Is LinkedIn Becoming Pay-to-Play?

Ever built a plan that looks airtight on paper—until you do the math? Emily Kramer (ex-Asana, Carta) joins the Mostly Growth crew to expose the hilariously painful reality of B2B marketing budgets, broken forecasts, and exec goals that straight-up don't add up. From her viral “Random Acts of Marketing” framework to headcount-vs-program spend debates, Emily breaks down why planning often feels like a farce. The episode also dives into the budgeting tug-of-war between CMOs and CFOs, why LinkedIn marketing is mostly a mess, and how to stop optimizing things that don’t matter. If you’ve ever been told to “hit a number” that makes zero sense, this one’s for you.

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LINKS: 

Mostly Metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com

CJ on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/

Growth Unhinged: https://www.growthunhinged.com/

Kyle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-poyar/

MKT1 Newsletter: https://newsletter.mkt1.co/

Emily on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilykramer/

Slacker Stuff: https://www.slackerstuff.com/

Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/slackerstuff/

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TIMESTAMPS:

00:00:00 Preview and Intro

00:00:13 The CMO Budget Dilemma

00:00:33 B2B Brands Trying to Be Cool on LinkedIn

00:01:14 Show Intro – Mostly Growth with CJ and Kyle

00:01:38 Sponsors – Metronome and Pulley

00:03:58 Guest Introduction – Emily Kramer and the Steph Curry / Taylor Swift Analogy

00:06:14 Emily Kramer’s Frameworks: Random Acts of Marketing (RAM)

00:08:47 Fuel and Engine Framework – Balancing Creation and Distribution

00:12:34 CFO vs. Marketing – Goal Planning Tensions

00:13:19 Forecasting and Budgeting – Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up

00:16:44 When the Math Doesn’t Math – Efficiency and Conversion

00:18:30 Big Bets and Budget Planning

00:20:36 Headcount vs. Program Spend Trade-Offs

00:22:57 Biggest Mistakes in Annual Planning

00:24:30 Building a LinkedIn Flywheel and Influencer Strategy

00:26:45 Thought Leader Ads and Boosting Executive Posts

00:29:10 Cringe B2B Content and Random Acts of Marketing

00:32:02 LinkedIn’s Pay-to-Play Shift

00:35:49 Hot or Not: Marketing Channels

00:41:51 Emily’s Market One Supper Club and Community Building

00:44:59 Wrap-Up and Credits

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SPONSORS:

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