George Kaganovich

Agencies are underrated as hell with AI. 1) Agentic workflows will expand margins significantly 2) As work becomes more decentralized, demand for specialized agencies will grow 3) Agencies will be ground zero for internal AI tools that can ultimately become software products 4) Don’t have to raise money. Can cash flow from day 1 and control your destiny.

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The easiest way to rank in 2025? Don’t launch a site. Launch a system. 1️⃣ Aged domain w/ backlink profile 2️⃣ Parasite pages for high comp KWs 3️⃣ Programmatic AI site for ultra longtails 4️⃣ CTR & user signal manipulation 5️⃣ High ticket lead monetization where possible You don’t need a blog. You need a f*cking pipeline!

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eCommerce brands must stop working with email agencies if they expect to "fix" their growth problems. After working with over 200 brands at my Klaviyo Elite Agency, here are the top 5 dirty truths most agencies won't tell you. 1. Email's success is intrinsically tied to acquisition Over 70% of your customer base will likely never buy from you again. Increasing returning customer revenue is a critical part of building a healthy business, but true growth comes from increasing your database of customers to target. That comes from new visitors to your website, not existing ones. 2. Email can't fix poor retention alone Retention rates & churn are largely a bi-product of the lived experience with your product. If the customer experience sucks and your product fails to deliver, no amount of emails can solve this problem. You can use email & lifecycle strategies to diagnose the problem, but it's going to be up to a separate department to drive true change. 3. 80% of email results are driven by brand equity The best marketer in the world can't polish a turd. An agency can only help you if they're working with solid raw materials. That means product market fit, reliable shipping and a strong customer experience. If you have these in place, most people will be able to generate revenue for your brand as they'll be capitalising on trust you've already built with your customers. 4. Arbritrary % of email revenue is irrelevant Many email marketers will argue until they're blue in the face that over 40% of your revenue needs to be driven by email marketing. This is a nonsensical platitude not backed by any meaningful data. It's healthy to have a significant portion of revenue driven from retention channels, but it's also going to be impacted heavily by the stickiness of your product, seasonality, assortment and pricing strategy. A generic % target doesn't give you any indication as to how healthy your strategy is. 5. Short-term revenue strategies come at the expense of long-term profitability If you see an agency with an absurd guarantee, it's inevitable that their "strategy" is going to be hammering your customers with a lot of heavy discounting to achieve revenue targets. Front-loading revenue this way nearly always leads to profit erosion and subsequent drops in returning customer revenue. _______ What did I miss from this list? Would love to hear your thoughts too. #emailmarketing #klaviyo #ecommerce

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After 15 years in corporate as an SEO, I’ve seen more SEOs fail from corporate politics than from Google updates. Agency folks especially struggle moving in-house because the game is different. My advice after all these years in enterprise SEO: - Take your PTO – I used to believe rankings would collapse if I stepped away. They do not. Burnout ruins judgment far faster than a week offline. - Document everything – Ideas, tests, dips/rises in traffic, even hallway conversations. A minor decision today can resurface months later as a major escalation. - Trust carefully – Collaboration is essential, but I learned not everyone who smiles in meetings is on my side. - Do not overstay – My biggest career growth came when I changed companies every 1-3 years. Staying too long rarely results in a promotion. - Respect cross-team partners – IT, analysts, engineers, and admins have saved me and my projects more times than I can count. They are allies, not support staff. - Detach emotionally – Leadership skepticism about SEO is rarely personal. It is a negotiation about resources and priorities, not a reflection of worth. - Listen first, talk later – In my early years I thought I had to prove I was the expert. Results earned credibility more than my words ever could. - Avoid gossip and SEO fights – I learned many many years ago that my time spent debating was wasting too much energy instead of influencing. Now I document my position and move on. - Guide through questions – Some of my biggest wins came when stakeholders work through to the solution themselves. Questions open doors. - Keep perspective – We are not saving lives. Most urgency is manufactured. SEO is a long game, and patience wins.

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Local SEO is no longer about doing more. It’s about doing what actually drives revenue. This conversation with Joy Hawkins cut through a lot of outdated advice and focused on what’s moving the needle right now. Reviews are no longer just social proof. They’re one of the strongest local ranking signals and one of the fastest ways to increase lead flow, especially during high-demand periods. Clear service pages still matter because Google can only rank what it understands. And many tactics businesses still spend time on barely influence local results at all. As competition tightens and attention shrinks, the brands that win are the ones aligned with how Google and customers actually choose. That’s exactly what we unpacked on this episode of SEO Rockstars. Straight talk. No fluff. Just what works. With Nearfront, the focus stays where it belongs: on signals that turn trust into revenue.

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Seismic shifts (part 2): what’s happening in agency world? Tough read for agency land. 15% cuts is punchy - but talking with industry friends, it could be choppier on the creative side. AI creative started at the “bottom”, but quality is improving fast. Forget the “can it win an Emmy?” debate- look at the sea of “OK” creative we all see. If AI can match that at a fraction of the cost and time - and spin up endless personalised versions and social cuts - that’s the direction of travel. Are we far away? Not from what I’m seeing. There are bright spots in the story. Creative agencies taking control of creator marketing is smart. If AI means near‑infinite content, then what’s possible and needed shifts significantly. People are still essential, but in different roles. On the media side – are we going to see a replay programmatic (automation = more people, just different)? Programmatic was a hot mess under the bonnet and needed bodies to sort it. If AI really collapses plan - traffic - optimise - report, this time looks different. And what will clients pay for when AI does a big % of the work? No surprise principal trading is hot. Bright spots? >Humans in the loop, focused on bigger thinking across a broader set of challenges that actually move the brands business forward. >AI generating and adapting content across those challenges in ways we didn’t think possible and driving real outcomes = more investment. Looks like a bumpy ride ahead. If you were placing bets for 2026/27, where are the winners and losers  - and why? https://lnkd.in/eb5s9bAw

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Local SEO PSA for all you biz owners freaking out this weekend because the local map rank tracker is showing you losing ground as you checked it for the millionth time this month. All of these grid rank tools will almost always show different Local Pack rankings, even when you use two different tools for the same query at exactly the same time. There are so many factors influencing these rankings at any given time (ip address of the searcher, query, personalization, time of day, etc.) that they are almost always going to be "wrong", or at least often won't match up with what you are seeing, regardless of how you search. Search Darren Shaw's feed for when he answers questions about rank tracking accuracy. He's like a broken record, but his tune is spot on.

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🚀 Key Insights from 16,000+ Paid Search Campaigns from WordStream by LocaliQ (Apr ’24 – Mar ’25): CTR: 6.66% on average - but over half of industries saw a drop CPC: $5.26 on average - 87% of industries faced higher costs CVR: 7.52% on average - 65% of industries saw improvements CPL: $70.11- up 5% year-over-year 📊 By industry: Legal continues to be the priciest for leads ($131) Auto Repair remains the most efficient ($28) Takeaway: Costs are climbing, so you need to have smarter, more relevant campaigns paired with stronger landing pages to drive better results. Reach out to the Digital Strike - Targeted Marketing team if you are not getting the results you need! 🔗 Full report: https://lnkd.in/ejvjkGxy #PPC #PaidSearch #DigitalStrike #GoogleAds #CampaignOptimizations

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 Are You Vetting Your Google Advertisers for ACA Compliance? With Affordable Care Act (ACA) enrollments in full swing, digital advertising is a crucial driver for reaching consumers. But here’s the catch—not all advertisers are playing by the rules. Google now requires G2 Certification for any advertiser running ACA-related ads, ensuring legitimacy and consumer protection. As a decision-maker in this space, it’s essential to vet your advertisers carefully. Ask yourself: ✅ Are they G2-certified and compliant with Google’s healthcare advertising policies? ✅ Do they have a track record of running ACA campaigns without policy violations? ✅ Are they using transparent and ethical marketing practices that align with regulatory requirements? Failing to meet these standards doesn’t just hurt Google Ads performance—it damages consumer trust and ultimately puts your brand at risk. If you're partnering with agencies or lead generators, make sure they carry the right certifications before your campaigns go live. The stakes are high, and compliance isn’t optional. Let’s keep ACA advertising ethical, effective, and compliant. #ACA #GoogleAds #HealthcareMarketing #G2Certification

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The Effective Commission Rate (ECR) is a metric Daniel Clark and I created years ago when we realized the standard commission rate didn’t tell the whole story. When you pay different affiliate partners different rates, 2% to 5% for coupon, cashback, and loyalty partners; 10% to 20%+ for content creators and media publishers, you need a better way to track the real cost of your affiliate program. Enter ECR. It shows the actual percentage paid to affiliates based on total revenue. When up to 40% of your channel is powered by what we call Corporate Closers—the partners that help seal the deal—the ECR often ends up much lower than the posted commission rate. We track it monthly, not just to show savings but to encourage reinvestment in creators, tech, and strategy. If you understand your true cost, you can spend smarter and scale faster. Affiliates evolve. Your metrics should too. #AffiliateMarketing #PerformanceMarketing #ECR #CreatorEconomy #AffiliateStrategy

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