Welcome to Volume 159 👋

Happy Thursday! 

In this week’s newsletter, we cover: 

• 🤖 AI-ify: Why (And How) Brands Are Creating Their Own AI Tools
• 🤝 Making Brand and Performance Marketing Work in Tandem
• 👀 What’s the Latest in B2B SaaS This Week?
• 🧠 This Week’s Brain Food 
• ➕ The Best Content Across the Web 

Let’s get into it.

🚨Traffic & Conversion Summit 2024 🚨

Better get those 2024 calendars out because your January just got busier. You can ring in the New Year with Ross and a panel of amazing speakers—including Sir Richard Branson—at the Traffic & Conversion Summit from January 9th to 11th, 2024. The event will be full of can’t-miss insights from experts on the most pressing topics of digital marketing, including: 

• The high-ROI, low-CPA channels you need to target 
• Improving acquisition and retention rates with customer-centric marketing
• The results from thousands of A/B tests on landing pages, emails, and social posts
• Unlocking a new level of productivity by producing high-quality AI-generated content

So, what are you waiting for?!

Get your tickets for the Traffic & Conversion Summit 2024 before it’s too late!

B2B SAAS INSIGHTS

AI-ify: Why (And How) Brands Are Creating Their Own AI Tools

The branding world is experiencing a significant transformation, and, in case you missed it, artificial intelligence is at the forefront. Brands aren’t just using AI but developing their own custom tools to cater to their customers’ specific requirements. This isn’t a mere trend; it’s a revolution that’s altering the entire SaaS business model. 

My colleague, the great Chris Meabe, recently investigated the “AI-ification” taking over the tech landscape—assessing why companies across all niches are using artificial intelligence to boost their value proposition and help shape the future of this technology. He introduces the “AI Tool Pyramid,” a theoretical structure with four interconnected levels:

• Tool Enhancement: The basic level where existing tools are modified with AI features, enhancing their utility without drastic changes.

• Tool Replacement: At this stage, brands replace traditional tools with AI-driven versions, indicating a shift from mere enhancement to complete substitution.

• Tool Creation: This level signifies the innovation of entirely new tools powered solely by AI.

• Platform-Level Innovation: The pinnacle where AI is used to develop entirely new platform types, symbolizing the utmost stage of AI integration.

The pyramid acts as a guide for brands to transition from using AI as a supplementary tool to making it the central force of innovation. Chris also explains how a brand’s position on this pyramid acts as a measure of its forward-thinking approach and commitment to innovation. He also provides in-depth analysis on:

• The transformative role of AI in branding
• Detailed insights into the “AI Tool Pyramid”
• How brands can leverage AI for innovation and growth

You can check out the full breakdown on the Foundation Labs page.

B2B MARKETING 

Making Brand and Performance Marketing Work in Tandem

There’s a growing concern among marketers that the emphasis on performance marketing, which prioritizes short-term sales, overshadows—and even conflicts with—the brand-building activities that enhance the public’s perception of a brand. 

As you might suspect, the challenge lies in the measurement metrics. 

On the one hand, brand-building efforts are often gauged using metrics that don’t directly correlate with financial returns. On the other hand, performance marketing tends to focus solely on tangible results like sales, leads, and clicks, neglecting its potential impact on brand building.

To bridge this gap, Jim Stengel, Cait Lamberton, and Ken Favaro suggest a unified approach. This means evaluating the effects of both brand-building and performance marketing initiatives through a singular, pivotal metric: brand equity. 

This metric should then be connected to specific financial outcomes, such as revenue generation, shareholder value, and return on investment. By doing so, brand equity becomes a key performance indicator (KPI) for both brand-building and performance marketing strategies.

Adopting this integrated approach allows companies to make more informed decisions. They can strengthen the financial contributions of both brand-building and performance marketing, ensuring that these two strategies complement each other rather than compete. This synergy ensures that both short-term sales and long-term brand perception are given their due importance, leading to more holistic marketing strategies.

Throughout their joint article in the Harvard Business Review, the three brand experts explain the steps companies should take to align brand and performance marketing: 

1. Create metrics that connect brand positioning and activation levers
2. Measure brand equity as a combined score of familiarity, regard, meaning, and uniqueness
3. Make brand equity a key performance indicator for performance marketers
4. Connect brand equity metrics directly to financial outcomes like revenue and shareholder value

For a complete look at how you can strategically link performance and brand marketing through brand equity metrics, read the full article on HBR.

👀 What’s the Latest in B2B SaaS This Week?

🍏 Apple job listings point to an increase in Generative AI use across iOS and Mac products going forward

⭐ A black market for GitHub stars helps startups and coders game the system for a fee

💬 Slack shuts down its Status account on X, moves alerts and updates to its website

📈 AI investment pays off, as Microsoft reports a 13% increase in Q1 revenue to $56.5 billion

💲 Investment firm Garuda Ventures closes debut fund with $31 million committed to B2B SaaS investment

📈The Future of Content Marketing

This year, we’ve seen major disruptions in the content marketing space—from the Generative AI boom to crumbling social platforms. Brands that adapt quickly to such changes create content that truly stands out and, ultimately, comes out on top. 

Want to get a head start on next year’s trends? Ross recently met up with Taylor Wells and GTM News to discuss the Future of Content Marketing in 2024. 

Check out the Future of Content Marketing in 2024 video here!

🧠 This Week’s Brain Food

Laughter, it turns out, is more than just the best medicine—it’s a fascinating scientific phenomenon! Ever wonder why a good chuckle feels so great? Neuroscientists sure have. Studies find that laughter activates the brain’s reward system, releasing feel-good chemicals like dopamine. This might explain why, after a good guffaw, we often feel a bit more relaxed and happier.

But that’s not all. We also know that laughter strengthens social bonds, promoting feelings of togetherness and understanding with those around us. It’s no wonder comedies are better with friends! And remember those giggling fits as kids? Children laugh hundreds of times a day, while adults average just a few dozen (if we’re lucky). Maybe it’s a hint that “growing up” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

So, next time you’re feeling a bit down or stressed, remember the science behind laughter. Take a break, watch that favorite hilarious video, or call a friend to reminisce about that one time you both couldn’t stop laughing. It’s not just fun—it’s good for you!

Want to sponsor our next issue? Reply to this email, and we’ll share how you can reach more SaaS founders and marketers today.

🏅 X Post of the Week

To the Weekend Creators by Dave Gerhardt

🎖️ LinkedIn Post of the Week

Three Marketing Use Cases of Gong You’re Probably Ignoring by Udi Ledergor

🤳🏽 Nice Finds You Should Binge

• How Miro Turned the Whiteboard into a $17.5-Billion Valuation 
• BVP looks at the keys to building a strong enterprise identity in the digital era 
• Prompt Engineering: A Guide for Marketers and Content Creators
• Keywords Aren’t Enough on Apple Podcasts
• How Content Can Support Upsells & Cross-Sells in SaaS

🎧 What We’re Wired Into This Week:

Khruangbin — NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

This SaaS news smattering is brought to you by Ethan Crump!

If you have any feedback, suggestions, or ideas you want to see in this newsletter, feel free to email me at ethan@foundationinc.co. We’re always looking for ways to improve and make sure you’re getting the best B2B SaaS marketing resources. 

Have a great weekend, and see you on the other side!