In this video, we dive into why B2B partnerships are one of the most powerful (and underused) growth strategies in 2026, and how to get your first one off the ground.

We cover:

Why partnerships act as a trust shortcut with your target audience, how rising paid media costs (up ~14% per year) are making partnerships more essential than ever, and the exact 4-step framework to land your first B2B partnership.

If you are a B2B marketer or founder struggling with rising customer acquisition costs and want a more affordable, high-trust way to reach your ideal customers.

Tune in and learn:

- Why partnerships transfer trust from aligned brands to your audience

- How overlapping ICPs make partnerships more effective than cold outreach

- Why AI-generated content is making owned audiences even more valuable

- The importance of executive buy-in and clear KPIs to make partnerships stick

- Brian's #1 tip: don't go for the big fish first. Start with complementary, similarly-sized partners

- The 4-step action framework: identify, shortlist (top 3–5), reach out, and go deep

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🔗 Links + CTAs

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💼 Need help running your own LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads? https://theb2bplaybook.com/linkedin-ads-agency

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Timestamps:

00:00 – Why partnerships are a trust shortcut

00:56 – Welcome to Season 8 (first in-person recording!)

02:14 – The Five Bs Framework recap

10:52 – Why noise is getting worse (and what to do about it)

12:18 – The real-life analogy: partnerships as personal introductions

14:24 – Rising paid media costs & the 14% CAC benchmark

16:14 – How partnerships help share distribution costs

18:08 – Why AI makes trust-based channels even more important

20:04 – Key ingredients: overlapping ICP & give-and-get relationships

24:22 – Getting executive buy-in & setting clear KPIs

26:13 – The fastest way to kill a partnership

29:14 – The 4-step action framework to get started this week

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👥 Are you a B2B marketer in a small team??

💰 Need to bring in more revenue for your company (so sales and your boss love you??)

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🔹 strategy

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So you have everything you need to drive more revenue for your brand.

See why other B2B marketers like you love The B2B Incubator

Check out: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

S08 E220 - The B2B Playbook

#b2b #partnerships #b2bmarketing

Revenue leaders don’t trust their pipeline anymore.

In this episode, we sit down with Phil Cleary – 20+ year Salesforce veteran and co-lead of the Revenue Enablement Society – to unpack what’s really happening inside revenue teams right now.

We break down why forecasts are slipping, why pipeline feels fabricated, and why traditional sales training isn’t fixing behaviour.

This is a deep dive into revenue enablement strategy at the leadership level.

We cover:

+ Why buyers are frozen (FOBO from FOMO)

+ The 2x2 coaching model every sales leader should use

+ Why “software with a service” is the future of SaaS

+ How behaviour, identity, and mindset drive real adoption

+ Why you are your calendar

If you lead sales, marketing, or revenue teams – this conversation will challenge how you think about enablement.

Tune in and learn:

+ How to fix forecast uncertainty

+ How to build behaviour-led performance

+ How to align revenue teams around real commercial oversight

If you care about predictable revenue, commercial common sense, and long-term alignment – this one’s essential.

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🔗 Links + CTAs

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🎓 Join our Demand Generation Program: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

🧠 Learn how to drive revenue across your organisation with CRO School: https://theb2bplaybook.com/cro-school

💼 Need help running your own LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads? https://theb2bplaybook.com/linkedin-ads-agency

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00:00 Why Revenue Leaders Are Losing Confidence in Their Forecast

04:40 FOMO vs FOBO: Why Buyers Are Frozen

08:10 Is Your Pipeline Fake?

11:20 Revenue Retention Is Changing Sales Behaviour

14:00 Why Commercial Handover Is Broken

16:20 The Smash-and-Grab Sales Problem

19:50 The 2x2 Coaching Framework

22:30 Toxic High Performers

25:00 What Good Behaviour Looks Like

29:30 Why Training Fails

31:00 The Kirkpatrick Model

33:10 Specialisation in Sales Teams

36:10 Thinking Like a Franchise Owner

39:40 You Are Your Calendar

42:10 Growth Mindset in Revenue Teams

48:20 SaaS vs Software With a Service

54:30 Crossing the Chasm

01:00:10 Revenue Enablement Society

01:04:00 The Art and Science of Leadership

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💰 Need to bring in more revenue for your company (so sales and your boss love you??)

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So you have everything you need to drive more revenue for your brand.

See why other B2B marketers like you love The B2B Incubator

Check out: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

S08 E219 - The B2B Playbook

#b2b #b2bmarketing #digitalmarketing #demandgeneration #salesleadership #salesadvice #revenueenablement

Most B2B content looks polished. But almost none of it gets remembered.

In this episode, we break down why humour isn’t a creative risk in B2B.

It’s a strategic advantage.

We’re joined by Luke Winter, founder of Deadpan and one of the few people proving that B2B marketing with humour drives memory, brand lift, and real revenue.

Luke shares how a single funny B2B video generated over $300K in sales, why AI-generated content is creating sameness, and how brands can use comedy frameworks to stand out without needing a massive budget.

We also unpack:

+ Why most B2B brands confuse looking professional with being effective

+ The science behind entertaining ads and higher conversion rates

+ How to turn real customer pain points into memorable content

+ Five practical frameworks to generate funny B2B ideas

+ How to build a sitcom-style content series for your brand

+ How to get CEO buy-in without calling it “comedy”

Tune in and learn:

+ Why humour works better than features in B2B

+ How to create distinctive brand memory in a world of AI slop

+ How to apply comedy without damaging credibility

If you’re a B2B marketer trying to stand out, build trust, and stop blending in, this episode is essential.

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🔗 Links + CTAs

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🎓 Join our Demand Generation Program: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

🧠 Learn how to drive revenue across your organisation with CRO School: https://theb2bplaybook.com/cro-school

💼 Need help running your own LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads? https://theb2bplaybook.com/linkedin-ads-agency

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-----------------------------------------------------

00:00 Why Humour Is a Smart B2B Brand Strategy

01:10 Why B2B Comedy Is Untapped

02:00 AI vs Memorability

03:20 Why Corporate Videos Fail

04:10 The Video That Changed Everything

06:00 From 234 Views to $300K

07:00 The Showmanship Era

08:10 Why B2B Content Gets Ignored

09:10 Showmanship vs Salesmanship

10:00 Turning Pain into Comedy

11:30 The Data Behind Funny Ads

13:00 Why Humour Isn’t Risky

15:00 The Customer Is the Hero

16:40 Comedy Frameworks

20:20 Comedic Displacement

23:20 Opposites in Comedy

26:00 Metaphors That Work

28:00 Parody and Associations

31:40 Testing with Memes

34:30 Sitcom-Style B2B Content

36:50 Getting CEO Buy-In

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👥 Are you a B2B marketer in a small team??

💰 Need to bring in more revenue for your company (so sales and your boss love you??)

Get the:

🔹 strategy

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So you have everything you need to drive more revenue for your brand.

See why other B2B marketers like you love The B2B Incubator

Check out: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

S08 E218 - The B2B Playbook

#b2b #b2bmarketing #brandstrategy #humourinmarketing #demandgeneration

Most small B2B teams know product marketing matters.

Very few know how to make it work without specialists or big budgets.

In this episode, we’re joined by Kayla Medica, creator of the Medica Method, to break down how product marketing actually works inside lean B2B teams.

We unpack what breaks when no one owns product marketing, how to align product, sales, and leadership around one story, and why pricing is just as much a product marketing problem as it is a commercial one.

Kayla also explains why most B2B personas fail, how to build real feedback loops with sales, and how small teams can punch above their weight without burning out.

Tune in and learn:

+ How product marketing really works in small B2B teams

+ What product marketers should say no to (and when)

+ Why pricing and positioning are inseparable

If you’re in a small B2B team trying to create consistency between marketing, sales, and product, this episode is a must-watch.

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🔗 Links + CTAs

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🎓 Join our Demand Generation Program: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

🧠 Learn how to drive revenue across your organisation with CRO School: https://theb2bplaybook.com/cro-school

💼 Need help running your own LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads? https://theb2bplaybook.com/linkedin-ads-agency

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00:00 Why Product Marketing Breaks in Small Teams

02:10 What Happens When No One Owns Product Marketing

04:16 Product Marketing Explained

05:23 The Medica Method

07:46 Why Small Teams Can’t Pause Work

09:11 Who Product Marketing Aligns With

10:52 Executive Buy-In

12:00 Net-New vs Expansion Growth

14:15 Product Marketing Boundaries

17:50 Fixing Sales Feedback Loops

23:50 Why B2B Personas Fail

29:50 Pricing as Product Marketing

35:40 Showing Pricing on Your Website

38:40 Taylor Swift Pricing Lessons

42:30 Status Signalling in B2B

46:00 Product Marketing as a Career

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👥 Are you a B2B marketer in a small team??

💰 Need to bring in more revenue for your company (so sales and your boss love you??)

Get the:

🔹 strategy

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🔹 tools

So you have everything you need to drive more revenue for your brand.

See why other B2B marketers like you love The B2B Incubator

Check out: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

S08 E217 - The B2B Playbook

#b2b #productmarketing #b2bmarketing #pricingstrategy #gotomarket

Most B2B teams rely on founder energy – until it stops working.

In this episode, we sit down with Adam Holmgren, CEO and co-founder of Fibber, to break down how founder-led marketing actually works – and why it hits a ceiling faster than most teams expect.

Adam walks us through how he turned his personal LinkedIn presence into early traction, why founder-only growth stalled after the first 50 customers, and how he built a system that blends founder trust with brand memory.

This is a practical breakdown of a modern founder-led marketing strategy – without fluff, vanity metrics, or burnout.

Tune in and learn:

+ Why people buy from founders before they buy products

+ How to scale founder content beyond personal reach

+ Why Thought Leadership Ads work – and where they fall short

+ How brand memory unlocks the next stage of growth

If you’re a B2B marketer or founder trying to turn visibility into pipeline, this episode shows how to bridge founder energy into a real brand engine.

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🔗 Links + CTAs

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🎓 Join our Demand Generation Program: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

🧠 Learn how to drive revenue across your organisation with CRO School: https://theb2bplaybook.com/cro-school

💼 Need help running your own LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads? https://theb2bplaybook.com/linkedin-ads-agency

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00:00 Why good content dies without distribution

01:00 Why founders are the strongest distribution engine

02:20 Meet Adam Holmgren and the Fibber story

03:40 How B2B buyers actually make decisions

05:00 Why SaaS competition forces founder-led marketing

06:30 Posting before you even have a product

07:50 How Adam launched with built-in trust

09:00 The ceiling of founder-led growth

10:30 Why founder reach eventually stalls

11:45 The brand trust problem no one talks about

13:00 Founder-led marketing is not enough

14:10 Adam’s founder brand framework explained

17:00 Using Thought Leader Ads to break out of your network

18:40 Why Thought Leader Ads fail to build brand

20:00 The Pink Lion and brand memory

27:40 The four engines of growth

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👥 Are you a B2B marketer in a small team??

💰 Need to bring in more revenue for your company (so sales and your boss love you??)

Get the:

🔹 strategy

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So you have everything you need to drive more revenue for your brand.

See why other B2B marketers like you love The B2B Incubator

Check out: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

S08 E216 - The B2B Playbook

#b2b #b2bmarketing #demandgeneration #founderled #thoughtleadership #linkedinads #linkedin

B2B Brand Strategy for Enterprise Sales: How Brand Opens Doors Marketing Can’tMost B2B marketing never reaches enterprise decision-makers.This episode shows why brand is the bridge sales actually needs.In this session from our Full Circle conference, we’re joined by Ari Yablok, Head of Brand at Island.Ari breaks down how brand becomes the permission slip that lets sales into rooms traditional marketing can’t access.We unpack why enterprise executives ignore most marketing, why big promises backfire, and how positioning, personality, and story create trust before the first sales call.This isn’t about logos or colours.It’s about building a B2B brand strategy that makes enterprise buyers lean in instead of tune out. Tune in and learn:+ Why enterprise buyers are sceptical by default+ How brand positioning creates real differentiation+ How story and personality shorten sales cycles If you’re selling to senior decision-makers and struggling to get attention, this episode shows why brand isn’t optional.It’s the door-opener. -----------------------------------------------------🔗 Links + CTAs-----------------------------------------------------🎓 Join our Demand Generation Program: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course🧠 Learn how to drive revenue across your organisation with CRO School: https://theb2bplaybook.com/cro-school💼 Need help running your own LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads? https://theb2bplaybook.com/linkedin-ads-agency-----------------------------------------------------SUBSCRIBE to our channel: / @theb2bplaybook SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter: https://theb2bplaybook.com/newsletterGET the latest CONTENT: https://theb2bplaybook.com/-----------------------------------------------------00:00 Why Brand Opens Doors Sales Can’t01:20 Why Enterprise Executives Ignore Marketing03:50 The Real Cost of Selling Software Internally06:10 Why Generic Messaging Fails08:20 The Hidden Risk Buyers See10:40 Why Features Don’t Convince13:10 Brand as Infrastructure15:30 Positioning Sweet Spot17:40 Why SaaS Positioning Sounds the Same19:50 Great vs Generic AI Examples21:50 Brand Personality as a Moat24:10 Archetypes That Differentiate26:10 Storytelling That Creates Order29:10 How Buyers Really Decide31:50 Island Brand Case Study36:40 Relevance That Resonates39:10 Thought Leadership That Pre-Sells40:40 Trust Signals That Shorten Sales Cycles43:00 Brand for Small Teams -----------------------------------------------------👥 Are you a B2B marketer in a small team??💰 Need to bring in more revenue for your company (so sales and your boss love you??)Get the:🔹 strategy🔹 templates🔹 toolsSo you have everything you need to drive more revenue for your brand.See why other B2B marketers like you love The B2B IncubatorCheck out: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-courseS08 E215 - The B2B Playbook#b2b #b2bmarketing #brandstrategy #enterprisesales #demandgeneration

Most B2B content fails because it isn’t built on a strategy.

In this episode of The B2B Playbook, we break down a practical B2B content strategy framework and explain why most content gets created, published, and forgotten.

We unpack why “adding value” isn’t enough, why engagement metrics are misleading, and how to anchor your content to a clear point of view so it actually supports revenue.

We also share the 3-question Point of View framework we teach inside The B2B Incubator, and explain how your content should naturally lead to your product or service without burning trust.

Tune in and learn:

+ Why most B2B content strategies fail

+ How to anchor content to a clear point of view

+ How to make your product the logical conclusion of your c

If you’re a small B2B marketing team under pressure to deliver pipeline, this framework will help you stop wasting effort and start compounding impact.

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🔗 Links + CTAs

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🎓 Join our Demand Generation Program: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

🧠 Learn how to drive revenue across your organisation with CRO School: https://theb2bplaybook.com/cro-school

💼 Need help running your own LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads? https://theb2bplaybook.com/linkedin-ads-agency

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00:00 Why Most B2B Content Fails

00:31 What This B2B Content Strategy Framework Solves

01:10 The 5 Bs Framework Explained

02:00 Content for Content’s Sake Is the Real Issue

03:10 The Pressure That Breaks B2B Content

04:30 Why “Add Value” Isn’t a Strategy

05:40 Engagement Without Memory Is Wasted

06:10 Lead Gen vs Demand Gen Content

07:10 Should You Chase High-Volume Topics?

08:05 The 95% of Buyers Most Content Ignores

09:20 What a Real Content Strategy Should Do

10:00 Making Your Product the Logical Conclusion

11:00 Why Random AI Content Breaks Strategy

12:20 When Content Doesn’t Have to Sell

13:30 The 3-Question POV Framework

15:00 Challenging Broken B2B Assumptions

16:30 Why Timing Matters to Your ICP

17:30 Mapping POV to the 5 Stages of Awareness

18:40 The One Rule Every B2B Content Strategy Needs

19:10 Turning Content Into a Growth Engine

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👥 Are you a B2B marketer in a small team??

💰 Need to bring in more revenue for your company (so sales and your boss love you??)

Get the:

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So you have everything you need to drive more revenue for your brand.

See why other B2B marketers like you love The B2B Incubator

Check out: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

S07 E214 - The B2B Playbook

#b2b #b2bmarketing #contentstrategy #demandgeneration #thoughtleadership

Closed Circuit Selling: Why the Funnel Is Breaking Your GTM

Most go-to-market teams aren’t failing on effort. They’re failing on architecture.

In this episode, we sit down with Charles Needham (co-author of Cold Call Algo) alongside Adem Manderovic (CRO School) to break down why the linear funnel is the biggest sacred cow in sales, and why Closed Circuit Selling is the better model for modern outbound.

We unpack incentives, silos, CAC payback insanity, and why “meetings booked” became a broken religion. Then we get practical. How to run outbound as market learning. How to capture timing signals. And how to build feedback loops that actually make marketing, sales, and customer success stronger together.

Tune in and learn:

+ Why buyer journeys are non-linear, and funnels create blind spots

+ How to shift from meetings quotas to conversation-driven market validation

+ Why intent data can’t replace first-party conversations

If you’re a B2B marketer or revenue leader, this is the blueprint for building a GTM system that compounds instead of churns.

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🔗 Links + CTAs

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🧠 Learn how to drive revenue across your organisation with CRO School: https://theb2bplaybook.com/cro-school

🎓 Join our Demand Generation Program: https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

💼 Need help running your own LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads? https://theb2bplaybook.com/linkedin-ads-agency

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📩 Newsletter: https://theb2bplaybook.com/newsletter/

📚 Latest content: https://theb2bplaybook.com/

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00:00 The “Sacred Cow”: Why the Linear Funnel Breaks Reality

01:00 Who’s Charles Needham (And Why He Thinks Like a Quant)

04:30 From Mortgage Bonds to CRMs: Seeing Sales as a Database

07:00 The Moment He Realised “Meetings Booked” Is a Trap

09:10 Closed Loop Continuity vs Funnel Checklists

11:40 What Silos Destroy: Feedback Loops That Never Make It Back

14:10 CAC Payback Madness: When “Growth” Becomes Insanity

17:10 The Conversations Model: Comp People for Learning, Not Meetings

20:05 Predictable Revenue Misread: “Market Development” Got Lost

21:00 VC Algebra vs Real Buyers: “The Customer Doesn’t Exist”

28:10 The 2008 Analogy: Incentives Create Fragile Systems

32:20 Intent Data Hot Take: “Or You Could Call Them”

36:00 The Guitar Demo: What “Cataloguing” Really Means

39:00 “Talk to Everybody”: The Outbound Belief Most CROs Don’t Hold

41:45 Fixing the Root: Change Comp, or Nothing Changes

48:10 Market Validation vs Cataloguing: The Language Problem

56:35 AI Didn’t Fix Outbound. It Scaled the Spam Cannon

59:30 What Works Next: Follow the Underpriced Channel (Then Move)

1:06:00 Cold Call Algo: The “Unplanned Communication” Thesis

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👥 Are you a B2B marketer in a small team??

💰 Need to bring in more revenue for your company (so sales and your boss love you??)

Get the:

🔹 strategy

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So you have everything you need to drive more revenue for your brand.

See why other B2B marketers like you love The B2B Incubator

https://theb2bplaybook.com/demand-generation-course

S07 E213 - The B2B Playbook

#b2b #b2bmarketing #digitalmarketing #demandgeneration...