Blake Adams

The trend is unmistakable: Specialists win. They grow faster, retain clients longer, and command higher EBITDA multiples than generalist peers. And for agency owners and distribution executives alike, digital marketing for insurance companies in niche markets is no longer just a growth tactic — it is a perpetuation strategy. https://lnkd.in/gjECH3GA

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HubSpot spent the last 90 days running 188 LinkedIn ads, and not a single one uses video or document formats. Their retargeting is virtually non-existent (~2%). Their customers consistently cite pricing escalation and feature gating as top frustrations. I know this because I just built a 50-page competitive intelligence report pulling together their entire go-to-market, ads, SEO, social, reviews, investor sentiment, the lot - all via my app Snoop! Opening for Beta Testers soon!

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In today’s rapidly evolving marketplace, independent insurance agencies aren’t just competing on price or product. They’re competing on efficiency, adaptability and connectivity. According to the 2024 Agency Universe Study, a resounding 63% of agents said “identifying operating efficiencies” was the single most critical factor for success. And yet, many agencies still find themselves overwhelmed by the sheer pace of change in technology, especially when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI), integrations and workflow optimization. But here’s the good news: You don’t have to do it all tomorrow. What you do need to do is to create a thoughtful, intentional plan for the future. Full article below! https://hubs.la/Q03G5ryL0

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CMO: “SDRs aren’t following up.” CRO: “MQLs are unqualified” Heard this argument in your organization? Both are correct. The issue comes from a lack of sync between both departments. This 3-layer system qualifies 70% of leads before SDRs touch them: Layer 1: Form fields Filter junk before your SDR touches it with these fields: -> Company size (if you sell to 100+ employees, include this) -> Role or title -> Budget range -> Timeline -> Current solution (useful for competitive displacement) This filters 40% of junk automatically. But the platform still optimizes for "anyone who submits." Layer 2: Conversion events Stop optimizing for demo requests. Here's the hierarchy from worst to best: -> Demo form submitted (worst - finds form fillers) -> Qualified form (better - passed your fields) -> Demo happened (better - SDR confirmed real) -> Opportunity created (best - passed discovery) Pick the deepest event where you still hit volume. Layer 3: Lead scoring Append firmographics with 6sense, Clearbit, or ZoomInfo, then score: +10 points for target company size +15 points for intent signals +20 points for decision maker title - 10 points for student email domain -15 points for non-target industry High-score leads go to SDRs. Low-score leads go to nurture. Example math: Before: -> 1,000 leads -> 50 opportunities -> $250 per opportunity After: -> 400 leads -> 280 opportunities -> $89 per opportunity Fewer leads, 5.6x more opportunities, and 64% lower cost. Sales and marketing align when they measure the same thing.

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More CROs (including the CRO of Outreach) are contacting me about ABM lately, which I love seeing as the best CROs own the entire revenue cycle. They are the orchestrators of alignment between sales, marketing, customer success, RevOps, and partnership teams. They should drive an integrated approach to acquisition, retention, and expansion. But I also find that most CROs are incorrectly viewing ABM as a “specialized marketing service” that focuses on targeting and messaging specific sets of accounts, which sales and marketing align on and are showing intent. They see it as a way to help marketing deliver what their sales teams are looking for. Yes, the list of accounts that sales and marketing teams target with ABM, is important as you need to focus on the accounts that:   Align with you and your solutions operationally, executionally, and culturally. Made shifts in the business to be strategically ready for your solution. Match the characteristics (beyond technographics and demographics) of the accounts that are seeing the greatest returns from your solutions and are delivering the greatest long-term revenue growth. Face a situation where your solutions are relevant, your competitors are irrelevant, and you have a differentiated story to tell. Match your business problem profile. Have business issues where each team can come to each interaction with a POV about the buyers’ businesses. Are a GTM fit from a marketing, sales, customer success, and long-term perspective Have an active strategic priority that you can play a strong role in and can embed your solution across the organization.   Yes, it’s important to ensure that your brand messaging, content, and stories align with your ICP accounts so we earn trust with the accounts that will provide the greatest, long-term revenue growth.   Yes, it’s important that we are driving demand with these accounts and creating a qualified pipeline with the accounts that will land and expand.    But ABM is more than just campaigns to a targeted list that sales and marketing align on.     It’s not just about mapping out 100-200 target accounts using an ABM account selection system built around your company’s goals and warm CRM relationships. And it’s not just about cohorting the accounts by relationship type.   If you have the wrong interactions and deliver the wrong account experiences with the right list, you go nowhere as many teams are experiencing today. Their pipelines may increase with ABM motions but win rates continue to decline, GRR (retention revenue) slows, and NRR (expansion revenue) drops.  ABM is revenue-driven, customer-obsessed, and deeply embedded in the sales and CS motion. It’s about improving accounts’ experiences to close big deals. It’s focused on pipeline acceleration, customer acquisition, customer retention and deal expansion. My article below shares what CROs need to know about ABM: https://lnkd.in/eqgne2vq

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Cost Per Seat Is the Dumbest Way to Evaluate AI SDRs. You’re not buying a seat. You’re buying signal. Everyone’s talking about “AI SDR pricing.” That’s the wrong conversation. Most teams get stuck debating cost per seat. The moment it turns into a line-item discussion, the value collapses. You’re NOT buying: An SDR A bot A sequence A campaign You ARE buying a managed outbound system and that’s a very different thing. Here’s what that actually means: 1. Faster go-to-market learning Every conversation generates signals: positive, negative, neutral. The system compounds on those signals. It learns which ICPs are high, medium, or low fit. It sharpens targeting in real time. 2. Lower reputational risk Governed conversations. Clear guardrails. Escalation rules. No rogue reps. No brand damage from sloppy outreach. 3. Non-headcount growth You’re increasing outbound capacity without adding payroll. 4. Compounding intelligence This is the part people miss. Live conversations become: -Objection mining -Buyer persona refinement -Engagement pattern analysis -Signal extraction across sequences You start seeing patterns: -What happens after message one? -What signals appear after message three? -What tone triggers proof requests? That intelligence feeds sharper messaging. Sharper messaging creates better content. Better content gets reused instantly in future conversations. It compounds. And here’s the unlock most teams ignore: AI SDRs don’t just belong on SDR accounts. Some of the highest engagement rates we’ve seen? AI SDRs bolted onto engineers’ LinkedIn profiles. When you spread outbound across non-sales employees, thoughtfully and governed, response rates jump. Start with one or two. Prove signal quality. Then scale across the organization. Stop thinking “AI SDR.” Start thinking about a managed outbound growth system. Different framing. Different economics. Different outcome. Jump in where you are. Test. Learn. Scale. cc Zayd Syed Ali

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We interviewed 40 SaaS execs and PE operating partners on the SaaS Backwards podcast in 2025. Some very interesting and important themes surfaced that I distilled in my most recent post on the SaaS and AI Go-to-Market Notes Substack. These conversations sorted out into five areas where SaaS growth assumptions are quietly and quickly becoming riskier, especially for founders scaling into complexity and PE operators underwriting the next phase of value creation. The top risks looking ahead into 2026? Here they are: ·     Predictable Growth is Over ·     Don’t Fall for the Attribution Trap ·     Sales & Marketing Need to Breathe the Same Air (KPIs) ·     AI in GTM Won’t Cure Poor Messaging, Process or Product-Market Fit ·     Credibility is the Coin of the Realm in 2026 and Beyond If you’re a founder, CRO, or PE operating partner thinking about 2026 growth plans, this one’s worth a read. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/e7TTCeme Curious which of these is showing up most painfully in your portfolio or company right now. #Saas #operating #PE #b2b #saasgrowth

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I’ve been thinking about the strange limbo a lot of senior marketers are sitting in right now. Not early‑career. Not executive‑title‑only. Just… somewhere between “We need a strategic leader!” and “Can you also fix our lifecycle emails before lunch?” It’s a gray area. Especially for those of us who can do both: set the vision, build the plan, and then actually roll up our sleeves to make the thing work. But lately it feels like the job market is split into two extremes: Companies want someone who thinks like an operator… but also, someone who can jump into the weeds without blinking. Someone who can create the GTM strategy… but also run the campaign, optimize the funnel, report the metrics, and somehow know 14 different marketing platforms. And honestly? That kind of range is exactly where many of us thrive. We’re the builders. The fix‑it‑people. The ones who can walk into a messy situation, find the signal in the noise, and create something that actually delivers results. But because we don’t fit neatly into a single‑lane box, we often get put in the “it depends” pile. Here’s what I’ve realized: Being versatile isn’t a liability — it’s the superpower companies rely on when things need to move quickly and the stakes are high. So, if your team needs someone who can operate at the strategic level and get things done at the execution level — whether full‑time, fractional, or on a consulting basis — that’s exactly the zone I live in. Careers aren’t ladders anymore. They’re mosaics. And the right mosaic adds far more value than any one tile ever could.

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The new B2B content reality: AI has made content cheaper to produce, but harder to trust. As AI accelerates content volume, buying groups are getting more cautious about generic claims and vague value statements. The INFUSE 2026 Outlook report points to a growing buyer trust gap, and the teams that close it will prioritise proof: case studies, credible ROI evidence, and real operational detail that stands up to scrutiny across every stage of the journey. If your content plan for 2026 is heavy on thought leadership, but light on validation, this is your signal to rebalance. Read the post from Alexander Kesler below and sign up to access the full INFUSE 2026 Outlook report. #2026ContentMarketingTrends #DemandGenContent #ContentMarketing

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