Marketing Campaign Planning

In the last 10 days via Instantly.ai: ✅ 18 appointments booked ✅ 9 leads generated in a single day from 1 campaign ✅ First clinic partnership secured for a client Here’s what actually made the difference beyond just “personalization”: I didn't even use Clay. 🔹 Tight ICP filtering – Instead of targeting everyone in our target industry, we narrowed to decision-makers at mid-size companies that recently posted hiring signals, and confirmed their ability to take on additional work. Fewer contacts, higher hit rate. 🔹 Problem-first messaging – Instead of opening with “who we are / what we do,” every sequence started with the cost of their current status quo (missed appointments, staffing gaps, wasted pipeline). That framed the outreach as relevant instead of salesy. Trigger events > endless pitches. 🔹 Structured follow-up cadence – Most replies didn’t come from Email 1. They came from emails 3–4, where we shifted tone: lighter, more conversational, sometimes even with a short one-liner but always built urgency and displayed the ROI of the offer to the prospect. Consistency > cleverness. Outbound isn’t about “sending more.” It’s about sending smarter. If you’re only relying on referrals or inbound, you’re betting on luck. Cold email gives you control over pipeline. 👉 I’ll keep sharing breakdowns like this—so if you’re building outbound, follow along. #coldemail #instantlyai #outbound #GTM

I analyzed 12 months of ABM campaigns that actually worked. Here's the data: Most Account-Based Marketing fails before it starts. After analyzing 12 months of successful ABM campaigns (and plenty of failures), I've identified the patterns that consistently drive pipeline. Here's what the data shows: 1. Timing matters just as much as content Accounts that received 3+ touches within 48 hours of showing buying intent converted 4x better than those that received the same content a week later. 2. The magic number is 6.2 (for this brand at least) The average closed-won deal had 6.2 stakeholders involved. Yet most ABM campaigns only target 1-2 personas per account. Expand your reach. 3. The "champion experience" is everything The accounts where we delivered a memorable experience to a single champion (personalized video, custom research, direct exec outreach) had 3x higher conversion rates. 4. Sales and marketing misalignment kills ABM Our most successful campaigns had sales activity within 24 hours of marketing touches. When this alignment slipped to 72+ hours, conversion rates dropped by 48%. 5. Personalization at scale actually works But not how most people do it. We tested 4 levels of personalization: - Generic (18% engagement) - Industry-specific (27% engagement) - Company-specific (42% engagement) - Individual + company-specific (63% engagement) 6. Direct mail isn't dead But swag is worthless (or at least it didn’t work for this audience 🤷♀️). Our highest ROI direct mail: Personalized research reports addressing the account's specific challenges. $250 spend → $45K in pipeline (average). 7. The "Double-Down Effect" When an account engages with ANY marketing touch, immediately increasing the frequency and personalization level produces a 3.5x lift in conversion rates. The companies getting ABM right understand it's not a campaign—it's a complete go-to-market strategy. P.S. I'm working on a new episodic ABM show in collaboration with Clay, so stay tuned 🤗

I've helped over 400 businesses with marketing. Most of them face THIS situation: They lack clarity about their marketing problems. As a result, they treat symptoms but not root problems. - Try new tactics while the target audience is undefined - Write new headlines with unclear messaging - Blame tools, tactics, and channels - Never assess the positioning They focus on surface-level problems while deeper ones are hurting badly the business. They are changing the color of the wallpaper while the house is built on a ravine. Sometimes, they even blame external factors: - "Let's fire the agency, they send poor leads" - "Our CRM doesn't have the right features" - "This channel is bad, let's try a new one" But deeper marketing problems are still here. And the causes are often the same: - Too product-centric → "Our product is the best" - The sunk cost fallacy → "We can't change this now" - Not enough market-oriented → "The market will adapt" As a result, product and strategic problems are silently killing the business. Here's the perfect scenario to move on: Founder: I did a 2-week meditation retreat in the mountains, my ego has vanished - what should I do now? Me: Let's analyze the 4 layers of marketing problems: 1. Surface-level Problems You need to change your copy, channels, tactics, or tools to get more conversions. The criticality level is low, install a backlog and experiment changes. 2. Structural Problems You need to plan structural changes with a 3-month roadmap. Audit your systems, teams, KPIs, and budget to revamp your marketing system. 3. Strategic Problems You need to align your business and the market now. Work on your ICP, positioning, offer, and messaging. Each day that passes without addressing this issue, you accumulate marketing debt and diminish the perceived value. 4. Product Problems You need to rethink your product capability for your target audience. It might be time to focus on a more specific use case or pivot your efforts to solve a stronger PUR problem (painful, urgent, recognized). Follow me Pierre Herubel for daily marketing tips.

Your influence in the board room and executive team is 90% communication with measurable examples. The words you use can make or break you. Naturally, I've been compiling a list of "instead of saying this, say this" with measurable results. Many are based on my gotcha moments where I've failed miserably at explaining what marketing does. I've said things like: “We’re increasing brand awareness.” “Our demand generation efforts are working.” “We’re improving our SEO strategy.” Every marketing leader has said some version of these. The problem? Nobody in the boardroom or executive team cares about (or understands) marketing buzzwords. They care about revenue, efficiency, and business impact. Let's flip the script. I've compiled a list of marketing-speak and translated these statements into terminology a room full of non-marketers would understand. And bonus, I've included the right metrics to back them up. Example: 🚫 Don’t say: “We’re generating a lot of leads.” ✅ Say this instead: “We’re bringing in people who are actually interested in buying.” 📊 Measure it with: Organic Traffic, Demo Requests, MQL-to-SQL Conversion Rate I put together a full table of these translations and a template so you can ensure your marketing efforts land in the boardroom. I'll share the list and other communication tips this weekend in my newsletter, but if you just want the table. Let me know. Drop a “TABLE” in the comments, and I’ll send it over.

You can grow revenue without raising prices. Most CEOs default to price increases when they want to boost the top line. But that's not always the right move. There are 5 proven ways to increase revenue without touching your pricing at all. Let me walk you through each one: 1. Focus on Your Best Customers ➟ Not all customers bring the same value. ➟ Best-fit clients close faster and churn less. ➟ The right focus improves win rates. Try this: Define your top customer profile. Reallocate pipeline effort toward that segment. Watch your close rates climb. 2. Fix Your Sales Conversion ➟ Many leads never become customers. ➟ Small improvements create immediate revenue. ➟ Better conversion lowers acquisition costs. Try this: Audit your last 20 lost deals. Find the #1 reason they stalled. Fix that first. 3. Increase Customer Retention ➟ A 5% retention increase can boost profit 25–95%. ➟ Loyal clients create steady, predictable revenue. ➟ Retention strengthens long-term growth. Try this: Identify the main reason customers leave. Fix one churn driver this quarter. Just one. Start there. 4. Grow Existing Accounts ➟ Upsells have 3–5× higher close rates than new deals. ➟ Trust already exists between buyer and seller. ➟ Account growth compounds without new acquisition cost. Try this: Review your top 20 customers. Identify one additional need you can solve. Have that conversation this week. 5. Build a Referral Engine ➟ Referrals close faster than cold prospects. ➟ Referred customers have higher lifetime value. ➟ Word-of-mouth scales without ad spend. Try this: Ask your 10 happiest clients for one intro. Make it part of your process, not an afterthought. Here's what changes when you apply all 5: ✅ Revenue grows without price resistance ✅ Growth becomes more predictable ✅ Customer lifetime value goes up ✅ Acquisition costs go down Start with the one area where you're leaving the most money on the table. Then work your way through the rest. Which of these five would make the biggest difference in your business right now? P.S. Want a PDF of my How to Raise Revenue Cheat Sheet? Get it free: https://lnkd.in/eTwgdtf5 ♻️ Repost to help a CEO in your network. - - - 📣 Want 15 more strategy frameworks? Get my Strategy Book in One Page for free: https://lnkd.in/eSm2g5SK

Media planning needs a new operating system. For years, we’ve planned media around channels—TV, Digital, Print, Radio. But consumers don’t think in channels. They move seamlessly across screens throughout the day, with each screen shaping a different level of attention, context and mindset. This is why I believe it’s time to shift from Media Planning to Screen Planning. A simple framework that can help is the 6S Screen Planning Model: 📺 Screen – Which screen is best suited for the communication objective? 🧠 State of Mind – What is the consumer thinking and feeling while using that screen? 📍 Situation – Where, when and why is the screen being used? 🎯 Story – What creative format and message will resonate best on that screen? 🔄 Sequence – How should different screens work together across the consumer journey? 📈 Success – How should effectiveness be measured beyond reach and impressions to business outcomes? The fundamental planning question is no longer: “How much should I invest in TV versus Digital?” Instead, it should be: “Which screen should influence the consumer, at what moment, in what mindset, with what story, and how do all screens work together to deliver business growth?” As media consumption becomes increasingly fragmented, competitive advantage will come from orchestrating consumer experiences across screens—not optimising channels in isolation. Perhaps it’s time for Screen Planning to become the next evolution of media planning. Now metrics for effective media planning should be - Attention quality Incremental reach Cross screen frequency Engagement Brand lift Search lift Conversion Customer life time value Return on Marketing investment #ScreenPlanning #MediaPlanning #MarketingStrategy #ConsumerBehaviour #BrandBuilding #DigitalMarketing #ConnectedTV #AttentionEconomy #IntegratedMarketing #Media #Marketing #Advertising

Campaign operators are the behind-the-scenes rockstars. Without campaign ops you get: ❌ Random acts of marketing – Launching campaigns without a clear process. ❌ Poor coordination across teams – Marketing, sales, and ops working in silos. ❌ No feedback loop for optimization – Campaigns go live and are never adjusted. The result? 🚨 Missed goals. Wasted budget. Frustrated teams. The map of campaign operations shows just the tip of the iceberg of what these teams do. 📌 1. Campaign Planning & Strategy Define objectives & KPIs (so you know what success looks like). Segment your audience (no more spray-and-pray marketing). Nail down value props & messaging before launch. 📌 2. Build & Setup Develop the right assets (creative, landing pages, forms). Set up automation & nurture flows (so leads don’t get lost). Ensure tracking is in place before launch (ever had missing UTM data? Yeah, it’s a nightmare). 📌 3. Execution & Launch Coordinate across multiple channels (email, paid media, social). Activate the right audience segments. QA everything (because broken links kill conversions). 📌 4. Monitoring & Optimization Track performance in real time (if a campaign isn’t working, fix it fast). Adjust bid strategies, messaging, and audience segments. Don’t “set and forget”—optimize as you go. 📌 5. Campaign Reporting & Insights Measure attribution & ROI (not just vanity metrics). Document best practices for the next campaign. Use data to refine future strategies. If you’re running campaigns without a structured Campaign Operations framework, you’re leaving revenue on the table. Does this diagram resonate with you? What would you add or change? PS: I'm writing more about this in my weekly newsletter https://lnkd.in/g_3YC7BZ subscribe for free to stay updated. #marketing #martech #marketingoperations

2024: Creative is the new targeting. 2025: Creative is STILL the targeting. The rules of the game haven’t changed—creative remains the driving force behind high-performing ads. My 6-step creative process continues to deliver results. Want to steal it? Here’s how it works: Step 1: Research The foundation of every great ad is research. - Analyze historical performance data. - Study your competitors. - Gather customer feedback and reviews. - Organize insights around your customers' pain points to create messaging that resonates. Step 2: Brief A great creative starts with a great brief. - Include ad copy, visual examples, aspect ratios, and audience targeting details. - Make it prescriptive—clear briefs lead to better execution. - Prioritize tasks based on performance metrics and deadlines. Step 3: Production & Editing Your designers bring the vision to life, producing the creative and making necessary post-production edits. Step 4: Quality Assurance (QA) Before launch, ensure every creative aligns with your brand and messaging. Make final tweaks to avoid mistakes later. Step 5: Launch Content Deploy your ad creative on the chosen platform(s). - Monitor performance metrics closely. - Use consistent naming conventions to simplify analysis. Step 6: Analyze Performance Measure success against your KPIs: - Spend amount, purchase amount, and cost per purchase. - Creative-specific KPIs like video hooks, average play time, and click-through rates. Compare results to benchmarks, extract insights, and return to Step 1 to refine and optimize continuously. Creative is—and always will be—the key to scaling your ads. Let this process guide you to consistent wins in 2025 and beyond. — If you’re looking for help in ad creative development to maximize performance, please DM me.

2026 planning starts now. If I was the CRO of a $50M business looking to grow 30% next year (i.e. add $15M of net new ARR to end the year at $65M) here’s exactly what I’d do: ASSUMPTIONS: - Selling into SMB and Mid-Market but with a small Enterprise sales effort. - 82% Gross Revenue Retention and 95% Net Revenue Retention (NRR). - A CS team that has renewal targets but expansion is handled by the AEs. - New business team is hitting quota in total but unevenly distributed. 1. Stress Test the Targets and the Revenue Model Look at 2025 growth and compare to total investments in sales and marketing focused on new business growth to understand CAC to ARR growth. Confirm the ratios map to the budget — e.g. you’re not being asked $15M in growth on the *same* CAC investment.    Assume CAC will degrade by 10% and ensure your fully weighted S&M investment is Pro-Rata + 10% to the growth. We’re looking for rough confirmation we’re not being asked to perform miracles. 2. Stress Test Pipeline Coverage and Marketing Performance Ensure we understand Lead to Closed Won Cycle and we have coverage. If we have a 3 month sales cycle and it’s mid-September, we’re on track. But if we wait much longer we’ll be drifting into Q1 and will immediately be behind. As usual, we’re looking for 3-5x pipeline coverage. 3. Understand Demand Generation Channels Word of mouth is not (really) a channel. It’s a “channel” if you can put $ behind it and the more you spend the more you get. If we have our basic framework in place, it’s time to get out the precision tools, modeling CAC, retention, and LTV by *investable channel*. At higher ACVs, we put muscle behind in-person travel, ABM, and targeted field marketing. At lower ACVs, we need investments in data and enrichment to enable effective paid acquisition and AI-enabled inside reps. 4. Review Gross and Net Revenue Retention targets If nothing changes with NRR, we are looking at $47.5M end of year run-rate. Let’s figure out if we can push NRR up to 105%, lowering the burden on new business. How? - Segment accounts by Red, Yellow, Green - Assign commercial support to CS to expand Green through more seats, new products, or deeper usage. Take one high performing AE and turn them into an Account Management expansion focused hunter whose sole job is converting upsells. 5. Drive Our AEs with Great Variable Comp and Route Our Best Leads to Our Best People Top sellers are 5-7x more productive than average sellers. And sellers with unlimited upside and generous accelerators, do better. I'd design our comp plans to pay for over-performance and route our leads to our best people. Target 80%+ quota attainment and be willing to part with the bottom 20%.  Get confidence every lead we send to the sales team closes at a higher rate with a higher deal value. The last step? Pop bottles because we hit our number 🍾 P.S. Want to learn how to do this as a scaleup CRO? Pavilion's CRO School starts 10/2. DM me to join.