Cave Bits: Uncovering Website Analytics

SaaStrophe Series: What Could Possibly Go Wrong? by Drew Brucker @ Brainchild

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🚀 Key Takeaways:

  • The highs and lows of influencer partnerships
  • Managing unexpected PR crises in real time
  • Why thought leadership isn’t always about having the loudest voice

In this episode, we dive headfirst into the wild world of influencer partnerships in B2B SaaS marketing—and the unexpected chaos that can ensue.

Imagine landing a dream collaboration with the biggest name in your industry (think Elon Musk energy, but without the 3 AM crypto tweets). Everything’s on fire—in the best way. Engagement rates are soaring, competitors are hate-sharing, and you’re practicing your humblebrag for the next conference.

But then... disaster strikes. Our tech titan, “Jack,” drops a live-streamed hot take that sends our campaign—and our sanity—spiraling. When he compared AI in SaaS to "racing stripes on a horse," things went from goldmine to PR nightmare faster than you can refresh your Slack feed.

In this episode, we unpack what went wrong, what we learned, and why partnering with influencers is like playing with fireworks—it’s all fun until it blows up.

Get ready for a hilarious, cautionary tale filled with marketing highs, lows, and the all-important lesson: In B2B, sometimes the smartest thing you can do is know when to say... nothing.

What Could Possibly Go Wrong? a story by Drew Brucker

Picture this: You’re a marketer, and you just landed the holy grail of thought leadership—a partnership with the Elon Musk of your industry (except this one doesn’t tweet about cryptocurrency at 3 AM… usually).

We’ll call him “Jack”–a titan of tech, a sultan of SaaS, a prophet of profit margins. This guy could post a picture of his breakfast and accidentally start three unicorn startups.

Our co-branded content series was so hot it needed its own fire extinguisher. Engagement rates were through the roof. Our lead magnet turned into an actual magnet. Even our competitors were hate-sharing our posts, which, let’s be honest, is the B2B equivalent of going viral.

I was already practicing my humble-brag for the next marketing conference. “Oh, this little campaign? It just tripled our pipeline, no biggie.”

Then, faster than you can say “purgatory,” it all went to hell.

Midway through our campaign, Jack decided to do a live-streamed AMA. Perfect, we thought. What could possibly go wrong?

Everything. Everything could go wrong.

It started innocently enough. He shared his morning routine (apparently, unicorn tears are great in coffee), his favorite productivity hacks (time travel was mentioned), and then… the panic ensued:

“What’s your take on the future of AI in SaaS?”

Now, keep in mind, our product was AI-adjacent.

Jack cleared his throat and dropped this wisdom bomb: “AI in SaaS? It’s like putting racing stripes on a horse. Sure, it looks cool, but at the end of the day, you’re still just dealing with a horse.”

You could almost hear the collective gasp of every SaaS marketer watching. Our Slack channel erupted like a popcorn machine filled with firecrackers.

Damage control mode engaged.

We had two choices: distance ourselves faster than a politician from a scandal, or double down harder than a blackjack player with rent due.

As we scrambled to spin this “unique perspective” (read: potential career suicide), I learned a valuable lesson:

Influencers are like fireworks. Exciting, attention-grabbing, and occasionally, they blow up in your face.

Always, always have a crisis management plan. And maybe a time machine.

Because in B2B SaaS, sometimes the real thought leadership is knowing when to keep your thoughts to yourself.