Ian Faison

Ian Faison, the CEO and Founder of Caspian Studios, dives into the shifting landscape of content marketing. He discusses the move away from outdated strategies towards an Owned Media Portfolio, emphasizing co-creation and diverse formats. Faison shares insights on crafting engaging podcasts and ambitious storytelling projects, or 'moonshots'. He also explores the importance of serialized content in B2B marketing and how to measure ROI effectively, plus how startups can leverage these innovative strategies for greater audience engagement.

Ian Faison is Founder and CEO at Caspian Studios. Caspian Studios manages 60+ podcasts and video series in a variety of industries and Ian hosts Remarkable, Demand Gen Visionaries, Often Imitated, CIO Classified, and Rise of RevOps. He's an Oakland native, former Army Captain, and West Point graduate and Co-founder of Mission.org and co-founder of VETCON. Ian joins Dave to talk about podcasting for B2B. Can it work? How do you think about ROI?Ian also shares some of the behind the scenes from a recent show they created called Murder in HR - a narrative fiction podcast they created for the B2B SaaS brand Gympass - which reached #1 on the fictions charts in Apple podcasts and has over 1M listeners to date. Send guest pitches and ideas to hi@exitfive.comJoin the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterCheck out the Exit Five job board: https://jobs.exitfive.com/Become an Exit Five member: https://community.exitfive.com/checkout/exit-five-membership***Today’s episode is brought to you by Grammarly.Ever have one of those weeks where you spent more time replying to Slack and email than doing actual marketing work?You’re not alone. The average marketing team spends 28+ hours a week just keeping up with comms.That leads to burnout, frustration, and a whole lot of performative productivity that doesn’t actually move the needle.AI-fluent marketing teams are changing that. Grammarly’s 2025 Productivity Shift Report shows how they’re using AI to:– Cut down on back-and-forth– Automate content, research, and reporting– Eliminate busywork– Make space for strategyWe’re marketers because we love crafting campaigns, driving revenue, and proving impact – not spending all day buried in messages.Get the report and see how top teams are making AI actually useful.Visit go.grammarly.com/exitfive to grab it.***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

Ian Faison, an expert in the intersection of fiction and B2B marketing, delves into how storytelling can revolutionize marketing strategies. He discusses the concept of edutainment, emphasizing the need for engaging fictional content that resonates with audiences. Faison cites a successful murder mystery podcast as a prime example of captivating storytelling. He also highlights the importance of treating content as a product tailored to audience needs, advocating for a blend of entertaining series and targeted messaging. Humor and personalized content are key themes in modern B2B marketing.