MarTech Podcast ™ // Marketing + Technology = Business Growth · 2026-06-25 · 3 min
Key moments - from our scoring
Substance score
17 / 100
Five dimensions, 20 points each
Amanda Cole, CMO of Bloomreach, challenges marketers to fundamentally rethink their approach to search and content strategy in the age of AI-powered discovery. Rather than optimizing for visitor volume metrics, Cole advocates for understanding natural language questions that customers and prospects actually ask, then creating content specifically tailored to those queries - even if a single page serves just one person. The episode also features a compelling case for rebalancing marketing budgets away from pure performance marketing toward a healthier brand-and-demand mix. Cole argues that as AI search reshapes how people discover information, marketers have a rare opportunity to invest in brand-building initiatives like content strategy and owned media that compound in value over time, rather than treating them as afterthoughts. This conversation is essential for enterprise CMOs, demand generation leaders, and marketing strategists grappling with AI's impact on discoverability and budget allocation.
Marketers should stop thinking about search and content in terms of visitor volume metrics. Instead, they should focus on understanding the natural language questions customers and prospects ask, and create content specifically designed to answer those questions - even if individual pages serve only one person.
Marketers should move away from over-indexing on performance marketing and instead rebalance toward a healthier brand-and-demand mix, investing in brand content, strategy, and media that compound in value over time rather than delivering only short-term results.
With AI search upending traditional discovery dynamics, marketers now have the chance to shift away from constant demand-focused spending and invest in longer-term brand-building initiatives that become increasingly valuable over time, rather than treating brand as a secondary priority.
Our reviewer’s read on each dimension, with quotes from the episode.
The episode is roughly 3 minutes long and the vast majority of it is sponsor reads, intros, and outros. The actual substantive exchange amounts to one vague answer about natural language queries and one host monologue about brand vs. performance marketing - neither of which constitutes a novel or actionable insight.
stop thinking about search in terms of volume
we're going to rebalance our marketing budget and we're going to get to this healthy brand and demand mix as opposed to totally over indexing on performance marketing
Both points made - think about natural language questions for AI search, and shift budget from performance to brand - are extremely well-worn takes circulating across every marketing outlet since AI search became prominent. Nothing contrarian, first-principles, or counterintuitive appears.
stop thinking about pages and content in context of that metric we were talking about earlier, which is number of visitors
If there's a time to take advantage of the opportunity to rebalance and have a healthier marketing program, build things that are going to become compoundingly more valuable over time
Amanda Cole holds a legitimate senior practitioner title (CMO of Bloomreach, a real enterprise B2B SaaS company), which warrants some credit on paper. However, she contributes only a single short paragraph in the entire episode, making her caliber largely irrelevant to the actual substance delivered.
Thanks to Amanda Cole, the CMO of Bloomreach, for joining us
There are essentially no named examples, data points, timelines, or dollar figures from the guest conversation itself. The 55 - 65% open rate teaser at the top appears to be a clip from a different segment and provides no verifiable context.
from advertising to software as a service to data, uh, across all of our programs and clients, we've seen a 55
you can actually create a page that's valid for one person and that's okay
The host asks a single yes/no-framed question, receives a brief answer, and then immediately pivots to delivering his own opinion at length rather than probing the guest further. There is no follow-up, no pushback, and no real dialogue - it reads as a manufactured micro-clip, not an interview.
What's one thing marketers should stop doing immediately now that AI search is changing discovery?
For me, this is your chance to build a brand like every marketer now has the opportunity to say
Computed from the transcript - who did the talking, and the words that came up most.
Marketers need to stop overusing "AI" in every campaign and keynote presentation. Amanda Cole, Chief Marketing Officer at Bloomreach, explains why artificial intelligence should be treated as standard marketing practice rather than a buzzword. She advocates for eliminating jargon like "democratize" from marketing vocabulary and treating AI-powered personalization as fundamental to modern ecommerce strategy. Cole also discusses how Bloomreach's platform integrates customer data to deliver individualized experiences without relying on trendy terminology. See Privacy Policy at and California Privacy Notice at
Transcribed and scored by The B2B Podcast Index.
Narrator: The Martech Podcast is a proud member of the I Hear Everything Podcast Network. Looking to launch or scale your podcast, I Hear Everything delivers podcast production, growth and monetization solutions that transform your words into profit. Ready to give your brand a, uh, voice? Then visit iheareverything.com.
Benjamin Shapiro: From advertising to software as a service to data, uh, across all of our programs and clients, we've seen a 55
Narrator: to 65% open rate.
Benjamin Shapiro: Getting brands authentically integrated into content performs better than TV advertising. Typical lifespan of an article is about 24 to 36 hours. We're reaching out to the right person with the right message and a clear call to action. Then it's just a matter of timing.
Narrator: Welcome to the Martech Podcast, a member of the I Hear Everything Podcast Network. In this podcast, you'll hear the stories of world class marketers that you technology to drive business results and achieve career success. Here's the host of the Martech Podcast, Benjamin Shapiro.
Narrator: Today's interview is brought to you by Shift Paradigm Marketing today is buried in complexity. You've got the tech, you've got the tools, but moving the needle feels harder than ever. And the last thing us marketers need is another consultant pitching digital transformation. Enter Shift Paradigm Shift is an integrated team of experts who help enterprise brands turn complexity into traction. Their work is insight led and strategically grounded, designed not to sell you a service or a piece of tech, but to actually solve real business challenges. What makes them different? Well, they're AI enabled but not AI dependent. They're human first, but plugged into the latest tools and models and the moments those models need to go through to prove themselves. They get techy without losing sight of the real person behind every click. And they don't just hand you a deck, they build the blueprints and stay to develop, deploy and run the engine. Growth isn't one size fits all. So stop settling for strategies that collect dust and start working with the team that actually builds for you. Visit ShiftParadigm.com to see how they can help you connect meaningfully with your audience. That's ShiftParadigm.com what's one thing marketers should
Benjamin Shapiro: stop doing immediately now that AI search is changing discovery?
Amanda Cole: Well, I do think that one thing maybe not that they should stop doing, but one thing that we absolutely have more of a benefit of doing is understanding the natural language questions that customers and prospects have. And our ability to respond to and create content for those questions is exponentially greater than ever before. So stop thinking about pages and content in context of that metric we were talking about earlier, which is number of visitors, because you can actually create a page that's valid for one person and that's okay. So I, I guess that's what I would say. Stop thinking about search in terms of volume.
Benjamin Shapiro: For me, this is your chance to build a brand like every marketer now has the opportunity to say, you know what, the world is changing, it's upside down. Instead of me having to be all demand focused all the time, we're going to rebalance our marketing budget and we're going to get to this healthy brand and demand mix as opposed to totally over indexing on performance marketing. If there's a time to take advantage of the opportunity to rebalance and have a healthier marketing program, build things that are going to become compoundingly more valuable over time. Brand content, strategy, media. I'm biased. That's what people should be doing. All right, and that wraps up this episode of the MarTech podcast. Thanks to Amanda Cole, the CMO of Bloomreach, for joining us and a, uh,
Narrator: special thanks to Shift Paradigm for sponsoring this podcast. Shift is an integrated team of experts who help enterprise brands bridge the gap between strategy data and customers. Human first, AI enabled and execution led. They build the blueprints, then stay to develop, deploy and run the engine you need. So stop settling for decks that collect dust and start working with a team that actually builds for you. Visit ShiftParadigm.com to see how they can help you connect meaningfully with with your audience.
Benjamin Shapiro: If you'd like to contact Amanda, you could find a link to her LinkedIn profile in our show notes or on martechpod.com or you can visit her company's website, which is bloomreach.com if you haven't subscribed yet and you want a daily stream of marketing and technology knowledge in your podcast feed, hit the subscribe button in your podcast app or on YouTube and we'll be back in your feed next week. All right, that's it for today, but until next time, my advice is to just focus on keeping your customers happy.
Narrator: Thanks for listening to the MarTech podcast and I hear everything. Production. Looking to launch or scale a podcast like this one for your brand? Then visit iheareverything.com.
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