Daniel Kushner, CEO and Co-Founder of Oktopost – Interview Series

Daniel Kushner, CEO and Co-founder of Oktopost, is a seasoned B2B marketing strategist and entrepreneur who has spent over a decade leading marketing and sales efforts in tech-driven organizations. He co-founded Oktopost with the mission to transform social media into a measurable and impactful channel for driving business growth, leveraging his expertise to help B2B companies connect marketing initiatives directly to revenue outcomes.

Oktopost is a social-media management platform designed specifically for B2B organizations, providing tools for social publishing, employee advocacy, social listening, and analytics. Since its founding in 2013, the company has focused on integrating deeply with marketing automation and CRM systems, enabling businesses to track, attribute, and optimize the real impact of their social strategies on lead generation and overall performance.

What inspired you to launch Oktopost, and what gap were you solving?

Oktopost was born out of a clear gap in B2B marketing. At the time, traditional social media tools were built for B2C and focused on vanity metrics like likes and impressions. Still, they offered no way to prove how social media impacted pipeline or revenue. As a B2B marketing executive, I knew how hard it was to justify the value of social in the boardroom. We created Oktopost to empower modern marketing leaders with the tools to embed social into their organizational culture and to measure the true business impact of their efforts. Today, Oktopost helps thousands of marketers turn social media into a core part of their growth strategy, not a side activity.

Machine-generated vs. human-generated content – how does this impact trust?

Trust in content comes from authenticity. Human-generated content tends to reflect real experience, emotion, and credibility, which makes it naturally more trustworthy. AI-generated content can be useful for speed and scale, but when overused or unedited, it often lacks the nuance and insight that build genuine connections.

At Oktopost, we believe in using AI to support, not replace, the human voice. Marketers can lean on automation for efficiency, but human oversight is what ensures the message resonates and represents the brand. It’s the human element that turns content into conversation, and conversation into trust.

How do you define “authenticity” in a B2B brand context, and how can companies put that into action rather than leaving it as a buzzword?

Authenticity in B2B means showing up as real people, not just polished logos. It’s about sharing knowledge, admitting what you don’t know, and building trust through transparency. Audiences respond to sincerity and consistency, especially when they see the people behind the brand.

One of the most effective ways to operationalize authenticity is through employee advocacy. When team members share content in their own voice, it humanizes the brand and creates trust. With the right training and tools, companies can empower employees to represent the business authentically at scale. An added benefit is that AI LLMs and crawlers treat conversations and social media posts as authentic sources to quote and include in answers to prompts.

What are the biggest challenges enterprises face when shifting from one-way paid advertising models to more human-centered engagement?

The biggest challenge is mindset. Many enterprises are used to controlling the message and measuring success through impressions and clicks. Human-centered engagement flips that script. It requires conversation, vulnerability, and trust in your employees and customers to carry your message.

There’s also the need for new skills and systems. Engagement takes time, and measuring its impact demands more than traditional metrics. With platforms like Oktopost, companies can track engagement, sentiment, and even pipeline influence, making the shift toward two-way interaction both measurable and scalable.

Can you share examples of brands that have leaned into thought leadership or employee advocacy with measurable ROI?

Jackson, a financial services company, is a great example. By embracing employee advocacy through Oktopost, they saw a 135% increase in impressions and a 94% increase in content shares. More importantly, it gave associates a platform to speak authentically, leading to greater trust and even new business opportunities.

Finastra is another standout. They used employee advocacy and social listening to inform their content strategy, resulting in an 800% increase in engagement. These companies didn’t just amplify their voice. They built credibility, fostered internal pride, and turned employee networks into growth engines.

How can companies balance scale with governance when encouraging employees to share brand content?

It starts with structure. Companies need clear policies, training, and the right tools to enable employees while protecting the brand. For example, Jackson used compliance integrations and content preapprovals via Oktopost to ensure every share was on-message and regulatory-compliant.

Governance works best when it empowers rather than restricts. Providing a curated content library and encouraging personal input gives employees confidence to share. With the right setup, scale and control can work together, allowing hundreds of voices to speak authentically and safely.

Which metrics matter most for measuring genuine connection and brand trust, beyond clicks or impressions?

Clicks and impressions can explain reach, but they can’t explain the depth of engagement. For trust and connection, look at engagement quality. Are people commenting thoughtfully, sharing content with context, or starting conversations? That’s where relationships begin.

Beyond engagement, we recommend tracking metrics such as advocacy participation, sentiment, and the social-sourced pipeline. When marketers can tie social interactions to CRM data and business outcomes, they gain a more complete picture of how trust is influencing real growth.

Where should marketers draw the line between using AI for efficiency and relying on human input for authenticity?

Use AI to accelerate, not replace. It’s great for drafting content, analyzing trends, or personalizing at scale. But when it comes to tone, context, and insight, humans need to be in the loop. That’s where authenticity lives.

At Oktopost, we promote a hybrid model. Let AI suggest, then let people refine. This approach keeps your content efficient and consistent while still being uniquely human. Authenticity should always have a final human touch..

How does Oktopost’s roadmap address the tension between automation and authenticity?

Our roadmap is built on the belief that you shouldn’t have to choose between scale and authenticity. We’re building AI tools that help marketers and employees generate personalized content faster, but always with human oversight and brand-safe parameters.

Features like AI-assisted post variation and approval workflows help teams share content that feels personal without losing consistency. We’ve designed Oktopost to give marketers control, employees flexibility, and audiences a more human brand experience at scale.

Looking five years ahead, what will brand engagement on social media look like for B2B enterprises?

B2B engagement will be more personalized, more video-driven, and increasingly shaped by AI. Buyers will expect real-time, relevant content and interactions. Social media activity and presence will be tightly connected to sales and CRM workflows, making it a core engine of the customer journey.

But even with all the automation, authenticity will matter more than ever. People will engage with brands that feel human, transparent, and community-driven. The future isn’t just digital. It’s personal, and brands that embrace that will lead the conversation.

Thank you for the great interview, readers who wish to learn more should visit Oktopost.