substack.com/redirect/23793185-5d0f-4b70-be5d-8c53ed40dcc4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], passed in 2002, made it impossible to add more. The supply is now fixed, whatever existed when the city froze permits (about 1500) is all there will ever be. “No new signs are allowed in the city of San Francisco, period, full stop. Every sign in place at the time got its permit, and no new permits are given out.” –Maya Spivak Watch the clip [ https://substack.com/redirect/35783411-c96e-4710-ab0d-4a8f0d78dc74?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Who are the major OOH vendors I’d actually buy from? There are only 4 big players in the US. It’s a highly consolidated market, which also drives prices up (at least that’s what I learned as a college econ major). But since no single vendor owns everything, a multi-market campaign means stitching together vendors (an agency can help). The four that matter most, in order of US size: Lamar [ https://substack.com/redirect/2d275e61-a472-4906-96d4-8cf2d5912dd0?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: The biggest. Strongest in smaller markets in the middle of the country, especially roadside placements. Outfront [ https://substack.com/redirect/980ff0dd-bce5-4351-81c8-c7c726e34053?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: They dominate transit, including the NYC MTA, plus most major-metro urban placements. Clear Channel Outdoor: [ https://substack.com/redirect/c2027721-0a8d-44b4-9c89-b29397732714?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Known for high-impact roadside billboards in major markets, and currently being taken private in a $6.2B deal. JCDecaux [ https://substack.com/redirect/bed4141a-e2fd-4867-8d8f-7a9fa4daaf40?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: The global leader in street furniture, though small in the US. They sign long, exclusive deals with cities to build and maintain the bus shelters, kiosks, and public toilets in exchange for the ad rights. SF’s street furniture is a 20-year JCDecaux contract. I had never thought about buying ads on toilets before now… Who are the key players in an OOH buy? Vendor sales reps: Who you’ll talk to at the 4 major OOH vendors (like Lamar and Outfront). Each rep sells inventory for a given market, and they’re the ones who run the market rides and send you the inventory of what’s available. You pretty much have to go through them to do a big buy. Marketplaces (like AdQuick and Fliphound): let you browse, book, and measure OOH online instead of going vendor by vendor, though it’s often remnant inventory. Specialist OOH agencies: Because OOH is so fragmented, a lot of brands just route the whole thing through an agency. They handle the planning, buying, and vendor relationships, and because they’re buying for lots of clients at once, they often get better rates than you would alone. Media planner and buyer: At ad agencies, these are the people who choose and buy ad space. I started my career as a media planner at McCann! At startups we don’t have this role, but we definitely play this role! How do I figure out which units to buy? “One particular unit will be one quarter or even one tenth of the price of all the units around it. It’s because it has a bad approach. It’s because it has a tree. It’s because it has something obstructing the view.” –Maya Spivak Watch the clip [ https://substack.com/redirect/35783411-c96e-4710-ab0d-4a8f0d78dc74?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Your vendor rep (from Clear Channel Outdoor, Outfront, Lamar, etc) sends over everything they have available (usually as a spreadsheet). It will include a mix of formats (billboards, walls, transit, digital) in different sizes, locations, and prices, with the estimated impressions for each. And then it is a bit of a puzzle—it’s the same prioritization you’d do for any channel, just with worse data. I’d also go look at your top picks with your own eyes before committing, especially in a city you don’t know well. The numbers on a spreadsheet can’t tell you everything, and the cheapest unit on the list is almost always cheap for a reason. Sometimes you can only see that reason if you turn your neck a full 90 degrees while driving, like that wallscape coming from Oakland into SF on 80. IYKYK. How far in advance do I have to buy these, and how long do I buy them for? It depends on whether the unit is a “perm” or flexible. A perm (permanent placement) is locked into a long exclusive contract, often 12 months or more, by a single advertiser. That’s why the Airbnb or Apple board you drive past is always in the same spot, just with new creative. Flexible inventory is sold in shorter cycles, usually four weeks at a time. The catch in premium markets is that the best inventory keeps going perm-only, so there’s less and less to buy flexibly. So plan far ahead. If you want a specific premium spot, you’re often waiting for a contract to open up and then committing to a long-term buy. Who handles production, the vendor or me? In most cases, the vendor you buy from also handles the creative production (or subcontracts it out). So you hand over the artwork to their very specific specs, and they make sure it gets printed and installed through their own crew. They’ll give you deadlines for all the moving pieces. How long that takes depends on the format: Digital is near-instant, static takes a few days to print and a few more to install; hand-painted walls take the longest. How do you measure OOH effectiveness? Short answer: Not the way you measure your digital channels, and never cleanly. But there are a handful of imperfect ways people try: Impression estimates: Vendors give you impression counts, how many people pass each unit (the industry standard is a system called Geopath). That’s total traffic, though, not your actual audience, so the CPM for the people you care about stays basically unknowable. The ”how did you hear about us” form field, with a billboard option: I’ve never been a fan of this field, everyone picks the first one or a random one, but some people swear by it. Branded search and direct traffic: Watch for a lift in branded search, direct site visits, or signups in the markets where you ran OOH versus where you didn’t. This is increasingly imperfect with the decline of search traffic. Matched-market testing: Compare a market where you ran a big buy against a similar one where you didn’t (e.g., Boston with OOH, Seattle without). It needs comparable markets and enough volume to get any real signal. Measure the impact of the overall campaign: If you are doing other things around the same time, like geo-targeted or account-specific LinkedIn ads, you can compare the effectiveness of those in one city (with OOH) vs another (without OOH). Put a link on it: Put a unique discount code or vanity URL on the creative, so anything that comes through it traces back to the buy. But this will be a very small subset and unless it’s very clever, it probably won’t do much—especially on a single big billboard. Brand lift studies: Survey people in exposed versus unexposed markets to measure awareness and recall, before and after. As mentioned, if you need every dollar tied to a result, OOH will frustrate you. You have to be comfortable with directional, back-of-the-envelope measurement. The end of the road…until part 2 We are adding all of our videos from our Billboard Drive-By to our YouTube over the next week, follow along here. [ https://substack.com/redirect/f55b5e19-a3c5-4d34-a1ee-6294b0edc5d7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Are SF billboards worth it? Sometimes, but only if you do the work before you buy, and most companies skip all of this. They see a favorite company’s billboard, rush the creative, and end up as one more undifferentiated “agent” billboard on 101 that nobody can decode. Is OOH a good channel for your company? It often can be, especially if you do it in tandem with other channels and make your audience feel like you’re everywhere. But that usually means going beyond the billboard and buying more than one spot. Someone should really put this on a billboard: If you can’t give a good answer for why you’re buying something, don’t buy it. And don’t miss Part 2 of this newsletter (and video) series: what actually goes on the billboard. I’ll get into the creative rubric for deciding what yours should say and look like, plus grade some of the real OOH we saw on our drive-by (and walk-by). Even more from MKT1 🙏 Brought to you by: Framer [ https://substack.com/redirect/b083135f-964b-46b6-a107-f67887649436?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], a no code website builder; Closing Media [ https://substack.com/redirect/aa8dc386-f3ab-4140-91c1-92c64016684a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], a LinkedIn & Paid Media Agency; and RevenueHero [ https://substack.com/redirect/ba5c587d-831c-4ecc-b628-cd65aa2e1347?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] for B2B scheduling, routing, and automation. All three have offers for MKT1 subscribers! 💬 Bring this newsletter to Claude: Chat with this newsletter with this pre-built prompt [ https://substack.com/redirect/265d1e29-c675-4d8a-9c74-4f074a98600b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (free) or use the GACCS brief skill for OOH in our MKT1 MCP [ https://substack.com/redirect/780a8bf1-848c-4a37-aeb7-0627f5a7fcb2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (paid subscribers). 🤖 MKT1 MCP Server: Add MKT1 skills to your LLMs. [ https://substack.com/redirect/780a8bf1-848c-4a37-aeb7-0627f5a7fcb2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Paid subscribers get our full library of 25+ skills and templates. 🧱 MKT1 Buildathons: Watch our 5/27 Buildathon [ https://substack.com/redirect/ec998682-c65a-47eb-9e24-e81dd8284637?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] to learn more about the MKT1 MCP Server (the event was just for paid subscribers, but anyone can catch up on the replay). You can also watch the replay of our first Buildathon [ https://substack.com/redirect/de2329fa-493d-41f0-a6df-cb867bae89ab?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] to see how to build a /marketing-strategy-skill in Claude Code. 🪢 Get on our Slack waitlist: We launched a Slack community just for talking about using Claude Code or Cowork and/or our MCP Server. It’s invite-only for paid subscribers using the MKT1 MCP Server. Get on the list ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/c9f21320-221d-4a17-b6df-f8479ce48a8f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] 🧑‍🚀 MKT1 job board - new & improved: Jobs from the MKT1 community [ https://substack.com/redirect/81f30483-c925-4000-96a2-0cad7eccc1c3?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (it’s free to post as a paid subscriber). 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View this post on the web at https://newsletter.mkt1.co/p/ads 👋 This is a monthly free edition of MKT1 Newsletter—a deep dive into a B2B startup marketing topic, brought to you by 42 Agency [ https://substack.com/redirect/1458f121-a2e7-444b-aa91-694de81baa36?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], UserEvidence [ https://substack.com/redirect/0f540708-727b-4a07-989f-c8918c975232?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and Conversion [ https://substack.com/redirect/0bc3faf7-8a1d-432e-bba2-04eef7d607c6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Upgrade to a paid subscription for: Full access to our new [ https://substack.com/redirect/3e6de69c-97c3-408f-8cc6-35297afa549d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/3e6de69c-97c3-408f-8cc6-35297afa549d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | 100+ templates & resources [ https://substack.com/redirect/4924255e-4fbd-4585-9c8a-75e7b9d2fe8f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | Post to [ https://substack.com/redirect/09624032-c033-41c1-8ec6-99b27c5d6788?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 Job Board [ https://substack.com/redirect/09624032-c033-41c1-8ec6-99b27c5d6788?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | MKT1 Newsletter Archive [ https://substack.com/redirect/aba59802-8ad6-43c6-998f-00207e85afd3?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | $40K+ in discounts in the [ https://substack.com/redirect/428195cc-8477-4fad-b136-3f459bfed972?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 Perk Stack [ https://substack.com/redirect/35da2301-89a6-4c79-b00d-ba1404168091?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] “Paid fundamentals across targeting & messaging still work...but the 20% of teams that can execute and test faster, at higher volume and higher quality, with AI are crushing the other 80%.” Max Hogan [ https://substack.com/redirect/d5957af9-6754-4ba7-bac4-7d284e53ee82?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Co-Founder of Closing Media [ https://substack.com/redirect/c7837a10-9e97-40f3-bd91-ae5eecbffa24?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] There’s always been a division in marketing: You either love “paid” or you wouldn’t touch it with a 10-foot pole. But lately, even paid lovers can’t pretend it’s working like it used to. Search traffic is going down, LinkedIn is very saturated, and other paid channels are hard to crack. For the record, I fall into the “I love it” camp—I started my career in it. IMO, running ads has the excitement of something like day trading, but with creative assets and company money. So I was paying close attention when I did a MKT1 Unboxing with Keith Putnam-Delaney [ https://substack.com/redirect/0da6d5d2-682a-46d2-80db-086b02a76818?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Co-Founder of Primer [ https://substack.com/redirect/46724d46-a384-4a9b-9656-1b1827a5ae3e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], a couple weeks ago. Primer’s whole product is centered on the idea that with better audience data and targeting, you can scale paid efficiently across B2B and even channels considered B2C historically. I left the conversation realizing I had to write an entire newsletter on what’s possible with paid. So to figure out what else is working now, I called in some other experts too: Max Hogan [ https://substack.com/redirect/d5957af9-6754-4ba7-bac4-7d284e53ee82?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Co-Founder of Closing Media [ https://substack.com/redirect/c7837a10-9e97-40f3-bd91-ae5eecbffa24?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Lizzy Marano [ https://substack.com/redirect/08b093f9-e8f1-49fe-b632-7a07a3b7a814?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Director of Growth Marketing at Justworks, and Kamil Rextin [ https://substack.com/redirect/08777974-afb9-4b8c-8df6-e9277d948e51?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] of 42 Agency [ https://substack.com/redirect/0b59b238-c4b7-476b-91b9-24a8e860510a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Here’s where I landed: Paid isn’t dead. The method just needs an upgrade, and it needs to be audience-first (and of course AI-powered). To make paid successful today, you need the same audience-driven foundation you need for all of marketing (I’ve been preaching this foundation [ https://substack.com/redirect/b61ad980-7d2d-485d-b938-1b8d3aa960ae?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] over the last year and a half). This doesn’t mean simply defining your ICP in a Notion doc and calling it a day. It means prioritizing your TAM into tiers, enriching accounts and contacts, and loading those audiences into every channel you run. Then taking those learnings and feeding those insights back into your CRM at the account and contact level, to inform all areas of marketing, not just paid. Here’s what makes this approach different from how most paid teams operate: Audience is at the center: Most paid efforts start with “pick a channel.” This one starts with “build audiences” by enriching account and contact data in your CRM. (This means don’t leave ad data just sitting in ad platforms.) Organic + paid channels work together: Most teams run paid and organic in silos and miss this entirely. In an audience-first approach, you track channel engagement at the account and contact level, so paid and organic add to the same story. “Yes, LinkedIn is saturated. Yes, search traffic is down. Yes, AEO and eventually GEO will rival SEO. But also, yes...paid still works. The future of <any channel> is dependent on whether your marketing fundamentals and data foundation are good.” Kari Hanson [ https://substack.com/redirect/473ced97-2472-4dbf-8d74-0a64863aa5fd?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] on LinkedIn [ https://substack.com/redirect/892d045f-751a-4041-b53e-a5d0b213e130?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Recommended products & agencies We only include sponsors we’d recommend personally to our community. If you are interested in sponsoring our newsletter, email us at sponsorships@mkt1.co [ mailto:sponsorships@mkt1.co ]. 42 Agency [ https://substack.com/redirect/1458f121-a2e7-444b-aa91-694de81baa36?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] is a MOPs & paid media agency that kicks off differently. They start with a Revenue Opportunity Analysis that digs into your ad accounts, CRM, and closed-lost deals to find where revenue is leaking. Then they fix it. 🔓Offer: First 5 companies to redeem get 15% off [ https://substack.com/redirect/602d921b-7c87-43d6-8666-380b60278742?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] a revenue opportunity analysis. — UserEvidence [ https://substack.com/redirect/0f540708-727b-4a07-989f-c8918c975232?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] handles the entire customer proof process. From collecting stories and quotes, to matching references to prospects, to activating advocates. Gong, HackerOne, and Superhuman use it to build trust…because logos on a homepage aren't enough. 🔓Offer: Mention MKT1 [ https://substack.com/redirect/0f540708-727b-4a07-989f-c8918c975232?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]for your first 2 months of UserEvidence free. — Conversion [ https://substack.com/redirect/0bc3faf7-8a1d-432e-bba2-04eef7d607c6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] is the AI-native marketing automation platform built for 2026: customer data and lifecycle campaigns in one place, with AI agents doing the heavy lifting. And it syncs with Salesforce and your data warehouse, so no need to stitch together 6 tools. 🔓Offer: Mention MKT1 [ https://substack.com/redirect/0bc3faf7-8a1d-432e-bba2-04eef7d607c6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] for 10% off an annual subscription. In this newsletter: Whether you love this stuff like me or have historically stayed away from it, this newsletter covers the new table stakes in paid, what the best teams are doing beyond that, and where things are heading. I hope it hypes everyone up about the possibilities. Here’s who I chatted with: Since I’m not in the weeds day to day on paid anymore. I wanted three perspectives: someone running ads at scale in-house, someone running ads for many clients at an agency, and someone building the new tech. Keith Putnam-Delaney [ https://substack.com/redirect/0da6d5d2-682a-46d2-80db-086b02a76818?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Co-Founder & CEO of Primer [ https://substack.com/redirect/46724d46-a384-4a9b-9656-1b1827a5ae3e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: He gave me a full demo of the Primer product and how to bring your audiences to historically B2C channels during our Unboxing (full video here [ https://substack.com/redirect/1a4aed90-1b07-478b-ab06-b5437917a7e2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]) and at our Gen Marketer Summit [ https://substack.com/redirect/619fc984-02ae-4939-b284-62816404dae1?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] in December. Max Hogan [ https://substack.com/redirect/d5957af9-6754-4ba7-bac4-7d284e53ee82?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Co-Founder of Closing Media [ https://substack.com/redirect/c7837a10-9e97-40f3-bd91-ae5eecbffa24?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: You may remember him from our Gen Marketer Summit [ https://substack.com/redirect/fd3bb884-7e2f-484f-8c65-4a78d0a32085?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] in December and as my longtime go-to expert on all things LinkedIn ads. We jumped on a call to discuss what’s working now across his B2B clients. Lizzy Marano [ https://substack.com/redirect/08b093f9-e8f1-49fe-b632-7a07a3b7a814?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Director of Growth Marketing at Justworks: Justworks brings in a high volume of inbound as they target SMBs and Lizzy walked me through how she runs performance marketing at scale. She formerly did performance marketing at Chewy, an e-commerce platform for pet products. B2C is usually way ahead of B2B on ads, so I thought she’d add great perspective. Kamil Rextin [ https://substack.com/redirect/08777974-afb9-4b8c-8df6-e9277d948e51?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Founder at 42 Agency [ https://substack.com/redirect/1458f121-a2e7-444b-aa91-694de81baa36?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: I also did a quick check with Kamil since he’s using AI workflows at 42 in a big way, internally and for clients (read more about his agents in this newsletter [ https://substack.com/redirect/ce7a935c-cd15-4489-8377-69f22f61d59d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] & in this LinkedIn post [ https://substack.com/redirect/aac3c2cc-0072-4eb4-96a7-7c835264425c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]). I also posted on LinkedIn about this topic [ https://substack.com/redirect/892d045f-751a-4041-b53e-a5d0b213e130?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and I’ll be adding quotes from your comments throughout this post too! Thanks. And here’s what this newsletter will cover: Part 1: BYOA: How to bring your audience data to every channel Part 2: Build a paid flywheel: How and why to stop running ad channels as one-offs Part 3: Creative is not the bottleneck: Use AI & steal B2C creative playbooks Final thoughts on the future of paid: ChatGPT ads and ads for agents (I’m tabling these to the end on purpose!) Bonus for paid subscribers: We added a new “/paid-checklist” skill to the MKT1 MCP. Install our MCP [ https://substack.com/redirect/88e3287b-0164-4b5f-9caf-3bf4a9931da7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and run this skill to get personalized suggestions on what to do next with paid. A quick break to unbox Primer Here’s the full chat and demo with Keith Putnam-Delaney [ https://substack.com/redirect/c5003ee3-0f7f-415a-9e9b-bc0154ead14f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Co-Founder & CEO of Primer [ https://substack.com/redirect/46724d46-a384-4a9b-9656-1b1827a5ae3e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], which helps B2B marketers reach the right customers on more ad channels than just LinkedIn, and figure out whether those ads actually drive pipeline. Keith walks me through: How to build one ICP audience and run it everywhere: Keith pulls from Primer’s 292M-person database, layers in his CRM data to exclude existing customers and competitors, and syncs the same audience across Meta, Google, LinkedIn, and Reddit. Why LinkedIn audiences cost twice what they should: LinkedIn shows ads to “related” job titles and this hurts your conversion. How Primer’s AI catches the dumb setup mistakes that waste ad spend: Keith walks through features that flag things like bad audience expansion settings or misallocated budget. If you want a deeper dive on topics in this newsletter, watch the video, then try Primer [ https://substack.com/redirect/46724d46-a384-4a9b-9656-1b1827a5ae3e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Bonus: Get 10% off an annual Primer subscription [ https://substack.com/redirect/46724d46-a384-4a9b-9656-1b1827a5ae3e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] with code MKT110. New customers only. And now, on to the newsletter… To build out your own checklist, use our /paid-checklist in our MCP Server for paid subscribers [ https://substack.com/redirect/88e3287b-0164-4b5f-9caf-3bf4a9931da7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Part 1: BYOA: Bring your audience data to every channel “The ad channels can only optimize for you based on the data inside their walled garden. Everything else about your buyer, how you define your ICP, the job titles of people that purchase your product, what your win loss rate is in certain categories, they only know that data if you inject it into their platforms. The audience is actually one of the last meaningful levers you can control when AI features will literally redo all your creative for you and generate it on your behalf.” Keith Putnam-Delaney [ https://substack.com/redirect/0da6d5d2-682a-46d2-80db-086b02a76818?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Co-Founder & CEO, Primer If you’re doing paid in 2026, you need to start with enriched audience data. This means having accounts and contacts in your CRM or enrichment tool (before they ever come inbound) and enriching them with the data to help with match rates and targeting. You also need to build the systems that keep your audience data fresh and regularly synced—in both directions—with your ad platforms. This simply wasn’t feasible at scale or with this level of detail just a few years ago, but AI changed that. And ad channels and adtech products continue to roll out improved ways to keep audiences synced between your CRM and their platforms. Today, if you don’t build audiences and load them into ad platforms, you’re wasting money and impressions, limiting how much of your real audience you’re converting, and letting competitors beat you to the punch. And this work isn’t only important for paid. The same research, enrichment, and lists should power everything you’re doing across marketing: outbound, events, lifecycle, content. For more on this foundation work, see my Account-Driven GTM series [ https://substack.com/redirect/b61ad980-7d2d-485d-b938-1b8d3aa960ae?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. The audience-first approach to paid has two modes when it comes to targeting: Precision: hitting your top-tier accounts with tight, enriched audiences. These are the same accounts you'd target with ABM campaigns or highly personalized outbound. Think of this as spearfishing. Reach: letting platforms find prospects you don't know about yet, using broader audiences and strong audience signal. These are the audiences you'd expect to come inbound, reach on social, or do basic outbound to. Think of this as net fishing, with a very well-made net. Most businesses need both to scale. Don’t over-engineer one at the expense of the other. “Work email uploads are a death trap on LinkedIn because they match so poorly. Relying on your own data alone results in a 30 to 40% match rate. That’s where third-party enrichment comes in.” Max Hogan [ https://substack.com/redirect/d5957af9-6754-4ba7-bac4-7d284e53ee82?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Co-Founder of Closing Media Privacy heads up: Be careful with personal info you don’t have consent to use. A lot of the tactics here involve personal data and sharing it with ad platforms, and PII and consent rules vary by jurisdiction (the EU has the strictest). Specifically, you may need to “store” matched personal emails outside your CRM. Most companies handle this through their privacy policy, standard agreements with ad platforms, and encrypting/hashing identifiers before uploading to ad platforms. Loop in your legal or privacy team before rolling out anything new. Fine print: As you could have guessed, I’m not a lawyer. Table stakes “Well-funded, Series B+ startups feel pressure to pull an incomplete account list from Apollo, ZoomInfo, etc. Regular list updates then fall through the cracks, and 3 months later, your targeting foundation is already breaking. It is a must-do to create dynamic prospecting audiences on LinkedIn. It’s table stakes, bringing your targeting accuracy to 90%+.” Max Hogan [ https://substack.com/redirect/d5957af9-6754-4ba7-bac4-7d284e53ee82?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Co-Founder of Closing Media Here’s what it looks like to move beyond uploading a static list once and running ads targeting to your exact audience on B2B ad channels: You understand your TAM and have prioritized it into tiers. Enrich at the very least your top tier accounts with company, personal and work email address details. The depth and detail will vary by company and by channel: If you’re PLG and horizontal (think Notion or Anthropic), it’s nearly impossible to put all potential accounts and contacts in your CRM. In this case, enrich top tier target accounts and/or active free accounts already using your product. This scenario is when a tool like Primer [ https://substack.com/redirect/46724d46-a384-4a9b-9656-1b1827a5ae3e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] is very, very helpful. If you’re doing this for a niche vertical tools, you should load every account and contact they’re going after—this is very possible for a few thousand accounts with tools like Clay [ https://substack.com/redirect/e2520fa8-3af6-4e82-9fc3-e2f5832e0873?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. For more on how to do tiering, see my Account-Driven GTM series [ https://substack.com/redirect/b61ad980-7d2d-485d-b938-1b8d3aa960ae?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. You’re doing retargeting, but not just blindly showing ads to all web visitors like it’s 2010. When you de-anonymize web traffic and match it to your account data, you can get sophisticated with both ad targeting and creative, way beyond the basics. That same de-anonymized account and contact data also powers outbound, event lists, and better audience understanding. You’re building suppression lists in parallel with target audience lists: Dynamic audience lists should include current customers, closed-lost, active opps, competitors. Suppression lists should include all accounts and contacts you want to exclude. See the diagram above for a list of dynamic lists you should feed ad platforms. You’re tracking conversions not just through pixels and UTMs, but with Conversion APIs. Conversion APIs (from ad platforms) let your CRM send conversion data directly to ad platforms, using click IDs the platform stamps on each ad click. It’s more reliable than the browser pixels that used to do this job, since those miss conversions to ad blockers, cookie limits, and cross-device journeys. In chatting with Max and Keith, there’s a massive opportunity to get ahead of what everyone else is doing. Even though I say this is table stakes, most companies aren’t doing a good job here. Do a good job and you’ll find “alpha” on ad channels reaching your audience. Note: I’m not going deep into conversion tracking and measurement in this newsletter—that would require another 5,000 words (or more!). Some quick advice: Start with connecting the Conversion APIs from Google and LinkedIn, and don’t judge paid by last click alone. You’ll miss paid’s influence on other channels. What’s possible “Having a really strong in-house first-party data system is going to become more and more important. You need to have a really great CRM system, invest in tools that help you enrich the data that you have. So building off audiences of your customer base, enriching that, and then being able to create audiences from there is the way to ensure you’re reaching the right people.” Lizzy Marano [ https://substack.com/redirect/08b093f9-e8f1-49fe-b632-7a07a3b7a814?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Director of Growth Marketing at Justworks After loading in your audience, the next step is to actually let the ad platforms work for you. You can use the platforms to find new audience pockets, new targeting techniques, etc. to learn faster and scale faster without losing precision. First, let the platforms optimize for you. Once the basics from the “table stakes” section above are in place and you have conversion data flowing, you can let the ad channels take over bidding and creative rotation on some of your campaigns. This includes: Smart Bidding [ https://substack.com/redirect/637132f7-0bab-4df0-9d61-64432138f1a9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] on Google Search: AI-driven automated bidding that optimizes for conversions (Google’s had some version of this forever, but now it uses AI! Said in infomercial voice.) Performance Max [ https://substack.com/redirect/8e691f86-3d8e-4f51-997f-1dd50a1fe7b4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] on Google’s other properties (YouTube, Display, etc.): Google’s AI decides which channels and creatives to run without much visibility on your side. Works only if you have good suppression lists and conversions flowing well. Demand Gen [ https://substack.com/redirect/986c7f81-a7b3-4031-b489-4274dd0457a3?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] on Google’s other properties (YouTube, Display, etc.): Google’s AI-driven campaign type that runs social-feed-style placements across YouTube, Discover, and Gmail to hit bottom of funnel goals. Auto-bid plus Predictive Audiences [ https://substack.com/redirect/c09223ca-0d8a-4452-beba-0d23db6814f6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] on LinkedIn: LinkedIn’s auto-bid handles bidding while Predictive Audiences uses AI to find people most likely to convert based on a starter list. More on these options in the chart below. Then let the platforms find more of your audience. Each ad channel has its own way of finding more people similar to your seed audience and expanding reach without losing precision. This includes: Optimized Targeting [ https://substack.com/redirect/e23f1c3b-b1ef-46e5-9c28-f36b0c0dd3bf?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] on Google (Display, YouTube, Demand Gen): finds new audiences likely to convert by expanding beyond your starter audiences. Predictive Audiences [ https://substack.com/redirect/c09223ca-0d8a-4452-beba-0d23db6814f6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] on LinkedIn: ML-driven audience modeling tool that finds people similar to your starter audiences (this replaced LinkedIn’s older Lookalike Audiences feature). But proceed with caution. I’ve been warned by Keith that these are risky. LinkedIn’s algorithm is improving but companies get burned here fast. You can also add outside tools to extend these capabilities across platforms: Primer [ https://substack.com/redirect/46724d46-a384-4a9b-9656-1b1827a5ae3e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] has its own database of millions of B2B accounts and contacts, already enriched with personal and work emails. You build audiences that match your ICP, then sync them to every ad platform you run automatically. Primer’s pricing and data model support massive lists and larger audiences because it’s purpose-built for paid. Clay Ads [ https://substack.com/redirect/d254d460-60ac-4ffa-89f7-0f0c4fa93ab0?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] takes your CRM contacts, enriches them with personal emails for higher match rates, and syncs the audiences to LinkedIn and Meta with automatic refresh. Clay’s dynamic audiences [ https://substack.com/redirect/b971bc72-4dbd-48c9-ac13-6e78fc246c65?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] let you combine CRM data, enrichment, and behavioral signals into one audience and push it to ad platforms, your outbound sequencer, or any workbook. Caveat: Don’t over-segment, let the platforms do their thing “We work with our clients on finding a targeting middle-ground. We typically want to avoid really tiny audiences that won’t scale, can’t deliver, or do not map back to 1-1 or key account efforts. Let’s not go so niche that we handcuff ourselves within core prospecting campaigns. Rather, let’s find a middle ground where we’re building dynamic audiences across prospecting, retargeting, upsell, and exclusion efforts.” Max Hogan [ https://substack.com/redirect/d5957af9-6754-4ba7-bac4-7d284e53ee82?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Co-Founder of Closing Media The middle ground Max speaks of is that mix of precision (hyper-targeted campaigns) and reach (broad campaigns) I described way back in the intro. If you push too hard in either direction, you’ll limit your performance. Here are the two ways it breaks: Don’t hyper-segment yourself out of scale: If you’re stacking five filters and ending up with a 2,000-person audience, the algorithm doesn’t have room to optimize, your CPMs spike, and you cut out half your real audience. LinkedIn’s recommendation for stable prospecting performance is 50K+, and most B2B campaigns work best with 50K-150K That said, if your audience actually is very niche and your main target is a tight account list (a few thousand named accounts), the rules change. You’re likely not asking the platform to optimize at scale, you’re trying to hit specific accounts. In that case, pair paid with things like outbound sequences, event invites, and field involvement so paid isn’t your only touch. “Don’t get too hyper-segmented. You’re really going to miss out on a lot of people that are in your target audience if you’re adding too many filters.” Lizzy Marano [ https://substack.com/redirect/08b093f9-e8f1-49fe-b632-7a07a3b7a814?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Director of Growth Marketing at Justworks Don’t let the algorithms run wild either: Going too broad is the other failure mode (and a more costly one at that). If you let platforms optimize without enriched audience lists and suppression rules in place, you’ll burn budget showing up in pockets that have nothing to do with your ICP. Let the platforms work for you, but only after you’ve fed them quality data. Join our Buildathon: Learn how to use the MKT1 MCP Next Wednesday, May 27th, at 9 AM PT to 10:30 AM PT, I’m hosting a live Buildathon just for paid subscribers. I’ll show you how to find and use the 25+ skills on the MKT1 MCP Server, run through a few of my favorites with real company examples, give you time to test some of them, and answer questions. Upgrade to attend, it’s only $9/month ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/d9833115-1bb0-4cfb-a64b-bdb1035f49e2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Part 2: Build out a paid flywheel “Enterprise paid only works if it’s integrated with outbound, field, and the rest of your GTM. Fortune 1000 buyers don’t click an ad and convert. But ads are part of how they get to yes.” Kamil Rextin [ https://substack.com/redirect/08777974-afb9-4b8c-8df6-e9277d948e51?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Founder at 42 Agency “How do you create a beautiful conversion feedback loop between your own data and these platforms? If your conversion feedback loop is great, you can step on the gas.” Max Hogan [ https://substack.com/redirect/d5957af9-6754-4ba7-bac4-7d284e53ee82?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Co-Founder of Closing Media The starting point for almost every B2B company on paid is Google search and LinkedIn ads. Within these channels, you should have some basic plays going, including bidding on a set of high-intent keywords (like competitor names, your exact company descriptor, etc.), retargeting web visitors, and boosting your best performing LinkedIn posts as thought-leader ads. Doing this at a bare minimum ensures you are covering your bases and not letting high-value prospects slip through the cracks. But we all know those channels are getting harder [ https://substack.com/redirect/aa1d99b1-bcd2-40a8-b672-e9763fcbe3ea?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and we’re all scrambling to make up inbound volume on new channels. The opportunity is that you no longer have to stop at Google and LinkedIn. As Keith describes so well (and built the whole Primer [ https://substack.com/redirect/46724d46-a384-4a9b-9656-1b1827a5ae3e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] product around, because he believes in it that much), you can bring your B2B audience to other channels and reach those people where they actually spend time. People have shied away from this because they don’t think the creative matches the channel. That can be true for certain audiences, but it’s typically a worthwhile way to expand because of the improved data quality. But, it’s not just about expanding the channel list to make up the gaps and make paid a viable investment (of time + money!). Paid should be part of your overall marketing plan, not an isolated channel. Siloed marketers and siloed marketing don’t work; it’s the era of the Gen Marketer [ https://substack.com/redirect/0a842694-e328-4a49-a983-fe0a2afbb9bf?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], remember! Paid can inform what you’re doing in other areas of marketing, and other areas can inform what you should do in paid. “Programmatic and video are severely underused in B2B. The open web is huge, and you want to maximize the surface area where prospects see you.” Kamil Rextin, Founder at 42 Agency [ https://substack.com/redirect/1458f121-a2e7-444b-aa91-694de81baa36?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Table stakes “LinkedIn historically requires a lot of manual control because the algorithm lags so far behind Google/Meta. But now it’s starting to get better (much better). If you create the right feedback loop between LinkedIn and your CRM, you can start to trust some of LinkedIn’s features more—auto-bid, predictive audiences, high ad volume (i.e. 30 creatives instead of 4).” Max Hogan [ https://substack.com/redirect/d5957af9-6754-4ba7-bac4-7d284e53ee82?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Co-Founder of Closing Media When you start making a real investment in paid, you want to be building toward a flywheel. Here are the basics to have in place first: You’re running both Google search and LinkedIn as your two-channel baseline. Almost no B2B company should be skipping either one, even on a small budget with limited tactics. You’re checking your match rates before spending on a channel. If your tier 1 list barely matches the audience on a given platform, that’s a signal not to invest there yet. Paid is connected to the rest of your marketing, and not just by targeting the same audience everywhere. Example: Retargeting pulls from your organic visitors and newsletter subscriber list. Example: Your ad creative is informed by what’s already working on organic social—you can do this quite literally by boosting successful organic posts on LinkedIn as thought leader ads. (I call this the LinkedIn flywheel [ https://substack.com/redirect/13d24783-8788-4567-bd35-1a1e29dcc807?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]) Sales sees paid engagement (if they want to). When a VIP from a named account comments on a thought-leader ad, sales should know. Paid learnings flow back into other channels. Act on these questions: What ad copy is converting? What keywords or topics are worth investing in for SEO and AEO (not exactly the same as paid, but a useful starting signal)? What audiences are responding on what channels? What language works best, and can it be applied to your website? “Reddit can be great if you’re going after a population that actually spends time on Reddit. Like developers, engineers, IT, we’ve seen match rates as high as 70%. We’ve also seen match rates as low as 4% if you’re going after VPs of finance because they don’t hang out on Reddit.” Keith Putnam-Delaney [ https://substack.com/redirect/0da6d5d2-682a-46d2-80db-086b02a76818?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Co-Founder of Primer What’s possible “A lot of things get missed on the same channels across organic and paid often because at scale they’re run by different people.” Keith Putnam-Delaney [ https://substack.com/redirect/0da6d5d2-682a-46d2-80db-086b02a76818?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Co-Founder of Primer “Too many B2B teams measure paid by last touch alone. That ignores the halo effect paid has on every other channel. With the right audiences, someone seeing your YouTube ad today might sign up through search or organic next month.” Kamil Rextin, [ https://substack.com/redirect/08777974-afb9-4b8c-8df6-e9277d948e51?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]Founder at 42 Agency [ https://substack.com/redirect/1458f121-a2e7-444b-aa91-694de81baa36?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] If you go beyond the basics and build out a feedback loop between organic and paid channels, paid can really start paying dividends. But these dividends won’t always show up in last-click reports. You’re going for “incrementality”: Paid lifts your other efforts in ways that aren’t directly attributable. To get this effect, you need to build a flywheel [ https://substack.com/redirect/13d24783-8788-4567-bd35-1a1e29dcc807?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] that connects paid and organic, centered around your audience data. This is a summary of the high-level concept of this flywheel, as shown in the diagram above: Build and refine audiences: Define ICPs, enrich contacts and accounts, create exclusion lists. Run ads across paid channels, alongside your organic efforts: Use your existing audience insights to shape who you reach, how you reach them, and what you say. Track engagement & signals (site visitors, conversions, ad engagement, organic interactions): Capture this into a database alongside your organic signals (usually your CRM). And don’t forget to set up both account and contact stages to show progression. Apply learnings to campaigns: Sharpen audience lists based on what performed well, add new targeting and campaign types, layer in new channels, and sequence organic-and-paid nurtures. “If you think you’re going to reach 100% of your target accounts on LinkedIn alone, that’s dreaming. People don’t all spend time on LinkedIn. And even if they do, they’re also spending time elsewhere. ABM is much more effective if it’s omnichannel.” Keith Putnam-Delaney [ https://substack.com/redirect/0da6d5d2-682a-46d2-80db-086b02a76818?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Co-Founder of Primer Build loops between paid and organic There are also a lot of channel combinations that will build their own compounding loops, both within paid channels and across paid and organic. Think of these as mini paid-organic flywheels. Some I’ve seen work: Paid tests → organic learnings → increased paid and organic effectiveness Ads are a fast, cheap way to test if keywords are worth investing in on the SEO and AEO side, if messaging lands, and if new audience segments are worth pursuing. De-anonymized visitors → outbound and retargeting → return visits When someone hits your site and doesn’t convert, identify them, enrich the record, and route them into retargeting, outbound, or both. You can also sequence the two in the right order for nurture if you need to. If they come back, or their teammates do, they cycle through again. Audience list → deployed across channels → more performance data → better lists Take the same enriched list and use it everywhere: paid platforms that accept uploads (LinkedIn, Google, Meta), outbound sequences, and event invite lists. Use the engagement data each channel sends back to trigger the next nurture touch and to make your audience lists better over time. Paid and organic mentions → AEO citations → more mentions It can pay off to pay for some mentions, especially with strong-brand affiliates (Justworks works with Forbes, for instance). Combined with your own organic content, the more places you appear, the more authoritative LLMs think you are, and the more often you show up in answers. LLMs don’t reliably distinguish paid from editorial, which is why this works. “A large portion of what we’re spending on affiliate isn’t going to drive that last-click lead or last-click purchase. But it is so important that we’re still there because it’s going to inform LLMs. And as more people are looking to AI in their purchase journey, the more important it is to show up there.” Lizzy Marano [ https://substack.com/redirect/08b093f9-e8f1-49fe-b632-7a07a3b7a814?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Director of Growth Marketing at Justworks Closed-won accounts → lookalike campaigns → effective audience expansion Build lookalikes off your actual closed-won accounts, not your MQLs or your ICP doc. Run them across LinkedIn Predictive Audiences, Meta lookalikes, and any other platform that builds them. As new deals close, feed them back in so the model gets smarter on what your real customers look like. Customer list → cross-sell campaigns → who-buys-what data → more multi-product customers over time Everyone talks about this but so few companies actually do any sort of lifecycle ads! Run cross-sell and upsell ads to your existing customers. You’ll learn which kinds of customers buy (or are at least interested in) multiple products. Use that pattern to go acquire more of those high-value customers, inform what sales proposes in initial deals, and shape CS cross-sell efforts. “We see these patterns emerge among our customers. Rippling pioneered the upsell, cross-sell motion. They’d pull customers of their IT product but not their HR product in from Salesforce, then layer on department targeting for HR, and advertise to them: ’Your team’s already in Rippling. Why don’t you switch your payroll over to us?’” Keith Putnam-Delaney [ https://substack.com/redirect/0da6d5d2-682a-46d2-80db-086b02a76818?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Co-Founder of Primer Caveat: Bigger swings before smaller loops “Get the right feedback loop on the conversion side and forget the fancy targeting. Let the trillion-dollar platform go find conversions for you.” Max Hogan [ https://substack.com/redirect/d5957af9-6754-4ba7-bac4-7d284e53ee82?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Co-Founder of Closing Media I love talking about these fancy flywheels and channel expansion ideas, and this is an ideal state to strive for, but you need to nail the basics first. Don’t spend time on micro-optimizations or small-volume tactics when you haven’t nailed the bigger swings. The other mistake I see is people thinking organic learnings should feed paid and not the other way around. Paid learnings feed your other channels just as much as organic learnings feed paid. If you’re treating paid as a one-direction signal, you’re missing half the value. Since you can learn faster and force volume with paid, sometimes paid is the way to start. Add MKT1 to Claude Code with our MCP Server NEW SKILL: AUDIT B2B AD EFFORTS Answer a few questions about what you’re doing with paid now, and the /paid-checklist skill will suggest opportunities. PLUS 25+ MORE SKILLS! Paid subscribers can run our new AEO audit, competitive research, and recruiting skills, among many others. Part 3: Creative is no longer the bottleneck “Scaling creative is huge. With all of the AI tools and the ability to create a ton of iterations, that’s a competitive advantage. You’re going to fall behind if you don’t.” Lizzy Marano [ https://substack.com/redirect/08b093f9-e8f1-49fe-b632-7a07a3b7a814?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Director of Growth Marketing at Justworks Ad creative may be the most obvious place within paid to be impacted by AI, yet I still see so few teams actually iterating on creative in meaningful ways. And I’m not just referring to iterating on copy or design, but also on offers, the organic LinkedIn posts you boost (and from whom), and landing pages. And if you’re wondering what great looks like here, look to B2C. We’ve all seen ecommerce ads showing the exact products you just browsed, plus related products, almost instantly. Many B2C companies have hundreds of creative variations rotating against thousands of audience segments, and they have the adtech and agencies to support this. B2B has been slower to catch up. But new AI-driven tools are starting to land in our space, and the companies that take advantage of them may have a leg up at least until everyone else catches on. You can think about building creative this way: For every audience data point you’re tracking, you could have a matching creative variation. Tier 1 enterprise account in fintech gets a different ad than tier 2 SMB in healthcare. Someone who visited your pricing page twice but didn’t convert gets a different message than a first-time visitor. Different contacts at the same account get different ads. This doesn’t mean every variation is worth producing, but this is a good mental model to expand how you approach creative. And always use humans to ensure quality, but use AI to expand and mix and match options. “Don’t be afraid to break the mold. Every B2B ad looks the same, and you’re not just competing with other B2B ads. You’re competing with B2C ads on the feed too. Lean into video and storytelling. AI can help you scale creative once you have a good baseline, but it can’t replace taste.” Kamil Rextin, Founder at 42 Agency [ https://substack.com/redirect/1458f121-a2e7-444b-aa91-694de81baa36?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Table stakes “Scroll through your LinkedIn feed—most ad creative sucks and it’s been the same story for a decade. But, the teams putting time into creating pattern interrupt and a great offer are doing extremely well. It’s not complicated, but it’s difficult to bring the pieces together (i.e. a killer offer may require leadership approval/buy-in).” Max Hogan [ https://substack.com/redirect/d5957af9-6754-4ba7-bac4-7d284e53ee82?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Co-Founder of Closing Media As Max says, it’s not that complicated. But you’d be surprised how many B2B companies still don’t have these basics in place: You’re using a mix of ad formats on every channel you’re running. On LinkedIn, that includes thought leader ads from internal execs, external voices, and customers. You have multiple CTAs running, including events and other offers, not just “schedule a meeting.” Your creative also needs links to a form with meeting scheduling built in. (This isn’t really a creative thing, but please stop making people book meetings over email. RevenueHero [ https://substack.com/redirect/f16e8caf-d524-47f9-8a3a-4bb09c2a51b2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] can help! You’re killing the conversion and I’ll say this every chance I get!) Where the platform supports it, experiment with letting the ad platforms generate dynamic variants from your assets (LinkedIn Dynamic Ads, Meta Advantage+, Google PMax). “I can have 20 ads rotating at the same time, hitting different audiences based on what we know about them. In the past, that would have been a massive bottleneck because we just wouldn’t have the capacity. I could make those in 10 minutes now.” Lizzy Marano [ https://substack.com/redirect/08b093f9-e8f1-49fe-b632-7a07a3b7a814?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Director of Growth Marketing at Justworks What’s possible “In ecomm, you can use retargeting to show someone who looked at a particular product, similar products in a carousel. It’s table stakes in B2C now. But now that I’m in B2B, that feels so advanced. I can only imagine what AI is doing for B2C now.” Lizzy Marano [ https://substack.com/redirect/08b093f9-e8f1-49fe-b632-7a07a3b7a814?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Director of Growth Marketing, Justworks Once ad variations are running, the next layer is personalization and automation at scale: different creative for different audience tiers, AI handling rotation and budget, and systems that tell you why winners work: Do what B2C does, but with use cases, products, and offers (instead of SKUs). If you aren’t selling to one niche audience with one simple product, you can start doing this! Make personalized creative for tier 1 accounts. Then give tier 2 industry-specific or use-case specific versions and give your broader TAM a few rotating default versions. For each tier, test the personalized creative against a generic creative to see if this even matters! Experiment with DCO (Dynamic Creative Optimization). You give individual creative elements (headline, image, CTA) to the ad platform and they swap in the right creative in real-time, based on the viewer. Mostly a B2C move historically, but more B2B tools now support it. Let AI agents pause losers and reallocate budget within 24-48 hours. Some agencies are already building this out for clients and will set this up for you today. Build creative intelligence systems. Make workflows that tell you why a winning ad worked, so you can replicate the pattern, and feed those learnings into the next round of AI creative generation. You can do a basic version by just feeding creative performance reports to Claude! Note: For a lot of these tactics, working with an agency that does this for many clients is easier than building it out yourself. Some examples of ad variations Ramp and Rippling are two companies already doing a bunch of ad creative variation in B2B. You can see here (if you squint) that they are varying offer, copy, layout, and color scheme (and of course Rippling is giving away headphones): “Paid media execution will be much easier from writing the ad copy, landing pages, and a campaign ops perspective. The deep strategy and the creative strategy is what sets your company apart.” Jeremy C. [ https://substack.com/redirect/ccc978ad-de08-4d21-994c-b2d8d6fa2f02?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] on LinkedIn [ https://substack.com/redirect/892d045f-751a-4041-b53e-a5d0b213e130?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Caveats: Stop the slop and do the math “There has to be a QA in place. I’ve seen small scrappy teams try to automate things, and then all of a sudden things are live and it is just a disaster.” Lizzy Marano [ https://substack.com/redirect/08b093f9-e8f1-49fe-b632-7a07a3b7a814?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Director of Growth Marketing, Justworks “On LinkedIn, most offers, most ads, most creatives are so bad. So when a company comes through with great ads, they can outperform to such an extent that it’s really exciting.” Max Hogan [ https://substack.com/redirect/d5957af9-6754-4ba7-bac4-7d284e53ee82?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Co-Founder of Closing Media Don’t put out crappy AI design or copy: AI can crank out copy and visuals at scale, but the foundational creative needs human input. Take LI thought leader ads: If the initial organic post is AI slop that would never perform, don’t put money behind it. Build the first template (or template family) with a human, then iterate from there with AI. Don’t sacrifice your brand for a few extra creative variations. (See my LinkedIn Flywheel post [ https://substack.com/redirect/13d24783-8788-4567-bd35-1a1e29dcc807?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] for what “good” looks like with thought-leader-ad creative.) And also watch out for statistical significance: You can produce 100 variations now, but you can’t actually test 100 variations on most B2B budgets. Each variation needs enough impressions and clicks to tell you anything reliable. If you split a $10K LinkedIn budget across 30 ads, none of them will get enough volume to teach you what’s working. Better to run fewer variations at a time, and rotate in new variations as the data tells you which dimensions matter. Volume of variations is not the same thing as good testing. Future of paid: ChatGPT ads and ads for agents “The future of paid in part is ads aimed at agents instead of humans.” Steven Dunston [ https://substack.com/redirect/05d4568c-58d6-4d2c-a63b-338f1d0723fe?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] on LinkedIn [ https://substack.com/redirect/892d045f-751a-4041-b53e-a5d0b213e130?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] ChatGPT ads I wrote a whole newsletter about paid in 2026 and haven’t mentioned ChatGPT ads yet (well, except in the table of contents). That was on purpose. But here’s where things are at: OpenAI officially confirmed [ https://substack.com/redirect/d00fe23b-cee2-40b9-9ae6-8206ce343bf4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] ChatGPT ads on January 16, and launched them February 9 for U.S. users on the Free and Go tiers. Paid users (Plus, Team, Enterprise) don’t see ads. The format is contextual text ads at the bottom of chat responses, labeled “Sponsored.” Pretty standard, uninspiring design so far! On May 5, OpenAI launched a self-serve Ads Manager [ https://substack.com/redirect/cedc48cb-bd83-4693-a280-2f8b6ac60cc7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] in beta, added CPC bidding to the existing CPM model, dropped the previous $50K minimum spend, and rolled out a measurement pixel plus a Conversions API. OpenAI’s stated revenue goal is $2.5 billion this year and $100 billion by 2030 (that’s a lot of money). Maybe you want to experiment here, but I wouldn’t spend too many cycles trying to crack the code yet. The opportunities are still much bigger elsewhere. Now maybe you’ll be the B2B OpenAI Ads trailblazer and set the standard, but probably not? Only try for that if your marketing advantages [ https://substack.com/redirect/304dce1f-21cc-4816-89f7-85a1a4414510?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] really set you up for this, like Zapier and SEO or peanut butter and jelly. “My paid search manager put together a point of view on, ‘we should launch ads on ChatGPT.’ I, as the leader, have to take that back and be like, okay, does that align with brand credibility, brand perception?” Lizzy Marano [ https://substack.com/redirect/08b093f9-e8f1-49fe-b632-7a07a3b7a814?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Director of Growth Marketing at Justworks Ads for agents Beyond ChatGPT ads, the longer-term shift coming is ads that are “read” by agents instead of (or in addition to) humans. And eventually, agents will talk to other agents about products with the human nowhere in the loop. This part hurts my brain a little. Picture this: A buyer tells their AI agent “find me an HR platform that integrates with our payroll and costs under $X per employee.” The agent does the research, runs the comparison, and makes the purchase. But like most things, this wasn’t just based on which was the better product. “Ads” also factored in. Your ad copy was read by the agent. Your demo was watched by the agent. And the human may never see your ad or your website—or even use the product. This isn’t fully happening yet, but foundations are being laid. Most of the protocols being developed here are oriented toward e-commerce and retail (Shopify, Etsy, Target, Walmart) rather than B2B SaaS. B2B will follow, as it always does with ads. Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) [ https://substack.com/redirect/f5979c3b-eeec-4ed2-8a6b-7ece541e32b8?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], announced in January, is an open standard that lets AI agents discover products, pull real-time pricing and inventory, and complete purchases directly with merchants. Shopify, Etsy, Target, Walmart, Stripe, Visa, and Mastercard are already on board. And OpenAI and Stripe’s Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) has been live in ChatGPT since September 2025, letting agents complete purchases on behalf of users. Watch this space, but don’t throw it all away to chase this. The audience-first paid strategy we covered in the rest of this newsletter is where to focus today, and the foundation you build for humans translates when agents arrive. Lots of data points about your audience in a structured format will only help. Just like good content practices help with SEO, and good SEO practices help with AEO. Now go buy some ads. And not just for the quick wins, but for the learnings that will last a lifetime (or until agents take over). Even more from MKT1 🙏 Brought to you by: 42 Agency [ https://substack.com/redirect/1458f121-a2e7-444b-aa91-694de81baa36?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], a Demand Gen and MOPs agency; UserEvidence [ https://substack.com/redirect/0f540708-727b-4a07-989f-c8918c975232?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], the customer evidence and advocacy platform; and Conversion [ https://substack.com/redirect/0bc3faf7-8a1d-432e-bba2-04eef7d607c6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], the agentic marketing automation platform. All three have offers for MKT1 subscribers! 🤖 MKT1 MCP Server: Add MKT1 skills to your LLMs. [ https://substack.com/redirect/3e6de69c-97c3-408f-8cc6-35297afa549d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Paid subscribers get our full library of skills and templates—we’re up to 27 now! 🧱 MKT1 Buildathons: Save your spot for our next [ https://substack.com/redirect/9d22341f-589a-4347-a839-9ad3f0cd764c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]Buildathon on May 27th [ https://substack.com/redirect/9d22341f-589a-4347-a839-9ad3f0cd764c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], where I’ll show you how to use the MKT1 MCP Server in Claude Code. For paid subscribers only! Missed our first Buildathon? Watch the replay [ https://substack.com/redirect/7708b833-4f79-4dd2-a13f-9f707517feb3?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] to see how to build a /marketing-strategy-skill in Claude Code. 🪢 Get on our Slack waitlist: We launched a Slack community just for talking about using Claude Code or Cowork and/or our MCP Server. It’s invite-only for paid subscribers using the MKT1 MCP Server. Get on the list ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/7bc2c10b-5fd8-4794-a6a1-5ff3860eb4f4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] 🧑‍🚀 MKT1 job board - new & improved: Jobs from the MKT1 community [ https://substack.com/redirect/09624032-c033-41c1-8ec6-99b27c5d6788?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (it’s free to post as a paid subscriber). And our candidate form [ https://substack.com/redirect/97f014b9-6535-48e9-82df-56ab0933beb4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] if you’re looking for a new role (option to remain anonymous included!). 🥞 MKT1 Perk Stack - New Perk: Exclusive discounts worth $40K+ [ https://substack.com/redirect/35da2301-89a6-4c79-b00d-ba1404168091?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] on our favorite GTM tools. For annual & superfan paid subscribers only. We just added 3 months free of Granola [ http://text) https://www.granola.ai/?utm_source=mkt1 ], check it out! 🧰 Template & resource library: We have 100+ templates and resources [ https://substack.com/redirect/4924255e-4fbd-4585-9c8a-75e7b9d2fe8f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] available to paid subscribers in our template & tool library. 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View this post on the web at https://newsletter.mkt1.co/p/state-of-marketing-report-part-3-how-to-research-in-claude-code 👋 This is a monthly free edition of MKT1 Newsletter—a deep dive into a B2B startup marketing topic, brought to you by Framer [ https://substack.com/redirect/1079e7a2-d182-4911-b42f-d550cbc9874a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Attio’s GTM Atlas [ https://substack.com/redirect/06ba8a48-652f-4007-b943-8c7a1a27c91b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and RevenueHero [ https://substack.com/redirect/6738e2ba-2f8a-4c5e-931b-e0d999124249?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Upgrade to a paid subscription for: Full access to our new [ https://substack.com/redirect/48baf960-3088-4267-b13c-16f6bfc8ba57?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/48baf960-3088-4267-b13c-16f6bfc8ba57?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | 100+ templates & resources [ https://substack.com/redirect/c59f4452-1b2e-4bab-9e4d-857c8b1b37ac?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | Post to [ https://substack.com/redirect/101d7c96-3d43-4e16-af77-1dabfd6365bf?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 Job Board [ https://substack.com/redirect/101d7c96-3d43-4e16-af77-1dabfd6365bf?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | MKT1 Newsletter Archive [ https://substack.com/redirect/43635589-1af2-40e8-8e12-b35c88c46399?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | $40K+ in discounts in the [ https://substack.com/redirect/801ab1cf-6aea-4da5-9726-7b380d66717a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 Perk Stack [ https://substack.com/redirect/801ab1cf-6aea-4da5-9726-7b380d66717a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] I just got a crash course in researching in Claude Code. When creating my two-part State of Marketing Report on 100 B2B companies, I thought I’d spend my normal 20-30 hours per newsletter building these out. I spent way, way longer. But the good news is: I learned so much that I wrote this third newsletter, to save you the time I lost figuring it all out. I learned about Claude Code’s convoluted “memory,” how to pick the right methodology for researching each data point, when to use and when to avoid using MCPs for research, when to yell at Claude for making up fake numbers, why sites rendered in JavaScript mess up research (and AEO), how to use Claude artifacts to find interesting insights faster, what “curl” and “bash” actually mean, and more. If you have no idea what any of that means, you will after reading this newsletter—and it’ll save you a ton of time when doing research at any scale in Claude Code, from gathering basic competitive intel on a few companies to building a full data report across hundreds of data points like I did. There’s also a bigger thought running underneath all of this. After building this report, I’m convinced Claude isn’t just going to help you make content or get cited in LLM answers—it’s also a direct way to distribute content to your buyers. We published this report as a skill on the MKT1 MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/48baf960-3088-4267-b13c-16f6bfc8ba57?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] because we believe pushing high-value resources (not just product functionality) to LLMs will become a primary way to reach your audience. More on that in the final section of this newsletter. Now let’s get to it…but first I’ll thank sponsors, share what’s in this newsletter, and tell you more about our next Buildathon on 5/27! Recommended products & agencies We only include sponsors we’d recommend personally to our community. If you are interested in sponsoring our newsletter, email us at sponsorships@mkt1.co [ mailto:sponsorships@mkt1.co ]. Framer [ https://substack.com/redirect/1079e7a2-d182-4911-b42f-d550cbc9874a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: DoorDash, Perplexity, Mixpanel, and Mutiny’s websites are all built on Framer. From early-stage startups to Fortune 500s, Framer is the website builder I personally recommend. It works like your team’s favorite design tool, with AI-powered building, integrated A/B testing, and one-click publishing. 🔓 Offer: Get 15% off a Yearly Pro plan [ https://substack.com/redirect/71727483-0782-4119-b50f-8276cf675404?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] with code MKT15. Annual MKT1 Subscribers get 30% off a Yearly Pro plan in our Perk Stack [ https://substack.com/redirect/801ab1cf-6aea-4da5-9726-7b380d66717a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. — Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/af79e857-b726-4e98-9609-7f84a68376b1?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] just launched GTM Atlas [ https://substack.com/redirect/06ba8a48-652f-4007-b943-8c7a1a27c91b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], where operators at Clay, Granola, Vercel, and me share how they actually build GTM in the AI era. I contributed my thoughts on why Gen Marketers do less better. 🔓 Offer: Read my entry in GTM Atlas here [ https://substack.com/redirect/06ba8a48-652f-4007-b943-8c7a1a27c91b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. — RevenueHero [ https://substack.com/redirect/6738e2ba-2f8a-4c5e-931b-e0d999124249?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] is how companies like Clay, Customer.io and Freshworks auto-enrich, route, and book meetings in seconds. And they have great data too, a recent report on 1M+ form submits showed their top customers book meetings with 88% of qualified leads—report is here [ https://substack.com/redirect/5e6999d6-4078-4035-a60f-5a94ee4cefc0?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]! 🔓 Offer: Get the report [ https://substack.com/redirect/5e6999d6-4078-4035-a60f-5a94ee4cefc0?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and mention MKT1 to get 15% off [ https://substack.com/redirect/6738e2ba-2f8a-4c5e-931b-e0d999124249?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] if you buy before 5/31. In this newsletter: This newsletter covers how to do research in Claude Code and is organized by the scale of research you are doing—from just your company, to a small group, all the way up to building a massive, publishable report. 🪞 Part 1: How (and why) to research your own company with Claude Code 🍿 Intermission: Learn how Claude Code remembers and saves info 🏟️ Part 2: How to research a group of companies—competitors, complements, prospects, or companies you admire 📊 Part 3: How to build a research report you can publish with Claude Code ⛽ Final thoughts: How Claude is becoming both fuel & engine This newsletter is part 3 of a 3-part series on the State of B2B Marketing, to see all the graphs and stats I pulled in my research check them out here: Part 1: State of B2B Marketing Teams [ https://substack.com/redirect/af380334-4bd2-40e7-83ba-71920c6e3f8b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Part 2: State of B2B Marketing Activities [ https://substack.com/redirect/db76c4dd-abb8-43c9-9813-a3a78cc4cd90?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Part 3: This newsletter - Researching companies in Claude Code Bonus for paid subscribers: 3 skills related to this research & report in the MKT1 MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/48baf960-3088-4267-b13c-16f6bfc8ba57?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: /mkt1-competitive-research: Run competitive research for any set of companies. Creates a spreadsheet to track data and includes common data points and queries like positioning, pricing, GTM motion, exec team, and AEO readiness. /mkt1-state-of-b2b-marketing-data: Query the full dataset behind this report: 100 high-growth B2B startups, 90+ data points each, covering GTM motion, team composition, social, ads, homepages, CMS, conversion, and AEO readiness. /mkt1-high-growth-b2b-company-list: My curated list of high-growth B2B companies ready as a reference set. Run quick research across a solid list of companies instead of starting from scratch. Join our Buildathon: Learn how to use the MKT1 MCP On May 27th at 9 AM PT to 1030 AM PT, I’m hosting a live Buildathon just for paid subscribers. I’ll show you how to find and use the 20+ skills on the MKT1 MCP Server, give you time to test some of them, and answer questions. Upgrade to attend, it’s only $9/month » [ https://substack.com/redirect/0ab45be8-f107-4047-b2f5-480044498f41?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] We’ll cover all these lessons and more in the newsletter below. Part 1: How (and why) to research your own company with Claude Code The best way to start doing research in Claude Code is with your own company. Not only will you learn what info is easy to get (and what's shockingly hard), but you'll also do an AEO audit for your company in the process. If you can't scrape the basics about your company, that means the LLMs can't read your site. This step is also the precursor to everything else in this newsletter, from running competitive research to building full research reports. Nail the methodology on one company and you'll know what to ask for at every scale after. How to do the research: Run an “incognito-style” session in Claude Code Desktop. Claude Code Desktop doesn’t have a native incognito feature, so you fake it: In the prompt itself, tell Claude to only use what’s publicly available, as if it’s encountering your company for the first time. Or better yet, you can start a new session in an empty project folder (pick a blank folder on your desktop), so no skills or memory get loaded at all. Note: Claude Chat does have an Actual Incognito Mode, click the ghost icon in the top right. Prompt Claude to do research on your own company to nail down research methods and to find the gaps where your company isn’t showing up. A good prompt covers four things: Asks Claude to pull a wide range of data points (pricing, customer logos, recent launches, new hires, positioning) Asks Claude to fetch your homepage and tell you what an LLM can vs. can’t read from it (so you catch JS-rendered content) Asks Claude to check the AEO basics, including homepage schema and your robots.txt for LLM crawler rules Asks for a summary: what to fix on your site, what was hardest to pull, and what methods it used to pull information Ask Claude to save this as a reusable skill so you can run the same research on other companies later—competitors, partners, target accounts. Here are the prompts you can copy & paste into Claude Code: Prompt 1: Ask Claude Code to research your company Pretend you’ve never heard of my company at [URL] and only use what you can find on the public web, like an LLM crawler hitting my site for the first time. Then: Pull what you can find on my company: pricing, customer logos, recent launches, new hires, blog post activity, headline copy, positioning, exec team. As you research each data point, tell me how you found it. If you can’t find something easily, stop and tell me what the challenge is. Audit the AEO basics: fetch my homepage (flag JS-rendered content), check the schema, and read my robots.txt for LLM crawler rules. Summarize what was easy, hard, and impossible, what methods you used, and what I should fix on my site. Prompt 2: Save the skill to use again Save what we just did as a skill called company-research-skill. Include the prompts and data points we researched and the methodologies that worked. Make it reusable for any company URL. What I learned: Lesson: Researching your own company doubles as an AEO audit Doing research on any company in an LLM doubles as an accidental AEO audit (AEO = Answer Engine Optimization, the LLM equivalent of SEO). If it’s not easy to find basic information, something’s off with the AEO, usually with how the site is set up. I noticed this while building the 100-company report. For some companies, Claude Code came back with almost nothing useful, which made me wonder why their info was so hard to find. So I looked closer at the AEO specifics, specifically at what their site was built on, how it was rendered, what AEO best practices were being followed, and what schema was on the page. The reason I couldn’t get basic info from many pages (like whether a homepage mentions “AI” or the most recent blog post publish date): Many sites load content in JavaScript, not HTML. LLM crawlers don’t run JavaScript, so if your content isn’t in the HTML, the LLM sees an empty shell. I was also surprised to find many companies aren’t using proper schema on their site—a very quick AEO win to knock out. Schema [ https://substack.com/redirect/032fab90-b0b0-470b-8cf5-258531f4fd1a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] is markup that tells LLMs what’s on the page; FAQSchema, for example, tells LLMs that there’s an FAQ on a page. Only 2% of startups have it, and 40% have no homepage schema at all. All stats are according to our State of Marketing report (part 1 [ https://substack.com/redirect/af380334-4bd2-40e7-83ba-71920c6e3f8b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and part 2 [ https://substack.com/redirect/db76c4dd-abb8-43c9-9813-a3a78cc4cd90?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]) on 100 fast-growing companies, researched with Claude Code. Most of us know robots.txt is from SEO, but you should update it with your LLM crawler preferences. Almost all B2B startups (97%) allow LLM crawlers, but only 12% have actually written explicit rules for LLM bots in their robots.txt. You can ask Claude Code to check what your robots.txt currently does, and also to update it for you! The smartest robots.txt move I saw in my research was Attio’s setup. They block CCBot (which feeds LLM training data), but allow GPTBot and ClaudeBot. Translation: “Don’t train on us, but DO cite us in real-time answers.” Lesson: Always test on yourself before you scale If you’re thinking about running competitive research or partner research or building a report (which we’ll cover later in this newsletter), start by researching yourself. Not only do you get some AEO learnings, but you also learn much faster what research is possible, what’s easy, and what takes forever. It’s much easier to spot-check research on your own company when you know it so well. This is the right approach if you’re building anything reusable, like a competitor research skill. For one-off data about another company, you don’t need to test it on yourself first! Things you might try on your own company include: pricing and packaging, homepage copy, customer logos and case studies, recent product launches, and recent hires. Relatedly, if doing person-specific research, try it on yourself first. You’ll learn a lot about what Claude Code can do by trying this first. Some research takes longer than you’d think because the data isn’t as available as you’d assume. I was shocked by what took me forever. Even with the Clay MCP, around 10 CMOs were missing from the enriched data on the 100-company report, and Claude’s agent searches confidently surfaced executives who’d left their roles 1-3 years ago. My knowledge of who actually runs marketing at these companies came in clutch. Testing on your own company first surfaces gaps like these cheaply. The hard part of doing research is figuring out the right methodology, and Claude Code sometimes suggests hard paths when there are easy ones. I assumed the Clay MCP would be the fast path for a lot of this, but a plain curl (a command that fetches the raw HTML of a public web page) got me accurate LinkedIn follower numbers in under a minute. I didn’t even know what a curl was before this newsletter. Just say “use a curl” and Claude Code does it for you, no Chrome extension needed. Add MKT1 to Claude Code with our MCP Server Not only have I added new skills for research (like this week’s new competitive-research skill), but I’ve also updated many of our existing skills to include visual artifact templates and added a set of marketing recruiting skills. ⚠️ Before you go any further… Learn how Claude Code remembers and saves info Before I get into how to research a group of companies, you have to understand how Claude Code remembers things. I didn’t, and it cost me. I duplicated research prompts I should have saved as skills right away. I didn’t notice gaps in my data until I was deep into the report, because I’d been tracking it in a Claude Code session (aka the chat window) that eventually compressed. And I wasted credits running the same things multiple times. There are a bunch of terms that sound similar, and most people use them without knowing the difference. Adding to the confusion, the lingo and methods for saving and remembering things are different in Claude Chat and Claude Code. It’s a bit maddening, TBH. So here’s the table I wish I’d had at the start: The bad news is, even when you use all these things perfectly, Claude Code doesn’t remember where to save and pull info from all the time. So, you have to actively direct Claude to save things in the right places. And then you have to remind it to reference those things. I tell it things like “save this to my CLAUDE.md file,” “save this to a skill,” “create a row in the spreadsheet,” “update the skill to reference this spreadsheet or file” or even “tell CLAUDE.md to invoke this skill at this time).” These are prompts I use on a regular basis to keep things organized. You never have to tell Claude to save to memory (it does that on its own), but I don’t trust it. When something’s only in memory, Claude doesn’t reliably reference it later. So I save to CLAUDE.md or a skill instead, because I created them, I wrote them, and I know what’s in there. Is this all a little exhausting? Well yes, but once you get the hang of it it becomes almost second nature (emphasis on almost). Part 2: How to research a group of companies From competitors, complements, a target account list, or companies you admire This section covers how to research a group of companies, whether researching your competitors, ecosystem partners [ https://substack.com/redirect/c3f7a7db-77c7-44f1-b682-1ca490d634e2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], target customers, or just companies you’re trying to learn from. Most people will default to doing this for their competitors, but I always say: Imagine if you spent as much time thinking about your complements [ https://substack.com/redirect/de4ae0e1-032d-41da-977c-f747903184b9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] as your competitors. So, I highly recommend using this research workflow for potential partners to understand who they are and how they might be able to work with you. How to do the research: First up, get a list of canonical URLs you’ll be using in your research. You can either ask Claude for help sourcing relevant companies for you, list them out directly, or upload a CSV. If you aren’t sure what companies to use, you can use the mkt1-high-growth-b2b-company-list skill in our MCP server as a starting place. Ask Claude to set up a skill for the research you’re doing and a corresponding spreadsheet to track all the data points and URLs. The skill is your repeatable instructions, your spreadsheet is the source of truth for the research itself. Decide which data points you want to track. Common ones: pricing, positioning, customer logos, recent launches, new hires, exec team, GTM motion, headcount. Run the research in batches, 1 data point at a time, 1 company to start. Then you can run it quickly on the rest. Ask Claude Code to make a pdf report, battle card table, visual artifact—whatever you need. Once you get it exactly right, ask Claude to save it as a template referenced by the skill. We have a skill for this in the MKT1 MCP! Install the MKT1 MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/48baf960-3088-4267-b13c-16f6bfc8ba57?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and run the mkt1-competitive-research skill. You can even duplicate it and ask Claude to make it an ecosystem skill to analyze your partners too. For paid subscribers only. Here are the prompts you can copy & paste into Claude Code: Prompt 1: Create your skill & spreadsheet Take the “company-research” skill I already made and duplicate it as a new skill called [insert name, i.e. “competitive-research”]. Adapt it to work across a list of companies instead of one. The skill should: Ask me how I want to source the competitive companies (paste a list, ask you to find them, or upload a CSV). Set up a spreadsheet that will be the source of truth for the research, both any URLs and data points we need, and save the company URLs in it, one row per company. Suggest data points to track (common ones: pricing, positioning, customer logos, recent launches, new hires, exec team, GTM motion, headcount), work with me to lock them in, then add a column for each. If any data points need extra URLs to research (pricing page, LinkedIn page, third-party site), add those URLs as their own columns first and have me spot-check them before you start. Run the research one data point at a time across all companies, not company by company. Start with 1-2 companies for each data point to check the method, then run the full list. Don't run everything at once. Leave cells blank and flag them when something can't be found, instead of guessing or filling in plausible-sounding values. If a research method isn't working or is taking too long, try another and flag it to me. Include the prompts and data points we researched and the methodologies that worked. Make it reusable for any company URL. Prompt 2: Run your new skill Run the competitive-research skill. I want to compare my company against [3-5 competitors]. Focus on [pricing, positioning, customer logos, recent launches]. Run it for 1 company first and show me the results so we can update the process or data points if needed before continuing. What I learned: Lesson: Use a spreadsheet as your source of truth for research Before doing research on a group of companies, you need to build a spreadsheet to hold it all. You might be thinking “I’m using Claude Code for research because I don’t want to make a spreadsheet!” Valid. But in this case, Claude Code can make the sheet for you, save info to it, and reference it...you never even have to look at it. I only looked at mine once or twice when building my State of Marketing research report (it was 101 rows and 100 columns, so I’m very happy about that). Here’s what I learned, and what you should do even if you’re only researching a few companies: If you ask Claude to research a bunch of companies across a bunch of data points all at once, you’ll get answers fast, but they won’t be right. When you try to fix the mess piece by piece, you end up with an even bigger mess. Instead, have Claude make a spreadsheet at the start of your research. The first column is the company name. Then have Claude research the URLs and add to the second column (or add them yourself, depending on the number). Then for every data point you want to research, have Claude add another column. Go column by column. For each data point, figure out the right approach first (Claude Code’s plan mode helps), test it on a couple of companies, spot-check the answer, then run it across all of them. As Claude researches, it can reference the columns it’s already filled in to help. If any step involves scraping or checking a URL, it 100% needs to be a column. LinkedIn handle, pricing page, careers page, blog, etc, whatever the skill is going to hit. If you let Claude guess the URL from the company name when it’s researching a data point, it gets messy when it can’t find the right url—and may lead to fake data. When you want to add more companies, more data points, or fresher data later, you reference the spreadsheet, not Claude’s memory or a past session. That’s way more reliable, and in Claude Code, “more reliable” also means fewer tokens used. Lesson: Build it once, then run it forever Research is a repetitive activity, and when you are doing something repetitive, train your brain to think: Make a skill! [ https://substack.com/redirect/9518f75d-9ae7-4bb1-a82b-8a67e4bf61b8?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] You need a research skill for every type of research you do: competitive, partner, candidate, etc. You can also make a skill for research-basics, that all your research related skills reference so you don’t have to repeat yourself (I made this as I did my report). And maybe you don’t think you’ll want this info on competitors again, or you think it’s just a one-off request from your CEO. It’s probably not. You’ll likely want to refresh, expand, or rerun this. Making a skill is so easy and low stakes (you literally just say to Claude Code, “save what we’ve done so far as a skill called competitive-research”), so why not? Set up the skill as you do the research, in parallel. It doesn’t need to be perfect at first; you can add to it over time. As I locked in on how to research a data point, I asked Claude Code to add it to a skill. Here are some of the things to capture in a research skill for a group of companies (or people): Add a concrete definition for each data point to your skill (and remember, each data point is a column in your spreadsheet). For example, I was searching for words used in website heroes, but Claude waffled on the hero definition multiple times. Once I gave it specific dimensions for what a hero is and saved that to the skill, it got way better. Take competitive research as an example: For every competitor, I want the same things. Pricing and packaging, positioning, recent product launches, customer logos, who they’re hiring, social presence, content they’re publishing, etc. The first time I figured out how to reliably pull each data point, I told Claude Code to save the method to my skill. By the time I got to company #3, the skill could pull most of it on its own. Some data points are orders of magnitude harder to pull than others. When you hit one that’s brutal (say, scraping recent LinkedIn posts, which is always a pain since they have no API) decide whether it’s worth keeping in the skill at all. My research skills say stuff like: “Every time we run competitor research, pull these 10 things automatically, but ask me before going after the LinkedIn posts.” That way the easy stuff runs unattended and the hard stuff doesn’t eat up all my tokens like Pac-Man on a bender (I write things like this to see if people are actually reading the newsletter, there will be a quiz on LinkedIn). Bonus: You can also set up scheduled “routines” now in Claude Code, to remind you to run competitive research again in say a month. Join our Slack waitlist - Launching next week Good news, we’re launching a Slack just for talking about our MCP Server—and using Claude Code in general. It’s invite-only for paid subscribers using the MKT1 MCP Server. Get on the list ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/f1762df0-61cb-4053-a2bb-90b8b9c9fef1?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Part 3: How to build a research report you can publish with Claude Code This section covers how to build a research report at scale—pulling data across 50, 100, or more companies and turning it into something you can publish. I built my State of Marketing Part 1 and Part 2 reports this way, mostly by getting it wrong the first time. Most of what’s below is what I’d tell myself if I were starting over. How to do the research: Figure out what companies you want to research. At this scale you’re probably uploading a CSV—target accounts, industry list, ICP cut, etc. If you don’t have a list, ask Claude for help identifying companies and finding URLs. If you’ve already built a company-research or competitive-research skill from Parts 1 or 2, ask Claude to duplicate those skills as a starting place and save it as something like research-report. Ask Claude to set up a skill for the research you’re doing and a corresponding spreadsheet to track all the data points and URLs. Decide which data points you want to track. If you’re building a research report and you’re not sure where to start, ask Claude to help you brainstorm. Ask Claude Code to add these as columns to your spreadsheet, 1 per data point. Run each data point for a small batch of companies at a time before scaling it up. Record the methodology that’s working in the skill itself—the URL, the curl call, the regex, whatever got the answer. That way the skill gets smarter as you go, and you can rerun it later without rebuilding the method. Make sure your data is accurate: Ask Claude to spot-check a few rows and all outliers—outliers are where scrape errors hide. Also set up a rule in your skill so that Claude flags unknowns, instead of just filling them in with nonsense. Read my lessons below for more on this! Ask Claude to build graphs as HTML artifacts in the side panel during iteration—this helps you see what’s going on, try different cuts, and pull insights. Move to Figma using their MCP (or your design tool of choice) once everything’s locked, so you’re not redoing the chart every time data shifts. Save your skill and your spreadsheet as you go. The skill is the instructions, so you can run this again on more companies or easily add data points later. The spreadsheet is your source of truth for the data. You can also ask Claude Code to make a template of your artifact and save that alongside your skill. Publish and share your report. Be sure to caveat your methodology: Flag what isn’t statistically significant, call out where numbers are fuzzy, and note that Claude Code was used. Here are the prompts you can copy & paste into Claude Code: Prompt 1: Build the research report skill Take my company-research or competitive-research skill and duplicate it as a new skill called research-report. Adapt it to work across a bigger list of companies and prep the data for a publishable report. The skill should: Ask me how I want to source the companies (paste a list, upload a CSV, or have you find them). Set up a spreadsheet that will be the source of truth for the research, both URLs and data points, and save the company URLs in it, one row per company. Suggest data points to track and work with me to lock them in, then add a column for each. If I’m not sure where to start, brainstorm options first. Run each data point one at a time, starting with a small batch of 3-5 companies to check the method, then scale to the full list. As you go, record the working method (URL, curl, regex, whatever) in the skill itself so I can rerun it later. Flag any cell you can’t fill in—don’t guess or fill in plausible-sounding values. Treat “unknown” as a real third state for any yes/no column. If the methodology gets stuck, takes too long, or hits an unknown value, let me know and we’ll work through new methods together. After each data point is run, spot-check a few rows and all outliers. If the outliers don’t look right, flag them as scrape errors before moving on. Save to the skill and the spreadsheet as you go. Prompt 2: Build artifacts and pull insights Using [spreadsheet] with my researched data, build HTML chart artifacts in the side panel showing different cuts of the data, group by [fill in column names or data points]. For each cut, suggest the best chart type (bar, line, or simple table) before you build, I'll confirm. Reference my brand-guide skill for colors and styling. For each graph, surface the headline insight, where means and medians diverge, and which tells the most interesting story. When we finish, reference these artifact templates in the skill. What I learned: Lesson: Be ruthless about precision When you’re building a full data report, you can’t check every cell. 10,000 cells is too many to eyeball. So you have to trust the methodology, and to do that in Claude Code, you have to work in phases. Batching your work keeps you from eating credits like someone at an all-you-can-eat Vegas buffet. But even running things in phases, I still got stuck, changed methodologies midway through, ran data multiple times, and spot-checked into the wee hours of the morning. Here’s what I learned: Don’t trust Claude’s first answer on what methodology is most efficient or assume Claude will flag when there’s a faster, cheaper way. Sob story: I burned 250 Clay credits trying Clay’s MCP for follower counts before realizing a curl call gets the same info in seconds. The table below explains what curl is and a few ways Claude can pull data from the web, so you know your options—I just learned about this stuff too. If possible, drop entities or data points that aren’t easy to pull—it’s rarely worth the workaround. Another sob story: I built a simple 150-company dataset for our MKT1 MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/48baf960-3088-4267-b13c-16f6bfc8ba57?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. 10+ companies came back blank for hero copy because their homepages are built entirely in JavaScript, which curl can’t read. I dropped those companies rather than build workarounds. The same logic applies to any data point: If one is dramatically harder to pull than the rest, it’s rarely worth the trouble. As I described in the sections above, you should test your method on a 5-10 company batch before scaling. But this matters even more here because at scale, errors cascade through graphs, through columns, into conclusions you’ve already published. After you’ve run the research at scale, always ask Claude to spot-check, and not just random rows, but specifically the outliers. I found that what look like outliers in scraped data are often just bad data, and not real outliers. I caught some data that wasn’t captured right this way. Automation gets you to a starting point; manual verification gets you to the finish line. That last mile is really hard to nail; most of my time was spent there. Yet another sob story: Claude Code’s web search confidently surfaced executives who’d left their roles years ago, Clay missed real CMOs, and I ended up reviewing 100 marketing leaders’ LinkedIn profiles manually. Budget time for this, and don’t build graphs or downstream assets until your data is locked. Why do research in Claude Code, not Cowork or Chat? A simple example… Claude Code keeps your history very easy to access. It adds everything to one folder on your computer, saves memory across sessions, and shows you exactly how much context you’re using as you go. In Cowork, it’s harder to dig through and track what Claude actually did. This is more useful than it may sound. Halfway through the build of my State of Marketing reports, I needed to check how an earlier data point got pulled—specifically, what regex we used to find usage-based pricing mentions (regex = a pattern that finds specific text, like “any mention of AI credits or tokens”). My skill didn’t have it documented; I wasn’t painstakingly writing down every method as I went (I should have been!) But the Python script Claude wrote (Python = the coding language Claude uses to scrape and process data at scale) was still in my folder, the raw HTML was still in my folder, and my tracker file had a one-line note. I could reconstruct what we did and decide whether to trust the data or redo it. I even asked Claude to summarize what we’d done and add a few lines to the skill, so I wouldn’t have to replay the history next time. Lesson: At scale, small errors compound A single bad data point in a research report on many companies cascades through your work—the same bad URL gets pulled again, the wrong insight follows, the mistake gets published. I rebuilt graphs again and again (via the Figma MCP) when data shifted, re-wrote insights, and ended up updating the two State of Marketing newsletters after they shipped to correct numbers (with notes on the changes, of course). Errors compound, and so does the work to fix them. A few rules I learned for keeping a big research project like this manageable: Tell Claude to flag unknowns, not fill them in with nonsense. When Claude can’t find an answer, it may fill in a plausible-looking round number instead of admitting it doesn’t know. I figured this out because there were too many round numbers in places where round numbers don’t make sense (7,700 and 12,500 followers, for instance). Instead of Claude telling me it didn’t have the right URL, couldn’t read JavaScript-rendered blog publish dates, or couldn’t find a marketing leader, Claude just filled stuff in and told me the dataset was complete for 100 companies. The same failure shows up if you force a yes/no in a column. If you don’t allow for a third option (yes, no, AND unknown), Claude will just put in “No” when it shouldn’t. Slice your data in different ways before committing to one cut. Once your data is in clean spreadsheet columns, the same dataset can be cut by funding, company size, category, GTM motion. Each cut tells a different story, and means and medians often differ (means get skewed by outliers like Stripe and OpenAI; medians don’t). I ran through a bunch of cuts for each graph in my State of Marketing report—what’s more interesting, the by-category story or the by-funding story, for instance? Use Claude artifacts during iteration to visualize data, whether for seeing different cuts or to decide what type of graph is best. I naturally want to make every visual in Figma because I’ve been doing that for years, but Claude’s artifact-building has gotten pretty good. You can still use Figma (or your design tool of choice) for the final, publication-ready versions. I learned this the hard way. I made a starter graph in my brand style, connected the Figma MCP, and told Claude where to build the chart. Every time I corrected data or added a column, I had to redo it. What I should have done: asked Claude for quick HTML chart artifacts during the build. They render in the side panel of the desktop app, update instantly when data changes, and look on-brand enough to decide on. Push the final data into Figma at the end for polish. Live and learn—or in this case, graph and learn. After figuring this out, I built a progression into my skill. It starts by making a basic artifact in Claude (chart, table, doc) once the spreadsheet is filled in. Then it asks me if I want to use a specific MCP for the final asset (Mutiny [ https://substack.com/redirect/128fea70-8787-48f3-888f-0e3dfb25838f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Gamma [ https://substack.com/redirect/f7f5d267-14d9-47ae-ae34-bb934ad3b51e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Figma, etc.) if I really want to polish it. And you can go back to your old skills and bolt on artifact steps, which I recently did to all the strategy skills in our MCP server [ https://substack.com/redirect/48baf960-3088-4267-b13c-16f6bfc8ba57?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Quick definition: An artifact is an asset made by Claude that opens in Claude’s side panel: a chart, table, doc, styled report, etc. This actually works the same in Claude Chat and Claude Code now. Artifacts run on your normal Claude usage; they don’t pull from Claude Design credits (Claude Design is a separate product for pitch decks and mockups). What’s next? Claude won’t just help you create fuel—it’ll become the engine too If you’ve read MKT1 for a while, you’ve definitely heard me talk about fuel & engine [ https://substack.com/redirect/37aed2ef-15fb-4dcf-90be-396ef0d13784?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]—the two fundamental elements of marketing. If not, here’s the framework: Fuel is what you create (content, reports, messaging, etc). Engine is the channels you use to distribute the fuel. Over the past few months building the MKT1 MCP server [ https://substack.com/redirect/48baf960-3088-4267-b13c-16f6bfc8ba57?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], people have asked me: What does an MCP server for a newsletter actually do? To which I say: distribute our content and skills—built based on my advising, writing, and templates. And watching so many of you install and use our MCP Server has given me a new way of thinking about Claude. While most marketers are already using Claude to create fuel, Claude will increasingly become the engine. And not just because of AEO. I think companies will start to deliberately expose their content, data, and resources to Claude and other LLMs through MCP (or whatever the standard ends up being). It will be a direct path or engine to your users and customers. Right now, every MCP launch is about connecting products to Claude Code—I’ve talked about Clay [ https://substack.com/redirect/97d3b4a9-0ec3-4109-be4f-76a1353e16b8?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Figma [ https://substack.com/redirect/3287af45-6493-43dc-a09e-63b6fcd5a67a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Airtable [ https://substack.com/redirect/2e6751cf-b23f-4295-a9f5-666853891971?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/49f4c50f-ae03-4197-9cbc-d2c3ce6fe671?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Mutiny [ https://substack.com/redirect/128fea70-8787-48f3-888f-0e3dfb25838f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and more MCP servers in this way. But the same plumbing works to distribute “marketing” fuel: your blog posts, your reports, your data, your point of view. Are companies catching on and using MCP this way? Some companies are part of the way there. Profound is a good example (makes sense they’d lead the way—they’re an AEO company). Every blog post on their site has “Open in ChatGPT” and “Open in Claude” buttons in the sidebar. Click one and a prompt with the post link is loaded into your LLM, ready for follow-up questions. The blog post becomes the start of a conversation, not the end. But the button is still a click off their site into an LLM. AllTrails is an interesting B2C example [ https://substack.com/redirect/16d2b8f8-3b5a-400b-95d2-d6738cde8204?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Their "product" in this case is really data and knowledge about hiking trails. So their MCP lets you describe your ideal hike conversationally (”a loop trail near me that works for kids, dogs, and has great views”) and get real, ranked options from their 95-million-member database…without leaving Claude. (I love this example, even though you'll never find me hiking!) What's next: Distribute content and skills—not just your product functionality—through MCP You can take this a step further. Right now most MCPs only reach existing customers aka people who already use your product. But you can build an MCP that is your free tier. Include skills, content, and research that make it worth installing independent of using your product. We're trying to prove this out through the MKT1 MCP Server. Two skills are free for anyone who installs it: /mkt1-newsletter (search and pull from past MKT1 newsletter content) and /mkt1-job-board-search (open B2B marketing roles). The rest are gated for paid newsletter subscribers. So finally the meta moment of this whole newsletter: I used Claude to create this report, and now Claude can deliver it to you as well. This should now explain why I went the extra mile and published the State of Marketing Reports as a skill (3 newsletters wasn’t enough), giving anyone with our MCP the ability to query the full data in the report themselves. Yes, I’m a bit of a workaholic and don’t know when to stop, but I also wanted to prove this idea I’ve been thinking about for a while. When thinking about distribution this year, the question may not be “do we start a newsletter?” or “do we record a podcast?” or “do we focus on building a LinkedIn following?” It might be "do we have an MCP server where we can distribute this content?" Even more from MKT1 🙏 Brought to you by: Framer [ https://substack.com/redirect/efc27a5f-e055-4ffe-8195-e6c69baf2145?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], a no code website builder; Attio’s GTM Atlas [ https://substack.com/redirect/06ba8a48-652f-4007-b943-8c7a1a27c91b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]; and RevenueHero [ https://substack.com/redirect/6738e2ba-2f8a-4c5e-931b-e0d999124249?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], scheduling automation for RevOps and marketing teams. All 3 companies have offers for MKT1 subscribers! 🤖 MKT1 MCP Server: Add MKT1 skills to Claude Code and Cowork. [ https://substack.com/redirect/48baf960-3088-4267-b13c-16f6bfc8ba57?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Paid subscribers get our full library of skills and templates, including the 2 new research skills used in this newsletter. 🧱 MKT1 Buildathons: Save your spot for our next [ https://substack.com/redirect/eeceb428-dac0-4064-8c6c-68f44ea0e72d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]Buildathon on May 27th [ https://substack.com/redirect/eeceb428-dac0-4064-8c6c-68f44ea0e72d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], where I’ll show you how to use the MKT1 MCP Server in Claude Code. For paid subscribers only! Missed our first Buildathon? Watch the replay [ https://substack.com/redirect/00b6a931-a48e-486c-bb11-e9e58da9d396?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] to see how to build a /marketing-strategy-skill in Claude Code. 🧑‍🚀 MKT1 job board - new & improved: Jobs from the MKT1 community [ https://substack.com/redirect/101d7c96-3d43-4e16-af77-1dabfd6365bf?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (it’s free to post as a paid subscriber). And our candidate form [ https://substack.com/redirect/ba02b135-01e2-4f95-8f16-b8f14ed72c43?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] if you’re looking for a new role (option to remain anonymous included!). 🪢 Join our Slack waitlist: We’re launching a Slack just for talking about using Claude Code or Cowork and/or our MCP Server. It’s invite-only for paid subscribers using the MKT1 MCP Server. Get on the list ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/f1762df0-61cb-4053-a2bb-90b8b9c9fef1?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] 📦 MKT1 Unboxing: Watch our video series to see Kramer (that’s me) unbox Mutiny [ https://substack.com/redirect/c16d5d65-713e-4694-a314-c257773ead0a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Wistia [ https://substack.com/redirect/bf29f783-0a6f-4236-b4e6-1793275d5088?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Luma AI [ https://substack.com/redirect/d8c05acc-baf0-48c9-ae3d-db68c776747b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], & Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/47638a7f-33af-4ce2-ae64-90af5e202d46?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. 🥞 MKT1 Perk Stack - New Perk: Exclusive discounts worth $40K+ [ https://substack.com/redirect/801ab1cf-6aea-4da5-9726-7b380d66717a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] on our favorite GTM tools. For annual & superfan paid subscribers only. We just added 3 months free of Granola, check it out! 🧰 Template & resource library: We have 100+ templates and resources [ https://substack.com/redirect/c59f4452-1b2e-4bab-9e4d-857c8b1b37ac?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] available to paid subscribers in our template & tool library. Unsubscribe https://substack.com/redirect/2/eyJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9uZXdzbGV0dGVyLm1rdDEuY28vYWN0aW9uL2Rpc2FibGVfZW1haWw_dG9rZW49ZXlKMWMyVnlYMmxrSWpvME1qWTFNVFV3TkRBc0luQnZjM1JmYVdRaU9qRTVOalUwTlRrNU5Td2lhV0YwSWpveE56YzRNRGs0TmpReExDSmxlSEFpT2pFNE1EazJNelEyTkRFc0ltbHpjeUk2SW5CMVlpMHlNVGcxTURFaUxDSnpkV0lpT2lKa2FYTmhZbXhsWDJWdFlXbHNJbjAuOUtqN0FpWVN1cUJrYXRFWEZnZHJtMEtQSTBuR0FyVUVmOV9OZ1huWFBQcyIsInAiOjE5NjU0NTk5NSwicyI6MjE4NTAxLCJmIjp0cnVlLCJ1Ijo0MjY1MTUwNDAsImlhdCI6MTc3ODA5ODY0MSwiZXhwIjoyMDkzNjc0NjQxLCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMCIsInN1YiI6ImxpbmstcmVkaXJlY3QifQ.afMK1xB1fEepvyLZgCSWTgMFcLmhedD7kpgmLsUjxRY?

View this post on the web at https://newsletter.mkt1.co/p/state-of-marketing-report-web-social-content-part-2 👋 This is a monthly free edition of MKT1 Newsletter—a deep dive into a B2B startup marketing topic, brought to you by Framer [ https://substack.com/redirect/c76bd448-34ab-4fab-b3f5-eb8bd0280748?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Closing Media [ https://substack.com/redirect/f58287f2-ce1b-4e91-8774-28465e535efa?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and UserEvidence [ https://substack.com/redirect/0302c4a8-a505-4e28-b52b-f6ee588922f7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Upgrade to a paid subscription for: Full access to our new [ https://substack.com/redirect/38e67e9b-fe81-40e0-90a8-128cf1f8a204?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/38e67e9b-fe81-40e0-90a8-128cf1f8a204?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | 100+ templates & resources [ https://substack.com/redirect/254564de-2e91-4b39-9d0d-52915f1c5ff9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | Post to [ https://substack.com/redirect/1015aed3-748e-46e0-81aa-547ca285bdd9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 Job Board [ https://substack.com/redirect/1015aed3-748e-46e0-81aa-547ca285bdd9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | MKT1 Newsletter Archive [ https://substack.com/redirect/8a8c41c6-e566-4502-bdfd-e80a4892802f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | $40K+ in discounts in the [ https://substack.com/redirect/ca079937-79eb-45e6-8be7-172875694b35?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 Perk Stack [ https://substack.com/redirect/ca079937-79eb-45e6-8be7-172875694b35?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Marketing is in a state of swirl. Old playbooks are dead or dying, new ones are still taking shape, AI is changing everything, and most teams are stuck on the same question: What do I do now? Some teams are stuck in the old world. Other teams are moving forward: an account-driven foundation [ https://substack.com/redirect/3f2931f5-9444-438b-b1a3-1724d2cc2f95?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], individual social accounts as the new company page [ https://substack.com/redirect/c1554113-9984-4855-b3cc-50ecf49efc98?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], ecosystem [ https://substack.com/redirect/45da31a9-940e-4c2c-b4c7-cce152d5af49?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and events [ https://substack.com/redirect/ee5a12a0-03d5-4179-b4a8-b722b43b3438?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] as growth engines, less reliance on search and inbound [ https://substack.com/redirect/4fab7b87-846c-4996-856a-15492460e003?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. All the things I’ve been writing about for the past year... But I wanted a better sense of what’s actually going on. Once I started researching 100 fast-growing B2B startups in Claude Code, it was clear I had to move beyond team and leadership data (covered in Part 1 of this report [ https://substack.com/redirect/4d1b2939-899f-47ad-b8bf-566cea6ab267?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]) and into the actual marketing activities. Anything I could glean from scraping websites, social profiles, ad libraries, careers pages, and pricing pages. Here are the results, covering marketing activities across web, social, and content data points. Scan these graphs, read the analysis in the bullet points, or even access the data in Claude Code via our MCP Server. Maybe you’re focused on your website and trying to convince your sales leader to actually show pricing publicly, picking a CMS for a relaunch, or making the case for a website redesign. Maybe you’re trying to figure out where to invest content efforts and deciding if your blog should keep going or quietly retire, if your site is AEO-ready, or if your founder’s LinkedIn is worth investing in. Or maybe you just want to see how you stack up against peers your size, get a single stat to back up your strategy, or understand trends in what marketers are doing right now. It’s all in here (or in part 1! [ https://substack.com/redirect/4d1b2939-899f-47ad-b8bf-566cea6ab267?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]). Want to go further? The MKT1 MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/38e67e9b-fe81-40e0-90a8-128cf1f8a204?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] lets you query the full dataset directly in Claude Code. You can also run the same analysis on a list of companies you care about. Recommended products & agencies We only include sponsors we’d recommend personally to our community. If you are interested in sponsoring our newsletter, email us at sponsorships@mkt1.co [ mailto:sponsorships@mkt1.co ]. Framer [ https://substack.com/redirect/c76bd448-34ab-4fab-b3f5-eb8bd0280748?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: DoorDash, Perplexity, Mixpanel, and Mutiny’s websites are all built on Framer. From early-stage startups to Fortune 500s, Framer is the website builder I personally recommend. It works like your team’s favorite design tool, with AI-powered building, integrated A/B testing, and one-click publishing. 🔓 Offer: Get 15% off a Yearly Pro plan [ https://substack.com/redirect/a3e23422-4fd8-4ed2-84a8-6942051da3b9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] with code MKT15. Annual MKT1 Subscribers get 30% off a Yearly Pro plan in our Perk Stack [ https://substack.com/redirect/ca079937-79eb-45e6-8be7-172875694b35?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. — Closing Media [ https://substack.com/redirect/f58287f2-ce1b-4e91-8774-28465e535efa?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] is a boutique agency that runs LinkedIn and Google campaigns for growth-stage startups. They know the best ways to build and scale ad campaigns in 2026 (hint: thought leader ads and video!) and have years of expertise (I worked with them in 2018!). 🔓 Offer: Reach out to Closing Media here [ https://substack.com/redirect/f58287f2-ce1b-4e91-8774-28465e535efa?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] & mention MKT1 to get $5,000 of free ad spend for your next campaign. — UserEvidence [ https://substack.com/redirect/0302c4a8-a505-4e28-b52b-f6ee588922f7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] handles the entire customer proof process. From collecting stories and quotes, to matching references to prospects, to activating advocates. Gong, HackerOne, and Superhuman use it to build trust…because logos on a homepage aren’t enough. 🔓 Offer: Mention MKT1 [ https://substack.com/redirect/0302c4a8-a505-4e28-b52b-f6ee588922f7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] for your first 2 months of UserEvidence free In this newsletter: 🔙 Part 1 - Previous newsletter: State of B2B Marketing Teams [ https://substack.com/redirect/4d1b2939-899f-47ad-b8bf-566cea6ab267?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] ➡️ Part 2 - This newsletter: State of B2B Marketing Activities State of Websites: What they're built on, what's in the hero, and pricing page trends State of Social: Founders vs. companies on LinkedIn and Twitter, LinkedIn ads State of Fuel: Blogs, events, communities, newsletters, and AEO readiness ⏰ Part 3 - Coming next week: Claude Code researching and reporting, plus takeaways based on creating these newsletters Bonus for paid subscribers: 2 new skills related to this research & report in the MKT1 MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/38e67e9b-fe81-40e0-90a8-128cf1f8a204?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: /state-of-b2b-marketing Query the full dataset behind this report: 100 high-growth B2B startups, 90+ data points each, covering GTM motion, team composition, social, ads, homepages, CMS, conversion, and AEO readiness. /high-growth-b2b-company-list My curated list of 150 high-growth B2B companies ready as a reference set. Run quick research across a solid list of companies instead of starting from scratch every time. The State of B2B Marketing, Part 2: Marketing Activities *Based on what Claude Code can research with Emily Kramer’s prompting Methodology A few notes that matter for reading the charts: The sample of 100 B2B startups is curated, not random. The intention is to show what the “top” B2B companies are doing right now. I divided the companies into 8 categories by audience and function. This is subjectivity—you might have grouped them differently. There may be mistakes in the data. No one’s perfect, not even me or Claude. For the complete methodology, see Part 1 of this newsletter series [ https://substack.com/redirect/4d1b2939-899f-47ad-b8bf-566cea6ab267?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/4d1b2939-899f-47ad-b8bf-566cea6ab267?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] The state of B2B websites Let’s start with the website. It’s very easy to research web trends in Claude Code, because you can scrape without asking! I pulled the homepage, hero, pricing page, and CMS for all 100 companies, and cut the data by GTM motion, category, and company size. Want more on web? I recently wrote all about what modern websites include today, with tons of examples in this newsletter [ https://substack.com/redirect/8ba43628-b49b-4092-b38e-eb6e3790e868?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. This report gives a more quantitative view of what’s going on. 🎯 MY FAVORITE STAT(S): Companies with a sales-led GTM motion hide both their product and their pricing. 22% have product screenshots in the hero, and 0% show prices on a pricing page. 0 companies in our study have fully vibe-coded websites. Most use an all-in-one site builder or headless CMS. What are websites built on? Has vibe coding taken over? Note: A CMS is the thing that lets a marketer change a headline or swap a logo without bugging an engineer. Framer [ https://substack.com/redirect/c76bd448-34ab-4fab-b3f5-eb8bd0280748?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and Webflow are all-in-one CMSs (design tool + content tool in one). Sanity and Contentful are headless CMSs (just the content tool, paired with a custom front-end). ➜ 39% of B2B sites are still on all-in-one platforms The headless CMS category is right behind at 38% (Sanity 15%, Contentful 15%, others combined). At 25% overall, Webflow is the most popular way to build a site across all 100 companies, not just the all-in-one category. (Unfortunately I can’t tell when these companies first built on Webflow.) ➜ 23% have no CMS; mostly design tools, dev tools, and AI builders This likely means that 23% of marketing teams are annoyed by how hard it is to update their site (just a hunch!). Companies in the GTM (5% custom), people, and finance (8% custom) categories almost never go custom. The rule: If your product isn't technical, your website probably isn't either. “No CMS” almost always means Next.js code, likely with engineers managing the content directly. ➜ Vibe coding hasn't replaced the traditional CMS yet (emphasis on the yet) Zero of the 100 companies built their primary site with an AI builder (not even Lovable [ https://substack.com/redirect/8a1fb719-f765-4fbc-a860-22cfa246ea46?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]or Bolt). Some likely have secondary sites or landing pages built this way, though. Among companies under 50 employees, 45% have no CMS. Those small companies are the most likely to ditch the developer next year and just ask Claude Code (or a vibe coding tool) to make the change instead. ➜ The bigger the company, the more likely the website is built on headless CMS At over 250 employees, there are more headless CMS sites than all-in-one CMS sites. At 50-100 employees, only 21% are on a headless CMS; by 1K+, it’s 55%. Why it happens: Once a marketing team has 15+ people, a headless CMS lets the engineers build whatever front-end they want and lets marketers update content separately. ➜ When marketers are first hired, companies move to an all-in-one CMS (from a custom coded site) All-in-one CMS peaks at 64% in the 50-100 bucket, the same bucket where the median marketing team jumps from 1 to 4 marketers (detailed in part 1 of the report) [ https://substack.com/redirect/c1eaa438-24d0-4ea3-8e91-f32212ada176?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. 45% of sites at companies with less than 50 people are still custom-coded. Founders probably shipped them. The first real marketing hire ends that fast. As a refresher: Median is the middle value in an ordered dataset, and mean is the average. My team made me put this math lesson in. What’s in the hero? ➜ Only 22% of sales-led companies have product screenshots, compared to 39% for other companies Hybrid (37%) or self-serve (57%) GTM motions show product screenshots way more often. Sales-led heroes replace the product screenshot with a background image (74%) or a video (57%). They also run more announcement banners (70%), likely because requesting a demo is a big ask and they need a lighter-weight CTA. Why? Sales-led companies are afraid to show anything specific. They don’t just share product screenshots less often; they also rarely have pricing pages, and 0% show prices on the pages they do have (more on pricing pages below). ➜ The average B2B hero has a lot going on The standard set of things above the fold: a logo bar (58% of companies), a trust signal (69%), an announcement banner (59%) Trust signals includes review sites & analyst badges, customer counts, awards, star ratings, testimonial quotes, and press logos. “AI” is everywhere in hero copy (65% of companies say it), but a prompt-style text input box is rarer than I thought, only 9 companies have one in the hero and all of them have a self-serve or hybrid motion. A few standout heroes: Legora puts Jude Law in a full-bleed video [ https://substack.com/redirect/81185aa6-8e66-4cd4-869e-603441d370dc?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], really leaning into the “law” pun. Owner asks restaurant owners to type their restaurant name in [ https://substack.com/redirect/cbb2649d-dff0-4654-8df3-216e88785fc5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] for a custom AI sales report, the only company not targeting tech companies with a prompt box. And the hero maximalist: Navan stacks 8 of the 9 hero elements we tracked, plus a multiple-choice selector and the tallest announcement bar [ https://substack.com/redirect/293c8744-b41c-47fe-9fcb-087dd292bd0e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] I’ve ever seen. For more on what’s working on homepages now, check out my newsletter from last month ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/8ba43628-b49b-4092-b38e-eb6e3790e868?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Need help managing logos, customer stories, and trust on your website? UserEvidence [ https://substack.com/redirect/0302c4a8-a505-4e28-b52b-f6ee588922f7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], one of today’s sponsors, can help you scale customer proof. What do homepages say? ➜ We’re all AI platforms now: 92% of B2B homepages say “AI” & 66% say “platform” 75% companies say “agent” or “agentic” on the homepage: 52 say “agent” only, 19 say both “agent” and “agentic.” Only 5 of the 100 companies don't mention AI or agents anywhere on the homepage: Obsidian, Omada Health, Pulley, ServiceTitan, and Tracksuit. I respect the holdouts! And please, can we stop saying "revolutionize" (3%), "game-changing" (13%), and "democratize" (5%)? And enough with "seamless" (30%) too. Does everyone finally have a pricing page? ➜ Good news: 82% B2B companies (finally) have a pricing page Most starting tiers are $10-30/mo. The lowest seat-based price is ClickUp at $7/user/mo. Together.ai deals in cents: $0.02 per million tokens. And Pulley is refreshingly straightforward and gives you the price annually: $1,200/year for equity management. More money raised = less likely to show prices. 90% of companies in the $50-100M raised range show prices, but only 57% at $500M-1B do. The enterprise sales playbook takes over once you raise serious money. Oddly, public companies bounce back to 80%, but that's because 4 of the 5 publics in our sample are hybrid. Let’s break things down by GTM motion a bit more… ➜ Sales-led companies are afraid to get specific (again): 0% show actual prices GTM motion is almost a perfect predictor of having a pricing page! But also, sales-led companies: We’re going to ask an LLM for your pricing anyway—it might as well be available and accurate on your site. [ https://substack.com/redirect/a9cc8855-570b-4aa4-b764-04f1cbb2f191?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]I wrote about this forever ago and can’t believe this is still a debate. [ https://substack.com/redirect/a9cc8855-570b-4aa4-b764-04f1cbb2f191?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Is usage-based pricing taking over? ➜ More companies are moving to pay-as-you-go pricing to cover AI usage costs 36 total companies have usage-based pricing. 28 companies (34% of companies with a pricing pages) have only usage-based pricing. 9 (11% of companies with a pricing page) have both usage-based and seat-based pricing. Companies in 7 of the 8 categories have at least one company with usage-based pricing. Design & video companies use this pricing model most often (75%), while 0 vertical industries companies have usage-based pricing. There are various types of usage-based pricing: Together.ai (per token), Stripe (per transaction), and Intercom + Fin (per outcome, billed per AI-resolved ticket). 🥤 TAKEAWAYS FROM STATE OF WEB: The B2B website is finally getting cheaper and faster to build, but companies are still on their legacy CMS or custom-coded site (39% all-in-one, 38% headless, 23% custom). Meanwhile, sales-led companies are still doing the same thing they've always done: hiding pricing and product screenshots. I think this is actively costing them revenue. Conversion matters more than ever as web traffic and inbound decrease, and buyers are getting impatient—especially when 77% of B2B startups offer a self-serve option. The state of B2B social Social is undergoing a shift right now: Human influencers on social [ https://substack.com/redirect/ac993dd9-484e-4059-84d9-e3f166dcf359?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] are becoming more important than companies on social. And not just for organic. LinkedIn even has thought-leader ads to promote individuals' posts [ https://substack.com/redirect/c1554113-9984-4855-b3cc-50ecf49efc98?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. To see how that's actually playing out, I pulled LinkedIn followers (company + every founder), Twitter followers, and LinkedIn ad activity for all 100 companies. 🎯 MY FAVORITE STAT: 73% of founders at companies under 50 employees have more LinkedIn followers than their company. At 1K+ employees, only 7% do. Do founder socials matter more than the company socials? ➜ At small companies the founder is bigger than the brand. At scale, it flips. 73% of founders at companies with less than 50 people have more followers than their company on LinkedIn. At 1K+ employees, only 7% do. Founders and brand switch places around 250 employees. Another way to look at this: Founders out-follow their company by 2-3x at small companies. By 1K+ employees, the company has 4-5x the founder’s followers. Most extreme founder dominance all shows up at companies with under 100 employees: Relay.app (185x), GC AI (160x), Metadata (135x), Unify (26x), Sierra (17x). Caveat: Many of the late-stage companies likely built out their LinkedIn following back when growing a company page was a lot easier. Now LI favors individuals in my experience. ➜ Usually it's one founder carrying the social weight, not both The median top founder has 22.7K LinkedIn followers. Top founder is the founder with the biggest following. 1 founder is usually very dominant on social. The median across all founders combined is just 27.4K, so 2nd and 3rd founders only add about 20% on top of what the top founder brings. Is Twitter* still alive for B2B? (For some categories, yes) * Don’t make me call it X ➜ Twitter is alive for a few specific categories, signaling who still hangs out there The pattern: Technical and creative audiences hang out on Twitter, business buyers (HR, finance, ops) are on LinkedIn. To break this down, Twitter beats LinkedIn (in median followers) in 3 categories: Design & Video (101K Twitter vs 53K LinkedIn), Builders & Web (47K vs 34K), and Productivity & Analytics (65K vs 56K). Twitter is basically dead in 3 categories: GTM (2.5K median followers), Vertical Industries (3.7K), and People & Finance (8K). How prevalent are LinkedIn Ads in B2B? ➜ Almost everyone runs LinkedIn ads, but only 56% have figured out thought-leader ads The median company in our sample has 386 ad creatives visible in the LinkedIn Ad Library [ https://substack.com/redirect/a935aa3e-e6e9-4828-8ea5-df480a26af36?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (which tracks the last 12 months). Three companies have over 10K: Canva, Rippling, and ElevenLabs. 2 of the 4 companies skipping LinkedIn ads have built major organic presences. Relay.app [ https://substack.com/redirect/4df87297-de8a-4e35-aa9a-8556088f4ffa?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]‘s founder has 70K LinkedIn followers (10x the median for sub-50 companies) Obsidian has 199K Twitter followers (133x the sub-50 median). Note: You can pull this info yourself from the LinkedIn Ad Library, or ask Claude Code or Cowork to do it. I’ll share more on how I pulled the data in part 3 of this series. ➜ Who’s figured out that LinkedIn thought-leader ads typically outperform other LI ads? Companies in the GTM category run thought-leader ads at 74%. There are lots of influencers in this category, and brands are likely amplifying their posts as paid ads. Surprising pattern: Companies in the AI Models & Infra category have the biggest founder LinkedIn followings (41K median, ~2x other categories) but the lowest LI thought-leader ad adoption (23%). The personal brands are massive, but they're not turning them into paid amplification—maybe they should? This made me curious: Do companies outside AI Models & Infra with big founder followings run thought-leader ads? Most likely. When you exclude that category, 70% of companies with above-median founder followings (>21.6K) run TL ads, vs 52% for companies with lower founder followings. Need help with Linkedin Ads? More on how to use thought-leader ads in my LinkedIn Flywheel newsletter ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/c1554113-9984-4855-b3cc-50ecf49efc98?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Call Max and August at Closing Media [ https://substack.com/redirect/f58287f2-ce1b-4e91-8774-28465e535efa?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. They're a long-time partner of mine and a sponsor of this report. 🥤 TAKEAWAYS FROM STATE OF SOCIAL The future of B2B social is less “should I be on LinkedIn” and more “whose voice are we using, and where else do my buyers hang out?” Currently, LinkedIn dominates. But with 96% of companies running LinkedIn ads, just being on the platform isn't differentiation anymore. The teams that stand out are leaning into growing founder followers and thought-leader ads to put individual voices forward (but still only 56% of B2B startups are using these). Depending on your audience, it may make sense to add or expand other social channels: Twitter for designers and builders, Reddit and YouTube for technical buyers, and maybe even TikTok for some audiences? maybe? The state of marketing fuel Last up in this report, the state of marketing fuel [ https://substack.com/redirect/c7a34e96-1f23-42ef-9506-a46e3b386361?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. By "fuel" I mean content broadly: blogs, events, communities, newsletters, podcasts. I was particularly curious about two observations: that events are on the rise [ https://substack.com/redirect/ee5a12a0-03d5-4179-b4a8-b722b43b3438?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and that while everyone's talking about AEO, many are still behind on actually readying their websites to be read by LLMs. 🎯 MY FAVORITE STATS: Our SEO & AEO strategies need an upgrade: 100% of companies have a blog, but only 63% posted to their blog 2+ times last month—and only 2 companies have a truly AEO-ready website. Are we still leaning on blogs? ➜ The blog gets an occasional update now, it’s not required for every single thing 100% of B2B companies have a blog, but only 61% posted 2+ times last month. Which suggests more than 1/3 of these companies are operating a very sleepy blog. Dev Tools & Security is the surprise laggard with only 46% having an “active” blog, but they're likely publishing to their docs instead. I.e. Stripe, Datadog, and Vercel all have massive documentation sites that double as content. ➜ Companies are leaning on events (69%), communities (39%), newsletters (28%) instead—and very few on podcasts (8%) Companies with sales-led GTM motions over-index on events (78%). This makes sense: Longer sales cycles and higher contract values mean relationship-building is essential. Only 8 companies have a podcast, those that do are mostly in GTM and Dev Tools categories. Channel mix: Only 1 company runs all 4 (events + community + newsletter + podcast). 20 companies run NONE. Most stick to 1-2 channels. Caveat: We measured if companies have events, communities, newsletters, and podcasts based on if their homepage or footer has a relevant link. This may miss some. ➜ Communities and newsletters are most popular at product, eng, and design-focused companies The biggest divide: Community. 61% of companies in these categories (Builders, AI Infra, Dev Tools, Design) have a community. But only 23% of other companies (in GTM, People & Finance, Vertical, Productivity categories) have a community. Having a newsletter has the second-biggest gap (41% vs 18%). Builders & Web (70%) and AI Infra (62%) categories lead on community. People & Finance is at 0%. Not a single one of the 12 companies in that category has a community, which is surprising. I thought HR leaders sought community. LLMs are a distribution channel now; are our websites ready? ➜ Less than 2% of B2B startups in our sample have all the AEO basics in place We measured AEO readiness through a few scrape-able signals: FAQ on the site (41%), FAQPage schema, the markup that tells LLMs your FAQ is in Q&A format (2%) Organization schema and SoftwareApplication schema (18%), which tell LLMs details about your company and that you're a software product. You can figure out all the schema types at schema.org [ https://substack.com/redirect/2a6389ea-4262-4b95-a7e8-b86fa1f06e9e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Robots.txt rules for LLM crawlers Footer link counts as a proxy for internal linking (median footer links = 44) The median B2B footer has 44 links; Datadog tops the list at 119. Sites with few or zero footer links make it hard for crawlers to discover deep pages, which hurts both SEO and AEO. 97% of B2B sites let LLM crawlers in (3 block GPTBot, only 2 block ClaudeBot). Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/9e1b82cc-7a40-4d8b-b6a6-210112554859?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] is doing something smart here: They block CCBot (which feeds Common Crawl, the source of most LLM training data) but allow GPTBot and ClaudeBot. Translation: Don't train on us, but do cite us in real time. ➜ FAQ text is everywhere, FAQ schema is nowhere; only 2 companies have both The 2 companies hitting both: Puzzle and Klaviyo. Everyone else has the FAQ content in plain HTML, which LLMs parse less reliably than structured FAQ schema. This is the easiest AEO fix on the list: Adding FAQ schema takes about 15 minutes and immediately makes the content machine-readable. FAQs are most common in self-serve GTM motions (71%) and the Builders & Web category (60%). The most behind are surprisingly Dev Tools (15%) and unsurprisingly Vertical Industries (31%). 🥤 TAKEAWAYS FROM STATE OF FUEL The old strategy of churning out blog posts won’t cut it. 100% of companies have a blog, but only 63% post regularly...maybe showing its slow fade out? My Claude Code research and web scrape can’t see everything, but the patterns are clear: Communities and newsletters are popular for companies with technical and design buyers (61% have communities vs 23% of non-technical companies), events are popular for sales-led GTM motions (78% run them), and AEO is universally underinvested in (less than 2% of companies have all the basics in place). Other stats I wish I had time to research… I had to draw the line somewhere. Here’s what I didn’t get to but would have liked to. The good news is you can pull any of these yourself in Claude Code with our 2 new MCP skills! Demo request form fields and form types Whether companies offer a “book a meeting directly” option in the demo request flow Reddit presence: how many companies have a dedicated subreddit, and how many run Reddit ads YouTube channel activity (subscribers and posting cadence) Mentions in LinkedIn posts and sponsored LinkedIn posts Ads tracking beyond LinkedIn (base on pixels) LinkedIn Thought-leader ads broken down: promoting an employee post vs. an outside influencer post Types of blog posts that are most common now (launches, thought leadership, customer stories, etc.) Events: Webinar frequency and whether the company runs its own conference Explore the data and do your own research with the MKT1 MCP Server /state-of-b2b-marketing Query the full dataset behind this report: 100 high-growth B2B startups, 100+ data points each, covering GTM motion, team composition, open roles, social, ads, homepages, CMS, conversion, and AEO readiness. /high-growth-b2b-company-list My curated list of 150 high-growth B2B companies ready as a reference set. Run quick research across a known-good list instead of starting from scratch every time. Plus a bunch more skills in the MKT1 MCP: Up next: Part 3 of the State of B2B Marketing Report Part 3 next week will cover my advice for doing research, building reports, and shipping research as a Claude skill. If you want to do this type of report or expand on my research, don’t miss it! For more stats and graphs, don’t miss part 1 of this report covering marketing teams, leadership, and hiring data [ https://substack.com/redirect/4d1b2939-899f-47ad-b8bf-566cea6ab267?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. 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[ https://substack.com/redirect/38e67e9b-fe81-40e0-90a8-128cf1f8a204?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Paid subscribers get our full library of skills and templates, including the 2 new research skills used in this newsletter. 🧑‍🚀 MKT1 job board - new & improved: Jobs from the MKT1 community [ https://substack.com/redirect/1015aed3-748e-46e0-81aa-547ca285bdd9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (it’s free to post as a paid subscriber). And our candidate form [ https://substack.com/redirect/dec30407-3aa8-4f37-ab40-1d960e0cb3c5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] if you’re looking for a new role (option to remain anonymous included!). 👩‍💻 MKT1 Buildathons: Missed our first Buildathon? Watch the replay [ https://substack.com/redirect/b9f93af6-bba7-4d8f-8f75-09bf9427771e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] to see how to build a /marketing-strategy-skill in Claude Code. Want in on the next one? Get on the waitlist. [ https://substack.com/redirect/6e6d6e74-b7cf-45c9-9527-e3fb9e04c91d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] 📦 MKT1 Unboxing: Watch our video series to see Kramer (that’s me) unbox Mutiny [ https://substack.com/redirect/da7a2d4d-bb1c-42e4-b3a6-7f320bd37288?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Wistia [ https://substack.com/redirect/351e5182-c854-4b0e-87c6-f7131a03e9ed?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Luma AI [ https://substack.com/redirect/92f28b19-a8fa-4df6-a5d7-668b5a5aebb8?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], & Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/1fee4e11-5acb-44d2-83b2-70acfb51f141?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. 🥞 MKT1 Perk Stack - New Perk: Exclusive discounts worth $40K+ [ https://substack.com/redirect/ca079937-79eb-45e6-8be7-172875694b35?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] on our favorite GTM tools. For annual & superfan paid subscribers only. We just added 3 months free of Granola, check it out! 🧰 Template & resource library: We have 100+ templates and resources [ https://substack.com/redirect/254564de-2e91-4b39-9d0d-52915f1c5ff9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] available to paid subscribers in our template & tool library. Join our Slack Waitlist Good news, we’re launching a Slack just for talking about using Claude Code or Cowork and/or our MCP Server. It’s invite-only for paid subscribers using the MKT1 MCP Server users. Get on the list ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/27ff7b54-85d7-4157-95c2-d9751777431e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Unsubscribe https://substack.com/redirect/2/eyJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9uZXdzbGV0dGVyLm1rdDEuY28vYWN0aW9uL2Rpc2FibGVfZW1haWw_dG9rZW49ZXlKMWMyVnlYMmxrSWpvME1qWTFNVFV3TkRBc0luQnZjM1JmYVdRaU9qRTVORGN4TURnd09Td2lhV0YwSWpveE56YzNNekl4TWpBNExDSmxlSEFpT2pFNE1EZzROVGN5TURnc0ltbHpjeUk2SW5CMVlpMHlNVGcxTURFaUxDSnpkV0lpT2lKa2FYTmhZbXhsWDJWdFlXbHNJbjAueFJXNXRqN2gyMkdyN2JBT25yMndMT2c0SFhrV2p6M0VPNnBBeUx0VmRqZyIsInAiOjE5NDcxMDgwOSwicyI6MjE4NTAxLCJmIjp0cnVlLCJ1Ijo0MjY1MTUwNDAsImlhdCI6MTc3NzMyMTIwOCwiZXhwIjoyMDkyODk3MjA4LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMCIsInN1YiI6ImxpbmstcmVkaXJlY3QifQ.gTvuiYM_i_ZWVxx81yvAqaRAw6PLlmngiO2ImZ0jKiA?

View this post on the web at https://newsletter.mkt1.co/p/state-of-marketing-report-teams-part-1 👋 This is a monthly free edition of MKT1 Newsletter—a deep dive into a B2B startup marketing topic, brought to you by Softr [ https://substack.com/redirect/392bc98e-51db-49ed-be6b-0250e5e4c965?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/44af3824-101c-44f7-96f7-a6377c5b51fd?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and 42 Agency [ https://substack.com/redirect/2b76e504-44dc-4bfe-a32a-e8c7aa0b01c2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Upgrade to a paid subscription for: Full access to our new [ https://substack.com/redirect/2501ee67-2af3-4947-90ad-de9a5c8fea13?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/2501ee67-2af3-4947-90ad-de9a5c8fea13?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | 100+ templates & resources [ https://substack.com/redirect/3f4f243a-5719-4e3f-a61e-639c507722ce?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | Post to [ https://substack.com/redirect/71517c1a-57dc-4010-8e66-4f6a1d3a1e8a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 Job Board [ https://substack.com/redirect/71517c1a-57dc-4010-8e66-4f6a1d3a1e8a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | MKT1 Newsletter Archive [ https://substack.com/redirect/2f19d4eb-7248-4aa1-8eda-5201f59c0516?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | $40K+ in discounts in the [ https://substack.com/redirect/4ebe7384-152f-4c82-b492-55e90accaadc?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 Perk Stack [ https://substack.com/redirect/4ebe7384-152f-4c82-b492-55e90accaadc?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] I accidentally embarked on my first big research report using Claude Code over the past week. The result: a 3-part newsletter on the State of Marketing based on my research of 100 B2B companies from seed-stage to recently public. Part 1 covers the State of Marketing Teams, Part 2 will cover the State of Marketing Activities (some sneak preview stats from part 2 below), and Part 3 will cover how to make—and even distribute—these reports in Claude Code. Let’s back up, here’s how this report started. An advisee asked me a simple question: “If we want to start a newsletter for our B2B startup, what platform should we use?” Usually, my brain goes blank thinking of relevant companies to look at when marketers ask me questions like this. Then I realized with Claude Code I could create and save a list of 100 fast-growing, forward-thinking B2B companies of various sizes, stages, and industries. So I built the list and made a skill to research all 100 companies at once. And then I couldn’t stop. I ended up researching over 90 data points for those companies. I blew past the $100 Claude plan into the $200 plan. I still had to spot-check data and correct graphs manually many times over, but now I can add a company or a data point and re-run the skill for fast answers. And I have about 30 graphs to share with you all. If you're thinking "how is this different than just using Claude Chat for research?"—reading this series will show you. Specifically, part 3 will cover the details of building a report like this, saving it as a skill, and releasing it via an MCP Server. In other words, I'll explain exactly how to produce researched work, not AI slop. Subscribe so you don’t miss part 2 and 3 over the next 2 weeks. Recommended products & agencies We only include sponsors we’d recommend personally to our community. If you are interested in sponsoring our newsletter, email us at sponsorships@mkt1.co [ mailto:sponsorships@mkt1.co ]. Softr [ https://substack.com/redirect/392bc98e-51db-49ed-be6b-0250e5e4c965?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: Vibe coding is great until you need to build a database, multiple pages, logins & permissions, and hosting. Softr’s new AI Co-Builder handles all of it. Build any internal marketing tool yourself: an influencer CRM, advisory board app, enablement library, etc. 🔓 Offer: Use code MKT1-50 for 50% off the Business Plan [ https://substack.com/redirect/392bc98e-51db-49ed-be6b-0250e5e4c965?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] for 3 months (expires 12/31/26). — Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/44af3824-101c-44f7-96f7-a6377c5b51fd?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] is the AI native CRM with built-in enrichment, flexible workflows, and fast set up. Their new “Ask Attio” agent has changed how I personally CRM: it can update fields, do company research, and more with a single AI prompt. 🔓 Offer: MKT1 subscribers get 15% off your first year [ https://substack.com/redirect/44af3824-101c-44f7-96f7-a6377c5b51fd?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. — 42 Agency [ https://substack.com/redirect/2b76e504-44dc-4bfe-a32a-e8c7aa0b01c2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] is a MOPs & paid media agency that kicks off differently. They start with a Revenue Opportunity Analysis that digs into your ad accounts, CRM, and closed-lost deals to find where revenue is leaking. Then they fix it. 🔓 Offer: First 5 companies to redeem get 15% off [ https://substack.com/redirect/bdd6bd03-86ed-4615-ae73-4e575ca5f400?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] a revenue opportunity analysis. In this newsletter: Part 1 - This newsletter: State of Marketing Teams, 19 graphs, each with additional analysis you can read or scroll right past Part 2 - In your inbox in a few days: State of Marketing Activities, with an emphasis on social and web Part 3 - Coming end of April: Claude Code researching and reporting lessons and takeaways based on creating these newsletters Next Buildathon: There will be a buildathon related to researching companies in Claude Code, date TBD. In the meantime see the recap and replay of our first Buildathon on building a marketing-strategy skill in Claude Code here ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/3328b53b-ef42-4efc-a07e-470e8c7a9a2a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Bonus for paid subscribers—2 new skills related to this research & Report in our MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/2501ee67-2af3-4947-90ad-de9a5c8fea13?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: /state-of-b2b-marketing Query the full dataset behind this report: 100 high-growth B2B startups, 90+ data points each, covering GTM motion, team composition, social, ads, homepages, CMS, conversion, and AEO readiness. /high-growth-b2b-company-list My curated list of 150 high-growth B2B companies ready as a reference set. Run quick research across a solid list of companies instead of starting from scratch every time. The State of B2B Marketing, Part 1: Marketing Teams *Based on what Claude Code can research with Emily Kramer’s prompting Methodology Before I show you all the beautiful charts and graphs me, Claude, and Figma made together, some notes on methodology: I chose 100 B2B startups, mostly venture-backed, from seed to IPO, concentrated in growth-stage. I targeted companies with recent funding rounds, high-growth trajectories, that are referenced as a startup to watch, or are default B2B tools we all know. Claude helped me pull this list together, of course. I tried to include a range of GTM motions, audiences, categories, and stages. But it’s concentrated in AI, which is where so much of the fundraising is going right now. This is a curated list, not a random sample. It’s biased and not statistically significant (for example, since I chose “hot” companies, more are hiring than the average startup). Categorizing companies into clean buckets is a bit of a fool’s errand. You might have grouped them differently, but I did my best to group companies based on the audiences they target. (See the diagram above for the 8 buckets I used and the companies in them.) I pulled and analyzed data via Claude Code using MCP servers (Figma, Clay, Attio, Airtable, and the MKT1 MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/2501ee67-2af3-4947-90ad-de9a5c8fea13?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]). Claude scraped LinkedIn, web pages, ad libraries, and pulled in other sources to validate. This report is meant to give you reference points and examples, and show you what the “top” B2B companies are doing in marketing. Despite my best efforts, it may have mistakes. No one’s perfect…not even me or Claude. How does this sample break down by GTM motion? I categorized a lot of the data in this report by GTM motion and category, in addition to total funding. Why? Most marketers benchmark against “companies our size.” But there are other “cuts” that dramatically shape what marketing does: GTM motion (how people buy) and category (what you sell). Quick definitions: Self-serve: You can buy without talking to sales. (Some call this PLG. Close but not the same, but that’s a different newsletter.) Sales-led: Most buyers go through a rep. You’re getting a demo whether you want one or not. Hybrid: A combination of the two, you can sign up or buy without talking to sales or you can buy through a rep, depending on your deal size, use cases, etc. Two things worth calling out: Certain categories default to certain GTM motions. Vertical-focused startups like Harvey (legal-tech) and Abridge (health-tech) go sales-led because the TAM is narrower and the buyers expect a relationship. I see a lot of marketers try to run a self-serve or PLG playbook at a sales-led company (or vice versa) and fail. Throughout this report, you’ll see how your GTM motion [ https://substack.com/redirect/ac739f65-5f8d-48ec-b850-17c1250b9ae9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]changes what happens in marketing. The state of marketing team size 🎯 MY FAVORITE STAT Companies selling to marketers have bigger marketing teams as a % of headcount, with an 8.3% median (8.1% mean). That's more than 2x the rest of the sample. Sample size of 8 is small, but way to practice what you preach. Let’s start with what’s going on with marketing teams. Obviously, the composition of teams are shifting, agents and AI are doing things humans once did, and we all feel a bit anxious about the situation. But the fast-growing startups in this sample are hiring marketers in large numbers. These companies realize that at a time when it’s easier than ever to build products, marketing, distribution and brand just might be the moat. Quick caveat/reminder: I scraped data from web, using Clay [ https://substack.com/redirect/c2accdf8-cfb9-4bfc-b02f-3e53e9edc54c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and spot checking many careers pages and LinkedIn searches, but this data isn’t perfect, its meant to be directional and a snapshot of what’s going on. It’s not statistically significant. How big are marketing teams right now? ➜ The median marketing team size is 13; the mean is 44 As a refresher: Median is the middle value in an ordered dataset, and mean is the average. My team made me put this math lesson in. I use median as the main measure of the “middle” throughout this report, since the big companies on the list pull the average up substantially. Canva and HubSpot have hundreds of marketers each! Team size data on its own isn’t particularly interesting unless you slice it against other datapoints, so let’s slice and dice this data. ➜ Marketing is ~4% of company headcount Looking at the above team size charts, I immediately wanted to know what % of headcount sits on the marketing team. I’ve long thought 5% was a good benchmark for marketing as a share of headcount (or higher depending on GTM motion and stage), and I’ve fought for that headcount when I’ve led marketing. But, the median in this sample is 4% (mean 4.4%), a bit lower than I expected. Marketing team sizes may get smaller in the future (thanks AI), but so will other teams in the org. So, I expect this ratio to stay roughly steady. Maybe I’ll run this skill again in 6 months and see if that holds. How does marketing team % shift by stage, category, and GTM motion? When you slice marketing team size, things get more interesting. A few stats stand out: ➜ Below 250 headcount, marketing teams are 5%+ of total headcount. Above 250, marketing is consistently 2-4%. As headcount grows, the team size grows, but % of total headcount shrinks. Note: It may look like a massive jump in median marketing team size from 500-1K employees (18 marketers) to 1K+ employees (71 marketers). But the 1K+ bucket is a wide range, covering companies from 1,000 people to 15,000. ➜ Companies selling to marketers hire the most marketers. The 8 companies building products for marketers have a median marketing team of 8.3% of headcount. The other companies combined median is just 3.8%. It’s a small sample, but clearly having more marketers on the team when you target marketers is beneficial. Companies selling to sales teams don’t hire as many marketers. The 6 companies in that bucket run marketing at just 2.9% of headcount. Maybe their sales teams pick up the marketing slack? ➜ Self-serve companies have the biggest marketing teams. I expected companies with hybrid GTM motions to have the biggest marketing teams since they have the widest range of channels and content types, plus more ops complexity. But self-serve “wins”, with marketing as 5.6% of headcount. Marketers compensate for the lack of a sales team. And if you have any self-serve motion (hybrid + pure self-serve) the median is 4.3% vs. the 23 pure sales-led companies with a 3.2% median. 🥤 TAKEAWAY: Marketing team sizes are a bit all over the place. I love a tidy benchmark, and 2-4% of total headcount is the typical range. But GTM motion, category, and founder preferences shape the actual number a lot. Brief intermission: Don’t hold another marketing meeting without Granola. It’s now in the MKT1 Perk Stack, which totals $40K+ in exclusive discounts for annual paid subscribers, including Framer, Typeform, Primer, PhantomBuster, and Storylane. Go to the Perk Stack ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/4ebe7384-152f-4c82-b492-55e90accaadc?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] The state of marketing leadership 🎯 MY FAVORITE STAT Only companies with $50M+ in total funding had someone with a “CMO” title in our sample of 100 companies. So don’t expect the C-level title, even if you’re doing the job, until there’s more money in the bank! Next up let’s look at who’s leading these teams. In my experience, companies that do marketing leadership well have one person owning the whole function with the right title and real scope. Otherwise you end up with silos, gaps, and random acts of marketing [ https://substack.com/redirect/e7cf386e-f5f1-4078-aa13-03d8325bd996?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. What titles do we give marketing leaders running the whole team? Note: These graphs only count the senior-most marketing title per company. A company with a CMO, likely also has VPs too, they just aren’t represented here. ➜ 68% of companies have someone leading all of marketing, but with a mix of Head of, VP, and CMO titles Early-stage teams often have no one leading all of marketing. 40% of companies with less than $50M raised don’t have a unified marketing leader; 53% have someone with a “Head of” title. That doesn’t mean they have no marketers. Half (3 companies) have someone running a sub-function like content or demand gen. The other half (3 companies) have no marketing hires yet. Only 2 companies with under $100M raised have CMOs: Puzzle and Wispr Flow [ https://substack.com/redirect/eba78dcb-1c10-4518-b1d5-8cb7b4afd3f0?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (and given Wispr’s marketing, I think this is a great call, it’s so good!) By $500M+ raised, 81% of companies have a unified marketing leader, and 45% have a CMO. ➜ It’s hard to get a CMO title, we found only 27 CMOs across 100 fast-growing companies If you have the title, you’re an anomaly not the norm. This bums me out (and without the title you are often under-leveled on compensation too). As fundraising goes up so do C-level titles, which does make sense, but still why so low? So let’s compare this to CROs at the same companies to see if they have more seats at the table. Are there more CMOs or CROs? Or more companies with no C-level GTM leaders? ➜ 59 of 100 companies have no CMO or CRO. Three-quarters of those 59 companies have raised less than $500M, meaning C-suite GTM titles are mostly a late-stage phenomenon. On the flip side, 15 companies have both a CRO and CMO, all late-stage and mature: Benchling, Chainguard, Datadog, Figma, etc. ➜ CMOs and CROs are basically tied 29 companies have a CRO. 27 have a CMO. 59 have nieither. This was suprising to me, I thought CROs would be in much higher numbers than CMO. CRO-only companies (14) skew AI infra and sales-led, like Cohere, Rippling, ServiceTitan, etc. 🥤 TAKEAWAY: Plenty of B2B companies are growing fast without a CMO. Would they grow faster with one? I think yes, but the data can’t prove it. Do marketers deserve more senior titles and the same seat at the table as a C-level sales leader? I also think yes. The state of marketing hiring 🎯 MY FAVORITE STAT(s) 100% of companies with more than $500M raised are hiring marketers. ~1/3 of open marketing roles are in ecosystem and events-related functions. These channels are doing the heavy lifting while inbound and outbound both struggle. Despite fears of AI taking marketing jobs, companies are still hiring in big numbers (at least at the fast-growing startups in this sample). This is likely because so much funding is flowing into AI-era B2B companies right now. I hope it lasts. In the meantime, learn those AI skills! Are there open roles out there? ➜ Yes, companies are hiring marketers. 87 of the 100 in our sample have open roles, many with more than 1 Across those 87 companies, there are 507 total open marketing roles. That’s an average of ~6 per company. But, 85% of the open roles are at companies with $250M+ raised. The 13% not hiring skew small and early: Paper, Obsidian, Navattic, etc. ➜ 100% of companies with more than $500M in funding are hiring marketers right now All 42 late-stage companies ($500M-1B, $1B+, pre-IPO, and public) on our list have at least one open marketing role. Most open roles are from companies you’d expect: Anthropic, OpenAI, Stripe, Deel, Datadog, and Rippling all have more than 20 roles open each. How does sales hiring compare to marketing hiring? ➜ 78% of companies are hiring for both marketing and sales right now This makes sense, if you are growing fast, you are hiring for both teams, but there was more overlap than I even expected. 87 companies are hiring marketing, 84 are hiring sales, 7 aren’t hiring for either. ➜ There are more than 3x as many sales roles open compared to marketing, but most of this is due to a few companies hiring A LOT of sales people Rippling alone has hundreds of open sales roles (yes, hundreds). Datadog and HubSpot have over 100 each. Remove those three outliers and the ratio of marketing to sales roles drops to ~1.5x. Sales open roles counts are often misleading. Some companies list 1 role for “AE” when they are actually hiring 5. In the other direction, some companies include regional variants for potentially just 1 role. Given this, I think the number of companies hiring for either function in general is more interesting. Looking for a new role? Inspired by the Claude Code skill I built to scrape roles for this report, we created a new and improved job board. It now has more roles, new filters, and an easier way for paid subscribers to submit jobs for approval. Go to the job board ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/cab9f11d-7bd9-453f-a886-4e45516798e1?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] What marketing functions are companies hiring for most? ➜ No surprise, Growth and Product Marketing are by far the biggest buckets Growth / Demand Gen / Paid leads with 99 open roles. Product Marketing is right behind at 90. Together they make up 37% of all open marketing roles. ➜ Events and ecosystem hiring point to what actually works in 2026 34% of open marketing roles are in ecosystem and events-related functions (partner, field/events, community, DevRel, and PR). I’ve been saying this for a while, with inbound declining, outbound saturated, and AI slop, human interactions and recommendations matter. Field / Events [ https://substack.com/redirect/38f39bd3-ec84-4d7d-ae21-9781834764c9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] is the #3 bucket with 60 open roles. 5 years ago during peak-Covid times we never could have imagined this! Ecosystem marketing [ https://substack.com/redirect/515de1f1-0a21-46b2-b180-adb559b1e251?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] roles add up: Partner (16) + Social/Community (44) + DevRel/Advocacy (28) + Comms/PR (23) = just over 100 roles. Companies are hiring marketers to orchestrate relationships with partners, creators, communities, and media to piggyback on trust and credibility. What do marketing job descriptions say in the AI era? ➜ If you don’t mention AI in your JD, you’re in the minority 84% of JDs mention “AI,” 18% mention “agent” or “agentic,” 6% mention “LLM.” Clearly, you need to use AI in today’s marketing roles, but we knew that already. Some of the companies that don’t mention AI in their JDs (like Framer and Railway) are very AI-forward. Maybe it’s so obvious it doesn’t need to be said? ➜ The evolution of “cringe” Cringe is subjective, but here’s what‘s cringe to me just for fun… I was expecting “ninja,” “rockstar,” and “hacker” to show up, but I guess we’ve finally moved on (thankfully). Instead we have new candidates for cringe like “passionate” (26%), “grit” (3%), and “hungry” (1% - not in chart). It’s giving “Let’s all drink protein-shakes together" vibes. You might disagree with me here, but I put “storyteller” in the cringe bucket. It was the WSJ article [ https://substack.com/redirect/c1f866c6-a98e-4d3d-9777-8b86920dedb5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] that did me in. And what tools do they mention? ➜ Figma and Notion at #1 and #2 was a surprise. Stripe at #6 has an explanation. I’m surprised Figma clocks in at #1 (16%), especially given how many marketers prefer Canva. (For the record, all of the graphs in this report were made with the Figma MCP in Claude Code + my obsessive editing.) But a caveat for this whole chart: anytime a well-branded tech company shows up in JDs, some of those mentions are name-drops (social proof customer lists, shared investor callouts), not actual tool requirements. Stripe at #6 is the cleanest example — almost all customer name-drops, not actual usage. Figma’s 16% is partly that too: Notion, Hex, and Sanity all name-drop them. ➜ AI tools have taken over, but Marketo is still hanging on OpenAI (10%), Claude (7%), Anthropic (6%), and ChatGPT (5%) all show up at meaningful rates. Each one shows up roughly as often as HubSpot (8%) or Salesforce (11%). Lump them together and “AI labs” is the most-mentioned tool category in marketing JDs. AI-native tools also show up: Clay [ https://substack.com/redirect/c2accdf8-cfb9-4bfc-b02f-3e53e9edc54c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (6%), Cursor (5%), Replit [ https://substack.com/redirect/6044ce26-14e6-4192-8a04-58037c2f051e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (4%), Lovable [ https://substack.com/redirect/8574b930-f07b-41f5-a2f2-e4585da7d65c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (4%), Gamma [ https://substack.com/redirect/bd47db22-9f0c-48ad-ae8d-24fc29e04e4d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (3%). Honestly less than I expected for Clay and Lovable. Meanwhile, Marketo (4%) is still hanging on at roughly the same frequency as Slack and GitHub. Not dead yet. What are the marketing roles of the future? I’ve been talking a lot about the Gen Marketer skillset [ https://substack.com/redirect/43588f3d-1feb-4bae-86c2-676c432c3998?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] over the last 9 months. So with the job scraping skill I made for this report, I pulled some roles that reflect the need for marketing generalists, who can execute cross-channel campaigns, and work efficiently with AI and agents. Here are some that I found: Ramp — Agentic Operator, Growth Marketing [ https://substack.com/redirect/94c5c14e-6056-4856-89b9-fad948125cf5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: Asks for familiarity with agentic AI, MCP, and evals; if you’d showed me this 12 months ago I would have been very confused! Cursor — Marketing Systems Lead [ https://substack.com/redirect/ffd207fd-b082-4adf-92b0-747d0229e0d3?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: Systems thinker meets marketing ops. Cursor pitching marketing as a systems architecture job is on-brand for an AI coding tool. Clay — Chief of Staff, Marketing [ https://substack.com/redirect/8851dae1-df39-4ea6-ad03-fb212872cc83?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: I’ve long been a proponent of a CoS in marketing (when leading marketing teams, I called the role something else to get the headcount!). And it’s a perfect role for a Gen Marketer skillset. Lovable also has this role. [ https://substack.com/redirect/594f01bf-18ab-459b-8a32-55cdf3ad429e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Airtable — Program Manager, AI Programs [ https://substack.com/redirect/861f6c63-af16-472e-866f-50dc5079debc?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: Dedicated marketing role for AI-specific programs. Sounds like a Gen Marketer is needed here too. Lovable — Field Marketing Lead, Hackathon [ https://substack.com/redirect/26f8a2f8-376d-42f2-8dd2-4e207682dbf0?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: Events role written specifically for builder / developer hackathons. A new field-marketing archetype for the AI era. Gamma — Product Evangelist [ https://substack.com/redirect/cde25cce-6354-4d87-8a45-1e9787d15669?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: This “Evangelist” role is a mix of a product marketing, content, and DevRel role. Anthropic and Lovable are hiring for "Evangelist" titles too. These PLG, AI-first companies need to educate the market, and this is a new way to do it. 🥤 TAKEAWAY: There are marketing jobs out there. And yes, you do need AI skills to get them. [ https://substack.com/redirect/0c33e61a-bf94-434c-95ee-05270a1f0970?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Companies are asking for people with broad skillsets and loading the JDs with AI tools and AI buzzwords. But the job titles haven't caught up yet; companies are still mostly hiring for specialist roles. The next time I run this report, I expect to see more generalist, campaign lead, and marketing chief-of-staff titles, and fewer narrow sub-function JDs. But what’s interesting in this report isn’t just the data… It’s what this means for how marketers research and distribute content… It’s now possible to run your own research in Claude, then ship what you learn back to your customers in Claude, where it becomes immediately actionable. That’s what I did with this report. Claude both co-created the fuel and is the engine for distribution [ https://substack.com/redirect/f2e282a7-92a3-4e57-b303-a37a40066e57?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. The research lives as two skills in our MKT1 MCP Server. Now you can use them to benchmark yourself against 150 companies in B2B, or answer the kinds of questions I get asked as an advisor all the time. 2 new research skills on the MKT1 MCP Server /state-of-b2b-marketing Query the full dataset behind this report: 100 high-growth B2B startups, 90+ data points each, covering GTM motion, team composition, social, ads, homepages, CMS, conversion, and AEO readiness. /high-growth-b2b-company-list My curated list of 150 high-growth B2B companies ready as a reference set. Run quick research across a known-good list instead of starting from scratch every time. Loving our MCP Server, want to talk about it? Good news, we’re launching a Slack just for talking about using Claude Code or Cowork and/or our MCP Server. It’s invite-only for paid subscribers using the MKT1 MCP Server users. Get on the list ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/c7e39a8a-3d28-4dde-b678-abe30d34a00a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] New to MCP Servers and Claude Code? We hosted a Buildathon that will help you get up to speed. Watch the replay ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/3328b53b-ef42-4efc-a07e-470e8c7a9a2a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] [ https://substack.com/redirect/3328b53b-ef42-4efc-a07e-470e8c7a9a2a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Reminder: Parts 2 and 3 coming in the next 2 weeks I’m increasing the newsletter cadence temporarily because what was supposed to be one newsletter turned into three. More graphs, more stats, and more about how I used Claude Code to pull this report together, coming very soon. After that we’ll go back to our normal 2x/month cadence at MKT1, unless I get carried away in Claude Code again for days on end… Even more from MKT1 🙏 Brought to you by: Softr [ https://substack.com/redirect/392bc98e-51db-49ed-be6b-0250e5e4c965?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], an AI platform for business apps; Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/44af3824-101c-44f7-96f7-a6377c5b51fd?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], the AI CRM for modern businesses; and 42 Agency [ https://substack.com/redirect/2b76e504-44dc-4bfe-a32a-e8c7aa0b01c2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], a Demand Gen and MOPs agency. All 3 companies have offers for MKT1 subscribers! 🤖 MKT1 MCP Server: Add MKT1 to Claude Code, Chat, and Cowork. [ https://substack.com/redirect/2501ee67-2af3-4947-90ad-de9a5c8fea13?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Paid subscribers get our full library of skills and templates, including the 2 new research skills from this newsletter. 👩‍💻 MKT1 Buildathons: Missed our first Buildathon? Watch the replay [ https://substack.com/redirect/3328b53b-ef42-4efc-a07e-470e8c7a9a2a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] to see how to build a /marketing-strategy-skill in Claude Code. Want in on the next one? Get on the waitlist. [ https://substack.com/redirect/74f14af3-3302-47f9-b145-8837b59098e2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] 📦 MKT1 Unboxing: Watch our video series to see Kramer (that’s me) unbox Mutiny [ https://substack.com/redirect/46b64318-a965-48b1-894a-ff5c6b1b89c7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Wistia [ https://substack.com/redirect/99646c75-c142-4fd1-b6c4-597fba45fe81?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Luma AI [ https://substack.com/redirect/408f38cf-13b7-43c6-8458-853694975538?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], & Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/228f4168-47a6-4cde-bf92-54f346265ee5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. 🥞 MKT1 Perk Stack - New Perk: Exclusive discounts worth $40K+ [ https://substack.com/redirect/4ebe7384-152f-4c82-b492-55e90accaadc?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] on our favorite GTM tools. For annual & superfan paid subscribers only. We just added 3 months free of Granola, check it out! 🧰 MKT1 template library: We have 100+ templates and resources [ https://substack.com/redirect/3f4f243a-5719-4e3f-a61e-639c507722ce?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] available to paid subscribers in our template & tool library. 🧑‍🚀 MKT1 job board - new & improved: Jobs from the MKT1 community [ https://substack.com/redirect/71517c1a-57dc-4010-8e66-4f6a1d3a1e8a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (it’s free to post as a paid subscriber). And our candidate form [ https://substack.com/redirect/93850449-5154-4c94-979c-b96f7f2489c0?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] if you’re looking for a new role (option to remain anonymous included!). 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View this post on the web at https://newsletter.mkt1.co/p/website-examples-2026 👋 This is a monthly free edition of MKT1 Newsletter—a deep dive into a B2B startup marketing topic, brought to you by Profound [ https://substack.com/redirect/2f862b5b-527d-4f2f-92fb-500f61273815?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], 42 Agency [ https://substack.com/redirect/67987087-74e6-4377-9641-689638eaf817?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and Framer [ https://substack.com/redirect/6f1bbdd3-9bc2-4311-b350-6ff5d287d44c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Upgrade to a paid subscription for: Full access to our new [ https://substack.com/redirect/1e002dc3-44e3-4868-ab74-a493ae920aea?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/1e002dc3-44e3-4868-ab74-a493ae920aea?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | 100+ templates & resources [ https://substack.com/redirect/af94a8e2-4be5-44bb-864d-25efba5c368f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | Post to [ https://substack.com/redirect/f6710137-ad48-46dc-8ae4-89c5727b2ad2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 Job Board [ https://substack.com/redirect/f6710137-ad48-46dc-8ae4-89c5727b2ad2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | MKT1 Newsletter Archive [ https://substack.com/redirect/31f2e331-9560-401f-88e3-99af296d401f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | $40K+ in discounts in the [ https://substack.com/redirect/93e99429-b6b4-46a3-94d5-ab703d4d5f21?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 Perk Stack [ https://substack.com/redirect/93e99429-b6b4-46a3-94d5-ab703d4d5f21?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] I’ve long said your website is your most important marketing asset. Lately, I’ve debated if I still believe this is true. Websites are in a state of flux [ https://substack.com/redirect/eb8e95f2-fff2-4cdc-9b67-d189de38cae7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] right now: LLMs are increasingly where people research products, so less traffic is making it to your site. The traffic that does show up is harder to convert, because prospects have already half-formed an opinion in a chat window. It’s fair to wonder if the website is still worth investing in. But I’ve landed on my answer: Your website is still your most important marketing asset, but for different reasons. Your website is a major source of what feeds LLMs, so what’s on your site shapes what those models say about you. And your website, at least for now, is still where prospects go to evaluate and buy. In a world where anyone can vibe code a decent-looking site in an afternoon, your website is your chance to stand out in an increasingly crowded landscape. Don’t vibe code it into undifferentiated chaos! (A recent report by Framer [ https://substack.com/redirect/df90e999-12d6-4232-8121-4750077ebafa?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] found that 83% of marketing teams manage multiple websites—vibe coded chaos is very real!) All of this changes what you need to prioritize on your website now: It’s easier to build (and update) websites than ever. Vibe coding and AI tools mean you can spin up pages and match what competitors are doing faster. If you’re not regularly updating your site, you’re already behind. Less traffic means conversion matters more. When someone does make it to your site, the stakes on that visit are higher. You need to include the details prospects need to convert, and make sure LLMs can parse those details too. (In that same Framer report [ https://substack.com/redirect/df90e999-12d6-4232-8121-4750077ebafa?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: 71% say conversion is their top KPI, but only 12% run A/B tests to improve it) Credibility is a necessity. Product differentiation is harder (because building products is easier now too), so your brand needs to do the heavy lifting. There are more products in every category and savvy prospects can see through flimsy claims and fake social proof. You’re building for two audiences now. Humans evaluating your product, and LLMs deciding whether to recommend it. And this is different from just optimizing for search. With search, you controlled what search engines said about you, from the title to the meta description. LLMs generate a different answer every time and you need to do more to guide the LLM correctly. To see what this looks like in practice, I called Casey Hill [ http://Casey Hill ], CMO at DoWhatWorks [ https://substack.com/redirect/ea5dd1e4-caf8-4830-a4d8-a33648572ea4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. DoWhatWorks scans millions of websites and tracks tens of thousands of A/B tests, and Casey’s talked to 75+ website teams about what they’re building and why. He posts those findings on LinkedIn and in the DoWhatWorks Substack [ https://substack.com/redirect/139c7a68-04a5-4ba6-b6e4-e93bfe7f2573?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. I asked him what’s standing out right now, scanned through 100s of his examples myself to pick out my favorites, and put together this newsletter. Recommended products & agencies We only include sponsors we’d recommend personally to our community. If you are interested in sponsoring our newsletter, email us at sponsorships@mkt1.co [ mailto:sponsorships@mkt1.co ]. Profound: [ https://substack.com/redirect/51392d36-ad34-4a97-95ac-ffeb6bd0600e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] [ https://substack.com/redirect/51392d36-ad34-4a97-95ac-ffeb6bd0600e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]Improve your brand’s AI visibility with Profound [ https://substack.com/redirect/51392d36-ad34-4a97-95ac-ffeb6bd0600e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Track how your brand shows up across LLMs, then use agents to turn AI signals into AEO briefs, research competitors, and create campaign-ready content. Used by Ramp, Calendly, Zapier, and MKT1 of course. 🔓 Offer: Mention MKT1 [ https://substack.com/redirect/09507e62-21d3-43a1-8205-e19fa4a0f2ff?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] to get a free AI Visibility Report. — 42 Agency [ https://substack.com/redirect/67987087-74e6-4377-9641-689638eaf817?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] runs signal-based outbound and paid programs for B2B startups. From ops set up, warming mailboxes and signal tracking to personalized sequences, account-specific ad targeting, and cross-channel campaigns, they handle it while you close deals. 🔓 Offer: First 5 companies get a free 30-min pipeline diagnostic [ https://substack.com/redirect/c913c12c-18ab-44b2-a5e1-c4276aa1b92a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. — Framer [ https://substack.com/redirect/6f1bbdd3-9bc2-4311-b350-6ff5d287d44c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: DoorDash, Perplexity, Mixpanel, and Mutiny’s websites are all built on Framer. From early-stage startups to Fortune 500s, Framer is the website builder I personally recommend. It works like your team’s favorite design tool, with AI-powered building, integrated A/B testing, and one-click publishing 🔓 Offer: Get 15% off a Yearly Pro plan with code MKT15. Annual MKT1 Subscribers get 30% off a Yearly Pro plan in our Perk Stack [ https://substack.com/redirect/93e99429-b6b4-46a3-94d5-ab703d4d5f21?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. In this newsletter: I cover the website patterns standing out in the AI era. I’ve categorized 30+ examples into four buckets: Build for humans & machines: [ https://substack.com/redirect/a05d3bb7-f242-44e3-9c5b-5c3fe02da057?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] We’re now creating content for LLMs, search engines, and humans. These examples cover how to strike the balance. Examples include: Wispr Flow, Supabase, Railway, PostHog Go beyond basic social proof to show credibility: [ https://substack.com/redirect/d5f5443f-ede0-4e3b-b965-3baadede18b2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] AI has lead us all to be more skeptical of what’s real, so the old playbook of basic logos isn’t cutting it. Examples include: Clay, Notion, Linear, Intercom Lower the bar to get started: [ https://substack.com/redirect/07bf937f-fcd3-4ea2-a161-485e818c87b6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] It’s harder to get people to your site, so when they show up you need them to convert. Examples include: Lovable, Replit, Framer, Canva, Zapier Quick wins: [ https://substack.com/redirect/fe8aa7b5-2687-4b5b-9c10-5290184d3766?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] [ https://substack.com/redirect/fe8aa7b5-2687-4b5b-9c10-5290184d3766?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]Other suggestions to make a high-converting, differentiated site fit for the AI era…and some suggestions of what not to do. Bonus for paid subscribers: We’ve added all of these website examples and more to our new /website-examples skill in our MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/1e002dc3-44e3-4868-ab74-a493ae920aea?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. You can ask Claude for examples of websites that do “X” and it will check the list and report back. I’ll be adding more examples over time. Build Claude Code Skills with us this Friday [ https://substack.com/redirect/76a5bed1-c50d-4c3c-8718-ed6aa7425d99?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Come to our first-ever MKT1 Buildathon [ https://substack.com/redirect/76a5bed1-c50d-4c3c-8718-ed6aa7425d99?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] [ https://substack.com/redirect/76a5bed1-c50d-4c3c-8718-ed6aa7425d99?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]on 4/3/26 [ https://substack.com/redirect/76a5bed1-c50d-4c3c-8718-ed6aa7425d99?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. I’ll show how to build a /marketing-strategy skill from scratch in Claude Code. Free to join thanks to our partner, Profound [ https://substack.com/redirect/2f862b5b-527d-4f2f-92fb-500f61273815?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Here’s what to prioritize to build a valuable, high-converting website in the AI era… 1. Build for 2 audiences: Humans & machines You might think we’ve always been writing for machines (the search crawlers), but it’s a different ballgame with LLMs as the new front door. LLMs generate their own answers with their own copy each time. And many people do not click through on LLM answers like they did with search results. So there are new must-haves to make sure your site is AEO-ready, but still valuable to humans. ➜ Make your site readable by LLMs and search crawlers I could write many newsletters about AEO, and the noticeable changes to websites, but here are a few ways companies are making their sites LLM-friendly. Some are creating what Casey calls “prompt presets,” pre-built links that send visitors straight to an LLM. Others are adding structured, machine-readable files to their sites. And some are just putting genuinely useful content in places where both humans and LLMs can find it. Here are some examples: Wispr Flow: [ https://substack.com/redirect/4abdc351-ffc6-477c-9ad8-90ac75678b01?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] [ https://substack.com/redirect/4abdc351-ffc6-477c-9ad8-90ac75678b01?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]The boldest version of “prompt presets” I’ve seen. At the bottom of their homepage they say “Still not sure that Wispr Flow is right for you? Let ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity do the thinking for you.” Then three buttons: Ask ChatGPT, Ask Claude, Ask Perplexity. It’s a way of saying “we’re so confident in how machines see us that we’ll let them do the talking”—and in their case not just in the footer, but in the flow of the homepage. Some other examples of prompt presets include Glean & Galileo. Supabase: [ https://substack.com/redirect/b8ec5e42-8b58-4acc-972f-a52c9a1a2d6d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] They link to humans.txt, lawyers.txt, and security.txt in their footer. These are plain-text files that give agents and crawlers a clean, structured way to parse who built the product, what the security policies are, and where to find legal info. Instead of making machines scrape your About page or navigate your legal docs, you give them a direct endpoint. More on the point of .txt files in this post from Casey » [ https://substack.com/redirect/b605e38a-7ec7-4a71-941e-a14efd830323?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Kick: [ https://substack.com/redirect/30094af6-a0af-4f8f-b1f7-273801d1a928?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] This is really clever! Kick lists tax filing deadlines by entity type (S Corp, C Corp, Sole Proprietorship, Partnership) with add-to-calendar buttons next to each one. This shows they really understand their audience. Plus, they did this in a format that’s useful to humans (with an add to calendar option) and easy for LLMs and search engines to cite. Plain: [ https://substack.com/redirect/5934b300-9a16-49c4-9e29-72c7ad55b7e4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] They put a link to their changelog right in the hero. It signals shipping speed and shows the product is actively evolving. And a changelog is structured, frequently updated content that keeps your site fresh for crawlers. ➜ Put effort into competitive positioning, for both humans and machines Comparison pages have always done double duty: They rank in search and they help people who are actively evaluating you against alternatives. Now there’s a third reason to invest in them. LLMs pull from comparison content when someone asks “should I use X or Y,” and if you’ve built that page, you have a shot at shaping the answer. Competition has heated up in every category, which makes these pages more important than they’ve been in years. Here are some examples: GC.AI: [ https://substack.com/redirect/d68eef77-45c4-44ea-b96c-185d0395ceb8?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] [ https://substack.com/redirect/d68eef77-45c4-44ea-b96c-185d0395ceb8?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]GC AI knows that ChatGPT and Claude are real competition, so they get right to it. Their homepage has a dedicated section that compares GC AI, ChatGPT, and Claude in a feature table side by side. Framer does the same thing with a dedicated Claude comparison page [ https://substack.com/redirect/f9e076d7-85c6-453c-bb6c-dd2701704a03?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and according to Casey [ https://substack.com/redirect/31daae97-aebc-4b3a-a85b-60f6d4358909?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] this page was ranking in ChatGPT within a month of going live. Railway: [ https://substack.com/redirect/2ec22569-5c68-477d-94db-bcb6efa07ae9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] After each feature section on their homepage, they include “Alternative to” followed by competitor logos. It’s subtle and doesn’t seem super aggressive, but is really effective! Casey details why this works so well here » [ https://substack.com/redirect/6316a4ad-c70f-43cc-9782-24f39f2a92a9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] ElevenLabs: [ https://substack.com/redirect/288fdd7e-3db8-4f5c-a797-8a893f8e504a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] They add customer logos under each homepage product section. This shows off use cases for the product and social proof at the same time. These simple logos are doing a lot of heavy lifting, teaching you how the product is used and signaling credibility. PostHog: [ https://substack.com/redirect/aef74fcd-4ed2-4f47-9146-5d73ff8ea491?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] [ https://substack.com/redirect/aef74fcd-4ed2-4f47-9146-5d73ff8ea491?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]Their entire site is a 90s throwback, worth studying for how humor and honesty build trust and differentiation. But the competitor comparison pages are the standout. They have a side-by-side format: “A competitor might suit you better (for now) if...” next to “Reasons to choose PostHog.” They admit their own gaps. Also a must-see: “You’ll hate PostHog if...” page. [ https://substack.com/redirect/527aa9eb-0b8f-401f-9d7b-bb6e669d1b7b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Other LLM-friendly web suggestions: Link critical content from your footer: LLMs (and search engines) seem to overweight content that’s accessible from global navigation. Examples: ClickUp links 50+ pages from their footer and Clay links customer case studies directly from their footer nav. More on this in DoWhatWorks Substack >> [ https://substack.com/redirect/6628db1e-1c69-4b4c-8795-d4c32b545879?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Add FAQs to your pages: Structured Q&A is one of the easiest formats for machines to parse and cite. Examples: Zapier has FAQs throughout their product pages and DoWhatWorks (where Casey is CMO) has one too. More on the importance of FAQs from Nick Lafferty, Head of Growth Marketing at Profound » [ https://substack.com/redirect/bacdf5c9-92a6-44b6-9ff4-c822555992d9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Check for things that LLMs can’t “read”: Hover states and tooltips (invisible to agents), scroll-to-load content (agents can’t trigger the scroll), video transcripts [ https://substack.com/redirect/d5fd9019-6380-4da7-add5-870c8949a95d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and content hidden in dropdown menus. 2. Go beyond basic social proof to show credibility Social proof has always mattered, but when every category has more products and buyers are more skeptical of fake content, who your customers are and how you present them can be a real differentiator. The problem is that most sites are still doing social proof the way they did it five years ago. A logo bar, a quote carousel, maybe a case study page buried in the nav. The companies standing out right now are rethinking what proof looks like, where it lives on the page, and how much of it a visitor can actually verify. ➜ Make your logos verifiable The logo bar has been a homepage default for as long as I can remember. Slap some recognizable names below the hero, signal credibility, move on. But we all got a little suspicious about which logos were real (or whether a logo churned two years ago or one employee used the product once). Now companies are making logos interactive, clickable, and tied to real stories and stats, which is much harder to fake. Here are some examples: Clay [ https://substack.com/redirect/eee1822b-9cf0-4c01-81cf-003881e41b32?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: One of the first to do this. Hover over a logo and you see a quote from a real person with their name, role, and photo. Logos are labeled “Case Study” or “Hackathon” to indicate what you’ll see when you click through. Dozens of companies have copied this since, and they should. It’s a great idea. Casey talks about how basic social proof bars typically perform (not great), and why verifiable proof works better here » [ https://substack.com/redirect/ec6abd8d-56cf-404c-832f-18c452d106ec?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] HeyReach: [ https://www.heyreach.io/?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://www.notion.so/?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://www.clay.com/?via=mkt1 --- https://sierra.ai/?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://linear.app/customers?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://www.intercom.com/customers?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://centralhq.com/?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://www.tryprofound.com/?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://lovable.dev/?via=mkt1 --- https://www.framer.com/?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://www.mutinyhq.com/?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://replit.com/refer/MKT1data --- https://v0.app/?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://www.canva.com/?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://www.usepylon.com/?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://www.zapier.com/?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://www.usestable.com/?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://www.mintlify.com/?utm_source=mkt1 ] [ https://www.heyreach.io/?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://www.notion.so/?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://www.clay.com/?via=mkt1 --- https://sierra.ai/?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://linear.app/customers?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://www.intercom.com/customers?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://centralhq.com/?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://www.tryprofound.com/?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://lovable.dev/?via=mkt1 --- https://www.framer.com/?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://www.mutinyhq.com/?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://replit.com/refer/MKT1data --- https://v0.app/?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://www.canva.com/?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://www.usepylon.com/?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://www.zapier.com/?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://www.usestable.com/?utm_source=mkt1 --- https://www.mintlify.com/?utm_source=mkt1 ]Goes a step further with their social proof bar. Hovering over a logo shows a quote, real performance metrics, and/or what tools the customer uses alongside HeyReach. Click through and you get an actual playbook with campaign workflows and email templates. Casey’s take on HeyReach’s Homepage on LinkedIn » [ https://substack.com/redirect/7873b378-058b-44ce-949d-e523a8420636?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Notion: [ https://substack.com/redirect/962797d5-5674-481b-bc05-5ed1ecb89aa2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] [ https://substack.com/redirect/962797d5-5674-481b-bc05-5ed1ecb89aa2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]A sticky logo bar is pinned to the bottom of the viewport. This way, social proof stays above the fold and expands with more detail on scroll. We see this with sticky nav bars to the top of the page, but I love the idea of getting creative with what “sticks” on scroll and where it is on the page. ➜ Extend proof beyond the logo bar Logo bars are now table stakes. So, the best sites are building credibility in other ways too: security certifications, filterable customer lists, video testimonials throughout the page, etc. The common threads are making “proof” specific, verifiable, and easy to find. Clay [ https://substack.com/redirect/eee1822b-9cf0-4c01-81cf-003881e41b32?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]& Sierra: [ https://substack.com/redirect/1d4bdeb2-feb4-4652-bcde-90624b8a7e98?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] both have prominent security certification sections on their homepages (SOC 2, GDPR, ISO 27001, etc.). These aren’t social proof in the traditional sense, but for enterprise buyers they function the same way and are super important for signaling credibility and durability. Linear [ https://substack.com/redirect/5a0447d7-758b-43f0-b5b2-19ca640ad4eb?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] & Intercom: [ https://substack.com/redirect/70dfd24e-b705-4a6f-8c70-eb5573547c01?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Linear’s customer page has logos organized in a filterable table by industry. Each row shows whether a case study exists (”Read Story”). This makes for a more scannable way to view a customer list. Intercom does something similar with filters by use case and industry, and prominent video case studies. Casey’s take on Intercom’s Customer page on LinkedIn » [ https://substack.com/redirect/167c5bdb-11e3-461a-9f8c-8748e628b53f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] CentralHQ: [ https://substack.com/redirect/2831aa5b-799f-4b9b-9460-0504655cf7c5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] [ https://substack.com/redirect/2831aa5b-799f-4b9b-9460-0504655cf7c5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]Testimonials have bold headers that read like feature callouts. Each one links to the original source on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, or G2. They make social proof scannable and claims more credible at the same time. Some quotes also mention switching from competitors by name, so the social proof doubles as competitive positioning too. Profound: [ https://substack.com/redirect/93d6bcca-7e77-44c0-ac02-16aa15a58813?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Event callouts are another way to show credibility. So, companies are giving upcoming events meaningful real estate on their homepage. Profound has a dedicated section for their Zero Click conference [ https://substack.com/redirect/a62b51d9-6ea6-42b7-b4ed-312afd6fe5c0?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] right on the homepage. If you’re hosting a conference and people are showing up, that says something. And right now events can be your best-performing channel [ https://substack.com/redirect/391d0db9-32a8-4b26-aa12-635baf4d2a6a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], so it’s a great secondary CTA that’s lower-commitment than requesting a meeting. A note on social proof: DoWhatWorks [ https://substack.com/redirect/ea5dd1e4-caf8-4830-a4d8-a33648572ea4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] has tracked 1,347 A/B experiments related to showing logos on websites. Static logo bars score just 18 out of 100 on their algorithmic predictor of success for SaaS companies. But it's not just logos, basic company stats ("trusted by 10,000+ teams") and single-line quote testimonials aren't doing much better. The more vague and high-level the social proof, the worse it performs. So get specific. 3. Lower the bar to get started It’s harder to get people to your site, so when they do show up you need them to convert. To lower the conversion barrier, companies are adding LLM-style input boxes to their homepage, templates that show you what to do first, and migration help that makes switching feel easy—and sometimes all three. ➜ Use LLM-style text boxes as product onramps More and more companies are putting an LLM-style input box right in the hero. It’s the interface people are used to now, and it doubles as an onramp into the product. Instead of “sign up for a free trial,” you just start typing. Casey writes about a bunch of these examples in this LinkedIn post » [ https://substack.com/redirect/8e66f2ec-a8b8-41c8-9ea4-a9ef7dab4ee0?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Lovable: [ https://substack.com/redirect/76041b71-948e-4818-8e00-a55b71651485?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] The hero is an LLM input bar. Describe what you want to build and you’re immediately in a creation flow. I think they kicked off this trend! Framer: [ https://substack.com/redirect/6f1bbdd3-9bc2-4311-b350-6ff5d287d44c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] They have dual CTAs in the homepage hero, “Start for free” and “Start with AI.” The AI path takes you to a page with a chat box to get started (and below that is a full template gallery). Mutiny: [ https://substack.com/redirect/3718a949-ec9d-480e-8d5c-63c07df7c734?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] [ https://substack.com/redirect/3718a949-ec9d-480e-8d5c-63c07df7c734?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]They take a slightly different approach. Instead of a typeable input box, their hero rotates through prompt ideas showing what the product can do, then you click get started and jump into the onboarding flow. ➜ Bring your product to life with templates & examples Template libraries have been around for years, but I’m seeing them move to the homepage more and more. And for AI companies, prompt libraries or suggestions are the new version of a template library. They let users start from something that already works and see the range of what the product can do. Replit: [ https://replit.com/refer/MKT1data https://replit.com/refer/MKT1data ] [ https://replit.com/refer/MKT1data https://replit.com/refer/MKT1data ]Below their text-input box, they have preset templates like “B2B project management app” and “Startup pitch explainer.” It helps you understand what the product can do and get going right away. v0 by Vercel [ https://substack.com/redirect/533eda7e-8552-4a5c-b6e8-7ff6a2e5512f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] has a similar setup. Canva: [ https://substack.com/redirect/e5136742-b000-4401-8f93-33ae74711650?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] They are known for their in-product templates for design, and they display these prominently on their homepage. Notion: [ https://substack.com/redirect/962797d5-5674-481b-bc05-5ed1ecb89aa2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Their use case pages show copy and paste-able prompts with a “Try it!” button and a video walkthrough. This combo gives you proof that it works and lowers the learning curve. ➜ Simplify the path to migration There’s a lot of change happening right now due to AI, and switching to modern software feels really hard on top of everything else. If you can make migration feel easy, you remove one of the biggest reasons people don’t convert. Pylon: [ https://substack.com/redirect/e0ebc45f-5e2b-4613-9b8b-686e3eaf8d09?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] [ https://substack.com/redirect/e0ebc45f-5e2b-4613-9b8b-686e3eaf8d09?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]Their social proof bar is segmented by “Migrated off Zendesk,” “Migrated off Intercom,” and “Others.” Social proof, competitive positioning, and comfort that switching is possible in one element. Well done. Zapier: [ https://substack.com/redirect/edbb63b1-4f49-4926-857f-c4cc0522abde?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] [ https://substack.com/redirect/edbb63b1-4f49-4926-857f-c4cc0522abde?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]Their top banner reads “95% of AI initiatives stall. Be the 5% that break through. Get an AI consultation.” Instead of announcing a fundraise or a webinar, they’re using the banner to position themselves as the guide for AI migration and offering a consultative call to help. Casey’s take on this banner on Linkedin » [ https://substack.com/redirect/9b761656-dce3-4193-922c-f6e560d089a2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Stable: [ https://substack.com/redirect/77e63665-d276-4b3d-829c-5740347a19bf?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Uses one line in their hero to signal the ease of switching: “Our AI assistant makes switching to Stable easy.” It shows they’ve thought about migration and built for it, and provides that reassurance at a key conversion moment. Mintlify: [ https://substack.com/redirect/8acb37fa-ea46-4b61-b03b-b43b072710d1?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] They have two clear paths at the bottom of their homepage instead of one generic CTA to sign up or request a meeting. “Pricing details” and “Quickstart” are common next steps for people who have made it to the bottom of the page. It also shows they aren’t afraid of showing pricing, which always makes the buying experience way better for prospects. It’s the same idea as the examples above: think about where your visitors actually want to go and make that path obvious. Add the MKT1 MCP Server to use our website-examples skill in Claude We’ve added all of these website examples and more to our new /website-examples skill in our MCP Server. You can ask Claude for examples of websites that do “X” and it will check the list and report back. I’ll be adding more examples over time. Anyone can install our new MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/1e002dc3-44e3-4868-ab74-a493ae920aea?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and get access to newsletter content in Claude, but only paid subscribers unlock the full set of skills. Upgrade now [ https://substack.com/redirect/7f09a812-767d-4a6e-8afb-17fc33d8b052?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] to get full access. More quick conversion wins Beyond building for two audiences, rethinking social proof and credibility, and making it easier to get started, there are a few more things you should consider to improve conversion. And a couple things to avoid… Pricing pages: I’ve been preaching this [ https://substack.com/redirect/3e603a7f-dc59-4bf2-b047-ac24e70e67fc?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] for years, but I’ll say it again: You absolutely need a pricing page, no excuses. Your pricing page is one of the highest-intent pages on your site. Prospects will find out your pricing one way or another (like by asking an LLM). Make it accessible and scannable and don’t hide the information people are looking for. Casey points out that Jira has the highest price he’s seen listed on a pricing page in this LinkedIn post » [ https://substack.com/redirect/76156738-aa8c-404a-b241-9234103e1486?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Meeting scheduling in your demo flow: I’ve also been preaching this for years; you need to make it easy to book a meeting directly from your site. Having someone wait for an email to schedule a meeting is ludicrous in 2026. Tools like Default [ https://substack.com/redirect/2f03ad4b-2d71-41e2-b8cd-b7146c32811a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], RevenueHero [ https://substack.com/redirect/b5bc3c59-1101-42f4-9921-35423abc4231?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and ChiliPiper [ https://substack.com/redirect/4c76f14e-dc20-4495-9842-2dcdb17b15db?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] make this simple. Look like a modern (read: AI) company: In addition to the LLM-style input boxes covered above, there are a couple other visual trends signaling “we’re an AI company,” if that’s your goal. Big logos in the footer and hero are everywhere right now: Arcade [ https://substack.com/redirect/8d682709-6981-41f2-9e30-a49156d4dfe4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Granola [ https://substack.com/redirect/09d1532a-6b18-4a88-b73e-f77374c4944c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Wispr Flow, [ https://substack.com/redirect/4abdc351-ffc6-477c-9ad8-90ac75678b01?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Gamma [ https://substack.com/redirect/739aba25-2a28-436e-b37f-fc31c67ebbae?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and more. AI-generated hero landscape images are becoming a visual shorthand for “we’re modern” (see Mintlify and Railway). Lastly, here are a few things that the jury’s still out on… MongoDB [ https://substack.com/redirect/ca283d0b-3064-408e-ab2e-71e2d3e9cbf7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] has a persona selector in the hero that changes the page content based on whether you select developer or a business leader. It’s interesting but very clunky. It might be best to leave this customization behind the scenes using personalization tools. Sage has an extremely similar looking hero, including an audience selector. ClickUp’s [ https://substack.com/redirect/8fed1d19-e15e-40a9-9f0c-b217f471190f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] homepage says “It’s like adding 15 full-time employees” with specific ROI stats. This may work, but it starts to get awkward when we’re talking about replacing humans so explicitly. I’m watching how audiences respond to this kind of positioning as AI really does replace us…ahhhh! Now go fix your website… If you take one thing from this newsletter, go look at your own site with fresh eyes. Not as a marketer, but as a prospect who just got a recommendation from Claude and then visited your site. Is your social proof verifiable? Can an LLM actually read your site? Is it easy to get started or book a meeting? Does it look like it was updated in this decade, if not this year, if not this month? If the answer to any of those is no, you know where to start. If you need additional help checking your website, 2 skills in our MCP server can help. The /homepage-positioning-checker skill will evaluate your site against the MKT1 positioning framework. The new /website-examples skill lets you ask Claude for examples of sites that do “X” (social proof, migration, LLM readability, etc.) and it’ll pull from the catalog we built for this newsletter. Once you add our MCP Server (for paid subscribers) to Claude, just ask it to run these skills, more details here [ https://substack.com/redirect/a7f380c5-46b3-478e-b637-c5993088968c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. More from MKT1 🙏 Brought to you by: Profound [ https://substack.com/redirect/2f862b5b-527d-4f2f-92fb-500f61273815?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (AI visibility platform); 42 Agency [ https://substack.com/redirect/67987087-74e6-4377-9641-689638eaf817?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (paid media, outbound, and Mops agency); and Framer [ https://substack.com/redirect/6f1bbdd3-9bc2-4311-b350-6ff5d287d44c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (website builder). All 3 companies have offers for MKT1 subscribers! 🙏 Thanks again to Casey Hill for the conversation and most of these examples. Follow him on LinkedIn [ https://substack.com/redirect/92cecdea-929a-40be-bae9-dba3c3e152c8?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and check out the DoWhatWorks Substack [ https://substack.com/redirect/92cecdea-929a-40be-bae9-dba3c3e152c8?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. He posts new website breakdowns constantly and they’re always worth reading. Bonus: DoWhatWorks is giving priority access to MKT1 subscribers [ https://substack.com/redirect/39e0e7d5-53a3-40ff-9a53-797b8362d033?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]to their new agentic product for web feedback and optimizations 👩‍💻 Claude Code Buildathon: Our first-ever Buildathon [ https://substack.com/redirect/76a5bed1-c50d-4c3c-8718-ed6aa7425d99?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] is on 4/3 at 9am PT / 12pm ET. I’ll show you how to build a marketing-strategy-skill in Claude Code—while you build along! RSVP now to save your spot [ https://substack.com/redirect/76a5bed1-c50d-4c3c-8718-ed6aa7425d99?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. 🗓️ Meet me at Profound’s Zero Click SF event: An exclusive gathering for the world’s top AI Search experts on 4/8/26. Register here » [ https://substack.com/redirect/a62b51d9-6ea6-42b7-b4ed-312afd6fe5c0?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] 📦 MKT1 Unboxing: Watch our video series to see Kramer (that’s me) unbox Mutiny [ https://substack.com/redirect/91f46e04-1cfd-48ec-ad0b-3a3d8740c8da?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Wistia [ https://substack.com/redirect/77dd90d5-b069-4261-b1d1-aea0c414d223?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Luma AI [ https://substack.com/redirect/0b1ef599-83cc-4dc1-896a-79afb2de5816?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], & Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/4b6ad8ed-c7ec-4236-81d4-e8c263096578?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. 🥞 MKT1 Perk Stack: Exclusive discounts worth $40K+ [ https://substack.com/redirect/93e99429-b6b4-46a3-94d5-ab703d4d5f21?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] on our favorite GTM tools. For annual & superfan paid subscribers only. 🧰 Template & resource library: We have 100+ templates and resources [ https://substack.com/redirect/af94a8e2-4be5-44bb-864d-25efba5c368f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] available to paid subscribers in our template & tool library. 🧑‍🚀 Job board: Jobs from the MKT1 community [ https://substack.com/redirect/f6710137-ad48-46dc-8ae4-89c5727b2ad2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (free to post as a paid subscriber). And our candidate form [ https://substack.com/redirect/2562ddc4-672c-476b-ab27-c80824a43e7e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] if you’re looking for a new role (option to remain anonymous included!). Unsubscribe https://substack.com/redirect/2/eyJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9uZXdzbGV0dGVyLm1rdDEuY28vYWN0aW9uL2Rpc2FibGVfZW1haWw_dG9rZW49ZXlKMWMyVnlYMmxrSWpvME1qWTFNVFV3TkRBc0luQnZjM1JmYVdRaU9qRTVNalUzTURZd055d2lhV0YwSWpveE56YzFNRFk1TVRFeUxDSmxlSEFpT2pFNE1EWTJNRFV4TVRJc0ltbHpjeUk2SW5CMVlpMHlNVGcxTURFaUxDSnpkV0lpT2lKa2FYTmhZbXhsWDJWdFlXbHNJbjAucTdQOHZELW1fMmstN0ZWNW5aSzU0ZmJpRllGZ3V6UGt3T0hNNGh6WGxRWSIsInAiOjE5MjU3MDYwNywicyI6MjE4NTAxLCJmIjp0cnVlLCJ1Ijo0MjY1MTUwNDAsImlhdCI6MTc3NTA2OTExMiwiZXhwIjoyMDkwNjQ1MTEyLCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMCIsInN1YiI6ImxpbmstcmVkaXJlY3QifQ.LXGJnpVmYh2QX80gr9IO_OJP-Asztti2emBb1Mj-NRA?

View this post on the web at https://newsletter.mkt1.co/p/build-marketing-strategy-skill-in-claude-code 👋 This is a monthly free edition of MKT1 Newsletter—a deep dive into a B2B startup marketing topic, brought to you by Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/8a436599-b985-42c8-8fc3-8bc10b46c1eb?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], UserEvidence [ https://substack.com/redirect/98fb73a5-56e2-45a4-bb4e-d869c65d243f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and Omni Lab [ https://substack.com/redirect/f7a4d35d-80f6-4d34-acb9-29a3e4191e5e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Upgrade to a paid subscription for: Full access to our new [ https://substack.com/redirect/a99f7e40-6583-4e39-b9aa-9e09229becf2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/a99f7e40-6583-4e39-b9aa-9e09229becf2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | 100+ templates & resources [ https://substack.com/redirect/53b312e7-3c20-4ee0-a556-21cb49139008?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | Post to [ https://substack.com/redirect/7f1d7f6a-cc1b-407e-a4c8-9325c1385263?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 Job Board [ https://substack.com/redirect/7f1d7f6a-cc1b-407e-a4c8-9325c1385263?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | MKT1 Newsletter Archive [ https://substack.com/redirect/26289ef5-58e7-4677-8ae7-4b92f04200aa?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] It’s been just over a month since I went all-in on Claude and started writing about agents [ https://substack.com/redirect/e40cce3f-9b9d-49ba-8044-d718af6d1121?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and Claude Code [ https://substack.com/redirect/ba0cf173-6f05-4023-ad11-97b28edd4583?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Naturally, I’ve also been helping a lot of marketers get up to speed. One big observation so far: Most marketers using Claude are skipping ahead. You’re trying to produce outputs with Claude based on faulty (or nonexistent) inputs. The problem with your agents (and honestly your marketing efforts in general) isn’t that you don’t have enough people, tools, or time. It’s that the strategy behind the work isn’t built out enough, high-impact enough, or connected enough to your company’s context. This has always been a challenge for marketers: You make strategy docs (hopefully), but you rarely look at them again. You update foundational things like ICPs and positioning, but your team doesn’t actually work from the same foundation when planning campaigns or reviewing outputs. So, you end up doing random acts of marketing [ https://substack.com/redirect/69e9d14d-f097-43ce-96f5-6529d48852f1?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], random acts of agenting, and random acts of AI-ing instead of focusing on the things that actually help you win. Here’s what’s different now: Claude can help you build your marketing strategy and then actually use it—in every brief, campaign review, and prioritization decision. Your strategy can live inside Claude and you and Claude can update it regularly as things evolve. This newsletter explains exactly how to do this step by step. But there’s a shortcut: paid subscribers can use our new MKT1 MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/a99f7e40-6583-4e39-b9aa-9e09229becf2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], it has the whole process built in, ready for you to run. Either way, do the damn thing and get your marketing strategy into Claude so your day-to-day work gets better. Recommended products & agencies We only include sponsors we’d recommend personally to our community. If you are interested in sponsoring our newsletter, email us at sponsorships@mkt1.co [ mailto:sponsorships@mkt1.co ]. Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/81dda737-5ccc-44d0-86fd-a6f93e59662a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] is the AI-native CRM with built-in enrichment, flexible workflows, and fast set up. Their new “Ask Attio” agent has changed how I personally CRM: It can update fields, do company research, and more with a single AI prompt. 🎁 Offer: MKT1 subscribers get 15% off your first year [ https://substack.com/redirect/8a436599-b985-42c8-8fc3-8bc10b46c1eb?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. — UserEvidence [ https://substack.com/redirect/98fb73a5-56e2-45a4-bb4e-d869c65d243f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] acquired Zealot. Now you can capture customer proof and build advocates in one place, which means it’s easier than ever to turn customers into your #1 growth channel. 🎁Offer: Mention MKT1 [ https://substack.com/redirect/98fb73a5-56e2-45a4-bb4e-d869c65d243f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] get your first 2 months free — Omni Lab [ https://substack.com/redirect/950f0cfa-604e-42dd-b277-ff72b4fcb01d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] helps growth-stage startups scale their paid media & demand gen strategy. They focus on building early brand awareness, expanding reach, and optimizing for revenue, not just top-of-funnel metrics. 🎁Offer: Mention MKT1 [ https://substack.com/redirect/950f0cfa-604e-42dd-b277-ff72b4fcb01d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] to get a $2500 paid media assessment free (10 available). In this newsletter: How to create a central [ https://substack.com/redirect/f31c6fc2-7d6d-4bcd-a4a8-f21d3106ed0e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] [ https://substack.com/redirect/f31c6fc2-7d6d-4bcd-a4a8-f21d3106ed0e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]/marketing-strategy skill [ https://substack.com/redirect/f31c6fc2-7d6d-4bcd-a4a8-f21d3106ed0e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] in Claude that becomes your team’s living strategy doc How to run 7 exercises in Claude [ https://substack.com/redirect/f3d0d424-21e3-4839-ba33-3596b6201c92?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] to build your strategy skill: company overview [ https://substack.com/redirect/4c2999f8-13eb-45cc-a35f-b3bb594d69ba?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], ICP prioritization [ https://substack.com/redirect/ac054184-e474-48ad-820c-7dd3fcf5fbdb?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Marketing Advantages [ https://substack.com/redirect/62f2e070-b14c-4c51-a41a-4980b135c1a6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Perceptions [ https://substack.com/redirect/9f2a36b2-586c-46ac-9b15-91fd5fa66a3c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], positioning [ https://substack.com/redirect/259d047b-1442-4a37-b556-439f2de78123?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Revenue Levers [ https://substack.com/redirect/c05284dd-cd1f-434e-8782-6cd1e4698310?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and Big Bet Campaign [ https://substack.com/redirect/989d7b76-68b4-4240-ade8-e0a2dfc30540?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] exercises Tips for using your /marketing-strategy skill daily [ https://substack.com/redirect/3c638dde-b68e-4cb8-a343-4c6e5043dd68?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] to turn your strategy into actual growth How to share and maintain skills [ https://substack.com/redirect/835796d9-879d-4984-8c0d-dad7d49daae2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] across your team using GitHub Shortcut for paid subscribers [ https://substack.com/redirect/10f4bae7-1894-4051-b75c-bb8ef6b1a47a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: Our new MKT1 MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/a99f7e40-6583-4e39-b9aa-9e09229becf2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] can run you through this whole process step-by-step in Claude. Need help? Join our first ever Buildathon on 4/3/26 [ https://substack.com/redirect/058369bf-fd9e-48f0-9b77-a655c900f3a7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and we’ll walk you through how to build your /marketing-strategy skill in Claude Code. The process: Build a /marketing-strategy skill To build your strategy in Claude, first create one central file: your /marketing-strategy skill. Then run multiple marketing strategy exercises (detailed in the next section [ https://substack.com/redirect/f3d0d424-21e3-4839-ba33-3596b6201c92?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]) and save the outputs into this skill file. Over time your /marketing-strategy skill becomes a living, breathing foundation for all of your marketing work—not a strategy doc you made once, but something Claude actually uses every time you work. The MKT1 MCP Server automatically makes you a /marketing-strategy skill file and guides you through the steps below. Paid subscribers get full access here ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/d1f3911f-42ca-430e-ab8d-1a944fa168b5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Here’s how to set it up: Step 1: Make your skill Ask Claude to create a marketing-strategy.md file (that’s your skill!) to hold all your high-level strategy info. Here’s a prompt you can use: “Create a Claude skill called /marketing-strategy. It should be a SKILL.md file with a description that tells Claude to reference this skill whenever I’m working on marketing—including briefs, campaigns, content review, positioning, planning, and prioritization decisions. Leave the body empty for now.” Then tell Claude to reference your new skill whenever your doing something marketing-related for your company. Set this up to happen automatically: In Claude Code or Cowork: Say, “Add this line to my Claude.MD file: reference marketing-strategy.md for anything marketing related.” Your CLAUDE.md file is the instructions file Claude reads at the start of every conversation. In Claude Chat: Ask Claude to update its memory to reference your /marketing-strategy skill for anything marketing related. You can also add it to the instructions for a specific project. Or you can add the /marketing-strategy skill itself to each project. If you get stuck on any of this, just ask Claude for help and ask it to reference its own “product-self-knowledge” skill. Step 2: Run strategy exercises and add results to your /marketing-strategy skill Run the strategy exercises detailed below, one at a time. After each one, ask Claude to save the output into your /marketing-strategy skill. Tell Claude to reference what’s already in the /marketing-strategy skill as you run each exercise. Each exercise builds on the last: company overview feeds ICP prioritization, which feeds marketing advantages, and so on. After completing all the exercises, you’ll have a fully built /marketing-strategy skill. More details on each exercise below. [ https://substack.com/redirect/f3d0d424-21e3-4839-ba33-3596b6201c92?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Step 3: Use your /marketing-strategy skill every day Once your skill is built, reference it in everything you do: briefs, campaign reviews, prioritization decisions, etc. Keep it updated: Give Claude feedback when something feels off, and re-run exercises when things shift. More on this later in the newsletter. [ https://substack.com/redirect/3c638dde-b68e-4cb8-a343-4c6e5043dd68?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Once you’ve done all 3 steps, your strategy “docs” now live in Claude as skill. You can reference it anywhere in Claude using /marketing-strategy. Can I just use my CLAUDE.md file for this? Why build a separate /marketing-strategy skill? You may have heard advice to add marketing strategy details to your CLAUDE.md file. I don’t recommend using it in this way. CLAUDE.md should be short. Anthropic recommends keeping this personal instructions file under 200 lines. The longer it gets, the more Claude ignores parts of it. Your marketing strategy will almost certainly be longer than 200 lines on its own. A skill is shareable. Unlike CLAUDE.md, a /marketing-strategy skill can be used across your team, every project, and all three Claudes: Code, Cowork, and Chat. Run these exercises to add context to your skill Company overview exercise Why it matters: Copying another company’s playbook or stealing random tactics doesn’t work. Your startup is, in fact, a bit of a special snowflake. It has unique attributes [ https://substack.com/redirect/ea56f673-5bad-4696-ad6c-3e1c7393b75b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] that should shape every marketing decision you make. This exercise forces you to document what actually makes your business specific so everything downstream matches the reality. And without it, Claude might make some assumptions about your business model that are out of date or just wrong. What to document: The basics: stage, team size, and funding Your business model: ARR, number of customers, GTM motion, how teams adopt your product, and how they expand Your high-level audience and TAM, product description, market category, competitive landscape, and ecosystem info (you’ll go deeper on audience and competitors in the ICP and positioning exercises) How to run the exercise: Ask Claude to help you build a company overview. Give it your URL and let it research your company first, then confirm what it finds and fill in any gaps. Share your stage, company size, pricing model, how customers buy, and anything else unique to how you operate and earn revenue. Ask it to output a clean summary you can save, then tell it to add this to your /marketing-strategy skill (that I detailed how to make in the step above). Already have the MKT1 MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/a99f7e40-6583-4e39-b9aa-9e09229becf2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]? Tell Claude to run the mkt1-company-overview exercise. It will research your company, give you a starting point, ask the right questions, and save it all to your /marketing-strategy skill. ICP prioritization exercise Why it matters: Most companies have some version of ICPs, maybe even a persona deck with vanity profiles like “Sales Sally” you never look at. What you actually need are robust ICPs that include both role and company [ https://substack.com/redirect/5343b5da-52ff-40df-b5e4-9f341bcf90ea?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and you need to prioritize them. Not every segment should get the same effort, budget, or tactics. This exercise forces you to operationalize who you’re spending time on. What to document: Your ICP segments: Both company type and role, and whatever criteria you use to build segments Maturity level for each ICP: I recommend using proven/core, scaling, testing, and not a priority. Time allocation: Roughly how much overall time your team should allocate to each segment over the next quarter or year. How to run the exercise: Ask Claude to help you prioritize your ICPs. You can share a list of customers or give Claude access to your CRM to help. Reference your /marketing-strategy skill if you’ve already started building it (so Claude has context on your company) Ask it to output a prioritized table of your segments with maturity levels and time allocation, then add it to your /marketing-strategy skill. Already have the MKT1 MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/a99f7e40-6583-4e39-b9aa-9e09229becf2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]? Tell Claude to run the mkt1-icp-prioritization exercise. It will pull in your company overview, walk you through each segment, and save the prioritized list to your strategy file. Marketing Advantages exercise Why it matters: Most companies don’t think deeply about how they can win on GTM before they just start doing. They pick channels, launch campaigns, and copy tactics without thinking about their “accelerants.” Marketing Advantages [ https://substack.com/redirect/ee975d4a-c987-47f3-91ca-9d9d9f0acdf5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] are the unique catalysts, dynamics, or strengths of your business, product, team, or story that help you grow faster when you focus your marketing efforts here. What to document: The advantages you have—or could have. I bucket advantages into 4 categories based on what drives the advantage: product, marketing/ecosystem, fuel, and engine advantages. You can see the broader list I’ve documented here [ https://substack.com/redirect/7be010bc-cc3d-48ed-8cca-99dd1954b27a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], but you might come up with others that don’t fall neatly into these. Strength and maturity of each: How strong is this advantage today, and how strong could it be when fully accelerated? Can it drive step-change growth, or is it just useful? How much energy and focus have you put into this advantage to date? Competitive check: Does your closest competitor have the same advantage? If yes, it’s likely a pretty weak advantage. Combination check: Are two advantages more impactful together? The best strategies exploit multiple advantages at once. ⠀How to run the exercise: Ask Claude to help you audit your marketing advantages by sharing the descriptions above, this section and diagram from our field guide [ https://substack.com/redirect/ee975d4a-c987-47f3-91ca-9d9d9f0acdf5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and this marketing advantages exercise. [ https://substack.com/redirect/37871f1f-8696-4056-8211-eaf73a9760e5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Tell it to reference your /marketing-strategy skill and research your top 1-2 competitors. Then confirm what advantages it thinks could catalyze your growth in a meaningful way. Ask it to output a table with each advantage, its strength, and whether it’s competitively differentiated, then add it to your /marketing-strategy skill. Already have the MKT1 MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/a99f7e40-6583-4e39-b9aa-9e09229becf2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]? Tell Claude to run the mkt1-marketing-advantages exercise. It will research your company and competitors, help you separate real advantages from aspirational ones, and save it to your /marketing-strategy skill. Perceptions exercise Why it matters: Perceptions [ https://substack.com/redirect/ce2674e6-c5b9-463d-aeb5-6797340115f3?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] are the key narratives you want to drive in your market. They're written from the perspective of your audience and are the foundational tenets of your story. Creating perceptions helps you tell a consistent, repeatable story across all fuel efforts. The majority of your content should ladder up to and support these perceptions. What to document: 3-5 perceptions, covering your company, your market, and your product Each written from your audience’s POV, as a belief they’d repeat back to you A category for each: company insight, audience insight, market insight, or product insight Status: Is this perception already established, emerging, or brand-new? How to run the exercise: Ask Claude to help you define your perceptions by copying and pasting the descriptions above (and by referencing your /marketing-strategy skill.) For more details to feed Claude, reference my newsletter on perceptions [ https://substack.com/redirect/72fa2ca6-9dd8-4313-9a21-75f70187f628?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and this template for building [ https://substack.com/redirect/6915e079-ddbd-4d80-acb7-e62574d805db?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Ask Claude to output 3-5 perceptions in a table, then add it to your /marketing-strategy skill. Already have the MKT1 MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/a99f7e40-6583-4e39-b9aa-9e09229becf2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]? Tell Claude to run the mkt1-perceptions exercise. It will use your company overview, ICPs, and marketing advantages to draft perceptions, then refine them with you. Positioning exercise Why it matters: Positioning [ https://substack.com/redirect/142bac0b-3e3d-49bf-b667-082e2c3a0f97?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] shapes how you talk about your product to your audience, and without it, you’re probably lacking clarity and maybe even confusing your audience. Most startups overcomplicate this, making long, soon-to-be-forgotten positioning docs that are somehow both exhaustive and unfinished. And even after all that work, they can’t clearly say who the product is for, what it is, and why it’s better than a specific alternative. Once you break positioning down simply, everything else gets easier. What to document: Your answers to the 4 positioning questions: Who is it for? What is it? What are you comparing it to? Why is it better? Positioning today vs. positioning in ~1 year: These are often different, especially at fast-growing companies in fast-moving markets. Writing 2 versions solves most positioning misalignment debates. How to run the exercise: Ask Claude to help you define your positioning. It can check your site and anything already in your /marketing-strategy skill, or you can share any existing positioning work (that 10-page doc from 6 months ago?!) and get help refining. I’ve written about positioning extensively: Here’s my positioning newsletter [ https://substack.com/redirect/09efa791-da64-4e8f-bde5-da0b28da9765?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and positioning statement template [ https://substack.com/redirect/7af51029-8896-483c-b96e-b4f5b0ddb0f6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] for more context. Tell Claude what your product does and who you think it’s for, and let it push back on whether your comparator and “why it’s better” actually resonate with your core audience. Ask it to output a positioning table with two columns (positioning today vs. positioning in 1 year), then add it to your /marketing-strategy skill. Already have the MKT1 MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/a99f7e40-6583-4e39-b9aa-9e09229becf2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]? Tell Claude to run the mkt1-positioning exercise. It will research your company, check your ICPs and perceptions, walk you through each positioning question, and save the positioning table to your /marketing-strategy skill. Revenue Levers exercise Why it matters: There are only 4 major ways to drive revenue [ https://substack.com/redirect/9e94adb0-d931-4d91-9e66-d845f2eccec1?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: new logos, expansion, retention, and pricing. Most marketing teams try to do all four at once and end up doing none of them well. This exercise forces you to stack-rank where marketing can have the biggest impact right now, so you focus your campaigns and goals on the levers that actually move the number. What to document: Stack rank the four revenue levers from 1-4, based on what’s most important to your business right now: Grow top of funnel with core audience Grow top of funnel with new audience Increase customer value Increase efficiency For each lever, note the maturity of your current motion: Are you already investing here, just getting started, or not doing anything yet? For your top 1-2 levers, describe how marketing will specifically move them with your current team and budget ⠀How to run the exercise: Ask Claude to help you stack-rank your revenue levers by sharing the descriptions above and telling Claude to reference your /marketing-strategy skill. Add more context from this this newsletter [ https://substack.com/redirect/a81e9730-934f-42d2-a8fc-8ce1a0e9003f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and template [ https://substack.com/redirect/583d442a-65a6-43cb-b5f1-c35b66b3b88b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] if needed. Ask it to output a ranked list of these 4 revenue levers with reasoning, then add it to your /marketing-strategy skill. Already have the MKT1 MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/a99f7e40-6583-4e39-b9aa-9e09229becf2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]? Tell Claude to run the mkt1-revenue-levers exercise. It will reference your company overview, ICP prioritization, and marketing advantages, walk you through the ranking process, and save it to your /marketing-strategy skill. Big Bet Campaigns exercise Why it matters: Big bets are where strategy becomes action. These are 1–3 campaigns [ https://substack.com/redirect/8b8e5e8f-d586-4eee-9d37-04e580f6aeea?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] that combine your advantages, perceptions, and ICPs into coordinated efforts. Each one has fuel [ https://substack.com/redirect/79860fce-4b2f-4c3f-8f8e-63401063951b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (content, creative), an engine [ https://substack.com/redirect/4265f139-ae04-4df2-b93e-4282fad2b46e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (channel), and an audience [ https://substack.com/redirect/2b12ed8d-2367-4222-94e5-a427edb52163?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (ICP segment). Without big bets, you end up with a scattered list of tactics. With them, your team knows exactly what you’re investing in and why. What to document: 1-3 campaigns, each with: a name, the ICP it targets, the perception it reinforces, the advantage it leans into, the channel it runs through, and the fuel it requires Priority level for each: high, medium, or low What success looks like for each campaign How to run the exercise: Ask Claude to help you design your big bet campaigns by referencing your /marketing-strategy skill. If the above strategy exercises aren’t done and added to the skill, the big bet output ideas won’t be good. Ask Claude to help you brainstorm ideas based on your ICPs, advantages, and perceptions, but the best big bets come from your own creative thinking with all of this context in mind. I’ve written about this more here [ https://substack.com/redirect/3a8375d6-bcff-4455-abd4-4141550bbfbe?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Once you have campaign ideas, have Claude output a summary of each, then add them to your /marketing-strategy skill too so you make sure you stay focused on these big things that can move the needle. Already have the MKT1 MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/a99f7e40-6583-4e39-b9aa-9e09229becf2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]? Tell Claude to run the mkt1-big-bets exercise. It will pull in the full strategy you’ve already added to your /marketing-strategy skill, paying close attention to your Marketing Advantages, and help you come up with big ideas that will move the needle. Make skills with me at the MKT1 Buildathon Come to our first-ever MKT1 Buildathon [ https://substack.com/redirect/058369bf-fd9e-48f0-9b77-a655c900f3a7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] [ https://substack.com/redirect/058369bf-fd9e-48f0-9b77-a655c900f3a7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]on 4/3/26 [ https://substack.com/redirect/058369bf-fd9e-48f0-9b77-a655c900f3a7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] hosted by me, Emily Kramer. We’ll show how we use the MKT1 MCP server and build a /marketing-strategy skill from scratch in Claude Code. It’s the easiest way to go from understanding the concept to actually having this set up and working. Open to all, bring your friends! My dad might even show up (hi dad!) [ https://substack.com/redirect/4f3e8e34-eb40-4b01-9fa8-0853397dd353?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Other things to add to your marketing-strategy skill Once you’ve run through all the exercises above, there’s more worth codifying in your /marketing-strategy skill. Here are my recommendations, I can’t cover all of these exercises here, but I’ll be adding skills for each of these things to the MKT1 MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/a99f7e40-6583-4e39-b9aa-9e09229becf2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] soon! KPO Goals: Add your marketing goals and don’t just include KPI or metrics goals. Instead, include goals from these 3 categories: KPI goals (metrics), Project goals (big bets), and Ops goals (foundation work + hiring) Read more in my guide to annual marketing planning [ https://substack.com/redirect/e565a173-04e8-44a9-b96e-f2ee06bbe938?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and crash course in marketing goal setting [ https://substack.com/redirect/5a6da6b3-86d4-4ceb-90fb-dba022ce12d9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. KPIs and metrics: Include the specific numbers you track, how you define them, and your targets. Once documented, Claude can reference them when setting goals, evaluating campaigns, or building reports. Channel strategy: Document which growth engines you're investing in, the current maturity, and why. Use the exercises above to inform this, not gut feel. Feed Claude my channel-startup fit newsletter [ https://substack.com/redirect/eeb5dd72-53d7-4817-bfc2-e4188dce0ae3?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (or run the /channel-strategy exercise with the MKT1 MCP Server [ https://substack.com/redirect/a99f7e40-6583-4e39-b9aa-9e09229becf2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]). Lifecycle and account stages: List how contacts and accounts move through your funnel, including lead stages, account stages, product-usage stages, and account tiers. Reference this signal-based campaigns [ https://substack.com/redirect/bbd7c54c-b3e2-49ec-a550-9be735fc82e6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] newsletter and the account-driven marketing template [ https://substack.com/redirect/267f6981-ac65-4751-924e-0ceaa088f4f2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Voice, tone, and style guide: Document how your brand writes and speaks. This keeps content consistent across your team, your agencies, and AI writing on your behalf. You can give Claude writing examples or access to Google Drive to get started. Brand guide: Add your visual identity: colors, typography, logo usage, diagram style. Share a Figma file or brand PDF directly with Claude to codify. Naming conventions, product tiers, and pricing: Adding product details like this prevents Claude from making things up or using the wrong terminology. Tech stack and DRIs: Share a list of tools you use and who does what on your team. Makes it much easier for Claude to figure out what’s possible and suggest human and/or tech workflows. New: Run a Claude Sprint with the MKT1 team We’re piloting something new. We’re looking for a small number of marketing teams to work with directly to build out their strategy inside Claude. It’s what we’ve been building with our MKT1 MCP Server, now applied to your company. If you’re a marketing leader at a B2B company and want to explore what this looks like for your team, tell us a bit about yourself [ https://substack.com/redirect/8ff2bc5d-4ace-4840-a0dd-3e97796dea26?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. We’ll reach out to talk through it. Use your /marketing-strategy skill daily Run all work through it Building your /marketing-strategy skill is only useful if you actually reference it. Now that it’s in Claude you can reference it for every marketing thing you do. Here’s what that looks like in practice: When creating briefs: Before any campaign or project, make a GACCS brief [ https://substack.com/redirect/0ffc8a1b-ac79-4694-a401-1325f6c835a7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (Goals, Audience, Creative, Channels, Stakeholders). This is much faster when you have many of these inputs in your /marketing-strategy skill. When prioritizing requests: Sales wants a new deck. A partner is proposing co-marketing. Your founder wants to sponsor an event. Before saying yes to any of it, gut-check it against your /marketing-strategy skill. When reviewing content and copy. A generic copy edit in Claude isn’t nearly as effective as checking whether something actually ladders up to your story. Before anything goes out, say: “Review this against my /marketing-strategy” so Claude checks it against your perceptions, positioning, ICP, and brand voice all at once. The prompt pattern is always the same: Tell Claude what you’re doing and add “reference /marketing-strategy”—that’s it. Other things you can do when you have this “operating system” built out in Claude: Once your /marketing-strategy skill exists and Claude is working from it daily, everything else becomes much easier, you can: Produce a tangible output from this strategy work. Turn your strategy into a one-page summary for other teams, or a strategy deck—ask Claude to generate it directly from /marketing-strategy. Run faster planning cycles. With your ICPs, advantages, perceptions, and revenue levers already in Claude, developing your Big Bets and KPO goals becomes a conversation instead of a process. Build a prioritization skill for your whole team. Paste your current to-do list into Claude alongside your /marketing-strategy skill and ask it to stack-rank everything by strategic fit—surfacing the relevant ICP, perception, advantage, and goal for each item. Save that prompt as its own skill, push it to GitHub, and anyone on your team can run it at any time. Explain any decision quickly. When a stakeholder asks why you’re doing something, Claude can articulate the strategic rationale instantly—because it’s already in the skill. Share your strategy with partners. Need to brief an agency or co-marketing partner? Ask Claude to generate a tailored summary from /marketing-strategy and cut it down for the audience. The more consistently you reference the skill and keep it updated, the more useful it becomes. Share it with your team & update it regularly You should update your /marketing-strategy skill regularly. If you run the skill and anything feels off, ask Claude to help you make updates so it avoids the same mistakes again. And then share it with your team… Right now, most teams are sharing skills over Slack, Google Drive, or email. That works once. Once you update a skill, everyone else is on an old version with no way to know what changed. Some teams are using Claude Projects or an Enterprise plan instead. On Team, owners can push skills to all members by default. On Enterprise, admins can provision skills org-wide so they appear for everyone automatically. But teammates can’t share directly with each other without going through an admin. GitHub was the clear consensus for sharing skills when we asked on LinkedIn [ https://substack.com/redirect/ace5662e-188d-4b95-8e15-fca36e23f162?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. When a skill lives in a shared repo, every update is versioned, every change is tracked, and teammates can always pull the latest version. GitHub gives everyone that flexibility, regardless of their plan. Here’s how to set it up: Create a private GitHub repo: Call it something like team-claude-skills Add your skill files: Put each SKILL.md in a folder (e.g., /skills/marketing-strategy/SKILL.md) Invite teammates: Settings → Collaborators, add team members Each person adds skills to their Claude setup: In Claude Code, skills in .claude/skills/ are picked up automatically when teammates pull the repo; in Claude Chat or Cowork, they download the .md and upload it to their Skills settings When you update, push the change: In Claude Code, teammates run git pull and they’re current; in Chat or Cowork, they download the updated file and re-upload it to their Skills settings. You can also just ask Claude: “Help me set up a GitHub repo to share Claude skills with my team. I’m not technical — walk me through it step by step.” Note: There are many ways to do this, including Claude’s newer plugin feature. It’s worth exploring what setup would work best for your team. Shortcut for paid subscribers: Install the MKT1 MCP Server More details are in this newsletter announcing the MCP Server. [ https://substack.com/redirect/a99f7e40-6583-4e39-b9aa-9e09229becf2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] What is the MKT1 MCP Server? The MKT1 MCP Server is live in beta now, and paid subscribers get full access, including all the exercises above. It will help you put everything you read about in this newsletter into action—tracking progress along the way and updating your /marketing-strategy skill for you. An MCP server (Model Context Protocol server) is a service that connects an LLM (like Claude) to external tools, knowledge, and capabilities—in this case to MKT1 processes, content, skills, etc. Think of it like an integration or API that adds the MKT1 brain to Claude. Why we built this: I’ve always thought about MKT1 Newsletter as more than a collection of writing. It’s meant to be a system for running marketing. Templates and resources in Sheets, Docs, Figma, and even Lovable [ https://substack.com/redirect/0d903ec4-0657-4323-8110-b413f7447ff8?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] apps were a start. But with MCP servers, it’s now possible to run your marketing team on the MKT1 Method. You can have your own C-Level Gen Marketer [ https://substack.com/redirect/c0b0c6a2-a09e-4712-b503-53693982d05b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] operating inside Claude. How to install: Install the MCP server in Claude through your desktop or web app and it will work in Claude Chat, Cowork, or Code. The whole thing takes about 2 minutes. Connect it once, and new skills will show up automatically as we build and deploy them. Find a walkthrough and by step-by-step-instructions for installing the MKT1 MCP Server here: Note: Some versions of Claude, such as Free or Claude Enterprise, may limit access to custom connectors. While we haven’t thoroughly tested this, it’s also possible to add the MKT1 MCP Server to ChatGPT. Find instructions here. [ https://substack.com/redirect/e4135ff4-a262-4cde-ba1a-edd330fc8e61?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] How to start on your strategy exercise and skill using our MCP Server: Once you’ve installed the MKT1 MCP Server, you can ask it what skills it has and also tell it to run the “MKT1 Marketing Strategy Setup” to work through the process in this newsletter. This will create your marketing-strategy.md file (that’s your skill) and save it locally to your computer It will show you a progress dashboard and walk you through each strategy exercise detailed in this newsletter in the right order As you complete each exercise, the output gets saved to your /marketing-strategy skill—and Claude reads it automatically in everytime you pick back up on the marketing strategy setup exercise. If you want to skip around on exercises, you can. The setup skill will flag what you missed and suggest going back, but it won’t block you. That means when you plan Big Bets, Claude already knows your ICPs, advantages, and perceptions, etc. The exercises compound because they’re all writing to the same place. We also have many other skills in our MCP Server that all reference your /marketing-strategy skill if you have one saved. The one thing the MCP Server doesn’t do is share this skill with your team, you’ll need to decide how you want to do that (we recommend Github). Upgrade for full access to the MKT1 MCP Server Anyone can install our new MCP Server and get access to newsletter content in Claude, but only paid subscribers unlock the full set of skills, including the exercises in this newsletter. Upgrade now to get full access. Note: It takes a few minutes for us to register your paid subscription, so if you have any issues installing and authenticating the MCP Server, restart Claude and wait a few minutes before reaching out via our support form [ https://substack.com/redirect/8bdfcfee-488a-4c70-ae82-602b18b60e1d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Conclusion Right now, most teams are using Claude without a real foundation. They’re prompting into the void, getting something between AI slop and a decent-ish result, and calling it progress. Without a clear marketing strategy underneath, you’re mostly just speeding up random acts of marketing. Building a /marketing-strategy skill forces you to do the foundational strategy work you may have been putting off, and then makes that work actually usable in your day-to-day. Your strategy starts to compound when you use your /marketing-strategy skill in daily work, and push updates back into the skill in real time. Your /marketing-strategy skill becomes a true living document that evolves with your business and your marketing work becomes sharper. Most teams aren’t failing because they lack ideas or effort. They’re failing because their strategy isn’t connected to the work. This is one of the first real ways to fix that. If you do this right, Claude stops being a place you ask for help and starts becoming the operating system your team actually runs on. More from MKT1 🙏 Brought to you by: Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/8a436599-b985-42c8-8fc3-8bc10b46c1eb?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], the AI-native CRM; UserEvidence [ https://substack.com/redirect/98fb73a5-56e2-45a4-bb4e-d869c65d243f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], for capturing customer proof and building advocates; and Omni Lab [ https://substack.com/redirect/f7a4d35d-80f6-4d34-acb9-29a3e4191e5e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], an agency partner for paid media & demand gen. All 3 companies have MKT1 discounts! 👩‍💻 Claude Code Buildathon: Our first-ever Buildathon [ https://substack.com/redirect/058369bf-fd9e-48f0-9b77-a655c900f3a7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] is on 4/3 at 9am PT / 12pm ET. I’ll show you how to build everything described in this newsletter in Claude Code—while you build along! RSVP now to save your spot [ https://substack.com/redirect/058369bf-fd9e-48f0-9b77-a655c900f3a7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. 🗓️ Meet me at Profound’s Zero Click SF event: An exclusive gathering for the world’s top AI Search experts on 4/8/26. Register here » [ https://substack.com/redirect/299f2f90-53c7-4540-8536-e14915fba075?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] 📦 MKT1 Unboxing: Watch our new video series to see Kramer (that’s me) unbox Mutiny [ https://substack.com/redirect/a86bfc4c-5e41-4aed-b49e-308b337a987c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Wistia [ https://substack.com/redirect/40bffcfb-2840-4094-9de9-8647a8190481?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Luma AI [ https://substack.com/redirect/0ee15b5d-b284-453f-8823-18b22b08ac2f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], & Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/e04ced0b-f9ff-4f20-bb5f-924417d516ed?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. 🧰 Template & resource library: We have 100+ templates and resources [ https://substack.com/redirect/53b312e7-3c20-4ee0-a556-21cb49139008?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] available to paid subscribers in our template & tool library…. 🧑‍🚀 Job board: Jobs from the MKT1 community [ https://substack.com/redirect/7f1d7f6a-cc1b-407e-a4c8-9325c1385263?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (free to post as a paid subscriber). And our candidate form [ https://substack.com/redirect/e2b67c6c-cf7c-4aac-ae1e-50603cf2e567?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] if you’re looking for a new role (option to remain anonymous included!). Unsubscribe https://substack.com/redirect/2/eyJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9uZXdzbGV0dGVyLm1rdDEuY28vYWN0aW9uL2Rpc2FibGVfZW1haWw_dG9rZW49ZXlKMWMyVnlYMmxrSWpvME1qWTFNVFV3TkRBc0luQnZjM1JmYVdRaU9qRTVNVFF3TWpJd01Dd2lhV0YwSWpveE56Y3pPVE0zTkRRMExDSmxlSEFpT2pFNE1EVTBOek0wTkRRc0ltbHpjeUk2SW5CMVlpMHlNVGcxTURFaUxDSnpkV0lpT2lKa2FYTmhZbXhsWDJWdFlXbHNJbjAuaVVHYlRlVktOem8tVVJMajRYT2hEU01PcUpyQW41LWlBa1dHWlFaM0M3ayIsInAiOjE5MTQwMjIwMCwicyI6MjE4NTAxLCJmIjp0cnVlLCJ1Ijo0MjY1MTUwNDAsImlhdCI6MTc3MzkzNzQ0NCwiZXhwIjoyMDg5NTEzNDQ0LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMCIsInN1YiI6ImxpbmstcmVkaXJlY3QifQ.9eXLxX1232R_v0RJZxTKILma8_LOSTV48oIG8zn1fns?

View this post on the web at https://newsletter.mkt1.co/p/real-marketers-claude-code-builds 👋 This is a monthly free edition of MKT1 Newsletter—a deep dive into a B2B startup marketing topic, brought to you by Framer [ https://substack.com/redirect/be14af10-6baa-4059-81ce-a0e7959f2654?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Docket [ https://substack.com/redirect/906fb16d-e218-4080-9eec-5c7cd97cf852?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and Series Eight [ https://substack.com/redirect/46202e48-7eb2-494c-ad9a-a43f13d5b5ea?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Upgrade to a paid subscription for: 100+ templates & resources [ https://substack.com/redirect/ede8cab3-97fc-4a2f-8b0c-be1df30bcb1f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | Post to [ https://substack.com/redirect/c40bc1b5-a2e8-417f-9bca-e21f69b0cb7f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 Job Board [ https://substack.com/redirect/c40bc1b5-a2e8-417f-9bca-e21f69b0cb7f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | MKT1 Newsletter Archive [ https://substack.com/redirect/10d48669-7548-4469-9967-fbc962c36c95?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]| New MKT1 Perk Stack [ https://substack.com/redirect/0a495d7a-c0df-43e8-81a2-656bf502d0a1?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], exclusive discounts worth $40K+ for annual paid subscribers. Things are escalating quickly around here. I’ve barely slept since the last newsletter. It’s not insomnia. It’s not too much advising. It’s not a booming social life. The truth is, I’ve been Clauding and I can’t stop. And I probably won’t stop. In my previous newsletter [ https://substack.com/redirect/d0835250-e081-480f-b7ce-b87013f0602a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], I introduced the idea of hiring your first marketing agent, from choosing the right agent-building tool to the agents I recommend you build first. In this newsletter, we’re going deeper. I’ll walk you through how marketers are actually building in Claude Code and Claude Cowork. These newsletters follow my own journey; I’ve been learning and building while writing. Just a couple of weeks ago I was on a basic Claude plan. I thought the LinkedIn discourse was a little overhyped. Then, over one weekend, [ https://substack.com/redirect/98c72559-d754-4025-99fe-d1fd8cba8368?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] I upgraded my plan and started building everything I could in Claude Code. I’ve basically recreated my (marketing) brain in skills. I want you to feel the thrill of Claude Code too. No, it’s not always pretty. I have yelled at Claude (in text, not out loud). Claude Code is a bit rough around the edges for a (previously?) non-technical person. But the shift feels as dramatic as when we all got ChatGPT for the first time. Part of my journey involved calling three people who started building before me: Elaine [ https://substack.com/redirect/eec31b5d-5e65-4349-a916-8ac3ac5e13cb?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Kamil [ https://substack.com/redirect/bd61fe0b-34ce-4a6d-8e45-2df9605a1fc1?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and Aditya [ https://substack.com/redirect/70ebed12-c720-4221-acfc-95e848e0c585?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. I’ll share what we all built in detail, covering 5 builds total (2 by me). Paid subscribers can download the skills I made, packaged into a plugin [ https://substack.com/redirect/bcc8793e-565f-4c50-a59b-dd641fd7b843?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and use them directly in Claude. I hope this inspires you to go deeper. Warning: This gets addicting fast, you may want to free up some nights and weekends. Your dogs may get shorter walks. Your partner may get annoyed. You might need to purchase a second computer… Recommended products & agencies We only include sponsors we’d recommend personally to our community. If you are interested in sponsoring our newsletter, email us at sponsorships@mkt1.co [ mailto:sponsorships@mkt1.co ]. Framer [ https://substack.com/redirect/be14af10-6baa-4059-81ce-a0e7959f2654?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: DoorDash, Perplexity, Mixpanel, and Mutiny’s websites are all built on Framer. From early-stage startups to Fortune 500s, Framer is the website builder I personally recommend. It works like your team’s favorite design tool, with AI-powered building, integrated A/B testing, and one-click publishing. 🎁 Offer: Get 30% off a Yearly Pro Plan in our Perk Stack [ https://substack.com/redirect/0a495d7a-c0df-43e8-81a2-656bf502d0a1?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (Annual subs only). Or fill out this form & mention MKT1 [ https://substack.com/redirect/be14af10-6baa-4059-81ce-a0e7959f2654?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]to apply for Framer to build a landing page for you. — Docket [ https://substack.com/redirect/906fb16d-e218-4080-9eec-5c7cd97cf852?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] is an AI agent for your website. It answers product questions, handles objections, qualifies buyers, and books meetings. It trains on your CRM data, call recordings, and internal docs, so it sounds like a true product expert. 🎁 Offer: Mention MKT1 to the Docket agent on their website to get 15% off and get help building your agent [ https://substack.com/redirect/906fb16d-e218-4080-9eec-5c7cd97cf852?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (by 3/31). — Series Eight [ https://substack.com/redirect/46202e48-7eb2-494c-ad9a-a43f13d5b5ea?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] is a brand, design, and build agency for B2B businesses ready to invest in brand identity and web work that drives real value. Engage their senior-only team for a focused project or keep the team on retainer as you scale. 🎁 Offer: Mention MKT1 for a free discovery session [ https://substack.com/redirect/b679a27b-ae86-491a-8206-619187b812ac?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. In this newsletter: This newsletter is part 2 of 2 in a series about building agents, skills, and automations. You can catch up on the previous newsletter here [ https://substack.com/redirect/d0835250-e081-480f-b7ce-b87013f0602a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. A quick primer on Claude for marketers [ https://substack.com/redirect/8e8da038-15ad-408f-a046-71056555d4a8?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: When to use Claude Chat, Cowork, or Code. Plus, a glossary of Claude terms [ https://substack.com/redirect/c1cca41d-db1d-4953-9695-ac5492d4de27?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] in the appendix. How we’re building with Claude [ https://substack.com/redirect/2e1b42e6-e233-4835-8723-cd8425c76be9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: 5 real skills built by 3 marketers and me My homepage positioning checker and marketing advantages skills Elaine Zelby’s customer lookalike outbound agent, connecting Claude Cowork to HubSpot + Clay + Slack + email Aditya Vempaty’s humanizer skill for reviewing AI-generated copy, using Claude Code + Google’s Antigravity Kamil Rextin’s LinkedIn ad competitive intel agent, using Claude Code, deployed via GitHub + Railway + Vercel What we wish we knew [ https://substack.com/redirect/1a720cc8-0aa6-45ab-98da-fc1f716a82be?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] before building in Claude Code [ https://substack.com/redirect/1a720cc8-0aa6-45ab-98da-fc1f716a82be?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] & how to get started For paid subscribers: 4 5 6 (as of now) Claude skills based on MTK1 frameworks wrapped up into a Claude Code & Cowork plugin [ https://substack.com/redirect/bcc8793e-565f-4c50-a59b-dd641fd7b843?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] you can add and use. We’ll also be running a Claude Code Hackathon (among other tools) very soon—get on the invite list here [ https://substack.com/redirect/6bfc5f29-1dc2-4acb-8e2d-f51bf2db0024?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Claude decoded* *Pretty unoriginal wordplay, but I tried? Claude becomes scary-powerful when connected to your work, desktop, browser, other tools, and data. But it’s confusing to know which version to use when and to learn all the lingo. Even when you ask Claude what its own terms mean, the answers can be unclear or conflicting, which doesn’t help the situation. That said, I’m not covering everything about Claude today (that would be one very long newsletter), but there’s a glossary in the appendix [ https://substack.com/redirect/c1cca41d-db1d-4953-9695-ac5492d4de27?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] if you need more guidance. The goal in this newsletter is to give you inspiration! Choosing the right Claude for the job “Claude Code is the worst branding…maybe in the history of technology.” –Kamil Rextin, Founder, 42 Agency [ https://substack.com/redirect/aee0d5e9-c2d9-440a-9e17-0037bafcec05?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] If you’re new to Claude (or haven’t ventured beyond chat), it has 3 main tools: Chat, Cowork, and Code. Despite the name, Claude Code is not just for coding. I built both of the skills covered below [ https://substack.com/redirect/2e1b42e6-e233-4835-8723-cd8425c76be9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] without writing a single line of code. Kamil might have been exaggerating in his quote above (maybe?!), but if Anthropic’s trying to attract marketers the name isn’t helping! We see “code” and think “not for us.” Claude Code does so much more than “code.” It’s like regular Claude, Claude Cowork, and “coding” all wrapped together. I also asked on LinkedIn [ https://substack.com/redirect/a8e139a3-6d67-4128-9294-3ec5e5e7803a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] how you’re all using Claude Cowork vs Claude Code: Start by understanding skills The one thing you should walk away understanding after this newsletter is skills. I’ve spent most of my time in Claude building skills, and they’re incredibly powerful—even without deploying “apps” or layering agentic workflows on top. What are skills? Skills are reusable sets of instructions stored as Markdown files (a simple text file format) that Claude pulls into context when triggered. Think of them as structured playbooks Claude can reference automatically. Where do you build skills? You can create (and use) simple skills in regular Claude Chat. But if you want file access, tool integrations, or multi-step workflows, it’s better to use Claude Code or Cowork. You can also build skills in other tools like Google’s Antigravity or OpenAI’s Codex and save them as Markdown files. How do you use skills you or someone else built? You can add skills to Claude Chat, Cowork, or Code. But there’s no automatic sync between the three Claude products—hopefully soon, Anthropic? You can export a skill as a Markdown file and upload or paste it elsewhere, it just won’t stay updated automatically across tools. It’s honestluy a little messy right now. Can I build an agent in Claude Cowork or Code? “Agent” doesn’t mean the same thing in Claude as it does in tools like Relay.app [ https://substack.com/redirect/27439e3f-bc41-41cb-82f2-9fef0457f25e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (covered in part 1 of this series [ https://substack.com/redirect/d0835250-e081-480f-b7ce-b87013f0602a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]). When people say “I built an agent in Claude Code,” they usually mean a skill, plugin, app, or some combination. The closest thing to true “agent” behavior in Claude is the brand-new scheduled tasks feature in Cowork. For now, to get something you built in Claude Code to run on a schedule, you need to ask Code to help you write a script and then use a tool like GitHub Actions, Vercel, or Relay.app to schedule it. How we’re building with Claude I’ll share 2 skills built off my MKT1 frameworks Krameworks. Then I’ll cover what Elaine, Aditya, and Kamil built. /homepage-positioning-checker skill in Claude Code, built by me 📦 Job to be done: Make sure a B2B startup homepage makes sense to visitors. ⚠️ The problem: I’m constantly frustrated when I land on a B2B homepage and can’t quickly tell who it’s for, what the product actually is, and why it’s better than the alternatives—and I know I’m not alone. I figured if I could help people pressure-test their homepage against my positioning frameworks, maybe we could end this whole situation once and for all?! 🧠 What it does: Type the skill name and any web url (eg. /homepage-positioning “website.ai”) into Claude Code to get the review underway. The skill evaluates the homepage against my MKT1 positioning framework [ https://substack.com/redirect/1f15f005-a367-4630-bb2d-3fa555cdec41?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. It scores the hero and full page separately with letter grades, checks whether the core positioning questions are answered, and gives a concrete fixes including rewritten headlines. 🥷 Steal this learning: Ask Claude Code to build a skill, share a framework you like, then test it on real-world examples. This is the fastest path to building really useful skills. For me, I connected Claude Code to my templates and resources folder in Google Drive, gave it real URLs to test the skill against, told it what to fix based on the output, and then asked Claude Code to update the skill. Four rounds of iteration took the skill from 60% to 90%. Details of my build: I asked Claude Code to access relevant MKT1 newsletters & templates on positioning. I had already granted Claude access to my Google Drive, so it already had my templates folder. It sorted through all of them to find the relevant ones. First working draft took minutes. It had all the needed details but was long and not structured well—probably because I didn’t give it an example output. So I tested it on a real homepage and started giving feedback. I ran it on an advisee’s homepage and immediately saw what needed to change: scannable scoring, evaluation of CTAs, and a diagram to summarize findings for each positioning question. I told Claude to fix each thing, it updated the skill, and I ran it on a new site. I did four rounds of revisions across four companies I advise. Through these rounds, I made rules for headline copy length, guidelines for CTAs, and added what should change for early-stage vs. late-stage startups. On my last run, Tracksuit’s homepage [ https://substack.com/redirect/f3f01a2b-7a85-44a2-b1af-411880b8274b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] got an A- on both hero and homepage positioning. I agreed with the assessment it was good enough to share with the marketing team there—that’s when I knew it was working. I was so excited I also shared the results with Katie and Halley on team MKT1, my first skill for MKT1 subscribers, check…on to the next. /marketing-advantages skill in Claude Code, built by me 📦 Job to be done: Help marketers build a strategy based on their product, business model, and market. ⚠️ The problem: I wanted a way for subscribers to identify and pressure-test their Marketing Advantages [ https://substack.com/redirect/836d9058-1ee6-4ccd-bcaf-baa2d9586d06?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]™. I constantly remind marketers to focus on accelerating real advantages instead of defaulting to random acts of marketing. But that’s easier said than done. 🧠 What it does: I built the /marketing-advantages skill with two phases. The “Identify” phase walks you through four rounds of questions to surface your top 2–4 advantages from my 12 Marketing Advantage categories. The “Review” phase lets you paste in your stated advantages and pressure-tests them for specificity, maturity, and strength. It forces clarity on whether something is actually a catalyst for growth or just a tactic dressed up as strategy. 🥷 Steal this learning: Building skills for review processes is an amazing place to start with Claude Code. So many of us already use ChatGPT or Claude to review copy, strategy, or plans. But turning those review processes into a structured skill is even more effecive. I really wish I had this when I was leading marketing teams and spending two hours every night reviewing everything from copy to strategy to campaign plans. Aditya built a skill like this too, more on that later in the newsletter [ https://substack.com/redirect/4518495c-457a-4858-98c7-0b8e68d0583e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Details of my build: It was faster to get started this time, because Claude already had access to my Google Drive and knew how to pull relevant newsletters & templates. (Claude often remembers what you’ve taught it, but sometimes you still need to remind it or reference prior skills.) The first draft was too generic and not what I’d actually ask an advisee to help them figure out their advantages [ https://substack.com/redirect/c6c6673d-cd4b-49f0-a26e-dfd33ad0c41e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], so I just gave Claude Code better questions, the same way I’d talk to regular Claude. After a few runs, I noticed the reviews weren’t reliably surfacing two important advantages: network effects or proprietary data. So I added explicit questions to force that analysis. The first phase to identify advantages was 90% there. So I built the second phase. Building incrementally like this works well. I validated the skill against a real submission from my recent Gen Marketer course and compared it to my original written feedback. It landed on the same core insight I had, a good sign. Doing the review work manually first and then comparing it was really effective. So, I fed the skill more reviews of marketing advantages I did for students in my course. I probably should have started by giving these examples; you live you learn. I briefly considered turning skill into a web app, which would require other tools, API access, and ongoing costs. Then I decided I should just share the skill file directly with paid subscribers without hosting anything (and then I later decided to build a plugin with all my skills [ https://substack.com/redirect/bcc8793e-565f-4c50-a59b-dd641fd7b843?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]). More on how to upgrade a skill to a full web app in Kamil’s breakdown below [ https://substack.com/redirect/702c71d9-473b-4745-92cf-595535919be6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Get the Gen Marketer Plugin: Run MKT1 frameworks in Claude Code & Cowork Paid MKT1 subscribers get access to the new MKT1 plugin for Claude, which already has 6 skills (new skills will added directly to the plugin). Get the 2 Claude skills I built above, plus make GACCS briefs, find your best growth channels, and search MKT1 newsletters & templates. /customer-lookalike-outbound in Claude Cowork, built by Elaine Elaine Zelby is the co-founder of Tofu [ https://substack.com/redirect/1c9862e5-573f-4641-8d99-ace9817588d9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and a former marketer. She built this in Claude Cowork, connecting it to HubSpot, Clay [ https://substack.com/redirect/cb6ff276-dce2-470d-a7ee-c66d01f0222a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Slack, and email. “A skill is literally knowledge that Claude now has. I think of a skill as a tool in a tool belt. You have your hammer, your wrench, your screwdriver. Skills are just different tools you use for different situations.” –Elaine Zelby, co-founder of Tofu [ https://substack.com/redirect/eec31b5d-5e65-4349-a916-8ac3ac5e13cb?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] 📦 Job to be done: Find lookalike accounts from closed-won deals and reach out to them. ⚠️ The problem: Your closed-won deals already contain the pain points, objections, ROI story, and the attributes of the right accounts and contacts. Yet we rarely operationalize that insight. Elaine wanted a system that continuously turns closed-won context into tailored outreach. 🧠 What it does: Every week, Elaine’s /customer-lookalike-outbound “agent” looks at deals that moved to closed-won in HubSpot. It pulls structured call data from the CRM, identifies 10 lookalike companies based on the attributes of those deals and her ICP definition, finds 3–5 contacts per company using Clay, drafts a 4-email sequence plus LinkedIn DMs for each contact, and sends drafts into Slack for the team to review. 🥷 Steal this learning: Before building agents, build foundational skills. Elaine created reusable skills for ICP, personas, messaging, and product information first. Those became the building blocks for this skill. Once you have that base knowledge structured in Claude, assembling agents becomes much easier and more consistent. Details of Elaine’s build: Elaine added HubSpot, Clay, Slack, and email to Cowork. She used the official [ https://substack.com/redirect/31455fac-be87-44d0-a75c-8e6f9c9dee11?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Claude Connectors [ https://substack.com/redirect/31455fac-be87-44d0-a75c-8e6f9c9dee11?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], so it has API access (not just browser access). This way, the “agent” is reliable enough to run unattended. She went piece by piece, making sure her workflow accesses closed-won deals in HubSpot first. Then, she prompted the skill to find lookalike accounts and contacts in Clay. Next, she scheduled it to share drafts in Slack. Since she built in Cowork, she could schedule it to run weekly without an external scheduler (you can’t do this in Code yet). Each run looks at deals that moved to Closed-Won in the last 7 days. On each run, Cowork pulls call transcripts from HubSpot (originally recorded in Sybill). Because Sybill [ https://substack.com/redirect/27236622-49ef-4576-a29e-efbca838cfe2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] already fills in structured CRM fields like situation and pain, Claude has richer context to work with. So, the outbound drafts are very close to sendable each time. Elaine evolved the output over time. It started as a manually downloaded CSV; now it’s delivered in Slack so the GTM team sees it in their normal workflow. She hasn’t automated outbound sending yet, as she’s intentionally keeping a human in the loop. Her advice: When things break, keep talking to Claude. If something isn’t updating or a file isn’t where it should be, have Claude walk you through fixing it. “The thing I’d recommend people do immediately before they build any kind of agent is create three skills: Number one, ICP. Number two, personas. Number three, messaging.” –Elaine Zelby, co-founder of Tofu [ https://substack.com/redirect/eec31b5d-5e65-4349-a916-8ac3ac5e13cb?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] /humanizer skill in Claude Code, built by Aditya Aditya Vempaty is VP of Marketing at MoEngage [ https://substack.com/redirect/ac063da4-efc1-43a8-8897-7a9929aeb2db?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], a Series F customer engagement platform. He builds in Antigravity and Claude Code, running Anthropic’s Opus under the hood in both. “Claude Code does a job. Chat does a job. I honestly don’t understand what Cowork is for. It feels like the odd one out. They’re all in the same UI, but you still have to move files around to keep context, which is frustrating.” –Aditya Vempaty, VP of Marketing at MoEngage [ https://substack.com/redirect/70ebed12-c720-4221-acfc-95e848e0c585?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] 📦 Job to be done: Catch and fix AI-sounding copy before it goes out. ⚠️ The problem: When AI writes copy, it sounds like AI wrote it, no matter how hard you try to get it not to. You can layer in brand guidelines, tone instructions, and examples, but the output can still feel slightly off. Instead of endlessly tweaking prompts, Aditya wanted a way to review near-final drafts, check the “AI-ness” of it, and fix it systematically. 🧠 What it does: The /humanizer skill scores drafts, flags specific patterns making the piece feel AI-generated, and rewrites the draft in Aditya’s voice. 🥷 Steal this learning: Every time you use a skill (which again is just a .md file), ask Claude Code what it learned and to update the skill accordingly. That way, with every use the skill gets sharper. 🎰 Steal these credits! If you’re throttling your AI costs, you can get creative like Aditya. He uses credits in AntiGravity running Anthropic’s Opus then ports the finished .md skill file into Claude Code later. “When I first started running into credit limits in Claude, I did something kind of funny. Antigravity can also run Opus and gives you a bunch of credits for $20/month, so I started building the skills there and then porting the .md file into Claude. It basically gives me double the Opus credits without having to pay $120.” –Aditya [ https://substack.com/redirect/70ebed12-c720-4221-acfc-95e848e0c585?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Aditya’s happy to share his skill, just follow & DM him [ https://substack.com/redirect/70ebed12-c720-4221-acfc-95e848e0c585?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] ➜ Details of Aditya’s build: Aditya started by collecting a few paragraphs of his own writing that actually sounded like him. Those became the baseline for the Humanizer. He didn’t want a simple rewrite like regular Claude might give you. So he defined four scoring categories (AI likeness, authenticity, reader value, domain credibility), each on a 1–10 scale. The skill scores first, diagnoses what’s driving the scores (things like overly structured formatting, generic transitions, predictable phrasing), then rewrites. After a new draft runs through /humanizer, he gives Claude feedback. Then he asks Claude Code how the skill itself should be updated. If Claude identifies a new pattern that wasn’t previously codified, it adds it to the skill. “In Claude, you don’t always know when an agent ran or what it’s actually doing. Antigravity shows me what’s happening from opening tabs to pulling data. That gives me context and confidence. If something’s off, I can rewind and see exactly where it went wrong.” –Aditya Vempaty, VP of Marketing at MoEngage [ https://substack.com/redirect/70ebed12-c720-4221-acfc-95e848e0c585?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] /LinkedIn-ad-intel in Claude Code, built by Kamil Kamil Rextin is Founder of 42 Agency [ https://substack.com/redirect/7701fdef-51a2-48f4-88cc-4839859717e6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. He builds in Claude Code and deploys agents to run on the web using GitHub, Vercel, and Railway. “For complex projects, I’ve learned not to just jump right in. I use Plan mode in Claude Code to map out the output first. Once that looks right, I switch and let it execute step by step.” –Kamil Rextin, Founder of 42 Agency [ https://substack.com/redirect/bd61fe0b-34ce-4a6d-8e45-2df9605a1fc1?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] 📦 Job to be done: Turn publicly available competitor ad data into a structured, ongoing intelligence report. ⚠️ The problem: One of the most common AI use cases is gathering competitive intel, but the output is usually generic. Meanwhile, the LinkedIn Ad Library [ https://substack.com/redirect/51700c40-8ef2-4dd7-a2c7-5c16890197bf?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] is hiding in plain sight. It’s free, covers the last 12 months of ads, and in B2B it’s one of the highest-signal places to see how competitors are approaching performance marketing, positioning, and brand. The catch: It’s manual, scroll-based, and impossible to track over time. Kamil wanted to automate it and get updates on what’s changed. 🧠 What it does: Run the /LinkedIn-ad-intel agent with anyURL and it first pulls a list of competitors using his pre-made /competitors skill. Then it scrapes each company’s LinkedIn ads, analyzes messaging themes, and tracks ad volume. 🥷 Steal this learning: Kamil didn't stop at building a skill to run from his desktop. He built a true agent; one that runs on a schedule and delivers results automatically. That required going beyond Claude Code and deploying to infrastructure: GitHub to store and version the code, Vercel or Railway to host and run it. It’s a bit technical, but Claude Code can help you do it. Download the skill here [ https://substack.com/redirect/e24a8547-d357-42a4-9b60-f25953d79990?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] & a sample report here [ https://substack.com/redirect/0a620f5a-50f1-4a8d-9acb-677b01e9d666?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] ➜ Details of Kamil’s build: He starts in Plan mode to map out the output before writing any code. Once the plan looks right, he switches to 'Ask Permission' mode and lets Claude execute step by step. This screenshot shows you how: Kamil previously built a /competitors skill that pulls every competitive company from G2 and TrustRadius. The /LinkedIn-ad-intel agent calls that skill first, stacking skills on top of each other. LinkedIn scraping sometimes breaks due to JavaScript restrictions. When that happened, he went back to Plan mode. Claude inspected its own implementation, identified missing retry logic, and proposed fixes. Once the agent worked, he pushed the code to GitHub, so it lives in the cloud (not just on his laptop) and he can share it with his team and clients. He also set up Railway [ https://substack.com/redirect/a7eb60b3-86d6-4325-a47e-98be36c2bfbd?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and Vercel [ https://substack.com/redirect/55f61e59-475e-41de-94a7-79f3c9060318?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] to host his agents. He did this in his browser directly since it’s easier and faster than creating accounts directly in Claude. Once the accounts were set up, he connected everything from inside Claude Code by asking it to configure the integrations. By connecting Vercel and Railway to GitHub, he only has to push to GitHub for everything to be updated. Railway runs the agent on a schedule via cron jobs (a cron job is just a scheduled task, like “run every Monday at 9am”). He later decided to expand what he built to include Meta and Google ad libraries, not just LinkedIn. Starting with just LinkedIn Ads made the build process more manageable. The output is a branded PDF report, generated automatically in about 5 mins. Here’s an example for Sierra.ai: “If your computer isn’t on and your terminal isn’t running, a Claude Code agent can’t run. If you want it hosted on the web, instead of being just on your laptop, you need to deploy it.” –Kamil Rextin, Founder of 42 Agency [ https://substack.com/redirect/bd61fe0b-34ce-4a6d-8e45-2df9605a1fc1?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Want to join a live MKT1 Hackathon? Coming soon! We’re planning a live hackathon [ https://substack.com/redirect/2daf8ef8-14cf-4fc9-84b4-74e972fef8fa?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] series with the creators and power users of some of our favorite AI tools. And yes, there will be a Claude Code Hackathon. These events are for paid subscribers only and the first one is kicking off by end of March. (Now’s the time to upgrade that subscription 😊) What we wish we knew before building in Claude Code The first time… Block 2–3 hours for setup. The first time you use Claude Code, plan for it to take a while. Connecting your Google Drive, enabling connectors, granting permissions, figuring out where files live, testing what it can and can’t access, that’s not instant. Block real time for this. Once it’s wired up, it gets dramatically faster. Set up a CLAUDE.md file, a standing set of instructions for how you want to interact with Claude, used across all sessions. Type /init to generate one, then add your technical level, preferred approach, and anything you find yourself repeating. Build your marketing foundations as skills first. Skills are the compounding layer everything else works off of. So, take time upfront to add skills for your ICP, voice, positioning, GTM motion, etc. (everything in the Marketing Decision Dashboard [ https://substack.com/redirect/cc56e7e3-c7f4-4ad8-a4dd-c382fdce17ed?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]). Claude doesn’t know what Claude can do. It will tell you it can’t browse the web, access a connector, or run something in the desktop app. For how-to-Claude questions, you can ask it to check the “product-self-knowledge” skill that references Anthropic’s docs. In general, if you think Claude is wrong, push back (you won’t hurt its feelings, it’s not human…or is it?!) Keep going… Turn your frameworks and processes into skills. For instance, If you can articulate how you evaluate a draft or share how you created a report step-by-step, that’s a skill. Start with review processes and frameworks you already use. Then run them consistently, share them with your team, and build on top of them. Use Plan mode before you “build.” For anything complex, map the output before you let Claude start executing. Confirm the structure, then switch to “ask permission” mode and let it run. This saves credits, reduces chaos, and forces clarity on what you’re actually building. Iterate on real examples, not hypotheticals. The first version of everything you build will be solid, but not perfect. Run the skill on actual companies, copy, or deals. Compare the output to what you would have done manually, tell Claude exactly what’s missing, and update the skill. The best way to budget time for Claude Code: Build skills in the flow of work. Next time you’re doing a repeat task and have 20-30 extra minutes, like drafting emails or pulling quotes form a transcript, add a little extra time and codify your thinking into a skill. Appendix: Claude Code terminology Here’s my best attempt at a glossary to explain all the terms you’ll encounter when connecting and setting things up in Claude Code. Integration: Not an official term, just what people say when Claude is connected to something. Could mean any of the below. MCP (Model Context Protocol): The “shared language” Anthropic created that lets LLMs, AI applications, external tools, and data connect to each other. Now an industry-wide standard not limited to Anthropic—like a USB-C port, but for AI. MCP server: Something a company or developer builds to give AI secure access to their tool’s data and actions. In other words, anything someone builds that speaks MCP. You can add them to “your” Claude (or other LLMs) manually if you have the URL. Connector: MCP servers that Anthropic has vetted and packaged for one-click enabling. There are thousands of MCP servers out there, but Connectors are the approved ones you can add instantly. Used in a sentence: Anthropic built MCP a while back and now they have lots of “integrations” built by developers; for examples, Asana, Slack, Stripe, and Figma have built MCP servers that Anthropic approves and packages into the Settings menu as Connectors. Skill: We covered this one, but to reiterate…A saved set of instructions and playbooks in a markdown file for Claude (or other AI platforms). Example: “Grade my homepage copy against the /MKT1 positioning framework.” Plugin: A bundle of skills, connectors, and/or commands packaged up that you can add to Claude. If Claude is your team, it’s like hiring someone new to join the team. You, your company, or third-party developers can all build and share them — Anthropic even has an official directory. Examples: Anthropic has pre-built plugins for Marketing and I have a MKT1 plugin with all the skills I’ve made available for paid subscribers [ https://substack.com/redirect/bcc8793e-565f-4c50-a59b-dd641fd7b843?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Command: A /shortcut you type to trigger a saved workflow, skills, or connector. Example: Type /release-notes→ Claude runs this Anthropic-built skill Apps & Extensions: Ways to bring Claude into other places you work; not bring other tools into Claude. Examples: Claude Desktop for Mac, Claude for Excel Note: This is a V1 glossary, updated on 3.1.26. Claude is changing regularly and it’s very hard to get a simple definition for these terms, even from Claude. Please let me know in the comments if anything seems off. Happy Claude Coding! Can’t wait to run some hackathons to help you learn, join the invite list here. [ https://substack.com/redirect/2daf8ef8-14cf-4fc9-84b4-74e972fef8fa?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Paid Subscribers can access our plugin with 6 MKT1 Skills and join our Hackathon series. More from MKT1 🙏 Brought to you by: Framer [ https://substack.com/redirect/be14af10-6baa-4059-81ce-a0e7959f2654?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], a no-code website builder; Docket [ https://substack.com/redirect/906fb16d-e218-4080-9eec-5c7cd97cf852?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], an AI agent for your website; and Series Eight [ https://substack.com/redirect/46202e48-7eb2-494c-ad9a-a43f13d5b5ea?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], a brand, design & build agency. 🔓 Gen Marketer Hackathons: Be the first to know when we kick off our Hackathon series, get on the list here. [ https://substack.com/redirect/2daf8ef8-14cf-4fc9-84b4-74e972fef8fa?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] 📦 MKT1 Unboxing: Watch our new video series to see Kramer (that’s me) unbox Mutiny [ https://substack.com/redirect/83371291-8e30-4eaf-900b-2536a1456e4b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Wistia [ https://substack.com/redirect/0ed20656-e33a-4f5d-85a4-0c756545bba9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Luma AI [ https://substack.com/redirect/0595fa8c-ded7-4b12-8e21-16f1f71bb707?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], & Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/267c724b-4154-48bb-a47b-8a740c1e811e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. 🥞 MKT1 Perk Stack: Exclusive discounts worth $40K+ [ https://substack.com/redirect/0a495d7a-c0df-43e8-81a2-656bf502d0a1?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] on our favorite GTM tools. For annual & superfan paid subscribers only. 🧰 Revamped, upgraded template & resource library: We have 100+ templates and resources [ https://substack.com/redirect/ede8cab3-97fc-4a2f-8b0c-be1df30bcb1f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] available to paid subscribers in our template & tool library….coming to our Claude Skills Plugin very soon! 🧑‍🚀 Job board: Jobs from the MKT1 community [ https://substack.com/redirect/267500f9-78e2-49f0-af38-616fa08dbdf6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (free to post as a paid subscriber). And our candidate form [ https://substack.com/redirect/df851129-1a5a-4f6d-9786-e35d5f273487?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] if you’re looking for a new role (option to remain anonymous included!). f Unsubscribe https://substack.com/redirect/2/eyJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9uZXdzbGV0dGVyLm1rdDEuY28vYWN0aW9uL2Rpc2FibGVfZW1haWw_dG9rZW49ZXlKMWMyVnlYMmxrSWpvME1qWTFNVFV3TkRBc0luQnZjM1JmYVdRaU9qRTRPVEl6TnpFNE1Td2lhV0YwSWpveE56Y3lORGMyT1RreExDSmxlSEFpT2pFNE1EUXdNVEk1T1RFc0ltbHpjeUk2SW5CMVlpMHlNVGcxTURFaUxDSnpkV0lpT2lKa2FYTmhZbXhsWDJWdFlXbHNJbjAuVHh6eWNvTGdVR0t3d2lFZ2pkekhOT2lTeWotVUR0TGhGLTVEaUU5MEEtUSIsInAiOjE4OTIzNzE4MSwicyI6MjE4NTAxLCJmIjp0cnVlLCJ1Ijo0MjY1MTUwNDAsImlhdCI6MTc3MjQ3Njk5MSwiZXhwIjoyMDg4MDUyOTkxLCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMCIsInN1YiI6ImxpbmstcmVkaXJlY3QifQ.MTiuBVShpgguLD0Dpc4zRCEelTwkDVuuThQWN_llrHM?

View this post on the web at https://newsletter.mkt1.co/p/marketing-ai-agents 👋 This is a monthly free edition of MKT1 Newsletter—a deep dive into a B2B startup marketing topic, brought to you by Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/f8d1f865-8088-4a71-9cf6-2966bea317e4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Closing Media [ https://substack.com/redirect/2f24eddf-32ee-4e8b-8c7e-b868a949e2c5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and Wistia [ https://substack.com/redirect/1d97b065-0cb7-4b59-b53a-58af178c89ca?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Upgrade to a paid subscription for: 100+ templates & resources [ https://substack.com/redirect/137111d6-042c-4c74-89ef-e87f44d7e255?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | Post to [ https://substack.com/redirect/be5021f4-74b5-45b3-905f-45ba9475166e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 Job Board [ https://substack.com/redirect/be5021f4-74b5-45b3-905f-45ba9475166e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | MKT1 Newsletter Archive [ https://substack.com/redirect/07e1256c-3331-4e2c-9710-65a0f79020a3?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]| New MKT1 Perk Stack [ https://substack.com/redirect/81cea7c1-5ba2-4cc5-916e-b760440e8753?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], exclusive discounts worth $40K+ for annual paid subscribers. We’re all hearing the word “agent” more lately. And if you read what’s on LinkedIn [ https://substack.com/redirect/6980a175-60b3-4e97-8099-4fe9f48cb33b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], you’d think most m teams have 100 agents doing 90% of our marketing work and spending their whole day in Claude Code. In reality, many marketers I know are still figuring out the difference between workflow automation, chatbots, copilots, and agents. And the vast majority are just dipping their toes in agent building, with varying degrees of success. No matter where you fall in this spectrum, the time is now to get a handle on how AI can actually automate work for you, Agents represent a real shift in what AI can do, and I think every marketer should be learning to build them right now. Agent-building can be a frustrating and computer draining process, but things are improving quickly. The gap between teams that figure this out and those that don’t is about to get very wide, very fast. Agents run work on your behalf, in the background, without you initiating every action. An agent monitors your competitors overnight and drops a report in Slack by morning. It watches for job changes at your target accounts and drafts outreach before you’ve had coffee. It takes your webinar recording and turns it into five draft LinkedIn posts without you asking. If you’ve been following thinking on the new role and skillset I’m calling the “Gen Marketer [ https://substack.com/redirect/2a988a73-5eaa-4a6e-8e56-97e623c10159?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ],” you understand why. Marketers need to use AI to move with increased velocity, learn faster, and run leaner. That way, you can focus on your time on creating work that stands out from the increasingly noisy pack. I’ve been building and experimenting with agents myself, but I wanted to bring in someone who sees what hundreds of marketers are building. So I phoned a friend: Jacob Bank [ https://substack.com/redirect/672e14d0-dc39-4247-b91f-c93fe57826a3?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Founder & CEO of Relay.app [ https://substack.com/redirect/fb33f61e-057d-4b2d-8d4c-e60b209782c6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. After watching him wow students in my course with agent knowledge and skills, I knew he’d be able to help MKT1 readers too. So, this newsletter is based on my conversations with Jacob. In this newsletter: Part 1 - This newsletter: Learn how to build marketing agent “teammates” WTF is an agent? [ https://substack.com/redirect/ee07f2a1-fd11-442a-bea7-17da844e36cb?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] How is different than an automated workflow? Can’t Claude do all of this? How to build your an agent you actually ship [ https://substack.com/redirect/8eed0b3b-e55c-48c6-bf36-577a18bd6930?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] by thinking in job descriptions, not prompts 4 agents every marketing team should create [ https://substack.com/redirect/e2986ac5-0b3d-4a04-8871-5e31bb7b79ea?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], plus descriptions you can plug into your agent builder of choice Part 2 - Next week’s newsletter: How 3 marketers built 3 agents step-by-step This upcoming newsletter will dive a bit deeper on how to build agents in specific tools, step by step. Recommended products & agencies We only include sponsors we’d recommend personally to our community. If you are interested in sponsoring our newsletter, email us at sponsorships@mkt1.co [ mailto:sponsorships@mkt1.co ]. Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/f8d1f865-8088-4a71-9cf6-2966bea317e4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] just shipped Ask Attio, and it makes other CRMs feel outdated. Search, update, and create with AI in one prompt. Ask Attio anything: update fields and stages, run company research, or prep for meetings with full context. (And yes, Attio is MKT1’s CRM). 🎁 Offer: Try Ask Attio for free [ https://substack.com/redirect/f8d1f865-8088-4a71-9cf6-2966bea317e4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. — Closing Media [ https://substack.com/redirect/2f24eddf-32ee-4e8b-8c7e-b868a949e2c5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] is a boutique agency that runs LinkedIn and Google campaigns for growth-stage startups. They know the best ways to build and scale ad campaigns in 2026 (hint: thought leader ads!) and have years of expertise (I worked with them in 2018!). 🎁 Offer: Reach out to Closing Media [ https://substack.com/redirect/2f24eddf-32ee-4e8b-8c7e-b868a949e2c5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] here & mention MKT1 to get $5,000 of free ad spend for your next campaign. — Wistia [ https://substack.com/redirect/da3165a3-d0de-4266-b41c-dde87d056313?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: Wistia is a one-stop video marketing shop. I’ve used them for 10+ years starting with video hosting, and now they cover recording, editing, webinars, and social clips. Wistia’s LLM embeds make videos AEO-ready, helping AI tools understand your transcripts and content. 📦 MKT1 Unboxing: Watch me unbox Wistia [ https://substack.com/redirect/f69c4d10-267a-4ba2-8800-490831a4908c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]with Co-founder Chris Savage: How to make video embeds LLM-friendly, their new remix feature, their webinars product, and more. A quick break to unbox Mutiny [ https://substack.com/redirect/0b685618-e676-4bc7-ba79-27c0b6b1abef?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Mutiny’s [ https://substack.com/redirect/0b685618-e676-4bc7-ba79-27c0b6b1abef?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] brand new AI agent is here. They did the heavy lifting to build the perfect agent for marketing and sales teams to create on-brand, shippable assets using your company’s data and context. Think case studies, business cases, 1:1 landing pages–anything customer facing. I chatted with Jaleh Rezaei [ https://substack.com/redirect/aa49185a-5deb-45f8-8529-2bcafef0c149?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], CEO & Co-Founder, who gave me a live demo in our latest MKT1 Unboxing video. Some highlights from this unboxing and discussion with Jaleh: How to build ABM landing pages & business cases that automatically pull in your brand, your sales calls and account history, and link to existing content—in a single prompt. How to put an end to the sales request queue by starting from pre-built Mutiny blueprints or saving your own work to create templates for your team. How to measure success of assets built in Mutiny, hint: you can see person-level data for every asset, so no more wondering if that enablement asset actually got used and seen. Why Jaleh is so focused on bringing sales & marketing closer together and why we think velocity is the most important metric for marketers now. Join the Mutiny waitlist to get 30 days free with unlimited AI usage » [ https://substack.com/redirect/d21b7413-961f-48b7-9f10-dd3b779cba12?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] About MKT1 Unboxing [ https://substack.com/redirect/d1e26ae2-d936-4dfb-b30f-2ec9588b02ae?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: A series of 30-minute demos + conversations where I (Emily Kramer) unbox marketing and GTM tools—no slides, no scripts, no sales pitch. Just real tools, real workflows, and real talk. The goal: help you find AI tools worth using. And now, time to build your first marketing agent… Part 1: WTF is an agent? “Agents are a totally different way of thinking about work. An agent is not a place that you go to do work. An agent is a doer of work.” – Jacob Bank, founder of Relay.app An agent is an AI that gets work done for you. It can reason and take action on its own. Think less “assistant I talk to” and more “junior teammate who handles their own to-do list.” You set the parameters, but the agent figures out how to approach the task, uses the tools available to it, and moves toward the outcome. But everyone defines “agent” a bit differently. It’s admittedly a little confusing—I found myself getting stuck on definitions and what’s what when writing this very newsletter (even with the help of conversations from Jacob). We have tools to help us build AI agents and workflows. We have whole companies dedicated to building a purpose-built AI agent for you. We have the big AI companies building agent builders. That said, most definitions of an AI agent converge around three characteristics: agents are outcome-focused, reason and plan across steps, and integrate with other tools. How does an AI agent compare to a chatbot or workflow automation? “We’re at the beginning of a complete phase shift in how people think about productivity tools. A productivity tool forever has been a place where I go to click buttons and do work…But an increasing amount of the work we get done will be through workflows and agents that are doing that work automatically.” – Jacob Bank, founder of Relay.app To me, an agent feels like a chatbot and a workflow automation came together… and made a super-kid. “With those tools, you are the operator. But with agents, you are the manager. You set them up, review their output, and train them over time,” explained Jacob. Here’s a detailed breakdown of what all this nomenclature means: An LLM is the underlying model (GPT-4) A chatbot is an interface built on top of an LLM. You ask it something, itresponds (ChatGPT, Claude) A copilot (or embedded AI agent) lives inside a product you already use. It assists you in using the tool and is powered by an LLM. More sophisticated versions can take action inside that system. Think “Ask Attio [ http://attio.xyz/askattio-mkt1?utm_source=mkt1&utm_medium= newsletter_sponsorship&utm_campaign=mkt1-Q1Y26&utm_content=February ]” inside Attio’s CRM. A rule-based workflow automation is triggered by predefined rules and executes actions across tools. It follows explicit if/then logic. These don’t necessarily use an LLM, though they can. Think Zapier in its pre-AI era. An AI agent uses an LLM for reasoning, like a chatbot or copilot. It acts across tools and systems, like a workflow automation. Unlike traditional workflow automations, it doesn’t just follow fixed rules—it can interpret context, decide next steps, and work toward an outcome. And here’s a comparison for understanding what an AI agent actually is (and isn’t): Part 2: How to build your first agent I know what you’re thinking: this sounds cool, but I’m not technical enough to build agents. But luckily, you don’t need to know JSON, webhooks, or advanced automation to build an agent. Back to the teammate metaphor: If you can write a job description for a new hire, build a step-by-step workflow in any tool, and use an LLM, you can definitely build an agent. There are 3 phases here: Pick a task, build your agent, and refine your agent. I’ll walk you through each one. Phase 1: Pick a task, hire an agent 1. Identify the task While agents can do multi-function workflows, it’s best to start with something simple. Think of a task that takes manual or repetitive effort. I start by thinking about the things I’m already doing in a few categories: What am I already asking LLMs to do regularly? This usually means generating or editing content. For me, it’s editing a LinkedIn post or writing YouTube descriptions. Can I turn this into an agent with better inputs and less manual cleanup? What processes am I doing in other tools that feel manual? We all log into tools and do the same things over and over again. For me, that’s finding the right people to invite to events or cleaning up screenshots before sharing them. Could an agent run this workflow end-to-end? What research could I do more frequently or in more depth? We all say we want to do more research on our audience, competitors, partners, market, trends, top prospects, etc., but it’s hard to keep up. For me, this could be tracking what advisees’ competitors are doing, monitoring what B2B startup marketers are discussing across communities, or analyzing call recordings for content ideas. Could an agent handle the scanning and summarizing so I can act on it more regularly? 2. Write an agent spec (like it’s a job description) Once you have an idea, make sure your agent’s first task has a measurable deliverable, something like: “Pull out three potential clips from this webinar transcript.” Think of this like writing a simple job description: Start with a descriptive agent name and write a short list of responsibilities. You’ll then feed this into your agent building process. Jacob described this as “A good responsibility tells the agent what-when-how,”, specifically: What work should the agent do When they should do it How they should do it, including how they should deliver the final output Phase 2: Build the agent 3. Pick a tool to build your agent There are a lot of options for building agents right now. Some are more autonomous, others are more structured. Some are triggered automatically when something happens behind the scenes (e.g. a new contact enters your CRM). Others are activated by you each time (e.g. by prompting them directly, even via text message, like in the very trendy OpenClaw). Some are pre-built and productized, and you buy them off the shelf. Most teams will end up using all three: autonomous tools for discovery and one-off work, structured systems for the workflows that matter most, and productized agents for the most time-saving, repeatable work. But you don’t need to overthink this if just getting started, the goal is to try to build something! I find lots of marketers overthink what’s the best tool, and it prevents them from building. Here’s how I think about the landscape right now: Autonomous agents like the newish Claude Cowork, let you describe a goal and they figure out the path. You point them at a folder or tool, tell them what you need, and they determine the steps in real time. But, despite the label “autonomous,” you typically need to activate these agents each time; they don’t just run continuously in the background by default. These are powerful for exploratory work or tasks where the process isn’t predictable. (I’m also running this stuff on a second computer, because they are slow!) Structured agent builders like Relay.app [ https://substack.com/redirect/fb33f61e-057d-4b2d-8d4c-e60b209782c6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Zapier, or n8n [ https://substack.com/redirect/d4aa2e06-3d24-4bdf-982b-155c52cc0dd3?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] work differently. You define the available tools, triggers, and logic upfront. You determine if you want them to run automatically based on a trigger or at your command. The agent operates within those boundaries, often with human-in-the-loop controls and explicit error handling. These are better when you need repeatability, visibility, approval workflows, or something that runs reliably at scale. Productized agents (like Mutiny [ https://substack.com/redirect/0b685618-e676-4bc7-ba79-27c0b6b1abef?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]) are pre-built and robust. You’re not designing the logic; the company has already defined the job and built the workflows. These can be more refined and “sturdy” than something you build yourself, especially for well-defined, common use cases. And no matter which you choose, use ChatGPT or Claude (the non-Cowork version) to help you research what to build, where to build it, and how to build it. This path is (usually) cheaper than going straight into tools and saves you some major headaches. 4. Build the agent Now take the “job description” you wrote in step 2 and actually build the agent. In most tools, there’s a prompt box or setup screen where you can paste in your agent spec. Start there. The platform will usually guide you through the next steps—connecting tools, defining triggers, choosing models, or setting output formats. Most modern builders have a built-in co-pilot that asks follow-up questions and helps you fill in gaps. You don’t need to architect everything upfront. You respond, refine, and move forward. The process is often more guided than you expect. Here’s an example of what this might look like… Phase 3: Refine your agent 5. Ship it and improve it Once you’ve got a minimum viable version working, publish your agent and let it run on real tasks. You’ll learn far more from seeing it operate in the wild than from endlessly tweaking it in setup mode. Most tools provide logs, error messages, and step-by-step visibility to help you understand what went wrong. Use that feedback to tighten the instructions, clarify the output format, or adjust the logic. If things are breaking, explain the problem to an LLM and have it help you debug, start again with a prebuilt template, or go simpler. E.g. Instead of building a social media monitoring agent across multiple channels (like in my example above), have it monitor just one. 6. Build more Keep going! Once you build one, you’ll start getting ideas for more on the regular. Go try to build those too. Maybe someday you’ll end up like a person on LinkedIn saying they’ve automated 40% of their job, but know that’s not the reality for most…yet. I have a lot of 75% done agents that I don’t go back and finish. I don’t have any great advice here, I usually go back to them when I am doing the thing manually again and fix them. I think this is the reality for most people here. You only actually ship and use a small percentage. “If you were hiring a new competitive analyst, you would not write them a thousand-word document about what you want them to do. You’d say, ‘Hey, look at our competitor YouTube videos and send me a report, tell me if there’s anything interesting.’ And then they’d give you the report and you’d say, ‘Focus more on this, focus less on this.’ And that’s exactly how you should work with your AI agent.” – Jacob Bank, founder of Relay.app But what about “Agent Swarms” and “Parallel Agents”? You may see a lot of people talking about multi-agent systems, meaning agents coordinating with each other, running in parallel, forming little AI “teams.” Tools like Antigravity and CrewAI are built for exactly that. I think in most cases we may be getting our head out over our skis (have I been watching too much Winter Olympics with this phrase)? Short answer: Yes, some marketers are building those, but that’s not where most teams should start. When you’re getting started, focus on outputs. Pick one clearly defined task with a tangible deliverable (a competitor brief, a repurposed content draft, a weekly report). Build an agent that owns that job end-to-end. Let it produce something visible in a shared system: a Google Doc in Drive, a Slack message, a CRM update. If and when you add another agent, don’t over-engineer coordination. Have it work off the output of the first one (that Google Doc, for instance). One agent creates a doc; another reviews or enriches it. One pulls data into a sheet; another analyzes it. They don’t need to “talk” directly. They can collaborate through shared artifacts, just like humans working in the same tools. Start with one job, and let agents collaborate through shared systems. You’re still ahead of the game if you do this, I promise. “If you’re wondering how multiple agents work together, it’s just like people! They send each other emails and Slack message, collaborate on the same Google Docs, etc, so you don’t need to think about a totally new concept of an “agent swarm.” – Jacob Bank, founder of Relay.app Want to join a live MKT1 Hackathon? Coming soon! We’re planning a live hackathon series with the creators of some of our favorite AI tools. These events are for paid subscribers only and the first one is kicking off by end of March. (now’s the time to upgrade that subscription 😊) 4 marketing agents you can build right now “In general, the rule that I found is for a purely hands on keyboard knowledge work task…an AI agent can do 50 to 90% of what a great human employee can do.” –Jacob Bank, founder of Relay.app Here are 4 “popular” ideas for agents that most B2B marketing teams could use. You can find more in this LinkedIn post I did this week [ https://substack.com/redirect/4dfb152a-0150-44b8-aba4-752570eda1e3?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], template libraries from various agent-building tools, or by asking an LLM. You can copy and paste these “job descriptions” directly into a tool (like Relay.app [ https://substack.com/redirect/fb33f61e-057d-4b2d-8d4c-e60b209782c6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]) to start building your own version. Or make these your own. The beauty of any AI workflow is it can be fully customized to your needs. So use these templates as a starting point or a first experiment to understand what’s possible, and iterate from there. 1. Competitive intelligence agent Most marketers deprioritize or shortcut competitive intel because it takes so much time (and because we’re burned out from “battle card” requests from sales). Build an agent instead! A competitive agent is an easy one to start with because it runs entirely on public data, and doesn’t need internal permissions. What: Scan competitor websites, LinkedIn, YouTube, press releases, job boards, and G2 reviews for new features, pricing updates, positioning shifts, key hires, and funding announcements. When: Weekly on Monday morning (or daily if your industry is super-competitive or fast-moving). How: Deliver a structured report to Slack or email. Highlight what changed since the last run and flag anything that could impact positioning, campaigns, or sales conversations. Add context: Add a step that pulls in your positioning from Google Docs, Notion, etc. and prompt the agent to assess competitor changes against those claims. Related agents: Competitor pricing tracker or a product feature comparison agent that maintains a live feature matrix Analyze complements, not just competitors. Leveraging the trust and credibility of 3rd-party partners, aka ecosystem marketing [ https://substack.com/redirect/1df41af9-c4d0-4fec-89cc-1463ea8911f3?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], is a very effective way to grow right now. So don’t stop at competitive research. Create an agent to analyze the latest from potential partners, influencers, analysts, etc with the same intentionality you would competitors. 2. Content repurposing agent Most teams create strong fuel and then don’t extract enough mileage from it. Not because they don’t want to, but because repurposing takes time and mental energy. Since the source material is your own content, the quality floor is significantly higher than generating content from scratch. This is one of the easiest, highest-ROI agents to build. What: Take new long-form content (webinars or podcast transcripts, newsletters, a successful longer-form LinkedIn post), and repurpose it into social posts. When: Triggered automatically when new content is published or uploaded. How: Deliver a set of draft posts to a Doc or directly to your social platform channel for review. Add context: Feed the agent your brand voice guide, target persona definitions, past social posts with data, and current social goals, so it aligns with what you’re actually trying to drive. Related agents: Full recording to clip transcript extractor, customer quote library builder, evergreen content resurfacing agent 3. Social listening agent You can’t manually monitor every place your brand or category gets mentioned. Agents are great at monitoring conversations happen in LinkedIn comments, Slack groups, Reddit threads, and X replies, especially when given a few keywords to monitor. This agent helps you know what people are saying, and can chime in when needed. What: Monitor specific mentions of your company across LinkedIn, Reddit, Slack communities, X, and relevant forums. (I think it’s best to start by choosing one platform at a time). When: Real-time alerts for high-priority mentions (so you can engage in a timely way) plus weekly reports. How: Deliver a concise digest to Slack that prioritizes mentions based on:Posts from high-reach or high-authority accounts, posts gaining engagement quickly, mentions tied to priority topics. Show the highest-impact opportunities first. Add context: Pull in focus keywords or topic, brand name variations, and top influencers or creators in your space. Related agents: Executive name mention tracker, partner mention alert agent, target account mention agent. 4. Growth analyst agent Automate the jobs a strong growth marketer does every day: check HubSpot, look at email performance, scan ad accounts, and figure out what actually needs attention. The problem is that analytics live in different systems, and most teams don’t have the time to synthesize dashboards daily. You can also have the agent share updates with the whole team so everyone has visibility into what’s changing. What: Pull data from HubSpot, your email platform, ad accounts, and anywhere your marketing analytics exist. Share daily KPIs and flag meaningful shifts. When: Send a daily KPI snapshot, with a more detailed weekly trend summary. How: Deliver a short update to Slack or email that includes: Core KPIs vs target and last week notable changes or anomalies, 1–2 areas that likely need investigation Add context: Pull in your KPI targets and quarterly goals from your planning spreadsheet so the agent evaluates performance against your actual goals. Related agents: Pipeline quality monitor that tracks conversion rates, paid campaign monitor, Forecast vs. actuals agent More examples of things people have actually built from this LinkedIn post’s comments [ https://substack.com/redirect/6980a175-60b3-4e97-8099-4fe9f48cb33b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: Account research & outreach agents Cold outreach agent with ICP mapping, research, and email composition Customer lookalike agent pulling HubSpot data, finding similar companies via Clay, personalizing email sequences and LinkedIn DMs Weekly database scanners for high-intent signals with ICP lead enrichment Case study opportunity detector (or just use Mutiny [ https://substack.com/redirect/0b685618-e676-4bc7-ba79-27c0b6b1abef?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]!) Content creator agents Executive POV miner (pulls themes from sales calls, customer interviews) A blog post generator that pulls in the latest news each week Landing page creation agent trained on brand guidelines Resource hub built and updated by agents Podcast guest research agent Social media manager agents LinkedIn page management Content insights from top voices LinkedIn post topic finder Research agents Trademark clearance agent for agency that does naming Research agent synthesizing audience signals, competitor posts, and content pillars into prioritized ideas Conference opportunity analyzer Productivity agents: Job board scraper and poster Draft intro emails directly in Gmail by sharing LinkedIn profiles More tips from my workshop with Jacob Here are some things to keep in mind as you build: Use LLMs to help you build agents. Describe the job to ChatGPT or Claude and have it help you break the work into steps, anticipate edge cases, and refine instructions. I rarely build in any AI tool without an LLM helping me plan & write prompts as I go. Design for reliability before scale. A lot of the questions during my session with Jacob came down to trust. How do you know which model to use? What about subtle logic errors? The answer isn’t finding the perfect prompt, it’s constraining the system. Start by defining the exact structure of the output. Don’t just ask for “three clips” or “a competitor summary.” Specify the fields you expect. Most modern platforms support structured outputs, which force the model to return content in a predefined format. That constraint dramatically reduces formatting drift and vague answers. Check your work with another agent. People are always concerned about hallucinations, and rightfully so. For higher-stakes work, use a simple writer + checker pattern: one pass generates, a second pass audits against a short checklist or your definition of done before it ships. Security, cost, and access, concerns are valid Treat permissions like you would with a new hire, begin with read-only access, limit what the agent can change, and expand write access only after you’ve seen it behave well on real inputs. The same discipline applies to cost. Keep scopes bounded and steps explicit so the agent doesn’t wander. Open-ended tool use and retries are what make usage unpredictable. For this reason, I’m less likely to use a brand new unestablished tool that might be hot that day. And if your company doesn’t give access to all tools, you may be able to start with basic productivity tasks that require less tool access. Don’t create another place to go. Treat agents like teammates, not tools to visit. If your agent lives in its own interface, you’ll forget it exists. The best agents deliver work into systems you already use (Slack, Drive, your CRM, your project tracker) just like a teammate would. And remember, you can use one agent’s output (a Google Doc, a Slack message, a spreadsheet) as another agent’s input. Relatedly, I find that setting every agents output to daily seems like a good idea when setting it up, but is overly ambitious. I’m not actually going to look at if a competitor changed their customer’s page daily, so don’t add the extra noise! How agents fit into modern marketing teams “Whenever you’re in doubt about how you should work with an agent, just think about how you’d work with a person. Write a job description like you would for a teammate. Assign tasks like you would to a teammate. Review and edit the work like you would with a teammate. Give feedback like you would to a teammate.” –Jacob Bank, founder of Relay.app Truth be told, when I start to think about agents too much, I get a little freaked out about what happens to human marketers. I can’t 100% predict where this goes in the long term. But for now—and likely for a while—the teams that learn when to use humans versus agents are going to operate more effectively. I’m bullish on marketing teams shifting away from specialist-heavy silos and toward flatter structures built around Gen Marketers [ https://substack.com/redirect/2a988a73-5eaa-4a6e-8e56-97e623c10159?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: AI era generalists who own campaigns end-to-end and pull in specialists, contractors, and agents as needed. A Gen Marketer with a team of well-tuned agents can execute faster, learn more quickly, automate the mundane, giving them more time to spend on campaigns that actually stand out. Here’s how I see the division of labor today…agents handle repeatable knowledge work: monitoring, drafting, enriching, reporting. Humans handle strategy, creative judgment, and anything where the cost of being wrong is high. For now, just start building. And if you want to go deeper, get on the waitlist for our upcoming hackathons [ https://substack.com/redirect/b73981e1-01b5-4e9d-bbe4-6b2786ad70b3?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]—we’ll be working on everything from agent building to vibe coding to AEO workflows. Thanks to Jacob Bank for the conversations that inspired this newsletter. Jacob is the founder and CEO of Relay.app, previously the product lead for Google Calendar and Gmail. You can find him on LinkedIn [ https://substack.com/redirect/672e14d0-dc39-4247-b91f-c93fe57826a3?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] where he posts about agents and workflows—and he teaches a course on Maven [ https://substack.com/redirect/cf519449-7069-42ea-be45-ddcd2d965162?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] about agent building if you want to keep learning. He’s also hosting free webinar in a few days on Feb 23 on “Creating AI Marketers. [ https://substack.com/redirect/7b823ded-70ed-458c-96bb-6c448e197921?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] More from MKT1 🙏 Brought to you by: Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/f8d1f865-8088-4a71-9cf6-2966bea317e4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], the AI native CRM; Closing Media [ https://substack.com/redirect/2f24eddf-32ee-4e8b-8c7e-b868a949e2c5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], a LinkedIn Ads & Paid Media agency, and Wistia [ https://substack.com/redirect/4535749c-6135-4ad7-b08f-233ce85fa70a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], a one stop video marketing shop. 🔓 Gen Marketer Hackathons: Be the first to know when we kick off our Hackathon series, get on the list here. [ https://substack.com/redirect/b73981e1-01b5-4e9d-bbe4-6b2786ad70b3?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] 📦 MKT1 Unboxing: Watch our new video series to see Kramer (that’s me) unbox Mutiny [ https://substack.com/redirect/fc7e6a37-c827-432d-a736-028b46504779?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Wistia [ https://substack.com/redirect/f69c4d10-267a-4ba2-8800-490831a4908c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Luma AI [ https://substack.com/redirect/6436109e-4580-4946-b87a-e058a9389360?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], & Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/7a9d5577-a087-4aa7-bc53-f4b3c5d9b17e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. 🥞 MKT1 Perk Stack: Exclusive discounts worth $40K+ [ https://substack.com/redirect/81cea7c1-5ba2-4cc5-916e-b760440e8753?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] on our favorite GTM tools. For annual & superfan paid subscribers only. 🧰 Revamped, upgraded template & resource library: We have 100+ templates and resources [ https://substack.com/redirect/137111d6-042c-4c74-89ef-e87f44d7e255?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] available to paid subscribers in our template & tool library. 🧑‍🚀 Job board: Jobs from the MKT1 community [ https://substack.com/redirect/f214b292-021d-40fc-a615-3f401ea4cbb8?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (free to post as a paid subscriber). And our candidate form [ https://substack.com/redirect/d3a9abfb-e5ac-4d1b-8631-5b3bf98419e7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] if you’re looking for a new role (option to remain anonymous included!). 🍽️ [ https://substack.com/redirect/b55140dd-5ebe-4b18-86cd-6a436d2cc730?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 Supper Club: [ https://substack.com/redirect/b55140dd-5ebe-4b18-86cd-6a436d2cc730?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Get on the list for monthly IRL dinners with Kramer, a small group of smart marketers, good food, and conversations on topics that actually matter in your role—made possible by some of my favorite GTM tools. Unsubscribe https://substack.com/redirect/2/eyJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9uZXdzbGV0dGVyLm1rdDEuY28vYWN0aW9uL2Rpc2FibGVfZW1haWw_dG9rZW49ZXlKMWMyVnlYMmxrSWpvME1qWTFNVFV3TkRBc0luQnZjM1JmYVdRaU9qRTRPRE0xTmpVeU5pd2lhV0YwSWpveE56Y3hOVEk0TVRJNUxDSmxlSEFpT2pFNE1ETXdOalF4TWprc0ltbHpjeUk2SW5CMVlpMHlNVGcxTURFaUxDSnpkV0lpT2lKa2FYTmhZbXhsWDJWdFlXbHNJbjAudURMLS1fdHdsUDRBZTFOZU10dUNOZWJQdWdBZUNBeG90X0xKN2tfS216MCIsInAiOjE4ODM1NjUyNiwicyI6MjE4NTAxLCJmIjp0cnVlLCJ1Ijo0MjY1MTUwNDAsImlhdCI6MTc3MTUyODEyOSwiZXhwIjoyMDg3MTA0MTI5LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMCIsInN1YiI6ImxpbmstcmVkaXJlY3QifQ.9kvkoUrrWeJneLV76Gq1G95z0tPEF3D8dkoNBUH3CEY?

View this post on the web at https://newsletter.mkt1.co/p/executive-dinners-are-the-new-trade-shows 👋 This is a monthly free edition of MKT1 Newsletter—a deep dive into a B2B startup marketing topic, brought to you by 42 Agency [ https://substack.com/redirect/8dc63287-6d39-42d5-9bad-21dd1995cf5d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Ahrefs [ https://substack.com/redirect/0bdd6938-4844-4b07-82fe-f9cdbdf07dfd?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and GrowthPair [ https://substack.com/redirect/692215d3-ee30-465e-84c5-ff96a45fcdab?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Upgrade to a paid subscription for: 100+ templates & resources [ https://substack.com/redirect/f6e108ef-613a-424a-8ea9-989e2389070c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | MKT1 Job Board - Free Posts [ https://substack.com/redirect/3eb9977e-9692-4fd6-8f9f-bc6ee81cf675?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | MKT1 Archive access [ https://substack.com/redirect/abb26f8f-f3c1-4da1-b4aa-0ded9d6ecd26?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | New MKT1 Perk Stack [ https://substack.com/redirect/c5d59105-9459-454e-aeac-23b2cc3f54d9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], exclusive discounts worth $40K+ for annual paid subscribers. The hottest B2B marketing trend right now isn’t AI, it’s dinner. Okay, that’s probably an exaggeration. But it’s true that founders and marketing leaders are getting multiple invites every month to some kind of “dinner”: small group dinners, executive roundtables, salons–or even flower arranging classes. We’re right on top of this trend at MKT1, we hosted our own MKT1 Supper Club [ https://substack.com/redirect/a37c8056-ad64-40f9-addb-49a0703c3245?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] dinner last week in NYC with Profound [ https://substack.com/redirect/2422142c-6c9f-453c-af3f-05525d304492?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Whatever you want to call these events, it’s clear that somewhere in the last 5 years, the company-hosted “dinner” replaced the trade show as the B2B event du jour…and I support this “trend.” I’ve podcasted and written about in-person events before [ https://substack.com/redirect/bb77c596-624e-442b-b05c-6efd5a2f2c33?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and cautioned against the old strategy of throwing your whole budget at conference booths. But a dinner done right is increasingly a high-leverage way to stand out in a sea of AI slop [ https://substack.com/redirect/229faa20-65f0-4f9e-9fda-3dbc8aa00d40?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and it’s an elegant way to put your ecosystem to work [ https://substack.com/redirect/47ed9b8a-fcf4-4065-97e7-cc3db0238a79?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Especially for high-ACV businesses, getting the formula for a successful dinner right can be transformative. So I called Sheena Badani [ https://substack.com/redirect/511bf58b-349a-43be-8464-e621365fe879?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], who works with companies to host standout events through her company RevAura [ https://substack.com/redirect/13c627b0-a9cb-4b6e-91ca-8f4215de1e65?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], to get an expert take on running dinners that work in 2026. At RevAura she’s running dinners, cooking classes, and even nail salons [ https://substack.com/redirect/014b7d37-bbae-49a7-83b5-094f79ba48c3?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], all aimed at getting the right people in the room. Sheena was previously a marketing leader at Gong, but decided to double down on executive events after seeing their impact firsthand. In this newsletter, I’m sharing her best tips along with my own to help you get the most value out of this strategy. Recommended products & agencies We only include sponsors we’d recommend personally to our community. If you are interested in sponsoring our newsletter, email us at sponsorships@mkt1.co [ mailto:sponsorships@mkt1.co ]. 42 Agency [ https://substack.com/redirect/8dc63287-6d39-42d5-9bad-21dd1995cf5d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] is a MOPs & paid media agency that kicks off differently. They start with a Revenue Opportunity Analysis that digs into your ad accounts, CRM, and closed-lost deals to find where revenue is leaking. Then they fix it. 🎁Offer: First 5 companies to redeem get 15% off [ https://substack.com/redirect/8dc63287-6d39-42d5-9bad-21dd1995cf5d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] a revenue opportunity analysis. — Ahrefs [ https://substack.com/redirect/0bdd6938-4844-4b07-82fe-f9cdbdf07dfd?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: Search traffic is declining, AI search is changing how products are discovered, and predicting web traffic is harder than ever. I recommend Ahrefs to stay on top of it all: track rankings, brand visibility, and performance across search and AI, all in one place. — GrowthPair [ https://substack.com/redirect/692215d3-ee30-465e-84c5-ff96a45fcdab?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: If you want to scale your marketing team with top-tier global talent, GrowthPair can help. They handle vetting (only 1.5% of applicants make it through), payroll, and benefits → You get a full-time marketer, from paid social to email and video, all for ~$3,500/month. In this newsletter: Why dinners have replaced trade shows as the reigning champ of B2B events How to make sure your dinner is worth the investment Why a good dinner nails the 3 Ps: people, place, and programming Operational tips for making dinners repeatable For paid subscribers: A map of SF & NYC dinner venues hand-picked by the MKT1 community MKT1 Unboxing: A quick break to unbox Wistia [ https://substack.com/redirect/f819bd99-a685-4d49-8083-233d3fd97c49?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Learn how to leverage video in the AI era from video marketing GOAT, Chris Savage [ https://substack.com/redirect/70a1b0f5-7805-48e6-a903-7c6c776d91d0?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Co-Founder + CEO at Wistia [ https://substack.com/redirect/f819bd99-a685-4d49-8083-233d3fd97c49?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Wistia has evolved from “video hosting” into a one-stop video marketing shop. They handle hosting, embeds, analytics, recording, editing, social clips, podcast distribution, and multi-language dubbing—so if you’re looking for tools to help you manage video marketing, watch this [ https://substack.com/redirect/212e81f5-f8af-4c9a-ab5a-73f2230b0771?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: Some stand out moments in this episode of [ https://substack.com/redirect/212e81f5-f8af-4c9a-ab5a-73f2230b0771?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] [ https://substack.com/redirect/212e81f5-f8af-4c9a-ab5a-73f2230b0771?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 Unboxing [ https://substack.com/redirect/212e81f5-f8af-4c9a-ab5a-73f2230b0771?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: LLMs don’t watch videos, so you need to add context for AI search. AI tools read text, not video. Wistia makes video embeds LLM-friendly so your videos can actually be indexed and show up in AI search. Watch this clip » [ https://substack.com/redirect/395814f0-22b2-4724-a1c4-4dc2c96ed1d6?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Most social clipping tools only grab what’s obvious. Clipping a single moment is easy. Finding the best moments across an entire recording is harder. Wistia’s new (beta) Remix feature does this for you, watch at 12:04 » [ https://substack.com/redirect/428de39d-3eb7-4220-8341-0101d2884d7e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Webinars work better when they’re part of your video stack Running webinars in the same place you host, edit, analyze, and repurpose video makes them easier to re-purpose and measure over time. Here’s how Wistia approaches it, watch at 19:49 » [ https://substack.com/redirect/ca8d145d-f5c4-4e0f-8b9d-4b316fdf7f5b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Get started with a free trial of Wistia here » [ https://substack.com/redirect/f819bd99-a685-4d49-8083-233d3fd97c49?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] MKT1 Unboxing [ https://substack.com/redirect/c7beec2b-ef01-46d2-bace-d5148fbed10a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] is our new video series, each video is a 30-minute demo + conversation where I (Emily Kramer) unbox marketing and GTM tools — no slides, no scripts, no sales pitch. Just real tools, real workflows, and real talk. The goal: help you find AI tools worth using. Now back to in-person events… Why the “dinner” replaced the trade show “Events used to be more trade show-oriented, taking advantage of other people’s events to leverage for lead generation. Now attendance at those just looks different. People are less inclined to travel to those large trade shows. So the new event model is using your own hosted events for deal acceleration.” –Sheena Trade shows were the primary event model for decades. You’d sponsor someone else’s event, set up a booth, and hope decision-makers wandered by. But post-Covid, which forced everyone to figure out deal cycles without conference infrastructure, companies started questioning the ROI. Companies were investing so much money sponsoring, not to mention their own employees’ travel costs and time, then crossing their fingers that the right people would come find them. As I said in one of my most successful LinkedIn posts to date [ https://substack.com/redirect/aa0fb2cf-b8c0-4bc4-b566-6ef21967267d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], when I look at most conference booths, I just see dollars in trashcans. But what many of these booth exhibitors noticed was that the most valuable moments were the side conversations: the dinner the night before, the coffee meeting in the lobby, the drinks after a long day on the floor. At some point, people started asking: Why not just do those things directly? You control the budget, the venue, and the guest list. You can get the right mix of existing champions, active prospects, and warm accounts. You’re not trying to collect 500 badge scans from people who will never respond to follow-up emails. You’re connecting directly with ~12 people who are actually in your pipeline, actually evaluating you, and giving them a reason to move forward. Seems like a better use of money. In some ways, the prospect and/or customer dinner is the oldest trick in the GTM book. Wine and dine your potential customers, close the deal. In my recent rewatch of Mad Men, which is the true historical record for how marketing once was, I saw Don Draper do this on repeat (though usually inappropriately). But I’ve definitely seen this surge recently. The other reason these dinners are a go-to strategy is not just the reaction to the trade show reboot post-Covid, it’s of course, AI-related too. In the age of AI-generated everything, this kind of authentic human connection is a strong differentiator. A dinner forces real conversation. You can’t automate your way through it. That’s why it works. And the last reason I think these dinners are surging right now: It’s never been easier to access and fully enrich account and contact data. What used to be a massive, manual process now takes minutes. You can do this quickly with tools like Clay [ https://substack.com/redirect/c769c3d1-af5f-4282-bfe3-250ce5387294?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], then feed it into your CRM—or even manage the entire event invite flow in Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/a986b74c-7cf6-4b39-a750-34ea81e2546f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (like we do at MKT1). Watch my 1 min walkthrough of how I manage exec dinners in Attio ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/3744be18-caeb-40ed-aa8a-05a18eb02986?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Watch our in-depth Attio Unboxing with Head of Success, Zev Leibowitz ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/d50a1799-d67b-4efe-9381-8b5d49d70e22?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] “People who go to these dinners tell me they want to either meet their peers, somebody interesting, or they want to learn something new that they can take back to their business. That’s ultimately what they care about. And ideally, it’s both. You’re helping facilitate those connections, and you’re helping facilitate the exchange of ideas.” –Sheena What makes a dinner worth the investment “Where and when you should do dinners needs some thought, too. What cities are your open pipeline in? Where do your champions live? You could even host around a trade show or another place you know your audience is going to be.” –Sheena Dinners require real investment: budget, time, and coordination. So you shouldn’t host these with reckless abandon, even if it seems like everyone else is. You need to make sure you can get your money’s worth. This means you shouldn’t book a restaurant until you’ve done the strategic work upfront. Otherwise, you’re just doing Random Acts of Marketing™ [ https://substack.com/redirect/01a68837-e51e-4319-a751-e52ee015e103?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (RAM 🐑) at a fancy venue. You’re turning the RAM emoji into a lambchop? Note: I’m a vegetarian, it makes this graphic metaphor acceptable, I think? Account-driven strategy + dinners go together like wine + cheese Dinners work best as part of a broader account-driven strategy [ https://substack.com/redirect/1341ad10-a671-4553-a691-f6bbc32c38fc?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. You need to know which accounts are top priority right now to determine which cities make sense and who to invite. A simple example: If your open pipeline is concentrated in New York and Austin, hosting a dinner in SF because that’s where your office is doesn’t make strategic sense. Once you have your target accounts identified, treat each dinner as a campaign [ https://substack.com/redirect/b893c254-ac76-48ac-80d3-5596a85aa9cb?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], not a one-off event. This is the same approach you need for any marketing initiative: you need fuel [ https://substack.com/redirect/d2c2aafc-c70d-496d-afd7-88f872d7082d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (the content and experience) and engine [ https://substack.com/redirect/a73d5606-494b-4cb9-8777-37997f9b4ca4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (how you get people there and follow up). An event campaign needs touchpoints before, during, and after. Upsides you might not have thought of “Dinners are a great way to get to know your persona. Especially if you’re moving into a new market or into a new persona, this is an opportunity to do some light research that way.” –Sheena Dinners have upside beyond just hitting a pipeline goal, which is what makes them such an interesting tactic for B2B teams. I like to think about setting an internal sub-goal for each dinner. Here’s what I mean: Research & market intelligence: There’s no substitute for talking to your ICP in person, and people get really unfiltered at dinner. You hear what’s working for them right now, what keeps them up at night, what tools they’re evaluating, what their bosses care about. That intelligence is worth thousands of dollars if you’re paying attention…I sometimes wish I could have Granola transcribe the dinner, but I don’t think that’s appropriate?! Positioning & content ideas: The informal nature of a dinner makes it a great testing ground. You can see whether your new messaging resonates, whether a product launch idea makes sense, and whether the problem you’re solving is actually top of mind. Dinners are a great source of fuel, too, beyond the standard post-event social post with the poorly lit photo of people eating and awkward selfies. You can easily pull 10 content ideas just from what people bring up at dinner. Community-building: Dinners are primarily about building relationships. Even if these specific people don’t buy, they might give you intros to other accounts. I’m not even opposed to inviting people multiple times. Three dinners later, you could have a core group of advocates who know each other and are invested in your success. Brand-building: You’re putting your executives in front of prospects in a setting where they can actually have a conversation, not just pitch. You’re demonstrating that you understand the space well enough to convene the right people and ask the right questions. You’re showing up as a peer, not a vendor. That perception shift is worth more than most companies realize, especially in crowded markets where everyone’s product looks the same, and everyone’s content is straight outta Claude. “Audiences that aren’t as tapped are looking for ways to build community. We did a Women in AI event for Glean, and all these women were like, we just want to stay in touch with each other. So we set up a WhatsApp group for them to stay in touch afterwards.” –Sheena For paid subscribers: Steal my event planning rubric Before you start planning any event, make sure it’s worth the investment! I built an interactive version of my own event planning rubric that helps you decide (and defend) what’s worth the ROI. We have a Docs version too. The formula for a dinner that stands out “When a dinner is randomly thrown together, it’s just missing something…that special factor. These dinners really need to have a lot of thought and intentionality behind them to make them successful, and to make them stand out. You can’t depend on one single thing to make your dinner successful, they all tie together.” –Sheena Most companies throw dinners as a box they must check (often because sales is asking for them). They pick a restaurant, invite some prospects, and hope for the best. And that’s the problem. Everyone’s running the same play now, so if you’re not thoughtful about differentiation, your dinner blends into the noise. Think about what makes your dinner different. What’s your “it” factor? Sheena shared a really helpful formula for creating a differentiated event. You have to nail the 3 Ps: people, place, and programming. People: The most important ingredient “Rather than going out with an empty invite list, seed a few people to build interest in the dinner. Are there friendlies you can bring in—like an existing customer, investor, or influencer—to get a couple of logos? Now you can use that in the promotion of the event itself, and that helps to drive RSVPs faster than if you had no one.” –Sheena Of the three elements, people matter most, by a lot. You could show up at McDonald’s with the right people or co-hosts, get people to show up, and still have a good time. The inverse is also true: If you have the wrong people, even the best restaurant and most compelling topic won’t save the dinner. Social proof matters more than people think. Most of us want to know who else is coming before we give up an evening. A few confirmed logos or names can completely change how the invite lands. Suddenly, it’s not a vendor dinner; it’s a peer networking dinner that happens to be hosted by you. Think about the obvious factors: Are they at companies you’re actively trying to close? Are they in your ICP? Are they senior enough to make decisions, but not so senior that they won’t actually show up? But also: Are they going to be good dinner guests? Do they add a new perspective to the dinner? I like to seed the list not only with “big names,” but also with a few natural connectors I know personally who can carry a conversation and make others comfortable. “I often suggest inviting two people from one account that you’re trying to close. People really hesitate to take advantage of this, because they want to spread the resources across accounts. But they’re both more likely to come, and now you have the chance to create two champions within that company.” –Sheena If you are an avid reader of MKT1, you know I’m obsessed with ecosystem marketing [ https://substack.com/redirect/47ed9b8a-fcf4-4065-97e7-cc3db0238a79?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] right now. And this is one of my favorite ways to seed the list: Co-host with a complementary startup, an agency that serves the same audience, or bring in an “influencer” as a guest or co-host. (I do both—I’ll either show up as a guest or do end-to-end hosting like with MKT1 Supper Club.) Piggybacking on the trust and reach of partners is one of the only reliable ways to grow right now when other channels are wavering. Bonus idea: Some professions, like accountants and lawyers, require continuing education credits. If you can structure your event to count toward those requirements (easier with lunch-and-learns than dinners), that’s a huge incentive. Programming: Give people something worth talking about “A dinner is a way for you to extend your brand or a point of view that you have as a company. Just like you would write a blog post or do a webinar, the dinner is another avenue for you to get that perspective out to your audience.” –Sheena I think it’s obvious that a dinner is an “engine [ https://substack.com/redirect/a73d5606-494b-4cb9-8777-37997f9b4ca4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]” to reach your audience, but you need to think a lot about the “fuel [ https://substack.com/redirect/d50b9482-c8d9-4adf-8024-bcbb7f37716c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]” component too. A dinner shouldn’t be just “let’s get people together and see what happens.” You should be using the dinner to advance a specific POV your company has, or in MKT1 terms, a Perception™ [ https://substack.com/redirect/0814d469-63ab-4a21-a501-a096aa50625d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] you’re trying to drive. Think about the research you’ve published, the frameworks you talk about in sales calls, and the positioning that differentiates you from competitors. Those are all potential dinner topics. The dinner is where you bring that thinking to life in a conversational format, with the right people in the room to discuss it. But don’t over-program. And definitely don’t show slides, especially if it’s a pitch. If you’re filling every minute with structured conversation prompts or presentations, you’re not leaving room for people to actually talk to each other. The best dinners have just enough structure to give people something to talk about. You might open with a 10-minute framing of the topic, seed a few discussion questions, and then let the conversation flow naturally. “Specificity is one way to differentiate. Say you’ve done research on how to code 10x faster—tie your dinner into this point of view and this research that you’ve done. Now you have a compelling theme and title for your dinner. So it’s not just, hey, here’s an engineering leadership dinner. How do you take that and make it much more specific?” –Sheena A note on micro-conferences: Between the trade show and the dinner sits the micro-conference: intimate, curated events with 50-200 attendees. These are rising for similar reasons. But I recommend nailing dinners before you jump to an expensive 2-3 day microconference. Master the basics of getting the right people together and facilitating meaningful discussions first. How this works at MKT1 Supper Club At MKT1 Supper Clubs, we put blank question cards at every seat for guests to fill in. They don’t all need to be strictly on topic—adding a few fun questions helps set everyone at ease—but guests almost always end up talking about the dinner theme anyway. If the topic is strong, people are already bought into discussing it by the time they sit down. Guests write down a question, we shuffle the cards, and use them to spark group discussion. As a bonus, I’ve noticed people take notes on the cards too. It’s a simple way to walk away with a few takeaways from an event that isn’t recorded. I also post photos of the cards [ https://substack.com/redirect/91b158f9-9d20-4075-82ce-3e6c140f08d3?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] on social afterward. It’s proof I’m not just inventing a dinner conversation as a LinkedIn hook (a trend that must stop—I want receipts). Want to join MKT1 Supper Club? I host IRL dinners with a small group of smart marketers, good food, and conversations on topics that actually matter in your role—made possible by some of my favorite GTM tools. Place: Complement your brand, audience, and programming “People do want to go to a highly rated, nice place. Maybe something that they’ve been to before and they loved, or that’s on their bucket list, or it’s new and they haven’t tried it yet.” –Sheena The venue is important, but I’d argue it’s the least make-or-break of the three Ps (Sheena and I might disagree here slightly!). Getting the people and programming right matters more. The venue should complement what you’re already doing, not carry the strategy for you. But if you don’t have strong people or programming? Then yes, make the place the draw. Match the vibe to your brand: Think about what fits your company and the type of conversation you’re trying to facilitate. If you’re a fast-moving startup positioning yourself as the scrappy alternative to enterprise vendors, hosting at a stuffy French restaurant sends the wrong signal. Functional matters more than prestigious: Can you actually have a conversation, or is the music too loud? Is there a private room? Logistically, Sheena recommends booking your venue at least a month in advance, but waiting to send invites until closer to the date. Three weeks out is the sweet spot for invites. I’ve seen the same thing, and often do my invites 2 weeks out. And don’t be afraid to send last-minute invites if needed: “We had a spot open up at tomorrow’s dinner” or “Our team will be in [city] next week and we’re pulling together a dinner” both work well. I did this on LinkedIn [ https://substack.com/redirect/9535f7cc-9dd3-4f53-ad18-c82a507e714e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] just last week (and then my original “maybe” RSVP ended up coming too, and we added an extra seat!) NEW for paid subscribers: SF & NYC restaurant guide It’s not easy finding a great venue, so we polled the MKT1 community for their recommendations. And then, of course, we ended up vibe coding it into an interactive map of 40+ restaurants in San Francisco & New York. Making good dinners repeatable If you’re going to invest in dinners as a channel, you need systems to make them repeatable and measurable. One dinner is an experiment. Three dinners is a tactic. Ten dinners with clear processes is a channel. Most companies don’t do this. They treat each dinner like a special project: custom invites, one-off logistics, no standard follow-up. Then they can’t scale beyond a few dinners a year, and they definitely can’t prove ROI when someone asks. Here are some tips for driving the most impact and making sure you can prove it: Track influence, not just pipeline (or gasp, MQLs): These events take time to show impact, sometimes six months or more. While they frequently influence deals, it’s rarely the first or last touch. If someone attends your dinner in Q1 and closes in Q3, your CRM needs to capture that the dinner was part of the journey. Make sure you are building “campaigns” in Hubspot or Salesforce, then track campaign influence [ https://substack.com/redirect/77e2ce75-4808-41ef-8225-4659498aa372?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] from these events. You should also track pipeline influence and revenue influence from these events. I also like to look at account stage progression, too, and look at the campaigns that influenced those movements. To do this in Hubspot, you need to create an Account Stage custom object → log when an account hits each stage → then report on campaign interactions that happened before that date. Rinse and repeat: Once you determine if this motion works, document it and turn it into an internal playbook. Include which restaurants work in which cities, who your go-to “seed” guests are, what your invite template says, and how you follow up. This is how you turn a time-intensive custom project into something your team can run without reinventing it every time. Don’t forget: Follow-up matters as much as the dinner itself. Within 24-48 hours, send personalized notes that reference specific parts of the conversation, not a generic “thanks for attending” email. Add value (e.g. Profound [ https://substack.com/redirect/407bd8d4-f2bd-4549-b4e9-17aee30a160b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] sends custom AI brand visibility reports to attendees) and make connections easy (I send LinkedIn profiles for everyone who attended plus a recap of the questions from the Supper Club cards). Build this into your repeatable process so it happens every time. Get out of spreadsheets: You need a real system to track invites, RSVPs, attendance, and follow-up, that plugs directly into your CRM. I walked through how we use Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/a986b74c-7cf6-4b39-a750-34ea81e2546f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] to manage MKT1 Supper Clubs here [ https://substack.com/redirect/4fe8c896-ab8a-49ed-b4ce-db7a3f038b2f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Conclusion Now, is the trade show dead? I would never say that. Dinners are becoming more desirable and scalable than sponsoring trade shows because they’re more targeted, more efficient, and more authentic. But they only work if you approach them strategically, with clear account targeting, intentional programming (including partners, discussion topics, etc), and systems that let you scale. The companies winning with dinners aren’t just booking nice restaurants. They’re treating dinners as a core channel, with high-quality fuel feeding them, with the same rigor they’d apply to any other part of their go-to-market motion. If you’re going to do dinners, do them right. And for paid subscribers…don’t forget about this newsletters resources… More from MKT1 🙏 Thanks again to our sponsors: 42 Agency [ https://substack.com/redirect/8dc63287-6d39-42d5-9bad-21dd1995cf5d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], a paid media and MOPS agency; Ahrefs [ https://substack.com/redirect/0bdd6938-4844-4b07-82fe-f9cdbdf07dfd?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] for SEO & AEO; and GrowthPair [ https://substack.com/redirect/692215d3-ee30-465e-84c5-ff96a45fcdab?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] for hiring top global talent. 📦 MKT1 Unboxing: Watch our new video series to see Kramer (that’s me) unbox Wistia [ https://substack.com/redirect/9fa22c95-4c12-4c3c-bea2-e185d75dc594?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Luma AI [ https://substack.com/redirect/73d56e2a-9c92-4d18-a915-c869b49de65d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], & Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/3a199863-1eb8-43e7-96d4-08ce54658d2d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. 🥞 MKT1 Perk Stack: Exclusive discounts worth $40K+ [ https://substack.com/redirect/c5d59105-9459-454e-aeac-23b2cc3f54d9?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] on our favorite GTM tools. For annual & superfan paid subscribers only. 🧰 Revamped, upgraded template & resource library: We have 100+ templates and resources [ https://substack.com/redirect/f6e108ef-613a-424a-8ea9-989e2389070c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] available to paid subscribers in our template & tool library. 🧑‍🚀 Job board: Jobs from the MKT1 community [ https://substack.com/redirect/f90292a6-637c-44c4-95a5-ba36aac797d1?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (free to post as a paid subscriber). And our candidate form [ https://substack.com/redirect/faa72033-1b8c-4d40-a832-f3ba0a97c9ce?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] if you’re looking for a new role (option to remain anonymous included!). 🍽️ [ https://substack.com/redirect/1645c87e-a000-4a2e-a065-e426ab85d2d1?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 Supper Club: [ https://substack.com/redirect/1645c87e-a000-4a2e-a065-e426ab85d2d1?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Get on the list for monthly IRL dinners with Kramer, a small group of smart marketers, good food, and conversations on topics that actually matter in your role—made possible by some of my favorite GTM tools. Unsubscribe https://substack.com/redirect/2/eyJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9uZXdzbGV0dGVyLm1rdDEuY28vYWN0aW9uL2Rpc2FibGVfZW1haWw_dG9rZW49ZXlKMWMyVnlYMmxrSWpvME1qWTFNVFV3TkRBc0luQnZjM1JmYVdRaU9qRTROakUwT0RjNU9Td2lhV0YwSWpveE56Y3dNRFl3TlRJM0xDSmxlSEFpT2pFNE1ERTFPVFkxTWpjc0ltbHpjeUk2SW5CMVlpMHlNVGcxTURFaUxDSnpkV0lpT2lKa2FYTmhZbXhsWDJWdFlXbHNJbjAuWkZrMXB0NGx2eUVVWlBoSGZnUXcyZUhFWm1NX2hCYUNtSC1DYmxHRHNSSSIsInAiOjE4NjE0ODc5OSwicyI6MjE4NTAxLCJmIjp0cnVlLCJ1Ijo0MjY1MTUwNDAsImlhdCI6MTc3MDA2MDUyNywiZXhwIjoyMDg1NjM2NTI3LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMCIsInN1YiI6ImxpbmstcmVkaXJlY3QifQ.eG8gKJjFMPPEBHXL-tdSjPSwYIu7oXVRI--ilOaavEU?

View this post on the web at https://newsletter.mkt1.co/p/gen-marketer-summit-takeaways 👋 This is a monthly free edition of MKT1 Newsletter—a deep dive into a B2B startup marketing topic, brought to you by Primer [ https://substack.com/redirect/e5aa522d-d9a0-4c89-b05e-8cabae462ec4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Profound [ https://substack.com/redirect/3b38ca2c-9c04-491c-92b5-03616789f003?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and the rest of our Gen Marketing Summit Sponsors [ https://substack.com/redirect/b4423fee-7b2b-4843-bc3c-ab03307b4eac?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Upgrade to a paid subscription for: 100+ templates & resources [ https://substack.com/redirect/9f5a02cc-ec46-4743-9471-dd3908a617a3?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | MKT1 Archive access [ https://substack.com/redirect/5c561a02-4175-42cc-96af-78b1a3965d3c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] | Free Posts to the MKT1 Job Board [ https://substack.com/redirect/5e11f848-cb01-4dd6-9096-0a6a46e32af4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]| New MKT1 Perk Stack [ https://substack.com/redirect/0a20cee6-c2fa-4da4-8261-30c82d54ef64?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], exclusive discounts worth $40K+ for annual paid subscribers. Hopefully, you’ve heard: I hosted a 4-hour virtual Gen Marketer Summit with 500 of you and 11 speakers from companies including Profound [ https://substack.com/redirect/3b38ca2c-9c04-491c-92b5-03616789f003?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Primer [ https://substack.com/redirect/e5aa522d-d9a0-4c89-b05e-8cabae462ec4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Framer [ https://substack.com/redirect/4aeece80-c77a-4b77-88f7-9a385f336139?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Unify [ https://substack.com/redirect/10e56556-e31a-436a-a89c-466b284c743e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Tofu [ https://substack.com/redirect/e0904a5b-bdad-4c9a-b193-e6bde98e218b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Closing Media [ https://substack.com/redirect/b60907b5-a0fe-490c-9a5e-840e53d0f7ac?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Clay [ https://substack.com/redirect/903b63e5-85e1-47fc-8a76-e168cbd91b85?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Stripe, and OpenAI in December. The focus of the event was how to uplevel for the AI era by becoming a Gen Marketer [ https://substack.com/redirect/d4eafc52-7183-4905-9ce0-13fed2d01caf?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (a term I coined last year). During the Summit, I felt like I got a glimpse into the future, watching speakers show off the latest AI products and talk about how they are upleveling their teams to handle the AI shift. And after talking with every speaker, watching the live reactions, and reading hundreds of questions in the chat, I got even more clear on what actually matters heading into the new year. I personally became more confident that “Gen Marketer” isn’t simply a new job title, but a baseline skillset all marketers need. Since then, a few ideas—let’s call them “mantras”—have been buzzing in my head. So, this newsletter isn’t going to recap the event in full (because you can watch it here [ https://substack.com/redirect/4cc5b393-d2dc-4fc6-a7ad-aeed6ce47359?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and paid subscribers can get the slides from my keynote here [ https://substack.com/redirect/a611675c-9344-4a02-b083-7f44da80d7e2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]). Instead, I want to focus on what stood out after the event (and trust me, I did a lot of reflection on the event because aftewards I was stuck inside with a flu-like situation for 10 days!) In this newsletter Here are 3 marketing “mantras” for the new year that came directly from speakers. I think they’re great reminders, whether you came to the event or not: Being a generalist doesn’t mean being mid at everything With new GTM tools, there’s no excuse for Random Acts of Marketing The new bar: “Learnings per minute” for your audience This newsletter covers what we mean by each of these phrases, why it matters, and gives you clips and quotes to dive deeper into each. Watch the event replay Here are the recordings if you want to catch up on the full event, broken up into chapters so you can jump to what’s most interesting: Keynote with Emily Kramer [ https://substack.com/redirect/4cc5b393-d2dc-4fc6-a7ad-aeed6ce47359?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (that’s me) - get my slide deck here [ https://substack.com/redirect/a611675c-9344-4a02-b083-7f44da80d7e2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] AI workflows for Gen Marketers [ https://substack.com/redirect/054c63c2-0d7c-4f8b-93a7-83284164cc01?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] with Profound, Tofu, Framer, & Unify Scaling paid efficiently [ https://substack.com/redirect/c7b14761-f02c-49e1-9fbf-571b96160986?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] with Primer & Closing Media Roundtable with marketers [ https://substack.com/redirect/bd7c1b71-fa8f-4405-a89f-36224a868fdd?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] from Stripe, Clay, & Pear VC (ex-Vanta) Fireside Chat with Dane Vahey [ https://substack.com/redirect/a00de1ea-f583-412f-9114-16712e3323a2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Head of B2B Marketing at OpenAI Q&A from the audience [ https://substack.com/redirect/9a7357f8-ae8c-4e58-aca8-efd95e301b7c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] with me Thanks to our Gen Marketer Presenting Sponsors Primer [ https://substack.com/redirect/e5aa522d-d9a0-4c89-b05e-8cabae462ec4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: Expand your paid efforts with Primer. Primer helps you build, enrich, and sync custom B2B audiences and deploy them across Meta, LinkedIn, Google, Reddit, and DV360 at 40–90% match rates. 🎁 Offer: Get 10% off an annual subscription [ https://substack.com/redirect/e5aa522d-d9a0-4c89-b05e-8cabae462ec4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] with code MKT110. 🔒 MKT1 Perk Stack Offer: 30% off [ https://substack.com/redirect/0a20cee6-c2fa-4da4-8261-30c82d54ef64?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] for customers new to Primer’s Annual Plan _ Profound [ https://substack.com/redirect/3b38ca2c-9c04-491c-92b5-03616789f003?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: Improve AI visibility and craft AEO optimized content with Profound. Track how you’re seen across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity, uncover real-time AI search insights, and build workflows to generate and optimize content. 🎁 Offer: Use code MKT1 for 20% off Profound Growth [ https://substack.com/redirect/3b38ca2c-9c04-491c-92b5-03616789f003?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (new customers only) — And thanks to all of our Summit sponsors: Framer [ https://substack.com/redirect/4aeece80-c77a-4b77-88f7-9a385f336139?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Unify [ https://substack.com/redirect/10e56556-e31a-436a-a89c-466b284c743e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Tofu [ https://substack.com/redirect/e0904a5b-bdad-4c9a-b193-e6bde98e218b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Closing Media [ https://substack.com/redirect/b60907b5-a0fe-490c-9a5e-840e53d0f7ac?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Join my new course: Gen Marketer Bootcamp starts January 27th! If you loved the Summit and/or want an intensive of becoming a full-stack marketer for the AI era, I’m returning to teaching cohort-based-courses on Maven and my new course is open for applications [ https://substack.com/redirect/4a11549a-8673-4048-9474-7ccc5ba4ea06?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. If interested, check if your L&D budget covers courses. And Annual paid subscribers get a $100 discount (you’ll basically net $1 in this deal, since it’s only $99 for an annual subscription). Just comment that you’re an annual subscriber in your application, and if accepted, I’ll apply the discount. Now on to the mantras… Being a generalist doesn’t mean being “mid” at everything. What stood out at the Summit: Being a Gen Marketer doesn’t just mean you are a generalist. It’s a specific set of skills marketers need to operate in the AI era. Ting Ting nailed it: “I’ve always believed that the world sort of belongs to generalists. Being able to understand other functions well, being able to hold different mental models in your head of how sales works or product works, that’s what makes generalists strong. [Being a generalist] is not an excuse to be bad at multiple things or be mid at multiple things.” –Ting Ting Luo [ https://substack.com/redirect/4b21eaa9-9428-4615-ac77-a9c518ce6a51?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Head of Product Marketing at Clay Watch ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/f252545b-9455-4ce0-a8b7-68a2f888a2a5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] And this explanation seemed to land with the audience: “You might be sitting there thinking, I’m a growth marketer, I’m a product marketer, I’m a content marketer, I’m a partner marketer—does this apply to me? Yes. Gen Marketer isn’t just another job title—it’s actually the new baseline skill set for marketers. So, whatever role you’re in, you need to uplevel your skill set to gain more generalist skills for the AI era.” –Kramer Watch ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/fa1ea2e3-5551-42e0-97fc-156bb6ae696b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Why it matters: Since it’s easier to build products, create content, distribute across channels, and access data due to AI, the skills needed to succeed and get your product noticed have changed. Marketing teams have been a bit slow to keep up here, and it’s time to face the music: Your skillset and your team’s core competencies need to change. The AI era isn’t rewarding marketers who know one narrow thing in isolation; it’s rewarding generalists who can connect the dots. But being a generalist doesn’t mean giving up your edge or your craft. It means being excellent at one or two core marketing disciplines, and layering on enough cross-functional understanding to move work forward without constant handoffs. Handoffs only slow you down when velocity is the name of the game, and maybe more critically, they hurt creativity. Gen Marketers are well-suited to remove bottlenecks and give your team both the edge on velocity and quality. You might recall I’ve also called this a π-shaped marketer. [https://substack.com/redirect/0320b436-1b54-4261-8d81-e1a738c8a05a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] A π-shaped marketer has deep expertise in two areas (for example, product marketing and growth), with working knowledge across the rest of the function. A Gen Marketer takes this a step further by becoming proficient in executing campaigns and using AI to orchestrate. So, you don’t need to change your title, and you still need to be excellent at executing in your key area, but you also need to expand how you operate. The marketers who will thrive are the ones who can retain a core competency, but also translate ideas into campaigns, campaigns into execution, and execution into results—without needing a small army to get there. What to watch from the Summit: Hear from our roundtable of marketers who came up in 3 different disciplines (product marketing, growth marketing, and content & brand) to become Gen Marketing Leaders. Thanks, Zena [ https://substack.com/redirect/d580dab5-e622-4b3e-814b-ebf78e29087f?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Ting Ting [ https://substack.com/redirect/4b21eaa9-9428-4615-ac77-a9c518ce6a51?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and Jenny [ https://substack.com/redirect/83eefbd8-cddf-4781-9f52-34892f0ca3bd?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]! Watch ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/bd7c1b71-fa8f-4405-a89f-36224a868fdd?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Learn why Gen Marketer is the new baseline skillset in my keynote Watch ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/4cc5b393-d2dc-4fc6-a7ad-aeed6ce47359?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] See Gen Marketers in action: See how Nick [ https://substack.com/redirect/0d15bb52-a0db-4470-bbe5-d41c2bc01a58?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] at Profound [ https://substack.com/redirect/3b38ca2c-9c04-491c-92b5-03616789f003?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] prototypes AEO products based on his deep understanding of their audience Watch ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/054c63c2-0d7c-4f8b-93a7-83284164cc01?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] See how James [ https://substack.com/redirect/509ace43-6781-492d-909e-70c6209da82c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] at Framer [ https://substack.com/redirect/4aeece80-c77a-4b77-88f7-9a385f336139?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] creates an event landing page and connects the data to other tools Watch ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/daff09a7-d2c1-4634-b896-3d8896273892?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Modern GTM tools leave no excuse for Random Acts of Marketing What stood out at the Summit: “Instead of just focusing on my one swim lane, I’m thinking about the whole swimming pool.” –Jenny Thai [ https://substack.com/redirect/83eefbd8-cddf-4781-9f52-34892f0ca3bd?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Head of Marketing at Pear VC Watch ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/d5306326-8f87-4468-85d9-f8afc4d949b8?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] With each new presenter at the Summit, we saw the future of GTM tools. These tools serve different functions and produce different outcomes, but they increasingly share the same core functionality: enrichment capabilities, workflows & agents, and AI prompting built directly into the product. Together, these tools leave no excuse for shipping generic content across disconnected channels that don’t align with your audience. Enrichment: More of your GTM tools will enable you to pull in demographic, firmographic, and behavioral info about accounts and contacts—without manual research—to give you a full picture of your audience. That includes company size, industry, tech stack, funding, hiring signals, intent data, and increasingly, AI-derived insights from usage and behavior. What enrichment enables: When enrichment is built into your GTM stack, “we didn’t have enough context” stops being a valid excuse. Teams can define audiences, prioritize accounts, and personalize campaigns based on real signals—not guesses or static ICP slides. Workflows & agents: Your GTM tools will enable you to define sequences of steps within a product or across products (i.e., lead fills out form from tier 1 account, add to CRM, alert Sales in Slack). AI-powered agents will take this a step further and decide how to progress work through various steps. Note: Some tools help you orchestrate workflows and build agents across many products (like Make [ https://substack.com/redirect/d377b4c6-567d-4be3-9b42-e13cd8ee6ef7?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Relay, [ https://substack.com/redirect/73b9bb40-2eed-42fc-8d43-a9954779b83b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and Zapier), while other products (like Tofu [ https://substack.com/redirect/e0904a5b-bdad-4c9a-b193-e6bde98e218b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Unify [ https://substack.com/redirect/10e56556-e31a-436a-a89c-466b284c743e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and Framer [ https://substack.com/redirect/4aeece80-c77a-4b77-88f7-9a385f336139?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]) are building workflows and agents directly into their platforms to connect their tools out to the rest of the GTM stack. What workflows and agents enable: Disconnected point solutions are becoming a thing of the past. Agents and workflows allow teams to run repeatable, end-to-end campaigns where signals trigger action, actions generate learning, and those learnings continuously improve execution. This is the infrastructure required to eliminate Random Acts of Marketing—and replace them with connected activities that compound. AI prompting: More of your GTM tools will enable you to generate, adapt, and personalize content and creative directly inside the product—emails, ad creative, landing pages, call scripts, summaries. Instead of starting from a blank page or a generic template, you’ll be able to prompt to produce relevant “fuel” at scale, tailored to a specific audience, signal, or moment. As a side benefit, prompting within products will also help teams learn how to use the tool. What AI prompting enables: Prompting can remove creative bottlenecks, but only when paired with the right structure and inputs. As content creation gets built into tools that already have your proprietary data, brand guidelines, workflows, and analytics, you are more likely to produce work that resonates (and avoid generating slop). Add in a Gen Marketer with a high-quality bar and taste, and you can stand out! Why it matters: Now more than ever, Random Acts of Marketing™ [ https://substack.com/redirect/dcbefa60-38bd-48d0-9970-d5e54d99645d?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] just won’t do. When everyone can generate content and spin up channels quickly, throwing more spaghetti at the wall isn’t a strategy. You will simply not be able to keep up. The good and bad news: It’s getting easier to run tightly coordinated campaigns [ https://substack.com/redirect/6c6059f7-28e9-4249-bc00-b6938bfc6258?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] with the new generation of GTM tools I just described, so: If you’re just doing random one-off activities, you’re toast (to put it bluntly). If you’re connecting activities, you’re only keeping pace. If you’re connecting workflows into repeatable campaigns, flywheels, or loops—and grounding them in real audience insights, leaning into clear Marketing Advantages™ [ https://substack.com/redirect/1bda3b91-2fd1-4b0c-b81d-86f6733e9daf?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and maintaining a high quality bar—you have a chance to win. (More on that in the next section.) The other way to win: Most marketing teams are not set up today to meet the AI moment. With no “glue” connecting teams or owning campaigns end-to-end, impact doesn’t happen. By upskilling or empowering your team to act like Gen Marketers [ https://substack.com/redirect/25e4de26-ed52-4d7e-8601-9db457130992?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], who own connected workflows and campaigns, you can be a step ahead. What to watch: During the Gen Marketer Summit, several speakers walked through real workflows using modern GTM tools—showing what connected marketing activities look like in practice. In Tofu [ https://substack.com/redirect/e0904a5b-bdad-4c9a-b193-e6bde98e218b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Elaine [ https://substack.com/redirect/e3fcfd91-92d8-4df9-baa7-07b6f9cf0835?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] shows how to re-engage closed-lost accounts by making repeatable, personalized, cross-channel campaigns based on account history and context (like why they churned) pulled in from other tools. Watch [ https://substack.com/redirect/3f7d38a1-b9c6-4bb8-b8db-0c07368bdc5c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/3f7d38a1-b9c6-4bb8-b8db-0c07368bdc5c?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] In Unify [ https://substack.com/redirect/10e56556-e31a-436a-a89c-466b284c743e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Austin [ https://substack.com/redirect/eb403090-dbd2-4be7-8094-62bb919ce312?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] shows how to trigger automated follow-up campaigns based on traffic source—specifically LLM-driven traffic—so high-intent, mid-funnel visitors don’t get lost and AEO work actually converts. Watch [ https://substack.com/redirect/d2e46037-b51c-4c4d-95be-581364a79878?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/d2e46037-b51c-4c4d-95be-581364a79878?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] With examples from Closing Media [ https://substack.com/redirect/b60907b5-a0fe-490c-9a5e-840e53d0f7ac?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] clients, Max [ https://substack.com/redirect/da8a97b3-472c-4e96-9cc5-263d794c1884?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] shows us how to amplify top-performing organic LinkedIn posts into Linkedin Thought Leader Ads, extending the life of that content. I also wrote all about the “LinkedIn Flywheel” in this newsletter. [ https://substack.com/redirect/7cb5cb91-e119-4cb8-abde-7252a08c8d93?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Watch ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/e8f51a33-9afe-4406-a727-a47228aff833?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] With examples from Primer [ https://substack.com/redirect/e5aa522d-d9a0-4c89-b05e-8cabae462ec4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] customers, Keith [ https://substack.com/redirect/b71d8783-f070-4cb7-b5d6-5b4b10d9192b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] explains how to use paid channels to test messaging and audiences, then feed those learnings back into organic efforts, instead of running paid and organic in isolation. Watch ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/40880d61-40e8-4790-8fe3-e11e79dc1db1?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Bonus: To understand the AI skills you need, listen to Dane [ https://substack.com/redirect/fe610179-b216-4f49-ae2c-c7d424b15f61?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] talk about the “AI primitives” he thinks all marketers should be learning. Watch ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/502ab30f-fe94-49e1-b929-7566240cc4ac?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] You can watch all of these workflows and see the future of GTM tools here: Focus on “learnings per minute” for your audience. What stood out at the Summit: I’ve always had a pretty simple bar for marketing work: does this actually add value to the audience? Truthfully, it’s a quality bar that has annoyed people I’ve worked with over the years—can’t we just ship it?! But this bar, and the rigor behind it, matters more now than ever, because it’s simply too easy to make crap. That’s why I loved when Dane brought this idea up during the Summit, using his own framing: “I have this informal metric when I think about content, which is learnings per minute…And I don’t think enough marketers really optimize for learnings when they think about their content.” – Dane Vahey [ https://substack.com/redirect/fe610179-b216-4f49-ae2c-c7d424b15f61?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Head of B2B Marketing at OpenAI Watch ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/6a0d7815-a816-44b6-aaff-63cae6f311c5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] And I also loved how Ting Ting reinforced that you can have both speed and quality when you don’t have too many cooks in the kitchen: “We are able to move fast because people can take things from end to end…the death of a marketing team is when every single idea takes 20 people to execute.” –Ting Ting Luo [ https://substack.com/redirect/4b21eaa9-9428-4615-ac77-a9c518ce6a51?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], Head of Product Marketing at Clay Watch ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/19571599-6347-4e81-ac38-f0340d350f65?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Why it matters: You need to become obsessed with putting out work that meets the “learnings per minute” or “adds value” bar. I can bring on amazing presenters to show you powerful GTM tools and impressive workflows all day, but simply using these tools isn’t enough. The reality is, everyone will be using these tools sooner or later. These tools help you do your job with increased velocity, but they aren’t a substitute for marketing fundamentals, strategic thinking, and human judgment. Here’s how to balance using AI to move with velocity and coming up with creative ideas that will drive outsize impact for your company: Start with a real understanding [ https://substack.com/redirect/9d6707af-d883-43e8-a451-2f4a14a9a760?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] of your audience, product, and market Be clear on your unique Marketing Advantages [ https://substack.com/redirect/1bda3b91-2fd1-4b0c-b81d-86f6733e9daf?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] and how you can actually win Plan for big bet campaigns and initiatives [ https://substack.com/redirect/42c5c4e1-2b77-4cbe-8c83-5c92a62d4b6b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] that play to those strengths Spend time developing high-quality, differentiated creative fuel ideas [ https://substack.com/redirect/1fe8a11f-9623-4a3a-9336-4ad853e64915?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]—humans are needed here! Develop creative with a specific engine [ https://substack.com/redirect/47e2d1b8-c447-4d10-8784-364560f6e803?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (or engines) in mind—and get it to the right audience at the right time Use AI to help you orchestrate, move faster [ https://substack.com/redirect/15cf8685-7c23-4074-aead-d93e3df685ef?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ], and explore ideas But, don’t just take what AI gives you: Have a high-quality bar for your big bets. Sameness is invisible! Don’t be vanilla! [ https://substack.com/redirect/7d97dd60-6cb1-483f-8237-c4a152689e8a?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] And that’s why this is such a great time to be a marketer. We have tools that enable us to execute on anything we can think up, faster than ever before. But creativity, taste, and judgment are still what separate good from great. What to watch: All of that can sound abstract: intentionality, judgment, having a bar. So, to ground this in reality, during the Summit, I walked through campaigns that are actually working right now. These campaigns have the following in common: a clear creative idea, rooted in audience understanding, leveraging real Marketing Advantages, pairing fuel and engine that actually go together, and run by Gen Marketers who are able to move fast without sacrificing quality. Watch me explain what works now when it comes to standing out from the crowd. Hint: be human, focus on education, and leverage your “ecosystem”. Watch ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/8b592713-fa0a-45cd-9477-58abcfa62d2b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] I walked through 4 campaign examples during the Summit: Granola Crunched Watch ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/5ba4f1cd-e681-43bd-8b1d-9218ca79aa88?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (The only Spotify Wrapped–style clone that actually stood out this year. That said, this is not an endorsement for your company to run yet another Wrapped-style campaign; in fact, probably don’t!) Lovable SheBuilds Watch ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/7d12c426-ca7c-4a24-a2ec-c59a595d0058?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Profound Index Watch ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/858eb688-6091-4e38-978a-b8faddbbde52?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Clay World Records Watch ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/e68b762f-e3f1-4ec1-94ba-126fe93e3fe5?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Hear Dane from OpenAI’s answer to this question: “What was a big bet or a large campaign that you ran in 2025, why did you choose it, how did it work? Tell me everything.” Watch ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/56470f90-0415-4ed6-976e-fcea61a3e425?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] For paid MKT1 subscribers only: get the full slide deck from my keynote here [ https://substack.com/redirect/a611675c-9344-4a02-b083-7f44da80d7e2?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Other takeaways and aha moments from the event: I hope this newsletter has compelled you to watch (or even rewatch) sections of the Summit. I really do think we packed in the learnings per minute (but I’ll leave that to you to decide). Here are some other moments you may want to check out: Nick from Profound [ https://substack.com/redirect/3b38ca2c-9c04-491c-92b5-03616789f003?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] on what drives AI brand visibility: “If you’ve heard about AEO research or content, you might know that FAQs are things that LLMs love. Why is that? LLMs are lazy. They want to be served up an answer without spending a lot of compute power figuring this stuff out.” Watch ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/3b364c30-124a-4e5c-926c-7e2d1c0c2727?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Keith from Primer [ https://substack.com/redirect/e5aa522d-d9a0-4c89-b05e-8cabae462ec4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] on paid in 2026: “If inventory is constrained, and competition is rising, what is paid for in 2026? I think the new moat is not how much you spend, it’s how quickly you learn. Execution is easy now. AI killed execution, scarcity, everyone can launch fast, everyone can test fast. Everyone can spin up creative fast. The winner is not the biggest spender. It’s the fastest learner in this context. So you just have to optimize faster.” Watch ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/15c7e818-1fd6-4be4-ae08-484ab4740434?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Zena Davé [ https://substack.com/redirect/6160cba9-1cbe-4e8a-8fb4-5c1b25d0b471?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] from Bridge on career trajectory in the AI era: “I don’t feel the need to build a kingdom of people…just because I don’t have a ton of people around me or under me doesn’t mean [this new role] was a step back by any means.” Watch ➜ [ https://substack.com/redirect/ca636443-0f94-4535-bcaa-1d98737e7286?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] 🙏 Thanks again to our Gen Marketer Summit sponsors, all of whom have discounts for the MKT1 community! Profound [ https://substack.com/redirect/3b38ca2c-9c04-491c-92b5-03616789f003?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: Get your brand mentioned by LLMs, track visibility & improve AEO 🎁 Offer: 20% off Profound Growth Plan [ https://substack.com/redirect/3b38ca2c-9c04-491c-92b5-03616789f003?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] with code MKT1 Primer [ https://substack.com/redirect/e5aa522d-d9a0-4c89-b05e-8cabae462ec4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: Target your B2B ICP on B2C ad channels with precision targeting 🎁 Offer:10% off annual subscription [ https://substack.com/redirect/e5aa522d-d9a0-4c89-b05e-8cabae462ec4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] with code MKT110 Framer [ https://substack.com/redirect/4aeece80-c77a-4b77-88f7-9a385f336139?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: Site builder trusted by startups to fortune 500: Integrated CMS, SEO, & Analytics 🎁 Offer: Free Year of Pro [ https://substack.com/redirect/27cdd52e-fafb-413c-aeb4-5787e39c2dc3?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] ($360 Value). Apply to startup program. Tofu [ https://substack.com/redirect/e0904a5b-bdad-4c9a-b193-e6bde98e218b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: Ship integrated, cross-channel campaigns faster 🎁 Offer: Mention MKT1 for 10% off [ https://substack.com/redirect/e0904a5b-bdad-4c9a-b193-e6bde98e218b?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Tofu Starter package Unify [ https://substack.com/redirect/10e56556-e31a-436a-a89c-466b284c743e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: Capture intent signals, run AI agents, and send personalized outbound 🎁 Offer: Mention MKT1 for 10% off [ https://substack.com/redirect/10e56556-e31a-436a-a89c-466b284c743e?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] an annual plan Closing Media [ https://substack.com/redirect/b60907b5-a0fe-490c-9a5e-840e53d0f7ac?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]: Boutique agency partner for LinkedIn ads and paid media campaigns 🎁 Offer: Mention MKT1 for $5,000 of free ad spend [ https://substack.com/redirect/b60907b5-a0fe-490c-9a5e-840e53d0f7ac?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] for your next campaign More from MKT1 🏕️ Gen Marketer Bootcamp: My new course starts January 27th and is open for applications [ https://substack.com/redirect/4a11549a-8673-4048-9474-7ccc5ba4ea06?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]! Paid annual subscribers get $100 off (pending acceptance; mention your subscription in your application to redeem). 📦 MKT1 Unboxing: Watch the first in our new video series to see Kramer (that’s me) unbox Luma AI [ https://substack.com/redirect/3f331f65-f3d0-46f7-9640-9002c48f2426?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]& Attio [ https://substack.com/redirect/2b8372b3-3fd5-44c1-92c3-de6b21b32894?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. 🥞 MKT1 Perk Stack: Exclusive discounts worth $40K+ [ https://substack.com/redirect/0a20cee6-c2fa-4da4-8261-30c82d54ef64?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] on our favorite GTM tools. For annual & superfan paid subscribers only. 🧰 Revamped, upgraded template & resource library: We have 100+ templates and resources [ https://substack.com/redirect/9f5a02cc-ec46-4743-9471-dd3908a617a3?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] available to paid subscribers in our brand-new template library. 🛠️ MKT1 GTM tools library: An organized, sortable list of recommended products on MKT1.co [ https://substack.com/redirect/3fe90990-a4ce-4b37-94c2-25a359f21b71?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. 🧑‍🚀 Job board: Jobs from the MKT1 community [ https://substack.com/redirect/5e11f848-cb01-4dd6-9096-0a6a46e32af4?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] (free to post as a paid subscriber) 🍽️ [ https://substack.com/redirect/00409f1b-55f1-4c60-84cf-d978120d1478?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]MKT1 Supper Club: [ https://substack.com/redirect/00409f1b-55f1-4c60-84cf-d978120d1478?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ] Get on the list for monthly IRL dinners with Kramer, a small group of smart marketers, good food, and conversations on topics that actually matter in your role—made possible by some of my favorite GTM tools. Join the list here [ https://substack.com/redirect/00409f1b-55f1-4c60-84cf-d978120d1478?j=eyJ1IjoiNzF4cDQwIn0.VLQsNiiAawz-DS2VtWTrcrG2IFeLIxnWNFcK9akSjpY ]. Unsubscribe https://substack.com/redirect/2/eyJlIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9uZXdzbGV0dGVyLm1rdDEuY28vYWN0aW9uL2Rpc2FibGVfZW1haWw_dG9rZW49ZXlKMWMyVnlYMmxrSWpvME1qWTFNVFV3TkRBc0luQnZjM1JmYVdRaU9qRTRNemMwTmpZMk1Dd2lhV0YwSWpveE56WTNPREV3T0RZNExDSmxlSEFpT2pFM09Ua3pORFk0Tmpnc0ltbHpjeUk2SW5CMVlpMHlNVGcxTURFaUxDSnpkV0lpT2lKa2FYTmhZbXhsWDJWdFlXbHNJbjAuSEFjVUd0NXFWZGtIQzhJNjBGd2ViYUJXOEdQSUFZQVZkeVczXzRQdmFjayIsInAiOjE4Mzc0NjY2MCwicyI6MjE4NTAxLCJmIjp0cnVlLCJ1Ijo0MjY1MTUwNDAsImlhdCI6MTc2NzgxMDg2OCwiZXhwIjoyMDgzMzg2ODY4LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMCIsInN1YiI6ImxpbmstcmVkaXJlY3QifQ.npG0P2BYhYD8Ge5a1nqX_8QyRRWo5SErX_x80GguG60?

[https://eotrx.substackcdn.com/open?token=eyJtIjoiPDIwMjUxMjIwMDMyMDU5LjMuZGZiNjAwOGQ1YmVjMmQxMC5zZ2RtZno5M0BtZy1kMS5zdWJzdGFjay5jb20-IiwidSI6NDI2NTE1MDQwLCJyIjoiYkBlbWFpbC5nb21vZHVsci5jb20iLCJkIjoibWctZDEuc3Vic3RhY2suY29tIiwicCI6bnVsbCwidCI6bnVsbCwiYSI6bnVsbCwicyI6MjE4NTAxLCJjIjoidW5maW5pc2hlZC1zdWJzY3JpcHRpb24iLCJmIjp0cnVlLCJwb3NpdGlvbiI6InRvcCIsImlhdCI6MTc2NjIwMDg1OSwiZXhwIjoxNzY4NzkyODU5LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMCIsInN1YiI6ImVvIn0.Z6poUA02macfOGYne6UeYFlNL_5DlueSb7xLhrvFFWI] Thanks for subscribing to MKT1 Newsletter. ͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­ MKT1 Newsletter with Emily Kramer [https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nvSe!,w_80,h_80,c_fill,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F23af8eac-cd36-45ab-8549-3b4df53797c6_256x256.png] Thanks for subscribing to MKT1 Newsletter. I’m Emily Kramer, and I help B2B startups build marketing that actually works. Every ~2 weeks, you’ll get an in-depth newsletter in your inbox, with practical frameworks to help you avoid random acts of marketing and focus on the high impact work that actually drives growth. But MKT1 is more than just newsletters. Paid subscribers get 100+ templates & resources [https://email.mg-d1.substack.com/c/eJx0kL3OozAQRZ8Gd7HGAyZQuNgmr4Fsz0CsYIz8s1H26Vdkm22--kr3HB1vK28pf0w71nCE8mS6leaKz-GsIR2CTD87mPwo2Kj7OCLApGfB0YZ92fjgbCvTYut_64RaPA30fl6dJjsDs10t31fN6LzmaZ7oPopgEFArRIAeQc-yl7S6EWAi7dgjKZBlo7j-mftugLjdSMlLrlr_kj5FEcqyZv66mJobi908az1L1__q8NHh4_1-y_iqSvrU4aNyPHdb-bYHl23-iLO5xacY2xHqZ-HDup3p39PZ3B68vRosgQyqSYMS2bhugC9Qbikmanv-mpTmKEUbDnPhRP2xZyucr8MBR600DCB-G_wbAAD__xf6gjc], my vetted contractor & agency list [https://email.mg-d1.substack.com/c/eJx0kL2u3CAQRp_GdBcN48WLC4o0-xoWP2MvugYsGBJtnj7aTZMm9Sd95-gEx3TU9rKj7Kmk_qT41YfvoaWLUy0i2nn1YMIiyKr7siCA0aug7NK5HVSoOaa4Of5nNajF065qCRD0PWijjduBwC_qDt6DMnAnFMkioFaIADOCXuUs4-4XABO1p4BRgexHzPvvdZ5ukI-vqORbjl34lqFmkfq2N_q4WG6DxGmfzFef5h8TPiZ8FPrVT2KmJvM3KxnqhI9rwkeohZsLXNuZOotr-C3UnEdJ_NqoOH9S_Ht5DX-m4N4xthQtKqNBiWb9dIMPWR411zjO9lHqw8eaXSr2DRT837CjU3sf3nDRSsMNxE-LfwIAAP__PBuEPA], exclusive discounts on marketing tools worth $40K+ [https://email.mg-d1.substack.com/c/eJx0kLuO6yAQQL_GdEEDGAcKitvkNyweYwfFGIvHjbJfv7K32Wbr0ZxzZrxtuObyMX1f4h7rE8Otdld9iUeLeSfBCO1A-YmgYfdp4gBKaoLJxm1eccdiG4bZtl9TxSV5GquFFh6kUnIBGBloYHhXWgmHdw6eRMOBS8Y5gOAgNRU0LG4CUEE69DwwoHUNafnSYhghrbfA6BnXrH9RnxOJdV4KXi2mlY5kM8_WjjqIfwN_DPzxfr9pejVGfR7448Dyul3b5Ohu9jmlvsf2mXG3bsPwwzi626K35_VzDIYzJYGRYtwwwqWia0459K1cDbW7kJONuzlFpP35yV6xnMCRT5JJGIH8N_w7AAD__8BBfcE], free posts on the MKT1 job board [https://email.mg-d1.substack.com/c/eJx0kDsO2zAMQE9jbREo2vJn0NAl1zAkkXbUWJahT4H09IXTpUtngu890tvKe8of084tnKG8mB6lueJzuGpIpyDTLw5mPwo2ahpHBJj1IjjacKw7n5xtZVpt_Wc6oxYv4yeHIy16mZxaZpg8O5iUdgOMDJ5IBIOAWiEC9Ah6kb2kzY0AM2nHHkmBLDvF7ffSdwPE_UFK3nHV-rf0KYpQ1i3zt8XU3Fgc5lXrVbr-R4fPDp8_kysyvquSPnX4FFdzq08xtjPUz8qndQfT39WruSN4ex-9BjKoZg1KZOO6Ab4GuaeYqB35qy7NUYo2nObGi_rfB7bC-QYOOGqlYQDxy-CfAAAA__8dDHsD], and full access to the MKT1 archive [https://email.mg-d1.substack.com/c/eJx0kD2u3CAURldjuocu2PjhgiLNbMMC7rWNxoDFz0ST1UeeNGle_UnfOTreNtpzeZuetpBCPQi_anfVl3C1kBNDMy4OtJ8ZGfE9zxJAq4VRtOFcd0pUbCNcbftv1VKxw-CoUZNfrBbgFAgSGkEs3w60Xja7sWAkSCWkBBglqIWPHDc3A2hUjrxEAbzuGLc_yzhMEPcvFPyWa9Y_uc-RhbpuhT4uppVO7DRHa1cdxl-DfAzykeh3Pak1Kjw-m-A-D_Jhiz_Ci9jV3epzjD2F9l4pWXcS_vu5ujuDt3eBNaCRQisQrBg3TPDB8T3HjP0sH4_aHeZoQzI3hbUfa_ZK5T6c5KyEggnYy8i_AQAA__8JyoCJ], including bonus newsletters. Upgrade to paid [https://email.mg-d1.substack.com/c/eJx0ks1uozAcxJ_G3ILsv4HCgUPUNCuqJm120zbZC8IfgAFjBHZp8vSrZLPVXnq1R-OZ35gXVlZmPKWuL1WvplqKxeTYxEc1WGV6T6Q0YTjmkSdTchdFgHEcJp7UherySvZyLKwUeWH_u40h9OoU4ijAIUgRxYGMIQxFKRJ6FySCEoZj6akUMIQEAGMKOEx86ouSRRjHImSSgyDYnyqhy3NCUYB1tRDEv4SzBW99brSnprwc5TVLakcnvS6trR0mRJcI1gjWvZynTlorR1-3lvjcIFjf-jGJ6NpZnU_GjVwiuvqGAYLoIuOFHgpV9Yiuri8ueC15a5xFEI2Iru7I5xBgBJE1rbyqTo-Ew9vpAF2bNQZvmiPZ7F_n7Wo5ZbqrxX0WbfYctk02b1YVef41q9-Hes4a87k9H4PtuT09r17Dp_vHgdONelaPs3jP7KZ5CLb75WemZsXpm8oao45Qd0ewH-KwU-XOT0pYfhyP-KXtWfF0ELkh_c-X4seBM75bPLS77nx-P-yx6PGtnZZCOf2v2-3wi8wXssWsRCWtNziWc6O165U95bIvWCfF3w0GxzrFiwu5XIkUSBxi4o0pQwG-mvuV0Ua4brxuODkmjC5Un14W8uy3P9FNcrwYBhCFJMQB9j5S-BMAAP__aC7ufw] HERE’S THE ESSENTIAL MKT1 READING LIST If you only read one thing 👉 The MKT1 Field Guide to B2B startup marketing [https://email.mg-d1.substack.com/c/eJx00L2u3SAMwPGnCRuRIZCbDAxd8hoRH04OOgEiMK1un77K6dKlo2XJ_unvLeFZ6rfp-Yg5thcG3rprvsabYsksmGl1sPiZoRFf8ywBFr0yTDZe-4kZqyUMu6V_tovU7GXslwA9-8kfqD24abWoLCinHCoXpoNFI0FqISXAJEGv4zSGw80AS9AOvQwCxnaGdPxep0FBOnkQ44Mj69-jL4nFth8VPxZDtSO7zIvobsP0Y5DbILeMv9qFRFjH9CYx-jLI7R7k9kz8iHgFfvYYkFPhTjreyFbqN0-2vpFiPvltK3HB7u52X1LqOdL3jtm6C8Pfp3d3V_T2ybXHYKRYNAhWjRsUfGzjWVIJ_aofdOsulGRjNg-C0X_T94b1OajkrIUGBeynkX8CAAD__4uEkOU] SETTING YOUR B2B STARTUP MARKETING STRATEGY: * Combining fuel & engine [https://email.mg-d1.substack.com/c/eJx0kL2u3CAQRp_GdGsNY-M1BUWafQ0LmLEXXQMWP4lunj7ypkmT-pO-c3S8bXzk8m162kMK9c30qN1VX8LVQk6CzKQdrH4RbORzWRBgVVpwtOHcDk5cbGPabPtnXVGJt7HMqyerQcunXnDfZ0tMpEjP9qndIoJBQCURASYEpcdppN0tACspxx5JwlgPivtvPQ0zxONBcrzlmvVfo89RhLrthT8uppXO4jTv1q46TD8GfA34SvyrntwalzF-NTn6PODrGvC1dz4fnI6QWFzdbT7H2FNo3xsn606mv39Xd2fw9i6xBTIoVwVSFOOGGT7Y8cgxUz_Lx6d2RznakMxNE-2_VXvlch_OuCipYAbx0-CfAAAA___KGoPR]: How to build an effective marketing “machine” * Marketing perceptions [https://email.mg-d1.substack.com/c/eJx00LuupDAMBuCnIR3IMSQnFCm2mddAuRgmGpKgXM5q9ulXzDbbnMKVZfvz70yjI5e37mkPKdQn-bF2W10JVws5Ma_n1YJykpHmX1IigBIro2jCuR2UqJhGfjPtv65CwZ5agkCurFIoFqtWMPuXhcWD8eCMk5IFjYCCIwLMCGKd5snvVgIoLyw59Bymevi4_1nnYYF4jJ5PN64Z95pcjizUbS_0sehWOrFTP1u76jD_GvAx4CPR73pSa1Sm-Gp8cnnAx3UXFUefD-uYexl3851LaDRGU17UQjrY1e3mcow9hfbeKBl7kv935ur2DM7c41vwGrkSwFnRdljgo5mOHLPvZ_kwa7c-RxOSvhGs_Rh2r1TuhQtKwQUswL41_g0AAP__VJyMHA]: The exercise that drives your entire “fuel” aka content strategy * Channel <> startup fit [https://email.mg-d1.substack.com/c/eJx0kD2u3CAURldjurHgGvxwQZFmtmHxc_GgZ8CCS6LJ6iNPmjSpP-k7R8dbwqO2txklppL6C8OjD9d9SxelWlgwy-a49itDI77WFTjXamOYbTr3Aws2Sxh2S_-sGhR7Gbuu2-bVF0aLWnqQqLcYVwlCWxelZMkAByUAOF-Aq21e5hDdyrkOyqGHIPjcj5Dj722ZJM_HI4j5liPrv2dfM0t9jw0_LobaQHaaF9HVp-XHBM8JngV_9ROJsM35m8Ts6wTPa4Knf9lS8Hx0so3G9YiJ2DXc7mvOoyR671isOzH8_b2GO5O3d5E9BQNCKy5YM26S_IOfj5prGGf7ePXhQs02FXNTGf237ujY7kMJqxKKS85-GvgTAAD__4WVhoA]: How to choose the right growth “engine” for your *specific* business * Positioning that works [https://email.mg-d1.substack.com/c/eJx0kDuu3DAMRVdjdSNQ1Mi2ChVpZhuGPrRHeJZk6JPgZfWBJ02aFKxI3HN4ve10lPptRt5jju1N4dGGa77Gq8eSWTBSO1j9zMiIZZ4RYFWaUbLx3A7KVG2nsNn-z3ZFxd5Gr1ppqSV5uQtaZnT7LsUMuKqFtF9YNAioBCKARFCaSx52NwOsQTnyGATwdoS0_9ZyekI6HkHwW65b_8V9SSy2ba_0cTG9DmKnefd-tUn-mPA14SvTr3ZS71R5-uqC-zLh67qntHj_F_PxOEYMxK7hNl9SGjn2742ydSeFv6nXcGf09r7fYjAoVgWCVeOmJ3zg_CiphHHWj1UbLpRkYzY3k_X_djsa1TvwibMSCp7Afhr8EwAA__-y_4Us]: A simple framework to make sure your ICP knows what you *actually* do RUNNING YOUR MARKETING TEAM: * Building the right team [https://email.mg-d1.substack.com/c/eJx0kL0O2yAURp_GbEGXS3DwwNAlr2Hxc2OjGLD4aZU-feV06dL5k75zdLzttJX6MSO_Yo5tp3BrwzVf49ljySwYuTjQfmZkxGOeEUCrhVGy8Vg3ylRtp7Da_s-qUbHd6GAfCB7EQhJRzmCtcrToWfqgHwJZNAioBCKARFALlzy83Aygg3LkMQjgbQvp9XuR0x3SdguCX3Ld-jf3JbHY1lelr4vpdRA7zN772Sb5Y8LnhM9Mv9pBvVPl6d0F92XC5znhM9n6ph7zdit1u_nd1t7YOdzqS0ojx_5ZKVt3UPh7fA53RG-vJGsMBoVWIFg1brrDl8-3kkoYR_2KteFCSTZmc2FZ_2_e0aheh3eclVBwB_bT4J8AAAD__z4Phi0]: How to structure marketing org charts at different company sizes * The GACCS brief [https://email.mg-d1.substack.com/c/eJx00D2unTAQhuHV4A40HjAXChdpzjaQf8ZgHWyQPU50s_qIkyZN6k-aefQ6w7Rf5Vu3HGKO9SDf12arK_HmeGXh9bhaWNwsSMuveUaARa2CkonntlOmYpj8ZvifdUElDk2KZv8VbHDKEIYRV5pMmKXyMCMEFFEjoJKIACOCWodx8MHOAItXlhx6CUPdfQq_17GbIO29l8ODY-Peg7uSiHULhT4WzaWROPXBfNdu_NHhq8NXpl_1JGYqQ3qzHNzV4evu8MUH9btxrk-mvIlj3ntbIoX-GSxVFnezm7tSajny90bZ2JP83y93s2d05umzRa9RLgqkKNp2E3www36ly7ezfJS1WX8lE7N-DIL_27pVKs_BCWclFUwgfmr8EwAA__9IV4um]: Use this on every project to stay aligned and focus on high-impact work * Marketing operating cadence [https://email.mg-d1.substack.com/c/eJx00DvO3SAUBODVmO6iw8H4UVCk8TYsHse-6Ddg8Uj0Z_WRb5o0qUea-TTONDpz-dY9HSGF-ib_qt1WV8LdQk7Ma7laWNzESIt5mhBgUSujaMK1n5SomEZ-N-2fdEHF3nqaJZCbpZrd7M1M9lCLBbWsMwqpwLCgEVAJRACJoFYuuT_sBLB4ZcmhF8Dr6ePxe5XDCPF8ecEfXDPui7scWaj7Uehj0a10Ypd-t3bXQf4YcBtwS_SrXtQaFR6_muAuD7jdA275fuAhnS9nPCVH7O52dznGnkL73ikZe5H_23p3ewVnnj_24DWKRYFgRdthhM84P3PMvl_lo6rd-hxNSPrZZO2_3_ZK5SkccVJCwQjsp8Y_AQAA__-yaoUN]: How to run an effective marketing team day-to-day WHAT’S WORKING RIGHT NOW IN MARKETING: * The shift to account-driven GTM [https://email.mg-d1.substack.com/c/eJx00L2u3CAQhuGrMZ0RjI0XFxRp9jYsfsZedAxYMJxoc_WRN02aU4_0zaPXW8Kj1LfpeY85theGsXXXfI0XxZJZMNPqhPYLQyMfywJCaLUyTDae24EZqyUMm6X_rhoUexlU2obVS_lwoK2el4fanfXaScD9YVcWDQhQEkCICYRa-cTD7hYhdFAOPQQpeDtC2v-s0zCLdIxB8htH1n9xXxKLbdsrfiyGakd2mhfR1Ybp1wDPAZ4Zf7cTibDy9EWS-zLA8xrgab0vPdMYavzGPB6UxstWGiW7utt8SannSO8Ns3Unhn_rV3dn9PbussVgQGolJKvGDbP4IPhRUgn9rB9d6y6UZGM2929GPzbuDes9OMOipBKzYN8G_gYAAP__p62IcA]: The new growth foundation, and why it’s critical to identify and enrich your TAM, then tailor campaigns to them * Why I’m so bullish on ecosystem marketing [https://email.mg-d1.substack.com/c/eJx0kL0O2yAURp_GbLEu14bAwNAlr2Hxc-2gGLD4aZU-fZV06dL5k75zdLztdJT6NiPvMcf2pHBrwzVf49VjySyYRTtQXjIy_C4lAiihGSUbz-2gTNV2Cpvt_6wKBXsaJRYppQYtuAjKEWrrOe1q3fUduXcsGgQUHBFgQRB6XuawOwmggnDkMXCY2xHS_lsv0wrpuAU-f-S69a_Zl8Ri2_ZKXxfT6yB2mmfvV5uWHxM-Jnxk-tVO6p3qnF6dz75M-LgmfJAv7d06pVuy9UU95oNdw22-pDRy7O-NsnUnhb-_13Bn9PZTZIvBIFcCOKvGTSt88fNRUgnjrF-vNlwoycZsPlTW_1t3NKqfwxWl4AJWYD8N_gkAAP__9HyGLQ]: Why using 3rd-parties to grow is the next big marketing channel * How to adopt AI in one day [https://email.mg-d1.substack.com/c/eJx0kLuu3CAURb_GdGMdjoGYgiLN_IbF49hGY8Dikejm66OZNGluvaW9lpa3nY5Sv8zIe8yxnRQebbjma7x7LJkFs2gHq1eMDP-hFAKsUjNKNl7bQZmq7RQ22_9bV5TsNErsWisCpcSirbBSCq-0osWu-6oDsmgQUHJEgAVB6nmZw-4UwBqkI4-Bw9yOkPY_epkEpOMR-PyW69a_Zl8Si23bK31cTK-D2GXO3u82LT8nfE74zPS7XdQ71Tm9Op99mfB5T_hMtr6ox3w8Tutftp8lN3YPt_mS0sixf22Urbso_Du-h7uit-8kWwwG-SqBs2rcJODDn4-SShhX_Yi14UJJNmbzxrL-bd7RqL4PBSrJJQhgvwz-DQAA__9J4YZR]: How to run team hackathons and start “vibe coding” (includes prompts & project ideas) * Is the company blog dead? [https://email.mg-d1.substack.com/c/eJx00L2u3CAQhuGrMZ2tYWwcu6BIs7dhATN40TFg8ZNoc_XRbpo0px7pm0evM43PXF66Jx9SqE-msXZbXQl3CzkJ0vNuYXOrYC1_rCsCbGoXHE24jpMTF9OYDtP-u26oxFPPuO-b8gh2sV55RcYsbMEszsrFehJBI6CSiAAzgtqneSJvV4CNlGWHJGGqJ0X_Z5-HBeI5kpzeuGbc1-RyFKEevvDHolvpLC79bO2uw_xzwMeAj8S_68WtcZniV5OTywM-7gEffIeaibfR5Xib9Brtlc-R2JC4uz1cjrGn0F4HJ2Mvpn_zd7dXcOYd5gikUW4KpCjaDgt8FNOZY6Z-lQ-vdks5mpD0-7lo30bulct7cMFVSQULiF8a_wYAAP__jUSJMg]: How to create content that works in the post-blog era (includes podcast) * Should your founder be an influencer? [https://email.mg-d1.substack.com/c/eJx00L2u3CAQhuGrMZ2tYTA-dkGRZm_DAmbsRWvA4ifRydVHu2nSpB5pvkevt43PXL5NT0dIoT6Zxtpd9SXcLeQkyKjNweoXwUZ-LQsCrHoTHG249pMTF9uYdtv-ua6oxdOsq1NslT82u9ljlsesZtAWNUq12C8SwSCglogACkFvk5rocAvAStqxR5Iw1ZPi8XtTwwzxHElOb1yz_jX5HEWo-1H4YzGtdBaXebZ210H9GPAx4CPxr3pxa1ym-Gpy8nnAxz3gg9iWMdry4saljnyHmonHebxCejGFJO7udp9j7Cm0752TdRfT35W7uyt4--6zBzIoVw1SFOOGGT6Y6cwxU7_KR1m7oxxtSOZtEO2_rXvl8n4446KlhhnET4N_AgAA__-jdYsw]: Determine if your company can benefit from a founder or expert with a personal brand Those last two are episodes from Dear Marketers [https://email.mg-d1.substack.com/c/eJx0kDsOnDAURVeDu7GenzEDhYs0bAP582CswTbyJ9Fk9RGTJk3qK91zdJxpdOTy0T3tIYX6Iv-o3VZXwtVCTsxruViY3cRIi-c0IcCsFkbRhHM7KFExjfxm2j_rjIq99PhcpLHTIo2a9_0pJ0sScIfRz24x1rGgEVAJRACJoBYuud_tBDB7ZcmhF8Dr4eP-e5HDCPF4eMFvuWbcm7scWajbXujrolvpxE79au2qg_wx4DrgmuhXPak1Kjy-m-AuD7jWAVdPpjyiKW9qVCq7ut1cjrGn0D4bJWNP8n8vr27P4MwdYwteo5gVCFa0HUb4kvmRY_b9LF-l2q3P0YSkbyBr_w3bK5X7cMRJCQUjsJ8a_wQAAP__uCaEfw], where my co-hosts and I answer real questions from marketers. Find it here on Substack or wherever you get podcasts. Thanks for reading, Emily Kramer Private podcast setup: To set up your podcast app, click this link [https://email.mg-d1.substack.com/c/eJx0kk2PmzAQhn8N3BbZBrNw4BAlzQq6sFWbZJNcEP4IGYJtik3Y5NdXSS-99DSHkUbPPO_LGydbM96ySZ9Agz1L8WInZvkIgwOjfZGFKUMJj32Z4dc4JgglNPWlaqCvW6nl2Dgp6sb9s00I9c8ZpSmTMUoa-hoxjOmJxykLBUYE8YjE2IeMIEIxIQiFBNE0CANxYjFCiaBMciIwCmwr1Omehl6EVPsicPCAcw2_BNwoH2x9GuWTJXPjJP0-Ozs3WC9ceGTtkbWWs-2lc3IM1MXhgBuPrHuwTmovXDtzecyVvBWYk91tT_pL3hlUdgdcbrZztVrYXPVnsczjcsNJ1eVzuWrxx68ZjvvznHfmq7ofyMdqgatuS9-XxcDDEj6gmMVn7sruW1RtFl85zMDDHeSdAf6WXg5kfRdLfD_uf2K-LNKg3G9_KHad-bCA3Rt6mY5H3WtnoT--x78P30t2hc8KF8Wd-8PEam6UmjS4Wy11w3op_n4_TKwH3jxyq0FkBCcUYX_MmBehp6SgNcqIqR-f9uzEhFEN6Ozhxnf_7cBk5fg4GJGYYooi5F8z8icAAP__HtK9ig] on your phone. © 2025 MKT1, LLC P.O. 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