Top of funnel moved. Most marketing organizations haven’t noticed.By Ronn Torossian Right now, a prospect evaluating your category is not on your website. They are not in your nurture stream and they are not reading your case studies. They are asking ChatGPT, or Claude, or Perplexity, which vendors they should be considering — and the…
If your 2026 SEO line item looks like your 2025 SEO line item, you are already behind. Here is the budget-split framework we are using with 5W clients across three company stages. Most marketing budget conversations happen in late summer for the following year. That is too late. The growth curve for AI-referred traffic in…
When 5W’s tech practice was helping B2B SaaS companies fifteen years ago, the marketing math was simple. Rank on Google. Capture demo requests. Move them into a sales-qualified funnel. Nurture through email. Close. The channels were known. The attribution was imperfect but measurable. If you had a clean SEO operation and a clean paid search operation, you…
Your Affiliate Program Is Probably a Margin Tax. Here’s Why.By Ronn Torossian, Founder, 5W Affiliate marketing is now a $20 billion global channel returning $12 to $15 for every dollar invested. It contributes roughly 16% of all U.S. e-commerce sales. By the end of 2026, an estimated 90% of e-commerce businesses will run an affiliate program.And most of…
Investor Relations for Tech Startups: What You Need Before You Think You Need It Most tech founders think investor relations is something you need when you are public — or at minimum, when you are raising a significant round. In practice, the companies that execute the best Series A and Series B raises, and that…
By: Tylynn Pettrey, SVP, Analytics & AI at Chalice AI For years, digital advertising has been guided by a simple principle: optimize what can be measured. That approach helped scale the industry, but it also shaped the behavior of the systems behind it. Over time, algorithms became highly effective at identifying and prioritizing signals that…
The Pressure of Fast-Moving Innovation In the age of AI and emerging technology, innovation moves at an unprecedented pace. Tech PR teams are under pressure to communicate developments quickly, keeping audiences informed and maintaining relevance. However, speed without careful consideration can undermine credibility. Public relations professionals must balance urgency with responsibility to ensure messaging reflects both…
The Expanding Role of Digital PR For years, PR was associated primarily with media relations and reputation management. While these elements remain important, the demands of today’s marketing environment have expanded what PR must deliver. Traditional publicity alone cannot meet the expectations of brands that want visibility, authority, and measurable growth. This is where digital PR has…
Beyond Impressions and Clicks In the era of digital marketing, traditional metrics such as impressions, clicks, and page views are no longer sufficient to gauge the true effectiveness of a campaign. Brands now demand that PR efforts translate directly into measurable business outcomes, from increased sales to enhanced customer loyalty. This shift has driven agencies to rethink…
The Shift Toward Measurable Impact Influencer marketing has moved beyond its early days as a tool for generating buzz. Today, it sits at the center of brand-building conversations because companies expect every initiative to be tied to measurable outcomes. Where campaigns once prioritized reach or follower counts, the conversation now focuses on how influencer partnerships…
