Episode Overview
In this episode of Lies My Marketing Experience Told Me, Kerry talks with Liam Moroney—one of LinkedIn’s sharpest B2B voices and the CEO of Storybook Marketing. Liam shares the lie he told himself for years in SaaS: that his central hypothesis about how marketing works didn’t need challenging—he just needed enough data to “prove” it.
They dig into motivated reasoning, content marketing myths, and why clinging to convenient, linear models keeps teams stuck—even when the evidence says otherwise.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
- The Lie: “My hypothesis is right; I just need more data.” How confirmation bias and cognitive dissonance warp marketing judgment.
- When Data Contradicts the Story: Real examples where heavy content consumers never bought—and buyers who never touched content still closed.
- The Content Paradox: The better your content, the more likely it attracts non-in-market audiences; frequency ≠ effectiveness.
- Models vs. Reality: Why linear funnels rarely map to how buyers actually behave—and when “the math doesn’t math.”
- Self-Disruption: How to challenge your own playbook, especially when you’ve been rewarded for it in past roles.
- Better Questions, Better Strategy: Becoming literate in stats, asking sharper questions, and distinguishing what’s measurable from what matters.
Memorable Quotes
- I tried to use data to prove a hypothesis I wanted to be true.” – Liam Moroney
- “The model was never up for challenging; only the data going into it.” – Liam Moroney
- “Marketing is understanding first—then it’s math.” – Liam Moroney
- “If you keep explaining why the model isn’t broken, maybe the model is broken.” – Liam Moroney (via George Box)
- “You should never fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool—so you have to be careful about that.” – Kerry Cunningham (quoting Richard Feynman)
Practical Takeaways
- Pressure-test your model: Would you buy this way? If not, why assume your market does?
- Separate audience & objective: Consultant content ≠ enterprise software content. Match format to buying risk and category dynamics.
- Stop worshiping frequency: Diminishing returns are real; optimize for quality signals and situational relevance, not raw touches.
- Challenge the inherited playbook: What worked 2014–2021 might fail today; the economy, funding climate, and category maturity changed.
- Level up your measurement literacy: Basic statistics + better questions → better decisions (try A More Beautiful Question).
- Invite a friendly skeptic: Ask someone outside your echo chamber to interrogate your conclusions.
Resources & Links
- Explore more episodes of Lies My Marketing Experience Told Me
- Follow Liam Moroney on LinkedIn for B2B brand & strategy insights
- Read more of Kerry’s takes on measurement myths and the MQL Mirage on the 6sense blog.
About the Series
Lies My Marketing Experience Told Me features B2B go-to-market leaders revealing “truths” they once believed—but don’t anymore. Each episode offers hard-won lessons that can save today’s marketers years of trial and error.
