#266 Marketing Leadership | In this episode, Matt is joined by Jess Cook, Head of Marketing at Vector, a platform pioneering the contact-based marketing category. Jess has spent her career building standout content strategies at B2B brands like LASSO and Fastly, and she recently made the jump from Head of Content to first-time Head of Marketing.
Jess and Matt cover:
- How content marketers can transition into marketing leadership and what gaps to prepare for
- The strategy behind building a brand that stands out in B2B (and why Vector leans into being “a little unhinged”)
- How Jess built her first marketing budget from scratch and sold it in using storytelling, not spreadsheets
You’ll walk away with tactical insights on running a modern B2B marketing org, from content and brand to budgeting and team structure.
Timestamps
- (01:00) - – Jess’s B2C roots at McDonald’s and Kellogg
- (04:08) - – Jumping into B2B and growing through content
- (05:53) - – Why she moved from Head of Content to Head of Marketing
- (08:28) - – Hiring product marketing first (and why it matters)
- (12:38) - – How Vector built a bold B2B brand with personality
- (16:38) - – What Jess looked for in her first marketing hire
- (19:58) - – Building and pitching her first full marketing budget
- (25:23) - – Creating a 30/60/90 plan that actually drives buy-in
- (26:53) - – Category content, SEO, and early wins with AI
- (31:13) - – The podcast pivot: ditching “Funnel Cake” for something better
- (34:53) - – How she knew Vector was the right fit
- (38:33) - – Going all-in on YouTube and video-first strategy
- (42:43) - – Short-form content, brand building, and trust
- (45:13) - – Biggest lesson: balance long-term planning with quick wins
- (49:43) - – Leading with action and setting the tone as a new marketing leader
- (51:43) - – How Jess communicates vision and builds internal alignment
- (55:13) - – Wrap-up and final takeaways
Join 50,0000 people who get our Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter
Learn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/
***
Today's episode is brought to you by Knak.
Email (in my humble opinion) is the still the greatest marketing channel of all-time.
It’s the only way you can truly “own” your audience.
But when it comes to building the emails - if you’ve ever tried building an email in an enterprise marketing automation platform, you know how painful it can be. Templates are too rigid, editing code can break things and the whole process just takes forever.
That’s why we love Knak here at Exit Five. Knak a no-code email platform that makes it easy to create on-brand, high-performing emails - without the bottlenecks.
- Frustrated by clunky email builders? You need Knak.
- Tired of ‘hoping’ the email you sent looks good across all devices? Just test in Knak first.
- Big team making it hard to collaborate and get approvals? Definitely Knak.
And the best part? Everything takes a fraction of the time.
See Knak in action at knak.com/exit-five. Or just let them know you heard about Knak on Exit Five.
***
Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.
- They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.
- Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.
- Visit hatch.fm to learn more
