The Exit Five CMO Podcast (Hosted by Dave Gerhardt)

Join industry experts Will Allred, Co-founder of Lavender; Zoe Hartsfield from Apollo; Maximus Greenwald, CEO at Warmly AI; and Alex Fine, Co-founder of Understory, as they explore the art of cold emailing. They dissect common pitfalls that lead to failed campaigns and highlight the importance of personalization over automation. From timing strategies to engaging subject lines, they tackle real-life email disasters and share actionable tips for crafting compelling outreach. Discover the secrets to making your cold emails stand out!

In this engaging discussion, Jaleh Rezaei, Founder and CEO of Mutiny, shares her insights on transforming B2B marketing. She critiques the pitfalls of current AI trends, emphasizing the importance of authentic buyer experiences. Jaleh explains why quick fixes don’t work and highlights the need for focusing on what truly drives revenue. The conversation also dives into simplifying go-to-market strategies and the balance between speed and strategy to ensure marketing effectiveness. Marketers, listen up—it's time to prioritize real connections!

Samar Owais, founder of Emails Done Right, shares her expertise on email marketing alongside Sheri Otto, CEO of Growth Lane Strategies, and Sofia Silva, Marketing Manager at Reachdesk. They analyze real B2B lead nurture emails, pointing out common mistakes like excessive AI use and convoluted CTAs. Focusing on building human connections, they emphasize that every email should be a conversation. With practical critiques, they provide valuable insights on crafting effective subject lines and the importance of clear, single calls to action.

Talya Heller, founder of Down to a T, is a B2B consultancy expert skilled in converting competitive positioning into effective sales tools. In this discussion, Talya dives into why typical sales decks and battle cards often fail and offers innovative replacements. She emphasizes the role of empathy in buyer enablement and outlines her unique framework for aligning marketing, sales, and product teams. Talya also shares insights on creating impactful assets that truly resonate with sales teams, urging marketers to consider the buyer's perspective.

Alex Fine, co-founder of Understory, shares his expertise in B2B outbound marketing, focusing on the innovative 'Allbound' approach that blends cold emailing, paid ads, and LinkedIn strategies. He discusses why traditional methods often fail and reveals effective tactics to enhance email deliverability. Listeners will discover how to craft hyper-personalized outreach that resonates with high-value prospects and learn about tools like Instantly and Clay. Fine also emphasizes keeping messaging consistent across channels for optimal engagement and conversion.

Amanda Goetz, a 2x founder and 3x CMO, dives into the nuances of personal branding and content strategy. She shares how she revamped her LinkedIn approach to boost engagement and emphasizes the importance of emotional connections in branding. The conversation touches on avoiding burnout while maintaining momentum in high-pressure roles and the rise of fractional CMOs. Amanda also explores the power of storytelling in marketing and the transformative role of community engagement in building brand identity.

In this discussion, LinkedIn ads expert Anthony Blatner and award-winning strategist Tagg Bozied share their insights on optimizing B2B LinkedIn advertising for 2025. They unravel the biggest mistakes marketers make and how to avoid them, emphasizing the rise of thought leader ads. The duo also dives into metrics that matter for brand awareness, including dwell time and frequency, and explores innovative strategies like Connected TV ads. With practical budgeting tips and A-B testing insights, they equip listeners to elevate their LinkedIn campaigns.

#242: Content Strategy | In this episode, Danielle sits down with Brendan Hufford, founder of Growth Sprints, to talk about what actually works in content and SEO today and why most B2B strategies are broken. Brendan went from high school teacher to leading content at top SaaS companies, and now helps brands move faster and build content strategies that drive real impact.They cover:Why most SEO strategies are broken - and why retainers make it worseThe content checklist that took ActiveCampaign from 200K to 240K visitors in 30 daysWhy the most lucrative SEO opportunities are hiding in plain sightBrendan’s "immortal newsletter" framework that cuts production time in half while doubling engagementPlus, check out the checklist Brendan mentioned in this episode here! Timestamps(00:00) - – Intro to Brendan (04:53) - – Lessons from teaching that apply directly to marketing (07:53) - – Why Brendan left education and entered the B2B world (09:23) - – Early agency and in-house marketing experience (11:08) - – Building a defensible career: audience, trust, and network (13:28) - – The Growth Sprints model: why retainers don’t make sense (14:38) - – Content strategy in bets, not buckets (15:53) - – Why SEO still works and where it actually drives results (17:23) - – Getting deep on audience, product, and internal dynamics (19:38) - – What marketers get wrong about internal buy-in (21:38) - – Real example: what a content sprint looks like in practice (23:08) - – The power of internal linking and content refreshes (26:43) - – How Google views internal linking and user signals (29:43) - – Why technical SEO is often overrated (32:43) - – Brendan’s hot take: most SEOs aren’t marketers (34:13) - – Why the “SEO takes 6 months” narrative is flawed (36:13) - – The problem with traditional retainers and content brief models (37:43) - – The immortal newsletter: how to mix evergreen + ephemeral content (40:43) - – Naming the problem, not just the category (42:13) - – Content should do 3–5 jobs at once: how to prioritize impact (44:43) - – The real value of competitor and alternatives pages (47:13) - – How to make content more useful for sales and buyer enablement (48:43) - – Brendan’s final mindset shift: create content that earns its keep 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 Knak.Email (in my humble opinion) is the still the greatest marketing channel of all-time.It’s the only way you can truly “own” your audience.But when it comes to building the emails - if you’ve ever tried building an email in an enterprise marketing automation platform, you know how painful it can be. Templates are too rigid, editing code can break things and the whole process just takes forever. That’s why we love Knak here at Exit Five. Knak a no-code email platform that makes it easy to create on-brand, high-performing emails - without the bottlenecks.Frustrated by clunky email builders? You need Knak.Tired of ‘hoping’ the email you sent looks good across all devices? Just test in Knak first.Big team making it hard to collaborate and get approvals? Definitely Knak.And the best part? Everything takes a fraction of the time.See Knak in action at knak.com/exit-five. Or just let them know you heard about Knak on Exit Five.***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

Beth O’Malley, the 'email queen' of LinkedIn, Jay Schwedelson, founder of Subjectline.com and GURU Media Hub, and Jaina Mistry from Litmus delve into the evolving landscape of email marketing. They discuss why bad emails harm results and the misunderstanding of open rates' significance. The group debates resending to non-openers, the importance of deliverability, and the nuances of personalization. With a focus on building authentic connections, they highlight how to make emails effective in 2025.

In this discussion, Connor Lewis, founder of Studio Lewis and B2B video strategy expert, shares insightful strategies for crafting impactful video content. He emphasizes that production value isn't everything, offering tips on transforming blog posts into engaging videos. Connor also reveals what's currently thriving on LinkedIn for 2025 and why video ads might not be the best starting point. He introduces innovative formats like the 'reverse Rambo' hook and encourages marketers to embrace authenticity, making video approachable for everyone.