INSIGHTS FROM EXPERTS ON LINKEDIN
Daria Kalinina shares that LinkedIn Campaign Manager now includes industry and self-benchmarks, letting advertisers compare ad performance against similar companies and ad sets over the past 90 days. She explains that relying only on month-over-month data often gives an incomplete picture, especially in B2B and ABM. With this added context, performance conversations can shift from guessing to actually understanding where you stand in the market.
Sarah Parker challenges the usual sales and marketing “alignment” conversation and says the real shift is shared accountability for revenue. She argues that marketing should stay involved after the handoff, join pipeline reviews, and be measured on closed-won deals, not just MQLs. When both teams are tied to the same revenue number, it changes how they work together day to day.
Vladimir Blagojević explains why most webinars get ignored by sales and lays out a more collaborative approach. He suggests co-creating the topic with sales, agreeing on a joint promotion plan, analyzing account-level engagement after the event, and building a content hub that supports smarter follow-ups instead of mass MQL handoffs. The goal is to treat webinars as part of an ongoing buying journey, not just a one-hour event.
Roman Krs says search in 2025 looks different, but Google Ads still plays a major role. He points to AI-driven placements, more complex customer journeys, and longer research phases that require more tailored messaging and stronger brand presence. As demand and algorithms shift, advertisers need to keep adjusting instead of relying on what worked in the past.
Katerina Fotiadi explains that platforms like G2 and Capterra haven’t lost their impact on buying decisions, but they’ve lost visibility as AI Overviews now summarize comparisons directly in search results. She shares internal PPC data showing declining CTRs and rising CPAs as fewer buyers click through, even though review sites still shape opinions behind the scenes. Her view is that review platforms now play a late-stage validation role, while growth requires investing in channels that drive discovery before search.
Liam Collins argues that most performance teams jump into campaign execution without first checking if enough demand exists to hit growth targets. He recommends building your real audience size in platforms like LinkedIn Ads, reviewing search demand, and pressure-testing targets against actual penetration and conversion data. In many cases, the numbers reveal clear levers to pull, or show that the goal simply exceeds market reality.
Yulia Olennikova points out that early-stage and disruptive brands can’t blindly copy tactics from billion-dollar market leaders. While established companies optimize inbound funnels, challengers often struggle just to get on the initial consideration list because brand awareness is so low. She’s gathering insights from marketers navigating this reality to better understand how challenger brands actually build momentum from scratch.
Patrick Cumming shares that LinkedIn Ads can outperform other paid channels, but only when approached as a distribution engine rather than a complex funnel. He suggests putting most budget toward reaching cold ICP audiences with strong point-of-view content to build memory, then using the remaining spend on high-intent segments to improve close rates. Success is measured less by clicks and more by reach, frequency, and pipeline impact.
Sander Luckow shares a case of a fintech brand managing a large ad budget but relying on last-click attribution, with 70% of leads showing up as “Direct.” After pausing a campaign that looked unprofitable on paper, conversions dropped by more than 50%, revealing how much influence was going unmeasured. When attribution only captures the final click, marketers risk cutting the very campaigns that drive awareness and pipeline.
Dennis E. K. Nielsen highlights Meta’s rollout of frequency caps for standard campaigns, giving advertisers upfront control over how often someone sees an ad within a set time frame. Instead of reacting to rising frequency by swapping creatives or cutting budget, marketers can now manage exposure more intentionally. This could be especially impactful in small markets, niche B2B segments, and tight remarketing pools where audience saturation happens fast.
Elena Jasper discusses new research on long-term ad memorability showing that recall measured right after exposure doesn’t reflect what people remember days later when buying decisions happen. In a large study of over 2,200 ads, emotional intensity and distinctiveness helped, but brand familiarity and relevance were some of the strongest drivers of lasting memory. The findings reinforce that consistent brand building makes future campaigns more memorable and effective over time.
WHAT'S NEW IN THE INDUSTRY
Google is rolling out a feature that suggests conversion values for new customers based on a target ROAS, helping advertisers bid more strategically for acquisition. Instead of guessing what a new customer is worth, advertisers enter a desired return and Google proposes a value aligned with that goal. It’s an early step toward smarter acquisition bidding, though adjustments still happen at a broader campaign level rather than in real time at the auction.
A surfaced preview of ChatGPT’s upcoming ad settings shows how personalization and privacy may work once ads go live. Users will be able to see ad history, manage inferred interests, hide or report ads, and toggle personalization on or off, with clear messaging that advertisers won’t access chat content or personal data. The setup points to a contextual ad model where relevance comes from conversation signals and user controls rather than deep tracking.
OpenAI has started testing clearly labeled ads inside ChatGPT for free and lower-tier users, marking its first official move into monetization. Ads appear in a separate sponsored section below the chat and are matched to conversation topics and prior interactions, while keeping responses and advertiser access to chats separate. Users can dismiss ads, manage ad preferences, or opt out in exchange for usage limits, signaling a cautious but significant shift toward conversational advertising.
Performance Max often drives cheap form fills that look good on paper but don’t turn into real pipeline, especially when campaigns optimize for basic conversion events. Improving lead quality comes down to stronger guardrails: feeding the system better signals like offline conversions or qualified leads, tightening audience and geo targeting, excluding brand traffic, and cleaning up forms to block bots and low-intent submissions. With solid tracking and CRM data in place, PMax can deliver quality leads, but only if it’s guided properly.
Google now shows which campaigns each product is eligible for directly inside the Products section, making it easier to spot gaps and overlaps. Advertisers can quickly see if items are missing from key Shopping or Performance Max campaigns and diagnose issues without jumping between views. The update gives more practical control at the product level, where small visibility gaps can have a big impact on performance.
OpenAI shared new details on how ChatGPT ads will work, confirming they’ll appear only for Free and Go users, while Plus, Pro, and Enterprise tiers remain ad-free. Ads will be clearly separated from answers, won’t use sensitive topics like health or politics, and won’t give advertisers access to conversations, with users able to control or disable personalization. The company says the focus is on trust first, as it tests a high-intent ad model designed to fit naturally into conversational AI.
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!
