Brendan Gahan

With over 18 years of experience, Brendan Gahan is a renowned leader in social media advertising, influencer marketing, and the creator economy. As a former Partner & Chief Social Officer at Mekanism, he significantly contributed to the agency’s growth and innovation, playing a key role in its acquisition by Plus Co in 2022.

Gahan has been a pioneer in influencer marketing, leading one of the first YouTube/influencer activations in 2006. He also founded Epic Signal, a prominent influencer marketing agency, which was acquired by Mekanism in 2015. 

He is an active investor/advisor in the creator economy and advertising sectors, contributing to companies such as Stan, Little Chonk, Orca, Glystn, and Trendpop (acquired). Additionally, he serves as a scout for Bessemer Venture Partners and Lunar X.

His industry involvement extends to his role as a VidCon Advisory Board member and as a co-host of the Creator Economy Live podcast. He was named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 list in 2012, and his agency was recognized as Digiday’s Digital Video Agency of the Year in 2017.

Recognized as a LinkedIn Top Voice, Gahan's deep understanding of social media and influencer marketing has not only earned him a following of over 125k on TikTok but has also led to features in major publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, The Guardian, Ad Age, and CNBC.

Advisory Board Member  

🚨 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗞𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗢𝗳𝗳 𝗪𝗲𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆! 🚨
For the fourth year in a row, I'm heading to Creator Economy Live in Vegas. If you're attending, let's connect!

Two years ago at this conference I first publicly shared Creator Authority. The first of its kind agency focused on LinkedIn Influencer Marketing.

Why did I decide to go 'all in' on LinkedIn?

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 
I've been in influencer marketing since 2006. Two decades😱

In 2006, I did my first YouTube/creator brand deal. That activation led to millions of views. So much traffic hit the brand's site it crashed.

Along the way I worked with amazing brands on some epic influencer campaigns: EA, Mountain Dew, Amazon, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Unilever, Starbucks, The Olympics, and even the Obama Administration.

In the early 2010's I founded Epic Signal. We were named Digiday's Digital Video Agency of the Year and I sold it to Mekanism in 2015 (where I served as a partner and Chief Social Officer). A year and a half after Mekanism was acquired the entrepreneurial itch came back.

I've watched wave after wave of this industry. And I felt like something interesting was happening on LinkedIn.

𝗕𝘂𝘁, 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻? 
I was seeing the same signals I saw with YouTube in 2006. Instagram in 2013. TikTok in 2018.

There was this nascent creator community but few brands investing. All this despite LinkedIn being the most trusted platform.

Within B2B nothing comes close to LinkedIn:
• 79% of B2B buyers engage with creator content monthly
• 82% say it influences their purchasing decisions
• B2B creator marketing projected to hit $7.7 billion
  
The opportunity is massive. And we're still early.

𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗨𝘀 𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗲 🎙️ 
Anyway, TLDR: I've had a great time at this event over the years and Keith Bendes and I are recording a live podcast. 

Here's the deets:
📅 Wednesday 
⏰ 4:35 PM - 5:05 PM PST 
📍 Breakout 1
👤 Our guest is Brittany Lamp, Sr. Director of Brand Content at Life360.

Come hang. HMU if you want to connect!
Come by our live podcast 👇 

https://lnkd.in/g9NPWvwy

CEO/Co-Founder Of Creator Authority (Influencer Marketing Agency)

Creator marketing budgets are up 171% YoY. And, the dollars are coming straight from paid media.

According to CreatorIQ's latest report, 71% of organizations have increased their creator marketing investment (80% among enterprises).

Momentum is building.

Looking five years out, 73% of mid-market organizations plan to increase creator marketing investment. 

For enterprise? That jumps to 85%.

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗜𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺? 
This is the part that should get every marketer's attention.

Nearly two-thirds of increased influencer spend is being reallocated from digital and paid advertising channels. Specifically: 62% for mid-market and 64% for enterprise organizations.

Brands aren't finding new budget. They're moving dollars from channels that aren't delivering to channels that are.

Why?

94% of organizations say creator content drives more ROI than traditional digital advertising. 74% of enterprise brands report creator marketing ROI is up YoY.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 
The most used platforms for influencer marketing:
• Instagram: 84%
• YouTube: 76%
• Facebook: 74%
• TikTok: 63%
• LinkedIn: 29%
  
LinkedIn ranks 5th. Ahead of Snap and X.

Just a few years ago, LinkedIn was still an afterthought for most brands running creator campaigns. Not anymore (and it's still very early).

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 
LinkedIn for B2B creator marketing still feels like YouTube in 2010. The ecosystem is nascent. 

But, the opportunity is massive:
• 82% of B2B buyers say creators influence their purchasing decisions
• 70% of marketers say LinkedIn delivers positive ROI 
• LinkedIn has been the most trusted social platform for 5+ years
  
The demand signal is clear. LinkedIn is where B2B decisions get influenced.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 
When we launched Creator Authority two years ago, LinkedIn influencer marketing was surprising to many. Now it's growing from experimental line item to strategic priority.

The brands building relationships now will have a significant advantage when the rest of the market fully arrives.

----
Enjoy this? 

♻️ Repost it to your network & follow Brendan Gahan for more.
Interested in LinkedIn Influencer Marketing? Reach out to us Creator Authority.

𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲𝟯𝟲𝟬 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝟭.𝟲𝗠 𝗧𝗶𝗸𝗧𝗼𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀. 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗽𝗽 𝗚𝗲𝗻 𝗭 "𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀."

Keith Bendes and I did a live podcast at Creator Economy Live in Vegas last week with @Brittany Lamp, Senior Director of Brand Content & Community at Life360.

First, some context on just how big Life360 is:
• 90M families use the app globally
• 6th most popular social media app
• 13th largest app by daily active users 
• 776 TikTok posts published last year
• 231M organic impressions
  
These numbers don't happen by accident.

I noticed several key themes they implement that other successful brands apply in their social (and larger brand) strategy today:

𝟭) 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 
Life360 had a reputation problem. Gen Z called it the "helicopter mom" app.
Instead of fighting it, they owned it.

It's a jiu jitsu move. By acknowledging the perception rather than ignoring it, they've taken ownership of the narrative. This makes the brand emotionally resonant, credible, and relatable.

They used social listening to understand how their community actually talks. 

Then they spoke that language. They even crowdsourced their most brutal hate comments and turned them into merch.

𝟮) 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 
Brittany used the word "casting" intentionally when describing their creator/influencer strategy.
I thought this was really smart. This reframes the conversation.

When you think "casting," you stop overindexing on follower counts. 

You start asking better questions: Does this person represent our consumers? Do they project the image we want? Are they tonally right for the brand?

The numbers matter. But the intangibles matter more.

𝟯) 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗔𝗻 𝗔𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗢𝗻 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 
Life360 has an ongoing network of 50+ creators they work with.

Why? Because one-off partnerships waste momentum.

The first project is always the hardest. Everyone's learning how to work together. But when you work with creators over time, your efforts compound.

They understand the brand. They can move fast.

Life360's social team has full autonomy from leadership. No lengthy approval processes. This enables them to push content within an hour of a trend emerging.

Relevance beats perfection. Every time.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻: 
The brands winning on social aren't fighting the conversation. They're joining it. They're building creator relationships that compound. 

They're prioritizing speed over polish.

Thanks to the Creator Economy Live team for another great event.

𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻 𝗮𝗱 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘄 𝟯𝟭.𝟳%. 

Google grew 6%.

The B2B budget shift is real.

A new report from Factors.ai analyzing 100+ B2B companies reveals a 5x growth gap between LinkedIn and Google investment. 

𝟭) 𝗣𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗜𝘀 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 
Google Ads is getting harder: 
• Median traffic change: -39% 
• CPC increased 24% 
• Conversion rates dropped 8% •
 65% of companies saw declining conversions

The economics are shifting fast.

𝟮) 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗣𝗶𝘃𝗼𝘁 
Marketers aren't just spending more on LinkedIn. They're spending differently.
• Brand awareness campaigns nearly doubled (17.5% → 31.3%). 
• Lead gen campaigns dropped from 54% → 39%.

Why? 

92% of B2B buyers have a preferred vendor before formal evaluation begins.

The battle is won before the demo request.

𝟯) 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 
This platform/strategic shift is helping to fuel LinkedIn influencer marketing.

53% of B2B marketers now amplify organic posts with Thought Leader Ads. 
LinkedIn ranks 5th for influencer marketing (ahead of Snap and X).

Just a few years ago, LinkedIn was an afterthought for creator campaigns. 

Creators deliver that trust at scale and B2B has begun to embrace LinkedIn as THE industry to deliver on that.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗲
LinkedIn delivered a 44% advantage in revenue return per dollar spent.
More and more brands are beginning to embrace the platform (and its creators).

It's not the most exciting, but it is the most trusted. 

While all the other platforms have chased the interest based graph LinkedIn has emphasized the professional/social graph. It's the platform where you see content from your peers NOT just what is most attention grabbing.

Those stronger/narrower/deeper connections are why LinkedIn Influencer Marketing is exploding. This era feels like YouTube in 2010. The infrastructure is being built. The budgets are moving. The playbook is being rewritten in real time.
Those paying attention are positioned to benefit enormously.

Here's a link to the Factors.ai report 👇
https://lnkd.in/g_By8FHi

Deciding to move to Perth in 2010 to chase an AFL career set everything else in motion.

Here’s what followed:

2010: Moved to Perth to pursue AFL

2013: Opened my first business as a personal trainer

2014: Enrolled at ECU to become a high-school teacher

2015: Picked up a pro camera and fell for photography

2017: Retired from footy, wrapped the PT business, finished my degree

2018: Landed a permanent role teaching maths

2019: Launched a hobby photography side-hustle and posted my first TikTok

2020: Left the classroom for good

2021: Booked my photography diary two years out and began advising other businesses

2023: Founded Bright Tsar Studios: done-for-you content and podcast production

2024: Ran my first AI workshops for marketing and ops teams

2025: Stepping into fatherhood

It’s been a ride.

Today I help established service businesses show up everywhere their buyers look, without only relying on paid ads.

If your company turns over $500k+ and you’re ready to trade random posts for reliable visibility, let’s talk.

⸻

Find me
📸 Instagram/TikTok: @sevspics
🎬 Studio work: @brighttsarstudios
🎙 Podcast: @thesevoshow

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Brendan Gahan

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The Battle

Brendan Gahan

Seva Mozhaev

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Brendan Gahan's LinkedIn Performance

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