Extra Sauce Agency

The accessibility to data has put great content ideas behind bars. It’s easy to justify increasing the budget for paid ads when you can calculate the cost per opportunity easier. It’s not so easy telling the CEO let’s do an entertaining YouTube series when your primary metric is views. It’s easy to put $25,000 behind a trade show and justify the amount of badge scans you’ve collected. it’s not so easy to execute on a hot cultural brand opportunity with strict company protocols. Great content is a fine dance of collaboration, empathy, and passion. Could you imagine what content could do for your business? - More profitable way to acquire new customers - Become looked as the number 1 in your category. - Less time wasted on unqualified leads. What’s worth it, rarely ever comes easy.

I’ve generated 16M+ YouTube views in 4 months for a client in the media space. How? Content-Market-Fit. Note: I also barely break 1000+ views for some content series on other accounts Does it mean the ROI on the content budget is not worth it? No. Consider these 3 things when determining content-market-fit: —> Market size The client had a global audience size that was interesting in viewing the content The client was making entertaining content vs thought leadership content Now imagine, your audience is CTO of fintech companies with 10-50 employees doing atleast 1M ARR. Let’s say you got 300 views. Let’s say 50% of them are your ICP. You just did an authority-building/brand awareness touchpoint with 150 potential customers. Considering that, great view count. —> Resources available The client invested budget into research, content testing pre-phase, a professional narrator, graphic designers for thumbnail creation, best in-platform practices. You probably don’t have this manpower in a smaller organization. And you might be worried about the quality of content. Regardless, you find a way to make it work Because episode 43 will be VERY different than episode 1. You don’t have a content studio for your podcast? Use riverside.fm to do it remote You don’t have someone to manually clip content? Use Opus.pro to clip (<manual) —> Golden sweet spot. The client found a NEW twist on already existing content that their audience found REFRESHING to the USUAL narrative they find on social media. Examples: Instead of just another fitness training video account, consider the creative twist of Antonely, who posts viral heavy gym lifts disguised as a gym cleaner. It’s entertaining and refreshing, attracting the same audience with a refreshing angle. Test out different content series. Deepen your understanding of your audience. You’ll be surprised by all the content ideas you can get once you know the viewer better.

In Summer 2024, Polymet (YC S24) got backed by YC Combinator but they have 0 content to bring in $$$ I’ve created 8+ strategic content ideas for Polymet to start generating pipeline. B2B content doesn’t need to be ‘boring-to-boring’ You could invest in entertaining content that is still professional & insightful. Look at yourself for a second.… When you’re scrolling on LinkedIn and come across your favourite creators. You enjoy coming back to them to consume their content right? You build trust with them and begin looking at them as an expert. You might reach out to this expert to help you out later on. But would have you done this if all the creator posts was product updates and promotional content? The platform might even stop pushing their content to your feed because it’s not interesting to you. It’s time to create strategic B2B content that makes your buyer want to binge and keeps you top of mind.

In 2024, product differentiation alone won’t cut it—so how do you truly stand out? We tackled this challenge head-on with James Allen Regenor, CEO of VeriTX, in Episode 6 of the #doesthisfounderhavethesauce challenge. There are 75x more options in your category than just a few years ago. It’s not 2014 anymore—access to technology has levelled the playing field. With fewer barriers to market entry and rapid product advancements, technology has become table stakes. So, how do you make your mark in today’s crowded B2B landscape? The answer lies in shifting your focus from differentiation to 'distinction'. In our discussion, we explored how smaller companies can gain the upper hand by leveraging: - A compelling company strategic narrative - The founder’s unique expertise and methodology - The founder and brand story that resonates - A company culture that stands out The opportunity to communicate these key differentiators across customer touchpoints has never been greater. Here’s how you can start: 1. Create engaging short-form content on the founder’s page to build connection 2. Launch a YouTube masterclass series that showcases your expertise 3. Host webinar events with your executive team to establish authority Today, it’s not hard to get in front of your targeted audience. The real challenge—and value—lies in what strategic content you’re putting in front of them. It’s never been easier to form personal connections in B2B at scale. And the right content can make all the difference.

One of our fintech clients said to us ‘We are spending all this money on Google Ads and traffic is coming to the website but they rarely turn to qualified pipeline.” The truth: They weren’t ready to run Google Ads - Website messaging and positioning was unclear to their ICP - Poor website experience after clicking on the google ad - Social medias didn’t build trust with the audience when they got vetted Our next steps to correct this: 1) Fix the website UX and tell the strategic narrative through the copy 2) Set up pixels from traffic channels (e.g. meta pixel, linkedin, google, tiktok, twitter) 3) Build an organic content engine (our specialty) 4) Find the best-performing assets based on an analysis formula. (after about 2-3 months) 5) Put the best-performers as a creative in a paid social advertising campaign 6) Run the campaign from the founder’s personal LinkedIn account 7) Retargeting campaign setup on LinkedIn or through Google Why do this? - Different than the usual B2B advertisement (e.g. whitepaper download from company page) - You know the creative is good if it performed organically - Driving traffic to the founder’s socials is cheaper than cold lead campaigns. Building a content engine amplifies all your marketing efforts: organic, paid, email, tradeshows.

Tandem is on a mission to help hybrid teams find co-tenants they love and trust. We built them a founder-led content engine to fill more spaces! Let’s go. 🏃🏽♂️ → Step 1: Audit the entire ecosystem - Website has clear messaging & experience. ✅ - Social media doesn’t make consistency & clarity of offer through content ❌ - Founding team makes good content on person LinkedIn ✅ It would help to setup self-reported attribution & Google Analytics - compare what the data shows from both. Find content opportunities when checking out competitor socials (Regus, WeWorks, Knotel) Get the foundation done right before the traffic starts to roll in. → Step 2: Extract subject matter insights from the Founder/CEO/CTO Interview all 3 founders (Rafi, Brendan, Kristen) to extract years of experience/stories/trends/results/pivots Marketing’s job is not to provide thought leadership. Marketing’s job is to present the info clearly for the ICP to think ‘ahh their speaking to me.’ → Step 3: Strategic narrative workshop We need to find a movement that is happening in your industry with or without your company. Tandem’s current Strategic Narrative: Businesses don’t want to be stuck in long-term leases, especially after COVID ✅ Tandem needs to be at the forefront of this movement. And make it known -either you ride with this direction to win or you will get left behind. → Step 5: Start producing content (Full-breakdown in Loom Video) Find a long-form format and cadence that works for the founders & company (podcast, webinar, YT series) Find a way where the founders have to show up for only 1hr a week. Necessary content training, establish the tech stack, and content responsibilities for each person. Syndicate ‘valuable snacks’ on short-form channels (e.g. YT Shorts, TikTok, LinkedIn) Make sure to deliver in-platform content. → Step 6: Leverage best-performing content into a targeted paid ads campaign This is where things get interesting. After a few months, you’ll have a library of rich assets to choose from. The usual problem with paid B2B social campaigns is - poor quality - availability of creative - Cost per lead Run a founder-led paid video campaign to the founder’s page vs. typical ‘whitepaper gated content from the company page’ 🥱 CPC will be cheaper. → Step 7: Empower cross-departments with your founder-led content engine Marketing: Use in a monthly newsletter to share updates about fractional leasing Sales: Send the short-form clips to companies unsure about fractional leasing Product: Use the content engine to announce when Tandem implements new stuff. The video breaks down content ideas & engines that Tandem can start using.

Is your marketing team underestimating the power of social media? Caroline Tran explains why Hello Clever places social media at the core of their marketing strategy. Their team is developing a real-time payment solution that rewards customers, and they know the importance of visibility. Caroline shares how her marketing team strategically allocates resources to both paid and organic TikTok. Here’s what they’re doing: - Street interview series - Business case studies - Entertainment - Behind-the-scenes content Why? They want to be discovered by consistently appearing on their audience’s feed. They aim to build influence and trust with every post. Hello Clever understands that social media isn’t just a small part of marketing—it is marketing. Your audience is already there. Getting in front of them is easier than ever. The platform’s algorithms are smart—they’ll place you right in front of your target audience. 2024 is the year to double down on social media with strategic content. #doesthisfounderhavethesauce challenge

The CEO or VP will never let you go from 0 to 100 when building a B2B content engine. Start with an MVP, then prove the ROI to secure bigger budgets. The main issue? Tracking the impact of individual content assets is challenging. (e.g., CEO asks for the impact of the third podcast episode—good luck) You won’t see immediate results like with paid advertising, which is easier to report and leads to quicker budget approvals. Consider the iOS 14 privacy update, dark social, and your content being shared in Slack or WhatsApp channels—you won’t know the exact reach or impact. Self-Reported Attribution (SRA) is a good start (ask on your website form how they found you), but it won’t provide immediate validation for your content. It takes time to find your groove with the content engine. It takes time for your prospects to consistently consume your content. It takes time for your prospects to be in-market looking for a solution like yours. Meanwhile, focus on building your case with leading indicators: - Is your ICP viewing your content/profile? - Are the right decision-makers leaving comments or connect messages? - Are people watching more than 50% of the video? - What feedback are you receiving through DMs about the content? 3 Question Clusters to Consider at Each Level of the Content Engine: Cadence and Investment Level: - Are you better at filming videos or writing blogs? - Can you commit to creating content weekly or bi-weekly? - How many platforms do you want to distribute content on? - Do you want to focus on insightful, entertaining, or a hybrid approach? Workflow and Infrastructure: - Do you have a solo marketer, a small content team, or an external agency handling the content? - Do you use automation workflows (e.g., Zapier or Make) to aid distribution? - Do you have templates and SOPs for each task (caption, thumbnail, episode planning, post-production, tracking log)? - Is the necessary equipment available for in-person or remote filming sessions? Content Reps: - Do you know how to present an engaging personality on video? - Are you comfortable hosting live webinars with experts, or do you prefer creating a scripted YouTube series? - Can you write persuasive, storytelling copy? - Are you able to provide supporting infographics, carousels, and photos to showcase your expertise? Start small, prove the value, and scale up from there.

HubSpot is one of the OGs when it comes to building a content engine. “ Our hope is that as marketers get smarter, they will shift their energies more and more to inbound marketing over time. It’s a more efficient — and more sustainable way to reach people. “ Dharmesh Shah said this in 2009, and it’s more relevant today than ever. HubSpot’s brand has become synonymous with B2B inbound marketing. How? They invested heavily in a content ecosystem: 1) Website resource hub and community center. 2) Insightful and entertaining video series (skits, cartoons, music videos, tutorials) on multiple YouTube channels. I googled ‘Inbound Marketing’ – guess which company was the first link? To top it off, Dharmesh leverages his founder brand to set HubSpot apart from every other CRM tool. 1) Pioneers of Inbound Marketing: Shah and his co-founder Brian Halligan were early advocates of ‘inbound marketing,’ creating valuable content to attract customers instead of relying on traditional outbound methods. 2) Leading by Example: Dharmesh consistently makes time to produce content on LinkedIn and Twitter, sharing his company journey and thought leadership. 3) Trusted Authority in SaaS: Dharmesh has become a trusted thought leader by speaking at business conferences and engaging with his community on social media (1M LinkedIn followers, 13k+ YouTube subscribers, and 230k+ Twitter followers). HubSpot faces heavy competition in the CRM space. Product differentiation can only go so far in today’s market, when: 1. There are too many options in each category. 2. Accessibility to technology is easier than ever. Convince your prospects to choose you by: - Sharing content that reflects your strategic narrative to communicate your 'why.' - Getting your founder to share thought leadership to explain your methodologies. - Creating entertaining mini-series that keep your prospects coming back. - Developing a long-format video series that can be redistributed across multiple platforms. Buyers view your content as a ‘trust label’ before buying from you. 2024 is the year to start building your content engine.

Olive is thrilled to be featured on Manny Jassal's latest episode of the #doesthisfounderhavethesauce challenge. This challenge highlights the importance of sharing subject matter expertise on LinkedIn to address the unique needs of your ideal customers. The content you share is a powerful tool to guide the conversation. That's why at Olive, we're committed to creating content that inspires, informs, and truly connects with our customers. Can Olive's Founder and CEO, David Beaton, handle the sauce? https://lnkd.in/gTJ8j8ru #Innovation #Leadership #Entrepreneurship #Marketing #HandleTheSauce