Over the past couple of months, one of our members, Ron Close, has been deep in the weeds on Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), testing, learning, and pulling together a practical guide to what’s actually working right now.

And instead of just publishing it and calling it done, he did something better.

He brought it here.

Because the truth is: the best ideas don’t come from one perspective, they come from rooms like this.

So we’re turning this into a community-powered review.

This is your chance to:

• Pressure test the ideas

• Add your own real-world experiences

• Challenge assumptions

• Sharpen what’s already here

• And help shape something that could become a go-to resource for marketers navigating AEO

Whether you’re actively experimenting with AEO, just starting to explore it, or have strong opinions about where it’s headed, we want your feedback!

As you read, think about:

• What made you pause or rethink something?

• What feels spot on?

• What’s missing?

• Where would you push this further?

Download the guide below and drop your thoughts in the comments, react to others, build on ideas!

Aeo Guide V2

552KB ∙ PDF file

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“The number one thing marketers need to do to connect to the market is know the market.” - David Schnepp

It sounds obvious. That may be exactly why so many teams skip it.

Knowing the Market Isn’t a Line Item

Schnepp, a B2B SaaS marketing leader and VP of Marketing at Virdee, argues that “knowing your market” isn’t a box you check during onboarding.

It’s a continuous practice.

Marketing teams often prioritize hiring specialists; PPC experts, SEO managers, growth tacticians, without asking a deeper question: Do we actually understand the industry we serve?

That gap doesn’t just affect marketing. It shows up in product decisions, sales conversations, customer success, and leadership choices. When assumptions go unchallenged, teams end up optimizing for a market that no longer exists.

“You have to become a nerd,” Schnepp says.
An absolute nerd about your industry, your buyers, and your users.

Expertise Starts With Curiosity

True market understanding doesn’t come from a single report or survey. It comes from repeated exposure.

Schnepp describes visiting hotels simply to observe how things work. Staying curious about how guests interact with systems. Paying attention to how check-in experiences differ between boutique hotels and large brands.

The point isn’t perfection. It’s proximity.

Markets evolve. Buyer expectations shift. Assumptions that were true four years ago may quietly break while teams stay busy executing yesterday’s strategy.

That’s why Schnepp believes leaders must intentionally carve out time to step back and re-learn the industry again and again.

The Leadership Mandate

This kind of learning can’t be optional or personal-only. It has to be cultural.

Schnepp is clear that market understanding must start at the top. If leadership doesn’t protect time for learning, curiosity gets squeezed out by urgency.

When organizations run at full utilization, learning feels like a luxury. In reality, it’s an investment.

Products improve. Marketing sharpens. Customer conversations become more natural. Teams stop guessing.

“If you don’t understand the market,” Schnepp warns, “you may not fail immediately. But others will pass you.”

Why Short-Term Pressure Breaks Long-Term Strategy

One of the most damaging dynamics Schnepp sees is the expectation that new marketing leaders deliver results immediately.

Thirty-day turnarounds. Sixty-day transformations. Ninety-day miracles.

Without time to understand the nuances of the business and the market, leaders are forced to guess. They rely on what worked somewhere else, in a different industry, with different buyers.

That’s why so many marketing leaders cycle in and out. Not because they lack skill, but because they’re asked to perform without context.

Learning Happens Everywhere

Market learning doesn’t only happen through formal research.

Schnepp studies kiosks at airports, coffee ordering flows, and restaurant policies. He notices when experiences work and when they fail.

Case in point, one of his favorite sports bars recently implemented a new rule where every area of the restaurant has to have the sound on for a football game… or not at all. For 15 years, Schnepp and fellow University of Michigan alumni had met at this bar to watch football games, with a small outdoor area reserved for them, with the sound on. They were the only patrons there early on a Saturday morning, and the bar staff couldn’t explain the justification for the new rule. As a result, the group left the bar and will find a new location from now on. The restaurant lost out on loyal customers due to a cut-and-paste policy.

For Schnepp, those moments are lessons.

“What not to do” can be as powerful as best practices.

Conferences, Contrarian Ideas, and Signals

Schnepp values trade shows not just for sessions, but for observing patterns.

What are vendors selling?
What ideas are gaining traction?
What tactics feel new or newly relevant?

One example that stood out: modern direct mail.

Not flyers. Thoughtful, industry-relevant packages tied to account-based marketing. Physical experiences designed to break through digital fatigue.

Whether or not every idea works, the signal matters. Markets speak through behavior.

Learning Is a Team Sport

A leader’s job isn’t to be the smartest person in the room.

Schnepp believes leaders should synthesize insights, share what they learn, and empower specialists to deepen their expertise.

That requires trust, time, and consistency. Saying “learning matters” without giving people space to do it creates friction instead of growth.

Culture isn’t what you say. It’s what you make possible.

A Career Built on Curiosity

From growing up between Austria and the U.S. to working across industries and continents, Schnepp credits curiosity for shaping his leadership style.

Early in his career, he admits, he lacked emotional intelligence. He was direct, confident, and often wrong about how his ideas landed.

That changed when he learned to listen more, observe more, and question his own assumptions.

Leadership, like market understanding, is learned not inherited.

The Core Lesson

Marketing doesn’t start with campaigns.
It starts with care.

Care enough to watch.
Care enough to ask.
Care enough to admit what you don’t know.

When marketers stop being students of their market, they don’t just lose relevance, they lose direction.

And as Schnepp reminds us, the market is always teaching.
You just have to be paying attention.

Key Takeaways for Marketing Leaders

• Market knowledge is not a phase. It’s a habit.

• Assumptions expire faster than strategies.

• Learning must be modeled and protected by leadership.

• Short-term pressure creates long-term blind spots.

• The world is a classroom… if you’re curious enough to notice.

Final Thought
You don’t connect to the market by speaking louder.
You connect by listening longer.

And the marketers who win won’t be the loudest, they’ll be the most curious.

“It’s not about you. It’s not about your product. It’s about your users.” – Eric Bogard

The Hub and Spoke of Real Marketing

Bogard, a longtime VP of Marketing and Fractional Marketing Leader for B2B SaaS brands, sees marketing as a hub and spoke system.

At the center is deep, empathetic knowledge of your ideal customer profile (ICP).

Every spoke, demand gen, content, brand, field events, product positioning, must connect back to that hub.

Without that foundation, all the clever campaigns in the world amount to “diminished returns.”

Quick Wins ≠ Skipping the Foundation

Pressure from the board to “show growth this quarter” often pushes teams to skip discovery work. Bogard’s approach is to launch a low risk, low investment campaign while still focusing on the big picture.

For example, launching an intent-based Google Search campaigns to buy time and generate early wins.

Use those weeks to invest in ICP research, talk to customers, survey users, analyze website behavior, attend events, and layer insights from multiple channels.

The goal isn’t one perfect dataset; it’s a 360° picture of what your market feels, values, and needs.

AI as an Accelerator, Not a Replacement

Yes, AI is the marketing story of the decade, but Bogard warns against confusing efficiency with empathy.

“AI is an amplifier, not a replacement. You still need the basics.”

Think of it like a calculator: it’s only powerful if you already understand arithmetic.

Marketers who win will use AI to enhance creativity, insight, and personalization, not outsource their judgment.

Product Marketing: The Missing Bridge

One of the most common structural mistakes in growing B2B teams is treating product marketing as optional.

“Feature I-itis is real,” says Bogard. “Nobody really cares about your features, they care about how those features solve their problem.”

Product marketers are the translators between engineering, product and the market.

They transform functionality into value and ensure every launch aligns with audience motivations.

For VPs of Marketing, Bogard argues this should be one of your earliest strategic hires.

Building an Advisory Board That Works

Another underused lever is a customer advisory board. When built intentionally, with clear goals, cross-functional participation, and consistent engagement, it becomes a standing focus group that grounds your strategy in real buyer feedback.

The key is to nurture it like any B2B program: regular cadence, defined agendas, and follow-through.

The Return to Empathy

In an age of dashboards and automation, Bogard sees the next evolution of marketing as a return to empathy and fundamentals.

Data and empathy aren’t opposites, they’re partners. The strongest brands will master both.

Lessons from the Road

Outside of marketing, Bogard’s global travel has reinforced the same principle: get out of your comfort zone.

Experiencing other cultures forces you to see the world, and your customers, through new eyes.

“Marketing,” he says, “is a people endeavor, not a product endeavor.”

Key Takeaways for Marketing Leaders

• Diagnose the real problem. Before fixing pipeline, fix understanding.

• Anchor everything to the ICP. Treat customer knowledge as the marketing hub.

• Use AI wisely. Let it accelerate insight and execution, not replace empathy.

• Invest early in product marketing. It’s the bridge from features to value.

• Institutionalize feedback. Advisory boards keep strategy customer-centric.

• Make space to think. The best insights come when you step away from the firehose.

Final Word

The playbook for modern marketing isn’t fully written yet.

And as Bogard reminds us, “When considering what has been written, the ink is still wet.”

That’s the opportunity, to write it together, grounded not in noise, but in understanding.

#DisconnectedMarketing. It’s built on assumptions, automation, and personas that aren’t real and it’s killing us. We’re tired of hoping it works, tired of “Marketing Mary” profiles that don’t talk back, tired of the lunacy of only spending on what’s instantly trackable. It’s time to stop the bullshit and connect.

We are B2B marketing leaders: CMOs, VPs, the ones on the hook for pipeline, brand, and growth. We’ve been there, stuck in the game of “notice me!” while prospects dodge us and CEOs demand instant results. But we know the truth: real marketing starts with real connection. Not clicks, not impressions, not another ad buy dwarfed by gigantors with bigger budgets.

Connection starts with knowing your buyers. Actually knowing them, their challenges, their dreams, their words. The Connect to Market movement is our rebellion against #DisconnectedMarketing. It’s a call to care- about our teams, our customers, and the work we do. The more we learn about our buyers, the more we root for their success, and that changes everything. We don’t just want them to buy, we want them to win. And when we care, our marketing isn’t just noise- it’s a signal that cuts through.

Here’s how we start: Schedule one conversation.

No podcast, no roundtable, no fancy setup needed just yet. Start with just you and a customer, existing or potential. Ask:

• “What’s working for you right now?” Listen.

• Then, “What challenges are you facing?” Really hear them, no sales pitch.

• Finally, “What’s exciting you about the future?”

Let their answers ignite a deeper curiosity for what your other customers and prospects would say.

One growing B2B SaaS company we know was lost selling to enterprise, unsure who drove decisions in massive buying committees. Through conversations on their podcast, they discovered one department was always the champion. They pivoted, focused their marketing, and turned a murky pipeline into a clear path to deals. That’s the power of connection.

Join us. Start with one conversation, then make it a habit and take it a step further. Make connection programmatic through Connection Casting™, roundtables, or partnerships. Become a Connect to Market practitioner.

Your pipeline will grow, not from tricks but from trust. Your brand will rise, not from budget battles but from stories shared by buyers who feel seen. Your team will show up, not clocking in but fired up to make a difference. This is bigger than any one company. It’s a movement to make B2B marketing human again. Step off the wheel.

Connect to Market. Care, know, win.