Best Practices
Trends, tactics, and role intelligence I'm tracking for clients. Not a quarterly report nobody reads.
Top trends
What I'm watching in 2026
The shifts I'm seeing in B2B marketing right now — pulled from client work, the AEO/SEO communities, and the operator networks I'm in.
AEO is replacing traditional SEO
Google's AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity are now the answer layer above search. If your content isn't structured for citation by an LLM, you're invisible to a fast-growing share of buyers. The fix isn't writing more content — it's writing differently. Question-led, schema-rich, source-honest.
Source: client work + r/SEO + AEO communities
AI is now a job requirement, not a bonus
In Q1 2026, more than 73% of marketing job posts list AI proficiency as required or preferred. In 2022 it was under 5%. If you don't have a deployed AI workflow you can demo in an interview, you're behind — and the gap is widening fast.
Source: LinkedIn job-post analysis 2024–2026
Marketing Ops is being absorbed into RevOps
Enterprise companies are consolidating Marketing Ops, Sales Ops, and CS Ops under a single Revenue Operations function. Standalone Marketing Ops Manager roles are getting harder to find — the same people are now expected to own the full revenue lifecycle.
Source: client structures + RevHub community signal
Fractional leadership is going mainstream
Series A and B companies in Israel and globally are increasingly replacing full-time C-suite hires with fractional executives — especially in marketing. Lower burn, higher expertise per dollar, faster ramp. The biggest blocker is no longer founders being open to it; it's finding fractional executives who've actually done the job.
Source: market signal · my own pipeline 2024–2026
Attribution is still the #1 unsolved problem
Despite massive investment in MarTech, most B2B companies still can't accurately attribute pipeline to marketing activity. The data exists — most companies just can't connect it. The teams getting it right are small, opinionated, and willing to use a clear "good enough" model instead of chasing perfection.
Source: client diagnoses 2025–2026
Outbound is back — but it's built differently
Cold outbound was declared dead three years ago. It's now back in a much sharper form: AI-personalized, intent-triggered, ABM-shaped, and integrated tightly into sales sequences. Tools like Amplemarket and Clay are replacing traditional SDR teams entirely in some orgs.
Source: Amplemarket advisor work + client GTM rebuilds
Role Tracker
Marketing roles the market is hiring for
The roles I'm seeing in real client searches and on the senior LinkedIn job posts I track. Updated quarterly.
AI Marketing Manager
AI & Automation$120K–$165K
My take
The hottest hire of 2026. Companies want someone who can operationalize AI, not just use it. Build a portfolio of deployed workflows, not certifications.
Marketing Operations Manager
Marketing Ops$95K–$140K
My take
Every scaling company needs one and most are underpaying. Push for the title and the budget — it's a leverage role.
Head of Demand Generation
Demand Gen$130K–$180K
My take
The DG role expanded massively. It now includes full-funnel ownership and revenue accountability. Make sure your scope includes the data, not just the campaigns.
MarTech Architect
Marketing Tech$110K–$160K
My take
Rare and incredibly valuable. Part marketer, part engineer. Highest leverage role in large orgs. If you can do this, you can write your own ticket.
Fractional CMO
Leadership$8K–$20K / month
My take
The fractional model is booming. Series A–C companies are the primary buyers right now. This is where I sit, and the demand keeps climbing.
Content Strategist with AI
Content$75K–$110K
My take
The role shifted from "can you write" to "can you build an AI-assisted content system." Writers who can build pipelines are 3x more valuable than writers who just write.
Best Practice Articles
Tactical guides
Short, opinionated guides on specific marketing problems. Each one is the answer to a question I get asked all the time.
How to structure content so Perplexity and ChatGPT cite it
The five content patterns I've seen consistently get cited by AI answer engines. Real examples, not theory.
The 7 lead scoring mistakes I see in every HubSpot portal
Why most lead scoring models are useless — and the simpler version that actually drives sales prioritization.
How to make a marketing team AI-operational in 30 days
The exact 30-day plan I use with clients. Tool selection, workflow patterns, prompt library, and the team rituals that stick.
Where to cut MarTech spend without breaking anything
The diagnostic I run when a CMO needs to find 20%+ savings in 30 days. Six categories, eleven questions, three traps.
The cold outbound revival — how it actually works in 2026
Why cold outbound is back, what changed, and how AI plus intent data is making it work where it used to fail.
Fractional CMO vs. agency — how to actually choose
Not "it depends." A real decision framework with the buyer questions, the cost differences, and the failure modes of each model.
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