Be the Chief Storyteller (Dave’s Newsletter)

WHAT WE'RE HEARING

How Good Are You At Storytelling (And Getting Attention)?

Your job as a marketer is to get attention from your dream customers. Everything else follows from that…I mean it’s certainly much easier to do marketing when people know you exist. And in 2026, I want to see more of the "M" in CMO. Master the company story. Own the positioning. Be great at the craft of marketing. Because in a world where everything looks the same and we’re all using the same AI tools, great marketing is what wins. Companies are literally hiring storytellers now (the WSJ just ran a whole piece on it). That should already be the CMO's job. So partner with finance on the numbers – let them be great at finance. But you? Own the story. This newsletter is about getting back to that craft.

The best product doesn't win.

The product with the most attention wins. Storytelling is how you get there.

With a story that makes customers choose you. A story that makes employees want to work for you. A story that rallies your internal team around something bigger than a product roadmap.

And the CMO must be the chief custodian of that story.

Because if you can't get your own team fired up about what you're building, you'll never get strangers to care.

Especially now. In a world of AI slop and sameness, where customers don't actually believe your marketing claims anymore, you need a strong POV and great storytelling. Led by a real person.

What Being Chief Storyteller Really Means (And How To Do It)

Your job is to make people care.

Everything else – the metrics, the reporting, the attribution – supports that. But first, you have to make people care.

Here's how...

Have a POV

This isn't about being controversial for the sake of it.

A point of view is there to signal to your ICP that you're there for them. That you understand their struggle and see what they're up against.

You do it by talking about what they're dealing with. By naming the enemy or the monster they're fighting. And you do it consistently, everywhere, so people understand why you're here.

When you have a clear POV, people get it. They know what you stand for. They know you're on their side.

So many companies are scared to take a stand. They try to be for everyone. And that's exactly why nobody knows what they're about. That's your opportunity.

Be a Friendly Face for the Brand

People buy from people. B2B is no different.

You should be out there. On LinkedIn. On stage. In your content. Being the person who represents what the company stands for.

And yes, other people on your team can (and should) do this too. But the leader sets the tone. If you're not willing to be the face, why would anyone else?

Do you have to do this? No. Does it create an advantage? Absolutely.

Get Good At Getting Attention

Study who's winning. Who has attention in your space right now? Why do they have it?

BUT don’t just look for inspiration in your industry…take inspiration from everywhere. The book you’re reading, your kid’s PTA program, the brands you love.

I’m only saying this because someone always asks: "This is great, but where are the B2B examples?"

I get it. You want to show your CEO that another B2B company did this so you can do it too.

But here's the truth: you're still selling to people. Take inspiration from everywhere.

A lot of B2B marketing examples aren't sexy to screenshot anyway. They're sales enablement plays and emails happening behind the scenes.

What matters is the principle: how do you stand out in a world of sameness? That's what you should be thinking about today.

• Pick one channel and dominate it first. Don't spread thin trying to be everywhere. Go deep on the one channel where your buyers are. For B2B, that's probably LinkedIn. Own it before you move to the next thing.
• Create moments, not just campaigns. Product launches that feel like events. Announcements that get people talking. Taking a public stand on something your industry cares about. Things people remember and share.
• Be useful, not promotional. Answer the questions your customers are actually asking. Help them look good. Save them time. Show them how to avoid pain. That's how you earn attention – not by talking about yourself.
• Speed matters. Be first. First to address the trends in your space. First to have a take on what's happening. While your competitors are in approval meetings, you're already out there.
• Consistency compounds. Attention builds on attention. Show up with the same POV repeatedly. This is how you build momentum.

Attention doesn't happen by accident. You have to go earn it.

Yes, Data Still Matters (But Here's the Order)

This isn't anti-data. I'm not saying throw out your dashboards and trust the vibes.

This is about what comes first.

The right order? Story and positioning (get attention first). Then figure out how to measure it. Then optimize based on data.

The wrong order: Pick your metrics first. Optimize for those metrics. Wonder why nothing feels differentiated.

In my experience, the story part is almost always 80% of it. Or as a mentor of mine once told me “you can’t optimize zero” aka if no one is interested, there’s nothing to optimize.

Is the other stuff important? Of course it is. I am not saying that. You need metrics. You need reporting. You need data. You need to understand marketing’s impact on the business.

But if you don't nail the story to your market, a clear POV, and true differentiation – none of the other stuff will matter. This needs to be the job of marketing in 2026; this is what I mean when I say marketing’s job shouldn’t be finance :)

You can have perfect attribution and still lose deals to a competitor with a better story. I've seen it happen over and over.

What Changes When The Story Leads?

Once you have attention, everything gets easier. Sales gets easier. Recruiting gets easier. Partnership conversations get easier.

Marketing stops being a cost center you have to justify every quarter and becomes a growth engine you invest in.

Internally:

• Sales can finally explain why someone should buy (not just rattle off features)
• Your team has clarity on what to create
• Marketing drives momentum for the entire company
• The company rallies around something bigger than a product roadmap
• You're not explaining yourself anymore. You're rallying people.

Externally:

• You stop competing on features alone
• You win deals on story, not just price
• Customers can explain to their boss why they chose you
• Buyers remember you when it's time to make a decision
• Everything compounds – one channel feeds another, attention builds on itself

I saw this at Drift. We went from unknown to a category leader because we owned attention. Not because we had the best product on day one. Because we had a story people cared about.

You have to master the craft of marketing.

Get attention. Build a brand people care about. Tell a story that cuts through. Be the face. Have a POV. Create moments people remember. Let the data support the story, not replace it.

Be the CMO. Not the spreadsheet manager.

– Dave

P.S. Who's the best "chief storyteller" CMO you've seen? Not the best marketer, the best storyteller. The one who actually shows up, has a POV, and gets attention. Hit reply and tell me… I’m curious…

‍