How To Make People Care About Your Brand | Jay Acunzo

Early-stage marketing is often a race for reach, but Jay Acunzo argues that resonance is the only metric that actually moves the needle in 2026.

Jay is the former Head of Content at HubSpot and Google, a world-renowned keynote speaker, and an expert in storytelling. He has helped countless brands find their "Premise"—the distinct point of view that makes them irreplaceable in a sea of commodities.

In this episode, Jay breaks down why "being the best" is a losing game and why "being their favorite" is the ultimate competitive advantage.

Here's what you'll learn:

(00:00) Intro
(01:24) Why "Marketing More" is a trap in the AI era
(04:16) Why 100 fans beat 100,000 followers
(07:36) The Disney Strategy: Why you should stop trying to be "The Best"
(09:52) Using Unsolicited Response Rate (URR) to measure resonance
(13:50) How to close deals faster by making people care
(16:21) Why generic content is dead (and how to find your "Premise")
(24:13) Why brands need personalities to survive
(28:55) 5 steps to differentiate your brand
(34:38) The Wistia Example: Why your homepage copy isn't your message
(41:55) Future-proofing your content for 2026
(51:09) The right way to use LLMs in creative work
(59:40) Why you can't automate thought leadership

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast!

Where to find Jay:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayacunzo/
Website: https://jayacunzo.com/

Where to find Tim:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/
X: @timsoulo

Referenced:
HubSpot, Wistia, Google, SparkToro, TopRank Marketing, Anthony Bourdain, Andrew Davis, Melanie Deziel.