Moneyball: B2B Marketing Lessons on Turning Metrics into Wins with CMO at Linedata, Scott Greenwald

When small-market teams face off against deep-pocketed competitors, winning means rewriting the rules of the game. 

That’s exactly what happened in Moneyball, where the Oakland A’s turned to unconventional metrics and overlooked talent to outsmart the league’s biggest spenders. In this episode, we explore the marketing lessons behind it with the help of our special guest Scott Greenwald, CMO at Linedata.

Together, we dive into how B2B marketers can rethink the metrics that matter, compete asymmetrically against larger rivals, align teams around bold strategies, and tell stories that stick, all while staying credible, prepared, and ready to adapt.

About our guest, Scott Greenwald

At Linedata, Scott’s tenure as Chief Marketing Officer has been marked by the successful leadership of a dynamic, multi-lingual team and the creation of transformative digital marketing strategies. Our efforts have resulted in a staggering 600% year-over-year increase in web traffic, contributing significantly to a 20% generation of the sales pipeline.

Scott’s role extends to overseeing the marketing budget and launching a new CRM and Marketing Automation tool, which has streamlined Linedata’s pipeline review process and accelerated the sales cycle. With a focus on driving market visibility and thought leadership, Scott’s strategic campaigns across key global markets have empowered Linedata to cement its presence in the competitive financial services industry.

What B2B Companies Can Learn From Moneyball:

• Focus on the outcomes that matter.  In Moneyball, the point wasn’t to sign the flashiest “five-tool” players; it was to score runs. The same is true in marketing. Scott says, “In the end, it’s how many of the MQLs turn into opportunities or new business? And that’s what we focus on.” Metrics that look good in a report mean nothing if they don’t turn into real pipeline and closed deals. In B2B, your scoreboard isn’t impressions or clicks, it’s revenue.
• Credibility over volume in content. AI makes it easy to crank out more content than ever before, but more isn’t always better. “If we suddenly increased our, our, our output fivefold, we, we would lose that credibility,” Scott says. His team uses AI to adapt and reformat high-quality core pieces, not flood the market with fluff. Your audience notices when your content is consistent, credible, and worth their time—and they notice just as fast when it’s not.
• Compete asymmetrically. The A’s couldn’t outspend the Yankees or Red Sox, so they had to outthink them. That meant challenging every “sacred cow” in baseball and finding value others overlooked. Scott explains, “You can’t come in here and say, I’m going to transform this marketing organization into what I had before… you have to assess the talent pool [and] review the best way of spending the marketing budgets you have.” In marketing, the same rule applies: when you can’t match your competitors’ budget, you win by rewriting the playbook.

Quote

“It is our responsibility as storytellers of not just giving the business what they want, but also giving the audience what they need to hear.”

Time Stamps

[00:55] Meet Scott Greenwal, CMO at Linedata

[01:04] Why Moneyball?

[06:45] Behind the Scenes of Moneyball

[10:00] B2B Marketing Lessons from Moneyball

[31:51] The Importance of Storytelling

[37:18] The Role of Communication in Change Management

[41:02] The Evolution of Marketing Automation

[45:30] Balancing Content Quality and Quantity

[47:00 Final Thoughts & Takeaways

Links

Connect with Scott on LinkedIn

Learn more about Linedata

About Remarkable!

Remarkable! is created by the team at Caspian Studios, the premier B2B Podcast-as-a-Service company. Caspian creates both nonfiction and fiction series for B2B companies. If you want a fiction series check out our new offering - The Business Thriller - Hollywood style storytelling for B2B. Learn more at CaspianStudios.com. 

In today’s episode, you heard from Ian Faison (CEO of Caspian Studios) and Meredith Gooderham (Head of Production). Remarkable was produced this week by Jess Avellino, mixed by Scott Goodrich, and our theme song is “Solomon” by FALAK. 

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