Sam Hufton

Signals, Tracking and Attribution... what’s the difference? 🤔 In B2B marketing, these three concepts are often used interchangeably. But they’re not the same, and understanding the difference is quite important. 👉 Signals: the raw interactions Signals are the traces buyers leave behind. A website visit, a webinar sign-up, a LinkedIn ad click, or an email open, all of these are signals. They show intent, interest, or activity. But on their own, they don’t tell anything besides something has happened. 👉 Tracking: how we pick up on those traces Tracking is how we capture and organize those signals. With the right setup (whether in HubSpot, Dreamdata, or another stack) we can tie signals to a person, an account, or an activity. Good tracking ensures we don’t just see isolated actions but a more connected journey. This is also when signals become much more interesting and why an increasingly amount of companies are investing in tech that can help sales & marketing pick up relevant signals from ICP fit prospects to hit more great timings and close more deals. 👉 Attribution: making sense of impact (and likely the most misunderstood and complex of the three) Attribution is about assigning credit to the right channels and activities. Did the webinar influence the deal? Was it the LinkedIn ad? Or the sales call? Attribution models help you answer these questions and decide where to invest more resources. Multi-touch attribution is one of the more popular ones and can allow you to attribute more accurately across many different sources, people and activities, and over a longer period of time. So, the next time this is a topic of discussion, make sure to divide the three as they are different from one another. Happy data hunting peeps 🤺 #CertifiedMarketingExpert #b2b #b2bmarketing #b2bsales #data

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Caught up with a former MSO partner who left us for a cheaper SEO provider. They walked me through what their current SEO agency is delivering for a high four-figure retainer. For reference we were in the low five figure range for 13 locations. Here’s what they’re getting: • 3 to 5 blog posts every 60 days • Vague “technical SEO” • Reports focused on impressions, not clicks • No clear link building strategy or roadmap And the results were not helping either. Most non brand dispensary focused keywords all stuck positions 5 and below. I was seething. Not because we lost the account. More often than not, we get a call back at some point. But because they were lead to believe this McDonald’s of an SEO strategy would support growth in the name of value and price. Dispensaries deserve better than this. There are minimum standards every dispensary SEO program should meet, whether it’s handled internally or by an outside team: • A clear roadmap built around visibility growth • Top 3 rankings for “dispensary + city” and deal-related keywords for every location • Clear KPI reporting focusing on non brand traffic and revenue. • Google Business Profile strategy and communication around engagement signals like reviews, photos, and citations • Local content published monthly • Clean technical SEO that aligns with your development environment • Consistent off-page signals for both the website and GBP We call it the grind. It works. It is what leads our partners to success and even when things don’t work out, we don’t stop. Hopefully we get a chance to work with this partner again. But more importantly, I hope more operators raise the bar for what they expect.

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SEO isn’t about ticking boxes. It’s about sequencing. You can build 100 links, publish 50 blogs, or optimise every title tag… But if the fundamentals aren’t in place, growth will stall. SEO has never been one-size-fits-all. One single tactic alone doesn't maximise visibility. It's all about a compounding strategy, layers working together in the right order. Yes, there are common priorities across industries… but there’s no magic lever you pull once and watch rankings explode. Even the most experienced SEOs don't always get it right the first time, because it’s a process of testing, refining, and compounding. So if your marketing feels busy but not effective, the issue probably isn’t a lack of effort; it’s sequencing. The best agencies don’t just do more, they do what matters most, in the right order. That’s the difference between a trickle of progress and consistent growth.

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