15 Years of Red Branch Media: A Story I Never Expected to Write

Red Branch Media was born November 2, 2009, during a recession that absolutely did not care about my business plan. There was no safety net. There was just work—hard work—and the belief that marketing shouldn’t be smoke and mirrors.

In our first years (2009–2013), we became experts in HR technology before HR tech fully realized it needed marketing. Relationships were built in hallways and conference bars. Those relationships still drive our business today.

To date, we have partnered with over 200 companies in HR Tech, FinTech, MedTech, IoT, and beyond. We’ve helped startups go from basement beginnings to publicly traded success—and we’ve stayed when other agencies vanished.

And we grew almost entirely through referrals and boomerang clients:

• Clients returning 2–5 times as they change companies
• Zero reliance on outbound advertising for our own growth
• Brand reputation carrying us into new verticals without chasing them

We didn’t just market into the HR ecosystem—we helped build it.

In 2014, we began working directly with analyst firms—building their brands, websites, messaging, and global research products. Some of the most trusted voices in HR tech stood on foundations we helped construct.

From 2015–2017, our clients expanded into Europe, APAC, LATAM—and we went with them. We built go-to-market engines that supported worldwide sales rollouts and category creation.

During this time, our content also started driving measurable commercial outcomes:

• Organic demo requests doubled within months for multiple SaaS platforms
• Clients achieved 200–300% increases in search visibility after repositioning
• AI-augmented operations cut content production time by ~60%
• A client attributed 80+ closed-won deals to RBM content over 3 years
• Multiple clients saw influenced pipeline reach well into the millions

Meanwhile, we were shaping the industry’s narrative:

• Global trade studies on workforce trends
• Collaboration on market reports used by buyers and investors
• Brands built for analysts who now define entire categories

We’ve been more than marketing support.
We’ve been ecosystem infrastructure.

In 2018, our model evolved into what people now know as the anti-agency agency:

not billable hours… partnership.
not campaigns… outcomes.

In 2019, we didn’t wait for a seat at the table—we built our own conference.

Then came 2020–2021. The pandemic hit.

Clients were scared. Budgets tightened. Careers were on the line.

We helped teams:

• Protect pipeline
• Reframe go-to-market messaging
• Deploy efficient content that sped sales cycles
• Automate processes to save hundreds of thousands in marketing labor

We also rebuilt RBM internally, securing an R&D grant for the systems we created—work that now powers agencies years later.

In 2022–2023, the market roared back with M&A, PE deals, and aggressive expansion.

Some companies told the world their success was about technology or growth strategy.

We know the truth:
A lot of those deals had Red Branch fingerprints.
New logos, renewed logos, clients coming back again and again because this model delivers.

Which brings us to 2024 and beyond.

Fifteen years later.

Lean team. Faster output. Stronger strategy. Better tech.

Still the most experienced marketing partner in HR Tech.
Still the safe harbor in a storm.
Still outlasting agencies five times our size.

We’ve worked on nearly every continent (Antarctica: we’re waiting).
We’ve trained and launched countless Branchers into careers that make us proud.
We’ve celebrated weddings and babies and mourned profound losses together.
We have lived life inside this work.

I’ve said before—I’m not the nicest boss. But I am the kindest.

This agency is my youngest child: messy, brilliant, loud, impossible not to love.

To Jeremy Hogan and Eric Foutch, my business partners and co-conspirators: thank you for building this with me. Fifteen years of stubbornness and success is a rare thing.

To every Brancher past and present:
You built Red Branch Media. You shaped what we are known for.

To every client—especially the boomerangs who just keep coming back:
Thank you for trusting us with your budget, your brand, your belief in what’s possible.

We have helped companies rise.
We have helped people rise.
And we are not done rising.

Happy 15th birthday, Red Branch Media.

You absolute, unstoppable powerhouse.

Here’s to the next chapter—because the best work is always ahead.

— Maren
Founder & CEO
Red Branch Media