Mastering the "why" behind your audience's actions is the only way to break through the noise in an increasingly automated world. In this episode of Content Amplified, host Benjamin Ard sits down with April Grudier, a seasoned marketing leader with deep roots in both B2C and B2B, to explore the shift from surface-level demographics to belief-level audience insights. April reveals her "scrappy" methods for uncovering what keeps your customers up at night and explains why PR is no longer just "fluff"—it is a critical tool for teaching AI models who your brand is. 

Inside this episode:

• Belief vs. Demographics: Why the best content connects with what people value, protect, and prove, rather than just their job title. 
• The Scrappy Researcher’s Toolkit: How to find deep audience insights without a massive research department by leveraging sales calls, AI-summarized reviews, and niche media consumption. 
• The Content Filter: A strategic approach to mapping content to the buyer’s journey while ensuring every piece serves a clear purpose of awareness, engagement, or conversion. 
• The PR Renaissance: How PR is shaping modern discoverability by feeding the large language models (LLMs) that power AI searches. 
• Structuring for AI: Practical tips for formatting press releases and partner content to ensure your brand surfaces in AI-generated answers. 

About Our Guest: April Grudier is a versatile marketing leader who transitioned from a background in education to a prolific career in B2C and B2B marketing. Having held nearly every marketing role imaginable at major brands like Staples and BJ’s Wholesale Club, she now brings her expertise to the payments industry. She currently serves as a marketing leader at BlueSnap (recently acquired by Payrock), where she focuses on global growth and integrated content strategies. 

Connect with April:

• LinkedIn: April Grudier 
• Company Website: Payroc

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