Blame it on Marketing ™

Think events are all free prosecco and LinkedIn photos? 🤔 Behind every smooth show is a sleep-deprived team juggling power sockets, panic emails, and a thousand tiny fires—often at the same time.In this episode, we’re joined by Sarah Tully (Group Event Director, eCommerce Expo & Technology for Marketing), Laura Dazon (Marketing Manager), and Phoebe Dunsmore (Marketing Executive) from CloserStill Media to pull back the curtain on event season—what really breaks, what actually matters, and how marketers can survive (and even enjoy) the madness.We get into: ✅ The biggest misconceptions about events marketing (and why the show is the middle of the campaign, not the end) ✅ How to balance sponsors, exhibitors & attendees with a clear “value story” (Laura’s “chair with four legs” framework) ✅ Real on-site war stories: raining ceilings, no-show speakers, surprise venue drills, and the eternal Wi-Fi scam ✅ Ops gotchas marketers miss (power, internet, signage, space for photo areas… and why people never read the emails) ✅ Inbox triage during peak season: empathy, boundaries, and why “please unsubscribe me” isn’t a personal attack ✅ Neurodiversity on the show floor—headphones, quiet resets, and planning for the post-event crash ✅ Exhibitor & visitor playbooks: keep activations simple, plan before/during/after, train booth teams, and download the app ✅ Self-care that actually helps on-site: snacks + water, pacing, buddy up, and don’t schedule your whole life the week afterIf event season has you clutching your lanyard and whispering “I need a nap,” this one’s for you. We’re Ruta and Emma, the marketing consultants behind Blame it on Marketing. If you’re in B2B SaaS or professional services and looking to do marketing that actually drives revenue and profit, we’re here for it.Visit blameitonmarketing.com and let’s get this show on the road.

Why does B2B influencer marketing feel so chaotic right now? 🤔 LinkedIn reach is down, creators are charging enterprise prices, and everyone’s asking how to prove ROI without waiting nine months for a deal to close.In this episode, we’re joined by Hector Forwood, co-founder & CEO of Flooencer, to demystify what’s working (and what’s broken) in B2B influencer marketing—how to pick the right creators, what to pay, and how to measure impact the C-suite will actually buy.We get into: ✅ What’s changed on LinkedIn (why organic reach has dropped & what still works now: carousels/PDFs, mixed media, and long-tail impressions) ✅ Creator types—content creators vs. thought leaders—and when you need both ✅ Pricing sanity: flat fee vs. affiliate/rev-share, and avoiding the “three posts for £18k” trap ✅ Measuring ROI for PLG vs. enterprise (discount codes & clicks vs. engaged-persona tracking) ✅ Running technical campaigns that aren’t cringe (how to make deeply technical features land with data teams) ✅ Small-budget playbook: start with customers, employees & partners, then micro-creators off LinkedIn (TikTok/YouTube) ✅ The four pillars of advocacy (influencers, employees, partners, customers) and how to stack them ✅ Red flags to skip: AI “agents” that are just automations, bait resources, and vanity engagement ✅ A couple of painfully honest “don’t do this” stories to keep you out of trouble 😬If you’re trying to make influencer work on a B2B budget—or trying to price your own content without getting fleeced—this one’s for you. We’re Ruta and Emma, the marketing consultants behind Blame it on Marketing. If you’re in B2B SaaS or professional services and looking to do marketing that actually drives revenue and profit, we’re here for it.Visit blameitonmarketing.com and let’s get this show on the road.

Join Alice Phillips and Dan Emery, co-hosts of Work Is Weird Now, as they tackle the shifting landscape of marketing in 2025. They discuss setting boundaries to prevent burnout while staying creative amidst chaos. The duo dives into the challenges of expectations for juniors and the need for experienced insight. They explore the transformative role of AI in marketing without losing authenticity, and share invaluable coping strategies for navigating this unpredictable terrain. Their candid insights make it a must-listen for any marketer today!

Why have so many leaders written off SEO as “dead”? 🤔 Whether it’s the rise of AI search, fears of fierce competition, or painstaking boardroom battles over budget, the rumour mill keeps churning. But if your ideal buyers still Google for solutions—or even ask ChatGPT—you can’t afford to ignore it.In this episode, we’re joined by Sam Dunning, founder of Breaking B2B and host of the Breaking B2B podcast, to explain why SEO isn’t dying—it’s just evolving. Sam shares the unconventional, revenue-focused playbook that’s working today for B2B and SaaS marketers.We get into: ✅ Why “SEO is dead” misses the mark for most B2B & SaaS businesses ✅ How to decide if SEO fits your ICP, runway & resources ✅ The two quick-win page types that can rank in 30–60 days ✅ Niches, “offer + industry” and “alt vs” pages: long-tail goldmines ✅ Why one-and-done SEO is a fantasy—and what a revenue-driven strategy looks like ✅ How to win stubborn C-suite buy-in (or quietly prove ROI yourself) ✅ Brand mentions, structured data & AI search: ranking on ChatGPT, Perplexity & more ✅ Crafting top-of-funnel “jobs-to-be-done” content that truly convertsIf you’re tired of SEO obituaries—or you’ve been guilty of underinvesting in search—this one’s for you.

Why do marketers lose their cool over slide decks, ChatGPT “feedback,” and CEOs who sign off every tweet? 🤯 We’ve all felt our blood boil when leadership “just wants it pretty,” when “my partner hates that ad,” or when they lob in a last-minute “get this done by tomorrow” bomb.In this crossover episode, Emma & Ruta team up with Marketing Dribble hosts Rob Boyle and Johnny Kenyon to play Trigger Bingo—naming the marketing pet peeves that make us want to quit our own jobs. Then they vote on which trigger reigns supreme.We get into: ✅ “Make the slides pretty”—and watch sales hijack your designs ✅ “My spouse saw the ad and hated it”—no, really, that happened ✅ CEOs who must sign off every post, budget or button-click ✅ Marketing leaders replaced by sales hires (or ChatGPT) ✅ “Urgent” priorities imposed last-minute—then radio silence ✅ Google Ads horror stories: “Why didn’t my ad even show up?” ✅ Endless ChatGPT feedback loops that never end ✅ And more of your worst marketing nightmares…If you’ve ever felt your marketing sanity slipping—or wondered if you’d snap, too—this one’s for you. 🎧

Why do marketers blame shadow bans when their posts flatline? 🤔 If you’ve ever felt like LinkedIn’s algorithm is out to get you, you’re not alone. From engagement pods to Top Voice conspiracies, the platform’s quirks spark more theories than a late-night Reddit scroll.In this episode, Emma & Ruta play detective with two LinkedIn insiders—Corey Johnson, growth marketer (LinkedIn addict), and Ash Turner, ex-LinkedIn creator manager to bust myths and reveal what really moves the feed.We get into: ✅ Engagement pods vs. genuine reach—does LinkedIn even care? ✅ Top Voice badge drama—why some big influencers get snubbed ✅ Carousels, video & clicks—how metrics hijack your content ✅ Shadow banning: myth, marketing excuse or content fail? ✅ Company pages vs. personal profiles—which one wins? ✅ Creator monetization & pay-to-play—sponsored posts explained ✅ API lock-down—why third-party tools struggle on LinkedInIf you’ve ever wondered why your best posts get buried—or why a meme explodes while your thought pieces vanish—this one’s for you.🎧 Listen now and crack the LinkedIn code. We’re Ruta and Emma, the marketing consultants behind Blame it on Marketing. If you’re in B2B SaaS or professional services and looking to do marketing that actually drives revenue and profit, we’re here for it.Visit blameitonmarketing.com and let’s get this show on the road.

In this episode, we’re ditching the basic bitch prompts and going deep on real AI power for marketers. Emma and Ruta unpack everything from prompt engineering to custom GPTs to automated workflows—so you can stop treating AI like a toy and start using it like a pro.We get into: ✅ The AI lingo you actually need: models vs. providers vs. platforms vs. benchmarks ✅ Prompt engineering 101: zero-shot, few-shot, meta-prompts & when to use “reasoning” ✅ Building your own Custom GPTs—for content, strategy docs, coaching & more ✅ Automations that turn transcripts into blog posts, spreadsheets into insights ✅ Data cleaning, contract checks & process docs—all without lifting a finger ✅ Picking the right model: why cheaper LLMs sometimes outscore GPT-4 on copy ✅ AI as your personal CMO-mentor: role-plays, feedback loops & impulse checks ✅ Content audits, gap analyses & campaign plans—instant, AI-powered QAIf you’re tired of treating AI like a magic wand—or you’re ready to stop copy-pasting prompts and start building real AI-driven workflows—this one’s for you. We’re Ruta and Emma, the marketing consultants behind Blame it on Marketing. If you’re in B2B SaaS or professional services and looking to do marketing that actually drives revenue and profit, we’re here for it.Visit blameitonmarketing.com and let’s get this show on the road.

In this engaging discussion, Chris Kelly, Head of Marketing at John D. Wood with over 20 years of experience, shares invaluable insights into conquering board meetings. He emphasizes the importance of storytelling over data, and how to prepare for those nerve-wracking moments. Networking tips transform casual chats into boardroom opportunities, while AI tools help tackle tough questions. Chris reveals the metrics that matter and stresses showcasing your team's successes. Get ready to rebuild your board meeting confidence and shine!

Helen Saxton, a seasoned customer-experience advocate, joins to discuss why marketers often miss the mark by ignoring direct customer input. She emphasizes the need to balance quantitative data with qualitative feedback, urging brand managers to engage with customers actively. The conversation highlights how customer service teams can be a goldmine for insights, promoting collaboration to enhance branding and marketing strategies. Saxton encourages marketers to cultivate genuine relationships with customers to drive successful and meaningful campaigns.

Why do so many B2B marketers treat YouTube like a dusty archive? 🤔 We’ve all seen it—upload a stale webinar, paste a podcast video, and then scratch your head when views don’t budge… with zero strategy behind it. In this episode, we’re joined by Jake Kitchiner, co-founder of Channel Crawler and our new Blame It on Marketing YouTube guru, to unpack the B2B Tube trap—why companies dump content on YouTube and see no ROI, and how to build a channel that actually drives leads. blame-it-on-marketing_y…blame-it-on-marketing_y…We get into: ✅ Why simply reposting webinars and demos is YouTube clickbait… for crickets ✅ The three-step service model: free tutorials → paid deep-dives → new clients ✅ How B2B SaaS brands like Clay turn “how-to” videos into product subscriptions ✅ YouTube’s three discovery feeds—Homepage, Suggested, Search—and how to win them ✅ Crafting hooks, thumbnails & chapters that make viewers click, watch, and subscribe ✅ Evergreen content planning: batch filming, SEO research, and a six-month runway ✅ How to use YouTube Ads with channel & video-level targeting (not just keywords) ✅ Repurposing your podcast or LinkedIn content into short-form YouTube hitsIf you’re tired of uploading endless “just-because” videos—or if you’ve been guilty of treating YouTube like a dumping ground—this one’s for you.🎧 Listen now and let’s talk about turning YouTube views into real business. We’re Ruta and Emma, the marketing consultants behind Blame it on Marketing. If you’re in B2B SaaS or professional services and looking to do marketing that actually drives revenue and profit, we’re here for it.Visit blameitonmarketing.com and let’s get this show on the road.