Frank Sanders

Pretty shocking developments in paid search for B2B: • Advertising on Google became 29% more expensive in one year (29% CPC increase for non-branded keywords) • People click 26% less on Google search ads compared to a year ago (CTR decreased by 26 % - probably because AI results push paid results down) Nevertheless, B2B businesses are still spending 44% (!) of their budget on Google Search Ads. Meanwhile, ChatGPT is building its advertising functionality: in 2026 free users are expected to see search ads. Currently ChatGPT is hiring a paid marketing platform engineer to build this functionality. TL;DR:  Marketers are paying more for less on Google, while the next ad platform is being built under their noses. *Data by Dreamdata

446

96 commentaren

If your SaaS ad design is still a screenshot in a laptop… you’re already invisible. Most B2B SaaS creative looks the same: → A product UI mockup stuffed inside a laptop or browser frame. → A couple of headlines and arrows pointing at features. → That’s it. The problem? Nobody stops scrolling for another generic dashboard. It’s expected. It blends in. It doesn’t move emotions or tell a story. Here’s what to experiment with starting this month: 👉 Human context > UI frame Show the outcome in action: the marketer saving time, the engineer unblocking work, the CFO smiling at a report. 👉 Metaphor visuals Replace dashboards with bold metaphors: broken chains, overflowing inboxes, clean vs. messy desks. Visuals people feel. 👉 Social proof first Customer logos, quotes, and metrics front and center. Let others sell your product. 👉 Motion + contrast Animations, bold typography, and disruptive color blocking beat flat UI shots every time. 👉 UI as supporting actor When you show product, isolate *one* key feature or outcome. Don’t cram the entire platform into a mockup. B2B SaaS SaaS buyers don’t buy “screens.” They buy relief from pain. They buy better outcomes. Stop hiding behind laptop mockups. Start designing for attention. —- B2B SaaS companies, need high-performing ad creatives like this one we designed for Instantly.ai ? Check out Hey Design. 

64

28 commentaren

“I spend $4.5k/month on Google Ads… but I have no idea if it’s working.” A real quote from a message on LinkedIn last week. And honestly? Not uncommon. Here’s why this happens (even with a decent-looking campaign): ❌ No clear conversion tracking - phone calls, form fills, chats? Zero data. ❌ Optimising for clicks, not leads - high CTR ≠ high intent. ❌ Google Ads account and website aren’t speaking the same language. ❌ No idea what success looks like - no targets, no benchmarks, just spend. Want to fix it? ✅ Track real conversions - not just traffic. ✅ Use call tracking tools and CRM integrations to close the loop. ✅ Set up clear KPIs: CPL, conversion rate, ROAS - and actually review them. ✅ Align ad copy with landing pages - same message, same offer. Google Ads isn’t a “set and forget” platform. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, it’ll happily spend your money - without telling you what you got back. #GoogleAds #PaidSearch #PPC

194

117 commentaren

This pricing tweak made €300K+ in extra revenue: Most brands display discounts wrong - and it’s killing conversions. We ran a simple test: showing the original price next to the discounted price. The result? +3.6% in revenue with 0 extra ad spend. Here’s how to display prices (for high conversion rates)

43

8 commentaren

When our search traffic started dropping about two years ago, we doubled down on SEO: did more primary research, published more content, updated content more frequently. And still, our Google traffic didn't grow. At first, it was probably just the algorithm & competition muting our extra effort. But as gen AI rolled out in search, it became clear: search engines becoming answer engines were killing the economics of educational SEO. Our blog content had always been a key pipeline driver. It generated search traffic and product signups. More importantly, it built up our domain authority up & helped us rank product-related content. We had a limitless amount of content we could create. Our 100+ integrations gave us an endless amount of topics. We published 5x/week at our peak.   But now, AI started giving those answers directly, without ever sending them to our site. Two quarters ago, we made a hard-right shift. We stopped fighting for Google scraps. And started showing up where conversations were actually happening. 👉 I went all-in on LinkedIn publishing. We began planning a small number of multi-format, multi-channel campaigns. We did more on other social sites, especially Youtube. But measuring impact? That’s where things got tricky. Getting someone to click from social to our website: not easy. The traditional marketing attribution models didn't capture the full picture.   So we built a new approach: 1. 𝗢𝗻-𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀. Impressions, engagement, follower growth. These tell us what content is resonating. It’s hard to prove that reach & engagement drive business, but it certainly gives direction on what content and topics might inspire action. 2. 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. We still link to other content (events, research reports, surveys, dashboard templates, etc). We have no shortage of offers that can drive a conversion and we don’t have a problem creating social content that highlights those offers in interesting ways. 3. 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. We ask everyone who signups for our product, “How did you hear about us?”  It’s not perfect since they could lie on that form just to get past it, but the data is pretty consistent month over month. (If you want to see this data, follow me and click the bell. I’ll be sharing it.) 4. 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵. Most readers don’t engage publicly on social media. But they remember. And weeks or months later, they show up in our CRM via branded search or a direct visit. Today, we get about ~27% of our signups from social media. So yeah, the shift worked. Not because social publishing replaces SEO. It's actually harder. But because it does something SEO no longer can: build preference before someone is even looking. PS. Wanna know if you're ahead or behind in transitioning your marketing strategy? We'll be revealing data we've collected from 300+ companies next week. Register for a seat -> https://lnkd.in/ePXBt9Mj

86

22 commentaren

How to track your website traffic for free. (Including visits from ChatGPT and other AI tools.) Website traffic data isn't just numbers ↳ It shows what’s working. ↳ It reveals new opportunities. ↳ And it tells you where you’re losing potential customers. But the problem is: → Most analytics tools only show part of the story → Updates take 24 to 48 hours → Referral sources are vague → AI-driven visits from tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini? Invisible Without this visibility: → You can’t see which content is trending right now → You don't know when AI search recommends your pages → You have no clear way to measure what’s actually converting Ahrefs Web Analytics fills that gap. → Real-time visitor data → AI search traffic tracking → Conversion insights in one simple dashboard And yes, it’s free. Here’s how to set it up: Step 1: Install Ahrefs Web Analytics → Add the JavaScript snippet to your site’s header → or use Google Tag Manager → Verify installation to start collecting data instantly Step 2: Monitor Visitors in Real Time → See visitors browsing patterns live → No more 48-hour delays Step 3: Track AI Traffic → See visits from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and more → Discover which pages AI is recommending in search results Step 4: Analyze Visitor Behavior → Follow user journeys and track conversions → Spot drop-off points, measure ad performance, and track outbound clicks Step 5: Stay Free Until You Scale → Monitor up to 1M monthly events at no cost → Add unlimited verified sites under the free plan Get the full picture, in real time. 📌 Try Ahrefs Analytics today (it’s free): https://bit.ly/4orROYJ 🔄 Repost to help others with SEO P.S. This post is in partnership with Ahrefs, #partnership #sponsorship #SEO #WebsiteAnalytics #WebsiteTraffic #MarketingTools #AhrefsPartner #SponsoredByAhrefs

777

336 commentaren

[Stop following English-market SEO advice if you're not in English markets] Most waste months implementing "proven" SEO strategies... That were designed for completely different markets. All I see is gurus preaching topical authority and EEAT signals... But my podcast guest Niels Zee targetes Dutch users who don't care about those factors. Here are some facts: 🔵 Different markets have different algorithm weights 🔵 What works in the US fails in smaller GEOs 🔵 Competition levels vary drastically by language 🔵 Local search behavior patterns differ 🔵 Domain authority means nothing in some markets Before copying ANY strategy, ask: ✅ What market is this expert operating in? ✅ How competitive is their niche vs. mine? ✅ What's their site size compared to mine? ✅ How long have they been in business? ✅ What's their traffic volume and source mix? The algorithm isn't the same everywhere. Context is everything in SEO. What works in your market might be completely different from what you're reading online.

34

21 commentaren