INSIGHTS FROM EXPERTS ON LINKEDIN
Jonathan Bland talks about why copying competitors’ keyword strategies usually leads you in the wrong direction. You don’t know if their campaigns work, and following them pulls you away from what your customers actually search for. His view is that competitor data can be useful to look at, but your strategy should always start with real buyer intent.
David Blinov explains that B2B marketing fails when it focuses on a single persona instead of the entire buying group. Research shows most deals break down because people inside the committee can’t agree, and well-known vendors win even when another product is better. He argues that marketing should warm up the whole room, not just one person.
Les Binet stresses that understanding brand impact isn’t something a simple “tool” can solve. Econometrics, the actual mathematical discipline, has been measuring media effects for decades and remains the most reliable way to understand what truly works. He wishes more marketers understood it, since it brings clarity that shortcuts can’t provide.
Liam Moroney explains that most marketing science is built on data from large, established brands, which makes the advice tough for smaller companies to apply. He says early-stage brands face real constraints, limited capital, niche categories, and long buying cycles, which make broad-reach strategies unrealistic at the start. He calls for more recognition of how messy and gradual early growth really is.
Anna Furmanov explains that while B2C brands routinely pour serious budget into customer research, B2B teams still treat it as an optional extra and pay the price with weak messaging, long sales cycles, and stalled deals. She argues that most B2B problems blamed on tactics are really rooted in not understanding customers deeply enough. She says if B2B invested in customer insights the way B2C does, everything from messaging to product roadmaps to churn would improve.
Julian New describes how strong campaign ideas get watered down when leaders focus on personal preferences instead of customer needs. He’s seen “safe” changes lead to weak performance, even when the original strategy was rooted in buyer insight. He stresses that marketing should land with the audience, not just win approval in a meeting.
Nikolai Skouv Pedersen shares how Flatpay runs 5-10 simple A/B tests at all times using Heyflow, focusing on clear drop-off data, heatmaps, and meaningful changes. The team uses straightforward traffic splits and rolls out winners quickly, keeping the process fast and routine. This steady testing rhythm lets them improve funnels in days instead of weeks.
WHAT'S NEW IN THE INDUSTRY
Google is testing a rebuilt Website Optimizer inside Google Ads, hinting at a new native A/B testing tool tied directly to GA4. Early documentation shows it could let advertisers test landing pages and UX changes without third-party tools, with automatic GA4 setup for those who don’t have it. It’s still unclear how advanced the tool will be, but it fills the gap left after Google sunset Optimize.
Win-backs work only when companies address the real reasons people left – value gaps, trust issues, poor experiences, or lack of growth. Most win-back attempts fail because they’re generic, late, or try to buy people back instead of showing real change. The article lays out a simple framework: diagnose the issue, fix it first, own it, personalize the outreach, make returning feel like an upgrade, and prove things are truly different.
OpenAI is putting its ad plans on hold after Sam Altman declared a companywide “code red” to improve ChatGPT’s speed, personalization, reliability, and reasoning. With competition from Google, Anthropic, and fast-growing Gemini, OpenAI is shifting teams to strengthen the core product and delaying projects like ads, AI shopping agents, and its Pulse assistant. A new reasoning model is expected soon, but advertisers looking to place ChatGPT ads will have to wait.
The latest research says marketing’s biggest gap isn’t technology or measurement, it’s meaning. The report argues that emotional connection now comes from people, not polished brand messaging, and that marketers need to focus on resonance, realness, and relationships to stay relevant. It also explains why creator-led content works, why teams must be structured around human connection rather than channels, and why brands that invest in people will have the advantage.
Triplelift and eMarketer’s new survey shows marketers believe the best digital ads pair clear brand storytelling with strong visual design. Most say creative effectiveness has become more important, but fewer consistently connect creative quality to performance metrics. Click-through and engagement rates remain the most common ways teams judge whether a creative is working.
That’s the scoop for this week! If you found this valuable and any useful insights caught your eye, feel free to share them with your network.
Until next week!
