This episode features Stephen Messer, the co-founder and vice-chairman of Collective[i] and formerly, co-founder at Linkshare Corporation (exited for $500M). In the episode, you'll discover how Collective[i] disrupted the sales forecasting game with a pillar-based marketing strategy that built strong brand awareness and generated an impressive volume of leads, and much more.---------Quote "We must have a dialogue with our customers but they don't want to start the dialogue by having me lecture. They want to go and read it, research it, form their own opinion and belief, come back with the questions and debates, and have you convince them as an advisor. They don't want to be sold to because they've been sold to for too many years." - Stephen Messer, Co-Founder, Collective[i] ---------Key TakeawaysWhen you're the leader (in a disruptive category especially), weaker players will put out misinformation or make themselves look like the one who is winning.People will decide within the first paragraph if the content is valuable or clickbait.Content needs to solve a problem, and the brands that win at marketing are the ones who enter into a dialogue by taking their time and providing real value.---------Time Stamps:* (:59) Stephen’s journey to co-founding Collective[i]* (3:23) Parallel between agile sales and agile marketing* (8:37) Content marketing for a disruptive product* (11:32) Making data-driven decisions for SEO strategy * (15:52) Stephen’s advice for aspiring entrepreneurs on marketing--------SponsorThis podcast is brought to you by DemandJump. Tired of wasting time creating content that doesn’t rank? With DemandJump you know the exact content to create to increase 1st-page rankings and drive outcomes. Get started for free today at DemandJump.com.--------LinksConnect with Stephen on LinkedInConnect with Christopher on LinkedInConnect with Ryan on LinkedInLearn more about Collective[i]Learn more about DemandJump