The Ad Spend

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Notes on running an account that remembers

Field notes and research on paid media, memory, and the difference between a number and a decision.

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124 posts in Reference

A man sprawled across a chair taking a phone call above papers scattered on red carpet
ReferenceAugust 17, 2025

Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)

Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) explained — a lead meeting marketing's bar to pass to sales. Reassessed in 2026's long, multi-stakeholder journeys.

2 min read
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ReferenceAugust 10, 2025

Sales Qualified Lead (SQL)

Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) explained — a lead sales has vetted as a real opportunity. LinkedIn influences ~30% of SQL sessions in 2026.

2 min read
A man leaning down from his chair to gather papers scattered across red carpet
ReferenceAugust 3, 2025

Pipeline

Pipeline explained — the value of in-progress deals. In 2026, most of the B2B journey happens before pipeline even starts.

2 min read
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ReferenceJuly 30, 2025

LinkedIn Message Ads (InMail) Benchmarks 2026

2026 LinkedIn Message Ads benchmarks: ~$0.81 cost per send, ~47% open rate, ~3.2% CTR, ~$118 CPL.

2 min read
A woman crawling across a floor completely covered in scattered papers, reaching for a page
ReferenceJuly 27, 2025

Retargeting (RT)

Retargeting (RT) explained — re-engaging past visitors. Shifting from cookie-based to first-party and on-platform signals in 2026.

2 min read
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ReferenceJuly 23, 2025

LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms Benchmarks 2026

LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms: LinkedIn's own internal benchmark (older data, directional) puts conversion at ~13% — roughly 5x off-platform landing pages — with a LinkedIn-reported 20–50% CPL reduction.

2 min read
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ReferenceJuly 19, 2025

Lookalike Audience (LAL)

Lookalike Audience (LAL) explained — audiences modeled on your best customers. Note: LinkedIn retired Lookalikes for Predictive Audiences.

2 min read
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ReferenceJuly 16, 2025

Custom Audience (CA)

Custom Audience (CA) explained — audiences built from your own data. More valuable than ever in 2026 as cookies fade.

2 min read
A woman kneeling on a paper-covered floor sorting pages into piles
ReferenceJuly 12, 2025

Campaign Budget Optimization (CBO)

Campaign Budget Optimization (CBO) explained — Meta's auto-distribution of budget across ad sets, renamed Advantage+ Campaign Budget in 2026.

2 min read
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ReferenceJuly 9, 2025

Video Completion Rate (VCR)

VCR benchmarks: social 70-80%, CTV 95%+, YouTube skippable 15-30%. Low VCR = weak hook.

2 min read
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ReferenceJuly 5, 2025

Cost Per View (CPV)

CPV varies by platform. YouTube average $0.026. View definitions differ—YouTube 30s vs TikTok 6s.

2 min read
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ReferenceJuly 2, 2025

Bid Cap

Bid cap = hard cost ceiling. Set at/above target CPA. Too low = zero delivery. Use for strict limits.

2 min read

The record

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