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Field Notes on Growth

Notes on paid media, AI creative, CRO, and lifecycle. Mostly things we've figured out running growth at agencies and SaaS companies. Not recycled best practices.

Start here · The Playbooks

4 guides

Playbook 5 min read

Advantage+ vs Manual Campaigns: When to Use Each

Advantage+ is not free performance on autopilot. It is a trade: you give up control for scale, and that trade only pays when the signal is there.

Playbook 5 min read

Static vs Video Ads in 2026: When Each One Wins

The static-vs-video debate used to be a budget question. AI made video variants cheap, so the answer changed.

Playbook 15 min read

AI Performance Creative: The Complete 2026 Playbook

The 2026 playbook for AI performance creative: workflow, costs, tools, and the first 30 days of standing it up.

Playbook 14 min read

Paid Media with AI: The 2026 Strategic Framework

AI made paid media variants cheap. It made strategy harder. Here is the 2026 framework.

Framework 5 min read

Marketing Agency vs Freelancer vs In-House

Freelancer, agency, or your first marketing hire? Each is a different product with a different failure mode. Match the model to the job, not the price.

Framework 5 min read

How Much Should a SaaS Spend on Paid Media?

The platforms set your floor. Payback math sets your ceiling. Your paid media budget is whatever fits between the two.

Workflow 6 min read

The AI Ad Copy Workflow We Run for Clients

Every sprint starts with 40 copy variants in a doc. About 15 are dead by lunch. That is the system working.

Guide 6 min read

Growth Agency for Fintech Subscriptions

Finance ads get disapproved, conversions lag, and blended ROAS lies. Here is how to screen a growth agency that can handle all three.

Case Study 6 min read

How AI Creative Cut Cost per Variant by 80%

One client, real numbers: cost per ad variant down roughly 80%, output up 4x, and a $2.59 CAC in a market that had been stuck at $34.

Guide 5 min read

TikTok Ads Agency Cost: Fees in 2026

TikTok agency proposals look like Meta proposals until you reach the creative line. The platform eats ads in days, and the fee follows.

Guide 6 min read

Best AI Video Model for Ads: Seedance vs Runway vs Kling

We animated the same still in all three models. The cheapest one was also the one we ordered 40 more from.

Framework 6 min read

Are Growth Agencies Worth It? The ROI Math

A retainer can be a bargain or a leak. Here is the math on when $3K to $15K a month pays back.

Guide 6 min read

Best Paid Media Agency for SaaS and AI Companies

SaaS paid media is won on payback math and incrementality, not a blended ROAS number. Here is how to find the agency that runs it that way.

Guide 5 min read

Best Growth Agency for Consumer DTC Brands in 2026

DTC growth is won on creative volume and clean prospecting math, not clever targeting. Here is how to spot the agency that knows the difference.

Guide 5 min read

CRO Agency Cost: Pricing Models in 2026

CRO pricing splits three ways: monthly retainer, per-experiment, or a cut of the lift. Each rewards a different behavior, and one of them quietly works against you.

Guide 5 min read

What Should a Growth Agency Retainer Include?

Most retainer disputes trace back to a scope line nobody pinned down. Here is the checklist that prevents it, with the red flag for each item.

Guide 4 min read

LinkedIn Ads Agency Cost: Fees in 2026

LinkedIn clicks cost about 3x Meta clicks, and the platform floor is higher. Here is what that does to agency fees and viable budget.

Guide 5 min read

How to Choose a CRO Agency: A 2026 Checklist

Most CRO agency pitches lead with a logo wall and a win-rate number. Neither tells you whether their tests reach significance. These five criteria do.

Guide 5 min read

Best Growth Agency for Startups: Seed to Series B

The right growth agency for a seed startup is often wrong at Series B. Stage decides the fit, not the case-study deck.

Guide 5 min read

When to Hire a Lifecycle / Retention Agency

You have users, but they drop after signup. Here are the 4 signals that say it's time to hand retention to someone who owns it.

Guide 7 min read

TikTok Ads Agency: How to Choose the Right One

Most agencies treat TikTok like Meta with a different logo. The ones worth hiring treat it as a creative-volume problem first.

Guide 5 min read

When to Hire a CRO Agency (And When Not To)

A CRO agency needs traffic to test on. Below a real volume threshold, a retainer buys tests that never reach significance.

Guide 4 min read

Meta Ads Agency Cost: Fees and Models in 2026

Meta ads aren't expensive because of the clicks. They're expensive because the creative burns out fast. Here is what an agency charges to feed it.

Guide 6 min read

How Much Does an AI Marketing Agency Cost in 2026?

Two agencies quote the same company $4K and $40K a month, both calling it AI marketing. Here is what each version costs.

Framework 6 min read

What a Growth Agency Should Deliver in the First 90 Days

Day 90 is your keep-or-fire decision point. Here is what an agency owes you before then, phase by phase.

Guide 6 min read

AEO Agency vs SEO Agency vs DIY: Which Do You Need?

Three ways to get visible in AI answers. Most companies pick the wrong one for their stage. Here is the decision, with costs.

Guide 6 min read

Signs You Should Switch Marketing Agencies

The deck says ROAS is up. Your CAC says otherwise. Here are the 7 signs your agency relationship is failing, and how to leave without losing your data.

Guide 6 min read

Best AI Performance Creative Agencies in 2026

The agency model built for 4 concepts a quarter does not survive contact with dozens of variants a week.

Guide 6 min read

Google Ads Agency Cost: Management Fees in 2026

A $40K/month Google Ads account costs $72,000 a year at a 15% fee. Before you sign, see what management should cost at your spend tier.

Framework 6 min read

12 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Growth Agency

A great pitch deck answers none of the questions that predict results. These 12 do.

Guide 6 min read

Best Growth Marketing Agency for AI Startups

Most agencies pitching AI startups run a 2019 SaaS playbook against 2026 unit economics. Here is how to spot the ones that don't.

Guide 6 min read

Fractional CMO Cost: Rates and Retainers in 2026

Most fractional CMOs run $5,000 to $15,000 a month. The real question is what moves you inside that range, and when not to pay it.

Guide 7 min read

Best AEO/GEO Agencies in 2026: How to Choose

Every agency claims AEO expertise now. Almost none can show you a citation report. Here is how to tell them apart.

Guide 5 min read

How to Spot Ad Creative Fatigue Before It Burns Budget

ROAS tells you creative is fading after you paid for it. These signals warn days earlier.

Guide 6 min read

How Much Does an AEO/GEO Agency Cost in 2026?

AEO retainers run $3K to $15K a month, and under $1,500 is usually rebranded SEO. Here is what you pay for, by stage.

Guide 3 min read

Performance Marketing vs Growth Marketing Agency: Which Do You Need?

Performance agencies make clicks cheaper. Growth agencies move revenue. Hiring the wrong one is why CAC drops but revenue doesn't.

Guide 4 min read

Fractional CMO vs Growth Agency vs Full-Time VP: Which to Hire in 2026

Fractional CMO, growth agency, or full-time VP? They solve different problems. Choose by cost alone and you risk strategy with no execution, or the reverse.

Guide 4 min read

Best Growth Agency for Subscription & Consumer Businesses in 2026

Subscription wins on LTV. Consumer wins on creative volume. The right agency should know which game you are playing.

Guide 4 min read

Paid Media Agency Cost: Flat Fee vs Percentage of Spend in 2026

Percentage-of-spend pricing pays your agency more when you spend more. That's the opposite of what you want. Here's the math on both models.

Guide 4 min read

7 Signs You Need a Paid Media Agency (and 3 Signs You Don't)

Plateaued spend, rising CPA, one stretched person running every channel. Here are the 7 signs you've outgrown in-house paid media, and 3 signs you haven't.

Guide 4 min read

When to Hire a Growth Agency vs Build In-House: The Readiness Test

Most companies hire a growth agency at the wrong time. Here are the specific signals that you're actually ready, and the ones that say wait.

Guide 4 min read

Best Growth Marketing Agency for PLG SaaS: How to Choose in 2026

The best PLG agency isn't the one with the biggest logo wall. It's the one that optimizes for trial-to-paid, not clicks. Here's how to tell.

Guide 4 min read

Growth Marketing Agency Pricing for SaaS: What You Actually Get in 2026

SaaS growth agencies charge $3K to $15K a month. The number matters less than what's inside it. Here's what each tier actually buys.

Guide 4 min read

How to Choose a Paid Media Agency: 7 Questions to Ask Before You Sign

Most companies pick a paid media agency on logos and pitch polish. Here are the 7 questions that actually predict whether it works.

Framework 5 min read

Growth Agency vs In-House Growth Hire: The 2026 Decision

One in-house growth hire is one person's range. An agency is a team's. Here is the real cost of each, and when each one wins.

Guide 12 min read

How to Make AI Answer Engines Cite Your SaaS: A Schema Markup Field Guide

AI engines extract from structured data when it is there and guess when it is not. Here are the 7 schema types that get your SaaS cited, with the code.

AI 10 min read

CAC Benchmarks for AI SaaS in 2026: What Good Looks Like by Stage

Classic SaaS CAC benchmarks were built on 80% gross margins. AI SaaS runs at 40 to 60% once inference cost is loaded in, so many familiar benchmarks are overstated by roughly a third. Here are the real CAC and payback targets by stage (seed, A, B+) with the gross-margin correction layered in.

SEO 10 min read

What is AEO? The 2026 Definition (And Why Most SaaS Sites Aren't Ready)

AEO is the discipline of getting your content cited by AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. SEO ranks pages. AEO ranks passages. Most SaaS sites are built for ranking, not extraction, which is why they get crawled but rarely cited.

Guide 12 min read

Best AI Marketing Agencies for SaaS in 2026: A Buyer's Guide

Most 'best AI marketing agency' lists are sponsored placements dressed as editorial. The answer is categorical, not a ranked list.

AI Creative 10 min read

How to Brief an AI Performance Creative Agency (Without Burning the First Month)

Most agency briefs are written like RFPs. The good ones look more like brand voice documents. The difference shows up in the first month of work: a bad brief produces 30 variants that all miss, a good brief produces 30 variants that hit the angle from different sides. Here is the five-layer brief structure we use, the template we hand to clients before kickoff, and the five common mistakes that quietly burn the first month.

Framework 7 min read

The First 14 Days: What Drives SaaS Onboarding Retention (And What Kills It)

Most SaaS churn happens before day 14. The cohort math says the cause is almost never your product.

Framework 9 min read

Paid Acquisition for AI Companies: What's Different About Running Ads for an AI Product in 2026

Most teams discover what's different about paid for AI products after their first six-figure month with no payback. Three things break, and they're fixable.

Framework 8 min read

Inference Cost Just Broke Your CAC Payback Math: A 2026 Model for AI SaaS

If you sized your paid budget against classic SaaS payback math, you are overpaying for AI users. Here is the corrected model.

Framework 13 min read

The AI Startup Growth Playbook: How Early-Stage AI Companies Acquire, Activate, and Retain in 2026

Most AI startup growth content is rebadged SaaS GTM. The real playbook starts where the unit economics break.

Framework 11 min read

AI Creative Agency vs Hiring Creators vs Building In-House: The 2026 Decision Tree

Three models, different math than 18 months ago. For most growth-stage SaaS between $5M and $50M ARR, the answer is now a hybrid: an AI creative agency for production, plus one internal creative lead for direction.

Framework 11 min read

How to Audit Your Paid Media Program in 2026: A 7-Stage Diagnostic

If I had 30 days and admin access to your paid media accounts, here is the audit I would run: seven stages, ordered from foundational to tactical.

Paid Media 13 min read

Google Ads with AI in 2026: Why YouTube Quietly Beat PMax, Meta, and TikTok

Google Ads with AI is two posts in one. PMax is the easy entry point: algorithm-led, asset-generation friendly. YouTube is the underweighted one: harder to crack on targeting, but the only channel that took our CAC from $75 to $20 on a creator-focused AI SaaS. Here is what AI does and does not solve in Google Ads in 2026, and why most teams are leaving the strongest channel sitting on the bench.

Workflow 7 min read

How to Structure a TikTok Ad Account for AI Creative Velocity

Your AI creative pipeline is producing 20 variants a week. Your old TikTok account structure is killing 17 of them before the algorithm sees them.

Workflow 9 min read

How to Prompt GPT Image 2 for Photorealistic Ad Avatars (5 Templates)

We have run thousands of GPT Image 2 prompts. Here are the five templates we keep coming back to.

Guide 9 min read

What Is Conversion Rate Optimization? A 2026 Subscription Business Guide

Most subscription operators confuse CRO with A/B testing. They are not the same thing, and the difference shows up in your runway.

Guide 6 min read

How Much Does AI Performance Creative Cost? (vs Hiring Creators)

We did the math on what one ad variant costs in 2026. The answer is closer to ten dollars than two thousand.

Framework 8 min read

AI Didn't Replace Paid Media Strategy. It Multiplied It.

AI took over the production line in paid media. The strategy work just got harder. Especially at scale.

Guide 8 min read

Best AI Image Model for Ads in 2026: GPT Image 2 vs Midjourney vs Flux

We tested all three on the same 12 ad briefs. The winner was not the one with the loudest brand.

Workflow 8 min read

AI Performance Creative: The Workflow That Cut Our TikTok CPA in Half

Six months ago I would not have run a campaign this way. We did anyway. CPA dropped 50%.

Guide 7 min read

SEO vs GEO: What's the Difference and Why It Matters

Most marketers think GEO is just SEO with extra steps. The data says otherwise. Only 12% of pages that win Google also get cited by AI.

Growth Strategy 6 min read

AI Made Building Free. It Didn't Make Attention Free.

When the cost of building drops to near zero, the cost of being heard goes up. Here's why distribution, not product, is the new scarce resource, and how to prepare before your category saturates.

AI Creative 10 min read

Meta Ads in 2026: Why Creative Testing is the Name of the Game

On Meta and the platforms built like it, auctions are automated and audiences are algorithmic. Creative is the lever that's left. AI didn't make high-volume testing possible. It made it affordable.

Workflow 7 min read

How to Build Your Own AEO/GEO Visibility Tracker

We built a free tool to score how visible our own brand is to AI engines. The five things it tests turned out to drive 80% of all citations.

AI 7 min read

How to Choose an AI Marketing Agency (A Real Checklist)

Most companies choosing an AI marketing agency are evaluating the wrong things. Here's a checklist built from 20+ years on both sides of the agency pitch.

Growth Strategy 10 min read

Mental Well-being and Business Growth: Notes from a Fractional Head of Growth

Burned-out founders do not pivot. They persevere on the wrong path because changing course costs energy they do not have. Here is why treating mental clarity as a strategic asset, not a personal luxury, is a direct input to growth.

Growth Strategy 11 min read

What is a Fractional Head of Growth? 10 Insights for Founders in 2026

A fractional Head of Growth gives you senior-level growth ownership without a $300K full-time hire. Here's what they actually do, when to hire one, and how the role compares to a full-time VP or a consultant.

Growth Strategy 12 min read

Marketing Consultant vs. Fractional CMO: Which One Does Your Business Actually Need?

A marketing consultant advises on a specific problem. A fractional CMO owns the whole marketing function. Here's how to tell which one you actually need, and how much each one really costs.

Case Study 11 min read

Supercharging SEO with AI: My Journey and 5 Actionable Strategies

We took TubeBuddy from one blog post a week to daily publication. Traffic grew 500%. Here are the five AI tactics that did it.

Growth Strategy 11 min read

When to Hire a Fractional CMO (and When to Hold Off): A Decision Guide for Growth-Hungry CEOs

A field-tested guide for growth-stage CEOs deciding whether to hire a fractional CMO now, hire one later, or do something else entirely. Includes the decision framework, 30/60/90 day expectations, and the signals that say wait.

Growth Strategy 9 min read

5 Critical Signs Your Subscription Business Needs a Growth Overhaul

If your MRR has plateaued, churn is outrunning acquisition, or your team can see the opportunity but can't move fast enough, here are the five signs your subscription growth engine needs a rebuild.

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