Eliot Johnson

There’s one person you’d call if you were serious about building a billion-dollar commerce media business: Dr. Mark Grether. He did it at Uber. Now he’s aiming to do it again at PayPal Ads. On this week’s Open Market, Joe and I go deep with Mark on: 1. The four components every scaled commerce media platform needs (this alone is worth the time to listen) 2. Why commerce media isn’t just for retailers anymore 3. What made him leave Uber for PayPal Ads 4. How AI is reshaping targeting, shopping, and the future of the category If you care about the collision of fintech, retail media, and AI - this one’s for you. Link in comments.

129

6 Comments

Are You Targeting the Right Personas? Probably Not. Most brands launch ads with a single customer profile in mind. 🚨 Big mistake. 🚨 If you want to scale past $10K/day, you need to think bigger—and that starts with understanding your Total Addressable Market (TAM). Here’s How to Find Hidden Buyer Personas That Unlock Scale: 🔍 Step 1: Define Your TAM Your market isn’t just one type of buyer. It’s a collection of micro-segments with different needs. ✔ Who could buy your product? (Broad industry) ✔ Who should buy your product? (Ideal customers) ✔ Who’s being ignored in your market? (Untapped segments) Example: A premium hiking supplement brand. 🚶‍♂️ The obvious buyer? Hardcore hikers. 🎯 The untapped audience? Runners, gym-goers, busy professionals who want sustained energy. ⸻ 🧑‍💻 Step 2: Persona Mapping For each potential buyer, map out: ✔ Their biggest pain points (What problem does your product solve?) ✔ Their decision triggers (What makes them actually buy?) ✔ Their preferred messaging style (Emotional? Logical? Social proof-driven?) ⸻ 🎥 Step 3: Build Ads That Speak to Each Persona Once you’ve identified hidden buyer segments, create ads that feel made just for them. 🔥 Outdoor Adventurer → “Stay fueled on the trail—without the crash.” 🔥 Busy Professional → “More energy, more focus, no jitters.” 🔥 Athlete → “Outperform. Outlast. Recover faster.” Different personas → Different messaging → Bigger scaling potential. ⸻ 💡 Takeaway: If you’re stuck in a single persona mindset, you’re leaving money on the table. Your audience isn’t just who you think they are—it’s who the data says they are. Who else is testing new personas right now? Drop a comment. ⬇️

49

25 Comments

This recent Demand Gen Report CMO Guide underscores intent data as a critical trend in B2B marketing for 2025. Jon Russo, CMO of B2B Fusion, emphasizes the power of using multiple intent data sources to create dynamic segments, personalize web experiences, and refine competitive campaigns. Kelly Hopping, CMO of Demandbase, highlights how intent signals enable businesses to pivot in real-time, ensuring they engage the right accounts with tailored messaging at the right moment. This strategic use of intent data helps sales teams anticipate buyer needs, optimize outreach, and enhance conversion rates. If you'd like to see how intent data can assist in powering your companies growth, check out KoalaB2B 🐨

40

3 Comments

🚀 Just launched: Measured’s new Media Plan Optimizer, the industry’s first incrementality powered omnichannel planning tool that connects budget decisions directly to business outcomes. Yes, we know… there are already plenty of planning tools out there. Most of them are either (a) correlation-based built on traditional MMM or a broken MTA, (b) failed attempts to hack together MMM + MTA, or (c) spreadsheets, re-packaged. The Measured team has put in many multiples of 10k hours to land this Causal MMM-driven scenario planner. How does it work? We automate a rigorous incrementality testing roadmap continuously feeding an agile MMM, elegantly integrated to guide investment decisions. This first-of-its-kind planning solution delivers timely, granular recommendations for outcome-driven decisioning. The Optimizer delivers on: - Speed (daily) & Granularity (sub-campaign) - Simulate "what if” scenarios to 1P & 3P transactions - Anchored in causal reads from both scale-up and hold-out incrementality testing. I’ve seen many iterations of this product over the last 15 years, and this incrementality powered scenario planner is finally delivering on the vision we had when we started Measured 8 years ago. I look forward to sharing it with you!      👉Check out the press release: https://lnkd.in/gPU5eQdV

181

11 Comments

Is using NO attribution better than using last touch attribution? I recently came across a study by Ron Berman (link in comments) that took on the problems of last touch attribution from an angle I hadn't seen before - game theory. The work revealed nothing too surprising at first - last-touch attribution can lead to inefficient ad spend by over-rewarding the final interaction before a conversion while ignoring the full customer journey. This in turn, results in misallocated budgets, and overpaying for less effective ad placements. The Scary Part Advertisers who didn’t use any attribution model at all often performed better than those using last-touch attribution. Why? Because bad attribution can be worse than no attribution at all when it distorts decision-making. While I've yet to see a brand fly completely blind to validate that no attribution is better than LTA, I have seen a number of cases were optimizing towards incremental sales, accelerates top line growth but results in declining last touch based ROAS. #incrementality #iROI #iROAS

53

9 Comments

This is not an attack on agencies, but... I often hear CMOs and CEOs saying: "If we want to scale this channel, let's hire an agency." Let me be clear: this is (often) not the best way to scale any channel. Here's why: 1. Resource allocation While agencies may look experienced and know what they're doing, you'll rarely have their best talent managing your account. The reality? You often get junior profiles learning on your budget. 2. Time investment Because of agencies' business model, they will never invest as much time as you want in your account. Think about it: is 2 to 4 days of work per month enough for a core marketing channel? 3. Strategic alignment After working with numerous agencies, I can tell you that the best and only way to scale a channel you're serious about is to run it yourself. The solution? → Hire someone who is a field master and give them full ownership → If you're early stage and can't afford a specialist yet, working with an agency can be a temporary solution → But once you find traction, it's time to bring it in-house 🔍 How to make the right decision: Agency vs In-house When to consider an agency: - Early-stage with limited budget - Testing new channels before committing - Non-core marketing activities - Need for specific expertise on short-term projects - Geographic expansion requiring local knowledge When to go in-house: - Core marketing channels - Need for deep product/market knowledge - Long-term strategic importance - Budget allows for dedicated expertise - Need for rapid iterations and testing 💡 Pro tip: Before making your decision, calculate the real cost of both options: Agency costs: - Monthly retainer - Additional fees - Management overhead - Knowledge transfer costs - Platform access fees In-house costs: - Salary & benefits - Tools & training - Recruitment costs - Management time - Team integration 🤔 Your turn to share! I'm curious about your experiences: - Have you successfully transitioned from agency to in-house? - What challenges did you face? - For agency leaders reading this - what's your perspective? Let's make this discussion valuable for everyone - share your insights in the comments below!

30

11 Comments

Your ad agency is flying blind. And they don’t even realize it. Most marketers track fluff metrics. Celebrating revenue, ignoring profit. Here’s the fix. Two rules to live by: 1. Comparing Spend to Rev is vanity. 2. The best focus on Cont. Profit (CP). Graph 1: - Ad Spend vs. Revenue - Looks pretty good - Marketers cheer Graph 2: - Ad Spend vs. Cont. Profit - CP = Gross Profit – Ad Costs - Reality check More spending ≠ more profit. - Graph 1 says: "Keep spending." - Graph 2 says: "Spend smarter." Teams following Graph 1 burn cash. Teams following Graph 2 scale profitably. Growth without profit isn’t growth. #digitalmarketing

44

36 Comments

Yext just published "A statistical look at regional and industry variation in local SEO ranking factors". Really interesting, especially this graphic. Here are the quickest takeaways: All effects are weak. Every correlation is small (roughly −0.10 to +0.14), so treat these as gentle signals, not causes. Biggest positives, by industry: Hospitality: Has Business Hours (+0.14, strongest overall), Has Merchant Description (+0.11), Profile Completeness (+0.10), Rating (+0.09). Healthcare: Review Count (+0.12) and New Reviews/Month (+0.11) lead; several review/engagement metrics sit around +0.07 to +0.08. Retail: Review Count (+0.08) and New Reviews/Month (+0.07); smaller bumps from Total Attributes and Photo Count (~+0.05). Financial Services (FINS): Review Count (+0.08), New Reviews/Month and Rating (+0.06), plus modest lifts from Attributes/Photos (+0.05). Food & Dining: Very small signals across the board; nothing much above +0.04. Consistent positives across industries More reviews (total and recent) and higher ratings are positive everywhere. Owner review responses (year/month/week) are positive but small. Consistent negatives Slower average review response time is negative in every vertical (worst in Healthcare at about −0.07). Notable outliers In Hospitality, having a local landing page shows the strongest negative (≈−0.10), and photo count is slightly negative (≈−0.04) - unique compared to other industries. Popular Times (presence of that feature) is more helpful for Healthcare and Hospitality (~+0.07–0.08) than elsewhere. Practical gist Focus on review volume, recency, and ratings everywhere. Respond quickly to reviews (slow replies correlate with worse outcomes). Hospitality: make sure hours, descriptions, and profiles are complete; don’t rely on a local landing page to help visibility. Retail/FINS: keep attributes and photos filled out; keep reviews flowing. Food & Dining: expect weaker gains from these particular profile tweaks, other factors likely matter more. ---- What do you think? #localseo #localseotips #localsearchrankings

22

2 Comments

Operating Partners: The data is screaming and your CMOs aren't listening. Pinterest Performance+ is quietly delivering Meta-level ROAS at 40% lower CPMs, while your brands burn cash on the same tired Facebook playbook. The 3 numbers that should wake up your next portfolio review: 1.) Capital efficiency that pencils. Early adopters are seeing double-digit ROAS lifts with zero creative investment. The algorithm repurposes existing assets—no additional production budget required. 2.) Speed that matters. One apparel brand in our network hit target CPA in 11 days, redirecting discount budget straight to contribution margin. 3.) Risk mitigation before Q4. Meta and TikTok auction prices are climbing into holiday season. Brands with 10-15% Pinterest allocation are insulated from single-platform exposure. Here's the questions your CMOs need to answer: - "What percentage of paid social is in Performance+ today?" - "How are we measuring P+ incrementality versus retargeting cannibalization?" - "Which high-margin SKUs scale fastest on this channel?" Still on the fence? Start with $5-10K on highest-margin products. Evaluate after 14 days. Scale if CPA meets blended targets and new customer acquisition exceeds account average. Drop me a DM or comment and we'l lset up a call to discuss Pinterest for your portfolio. It's time.

38

10 Comments