INSIGHTS FROM EXPERTS ON LINKEDIN
Alex Schultz shares that Meta is changing how click-through attribution works so only link clicks count toward conversions, not likes, comments, shares or saves. Alex says the goal is to make reporting simpler and closer to what advertisers see in tools like Google Analytics, while social interactions will move into a new “engage-through attribution” category. He also stresses that attribution alone isn’t enough and that experiments and incrementality testing are still key to measuring real business impact.
Charlie de Thibault argues that companies often think they don’t have budget for brand marketing, even though the money is usually already in their performance spend. He suggests finding areas where conversion campaigns show diminishing returns and reallocating that budget to brand. The downside risk is low, but the upside can improve overall ROI.
Carolyn Dilks argues that relying on last-touch attribution has pushed marketing leaders to focus on metrics that look neat in reports but don’t reflect reality. She explains that marketing works by increasing the probability that buyers choose a brand, not by directly causing a purchase, which attribution models struggle to capture. She believes companies should stop obsessing over source attribution and instead focus on what actually moves the business, like brand recall, positioning and win rate.
Lee Gannon explains that when companies move up-market, targeting alone isn’t enough, messaging plays a big role too. He says ads and landing pages should clearly signal who the product is for and who it’s not for, even if that lowers click-through rates. In his example, explicitly calling out mid-market and enterprise companies helped reduce low-quality leads and bring in better-fit prospects.
Mike Storm says many companies waste ad budget on creative that doesn’t capture attention because decisions are often based on gut feeling. He introduces a new “Creative AI Loop” that analyzes ads with neuroscience data and suggests improvements before campaigns go live. Early results show the system can increase attention, engagement and memory by more than 10%.
Tas Bober says landing pages often fail because teams try to include too much information or the wrong details. She suggests a simple filter: only include the information buyers need to justify the purchase. That usually means explaining the market, alternatives, product value, proof from customers, pricing, common objections and a clear next step.
Steve Oriola says rising CPC and CPL are forcing B2B teams to look more closely at the economics of paid media. He explains that the real problem often isn’t the click itself but what happens after it, especially if landing pages don’t answer the key questions buyers have before making a decision. He argues that paid campaigns should be built around how B2B buyers actually evaluate purchases, not just around driving quick conversions.
Katerina Fotiadi explains that much of the advice about optimizing for large language models comes from unverified experiments and assumptions. She shares findings from a study of 2.3 million pages that looked at how content ranks in AI Mode and ChatGPT. The research suggests that Google’s AI favors traditional SEO signals and medium-length content, while ChatGPT rankings rely more on trust signals like directories, community mentions and longer content.
Steffen Hedebrandt shares that Dreamdatais preparing to release its LinkedIn Ads Benchmarks Report 2026. He says the report analyzes data from 66 million sessions across 3.5 million B2B customer journeys to understand how advertising platforms perform. The research will explore topics like where budget is going, which platforms deliver the best ROAS and how LinkedIn influences the B2B buying journey.
WHAT'S NEW IN THE INDUSTRY
Connected TV (CTV) is giving B2B marketers a new way to reach targeted audiences on television, something that was once mostly used by large B2C brands. With digital-style targeting now possible, companies can combine TV reach with more precise audience data. But many B2B teams still struggle with TV-style creative and measuring ROI, which remains one of the biggest barriers to wider adoption.
Many companies still rely on vague brand purpose or product-focused messaging, but that approach is losing impact in today’s tough economic climate. New research suggests that brands with a clear and credible promise to the customer perform better both in brand building and commercial results. Aligning product, marketing, sales and customer experience around that promise can give campaigns a stronger competitive edge.
A virtual event called Engage with SAP Online will bring together marketing leaders from companies like BMW, Essity and Sinch to discuss how brands can improve customer relationships. New research presented at the event shows a growing gap between what customers expect and what companies actually deliver, especially when teams operate in separate channels. The sessions will focus on how businesses can move from channel-based marketing to more connected, relationship-driven engagement.
Google has published new documentation explaining its Universal Commerce Protocol, which enables a native Buy button that lets shoppers complete purchases directly on Google surfaces. Merchants remain the seller of record while payments run through stored Google Wallet credentials and supported processors. The move signals that AI-driven, on-Google checkout will play a bigger role in the company’s future commerce strategy.
Google has updated its recurring billing policy to allow certified U.S. online pharmacies to offer prescription drug subscriptions, bundles and consultation services. Merchants must follow strict transparency rules and submit subscription details through Merchant Center to stay compliant. The change gives pharmacies new ways to scale subscription-based healthcare services online.
Attribution models help marketers understand which channels influence results, but they can’t take responsibility for business outcomes. Experts warn that relying too heavily on dashboards and models can weaken marketing’s credibility with leadership. The real responsibility – setting priorities, managing risk and owning strategy – still sits with marketing leaders.
Meta is updating its ad measurement system so only link clicks count toward click-through conversions, bringing its reporting closer to tools like Google Analytics. Other interactions like likes, shares and saves will now fall under a new engage-through attribution category. The update aims to give advertisers clearer data on what actually drives conversions while still capturing the value of social engagement.
Google will require a minimum daily budget of $5 for Demand Gen campaigns through the Google Ads API starting April 1, 2026. The change is meant to help campaigns gather enough data during the early “learning” phase so Google’s systems can optimize performance. Existing campaigns under the limit will keep running, but any future edits will need to meet the new minimum.
Google will block Customer Match uploads in the Google Ads API for developer tokens that haven’t used the feature in the last 180 days. After April 1, 2026, affected users will need to move their workflows to the Google Data Manager API instead. The change is part of Google’s push toward more secure and centralized audience data handling.
Many video campaigns focus too much on surface metrics like views, impressions, and completion rates, even though those numbers don’t guarantee real impact. The bigger challenge today isn’t distribution, it’s capturing attention and creating ads that actually persuade viewers. Marketers are being urged to focus more on attention, creative strategy and meaningful outcomes instead of just platform metrics.
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!
