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 He discusses the move away from outdated strategies towards an Owned Media Portfolio, emphasizing co-creation and diverse formats.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. Join 50,000 people who get our Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterLearn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/***Today’s episode is brought to you by Paramark.It’s November. 2026 planning is already here. And the stuff you’re doing right now will decide how next year plays out. But here’s the problem: most teams are still planning next year's marketing strategy based on the WRONG DATA because of broken attribution and a misleading gut feel.  And you can’t make smart budget calls if you’re just guessing what’s working, what’s not, and where to put your next dollar.That’s where Paramark comes in. They help you replace the guesswork with actual insight backed by $2 billion in analyzed marketing data. They’ve figured out what actually drives incremental growth across every channel including LinkedIn, Meta, TikTok, Google, CTV, even OOH.And right now, they’re offering a private 1:1 consultation with their CEO and CMO, Pranav and Sam, who have led marketing teams at companies like Dropbox, Adobe, Microsoft, and Shutterfly. In this 45-minute strategy session, they’ll help you measure the real impact of every marketing dollar, pull insights from your current media mix, and design a 2026 roadmap that’s rooted in data, not gut.This is a heck of an offer. And it’s real. And will go fast. So if you want to future-proof your marketing strategy for 2026, don’t miss out on this offer.Grab your spot at paramark.com/brand-consult.***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.