Yo! Welcome to the next episode of The Reeder — content strategy and growth in <5 minutes. First time reading? Subscribe here.
A quick warning about playing the short game.
And the hidden cost of "hard marketing"
Together with G2
Marketing Has Changed More in 12 Months Than the Last 12 Years
AI isn’t a shiny new thing anymore. It’s changing how winning teams create and capture demand. If you’re figuring out how to actually use AI — G2’s AI in Action Roadshow is worth your time. They're hitting four cities: SF, NYC, ATL, and London. You’ll get real plays for rethinking your funnel, using AI agents, and making your data more impactful. I recommend grabbing a seat before they run out: Save your spot (for free).
This week I was in Amsterdam for “work and pleasure” —
as I told the Dutch customs officer who let me in with a smile. It was a perfectly packed week — unlike my overstuffed suitcase filled with new Dutch streetwear brands, sneakers, and souvenirs on my way home. Max van den Ingh, CEO of Unmuted (the premier SaaS marketing agency in the Netherlands), invited me out to hang with his team, shoot content, and headline an in-person event. I gave a keynote: 5 Principles of Un-ignorable Top-of-Funnel Content — and today I’m giving you a sneak peek at Principle #3: Play The Long Game.
Ironically, I’ve never heard any marketer say that they want to play the “short game.” Not the good ones, anyways. Because we know the truth: building trust takes time. But under pressure to deliver pipeline yesterday, marketing often gets hijacked. Creative ideas get swapped out for right-now conversions. Thought leadership gets replaced with ads for demos. And brand? Forget about it — we’re too busy hard-selling in disguise. I call it “Hard Marketing.” (Like hard selling, but with more UTM links.) To show what this feels like for your audience, I told a story. Now I’ll share it with you. A couple weeks ago, I wanted to know if a famous athlete (Shedeur Sanders) had been drafted yet. So I Googled it. Then tapped the News tab. Then clicked one of the first links I saw. It was from The New York Post. Here’s what happened next: 📍 Pop-up: “Buy our Sports+ Subscription!”
I haven’t even read a word yet. But I'm already being sold.
I exit out. Scroll down. Only to see...
📍BAM — an ad for MoneyGram.
The biggest words on the screen are DONE YOUR WAY. I have no idea why this gal is staring at me. Or what she has to do with sending money. I'm still wondering about Shedeur. Heavy sigh. I scroll some more and...
📍 Try scrolling again. Now a creepy banner ad starts following me.
She's literally chasing me down the screen.
I scroll AGAIN.
📍 But what's that over there? The same Sport+ ad.
Now it's becoming a joke. Still no draft info.
📍 Just another ad: “Stay fresh for 72 hours.”
Good lawd this is excessive.
I came for news. I got an obstacle course. That’s the danger of playing the short game. Sure, they got SEO traffic. Clearly they sold some ad space. But they’ll never get me back. We do this in B2B, too.
Blog posts that are ads in disguise.
"Guides” that are really a glorified product brochure.
Webinars with 30 minutes of slides and 2 minutes of insight.
It’s tempting. Especially when there’s pressure from the top. But here’s the truth: casting a wide net and rushing the relationship might catch a few fish today… But it kills any chance of long-term growth. Remember this: Bad marketing gets clicks. Good marketing earns trust. Great marketing earns trust over time. Holler at you later, Devin
