Ahrefs Podcast

Is your marketing stuck in “competent” mode? In a world where AI can generate endless content, being good isn’t good enough anymore. In this episode, Tim Soulo sits down with best-selling author and marketing futurist Mark Schaefer to unpack why most marketing feels flat — and how to fix it. Drawing from his book Audacious, Mark makes the case for out-humaning the machines: creating content that’s emotional, unexpected, and deeply memorable. You’ll learn: * Why the real threat to your brand isn’t AI — it’s being boring * How concepts like the handicap principle and pratfall effect make content feel more real * What a $1,500 pig can teach you about word-of-mouth marketing * Why Liquid Death isn’t selling water — they’re selling marketing * How to measure the ROI of audacity in a spreadsheet-driven world If your brand is playing it safe, this conversation will push you to think bigger, bolder, and more human. Chapters: (00:00) Intro (03:06) The Concept of Audacious Marketing (08:52) How to Out-Human the Machines (11:39) Join Ahrefs Evolve (12:18) Using AI in Marketing (21:12) How a $1500 Pig Became a Marketing Sensation (30:47) Breaking Bad Rules for Good Reasons (37:12) Creating Awe to Break the Pandemic of Dull (48:31) Using Controversy and Stunts to Create Awareness (55:28) How Liquid Death Disrupted a Boring Industry Through Marketing (01:05:15) Buying a Product vs Buying a Brand (01:13:27) Measuring the Impact of Audacious Marketing (01:21:01) Outro Where to find Mark: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisclickup/ Website: https://clickup.com/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/ X: https://twitter.com/timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ Referenced in this episode: 👤 People Michael Krivica — https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelkrivica/ Dacher Keltner — https://www.linkedin.com/in/dacherkeltner/ Peter Drucker — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Drucker Philip Kotler — https://www.linkedin.com/in/philipkotler/ Patrick Campbell — https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickccampbell/ Jonah Berger — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonahberger/ Bill Gates — https://www.linkedin.com/in/billgates/ Mike Cessario (Liquid Death Founder) — https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikecessario/ Stix Nielsen (ex-Liquid Death CMO) — https://www.linkedin.com/in/stixnielsen/ 🏢 Companies & Brands Ahrefs — https://ahrefs.com/ Coca-Cola — https://www.coca-colacompany.com/ Netflix — https://www.netflix.com/ Liquid Death — https://liquiddeath.com/ Pepsi — https://www.pepsico.com/ Powerade — https://www.powerade.com/ Gatorade — https://www.gatorade.com/ Elf Cosmetics — https://www.elfcosmetics.com/ Roblox — https://www.roblox.com/ monday.com — https://monday.com/ ClickUp — https://clickup.com/ Asana — https://asana.com/ BMW — https://www.bmw.com/ Audi — https://www.audi.com/ Mercedes — https://www.mercedes-benz.com/ ProfitWell — https://www.profitwell.com/ Mischief Agency — https://www.mischiefusa.com/ Taboo — https://www.taboo.com.au/ 📚 Books Audacious by Mark Schaefer — https://www.amazon.com/Audacious-Marketing-Humans-Machines-Dominate/dp/1119904791 Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger — https://www.amazon.com/Contagious-Things-Catch-Jonah-Berger/dp/1451686579 Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life by Dacher Keltner — https://www.amazon.com/Awe-Science-Everyday-Wonder-Transform/dp/1982172820 📚 Concepts & Frameworks Handicap Principle — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handicap_principle Pratfall Effect — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratfall_effect Social Objects — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_object Collective Effervescence — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_effervescence Four P’s of Marketing — https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/four-ps-of-marketing.asp 🎬 Events South by Southwest (SXSW) — https://www.sxsw.com/ Ahrefs Evolve Conference — https://ahrefs.com/evolve

Chris Cunningham, founding member of ClickUp, reveals the social media strategy that drives a staggering 150M monthly impressions. This is *the* exact strategy that's also attracted major clients like VaynerMedia (yes, GaryVee literally found them through social media). Grab your notes. 📝 Chris shares his contrarian take on hooks and pattern interrupts, explains why hiring LA actors is a no-brainer for your social content, and walks us through his secret Trial Reels technique that consistently multiplies video performance. In this episode: (00:00) The Power of Humor in B2B Marketing (00:57) Measuring ROI in Social Media Strategies (05:10) How Much Does It Cost to Create This Type of Content? (07:32) Finding and Hiring Talent for Content Creation (12:57) Integrating Humor with Project Management Software (17:25) The Creative Process: From Ideas to Execution (18:40) Using Trial Reels to Test Impact(21:08) Brainstorming Creative Ideas(24:02) Balancing Fun and Product Promotion (29:17) Breaking Marketing Norms (33:30) The ABCD Framework for Content Creation (38:33) Pattern Interrupt Techniques in Content (43:18) Psychological Hacks for Converting Followers (46:24) Building a Personal Brand Vs a Company Brand (50:39) Types of Content for Brand Accounts (53:44) Defining the ClickUp Brand (57:10) The $15K ClickUp Album (01:02:01) Influencer Marketing Strategies (01:04:50) The Super Bowl Ad Experience (01:07:35) AI in Marketing: A Critical Perspective (01:11:54) Outro We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). ⸻ Where to find Chris: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisclickup/ X: @ChrisClickUp Website: https://clickup.com/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/) X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ ⸻ Referenced in this episode: 👤 People Gary Vaynerchuk (GaryVee): https://www.linkedin.com/in/garyvaynerchuk/ Kyle Coleman (ClickUp CMO): https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylecoleman/ Adam Robinson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamsrobinson/ Gaurav Agarwal (ClickUp COO): https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaurav-agarwal-8278271/ Zeb Evans (ClickUp Founder/CEO): https://www.linkedin.com/in/zeb-evans/ Seth Godin: https://www.sethgodin.com/ Mr. Beast:  ⁨@MrBeast⁩  [https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCX6OQ3DkcsbYNE6H8uQQuVA] Clever (Artist): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clever_(rapper) ⸻ 🏢 Companies & Brands VaynerMedia: https://vaynerx.com/ Adweek (Adworld): https://www.adweek.com/ Groundlings: https://www.groundlings.com/ Copy AI: https://www.copy.ai/ Clari: https://www.clari.com/ BuzzFeed: https://www.buzzfeed.com/ Halligan Cinema: https://halligancinema.com/ HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com/ Asana: https://asana.com/ Jira: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira Wendy’s: https://www.wendys.com/ Apple: https://www.apple.com/ Windows (Microsoft): https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows Morning Brew: https://www.morningbrew.com/ ⸻ 🛠️ Tools / Platforms TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/ Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/ Spotify: https://www.spotify.com/ Apple Music: https://www.apple.com/apple-music/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ Claude (Anthropic AI): https://www.anthropic.com/news/claude-3-family ChatGPT (OpenAI): https://chat.openai.com/ Clay (Lead gen / enrichment): https://www.clay.com/

Is AI replacing marketers, or just helping bad marketers move faster? In this episode, we're joined by Eric Siu, founder of Single Grain, host of  ⁨@LevelingUpOfficial⁩  [https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UC3owDdLk7HL1dyQnkoBuRew], and advisor to some of the biggest SaaS companies, to debate how AI is changing marketing right now. Eric breaks down the AI workflows his agency uses to cut content production time by 90%, including how they generated 21 blog posts in 30 minutes. But it’s not magic. We dive into where AI works, where it still fails, and why human editors are still a critical part of the process. We discuss: 00:00 Intro 00:57 Growing an Agency in an AI World 05:23 What Can AI Actually Be Used for Right Now? 09:30 21 Blog Posts in 30 Minutes: Real or Slop? 13:11 The Role of Human Editors in AI Content 15:52 AI Tools Reshaping Marketing 23:54 Agency Value in the Age of AI 30:25 AI for Scheduling, Note-Taking, and Automation 44:03 Gamifying SOPs with AI 46:57 One-Click Internal Linking 50:53 The Personal Brand Machine (And How AI Supercharges It) 58:50 AI-Powered LinkedIn Ads & ABM 01:08:07 Outro We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). ⸻ Where to find Eric: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericosiu/ X: @ericosiuWebsites: https://www.singlegrain.com/ https://karrot.ai/ https://www.levelingup.com/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/)X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ 👥 People Mentioned • Neil Patel – Co-founder of NP Digital, marketing influencer, frequent collaborator with Eric LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilkpatel Website: https://neilpatel.com • Gael Breton – Co-founder of Authority Hacker, SEO educator LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gael-breton-762b1515 Website: https://www.authorityhacker.com • Nathan Barry – Founder of ConvertKit (now Kit), previous podcast guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanbarry Website: https://nathanbarry.com • Dmitry Gerasimenko – Founder & CEO of Ahrefs LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerasimenko ⸻ 🏢 Companies & Tools Referenced • Single Grain – Digital marketing agency founded by Eric Siu Website: https://www.singlegrain.com • Ahrefs – SEO and marketing intelligence platform Website: https://ahrefs.com • NP Digital – Marketing agency co-founded by Neil Patel Website: https://npdigital.com • Authority Hacker – SEO and content marketing education Website: https://www.authorityhacker.com • Lindy.ai – AI agent tool for task automation, including recruiting Website: https://lindy.ai • Manos – AI-powered recruiting automation (referenced) Website: https://manos.so • Reclaim.ai – Smart calendar management for scheduling and productivity Website: https://reclaim.ai • Hawie.ai – AI meeting scheduling assistant Website: https://hawie.ai • Granola – AI note-taking tool Website: https://granola.so • Gong – Sales intelligence and meeting recording tool Website: https://www.gong.io • Overlap – AI video clipping for short-form content Website: https://www.overlap.so • Opus Clip – AI video clipping tool for podcasts and YouTube Website: https://www.opus.pro • Descript – AI-powered video editing tool Website: https://www.descript.com • Bannerbear – Automated image and video generation (used for OG images) Website: https://www.bannerbear.com ⸻ 📚 Books & Ideas Referenced • “Who’s Got the Monkey?” – Harvard Business Review article on delegation Read it: https://hbr.org/1974/11/management-time-whos-got-the-monkey

What if you could turn LinkedIn into your only customer acquisition channel and grow to $30M ARR...without spending a dime on paid ads? Adam Robinson⁩ breaks down the exact playbook he used to build a magnetic personal brand, engineer high-engagement content, and make LinkedIn work like a growth engine. From bootstrapping three companies to millions in ARR to building a content system that turns credibility into conversions, Adam doesn’t hold back. We explored storytelling, content marketing, webinars, and the overlooked strategies that helped him scale fast without relying on traditional funnels. In this episode: (00:00) Intro (00:50) Building a Personal Brand on Social Media (06:09) Finding Your Voice and Content Market Fit (08:50) The Importance of Authentic Storytelling (11:46) Creating a Public Figure Through Content (14:56) Strategies for Growing Your LinkedIn Audience (17:55) Crafting Engaging Posts and Hooks (21:00) The Art of Storytelling in Content Creation (23:58) Tactics for Effective LinkedIn Posting (33:27) Leveraging Credibility in Content Creation (36:39) Maximizing Engagement Through Hooks and Templates (41:36) The Role of AI in Content Generation (50:25) Frequency and Interaction: Balancing Engagement on LinkedIn (54:40) The Power of Video in Building Trust (01:00:44) The Unique Appeal of Live Webinars (01:02:39) Outro We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find Adam: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanbarry/ Websites: https://www.retention.com/ https://www.rb2b.com/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/) X: @timsoulo Website: https://www.timsoulo.com/ 👥 People Mentioned • Russell Brunson – Co-founder of ClickFunnels, early internet marketing influencer LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/russellbrunson • Dave Gerhardt – Founder of Exit Five, author of Founder Brand LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davegerhardt • Chris Walker – Growth marketing expert, LinkedIn creator LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chriswalker • Nigel Thomas – LinkedIn content creator known for post templates LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigelthomas • Tom Wolfe – B2B content creator and podcast guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomwolfe • Rick Rubin – Music producer, quoted on art and perspective (No specific profile link) • Peter Conforti – Analyst who studied LinkedIn audience overlap LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterconforti • Jeremy Horwitz – Guest on webinars, ABM expert LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremyhorwitz • Sam Parr – Host of “My First Million” podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samparr • Nathan Barry – Mentioned by Tim as podcast guest in this episode LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanbarry • Paul Graham – Y Combinator founder Website: http://www.paulgraham.com ⸻ 🏢 Companies & Tools Referenced • ClickFunnels – Sales funnel software (Russell Brunson’s company) Website: https://clickfunnels.com • Jasper AI – AI writing assistant tool Website: https://www.jasper.ai #LinkedIn #CustomerAcquisition #PersonalBrand #ContentMarketing #Storytelling #AudienceGrowth #SocialMediaStrategy #Engagement #Authenticity #MarketingTactics #ContentCreation #Credibility #AI #Video #Webinars #audiencebuilding

Nathan Barry (founder of Kit, formerly ConvertKit) joins Tim Soulo to break down one of the boldest rebrands in SaaS, and why it wasn’t just a logo change, but a complete overhaul of identity, voice, and vision. We talk: • Why they spent $260K with a top agency (and what they actually got) • How to design word-of-mouth marketing that actually works• Using AI to scale brand consistency • The Minimum Viable Personal Brand for founders • Building creator flywheels instead of chasing funnels • What Kit learned from celebrity newsletters (Tom Brady, Dua Lipa, McConaughey…) If you care about brand, growth, or building in public, this is the episode to watch. 00:00 - Intro 00:54 - Why spend $360K for a rebrand? 06:14 - Using AI to stay on brand 10:28 - Acquiring a three-letter domain 16:05 - Business decisions beyond immediate profit 21:26 - Turning a rebrand into a marketing flywheel 26:06 - You can’t script word of mouth. But you can feed it 32:56 - Customers as marketing assets 42:30 - Funnels vs flywheels and landing celebrity clients 53:45 - Delegating like a CEO (but still showing up) 1:00:32 - Outro We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! As always, be sure to like and subscribe (and tell a friend). Where to find Nathan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanbarry/ X: @nathanbarry Website: https://kit.com/ Where to find Tim: LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/) X: @timsouloWebsite: https://www.timsoulo.com/ _______________ Referenced in this episode: 🔹 People Tom Brady — Referenced in relation to Kit newsletter visibility https://www.instagram.com/tombrady/ Patrick Campbell — Founder of ProfitWell (acquired by Paddle) https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickccampbell/ https://twitter.com/pattyc Dua Lipa — Musician and creator, newsletter launched via Kit https://www.instagram.com/dualipa/ ⸻ 🔹 Companies / Products / Platforms Kit — Formerly ConvertKit, platform for professional creatorshttps://kit.com/ Koto — Design agency behind Kit’s $260K rebrandhttps://koto.studio/ Ahrefs — All-in-one SEO and marketing platform https://ahrefs.com/ ProfitWell — Subscription analytics and retention toolhttps://www.profitwell.com/ Paddle — SaaS payment infrastructure company (acquired ProfitWell) https://www.paddle.com/ Creator Network — Kit’s recommendation and newsletter growth engine https://kit.com/features/creator-network ⸻ 🔹 Books / Concepts“Do Things That Don’t Scale” — Paul Graham (essay from Y Combinator) https://www.paulgraham.com/ds.html Ahrefs Podcast Host: Tim Soulo Podcast Producer: Michelle Lindner Intro Storyboard: Michelle Lindner Intro Video Lead: George Dolgikh Intro Video Animations: Ilya Yakymchuck Filmed at: Content HQ, Miami #branding #rebranding #marketing #emailmarketing #Kit #ConvertKit #domainnames #customerengagement #storytelling #businessstrategy #marketingstrategies #creatorplatforms #abtesting #directsales #networkeffects #teamprocesses #founderpassion