Why we're doubling down on content (and what's next)

I’m no stranger to investing in content.

Demand Gen U. Metadata’s DEMAND event. Building in public on LinkedIn.

I’ve seen big content bets pay off firsthand in the past, which would’ve been enough to convince me to prioritize content immediately.

But when I started at UserEvidence, I knew content wouldn’t be the first thing we tackled. I needed to build a solid product marketing foundation first, knowing everything we layered on top would be stronger because of it.

So here’s why we’re doubling down on content right now:

1. Content takes time to get going. Building a content engine is a long game—what works at one company may not translate to the next, because it all hinges on where your audience is and what they care about (which changes over time too)

2. We have an awareness problem. Outside of customer marketing, we need to get more marketing leaders and product marketers at our target accounts to know, like, and trust us. This doesn’t happen overnight.

My v1 approach to content

At Metadata, almost a full year went by before we made content a priority. We were early adopters of LinkedIn’s now overused Conversation Ads, paying for demo requests with gift card incentives.

Our formula was Demand Generation > Content Marketing > Product Marketing, which worked at first. But it also created some foundational problems that came back to bite us.

That experience stuck with me, so at UserEvidence, I flipped the script:

Product Marketing > Content Marketing > Demand Generation.

I handled product marketing (and everything else) for the first seven months at UserEvidence to understand the team’s needs. Then I hired someone more experienced to own it (shoutout to Alex Eaton).

Once that was in place, I shifted my focus to content. With help from a few agencies and freelancers, we got the ball rolling:

• We launched our podcast, The Proof Point

• We published product-led blog content 2x/month

• We created our first piece of original research content, The Evidence Gap report

• We started this bi-weekly newsletter (now with 2k+ subscribers)

• We released two seasons of our Evidently interview series on our YouTube channel

But creating more content isn’t enough.

We need to differentiate in a crowded space, competing not just with marketing technology vendors but with all technology vendors vying for the same mindshare from the same audience.

Our v2 approach to content

I enjoy the creative challenge of content creation, but doing it right takes a serious time investment. It’s a full-time role in itself. 

Enter Jillian Hoefer, our new full-time Senior Content Marketing Manager. Jillian isn’t just focused on creating more content. She’s focused on creating content that cuts through the noise. 

We’re not here to pump out more blogs or hit the easy button with our podcast. I hired Jillian to keep iterating on what’s worked and double down in two key areas:

1. Short-form video content

2. Original research content

We need to create really good content and, most importantly, make sure it gets distributed effectively.

It’s easy to get caught up in trends or write off a channel as ‘not working.’ But if a channel isn’t delivering, chances are you’re not using it right—or you’re trying to juggle too many things instead of going all-in on a few.

At Metadata, we spread ourselves too thin across too many channels. This time around at UserEvidence, we’re zeroing in on organic social and email as our core distribution channels. 

Sure, we’ll still cross-promote on YouTube and podcast networks, but we’re not trying to be everything, everywhere, all at once.

The dream: connecting content to pipeline

Now that Jillian’s here, she’s going to audit where (and how) we’re spending our content budget and what’s actually delivering results. 

So far, we’ve used a mix of agencies and freelancers to get our content engine humming, but it’s time to recalibrate. We need to scale while leveling up the quality of our output. 

Our end goal is to tie the impact of our content directly to pipeline, but that’s a lagging indicator. In the meantime, we’re getting smarter about measuring content success.

We’ll track audience growth and engagement as leading indicators, along with qualitative feedback that won’t show up in dashboards—like mentions of our Evidence Gap report in Gong calls, Slack messages, LinkedIn DMs, and email replies.

For now, I rest easier knowing we’ve got someone smarter than me refining the strategy—and making Momma Huber proud.

Stuff I’m digging this week

• Drive interview series with Tara Robertson, CMO @ Bitly—Tara shared how she’s scaling customer marketing and why customer stories are critical for building trust. Even more important for a company long known as just a link shortener.

• Sendspark’s video platform—we started experimenting with this new AI video tool earlier this month. Our SDRs are recording personalized videos to use in their outreach and stand out in email inboxes. We booked a HUGE meeting in week one of this experiment too.

• Klueless: A Competitive Deal Story—I never thought I’d write about a “movie” premiere in our little B2B world, but here we are. Incredibly well done by the Klue marketing team. I’m pumped to see the premiere IRL next week at their Compete Week event in Vancouver (come say hey, I’ll be there).

Opinions are cheap. Proof is gold.

We're keeping the content talk rolling in episode 18 of The Proof Point. Brendan Hufford, Jess Cook, and Brooklin Nash break down building a content POV that builds trust.

My biggest takeaways:

• Clear POVs = more engagement: When your POV is crystal clear and speaks to your audience’s challenges, it builds trust and creates long-term relationships.

• Ditch "checkbox marketing": It’s not about checking every piece of requested content off the to-do list. Instead, focus on content that solves real problems.

• The best content starts with listening. Whether through feedback or internal team insights, understanding your audience leads to more impactful content.

Listen on Spotify or Apple, or head over to YouTube.

UserEvidence, who?

UserEvidence creates customer evidence content for go-to-market teams, generating verified competitive intelligence, product stats, and ROI data.

Happy customers help you credibly prove the value of your product.