Brendan Hufford

🚨 THIS SHOULD SHAKE EVERY HIGHER ED MARKETER 🚨 This isn’t a small inefficiency. This is a system-wide failure. Thats why NextGrad is changing the game. We don’t chase clicks. We don’t rely on algorithms. We don’t gamble on whether your audience is real. We go where reality actually exists. Real students. Real schools. Real moments. 👉 Your first impression becomes discovery, not a skipped ad. NextGrad is where students meet you first!

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It’s always fascinating when people declare SEO dead while the companies redefining search are quietly hiring SEO talent for $400K+. The interface may be evolving, but discoverability, authority, and structured information are still the foundation of how information surfaces online. I’ve always approached it as a marketing strategist first, SEO has simply been one of the most effective channels for understanding and shaping how information is found. AI doesn’t change that. It expands it.

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"You are eligible for a FREE review of your ad account" oH aMaZiNg. ExAcTlY wHaT i NeEdEd. Nothing says “let’s improve performance” like someone who’s never run your business, doesn’t understand your funnel, and suggests: • “Try broader targeting” • “Increase budget” • “Use Advantage+” • “Have you considered more video?” HARD PASS.

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Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights released a podcasting report that I found valuable, so I wanted to share part of it. What percentage of podcast consumers watch podcasts vs listen? Only 8% of podcast consumers WATCH podcasts! The other 92% are listening only. However, podcast consumers discover podcasts via YouTube 45% of the time. (That's because it's the world's most intelligent search engine.) The takeaway for podcasters is this: #1. It's highly unlikely that people will ever watch your podcast. #2. If you do produce video, the real benefit is that your podcast will get discovered by more people. (Who will then go to their favorite listening app to tune in.)

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Most advertisers treat ABO vs CBO like picking a favorite sports team. Here's the thing - it's not about which one is "better." It's about using the right tool for the right situation. Use ABO when: → You can afford 2-3x your target CPA per ad set → You trust your creative strategy → You want fast, clear data on what works → You need full control over scaling winners Use CBO when: → You're conservative with spend → Unsure what winning angles will be → Testing new products, markets, or audiences → You need Meta to filter out poor performers Here's our approach: We start most accounts with CBO for creative testing. Let Meta do the heavy lifting of finding winners. Once we see consistent performance and even spend distribution across multiple creatives, we graduate to ABO. Why? Because ABO lets me scale winners aggressively while maintaining full control over budget allocation. The biggest mistake I see? People treating this like a religious debate instead of a strategic decision. Let me know your thoughts on this never-ending debate 👇🏻

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𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱. 𝗜𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁. It dies on the profile. Here’s what we see with clients over and over: Their posts get traction. Senior people click through. And then... nothing happens. No follow. No DM. No conversion. Because their profile tells the wrong story. 360Brew doesn’t just rank posts. It classifies people. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗴𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗺 (𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀) 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆. Here’s the mistake that we see all the time: ❌ 🚀 2× SaaS Founder | B2B Growth | $XM ARR | Ex-[Logo] | Scaling Relentlessly | MBA | Let’s Talk The credentials are there but It’s also invisible. It tells the algorithm 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 about: - who you’re relevant to - what problem you solve - why someone should follow you Now compare it to this: ✅ Predictable pipeline for B2B businesses built on expertise | Operator-led Same person. Very different outcome. One profile signals credentials. The other signals usefulness. And in the current algorithm, usefulness wins. This is the part most people miss: If LinkedIn can’t quickly understand who you’re for, it can’t confidently distribute your content. So even good posts get buried. Not because they’re bad. But because the profile breaks the loop. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿.

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The $1 Billion Budget Shift: CMOs are betting big on GEO in 2026. We’re seeing a massive pivot in marketing spend. Traditional SEO isn’t enough anymore when your customers are asking ChatGPT or Perplexity for recommendations instead of scrolling through blue links. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the new frontier. But you can't optimize what you can't measure. If you're still only tracking Google rankings, you're missing the conversation AI is having about your brand. Are you being cited? Is the sentiment positive? Are you losing share of voice to a competitor who optimized for the LLMs? We built CiteMetrix to give you the data Google Search Console doesn't: - ModelScore™: Your overall visibility across the top AI platforms. - Citation Tracking: Real-time monitoring of brand mentions. - Sentiment Analysis: How AI actually characterizes your products. The shift is happening now. Don't let your brand become invisible in the AI search era. Check your ModelScore today: https://citemetrix.com

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Your client campaigns are dying at import because you skipped the systematic checkpoint that prevents 90% of GoHighLevel failures. The missing piece? Implementation validation before deployment. Most agencies treat GoHighLevel like a plug-and-play solution. They import snapshots, flip the switch, and wonder why automations break three weeks later. Client leads start slipping through cracks, and campaigns collapse. After implementing GoHighLevel across dozens of agency clients, the pattern is clear. Successful deployments follow a pre-flight validation framework that most skip entirely. Here's the systematic checkpoint process I use: Data Flow Mapping: Before importing any snapshot, map every lead touchpoint from entry to conversion. Document where your client's process differs from the snapshot assumptions. A real estate client's 48-hour response window isn't the same as a dental office's same-day booking requirement. Integration Stress Test: Test every third-party connection in a sandbox environment. Your CRM sync, email deliverability, and webhook responses need validation before going live. One broken integration cascades into campaign-wide failures. Rollback Procedures: Document your exact reversion process before deployment. When something breaks at 2 AM (and it will), you need a systematic path back to working state. The agencies that follow this validation framework see 85% fewer post-launch issues. They maintain client retention rates above industry standard. This implementation validation process eliminates the most common failure patterns. The specific testing protocols prevent the breakdowns that kill campaigns three weeks after launch. #GoHighLevel #MarketingAutomation #AgencyOperations #DigitalMarketing #SystematicGrowth

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