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How to use freebies to optimize your lead generation

Lead Generation
June 26, 2025/by
How to use freebies to optimize your lead generation I’ll never forget the first freebie marketing piece I created and put on the internet: a free guide to help you grow your Instagram following. I wrote all the copy in a Word doc and tossed it out to my audience. Within a few hours, I had a few hundred new subscribers on my email list. Seeing people jump onto my list in exchange for the value I was offering was an exhilarating feeling. After that, I was hooked. Over the years I’ve made dozens of freebies to help me grow my email list and in the process, I’ve learned what makes a freebie generate leads successfully. Table of Contents What is freebie marketing? Does a freebie marketing strategy work? How to Choose the Right Freebies to Give Away Freebie Marketing Examples Freebie Marketing Strategy: How to Run a Successful Freebie Campaign What is freebie marketing? Freebie marketing is a strategy where businesses offer a product or service at no cost in exchange for a customer action. Freebies can be digital or physical and the most common customer actions include signing up for an email or text list, engaging on social media, or downloading an app. Freebie marketing has the power to increase a brand’s perceived value, customer loyalty, and leads. Does a freebie marketing strategy work? In most purchasing decisions, customers...
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How to get AI to write copy in your brand voice — from picking the right platform to training your GPT

ai-hidden, Artificial Intelligence
June 26, 2025/by
How to get AI to write copy in your brand voice — from picking the right platform to training your GPT When generative AI first came out, I was skeptical. While it came up with some good ideas, I saw it more as a novelty than a real copywriting tool. Honestly, I didn’t believe “great” and “on-brand AI copywriting” would ever belong in the same sentence. To be clear, I still see my own brain and approach as a competitive advantage. That hasn’t changed, but two things have shifted: First, AI algorithms have become more advanced and intuitive, making it easier to get better output. Second, I’ve learned how to train AI tools in my voice and perspective consistently enough that they can now produce strong first drafts that actually sound like me. And, I’ve found the biggest shift by thinking of myself as a copy chief and AI as a junior writer. It has fantastic ideas but needs strong guardrails, constant feedback, and clear direction. And, I’m going to show you how. Table of Contents Picking the Right AI Platform Training an AI Platform Limitations of AI Copywriting Great Examples of AI-Copywriting Picking the Right AI Platform For starters, I don’t believe that there is a single “best” AI platform for copywriting. It really comes down to personal preference. ChatGPT was the clear winner among the people I...
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Make space for customers to see their business as part of yours

Uncategorized
June 24, 2025/by
Make space for customers to see their business as part of yours I love talking to creative people because they always notice details that I don’t. Like today’s master in marketing, who saw a boost in impressions from one tiny, seemingly insignificant detail: when their photo model bent their knee. Today’s master in marketing isn’t proposing — but she does have some proposals to consider. Meet the Master Grace Wells Grace Wells works with brands like Huckberry, Soleil Toujours, and Fur as a creative strategist and director Lesson 1: Share data between your paid and organic channels. Oil and water. Hatfields and McCoys. Paid and organic. They rarely mix, and in at least one of those cases, it’s to everybody’s detriment. Wells tells me, “The crossover what’s performing at those two ends of the spectrum, paid and organic — that’s where you get the clearest and most interesting behavioral insights from your customer.” When she works with brands, Wells says she’s always looking for ways to build collaboration between those two teams. At one brand, sharing data between teams revealed that “lifestyle photos that feature a bent knee perform better than a straight-leg, standing pose.” And it’s those “little fine details that can really make a difference in how you’re presenting your brand.” Lesson 2: Make space for your customer to envision their business as part of yours. When she partnered with the beauty startup Fur, Wells worked closely with Ulta and other...
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How to prepare for, navigate, and thrive through summer slumps — according to marketing experts

Marketing Strategy
June 24, 2025/by
How to prepare for, navigate, and thrive through summer slumps — according to marketing experts Every summer, a familiar shift hits marketing teams. Engagement cools, inboxes slow, and campaign results taper off just as internal pressure starts to heat up. Clients pause new projects. Content calendars fill with refreshes and lighter lifts. And whether you’re in-house or freelance, it can feel like you’re sprinting in place. As a content strategist for B2B SaaS companies, I’ve seen this cycle enough times to know it’s usually seasonal. Audiences pull back. Priorities change. And attention spans get stretched thin by travel, time off, and a general tilt toward rest. But this year’s slump may feel heavier. Between tariffs, new tax rules, rising platform costs, and persistent inflation, many companies are tightening budgets, and that makes every dip in performance feel more urgent than usual. Still, a summer slowdown isn’t a failure. It’s a signal. In this guide, I’ll show you how experienced marketers plan around it, adjust expectations, and use this time not just to stay afloat, but to get strategically ahead. Table of Contents Signs of Summer Slumps in Marketing Preventing Summer Slumps Preparing for Summer Slowdowns How I Use Summer to Strengthen My Client Work Signs of Summer Slumps in Marketing Summer slumps don’t always show up as dramatic drops in leads or revenue. More often, they start with smaller signals — subtle shifts in audience behavior that are easy to misread...
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This AI prompt can transform you into an elite marketer in any field, here’s how

ai-hidden
June 19, 2025/by
This AI prompt can transform you into an elite marketer in any field, here’s how We all know AI assistants can help with marketing tasks. But, here's what most people are missing: Using AI as a prompt engineer is where the real productivity gains happen. I've been experimenting with this approach for months, and the results are mind-blowing. Instead of crafting prompts from scratch every time you need help with a campaign or strategy, you can use AI to build an entire library of expert-level prompts that work. The best part? It works across every area of marketing and scales with whatever you‘re working on. Below, I’m going to share the single AI prompt that will create an expert-level library of marketing prompts. With it, you can transform how you approach marketing work entirely. Let's dive in. This One Prompt That Will Make You a Marketing Master To get this prompt going, the first thing I do is open up ChatGPT and tell it to act like a prompt engineer, expert marketer, or strategic operator. Then, I give it a task: “When I give you any kind of marketing discipline (e.g., SEO, paid media, lifecycle), create a prompt library designed by an elite marketer in that field.” For the deliverables, I tell ChatGPT the format I want, including a summary of how top marketers in this discipline think, what drives results, and how they scale their work. And then, I include instructions on how to...
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Content strategy red flags: What B2B marketing teams get wrong and how to course-correct

Uncategorized
June 19, 2025/by
Content strategy red flags: What B2B marketing teams get wrong and how to course-correct I see a lot of marketing teams stuck in the same cycle: They believe in content. They’re creating constantly. But, they’re just not seeing the results they want. Add that the CEO is asking why the competitor is “suddenly everywhere.” Oh, and internally, there’s no real alignment on who you’re talking to, what you’re trying to say, or how you’re measuring success. That’s usually when I get the call. I’m Devin Reed — former head of content at Gong and Clari, now working with B2B marketing teams through my company, The Reeder. I’ve helped scale brands from $20M to $ 200M+ ARR, and I’ve worked with companies like Notion, Wiz, and FloQast to build content engines that drive tangible pipeline. When I run a content audit, I’m not just skimming through performance dashboards. I’m digging into what’s broken, what’s missing, and what it’s going to take to turn content into a real growth lever. In this piece, I’ll walk you through how these projects usually start, the most common mistakes I see, and what teams can do to course-correct. Why Companies Reach Out for a Content Audit Before I begin working with clients, a CMO or VP of marketing already has had a long-time conviction that content is important. But, they’ve had a recent realization that it’s no longer something they can take lightly. Put another way, they know they can’t afford not to...
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Growth marketing — the campaigns that you need to know

Marketing Campaigns
June 18, 2025/by
Growth marketing — the campaigns that you need to know I’m a teacher, so I’m now used to the faces of students who are scared to learn. More specifically, they’re scared to fail to learn. It’s ingrained early in our studies — As are good, Fs are bad, and you’d better learn the right answers before time runs out. That mentality crashes and burns in the world of growth marketing. Few other areas of life encourage you to fail as often as you will with these types of campaigns. You’re still aiming for those high marks, of course, but growth marketing experiments encourage you to try, fail, learn, and try again. The fear of failure kills more good ideas than poor strategy ever will. But growth marketing gives you a better way forward — if you’re willing to try. Here’s what growth marketing looks like in practice and how you can start learning today. Table of Contents What is growth marketing? Benefits of Growth Marketing Types of Growth Marketing Campaigns Elements of a Growth Marketing Campaign Tips for Growth Marketing Campaigns Examples of Growth Marketing Campaigns While traditional marketing might focus on awareness or running static campaigns, growth marketing extends across the full funnel, touching all aspects of the customer lifecycle from acquisition to retention. That’s reflected in the long list of growth marketing tactics you can...
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Trash AI Content, Experimental Budgets, and TikTok for B2B: Ross Simmonds Unfiltered

Uncategorized
June 17, 2025/by
Trash AI Content, Experimental Budgets, and TikTok for B2B: Ross Simmonds Unfiltered If you’ve ever stared down a sea of bland AI content and whispered, “Is this my job now?”, you’ll enjoy this master's take: "The amount of blog posts that are written with AI is at an all-time high… And all of it is trash." Ross Simmonds joins us with some spicy takes on experimentation, distribution, and AI. And I promise: It's not trash. Ross Simmonds  Founder, Foundation Marketing; Digital marketing strategist, entrepreneur Fun fact: He once rappelled down a 20-story building in slacks and dress shoes. Claim to fame: Simmonds has done something most marketers would be afraid to even attempt — he's made the front page of Reddit six times over the last few years, and has helped clients do the same. Lesson 1: Dedicate 20% of your budget and time to experimentation. Here’s the thing about marketing teams: We love a good spreadsheet, a strong quarterly plan, and the warm, fuzzy feeling of “proven tactics.” But Ross Simmonds wants you to spice things up.  Don't worry, we're not talking about going completely unhinged. "Eighty percent of your work should be low- to mid-risk, but carve out 20% for the stuff your competitors are too scared to try," Simmonds tells me.  In other words, treat experimentation like guac at Chipotle: It costs a little extra, but it's worth it.  Simmonds suggests allocating time on your team's calendar for experimentation...
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The unconventional, scrappy tactics I used to grow a newsletter to 40K subscribers

Uncategorized
June 17, 2025/by
The unconventional, scrappy tactics I used to grow a newsletter to 40K subscribers You know that moment when you stumble on a brilliant growth tactic hidden in a Reddit thread or buried deep in a comment section? That's the kind of stuff I live for. I'm Tom Orbach, a growth marketer and a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree who created a viral post generator that attracted 2 million users. Scrappy, under-the-radar tactics have been the backbone of Marketing Ideas, my weekly newsletter for startup marketers. No paid ads. No polished design team. No brand halo to ride on. Just a willingness to test fast, double down on what worked, and ignore what didn't. In this post, I'm breaking down the unconventional, effective tactics that helped me grow from 0 to 40,000 subscribers in 1.5 years. Let’s dive in. Why I Started Marketing Ideas Source For most of my 12-year marketing career, people have asked me for creative growth ideas, especially the kind that don't rely on paid ads or big budgets. It became a pattern. Whether I was working with startups, consulting with clients, or just chatting with friends in the industry, someone would always say, “That's a great idea. Do you have more like that?” Over time, that demand snowballed. I got invited to speak at conferences, give guest lectures at companies and universities, and hop on calls with marketers looking for scrappy tactics that actually worked. It was clear there was a real appetite for...
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