Justin Rowe

Founder/CMO @ Impactable - B2B LinkedIn Ads Agency | Acquired in 2021 | 2x Acquisitions in 2024 | Making things up as I go

From Restaurant Hustle to LinkedIn Agency Founder → Acquired → Now Scaling the #1 LinkedIn Ads Agency

I went from serving tables to serving over 1,000 clients in 30+ countries - and building an agency that was acquired in an all-cash buyout.

Starting in the restaurant industry, I had a hunger for something more (pun intended). I turned to LinkedIn to document my journey and connect with people. That content led to job offers, investor conversations, and even a deal to co-launch a restaurant franchise.

I saw the power of LinkedIn firsthand and started helping others. That side hustle turned into Linknlearn, a global lead gen agency built entirely through Upwork and LinkedIn outreach. I became the #1 ranked LinkedIn expert on Upwork, launched a $500 website, and scaled the agency internationally.

In 2021, we were acquired. We pivoted to LinkedIn Ads, launched new tech tools, and Impactable was born.

Today, I lead Impactable — a LinkedIn-Centric B2B Marketing Agency and creators of DemandSense, our proprietary LinkedIn Ads platform. We’ve been recognized by LinkedIn, invited to speak at their Indie Agency Summit, and continue working toward deeper partnerships with their team.

💡 What I’m Focused On Now

👉 Helping B2B brands scale with LinkedIn + Google + Programmatic full-funnel campaigns
👉 Working with clients spending $5K–$200K/month in ad budget to scale high-value pipelines
👉 Building smarter offers, audiences, and funnels through our 90-Day Validation Sprints
👉 Empowering internal marketers with DemandSense: ad scheduling, audience testing, and signal tracking for LinkedIn Ads

🧰 Resources (Free & Paid)

🎯 Free Strategy Resources & Templates
→ linktr.ee/justin_rowe

🛠 LinkedIn Ads Toolset (DemandSense)
→ https://impactable.com/dgp-linkedin-ads-tools/


🎥 LinkedIn Ads + B2B Demand Gen on YouTube
→ https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCATGD6P27kWXDVuaAZeZBuQ/videos

📈 LinkedIn Ads Agency (Done-for-You)
→ https://impactable.com/

💬 Want to Collaborate?

→ Send me a DM if you want to:

Test your audience + offer fit on LinkedIn

Migrate from Google to multichannel demand gen

Build a scalable paid strategy with a trusted partner

Chief Executive Officer

Impactable is a Linkedin Ads Agency that specializes in Linkedin Marketing for B2B companies. We were acquired in 2021 by a data-heavy investor and made a strong pivot into Linkedin advertising. Impactable now manages over 150+ B2B brands with Linkedin advertising being our core focus. 

Other capabilities include website visitor identification, automated Linkedin lead generation, and a few saas tools we are working on.

I've now removed 6,100+ connections in the last 4 months and have 3,500+ more to remove (in this round). Here's why 👇 

Short version:
1. Your networks engagement with your content helps determine reach
2. Much of my network was created early on when I had a career in restaurants (FYI I used to be part owner of 4 restaurants 😜 )

3. I'm all about controlling the things I can control and not complaining about the things I can't. 

I used Sales Navigator to slice and dice my 1st connections and realized there are 7000+ connections that are likely not on LinkedIn any more, wouldn't find any value in my content, and who I should likely just disconnect with. 

LinkedIn has been great for me - it's led to:
1. Connecting with investors that led me to becoming restaurant owner
2. Starting a side-hustle that helped pay for the extra costs of our first son (named Lincoln...which he asks if it h as anything to do with LinkedIn)
3. Turning that side-hustle into an agency that was acquired
4. Continuing to power pipeline for an agency pushing toward 10M ARR

So I understand the power of LinkedIn both organically and on the paid side...and my top advice?

1. Build your network strategically - send 15 connection requests a day and be picky what requests you accept
2. Be clear about your target audience, their pain points, and produce valuable content they'd regularly save and share
3. Spend 5x more time engaging and commenting vs posting
4. Use sales navigator to see ICP profile viewers and send them connection requests
5. Turn your top organic posts into evergreen retargeting ads with thought leadership ads

That's it for today : )

Website LinkedIn Ads Agency: https://lnkd.in/guEafPKk
B2B Strategies and Guides: https://lnkd.in/gB-WQ82f
Impactable YouTube Channel: https://lnkd.in/emYVDn_T

Founder/CEO @ Impactable | B2B LinkedIn Ads Partners | Paid Ads + Demand Gen + B2B Audience Experts

Short Post - LinkedIn Ads Experiment - Manual Bidding vs Impression Bidding for Video Retargeting. 

Early into this but sharing - I recently looked through our own LinkedIn ads campaigns and thought we just were not getting the results we used to from our retargeting layer. 

Main things I look at:
1. Penetration + frequency - are we reaching the whole audience and at a frequency that will move the needle to action?

2. What assets are working/not working and do we need something fresh in rotation

3. What's our CPC/CPM and are we getting decent price for distribution here. 

I'm starting to look at CPM way more than I ever used to because the more I lean into custom lists and really believe in my targeting...the main thing I care about is just distribution at an affordable rate. 

I don't really want/need LinkedIn to try to figure out which pocket of my target list to show/not show my ads to...in fact I'd rather it turn it's brain off and deliver my ads to the target I've set. 

Manual bidding has been and I believe still today is the gold standard...the gold standard Impactable has set (we are still the largest LinkedIn ads agency with the deepest partnership with actual LinkedIn company)...but even our standards need challenged because things change. 

So I notices while we are getting an ok CPC on these ( for video that is) the CPM  looked wild...$300+ CPM for a warm audience...didn't make a ton of sense other than LinkedIn was just being too selective with my list and just showing it to the highest value (in their mind) targets vs just distributing my assets to this list. 

So I switched to bidding by impresssion and then set a lower CPM threshold.

And like magic..2x impressions, 2x clicks, half the CPM. 

So just like manual bidding on CPC...starting to walk down bid for CPM and see where this goes but it's crazy to me the difference. 

I think though for this to be something you can steal/use you have to have a healthy budget of at least $75/day because just like with manual CPC bidding you can't have a daily budget less than your bid and with CPM bidding it might not make sense to be bidding $10-$50/day in most cases because typical CPM might be $50-$150 so daily budget should match as well. 

Well, that's it for today - just sharing what we are learning and how things are shifting.

Website LinkedIn Ads Agency: https://lnkd.in/guEafPKk
B2B Strategies and Guides: https://lnkd.in/gB-WQ82f
Impactable YouTube Channel: https://lnkd.in/emYVDn_T

Shocking study - only 1 in 50 apps that were “vibe coded” by LinkedIn creators 3 months ago are still being used in any way shape or form today.

And this includes the 38,000 people that commented “vibe” to get access to said vibe coded apps. 

None of those people are actually using any of these apps.

But it felt cool in the moment yea? 

I’ve learned over the years that there is a pretty massive difference between what LinkedIn creators say they are doing… and what actual reality is.

These fantasy funnels that look amazing but have never actually been used/tested.

Ai army of 50 agents that replaced a non existing 500k team… even though the poster is a solo founder who’s never even led a team of 10 yet.

Vibe coded apps that saved the poster “hundreds of hours” when really it cost them a hundred hours to make and saved them 30 min on a task they then only used the app for 3 times….

Reality is that it’s still a brutal proving grounds in the market and these “hacks” won’t save you.

Sorry to break it to you but here is the “hack”

1. Know what makes you actually different / unique - own it 

2. Know your targeting - and map out what pockets of that you have to r biggest advantage 

3. Leverage paid search and LinkedIn as a core motion to create and capture demand - google for in market traffic and LinkedIn to qualify and convert that traffic and layer intentional account targeting and insights 

4 organic + paid is where it’s at. LinkedIn organic amplified by thought leadership paid side is soooo powerful 

Don’t sleep on the demand gen motion - it’s a powerful inbound motion 

5. Use AI to amplify and save time from your current activities before trying to do anything crazy or super new 

6. Its not your job or of any benefit to you or anyone else to go around flagging posts written by ai - I’m more worried about all the posts written by morons

Stay tuned for more hot garbage tips

Website LinkedIn Ads Agency: https://lnkd.in/guEafPKk
B2B Strategies and Guides: https://lnkd.in/gB-WQ82f
Impactable YouTube Channel: https://lnkd.in/emYVDn_T

Founder & CEO @ Impactable | B2B LinkedIn Ads Partners | Paid Ads + Demand Gen + AI + Audiences

Marketing Leaders and Founders are getting SCAMED by AI SEO tools/agencies right now - Here's my short educational PSA

1. First of all - 9 out of 10 LLM tools are just monitoring tools. Take a look as you're evaluating them.  Most will have some cool looking chart that shows how many impressions and clicks to your website you're getting from LLM. 

A. Note - your basic free Google analytics will show you this for free. (no joke, it's just there for free)

B. Almost all of these tools are just showing you the numbers...there is basically nothing there for you to actually improve the numbers...and again you can see that for free in your basic web tools you already have. 

2. 7 out of 10 AI SEO experts are posting on my feed saying that they have a list of things that seem to work but the rankings change weekly , it's not stable enough to actually predict, and the sites being pulled from is shifting dramatically from month to month. 

A. This means most seem to just have best guesses - mostly best of lists, comparisons, and publishing accross more channels like reddit, LinkedIn, website, youtube etc.  (so you know..the basics of content distribution)

B. Moving away from traditional blogs and pivoting to using articles to answer real humans questions and in a real human way vs keyword chunking for the robots...ok so big pivot here is stop writing for robots....any one who was still doing this last year was likely headed to the graveyard anyway and AI should'nt have been the catalyst for this change. 

3. Another cool shift I'm seeing is that 3 out of 5 AI SEO experts on my feed are also now just saying AEO is basically not a thing and that it's just SEO, Brand, and Distribution... really just creating more questions than answers. 

4. Traffic trade off - Another fun fact just to keep in mind. 100% of companies who had strong organic traffic and SEO now have traffic from LLMs. 

SEO traffic dropped by 40%
LLM Impressions appeared

These are not two separate things you realize right?

LLM traffic isn't exactly a net new touchpoint that didn't exist before...the same article you published a year ago lost organic impressions and gained LLM impressions - the same user is searching for the same thing and finding your content in a different way in many cases. 

That's a big distinction. 


Here's my advice

1. AEO is real but it's new and evolving and I'd be very skeptical of any tools/experts you are thinking about hiring - most don't actually have it figured out and will actually tell you that when you ask how they can prove action to result. 

2. Don't worry about LLM traffic if you don't have basic SEO foundations and content distribution in place. 

If you think you should skip SEO and go straight for LLM visibility...just no...that's not how this is going to work. 

The #1 best way to show up for LLM is still just having foundational SEO and content distribution (and content written for humans).

Marketing leaders should have HILLS THEY DIE ON. 

If you don't have strong POV's worth fighting for...you're an order taker not a marketing leader which is ok, but let's just be real. 

I know this might sound tough but as an agency owner and someone who's worked with hundreds of marketing leaders and have seen soooooooooo many marketing leaders fired....certain patterns emerge. 

1. Companies that play it safe with marketing are wildly less efficient than they could be. It's strange in marketing but being "safe" is often the most dangerous thing you could do. 

If you're a marketing leader who's faking it till you make it and your goal is to mimic what bigger players are doing..you've already lost and your org and your career will suffer. 

If you as a marketer don't like to have strong opinions or make constant strategic bets...that's fine - settle into a mid-level support role and support someone with a strong POV. 

Most ogs can't win by playing the same game massive orgs do...they have to create space and advantages where they kind find it and take some risks/bets on messaging, positioning, channels, audiences. 

Making bets and then tracking data to prove/pivot is what great marketers tend to do. 

2. Who's responsible for the results?

If you're an order taker, and can't/won't override leaderships opinion on marketing paths...then just make it very clear (and in writing preferably) that you are not responsible for marketing results..just project management. 

Problem is no org would ever accept this...the marketing leader owns results...which means if you order take and go down the wrong path..you get fired...as you should honestly.

I say this from personal experience from being fired (as an agency) dozens of times when we made the mistake of letting clients dictate strategy and then being fired for the poor result. 

As we should have been fired...clients should go to an agency either for pure execution and clear ordertaking (staff aug model) or they should come for a strong POV and guidance...and then actually take that advice or wrestle with it together so we can test/bet/learn together. 

That's how great marketing seems to get done. 

Pressure builds, leaders either shrink in the shadows or step forward with their bold bet....they take the chance to seize glory....and own the responsibility to own failure...to learn from it, and make the next move. 

The good ones fail fast and are constantly learning/growing/testing. 

And honestly...if you're in a place where you can't be bold/creative or take risks without support or feeling like you'll be fired...start looking for another role

Just another fun marketing rant from my view looking in. 

I have a ton of respect for marketing leaders on the battlefield in 2026...it can be brutal, and fun, and exhausting, and rewarding.

Website LinkedIn Ads Agency: https://lnkd.in/guEafPKk
B2B Strategies and Guides: https://lnkd.in/gB-WQ82f
Impactable YouTube Channel: https://lnkd.in/emYVDn_T

Here's how to PROVE LINKEDIN ADS ROI to Leadership
5 ways Marketing Leaders can prove LinkedIn Ads is working 👇 

First, the reason a post like this is even needed is that LinkedIn probably the hardest channel to show value to leadership and often thought of as "a hard nut to crack". 

Here's why:
1. Last click attribution will never give LinkedIn enough credit because all the demand that LinkedIn creates is often finally captured by google organic or paid search when they are ready to buy and LinkedIn won't get credit

Meaning - Someone could come in through paid search click, then see 27 ads on LinkedIn over 90 days and interact 15 times and then search for your company by name when it's time to convert...and google will take the credit. 

2. Hubspot and most CRM's are viewed by leadership as "source or truth" but are terrible attribution tools and mostly credit last touch or direct UTM paths only. 

Meaning...in the example above they originally entered your website via google UTM and then interacted natively with LInkedin ads and then came back to the website via google organic...so LinkedIn won't get credit in most org models. 

Example 2 - Say the LinkedIn ads work really really well and they convert directly..sort of. Typically they'd click on the company logo on the ad, check out your company page, then click "visit website" from there entering into your website in what looks like direct traffic (going to company page remove the Linkedin ads utm so it now just looks like direct traffic no paid ads utms)

3. LinkedIn is where you build trust and accelerate deals...not capture intent. 

This is a big distinction - It's a fundamental flaw to try to compare SEO and paid search by the same metrics right?

Google ads is transactional
SEO is long-term momentum building play

LinkedIn is more like SEO - it's not some transactional channel  capturing demand that already exists..it's the channel that helps create, accelerate, and channel demand...and that can't be tracked the same way as google. 

So how do we actually defend it instead of just rolling over and killing the channel we know is likely working. 

A. CAPI + Conversion Tracking - fight like hell for channel attribution. 
-Setup up conversions for key page views, form submissions, and call bookings. You can't rely on CRM or traditional tools to track LinkedIn ads influence

-CAPI (LinkedIn's conversion API) is a great way to funnel offline events back to LinkedIn 

B. LinkedIn native company hub - big upgrade last year from LinkedIn- you can now see the exact accounts exposed to and engaging with your ads. 

See actual accounts in your funnel, gaining influence, and penetration/heatmap of your ABM upload. 

But tell me...how do you prove LinkedIn ads ROI???

Website LinkedIn Ads Agency: https://lnkd.in/guEafPKk
B2B Strategies and Guides: https://lnkd.in/gB-WQ82f
Impactable YouTube Channel: https://lnkd.in/emYVDn_T

How to PROVE LINKEDIN ADS ROI to Leadership - Part 2.
(See yesterdays post for part 1)

Short version of yesterday's post. 

A. Last click attribution will never give LinkedIn enough credit 
B. Hubspot and most CRM's are viewed by leadership as "source or truth" but are terrible attribution tools 
C. LinkedIn is where you build trust and accelerate deals...not capture intent. It's a middle and bottom of funnel hero and signals command center

Now to the good stuff...how can you prove value of LinkedIn ads to leadership? Where to look??

1. Channel attribution - fight like HELL to get conversion tracking and CAPI (conversion API to upload offline conversions )
-Key page views - leading indicators
-Form fills on site
-Call booking (use CAPI)

Frustration of course is you won't be able to match back to the actual person...but knowing/seeing the channel influence can help

2. LinkedIn Company Hub - Props to LinkedIn for rolling out this great update in 2025 - you can now see the EXACT ACCOUNTS exposed to and engaging with your LinkedIn ads. 

Go in there and filter by uploaded list or by campaign and sort by highest impression/clicks to give leadership a heat map of the accounts LinkedIn is influencing and touching..if these look like great accounts and they are moving through stages from unaware to aware to engaged...that's a great thing to show. 

3. CRM Sync to see LinkedIn ads influence on pipeline deals - there are a few tools on the market for this. My favorite is DemandSense - basically taps into the LinkedIn API and looks up ad exposure to any deals in your pipeline so you can see (image below what that looks like). 

This is great for closed won deals and current pipeline. 

This ads a great data point for leadership to connect ad efforts to tangible deals. 

Bonus if you can then prove/show that the deals with higher Linkedin influence close faster, are better quality deals, and have bigger deal sizes/value (which tends to be the case). 

4. Self-Attribution - feels old school now but it's foundational - for every call booking/demo ASK THEM HOW THEY FOUND YOU. 

Make it a required ask and leave it open ended (not multiple choice). 

It's crazy to me how many times the CRM will say web, search, google...but prospect says it was LinkedIn. 

That's something no leader can ignore. 

5. Other metrics to track on a macro level

The above are data points but a few things tend to consistently happen when running a good LinkedIn ads program in your ecosystem and a smart marketer can track this and prove on a marketing mix level of what's improving. 

When LinkedIn ads are running correctly
A. Deal velocity tends to improve 
B. Show up rates to calls improves 
C. Close rates improve
D. Deal sizes increase 
E. Cost per qualified or quality lead/demo

What did I miss??

Website LinkedIn Ads Agency: https://lnkd.in/guEafPKk
B2B Strategies and Guides: https://lnkd.in/gB-WQ82f
Impactable YouTube Channel: https://lnkd.in/emYVDn_T

If you can't reply to all your own post comments and spend 30 min/day engaging in your home feed.....POSTING MORE WON'T DO ANYTHING. 

One thing you really don't hear enough from the LinkedIn influencers is that posting isn't actually how they get followers and engagers. 

Posting is like 20% of the equation....

So why is that what the influencers focus on the most when they talk about growing on LinkedIn...

Because it's easier to sell...you. 

Said another way....if they were honest with you...you wouldn't give them your money to "build a personal brand". 

So what's the truth?

And this is just my humble/human/flawed/100%correct/jk/ opinion

Here's the secret LinkedIn formula. 

1. 60% engagement 
2. 10% posting quality
3. 10% posting consistency
4. 10% sending targeted connection requests
5. 10% sending targeted dms

The vast majority of what actually helps you become visible, create an engaged following, and drive actual eyeballs to your posts...engaging with others like this is a networking event. 

Rules to live by
A. 90% of those who send you connection requests are trying to sell you...be selective with who you accept. 

Either build your own network (send requests) or get built into everyone else's network (accept requests)

B. Send 10-15 targeted connection requests per day to strategically build your network. 

Start with warm ICP fit profile visitors + company page followers (use Sales Nav to see this)

C. Spend 30 min a day if you can engaging in your home feed and removing anyone who's posts will never give you value (and takes away valuable time you could be spending engaging with those who might have value). 

This does a few things..leans into the human nature of quid pro quo (this for that), and it also tells the algo that those engaging with eachother might want to see the next post published so it increases the number of people your posts show up at top of feed. 

D. Send intro messages to new ICP fit connections - nothing crazy..just introduce yourself and how you could help if/when they have a need. After that just go back to adding value with posts + engagement

E. Use organic to test and then use LinkedIn thought leader ads to amplify and guarantee distribution of your best content to your best warm prospects (website visitors, company page visitors, current pipeline etc)

Just a little hot garbage tip (stole this from minecraft movie...I have a 6 year old) for Linkedin today - nothing special. 

P.S. Stop worrying about if you should even post and if anyone cares..and about all the bigger influencers on here so why bother.....truth is if you have 1k connections and they are actually targeted (you sent the invites)....90% of them have less than 500 connections and their feeds are DEAD...to them..YOU ARE THE MOST VISIBLE EXPERT

Your feed is not their feed

You're not competing against the influencers in your feed.
Your connections don't even know who they are...

IT's IN YOU HEAD. 

Create your own targeted ponds ; )

Still one of the most underrated combo's in B2B 
Google Ads + LinkedIn Retargeting = 20% lower CAC in many cases

This single fact - LinkedIn is the only native ads platform in existence that can see all your website traffic (yes even traffic from Google ads, bing, SEO, organic, paid listing sites...all of it) ...

AND THEN Layer on qualifying filters such as industry, company size, job title or seniority level and job function - distilling your traffic down to just warm ICP fit traffic which is pure gold to target with ads for next 90-days while they are in decision mode. 

And why do we think they are in decision mode?

Because if you have a solid Google ads strategy, then you are targeting high-intent and in-market traffic. 

For us, we are bidding on things like

LinkedIn ads agency
B2B LinkedIn ads management service
LinkedIn marketing experts

These searches have what I call an Intent modifier. 

Agency, service, platform, solution, vendor, provider, expert, partner....words like this tell us the person is looking for someone else to execute vs just educating themselves to execute on their own. 

This type of traffic is usually later on in the buyer journey. 

They are problem aware, solution aware, and looking to now choose the right vendor/solution and you are now in the running. 

That's why Google search traffic is so expensive...because when done right it's pure gold. 

But the harsh reality is that this traffic is not just expensive but highly competitive. The prospect is often visiting 3-4 competitor sites as well. 

Pressure for that landing page and 1st click experience is critical..it's basically you're only shot at the lead. 

But that's exactly where LinkedIn retargeting for qualified visitors changes the story. You now can continue the conversation over the next 90 days when the prospect is likely to make a decision and give them the reasons to choose you. 

Things they might not have seen in their 2 minutes on your site. 

Tell them why you're different
Tell them why they can trust you
Tell them what success with you looks like
Tell them what the experiences of others who worked with you looked like

You do this through digital nurturing with LinkedIn ads campaigns. 

And you do it on the platform that B2B buyers actually log in to be influenced on B2B buying decisions...think about it..that's why we are all here. 

We are here to see what other orgs are doing, what new strategies exist, what tools others are using, what tactics and channels and solutions are helping others win...we WANT to be influenced on things that can solve our challenges. 

That's why this combo works so well...there is really nothing like it. 

And honestly, I'm seeing this is just one piece of the puzzle. There are other multi-channel plays and combos like this that just fit so beautifully together. 

So much so you feel like you didn't even understand how marketing could work until that clicked mentally into place.

TL;DR If you run Google budgets 10-30k+/mo , LinkedIn is no longer a separate experiment. LinkedIn should be a mandatory strategic deployment to prote

Open article: Improve Google Ads ROI 2-3x With LinkedIn Account + Signal Based Retargeting by Justin Rowe • 6 min read

Improve Google Ads ROI 2-3x With LinkedIn Account + Signal Based Retargeting

What happens if you SHUT LINKEDIN ADS OFF TODAY? 
Here's exactly what would happen for most... 👇 

I know a lot of marketing leaders who end up having to defend their LinkedIn ads budget or leadership forces them to shut it down..and they don't quite know how to fight that battle. 

And I get it - LinkedIn Ads is one of the harder channels to prove ROI/Influence to leadership. 

So part of what I think is healthy to understand is what happens when you shut it off...since they don't think it's doing anything or maybe not enough...

Here's what really happens. 

• Immediate (1–2 weeks): committee reach drops. Fewer titles in target accounts see your messaging, so sales gets fewer “warm” conversations and more cold, noisy inbound.

-Small drop in conversions/demos and in quality but that won't be fully visible for weeks more.

• Delayed (4–12 weeks): Google and other high-intent channels convert less efficiently. Demo conversion rates and win rates fall as buyers lack prior exposure and trust.

Cost per conversion start to creep up on Google and ROAS starts to slip. 
You'll also notice in google analytics that your returning visitors numbers starts to drop. You're still attracting new visitors..just not getting the right ones to return as much. 

• Hidden (weeks → months): sales blames search or creative, not the missing upstream influence. Deal size, velocity and pipeline quality degrade subtly and are misattributed.

Why?

 LinkedIn is the upstream qualifier and committee builder: it turns anonymous clicks into identified, fit accounts and builds coverage across decision makers. 

So how can you position/prove this to leadership if needed?

Where to look to prove the effect (and what leadership will actually accept) These are great things to track anyways..sometimes just knowing the direction these are going on a macro level helps us know if we are headed in a good/bad direction. 

• Decision-maker reach in your TAL: % of target accounts where a decision maker was reached.
• TAL penetration: % of target accounts with 3+ impressions or engagements.
• Branded search lift: volume or share of branded queries while LinkedIn is live.
• Qualified conversations / meetings booked that map to engaged accounts.
• Pipeline created or influenced for warmed accounts.


Most of this can be found either in native LinkedIn company hub and dashboard and in a tool like DemandSense that syncs with CRM's like hubspot to show LinkedIn influence on pipeline. 

And all of this is actually only true if you are using LinkedIn retargeting frameworks properly to actually qualify and convert your Search and Website traffic to actually make it an ROI enhancer like it's supposed to be. 

Hopefully this helps someone confidently talk about the value of LinkedIn Ads.

Website LinkedIn Ads Agency: https://lnkd.in/guEafPKk
B2B Strategies and Guides: https://lnkd.in/gB-WQ82f
Impactable YouTube Channel: https://lnkd.in/emYVDn_T

Linkedin ads shut off

I could almost GUARANTEE ROI of adding LinkedIn Ads if these are true....
And I'll explain why...and exactly how I'd build it. 

Not to toot my own horn but I believe our agency (Impactable) is responsible for introducing more B2B orgs to LinkedIn ads than any other agency in the world. 

Bold claim I know but I think it's true. 

So much so that LinkedIn even noticed and...

A. We've been invited to attend and speak at multiple LinkedIn Agency Summit's in their New York Office
B. Gotten access to more than $200,000+ in LinkedIn ad credits from our partnership
C. Set to be the first LinkedIn CAPI (conversion API) certified agency in the world. 
D. Participated in LinkedIn's customer advisory board
E. On track to be the first every agency to become agency + ad tech partners of LinkedIn (via our tech arm in DemandSense which is easily the #1 LinkedIn ads optimization tool on the market)

I say all this because introducing B2B advertisers to LinkedIn is something we've gotten damn good at...and part of that is knowing who should NOT be running LinkedIn ads and who should be. 

So here's the simple list and short why

1. Strong Paid Search - 10k+/mo in paid search spend
-This is a strong indicator that you've got high-intent and in-market traffic that you could be doing more to convert

2. Strong organic and/or SEO foundation 
- another warm audience pocket and fuel for LinkedIn middle of funnel plays and intel

3. Website that actually converts some 
- signal that paid traffic won't be a complete waste of money

4. LinkedIn Company Page has 5k+ followers
-Another warm audience pocket to work with
-Signal that your audience is active and reachable on LinkedIn

5. Strong sales motion with SDR/BDR support
-These are bigger deals with longer sales cycles...many orgs find it hard to realize the ROI of LInkedIn leads that require some actual manual effort to convert and stay in front of

Those are the top 5 traits I'd look for...if you have 3+ of these...I'd pretty much guarantee you can get a positive ROI from deploying LinkedIn ads (if done right). 

And honestly...no additional spend. 

Slide 20% of your Google budget to LinkedIn and watch the following happen. 

-Google CPA improve by 15%
-Number of conversion on Google +15%
-Quality of conversion +10%
-Time to close -10%
-Show up rate of leads to demo call +20%
-Close rate of active pipeline +15%
-CAC -10%

Read the full newsletter where I also then show what the 6-month rollout looks like and give away the 20+ deck for the 6-month build...steal it, run it, thank me latter 

Honestly - if you're a marketer looking to introduce LinkedIn to your org and you want a badass launch plan that leadership will buy into...

Shoot me a DM and my team can help build it out for free and help you make the case with your actual numbers.

Website LinkedIn Ads Agency: https://lnkd.in/guEafPKk
B2B Strategies and Guides: https://lnkd.in/gB-WQ82f
Impactable YouTube Channel: https://lnkd.in/emYVDn_T

Most B2B companies should not start with LinkedIn Ads. Yes..I'm aware I run one of the largest LinkedIn Ads agencies out there but also why I'm able t

Open article: When LinkedIn Ads Is a No-Brainer (And When ROI Is Almost Guaranteed) by Justin Rowe • 7 min read

When LinkedIn Ads Is a No-Brainer (And When ROI Is Almost Guaranteed)

In B2B Marketing...Humans are still very much influencing big deals (shocker right?)

That was a big takeaway from my conversation with Gabe Larsen, CRO of Signals.

When everything starts to look the same, especially in the age of AI, buyers stop comparing features. They start asking people they trust.

Gabe shared that more and more buying decisions are happening before a demo ever takes place. 

People are leaning on their network, not review sites or feature checklists.

That’s why trust has to be built upstream.

Through real conversations, visible leadership, and showing up consistently where your buyers already spend time. 

The demo just confirms what they already believe.

#B2BMarketing #TrustBasedSelling #ThoughtLeadership #PersonalBrand #Impactable

New Marketing Leaders - Here's Exactly When and How to add LinkedIn Ads to your ecosystem - Time to get that Promotion (or maybe just not get fired)

First thing's First - Who should be running LinkedIn ads or when can you add it and it be pretty low risk/high chance of success? (because no marketing leader wants to strike out with their ideas). 

Quick “LinkedIn Ads Perfect Fit” checklist:
1+ years in market (trust + PMF more likely present)
5,000+ monthly website visitors (warm audience 🔥 )
SEO or organic driving inbound conversions (at least some consistently)
$10k+/mo in paid search or similar paid channels (in-market trafffic to work with)
5,000+ LinkedIn company page visitors (audience active and reachable on LInkedIn)
Conversions happen on the site and you have a sales team + CRM
Willing to run a 90 day test with a minimum test budget

IF some or most of these exist...LinkedIn ads is likely one of the highest impact moves you can make to see quick wins, improved funnel metrics and usually higher ROI for same spend by simply moving weaker pockets of google spend over to LinkedIn. 

In this weeks newsletter I go over the exact criteria that I call the perfect storm that make LinkedIn ads super low risk and then exactly how I'd approach introducing LinkedIn ads and the logic that helps explain it to leadership. 

Take a read and ask any questions!

Website LinkedIn Ads Agency: https://lnkd.in/guEafPKk
B2B Strategies and Guides: https://lnkd.in/gB-WQ82f
Impactable YouTube Channel: https://lnkd.in/emYVDn_T

I've noticed a very specific pattern where companies fit a certain criteria that I'm kind of calling "the perfect fit for LinkedIn ads" and when this 

Open article: A Marketing Leader's Field Guide to Launching a Profitable LinkedIn Ads Motion by Justin Rowe • 10 min read

A Marketing Leader's Field Guide to Launching a Profitable LinkedIn Ads Motion

AI ad image + copy analysis AND image variations in less than 60 seconds?????
I'm damn impressed by this. 

This is what I've just got my hands on and am testing - but this is pretty crazy. 

One of the things AI is allowing us to do is aggregate and cross-reference data better and faster and wield it like more powerful weapon than ever before. 

At Impactable we have launched and managed thousands of LinkedIn ad campaigns and that data is now being weaponized to inform on copy and design and it's absolutely going to be a secret sauce of ours and a competitive advantage. 

Our amazing team also has an AI agent that can do competitor research on LinkedIn ad campaigns by visiting their LinkedIn ad libraries and combing through all of their ads and comparing and contrasting all the variables vs benchmarks and top industry performers to spot patterns that would take the best humans weeks to do. 

This is something that got me very excited!

Shout out to some of our Impactable AI OGs - Nemanja Jovanovic Nikolay Titov Anna K. Branko Jovanovic Vladimir Ilić 

We have some big plans in 2026 to use AI responsibly but to weaponize our POV, strategies, frameworks, and aggregated campaign data to fuel better/faster insights for our clients. 

Check yourself before you wreck yourself 😉

If your positioning is off, no channel will fix it.

That was one of the strongest points from my conversation with Oleg Kovalev, CMO of Aspect Health.

Yes, channels still matter. 

But success on any platform comes down to clarity, not activity. 

Oleg is a great example of that. He was able to build meaningful momentum and grow his audience quickly by being clear on who he was speaking to and why his message mattered.

But his bigger point was this.
Channels and assets are secondary. 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴.

He’s seen more startups fail because they didn’t clearly define who they were for and why they mattered, not because they picked the wrong channel or ran out of budget.

Get the positioning wrong and no channel will save you.
Get it right and almost any channel can work.

#B2BMarketing #Positioning #StartupMarketing #LinkedInGrowth #Impactable

Some of the best B2B marketers didn’t start in marketing at all.

That was clear in my conversation with Oleg Kovalev, CMO of Aspect Health.

Oleg started his career in B2B sales, not marketing. 

Within a few years, he moved from sales rep to leading retail sales, helping grow revenue nearly fivefold. 

Eventually, sales and marketing merged into one department under his leadership.

That’s where he fell in love with marketing.

What stood out to me is how much that sales foundation shaped his perspective. 

When you’ve carried a quota, led teams, and driven revenue firsthand, marketing stops being abstract. It becomes deeply connected to outcomes.

Seventeen years later, that blended background still shows up in how he approaches his role today.

#B2BMarketing #MarketingLeadership #SalesAndMarketing #CareerJourney #Impactable

Most orgs think "they have plenty of strategy" - Spoiler alert...they don't
A comment I made to a post saying Orgs just need faster execution from agencies. 

The original post - super smart man who's built multiple businesses and makes the point that orgs are giving this feedback. 

-Agencies move to slow and just want to focus on "stratetegy"
-The orgs believe they have "plenty of strategy" and just need faster execution
-The orgs complain that agencies are taking 3 months to make beautiful strategy and playbooks before doing actual meaningful work
-The orgs say they just need faster execution..just do the work!

Now I 100% believe this is the feedback he's getting from orgs...but let me share my perspective form the agency side. 

1. When most orgs say they "just need execution" and they "have plenty of strategy"...9 times out of 10 what the reality is more like this. 

-They are desperate for leads and are seeing a decline due to lack of great positioning or PMF or clear idea of audience/offer and they need to show leadership some "results"

So the "action" they are looking for is for the agency to throw up some lead gen ads and put the coins in the ol slot machine and get the leads out so they can save their job

But I'm looking at this like...if I do that..and shovel hot garbage leads to save your job...you're still getting fired in 6 months when sales eventually uncovers the hot mess and lack of quality/intent leads your pushing their way. 

2. I'll admin most agencies arn't really that helpful on the strategic front either. They make beautiful decks to mask lack of actual creative thoughts or business accumen. 

They think if you make the reports pretty enough it will kick sand in your eyes and distract you from the truth...that's not how an agency should operate. 

3. I'll also admit that many agencies also are super slow to get their hands in and actually start the work. 

They are often more concerned with looking good and mitigating risk and stretching out the engagement that quick starts and quick action just isn't their priority (and many arn't actually built for it either)


My advice when working with an agency?

Understand who really owns strategy and what it is. 
1. Are you actually clear about how you're unique in the market?
2. Are you actually clear about who you are targeting and why and what their real pain points are and how you uniquely solve?

3. Are you clear about the size of those audiences, what warm and 1st party data exists, and how much budget is needed to accomplish your goals for that audience?
4. Are you clear about what channels to deploy that budget and how to structure it to accomplish those goals?
5. Are you clear on how we'd measure and track progress against those goals?

90% of orgs either arn't super clear on this or have assumptions that need challenged..which means you need a strategic partner...not just execution. 

But also...agencies...get your freaking lives together...giving us a bad name lol

Actual Hot Take.....99% of "Hot Takes" are just garbage click bait with no real POV or anyone who really disagrees with you. 

Take this for example...my hot take here is clearly something you agree with and not controversial at all and yet you feel like you just want to slam the like/share button and scream "this dude get's it!"

And now that I've called it out..you're not sure if you should like this post or ignore it to "put me in my place" ...which is also something that happens here on LinkedIn. 

You see, everyone wants to support you until you actually start being successful and then they think you're overrated and nothing special....

Until you cross that line where the success is undeniable and you clearly have growing support without them...then they finally join back in as it clearly benefits them to be connected to your success and their "dis" clearly isn't negativly impacting you...

That's a crazy thought...creators on here might withhold support to "punish" those they are jealous of but give that up only when they realize they don't actually hold that sort of power. 

My advice?

Content creators on here arn't your demographic...F*k them

Do you and focus on delivering value to your ICP, develop real relationships with other founders in complimentary spaces...and don't get lost in the politics of LinkedIn (or actual politics for that matter...you won't catch me speaking on politics). 

I've been on here long enough to know the game and how to win in the long run - stick with me if you want to learn : )

AI isn’t just another tool. 
It’s becoming a coworker.

That was one of the most interesting takeaways from my conversation with Gabe Larsen, CRO of Signals.

Instead of thinking about AI as something that handles one-off tasks, Gabe is focused on what he calls cloud employees. 

Autonomous, job-based AI that works across channels and owns real responsibilities.

Think less “𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵” and more “𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦.”

In the future, a SaaS company might not be 200 people.
It might be 200 people working alongside 200 cloud employees.

That shift challenges the idea that growth has to mean more headcount.

We’re moving from tool-first thinking to organization-first thinking.

The way companies scale is changing and the ones who adapt early will have an unfair advantage.

Website LinkedIn Ads Agency: https://lnkd.in/guEafPKk
B2B Strategies and Guides: https://lnkd.in/gB-WQ82f
Impactable YouTube Channel: https://lnkd.in/emYVDn_T


#ArtificialIntelligence #AIInBusiness #FutureOfWork #B2BSaaS #Impactable

Marketers are asked to prove impact in ways sales never are.

Sales doesn’t invent attribution.
They don’t design the system.
They don’t debate what “counts.”

The CRM already exists.
Pipeline stages are defined.
Revenue is the output.

Marketing operates very differently.

To prove impact, marketers are expected to:

Learn and master $1k/month attribution tools

Stitch together CRM, GA, and ad platform data

Create custom views and narratives leadership will accept

And somehow make it all feel objective and trustworthy

This is why attribution tools are raising hundreds of millions of dollars.
And yet… attribution is still one of the biggest problems in marketing.

Not because the data doesn’t exist.
But because the structure doesn’t.

A HubSpot report like this one is incredibly insightful - Something cool I built over the weekend looking for additional ways we can show marketing data in ways leadership will trust (and Hubspot/CRM is of course going to get accepted  more than any 3rd party tool/report). 

These reports shown break down opportunities by source (Google vs LinkedIn), then by company size and industry, tells a real story about quality, direction, and momentum.

It was really cool to see in this case that LinkedIn brought in bigger opportunities more constantly and Google search had more sporadic size over time. 

Also super interesting to see which industries seem to be showing higher levels of in-market signals (coming in via google search) vs what industries are being directly targeted on LInkedIn. 

It's possible that this could be a good signal to consider when splitting and prioritizing account lists. 

But here’s the catch:

That story only matters if the organization agrees it matters.

In most companies, marketers don’t just analyze data.
They have to create the narrative, define the rules, and convince leadership to trust it.

And if they don’t?
The marketer gets blamed.
Then replaced.
And the next marketer walks into the same environment with no trusted system to operate inside.

Same problem. New person.

This isn’t a performance issue.
It’s an org design issue.

Sales works inside a structure that already defines success.
Marketing is expected to build the structure while being judged by it.

My conviction:

Either organizations evolve to give marketing a first-class measurement system

Or agencies will increasingly be forced to fill that gap.

Not just by running campaigns, but by creating the attribution, tracking, and reporting framework the business actually operates on.

Until then, marketers will keep doing two jobs:
Driving growth.
And inventing the system that proves it.

Jason Vana

Marketing Director

Attract the RIGHT customers to your business | Brand & content strategist | Founder at SHFT | Known as #sassyjason

Struggling to attract the right clients?

You have a brand strategy issue.

Attracting the right people requires understanding why they should buy from YOU, when there are 1000’s of other options easily accessible through Google.

In order to attract, convert, and retain the right clients, you need to:

- Know what makes your business unique
- Communicate what makes your business unique
- Create an experience that shows what makes your business unique

It’s all about highlighting your uniqueness.

That’s where my agency steps in.

Through collaborative workshops, research, strategy, and design, we will help you uncover, communicate, and build an experience around your uniqueness.

Working with us typically looks like:

- industry, competitor, and customer research
- brand and marketing workshops 
- brand and marketing strategies
- design (logos, websites, marketing materials)

It culminates in an Onlyness Action Plan — your 1 year, step-by-step brand and marketing to-do list.

All so you become the ONLY choice for your ideal customers.

And make a lot more money.

Want to learn more?

Send me a message.
Or book a call at shft.agency/discovery

Founder & CEO

We transform B2B service companies into the ONLY choice for their ideal customers. Our clients see a 20%+ increase in revenue with our brand and content strategies. 

Here's how we help:

◼️ Brand Strategy (customers, uniqueness, messaging, touchpoints, story)
◼️ Brand Design (logos, colors, fonts, collateral)
◼️ Content Strategy (demand gen, content creation)
◼️ LinkedIn (strategy, content, profile audits)

Interested in learning more? DM me or book a discovery call below.

Positioning is not a brand.
Positioning is not a design.
Positioning is not a product.
Positioning is not a message.
Positioning is not a pitch deck.
Positioning is not a case study.
Positioning is not a marketing tactic.
Positioning is not the content you create.

It's the space you own in the mind of your ideal customer.

How they think about you when you're not in the room. - Bezos
The gut feeling they have about your business. - Neumeier
The reputation you hold. - every marketer ever

And it's influenced by:

- your brand
- your product
- your message
- your case studies
- your marketing tactics
- your logo and colors
- your sale process
- your operations
- your pitch deck
- your content
- your price

Determine the space you want to OWN in the minds of your ideal customers.

Everything else should influence that perception.

Or, just let your website developer write your messaging.

I'm sure that will work, too.

(Hint: it won't)

✌🏼

#shftyourbrand

Turn your sharpest edge into a market-leading position. I build b2b service brands that stand out + drive revenue. Founder/CEO at Shft.Agency. Brand Strategist. Known as #SassyJason

Operations > personality

Most branders and marketers will fight me on this.

Somewhere along the line personality became the "it" thing.

All driven by the "people buy from people" mindset.

Which is slightly true.

Yes, people buy from people.

But they buy from people who:
- they resonate with
- can solve their problem
- can paint the picture of their future
- provide value they can't find elsewhere

All of that revolves around one thing:

An uncopyable element.

Something you DO that no other business does.

Notice the emphasis on "do."

It's operations, actions, deliverables.

Not personality. 

Extract that uncopyable element from your operations.

Then build your brand personality, messaging, marketing, content, pitch decks, social proof, hiring practices — everything! — around it.

Your brand will show depth. Value. Differentiation.

And give customers a reason to choose YOU.

If you're into that sort of thing, that is.

✌🏼

#shftyoubrand

Create a brand system to attract better-fit, higher-paying clients. | I build b2b service brands that stand out + drive revenue. Founder/CEO at Shft.Agency. Brand Strategist. Known as #SassyJason

Shft is undergoing a rebrand.

And we started in a place most brand agencies ignore:

Our operations.

Most rebrands start with vibes.

Purpose, mission, vision, values, personality.

That's the path to blending in.

Because all of those can be copied.
(Yes, including your personality.)

But you know what can't be copied?

That one thing you DO that your competitors can't or won't do.

So we started there.

Dug into what Shft actually does differently.

You know what we found?

We don't brand based on vibes.
We brand based on operations.

The thing you DO.
The methodology you follow.
The one step in your process no one else does.

Hell, the first step working with us is an Offer workshop.

We dig into your offer, process, and deliverable to extract what makes you different.

THAT'S our uncopyable element.

Because most branders out there are personality creators.

They give you adjectives, stories, archetypes, mission statements...

But never touch operations, sales, or even your offer.

🤦🏻‍♂️

Our rebrand will be launching in a few months.

But I'll be sharing the process as we go.

So you understand why vibe branding is a sham.

And operational branding makes you stand out.

Stay tuned.

✌🏼

#shftyourbrand

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Hey there!

Stoked to hear you're looking to find your unique brand differentiator!

Here's the link to download my B2B ‘Just Be Authentic’ Playbook:

https://findyourdifferentiation.com/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=linkedin&utm_campaign=launch_dm

I've spent weeks working on this resource, and I honestly think you'll find it super valuable.

Let me know if you have any questions as you go through it, and enjoy!

-Jason

Content Driven By Brand Strategy

📌 The best content is driven by a solid brand strategy.

- know your ideal customers
- know what makes your offer unique
- know your position in the market
- know the right tone and voice

Then create content that intersects all three.

You'll never create content your ideal customers love if you don't know who they are.

Want your content to generate real revenue?

DM me today or visit https://shft.agency/content 

Offer -> Brand Strategy

📌 The right offer matters.

No amount of marketing, content, or personal branding will help you sell a sh*t offer long-term.

And it certainly won't be something people pay a premium price for.

Nailing your offer is a core step in creating a profitable brand.

Need help with that?

DM me or visit https://shft.agency/services/brand-strategy to get started.

Clarity Call: Offer

📌 Productizing your strategy or service offer makes it much easier to sell.

Think of it like hiding your strategy behind a core deliverable. 

You sell the deliverable.
And your service/strategy is HOW you create the deliverable.

Need help with that?

We can nail it down in a 1-hour Clarity Call.

DM me or book a call directly at https://shft.agency/clarity 

Go Up Market

📌  You won't be able to successfully stumble up-market.

You need a solid brand strategy to help determine:

- your new ICP
- your new position
- your new price points
- your new differentiation
- your new brand personality

Getting that nailed down will make your transition up-market far more successful.

And by successful, I mean profitable.
For you.

Want to move up-market successfully?

I've helped 125+ businesses reposition their brand for maximum profitability.

DM me for more or visit https://shft.agency/services/brand-strategy 

Brand Strategy

📌 I'm not saying all is lost when you don't start with a brand strategy.

But, starting with one makes revenue generation far easier and faster than just 'testing' what works.

The need to 'test' is often the result of not having the right foundation for your business.

Get that foundation in place and you'll be able to move faster and make far more money.

Need help with that?

I might know a #SassyStrategist who can help.

DM me or visit https://shft.agency/services/brand-strategy to get started today.

Strategy myths = invisible chains on your business.

I see them everywhere.

And they hold back founders who should be making bank.

Here are 13 strategy myths I hear constantly (especially on LinkedIn):

1. "Strategy is just for big companies."
Small businesses need strategy MORE.

2. "We can figure it out as we go."
That's called guessing, not strategizing.

3. "Strategy takes too long."
Know what takes longer? Fixing years of random decisions.

4. "Our strategy is to work harder."
That's not a strategy. That's being stupid.

5. "We need to be everywhere."
No. You need to dominate somewhere specific.

6. "Strategy and tactics are the same thing."
Strategy is WHERE you're going. Tactics are HOW you get there.

7. "Good products sell themselves."
In what universe? Even Apple has a strategy.

8. "We'll pivot if it doesn't work."
Pivoting without a strategy is just flailing in a different direction.

9. "Strategy is too expensive."
Wasting money on the wrong things is expensive.

10. "Our team is too small for strategy."
Your team is too small NOT to have one.

11. "We just need more leads."
You need the RIGHT leads. That requires strategy.

12. "Strategy kills creativity."
Wrong. It focuses creativity where it matters most.

13. "We can copy what competitors do."
You're a special kind of stupid, aren't you?

These myths keep businesses stuck.

Strategy isn't a luxury reserved for Fortune 500 companies.

It's the difference between building something that lasts...
...and wasting time and money on "testing" stupid ideas.

Stop believing the myths.
Start building with intention.

That, my friend, happens with a strategy.

✌🏼

#shftyourbrand

13 Strategy Myths that Hinder Revenue | Shft Agency

Becoming uncopyable starts in with your operations.

Something you DO that your competitors can't or won't.

Take these uncopyable elements from some of our clients:

- IoT remote monitoring system that outputs a prioritized checklist
- Energy recruiter that presents candidate profiles instead of resumes
- IaC developer that upskills your developers on operational workflows
- MVP and website developer that designs a tech experience, not just a platform
- Vacuum pump remanufacturer that tests tolerances on every screw, nut, and component part

We built their position around those uncopyable elements.

Messaging, marketing, pitch decks, social proof, content, design, copy — it all points back to that ONE thing.

That's what your brand SHOULD do:

Make it clear why customers should choose you.

Because if you don't...

- you'll sound like every other business
- you'll confuse prospects
- you'll rely heavily on sales

And when customers don't know WHY they should choose you, they don't.

It's basic buyer psychology.

Find your uncopyable element. 
Own it in everything you do.

Or don't be surprised when prospects choose your competitors.

✌🏼

#shftyourbrand

----
PS - I'm sharing how in Saturday's Brand Shft email. Click the link in my bio to subscribe.

I run a branding agency. We do NOT have:

- purpose statement
- vision statement
- mission statement

And guess what? WE STILL LAND CLIENTS.

Shocking, I know.

According to most brand agencies, marketing gurus, and influencers, you can't operate without those statements.

You need to know your WHY.
You need a purpose.
Customers want to know your mission.

Bollocks. 

I didn't start Shft with a 'why.'
(other than wanting to work for myself)

And I don't feel lost, confused, or struggle to land clients.

Because your WHY doesn't really matter to clients.

You know what matters to them?

- You can solve their problem
- In a way that matters to them
- Within their budget

Show that, and your purpose, vision, mission, and values don't matter.

Here's how:

- Uncover your uncopyable IP
- Operationalize it
- Showcase proof
- Share your expertise

👆🏼 Doing that will get you further than spending months nailing your mission statement.

Because purpose, vision, mission, and values are great.

They should outline how your team acts.

But you know what makes money?

An Uncopyable IP.

- Process
- Operation
- Deliverable
- Methodology

Start there.

You'll make a sh*t ton more money.

While your competitors are still trying to finalize their mission statement.

✌🏼

#shftyourbrand

Most brands are built on a vibe:

- purpose
- mission
- vision
- values
- personality

Elements that FEEL important.
But don't really matter to the market.

Be honest:

When was the last time you purchased a SaaS product because the mission of the company resonated so deeply with you that you couldn't help but give them your money?

If you said anything other than never, you're lying.

Vibe branding is surface level.

And keeps you locked in a struggle to attract and convert your ideal customers.

That's why I focus on operational branding.

- extract your differentiation from your operations
- build your brand around that differentiation
- create a unique and ownable position

Start with your operations.
The one uncopyable thing you do.

(Hint: you do have one)

And create everything around it.

It gives your brand depth.
An ownable IP.
And makes you uncopyable.

Create a your brand on a vibe...
...and you'll blend in to all the AI-generated noise.

OR

Create your brand on the one uncopyable thing you do.

And watch as customers repeatedly choose you over the competition.

✌🏼

#shftyourbrand

----
PS - Find what makes you uncopyable in this Saturday's Brand Shft email. Link in comments and in my bio.

Building a moat around your brand starts with one thing:

Your uncopyable element.

The one thing you DO that:

- your ideal customers want or need
- your competitors can't or won't do

Call it your onlyness, differentiation, uniqueness, USP, or your value.

Most founders look for it in their personality, purpose, or team.

And try to own some form of being the best.

(Industry leading, highest quality, single source of truth)

All those do is position your business as the same.

- same offer
- same value
- same message
- same look and feel

And ultimately competing on price.

Because vibe branding lacks one key element to business growth:

A real reason for customers to choose you.

Extract your uncopyable element. 
Build your brand around it.
Own that place in the market.

And watch as customers continue to choose you.

I'm sharing how to extract what makes you uncopyable in tomorrow's Brand Shft email.

Subscribe today to get it → https://lnkd.in/gvmiU8YE

Or, you know, keep pushing your mission statement and personality.

Like every other damn B2B company out there.

I'm sure that will make you stand out.

(NOT)

✌🏼

#shftyoubrand

Treat AI like an intern.

It's great at performing mundane, repetitive tasks:

- finding patterns
- researching trends
- analyzing data sets
- clarifying your thinking
- creating low-level graphics
- organizing and qualifying leads

Hell, I use it to find competitors' social media profiles.
Pull analytics.
Find industry patterns.

And even point out what they AREN'T doing.

All things I could train an intern to do.

Because in order to get AI to do that level of work...

YOU HAVE TO TRAIN IT LIKE AN INTERN.

Give it examples.
Explain what to do.
Explain what not to do.
Document a process.
Review its work.

AI is NOT going to run your business while you sleep.

Or take a single prompt and spit out the most industry-shattering idea that will make you millions.

Or help you to stand out and do something different.

(it's not even built that way)

AI is an intern.

Treat it that way.

Or keep expecting it to be your strategist, content creator, and business coach.

Don't be surprised when you look, sound, and have the same offer as every other competitor on the market.

Because that's what AI will give you.

The average of everything it's trained on.

✌🏼

#shftyourbrand

Brand awareness ≠ brand recognition

Yet, that's how most founders and marketers treat it.

Failed marketing campaign? It's brand awareness.
Failed tradeshow presence? It's brand awareness.
Failed content implementation? It's brand awareness.

As long as the market sees the brand name and logo, and can recall it, that's brand awareness, right?!

WRONG.

That's brand recognition, not awareness.

Let's clear something up right now.

Brand awareness is achieved when people know:

- the brand name
- what the brand does
- how the brand could impact them

Much deeper than brand recognition alone.

And the only way to achieve true brand awareness?

Brand inclusion.

Your brand shows up when and where ideal customers are searching.

Stop using brand awareness as an excuse for marketing's failures.
Or seeing it as brand recognition.

Awareness is about seeing your brand as a solution.

NOT just recognizing your damn logo.

✌🏼

#shftyourbrand

Launching an effective brand requires:

- Uncopyable IP (operation, process, methodology)
- Deep understanding of their ideal customers
- Clear and compelling messaging
- Few, but aligned, offers
- Offer staircase to make selling easier
- Relevant experience (marketing, sales, operations)

THAT'S the bare minimum.

Especially if you want to stand out, increase revenue, and become the only choice for your ideal customers.

Not purpose.
Not mission.
Not vision.
Not personality.
Not even design.

You need the ability to communicate:

- The unique benefit you bring to the market
- For whom
- How

And turn that into a system to attract and convert clients.

The rest are nice-to-haves, but not requirements.

Looking to launch a new brand?
Trying to reposition your existing brand?
Want to go up-market and attract higher-paying clients?

Skip the purpose, mission, vision, and values.

Nail your uncopyable IP.
And develop a system to own it in the market.

That will take you further than any purpose statement or new design can.

Imagine that.

✌🏼

#shftyourbrand

----
PS - Create a launchpad for your new or repositioned brand with our Brand Launchpad offer. 4 weeks to get the necessities of a brand strategy. Only $7,500 and only taking on 2 clients this quarter. Learn more in the comments.

75% of Shft's revenue comes through my LinkedIn account.

And no, it's not from my content alone.

Ghostwriters and gurus will tell you that great content is enough to get leads sliding into your DMs like a thirsty married woman wanting you to join her and her husband.

(I've gotten that DM before multiple times...🤮)

Your content creates awareness.

It's meant to show people:

- you know what you're doing
- your unique point of view
- your methodology
- your personality

Now, sometimes you'll have enough awareness that a single post can create a flood of DMs and booked calls.

But that's putting the fate of your business in the hands of the algorithm.

And we all know that Linky Dink has been drunk for a year.

Revenue comes from systems.

Like this one I've used for the last 6 years ↓

- Created a LinkedIn Strategy
- Create content to help my ICP
- Engage before my post publishes
- Respond to comments on my posts
- Focus on DMs
- Schedule my time on LinkedIn

I'm sharing an in-depth breakdown, including resources to build your own system, in tomorrow's Brand Shft email.

Subscribe so you don't miss it → https://lnkd.in/gfNESZr3

That mix of content (awareness) and DMs (conversations) driven by a strategy wins.

Both for me
And for my clients

Develop your LinkedIn system.

Or don't be surprised when your ideal customers choose your competitors.

Simply because they did the work to generate leads.

✌🏼

#shftyourbrand

Finding your uncopyable element isn't hard.

Here's how I've done it for 145+ businesses:

- Map your process
From discovery to delivery, document everything you DO.

- Research your competitors
Look for what they can't or won't do.

- Research your customers
Understand what they want and need.

-  Extract what you do differently
Find ONE thing you do that your customers want or need and your competitors can't or won't do.

Don't look for the BIG thing.

The industry-revolutionizing idea.

It's often hiding in the small things you do.

- deliverable
- consultation
- methodology
- framework

The thing you think isn't special because you've done it 100 times for 100 different clients?

THAT'S often your uncopyable element.

Extract it.
Own it.

And watch it attract customers you never thought you'd land.

Struggling to find it?

I'm sharing my system in this Saturday's Brand Shft email.

Subscribe today → https://lnkd.in/gpDf2hFA

It's driven millions in new revenue for my clients.

✌🏼

#shftyourbrand

The Path to Becoming Uncopyable | Shft Agency

Brands rise and fall on one key element:

Their ability to communicate an Uncopyable IP.

Most brands don't know how to talk about what they do.

"We're the industry leading..."
"We optimize the collaboration between..."
"Awesome products for your business..."
"We build websites that sell."

Boring. Unclear. Confusing.

If prospects don't understand why they should choose YOU...

...THEY WON'T.

It's that simple.

Follow these 4 tips for communicating your Uncopyable IP:

- Speak about your customers, not your business
Don't start your message with "We." Start with "You."

- Highlight the transformation
No one cares about your product. They care about how your product changes them.

- Be clear and compelling
Clear alone doesn't incite action. Compelling alone can be confusing. Combine the two. You'll move prospects to convert.

- Talk about your Uncopyable IP
Align your message with what makes you different.

I run every client message through those filters.

Follow those tips.

You'll create a message that compels products to convert.

I'm sharing how in Saturday's Brand Shft email.

Subscribe today to get it → Link in comments cause reach.

Or keep sharing that boring, confusing, copyable message.

I'm sure that will make it easy for prospects to choose you.

NOT

✌🏼

#shftyourbrand

"We have some stuff to figure out before starting a strategy."

I was having this convo with a B2B service founder.

It made me shake my head and laugh.

Strategy is the act of making decisions about:

- how you'll be different
- for whom
- how
- where

It's literally working through the stuff you need to figure out.

How you want to be seen in the market, which offers you'll keep and kill, who you want to attract, what platforms to show up on, how to structure operations, what positions you need to open, if you need to change your look, how you'll communicate to your prospects, the sales process you'll use, which marketing channels will work...

Creating a strategy figures it all out for you.

With a professional.
Who knows how to structure decision-making.
So you don't keep second-guessing yourself.
And actually stick with a decision long enough to see results.

You can wait until you figure it out by yourself.

Or you can get structured help to make those decisions faster.

One will land you clients quickly.

The other? 

Let's just say the businesses reaching out to me this month spent all last year trying to "figure some stuff out"...

And have made 0 progress.

Imagine that.

✌🏼

#shftyourbrand

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The Battle

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taplio

The Battle

Justin Rowe

Jason Vana

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Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Justin Rowe's LinkedIn Performance

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