How I got CEO buy-in for a big content bet with Dave Gerhardt

A scratch golfer, a +14 handicap, and a two-person camera crew walk onto the first tee box…

What could’ve been the set-up to a joke turned out to be our team’s best-performing video content ever.

Back in December, we released The Long Game—a 3-episode, 9-hole mini-interview series about Dave Gerhardt’s career journey from PR intern to first-time marketing leader.

This week, I’m sharing how I pitched the idea, got buy-in, and made it happen (my yips on the first hole included).

If you want to make bold marketing bets in 2025, this one’s for you.

The idea

Last spring, we signed on to sponsor Exit Five’s Drive event, set to take place in Vermont that September. As soon as the deal was inked, one thought stuck with me:

We have a unique opportunity to do something different. One we probably won’t get again.

How can we use this to create content that’s different?

Instead of another run-of-the-mill podcast interview, I came up with the idea to get outside in Vermont, break out of the typical Riverside recording studio, and have an honest conversation with Dave Gerhardt over something we both love: golf.

Let’s be real: everyone’s tired of the same old interview-style podcasts. We all talk about the same things, and as someone who hosts a podcast myself, I know I’m guilty of it too. (More on that in a future Evidently edition.)

I drew inspiration for a video mini-series from two completely different worlds:

• Spittin' Chiclets: a well-known hockey podcast that has a mini-series where they golf with former NHL players and get unfiltered career stories

• Reed Between the Lines: a show from Devin Reed that features real, street-level conversations with big-name marketers and creators

I pictured a nine-hole interview where the activity itself would pull people in, curious about the game we’re playing while hearing stories Dave doesn’t usually get to share.

Not the typical “tell me about your time at Drift” kind of interview he’s used to. Part entertainment, part education, and completely unscripted.

A chance to see a different side of Dave—the marketer and the person—not just the “LinkedIn thought leader”.

Fun fact about “the person” Dave Gerhardt though, and something I definitely should’ve known before I pitched him: he’s a scratch golfer.

For non-golf folks, he’s almost as good as PGA Tour pros.

I can hold my own on the course, but I’m far from getting my tour card. Between the pressure of a camera crew and playing with a scratch golfer for the first time, I booked two lessons with a PGA pro back in Chicago to iron out a few kinks before the shoot.

Getting buy-in (without losing focus)

Selling the idea to our co-founders came down to framing it the right way. Here’s how I positioned it to get them to say “yes”:

• A creative and strategic bet: Dave’s massive LinkedIn following gave us a built-in audience to increase awareness for UserEvidence, while the unique format let us break away from the usual office or Zoom interview setup.

• Minimal extra costs: Since we were already attending the Drive event, the additional spend to pull this off was low.

• An experiment that fit our content priorities:  With 70% of our content directly tied to UserEvidence and 30% focused on broader B2B topics, this was a low-risk chance to explore something with higher entertainment value. If it worked, we could replicate it with other industry leaders or CMOs from target accounts. If it bombed, we’d learn and move on.

All of this, plus the fact that we wanted to start small with three short episodes, got me the green light from Evan and Ray to move forward.

Execution

For the interview, we structured it chronologically. Each of the nine holes focused on a different chapter of Dave’s career journey, with one rule:

Don’t ask him boring, surface-level questions he’s already been asked before.

Dave’s been interviewed countless times, so I dug deep. I combed through every interview he’d done since 2015 to avoid overdone topics (like his time at Drift) and make the conversation feel fresh.

That prep didn’t just help the content. It helped me manage the nerves of interviewing someone I’ve looked up to for years. And I had plenty to manage, like trying not to shank my approach shots on camera.

Outside of the interview prep though, bringing the idea to life was in big thanks to our trusted content partners (shoutout EventShark and Algert).

This whole thing was a first-time experiment for us, but their production quality (despite filming live outside on a golf course) made it feel like anything but.

Early indicators and next steps

So far, the feedback we’ve gotten has been super promising. I immediately screenshotted this and sent it to Evan and Ray.

Quantitatively, the videos produced for the series have yielded our highest comment/engagement rate (on both YouTube and LinkedIn).

The YouTube Shorts are getting 600-800+ views when they normally cap at somewhere between 15-100. We’re seeing a spike in views for the long-form episodes too, with above typical retention from start to finish.

We also repurposed the audio content as a bonus episode of our podcast The Proof Point, meeting our audiences where they are.

The goal with the experiment, of course, isn’t pipeline (though that’d be nice).

Short-term, it’s about memorable content that keeps us top-of-mind as a resource and entertainment add. Long-term, it’s about memorable content that keeps us top-of-mind when people are ready to buy what we’re selling.

We think we’re onto something with this format too.

Honest, unfiltered, and human conversations “outside of the office” and away from computer screens over an activity that brings it all to life.

And you might see us try this format again real soon.

Let’s just say next month in Wyoming, I might have to ski down the Headwall at Jackson Hole with Evan.

Stuff I’m digging this week

• Season two of Reed Between The Lines—the first episode drops today. After being a guest on season one, I can tell you this format is as cool as it gets in B2B right now. (It’s even a big reason The Long Game exists.) This season, Devin’s taking things up a notch with even more experiential episodes. Still wondering what I did wrong that he took Brandon sneaker shopping instead of me…

• Lockeland Leather—we’re in Nashville this week for our 2025 kickoff and spent last night at their studio here. If you’re looking for a unique, premium gift for your next ABM campaign, they’ve got you covered. Check out what we did for all of our UserEvidence employees with our 2025 theme (these came out dope).

Opinions are cheap. Proof is gold.

Our CEO Evan Huck joined me on the latest episode of The Proof Point to talk about why original research is the content play for building trust in 2025. We got 700+ downloads in 30 days on our playbook last year, and we’re just getting started.

My biggest call-outs:

• B2B marketers think we’re doing better than we are when it comes to case studies and testimonials. Talking with Sales or Customer Success teams will quickly give most a dose of reality.

• We need more credible proof in today’s high-stakes buying environment. Original research helps create it.

• The amount of time it takes your team to create a case study has no bearing on how good that case study will be. Pretty and polished means nothing if it’s useless for sales.

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.