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Who we sat down with
Keith Putnam-Delaney (Co-Founder & CEO of Primer) joins GTMnow to break down the B2B paid squeeze, the B2C-for-B2B unlock, and his 3 contrarian rules for paid in 2026. He has the data on what's actually working, and it's not where you might assume.
Discussed in this episode
Why LinkedIn & Google search are hitting a ceiling (and what to do instead
How to get 80% match rates on Meta and 70% on Reddit for B2B audiences
The only moat competitors can’t copy: your targeting
Why you need to feed CRM conversion data back to ad platforms
Holdout groups, attribution, and what actually proves paid ROI
The truth about ads in LLMs (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Grok)
B2B influencer marketing: the most undervalued tactic right now
Founder lessons from 6 years and 3 pivots building Primer
Episode highlights
2:40 – AI’s real impact on ad costs
4:06 – Google Search & AI Overviews: what still works
5:04 – LinkedIn CPMs: $20 to $800 in 18 months
6:39 – Why B2B brands need to be on Meta, Reddit & Instagram
7:01 – What Primer does (80% match rates explained)
9:29 – The device fragmentation problem & attribution
11:16 – Holdout groups: the statistically proven approach
13:30 – Which channel to start with (and minimum spend)
22:18 – Paid ad creative: feed the algorithm with variants
25:14 – B2B influencer marketing & thought leadership ads
30:59 – Why you MUST push CRM data back into ad platforms
33:31 – Ads in ChatGPT & LLMs: what’s coming
35:53 – Founder lessons, mental health & iteration
Key takeaways
1. AI has drastically changed the cost of running ads.
The infinite supply of AI-generated content is flooding finite human attention. CPMs are exploding everywhere as a result, which has become a supply and demand math challenge.
2. AI Overviews are killing unbranded discovery on search engines.
The workaround for now is bidding on competitor keywords. It works, but will hit diminishing returns as everyone copies the play. Google will not show AI answers on brand search because they still need to monetize their CPU costs.
3. The B2C-for-B2B unlock is the next paid frontier.
Most B2B advertisers upload work emails to Meta, Reddit, and TikTok and hit 2 to 10% match rates. Primer drives 80% on Meta, 50% on Google, and 70% on Reddit. This gives you cheaper inventory, better targeting, and the ability to reach your B2B buyer where they scroll at night.
4. Triangulation is the answer to attribution challenges and debates.
Embrace causality. Holdout groups are statistically proven and you can hit stat sig with a ~5,000 person audience given enough time. Zoom famously ran attribution by comparing markets (Nashville vs Louisville). The Mad Men approach still works.
5. The hardest thing for competitors to copy is your targeting.
They can copy your creative, messaging, channels, and offer. They cannot replicate your targeting if it is built on proprietary identity work. Targeting + iteration velocity on creative variants is the paid moat.
6. Buy credibility from people who already have the audience.
Promoted thought leadership ads have existed on Meta for years, and almost no B2B brand uses them. LinkedIn rolled the same capability out. The fastest way to grow now is renting trust from individuals.
Follow Keith Putnam-Delaney
X (Twitter): https://x.com/kcpdelaney
Primer’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sayprimer
Primer’s website: https://www.sayprimer.com
Follow Sophie Buonassisi (Host)
X (Twitter): https://x.com/sophiebuona
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