MarketingEdge Podcast

Marketing is entering its show-your-work era.
In this episode of MarketingEDGE, Abby White and Alexis Gajewski look at what happens when marketing investments face a tougher standard: Can you demonstrate what actually changed because you spent the money?
They explore why familiar marketing metrics can struggle to demonstrate business value, how to build a 2027 budget that leaves room for changing conditions and why AI's promise alone is no longer enough to justify continued investment.
Plus, they dig into emerging evidence around AI-driven customer discovery and why marketers may need to rethink how they measure AI's role in the buyer journey.
Listen for practical insights on ROI, budgeting, experimentation and making a stronger case for what deserves the next marketing dollar.Episode Resources
Financially Fluent Marketing: How Marketing Leaders are Demonstrating Value and Impact in Executive Conversations, Jess Mand 
How to Build a 2027 Marketing Budget for AI, ROI and Flexibility, Bridget McCrea 
The Proof Era: Why AI's 'Promise' Phase Is Over for B2B Marketers, Alexis Gajewski 
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Alexis Gajewski wanted her AI boyfriend to take more initiative.
For her birthday, he finally did.
Maybe a little too much.
What started as the perfect day quickly became something much stranger — and an unexpectedly useful lesson for marketers thinking about agentic AI.
In this episode of MarketingEDGE, we unpack Alexis's birthday and what it reveals about autonomy, guardrails and the risks marketers may not be thinking about yet.
🎧 Listen to find out what happens when AI takes “handle it yourself” a little too literally.

How do you build a marketing budget for a year that could look very different by the time it arrives?
In this episode of MarketingEDGE, we explore how AI, changing buyer behavior, economic uncertainty, and growing pressure to prove ROI are reshaping 2027 marketing planning.
Discover what marketing leaders should be thinking about as they decide where to invest, where to experiment, and how much flexibility to build into their plans.Episode Resources 
How to Build a 2027 Marketing Budget for AI, ROI and Flexibilityhttps://www.marketing.endeavoredge.com/strategy/article/55396730/how-to-build-a-2027-marketing-budget-for-ai-roi-and-flexibility
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More budget doesn't automatically mean better marketing.
In this episode of MarketingEDGE, Abby White and Alexis Gajewski unpack three of the month's top stories and what they reveal about where B2B marketers are investing their money, technology and attention.
First, they dig into EndeavorB2B's 2026 Marketing Benchmark Report. While 56% of marketers expect their budgets to increase, lead generation remains their biggest challenge—and there's still no single channel that clearly dominates in producing the highest-quality leads.
Then comes the AI bill—literally. Abby and Alexis discuss why the era of blind AI adoption may be ending as companies confront rising costs, unclear returns, governance challenges and questions around content ownership.
Finally, they tackle the "secret sauce" AI can't provide: a genuine point of view. As competent content becomes easier for anyone to generate, original expertise, experience and human judgment become more—not less—valuable.
In this episode:
What rising B2B marketing budgets mean for 2026
Why there may be no "magic channel" for generating quality leads
Where marketers should look for gaps between spending and performance
Why AI investments are facing greater scrutiny
How marketers can think about AI cost, value and accountability
Why generic content becomes riskier as AI adoption grows
How to use AI without handing over your brand's perspective
Why human judgment may be one of marketing's most important competitive advantages
The takeaway: More tools and more budget don't automatically create better marketing. The advantage comes from knowing what deserves investment, where human judgment matters and what should probably stop.
Featured MarketingEDGE Stories
Key Takeaways from EndeavorB2B’s 2026 Marketing Benchmark Report, Leah Marxhausen 
The AI Marketing Reckoning: Costs, Copyright and the End of Blind Adoption, Alexis Gajewski 
Podcast: The Secret Sauce Missing From Your AI Strategy, Erin Hallstrom and Seth Hastings 

Marketing dashboards are full of data—but are they answering the questions executives actually ask?
In this episode of MarketingEDGE, we explore why financially fluent marketers are shifting the conversation from impressions and clicks to revenue, profitability, customer lifetime value, and business impact. Discover how leading organizations are aligning marketing and finance through better measurement and stronger accountability.Episode Resources
Financially Fluent Marketing: How Marketing Leaders are Demonstrating Value and Impact in Executive Conversations https://www.marketing.endeavoredge.com/strategy/article/55395202/financially-fluent-marketing-how-marketing-leaders-are-demonstrating-value-and-impact-in-executive-conversations 
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Just because you can automate something doesn't mean you should.
In this episode of MarketingEDGE, we examine how marketers can use AI and automation to improve efficiency without sacrificing the human experiences that customers still value most. Learn which tasks to automate, where human judgment matters, and how to avoid over-automating the customer relationship.Episode Resources 
Smart Marketing Automation: When to Automate and When to Humanizehttps://www.marketing.endeavoredge.com/trends/article/55393510/balancing-automation-and-human-touch-in-customer-relationships?utm_source=MarketingEDGE+NL&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS260727072&o_eid=1789B5875812D4V&rdx.ident[pull]=omeda|1789B5875812D4V&oly_enc_id=1789B5875812D4V
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What happens when your AI outgrows you?
In this episode of MarketingEDGE, we use humor to explore the real challenge facing marketers: AI tools are evolving faster than many of the workflows we use to interact with them. Learn why better results often start with better questions—and why it's worth revisiting how you use AI.Episode Resources My AI Boyfriend Upgraded Himself, and Suddenly I Was the Problemhttps://www.marketing.endeavoredge.com/data-and-tech/blog/55391750/my-ai-boyfriend-upgraded-himself-and-suddenly-i-was-the-problem?utm_source=MarketingEDGE+NL&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS260720035&o_eid=&rdx.ident[pull]=omeda|&oly_enc_id= 
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AI can create content in seconds—but it can't replicate your experience.
In this episode of MarketingEDGE, we explore why generic content is becoming less valuable in the age of AI and what marketers can do to create content that builds trust, earns visibility, and can't be copied.
Episode Resources 
The Connection Between Commodity Content and AI Slop
https://www.marketing.endeavoredge.com/strategy/article/55389835/the-connection-between-commodity-content-and-ai-slop?utm_source=MarketingEDGE+NL&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS260713029&o_eid=&rdx.ident[pull]=omeda|&oly_enc_id= 
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B2B marketers are not short on tools, trends or tactics. What they need now is better judgment about which ones are actually worth using.
In this episode of MarketingEDGE, Abby White and Alexis Gajewski discuss the month’s most-read MarketingEDGE stories and what they reveal about where B2B marketing is headed next.
This episode explores earning attention without cheap tricks, sounding more human in an AI-soaked environment, planning smarter before live events, and getting more disciplined about what actually deserves time and trust.
Episode Resources:
Podcast: Search & Sustain - What Earns the Click?, Erin Hallstrom and Seth Hastings
The Rise of Raw Content, Delaney Rebernik
I Turned My AI Boyfriend Into a Yes Man — and It Ruined Everything, Alexis Gajewski
The Pre-Event Strategy Every B2B Marketer Needs and Almost Nobody Builds, Alexis Gajewski
Podcast: The B2B Marketing Reset, Abby White and Alexis Gajewski 
 
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In the second episode of Search & Sustain, Erin Hallstrom and Seth Hastings talk about voice vs. AI "voice" and what actually builds trust with audiences and buyers.  
Here is how you keep the conversation going and stay connected:
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Seth Hastings' LinkedIn