{"id":2255,"date":"2025-06-16T20:37:41","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T20:37:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dietdebunker.com\/?p=2255"},"modified":"2025-06-27T13:13:48","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T13:13:48","slug":"trash-ai-content-experimental-budgets-and-tiktok-for-b2b-ross-simmonds-unfiltered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/dietdebunker.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/16\/trash-ai-content-experimental-budgets-and-tiktok-for-b2b-ross-simmonds-unfiltered\/","title":{"rendered":"Trash AI Content, Experimental Budgets, and TikTok for B2B: Ross Simmonds Unfiltered"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019ve ever stared down a sea of bland AI content and whispered, \u201cIs this my job now?\u201d, you\u2019ll enjoy this master&#8217;s take: &#8220;The amount of blog posts that are written with AI is at an all-time high\u2026 <span style=\"font-weight: bold\">And all of it is trash.<\/span>&#8220;<\/p>\n<p>Ross Simmonds joins us with some spicy takes on experimentation, distribution, and AI. And I promise: It&#8217;s not trash.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"cta_button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hubspot.com\/cs\/ci\/?pg=bcbe2652-03f9-49fe-b517-acedc47b6f27&amp;pid=53&amp;ecid=&amp;hseid=&amp;hsic=\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"hs-cta-img \" style=\"height: auto !important;width: auto !important;max-width: 100% !important;border-width: 0px\" alt=\"Click Here to Subscribe to Masters in Marketing\" height=\"58\" width=\"431\" src=\"https:\/\/no-cache.hubspot.com\/cta\/default\/53\/bcbe2652-03f9-49fe-b517-acedc47b6f27.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" width=\"577\" height=\"577\" alt=\"ross simmonds-1\" style=\"height: auto;max-width: 100%;width: 577px\" class=\"lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/dietdebunker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ross20simmonds-1.png\"><\/p>\n<h2>Ross Simmonds\u00a0<\/h2>\n<h3 style=\"font-weight: normal\"><em>Founder, <a href=\"https:\/\/foundationinc.co\/\">Foundation Marketing<\/a>; Digital marketing strategist, entrepreneur<\/em><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Fun fact: <\/strong>He once rappelled down a 20-story building in slacks and dress shoes.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Claim to fame:<\/strong> Simmonds has done something most marketers would be afraid to even attempt \u2014 he&#8217;s made the front page of Reddit six times over the last few years, and has helped clients do the same.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Lesson 1: Dedicate 20% of your budget and time to experimentation.<\/h2>\n<p>Here\u2019s the thing about marketing teams: We love a good spreadsheet, a strong quarterly plan, and the warm, fuzzy feeling of \u201cproven tactics.\u201d But Ross Simmonds wants you to spice things up.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Don&#8217;t worry, we&#8217;re not talking about going completely unhinged. &#8220;Eighty percent of your work should be low- to mid-risk, <strong>but carve out 20% for the stuff your competitors are too scared to try<\/strong>,&#8221; Simmonds tells me.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In other words, treat experimentation like guac at Chipotle: It costs a little extra, but it&#8217;s worth it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Simmonds suggests allocating time on your team&#8217;s calendar for experimentation in the same way you&#8217;d block off a week in the Caribbean.<\/p>\n<p>One way to do this is an &#8220;experiment week,&#8221; in which everybody experiments with a different channel for a few hours each day \u2014 TikTok, Reddit, you name it. The teams then present to the larger org, and everyone votes on one winning idea.<\/p>\n<p>If it makes your bowtie-wearing, type-A data analyst uncomfortable and your creative director thrilled, you&#8217;re on the right track.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This lesson is mainly about not falling into the safe zone. Pushing the boundaries and playing bold is the only way to stand out.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" width=\"650\" height=\"433\" style=\"height: auto;max-width: 100%;width: 650px;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto\" class=\"lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/dietdebunker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ross-simmonds-mim-quote.jpg\"><\/p>\n<h2>Lesson 2: Let AI nurture your leads while you sleep.<\/h2>\n<p>I would never waste your time by blabbering on about how AI helps create scalable content.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That lesson has been hammered into the ground already. But Simmonds offers a sharper, more human take: The real winners will be the brands that empower their marketers to create content that\u2019s insightful, data-driven, emotional, and uplifting.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Content that gives hope and inspires people \u2014 that will win amidst the mediocrity we&#8217;re going to see across the internet,&#8221; Simmonds says.<\/p>\n<p>So, where does that leave AI? Squarely in the lead-gen space.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>The most value in B2B that we&#8217;ve ever seen will be unlocked when we allow humans to create ridiculously valuable content, and then allow AI to study the <\/strong><strong><em>other<\/em><\/strong><strong> humans<\/strong> <strong>who are connecting with these stories<\/strong> and nurture those relationships at-scale. And then AI can bring those two humans back together to do business.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Simmonds sees a world where, using tools like HubSpot (yep, shameless plug), Clearbit, or Koala, AI could help &#8220;unmask&#8221; anonymous visitors by figuring out where they work or who they might be. Once it knows that, it could automatically reach out to them \u2014 like sending an email or a LinkedIn message \u2014 with something that feels personal and relevant.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;And when those things happen while everybody&#8217;s sleeping,&#8221; Simmonds says with a smile, &#8220;It&#8217;s going to be fascinating.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>Lesson 3: &#8220;Create once, distribute forever.&#8221;<\/h2>\n<p>Simmonds is infamous for coining the marketing phrase &#8220;create once, distribute forever.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>(As an aside, I&#8217;d love to know how to become famous for coining something. I have ideas. &#8220;Procrastibaking,&#8221; for one.)\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This phrase essentially means that too many marketers spend hours creating content, and little-to-no time or energy promoting it. Which, Simmonds argues, is the wrong approach.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He suggests marketers should be spending <em>way<\/em> more time getting that valuable content in front of the right audiences \u2014 and repurposing or reposting as they see fit.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For B2B marketers, Simmonds says LinkedIn is your go-to channel for distribution.<\/p>\n<p>But his suggestion for B2C is a little different: &#8220;On a B2C lens, you can connect and scale on TikTok in a ridiculously effective way. And the content you distribute through TikTok is actually highly re-purposeable across every channel: YouTube Shorts, X, Instagram Reels. <span style=\"font-weight: bold\">You&#8217;ve set yourself up for success because your content can be spread across all of these different channels.<\/span>&#8220;<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re &#8220;creating once, distributing forever,&#8221; this could look like spending five hours creating and editing a TikTok \u2014 and 15 hours over the next few months distributing it on TikTok, and across other video-hosting platforms.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Because people aren&#8217;t sitting around impatiently awaiting your next piece of content to launch. They&#8217;re busy and overstimulated. It might just take 15 hours for you to finally get in front of them.<\/p>\n<h2>Lingering Questions<\/h2>\n<h3>THIS WEEK&#8217;S QUESTION<\/h3>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #222222\">You always say &#8216;create once, distribute forever&#8217; \u2014 what&#8217;s one piece of content you&#8217;ve milked longer than anyone should reasonably admit? And why that one?<\/span><\/strong><strong><span style=\"color: #000000\"> <\/span><\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000\">\u2014Jay Schwedelson, Founder, SubjectLine.com; Host, <\/span><em><span style=\"color: #000000\">Try This, Not That! For Marketers Only!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h3>THIS WEEK&#8217;S ANSWER<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold\">Simmonds says<\/span>: One piece of content I\u2019ve absolutely milked? <strong>A tweet I wrote in 2019 simply said \u201cCreate Once, Distribute Forever,\u201d and it was a hit<\/strong>. It wasn\u2019t even meant to be a flagship idea back then \u2014 just a brain dump about repurposing strategy.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But I kept referencing it in talks, turning it into a slide, a workshop, a tweet thread, the title of my book, and eventually the cornerstone of how we approach content at Foundation.<\/p>\n<p>Why that one? <strong>Because the concept resonated deeply not just with marketers, but with entrepreneurs, creators, and executives who realized they were sitting on gold without mining it<\/strong>. It gave people permission to stop chasing new and start maximizing what they already had.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That message stuck, and I\u2019ve been doubling down ever since.<\/p>\n<h3>NEXT WEEK&#8217;S QUESTION<\/h3>\n<p>Simmonds asks: <span style=\"font-weight: bold\">What\u2019s one marketing hill you\u2019ll die on\u2026 Even if the data or the trends say otherwise?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"cta_button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hubspot.com\/cs\/ci\/?pg=e1f0958d-1b15-418e-b4db-45ee531f71af&amp;pid=53&amp;ecid=&amp;hseid=&amp;hsic=\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"hs-cta-img \" style=\"height: auto !important;width: auto !important;max-width: 100% !important;border-width: 0px\" alt=\"Click Here to Subscribe to Masters in Marketing\" height=\"613\" width=\"1920\" src=\"http:\/\/dietdebunker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/e1f0958d-1b15-418e-b4db-45ee531f71af.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" style=\"min-height:1px!important;width:1px!important;border-width:0!important;margin-top:0!important;margin-bottom:0!important;margin-right:0!important;margin-left:0!important;padding-top:0!important;padding-bottom:0!important;padding-right:0!important;padding-left:0!important\" class=\"lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/track.hubspot.com\/__ptq.gif?a=53&amp;k=14&amp;r=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.hubspot.com%2Fmarketing%2Fross-simmonds-on-ai-and-experimentation&amp;bu=https%253A%252F%252Fblog.hubspot.com%252Fmarketing&amp;bvt=rss\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019ve ever stared down a sea of bland AI content and whispered, \u201cIs this my job now?\u201d, you\u2019ll enjoy this master&#8217;s take: &#8220;The amount of blog posts that are written with AI is at an all-time high\u2026 And all of it is trash.&#8220; Ross Simmonds joins us with some spicy takes on experimentation, distribution,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marketing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/dietdebunker.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/dietdebunker.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/dietdebunker.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dietdebunker.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dietdebunker.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2255"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/dietdebunker.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2263,"href":"http:\/\/dietdebunker.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2255\/revisions\/2263"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dietdebunker.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/dietdebunker.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dietdebunker.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dietdebunker.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}