Safe, Seen, & Paid: What Women in B2B Really Need | E95 with Jane Serra

Why is it still harder for women to be seen, heard, and safe in B2B marketing? 🤔 We work in female-heavy teams, but the mics, panels, and power seats still skew the other way—and it shows up in our careers, our DMs, and even at conferences.In this episode, we’re joined by Jane Serra, host of Women in B2B Marketing, to dig into what actually moves the needle: women-only spaces, real allyship, and building the support systems that carry you further than any “hustle harder” mantra ever will.We get into: ✅ Why “women-only” rooms still matter (and how they change the convo) ✅ How to build your Personal Board of Directors (P-BOD)—and use it for jobs, pay, and sanity ✅ Practical allyship for men (hint: share those opportunities you’re handed) ✅ Equity vs. equality: what companies get wrong and how to fix it ✅ Conference reality checks: safety, safeguarding, and setting boundaries ✅ “Do it scared”: putting your name in the hat before you feel “ready” ✅ The visibility gap—why fewer women get the mic and how to change it ✅ Surviving the “do more with less” era without burning outIf you’ve ever felt alone in a room full of marketers—or you’re ready to make B2B better for the next woman in line—this one’s for you. We’re Ruta and Emma, the marketing consultants behind Blame it on Marketing. If you’re in B2B SaaS or professional services and looking to do marketing that actually drives revenue and profit, we’re here for it.Visit blameitonmarketing.com and let’s get this show on the road.

Think events are all free prosecco and LinkedIn photos? 🤔 Behind every smooth show is a sleep-deprived team juggling power sockets, panic emails, and a thousand tiny fires—often at the same time.In this episode, we’re joined by Sarah Tully (Group Event Director, eCommerce Expo & Technology for Marketing), Laura Dazon (Marketing Manager), and Phoebe Dunsmore (Marketing Executive) from CloserStill Media to pull back the curtain on event season—what really breaks, what actually matters, and how marketers can survive (and even enjoy) the madness.We get into: ✅ The biggest misconceptions about events marketing (and why the show is the middle of the campaign, not the end) ✅ How to balance sponsors, exhibitors & attendees with a clear “value story” (Laura’s “chair with four legs” framework) ✅ Real on-site war stories: raining ceilings, no-show speakers, surprise venue drills, and the eternal Wi-Fi scam ✅ Ops gotchas marketers miss (power, internet, signage, space for photo areas… and why people never read the emails) ✅ Inbox triage during peak season: empathy, boundaries, and why “please unsubscribe me” isn’t a personal attack ✅ Neurodiversity on the show floor—headphones, quiet resets, and planning for the post-event crash ✅ Exhibitor & visitor playbooks: keep activations simple, plan before/during/after, train booth teams, and download the app ✅ Self-care that actually helps on-site: snacks + water, pacing, buddy up, and don’t schedule your whole life the week afterIf event season has you clutching your lanyard and whispering “I need a nap,” this one’s for you. We’re Ruta and Emma, the marketing consultants behind Blame it on Marketing. If you’re in B2B SaaS or professional services and looking to do marketing that actually drives revenue and profit, we’re here for it.Visit blameitonmarketing.com and let’s get this show on the road.

Why does B2B influencer marketing feel so chaotic right now? 🤔 LinkedIn reach is down, creators are charging enterprise prices, and everyone’s asking how to prove ROI without waiting nine months for a deal to close.In this episode, we’re joined by Hector Forwood, co-founder & CEO of Flooencer, to demystify what’s working (and what’s broken) in B2B influencer marketing—how to pick the right creators, what to pay, and how to measure impact the C-suite will actually buy.We get into: ✅ What’s changed on LinkedIn (why organic reach has dropped & what still works now: carousels/PDFs, mixed media, and long-tail impressions) ✅ Creator types—content creators vs. thought leaders—and when you need both ✅ Pricing sanity: flat fee vs. affiliate/rev-share, and avoiding the “three posts for £18k” trap ✅ Measuring ROI for PLG vs. enterprise (discount codes & clicks vs. engaged-persona tracking) ✅ Running technical campaigns that aren’t cringe (how to make deeply technical features land with data teams) ✅ Small-budget playbook: start with customers, employees & partners, then micro-creators off LinkedIn (TikTok/YouTube) ✅ The four pillars of advocacy (influencers, employees, partners, customers) and how to stack them ✅ Red flags to skip: AI “agents” that are just automations, bait resources, and vanity engagement ✅ A couple of painfully honest “don’t do this” stories to keep you out of trouble 😬If you’re trying to make influencer work on a B2B budget—or trying to price your own content without getting fleeced—this one’s for you. We’re Ruta and Emma, the marketing consultants behind Blame it on Marketing. If you’re in B2B SaaS or professional services and looking to do marketing that actually drives revenue and profit, we’re here for it.Visit blameitonmarketing.com and let’s get this show on the road.

Why does marketing feel… weird right now? 😵‍💫 Budgets are tight, algorithms won’t sit still, AI is everywhere, and juniors are somehow expected to be CMOs. So how are marketers actually coping—and still shipping great work?In this episode, we’re joined by Dan & Alice, co-hosts of Work Is Weird Now, for a brutally honest chat about staying sane, creative, and effective when the ground keeps moving.We get into: ✅ Boundaries > burnout: muting, blocking, and setting “rules for scrolling” so you can actually think ✅ “Certainty theatre” vs. test-and-learn: how to make the case for experiments when leadership wants guarantees ✅ The junior trap: why you still need senior thinking, horizon-scanning, and context (and what’s fair to expect from juniors) ✅ In-house, agency & community: finding the support system that keeps you sharp (and human) ✅ AI without the eye-roll: practical ways to use it without losing your voice—plus what new tools mean for real creativity ✅ Events, content, and the attribution mirage: measuring what matters when not everything can be measured ✅ Coping tactics that actually help: small wins, shipping momentum, and protecting your creative timeIf your job currently requires equal parts strategy, creativity, and emotional resilience, this one’s for you. 🎧 We’re Ruta and Emma, the marketing consultants behind Blame it on Marketing. If you’re in B2B SaaS or professional services and looking to do marketing that actually drives revenue and profit, we’re here for it.Visit blameitonmarketing.com and let’s get this show on the road.

Why have so many leaders written off SEO as “dead”? 🤔 Whether it’s the rise of AI search, fears of fierce competition, or painstaking boardroom battles over budget, the rumour mill keeps churning. But if your ideal buyers still Google for solutions—or even ask ChatGPT—you can’t afford to ignore it.In this episode, we’re joined by Sam Dunning, founder of Breaking B2B and host of the Breaking B2B podcast, to explain why SEO isn’t dying—it’s just evolving. Sam shares the unconventional, revenue-focused playbook that’s working today for B2B and SaaS marketers.We get into: ✅ Why “SEO is dead” misses the mark for most B2B & SaaS businesses ✅ How to decide if SEO fits your ICP, runway & resources ✅ The two quick-win page types that can rank in 30–60 days ✅ Niches, “offer + industry” and “alt vs” pages: long-tail goldmines ✅ Why one-and-done SEO is a fantasy—and what a revenue-driven strategy looks like ✅ How to win stubborn C-suite buy-in (or quietly prove ROI yourself) ✅ Brand mentions, structured data & AI search: ranking on ChatGPT, Perplexity & more ✅ Crafting top-of-funnel “jobs-to-be-done” content that truly convertsIf you’re tired of SEO obituaries—or you’ve been guilty of underinvesting in search—this one’s for you.

Why do marketers lose their cool over slide decks, ChatGPT “feedback,” and CEOs who sign off every tweet? 🤯 We’ve all felt our blood boil when leadership “just wants it pretty,” when “my partner hates that ad,” or when they lob in a last-minute “get this done by tomorrow” bomb.In this crossover episode, Emma & Ruta team up with Marketing Dribble hosts Rob Boyle and Johnny Kenyon to play Trigger Bingo—naming the marketing pet peeves that make us want to quit our own jobs. Then they vote on which trigger reigns supreme.We get into: ✅ “Make the slides pretty”—and watch sales hijack your designs ✅ “My spouse saw the ad and hated it”—no, really, that happened ✅ CEOs who must sign off every post, budget or button-click ✅ Marketing leaders replaced by sales hires (or ChatGPT) ✅ “Urgent” priorities imposed last-minute—then radio silence ✅ Google Ads horror stories: “Why didn’t my ad even show up?” ✅ Endless ChatGPT feedback loops that never end ✅ And more of your worst marketing nightmares…If you’ve ever felt your marketing sanity slipping—or wondered if you’d snap, too—this one’s for you. 🎧

Why do marketers blame shadow bans when their posts flatline? 🤔 If you’ve ever felt like LinkedIn’s algorithm is out to get you, you’re not alone. From engagement pods to Top Voice conspiracies, the platform’s quirks spark more theories than a late-night Reddit scroll.In this episode, Emma & Ruta play detective with two LinkedIn insiders—Corey Johnson, growth marketer (LinkedIn addict), and Ash Turner, ex-LinkedIn creator manager to bust myths and reveal what really moves the feed.We get into: ✅ Engagement pods vs. genuine reach—does LinkedIn even care? ✅ Top Voice badge drama—why some big influencers get snubbed ✅ Carousels, video & clicks—how metrics hijack your content ✅ Shadow banning: myth, marketing excuse or content fail? ✅ Company pages vs. personal profiles—which one wins? ✅ Creator monetization & pay-to-play—sponsored posts explained ✅ API lock-down—why third-party tools struggle on LinkedInIf you’ve ever wondered why your best posts get buried—or why a meme explodes while your thought pieces vanish—this one’s for you.🎧 Listen now and crack the LinkedIn code. We’re Ruta and Emma, the marketing consultants behind Blame it on Marketing. If you’re in B2B SaaS or professional services and looking to do marketing that actually drives revenue and profit, we’re here for it.Visit blameitonmarketing.com and let’s get this show on the road.

In this episode, we’re ditching the basic bitch prompts and going deep on real AI power for marketers. Emma and Ruta unpack everything from prompt engineering to custom GPTs to automated workflows—so you can stop treating AI like a toy and start using it like a pro.We get into: ✅ The AI lingo you actually need: models vs. providers vs. platforms vs. benchmarks ✅ Prompt engineering 101: zero-shot, few-shot, meta-prompts & when to use “reasoning” ✅ Building your own Custom GPTs—for content, strategy docs, coaching & more ✅ Automations that turn transcripts into blog posts, spreadsheets into insights ✅ Data cleaning, contract checks & process docs—all without lifting a finger ✅ Picking the right model: why cheaper LLMs sometimes outscore GPT-4 on copy ✅ AI as your personal CMO-mentor: role-plays, feedback loops & impulse checks ✅ Content audits, gap analyses & campaign plans—instant, AI-powered QAIf you’re tired of treating AI like a magic wand—or you’re ready to stop copy-pasting prompts and start building real AI-driven workflows—this one’s for you. We’re Ruta and Emma, the marketing consultants behind Blame it on Marketing. If you’re in B2B SaaS or professional services and looking to do marketing that actually drives revenue and profit, we’re here for it.Visit blameitonmarketing.com and let’s get this show on the road.

Why do so many marketers break into a cold sweat at the mere mention of “board meeting”? 🤔 We’ve all been there—calendar invites arrive, you scramble through slide decks, and suddenly your palms are slick with nerves…In this episode, we’re joined by Chris Kelly, Head of Marketing, to unpack the marketer’s boardroom debut—how to earn that seat, craft the right story, and walk out with the board singing your praises blame-it-on-marketing_f….We get into: ✅ Why only commercially minded marketers should elbow their way in (and how to know if it’s your moment) ✅ Networking tactics that turn casual hallway chats into boardroom invitations ✅ Crafting slides that follow your narrative—story first, data second, and a dash of creative flair ✅ The board’s must-know metrics (cost per lead, brand awareness lift) vs. vanity numbers you can ditch ✅ Surviving the toughest questions: AI tools for mining potential Q&A and rehearsal hacks ✅ Rehearsal rituals—record yourself, get feedback, and build unshakeable confidence ✅ Showcasing your team’s wins to build internal advocates (and succession backups) ✅ Post-meeting power plays: following up on board queries to cement your credibilityIf you’re tired of sweating over last-minute decks—or you’ve been knocking on the boardroom door with no answer—this one’s for you.

Why do so many marketers build campaigns in a vacuum—then wonder why they flop? 🤔 We’ve all seen it: content calendars packed with guesswork, launch after launch… and still, crickets.In this episode, we’re joined by Helen Saxton, customer-experience advocate and Blame It On Marketing’s newest bestie, to unpack why customers must be at the heart of every business—and how to turn real-world feedback into content that converts. We get into: ✅ Why brand managers who never speak to customers keep missing the mark ✅ Mining free insights from social comments, CS tickets & on-site reviews ✅ Balancing quant (surveys, NPS) with qual (deep-dive interviews) for true customer clarity ✅ Partnering with customer-success/service teams for an always-on feedback loop ✅ When to pick up the phone—and when to gather feedback asynchronouslyIf you’re tired of launching campaigns nobody asked for—or if you’ve been guilty of marketing by gut instead of data—this one’s for you. We’re Ruta and Emma, the marketing consultants behind Blame it on Marketing. If you’re in B2B SaaS or professional services and looking to do marketing that actually drives revenue and profit, we’re here for it.Visit blameitonmarketing.com and let’s get this show on the road.