The Clever Zebo blog
What we’ve learned spending other people’s money well.
Plain-spoken playbooks on paid media, CRO, lifecycle and measurement — minus the jargon. 69 posts and counting.
Plain-spoken playbooks on paid media, CRO, lifecycle and measurement — minus the jargon. 69 posts and counting.
Your buyers increasingly start with ChatGPT, not Google — and if the AI doesn't mention you, you're not on the shortlist. A B2B SaaS leader's guide to AEO/GEO: what it is, why it reshapes your pipeline, what actually drives AI visibility, and how to measure where you stand.
A practical, no-affiliate comparison of the native ad spy tools that actually track Taboola and Outbrain (now Teads) campaigns in 2026 — what each is good for, what they cost, and the honest answer on whether you need one at all.
Outbrain is now Teads. Here's what that means for advertisers choosing between Taboola and Teads (formerly Outbrain) in 2026 — the real differences, what they actually cost, the alternatives, and how to make either one profitable.
In-house, agency, or fractional? It's the structural question every B2B SaaS marketing leader wrestles with — and the wrong call quietly wastes a year of runway. Here's an honest framework from an agency that will tell you when not to hire one.
Google Ads got a lot more automated, but the ways accounts waste money are remarkably durable. Here are four strategies that still sink accounts in 2026 — updated for the era of broad match, Smart Bidding and Performance Max.
Anchor text still tells Google what a page is about — but the 2011 playbook of stuffing exact-match keywords into every link will now get you penalized. Here's how anchor text actually works in 2026, where you control it, and how to use it without tripping link-spam filters.
Thousands of businesses search for "cheap SEO" every month, and plenty buy it. Here's why it's a mirage — why good SEO looks expensive, why it's worth it anyway, and why the flood of cheap AI-generated SEO has made the gap between cheap and good even wider.
Content marketing still works — but now anyone can generate infinite mediocre content in seconds, so the bar moved. The question isn't just 'what do I write,' it's 'what can I write that AI can't, and that AI will cite.' Here's the answer.
Facebook retired the single Relevance Score back in 2019 and replaced it with three separate ad relevance diagnostics. If you're still hunting for that 1–10 number, here's what replaced it — and how to actually improve ad relevance on Meta in 2026.
Native LinkedIn conversion tracking used to be big news. Now it's table stakes — and the bar moved. Here's how to track LinkedIn Ads conversions accurately in 2026 with the Insight Tag and the Conversions API, so you can optimize to real outcomes and measure true ROAS.
Choosing a marketing agency is a maze of consultants, boutiques and confident pitches. Here are six ways an ROI-minded business can separate the teams that deliver from the ones that just sell — including what to ask in the AI era.
You no longer write one tight ad per keyword — you feed Responsive Search Ads a set of assets and Google assembles them. Here's how to write Google Ads copy that wins in 2026: the timeless message-match principles, adapted for RSAs and Google's AI.
Instagram Shopping isn't what it was at its 2021 peak — Meta removed the Shop tab, ended Live Shopping, and pulled back native checkout. But Instagram still drives real ecommerce sales. Here's what actually works now: product tags, shopping ads, and driving to your own store.
We've run campaigns on most of the major email platforms, so here's the honest 2026 roundup — which tool fits ecommerce vs B2B vs newsletters vs enterprise, what happened to the old guard (ExactTarget, Marketo, Mailchimp), and why deliverability now matters more than the tool you pick.
Retargeting still works — but the cookie-based version this post originally described is fading. Here's how to run effective retargeting in 2026: first-party data, server-side tracking, consent, smaller and smarter audiences, plus the segmentation and creative practices that never went out of style.
We first wrote about Facebook Lead Ads when they were a promising-but-clunky new feature. They've grown up — the old complaints are solved. The new challenge is lead quality and speed-to-lead. Here's how to run Meta Lead Ads well in 2026.
Short version: LinkedIn retired Lookalike Audiences in early 2024 and replaced them with AI-driven Predictive Audiences. Here's what changed, how to do 'reach more people like my best customers' on LinkedIn today, and the seed data that actually makes it work.
After years of conversion work for B2B software, three tests win again and again: sharpening the value statement, adding a real guarantee, and cutting signup-form friction. Here's how to run each — including the form change that lifted one client's conversions ~50%.
Universal Analytics is gone and everyone's on GA4 now — using maybe 10% of it, and usually the wrong 10%. Here are the features that actually earn their keep, the ones to ignore, and the setup mistake we see on almost every account we inherit.
Most websites lose prospects for silly, fixable reasons — they break up with you over a tiny miscue before you ever get to make your case. Here are 8 of the most common UX gaffs that quietly tank conversions, and what to do instead.
Most CRO fails because people skip to testing button colors without a strategy. Here's the actual loop — analyze where you leak, research why, prioritize, hypothesize, test properly, iterate — plus the 2026 tool stack now that Google Optimize is gone.
We're marketers, not statisticians — but if you run A/B tests, statistical significance is what separates a real winner from random noise. A plain-English guide to what it means, the confidence level to use, why you can't stop a test early, and the mistakes that quietly ruin results.
The old display playbook — pick publishers, drop a pixel, retarget everyone — is broken. Third-party cookies are gone, Google folded Display into AI-driven Demand Gen and Performance Max, and privacy reshaped targeting. Here's how to build a display strategy that actually works now.
User testing is watching real, representative people actually use your site — and it's the qualitative 'why' that analytics and A/B tests can't give you. What it is, how it differs from A/B testing, the modern tools (many free), and how many users you really need.
Years ago I tested three press release services hunting for SEO links. The honest update: that's the wrong goal now. Google discounts press-release links, so here's what PR distribution is actually good for in 2026 — and how to earn the backlinks you really wanted.
When OpenAI flipped on advertising inside ChatGPT back in February, the kindest thing you could say about the platform was that it was promising . A single ad format — a…
If you run paid media, you've probably had three different people send you the OpenAI Ads Manager announcement in the last few weeks. The headlines all say roughly the same…
Your ad copy is often where a customer experiences their first impression of your business. What happens if those critical words are misspelled? According to this extensive…
As competition intensifies, a great example of a crowded SaaS digital marketing space is the web accessibility platform. In today's post, we're going to dive into this…
When it comes to running display advertising on the web, there are finite publishers, but hundreds of display ad networks who promise to run your banner ads with the best…
When it comes to testing a new advertising channel, or planning a broader pilot for fresh online ad initiatives, one question clients invariably ask the experts at Clever Zebo…
Quora has proven itself a valuable source of knowledge, not only in online marketing, but across so many different categories. Now, the platform is finally hinting at its plan…
When done right, email prospecting is a powerful way to reach a highly targeted decision maker. But the right contacts are for naught unless you get your messaging right. We…
There comes a point for every search engine marketer when a set of campaigns becomes well-enough optimized that its performance is satisfactory, but every additional…
Back in the aughts, charging on a percentage-of-spend basis was all the rage for online marketing agencies. In that model, clients pay some percentage of their search engine…
Maybe you're in a summer slump, maybe growth has flattened, maybe you just want to keep your foot on the growth pedal ... regardless, revenue is the lifeblood of your business,…
I used to worry that sales -- the kind where one person helps another -- was dead. In the early 2000s, the Internet was on its initial seeping-into-everything rampage. Why…
A year ago, I interviewed Rand Fishkin . He was open, candid and insightful. A few weeks ago, we did a follow up interview. Not only does he have a new hair do, he has a new…
B2B/non-ecommerce marketers and their potential customers have a problem. The marketer is responsible for driving revenue, but often there's a significant delay between when…
Interested in optimizing how you manage and think about business email? The infographic in this guest blog post by Brad Patterson, Community Manager at Evercontact, explores…
This is a guest post by Rakesh Soni , CEO and co-founder of LoginRadius – the fastest growing social platform offering social sign-on, social sharing, user data and social…
Yes, the agency business is cyclical, but last year we noticed something strange. It seemed increasingly harder and harder to bring on new clients. A few brave friends risked…
I recently contributed to a great eBook on PPC landing pages, and it strikes me that some of the questions addressed therein are useful to our blog audience. Contest strategist…
This is a guest post by Adam Tuttle of ActiveCampaign, a leader in email marketing & marketing automation. As a member of the Clever Zebo community, you can claim a 10%…
This is a guest post by Jacques van der Wilt , creator of DataFeedWatch , a web-based tool for merchants to optimize their data feed for Google Shopping and other comparison…
This is a guest blog post by McKay Allen, Inbound Marketing Manager, at LogMyCalls . Not only has he spoken at SMX, SES, Social Media Strategies Summit, etc., but he is one of…
I realize the regurgitation reference in the title of this blog post is a tad obscure and a bit gross, but there it is for your consumption (mild pun intended). This…
It was Google's first Panda update in 2011 that got me thinking: the gray area optimization gold rush of this millennium's first decade will probably end up a blip on the…
(This is a guest post by Emily Green) Ready to increase consumer experience and want to optimize your website for mobile use? If so, there are some things to consider before…
Confirmation pages (also known as thank you pages) are one of the overlooked of all online marketing assets. Join me June 11-13 at the Chicago Conversion Conference for a…
Studies show, time and time again, that what the Internet says about your company matters. Due to the advent of the mobile Web, to say nothing of online review sites like…
I've been on both sides of the client-agency fence at a number of different levels. While it's clear that marketing agencies can add tremendous value (why I started Clever Zebo…
Heads up: I'm going to plug our client's blogging contest in this post. Yes, I'm plugging it because they're our client and we love them -- but more than that, I'm plugging it…
I covered the basics of LinkedIn advertising in a post on the KISSmetrics blog a few months back. Now, I’m going to touch on more advanced strategies for structuring your…
With more and more businesses moving online, it seems that the dominance of cyberspace in the global business environment is only set to increase. Certainly, the web offers…
Ok, so Pinterest is blowing up. In this post, three contributing authors explore what the site is all about and what it can (and cannot) do for your business from a marketing…
Clever Zebo officially succumbed to Blathy (what happens when your blog lays fallow for more than a month, and you don't even spell out the words "blog" and "apathy"). It's a…
Last time I rapped at you about creating effective lead forms , we covered the basics. Here, I want to spend some time on slightly more advanced tactics. 1. Sometimes,…
For businesses that primarily provide physical world services, online marketing is a very different animal than for primarily online businesses selling a product or…
Humans are playful. In fact, that's one of my favorite features of being human. For some reason, though, when we think about "doing business," we seem to think that it's…
Last week David Rodnitzky wrote a blog post criticizing a deal we had run on Startups.com: $2,000 worth of consulting for $39 delivered in a 45-minute session. You can read his…
This is guest post written by Luana Spinetti, author of N0tseo.com . Growing your business reputation online is a work of patience. Your campaigns bring in a slow, indisputable…
When it comes to your site's lead form, the little things count. Here are a few ways to get it right. 1. Be minimalist. Ask for as little information as you can without…
This is a guest post written by Susan Payton, President of Egg Marketing & Communications . These days, it's not the company with the giant billboard that gets the customer,…
The best marketing messages speak to me like I’m smart. Big brands create big-budget, head-in-the-clouds taglines and messages. Case in point: AT&T’s tagline is “Your world.…
From Slide Rocket : Subject: Your Presentation Coach Is Ready To Help Hi Joshua, I wanted to send along a friendly reminder that as your SlideRocket Coach I am here to lend a…
When you think B2B new customer acquisition strategies, what comes to mind? Referrals?Tradeshows? Cold-calling? Eek? Here are some great B2B ideas that will get the lead flow…
REI, the biggest retailer of outdoor gear, does a lot of things well but probably none is as brilliant as its return policy. You can return anything , at any time, regardless…
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