Podcast
Marketing Against The Grain
Hosted by Hubspot Media · EN
Kipp Bodnar (HubSpot’s CMO) and Kieran Flanagan (Hubspot's SVP of Marketing), lead you down the rabbit hole of marketing trends, growth tactics and innovation. On the way you’ll pick up undiscovered strategies to give you that slight edge for success. These are not your typical twitter thread regurgitated marketing tactics that everyone is doing. These are new methods, with unfiltered examination of successful fresh ideas.
179episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
If You're A Marketer, Copy These Codex Skills (Or Stay Behind)
Yesterday00:32:52Summary readyFree Claude + Codex Skill-Building Starter Pack: https://clickhubspot.com/clzf Ep. 435 Are you just asking AI questions, or are you actually building repeatable skills? Kipp and guest Riley Brown (content creator and AI educator) dive into how to level up your content game and marketing efficiency by strategically creating and collaborating with AI agents. Learn more on why documenting your weekly workflows is a game changer, how to turn AI experiments into scalable skills, and what the frontier of agent-powered team collaboration looks like in platforms like Codex and Slack. Mentions Riley Brown https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMcoud_ZW7cfxeIugBflSBw Loop: Outlearn. Outmarket. Outgrow. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1637636105?ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_VPTVJUW097F1PLSGOQTH&bestFormat=true Claude https://claude.ai/ Anthropic https://www.anthropic.com/ SupaData https://supadata.ai/ Notion https://www.notion.com/ Get our guide to build your own Custom GPT: https://clickhubspot.com/customgpt Resource [Free] Steal our favorite AI Prompts featured on the show! Grab them here: https://clickhubspot.com/aip We’re on Social Media! Follow us for everyday marketing wisdom straight to your feed YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGtXqPiNV8YC0GMUzY-EUFg Twitter: https://twitter.com/matgpod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@matgpod Thank you for tuning into Marketing Against The Grain! Don’t forget to hit subscribe and follow us on Apple Podcasts (so you never miss an episode)! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-against-the-grain/id1616700934 If you love this show, please leave us a 5-Star Review https://link.chtbl.com/h9_sjBKH and share your favorite episodes with friends. We really appreciate your support. Host Links: Kipp Bodnar, https://twitter.com/kippbodnar Kieran Flanagan, https://twitter.com/searchbrat ‘Marketing Against The Grain’ is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by Hubspot Media // Produced by Darren Clarke.
Summary
How 1 Human + AI Replaced a 15-Person RevOps Team
1w ago00:27:11Summary readyFree GTM Prompt Pack for Perplexity Computer: https://clickhubspot.com/gbvs Ep. 434 Can one RevOps leader and a team of AI agents really replace a 10-15 person operations team? Kieran and guest Nate Follen (Head of strategy and Ops for Perplexity) dive into the real-world impact of Perplexity on modern go-to-market and RevOps workflows. Learn more on automating tedious CRM audits, building thoughtful event workflows with AI-powered model councils, and creating a scalable skills library for proactive, agent-driven teams. Mentions Nate Follen https://www.linkedin.com/in/follen Perplexity https://www.perplexity.ai/ Ramp https://ramp.com/ Ironclad https://ironcladapp.com/ Apollo https://www.apollo.io/ Nvidia https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/ Gemini https://gemini.google.com/app Claude https://claude.ai/ Get our guide to build your own Custom GPT: https://clickhubspot.com/customgpt Resource [Free] Steal our favorite AI Prompts featured on the show! Grab them here: https://clickhubspot.com/aip We’re on Social Media! Follow us for everyday marketing wisdom straight to your feed YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGtXqPiNV8YC0GMUzY-EUFg Twitter: https://twitter.com/matgpod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@matgpod Thank you for tuning into Marketing Against The Grain! Don’t forget to hit subscribe and follow us on Apple Podcasts (so you never miss an episode)! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-against-the-grain/id1616700934 If you love this show, please leave us a 5-Star Review https://link.chtbl.com/h9_sjBKH and share your favorite episodes with friends. We really appreciate your support. Host Links: Kipp Bodnar, https://twitter.com/kippbodnar Kieran Flanagan, https://twitter.com/searchbrat ‘Marketing Against The Grain’ is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by Hubspot Media // Produced by Darren Clarke.
Summary
Build An Army Of AI Employees To Run Your Business (With Hermes AI)
2w ago00:39:11Summary readyBuild Your First AI Employee (Free Workflow + Prompt): https://clickhubspot.com/rkvr Ep. 433 What if you could have an AI employee working right alongside you, automating key business workflows? Kieran and guest Nick Vasilescu (Co-founder of Orgo) dive into how agents are the next big form of business leverage. Learn more on what it actually takes to get a functional AI agent up and running, how new connector tools like Composio make integrations simple, and why giving your agent a second brain with an Obsidian Vault is a game-changer for business productivity. Mentions Nick Vasilescu https://www.nickvasilescu.com/ Orgo https://www.orgo.ai/ Hermes Agent https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/ Composio https://composio.dev/ OpenClaw https://openclaw.ai/ GLM 5.2 https://z.ai/blog/glm-5.2 Obsidian https://obsidian.md/ Get our guide to build your own Custom GPT: https://clickhubspot.com/customgpt Resource [Free] Steal our favorite AI Prompts featured on the show! Grab them here: https://clickhubspot.com/aip We’re on Social Media! Follow us for everyday marketing wisdom straight to your feed YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGtXqPiNV8YC0GMUzY-EUFg Twitter: https://twitter.com/matgpod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@matgpod Thank you for tuning into Marketing Against The Grain! Don’t forget to hit subscribe and follow us on Apple Podcasts (so you never miss an episode)! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-against-the-grain/id1616700934 If you love this show, please leave us a 5-Star Review https://link.chtbl.com/h9_sjBKH and share your favorite episodes with friends. We really appreciate your support. Host Links: Kipp Bodnar, https://twitter.com/kippbodnar Kieran Flanagan, https://twitter.com/searchbrat ‘Marketing Against The Grain’ is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by Hubspot Media // Produced by Darren Clarke.
Summary
How Top 1% Marketers Are Shifting Their Strategy in Q3 2026
3w ago00:21:56Summary readyThe marketing trends that matter this year: https://clickhubspot.com/djsk Ep. 432 AI usage does not mean productivity. Kipp and Kieran dive into the radical changes required to thrive in the AI-driven “Loop Marketing” era, and why outcome-obsession is now the only way to win. Learn more on why marketing has been more disrupted by AI than any other profession, how top teams organize for speed and learning, and nine essential principles behind Loop Marketing that will turbocharge your career and completely reshape how modern marketing teams operate. Mentions Loop: Outlearn. Outmarket. Outgrow. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1637636105?ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_213Z2Q17JG0WJ0J5JHR1_1&bestFormat=true Get our guide to build your own Custom GPT: https://clickhubspot.com/customgpt Resource [Free] Steal our favorite AI Prompts featured on the show! Grab them here: https://clickhubspot.com/aip We’re on Social Media! Follow us for everyday marketing wisdom straight to your feed YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGtXqPiNV8YC0GMUzY-EUFg Twitter: https://twitter.com/matgpod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@matgpod Thank you for tuning into Marketing Against The Grain! Don’t forget to hit subscribe and follow us on Apple Podcasts (so you never miss an episode)! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-against-the-grain/id1616700934 If you love this show, please leave us a 5-Star Review https://link.chtbl.com/h9_sjBKH and share your favorite episodes with friends. We really appreciate your support. Host Links: Kipp Bodnar, https://twitter.com/kippbodnar Kieran Flanagan, https://twitter.com/searchbrat ‘Marketing Against The Grain’ is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by Hubspot Media // Produced by Darren Clarke.
Summary
Automate Boring Tasks With Codex & Claude Code in X Minutes
4w ago00:27:31Summary readyWorkflow for building skills with Claude Code & Codex: https://clickhubspot.com/kcta Ep. 431 Should you just use Claude Code and Codex for your main workflows? Kipp, Kieran, and guest Peter Yang (led products and teams at Roblox, Reddit, Amazon (Twitch), and Meta) dive into how marketers can transform their productivity with AI-driven systems, building reusable automations, and evaluating AI output for real impact. Learn more on identifying and documenting your workflows, building and refining AI “skills,” and harnessing powerful evaluation methods (evals) to ensure your automations actually deliver results. Mentions Peter Yang https://www.youtube.com/@peteryangyt Codex https://openai.com/codex/ Claude Code https://claude.com/product/claude-code Get our guide to build your own Custom GPT: https://clickhubspot.com/customgpt Resource [Free] Steal our favorite AI Prompts featured on the show! Grab them here: https://clickhubspot.com/aip We’re on Social Media! Follow us for everyday marketing wisdom straight to your feed YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGtXqPiNV8YC0GMUzY-EUFg Twitter: https://twitter.com/matgpod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@matgpod Thank you for tuning into Marketing Against The Grain! Don’t forget to hit subscribe and follow us on Apple Podcasts (so you never miss an episode)! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-against-the-grain/id1616700934 If you love this show, please leave us a 5-Star Review https://link.chtbl.com/h9_sjBKH and share your favorite episodes with friends. We really appreciate your support. Host Links: Kipp Bodnar, https://twitter.com/kippbodnar Kieran Flanagan, https://twitter.com/searchbrat ‘Marketing Against The Grain’ is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by Hubspot Media // Produced by Darren Clarke.
Summary
How Beehiiv's Founder Turned a Newsletter Into a $1M Pipeline
Jun 1000:26:25Summary readyGet our AI Newsletter Stack (with prompts): https://clickhubspot.com/weqr Ep 430 55% of buyers of a $10 playbook became paying users for Beehive, driving massive business value. Kipp and Tyler Denk (Co-Founder and CEO of beehiiv) dive into how founder-led content, owned audiences, and strategic digital products can supercharge growth—even without massive scale. Learn more on the power of email as a direct, owned channel, building trust and community through transparency, and why even niche, high-intent audiences can unlock serious monetization and brand loyalty in the creator economy. Mentions Tyler Denk https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-denk beehiiv https://www.beehiiv.com/ Morning Brew https://morningbrewinc.com/ Business Insider https://www.businessinsider.com/ Cloudflare https://www.cloudflare.com/ David Senra https://www.davidsenra.com/ Loop: Outlearn. Outmarket. Outgrow. https://a.co/d/03y0GZHi Get our guide to build your own Custom GPT: https://clickhubspot.com/customgpt Resource [Free] Steal our favorite AI Prompts featured on the show! Grab them here: https://clickhubspot.com/aip We’re on Social Media! Follow us for everyday marketing wisdom straight to your feed YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGtXqPiNV8YC0GMUzY-EUFg Twitter: https://twitter.com/matgpod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@matgpod Thank you for tuning into Marketing Against The Grain! Don’t forget to hit subscribe and follow us on Apple Podcasts (so you never miss an episode)! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-against-the-grain/id1616700934 If you love this show, please leave us a 5-Star Review https://link.chtbl.com/h9_sjBKH and share your favorite episodes with friends. We really appreciate your support. Host Links: Kipp Bodnar, https://twitter.com/kippbodnar Kieran Flanagan, https://twitter.com/searchbrat ‘Marketing Against The Grain’ is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by Hubspot Media // Produced by Darren Clarke.
Summary
This AI Second Brain Remembers Everything I Save (Codex)
Jun 400:30:18Summary readyFree Guide to Build Your Personal AI Wiki: https://clickhubspot.com/fcmt Ep. 425 You can create a second brain in 15 minutes and for free. Kipp and Matt Wolfe (Future Tools) dive into how to build your own "second brain" using tools like Obsidian and Codex, so you can finally make use of all the information you’re gathering. Learn more on setting up a personal wiki to organize your knowledge, harnessing AI-powered agents to automate and interlink content, and turning your information hoarding into proactive recommendations and smarter business decisions. Mentions Matt Wolfe https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-wolfe-30841712/ Future Tools https://futuretools.io/ Obsidian https://obsidian.md/ Obsidian Web Clipper https://obsidian.md/clipper Codex https://openai.com/codex/ Claude Code https://code.claude.com/docs/en/overview Cursor https://cursor.com/ Andrej Karpathy https://karpathy.ai/ Visual Studio Code https://code.visualstudio.com/ Notion https://www.notion.com/ Get our guide to build your own Custom GPT: https://clickhubspot.com/customgpt Resource [Free] Steal our favorite AI Prompts featured on the show! Grab them here: https://clickhubspot.com/aip We’re on Social Media! Follow us for everyday marketing wisdom straight to your feed YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGtXqPiNV8YC0GMUzY-EUFg Twitter: https://twitter.com/matgpod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@matgpod Thank you for tuning into Marketing Against The Grain! Don’t forget to hit subscribe and follow us on Apple Podcasts (so you never miss an episode)! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-against-the-grain/id1616700934 If you love this show, please leave us a 5-Star Review https://link.chtbl.com/h9_sjBKH and share your favorite episodes with friends. We really appreciate your support. Host Links: Kipp Bodnar, https://twitter.com/kippbodnar Kieran Flanagan, https://twitter.com/searchbrat ‘Marketing Against The Grain’ is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by Hubspot Media // Produced by Darren Clarke.
Summary
Google is overhauling Search - what you need to know
Jun 400:20:25Summary readyAudit your AI Search Visibility with our free resource: https://clickhubspot.com/orjh Ep. 428 93% of searches in Google’s new AI mode end without a single click—are your SEO dashboards lying to you? Kipp dives into Google’s biggest search overhaul in 25 years and what it means for marketers and businesses. Learn more on why keyword ranking is dead, how AI-driven search is changing consumer behavior, and the three strategies you need to shift your marketing for the new era of AI-powered search. Mentions Logan Kilpatrick https://x.com/OfficialLoganK Google I/O https://io.google/2026/ ICODA https://icoda.io/ Get our guide to build your own Custom GPT: https://clickhubspot.com/customgpt Resource [Free] Steal our favorite AI Prompts featured on the show! Grab them here: https://clickhubspot.com/aip We’re on Social Media! Follow us for everyday marketing wisdom straight to your feed YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGtXqPiNV8YC0GMUzY-EUFg Twitter: https://twitter.com/matgpod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@matgpod Thank you for tuning into Marketing Against The Grain! Don’t forget to hit subscribe and follow us on Apple Podcasts (so you never miss an episode)! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-against-the-grain/id1616700934 If you love this show, please leave us a 5-Star Review https://link.chtbl.com/h9_sjBKH and share your favorite episodes with friends. We really appreciate your support. Host Links: Kipp Bodnar, https://twitter.com/kippbodnar Kieran Flanagan, https://twitter.com/searchbrat ‘Marketing Against The Grain’ is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by Hubspot Media // Produced by Darren Clarke.
Summary
How Dhar Mann Built A 65B View Machine Without Chasing The Algorithm
Jun 400:42:43Summary readyEp. 427 Are Dhar Mann videos more therapeutic than talking to friends, family, or even a therapist? Kipp, Kieran, and guest Dhar Mann (founder of Dhar Mann Studios), dive into how brands can unlock explosive growth and deep audience connection. Learn more about what it takes to move hearts and communities through storytelling, how to balance emotional connection versus gaming the platform algorithm, and the step-by-step HEART framework that transforms content into impact. Mentions Dhar Mann https://www.youtube.com/@DharMann What Happens Next - The Dhar Mann Podcast https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR9M5Nh-CftZxJZqfcNnIYw/featured Adobe Premiere https://www.adobe.com/products/premiere.html Loop: Outlearn. Outmarket. Outgrow https://a.co/d/0bliMe9t Get our guide to build your own Custom GPT: https://clickhubspot.com/customgpt Resource [Free] Steal our favorite AI Prompts featured on the show! Grab them here: https://clickhubspot.com/aip We’re on Social Media! Follow us for everyday marketing wisdom straight to your feed YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGtXqPiNV8YC0GMUzY-EUFg Twitter: https://twitter.com/matgpod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@matgpod Thank you for tuning into Marketing Against The Grain! Don’t forget to hit subscribe and follow us on Apple Podcasts (so you never miss an episode)! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-against-the-grain/id1616700934 If you love this show, please leave us a 5-Star Review https://link.chtbl.com/h9_sjBKH and share your favorite episodes with friends. We really appreciate your support. Host Links: Kipp Bodnar, https://twitter.com/kippbodnar Kieran Flanagan, https://twitter.com/searchbrat ‘Marketing Against The Grain’ is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by Hubspot Media // Produced by Darren Clarke.
Summary
Google Data Analyst Shares Her $300k/year Codex Workflow
Jun 300:32:46Summary readyFree: Build an AI Data Analysis Agent in Codex https://clickhubspot.com/eqfk Ep. 429 Is AI-powered data analysis light years away from replacing humans? Kipp and guest Sundas Khalid (data science and AI leader) dive into how agentic analytics is transforming data science, what human judgment still brings to the table, and how to master cutting-edge AI tools for your work. Learn more on how to leverage Codex and other AI tools for real-world data analysis, the crucial mindset shifts and skills every data-driven professional needs, and why asking the right questions—and validating AI output—will set you apart in the age of agentic analytics. Mentions Sundas Khalid https://www.youtube.com/sundaskhalid Codex https://openai.com/codex/ Gemini https://gemini.google.com/ Claude https://claude.ai/ Get our guide to build your own Custom GPT: https://clickhubspot.com/customgpt Resource [Free] Steal our favorite AI Prompts featured on the show! Grab them here: https://clickhubspot.com/aip We’re on Social Media! Follow us for everyday marketing wisdom straight to your feed YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGtXqPiNV8YC0GMUzY-EUFg Twitter: https://twitter.com/matgpod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@matgpod Thank you for tuning into Marketing Against The Grain! Don’t forget to hit subscribe and follow us on Apple Podcasts (so you never miss an episode)! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-against-the-grain/id1616700934 If you love this show, please leave us a 5-Star Review https://link.chtbl.com/h9_sjBKH and share your favorite episodes with friends. We really appreciate your support. Host Links: Kipp Bodnar, https://twitter.com/kippbodnar Kieran Flanagan, https://twitter.com/searchbrat ‘Marketing Against The Grain’ is a HubSpot Original Podcast // Brought to you by Hubspot Media // Produced by Darren Clarke.
Summary