EXIT FIVE

Newsletter #269

Using AI to Drive Down LinkedIn Ads Costs

Today we’re going to talk about two of the most popular tools in the modern B2B marketing stack: LinkedIn Ads and Claude. If you or your team have tried plugging AI into LinkedIn Ads and gotten something mediocre back, it’s likely because nobody fed it the right data or gave it a system to work […]

Jul 23, 2026 · 5 min read

EXIT FIVE

Newsletter #268

The 12-Point AEO Checklist Worth Stealing If You Want LLMs To Cite You

An AEO checklist is the short list of things to check so AI engines like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity can read your pages and cite them. This one comes from Rebecca Busk, CEO and Partner at Kvalifik, and the 12 points boil down to: make sure your site is crawlable and indexed, write in plain […]

Jul 21, 2026 · 4 min read

EXIT FIVE

Newsletter #268

How Organic Marketing helped Funnel Leasing Grow to $50 Million ARR

Every marketing team feels the pressure to hit the number, and the easy move is to throw more money at it: more ads, more outbound, more tools. The CEO and CFO love paid because it’s simple: spend more, get more. But here at Exit Five, we know that “marketing” doesn’t just mean “advertising” – there […]

Jul 16, 2026 · 5 min read

EXIT FIVE

Newsletter #267

TV Ads for B2B – why it works and where to start

B2B CTV (connected TV) advertising means running video ads through streaming services instead of cable or a Super Bowl spot u2014 and it works even without a national ad budget, because you’re targeting a specific, retargetable B2B audience instead of buying a mass broadcast slot. The pressure to grow is on, and the paid channels […]

Jul 14, 2026 · 4 min read

EXIT FIVE

Newsletter #266

5 plays these B2B marketers said worked in H1 2026

There’s a lot of hype right now about what’s possible in marketing. Our job is to help you understand what’s real by showing you real examples from real marketers. The number one thing we hear is: show me examples, give me ideas, give me inspiration, and that’s what we have for you today. I’m going […]

Jul 9, 2026 · 7 min read

EXIT FIVE

Newsletter #265

9 Marketers Share Their Top Plays of 2026 (So Far)

Last week we ran a Live Session called the B2B Blitz. Nine marketers each shared the best play they’ve run so far this year. The catch: I had my buzzer ready for the two-minute mark.  “Insanely valuable.”  “A masterclass in modern marketing.” “Best webinar format I’ve ever sat in on.” Just a glimpse of the […]

Jul 6, 2026 · 6 min read

EXIT FIVE

Newsletter #264

How HubSpot’s VP of Content delivers 50 Million impressions each month (and tells the measurement story to the CFO)

Every time I talk to a marketer who’s building a real content program, video, podcast, creator partnerships, the question that keeps coming up is the same one: “How do I explain this to my CFO?” This question comes up not because we don’t know how to measure content, but because the rest of the organization […]

Jul 2, 2026 · 4 min read

EXIT FIVE

Newsletter #263

How to Make Your B2B Brand Stand Out in 2026

This newsletter is guest written by Louis Grenier, author of Stand The F*ck Out and upcoming Drive keynote speaker. I spent the better part of May auditing brand marketing for 100 B2B SaaS and AI brands, such as Linear, Notion, Gong, Ramp, or Vanta. Rest assured, I didn’t just do it for fun.  I had a point […]

Jun 30, 2026 · 5 min read

EXIT FIVE

Newsletter #262

Every B2B marketing channel works. Picking the right one is the real job.

Everything in B2B marketing works. I’ve done over 300 hours of interviews with CMOs and VPs in B2B marketing. Spent a decade as a marketing leader myself. I can tell you – it all works. YouTube, LinkedIn (works – take it from me), direct mail, webinars, TikTok, email, events, PR, partnerships…they all can work. Even spending […]

Jun 25, 2026 · 3 min read

Newsletter #261

Timeless B2B Marketing lessons

How to write copy that gets your buyer to act Early in my career, it seemed like everyone was becoming “the growth marketer” and I thought that’s where the job security was. I needed to become the growth guy. The CEO at the time told me the opposite: you have a superpower in creativity and […]

Jun 23, 2026 · 5 min read

EXIT FIVE

Newsletter #260

What’s Working in AEO Right Now

Does website traffic matter any more? AI ate search. So any time you look something up now, even if you’re just doing it in the browser, you get an AI summary of the results. Or you might be like me, walking down the street talking to Claude (don’t judge me). For years, we’ve used website […]

Jun 18, 2026 · 6 min read

EXIT FIVE

Newsletter #259

How to Make Your B2B Influencer Marketing Work

When a B2B brand play beats demand gen “Oh we don’t have the budget for that.” “That’s not relatable, they have a million dollar influencer budget alone!” B2B influencer marketing works when you treat it as a brand play, not demand gen: find someone your audience already trusts whose story connects to what your company […]

Jun 16, 2026 · 4 min read

Newsletter #258

3 Lessons From Ramp’s VP Growth & Demand (And Did You Know They Don’t Have a CMO?)

Ramp, now valued at $44B, doesn’t have a CMO. Instead of one leader owning all of marketing, the function is split: product marketing sits under product, brand has its own VP, comms and PR roll up to the CEO, and George Bonaci runs growth and demand as VP of Growth and Demand, reporting to Karim, […]

Jun 11, 2026 · 6 min read

Newsletter #256

The Narrative On AI Is Shifting

We polled 540 B2B marketers on how they really feel about AI right now — and the mood is shifting. Here's what the data showed, from near-universal daily usage to the growing pushback against the hype.

Jun 9, 2026 · 4 min read

EXIT FIVE

Newsletter #255

4 lessons from the lady who runs ABM for North America at Snowflake

That lady is Casey Patterson and she is responsible for managing 23 marketers at Snowflake with the mission of driving revenue through account based marketing. I love writing about ABM (and our audience here seems to like it too) because it is the one motion in B2B where marketing and sales actually stop arguing about credit. It’s […]

Jun 4, 2026 · 6 min read

EXIT FIVE

Newsletter #254

9 Reasons to Join us in Vermont for Drive 2026 this September

So I sat down to write my newsletter and had this whole rant about Claude and AI, but then I remembered: I have something better to share with you today! We just unveiled a big part of the agenda for Drive 2026, our big event for Exit Five in Stowe, Vermont this September. Meet the […]

Jun 2, 2026 · 7 min read

EXIT FIVE

Newsletter #253

How To Run a Calm Marketing Organization (aka Why You Should Run Marketing Like The Product Team)

I’ve done over 300 podcast interviews with VPs, CMOs, and marketing leaders over the last four years (weird flex, I know). But there’s something I’ve noticed about the ones who are on top of their game as marketing leaders. It’s not that they’re more creative or smarter than everyone else (though most of them are). […]

May 28, 2026 · 6 min read

Newsletter #250

Are you sick of AI yet? [Take the survey]

B2B marketers are pushing back on AI — the narrative is shifting. Dave shares what a Fortune 500 CMO told him, and asks: where do you actually stand right now?

May 26, 2026 · 3 min read

EXIT FIVE

Newsletter #249

AI is eating the B2B marketing funnel

AI is eating the B2B marketing funnel

May 21, 2026 · 4 min read

EXIT FIVE

Newsletter #248

Everyone is lying about AI

Everyone is lying about AI

May 19, 2026 · 7 min read

EXIT FIVE

Newsletter #247

Seth Godin is speaking to Drive 2026

Seth Godin is speaking to Drive 2026

May 14, 2026 · 5 min read

EXIT FIVE

Newsletter #246

Stop overcomplicating B2B marketing strategy

Stop overcomplicating marketing

May 12, 2026 · 7 min read

EXIT FIVE

Newsletter #245

Will AI replace creatives?

Will AI replace creatives?

May 7, 2026 · 7 min read

EXIT FIVE

Newsletter #244

PR is back, baby.

PR is back, baby.

May 5, 2026 · 8 min read

EXIT FIVE

Newsletter #244

How to survive in a job you don’t love

How to survive in a job you don’t love

Apr 30, 2026 · 5 min read

EXIT FIVE

Newsletter #243

How to make B2B social work

How to make B2B social work

Apr 28, 2026 · 8 min read

EXIT FIVE

Newsletter #242

How to be the CMO everyone loves

How to be the CMO everyone loves

Apr 23, 2026 · 7 min read

EXIT FIVE

Newsletter #241

The most useful things B2B marketers built with AI this week

The most useful things B2B marketers built with AI this week

Apr 21, 2026 · 5 min read

EXIT FIVE

Newsletter #240

How Ramp is turning its marketers into builders with AI3

How Ramp is turning its marketers into builders with AI3

Apr 16, 2026 · 6 min read

EXIT FIVE

Newsletter #239

What To Do With Your Trade Show Booth

Show me your booth?

Apr 14, 2026 · 5 min read