How the ex-Head of Paid Media at Hubspot drives growth ft. Rex Gelb

Описание: In this Brandformance Office Hours episode, we dig into why clicks don't always turn into pipeline and what B2B marketers should actually be optimizing for. Rex walks through how to feed the right conversion signals back to ad platforms, why proxy metrics matter early on, and how to earn more budget by proving out cost per MQL before moving down funnel. We cover channel selection — why Google search is a no-brainer most B2B companies skip, why Meta is wildly misunderstood, and when Bing actually makes sense — plus the case for leaning into AI bidding instead of fighting it, why creative diversity is now table stakes, and where incrementality and AI search ads are headed in 2026.

About the guest:
Rex is the founder of Summit Chase, a paid media agency, and previously led paid media at HubSpot for over a decade. He also advises companies on paid media strategy. His work focuses on helping B2B teams move beyond vanity metrics and build paid programs that actually drive pipeline.

00:00 – Why clicks don't always equal pipeline
05:47 – Proxy metrics and how much signal is enough
09:57 – How much measurement rigor do you actually need at different spend levels
15:51 – Setting up your first campaign and earning more budget
20:58 – Channel selection: Google, LinkedIn, Meta, Reddit, and yes, Bing
27:52 – Meta for B2B: why it's wildly misunderstood
33:26 – Lead gen forms vs. driving traffic to your site
40:48 – AI budgets and bidding: when to let go of control
47:19 – Biggest paid media mistakes and the silent killer of slow follow-ups
50:01 – Where it's all headed: incrementality, AI overview ads, and OpenAI's ad revenue