Expert Mode: The Case for Building a Media Brand (Before You Hit a Growth Wall)
This article was based on the interview with Featuring insights from Benjamin Shapiro, host of the MarTech Podcast and founder of I Hear Everything by Greg Kihlström, MarTech and AI keynote speaker for The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström podcast. Listen to the original episode here:
When marketers think about content, they often picture campaigns—finite, purpose-built, and measured in clicks. Benjamin Shapiro wants them to think differently. As the creator of the MarTech Podcast and founder of I Hear Everything, Shapiro has helped brands evolve from content dabblers to full-fledged media brands. His premise is straightforward: stop chasing leads, and start building relationships. Because if you’re only marketing to the 5% of your audience that’s in-market today, you’re missing the other 95% who might be buying tomorrow.
In this conversation, Shapiro breaks down the real role of content in a modern marketing strategy, why AI is best used as a co-pilot (not a ghostwriter), and how companies can build lasting brand authority by thinking like publishers, not just marketers.
Content Is Table Stakes—But That Doesn’t Make It Optional
Shapiro is quick to challenge the hand-wringing over “content overload.” Yes, we’re drowning in blog posts and podcasts. No, that doesn’t mean content is dead—it means it’s standard.
“If you don’t have a consistent way to produce media that humanizes your brand, you just seem like an old, stodgy company.”
He compares the current wave of branded podcasts and content hubs to the early days of blogging. First, a few players (TechCrunch, HubSpot) found explosive growth. Then everyone jumped in. Today, content may not be the breakout rocket it once was—but it’s still a key engine for awareness, trust, and credibility.
What’s changed is the expectation. In B2B, buyers expect to recognize your brand before they enter the funnel. And content—especially thought leadership content delivered as media—helps warm that relationship long before the first sales email is sent.
AI Is the Co-Pilot, Not the Star
For all the noise around AI, Shapiro’s stance is pragmatic: use it where it saves time, not where it steals soul.
His own team uses generative AI at every stage of their podcast production process:
- Guest evaluation: AI helps assess guest fit based on credibility and relevance to the audience.
- Script generation: A first draft is created using templates and guest data, then refined collaboratively.
- Content repurposing: Post-interview transcripts are fed into AI to produce LinkedIn posts, YouTube headlines, and social content tailored to each platform.
But—and this is critical—humans are still in control.
“We don’t just put something out there that’s straight from GenAI. We edit. We revise. We teach it how we think.”
He emphasizes the importance of iterative prompting—refining AI instructions over time based on feedback and performance. Without that loop, you’ll end up with generic outputs (and generic engagement).
The result? AI supercharges the team’s ability to show up across platforms while still sounding like themselves.
Content Strategy Requires a Longer Time Horizon
One of Shapiro’s most important takeaways is about patience. Most marketing leaders—especially in B2B—are stuck measuring media efforts with demand-gen metrics. That’s a mistake.
“If you’re relying on a podcast to generate leads in three weeks, you’re running into the desert looking for water.”
Instead, Shapiro encourages a phased approach to content impact:
- Quarter 1 – Focus solely on publishing consistently. Don’t obsess over downloads—just get content into market.
- Quarters 2–3 – Measure audience development. Look at engagement, subscribers, social reactions.
- Quarter 4 and Year 2 – Track share of voice. Are you showing up in conversations more often?
- Year 2+ – Analyze how content has influenced pipeline, brand perception, and long-term consideration.
In short: content is a long game. But it pays off with higher ceilings and better resilience than pure paid media plays.
“If you’re a CMO measuring a podcast by demand-capture metrics, you’re already doing it wrong.”
Don’t Rent Someone Else’s Audience—Build Your Own
One of the most overlooked risks in modern marketing is dependency. Shapiro points out that many B2B brands have grown quickly by pouring money into LinkedIn, Google, and Meta. But once those channels hit saturation or costs spike, growth flatlines.
“You’re renting someone else’s audience. And you’ll eventually hit a ceiling.”
That’s why he advocates for owned media. Whether it’s a podcast, a YouTube series, or a branded newsletter, the goal is to create a durable channel that builds trust with your total addressable market—not just the sliver that’s in buying mode this quarter.
Done well, that audience becomes a strategic asset. When your in-market window opens, they already know who you are. They’ve heard your voice. They trust your expertise. That’s not just brand building—it’s pipeline prep.
And it’s also insurance. When ad costs spike or algorithms shift, owned media gives you a direct line to your customers—no middleman required.
Conclusion
In a landscape where content is everywhere and attention is scarce, the brands that thrive are the ones who stop chasing clicks and start cultivating connection. Benjamin Shapiro has built a business—and a community—on this principle. His advice is both simple and countercultural: play the long game, use AI as your amplifier (not your author), and treat media not as a campaign tactic, but as the backbone of your marketing strategy.
Because when the performance dollars stop working—and they will—you’ll want something more durable than a rented audience. You’ll want trust. And trust takes time.
The best time to start building that was last year.
The second-best time? Today.
