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#163 Build Trust, Break Through Noise, and Lead with Integrity with David Margolin and John De Goey

Today we’re speaking with John De Goey and David Margolin. John is a portfolio manager, author, and industry thought leader who helps families achieve their financial goals through client-focused, evidence-based investment strategies. He has been twice named one of Canada’s Top 50 Advisors and is the 2017 recipient of the Donald J. Johnston Award for his lifetime contributions to financial planning. David is a global marketing leader and strategist, currently serving as Chief Marketing Officer at Unilog, where he drives growth marketing, brand strategy, and AI-powered business impact across global markets. Together, they share insights on building trust, driving results, and using expertise and innovation to create meaningful impact in both finance and business.
“If I want to, like, spend the best three or four days of my time engaging with potential customers and channel partners, a trade show, like an industry trade show, would be a good place to go to.” -David Margolin
“No matter what your walk of life is, you will be able to impart a lesson that is relatively universal, that people who do something totally different will likely be able to take away and apply to their day-to-day life.” -John De Goey

About the Episode

Welcome to an in-depth exploration of Episode 163 of the NTM Growth Marketing Podcast! In this episode, host Andrew sat down with two engaging guests — David Margolin, a seasoned fractional CMO in the Agtech space, and John De Goey, a portfolio manager and thought leader in Canadian finance. Through their stories and strategies, we gain valuable insights into niche marketing, the changing role of AI in business, and how authentic thought leadership can create real-world impact.

This blog post takes you behind the scenes of the episode, diving deeply into every major theme, strategy, and takeaway. Whether you’re a marketer, business owner, or someone curious about making authentic connections in today’s noisy world, you’ll find actionable ideas and inspiring anecdotes throughout.

Meet the Guests

Before diving into the nitty-gritty strategies and perspectives, let’s quickly introduce the episode’s guests.

David Margolin

  • Fractional CMO, Agtech specialist
  • Nearly 30 years of marketing experience
  • Deep background at Netafim (iconic for micro-irrigation and fertigation technologies)

John De Goey

  • Portfolio manager, educator, and author
  • 32 years in Canadian finance
  • Podcast host for Make Better Wealth Decisions
  • Occasional marketing by way of thought leadership and consumer advocacy

David Margolin: A Veteran Marketer in Agtech

Setting the Stage

David kicks off the conversation with a dose of humility and humor:

“I just look young and beautiful, but I’m actually like almost 30 years in the industry of marketing.”

He highlights a career that spans multiple industries, most notably agtech and telecom, with over a decade spent at Netafim — a revered name in micro-irrigation and fertigation. This depth of experience shapes his perspective on what works and what doesn’t in B2B marketing in complex, niche spaces.

What is a Fractional CMO?

If you’ve been hearing the term “fractional CMO” thrown around and wondering what it means, you’re not alone. David breaks it down in a way anyone can understand:

“Basically, you know, it’s a fancy name for something which is much more simple than that… So imagine a guy like me which has almost three decades of experience… Well the price tag over my head is pretty expensive. So if I need to be fully employed for a company, it’s a pretty heavy expense.”

In short:
A fractional CMO is a highly experienced marketing executive hired part-time, often by smaller or mid-sized companies needing top-tier expertise without the full-time executive price tag.

Why Fractional Makes Sense (For Companies and Marketers):

  • Flexibility: Companies get senior know-how without the full-time cost pressure.
  • Diversity: Fractional marketers get to work across different industries, keeping the work interesting (and often cross-pollinating ideas).

Marketing in a Niche Industry

Agtech marketing is not like marketing the latest consumer app or gadget. David underscores just how focused this space can get:

“The agtech industry is a niche industry, and when you drill into what Grow Director does, it’s even a more narrower part of the industry.”

Grow Director specializes in automation tech for greenhouses — a niche within a niche.

What This Means for Strategy

  • Mass marketing is off the table.
  • “Paid campaigns, ad campaigns, all that stuff is completely useless,” David says bluntly.
  • Everything must be razor-focused: Messaging, tactics, even the selection of platforms and content types.

Effective Marketing Strategies for Agtech

Let’s break down some of the marketing strategies David relies on, drawing from hard-won experience in this uniquely challenging field.

1. Thought Leadership through Industry Media

“Publishing and expert articles, case studies… in horticulture agritech outlets, greenhouse growers, Horti Daily, Produce Growers, you know, all these media outlets… this is where we are aiming our efforts.”

  • Targeted content: Write for trade journals, sites, and events where your buyers (and channel partners) actually hang out.
  • Leverage case studies and expert opinion: Establishing credibility in small circles depends on “show, not tell.”

2. In-Person Engagement: Trade Shows

“The old world of trade shows and in-person engagement… If I want to, like, spend the best three or four days of my time engaging with potential customers and channel partners, a trade show, like an industry trade show, would be a good place to go to.”

  • Even in a digital world, face time matters: Especially with large investments and technical products, buyers (and partners) want to look you in the eye.
  • Maximize your presence: Use these events not just for sales, but for building long-term relationships and trust.

3. Channel Partner Strategy

  • Recognize the “two-audience” challenge: The approaches that work for end users (farmers) differ dramatically from those that work for channel partners (resellers/distributors).
    • End users care about daily pain points, ROI, ease of use.
    • Channel partners care about sales cycles, margin potential, and long-term support.

“We have two separate strategies — one is targeting the end users and the other is channel partners.”

  • Longer sales cycles: Onboarding a channel partner can take 6-12 months!
  • Use specialized content: Tailor messaging, incentives, and even platforms based on which segment you’re talking to.

End Users vs. Channel Partners: Dual Marketing Approaches

David makes it clear: you cannot use the same template for both buyers and partners, even if they’re buying into the same core technology.

“It’s different messaging, addressing different motivations… everything is customized.”

Key Lesson:
Segment your audience and actually treat them differently, all the way from ad creative to sales enablement.

Building Trust and Explaining Disruptive Tech

David emphasizes the universal need, regardless of which audience you target:

“All the stuff that, which is related to, you know, activities which build trust is working for both industries. So like case studies, success stories, testimonial, all that stuff… Especially when we have a really disruptive technology like Grow Director does.”

Why This Matters

  • Greenhouse automation can sound intimidating: Especially to farmers who aren’t early tech adopters.
  • Stories and proof soothe uncertainty: Showing real-world results (in every “crop, structure, and climate”) helps bridge the risk gap.

“So, so talking about like 10 years of experience and installations in every, basically in every crop and every type of structure, any type of climate or, you know, greenhouse setup is something that work for both.”

The Realities of Selling AI in Agriculture

David shines a light on the huge gap between Silicon Valley hype and the realities of agtech sales:

“If you tell a farmer that a system which is going to control their entire crop is being managed by AI, they’re going to be really scared.”

  • Know your audience’s comfort levels: Farmers may be smart, but they often see AI as a risky unknown, not a shiny selling point.
  • Tailor the AI value prop: Emphasize “less scary” parts when talking to folks wary of automation.

“We had to adjust everything, all the content… So it will be talking a language which is giving AI the right place, but not taking over when we talk about the value proposition.”

Takeaway:
Let your marketing match your real buyers’ psychology — don’t force the hottest tech buzzword down their throats if it triggers suspicion!

AI Tools That Drive Marketing Productivity

David’s team leans heavily on AI for research, content creation, and design — but always with a hands-on, careful approach.

Tools They Use

  • Large Language Models (LLMs):
    • For drafting content and research (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude)
    • For deep research: Perplexity
  • Image Generators:
    • For quick graphics or minor image tweaks when a physical reshoot is impossible

But it’s not about “letting the AI do the work”:

“As long as we use AI in a healthy way, use AI as a co-pilot, not to do the thinking or the work for us. Whatever tool we use makes us a little bit more productive and we can do much more.”

Practical Example:

  • Drafting a customer presentation with AI may take five minutes for an outline, but 10 hours of hands-on refinement to achieve human-grade quality.
  • Using AI to tweak images — only if sending a photographer around the world isn’t feasible.

John De Goey: Thought Leadership, Advocacy, and Marketing in Finance

Switching gears, we meet John De Goey — a portfolio manager in Toronto with over three decades in finance, and a passion for advocacy, education, and thought leadership.

He’s written “dozens, maybe even hundreds” of articles, authored three books, and hosts the Make Better Wealth Decisions podcast.

Thought Leadership as Marketing

John’s approach to marketing is refreshingly authentic:

“I don’t do the podcast and write the books expressly to get clients, but every so often, I get clients because I write articles and write books and do a podcast.”

He embraces thought leadership as a way of:

  • Sharing ideas (“getting people thinking about how things work and how they might work better or differently”)
  • Educating the public, even if they may never become clients
  • Letting clients discover him “organically” as a byproduct

How It Works (Even If It’s Not the Goal):

  • Authentically sharing knowledge builds authority
  • Clients sometimes “fall out of the sky” after reading/listening to his content
  • Sending speaking videos or podcasts to clients helps them know his “brand” and offering better

Quote to Remember:

“Every so often, a client falls out of the sky because they read an article I wrote or heard my podcast and they call me and say, ‘you know, way to go. I think you can help me. Let’s talk.’”

The Role of Advocacy in Building Trust

John is more than a marketer — he’s a consumer advocate:

“I want to advocate for things that are laudable, even if we don’t know for sure what it’s going to mean for the bottom line. And, you know, I would say do the right thing because it’s never the wrong time to do the right thing.”

What This Looks Like in Practice:

  • Advocating for cost transparency in finance (even when it’s not good for profit margins)
  • Educating about financial literacy and better industry practices
  • Championing evidence-based innovation, even in the face of industry reluctance

Navigating a Conservative Industry

John lays out his industry’s status quo:

“I’m in an industry that is conservative, that is small C, Conservative, which is to say, resistant to change, mired in the status quo, doing things the way they’ve always been done.”

He recognizes that change is slow — companies often stick to familiar ways if it keeps profits secure, especially when customers don’t ask tough questions.

“If people are happy doing things the old way and you can charge a higher fee because people don’t understand the importance of fees or don’t even know what those fees are and don’t ask, the industry will not go out of its way to make disclosures that they’re not required to make if that lack of disclosure is seen as being good for profit margins.”

So why bother pushing for change?
  • Long-term trust wins: Transparent, evidence-based practitioners gain an edge over those guarding the status quo.
  • Consumer education pays off: The more clients know, the better decisions they make — and the more they value honest, forward-thinking advisors.

How AI is Shaping Content Creation

John’s relationship with AI is still evolving — but he’s already found some practical use cases:

  • Using AI to brainstorm questions for podcast interviews (“What can I ask an Olympic skier that would connect to finance?”)
  • Testing prompts, experimenting with scripts and creative inspiration

“A lot of the, the value and leverage you get from AI comes from using it so that you can do a better job of asking better prompts, getting more refined output, and making sure that it can assist you in ways that you might not have intuitively expected.”

He also underscores:
AI, like any skill, rewards those who just start — you can’t learn how to use it by waiting on the sidelines.

Drawing Universal Lessons from Unlikely Sources

One of the most memorable segments was John’s interview with a former Olympic skier:

“I think the one thing that really, really stood out was excessive preparation and calculated risk taking… other people thought I was taking risks; but I’m the guy going down the hill, and I’m telling you I didn’t think it was risky, and I thought that was insightful.”

Lessons for Finance, Marketing, and Life

  • Meticulous preparation: Both skiers and investors need it to win.
  • Calculated risk: True professionals know their craft so well they take risks others see as reckless — but really, they’re informed bets.

“No matter what your walk of life is, you will be able to impart a lesson that is relatively universal, that people who do something totally different will likely be able to take away and apply to their day to day life.”

That’s the hallmark of wonderfully broad thought leadership.

Advice for Those New to AI

John admits he’s a relative late adopter and shares this simple advice:

“Don’t do what I’ve done and start sooner. What I’ve learned from AI is that it’s a skill like any other… and you have to just do it like the Nike ad says.”

He also highlights the value of searching for creative prompts from reputable sources, as well as the value of trial and error:

  • “The better you get at asking questions, the better you get at getting at the answers you’re looking for and being able to do a better job of drawing out what you want…”

Bonus: NTM’s Marketing Mastermind Cohort

Before introducing John, the podcast briefly spotlights the Marketing Mastermind Cohort from No Typical Marketers.

What is it?

  • An exclusive community for marketing executives
  • Connect with like-minded pros
  • Monthly roundtable meetings to discuss advanced marketing (including AI agents!)
  • Applications required

Final Thoughts: What We Can All Learn from David and John

This episode of the NTM Growth Marketing Podcast brings home a few major truths about business, advocacy, and staying ahead of the curve:

1. Know Your Audience, Really

Whether you’re selling greenhouse automation to farmers or financial planning to cautious investors, meet your market where they are. Don’t force tech jargon or complex ideas; empathize and educate.

2. Build Trust Through Evidence and Storytelling

Case studies, testimonials, and real client stories transcend industries. Especially for new or “scary” technologies, proof earns attention and, over time, trust.

3. Thought Leadership Isn’t About Self-Promotion

As John shows, creating and sharing content can serve your broader mission. Clients might follow, but integrity and public value come first.

4. AI is a Co-Pilot (Not a Replacement)

Both guests use AI as a tool — to speed up research, ideation, and sometimes design. But the real work remains human, strategic, and uniquely creative.

“As long as we use AI in a healthy way, use AI as a co-pilot, not to do the thinking or the work for us, whatever tool we use makes us a little bit more productive and we can do much more.” — David Margolin

Ready to Dive Deeper?

  • Listen to the full episode of the NTM Growth Marketing Podcast (link via No Typical Marketers)
  • Connect with David Margolin and Grow Director for insights on B2B niche marketing in agtech
  • Follow John De Goey and subscribe to Make Better Wealth Decisions for straight talk on finance and ethics
  • Apply for the No Typical Marketers Mastermind if you want to level up your marketing with top peers

Thank you for joining this journey into the trenches of modern marketing, advocacy, and creativity. If you enjoyed these insights, don’t forget to share this post and continue the conversation with your own network!

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