#249 Cold Email | In this episode, Danielle is joined by four experts in B2B outbound: Zoe Hartsfield (Apollo), Will Allred, (Lavender), Maximus Greenwald (Warmly), and Alex Fine (Understory). Together, they dive into the good, bad, and “please don’t ever send this” of cold email strategy. Each guest brings firsthand insight from scaling outbound at fast-growing B2B companies and helping clients do the same.

Danielle and the crew cover:

• The biggest reasons cold emails flop and what great ones do differently
• How to use personalization, targeting, and timing to get replies (not unsubscribes)
• The right way to blend automation and human touch in your outbound strategy

It’s an inside look at how marketers and founders approach outbound messaging, across strategy, execution, and scale.

Timestamps

• (00:00) - — Intro and guest lineup

Send guest pitches and ideas to [email protected]
Join the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter
Check 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 Walnut.

Why are we spending all this time on marketing… just to push buyers to a “Request a Demo” button? Even if they’re interested, no one wants to click that. No one wants to “talk to sales.” They just want to try the product for themselves!

Good news: now they can - with Walnut.

Walnut is the interactive demo platform for marketers who are done hiding their product and want to put it front and center.

You can build guided, self-serve demos in minutes. No engineers. No developers. No waiting. Embed them on your site. Drop them in emails. Let buyers explore your product on their terms - at any stage of the funnel.

And the best part? You get the data. See what features prospects are engaging with, where they drop off, and what’s actually driving pipeline.

500+ companies use Walnut - including Adobe and NetApp. Their teams save 400+ hours a year building demos… and have prevented over 1.5 million minutes of bad ones.

So if you want to drive more leads, shorten sales cycles, and actually show your product, go check out Walnut.io (and tell their team you heard about it on the Exit Five podcast!). 

#248 Marketing Strategy | Dave sits down with Jaleh Rezaei, founder and CEO of Mutiny, the personalization platform for B2B websites. Jaleh brings a unique blend of founder perspective and deep marketing expertise from her time building go-to-market teams at VMware, Gusto, and now Mutiny. She’s on a mission to help marketers ditch the spammy, scaled playbooks of the past and refocus on what really drives pipeline today: buyer experience. 

Dave and Jaleh cover:

• Why the current use of AI is making marketing worse and how to use it to build better buying experiences instead
• What marketers get wrong about speed (hint: it’s not about doing more, it’s about doing what matters)
• The principles of simplifying your go-to-market strategy to cut through noise and align your team around real revenue results

Marketing is changing fast, but the teams who win will be the ones who prioritize real buyer experiences, move with speed, and stay aligned on what actually drives revenue. Jaleh breaks down how to make that shift before your strategy gets left behind.

Timestamps

• (00:00) - – Intro

Send guest pitches and ideas to [email protected]
Join the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter
Check 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 Walnut.

Why are we spending all this time on marketing… just to push buyers to a “Request a Demo” button? Even if they’re interested, no one wants to click that. No one wants to “talk to sales.” They just want to try the product for themselves!

Good news: now they can - with Walnut.

Walnut is the interactive demo platform for marketers who are done hiding their product and want to put it front and center.

You can build guided, self-serve demos in minutes. No engineers. No developers. No waiting. Embed them on your site. Drop them in emails. Let buyers explore your product on their terms - at any stage of the funnel.

And the best part? You get the data. See what features prospects are engaging with, where they drop off, and what’s actually driving pipeline.

500+ companies use Walnut - including Adobe and NetApp. Their teams save 400+ hours a year building demos… and have prevented over 1.5 million minutes of bad ones.

So if you want to drive more leads, shorten sales cycles, and actually show your product, go check out Walnut.io (and tell their team you heard about it on the Exit Five podcast!). 

#247 Lead Nurturing | In this episode, Danielle is joined by Samar Owais, founder of Emails Done Right; Sheri Otto, CEO of Growth Lane Strategies; and Sofia Silva, Marketing Manager at Reachdesk.

These three email experts came together for a live roast of real B2B lead nurture emails, submitted by marketers from the Exit Five community. You’ll hear the good, the bad, and the fixable, with practical insights on how to improve your own nurture sequences.

Danielle, Samar, Sheri, and Sofia cover:

• The most common lead nurture mistakes B2B marketers make (and how to fix them)
• Why every email should be treated as a conversation, not just a campaign
• How to write nurture emails that create connection, not clicks for clicks’ sake

If you're building (or rebuilding) your nurture strategy, this one’s packed with real examples and expert feedback to guide your next send.

Timestamps

• (00:00) - – Intro: Welcome to the Lead Nurture Roast

Send guest pitches and ideas to [email protected]
Join the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter
Check 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 Walnut.

Why are we spending all this time on marketing… just to push buyers to a “Request a Demo” button? Even if they’re interested, no one wants to click that. No one wants to “talk to sales.” They just want to try the product for themselves!

Good news: now they can - with Walnut.

Walnut is the interactive demo platform for marketers who are done hiding their product and want to put it front and center.

You can build guided, self-serve demos in minutes. No engineers. No developers. No waiting. Embed them on your site. Drop them in emails. Let buyers explore your product on their terms - at any stage of the funnel.

And the best part? You get the data. See what features prospects are engaging with, where they drop off, and what’s actually driving pipeline.

500+ companies use Walnut - including Adobe and NetApp. Their teams save 400+ hours a year building demos… and have prevented over 1.5 million minutes of bad ones.

So if you want to drive more leads, shorten sales cycles, and actually show your product, go check out Walnut.io (and tell their team you heard about it on the Exit Five podcast!). 

#246 Sales Alignment | Danielle welcomes Talya Heller, founder of Down to a T, a B2B consultancy helping marketers turn competitive positioning into high-impact sales assets. With experience in engineering, product management, and product marketing, Talya knows how to bridge the gap between what marketing builds and what sales actually uses.

Together they unpack:

• Why most sales decks and battle cards go unused and what to build instead
• How to enable your champion to sell internally with confidence
• Simple frameworks for mapping competitive positioning that teams will actually use

Talya also breaks down how she researches, builds, and delivers assets that align sales, marketing, and product, all rooted in buyer empathy.

Timestamps

• (00:00) - – Intro & Talya’s background

Send guest pitches and ideas to [email protected]
Join the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter
Check 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 Walnut.

Why are we spending all this time on marketing… just to push buyers to a “Request a Demo” button? Even if they’re interested, no one wants to click that. No one wants to “talk to sales.” They just want to try the product for themselves!

Good news: now they can - with Walnut.

Walnut is the interactive demo platform for marketers who are done hiding their product and want to put it front and center.

You can build guided, self-serve demos in minutes. No engineers. No developers. No waiting. Embed them on your site. Drop them in emails. Let buyers explore your product on their terms - at any stage of the funnel.

And the best part? You get the data. See what features prospects are engaging with, where they drop off, and what’s actually driving pipeline.

500+ companies use Walnut - including Adobe and NetApp. Their teams save 400+ hours a year building demos… and have prevented over 1.5 million minutes of bad ones.

So if you want to drive more leads, shorten sales cycles, and actually show your product, go check out Walnut.io (and tell their team you heard about it on the Exit Five podcast!). 

#245: Cold Email | Danielle Messler sits down with Alex Fine, co-founder of Understory, the agency behind some of the most effective outbound and paid strategies in B2B right now. Alex is leading the charge on a smarter approach to outbound called “Allbound”, a tightly integrated blend of outbound, paid media, and LinkedIn tactics that actually convert.

If you’re tired of cold emails that go nowhere or ad campaigns that burn cash without ROI, this one’s for you.

Danielle and Alex cover:

• Why most B2B outbound strategies fail and how Allbound fixes the disconnect between ads, email, and LinkedIn
• The cold email deliverability tactics that actually work in 2025 (including tools like Instantly, Smartlead, and Clay)
• Real-world examples of hyper-personalized, AI-powered outreach that book meetings with high-ACV prospects

Timestamps

• (00:00) - – Intro

Send guest pitches and ideas to [email protected]
Join the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter
Check 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 Walnut.

Why are we spending all this time on marketing… just to push buyers to a “Request a Demo” button? Even if they’re interested, no one wants to click that. No one wants to “talk to sales.” They just want to try the product for themselves!

Good news: now they can - with Walnut.

Walnut is the interactive demo platform for marketers who are done hiding their product and want to put it front and center.

You can build guided, self-serve demos in minutes. No engineers. No developers. No waiting. Embed them on your site. Drop them in emails. Let buyers explore your product on their terms - at any stage of the funnel.

And the best part? You get the data. See what features prospects are engaging with, where they drop off, and what’s actually driving pipeline.

500+ companies use Walnut - including Adobe and NetApp. Their teams save 400+ hours a year building demos… and have prevented over 1.5 million minutes of bad ones.

So if you want to drive more leads, shorten sales cycles, and actually show your product, go check out Walnut.io (and tell their team you heard about it on the Exit Five podcast!). 

#244: Professional Growth | Dave is joined by Amanda Goetz, a 2x founder, 3x CMO, and the author behind the popular weekly newsletter, Life's A Game. Amanda shares her expertise in personal and professional growth, brand building, and content creation.

Amanda and Dave cover:

• How Amanda transformed her LinkedIn strategy to grow her following and engagement
• The impact of personal branding on social media and its role in business growth
• Creating a feedback loop to refine and improve content strategy

Timestamps

• (00:00) - - Intro

Send guest pitches and ideas to [email protected]
Join the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter
Check 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 Walnut.

Why are we spending all this time on marketing… just to push buyers to a “Request a Demo” button? Even if they’re interested, no one wants to click that. No one wants to “talk to sales.” They just want to try the product for themselves!

Good news: now they can - with Walnut.

Walnut is the interactive demo platform for marketers who are done hiding their product and want to put it front and center.

You can build guided, self-serve demos in minutes. No engineers. No developers. No waiting. Embed them on your site. Drop them in emails. Let buyers explore your product on their terms - at any stage of the funnel.

And the best part? You get the data. See what features prospects are engaging with, where they drop off, and what’s actually driving pipeline.

500+ companies use Walnut - including Adobe and NetApp. Their teams save 400+ hours a year building demos… and have prevented over 1.5 million minutes of bad ones.

So if you want to drive more leads, shorten sales cycles, and actually show your product, go check out Walnut.io (and tell their team you heard about it on the Exit Five podcast!). 

#243 Linkedin Ads | In this episode, Danielle Messler sits down with Anthony Blatner (LinkedIn ads expert and certified instructor) and Tagg Bozied (Head of Brand Awareness at Docebo and award-winning B2B campaign strategist) to dig into what actually works with B2B LinkedIn ads in 2025. These two have spent years in the trenches, building campaigns for some of the most niche, high-intent B2B audiences, and they’ve got the data and real stories to back up what works (and what definitely doesn’t).

Danielle, Anthony, and Tagg cover:

• The biggest mistakes B2B marketers make on LinkedIn and how to fix them fast
• Why “thought leader ads” are crushing right now and how to set them up the right way (even if you’re not Dave Gerhardt)
• How to measure success in brand awareness campaigns (including smart ways to use dwell time, frequency, and Google Analytics)

Timestamps

• (00:00) - – Intro from Dave

Send guest pitches and ideas to [email protected]
Join the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter
Check 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 Walnut.

Why are we spending all this time on marketing… just to push buyers to a “Request a Demo” button? Even if they’re interested, no one wants to click that. No one wants to “talk to sales.” They just want to try the product for themselves!

Good news: now they can - with Walnut.

Walnut is the interactive demo platform for marketers who are done hiding their product and want to put it front and center.

You can build guided, self-serve demos in minutes. No engineers. No developers. No waiting. Embed them on your site. Drop them in emails. Let buyers explore your product on their terms - at any stage of the funnel.

And the best part? You get the data. See what features prospects are engaging with, where they drop off, and what’s actually driving pipeline.

500+ companies use Walnut - including Adobe and NetApp. Their teams save 400+ hours a year building demos… and have prevented over 1.5 million minutes of bad ones.

So if you want to drive more leads, shorten sales cycles, and actually show your product, go check out Walnut.io (and tell their team you heard about it on the Exit Five podcast!). 

#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 worse
• The content checklist that took ActiveCampaign from 200K to 240K visitors in 30 days
• Why the most lucrative SEO opportunities are hiding in plain sight
• Brendan’s "immortal newsletter" framework that cuts production time in half while doubling engagement

Plus, check out the checklist Brendan mentioned in this episode here! 

Timestamps

• (00:00) - – Intro to Brendan

Send guest pitches and ideas to [email protected]
Join the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter
Check 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 Walnut.

Why are we spending all this time on marketing… just to push buyers to a “Request a Demo” button? Even if they’re interested, no one wants to click that. No one wants to “talk to sales.” They just want to try the product for themselves!

Good news: now they can - with Walnut.

Walnut is the interactive demo platform for marketers who are done hiding their product and want to put it front and center.

You can build guided, self-serve demos in minutes. No engineers. No developers. No waiting. Embed them on your site. Drop them in emails. Let buyers explore your product on their terms - at any stage of the funnel.

And the best part? You get the data. See what features prospects are engaging with, where they drop off, and what’s actually driving pipeline.

500+ companies use Walnut - including Adobe and NetApp. Their teams save 400+ hours a year building demos… and have prevented over 1.5 million minutes of bad ones.

So if you want to drive more leads, shorten sales cycles, and actually show your product, go check out Walnut.io (and tell their team you heard about it on the Exit Five podcast!). 

#241: Email Strategy | Email isn’t dead – it’s just changing fast.

It’s still one of the few B2B marketing channels where you can actually own your audience and reach your ideal customers with the push of a button.

In this session from the Ultimate Roast of B2B Emails, Danielle hosts Beth O’Malley (Founder, astral.), Jay Schwedelson (Founder, Subjectline.com & GURU Media Hub), and Jaina Mistry (Director, Brand and Content Marketing at Litmus) for a tactical session on what’s actually working in email marketing in 2025.

They cover:

• What an effective email marketing strategy looks like today
• Key elements of great emails
• How to write irresistible subject lines
• All the ins and outs of deliverability and landing in the inbox

Plus, they tackle a live Q&A, hot takes on open rates, resends, clickbait, personalization, and how to fix your email marketing strategy.

Timestamps

• (00:00) - – Intro to Beth, Jay, and Jaina

Send guest pitches and ideas to [email protected]
Join the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter
Check 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 Walnut.

Why are we spending all this time on marketing… just to push buyers to a “Request a Demo” button? Even if they’re interested, no one wants to click that. No one wants to “talk to sales.” They just want to try the product for themselves!

Good news: now they can - with Walnut.

Walnut is the interactive demo platform for marketers who are done hiding their product and want to put it front and center.

You can build guided, self-serve demos in minutes. No engineers. No developers. No waiting. Embed them on your site. Drop them in emails. Let buyers explore your product on their terms - at any stage of the funnel.

And the best part? You get the data. See what features prospects are engaging with, where they drop off, and what’s actually driving pipeline.

500+ companies use Walnut - including Adobe and NetApp. Their teams save 400+ hours a year building demos… and have prevented over 1.5 million minutes of bad ones.

So if you want to drive more leads, shorten sales cycles, and actually show your product, go check out Walnut.io (and tell their team you heard about it on the Exit Five podcast!). 

#240: Video Strategy | In this episode, Danielle sits down with Connor Lewis, founder of Studio Lewis, to talk all things B2B video - what works, what doesn’t, and how to actually get started. Connor spent years building in-house video from the ground up before going solo. Now, he works with B2B brands on high-performing video ads and he’s here to break down what he’s learned.

Danielle and Connor cover:

• Why production value doesn’t matter as much as you think
• How to turn existing blog posts and webinars into watchable video
• What’s working on LinkedIn video in 2025
• How to get started with video without hiring an agency or a full-time team
• Simple formats that make video approachable

Timestamps

• (00:00) - – Intro to Connor

Send guest pitches and ideas to [email protected]
Join the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter
Check 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 Walnut.

Why are we spending all this time on marketing… just to push buyers to a “Request a Demo” button? Even if they’re interested, no one wants to click that. No one wants to “talk to sales.” They just want to try the product for themselves!

Good news: now they can - with Walnut.

Walnut is the interactive demo platform for marketers who are done hiding their product and want to put it front and center.

You can build guided, self-serve demos in minutes. No engineers. No developers. No waiting. Embed them on your site. Drop them in emails. Let buyers explore your product on their terms - at any stage of the funnel.

And the best part? You get the data. See what features prospects are engaging with, where they drop off, and what’s actually driving pipeline.

500+ companies use Walnut - including Adobe and NetApp. Their teams save 400+ hours a year building demos… and have prevented over 1.5 million minutes of bad ones.

So if you want to drive more leads, shorten sales cycles, and actually show your product, go check out Walnut.io (and tell their team you heard about it on the Exit Five podcast!).