Martin Keen, Host of IBM Technology — A discussion on how IBM Technology’s YouTube channel hit 1 million subs and how they know what content will resonate.
Martin Keen explains how they create content, where they get their ideas, how they promote, and how they create “broad” content to engage, and then drill down into the niches to build relationships. Keen also explains how their team collaborates to ensure content stays on track.
Keen focuses mostly on AI content. He’s an expert communicator and is skilled at breaking down complicated topics into a format that is understandable for a more general business audience. He leaves us with his top AI trend of 2025 as it relates to communicators and marketers.
Audience-First VS Brand-First Matters
IBM Technology’s YouTube channel recently surpassed a million subscribers, an impressive milestone in the world of corporate content. Martin Keen, one of its key presenters, joined Justin Brady to share the unconventional strategy that propelled the channel to success.
Unlike traditional corporate content, IBM Technology deliberately avoids promoting IBM products. “The policy is don’t talk about the IBM offering,” Keen explained. “We took the approach of just talking about things generically, agnostically, and that’s been the thing that I think has really found such a good audience.” Instead of selling, the channel educates, entertains, and engages with clear, jargon-free explanations of complex tech topics.
This audience-centric approach reflects a fundamental truth about content marketing: “People don’t care about your brand at all,” Brady noted. “They care about themselves. They care about entertaining, interesting content.” By focusing on providing value rather than pushing products, IBM Technology built trust, authority, and a vast subscriber base.
The Business Case of Content
Corporate leaders often struggle with the concept of indirect ROI from content marketing. Keen acknowledged that while the channel’s reach—millions of views—sounds impressive, the real challenge is proving business value. “We’ve been able to track things like call-to-actions at the end of the video, the links in the description, and how many people were actually driven to a product page because of that,” he explained.
However, beyond tangible metrics, there’s also brand positioning. “When you’re thinking about an AI topic like large language models, if you’ve watched five or six IBM videos about them, even if they didn’t mention the IBM offering, IBM is now part of that conversation.” While difficult to measure, this type of brand association significantly influences business outcomes.
Martin Keen’s YouTube Growth Formula: Broad Entry Points and Targeted Funnels
Keen’s personal success on YouTube extends beyond IBM. His beer-brewing channel, Brewlosophy, has gained tens of thousands of subscribers, building on his prior channel’s 40,000+ audience. He attributes his success across industries to a few core principles:
- The Power of “Versus” Content – “Comparing one thing to another is absolute catnip for YouTube,” Keen said. His brewing videos, such as cheap vs. expensive ingredients, performed exceptionally well, a concept he later applied to IBM’s channel with this vs. that technology comparisons.
- Starting Broad, Then Narrowing Down – Keen structures content in a funnel, beginning with broad “101” explainer videos before leading audiences into deeper, more technical content. “Most people aren’t looking for deep-dive marketing content on YouTube,” he explained. “They’re looking for high-level explanations.”
- Tapping into Search Demand – His breakthrough beer video took off because it addressed a popular yet underserved search term. For IBM, he similarly uses SEO research to identify trending topics before producing videos.
Martin Keen’s AI Trends for 2025: The Rise of AI Agents
Looking ahead, Keen predicts that AI agents—which automate entire tasks rather than requiring human back-and-forth interactions—will be a game-changer in 2025. “Today, AI assistants require you to message them and they reply,” Keen explained. “An AI agent will just perform the task for you.” While existing models struggle with execution, upcoming advancements are rapidly improving AI’s ability to function autonomously.
Keen’s insights underscore that successful content strategy isn’t about selling—it’s about building relationships at scale. “Brands don’t build brands. People build brands,” Brady emphasized. By identifying and elevating experts within an organization, companies can develop trust-driven content that organically leads audiences toward engagement and conversion.
Whether you’re a corporate content strategist or an independent creator, Keen’s success formula—audience-first storytelling, educational focus, and SEO-driven ideation—offers a proven blueprint for sustainable growth in digital media.
