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.

Impactable is officially a  LinkedIn Marketing Partner for Signals Partner!
Really proud of our team and shout out to our awesome rep Mark Ayesh 🫡 

What is CAPI you might ask and why does it matter?

Super short version:
- better conversion data funneled back to LinkedIn 
-better in platform data to make decisions
-better results and more insights on conversion by demographics etc

CAPI (Conversion API) is basically the process of taking offline conversion (things you can't easily track by page load or Google Tag Manager (which most marketers hate). 

Things like webinar attendees
In person attendees
Sales accepted lead
Closed won deals
Kajabi signups

Especially things that don't happen digitally or happen on websites other than your website...CAPI could help pipe that data back to LinkedIn. 

And then LinkedIn basically will then cross-reference each person uploaded to see if any impressions were served to know if there was any influence and if so how much. 

So...I guess it's getting pretty series with this relationship. 

Come a long way from when my original startup received a cease and desist letter from LinkedIn 😂 (story for another day if you don't know this one). 

Questions about LinkedIn conversion tracking?
Drop a comment 👇

Website Linkedin Ads Agency: https://lnkd.in/guEafPKk
LinkedIn Ads Demo Video: https://lnkd.in/gudY92cC
B2B Strategies and Guides: https://lnkd.in/gB-WQ82f
Impactable Youtube Channel: https://lnkd.in/emYVDn_T

CMO @ Impactable | B2B LinkedIn Ads Partners | ABM + Signals | Obsessed with Account and People Signals.

Impactable becomes LinkedIn CAPI certified partners

I started in restaurants - LinkedIn helped me become a part-owner of a small 4-shop franchise.  That's where I started to learn about marketing. 

Yea...I know..you likely didn't know that about me.

My first experience in marketing was trying to leverage LinkedIn organic, Facebook, and local partnerships to get real humans to come to our physical shop. 

Not exactly the same as B2B marketing lol but it's not so different. 

1. Gain visibility and start with small ponds
Good news is that in the organic game..there are not usually 100+ restaurants trying to dominate the local LinkedIn scene in their city..so it was actually easy for me to stand out and get attention for our new sandwich shop in town. 

This actually led to real revenue and a partnership opportunity. 

2. LinkedIn lead gen - simple but effective. 

A. Created sales navigator list of HR leaders, operation leaders, event leaders at orgs, and company owners, and just sent daily connection requests and links to our menu and pricing...and this led to a big catering business. 

3. Email marketing - we started a little newsletter. 

I know that sounds crazy because we were just like a little sandwich shop so what's the newsletter even about??

I honestly barely remember, but I know we got emails of our customers who signed up for the app or DoorDash, and I'd send a monthly newsletter basically sharing local news, fundraising we were putting on, new sandwiches or shakes on the menu, and maybe an offer/deal. 

Honestly, I was mostly just trying to cover more surface area (top of funnel, I guess 😂 ) to get more humans to get a craving for our sandwiches, soups, and shakes. 

That's how it started...and this sparked my love and curiousity around marketing which later became a side hustle that became an agency that led to an acquisition. 

And yes, that's me before kids, grey hair, and facial hair apparently.

Spending 30 hours to vibe code something that saves you $50/mo is not genius… u just suck at math

Today CJ Craig hits her one-year mark at Impactable.

In 12 months she’s completely revamped our initial 100-day client journey, helped us move into a real mid-market offering, and straight-up elevated client success across the board.

The result isn’t just prettier docs. 

The team feels more proud of their work. 

We’re doing better, deeper work with fewer clients and higher revenue per client and she was a great force in that direction for us. 

She's also been a great champion of our team and moral booster as we navigate the ups and downs of startup/agency journey (which is not easy). 

CJ, thank you for the leadership, the details, and for making us choose quality over quantity. 

Proud to have you on the team. 

Here’s to year two.

Pro LinkedIn hack to 10x visibility
Comment "This is utter nonsense" on 20 posts daily

Do this and tell me your profile views, engagement, and organic reach of your actual posts doesn't 5-10x.

PSA: Don't actually do this 😂 

But there is a valuable point here...the things that "work" to get vanity metrics. you track can 100% be gamed....but how much actual valuable growth would really come from this...none I'd guess. 

And yet marketing leaders chase all sorts of "hacks" like this every week. 

Things that help show a bump in "metrics" while doing nothing for the actual business. 

Some examples:
-running top of funnel lead gen forms to a cold audience with a fluffy lead magnet that your intern made...great to show "leads" but don't waste sales time with those

-making posts on LinkedIn about how you hate AI or how you got a bad DM...great for impressions on LInkedIn but likely no use or relevance to what you actually sell

-Cutting out LInkedIn ads spend because it's hard to prove and doubling down on Google ads because it's showing all the conversions

-spending 50 hours learning and creating V1 stuff in AI or claude code just so you can make cool posts and talk down to the peons who have a life all the while we all know whatever you launched won't actually still be in real production use to clients 90-days from now

If I could give other marketers a few pieces of advice that they for sure did not ask for and would likely not ask me for 😂 

1. Almost all successful engagements I've had with clients and even massive orgs is to start by amplifying what's already working before worrying about anything new

2. Understand the foundations first: what you actually do that's different, unique, craved, and defensible....and targeting should stem from there

3. Always secure warm 1st party audiences and warm digital audience before prioritizing cold accounts

4. Never start with cold native channel targeting before tapping into existing in-market demand if it exists (paid search)

5. Always anchor scaling paid search spend with healthy retargeting frameworks to atually get the most out of competitive paid search traffic

6. Organic and paid ads should not be 2 separate strategies...paid should amplify organic

7. Use paid retargeting to funnel prospects into owned communities for more efficient long term plays

8. Build a personal brand on Linkedin or 1 core channel you choose and take it seriously

9. Pretend it's your money and you have to prove that what you're doing is working...but more importantly that there isn't an even better use of that budget even if it is "working"

10. Be humble and keep a student mentality...we are all just experimenting honestly

LinkedIn Ads + ABM: Here's how I'm advising orgs prove impact and focus on account engagement and movement vs clicks and leads -  the playbook 👇 

Short version:
Things really changed in 2025 - you can now see the EXACT companies clicking on and even just being exposed to your LinkedIn ads and can see that data by list upload or campaign which opens up huge options. 

I walk through how i'd structure reports for leadership and where and what data you can pull to show account movement and even structure campaigns a bit to give more meaningful insights like showing multiple buyer personals lighting up for top accounts and how this moves from marketing to sales. 

I'm curious how else marketing leaders are showing value and connecting the dots. 

Let me know in the comments - I need more ideas.

Way too many marketing leaders are struggling to prove ROI or even forward motion of ABM programs and especially have struggled to tie proper credit b

Open article: B2B LinkedIn Ads + ABM in 2026: Marketer's Field Guide to Proving Impact by Justin Rowe • 4 min read

B2B LinkedIn Ads + ABM in 2026: Marketer's Field Guide to Proving Impact

If someone visits your website today, what story are they going to see over the next 90 days?

Most companies don’t think that far.

At the DemandShift Summit, I talked about how middle-of-funnel content is where trust is won or lost.

Someone clicked. They showed intent. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭.

Now you have a window.

If you could shape their opinion with 15 carefully chosen pieces of thought leadership over three months, what would you show them?

That’s how I approach retargeting.

Not as a generic reminder campaign.
But as a curated content engine that reinforces authority, expertise, and point of view.

When you control the frequency and the message, you can influence the buying decision long before the sales call.

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
Thought Leadership Done For you Motion - https://lnkd.in/gEn-5TuR

#DemandGeneration #B2BMarketing #ThoughtLeadership #PaidMedia #Impactable

If you automate the relationship, don’t be surprised when it feels transactional.

The irony of modern marketing is that we’re obsessed with scale, but trust doesn’t scale the same way.

In my conversation with Gabe Larsen, he talked about being intentional with how he shows up. 

He posts consistently, engages directly, and personally responds to comments instead of delegating or automating that layer.

Could it be automated? Sure. A lot of people do.

But when the expert removes themselves from the interaction, the tone shifts and the connection becomes functional instead of relational.

Buyers today are more skeptical than ever and they’re choosing based on who they believe.

And belief is built in real exchanges, not optimized workflows.

Automation should enhance relationships.
It shouldn’t replace them.

Need help building/running a thought leader LinkedIn motion ? - https://lnkd.in/gEn-5TuR

#B2BMarketing #RelationshipMarketing #ThoughtLeadership #TrustBasedSelling #Impactable

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

You might already be the most visible expert in your network.

That was something I shared at the DemandShift Summit that surprised a few people.

Your feed is unique. And so is everyone else’s.

If you’re intimidated by the biggest creators on LinkedIn, here’s the reality. 

Most of your network isn’t following them. 
𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦.

If you show up a few times a week with thoughtful content, you may become the most consistent voice they see.

That proximity matters.

People don’t always follow the most famous expert.
They follow the one who feels relatable.

And that might already be you.

#LinkedInGrowth #ThoughtLeadership #B2BMarketing #PersonalBrand #BuildInPublic

Every one is obsessed or worried about attribution and proving ROI but many arn't taking basic steps to show/prove LinkedIn Ads

Here's the short version
1. With data/privacy shifting, ad pixels like LInkedIn insight tag is missing information and not passing back valuable conversion events back into the platform. 

2. This means that you'll often be flying blind with platform data and not able to see what's really working or not working from a campaign group or ad set level. 

3. This also leads to lack of insights around what audience demographics are working. 

When you have proper conversion data, you'll see things like:
-What company size are we doing better/worse with
-What industries are we doing better/worse with
-What countries are winning in vs need to stop spend

These are the kinds of insights that actually guide us to where to spend money or stop spend and where we need to double down and create more focused messaging for high-impact segments. 

Conversion tracking and attribution is something everyone seems to want to do a little better at so this should be helpful.

How server-side conversion events fix match rates, survive ad blockers, and protect privacy The LinkedIn Insight tag is great, but modern browsers and

Open article: Privacy-first tracking for LinkedIn Ads (Why CAPI Matters) by Justin Rowe • 3 min read

Privacy-first tracking for LinkedIn Ads (Why CAPI Matters)

Tons of people are making BANK ($$ for you non-cool kids) via LinkedIn DMs and they don't care if that twists your little undies or makes you FEEL some type of way. 

I get it, it's cool to show a bad email or DM where someone got the name or position wrong or double tapped a send....

Screen shot, name and shame post..get your little endorphin hit from all the "yea this is so terrible" "AI is the worst" comments - ah you've done great. 

Except...what if many of these "spammers" are actually crushing it. 
Actually getting demos booked on basically autopilot 
Actually could care less if a few messages don't hit

And spoiler alert...they are still crushing it...it does still work..and you're feelings/opinions on the matter (and your posts) don't change anything...other than making you a visible opponent of a basic tactic that works for thousands and thousands of orgs

I think the real danger comes from the collective "agreement" that seems to happen. 

Others who read your post feel it proves their own. personal bias and so they believe it...

But you know it and I know it..it's your opinion..no facts, not data, and not really based in reality. 

Yes, I agree spamming is bad and bad personalization is bad, but direct messaging still works. 

This is just my humble perspective from a founder that build a LInkedIn lead gen agency that was acquired and was running automation from 200+ executive profiles when I sold it...still worked then and still works today. 

Main changes though I'd suggest to make it work
1. Start with warm - profile visitors, company page followers, website visitors, active pipeline deals, highly engaged accounts from ads

2. Don't pitch slap - connect, introduce, and add value - add value from messages (share resources) and then share value via posts and newsletter long term

3. Be human and treat this more like a networking event vs door to door sales

4. Get serious about a real thought leadership motion with organic + paid on LinkedIn - that makes any outreach 10x more powerful by playing the long game.

Your posts and newsletters should be so good people are feeding their AI Agents with YOUR content.

Already people are singing up for newsletters just to be ingested by their AI agents so they can accumulate their trusted brain of knowledge to talk to.

Information is becoming cheaper, faster , and easier….. but a strong POV and TRUSTED expertise will be more rare than ever.

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
Thought Leadership Done For you Motion - https://lnkd.in/gEn-5TuR

AI tools are incredible for learners. 
They’re not replacements for operators.

ChatGPT and other models are phenomenal for people like me who want to understand the space, test ideas, and get smarter fast.

They lower the barrier to entry.

But they don’t remove the need for someone to architect the system, manage the risk, and make it work inside a real company.

AI is accelerating builders.
It’s not eliminating the need for expertise.

The companies that win won’t just use AI.
They’ll know how to operationalize it.

Website Linkedin Ads Agency: https://lnkd.in/guEafPKk
LinkedIn Ads Demo Video: https://lnkd.in/gudY92cC
B2B Strategies and Guides: https://lnkd.in/gB-WQ82f
Impactable Youtube Channel: https://lnkd.in/emYVDn_T

#ArtificialIntelligence #B2BMarketing #FutureOfWork #AIOperations #Impactable

Warm audiences are the most underutilized asset in B2B marketing.

At the DemandShift Summit, I challenged something I see all the time.

Teams pour the majority of their budget into cold campaigns while ignoring the people who have already raised their hand.

💻️ You already have website visitors.
👥 You already have company page visitors.
🪪 You already have engaged prospects, email subscribers, and pipeline sitting in your CRM.

And chances are, you already have content that’s working.

There are specific posts that consistently generate inbound interest. They spark DMs, attract ICP-fit comments, and move conversations forward. 

Those aren’t vanity metrics. They’re signals.

Instead of creating something entirely new for paid, amplify what’s already proven and show it to the people who are already warm.

If you want help turning your warm audiences into real revenue, that’s exactly what we build at Impactable.

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
Thought Leadership Done For you Motion - https://lnkd.in/gEn-5TuR

#B2BMarketing #DemandGeneration #LinkedInAds #PaidMedia #Impactable

The hardest part of AI isn’t building it. It’s controlling it.

Gabe Larsen told me about a Fortune 100 COO who said they won’t allow random builders plugging agents into core systems.

Why?

Because once you start connecting AI to CRM data, billing systems, and proprietary information, the stakes change.

We’re even seeing this internally.

We’ve talked about building assistants that let clients query their LinkedIn ad data, contracts, and performance history.

Sounds powerful.

But then you ask the real questions.
𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴?
𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥?
𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘈 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘉’𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢?

That’s when this stops being a fun AI experiment and starts becoming infrastructure.

The winners won’t just build agents.
They’ll build secure systems around them.

#ArtificialIntelligence #EnterpriseAI #AIGovernance #SaaS #Impactable

If your organic and paid strategies look nothing alike, that’s a problem.

That was one of the biggest shifts I talked about at the DemandShift Summit.

I see this all the time. 

Companies treat organic like a checkbox and paid like a completely separate, high-stakes experiment. 

That’s a red flag.

If you don’t have enough confidence in your organic content to put paid spend behind it, something’s off. 

Either the content isn’t strong enough, or you’re not listening to what’s actually resonating.

Paid shouldn’t start from scratch. 
It should amplify what’s already working organically.

Organic and paid aren’t separate strategies. 
They’re supposed to work together.

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
Thought Leadership Done For you Motion - https://lnkd.in/gEn-5TuR

#B2BMarketing #DemandGeneration #PaidMedia #ContentStrategy #Impactable

B2B Marketers - If every Google or LinkedIn algo update crushes your strategy...you're just a trend chaser and have WEAK STRATEGY. 

OMG LinkedIn pod usage isn't working anymore!
OMG I'm not just getting free likes on LInkedIn for any random crap I throw out there!

OMG Google is dead and now all that matters is AI/LLM visibility

OMG Google doesn't care about my AI generated blogs ranking our own brand as #1 any more...

OMG now we have to start using Reddit ASAP it's the only thing LLMs care about

OMG now we have to start publishing on youtube cause it's NOW the biggest thing LLMs care about

Every new update crashes your plans and sets you back. 
Every new update sends you back to the drawing board starting over
Every new update has you chasing the next trend

Meanwhile those who have been prioritizing producing quality content that humans actually find valuable and then ensuring distribution...benefit from every update. 

Every new update seems to penalize short term trend chasing and reward their hard work

They've been publishing valuable blogs that arn't overly promotional or self promotional and new updates just help them be stronger

They've been distributing content on LinkedIn for years before the LLM algo made LInkedIn more and more indexed

They've been leaning into youtube for a while as a bingable content hub and now getting rewarded by top indexing now for LLMs. 

They didn't just throw all their chips at Reddit because it was cool with LLMs for a few weeks. 

I know it's crazy out there but let's take a step back as marketers and realize that chasing all these trends like chickens with no heads is NOT A STRATEGY. 

That's it my friends..that's the message  - think long term human strategy and use the common sense.

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
Thought Leadership Done For you Motion - https://lnkd.in/gEn-5TuR

Question: What WON'T you Automate?....that's the real question right? Because what if it's all able to be handled by AI...the question then becomes what to keep right?

I mean really I think that might be a novel thought for many. 
We are so obsessed with what can we use AI/Automation, I don't think enough have stopped to think what they refuse to automate. 

I mean think about it - AI could indeed automate the following things...so what do you keep or ship to AI?

-Reading your emails, checking past threads for context, and drafting replies (human to review and send)

-Auto-download all meeting transcripts into central database along with your emails so you can truly own and talk to your own data...then start thinking about what automated reporting and flows to sit on that

-Remember your wifes email, pull in her web history for perfect gift ideas, order the gift and write the card, order the flowers and chocolate and schedule the delivery, create image collage from images in google drive and create signed poster showing your love, then send series of text flows expressing your love in the 2 weeks leading up to the day

-Substitute yourself for AI robot who will talk to your kids, listen to their boring stories, help them learn to read, write, and teach about right and wrong

-Scrape and store all your blogs, all your newsletters, all your Linkedin posts and youtube videos and auto-ingest all newly pubplished materials to act as a living content and knowledge storage of your expertise able to be searched or used to great thought leadership pieces from your actual experience in your actual tone and using your actual words/phrases

Ok so you get the point..there are cute innocent things AI can do, and then there are "relationship management" type things you could do with AI and I know having clients and having a partner are different things...but can you really automate any relationship?

I think there are human things that we can indeed automate...but the sheer act of automating them really does remove the human level which makes any relationship building 100% fake - just something to think about in this AI world of crazyness.

B2B SEO & Web Design For Revenue Not Vanity | DM To Discuss | Host @ Business Growth Show (Top 10 B2B Marketing Podcast, Cognism)

Your website struggling to drive a steady flow of qualified demos/leads?
Tired of losing leads to competitors ranking higher on Google/AI?
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STILL NOT CONVINCED?

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BOOK A CALL:

💻: www.breakingb2b.com
📧: Connect & DM Me
✉️: sam@samdunning.org

CORE SERVICES:

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WHY BREAKING B2B?

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About time your website became your best (24/7) salesperson?
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Sam Dunning

If Backstreet Boys did b2b marketing.

SaaS SEO for revenue NOT vanity in the world of AI search: https://lnkd.in/e7XuM6au

What cover should Breaking B2B do next? 👇

Founder @ Breaking B2B | B2B SEO For Revenue Not Vanity | SaaS & B2B Teams Hire Us To Scale Organic Pipeline From Google & AI Search | DM To Discuss | Host @ Breaking B2B (Top 2.5% B2B Marketing Podcast)

Marketing: please don't rely on AI for SEO

CEO:


Watch full B2Backstreet Boys vid: https://lnkd.in/e9warMqW

RB2B are coming for the incumbent with AI search. 2yr old vs 14yr old SaaS. Here's our game-plan this month for Adam Robinson to keep ramping organic market share and pipeline from SEO/AEO:

QUICK SNAPSHOT.

Our focus is to continue driving sign-ups as quick as humanly possible from SEO/AEO and earning mindshare for RB2B whenever ICPs need visitor identification software, are comparing vendors, annoyed with their current provider or have the expensive problem we solve.

We've seen solid AI & search wins against long-term competitors (see images).

We’ll keep prioritizing competitor-focused bottom funnel KWs to capture high-intent demand. The plan includes 2x product listicle articles and 2x pricing-intent pages, targeting folks in evaluation or purchase mode.

“Uplead alternatives” pages across multiple domains are currently driving high-value traffic, indicating strong switch intent. RB2B can intercept this demand with a differentiated alternative page. “Hunter io pricing” represents a high-volume BOFU query where capturing comparison-driven traffic to directly influence purchase decisions.

We're crafting a comprehensive guide on “Lead scoring best practices”, a strong mid-funnel topic for RB2B because buyers searching it are actively trying to improve lead prioritization and sales efficiency. It allows RB2B to reframe why traditional scoring fails and position real-time website intent as the missing input that makes lead scoring actionable.


NET NEW CONTENT CREATION.

listicle articles:
- uplead alternatives
- happierleads alternatives

a quick summary and intro, why listen to us, what is uplead/happierleads, why look into alternatives (based on what prospects say e.g. on G2), list of 10 alternatives, RB2B at #1 with why customers choose them, show product in action, pricing and feature info, where we are a good + poor fit then list of 10 other options below with fair summary + conclusion and FAQs.

listicle and alternative/competitor content on your own site is solid for being cited and recommend in AI search and enables you to control the narrative with dream clients on ChatGPT and google ai overviews.

pricing guides:
- hunter io pricing
- snitcher pricing

these pages review the software pricing, share user feedback, breakdown of costs and share where RB2B is differentiated and why customers choose them. plus they often rank well within 90 days.

mid-funnel guide:
- lead scoring best practices


EARN BACKLINKS.

Secure niche relevant da50+ backlinks for:
- sales outreach strategy
- sales outreach plan
- lead capturing
- how to identify website visitors


EXTERNAL LISTICLE ARTICLE PLACEMENTS.

Secure placements on articles evaluating software like ours that are well ranked in google and AI searches for:
- sales prospecting platforms

___

Grab a call to see if Breaking B2B can scale demos quick as 90 days for your SaaS: https://lnkd.in/e7XuM6au

Watch my 34-minute SEO/AEO breakdown video for RB2B: https://lnkd.in/eiZfaXXq

I burnt domains and my TAM cold emailing like crazy all to get one client after months of work...until I found a better way to drive demos and build a long-term foundation for pipeline and mindshare:

Lets rewind 2 years ago...

The year is 2024

I grabbed data for Series A and B funded B2B SaaS companies.

Targeted marketing leaders - VP Marketing, CMOs etc.

Built out painfully short email messages focused on real problems from customer research.

For all positive replies, I recorded custom Loom videos reviewing their SEO and sharing reccos.

And from months of work, I got one single recurring client.

Then, the domains burned out and we had to close the whole channel down.

___

The avg cold email reply rate is 3.43% (instantly 2026 report). 

Which is why at Breaking B2B us and many SaaS marketing teams go big on SEO/AEO and evergreen organic content. Here’s why:

It builds on itself over time.

Think about when you search something on YouTube.

You often see videos that are weeks, months, or even years old still getting views.

SEO works exactly the same way.

Your pages and content can drive prospects and leads not just now, but for years to come.

Each page you publish is an asset you actually own.

It's like building a moat around a castle.

You keep building and building upon that moat.

Eventually you've got a kingdom of pages working 24/7 to drive qualified opps.

If you follow the right strategy when it comes to SEO, you get visitors that are actively searching for your solution, comparing options, frustrated with their current vendor or looking to fix expensive problems.

By the right strategy, I mean focusing on keywords that your dream customers who are in buying mode are searching for right now.

___

Your sales team is way happier working these leads than cold prospects

It's not just about Google anymore.

More and more prospects are using AI tools and LLMs to research vendors and compare options.

If you're creating solid bottom funnel organic content (best in class articles, listicles, landing pages, integration pages etc) and building that SEO moat...

You can show up in AI-generated answers too.

We're actively focusing on this with the companies we work with

Along with getting featured in industry lists around your offer.

The content you're building now isn't just for Google - it's positioning you for where search is going in the future.

It builds trust, brand, and mindshare.

And many folks place more trust in organic results than sponsored listings.

___

Watch my full 14-minute breakdown below to get your SEO/AEO pipeline engine in shape for 2026: https://lnkd.in/eU2ZnXjF

Worlds first b2boyband.

Watch now: https://lnkd.in/e-pb7qH2

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Breaking B2B went from $50k/mo to $185k/mo last yr. George Coudounaris runs our LinkedIn Ads and most enquiries mention LinkedIn on calls. Here’s exactly what he did (and our plan to hit $400k/mo this year):

BACKGROUND.

With organic reach tanking like crazy I knew LinkedIn ads would be key to keep top of mind for our SEO/AEO services for B2B SaaS marketing leaders and to amplify my organic content. 

Plus, fixing our funnel of SEO/AEO and YouTube traffic who hit our site but didn't convert.

Getting the deadly trio: SEO, YouTube and LinkedIn cookin'


THE STRATEGY.

(1) George made me get brutally clear on ICP 

With a very limited budget to start (1.2k/mo), we weren’t going to rely on LinekdIn’s native filters. We wanted a TIGHT company list that matched his ICP of B2B SaaS companies he serves best. 

So he asked me:
Who are your best clients? 
Who gets the most value?
Which companies do you want more of? 

Turned that into firmographic filters, pulled a list, looked through it manually - so we knew we were getting in front of the right companies from Day 1. 


(2) Thought Leadership Ads became the growth engine

Thought Leadership Ads are winning right now for many b2b orgs with execs already organically posting with a following. Its high engagement rates mean you get better bang for your buck, and is a great place to start.

(my engagement rates are 8-15%) 

But we don’t just boost any content. 

Before we started,
We mapped best performing posts to the 5 Stages of Awareness

• Stages 1-3 → cold audiences
• Stages 3-5 → warm audiences

Then filled any content gaps.

Next step: every post needed a CTA.

Early-stage posts link to helpful resources.
Later-stage posts push toward booking a call.

Result?

Thought Leadership Ads consistently hit engagement rates as high as 15%, which meant Sam was everywhere his buyers looked.

Since then, we’ve layered in:

• Company page ads so Breaking B2B grows beyond my face
• Amplifying clients/partners getting results posting about Breaking B2B

So the brand scales, not just me.


(3) Constant Optimisation of Thought Leadership Ads

Judge the top performing Thought Leadership Ads by looking at:
Engagement rate
Cost per landing page click (a custom metric not available in platform)
New subscribers
High intent pages
Calls booked

And have a tight feedback loop on what’s landing to closed-won. 


(4) Acknowledge the reality of the buying journey 

Most prospects aren’t in-market today. Many have an SEO vendor they’re probably not seeing value from. 

Others are getting their business to the point where they can finally invest in SEO/AEO. 

The ads keep us top of mind. So when they’re ready, they come straight to Breaking B2B.

—

What’s next as we push toward our stretch goal?

• Upload a new company list to double audience size
• Increase spend to scale reach
• Scale top-performing ads into the expanded audience
• Grow company page ads so demand scales beyond me


Follow along as George and I share results!

Here's the 7 top pipeline channels for SaaS marketers & founders....based on 24 months of data and 755 discovery calls:

(755 sales call transcripts analysed across 2 years).


1. Paid Ads (Google + LinkedIn): 28%

Most explicitly stated dominant channel.

Quotes:
“70% of our inbound comes from Google ads, LinkedIn…” 
“We’d kind of spent money on Google ads for a few years… last year we got two inbound inquiries qualified.” 

Often described as:
- Majority of inbound
- Primary measurable driver
- First lever to scale or cut


2. Outbound Sales: 24%

Extremely common among:
- Early-stage SaaS
- Bootstrapped companies
- Technical founders

Examples:
“Outbound, sort of outbound work.” 
Hiring AEs / BDRs to fill pipeline 

Many companies say:
- Inbound is low
- Sales team drives growth


3. Referrals / Word of Mouth: 18%

Example:
“Word of mouth, referrals, they trust way more…” 

Often described as:
- Best quality leads
- Hard to scale
- Relationship-driven


4. SEO/AEO: 14%

Rarely dominant, but often present.

Quotes:
“30% coming from direct or organic.” 
“It’s not doing that at the moment.” 
“I want it to be a big jumping off point for inbound… and it’s not doing that at the moment.” 

Common answers:
- A desired channel
- Underperforming
- “Trickle of leads" 

Organic search often described as:
- Secondary
- Under-optimized
- Desired but not yet performing


5. Partner / Ecosystem (marketplaces, integrations): 7%

Usually:
- Supplemental
- Not fully controlled


6. Social Content (LinkedIn, Podcast, YouTube): 6%

More common among:
- Founder-led brands

Organic linkedin posting and social selling is big here.

YouTube massively neglected still in B2B SaaS.


7. Events / PR / Community: 3%

Mentioned occasionally but rarely primary pipeline driver.

Often:
- Trade shows
- Speaking
- Industry PR
- Slack/Discord groups

____

PS. join 1,951+ b2b legends enjoying the Breaking B2B newsletter (instantly unlock 90 days to revenue SEO/AEO playbook): https://lnkd.in/et7yce7s

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The Battle

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Sam Dunning

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taplio

The Battle

Justin Rowe

Sam Dunning

Followers

Posts

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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Performance ScoreJustin Rowe's LinkedIn Performance