B2B Marketing Sucks & Can Be Better

Welcome back to Fintech Takes. I'm Alex Johnson, and today's episode is a little different. Before I wrote a newsletter for a living, I spent the beginning of my career working in B2B marketing in fintech and financial services. So this episode is built around the provocation that B2B marketing sucks, but it doesn't have to.  First up, Cokie Hasiotis (Head of Vertical Marketing at Socure and author of the For the Plot newsletter) and Julie VerHage Greenberg (founder of Quinnovation and formerly a co-founder and writer of Fintech Today and reporter at Bloomberg) join me to diagnose B2B marketing's boring problem. It’s an industry where 80% of decisions are made emotionally, and yet it runs on copy that makes you feel nothing. We get into why the head of content is a job designed to fail, and why founders are so bad at telling their own stories. Then, Jessica Kendall (Head of Content and Communications at Spinwheel) joins me to talk about messaging. We also get into the two AI problems every marketing team now has to own (tune in to find out!). And last but not least, Adam Ryan (co-founder and CEO of Workweek) joins me to talk about why B2B marketers can rarely prove the value of decisions they know were right. Blame the hidden sales cycle, and the tenure problem (the average executive B2B marketer lasts 18 months, often not even a full sales cycle). We dig into: What would B2B marketing look like if it remembered that buyers are humans? Can you measure a changed mind? If AI can produce infinite “good enough” content, what's left that buyers will trust? And so much more! Tune in for a curious tour through the discipline that decides what our entire industry reads, watches, and believes. As discussed, learn more about the Workweek Partner Platform: https://advertising.workweek.com/insights/future-of-b2b-runs-on-trust/ Apply for Workweek Upfronts in Austin (August 26 & 27) here: https://workweekupfronts.com/ This episode is brought to you by Persona.  The best fintechs expand what's possible for users. Persona does that for fraud prevention. Their recently upgraded link analysis tool surfaces connections in real time, letting you spot deepfakes, identity farms, and fraud rings during onboarding and investigations.  They just published their Fraud Leader's Guide to Link Analysis, a practical look at today’s top risk signals, automating decisions, and scaling link analysis for fraud prevention. Download it now: http://withpersona.com/ftt-fraud  Sign up for Alex’s Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/ And for more exclusive insider content, don’t forget to check out my YouTube page. Follow Cokie: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cokie-hasiotis-9b666363/  Newsletter: For The Plot at https://cokiehasiotis.substack.com/  Follow Julie: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-verhage-greenberg-1748801b/ Follow Jessica: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesslkendall/  Follow Adam: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamtryan/  Follow Alex Johnson:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson X: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson