What we’ve learned
managing $250M+.
Frameworks, attribution thinking, platform changes worth a CMO’s attention, and the occasional argument with conventional wisdom.
Insights
Frameworks, attribution thinking, and platform changes worth a CMO's attention.
Your CPC Is Supposed to Go Up
Move Google Ads bidding from a button click to closed revenue and the cost per click rises within weeks. Auction theory predicts it, field experiments explain it, and our client accounts show it. Here is why the higher price is the healthy sign, and where it stops being one.
Practitioner's Take.pivotal
Strategy.pivotalThe Ad Platform Is Smarter Than You. Your Job Is to Feed It What It Can't See.
Google, Meta, and LinkedIn already beat you at the auction. The accounts that win stop fighting the bidding system and feed it the one thing it's blind to: information it doesn't have. Here is the hierarchy that actually moves performance.
Strategy.pivotalLLMs Ate the Middle of Your Funnel
Your demand gen team is optimizing for a stage that doesn't exist anymore. 94% of B2B buyers now use LLMs during the buying process, but total vendor interactions haven't changed. Here's what actually happened to the middle of your funnel.
Practitioner's Take.pivotalGoogle Ads for SaaS: What $250M in B2B Ad Spend Actually Taught Us
Most SaaS Google Ads guides skip the hard part: connecting spend to pipeline. Here's what $250M in managed B2B ad spend taught us about what actually works.
Strategy.pivotalPower Law Marketing
Why marketing outcomes follow power laws, and what it means for budget allocation, channel strategy, and performance optimization.
Behind the CMO
James's newsletter. Candid field reports from inside the CMO's office. Read on Beehiiv.
What Your CEO Says About You When You Leave the Room
Your CEO keeps two cards on you. The review only covers one of them.
Behind the CMOBeehiiv ↗
Behind the CMOBeehiiv ↗Monday Briefing: Apple's Safari Update Blocks The Trade Desk
Plus: Nike raises brand spend in a down quarter, CMO tenure falls to 2.6 years, and Cava hires the Dr. Squatch marketer.
Behind the CMOBeehiiv ↗The Decisions You Both Think You Own
Eight go-to-market decisions, a default owner for each, and the condition that moves it.
Behind the CMOBeehiiv ↗Monday Briefing: ChatGPT Is Now Half the Market
Plus: Google puts a brand agent inside YouTube ads, Beats launched headphones with no paid media, and Sephora is sending its own shoppers to TikTok.
Behind the CMOBeehiiv ↗Plan for the Budget You Won't Get
Your mandate is going from five accountabilities to eight. Your budget moved a tenth of a point. An incremental ask does not close that gap at any size.