A 3-Step Approach to Adtech Social Marketing
Most adtech companies barely use social media, outsource it to an intern, or post like a grandpa, sharing links to articles or promoting event appearances without ever publishing original content native to the platform.
Social marketing is perhaps the single most powerful lever at your disposal to build a reputation. It lets you get in front of the most influential people in the industry, and the only thing separating you from them is a keyboard. No journalists, event organizers, or gatekeepers. Social is the essence of the entrepreneurial refrain: “You can just do things.”
So, what does it take? And why do so many companies — even those with 20-person marketing teams — fail at it? Because, like anything that works, it requires consistency. And it requires participation from senior people who are usually doing something else.
Here’s a can’t-lose approach to building reputation — and the pipeline that follows — through organic social content on X or LinkedIn.
Step One: Become a Reply Guy
I used to joke that Jonathan Moffie, founder of Streamr (just acquired by Magnite), was adtech’s most prolific reply guy. This wasn’t an insult. He was running the Sharp Pen CEO evangelism playbook, leveraging social to grow his company’s reputation in a crowded category dominated by bigger, better-funded players.
What was Moffie doing? Commenting on the posts of a dozen or so influential people who already had the audience he wanted. That’s how I built a reputation in adtech, too.
In the beginning, no one is coming to your posts. You haven’t earned that yet. Especially if you’re a first-time founder or new to the space.
What you can do — and this is the magic of social — is show up in the comments of the people who built the industry: Brian O’Kelley, Ari Paparo, Eric Franchi, Tim and Chris Vanderhook, Jason Fairchild, Jeff Green.
It used to be hard to get in a room with people like this. Now you can get in a digital room with them every day. If you do that consistently and thoughtfully, they’ll come to know you — and more importantly, their audiences will.
Almost no one does this. Not because it’s hard to understand, but because it’s hard to stick with. It’s time-consuming. You can’t really outsource it. But if you do it for months, you’ll grow your audience and your reputation.
Every startup CEO should be spending 30 minutes a day doing this. Every mature company CEO should have a team helping with this. It’s a great use of time.
Step Two: Pick a North Star
One idea. One topic you want to be associated with.
Olivia Kory: incrementality
Moffie: SMB CTV advertising
Brian O’Kelley: agentic advertising
Jason Fairchild: performance TV
Eric Seufert: mobile marketing
Yours truly: adtech marketing
Post about your north star over and over. That’s how you get associated with it. And develop a core argument around it.
For example, my argument: Most adtech companies’ marketing playbook is outdated. They should be putting the founder/CEO at the center and leveraging first-party channels.
You’ll say, “That’ll get boring.” Which brings us to step three.
Step Three: Develop Content Buckets
Create 3-5 content buckets to keep your core message fresh.
If your big idea is incrementality, for example, your buckets might be the following:
Case studies — showing how it actually works for your clients.
Big Tech — analyzing how the big players get it right or wrong.
Nerd stuff — debating methodology, tools, data.
News — commenting on incrementality product launches and POVs.
Doing this right is not rocket science. The hardest part is consistency.
The best companies talk to their audience weekly, if not daily.
So: Know your north star. Know your content buckets. Show up consistently.
Reputation will follow. Pipeline will too.
