Marketing leaders today are facing rising CAC, shrinking budgets, and pressure to prove short-term results. In this episode, host Charlie Riley and co-host Greg Wise sit down with Jonathan Bland, co-founder of Omni Lab Consulting, to break down what’s keeping B2B SaaS marketers up at night. From the dangers of short-termism to why only 5% of your buyers are actually in-market, Jonathan shares how paid media strategies must evolve — and why performance-only mindsets are no longer enough. You’ll also hear candid takes on internal marketing, the role of trust, and what brand really means when budgets are tight.

👤 Guest Bio

Jonathan Bland is the co-founder of Omni Lab Consulting, a demand gen agency focused exclusively on paid media for B2B SaaS brands. For the past four years, Jonathan and his team have specialized in acquisition, acceleration, and awareness campaigns across channels like Google Ads, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Based in DC, Jonathan is also a regular presence at events and on LinkedIn, where he shares honest takes on what’s working — and what’s not — in SaaS marketing today.

📌 What We Cover

• The rising pressure on marketers to prove short-term pipeline at the expense of brand
• Why third-party intent data is expensive and often misses the majority of out-of-market buyers
• How the 95/5 heuristic helps frame long-term thinking and buyer timing
• The return of brand marketing and why performance fatigue is setting in
• CAC trends, attribution bias, and the challenge of proving untrackable influence
• Internal marketing: assessing how your board, product, and sales team define “brand”
• Why trust-building content outperforms demo CTAs — even in performance channels
• Tactical brand plays from Omni Lab, including a new actor-led campaign filmed in Toronto
• Thoughts on out-of-home, LinkedIn, Google, and understanding the intent of the channel

🔗 Resources Mentioned

• Berg-Bass Institute (referenced: 95/5 rule)
• Winter (research on brand consideration)
• Luminous (brand campaign example)
• Turtle (interactive PDF campaign)
• Storylane and Exit Five (OOH example)

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