Marketing School | Digital Marketing | Online Marketing

Eric and Neil break down a genius AI prospecting system a pool builder is using to target high-value homes, render custom backyard pools, and mail personalized postcards on autopilot. They also unpack Sequoia’s thesis that the next trillion-dollar AI company will sell work, not software, why AI works best when paired with human strategy, and how smart operators are using AI to create better content, better outbound, and better outcomes. Key takeaways ◾ AI can turn satellite imagery and rendering into hyper-personalized outbound. ◾ The next big AI opportunity may be selling outcomes, not software. ◾ Services businesses may benefit more from AI than most people realize. ◾ AI alone often produces mediocre work, but AI plus human judgment can outperform either one alone. ◾ Great prompts and real context lead to far better outputs than generic AI requests. ◾ The best creators are using AI to spot patterns, generate variations, and improve what already works. Chapters 00:00 How a pool builder uses AI t

Eric and Neil break down why Anthropic’s next big moat may have nothing to do with raw model intelligence and everything to do with permission, governance, and trust inside enterprise systems. They also unpack the difference between individual AI and institutional AI, why most companies still aren’t ready to let agents act inside real workflows, how AI helped cut major costs without cutting headcount, and why relationships still matter more than ever when it comes to closing massive deals. Key takeaways ◾ The next great AI moat may be permission, not intelligence. ◾ Enterprise adoption depends on governance, access, and trust. ◾ Institutional AI beats generic AI when it is deeply tied to SOPs and company knowledge. ◾ AI can create huge cost savings without automatically replacing full-time teams. ◾ Big contracts still come from strong relationships, not just better tools. ◾ AI can still make very expensive mistakes when you trust it too much. Chapters (00:00) Anthropic’s new moat is permission (03:04) Insti

Eric and Neil break down why Uber’s AI spend is skyrocketing, what it means when tools like Claude Code become too useful to cut back, and why token costs may become the next big enterprise bottleneck. They also get into why AI may create more jobs than people expect, how smart teams should think about ROI on token spend, and why the companies that learn to scale AI efficiently will have a major edge. Need marketing help? Visit: https://www.singlegrain.com/ and https://npdigital.com/ Want to recruit great marketers? Find them here: https://marketingschool.io/hire Key takeaways ◾ AI gets expensive fast when teams find real workflow value. ◾ Token costs are becoming a serious budgeting problem for enterprise teams. ◾ More AI usage only matters if it drives real ROI, not just more output. ◾ The biggest advantage may go to companies that optimize token spend first. ◾ History suggests new technology creates new categories of work, not just displacement. Chapters 00:00 Uber burns through its AI budg

Eric and Neil break down how they used AI and the YouTube API to analyze 320 episodes worth of predictions, score who was more accurate over time, and uncover the deeper pattern behind why the podcast works. They also get into why marketers need to stop protecting their opinions, how APIs can surface content opportunities faster, why speed now matters more than polish, and what today’s “AI-forward” operators are still getting wrong. Key takeaways ◾ AI is great at spotting patterns across large content datasets. ◾ The best marketers use data to challenge their assumptions, not defend them. ◾ Speed matters more than polish when you can launch, learn, and optimize fast. ◾ “Quick and decent” beats waiting weeks for something perfect. ◾ A rough-looking website can still convert if the offer is strong enough. ◾ Many “AI-forward” marketers still have very little real execution. Chapters (00:00) AI scores 320 predictions (03:02) Why APIs are so useful for marketers (06:04) What aggressive marketers can teach you (1

Eric and Neil break down GitHub as the next major marketing channel, why AI voice agents are finally good enough for discovery calls, and the trap of "AI theater" that's killing marketing ROI. They unpack the eye-watering $4.7M midroll pricing on Acquired FM, what makes elite peer groups actually valuable, and round it out with seven AI tools driving real growth right now. Key takeaways ◾ GitHub repos are becoming a serious marketing channel ◾ AI voice agents can now handle full discovery calls ◾ Don't let AI theater distract from what actually drives ROI Chapters (00:00) GitHub as a marketing channel (01:47) Agentic and hyperpersonalized marketing (02:02) Boardy.AI and voice agent discovery calls (03:09) The AI theater trap (05:01) Tying AI to real customer problems (06:24) Why recording wearables kill conversations (08:29) Karrot LinkedIn ads break (09:04) Acquired FM's $4.7M midroll pricing (10:54) Acquired vs All-In vs Founders (11:34) Learning from historical business deep dives (13:0

Growth Newsletter: https://levelingup.beehiiv.com/subscribe Need marketing help? Visit: https://www.singlegrain.com/ and https://npdigital.com/ Want to recruit great marketers? Find them here: https://marketingschool.io/hire Eric and Neil break down how one founder used AI and 800 fake doctor profiles to scale a GLP-1 telehealth business toward $1.8B in revenue, and why aggressive AI-powered marketing (done ethically) is the new edge. They unpack the Jevons paradox of skyrocketing AI infrastructure costs, the four levels of AI marketing maturity, the Ferrari vs. Honda model routing strategy to cut LLM spend, and why Chinese sentiment toward AI is wildly more optimistic than in the US. A sharp episode on building custom AI tools, scaling infrastructure, and adapting before the curve leaves you behind. Key takeaways ◾ One-person billion-dollar companies are becoming reality with AI ◾ AI infrastructure costs may soon rival headcount costs ◾ The four levels of AI marketing separate winners from laggards Chapt

Growth Newsletter: https://levelingup.beehiiv.com/subscribe Need marketing help? Visit: https://www.singlegrain.com/ and https://npdigital.com/ Want to recruit great marketers? Find them here: https://marketingschool.io/hire Eric and Neil break down OpenAI's $200M acquisition of TBPN and whether owning media is actually worth it for AI giants. They unpack Neil's co-branded conference playbook in Canada, why Anthropic's shipping velocity is crushing OpenAI, the rise of "world intelligence" agents inside companies, and why Neil's switching corporate spend from Amex to Ramp. Plus an honest look at credit card perks, points strategy, and when cash back beats miles. Key takeaways ◾Owning media isn't always worth it, even at $200M ◾Anthropic's shipping velocity is winning mind share ◾Every company now wants its own "world intelligence" agent Chapters (00:00) OpenAI buys TBPN for $200M (01:31) Why owning media properties isn't always smart (02:03) Neil's co-branded conference playbook (05:13) Bre

Neil and Eric break down how IKEA turned an AI chatbot's failures into a $1B design consultancy, why creative is now the real ceiling on paid ads, and where API pricing and in-LLM advertising are heading. They unpack agentic commerce, dynamic personalized ads, and who actually wins the LLM race long term — Google, Microsoft, Anthropic, or OpenAI. A sharp episode on reskilling instead of cutting, scaling with AI creative, and betting on the right players in the AI stack. Growth Newsletter: https://levelingup.beehiiv.com/subscribe Need marketing help? Visit: https://www.singlegrain.com/ and https://npdigital.com/ Want to recruit great marketers? Find them here: https://marketingschool.io/hire Key takeaways ◾IKEA's AI chatbot unlocked a $1B new business line ◾Creative and first-party data are the real paid ad levers ◾Google and Microsoft likely win enterprise AI long term Chapters 00:00 IKEA's $1B AI chatbot story 01:45 Reskill before you cut 02:18 Scaling $1.5M to $20M with 4,500 creatives 0

Growth Newsletter: https://levelingup.beehiiv.com/subscribe Need marketing help? Visit: https://www.singlegrain.com/ and https://npdigital.com/ Want to recruit great marketers? Find them here: https://marketingschool.io/hire Most marketers still default to Meta and Google first, but that may no longer be the smartest place to start. In this episode, Eric and Neil break down the underpriced channels getting overlooked right now, why GitHub and GEO are becoming serious growth opportunities, and how AI is changing what separates average marketers from the ones who keep winning. They also get into why execution speed is becoming the real edge, why not everyone in your company needs to become an AI expert, and the five skills marketers will need by 2027 if they want to stay relevant. Key Takeaways: ◾Some of the best paid marketing opportunities right now are on smaller social platforms like Snap, Pinterest, and X. ◾GitHub is becoming more than a developer platform and may turn into a real marketing channel. ◾G

Growth Newsletter: https://levelingup.beehiiv.com/subscribe Need marketing help? Visit: https://www.singlegrain.com/ and https://npdigital.com/ Want to recruit great marketers? Find them here: https://marketingschool.io/hire Chamath says brands could go to zero as AI makes products cheaper, faster, and easier to copy. In this episode, Eric and Neil break down why they disagree, why status still drives buying behavior, and why branding may actually become more important as AI creates more abundance. They also get into why luxury still holds power, why most people misunderstand what makes premium brands durable, and how AI agents are shifting the market from selling software seats to selling actual output. Key Takeaways: ◾Chamath’s “brands go to zero” argument ignores how much status still drives human behavior. ◾Strong brands like Apple, Jordan, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Tesla still carry emotional and social value. ◾AI may not kill brands, but it could make weak brands easier to replace. ◾Lu

Growth Newsletter: https://levelingup.beehiiv.com/subscribe Meta is reportedly pushing engineers to use AI for most of their code, and it may be one of the clearest signs yet that AI adoption is becoming mandatory inside major companies. In this episode, Eric and Neil break down why AI works differently in coding than in marketing, why engagement without revenue means nothing, and how the smartest companies are using AI to drive conversions, optimize operations, and move faster. Key Takeaways: ◾Meta’s AI push could signal where the rest of tech is headed. ◾AI works better in coding because the output is easier to verify. ◾More engagement does not always mean more revenue. ◾Some of the best AI use cases in marketing are in CRO and business optimization. ◾Distribution still matters, even if AI makes execution cheaper. Chapters: 00:00 Meta’s AI coding push 02:09 When AI engagement doesn’t lead to revenue 05:45 What real AI ROI looks like 07:26 Using AI to improve conversions 11:17 Stripe’s bet

Growth Newsletter: https://levelingup.beehiiv.com/subscribe Need marketing help? Visit: https://www.singlegrain.com/ and https://npdigital.com/ Want to recruit great marketers? Find them here: https://marketingschool.io/hire Oracle cut 30,000 jobs this morning to fund AI data centers, and their stock jumped 5%. Nvidia's growth is reaccelerating because of AI agents. Meta just built AI that predicts your dopamine before you feel it. Eric and Neil break down what all of this means for marketers and business owners right now, who actually gets paid the most in marketing today, and how Eric's AI agent is already negotiating his own sponsorship deals. Key Takeaways: Companies are cutting headcount specifically to fund AI infrastructure, and the market is rewarding them for it. Nvidia's growth reacceleration is being driven by real agent adoption, not just hype. The highest paid marketing role right now is customer acquisition on social, not SEO or paid. Meta's brain-decoding AI doesn't need t

Growth Newsletter: https://levelingup.beehiiv.com/subscribe Need marketing help? Visit: https://www.singlegrain.com/ and https://npdigital.com/ Want to recruit great marketers? Find them here: https://marketingschool.io/hire Neil and Eric break down how SEO, AEO, and AI search are changing faster than most marketers realize. They explain why the new way to win is through APIs and agents, why AI-generated content often fails over time without a human in the loop, and how evals are replacing old school testing cycles for the best AI teams. They also get into why publishing listicles on your own site can quietly hurt organic traffic, how synthetic data could reshape marketing measurement, and why every CEO may soon be running their own internal AI agent. Key Takeaways: The future of SEO and AEO is increasingly API-first, with agents doing the work faster across content and workflows Pure AI-written content may get short-term gains, but long-term performance still depends on human editing, iteration, and str

Growth Newsletter: https://levelingup.beehiiv.com/subscribe Need marketing help? Visit: https://www.singlegrain.com/ and https://npdigital.com/ Want to recruit great marketers? Find them here: https://marketingschool.io/hire Neil and Eric break down the brutal reality of AI transformation inside real organizations, why just telling your team to "use AI" completely backfires, how C players are using AI to hide and do less, and why rockstar employees are becoming 100x more valuable overnight. They share the exact systems they use to roll out AI internally, from weekly hackathons to AI fluency standups to Friday agents that hold every employee publicly accountable. Plus, why the entire marketing job pyramid is being flipped upside down, what the Travis Kalanick robotics bet tells us about where jobs are really going, and why even a 2,000-person global law firm says their AI tool makes their job harder, not easier. Key Takeaways: - Telling your team to "just use AI" produces slop, you need AI that adapts to e

Growth Newsletter: https://levelingup.beehiiv.com/subscribe Need marketing help? Visit: https://www.singlegrain.com/ and https://npdigital.com/Want to recruit great marketers? Find them here: https://marketingschool.io/hire Neil and Eric break down why AI is quietly killing the marketing channels most businesses still rely on — cold email open rates have dropped over 40%, AI-generated content is getting near-zero engagement, and outreach inboxes are completely flooded. They share exactly where they're shifting their marketing spend in 2026, why branding and in-person events are the new moat, and why Neil basically quit doing podcasts. Key Takeaways: Cold email open rates dropped 40%+ from end of 2024 to Q1 2026 across 11 B2B companies AI-generated content gets terrible engagement unless it's specifically about AI topics Brand, relationships, and intellectual horsepower are the only real moats left in 2026 Chapters: 00:00 AI Is Destroying the Marketing Channels You Rely On01:13 The Col

Growth Newsletter: https://levelingup.beehiiv.com/subscribe Need marketing help? Visit: https://www.singlegrain.com/ and https://npdigital.com/ Want to recruit great marketers? Find them here: https://marketingschool.io/hire Neil and Eric react to Jensen Huang's bold claim that a $500K engineer should be spending $250K on AI tokens, and why the real answer involves open source. They break down how AI costs are exploding internally, why Cursor's $2B revenue run rate doubled in 3 months, and the rise of vertical AI models. The conversation also covers 7 SEO trends for 2026, how AEO audits expose major gaps, the Agentic Commerce Protocol changing checkout forever, and a live breakdown of IM8's $120M bundle strategy. Key Takeaways: 70-80% of your AI usage should run on open source infrastructure. Sites that link to you are the easiest wins for GEO and SEO. AEO audits are exposing massive gaps most companies are ignoring. Chapters: 00:00 Jensen Huang's $250K Token Claim 01:25 Open Source vs Paid AI

In this episode, we break down how easy it currently is to “game” AI platforms like ChatGPT and Google Gemini—and why those loopholes won’t last. We discuss the risks of short-term hacks versus long-term credibility, how AI will reshape job markets by rewarding bottleneck skills, and why strategy and adaptability will matter more than ever. We also share real-world wins and failures using AI in marketing and operations, highlighting where it drives massive leverage—and where it still falls short.

In this episode, we react to a bold take from Jensen Huang on why AI shouldn’t be used as an excuse for layoffs—and instead should be a tool to do more with more. We break down the real reasons companies are cutting jobs, why the “AI efficiency” narrative is often misleading, and how top performers are using AI to scale output rather than replace people. We also dive into what’s actually driving growth today, from optimizing for platforms like ChatGPT to the overlooked power of boring but effective marketing channels, and why the future belongs to teams that combine AI fluency with strong judgment.

In this episode, we break down one of the wildest shifts happening in content and marketing right now: AI-powered media at scale.After discovering a highlights channel from Alex Hormozi pumping out dozens of videos per day, we reverse engineer how it works—and how you can replicate (and improve) the strategy using AI tools. We also dive into real-world insights from global marketing teams—what’s actually working, where AI is falling short, and why most people are wasting the time AI is saving them. If you want to understand where content, AI, and marketing are really headed and how to stay ahead this episode is a must-listen.