Don’t post on LinkedIn again until you see this
the 8-step LinkedIn playbook that turned a founder’s ghost town profile into a lead machine—plus 5 pro tips, must-use tools, and why most B2B teams still get it wrong
📖 TODAY’S ISSUE:
🧵 Here’s your weekly dose of marketing trends, tools, and tactics to crush your goals:
🚀 Trending Now: Marketing News & Innovations
🛠️ Must-Have Marketing Tools
💡 AI Prompts & Productivity Hacks
🚀 Skill Boost: Marketing Mastery
📢 Sponsor This Marketing newsletter
Reach 4k+ engaged marketers who love actionable insights. We make sponsorships approachable, effective, and fun. If this sounds like a good fit, let’s connect!
Readers get dopamine, you get ROI. Win-win. 🚀
🚀 TRENDING NOW : MARKETING NEWS AND INNOVATIONSYour Target Audience Probably Isn’t Who You Think It Is
A new study by Adlook revealed that nearly 70% of people targeted as “parents” in digital ad campaigns don’t actually have children—and that’s just the beginning. From “moms” who turn out to be men, to “homeowners” who are actually renters, the research highlights serious flaws in how brands still rely on outdated socio-demographic targeting. The analysis, which merged poll data with programmatic bid requests, showed that precision rates for common segments like “Women 18–24” were below 20%. Even basic labels like age and gender had major overlaps, with 35% of impressions misclassified across conflicting segments. The takeaway? Broad demographic buckets don’t reflect real consumer behavior—and they’re costing brands.
What we think: If your media strategy still targets “Women 25–44,” it’s time to evolve. Audience behavior > assumptions.
Why your marketing still isn’t working
Marketing without strategy is like a ship without a rudder—you’ll move, but probably in circles. Many companies dive headfirst into tactics (think: content, paid media, email) without taking the time to figure out if any of it’s actually aligned. Enter: the marketing audit. A thorough audit helps define your audience, understand competitors, analyze strengths and weaknesses, and—most importantly—figure out what your calls to action are actually calling for.
It’s not just about looking at what’s broken. An audit sets the foundation for a strategy that can scale and drive measurable results. With tools like HubSpot, Semrush, and Delve AI, the process is less painful than it sounds and far more impactful than winging it.
What we think: A strong marketing strategy starts with asking tough questions. And a good audit doesn’t just answer them it gives your marketing a roadmap.
👉 I’ve witnessed many of my clients with no strategy at all. It’s costs them a lot of money.
Google and Roblox team up on ads
Google is officially getting deeper into the gaming biz. In a new partnership, Roblox will bring its ad inventory to Google’s ad-buying platforms, making it easier for brands to buy in-game ads programmatically. While Roblox will still keep a direct-sales team, Google will handle the platform’s programmatic ad operations. The move was announced ahead of the IAB PlayFronts, where gaming’s ad potential takes center stage.
Roblox boasts 85 million daily users—61% of whom are 13+
Users spend nearly 2.5 hours per day on the platform
Google also launched “immersive” ads that blend into game worlds, like 3D billboards
In-game advertising is projected to hit $11.5 billion annually by 2028
Amazon throws hat in the TikTok ring
In a surprise twist, Amazon has reportedly made a last-minute bid to acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations as the deadline for the app’s forced sale looms. The move comes just after Amazon shut down its own TikTok-style clone but suggests the e-commerce titan still sees serious potential in social commerce. While Amazon’s bid doesn’t appear to be gaining much traction, Oracle remains the frontrunner thanks to its existing infrastructure support for TikTok and ties to former President Trump.
Amazon sees TikTok as a tool to boost product discovery and sales
TikTok has 170 million U.S. users and rising in-app shopping trends
The Chinese version, Douyin, drove nearly $500M in product sales last year
Oracle is still the leading bidder due to existing relationships and political ties
Trump may extend the April 4 deadline if a deal isn’t reached
📢 Sponsor This Marketing newsletter
Reach 4k+ engaged marketers who love actionable insights. We make sponsorships approachable, effective, and fun. If this sounds like a good fit, let’s connect!
🛠️ MUST-HAVE MARKETING TOOLSInstapage
Create high-converting landing pages without a developer.
Intuitive drag-and-drop builder with over 500 customizable templates.
AI-powered content generation to personalize pages for different audiences.
Built-in A/B testing and analytics to optimize performance.
Integrates seamlessly with major marketing tools and CRMs.
Fast-loading pages enhance user experience and boost conversions.
Best for: Marketers aiming to quickly deploy and optimize landing pages to improve campaign ROI.
Jasper
An AI-powered writing assistant for creating marketing content.
Generates high-quality copy for blogs, ads, emails, and social media.
Supports over 25 languages and various content tones.
Offers templates for different content types and marketing needs.
Integrates with Surfer SEO to optimize content for search engines.
Collaborative features allow team members to work together seamlessly.
Best for: Content marketers and copywriters looking to scale content production efficiently.
Clearbit
Enhance your marketing and sales efforts with real-time data enrichment.
Provides detailed company and contact information to enrich CRM records.
Identifies anonymous website visitors and reveals buying intent.
Enables dynamic lead scoring and routing for efficient sales processes.
Integrates with tools like Salesforce, Marketo, and HubSpot.
Offers a free logo API to easily embed company logos in your project.
Best for: B2B companies aiming to improve lead generation, personalization, and sales efficiency.
💡AI Prompts & productivity hacks Positioning & Differentiation Strategist
Objective: crowded markets.
Prompt:
"Create an AI strategist that analyzes a company’s product/service, core features, audience pain points, and top 3 competitors. Output a brand positioning statement, a key differentiator list, and three messaging angles tailored to different customer mindsets (e.g., value-driven, innovation-focused, risk-averse). Include sample taglines and one-sentence elevator pitches."
Why it’s helpful: Helps cut through the noise with clear, strategic messaging that speaks directly to your ideal customer.
Social Listening + Trend Sniffer
Objective: Stay ahead of the curve with content that rides current trends.
Prompt:
"Build an AI trend scout that scans your industry niche for rising topics, hashtags, and content formats. Input your audience profile and content theme, and output five post ideas tailored to what’s trending this week. Include suggested formats (e.g., meme, carousel, opinion post), hooks, and recommended platforms."
Why it’s helpful: Keeps your content timely and relevant without spending hours manually scanning TikTok or Reddit.
Launch Sequence Generator
Objective: Plan and execute a product or campaign launch like a pro.
Prompt:
"Design an AI assistant that creates a launch roadmap based on the product type, target market, and launch goal (e.g., hype, pre-orders, waitlist signups). Output a 14–30 day plan with emails, social posts, teaser content, influencer outreach, and community-building steps. Include copy drafts and platform-specific timing tips."
Why it’s helpful: Gives structure to launch chaos and ensures every audience touchpoint is covered with purpose and polish.
🚀 Skill boost: marketing masteryThe LinkedIn Wake-Up Call: How One Founder Turned Scrolls into Sales
Eli, the founder of a B2B SaaS company, thought he was doing everything right.
His product solved a real problem. His content game? Decent. He had case studies, blog posts, even some paid ads. But still—his inbound funnel was bone-dry.
“LinkedIn’s just a résumé platform,” he muttered, watching his latest blog post get four likes (two from employees).
Spoiler: he was wrong.
Meet Rhea, the LinkedIn Growth Strategist
At a B2B founders roundtable, Eli met Rhea—a LinkedIn power user who grew her brand from zero to inbound firehose using nothing but smart content, employee advocacy, and platform strategy.
Eli was skeptical.
“I’ve got a company page, I post now and then,” he said. “It’s not working.”
Rhea sipped her coffee, smiled, and said, “You’re invisible. But don’t worry—here’s the playbook.”
What is LinkedIn Marketing, Really?
“It’s not about posting promotions,” Rhea explained.
“LinkedIn marketing is about building trust at scale. It’s how you showcase your expertise, grow your network, and create demand.”
This includes:
Optimizing personal and company profiles
Sharing consistent, audience-focused content
Engaging with others in your niche
Using ads, DMs, and analytics to generate leads
Why LinkedIn Should Be Your B2B Playground
Rhea broke it down like this:
900M+ users, many of them B2B buyers and decision-makers
Targeted outreach through job title, company size, industry
High-trust environment—people expect to learn and network, not be sold
More reach than your website if you play the algorithm right
Eli leaned in. “Okay… so how do I actually use it?”
Step 1: Optimize Your Profile & Company Page
Rhea pulled up Eli’s LinkedIn. “No headline. Weak banner. Your about section reads like a resume. No call to action. You’ve got 10 seconds to earn attention—make them count.”
She recommended:
A clear, benefit-driven headline (“Helping ops leaders cut churn with real-time data alerts”)
Banner with visual CTA and brand tagline
Featured section with lead magnets, testimonials, or demo links
Matching company branding across team members’ profiles
“Think of your profile as a landing page,” she said. “Not a LinkedIn bio.”
Step 2: Set Your LinkedIn Marketing Goals
Rhea asked: “Are you trying to grow awareness? Generate leads? Build community?”
Together they mapped out KPIs:
Engagement (likes, comments, DMs)
Follower growth
Leads booked from LinkedIn
Content saves and shares
“Your goals determine your content, cadence, and who you connect with,” she explained.
🔒 The rest of this playbook is for premium subscribers only.
Subscribe now to unlock the full strategy, including:
How to build a 3-pillar content system that grows your audience and drives leads
The daily 15-minute habit that doubled Eli’s engagement in 2 weeks
How to use DMs and InMail without sounding spammy
The employee advocacy play that turned team members into brand amplifiers
Eli’s favorite tools for scheduling, analytics, and automation—and how he uses them
The exact post format that booked 4 demos from a single carousel
👉 Upgrade to Premium and get the full LinkedIn growth playbook trusted by high-performing B2B teams.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Marketing Elite Academy to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.