Marketing Campaign Tactics

A very easy way to improve your Amazon ads efficiency by at least 10% Let’s say you’re spending ₹4–5 lakhs/month on Amazon ads. Your ACoS looks okay. Conversion rate seems fine. But your gut tells you—you’re still wasting some money on irrelevant traffic You’re not wrong At Atomberg, we had found that some of our Amazon spend was going toward search terms that had no business seeing our ads: - “cheap fan” -“rechargeable fan” - “usb fan under 1000” None of these users were in-market for a ₹3,000+ BLDC ceiling fan. But we were still showing up. And paying for those clicks. And it’s not just us. I’ve seen 6–7 brands' Amazon ad accounts across categories over the last few years—same problem, every single time The fix? N-gram analysis Takes less than an hour. You don’t need to be a performance marketing expert. But the results compound What’s N-gram analysis? It’s breaking down every search term into its word components—1-grams, 2-grams, 3-grams—and then identifying patterns that consistently drive waste… or conversion. Example: “cheap rechargeable fan for hostel room” turns into: 1-grams: cheap, rechargeable, fan, hostel, room 2-grams: rechargeable fan, hostel room 3-grams: fan for hostel, etc. When you do this across all your search terms, you start seeing the real picture. Why this matters more than just checking your search term report: Search terms ≠ keywords a) One keyword can trigger 100s of different queries. Some convert. Most don’t. You need to find the patterns. b) Waste is diluted across low-volume terms. Maybe “rechargeable fan for hostel” spent ₹300. You ignore it. But what if 12 other queries with “rechargeable” spent ₹6,000 in total with zero conversions? c) Long-tail is infinite. N-grams are finite. You can’t negate every bad search. But you can block the core terms—“cheap”, “usb”, “mini”—once and be done with it. d) It helps you scale campaigns too. You can find goldmine phrases like “white ceiling fan”, “silent BLDC fan”, “fan for living room”—with 5x+ ROAS. Those became exact match campaigns What you should do: a) Pull last 3 months of search term data b) Break them into unigrams, bigrams, trigrams c) Create a pivot with spend, orders, ROAS by N-gram d) Negate high-spend, low-conversion N-grams (e.g., “cheap”, “rechargeable”) e) Boost high-ROAS ones (e.g., “bldc”, “ceiling fan white”) f) Add exact match campaigns g) Rinse and repeat monthly Try it. Guaranteed to improve efficiency at whatever scale you are operating If you want to read an expanded version of the post, link is in the first comment

We spent $10,000 on this billboard. It got >5,000,000 views, 10,000 job applicants, and made hiring ~10x easier. Here’s how to replicate it: We were struggling to hire engineers. We couldn’t compete with the $100M packages offered by Big Tech. So Florian and I decided to put up a billboard in San Francisco with no logo and no explanation. Just this: https:// {64659, 123310, 75584, 8138, 38271} To most people, it meant nothing. To engineers, it was obvious those numbers were tokens. If you decoded them, you landed on a website with a challenge… Build an algorithmic bouncer for Berghain. The constraints were: 40% Berlin locals, 80% must be wearing black, fill the club with 1,000 people, and reject as few people as possible. If you solved it, you got an interview at Listen Labs, and the winner got a trip to Berlin. All in all, it went very viral: ~5M impressions across X and Reddit, ~10,000 submissions, and it was picked up by SF newspapers and CBS. But more importantly, it was an incredible filter. The challenge was basically what we do at Listen Labs to help researchers: selecting the right people from a huge pool, under constraints, with imperfect data. After this, hiring got much easier. Candidates already understood what kind of company we are. How to replicate this hiring ad: 1. Put an ad where your target audience already hangs out (physical or online). 2. Don’t explain the ad. Let it repel most people. 3. Make the challenge similar to the actual work. 4. Make finishing it the filter. No shortcuts, no “apply here” button. 5. Spend money on the idea. Distribution should be a side effect. If you’re competing with companies offering insane compensation, job ads won't do the job. Design a filter so good that the right people opt in on their own. That’s what worked for us.

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 🤗

It’s been exactly 3 months since we launched our first ever ABM campaign, and the results are in: over $650,000 in pipeline in 90 days, with a nice $12 in pipeline per $ spend. If you‘re considering getting into ABM next year - I have a few learnings to share: 1) It’s brutal. There are no playbooks. Most ABM resources are very high level (‘strategic’) - there’s a painful lack of tactical resources on how to set the campaigns up, from whom to target and which channels to choose, how to set up the campaigns stages and account scoring, how to pick the right goals and metrics (so you can evaluate how the campaigns are doing and if you are on the right track), set the right budgets, and how to monitor the results. There are to benchmarks to measure against (ad CTR/CPM benchmarks are a vague leading metrics, and are so industry-specific you’ll be comparing apples to oranges.) We had to come up with nearly everything ourselves. One thing that helped us at the beginning was Kyle Poyar’s article “Your guide to GTM metrics 2.0” featuring “ABX benchmarks” (link in the comments). We used them (and tweaked) to set up our stages, benchmarks of how many accounts we’re expecting to move from one stage to another, and then - by combining that with our historical qualification rates, close rates and expected ACV - we got our revenue goals per 1000 accounts. Then working out was from the top-down revenue goals - that gave us an idea how many accounts we need to target. And then - based on the CPMs for the target personas in those accounts - we are able to come up with a budget. That’s theory, of course - and we’re already seeing how ‘real data’ diverges from the benchmarks, esp. for some stages/conversion points. We may need to adjust our forecasts based on real data to make them more realistic. But you need start somewhere. 2) Don’t start if you don’t have extremely strong MarketingOps (ideally - a dedicated MOps person). So far we’ve spent 80% on the campaign ops, and 20% on the creatives. SADLY. Even with ABM tools - there’s a ton of setup you need to do. 3) You need some tech stack to score your accounts, but you don’t need these expensive “ABM tools”. After evaluating tons of ABM tools (with platform fees of $30k - $160k per annum 🤯) we realised we don’t want to use display as our main channel for reaching target accounts. We used only ZenABM (from $59 - for de-anonymizing LinkedIn ad engagements, getting intent based on those engagments, account scoring --> and pushing it all to the CRM + providing revenue attribution) + Hubspot Marketing (~$1700 in our case - for audience building and management). TBC - I hit the character limit 😉

Most founders think reply rates are about better scripts. We've generated 6,000+ appointments in three years, and the biggest factor had nothing to do with the DM. It had everything to do with what happened before we sent it. The mistake teams often make is that they're sending enough messages, but they're asking a stranger to trust them in one interaction. That's a lot to expect from a DM. What we've learned is that appointments don't get booked at the moment of outreach. They get booked earlier, quietly, when someone first comes across your thinking and subconsciously decides whether you sound like someone worth engaging with. Here's the framework we use to make sure outbound doesn't start cold: 1. Positioning is where most people rush past too quickly.  We spend a lot of time helping founders articulate what they actually want to be known for, what problems they repeatedly see in their market, and what they are comfortable ignoring. 2. Presence is where content plays its role. We focus on repeating a small set of ideas from different angles so that when someone sees the founder’s name again, they already know how this person thinks. 3. Permission is the layer most founders never consciously design for, but it’s the one that decides whether outbound converts. By the time you send your first DM, the prospect should already feel like they have context. Only once these layers are in place do we focus on the pipeline and activity. At that point, outbound is less about persuading and more about building relevance. PS: Are you rewriting your cold email script, or fixing the reason nobody knows who you are? #B2BMarketing #FounderGrowth #OutboundSales #DemandCreation #StartupLessons

ABM will never be dead, but the old-school way of approaching ABM is definitely dead (as a doornail). Most "ABM" programs still look like what I was doing in my late 20s and early 30s (circa 2015-2017) >> Static target lists >> One-size-fits-all nurture tracks >> Months of manual personalization That doesn’t work when buyers self-educate, switch channels mid-cycle, and bring 10+ stakeholders into every deal. Lucky for me, I have a Tofu guide that helps define different plays you can run to pull your ABM out of 2015: Competitive Displacement → Go on offense. Target competitor accounts with comparison content, peer proof, and coordinated blitzes. Customer Lookalike Campaign → Take your best wins and mirror them. Use AI to find accounts that look like your top customers and show them proof they can’t ignore. Tier 1 Omnichannel Blitz → Don’t wait for signals. Surround your most strategic accounts with personalized microsites, direct mail, and peer-led content. Competitive Intent Intercept → When a target account shows interest in a competitor, move fast. Counter-pages, battlecards, and rapid-response ads flip the narrative. Signal-Qualified Web Visitors → Pricing page traffic isn’t noise. De-anonymize, personalize, and act before your competitor gets the next meeting. Customer Expansion Campaign → The highest ROI play isn’t new pipeline. It’s expansion. Use product and CS signals to spot growth opportunities inside your base. The shift is pretty simple, and something we should all remember. You need to move from campaigns you launch and cross your fingers.... to systems that listen and adapt in real time. ABM done right isn't just account-based, it's contact-based AND it orients around signals.

Introducing the 2025 GTM scorecard, just in time for annual planning ⤵️ Maja and I surveyed 195 B2B leaders about which GTM channels are working right now. We then mapped how popular different GTM channels are (x-axis) versus how likely they are to be impactful among adopters (y-axis). The shorthand for interpreting this two-by-two: 1. Tried-and-true (upper right) 2. Oversaturated (lower right) 3. The next big thing (upper left) 4. Figuring it out (lower left) I then cut the data for startups (<$10M ARR) vs. scaleups (>$10M ARR) & it's fascinating to see how the channels shift. The best channels for startups*: - LinkedIn (#1) - Founder brand (#2) - Warm outbound (#3) - Intent-based outbound (#4) - Intimate events (#5) *The magic tends to happen when you can combine these channels into a cohesive strategy, i.e. founder brand + LinkedIn + warm outbound & intimate events for those who engage. The best channels for scaleups*: - Large conferences (#1) - SEO (#2) - Intimate events (#3) - Big product launches (#4) - Ecosystem marketing (#5) *Scaleups are still seeing returns from their years of SEO investments. The question is whether they can translate their SEO into AI discovery or if they'll be leap-frogged by new entrants. The TL;DR: No matter what stage you're at, you might want to plan for more intimate events (dinners, happy hours, etc.) next year. They're not the most scalable, but they're one of the few things that seems to work. PS, the full report is available here: https://lnkd.in/ea_zYUzB #marketing #gtm #startups

an underrated marketing strategy for cash-strapped startups? turn your entire team into your marketing engine. here's the thing: while you're stressing about growth channels, your employees are already using dozens of saas tools every day. CRM, customer support software, project management tool, HRIS/ATS. each of these relationships is a marketing opportunity waiting to be activated. three ways to leverage your team for free marketing (that actually drives pipeline): 𝟭/ 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀  get your hr manager to reach out to your hris vendor about becoming a video case study. your sales ops person? perfect candidate to showcase how your crm integration works. your finance team using that new expense tool? boom, another case study opportunity. here's the kicker: prioritise becoming case studies for tools in adjacent industries where your target audience also hangs out. if you're selling to marketing leaders, become a case study for your marketing automation platform. selling to hr teams? showcase how you use your people analytics tool internally. 𝟮/ 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗿𝘀 offer to speak at your vendors' events, webinars, and user conferences. you get free brand exposure to their audience, they get a happy customer story. win-win. 𝟯/ 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 "𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿" 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 when you're actively promoting your vendors and being their biggest advocate, you become their favourite customer. first access to beta features, priority support, co-marketing opportunities, better pricing negotiations. 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗻: 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆: ✅ 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 - exposure to your vendors' established audiences for your brand and for your team ✅ 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀 - seo/LLM juice from case studies and event pages ✅ 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘇 - people who are already in-market for solutions will see your brand and product on your vendor’s case study page + at conference and events that your vendors sponsor --- the beauty? your vendors already have the audience you want to reach. instead of building from zero, you're tapping into established communities. what you can do now: get one vendor relationship you could activate for marketing this quarter.

Most companies suck at launching products. They’re like Alice in Wonderland — chasing shiny objects and getting lost along the way. Here’s the 11-step process we perfected after 25 years of product launches (in a collaboration with Jason Oakley): 1. Competitive Research The key to great strategy is to look externally. Take notes on competitor's features and how they grow. Build a database so you can counter-position appropriately. 2. Segmentation A launch aimed at “everyone” will miss everyone. Instead, build a laser-focused Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). Follow this chain of thought: What are they craving? → What frustrates them daily? → What job are they trying to accomplish? 3. Pricing & Packaging Even the smallest feature can have a ripple effect on your pricing and packaging. Don’t wait until launch week to figure this out. Before launching, assess things like: Will this be a paid feature or free? Who will get access? What’s the plan for feature gating? 4. Positioning Now it’s time to craft a message that resonates. Speak to their deeper desires, not just their immediate problems. Communicate the outcome your product delivers and why you’re different from the rest. 5. Assemble Your Launch Team You can’t do it alone, and you shouldn’t. A successful launch involves stakeholders across the company. Use the RACI framework to assign clear roles. 6. Clear Objectives Too many teams dive into a launch without defined goals. And that’s why they miss the mark. Set clear objectives and key results. 7. Distribution Channels Many teams fall into the trap of trying to be everywhere; LinkedIn, email, ads, you name it. Reality check: Most startups only have 1-2 effective distribution channels. Find yours and double down on it. 8. Launch Milestones Planning your entire launch around individual tasks will overwhelm you. Instead, focus on major milestones and build a work-back plan. Some key milestones to include: Early access launch → Customer launch → Kickoff meeting. 9. Bill of Materials Your Bill of Materials is the content engine of your launch. Focus on: → Writing the message they want to hear → Designing visuals that captivate and appeal to them → Creating email sequences tailored to every user flow 10. Sales & Customer Success Teams Too many launches fail because these teams are looped in at the last minute. Enable them early with a messaging deck, internal FAQs, and demo materials... And they’ll become powerful advocates for your product. 11. Launch Day Make sure everything is launched smoothly and on time. If you achieve early wins, be the first to celebrate them and rally the team. And don’t forget to keep pushing the momentum forward. There's much more in the deep dive: https://lnkd.in/eB7s6umA If you don't plan your launches, even the best products will fail.

It's easy to fall into the "doing things just to do them" trap in demand gen and ABM.  👉🏾 Launching campaigns because "it's our typical approach." 👉🏾Creating content because "we have to."   👉🏾 Chasing every lead with the belief that "more is always better." But with AI and automation making it easier than ever to produce generic content, it's even more crucial to pause and ask, "Why?" ✔️Why this campaign? ✔️Why this content? ✔️Why this account? ✔️Does it truly align with our ideal customer profile (ICP)? ✔️Does it resonate with their needs and challenges? ✔️Does it get results on our goals? Generic #ABM is just...marketing. And generic #demandgen is a waste of resources. 👉🏾 To break the autopilot cycle, be specific about your ideal customer. Use tools like 6sense or ZoomInfo to gather rich data, going beyond basic demographics to understand their firmographics, technographics, and psychographics.  👉🏾 Then, map your content to the buyer's journey. Don't just create content for content's sake. Use tools like HubSpot or Marketo to address their pain points and provide real value at each stage. 👉🏾 Analyze intent data. Tools like Bombora or G2 Buyer Intent can tell you which accounts are actively researching solutions like yours, allowing you to focus your ABM efforts on those showing high intent. 👉🏾 Don't forget to make it a personalized experience. Use AI-powered platforms like Persado or Phrasee to tailor your messaging to individual accounts and show a deep understanding of their needs. 👉🏾 Finally, measure what matters. Track metrics that align with your goals, not just vanity metrics. Tools like Google Analytics or Bizible can help you measure the true impact of your ABM and demand gen efforts. 👉🏾 And most importantly, find someone to challenge your thinking. A colleague, a mentor, even a (kind!) competitor. Someone who asks: ✔️Why are we targeting this account? ✔️Will this content truly resonate? ✔️Does this campaign align with our overall strategy? Break free from autopilot, be intentional, and be strategic. Then, watch your ABM and demand generation results grow. What tools or strategies do you use to focus on the "why" behind your marketing? #b2bmarketing #marketingstrategy