Jordan Brannon

Working with multiple agencies? You might be losing out on significant ROI. That's because scale is a major benefit of having an Agency of Record (AOR). An AOR consolidates your media buys and partnerships, which means better scale and connectivity. This leads to reduced platform fees and more working dollars going toward actual advertising. An AOR's scale can slash both platform and management fees. In our Retail Media practice, we find this often allows our advertisers to re-invest around 7% of Retail Media fees straight back into working media. Don't reduce your budgets - get more scale and more sales for the same total investment.

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ATTN Agencies Focused on Lead Gen: Greg Sterling shared that Google crushed it in Q1 and here are some key metrics: CTR: up 5.1% (more clicks are taking place than before) CPC: up 10.4% (each click is costing more than before) Conversions: down 1.1% (less conversions are taking place than before) CPL: up 24.6% (leads are costing more than before) Don't lose your client's budget and your margin to increase in Google costs, especially while conversions are going down. Close the gap on conversions. Make it easy for your clients to gather leads from all channels (GBP, FB, Insta, email, text, live chat, chatbot, etc) not just paid search. Birdeye can help. Make it easy for your clients to influence over 50% of the top 10 ranking and conversion factors. Birdeye can help. Once you lose your budget to Google's paid search game, it may be too late to get it back again...

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Instacart not having negative keywords as an option is the best example of what "machine learning" actually costs brands to support. The best solution I've found? Take their auto applied keywords and make their bid the lowest possible (30 cents). I built a really solid ads structure supporting each of our Target sku's and woke up to us bidding on "Ben and Jerry's" as a "optimized auto applied suggesition" for our Vanilla Ice Cream Whey. Gee, I wonder what sophisticated dev team decided "auto bid on product title". Yeah, in the world of CPG there could neeevvverrr be issues with that. Who leads this team and how much do you make. (Hint: too much). Happy Friday to everyone except overpaid leadership that don't actually understand what they're building and get paid boat loads of money for it.

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DTC brands - It may not be comforting, but it's the damn truth. Why your email revenue is stuck ⤵️ ❌ Poor list hygiene ❌ Generic messaging ❌ Poor list segmentation ❌ Ineffective subject lines ❌ Inconsistent send schedules ❌ Over-reliance on engaged subscribers. Sound familiar? The solution isn't complicated. Yet, so many overlook it: ✅ Expand email reach ✅ Optimize for mobile ✅ A/B test consistently ✅ Segment your audience ✅ Focus on customer LTV ✅ Personalize your content ✅ Integrate email w/ other channels True brands build loyal customers. (Not just random subscribers) My point? If your email revenue is stuck, it's time to rethink your strategy.

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TikTok Shop AOV is WAY lower than website b/c: 1. Discounts are CAPPED which does not incentivize higher cart sizes (in the below example, you think it's 50% off, but the coupon is maxed at $20 discount) 2. Upsells/cross-sells in the CART are below the fold and ppl will rarely scroll below the "checkout button" 3. These are largely impulse purchases. If TTS doesn't incentivize higher AOV, brands are stuck in low AOV purgatory. If I'm TikTok, I start considering a solve for both of the above.. honestly pretty easy Despite TTS low AOVs, we're noticing 2.5-7x higher conversion rate than the DTC site. B/c of this- TikTok Ads performance has been higher driving to the Shop (vs website) for every client we've touched on TikTok in 2024.

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Last chance to get 61 DTC strategies for an explosive Q4. (and it's completely FREE) These strategies will help you: 🚀 Increase conversion rates 💸 Boost average order values 🔒 Lock in customer retention No fluff. Just actionable strategies you can use immediately: - In your ads - Across your email & SMS marketing - To optimize your website These strategies are already powering some of the biggest DTC brands. You’ll get real-life examples and step-by-step instructions to do it yourself. Oh, and did I mention? It’s 100% FREE. Click here to download it now - https://bit.ly/3W70Pdy #cro #digitalmarketing #ecommerce #dtc #shopify

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Stop Burning Ad Dollars – Enterprise SaaS advertising isn’t just hard—it’s a minefield of wasted spend, wrong metrics, and missed opportunities. But it doesn’t have to be. In my latest blog, "How to Unf*ck Your Ad Spend – Part II", I break down the Five Pillars of SaaS Advertising Success and how you can: ✅ Nail your targeting with precision ✅ Craft creative that actually stops your audience in their tracks ✅ Choose the right platforms for every stage of the buyer journey ✅ Align your ads to real business outcomes (not just clicks) And here’s the kicker: I’m not talking theory. These are actionable strategies built for the real-world chaos of enterprise GTM motions. Whether you’re struggling with attribution, lackluster ROI, or just trying to avoid “that meeting” with the CFO, this framework has you covered. 💡 Pro tip: The quickest win might not be where you think. Sometimes it’s about tweaking what happens after someone clicks your ad. 👉 Ready to stop wasting money and start driving meaningful results? Check out the blog [link in comments]. Let’s fix your ad spend and turn it into a pipeline powerhouse. 💪 #EnterpriseSaaS #B2BMarketing #AdSpend #SaaSAdvertising #ABM #GrowthHacking

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RTB campaigns are all fun until you get $1-6 bids from buyers, while you used to get $35-40 in a static campaign!😅 FYI neither the RPC is good What do you guys think about it? 🤔 #paypercall #inboundmarketing #leadgeneration #RTB

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Here is one of the reasons I left the marketing side of auto: A new store has a Sincro, an Ansira company website. Sincro uses Google 360 but doesnt give dealer access to GA4 within that. They didnt help the dealer setup their own GA4. The support tanked with Sincro so the dealership decides to switch to Dealer Inspire. Now they have to create a new GA4 acct and lose all historical data. It will cost them dearly when it comes to advertising. Lesson from this: Do the right thing, the right way everytime to be a great partner. This is the 💩 that makes us good vendor partners look bad. #bebetter

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I've been asked the same questions frequently lately regarding labelizer tools, segmentation scripts, and the Shopping Booster. Specifically about how to handle data post-sales period, when the data no longer reflects typical performance. 🛒📊 During sales periods, conversion rates, order values, and purchase intent are generally higher, while profit margins may be lower. 📈 This inflates product performance data, and when advanced campaign setups rely on past data to move products between performance buckets, it can become problematic. Historical data that doesn’t reflect future performance can lead to overspending on products that performed well on sale but may underperform afterward. Google offers a fantastic tool called Exclusion Period 🛠️, which helps adjust its algorithm post sale periods. However, this feature only impacts the algorithm itself, leaving reporting in Google Ads unchanged. Since tools like labelizer scripts and ProfitMetrics Shopping Booster base their product movement rules on historical reporting data from the API, that data still reflects inflated metrics. So, the question is: Should we disable these tools and scripts after sales end, then reactivate them with a shorter lookback window for performance data? The challenge is that many products won’t have enough data with a shorter lookback window. One workaround is to download custom labels for products before the sales period begins. Afterward, you could pause the tools/scripts, then re-upload those labels to restore pre-sales data. But let’s be honest, this can be time-consuming. ✨ That’s why we’ve introduced the Exclusion Period feature directly into Shopping Booster! ✨ This feature allows you to exclude specific sales periods directly in the settings: - With a 90-day lookback window, segmentation rules will consider 90 days of data while excluding your sales periods, such as Black Week (November 24–30). This ensures data reflects typical product performance. - You can also schedule exclusions! For example, you can set the exclusion period to activate on December 1, allowing you to continue segmentation during Black Week and seamlessly normalize your data afterward. 📅✅ Used alongside Google’s native Exclusion Period, this feature gives you better control over both algorithms and reporting while correcting for periods of inflated metrics. 💡 I'd love to hear your thoughts, how do you currently handle this challenge in your setup with labeling tools? 🤝

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📊The Rise of "Zero-Click" Queries 🇪🇺 EU: Only 374 out of 1,000 Google searches result in clicks to the open web 🇺🇸 US: Even lower at 360 clicks per 1,000 searches We're rapidly moving towards a "Zero-Click" future and you need to rethink your approach to marketing and the value of 'absolute attribution' with your website data being the sole source of truth. Why This Matters: 1. AI and platform evolution are reshaping user behavior (less clicks!) 2. Major platforms are creating walled gardens, keeping users within their ecosystems (so you need to produce content for them and not obsess with website behavior) 3. Traditional SEO and website traffic strategies need urgent reconsideration What should you do?: - Rethink attribution models - Diversify content distribution channels - Adapt to in-platform content consumption (ASAP) 🔗 Full study: [https://lnkd.in/egaVv9bC) SparkToro Rand Fishkin #DigitalMarketing #SEO #SearchTrends #AI #ContentStrategy

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It can take 2-3 months just to get approval to run ads for RMG operators. That’s before you even think about testing, scaling, or optimizing campaigns. It’s frustrating, it’s slow, and it’s filled with red tape. But having someone on your side who knows the ins and outs of this process is everything. Here’s what it actually looks like when you’re trying to launch a campaign in this space: Month 1: Compliance Checks & Waiting Around You’ve filled out every form, submitted all your documents, and followed every rule in the book. Now you wait. And wait. If you’re lucky, you’ll get feedback from Meta or Google saying you missed some tiny detail. If not, your account just sits in “review” for weeks. Month 2: Maybe Some Progress...Maybe Not If you get approved on one platform—great! But don’t get too comfortable. You might find out that the ad creative isn’t compliant or your landing page needs tweaks. Best case? We launch a small campaign to test the waters. Worst case? We’re still going back and forth. Month 3: Finally, Some Traction! By now, we’re hopefully live on one or two platforms. But instead of blasting out your full budget, we need to scale cautiously. Spend too fast, and you risk getting flagged. Plus, the data we collect in these early stages is crucial for optimizing the long-term strategy. Here's why it's worth it: Most agencies rush in, set up a campaign, and are shocked when approvals don’t come through. They’re not built to handle the waiting, the compliance setbacks, or the constant pivoting. But we’ve done this before. We know how to navigate every roadblock and keep things moving. Because at the end of those 2-3 months, when everything’s finally dialed in, you’re not just live—you’re set up to scale. 🔥

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I spend a significant amount of time repairing broken conversion events in paid media platforms. Here are the top 5 culprits: 1. Website changes (design updates, domain changes) 2. CRM changes 3. GTM changes (often related to 1 and 2) 4. Trying to run an old Google Analytics tag 5. Integration with tech partner is broken All 5 require conversations with other people on other teams to diagnose, troubleshoot, and fix. The best media managers are those that understand and work well with their media teammates.

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HUGE news out of Meta yesterday... TL;DR - Coming very soon - several new features: 1. Conversion Value Rules - bid higher/lower based on audience value. 2. New Attribution Model Support - optimizes for and reports on incremental conversions. 3. 3p Analytics Integration - GA and Northbeam are first, with triple whale and adobe fast follows. Meta AI will use this data to improve campaign performance. 4. Optimization "improvements" - rolling out changes to algo that take more of the cross-publisher journey into account to help drive value. On one level, these are very exciting updates for most brands and agencies. More sophisticated and varied forms of measurement + cross-channel integration are all generally net positives. The Meta algorithm thrives on SIGNAL, and these updates create a lot of new levers to enhance that signal based on your business goals. On another level, this is going to significantly increase the importance of and the value of a strong media buying and measurement strategy. 1. Is optimizing more closely to something like GA the best for your business? It may be best for pleasing finance in the short term, but I strongly question the value to your business in the long term. If you go this route, be VERY careful of the halo impacts (higher CPMs, possibly lower incrementality, lower reach etc) that might pop up. 2. Can you trust the incremental conversion value reported by Meta? Maybe, maybe not. It's a great short cut that no other platform offers. However, buyers must maintain the rigor to run their own lift studies. 3. Beware of the ripple effects - if you optimize toward a tighter GA attribution, you are likely optimizing toward a click-oriented audience. Resharing data from a few months ago (screenshot) that shows hows how this may drive what AGES your ads bias towards. Older people click more in theory - so be careful to understand how your age mix shifts and if its the right priority for your business. We are excited to test all of these new features out, and the media buyer geek in me is excited for how much new testing and potential arbitrage this is going to create.

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Ecommerce SaaS folks... We're looking for partners that help with DTC of a wide range: SMB, Mid-Market, Enterprise As our agency is growing, we've been constantly getting asked "how's this app?" or "Hey have you heard of x?" The truth is that we're familiar with a lot of the names and products, but unfamiliar with how the support looks like on the backend. We've got some exciting things planned out with some of the brands we're working with, and in order to execute properly, we're looking for the right Tech/SaaS partners. We've been in conversations with a few, and it's hard to distinguish what's true when we're trying to compare competitors... Sometimes, we'll hear something like: Company 1: "We do X... They don't because they do Y" Company 2: "We don't do Y, do X. Also they suck at it anyways" We're trying to avoid all of the noise by asking for first-hand experience on the backend if possible. - Product is great(I would have to assume most will be) - Customer support is great - Onboarding process is quick and seamless(In time for BFCM) - Active in the Ecommerce world (Attends events and hears from brands directly on their issues) - Cool people. If you have certain companies you work with or recommend in terms of Agency/Brand Partnerships, please tag them. I'd love to chat!

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Fantastic guide from Krystal to get your business on Apple Maps. Brandefined can help you with our one in all app that uses iOS map activity & a whole lot more, including Generative AI…to get your small biz profitable. #ROI #Apple #IOS #AppleMaps #GenerativeAI #AI #Advertising #SmallBusiness

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Google AI Overviews (formerly known as SGE) will change SEO forever. Are you prepared? If you're not, or you're not sure, or you aren't sure what Google AI Overviews are, you should attend our May 29 webinar: "Unlock the Power of Google's Search Generative Experience." What we’ll cover: 1️⃣ Insider Insights: Gain a deeper understanding of how Google AI Overviews/SGE functions and its impact on search results 2️⃣ Optimization Strategies: Learn actionable tips and techniques to optimize your content and website for maximum visibility in the Google AI Overviews/SGE landscape 3️⃣ SERPs Unveiled: Explore the intricacies of Google's Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) and unlock the potential of forum features 4️⃣ Collision Course: Understand how the worlds of social media and SEO converge within the Google AI Overviews/SGE ecosystem. From inception to evolution, we'll provide a comprehensive review of Google’s AI Overview and unveil predictions for its future trajectory. Our webinar will equip you with the knowledge and tools you need to thrive in the ever-evolving world of online search. Sign up today if you're unsure about how to future-proof your SEO. Here's the link: https://lu.ma/jdm-sge

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Pop Quiz: Which email A-B test variant drove more DTC eCommerce conversions? Hit 👍 for A - BOGO50 Hit ❤️ for B - 25% OFF There are a lot of options for what you can A-B test in your emails: → Frequency & cadence → Call to Actions (CTA) → Promotional Offers → Send Day of Week → Personalization → Segmentation → Subject Lines → Email Content → Email Layout → Send Time → Headers → Footers You should always let your data and goals drive that prioritization but I think offer testing is something that tends to not get tested enough. In some cases, is discounting even helping or hurting your brand in the long run? There's only one way to find out. Test it. So let me know with your vote and comments. Who do you think was the winner of this test?

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CAC is a useless ad metric unless you do this.   Most conversations around why CAC is up or down aren't helpful.   Too many brands & agencies see it's up or down and start guessing.   That's a bad use of time.   A way better way is to focus on the inputs:   CAC = Spend / (Impr * CTR * CVR)   If you want to understand CAC, analyze what's happening with CPMs, CTRs, & CVRs.   This is how you find the highest ROI areas to improve. E.g., Media buying, creative, landing pages, etc.   So stop focusing on the output (CAC).   It makes for a much longer path to profitable growth.

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