The Exit Five CMO Podcast (Hosted by Dave Gerhardt)

Join Dave as he talks with Lashay Lewis, Ben Battaglia, and Rachel Saltsgaver about using content marketing to drive revenue in B2B SaaS. They discuss content as sales enablement, pushing people through the sales funnel, the relationship between paid ads and content marketing, gating content, and how Seismic uses SEO to drive prospects to their site.

Mitch Briggs and Betsy Koliba from Demandwell join Dave G to discuss SEO. They cover topics such as content strategy, choosing topics, measuring success, using AI for SEO, and the relevance of blogs in 2023.

Jonny Ross, Senior Manager, Brand Partner Marketing at Strava, talks about building a B2B marketing function from scratch at a consumer company. They discuss Strava's sponsored challenges and marketing strategy, the appeal of working for a well-known brand, differentiation and category creation in marketing, the impending AI revolution in content creation and marketing, and the potential of AI in marketing.

Miranda Babbitt, Senior Partner Marketing Specialist at Zapier, discusses the role and strategies of partner marketing in B2B SaaS. She shares examples of success stories at Zapier and emphasizes the importance of customized messaging, guidance, and automated emails. They also discuss building partnerships for less-known brands and the risks of churn in partner marketing.

Anthony Pierri, co-founder of Fletch PMM, discusses the importance of website positioning, differentiation, and clear messaging in B2B SaaS startups. They explore a framework for positioning, the significance of inbound relationships, and the need for a clear differentiator. They also emphasize the importance of clear messaging on websites, including the homepage headline and value proposition positioning statement.

Thanks for listening to 99 episodes of the Exit Five podcast; here's episode 100. Dave is joined by a crew of B2B marketers: Kaylee Edmondson, Lashay Lewis, Tas Bober, and Tim Davidson. Send guest pitches and ideas to hello@exitfive.comExit Five on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/exitfive/Exit Five on Twitter: https://twitter.com/exit5marketing***This episode is brought to you by Demandwell. This episode is brought to you by Demandwell. Demandwell is the best SEO solution for B2B SaaS marketers. They’ve helped customers like Lessonly drive 40% of their revenue from organic search. And they helped Terminus’s make organic search their number one source of demos. Get your free keyword feasibility assessment today at demandwell.com/keywords.Thanks to our 2023 presenting sponsors Demandwell, Jasper, and Zapier.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 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 Walnut.Why are we pouring all this effort into marketing just to push buyers to a “request a demo” or “contact sales” button?Come on, today’s buyers don’t want to talk to sales right away. They want to explore your product themselves, see how it works, and understand its value before booking a meeting.That’s where Walnut comes in.Walnut empowers marketers and GTM teams to create interactive, self-guided product experiences in minutes. Embed these experiences on your site, in emails, or anywhere in your funnel to let buyers engage on their terms, from awareness to close and beyond. That's the beauty of Walnut - you're getting a platform that your sales and CS colleagues can use to showcase the product too.And the best part? You get real intent data—see which features prospects love, where they drop off, and what’s actually driving pipeline. Demo Qualified Leads are the new MQL.Over 500 companies, like Adobe and NetApp, use Walnut to drive 2-3x higher website conversion rates and 7 figures in pipeline on a yearly basis. So do you want to drive more leads, shorten sales cycles, and actually show your product instead of hiding it behind another typical B2B CTA? Go check out Walnut.io. And if you tell them Dave from Exit 5 sent you, they'll build out your first demo for free!

John Short, Founder & CEO of Compound Growth Marketing, discusses underrated partner marketing, ABM tactics, marketing salaries, and the power of co-promotion. They also talk about productivity, employee satisfaction, building relationships, and the impact of the economic climate on budgets and salaries.

B2B digital marketing strategist Tas Bober discusses the role of digital marketing, mistakes with B2B websites, the role of a website in the buying process, LinkedIn and organic content, starting a career in digital marketing, and using data to advocate for salary increases.

April Dunford, B2B positioning expert and author, discusses positioning, differentiation, and lessons from 200+ B2B sales pitches. She emphasizes that positioning should be a cross-functional activity and provides a structure for a strong sales pitch. April explains the challenges of selling against the status quo and the importance of effective positioning and differentiation in B2B sales pitches.

Rowan Tonkin, CMO at Planful, shares tips to build a powerful marketing plan that aligns with business objectives, strategies to gain plan approval, best practices for flawless execution, insights into scenario planning, and involving multiple stakeholders in the marketing plan.