How this VP of Comms Built ZoomInfo’s $1.2B CEO Brand on LinkedIn
The Founder-Led Marketing Show
Intro
Host Finn introduces Meghan Barr, her journalism background, and her role building ZoomInfo's brand and CEO presence.
Meghan Barr helped build one of the most powerful CEO brands on LinkedIn.
As VP of Brand, Content & Comms at ZoomInfo, she’s spent the last 5 years helping turn Henry Schuck (CEO of ZoomInfo, $1.2B ARR) into a storytelling machine, without losing authenticity.
In this episode, we go behind the scenes of that process:
- How Meghan transitioned from journalism to tech
- The content pillars behind ZoomInfo’s CEO brand
- How their “in your corner” videos are made
- What happened when they took out apology billboards
- Why Henry’s posts outperform ZoomInfo’s 240K-follower brand page
- How she’s scaling the strategy to other executives (and what she looks for)
- The playbook for brand leaders, comms teams, and CEOs who actually want their voice to cut through.
- Topics we cover in this episode:
- Going from Boston Globe journalist to ZoomInfo’s VP of Brand
- The origin story of ZoomInfo’s LinkedIn strategy
- Why they prioritize LinkedIn over blogs and press releases
- How to turn a CEO’s voice into a repeatable content system
- Managing risk, pushback, and post-performance conversations
The “personal + product” content blend that works best
Perfect for:
- Comms leaders building their CEO's Brand
- Founders building their LinkedIn voice
- Brand and content teams scaling thought leadership content
Connect with Meghan:
- Meghan’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meghan-barr-3211865/
- ZoomInfo: https://www.zoominfo.com/
Connect with me:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finnthormeier/
Website: https://www.project33.io/
Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFH
Chapters
00:00 Meghan’s journey from newsroom to ZoomInfo
02:00 Why Henry Schuck hired a journalist, not a marketer
04:00 Making the jump during COVID and overcoming imposter syndrome
06:30 How newsroom skills transfer to startup brand leadership
08:20 Building trust with a high-expectation founder CEO
10:15 When LinkedIn replaced blogs (and why)
12:00 Henry’s viral obituary post: how it came together
14:30 The sausage-making behind every post
16:10 Content goals: Product, People, and Personal
18:00 Metrics: From 100K+ impressions to today’s new benchmarks
20:45 Dealing with performance pressure and pushback
23:00 Risk-taking: The billboard apology stunt that paid off
26:15 Turning ZoomInfo’s sentiment from negative to positive
28:30 Why LinkedIn is also internal comms now
30:00 Activating the rest of the executive team
32:00 Why safe content doesn’t work anymore
34:00 Aligning CEO messaging with company brand strategy
36:00 How Henry’s scrappy product demos are made
38:30 Why founder-led video works at scale
40:15 The no “leaders of leaders” mindset inside ZoomInfo
42:00 KPIs for executive content (followers, media, reach)
44:15 The new role of PR in an AI-dominated world
46:00 Why thought leader ads are a missed opportunity
49:00 Inspiration from John Gray, Daniel Ek, and McDonald’s CEO
51:00 What’s next: Vertical earnings videos and employee advocacy
53:00 How much time Henry actually spends on content
55:00 Final thoughts: Building trust and a strong internal rhythm
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