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Growing A Brand To 1.2M Social Followers with Andrew Littlefield | Horizons Podcast

Plus, why "viral" content marketing is often the wrong choice

Listen now on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple.

Andrew Littlefield is a content marketing veteran who's helped build audiences from scratch at multiple startups and established brands, including the robotic tiny homes company Ori.

Here’s some of my takeaways from this week’s episode…

1/ 🎯 Content Success = More At-Bats
The key to content marketing isn't perfection—it's volume of attempts. Like baseball, even Hall of Famers only succeed 1/3 of the time. Focus on getting more "at-bats" by publishing frequently and experimenting constantly, rather than trying to make every piece perfect.

2/ 🌱 Early Success Signs Matter
When something's really working, you'll often see clear positive signals very early—like unexpectedly high engagement or enthusiastic audience feedback. Don't waste months trying to force mediocre results when you could be exploring new directions.

3/ 🎨 Hire for Hunger, Not Credentials
Look for candidates who show creativity, attention to detail, and drive to succeed—regardless of their educational background. Hidden application instructions (like "use the word 'wiggle' in your cover letter") help identify detail-oriented folks who'll go the extra mile.

4/ 📊 Blog Strategy = Compound Interest
Don't chase viral hits. Build a library of solid content that each brings in steady traffic. 100 posts getting 5 views/day > 1 post getting 100 views/day. The cumulative effect compounds over time as your content library grows.

5/ 🎬 Search > Social
Prioritize platforms where users actively search for solutions (like YouTube) over pure social feeds. Search-based content has longer shelf life and attracts more intentional audiences seeking specific solutions.

6/ 🎭 Gate Strategically
Save gating for truly valuable, exclusive content like live events or original research. The bar for what people will trade their contact info for has risen dramatically—make sure you're offering genuine value.

7/ 🔄 Adapt or Die
What works in content marketing constantly evolves. Be ready to abandon strategies that stop working and experiment with new approaches. Success comes from staying flexible and responsive to changing audience behaviors.

8/ 🎯 B2B2C Marketing
Sometimes the path to B2B success requires building consumer demand first. Create broad awareness and desire for your product among end users to drive business customer adoption.

Where to find Andrew Littlefield:

  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewlittlefield/

  • X: https://x.com/fsuandrew

In this episode, we cover:

00:00 Introduction and Background
05:26 Early Successes in Marketing
09:05 The Recipe for Success in Content Marketing
15:18 Iterating and Adapting Strategies
16:08 The Addiction of Content Creation
19:50 Navigating the Content Marketing Landscape
22:43 The Art of Experimentation in Marketing
27:01 Overcoming Barriers to Creativity
29:47 Accountability in Pursuing Dreams
35:36 The Early Days of Marketing at We Did It
44:04 The Persistence of Ideas
45:24 Identifying Winning Strategies
47:21 Building a Talented Team
49:34 Innovative Hiring Practices
52:30 The Value of Hunger in Candidates
57:18 Gated vs. Ungated Content
01:03:24 The B2B2C Approach to Marketing
01:03:53 Lightning Round Insights

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Obligatory disclaimer: I've worked at YouTube and Google for about a decade in various marketing teams. Nothing I say in my personal spaces is necessarily endorsed by them.

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