Noise-Cancelling Marketing: Frans Riemersma on Storytelling, GenAI & the 20% That Matters

ICYMI: Frans Riemersma Catches Up with 10 Minute Martech to Explain Why Martech Needs More Soul.

“Storytelling is what we do as martech. Connect your soul and your data.”

In this episode of 10 Minute Martech, Frans Riemersma, the founder of Martech Tribe, joins host Sara Faatz to talk about the seismic shifts GenAI is bringing to marketing, why we need to “cancel the noise” in our stacks, and how to focus on the 20% of tools and touchpoints that truly move the needle.

From brand LLMs to composability, Frans blends technology insight with a human-first mindset, urging marketers to reverse engineer from customer needs, not vendor hype.

Frans’s approach is refreshingly grounded: AI and martech are only as good as the humans behind them. His message is to strip away complexity, zero in on what customers truly need, and align your tech and content to deliver that value consistently. It’s part empathy, part discipline, and all about making martech work for people, not the other way around.

Frans’ 10 Memorable Moments on 10 Minute Martech

1. Soul + Data = Storytelling

Marketing is more than metrics. Frans believes the magic happens when you connect data insights to human emotion.

2. GenAI Shifts the Content Layer

For years, the content layer lagged behind data. GenAI changes that by integrating content and data semantically, not just via APIs.

3. The Human Is Still the Architect

Even the smartest tools need human guidance. AI is a hammer but you still have to design and build the house.

4. Cancel the Noise

Frans’s mantra: block out vendor hype and focus on what customers actually need right now.

5. Two Speeds of the Hype Cycle

GenAI tech is advancing fast, but human adoption is much slower. Understanding that gap is critical for implementation.

6. Three Types of GenAI Innovation

Frans breaks AI in martech into: standalone GenAI tools, embedded AI features and (yet-to-arrive) true disruptors.

7. Composability Is Back

Like coding with reusable components, composability lets you pick only the features you need instead of bloated “Swiss army knife” solutions.

8. The 20% Rule

Most companies use only a fraction of their tools’ features. Frans says that 20% (done well) can drive outsized results.

9. Brand LLMs Are Coming

Frans envisions training large language models on your brand identity and founder’s voice to create consistent, on-brand campaigns at scale.

10. The Customer Is Boss

Frans’s ultimate advice? Forget obsessing over competitors. Listen to your customers and let them shape your strategy.

Frans’s Martech Hot Take

“We need to be bold enough to say: let’s focus on the 20% that quadruples your revenue, not the 80% that just adds noise.”

Frans believes most martech stacks are overloaded. His challenge to marketers: strip down, invest in what works and double down on customer-driven priorities.

Frans’ Recommended Reading List

• Source #1: Always what the customer has to say.
• Reading & Listening: Blogs, industry reports and conversations with real-world martech practitioners.

Listen to the 10 Minute Martech Episode Now

• Watch the full episode on YouTube

   

• Subscribe on Spotify

• Listen on Apple Podcasts

Next up in the 10 Minute Martech Series!

Sara sits with Jennifer Ortiz, EVP of Marketing at Progress, to share how marketers can keep the human touch alive in an AI-driven world.

Want to keep reading in the meantime? …

Full Episode Transcript: Frans Riemersma

Here’s the full transcript to keep you transfixed.
Every insight, every quote, unedited and unforgettable.

Full Episode Transcript: Frans Riemersma

Sara Faatz: I’m Sara Faatz, I lead community and awareness at Progress, and this is 10 Minute Martech.

Frans Riemersma: Storytelling is what we do as Martech. You really start to learn how to connect your soul and your data—that’s storytelling.

Sara Faatz: That’s Frans Riemersma, founder of Martech Tribe. Let’s get started. Frans, I would love to know what Martech idea is swimming around in your brain right now.

Frans Riemersma: Of course it’s GenAI-driven. It’s changing the game completely. But the question is: in which direction? In companies, we’ve been big on the data layer—connecting all the dots, everything we can know about customers and touchpoints. The content layer was always a bit broken. Now, with GenAI, we can integrate content and data on a semantic level rather than just API-level. That’s a completely different paradigm, and it should come together into personalization.

Sara Faatz: How do you keep the human in the loop with all this innovation?

Frans Riemersma: We’re still figuring that out. The data and content layers are fixed, so now we have no excuse but to surprise and delight customers—really think about what they truly need. The big mistake with technology is thinking it will solve everything. Even GenAI is still just a tool. Like a hammer, it won’t build your house—you have to design and build it for your customer.

Sara Faatz: At the end of the day, we’re trying to interact with humans, right?

Frans Riemersma: Exactly. It’s changing the game for both customers and the people using these tools. In the future, we may not even need dropdowns or select boxes—just prompt something.

Sara Faatz: In your State of Martech Report with Scott Brinker, you quoted Ethan Mullock saying that even if AI’s development stopped, we’d still have 5–10 years of rapid change. But it’s not stopping. What should leaders be thinking about?

Frans Riemersma: There are two speeds in the hype cycle: the tech itself and human adoption. The tech is accelerating fast, but people are still using it in basic ways—content, image creation, translation. We haven’t tapped into things like lead prospecting or “chat with your data.” We need to speak the customer’s language. I call this “noise canceling”—filtering out the noise to focus on what the customer truly needs.

Sara Faatz: In your martech.org article, you outlined three ways GenAI is transforming Martech: standalone GenAI tools, embedded AI features, and disruptors. Have we seen the disruptors yet?

Frans Riemersma: Not really. Standalone tools are booming, embedded AI is everywhere, but true disruptors haven’t hit yet. One area to watch is composability—picking only the components you need rather than bloated solutions.

Sara Faatz: There’s a lot of FOMO in Martech.

Frans Riemersma: True. The hype cycle—and even the Dunning-Kruger effect—applies here. At first, you think all the answers are in the software. Then you realize they aren’t. The real insight comes when you look inward and connect your understanding of the customer with the data. That’s storytelling.

Sara Faatz: The more advanced our tech gets, the more we need to consider the human side, right?

Frans Riemersma: Absolutely. Martech can get in the way. Many companies have too much tech, but they only use 20% of each tool. That 20% often creates the real value. Focus on that, reverse engineer from the customer.

Sara Faatz: How many tools should be in a Martech stack?

Frans Riemersma: Probably fewer than you think. Focus on three to five critical touchpoints, content pieces, and data points. The “be everywhere” idea often feels like stalking. Invest in the 20% that can quadruple your revenue.

Sara Faatz: You’ve also talked about “brand LLMs.”

Frans Riemersma: A brand LLM is a touchstone—trained on your brand’s identity, founder’s voice, and guardrails. It can create compliant, consistent campaigns and even feed them into engagement channels. Combined with customer data, it’s incredibly powerful.

Sara Faatz: Where are you getting your inspiration right now?

Frans Riemersma: The customer. I read blogs and reports, but the best insights come from listening to customers—understanding why they like something and figuring out how to do it even better.

Sara Faatz: Thank you so much, Frans.

Frans Riemersma: Thank you for having me—loved it.