INSIGHTS FROM EXPERTS ON LINKEDIN
Kamil Rextin built an AI agent that replaces two days of manual competitor research with a five-minute workflow. It pulls real competitors from G2, captures ads from Meta and LinkedIn libraries, analyzes positioning and pricing, and turns everything into a branded PDF report. Instead of messy docs and outdated insights, the team gets a clear view of competitor strategy almost instantly.
Markus Ståhlberg argues that B2B marketers are stuck treating engagement data as attribution when they should treat it as a signal. Instead of trying to prove which ad created a deal months later, he suggests using real-time engagement to trigger smarter sales actions today. The shift moves marketing from defending budget to actively building pipeline.
Elena Jasper explores whether premium media placements like the Super Bowl or prime time TV truly drive better results. While high-profile spots can add legitimacy and incremental reach, long-term growth still comes down to consistent, broad reach at an efficient cost. Premium works best as an add-on to a strong always-on strategy, not as a replacement for it.
Kerry Cunningham explains that most B2B deals are effectively decided in the Selection Phase, where buyers set requirements and choose a preliminary winner that goes on to win 77% of the time. Because buyers don’t want to be pitched while aligning internally, vendors have to influence that phase remotely through strong market reputation and valuable content. He stresses that helpful content can’t depend on gating it behind forms or meetings if you want to shape early decisions.
Carolyn Dilks shares how one marketing team stopped defending activity metrics and started showing a clear line between spend and pipeline. By treating go-to-market like a factory and measuring exactly what inputs created revenue, they highlighted wasted budget, improved win rates, and secured a $2.2 million increase. When boards see what’s working, what’s leaking, and what more investment will do, the conversation shifts from defense to confidence.
Kamel Ben Yacoub challenges the idea that brand campaigns don’t convert and explains that only a small portion of the market is ready to buy at any time. Lead gen captures people who are already in-market, while brand investment builds familiarity with future buyers who will convert when their circumstances align. He argues that this quarter’s leads are often the result of brand work done months earlier, so cutting brand spend risks shrinking future demand.
Sundar Swaminathan breaks down the brand versus performance debate in simple terms: customers don’t see that distinction, they just see ads. He explains that channels serve different objectives, like YouTube building consideration and Meta capturing demand, but they work together to drive results. Instead of separating brand and performance, he suggests focusing on matching each channel to the outcome you want.
Nicole Gates says marketing teams don’t struggle with ideas, they struggle with conviction. With endless benchmarks and hot takes, it’s easy to chase every channel and trend instead of making clear tradeoffs. Strong marketing decides on its ICP, narrative, and bets – and sticks to them.
Vincent Pierri breaks down how he helped Tas Bober gain 700+ followers in 48 hours with a single visual post. The process started with mapping her core frameworks, picking the most compelling idea, turning it into a standout branded graphic, and pairing it with the right hook and CTA. The result shows that strong thinking, sharp visuals, and tight positioning drive real reach and engagement.
Maja Voje shares how switching from LinkedIn’s default targeting to a Clay-built audience dropped cost per lead from $250 to $25, with everything else staying the same. By pulling highly specific ICP signals and exporting the list directly into LinkedIn Ads, she dramatically improved match rate and efficiency. Her point is clear: before tweaking creative, make sure your audience is right.
Kevin Goodwin argues that with AI-driven delivery on platforms like Meta, creative now acts as a targeting lever. Even broad campaigns are being distributed to very different audience segments based on the ad itself, which means strong creative systems matter more than ever. Brands that integrate media and creative, diversify content sources, and build scalable content engines will have the edge.
WHAT'S NEW IN THE INDUSTRY
Google will enforce a $5 minimum daily budget for Demand Gen campaigns through the Google Ads API starting April 1, 2026. Campaigns below that threshold will trigger new errors in API v21 and above, while older versions will return a generic error that requires deeper inspection. Existing low-budget campaigns can keep running, but any edits to budget or duration will force them to meet the new minimum.
Six months after Gmail rolled out Manage Subscriptions, unsubscribe rates are still up 50–150% across many accounts. The centralized, one-click experience has made it easier for users to clean house, especially from brands that over-send or lack personalization. The fix is tighter segmentation, smarter frequency control, and more engagement-based automation so emails feel relevant instead of repetitive.
Google is updating how it paces budgets for campaigns that use ad scheduling, pushing spend harder within the allowed run times. Campaigns will now aim to hit the full 30.4x monthly cap even if they only run on certain days, which could significantly increase monthly spend unless daily budgets are adjusted. Advertisers relying on limited schedules to naturally control costs should review and recalculate budgets before this rolls out further.
Salesforce’s latest State of Marketing report shows 83% of marketers believe customers expect two-way conversations, yet 69% admit they can’t respond fast enough. While most teams are already using AI, many still lack unified customer data, which limits real personalization and keeps campaigns feeling generic. The shift toward AI agents and real-time activation is underway, but without connected systems and strong data foundations, the promise of agentic marketing falls short.
OpenAI is gradually introducing ads to free and Go-tier ChatGPT users in the U.S., calling the rollout iterative and focused on user trust. The company says ads can enhance the experience if done right, but it’s still early and being tested carefully. With premium pricing and major partners already involved, monetization is becoming a clear next step for ChatGPT’s massive user base.
A study analyzing 1,000+ prompts across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Grok and Gemini found that most B2B brands have very low visibility in AI-generated answers. Strong owned content, especially websites and YouTube, plays a bigger role than Wikipedia or Reddit, and LinkedIn articles are surprisingly influential. The research suggests that written content alone isn’t enough, and brands need a broader content strategy if they want to show up consistently in AI search results.
Advertisers contacting Google Ads support may need to approve a new authorization that allows specialists to access and make changes directly in their accounts. While this could speed up troubleshooting, advertisers keep full responsibility for performance and spend, even if support makes adjustments. Google says the policy isn’t new, but the added visibility is raising fresh concerns about control versus convenience.
AI-powered “vibe coding” is changing how PPC tools get built, letting marketers generate custom apps and automations with simple prompts instead of traditional coding. Frederick Vallaeys showed how teams can create persona scorers, seasonality tools, and even Chrome extensions in under an hour by describing what they need in plain English. The shift moves automation beyond scripts and into on-demand software, giving an edge to marketers who know how to guide AI effectively.
Google released a new help document explaining how passkeys work in Google Ads, aiming to combat the rise in account hacks and phishing attempts. The guide outlines setup steps, device requirements, and when passkeys are required for sensitive actions like user access changes. With ad account takeovers becoming more common, clearer guidance on passwordless security is a timely move.
Microsoft Advertising now lets advertisers create and manage shared negative keyword lists directly in the platform, no support ticket required. Lists can hold up to 5,000 keywords and be applied at the campaign or account level, giving teams faster control over irrelevant traffic. It’s a practical update that removes friction from one of the most important levers in search campaign efficiency.
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!
