Get our AI content system that keeps your content human: https://clickhubspot.com/fbe

Ep. 391

Is 2026 the year of the AI backlash?

Kieran Flanagan and Kipp Bodnar dive into what the growing resentment toward AI content means for marketers and how to stand out by embracing human creativity and expertise. Learn more about why authenticity is becoming the ultimate growth strategy, how brands like Equinox are flipping AI slop into standout campaigns, and the practical steps you need to succeed in a world overwhelmed by generic, automated content.

Mentions

Grok https://grok.com/

Equinox AI Ads https://www.instagram.com/p/DTIsY5tkrSB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Patagonia 2011 New York Times ad https://www.patagonia.com/stories/planet/activism/dont-buy-this-jacket-black-friday-and-the-new-york-times/story-18615.html

Get our guide to build your own Custom GPT: https://clickhubspot.com/customgpt

We’re creating our next round of content and want to ensure it tackles the challenges you’re facing at work or in your business.

To understand your biggest challenges we’ve put together a survey and we’d love to hear from you! https://bit.ly/matg-research

Resource

[Free] Steal our favorite AI Prompts featured on the show! Grab them here: https://clickhubspot.com/aip

We’re on Social Media! Follow us for everyday marketing wisdom straight to your feed

YouTube: ​​https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGtXqPiNV8YC0GMUzY-EUFg 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/matgpod 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@matgpod 

Join our community https://landing.connect.com/matg

Thank you for tuning into Marketing Against The Grain!

Don’t forget to hit subscribe and follow us on Apple Podcasts (so you never miss an episode)! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-against-the-grain/id1616700934  

If you love this show, please leave us a 5-Star Review https://link.chtbl.com/h9_sjBKH and share your favorite episodes with friends.

We really appreciate your support.

Host Links:

Kipp Bodnar, https://twitter.com/kippbodnar  

Kieran Flanagan, https://twitter.com/searchbrat 
‘Marketing Against The Grain’ is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by Hubspot Media // Produced by Darren Clarke.

Get Kieran's AI Video Ad Stack guide + prompts: https://clickhubspot.com/rhv

Ep. 390

How long does it really take to make a realistic AI video ad?

Kipp and Kieran dive into a step-by-step tutorial for creating high-quality, believable AI-powered videos, even if you’re not a video expert. Learn more on how to develop a creative concept that AI tools can’t replace, the essential workflow for using Veo 3.1 and Nano Banana Pro, and why reference images are the secret to seamless video scenes. This episode breaks down the process and tips to help you master AI video creation faster and smarter.

Mentions

Veo 3.1 https://deepmind.google/models/veo/

Nano Banana Pro https://gemini.google/overview/image-generation/

ElevenLabs https://elevenlabs.io/

Figma https://www.figma.com/

CapCut https://www.capcut.com/

Get our guide to build your own Custom GPT: https://clickhubspot.com/customgpt

We’re creating our next round of content and want to ensure it tackles the challenges you’re facing at work or in your business.

To understand your biggest challenges we’ve put together a survey and we’d love to hear from you! https://bit.ly/matg-research

Resource

[Free] Steal our favorite AI Prompts featured on the show! Grab them here: https://clickhubspot.com/aip

We’re on Social Media! Follow us for everyday marketing wisdom straight to your feed

YouTube: ​​https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGtXqPiNV8YC0GMUzY-EUFg 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/matgpod 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@matgpod 

Join our community https://landing.connect.com/matg

Thank you for tuning into Marketing Against The Grain!

Don’t forget to hit subscribe and follow us on Apple Podcasts (so you never miss an episode)! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-against-the-grain/id1616700934  

If you love this show, please leave us a 5-Star Review https://link.chtbl.com/h9_sjBKH and share your favorite episodes with friends.

We really appreciate your support.

Host Links:

Kipp Bodnar, https://twitter.com/kippbodnar  

Kieran Flanagan, https://twitter.com/searchbrat 

‘Marketing Against The Grain’ is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by Hubspot Media // Produced by Darren Clarke.

7 AI Tools you'll need in 2026 (Free Guide, Prompts, Workflows): https://clickhubspot.com/ekv

Ep. 389

What are the five AI skills every marketer needs to win in 2026?

Kipp and Kieran dive into the top five AI launches and must-have skills transforming marketing in 2026, breaking down what matters amid an overwhelming wave of new technology. Learn more on using Gemini 3 for content remixing and competitive intelligence, mastering next-level image and video creation with cutting-edge models like Nano Banana Pro and Veo 3.1, and the critical importance of automation, agentic workflows, and vibe coding to unlock 10x marketing scale.

Mentions

Gemini 3 https://gemini.google.com/app

Claude Opus 4.5 http://anthropic.com/news/claude-opus-4-5

Nano Banana Pro https://gemini.google/overview/image-generation/

Veo 3.1 https://deepmind.google/models/veo/

Sora 2 https://openart.ai/video/i2v/sora-v2

Get our guide to build your own Custom GPT: https://clickhubspot.com/customgpt

We’re creating our next round of content and want to ensure it tackles the challenges you’re facing at work or in your business.

To understand your biggest challenges we’ve put together a survey and we’d love to hear from you! https://bit.ly/matg-research

Resource

[Free] Steal our favorite AI Prompts featured on the show! Grab them here: https://clickhubspot.com/aip

We’re on Social Media! Follow us for everyday marketing wisdom straight to your feed

YouTube: ​​https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGtXqPiNV8YC0GMUzY-EUFg 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/matgpod 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@matgpod 

Join our community https://landing.connect.com/matg

Thank you for tuning into Marketing Against The Grain!

Don’t forget to hit subscribe and follow us on Apple Podcasts (so you never miss an episode)! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-against-the-grain/id1616700934  

If you love this show, please leave us a 5-Star Review https://link.chtbl.com/h9_sjBKH and share your favorite episodes with friends.

We really appreciate your support.

Host Links:

Kipp Bodnar, https://twitter.com/kippbodnar  

Kieran Flanagan, https://twitter.com/searchbrat 

‘Marketing Against The Grain’ is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by Hubspot Media // Produced by Darren Clarke.

Get Tina's Prompt Engineer Guide to make killer AI agents: https://clickhubspot.com/dte

Ep. 388

Did you know that deep domain expertise—not just engineering chops—is now the critical skill for building powerful AI workflows? 

Kipp and Tina Huang, data scientist and YouTuber, dive into how anyone can use tools like ChatGPT and n8n to stop customers from leaving by automating and personalizing your workflows for true impact. Learn more on identifying the right problems to automate, the essential components of building AI-powered agents, and the cultural and organizational strategies to actually get your team on board and drive change.

Mentions

Tina Huang https://www.youtube.com/@TinaHuang1

n8n https://n8n.io/

Gemini 3 https://gemini.google.com/app

Gumloop https://www.gumloop.com/

Get our guide to build your own Custom GPT: https://clickhubspot.com/customgpt

We’re creating our next round of content and want to ensure it tackles the challenges you’re facing at work or in your business.

To understand your biggest challenges we’ve put together a survey and we’d love to hear from you! https://bit.ly/matg-research

Resource

[Free] Steal our favorite AI Prompts featured on the show! Grab them here: https://clickhubspot.com/aip

We’re on Social Media! Follow us for everyday marketing wisdom straight to your feed

YouTube: ​​https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGtXqPiNV8YC0GMUzY-EUFg 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/matgpod 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@matgpod 

Join our community https://landing.connect.com/matg

Thank you for tuning into Marketing Against The Grain!

Don’t forget to hit subscribe and follow us on Apple Podcasts (so you never miss an episode)! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-against-the-grain/id1616700934  

If you love this show, please leave us a 5-Star Review https://link.chtbl.com/h9_sjBKH and share your favorite episodes with friends.

We really appreciate your support.

Host Links:

Kipp Bodnar, https://twitter.com/kippbodnar  

Kieran Flanagan, https://twitter.com/searchbrat 
‘Marketing Against The Grain’ is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by Hubspot Media // Produced by Darren Clarke.

Want our AI App Builder Kit (with prompts)? Get it here: https://clickhubspot.com/vdb

Ep. 387

Can you really build a viral content creation app in under 10 minutes?

Kieran dives into the rapid process of building an AI-powered app that transforms any YouTube video into viral talking points you can use across all your content channels. Learn more on how to craft educational hooks, develop spicy takes, and leverage actionable data nuggets to fuel your social media, newsletters, and more. Find out how you can use this workflow—and build your own suite of internal tools—to supercharge your team's creativity with cutting-edge AI.

Mentions

Gemini 3 https://aistudio.google.com/models/gemini-3

Google Build https://ai.google/build/

Get our guide to build your own Custom GPT: https://clickhubspot.com/customgpt

We’re creating our next round of content and want to ensure it tackles the challenges you’re facing at work or in your business.

To understand your biggest challenges we’ve put together a survey and we’d love to hear from you! https://bit.ly/matg-research

Resource

[Free] Steal our favorite AI Prompts featured on the show! Grab them here: https://clickhubspot.com/aip

We’re on Social Media! Follow us for everyday marketing wisdom straight to your feed

YouTube: ​​https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGtXqPiNV8YC0GMUzY-EUFg 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/matgpod 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@matgpod 

Join our community https://landing.connect.com/matg

Thank you for tuning into Marketing Against The Grain!

Don’t forget to hit subscribe and follow us on Apple Podcasts (so you never miss an episode)! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-against-the-grain/id1616700934  

If you love this show, please leave us a 5-Star Review https://link.chtbl.com/h9_sjBKH and share your favorite episodes with friends.

We really appreciate your support.

Host Links:

Kipp Bodnar, https://twitter.com/kippbodnar  

Kieran Flanagan, https://twitter.com/searchbrat 

‘Marketing Against The Grain’ is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by Hubspot Media // Produced by Darren Clarke.

Want our free Data Storyteller Stack (7 AI prompts)? Get it here: https://clickhubspot.com/rvg

Ep. 386

How can you turn painstaking manual data analysis and deck-building into just minutes of work?

Kipp and Kieran dive into the new cloud workflow that will save you hours every week and change your reporting forever. Learn more on creating interactive dashboards from messy CSVs, uncovering actionable insights with a single prompt, and using AI to auto-generate executive-ready decks—no more pivot tables, manual graphs, or painful copy-paste.

Mentions

Claude Opus 4.5 https://www.anthropic.com/news/claude-opus-4-5

Microsoft Excel https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/excel

Microsoft PowerPoint https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/powerpoint

Google Sheets https://workspace.google.com/products/sheets/

Gemini https://gemini.google.com/app

Get our guide to build your own Custom GPT: https://clickhubspot.com/customgpt

We’re creating our next round of content and want to ensure it tackles the challenges you’re facing at work or in your business.

To understand your biggest challenges we’ve put together a survey and we’d love to hear from you! https://bit.ly/matg-research

Resource

[Free] Steal our favorite AI Prompts featured on the show! Grab them here: https://clickhubspot.com/aip

We’re on Social Media! Follow us for everyday marketing wisdom straight to your feed

YouTube: ​​https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGtXqPiNV8YC0GMUzY-EUFg 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/matgpod 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@matgpod 

Join our community https://landing.connect.com/matg

Thank you for tuning into Marketing Against The Grain!

Don’t forget to hit subscribe and follow us on Apple Podcasts (so you never miss an episode)! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-against-the-grain/id1616700934  

If you love this show, please leave us a 5-Star Review https://link.chtbl.com/h9_sjBKH and share your favorite episodes with friends.

We really appreciate your support.

Host Links:

Kipp Bodnar, https://twitter.com/kippbodnar  

Kieran Flanagan, https://twitter.com/searchbrat 
‘Marketing Against The Grain’ is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by Hubspot Media // Produced by Darren Clarke.

Get our 10 AI prompts to dominate SEO & AEO: https://clickhubspot.com/mbc

Is SEO more relevant than we thought?

Ep. 385

Kipp, Kieran, and Ethan Smith, CEO of Graphite, dive into the data behind the real state of SEO, debunking the myths that SEO is dead and uncovering what’s really changing with the rise of answer engine optimization. Learn more on whether LLMs are really overtaking search, how marketers should invest between SEO and AEO, and the most repeatable tactics to rank #1 on Google and show up in AI-generated answers.

Mentions

Ethan Smith https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethanls

Graphite https://graphite.io/

Ahrefs https://ahrefs.com/

ChatGPT https://chatgpt.com/

Grok https://grok.com/

Claude https://claude.ai/

Perplexity https://www.perplexity.ai/

Get our guide to build your own Custom GPT: https://clickhubspot.com/customgpt

We’re creating our next round of content and want to ensure it tackles the challenges you’re facing at work or in your business.

To understand your biggest challenges we’ve put together a survey and we’d love to hear from you! https://bit.ly/matg-research

Resource

[Free] Steal our favorite AI Prompts featured on the show! Grab them here: https://clickhubspot.com/aip

We’re on Social Media! Follow us for everyday marketing wisdom straight to your feed

YouTube: ​​https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGtXqPiNV8YC0GMUzY-EUFg 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/matgpod 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@matgpod 

Join our community https://landing.connect.com/matg

Thank you for tuning into Marketing Against The Grain!

Don’t forget to hit subscribe and follow us on Apple Podcasts (so you never miss an episode)! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-against-the-grain/id1616700934  

If you love this show, please leave us a 5-Star Review https://link.chtbl.com/h9_sjBKH and share your favorite episodes with friends.

We really appreciate your support.

Host Links:

Kipp Bodnar, https://twitter.com/kippbodnar  

Kieran Flanagan, https://twitter.com/searchbrat 

‘Marketing Against The Grain’ is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by Hubspot Media // Produced by Darren Clarke.

Get our vibe code prompts: https://clickhubspot.com/dfm

Ep. 384

Did you know that Gemini 3 can build an interactive landing page in less than 10 minutes?

Kieran and Logan Kilpatrick, of Google, dive into the paradigm-shifting capabilities of Google’s Gemini 3, showing marketers exactly how AI can transform creative workflows and level up your marketing game. Learn more on using Gemini 3 for vibe coding viral apps, turning landing pages into interactive user experiences, rapid image and video prototyping with Nano Banana Pro, and visualizing campaign data for instant insights.

Mentions

Logan Kilpatrick https://www.linkedin.com/in/logankilpatrick

Gemini 3 https://aistudio.google.com/models/gemini-3

Nano Banana Pro https://gemini.google/overview/image-generation/

Flow https://labs.google/flow/about

Get our guide to build your own Custom GPT: https://clickhubspot.com/customgpt

We’re creating our next round of content and want to ensure it tackles the challenges you’re facing at work or in your business.

To understand your biggest challenges we’ve put together a survey and we’d love to hear from you! https://bit.ly/matg-research

Resource

[Free] Steal our favorite AI Prompts featured on the show! Grab them here: https://clickhubspot.com/aip

We’re on Social Media! Follow us for everyday marketing wisdom straight to your feed

YouTube: ​​https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGtXqPiNV8YC0GMUzY-EUFg 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/matgpod 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@matgpod 

Join our community https://landing.connect.com/matg

Thank you for tuning into Marketing Against The Grain!

Don’t forget to hit subscribe and follow us on Apple Podcasts (so you never miss an episode)! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-against-the-grain/id1616700934  

If you love this show, please leave us a 5-Star Review https://link.chtbl.com/h9_sjBKH and share your favorite episodes with friends.

We really appreciate your support.

Host Links:

Kipp Bodnar, https://twitter.com/kippbodnar  

Kieran Flanagan, https://twitter.com/searchbrat 

‘Marketing Against The Grain’ is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by Hubspot Media // Produced by Darren Clarke.

Steal These Workflows: 7 AI tools to build your startup in days, not months: https://clickhubspot.com/ehg

Ep. 383

Can 50 people really do the work of 500 in the new AI era?

Kipp, Kieran and guests Grant Lee, co-founder and CEO of Gamma, and Kristin Fracchia, who leads Marketing at Gamma, dive into the revolutionary AI workflows and org design lessons powering Gamma’s $2B company—plus how any team can scale smarter with fewer resources.  Learn more on building lean, high-growth teams with generalists over specialists, scaling creative and professional workflows with AI, bridging the gap between AI-first startups and Main Street businesses, and the hacks and use cases driving productivity for millions. Recorded live at GROW Europe.

Mentions

Growing a startup? Get the tools, education, and support you need with HubSpot for Startups. Exclusive discounts + a full growth platform: http://hubspot.com/startups

Subscribe to Mindstream newsletter https://www.mindstream.news/

Gamma https://gamma.app/

Grant Lee https://www.linkedin.com/in/grantslee

Kristin Fracchia https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinfracchia

Zapier https://zapier.com/

Make https://www.make.com/en

N8N https://n8n.io/

Clay https://www.clay.com/

Granola https://www.granola.ai/

Wispr https://wisprflow.ai/

Kimi K2 https://www.kimi.com/

Get our guide to build your own Custom GPT: https://clickhubspot.com/customgpt

We’re creating our next round of content and want to ensure it tackles the challenges you’re facing at work or in your business.

To understand your biggest challenges we’ve put together a survey and we’d love to hear from you! https://bit.ly/matg-research

Resource

[Free] Steal our favorite AI Prompts featured on the show! Grab them here: https://clickhubspot.com/aip

We’re on Social Media! Follow us for everyday marketing wisdom straight to your feed

YouTube: ​​https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGtXqPiNV8YC0GMUzY-EUFg 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/matgpod 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@matgpod 

Join our community https://landing.connect.com/matg

Thank you for tuning into Marketing Against The Grain!

Don’t forget to hit subscribe and follow us on Apple Podcasts (so you never miss an episode)! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-against-the-grain/id1616700934  

If you love this show, please leave us a 5-Star Review https://link.chtbl.com/h9_sjBKH and share your favorite episodes with friends.

We really appreciate your support.

Host Links:

Kipp Bodnar, https://twitter.com/kippbodnar  

Kieran Flanagan, https://twitter.com/searchbrat 

‘Marketing Against The Grain’ is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by Hubspot Media // Produced by Darren Clarke.

Get our list of 60+ Claude hacks with prompts: https://clickhubspot.com/kbg

Ep. 382

The Opus 4.5 model is “mind blowing”.

Kieran dives into how the latest advances in AI are transforming the marketing playbook, showing you real-world use cases you can implement today. Learn more on using Claude Opus 4.5 to create interactive customer personas, building dynamic dashboards to analyze campaign performance (and make smarter budget decisions), and remixing content into multiple formats with powerful new AI tools.

Mentions

Opus 4.5 https://www.anthropic.com/news/claude-opus-4-5

Gemini 3 https://aistudio.google.com/models/gemini-3

Veo 3.1 https://aistudio.google.com/models/veo-3

Sora https://openai.com/sora/

Nano Banana Pro https://deepmind.google/models/gemini-image/pro/

Get our guide to build your own Custom GPT: https://clickhubspot.com/customgpt

We’re creating our next round of content and want to ensure it tackles the challenges you’re facing at work or in your business.

To understand your biggest challenges we’ve put together a survey and we’d love to hear from you! https://bit.ly/matg-research

Resource

[Free] Steal our favorite AI Prompts featured on the show! Grab them here: https://clickhubspot.com/aip

We’re on Social Media! Follow us for everyday marketing wisdom straight to your feed

YouTube: ​​https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGtXqPiNV8YC0GMUzY-EUFg 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/matgpod 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@matgpod 

Join our community https://landing.connect.com/matg

Thank you for tuning into Marketing Against The Grain!

Don’t forget to hit subscribe and follow us on Apple Podcasts (so you never miss an episode)! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-against-the-grain/id1616700934  

If you love this show, please leave us a 5-Star Review https://link.chtbl.com/h9_sjBKH and share your favorite episodes with friends.

We really appreciate your support.

Host Links:

Kipp Bodnar, https://twitter.com/kippbodnar  

Kieran Flanagan, https://twitter.com/searchbrat 

‘Marketing Against The Grain’ is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by Hubspot Media // Produced by Darren Clarke.