Abby Murray

Most companies are sitting on a distribution engine they’re not using. Your team. Your marketers, your sellers, your product leaders—every one of them has a network. People who trust them more than they trust your brand. People who actually read what they post. That’s why employee advocacy is one of the most underrated growth levers in B2B AND why we launched our 𝘖𝘸𝘯 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘵 Challenge. Individuals get 8x more engagement than content posted by company pages on average. And we all know that buyers trust people, not logos. Your exec AND team’s voice can build brand affinity 10x faster than any ad spend. Here are the stats from the ‘arb after 4 weeks of the challenge: • Posts: 375 • Impressions: +5.6M • Reactions: +41.6K • Comments: +8K • Reposts: 912 • Social Referral Traffic: up 31% • Demos Referencing the Competition: +50% • Est Pipeline Value Driven: $403K • Internal teamwork on each other’s posts: Gold So when you’re ready to launch your own version of “OTI” here are my best tips from what we’ve learned so far. 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗠𝗘𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 Every department has unique insights. Encourage product managers, recruiters, and engineers to post about what they’re learning. These are the stories that make your brand human. 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 Celebrate the people building trust online. Create a Slack channel for shared wins. Incentivize creativity and consistency. Build advocacy into culture—not just into campaigns. 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 Forced advocacy fails. Empowerment wins. Give them the tools—but let them opt in, make it their own, and watch the authenticity come through. 𝗧𝗶𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗶𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 Track referral traffic and attribute inbound leads. Share the actual ROI of employee advocacy with your team—so they SEE the impact they’re making. If you're struggling to get traction on social or wondering why your content isn’t hitting, you might be overlooking your best creators. (I didn't even make top 5 posts for the team. And couldn't be a prouder loser.) They already work for you. Invite them to work with you. Hats off @storyarb crew! Y'all crushed this OTI thing. Now, what's next????! 👀 👀

Ahhh mid-year panic. When the YE goals get real real. 🫣 Getting this a lot out there rn. Mostly with teams leading AI-product launches, but have no GTM motion in motion quite yet. They all need content out the front door yesterday. And it can't take too long. They have real KPIs to hit. So it's gotta work now. AND it's gotta work later. Quick wins in the form of net-new MQLs --> New $$ (The 5% of your ICP) Slow-burn nurturing of those Leads --> MQLs --> SQLs that aren't quite ready to buy. But will be. (The 95%) Here’s the play @storyarb recommends (and is running right now behind the scenes for AI product teams trying to salvage YE goals): • Exec Content — Get your internal SMEs and leaders talking. Like right now. Everywhere. LinkedIn, interviews, podcasts. • Editorial Newsletter — Launch a niche-first editorial newsletter for your ICP. Yes "for" ... treat it like a publication, not a promo engine. • Flagship Content — Pick ONE cornerstone asset (playbook, case study, guide) that’s worth the download. Done right? → Social fuels quick $$ wins. → Social also fuels newsletter subs. → Newsletter builds credibility + awareness. → Flagship content captures leads and compounds in value for your ICP AND your pipeline over time. Start this week and you’ll be 60 days into momentum by Q4. Or let us build it for you. In other words, DM me if you’re in scramble mode.

Soooo many marketers riding the wrong wave. “Total engagement skyrocketed!” → Great! Until it dips or dives or bumps... and suddenly you’re spiraling: “Do I actually know what I’m doing here?” Here’s the problem: Total engagement ≠ quality engagement. Total engagement ≠ business results. If you’re a marketing team of one (especially if you're reporting up to leadership), here’s what matters way more: Percent engagement steadily increasing over time — with your target, in-niche audience. That is the signal. That proves you’re building the right audience and that your content is working as a compounding asset. Not a one-timer. How to measure it (simple version): 1️⃣ Define your ICP — ex: Heads of RevOps at $10M+ B2B SaaS companies 2️⃣ Track % of your engaged audience that fits this ICP — weekly or monthly 3️⃣ Monitor for consistent growth over time — even if absolute engagement looks “lower” 4️⃣ Report this % metric to leadership → it proves content is building pipeline-qualified attention Why it works: High total engagement on random viral posts won’t help your funnel. I'm dubbing these one-timers. Growing % engagement within your ICP-aligned prospects and buyers absolutely will. In fact, this is a real nice swell. This is the wave you should be riding.

“We’re looking for the 1,000 true fans.” A very smart marketing leader from a very smart company said this on a discovery call this week, and I can’t stop thinking about it. That’s what every company should be building for. It’s what I’m looking for at the ‘arb, and it’s what our team is building for. You don’t need the whole market. Just the right market that can’t stop talking about you. The person that tells their neighbor about you by the grill on a Saturday. Or at the gym Monday morning. Or in line with a co-worker for midday coffee. They can’t not talk about your company cause they genuinely love what you do that makes their lives just a little better or a little easier. Too many companies chase reach. The smart ones chase loyalty. Building for 1,000 true fans forever now.

@mar15sa love it!! congrats on the success here!

Started trying this route recently with my AI newsletter, Idea Kitchen. Turned on paid subs while focusing on free content. I’m at $1100 ARR so far. At first it didn’t feel right since I don’t have the paid resources set up yet. But after talking with subscribers, they’re just happy to support the work. My thinking is I’ll gradually add resources for paid members and raise prices, but lock the price for early subs. They also have a direct line to me, and their feedback is being built into the tool + content. Makes it win-win for everyone. It’s still early days but so far it’s giving me confidence I’m on the right path in building something people want.

We sold subscriptions to a site we hadn’t built yet at my last startup. A little wild when I really think about it. But it worked. We sold the vision of what it was going to be, and because we were building something the industry was in desperate need of, it clicked immediately for the ones who could ‘see it.’ So if you’re marketing in beta or pre-launch, I’m gonna let you in on a little secret: It’s never too soon to launch your content. In fact: → It’s your earliest demand signal. → It’s how you start building the first “1000 true fans.” → It’s how you figure out which parts of the vision land (and which parts don’t). No product? No problem. The best B2B companies win on narrative, not just features. So don’t wait for the product to be “done.” The sooner you start the content engine — exec social, flagship pieces, newsletter — the more market momentum you’ll have when the product is ready to sell.

"Excellent" rarely shows up in my vocabulary. Maybe it's the Montessori in me. But this week, I've used it multiple times. That's when I know our team is on fire. They Get it. Capital G. Three simple questions to use as a checkpoint to understand if your folks are firing on all cylinders in right seats within your org: 1. Do they GET it? 2. Do the WANT it? 3. Do they have the CAPACITY to do it? GWC: A "hell yes" to all three and you've got yourself a stellar crew on your hands! 💪

If your newsletter disappears tomorrow will anyone notice? If the answer is no, you're promoting. If the answer is hell yes, you're building a product. Newsletters are products, NOT promotion. Build something they want and need to read.

I’ve been leading marketing teams for 15 years and the most successful ones routinely do these 5 things: 1. Start with the customer, not the channel They obsess over their ICP. Before making a single content, ad, or campaign decision, they ask: *“*Would this help our customer be better at their job?” Not “Will it get likes?” 2. Build content like a product They don’t just “do content.” They have a roadmap. Clear formats. Launch cycles. Performance tracking. Great content is an asset, not a task. 3. Bridge sales and marketing Best-in-class teams don’t let silos fester. They share insights, swap pain points, and co-own revenue metrics. 4. Review and refine frequently They don’t set strategy once a year and forget it. Monthly retros. Quarterly resets. They’re honest about what’s working—and ruthless about cutting what’s not. 5. Say no to the wrong growth The best teams don’t chase every lead or traffic bump. They know who they’re for (and who they’re not). They protect the brand and prioritize sustainable wins over quick hits. 6. Say no to jerks (there’s always a bonus for the readers that stay ☺️) This one tells me the fastest if a team is on the highway to health or highway to hell. I don't care how talented you are. Jerks will ruin a creative space faster than budget cuts or poor content performance. Culture is everything. Leading our ‘arb team through 2025 and these still hold.

I’m gonna go hard on marketing teams today…your sales team is right. They need more than one case study and a dusty pitch deck to close deals. Don’t grab your pitchforks — I’m always ‘team marketing’ but you don’t have a marketing team if your sales team can’t close deals and you don’t have a company. Only writing for TOFU leaves the rest of your funnel to fend for itself. What if you co-created content with them (and their insights) from the start? → A 1-pager for that pesky stage where deals go quiet → A playbook that answers the questions buyers ask mid-funnel → A swipe file of objection-handling stories for reps to post on LinkedIn Content marketing IS sales enablement. Make sure you’ve got stuff for every stage of your funnel. And sales teams? You still gotta close the deal. 👊

𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨?? It's been happening in so many of my calls with prospects.... There's this moment. They lean in. Lower their voice. Look around as if they're about to ask me to help hide a body. And then they whisper: "𝘚𝘰... 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸... 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘈𝘐?" The hesitancy. The awkward dance. The careful tiptoeing around the question, like they're afraid they're accusing me of some terrible crime. Ha! So good. And I totally appreciate their careful way about it. But it's become one of my favorite questions to answer.... OF COURSE WE USE AI! Are you kidding?! AI is embedded in every corner of our business at storyarb. And if we didn't use it? I'd be failing as a CEO. Those that don't? They're either: - Lying - Charging you too much - About to get left behind Our focus at the 'arb is to deliver exceptional content that drives real business results. Just like any new tech, AI or the next, if it can help us do more, better, faster, without diluting quality ... or better yet, actually raising our bar of excellence ... we're all over that! TLDR: AI amplifies the talent of our team. It handles the grunt work, lifts the writer's block, preps the briefs, pulls key time stamps... It leaves more room than ever for our team to focus on strategy, creativity, and the craft itself. In fact, it's an incredibly special time to build an agency. + Our team gets to do more of what they love. + Our clients get better content, faster. + And we've built an agency model that's sustainably profitable. Everybody wins. So no, I'm not offended when you ask if we use AI. I'm excited to tell you exactly how it makes us better at serving you.

Quickest fix for half of all mediocre B2B content: Reframe the hero. Most brands write case studies with them wearing the cape, but great content makes the reader the hero. They see their own problems in the first 3 paragraphs. They walk away with tools they can implement. And their sentiment isn’t, ”wow, what a smart brand” ... it's “wait, that could work for us.” No special powers. Just reframing.

Today in "Why I Love My Job" 🤩

Give. Away. The. Gold. You think your secret sauce is so valuable. And you're right. So stop keeping it a secret. It's likely the most high-value "conversion kit" you have. Deep-niche value that can support your ICP to make their job easier??? That right there is gold. Give it away. What the heck am I talking about? Your company's expertise: • The frameworks your engineers perfected • The processes your product team developed • The methodologies your service team uses daily Turn that knowledge into: • Step-by-step playbooks for implementing your approach • Weekly newsletters breaking down industry challenges • Behind-the-scenes content showing how you solve problems • Workshop series teaching your proven methods Example? A DevOps platform sharing their deployment checklist. An HR tech company revealing their compensation frameworks. A sales enablement tool teaching qualification strategies. Old-school marketing says this is risky. But here's what happens: Your ICP starts using your expertise before they need your product. They implement your frameworks, see results, and when they hit the scaling point? Or when they realize it's too much for them to do well on their own? You're not just another vendor. You're the trusted expert who's been making their job easier for months. Or even years. This isn't giving away your competitive advantage. It's proving it.

If you're a marketer having a tough day, just imagine the team responsible for reporting ROI on this campaign spend. 🫠

Helped this up-and-comer with her content last night. A mission critical long-form content piece that had to result in optimal CVR. CVR = college acceptance. Up-and-comer = my daughter. Baby girl is officially 18 and on the college visit circuit. I know — I don’t know how it happened either. But it has me thinking about how much smarter she is than I am. And how often folks overlook hiring young talent for old. Age does not: • Dictate skill • Determine aptitude • Define leadership abilities Age tells me: • Someone’s birthday • How much older I have gotten • How LONG they have been working (this does.not.equal aptitude) ‘Experience’ is completely relative. Some people have “experienced” far more in their first 20 years of life than some in their 50 years of life. Ignore the age. Or if you’re like me, completely forget the age because I have an 18-year-old who is more mature than her Dad and I combined. P.S. Ayva has taught me more about patience, kindness, grace, and ketosis in her VERY fast 18 years than anyone else.

I’ll send $1000 bucks to the first person to refer someone to @storyarb. I’ll send $1000 bucks to ANY person that refers someones to @storyarb. ;) Our team just rolled out the best referral program I’ve seen in awhile and anyone can do it. So if you’ve got a friend in the B2B business looking to scale their content, you know what to do. I’ll throw the link in the comments for ya. Happy sharing!

I'm shocked how many companies still sleep on email newsletters. We have multiple newsletter exits (@MorningBrew, @TheHustle, @milkroad) & more newsletter tooling than ever (@beehiiv, @kit) yet I can count on one hand the # of great company newsletters. Here's my theory why... There are two categories of email newsletters: - Marketing emails - Editorial emails Marketing emails are the OG email product. These are the 15-email sequences that shove LTOs, BFCM deals, and product features down your throat. A necessary evil for companies, but rarely a delightful surprise in a consumer's inbox. Marketing emails are ubiquitous. Almost every company sends marketing emails & has entire teams dedicated to optimizing every subject line, send time, and word of every email for max conversion. Now, let's talk about editorial emails. Editorial emails are a new age email product. With editorial email, your newsletter is the product (vs. marketing for another product). With editorial email, the goal is simple...add as much value to the reader as possible & get them to the bottom of your newsletter. The best editorial emails have a stupid simple problem-solution statement. Morning Brew helps the modern business professional speak intelligently with their boss. The Publish Press gives creator economy participants the info they need to succeed in the industry. A Media Operator helps media professionals make more intelligent decisions in their day-to-day work. A marketing email is 10% value creation, 90% value extraction. An editorial email is 90% value creation, 10% value extraction. I do believe companies (that are willing to lead by example) are going to wake up to the massive benefit of email newsletters: - You get to own (vs. rent) your audience - You get to create demand & capture demand - You build an intimate relationship with an opt-in consumer - You can scale to massive audience with very little headcount Very curious who's going to lead the charge.

Your B2B content machine is probably way too complex. After building 4 B2B companies and studying countless others, I can tell you that today's winning formula only has 3 parts: 1. Exec Social Not just LinkedIn algo-chasing fluff. Strategic storytelling that: • Shares deep SME insights • Promotes your flagship content • Builds trust with decision-makers Pro tip: 3 posts/week per exec, minimum. Pull from existing content - transcripts from webinars, client interviews, internal expertise. 2. Strategic Newsletter This isn't your standard company spam. Think: • Curated industry insights • Analysis of what's working in your space • Previews of your deep-dive content Key: 90% value-add, 10% promotion. And consistency matters more than frequency. 3. Flagship Content Series One premium, gated asset released regularly that showcases ... scratch that —> GIVES AWAY your expertise: • Research-based case studies • Industry playbooks • Expert interview series Choose ONE format. Do it exceptionally well. The Magic? It's all connected, folks! • Social drives newsletter subscriptions • Newsletter promotes flagship content • Flagship content captures qualified leads • Email nurture turns leads into demos Measuring Success: • Track in-niche follower growth • Monitor email capture conversion rates • Measure demo requests (or your bofu revenue CTA) • Calculate closed wins from captured emails Before you start: • Know your sales cycle length (becomes your reporting timeframe) • Understand average deal size (multiplier to set revenue goals) • Measure your starting email list size and **niche social following This isn't about content volume. It's about strategic connection points that drive real business results in the simplest way. Your job as CMO? Pick your formats, commit to consistency, and let the system work. Questions about making this work for your org? Drop them below or ofc DM me anytime!