Originally aired on the Predictable Revenue Podcast, this conversation flips the old sales playbook on its head.

Adem Manderovic (Closed Circuit Selling) and George Coudounaris (The B2B Playbook) join Collin Stewart to unpack a new sales paradigm built around one principle — catalog the market, not “book more meetings.”

They explain how the Closed Circuit Selling framework replaces outdated outbound with validated, permission-based outreach that unites Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success under one rhythm.

Tune in and learn:

+ Why cataloging the market gives you timing signals that drive predictable growth

+ The exact questions to validate fit, timing, and permission to follow up

+ How to align Sales & Marketing around validated accounts instead of vanity metrics

If you’re a B2B marketer or sales leader stuck in “meetings-booked” chaos, this is your blueprint for a smarter, more efficient GTM motion.

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🔗 Links + CTAs

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

🧠 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

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

🧑‍🎓ACCESS our B2B COURSES: https://theb2bplaybook.com/courses

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theb2bplaybook

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

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

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

00:00 Why “Catalog the Market” Beats Chasing Meetings

01:00 What CRO School Fixes That Sales Methods Miss

02:10 Small Markets Force Better GTM (Sydney -- Texas)

03:20 The Origin Story: From Little Black Book to System

04:40 Closed-Door Events: Selling Before Stock Hits the Floor

06:00 Cross-Industry Proof: Finance, Leasing, FMCG, VC

07:10 Relationship-First Outbound - Spray-and-Pray

08:10 Marketing’s Lead-Gen Trap and Why Dashboards Lie

09:30 Email Once Worked. It Doesn’t Now. Back to Fundamentals

11:10 Using Outbound as Research, Not Pressure Sales

12:40 The Two Dispositions: “Nurture” vs “Leave Us Alone” (FOAD)

13:50 CCS Pillars: 1) Catalog the Market 2) Segment by Timing

15:30 Aligning Sales, Marketing, CS Under One Rhythm

16:50 Better Forecasts When You Know “Who, When, Why”

18:10 Case Study: $10k Wasted Chasing the Wrong Account

19:30 Marketing Can Catalog 1-to-Few (Not Just Sales)

21:00 What to Measure Instead of “Meetings Booked”

22:20 The Exact Catalog Questions to Ask Prospects

24:00 Where Outbound Happens Next: DM, Video, TikTok, IG

25:20 Fax Machines to Folders: How We Tracked Timing (Throwback)

26:40 The Big Shift You’ll See in Clients Post-CCS

27:40 Where to Learn More + 5-Part Mini-Series

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

👥 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

🔹 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

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

S07 E204 - The B2B Playbook

#b2b #b2bmarketing #demandgeneration #marketingtips #theb2bplaybook

We’re showing how to unlock free clicks on LinkedIn Ads by editing boosted thought-leadership posts a few days later and adding the next logical link. No extra budget, more content consumption.

In this Midweek Musings mini-episode, we break down why boosting SME posts builds trust, how to avoid throttling reach, and where to find those “free” landing-page clicks inside Ads Manager. Perfect for small B2B teams who need smarter results from the same spend.

We also show how to map your link choice to the 5 Stages of Awareness—and why sending people to another LinkedIn post often outperforms a website link early in the journey.

Tune in and learn:

• How to avoid reach penalties and still add links that convert later
• What to link to next (and why another LinkedIn post can win)
• Where to measure “free clicks” inside LinkedIn Ads

If you run thought-leadership ads, this is a must-watch—simple, fast, and proven for B2B marketers who need more outcomes from limited budget.

Chapters

00:00 The 2-Minute Hack for Free Clicks on LinkedIn Ads

00:15 Why You Shouldn’t Add Links on Day One

00:45 What to Link to Instead (Next Logical Step)

01:15 Measure Your “Free Clicks” in Ads Manager

👥 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

🔹 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

👉 https://theb2bincubator.com/

#b2b #b2bmarketing #digitalmarketing #demandgeneration #linkedinads

Good Friction vs Bad Friction in B2B Marketing: Stop Wasting Buyer Effort

Too many teams removed every barrier and called it “buyer-first.” The result? Leaky funnels, vanity MQLs, and zero commercial insight. In this episode, we show how to use good friction to earn trust, capture context, and actually help buyers make better decisions (without annoying them).

We (George Coudounaris & Kevin Chen) break down where friction belongs in your buyer journey, when gating makes sense, and how to turn forms, events, and content into useful market intel. We also dig into progressive profiling and cataloguing so Sales get timing, permission, and real-world context they can act on.

We’ll show standout moments like: why you should stop gating case studies, how to design “good friction” for community signups and workshops, and a simple green-yellow-red scoring method to fix bad friction fast.

Tune in and learn:

+ The difference between good vs bad friction (and how to spot each)

+ When to gate (community, events, newsletters) and when not to (case studies)

+ How to use progressive profiling to “catalogue” vendors, renewal dates, and permission to follow up

If you’re a small B2B team, this episode is a must-watch. You’ll walk away with a friction map you can fix this week, a scoring system to prioritise changes, and a smarter way to feed Sales with timing-based insights.

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

🔗 Links + CTAs

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

🧠 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

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

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

🧑‍🎓ACCESS our B2B COURSES: https://theb2bplaybook.com/courses

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theb2bplaybook

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

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

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

00:00 Good vs Bad Friction: Why “Less friction” isn’t always better

00:31 Welcome back + Season 7 context

01:10 The 5 Bs (quick refresher for new viewers)

02:10 What is “friction” in B2B? A simple definition that matters

03:00 Good friction vs bad friction – who does it actually help?

03:46 Bad friction example: Long forms for generic PDFs

04:52 More “bad”: CRM-first flows and vanity MQLs

06:10 Content gating gone wrong (case studies… don’t gate them)

07:20 When gating is OK: communities, events, and newsletters

08:18 Using friction to “catalogue” the market (timing + permission)

09:40 Why cataloguing beats ebook MQLs

10:41 Buyers don’t fear effort—they fear wasted effort

11:34 Our CRO School example: progressive profiling that helps

12:45 Turn events into commercial insights (what to ask)

13:50 Start with FAQs to find friction that actually matters

15:10 Map the journey: value exchange at each interaction

16:05 Score friction: green / yellow / red

17:00 Simplify or redesign: make effort earn trust

18:10 Key takeaways + springboard into the new year

19:00 One ask: share this with a marketer who’ll benefit

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

👥 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

🔹 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

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

S07 E202 - The B2B Playbook

#b2b #b2bmarketing #digitalmarketing #demandgeneration #contentmarketing

Outbound is breaking — and most teams don’t even realise it yet.

In this episode, Scott Leese joins George Coudounaris and Adem Manderovic to unpack why the Predictable Revenue model is collapsing — and how to rebuild outbound around networks, trust, and real timing.

We break down how the SDR→AE split eroded skills and alignment, how “meetings booked” became the wrong KPI, and what today’s best sellers are doing differently: validating markets, leveraging relationships, and comping on actual revenue.

Scott shares what he’s seeing across 160 + companies and 12 unicorns, from collapsing cold-call pickup rates to the rebirth of in-person plays. We tie it back to CRO School’s Closed Circuit Selling™ — a system that gets sales, marketing, and product working in sync again.

Tune in and learn:

+ Why outbound is breaking — and what replaces it

+ How to comp on held meetings or revenue, not vanity KPIs

+ How to validate and catalogue your market for smarter timing

+ The new edge: AI + network + unscalable plays

If you’re a small-team B2B marketer or sales leader sick of empty pipelines and spam tactics, this episode gives you the modern framework to fix it.

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

🔗 Links + CTAs

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

🧠 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

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

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

🧑‍🎓ACCESS our B2B COURSES: https://theb2bplaybook.com/courses

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theb2bplaybook

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

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

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

00:00 The Volume Game Is Dead

01:00 Why Scott Leese Ditched Outdated Playbooks

02:20 “Hobbyists with Pitch Decks”

04:40 Funding ≠ Success

07:18 Founders Must Sell First

10:50 What Great Sellers Do Differently

13:40 Validate the Market Before You Sell

16:04 How Predictable Revenue Broke Sales

19:40 Lost Coaching & Skill Decay

23:58 AI + Network + Unscalable Grit

26:50 Fix Your Sales Technical Debt

29:21 Stop Paying for Meetings Booked

32:00 The MQL Hamster Wheel

35:00 Rebuilding Sales–Marketing Handoffs

41:10 Cold Calls Are Dying

45:10 Referral Math That Opens Doors

46:20 In-Person Plays That Win

49:20 Deepfakes & IRL Trust

55:10 Scott’s 3 Bets for the Future

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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

🔹 templates

🔹 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

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

S07 E201 - The B2B Playbook

#b2b #b2bmarketing #digitalmarketing #demandgeneration #outboundsales

How do you go from a scrappy B2B SaaS with early traction… to a repeatable, scalable growth machine?

In this episode, we sit down with EVP’s Allen Zhu — founder-turned-PM-turned-investor — to unpack the go-to-market playbook for scaling from 1 to 10. We dive into how top SaaS companies segment their market, fund sales and marketing early, and build moats that compound.

Allen shares real examples from EVP’s portfolio (including Nexl) and explains how segmentation, workflow-driven expansion, and smart early investment helped them scale fast without burning cash.

Tune in and learn:

+ How segmentation drives efficiency — and the Nexl case that proves it

+ The “self-funding” model for early sales & marketing investment

+ Product expansion frameworks: follow the workflow, then follow the money

+ How to build switching-cost moats and pre-board ROI for enterprise deals

This is a must-watch for any B2B marketer or founder navigating the jump from early traction to scalable growth.

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

🔗 Links + CTAs

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

🧠 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

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

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

🧑‍🎓ACCESS our B2B COURSES: https://theb2bplaybook.com/courses

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theb2bplaybook

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

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

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

00:00 The counter-intuitive truth: Sales & marketing can be self-funding

01:00 Meet Allen Zhu (EVP): founder → PM → investor

03:00 Early ventures, lessons from agency → apps → D2C

06:30 From Citi to Freelancer to EVP: why B2B SaaS

09:30 What EVP does at Series A (and how they partner)

12:00 The #1 scaling mistake: skipping segmentation

15:10 Case study: Nexl’s segmentation unlock (who, where, and why)

19:40 Why SDR “spray & pray” fails in small total addressable lists

22:10 Invest in S&M early: the “self-funding” window explained

24:30 Measuring what matters when attribution gets messy

29:30 Product expansion playbook: follow the workflow, follow the money

33:30 Moats 101 for SaaS: switching costs, data, and process power

37:30 Selling enterprise: pre-boarding ROI to win the room

42:30 Timing outreach with public contract intel (governments)

46:30 Customer advocacy flywheel: advisory boards & reference power

53:00 Leading vs lagging: how EVP reads GTM progress

56:30 What “active partner” really means at Series A

58:30 Final takeaway: segmentation first, everything else follows

59:30 Where to find Allen & EVP

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

👥 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

🔹 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

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

S07 E200 - The B2B Playbook

#b2b #b2bmarketing #b2bsaas #gotomarket #seriesA #evpventures #demandgeneration

How do you go from 70 to 1000+ registrants for your webinar? How do you convert this to revenue? In this game-changing episode of The B2B Playbook, we dive deep into the world of webinar marketing with expert Justin Zimmerman. Justin reveals his innovative approach to webinars that's driving unprecedented results for B2B companies.

We explore a complete paradigm shift in webinar strategy, moving away from the traditional focus on attendance and content creation to a data-driven, partner-centric approach. Justin shares his secrets for consistently achieving 1000+ registrants, turning webinars into powerful lead generation and sales conversion tools.

Tune in and learn:

+ How to leverage partners and influencers to exponentially grow your webinar audience

+ The 6-step registration process that captures crucial lead data and drives conversions

+ Post-webinar strategies that turn no-shows into demo bookings and sales opportunities

This episode is a must-watch for any B2B marketer looking to revolutionize their webinar strategy, drive more leads, and achieve better ROI from their marketing efforts. Justin's insights will change the way you think about webinars forever!

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

SUBSCRIBE to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/@theb2bplaybook

SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter: https://theb2bplaybook.com/newsletter/

GET the latest CONTENT: https://theb2bplaybook.com/

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

00:00 The Game-Changing Webinar Strategy You've Been Missing

02:19 Common Webinar Pitfalls: Why Most B2B Marketers Struggle

04:30 Revolutionizing Webinars: Focus on Data Collection, Not Attendance

07:09 Leveraging Partners and Influencers for Massive Webinar Growth

11:37 The 6-Step Registration Process That Drives Results

16:40 Curating Content vs. Creating: A Stress-Free Approach to Webinars

21:20 Structuring Your Webinar for Maximum Impact and Sales Conversion

26:29 Post-Webinar Strategies That Turn Attendees into Customers

31:30 The Power of Problem Awareness in Demand Capture

37:10 Automating Follow-Ups: Balancing Efficiency and Personalization

41:40 Ask More, Get More: Introducing a Revolutionary Webinar Tool

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

👥 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

🔹 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

S06 E151 - The B2B Playbook

#b2b #b2bmarketing #demandgeneration #demandgen #webinar

#b2bsaas #revenuemarketing #MarketingStrategy #leadgeneration #b2bcontentmarketing #salesandmarketing

If your outbound is optimised for meetings, not conversations, you’re burning cash and trust.

We sit down with Joey Gilkey (CEO, Titan X) and Adem Manderovic (Closed Circuit Selling, CRO School) to rebuild B2B outbound so it actually drives revenue. We unpack why the SDR-AE factory failed, how to get 25% connect rates, and how to use first-party signals to guide timing, ads, and follow up.

Joey shows why he pays SDRs to create completed conversations and rigorous disposition buckets. Adem explains cataloguing and channel validation so marketing stops guessing and starts planning around real timing. We dig into audience activation using opt-in texts and VSLs, and why “buyer intent” data isn’t the shortcut you think it is.

Tune in and learn:

+ A practical B2B outbound strategy built on conversations and 6 disposition buckets

+ Why the SDR-AE model and Predictable Revenue broke outbound (and what replaces it)

+ Why pipeline coverage and meeting quotas mislead teams, and what to measure instead

This is a must-watch if you’re a B2B revenue leader. Stop chasing low-value meetings and start engineering high-value conversations that inform ads, timing, and deals.

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

🔗 Links + CTAs

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

🧠 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

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

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

🧑‍🎓ACCESS our B2B COURSES: https://theb2bplaybook.com/courses

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theb2bplaybook

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

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

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

00:00 Why today’s outbound is breaking trust

01:34 Joey Gilkey on Titan X and the “phone intent” wedge

02:58 The 25% connect-rate play and why conversations matter

04:30 How the SDR-AE split eroded buyer trust

06:05 Cheap headcount, costly model: the real flaw

08:36 What APAC got right: senior sellers and CS roots

10:28 Market validation beats MQLs every time

12:44 VC incentives and the sales industrial complex

13:58 Joey’s reversal: paying SDRs to have conversations

15:42 Long-cycle selling lessons that fix short-term thinking

18:32 Buckets, not bookings: 6 dispositions that run your follow up

21:05 Full-cycle AEs vs modern roles – what actually works

27:10 Audience activation: VSL + phone + SMS that scales trust

32:33 Opt-in texting, pixeling, and smarter retargeting

34:52 Make marketing useful: capture commercial intel, not contacts

36:55 Pipeline coverage is a vanity metric without context

38:28 Phone intel powering LinkedIn ads and account timing

40:28 Why “buyer intent” data misses the mark

45:35 PE firms are cutting SDRs – what to run toward instead

52:57 Retraining SDRs is easy. Leaders are the bottleneck

55:40 Final take: value conversations, not meetings

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

👥 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

🔹 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

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

S07 E199 - The B2B Playbook

#b2b #b2bmarketing #digitalmarketing #demandgeneration #outboundsales

How to Land 6-Figure Deals with LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads

Want to get clients on LinkedIn using ads that actually build trust and drive pipeline? This is the playbook.

We’re walking you through the exact LinkedIn ads strategy we use to land six-figure deals for ourselves and our clients—without spamming inboxes or relying on outdated lead gen tactics.

This is our B2B demand generation system—powered by LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads—that’s working across SaaS, consulting, and service businesses. If you're in a small marketing team and tired of wasting budget on low-quality leads, this episode will change how you market forever.

You’ll learn how to:

+ Map your LinkedIn content to the five stages of awareness

+ Use thought leadership marketing to build trust at scale

+ Combine paid media and outbound to unlock high-intent conversations

Watch this if you:

+ Want a scalable way to generate demand on LinkedIn

+ Need a better B2B LinkedIn ad strategy that drives revenue

+ Are trying to get in front of ideal customers with zero brand awareness

We show you how to tie content, ads, and outbound together to consistently book meetings and grow pipeline. It’s the same framework behind our $10K/month retainers—and it works for any B2B brand.

This episode is a must-watch for B2B marketers who want to use LinkedIn to win high-value deals—and build a marketing engine that scales.

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

🔗 Links + CTAs

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

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

🎓 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

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

🧑‍🎓ACCESS our B2B COURSES: https://theb2bplaybook.com/courses

SUBSCRIBE to our channel: / @theb2bplaybook

SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter: https://theb2bplaybook.com/newsletter/

GET the latest CONTENT: https://theb2bplaybook.com/

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

02:20 What Are LinkedIn Thought Leadership Ads?

03:40 Proof It Works: Real $10K/Month Deal From These Ads

05:00 Why Most Thought Leadership Ad Campaigns Fail

07:00 Boosting Posts ≠ Strategy: The Common Mistake

09:00 The 3-Month Trust-Building Window (Case Study Insight)

11:00 You Need This Before You Run Any LinkedIn Ads

12:40 Our Full Demand Gen Framework Behind These Ads

14:20 Mapping Ads To The 5 Stages of Awareness

16:00 Unaware to Most Aware: The Buyer Journey Blueprint

18:00 How to Create a Thought Leadership Content Matrix

20:00 Cold vs Warm Audiences: What Content to Serve

21:40 How We Target & Build Audiences That Convert

23:00 Ideal Ad Frequency: What LinkedIn Won’t Tell You

24:40 Our Secret Ad Sequencing Hack That Lowers Costs

27:00 Real Client Wins: Social Proof You Can Copy

29:00 When To Combine Ads With Sales for Bigger Wins

30:40 The KPIs That Actually Matter (And What to Ignore)

34:00 Final Thoughts & Where To Learn More

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

👥 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

🔹 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-gen...

S07 E179 - The B2B Playbook

#LinkedInAds #B2BMarketing #ThoughtLeadership #DemandGen #TheB2BPlaybook #B2BLeadGen #LinkedInStrategy

B2B Marketing Budget Allocation: The Sustainable Way Small Teams Should Do It

If your marketing budget keeps getting cut or ignored, it’s not you—it’s the model.

In this episode, we break down a practical B2B marketing budget allocation for small teams. We explain why top-down and bottom-up alone fall apart, how to validate messaging before you buy reach, and how to shift from BOFU-only spend to a balanced brand + demand mix that compounds.

We share the path we use with our 5 BEs framework—start lean and organic, prove the message, then use paid to amplify. You’ll hear realistic ROI guardrails, when to rebalance spend, and how category (established vs new) should change your split.

Tune in and learn:

+ How to avoid the top-down and bottom-up budget traps

+ The “validate, then amplify” approach that saves cash and increases impact

+ ROI ranges and a stepwise shift from BOFU to demand + brand

If you’re a B2B marketer in a small team, this is the clearest way to plan and defend your budget—and actually deliver revenue impact.

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

🔗 Links + CTAs

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

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

🧠 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

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

🧑‍🎓ACCESS our B2B COURSES: https://theb2bplaybook.com/courses

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theb2bplaybook

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

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

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

00:00 The B2B Budgeting Problem No One Solves Clearly

00:27 Who We Help: Small Teams, Big Revenue Goals

01:05 The 5 BEs Framework in 60 Seconds

02:30 Why Budgeting Is So Hard (Variables You Can’t Ignore)

03:45 The Trap: Overcommitting to Channels Having “Their Moment”

04:38 Top-Down Budgeting: Looks Great on a Slide, Breaks in Reality

06:05 The 95:5 Rule vs “Just Spend More on BOFU”

07:18 Bottom-Up Budgeting: Sensible… Until Leadership Says “Bigger”

09:45 Our Recommendation: Start Lean, Prove It Organically

11:30 Validate PMF & Messaging Before You Buy Reach

12:40 Paid = Amplification Once the Message Works

13:40 Evolving the Mix: From BOFU-Heavy to Balanced Demand

15:05 Setting ROI Targets You Can Defend (and Reinvesting)

16:45 Category Matters: Established vs New (Webjet vs Uber)

18:50 Build Mental Availability to Lower Future CAC

20:40 Key Takeaways & Your Next Budget Moves

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

👥 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

🔹 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

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

S07 E198 - The B2B Playbook

#b2b #b2bmarketing #digitalmarketing #demandgeneration #communityledgrowth

Community-Led Growth: How To Turn Customers Into Your Growth Engine

We break down the playbook for community-led growth — how to move beyond engagement theater and build a system where customers become your distribution.

Featuring Laís de Oliveira (author of Hacking Communities), this episode gives you practical frameworks like the Five Ps, the “lighthouse → port → city” journey, and closeness circles that turn casual users into passionate advocates and ambassadors.

We show you how to:

+ Make community a core growth engine (not a side-channel)

+ Design onboarding and programming that build habit

+ Use contribution, access, and recognition to scale advocacy

If you’re a B2B marketer on a small team, this episode shows how to create a community-led growth system that compounds your distribution and builds lasting trust with buyers.

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🔗 Links + CTAs

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00:00 Community-Led Growth: Your Unfair Distribution Advantage

01:00 Why Brands Are Now Conversations (You Can’t Control Them)

02:45 TL;DR Framework: From Clarity → Contribution → Advocacy

04:15 The Five Ps Of Community-Led Growth

06:00 Identity → Connectedness → Growth Formula

08:00 Make Community Core To Value Creation

10:00 Community-Led Growth x Business Model Canvas

12:15 Jobs-To-Be-Done For Community-Led Growth

14:30 B2B Examples: From CRM To Better Sellers

16:20 Lighthouse → Port → City: How Communities Grow

19:00 The First 21 Days: Onboarding That Sticks

21:15 Programming That Brings People Back

23:00 Turning Users Into Contributors

25:10 Advocates vs Ambassadors In Community-Led Growth

27:20 Closeness Circles: Reward With Access

30:00 The Taylor Swift Playbook (For B2B Communities)

32:10 Journey & Lifecycle: 1500:150:15 Ratios

35:00 Pitfalls To Avoid In Community-Led Growth

37:10 Make It A System: Track, Reward, Iterate

39:30 Q&A: Communities Beyond Customers

43:00 Q&A: Where To Start – Existing vs New Customers

46:00 Q&A: Virality & Chapters In Community-Led Growth

50:00 Q&A: When Is It Too Early To Start?

53:00 Wrap: Community As A Value Engine

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S07 E197 - The B2B Playbook

#b2b #b2bmarketing #digitalmarketing #demandgeneration #communityledgrowth