Hello and welcome to The GTM Newsletter by GTMnow – read by 50,000+ to scale their companies and careers. GTMnow shares insight around the go-to-market strategies responsible for explosive company growth. GTMnow highlights the strategies, along with the stories from the top 1% of GTM executives, VCs, and founders behind these strategies and companies.

In 2024, Sydney Sloan (CMO of G2, former CMO at Salesloft and Drata) noticed something strange. Traffic from search was down 10%. Then 20%. Then 25%.

At first, it looked like a blip. But then came the shift:
LLMs like Gemini started answering questions before users even clicked.

For a company like G2 that is built on ranking in search and capturing intent, this was an existential shift. Since then, it has also become one for most companies and is a common challenge we see.

Go-to-market teams need to rewrite the brand awareness playbook for a world where content marketing, SEO, and PPC all look very different. Here is Sydney’s framework for what no longer works and what to do instead.

Recommendations

ZoomInfo’s GTM25 virtual conference on May 7th.

The future of GTM is AI-powered. Join us and thousands of revenue leaders at ZoomInfo’s GTM25 virtual conference on May 7th to explore how high-performing teams are leveraging Go-to-Market Intelligence and AI to fuel their GTM strategies that help top teams crush their revenue goals. You’ll hear from industry experts, connect with peers, and learn about the latest AI advancements. Beyond insights, you’ll walk away with proven AI tactics that you can directly implement for your GTM team.

Save Your Spot – see you (virtually) there!

1. SEO and PPC are breaking (and most teams are still operating like it’s 2019)

Sydney saw it firsthand at G2 and Drata. Gemini answers started showing up at the top of search results. Click-through rates dropped by 25%. Even well-optimized SEO programs (like HubSpot’s) saw traffic fall by as much as 70%.

Why? Google’s UI has changed. Sponsored results are pushed below the fold. Organic results are buried. The “answer box” is the only thing that matters.

Writing content just to rank doesn’t work like it used to. Instead, start writing to serve personas and jobs to be done.

2. Enter AIO: AI Optimization > Search Optimization

Teams are now strategically feeding LLMs content that gets cited in answer boxes.

These are two tactics that are working:

• Expert-driven listicles: Content written by or attributed to real operators is ranking more often in AI responses.
• Jobs-to-be-done format: Structure content to match what the user is trying to solve, not what you’re trying to sell.

Tool recommendations to help with this from Sydney’s CMO AI Circle:

• GrowthX.ai: LLM-aware content writing, focused on jobs-to-be-done.
• Profound: Tracks brand visibility across LLMs and conversational AI.

3. Don’t sleep on PR. It’s back (and stronger than ever in LLMs)

AI tools are biased toward high-authority domains. Fast Company, Forbes, and Reddit are showing up more in answer summaries (because OpenAI and Google inked content deals with those publishers).

Paid PR is no longer just for logos on your homepage. It’s how you show up in AI-powered search.

4. The rise of B2B influencers — and why you need one (or more) in your corner

Clay is a great example. They paid 50+ influencers to amplify their launch and backed it up with product. Influencers weren’t just pushing ads; they were part of the narrative.

Find creators who already have your buyer’s trust. Then partner with them before your launch.

5. Founder-led distribution still wins, but only if you commit

LinkedIn’s algorithm is noisier than ever. Sydney’s tactical tips for founder-led GTM:

• Post 2x/week: Anything less and the algorithm ghosts you.
• Comment within 15 minutes: Signals engagement and boosts reach.
• Batch posts: Block 30 min and write 5–10 at once.
• Schedule ahead: Use LinkedIn’s native scheduling tool.
• Test long-form: LinkedIn still boosts posts on its own blogging platform.

6. YouTube and Reddit are the new GTM edge

With Google indexing YouTube videos for AI responses and Reddit signing licensing deals with Google, both platforms are becoming essential brand surfaces.

• YouTube: Expect a resurgence as brands prioritize LLM visibility.
• Reddit: Highly relevant, cost-effective retargeting. If you serve a technical audience, it’s a no-brainer.

These aren’t fringe channels anymore. They’re part of the new organic stack.

7. Personalization isn’t just segmentation, it’s showing up

Sydney’s favorite outreach trick is old-school: try the product, find what’s broken, and send helpful feedback. It works because it’s real and builds trust.

Combine this with referral programs (e.g., $1,000 for a meeting or opp) and you unlock distribution that paid ads can’t match.

TL;DR – The New Brand Awareness Playbook

• AIO is the new SEO. Clicks are down 25%+ due to LLMs. Write for jobs, not keywords.
• PR is back. Forbes, Fast Company, and Reddit are now signal boosters for AI.
• Invest in B2B influencers. Be intentional and engage early.
• Founders need to get on LinkedIn. Or, whichever platform the audience lives on. Post twice a week, comment early, batch-create.
• YouTube + Reddit are GTM gold. They’re being indexed and converting.
• Hyper-personal outreach still wins. Act like a customer. Record what’s broken. That gets attention.

Questions to ask yourself / your team

Ask these questions:

• Are we writing for search engines or problems our buyer actually has?
• Do we know where our content ranks in Gemini or ChatGPT responses?
• What’s one piece of founder content we can publish this week that adds value?
• Could we redirect $5K of PPC spend into creator partnerships or strategic PR?
• Are we tracking brand mentions across Reddit, YouTube, and LLMs?

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More for your eardrums

Udi Ledergor is an iconic marketing leader and served as CMO during Gong’s rise from new SaaS startup to industry dominance. He helped Gong go from zero to hundreds of millions in revenue, while achieving a multi-billion-dollar valuation. His book Courageous Marketing is officially out and you can buy it in the show notes.

GTM 142: Why Most B2B Marketing Fails (And How to Fix It) with Udi Ledergor

Listen on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts by searching “The GTM Podcast.”

Startup to watch

Writer – CEO May Habib is making bold moves, recently featured on the cover of Forbes for helping companies save millions in labor costs with AI. The company has opened four new offices and plans to grow the team to 600. Investors call her “the time traveler” and it’s easy to see why.

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The future of AI, startups, and what’s coming in 2025. An exclusive fireside conversation with the GP of Foundation Capital, Joanne Chen. She breaks down why vertical AI solutions are gaining traction over horizontal applications, how to differentiate in an increasingly crowded AI marketed, how value is shifting to the application layer as foundation models become commoditized, and what top AI investors look for in pre-seed and seed rounds.

A conversation about building RevOps teams, leveraging AI in go-to-market strategies, and how executives are finding their next roles. On this episode of Revenue Renegades, Andy Mowat, founder of Whispered and former Carta executive, dives into these topics and his entrepreneurial journey and the philosophy behind Whispered, a platform revolutionizing how executives find unposted roles. He also explores trends in sales and marketing metrics, the evolution of AI tools, and the future of automation in B2B tech stacks.

Customer Marketing Technology Landscape Report. Maps the core subcategories of Customer Marketing and Advocacy platforms, as well as adjacent technology categories that customer marketing leaders must at least be conversant in. In this first-of-its-kind report, you’ll get clear, unbiased data from 200+ real-world practitioners on exactly what these tools do best (and worst) —so you can confidently build a tech stack that works.

Hottest GTM jobs of the week

1. Marketing & Events Associate at GTMfund (Vancouver, CAN) – come join the team behind this newsletter!
2. Product Marketing Manager at Northbeam (Remote – US)
3. Sales Manager, SMB at Closinglock (Austin, TX)
4. Group Product Marketing Manager at Vanta (Remote – US)
5. Scale Customer Success Manager at Writer (Hybrid)
   1. San Francisco| Hybrid
   2. New York City | Hybrid
   3. Chicago | Hybrid
   4. Austin | Hybrid

See more top GTM jobs on the GTMfund Job Board.

If you’re looking to scale your sales and marketing teams with top talent, we couldn’t recommend our partner Pursuit more. We work closely together to be able to provide the top go-to-market talent for companies on a non-retainer basis.

GTM industry events

Upcoming go-to-market events you won’t want to miss:

• Web Summit: May 27-30, 2025 (Vancouver, CAN)
• Pavilion CRO Summit: June 3, 2025 (Denver, CO)
• GTMfund AGM: June 5-6, 2025 (NYC, NY)
• SaaStr Annual: September 10-12 (San Francisco, CA)
• Pavilion GTM Summit: September 23-25, 2025 (Washington, DC)

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This newsletter was written and edited by Sophie Buonassisi, Max Altschuler, Paul Irving and the GTMnow team (not AI!).