SparkGrid Software

Advisor

Eustace Consulting

Pragmmatic

ReachSuite.io

LeadGenius

LeadGenius curates bespoke data at scale so you can win new verticals, expand global territories and slice'n dice accounts & contacts with custom insights you can't find anywhere else.

VP of Sales, Strategy & Account Management

VP of Sales

Director of Global Enterprise Sales

Senior Enterprise Account Executive

Pavilion

Executive Member

Northeastern University

Thrilled to be a guest lecturer on sales, business development and entrepreneurship.

Guest Lecturer

Z-MACHINE

Launching niche digital and e-commerce products including: 

Raceteacher.com
Offmarketformula.com
Newenglandwalkers.com
Donr.io

Creator | Digital Products

Creating sales, marketing and product "wow"​ moments welcoming new customers and nurturing them into loyalists.

Independent Consultant

Cylindo

In a world where customers now demand immersive experiences and "wow" moments,  cutting edge furniture retailers & manufacturers use Cylindo to power photo-real, 360-degree product imagery that drives sales.

Enterprise Account Executive

Causemo

Causemo is disrupting digital fundraising with digital journeys designed to engage, acquire and keep new and existing supporters.

Precision Pipeline at scale? That's Genius.

Customer-centric solution creator obsessed with execution, speed and data-backed decisions. Prefers big ideas over safe ones, speaking up over saying nothing, running over walking. 

Let’s talk about #lucianopavarotti #patton #b2bsales #b2bmarketing #b2bdata

"Maybe I'm not cut out for this."

That's what I thought sitting at my desk after losing our biggest customer.

I'd just had to fire people. Good people with families. The PE deal we'd been working on for 10 months collapsed. My wife was pregnant. 

Here's the most painful part... I was the one who made the mistake that cost us $3M in ARR.

Here's the thing nobody really talks about...

If you didn't come up the traditional way (BDR → AE → VP → CRO), you always wonder if you're good enough.

Worse yet, in the ultra competitive arena of tech sales, there are some who DO have that pedigree and enjoy making you feel like the "other." 

I never held a BDR role. I skipped it by "reframing" my resume. 

And in moments like that, you think...maybe if I'd done it the "right way," I wouldn't have screwed this up.

The imposter syndrome hits different when you're responsible for other people's livelihoods.

It's not "do I belong here?" It's "did I just ruin someone's life because I wasn't qualified?"

I questioned everything: 
→ Should I have been more careful? 
→ Should I have seen this coming? 
→ Am I actually good at this role or did I just get lucky?

What Changed:

My CEO didn't fire me. 

The board didn't fire me. 

Instead, they asked: "What's the plan to fix this?"

Not "how did you fail?" But "what's next?"

The Lesson:

Imposter syndrome never fully goes away. 

The people who succeed aren't the ones without doubt...they're the ones who move forward despite it.

If you're questioning whether you're good enough right now—that's normal. 

The question is...are you going to let it stop you, or use it to get better?

Zeb Couch

Your ABM 2.0 Platform Deserves Paid Media 2.0 | Building AdGenius to Do It | CRO @ LeadGenius

There's a huge wave of AE's leaving ABM platform vendors. AI isn't replacing them, the whole category is dying....

Here are 3 reasons the "all-in-one" ABM platform model is 86’d and what's replacing it: 

1) It's the era of "The Great Unbundling."  

ABM platforms promised to do everything: advertising, orchestration, intent, personalization, analytics. But "everything platforms" optimize for their own expansion revenue, not your results. The market is moving toward best-of-breed point solutions that do one thing exceptionally well.

2) ROI scrutiny is real now, not just a buzzword

78% of CMOs say proving ROI is more important than ever. Yet ABM platforms report "engagement minutes" and "intent scores"...not pipeline and closed deals. C-Suiters are asking: "If we're spending $150K-$300K/year, where's the *EXPLETIVE* revenue and why are these 'results' so *EXPLETIVE* suspect?"

3) Buyers want performance, not platforms

The market doesn't want another $200K orchestration platform. It wants solutions that directly lower CPAs (lower CPAs = lower Cost Per Opportunity) and proves pipeline impact. Clear input. Clear output. No platform sprawl.

ABM was once the hill marketers would die on to secure budget. Now it's the platform they're trying to escape. 

Better, cheaper point solutions tied to revenue production are out there. 

I hope those displaced AEs are finding their new homes there.

I've spoken to 63 B2B marketers in the last 30 days. Every single one thought they were running "cross-channel" campaigns. They weren't.

What they're running are "multi-channel" campaigns. 

And honestly? I also didn't understand the difference at first.

HERE'S THE TEST: 

If you need to install a separate pixel for each ad channel, you're running multi-channel. Not cross-channel.

What hurts is that the difference is costing you up to 30% in wasted spend.

THE CONFUSION:

Platforms like Demandbase, 6sense, and AdRoll call what they do "cross-channel advertising."

For years, I nodded along. Made sense to me. We're running ads across multiple channels, seeing everything in one dashboard—must be cross-channel, right?

Nope.

It's multi-channel with a unified dashboard. 

HERE'S THE DIFFERENCE

Multi-channel: 
→ Running ads on LinkedIn, Meta, Google,  programmatic & others. 
→ Each channel has its own pixel. Each campaign is optimized separately. 
→ You see all your data in one place, but behind the scenes, nothing talks to each other.

True cross-channel: 
→ Running ads on LinkedIn, Meta, Google, programmatic & others. 
→ One universal pixel. All channels learn from each other. When LinkedIn drives a conversion, Meta knows. When Google finds a winning audience, LinkedIn adjusts. Real-time optimization across every platform.

The 'ABM platform' Example:

You install 'ABM Platform's' pixel. 

Great, now you can track conversions across their publisher network.

But you still need to separately install: 
→ LinkedIn's pixel 
→ Meta's pixel
→ Google's pixel

'ABM Platform' shows you the results in one dashboard. 

But your campaigns are still optimizing in silos. 

LinkedIn doesn't know what's working on Meta. Google doesn't learn from LinkedIn's conversions.

You're manually adjusting each channel based on data that's days or weeks old.

WHY THIS MATTERS 

Cross-channel optimization means every platform learns from every conversion, regardless of where it happened.

That's how you lower your CPAs.

TAKEAWAYS 

→ 'Multi-channel' sounds the same as "cross-channel."

→ But if you're still installing multiple pixels, you're not getting cross-channel optimization. You're getting multi-channel reporting.

→ There's a huge difference AND it's making your CPAs more expensive than they should be. 

→ Digital advertising is deliberately complex. The terminology is vague on purpose. But once you understand what's actually happening behind the dashboard, you can't unsee it.

→ One pixel to rule them all. That's real cross-channel. Everything else is theater.

Last week I had a call with the global paid media lead at an $80B cloud storage company.

They've been through the exact evolution most B2B marketers are trying to make right now.

Over the last 3 years they've made the move from following the "budget," to following the "buyer." 

Here's what I mean...

THE OLD WAY (2-3 years ago, following "budget"):
→ Agency-run campaigns 
→ Channel specialists (Facebook person, LinkedIn person, Google person) 
→ Fixed quarterly budgets per channel 
→ Native platform pixels and dashboards 
→ Export everything to spreadsheets 
→ Attribution was foggy at best 
→ Adjustments came days or weeks after campaigns ended

THE NEW WAY (today, following the "buyer"):
→ In-house, channel-agnostic teams 
→ Regional leaders (Americas, EMEA, APJ) with all platforms as tools 
→ Custom unified pixel feeding into their data warehouse 
→ Real-time cost-per-MQL tracking 
→ Real-time visibility into budget shifts based on performance and seasonality 
→ Multi-touch attribution connecting ad exposure to closed deals 

The key shift: "Follow the buyer, not the budget."

They stopped organizing around channels and started organizing around customer journey.

Here's what's working:
→ LinkedIn costs more per click, but quality is higher 
→ Cost-per-MQL ends up comparable to cheaper channels 
→ They can see which regions need which platforms 
→ Budget moves to where it's working, regardless of original plan

Here's what's still manual:
→ Shifting budgets between native channels and ad groups.
→ Campaign setup. Creative activation. UTM tagging.

Even with all that sophistication, someone's still logging into each platform to build ads, adjust spending and build attribution mechanics. 

Reporting: ✅ Solved 
Attribution: ✅ Solved 
Dynamic Optimization: ⏳ Still manual
Activation workflow: ⏳ Still manual

The Lesson:

Most marketers think they need to solve everything at once.

This team solved one problem at a time:

→ Took it from the agency, brought it in-house (control)
→ Unified the data (visibility)
→ Built attribution (insights)

Now tackling activation (efficiency) and real-time optimization (speed) 

If you're spending at least $50K+/month on B2B ads and trying to figure out the path forward, this is the roadmap.

Don't try to jump from silos to perfect in one move. Solve one layer at a time.

No alternative text description for this image

Huge difference between unified reporting and unified execution.

Unified reporting = all your channels’ performance in one place. You optimize “after the fact” natively within each channel separately. 

Unified execution = all your channels’ performance in one place. You optimize in real-time with AI (fancy af) in the same place across each channel simultaneously. 

Unified reporting is the status quo…and if you change nothing you’ll keep spending 30% more on your MQA signals.

Unified execution is where things are going and teams that operate this way will be the ABM 2.0 iconoclasts.

I used my own brain and voice to book 5 meetings this week. 

1 on-site. 4 virtual. 

I had a 100% show rate. I created 2 opportunities. 

I focused on relationships, showed empathy and had humility about what I don’t know.

My AI told me I’m an inefficient moron who deserves to be replaced. 

Comment “YOUR AI IS RIGHT” and I’ll send you my 3 step framework.

——

PS. Yes, I cold call. Yes, I drive individual deals. Yes, I take discos. Yes, I also fail and it sucks. There’s no better way to hear and learn from the market and our buyers. Get out from behind your dashboards & “guru” frameworks promising instant results, roll your sleeves up and do the work.

Paid media advice: "Follow the buyer, not the budget." Easy to say. Hard to pull off…

The paid media lead at the #1 company on the Future 50 list did it…here’s his journey:

THE OLD WAY:

→ Large agency running everything

→ Teams organized by territory and channel (NORAM Facebook specialist, EMEA LinkedIn specialist, etc.)

→ Fixed budgets per channel decided upfront ("$300K on Facebook this month, $500K on LinkedIn")

→ Individual tracking pixels for each platform in GTM

→ Export results from each channel natively, crunch in spreadsheets

→ Could see which audiences engaged on which channels, but couldn't adjust in real-time

→ Changes came post-campaign, days or weeks later

→ Actual conversion by channel? Foggy at best

THE NEW WAY:

→ Moved in-house for control, transparency, efficiency

→ Built their own unified pixel (not relying on each platform's conversion pixel claiming last-click attribution)

→ Strict UTM parameters track which visitors came from which channel

→ All raw data feeds into their data warehouse

→ Custom dashboards show real-time performance by actual MQL conversion

→ MQL conversion takes place based on engagement threshold rather than “webinar lead” or “form fill lead”

→ Platform APIs allow dynamic spend adjustment, stop/start ads, reallocate budget by channel

→ Still organized by territory, but channel-agnostic

→ Focus on MQL conversion goal, not budget and CPC targets

→ Each advertising channel is a tool in the territory's toolbox to hit conversion targets

THE RESULT:

They can now optimize at cost-per-MQL down to cost-per-opp, instead of cost-per-click. 

They move budget dynamically based on what's actually driving qualified pipeline, channel by channel.

WHAT'S STILL BROKEN:

Even this incredible team (at one of the world's largest, most admired tech companies) has room for improvement:

→ Unified REPORTING pixel ✅
→ Unified EXECUTION across channels ❌
→ Dynamic creative setup ❌

Each channel still operates in a silo for learning and optimization. They don't talk to each other. 

Launching campaigns is still highly manual…creative setup, UTM setup, audience targeting all done in-platform.

THE TAKEAWAY:

This is the journey:

From agency → in-house → unified reporting → channel-agnostic execution.

Most marketers are stuck at step 1 or 2.

This team made it to step 3 and is honest about what's next.

If you're spending $50K+/month on B2B ads and trying to figure out the path forward, this is the high level roadmap.

This story about Autotrader(.)com proves 3rd party intent data ain’t what you think it is.

Back in the day, the "auto intender" ad audience started with just Autotrader visitors.

Made sense...someone on Autotrader is probably buying a car. It worked like magic...sold like hot cakes!

But then agencies needed scale. They didn’t want to explain how limited the high-quality audience was and they definitely didn’t want to tell brands they’d have to pay higher CPMs to reach it. 

So data companies expanded it to anyone who visited ANYTHING remotely related to cars. 

→ Car insurance sites
→ Tire retailers 
→ Auto news blogs
→ How-to maintenance sites

Now there are 50 million "auto intenders" in the system.

Only 7-9 million people in the US are actually in market for a car at any given time.

The math doesn't work. But nobody questioned it.

Same thing is happening with B2B 3rd party intent data:

→ "Looking at marketing automation" becomes anyone who read a blog post about email 
→ "Researching CRM" becomes anyone who visited a SaaS review site 
→ "In-market for sales tools" becomes anyone who downloaded a generic eBook

The original signal was strong. Real intent.

But the moment agencies, SaaS companies and legacy ABM platforms demanded scale, data providers watered it down to nothing.

The more SaaS companies out there, the more ABM platforms, the more easy channels for ‘demand’ to spend their money = the more dollars you have chasing an already limited B2B audience. 

High demand, short audience supply = more expensive…unless you water down the audience & expand it. 

It’s hard to say “You’ll reach 1M people with your $100K.” 

It’ easier to say “We can reach 20M people with your $100K.” 

Legacy ABM platforms and agencies still got your $100K. You thought you got ‘reach.’ In reality you got crap. 

→ That’s why your pipeline creation from accounts “with intent” is non-existent…
→ That’s why legacy ABM platforms claim “influenced pipeline” not real pipeline…
→ That’s why your sales team now ignores intent data.

The industry is FINALLY waking up to these facts. 

Takeaway: 

→ You're targeting audiences that are 80% noise, 20% signal.
→ Your CPCs are inflated because everyone's bidding on the same "in-market" audiences that aren't actually in-market.
→ Your pipeline conversion rates are terrible because most of these people aren't buyers.
→ And you can't prove real ROI because the data was junk from the start.

What should you do? 
→ Start with YOUR first-party data (website visitors, CRM contacts, customers)
→ Layer in second-party intent (G2 buying signals…which are more expensive for a reason)
→ Be suspicious of any "intent" audience with millions of profiles
→ Look at ABM 2.0 platforms that report on contact-level attribution of actual pipeline created

taplio

Zeb Couch 🤜🤛's Linkedin Analytics

Zeb Couch 🤜🤛

Performance ScoreZeb Couch 🤜🤛's LinkedIn Performance

Who is engaging with Zeb

Zeb Couch 🤜🤛's Best Posts (last 30 days)

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?