Brewing Success With Steven Pritt: Leadership for a New Era of Content Marketing

How do you lead modern marketing teams through disruption without losing purpose, clarity, or connection? In this episode of Pipeline Brew, Matt is joined by Steven Pritt, VP of Content Marketing at Thomson Reuters, where he’s built a high-performing content function that balances scale, creativity, and authenticity.

With a career spanning creative agencies, sales, and enterprise marketing, Steven shares why today’s best leaders act as stewards, not gatekeepers, and how a clear sense of purpose aligns individuals with strategy. He breaks down the difference between tension to solve vs. tension to manage, why marketing silos shouldn’t be tolerated, and what it takes to create content that’s both measurable and meaningful.

Listeners will hear Steven’s take on AI as a force multiplier for content marketing, and why friction is often a sign of movement, not failure. Whether you’re navigating leadership challenges or rethinking how marketing delivers value, this episode delivers practical insights for marketers leading through change.

Steven Pritt is an award-winning marketing executive with over a decade of experience in the information technology and services industry. As the VP of Content Marketing at Thomson Reuters, he has spearheaded the creation of a center of excellence that integrates content marketing, creative services, organic social media, and SEO.

Steven’s leadership is characterized by his innovative approach to developing and executing comprehensive content strategies that drive engagement and conversion. He is also recognized for his expertise in team building and leveraging generative AI to modernize the content supply chain.

“I think a demand for more authentic content is going to be really, really important. Not even just personalized content, but content that is really providing a service. Is it coming out of an attitude of really serving up information? Is it really servicing the need of what the customers are asking versus putting it out there just for a hook or a barb?”

“I think my view of leadership is really, where can I bring clarity? Where can I remove obstacles for my team members? And then along the way, if I can give away as much credit, I feel like I’m doing a successful job.”

“Businesses want to use AI, they just don’t know how to use it in the right way or in a more meaningful way. And I think the content marketers who can demonstrate that or show that propensity will definitely have a leg up. It’s beyond just, ‘Do you know how to use ChatGPT?’”

00:00 Episode start

02:00 Icebreaker

04:15 Purpose, clarity, and team alignment

06:05 Building Thomson Reuters’ content center of excellence

08:15 Centralization vs. personalization in content marketing

10:35 Managing vs. solving tension in marketing teams

13:20 Why you need a little friction

15:25 Creating culture at every level

17:05 The evolving role of content in a post-AI world

20:30 Truly authentic, high-impact content

24:25 Advice for navigating career changes

27:40 Embracing AI as a value-add, not a threat

31:10 What’s on Tap

[00:00:00] Matt Hummel: Hey everyone, and welcome to another episode of The Pipeline Brew, the podcast that meets at the intersection of people and pipeline. We’re bringing you fun yet insightful conversations where you’ll not only hear from marketing experts, but also get to know them as well.

[00:00:23] Matt Hummel: Hey, everyone. Today I’m super excited to be joined by Steven Pritt. Steven has been with Thomson Reuters since 2017 and is currently the VP of Content Marketing where he has consistently increased pipeline and content year over year. I’m sure there’s a correlation there. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Steven for a number of years as our paths crossed during my own stint at tr.

[00:00:42] Matt Hummel: We are actually office mates, or not office mates, but our offices were right into each other, so we had some good times. But all that to say, this makes this episode even more exciting for me. Today we’re gonna focus on Steven’s approach to leadership and collaboration where Thomson Reuters is focusing efforts amidst.

[00:00:59] Matt Hummel: Today’s [00:01:00] B2B marketing landscape and the importance of learners’ mindset, especially with the widespread adoption of new tech like ai. Steven, welcome to the show. How

[00:01:08] Steven Pritt: are you, my friend? Hey Matt. Thanks so much for having me. This is great, and it’s, it’s good to see you again. So we’ve been a long way from sharing offices, but thanks for having me on today.

[00:01:17] Matt Hummel: Likewise, and we were not only, you know, our offices were next to each other, but we didn’t live but probably five, 10 minutes from each other since I moved across the country.

[00:01:25] Steven Pritt: Yeah, I think after some of those talks, after meetings, we realized we had so many connections in point in terms of people we knew, or places we lived, those kind of things.

[00:01:34] Steven Pritt: So yeah, a lot of similarities.

[00:01:36] Matt Hummel: Well, and hopefully when you know your kids are out of the house, maybe you’ll be the next move to Colorado as well.

[00:01:41] Steven Pritt: I can’t say that I’m not jealous at all. So I’ve got friends who live there and, and also in Spokane. And when I see their Instagram posts, I, I just feel like I’m following them actually.

[00:01:51] Steven Pritt: So, so out of pure jealousy, so, yeah.

[00:01:54] Matt Hummel: Yeah. Well great to have you on the show. So Steven, I think, you know, we like to start off each episode with a [00:02:00] little bit of the icebreaker. Yep. To get the ball rolling. So what is your go-to beverage when you need a little pick me up?

[00:02:05] Steven Pritt: Yeah, I’ve got two, Matt. So one is coffee.

[00:02:09] Steven Pritt: I mean, I, I’m definitely a coffee connoisseur, so I’m very particular about that. So a, a nice coffee, don’t need much in it, just a little bit of milk. And this one’s probably more shameful, but I do enjoy our rockstar recovery energy drink. It’s an orange one. It tastes like tang. I know I just dated myself, but, um, but that’s another one that’s in the afternoon

[00:02:32] Steven Pritt: is one that I, I do enjoy.

[00:02:33] Steven Pritt: I don’t know if it’s healthy. I don’t want to know if it is or not, but, uh, I, I do enjoy those every once in a while.

[00:02:38] Matt Hummel: That’s awesome. There’s gonna be a spike in, in Google search around what is Tang.

[00:02:43] Steven Pritt: What the heck is Tang, right? Yes. Oh, he is old,

[00:02:45] Matt Hummel: so, right. Yeah. That’s awesome. Well, did in the new TR office that you guys recently moved into, did they, did they build a coffee shop?

[00:02:53] Matt Hummel: ’cause they had the Starbucks right at the old Carrollton location.

[00:02:56] Steven Pritt: That’s correct. No, unfortunately they did not. So [00:03:00] pluses and minuses. So we are in the new Star location where the Dallas Cowboys practice, if anybody’s a fan of Netflix and the Dallas Cowboys cheerleader series, that’s literally right behind us.

[00:03:11] Steven Pritt: So unfortunately there’s no coffee in the building, but there is coffee shops close by. So I may have door dashed, a little bit too much coffee, um, from, from that location. So,

[00:03:23] Matt Hummel: yeah. There are some good coffee shops nearby. Now, do you have a whole setup at home? Do you make your own coffee as well from time to time?

[00:03:30] Steven Pritt: I do. Yeah, I do have pour overs. Um, I recently bought a, a mocha pot, um, very popular in, in Europe, and, um, really been enjoying that. So as the weather gets cooler, I get more bougie. So, um, so I look at different options. But, uh, gas station. Gas station coffee does not work for me. So I’m a little bit of a picky, bougie coffee drinker I have to admit.

[00:03:54] Steven Pritt: So, but

[00:03:55] Matt Hummel: you

[00:03:55] Steven Pritt: know,

[00:03:56] Matt Hummel: well, you’re in safe company here. You’ll be pleased to know. I just bought my first [00:04:00] manual grinder. Oh wow. That’s awesome. Yeah. Yeah. So I’m moving up in the coffee world. Yeah, it can be an expensive hobby, for sure. No doubt. Well, before we talk about what you’re up to today, I’d love for you to tell the audience a little bit more about yourself, your passions.

[00:04:14] Matt Hummel: And your background.

[00:04:15] Steven Pritt: Yeah. Well thanks Matt. As a kid, I moved around quite a bit. I ca I can, I think like every four years we moved to a different location, so that was part of growing up mostly in the south and then kind of moved to the Midwest. I kind of consider St. Louis home, but, but now I live in Texas, as you’d mentioned before, so I’ve had a lot of experience of that.

[00:04:35] Steven Pritt: I had the good fortune earlier in my career to travel quite a bit, so have really enjoyed seeing different parts of the world and working with some, some nonprofits. Let’s see. In college I was a pre-med major. Most people go, what? But that is true. I was a biology and chemistry major, so it has nothing to do with marketing.

[00:04:53] Steven Pritt: But, um, out of college, one of my first jobs was working for a production company. We made television commercials and movies. [00:05:00] So I did that. I had my own agency for a while and then kind of moved into sales, but, you know, really found my home in, in marketing. So, um, so that’s a short version of my, my career.

[00:05:13] Steven Pritt: I, uh, personally enjoy anything outside. So I’m an avid trail runner, love, hiking, camping, you name it. Um, I’ve married, uh, I’ve got two daughters and we’re about to be empty nesters, so a lot going on in the pritt home. So,

[00:05:28] Matt Hummel: so let me get this straight. You’re about to be empty nesters. Your favorite activities are hiking, anything outdoors.

[00:05:35] Matt Hummel: And you live in Texas. All right. I’m just gonna put that out there for you guys.

[00:05:39] Steven Pritt: Yes, I know. That’s what I’m saying. It’s, it’s, it’s really pitiful, honestly, you know, even trying to get any kind of elevation is like walking upstairs. That’s about the extent that I have. So

[00:05:48] Matt Hummel: now for me, it’s walking up our street.

[00:05:50] Matt Hummel: I’m out of breath at that top of the street, so, yeah. Alright, so any sort of aha moments throughout your career journey leading up to your time at Thomson Reuters?

[00:05:58] Steven Pritt: No, I don’t think [00:06:00] there’s any kind of major ones. You know, I, and I think back Matt on, you know, things that, you know, different stages of my career or different places.

[00:06:07] Steven Pritt: I think there are a few things, you know, that kind of stood out to me, you know, in terms of either advice somebody’s given me, you know, I think when, when I think about like leading teams, I think it’s just really always important to figure out, like, how does your team, no matter if it’s just you and a couple other people, or a whole organization or even a department, like.

[00:06:28] Steven Pritt: How do you fit into that, that bigger picture of what the organization’s doing? I just think that that’s really critical. I had a mentor who taught me a lot about that it’s not even just staying relevant or for political reasons, it’s just knowing exactly your role in the bigger picture. And I think that happens, you know, on a, on a macro and micro level as well, to ensure that your team members, you know, know how they fit in that picture, even to the role level.

[00:06:53] Steven Pritt: So I thought that was. Really good advice. Another one that I think is really important that I’ve used quite a [00:07:00] bit, and I think it’s beneficial even, you know, in today’s current climate with, you know, content and B2B marketing is learning just to stay curious a little bit longer. You know, I think people talk a lot about that, but just keep on being curious and digging into that and, and having space for that in your schedule.

[00:07:17] Steven Pritt: I think that gives you the ability to. Do that with individuals, with team members, with coworkers, or even things like technology. It’s one thing to kind of understand it, but being curious a little, just a tad bit longer, you know, I think that really opens up doors to understand people, other teams points of view.

[00:07:37] Steven Pritt: I mean, you name it. So I think that advice I received is really helpful across the board. And then one for me personally is just, you know, as we will talk later, I’m sure about team culture, it’s a passion of mine, uh, along with leadership. But I think just helping people realize that, you know, they’re more than just their role or their title and how to, again, how do they fit into that big picture.

[00:07:57] Steven Pritt: Those are some big lessons that I’ve learned [00:08:00] from people ahead of me, or people that have had bigger roles than than mine at the, at that time. And so I’ve really taken those with me, you know, throughout my career.

[00:08:09] Matt Hummel: I love that. I mean, I know you and I have talked a lot about just in general sort of living with purpose and I think it’s so often undervalued or overlooked at work and, and your point around.

[00:08:20] Matt Hummel: Employee, you know, you’re tying what you’re doing to the, you can call it the business goals or objectives, but it’s really the, it’s the purpose of the company. It’s the almost the North star. Why do we exist outside of making a profit? And when you really start to distill that down to the individual job level, people start to realize, oh, this is why I’m doing what I’m doing.

[00:08:39] Matt Hummel: And I feel there’s a purpose to my work other than just, you know, the day-to-day monotonous approach that a lot of roles can have.

[00:08:47] Steven Pritt: Yeah. And I think that’s hard. I mean, I think that’s the gravitational pull of corporate America, right? You know, we get on these calls, we do QS, or we hear our CMO talking about ebitda, you know, or something like that.

[00:08:58] Steven Pritt: And then I always think, well, [00:09:00] how does maybe a graphic designer translate something that a CMO is talking about our stock value all the way down to, you know, how does he make an impact? And it’s not necessarily that they have to. Say that their design equals, you know, whatever shares of stock or whatever the conversation is, but how do they play that role?

[00:09:19] Steven Pritt: You know, because I think teams can kind of get lost in, in that shuffle. And so I think it’s incumbent on us to, to translate that, not even for motivation, but just like, what’s the part that you play no matter how big or small that part may be. A

[00:09:33] Matt Hummel: hundred percent. Well, good. Well, you’re at tr now. You’ve been there.

[00:09:38] Matt Hummel: Eight, almost eight, nine years now. Yeah. So, yeah. So you’re, you’re VP of content. So what does that, what does that look like? What does, you know, tell us a little bit more about your role and, and what you’re up to these days.

[00:09:49] Steven Pritt: Yeah, so we recently, um, I’d say about three years ago, Matt, we’re looking across the board.

[00:09:56] Steven Pritt: I think, you know, everybody knows there’s a, there was a big move to centers of [00:10:00] excellence bringing, you know, expertise from more of a decentralized model into centralization. So we took several teams from creative, when that’s more of like the in-house, you know, creative teams. Um, we took content leaders and content contributors.

[00:10:17] Steven Pritt: And in our world that’s relegated towards like written content, you know, so white papers, blogs, webinars, you know, articles, all those kind of things. Then we combine that with, um, an SEO team. We also combine that with an organic social media team, and then an arm of basically ops and excellence and, um, metrics and data performance and a small segment of that, um, for our group and really just brought it all together so that we could really have a, a fuller content, you know, supply chain in terms of.

[00:10:53] Steven Pritt: Creating content, distributing that content, but more of that natural focus, meaning, you know, natural search, natural, you know, [00:11:00] organic, you know, type of activities. So, so that was really the goal of bringing all those teams together and that’s kind of how we got to where we are today, is really building that, that content center of excellence.

[00:11:11] Matt Hummel: That’s awesome. And how has that transition been from more the decentralized to the COE model? I think, ’cause oftentimes you hear the argument, well if you don’t have folks aligned to the specific businesses, you’re losing that subject matter expertise. Has that been a challenge? Or, or, and or what were some other kind of challenges that you guys had to work through?

[00:11:29] Steven Pritt: Yeah. So I think right now, you know, as you know in marketing, you know, these pendulums swing right back and forth in different areas. Right now, I feel from my perspective, the pendulum has definitely swung back to maybe putting those roles back into the segments or back into maybe a demand gen team or even like a solution to product marketing roles because of the need for, I’m sure we’ll talk about later, like more personalization, being closer to the business, you know, really understanding the customers more.[00:12:00]

[00:12:00] Steven Pritt: Know, and it’s really six of one half of a dozen other. But I really see a shift moving back in that direction. And we have been shifting our TR back into that type of mindset now. So now we’re, we’re going back to that direction.

[00:12:13] Matt Hummel: Interesting. Well, cool. Well, no thanks for sharing of that. Yeah. Well, I want to transition to talking about leadership and collaboration.

[00:12:20] Matt Hummel: It’s one of the things that I always recognized and appreciated and you both, you know, unique, but I think. They go hand in hand, but mm-hmm. I always viewed you as a great leader. I, I, I saw the folks who worked for you felt like they were part of a team and were, had a shared mission and, and a lot of that was ’cause I think you created such a great environment to, that fostered that collaboration.

[00:12:39] Matt Hummel: So, you know, we often hear about disconnects between departments like sales and marketing. Mm-hmm. I often see as I’m out on the road talking to marketers so much, there’s disconnects even within. Through your own functions, right? And mm-hmm. You know, it’s kinda like what they say with a household if the parents aren’t aligned, and how do you expect the kids to get line?

[00:12:57] Matt Hummel: And so have you experienced those types [00:13:00] of challenges as you’ve led teams over the years? And, and if so, how do you approach that and what advice do you have for others who maybe trying to solve that sort of inner department alignment? Challenges or opportunities?

[00:13:12] Steven Pritt: Yeah, Matt, I think your observations, you know, spot on.

[00:13:15] Steven Pritt: I, I think that we’re seeing more of that, not, you know, usually you would say like, Hey. There’s tension between sales and marketing, you know, those kinds of things which are natural, right? But even more in-house. I think that’s really par for the course, Matt, in, in my opinion, with around disruption.

[00:13:31] Steven Pritt: Because I think now people are trying to, you know, make sure that they’re bringing the value, but with disruption, there’s a lack of clarity. And so people really trying to understand that. And so that sometimes translates into, you know, maybe tension even amongst team members, you know? And I think. I think it’s important to kind of recognize a few things.

[00:13:52] Steven Pritt: You know, I think for leaders it’s really important to understand what tension should be solved and then what tension should be managed, you [00:14:00] know, so for example, sales and marketing, there’s always going to be a tension there. So that’s one to manage. It’s not one you’re ever gonna solve and you should be okay with that.

[00:14:08] Steven Pritt: And that’s, that’s, those are healthy tensions. There are some that might be more interdepartmental that I would say that are some that you, you should solve for, you know, and I think as leaders. In content creation or demand generation or wherever you sit in marketing, that’s probably one of the biggest things that you can do, is, is to, to bring that clarity and to, to really understand where that tension is, is coming from.

[00:14:33] Steven Pritt: You know, and I think, I think there’s also a, something that I kinda look at is I always look at friction in a different way. I think sometimes people think friction is negative. Maybe this is from my, my biology background, but friction really is essential for movement. You know, so, you know, if I’m, if I’m moving my arm around, you know, I may not feel that friction, but there is friction there.

[00:14:56] Steven Pritt: But it, that, that’s equaling movement. And so I [00:15:00] think when, when teams, whether to your point, whether it’s departmentally or inside of teams, they think of that as a negative. I mean, obviously it can turn into a negative, but I think if you reframe that with the team to say. If you’re not experiencing friction, you’re probably not moving, you know, and so yeah.

[00:15:16] Steven Pritt: How do you use that as a growth lever with your teams to say, this means we are onto something? Again, going back to again, just my perspective, is it something I need to manage or is it something I need to solve?

[00:15:27] Matt Hummel: I love that it’s such a pragmatic approach. I’ve not really heard it described that way. You know, whether you should manage it or solve it.

[00:15:33] Matt Hummel: And it makes a ton of sense. And then similarly on the, the idea of friction. I, I’ve often found that the best leaders I, I work for, and as part of leadership teams mm-hmm. There should be a healthy amount of friction. ’cause it means we’re challenging each other. And the value of leadership teams, the value of teams in general in a lot of cases is that diversity, the diversity opinion and experiences and so on and so forth.

[00:15:56] Matt Hummel: What that means is you’re gonna have natural friction, but if you [00:16:00] don’t, then to your point, that probably means there’s only a singular voice or you’re just not really taking advantage of the, the full weight and impact that the team could have through their various experience.

[00:16:10] Steven Pritt: Yeah, I couldn’t agree with that more.

[00:16:12] Steven Pritt: I mean, there’s a difference between sameness and oneness and I always joke with my team, it’s like, Hey, if we have a bunch of Stevens running around, we’re in a world of her ’cause we don’t want that. You know? So you want different opinions, you know? It’s like, good Lord, you do not want that. So, you know, what is, what is that?

[00:16:28] Steven Pritt: Getting that sameness in being one is two different things. And so to your point that you need that diversity, especially in today’s landscape, you know, I, I’ve seen examples where I tell all my new hires that come in. I’m like, there is no time period where you need to prove yourself before you bring input or observations or changes into the organization.

[00:16:48] Steven Pritt: I had one person came into our SEO team. Yeah. She was like, Hey, have you thought about this? I’m like, we haven’t. Let’s do it. You don’t. You don’t. Whether you’re two hours into the job or you’ve been here for 20 years, like we, we [00:17:00] need that input, you know? So I think that’s really important.

[00:17:03] Matt Hummel: That’s awesome.

[00:17:03] Matt Hummel: Well, talk to me about your leadership style. What makes it different? How do you think about leadership?

[00:17:10] Steven Pritt: Yeah. Um, I think my approach in, in thinking about leadership is probably more around, it’s more of a stewardship issue. What I mean by that is it’s more around, you know, we have these, these individuals that are gifted, they’re talented, they all bring something to the table.

[00:17:28] Steven Pritt: I assume that if I’ve hired them, that they’re leaning forward, they wanna be here. You know, if they’re not, that’s a different conversation. But you know, most of the time I think leaders feel like they have to be the most intelligent person or the one that knows everything. And you know, kind of similarly, like I was just saying, like if every decision has to come to me, we’re fundamentally broken.

[00:17:51] Steven Pritt: This is not working right. So I think most of the time leaders are the ones who either lasted the longest or got there first, you know? And [00:18:00] so I think my view of leadership is really. Where can I bring clarity? Where can I remove obstacles for my team members? And then what are the only things that I can do to really make sure that I am whatever authority or weight or whatever the at, at the end of my title, no matter where I’m in my career?

[00:18:22] Steven Pritt: How can I leverage that for the benefit to, to remove those obstacles? Then along the way, if I can give away as much credit along the way, then I feel like I’m doing a successful job basically. I know that sounds a little pollyannic and and altruistic, but I think it really helps foster people to really do better work because I’m not the smartest person in the room.

[00:18:46] Steven Pritt: I don’t have all the ideas, nor should, in my opinion, that be the case.

[00:18:50] Matt Hummel: No, I love that. I had breakfast with a friend this morning who was just retired from the Air Force, so knows nothing about the corporate world and mm-hmm. We were talking about leadership, some leadership [00:19:00] principles, and one of them was on this i this idea of stewardship or servant leadership and how, in a lot of ways it could be very counterintuitive or counter-cultural and a corporate environment where, you know, you’re trying to climb that ladder and the best way to do that is to build yourself up.

[00:19:14] Matt Hummel: And if they always say, you know, you’re, you’ve gotta be your biggest advocate. Look, I think there’s, there’s scenarios where you do need to be your own advocate, but at the same time, I think I’m of the same mindset, you know? Mm-hmm. Let your, mm-hmm. Let your team shine. You’re there. You hire people for a reason.

[00:19:31] Matt Hummel: They’re there for a reason. You’ve gotta trust them. And our job is to really foster that environment and steward them to kind of, it kind of sounds cliche, but be the best versions of themselves. And ultimately let, let that work together in harmony, be the best version of the team and, and what you guys are trying to collectively accomplish.

[00:19:47] Steven Pritt: Yeah, I think I found that too, Matt, that, and I couldn’t agree with more with that. And, and, and again, it, it sounds almost like something on a Hallmark movie, but even, you know, as leaders when we have to make those hard decisions where we need to let people go. [00:20:00] If you’ve approached it with that way before, then you really, genuinely are trying to do what’s best for them.

[00:20:07] Steven Pritt: If they’re not a fit, there’s no use to pretending that, you know, kind of thing. I had an employee one time actually thank me afterwards for releasing him because the fact that it wasn’t a good fit and, and it helped him to restart his, going from a job to a career, you know. But I think if we look at.

[00:20:24] Steven Pritt: People not as, like you said, stepping stones or capital or that way. And I, I know we, yeah, generally don’t as humans, but I think it, it gives a better holistic picture even in those tough conversations that leaders have to make

[00:20:36] Matt Hummel: spot on. One of the things I hear a lot from employees have heard it throughout my career is, you know, as, as folks younger in their career, they say, man, I just don’t know what our culture is.

[00:20:46] Matt Hummel: I don’t feel like we have enough culture. What would you say to someone who doesn’t feel like they have. They’re not in a leadership position, they’re not part of the culture committee or hr. Mm-hmm. That they feel like would traditionally set a culture. How would you encourage that [00:21:00] person to, whether it’s lean in or find their groove, or just how would you respond to somebody who says, I’m just not feeling the culture.

[00:21:08] Steven Pritt: Yeah. No, I, it’s a, it’s a great question. You know, and we talk about this a lot, you know, we’ve all been in roles where we, we love our role, but maybe not the environment, or we love the environment and not the role, you know, and I think we can all say in our careers, we can’t always get that doubt in exactly right.

[00:21:26] Steven Pritt: I would say that, that individual, Matt, you know, one of the big things is start with your ways of working, you know, and really make sure that you’ve got a, a way that’s working, even if it’s. Not contrary to what the company or their organization standards are, but I’m talking about in how you interact with people and how you deal with them.

[00:21:45] Steven Pritt: I think that’s really the starting point I have found when, when individuals do that. People naturally gravitate towards that and they begin to create little subcultures. I think it’s, you know, taking whatever amount of influence you [00:22:00] have, if it’s a teaspoon or a truckload, and just working on that. And I think people tend to start to see that.

[00:22:06] Steven Pritt: Now, that may not eventually equate to dramatically changing your team or your department’s culture or whatever, but you can, you can control that. And at the same time, if that doesn’t work over time, it just may not be the right culture fit for you. And I think recognizing that is is okay and trying to get that coefficient between your role and the culture, I think is necessarily just equating to happiness or satisfaction on the job.

[00:22:33] Steven Pritt: But it’s helping you have that environment where you can be the best version of yourself, bring those skill sets that you’ve given to the organization, and to see them maximized more than just, you know. Tolerated or pushing through on a day-to-day basis.

[00:22:47] Matt Hummel: Yeah, no, I love it. I wanna transition now to just the world of content marketing.

[00:22:53] Matt Hummel: So, uh, you know, in your role, especially the, you know, when you walked through the, the structure of your team, it’s, you’ve [00:23:00] got a great, a great team, you’ve got a great set of resources, even having folks dedicated around the performances. Is awesome. Obviously though there’s been massive disruption in the world of content marketing, what are your thoughts on the current state of B2B content marketing?

[00:23:15] Steven Pritt: Yeah, no small question. I was gonna say, yeah, thanks. Thanks for giving me a softball one there. So. We just lob it up to Yeah, no problem. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I’ll

[00:23:25] Steven Pritt: swing and miss on this one. No, you know, Matt, I, I, I kind of go back and forth on this. You know, I, I would say that the understatement is that it’s, we’re kind of really in an unprecedented time, not even just because of ai, and, you know, I don’t want to overindex on that, but it’s unprecedented in my opinion, because it’s changing so fast.

[00:23:45] Steven Pritt: You know, it’s undefined. But at the same time, it’s exciting, you know, because I think everybody’s in it. I mean, I think if you talk to anybody or any, something you read on LinkedIn, nobody has this thing dialed in right now because of how much [00:24:00] disruption is there. I think it’s just really, you know, our mentality on how we take that change.

[00:24:06] Steven Pritt: I kinda wrote down just a, a couple of things in terms of things that I think, you know, especially for B2B marketing as it relates to content, you know. Obviously AI’s impact on how content’s being created, the tools that they have, and then also that natural, you know, it was talking about tension with the desire for more content.

[00:24:25] Steven Pritt: And then of course we think about things like search and those kind of things. I think that’s just, you know, a whole topic in itself. I think about personalization at scale and having more authentic content. Not even just, you know, personalized content. I think sometimes. We think about personalization, we think about a BM.

[00:24:43] Steven Pritt: We think about, you know, persona driven. We talk about customer journey. We talk about the sales cycle and the, and the sales journey. But I think a demand for more authentic content is going to be really, really important. And then I’ve seen a swing in [00:25:00] brand and branding coming back. When I say coming back that.

[00:25:03] Steven Pritt: It’s moving back up to the scale in terms of prominence because it’s now required to bring that human element and trust when we think about content even, and like in the entertainment industry. Artists are now being signing affidavits to, to ensure that it was something that they had original thought on.

[00:25:21] Steven Pritt: You know, so that need for Ency is still there. So brand’s ability to portray that and to communicate that human side and creating that brand as a trust, that to me is kind of shimming of the, the letter of, you know, of prominence. We’re seeing a lot around interactive content and video, um, still kind of coming up more and more.

[00:25:44] Steven Pritt: I think we’re gonna see a huge shift into custom content. And what I mean by that is AI’s ability to like imagine a world where I put in some information and I get a custom white paper that’s geared towards me, not, not just one that’s [00:26:00] personalized to my job title or where I am in in that buying group.

[00:26:03] Steven Pritt: I think there’s a lot of opportunities around that. I think other trends similarly to the brand idea in that same hemisphere, Matt, is around just own channels. You know, I mentioned SEO, but organic social media. We’re seeing in sometimes a driver to that’s actually outperforming paid. We’re seeing that on both natural search and also in, um, organic traffic through social channels and so.

[00:26:29] Steven Pritt: The idea of communities, you know, what I would consider form based marketing, where we think about Quorum and Reddit and Medium and all those, like those are gaming dominance where it used to be more of just, you know, places where people would go to chat. We have started out really focusing on those and understanding what those communities are saying and how does that impact even what kind of content we create.

[00:26:54] Steven Pritt: I think the last one is just, again, nothing new but content to drive pipeline. How do we [00:27:00] enable in our sales team for new rapid content, real world, timely objections that are happening faster than we can create a white paper to put in their hands? And so how are teams looking at that? So. Those are things I’m seeing, but also problems that I think can be solved.

[00:27:18] Steven Pritt: But again, I’d say it’s unprecedented and undefined right now.

[00:27:22] Matt Hummel: Oh, that’s great. One follow up question. You talked about authentic content. Unpack that for me a little bit. What do you really mean by authentic content?

[00:27:29] Steven Pritt: Yeah, I would say, Matt, it’s it’s really around content that is really providing a service.

[00:27:34] Steven Pritt: You know that, again, it’s more than it. Is it just good content or quality content? I think those are. Components of that, but is it coming out of an attitude of really serving up information? And I’m not saying it has to be unbiased. I mean, obviously every company is gonna have their own content that has their slant on it, but is it really servicing the need of what the customers are asking versus.

[00:27:58] Steven Pritt: Putting it out there. So I guess maybe a [00:28:00] way to define that, Matt would be, here’s a white paper, the quintessential, you know, piece of content. Yeah. And does it need to be gated? Does it not to be, need to be gated? Are you putting it out there for real consumption or are you just trying to get a form fill now?

[00:28:13] Steven Pritt: There’s nothing wrong with either one, but I think making sure that there’s room for content. To for, for people to consume that generally is answering their questions and in a more authentic way, in that more trusted way versus it being with a, with a hook or a barb. I think that’s becoming more valued.

[00:28:33] Steven Pritt: Similarly to how things like En Quorum or Reddit or, or going, I think there’s a need for that. So there’s both that, you know, again, it’s not an or it’s an and, but I think that style of content, I think will be rewarded more both in terms of how it’s consumed, but also the demand for that. Because, you know, with technology right now, I could put out two white papers, you know, and, and an hour today if I wanted to.

[00:28:57] Steven Pritt: No, they might suck, but, but [00:29:00] it’s possible. But it’s not authentic, you know.

[00:29:02] Matt Hummel: Yeah. No, that’s great. We did market research recently and one of the questions was around the current state of B2B marketing, and it was, there was an interesting statistic, which was something like 70% of B2B buyers are frustrated with the current state of B2B content.

[00:29:17] Matt Hummel: Mm-hmm. And that what that, what that may me realize is two things. One, it’s good news because what it shows is buyers still are hungry for content. That’s still how they learn, how they educate themselves. They need to be educated. At the end of the day, they’re making. Significant buying decisions for their organizations that could make or break not only their career, but the company’s, you know, profitable growth on and so forth.

[00:29:40] Steven Pritt: Mm-hmm.

[00:29:41] Matt Hummel: But then number two, I think it really does lean into what you’re describing around the authenticity. Your content has to be, it has to have value. You can’t just put content out for content’s sake. You’ve really gotta understand the why. And somebody described effective content as it’s, it really is an, it’s an, it’s an enabler.

[00:29:59] Matt Hummel: If you [00:30:00] think about it as an enabler for the buyers, you know, there is, there’s clear purpose in why you’re putting this out, not just to get a form fill, which again, something wrong with that, right? But there has to be that sort of specific objective. Why are we really trying to do this with the intent of et cetera, et cetera.

[00:30:16] Matt Hummel: So I love your, I love your perspective on that.

[00:30:19] Steven Pritt: Yeah. I also wonder too, Matt, you know, if, if part of content marketing is gonna shift to help customers, even to navigate all of the, the content that’s out there, you know, I think part of that is how do content marketers help become that beacon and separate from all the noise because the volume’s gonna be so high.

[00:30:38] Steven Pritt: I think that’s similar to the, to the stat you said, like that might be a new. Tool set that content marketers, especially in the database space, have to learn, but then how do you achieve that as well? So,

[00:30:48] Matt Hummel: a hundred percent. Well question for you on, you know, it’s related. So we recently hired a director of content marketing and mm-hmm We were fortunate to land a phenomenal candidate and [00:31:00] she set the ground running, but we had used the word unprecedented.

[00:31:03] Matt Hummel: We had an unprecedented response to this role. We had. Thousands of applicants and a lot of roles you do, but you know, the, the person, their last job was working at a used car sales lot and you’re like, mm-hmm. I don’t see how that translates to content, but we had so many good content marketers apply and we could only hire one.

[00:31:23] Matt Hummel: What advice would you have sitting in your seat for content marketers who, you know, maybe have been Rift or are looking for their next opportunity? How do they really stand out? Amidst all the, we talk about noise in the content mar, you know, just content world, right? There’s a lot of noise and it’s not bad noise, but there’s just a lot of folks out there who are trying to land their next content role.

[00:31:45] Steven Pritt: Yeah. No, it’s, it’s a good question and I think, I think, you know, organizations are moving towards, you know, more of reliance on ai. So these roles, I think one ma are more precious or more valued. And I think people [00:32:00] are obviously generally concerned about their roles, um, if they’re in the content space. I would say demonstrating your value of how you can look more full funnel around content, I think would be a huge one.

[00:32:13] Steven Pritt: I mean, some content marketers, you know, specifically look at maybe different parts of the funnel, but I’m talking pre-sale during the sale, after the sale. You know, really a full look at that. And then I think, obviously, you know, the big one, and it’s no big major news release here, but demonstrating the ability to, to use AI in a thoughtful way.

[00:32:33] Steven Pritt: I think there’s, there’s a huge difference between just, yes, I can use X, Y, and Z tool versus how do I use that in a thoughtful way. I think businesses, and I’m seeing it in, in my organization, other organizations, they want to use ai. They just don’t know how to use it in the right way or in a more meaningful way.

[00:32:54] Steven Pritt: And I think the content marketers who can demonstrate that or show that propensity. I think we’ll [00:33:00] definitely have a leg up. So it’s beyond just, do you know how to use chat, GPT or Jasper or writer or whatever tool UR there is out there. I think showing that how that’s going to make an impact and where that focus shifts, I think businesses are starving for that more than just the application of a tool.

[00:33:17] Matt Hummel: Well, to me that’s great advice because as I looked at, you know, dozens if not hundreds of our candidates that came through. There was an easy way to filter out some, which were, there was no demonstrated performance. It was mm-hmm. I generated 52 blogs and four white papers, and I managed a research project and I’m like.

[00:33:37] Matt Hummel: Cool. Did that add any value? And I think even breaking it down like you were pre-sale during post-sale, et cetera, et cetera. Mm-hmm. And just really understanding, it goes back to the earlier part of our discussion, really understanding where you fit in helping a business solve their core challenges or opportunities.

[00:33:53] Matt Hummel: So I think that’s really smart, the AI piece. Actually, I don’t think that goes without say, because to me, I think [00:34:00] ai, when it comes to content, there’s still a little bit of a stigma. And what I mean by that is, you know, I hired a freelance content person a few months ago as we were trying to onboard mm-hmm.

[00:34:11] Matt Hummel: A full-time person. And I said, I am, I’m not looking for somebody who can throw a concept in chat CPT and send me know I can do that myself. And so I think there’s this stigma of, oh, well I don’t want them to think I use AI because maybe they think I’m short cutting my job, or that my content’s not gonna be authentic or it’s gonna sound like a machine.

[00:34:29] Matt Hummel: Mm-hmm. And so I think your point on, on that is. Look, you shouldn’t be afraid. Not only should you not be afraid to talk about it, but you should embrace it and should understand how to articulate that in a value added way because. To me, you can now do the work of 10 people. You know, if you know how to use AI correctly or you can accelerate things, heck, you can make it better.

[00:34:52] Matt Hummel: I mean, if you have a, mm-hmm. I love my ai, you know, I have great conversations with him, him or her. I don’t know, you know, around, but [00:35:00] it, it, you could just work through this brainstorming and I think there’s, it can really unlock so much if you know how to use it. So I think that’s actually great perspective, because I don’t, my, my, my experience in this last round of interviews was.

[00:35:12] Matt Hummel: I think some people are still pretty, pretty reluctant to say, yeah, I know how to use it.

[00:35:16] Steven Pritt: Mm-hmm.

[00:35:17] Steven Pritt: I totally agree. It’s a value add. It’s not like something you need to hide on your resume. I think, like you said, knowing how to use it, showing how you can use it, and I, and I think content’s gonna be required more, like you said, around measurements.

[00:35:29] Steven Pritt: You know, like maybe beyond just the pipeline ones, but how do you. Get into sentiments and what competitors are doing and recall metrics and those kind of things, if AI can help with some of those things, but you’ve gotta be able to then shift your focus beyond just the creation aspect of it into the performance aspect.

[00:35:47] Steven Pritt: And that’s, that’s widening even more as well too.

[00:35:51] Matt Hummel: Awesome. Well, that was great discussion. And you know, one of the things I’d love doing with my guests on the show is talking more about, not just about their work. I like [00:36:00] to get to know them and let the audience get to know them too. And mm-hmm. I’m fortunate to have, you know, gotten to know you during our time at Tr and Beyond, but let’s open it up.

[00:36:07] Matt Hummel: So this segment’s called What’s On Tap, so what’s on tap for Steven prt? So at the top of the show we talked about your favorite pick me up beverage, which is a modern version of Tang and some really high quality coffee. By the way, what, what is your preferred coffee shop over in the Star area?

[00:36:24] Steven Pritt: Well, the closest one is, is Ascension.

[00:36:26] Steven Pritt: So that’s, that’s one I’ve been, I’ve been going to as well. Yeah. But I, I, there’s an, there’s a summer moon that just opened up down the street, so sometimes I’ll hit that up a little bit. So I’m always on the lookout for another one. Um, we opened up another one by our house called Lucky Goat. Uh, it’s out of Florida.

[00:36:41] Steven Pritt: Oh wow. So, yeah, so trying a whole bunch of different ones. So

[00:36:43] Matt Hummel: man, summer Moon brings back some good memories. I was a sucker for their lattes until I made the mistake, Stephen, of looking at the calorie information on a full moon or whatever. I guess it’s called a summer moon, and I’m like, right. Oh my gosh.

[00:36:58] Matt Hummel: It’s like 800 [00:37:00] calories and uh, yeah, made me sad. I hope they put in it.

[00:37:02] Steven Pritt: Yeah, it’s amazing stuff. But yeah, probably not great for you. So.

[00:37:06] Matt Hummel: Seven milks. That’s all I know. It was delicious, but, well, awesome. Well, I’ll flip that question around. So end of day, you know, what’s your go-to beverage? Just to kinda, to unwind.

[00:37:16] Steven Pritt: Yeah. This is gonna sound boring, but it’s coffee again. I mean, I am generally one of those people that I can have a, a cappuccino after dinner and not worry about sleeping in the evening. So. In an odd way, Matt. It’s, it’s very calming. So I don’t, I don’t mind, uh, another coffee at the end of the day. So,

[00:37:35] Matt Hummel: and you’re not talking decaf, you’re talking a regular cappuccino.

[00:37:39] Steven Pritt: Yeah, full throttle. All calf. Yeah. So, yeah,

[00:37:43] Matt Hummel: Stephen, that is impressive.

[00:37:46] Steven Pritt: Well, I don’t know. I don’t know if it is. We’ll see.

[00:37:48] Steven Pritt: But, um, but yeah, it is, it is oddly enough, one that I truly enjoy. So.

[00:37:53] Matt Hummel: Well, I love that. Well, I know how much you value your time in the outdoors and in the wilderness. What sort of activities do [00:38:00] you enjoy doing in the Texas summer, the heat of the Texas summers?

[00:38:03] Matt Hummel: How do you actually get to take advantage of that passion of yours?

[00:38:06] Steven Pritt: Yeah, it’s, uh, early in the morning or late at night. One new one met that I’ve, I’ve been trying out, it takes a little bit of travel, but not much is, I’ve just recently tried fly fishing, so as you’d mentioned, I’d been at Thomson Reuters for a while.

[00:38:19] Steven Pritt: We get a. Catalog, we can choose something and I’ve always wanted to try five flushing so. I, um, got a rod and reel and I’ve tried it, took a lesson and just fell in love with it. Just the idea of being outside. I don’t even care if I catch anything, it’s just being in a river, you know? Um, it’s just been really fun.

[00:38:39] Steven Pritt: So I’ve done that, um, maybe two or three times this summer already and, and just absolutely love it. So I thought it was one of those old man, um, things and, and maybe it is, so don’t, don’t tell me otherwise, but. Um, I’ve really, really enjoyed it. So that’s been a kind of a fun new little hobby to, to add to the outdoor repertoire.

[00:38:56] Matt Hummel: Ugh, that’s so cool. Well, you know, where they have great fly fishing. I’m just gonna put that [00:39:00] out there for you. Again,

[00:39:01] Steven Pritt: I see a central theme here, so yes, I, I, I definitely see that.

[00:39:07] Matt Hummel: That’s awesome. Well, cool. Well, on the totally opposite end of the spectrum, I also know that you’re a big movie buff. So do you enjoy cinematography?

[00:39:16] Matt Hummel: Is it the writing, is it the action? I know your first job out of school too was being in that industry, but yeah. What, what do you love about movies?

[00:39:25] Steven Pritt: Yeah, I think Matt, the main thing is the process. Like I love understanding the process and seeing that come to life, and I love how stories are written, so beyond just storytelling, which I know everybody says, but how, how these stories are written and how you can tell a similar story in many different ways.

[00:39:43] Steven Pritt: I, I think the best movies, you know, are the ones that, um, tie in real nicely at the end that has some meaning towards it. You know, like, I dunno, this is, this is a weird example. I’m not a big superhero fan, but, you know, I watched the new, the new Superman movie the other day and I rented it and like [00:40:00] there was a human ask.

[00:40:01] Steven Pritt: Pretty awesome. Yeah. And they took a really different version of that and it’s like. Same story. We all know it, but told in a different way. And I actually went into it thinking I wasn’t going to like it, but I’m like, well, I gotta see it, right? Everybody’s talking about it. And I think, you know, that’s a great example.

[00:40:18] Steven Pritt: So, um, of a great storytelling, but in different way. And, and I don’t wanna spoil that movie, but at the end there’s a really good exchange between Superman and Alexa about humanity. And I was like, who would’ve thought that you could have taken that twist to it and still made a good movie and, and brought some meaning to it?

[00:40:34] Steven Pritt: That’s something that I’m more respect than necessarily do. I like people in, you know, tights and capes basically. So, um, so anyway, I thought it was, it was, it was a really, you know, fun movie, but also had some meaning, like that kind of thing is, is the idea of how I love and appreciate movies, you know, so.

[00:40:50] Matt Hummel: That’s awesome. Well, not to put you on the spot, but do you have a favorite or top three favorite movies?

[00:40:55] Steven Pritt: My number one favorite movie is Back to the Future. That’s, that’s one of the ones [00:41:00] that I, I feel like is tethered to my childhood. You know, so that’s, if when people ask me the question for some reason, that’s the one that always comes to mind.

[00:41:08] Steven Pritt: I mean, there’s, there’s so many to like, but, but that is, that is one that I, you know, if it’s on, I’ll, I’ll watch it no matter what. So, ah.

[00:41:15] Matt Hummel: That’s awesome. Well, I know, you know, you’re, you’ve got two girls. I’ve got two boys, but probably no different. It’s been fun as my kids have gotten to the age, you know, throughout their, their life where you can go back and watch some of these classics and sometimes they roll their eyes and they’re like, this was cool, but Right.

[00:41:32] Matt Hummel: But like, they loved the Back to the future movies. Yep. And there’s others where they’re just timeless and Yeah, I just, it makes me appreciate because. I think I may have told this before on this podcast, but I remember when my dad, when we watched Birds, it was the Alfred Hitchcock movie for the first time.

[00:41:48] Matt Hummel: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And he’s like, this movie’s so scary. And I’m like, I watched and I’m laughing as the birds are crashing into the window. He was so mad at me. He is like, you’re ruining my childhood. And I’m like, I’m sorry, [00:42:00] but this is, this is ridiculous. No offense. ’cause Hitchcock was a brilliant, you know, movie, movie writer.

[00:42:04] Matt Hummel: But anyways,

[00:42:06] Steven Pritt: yeah, I felt that same way with when I, when I was like, okay girls, we’re gonna watch Goonies. This is a forced family event, but tread lightly. ’cause I don’t know if I could handle, if they didn’t like it, you know? And I was like, you know, so. The good news is they love the movie,

[00:42:20] Steven Pritt: but I’m like,

[00:42:21] Steven Pritt: you can’t trample on this one.

[00:42:22] Steven Pritt: I’m sorry. We’re just gonna

[00:42:23] Steven Pritt: have to know. No. So that, that ended up well. But there’s been other ones that are like, this is lame.

[00:42:27] Steven Pritt: You

[00:42:28] Steven Pritt: know, so

[00:42:28] Matt Hummel: you’re like, all right, we’re opening, we’re opening in the circle of trust here. I, I’m gonna need, I’m gonna letting you in. But there’s an expectation, right? Yes, exactly.

[00:42:36] Matt Hummel: So that’s awesome. Well, Steven, this has been an amazing conversation. Cannot tell you how much I appreciate you taking the time today to, to join and just share all your great thoughts. So I really appreciate it.

[00:42:47] Steven Pritt: Yeah, well thanks for having me on Matt. It’s a great podcast and, and uh, really enjoy seeing you and connecting again, um, and, and and again, really appreciate the time today.

[00:42:56] Matt Hummel: Likewise. See you in Colorado hopefully in a couple years. Sounds like I need to get

[00:42:59] Steven Pritt: a ticket for that pretty [00:43:00] soon. So. Yes.

[00:43:01] Matt Hummel: Alright, well take care. Alright, thanks Matt. Thanks again to Steven for joining us on today’s episode of The Pipeline Brew. I hope you’ll enjoyed the conversation as much as I did.

[00:43:12] Matt Hummel: Please leave me a comment with your thoughts and make sure you subscribe to the show so you’ll never miss an episode. Once again, I’m Matt Hummel and I’ll see you next time.