How ClickUp Built a B2B Social Machine with Chris Cunningham from ClickUp
The Dave Gerhardt Show (from Exit Five)
How to Start If Camera Shy — Hire Unknown Creators
Chris advises finding creators with small followings and one hit, DMing them, and growing them into consistent writers.
#347 | ClickUp drives millions of impressions for the company through videos and content for B2B marketers on social, and in this episode Dave sits down with Chris Cunningham, a founding member of the marketing team at ClickUp and the guy who runs social there now, to talk about how they do it. Chris breaks down why 99% of companies are doing social wrong, how ClickUp runs a weekly writers room and shoots 12 to 15 videos every Thursday, and why he tests every video with multiple hooks using Instagram trial reels before it ever hits the main feed. He also gets into how he manages 35 accounts across platforms, how he finds unknown creators with small followings and turns them into writers, and how this has driven real pipeline. Then the conversation shifts to AI and whether doubling down on human creativity might actually be B2B's biggest competitive advantage right now.
Timestamps
- (00:00) - - Intro
- (04:25) - - Chris's background and why he's been at ClickUp for nearly a decade
- (06:21) - - The biggest mistake B2B companies make on social
- (08:29) - - The rule of three: make people feel something, teach them, or make them laugh
- (09:40) - - Why you should create for two platforms and distribute everywhere
- (11:34) - - How ClickUp separates brand, comedy, and product accounts
- (13:41) - - How social has driven real pipeline and closed deals
- (16:01) - - How Chris interviews ICPs to find content ideas
- (20:02) - - How to measure social when attribution is hard
- (25:08) - - The weekly production process: writers room, shoot day, and content bank
- (32:00) - - Tools and how to manage posting across 35 accounts
- (33:34) - - Don't sleep on Facebook Reels
- (35:06) - - How to start if you're camera shy and how to find unknown creators
- (40:48) - - Where AI fits in and why doubling down on human creativity is the biggest moat
- (45:32) - - Why brand is now the biggest competitive advantage in B2B
- (47:39) - - Unique content formats worth studying and stealing
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