Steven Douitsis

Marketing can’t fix a broken business. In broken businesses ... Churn isn’t a marketing problem. It’s a product problem. Bad reviews aren’t a messaging issue. They’re a customer experience issue. CAC isn’t high because of the ad copy. It’s high because no one wants what you’re selling. Stop blaming marketing for the symptoms. Start fixing the root causes. ___ ♻️ Repost this if you found it useful 🧐 Follow me (@LizWillits) for more posts 💌 Get VIP insights in my email newsletter

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Your B2B SaaS leads are going cold. Most companies lack a systematic approach to nurture prospects from first touch to closed deal. This 5-step framework shows you exactly how to warm leads with personalized engagement, AI-powered automation, and aligned sales/marketing efforts. Read the full guide: https://lnkd.in/d6AFMZYs #B2BSaaS #LeadGeneration #SaaSMarketing

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According to Wealthsimple’s VP of Growth, you’re not a top 5% marketing leader if you don’t get these 2 concepts 👇 1. Local maximum 2. Incrementality We had the chance to sit down with Simon Lejeune on Humans of Martech to unpack both of those concepts, we covered: • How to escape local maximum traps • Productive laziness mindsets • The best use cases for incrementality tests • Why most A/B tests are a waste of time • How to balance clean tests with bold ideas And a bunch more stuff! -- Thank you to our main sponsors for supporting the podcast: 🎨 Knak: No-code email and landing page creator to build on-brand assets with an editor that anyone can use. 🦸 RevenueHero: B2B scheduling and routing product to instantly connect prospects with the right sales reps to drive qualified meetings. 📧 MoEngage: Customer engagement platform that executes cross-channel campaigns and automates personalized experiences based on behavior. – My top takeaways: 💡A/B testing creates the illusion of momentum. Redirect resources from comfortable optimizations to bold, high-impact bets. 💡Always measure impact by asking, “What would have happened if we didn’t do this?” Bake this question into your reviews, reporting, and team culture. 💡Run incrementality tests only when they answer questions that could materially change your strategy. Keep testing rare enough that it never slows your path to growth.

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What if lead gen was simpler than you think? This document focuses on the moves that actually create pipeline, not noise. Define a tight ICP, make one clear offer, ship a fast landing page, route qualified leads instantly, and follow up with helpful content, all measured weekly so you double down on what works. Here is the flow: * One audience. One message. One outcome driven CTA * Landing page with zero distractions and a short form * Speed to respond in minutes, not hours * Follow up that solves a real problem before it sells * Weekly review of conversion and cost to iterate fast Thanks to Lead Gen Man

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Choosing between Salesforce and HubSpot for marketing can get quite complicated quite quickly. - Will you use extensive HubSpot features like live chat, SMS, pop-ups, drag-and-drop builders, content remix and built-in Agents or continue leaning on the powerful email Engagement Studio in Pardot*? - Do you need a CRM like Sales Hub that can integrate with ChatGPT and Claude or do you need a CDP like Data Cloud where you can lean on Agentforce? - Will you migrate to Marketing Cloud Growth/Advanced** or keep things simple and marketer-friendly with HubSpot Marketing Hub? - As a Marketing Cloud Engagement user, should you use MC Next*** or look at a complete migration to Marketing Cloud Advanced? I am seeing a lot of companies start to take a birds-eye view of their tech stack as they think about MAP spend vs output and how AI could make them more productive. Here are five paraphrased steps from MarCloud's ROI framework to get you on the right path: Step 1: Have confidence that you are using the right tools for the long-term Step 2: Sort your data! This fuels everything and it's critical for AI readiness Step 3: Map and build out your ideal customer journey using relevant channels Step 4: Ensure you have strong reporting in place to optimise campaigns and spend Step 5: Lean on AI to support on arduous tasks to make your team of 5 feel like a team of 10 It is an interesting time for marketers. Send me a LinkedIn message for an unbiased view of your marketing tools. * Pardot is called Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (MCAE) ** Marketing Cloud Growth/Advanced is the new 'Marketing on-core' platform built on Data Cloud within Salesforce *** MC Next allows MCE users to use new MC Advanced features https://lnkd.in/eBsWn-6m

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Your GTM strategy might be invisible where it matters most. Everyone wants pipeline. So you fund lead gen. You scale SDRs. You optimize conversion rates. But buyers? They’ve already made their decision, long before they ever convert. ↳ 81% pick a vendor before talking to Sales ↳ 85% choose a brand they already remember That means the real competition isn’t on the demo call. It’s in your buyer’s head...weeks before that form-fill. And if your brand isn’t there early, no amount of “nurture” will save you. The top-performing B2B orgs aren’t just generating demand. They’re engineering familiarity. It’s not who you talk to. It’s who talks about you without being asked. Swipe to see how brand gets you picked before the pitch. #FounderLedGrowth #B2BStrategy #BrandPower #DemandGen

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If you’re not using AI right now in your ABM, you’re insane. Yes, I’m fully on board the AI hype train right now and using it multiple times per hour at this point. And ABM is one of the best uses for AI because... Signals change every hour across ads, web, and email. AI can update audiences and bids in real time. Targeting needs people inside accounts, not a static list. AI can connect intent topics, CRM stage, and recent behavior to find decision makers. Media is expensive. AI can optimize to engaged visits and meetings to reduce waste. Speed wins. AI can route high-intent actions to sales within minutes, providing valuable context. Ok, that might not be Here is the playbook I’ve been working on: 1️⃣ Target people inside in-market accounts from the last 7 days. Filter by role, seniority, and region. Exclude customers, competitors, students, advisors, etc. 2️⃣ Build dynamic segments from three signals, intent topics, CRM stage, and recent site behavior. Example, CFO + cost savings intent + 2 visits in 14 days. 3️⃣ Use engaged account sessions and booked meetings as your conversion events. Always set conversions to outcomes (NOT clicks!) 4️⃣ One ad set, one role, one pain, one promise. Pull copy from call notes. Use short sentences that your buyer would say. 5️⃣ Sequence by stage. And problem. And solution. Then add proof. Tight frequency caps to avoid fatigue. 6️⃣ Personalize the website for the same segment. Match header, CTA, and proof logos to the ad promise. Keep it subtle, fast, and consistent. 7️⃣ Route contact-level engagement to SDRs within 15 minutes. Have a 2-hour SLA for first touch. Track cost per engaged account, pipeline per 1000 impressions, visit lift, and meeting rate. Ok, not all of this is easy, but Demandbase AI helps. I’m talking people-based targeting for named accounts, outcome goals tied to visits and meetings, and web personalization driven by the same signals. As a former employee, I’ve been paying close attention to them, and it’s awesome to see they’re one of the companies getting AI right. #marketing #b2b #ABM #SmartGTM #DemandbaseAI

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Is anyone using Apollo and HubSpot? Is anyone considering it? maybe curious? Time to help everyone (about 10k companies are already using this combo) see why this combo is a game changer. Quick background We've been championing the reality that scalable growth requires two levers: 1. Cultivate marketing in ways that drive business to you that is looking for your product/service to you (loop marketing FKA inbound). Build a brand, tell your story. 2. Understanding your customers so well you are able to easily articulate who you help and how. Then find more of those customers and introduce yourself (ABM). It's taken years and tons of iteration but I feel confident with the latest updates at HubSpot and Apollo Growth has a playbook to help companies grow. These tools are working together differently than they were one/two years ago. And it is incredible. Specifically verticals like manufacturing/industrial, services, software. I'm just not sure if anyone is interested in learning more but if you are comment GROWTH and I'll get you my playbook you can use to evaluate where you sit now, a framework to build your strategy, and a roadmap to implement the tools with quick wins for Q4 and a winning formula for 2026. Who this is for - heading or participating in growth roadmap at your company - AR $5M and up (this is not scrappy this is get it done right) - at least 4 sales people - budget for software (again this is not scrappy) - a growth mindset company culture... the biggest thing I've taken away from the past few years with AI is we have to think differently. Building the plane while it flys is incredibly important. This is the real deal. Why am I doing this? - Yes you can buy services from Growth (not required) - Yes we can assist in your recommended software purchase and implement it for you - I am genuinely passionate about this and love sharing No purchase necessary. Commenting GROWTH seems tacky but please do that or DM me. #growth #ai

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Many enterprise brands are still on custom ecommerce stacks that no longer serve them. 👎🏻Slow releases. 👎🏻Missed velocity. 👎🏻Fragile infrastructure. 👎🏻Technical debt piling higher. We’ve seen this countless times and have helped brands like Quip navigate this change. Custom platforms were built for control and business needs. What once passed for a competitive advantage, has become a burden. That is why Avex E-commerce has partnered with Shopify to launch #OutgrownTheHomegrown, a multi-stage initiative and proven process to guide brands through digital transformation. This is not about blindly saying brands should #replatform…. It’s about showing leaders how and why it matters to their business and what will be the outcome. In the months ahead, we’ll share brand stories, host events, and release playbooks designed to give merchants clarity and confidence. Resources and a framework that help brands decide not just for where they are today, but for where they want to be tomorrow. Thank you to Bobby Morrison and Rukmani Subramanian for their continued support and collaboration to rollout this framework. Enterprise commerce has #OutgrownTheHomegrown. The question is, did you? Learn More & Follow Along. Link in the comments below. ⬇️ Cc: Zoe Bayley, Jim Reynolds, Andrea Castillo, Harley Finkelstein, Kimberly Seabrook

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