👉🏻 SUM NEWS: 4.2.25

April 02, 2025

In partnership with

Here’s your weekly dose of marketing wisdom. From brand trust tips to shiny new marketing tools worth trying and events you actually want to attend, we’ve got the insights, inspo, and caffeine-free energy boost you need to crush the week.

Oh, and if you have 3 minutes to spare, please take our survey on the great debate: specialists versus generalists (don’t worry, it’s all multiple choice).

IN THIS ISSUE

  • ✍️ Startup Marketing Survey

  • 🔥 From the Ink Well

  • 🌎 Around the Web: LinkedIn, Reddit, Social Specs

  • 📌 SUM Community Events

  • 😂 In the Meme Time

✍️ Take Our Startup Marketing Survey!

Are you a Swiss Army knife of marketing? Or a deep-dive specialist, living your best hyper-focused life? (or a little of both?) Either way, we want to hear from you! Take our super quick survey on how marketing roles are evolving in startups. No essays or no trick questions—just a few quick and easy multiple-choice.

FROM THE INK WELL

Marketer Spotlight: Dijana Ilieva

Dijana went from nursing school to shaping brands like Patron Tequila, and she’s sharing her take on what matters in marketing right now. AI is cool, but don’t lose your brand’s soul. Influence isn’t about follower count—it’s about trust. And her secret to staying ahead of trends? Four younger brothers. Get her insights in this week’s Marketer Spotlight.

Why Your Brand Video Isn’t Working (And How to Fix It)

Visual storytellers Matt and Chris Vanderlinden, co-founders of Detonator, shared how startups can use video to build stronger relationships, expand brand reach, and make an impact—even with limited budgets. Catch the top 3 takeaways from their recent Tea Time session.

Cold Email Setup Offer

We started sending 10,000 cold emails per day, and scaled a brand new B2B offer to $108k MRR in 90 days. Now, you can have the same system set up (completely done-for-you) inside your own business - WITHOUT going to spam, spending thousands of dollars, or any manual input. Close your next 20 clients easily. We’ll set up the tech, write your scripts, give you the leads, give you the inboxes, and the sending tool - all starting at $500/mo.

SUM PODCAST NETWORK

🎧 SUM Disruptors Podcast

On the latest episode of SUM Disruptors Podcast, Mack and Heidi sit down with Genean Jones, a marketing powerhouse with experience at Nextel, Sprint, AOL, and Comcast, to unpack what it takes to transform marketing from a cost center into a revenue-driving machine.

🎧 Brilliantly Wrong

In this week’s episode, Bernadette Van Gieson, Growth Marketing Manager at Stories Incorporated, shares how authentic storytelling can transform marketing and employer branding, building trust and emotional connections that cut through the noise.

AROUND THE WEB

  • LinkedIn has made some updates to Campaign Manager, including a new Media Planner to optimize spend, easy ad duplication across campaigns and accounts, dynamic UTMs, and Measurement Insights to analyze full-funnel performance in a centralized dashboard. [LinkedIn]

  • Reddit Ads has rolled out a new set of tools for SMBs to streamline campaign management, optimize ad performance, and improve data accuracy. [Search Engine Land]

  • Trouble keeping up with all the social media specs out there? Buffer has released a complete guide with the size of every single social image you’ll need across Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, Threads, Bluesky, and Pinterest. [Buffer]

  • Check out 13 promising new B2B marketing tools to enhance data intelligence, video creation, AI automation, and more for optimized marketing performance. [MarTech]

  • LinkedIn has added a new Calendly integration that allow Premium to add a custom “Book an Appointment” button to their LinkedIn profile. [Social Media Today]

SUM POLL

Do you think startup marketers need to be more generalists compared to marketers in larger companies?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

SUM COMMUNITY EVENTS

These events are exclusively available to SUM members. Not a member? 👉 Join now 👈

Tea Time with Maya Kosoff

📅 Thursday, 4/3

⏰ 11 am ET 

Join PR pro Maya Kosoff for a lively chat on maximizing your PR strategy in 2025—sharp strategies, real results, and making your brand impossible to ignore.

Expert Session: Finding the Ideal Buyer & Nailing Your ICP

📅 Thursday, 4/10

⏰ 1 pm ET

Nail your ideal customer profile with industry expert AJ Driscoll. Learn data-driven tricks to pinpoint, find, and connect with your dream audience for smarter marketing and better conversion rates.

Tea Time with Kay Prince

📅 Thursday, 4/17

⏰ 1 pm ET

Explore the intersection of Gen Z engagement and community building with strategic marketer, The Kay Prince. Discover how to connect authentically with this digital-native crew through community-driven strategies that spark loyalty and fuel growth.

IN THE MEME TIME