Garrett Mehrguth on $15M from LinkedIn Ads, Gift Cards, and Building the #1 SaaS Marketing Agency

Garrett Mehrguth is the founder and CEO of Directive, one of the largest B2B SaaS marketing agencies in the world.

In 2013, he started the company with Fiverr gigs. Today, it’s generating over $25M in revenue and working with brands like ZoomInfo, Wiz, and Stack Overflow.

In this episode, Garrett breaks down how they generated $15M in revenue using LinkedIn ads and a gift card strategy that scaled to 6,800 sales calls.

He shares his full TAM-based playbook, the psychology behind using incentives without losing trust, and why copy is still the biggest unlock in B2B.

We also get into why he spun out Ape (a LinkedIn ads agency), how he balances performance with brand, and his mindset on writing every day—even while running a 200-person company.

Topics we cover in this episode:

- The exact gift card campaign that generated $15M in pipeline

- Why Garrett spends $100+ per lead on LinkedIn—and why it works

- The TAM-based playbook for building a high-performing ad strategy

- Why outbound isn't dead—and SDRs can't match conversation ads

- How to use AI + regression analysis to identify high-LTV accounts

- The biggest mistakes people make with copy, hooks, and bidding

- Why your product (not the gift card) must close the deal

- Garrett’s philosophy on writing, brand building, and founder-led content

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Connect with Garrett:

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrettmehrguth/

- Directive: https://directiveconsulting.com/

Connect with me:

- LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/finnthormeier/

- Website: https://www.project33.io/

- Podcast:https://open.spotify.com/show/03CXzsZp7wdqIRVDcqPTFH

Chapters

00:00 Garrett’s Background & Building Directive to $25M+

02:15 How the $15M LinkedIn Gift Card Campaign Started

04:45 Why This Works Even with Zero Intent

07:10 Building TAM-Based Campaigns with AI & Regression

09:32 How They Landed 6,800 Sales Calls from Their Target List

12:10 How to Use Gift Cards Without Wasting Budget

14:38 Conversation Ads vs. SDR Teams (And Why They Win)

17:40 Why It’s Not Bribery—It’s Efficient Marketing

20:04 How Garrett Burned $1M to Crack LinkedIn Ads

22:26 Coaching Reps, Building Decks, and Making the Sales Process Work

24:00 Lifecycle Stage Analysis by Rep (Not Just by Channel)

26:10 Copywriting Tips: Hooks, Offers & Subject Lines That Convert

29:08 Why You Should Bid More (and Stop Under-Spending)

30:52 Beyond Gift Cards: High-Value Offers That Actually Scale

32:21 The Role of Retargeting, Sponsored Content & Brand Awareness

33:45 Don’t Be Better. Be Different.

36:57 How to Find a Differentiated POV in a Saturated Market

38:58 Why He Launched Ape as a Spinout from Directive

40:44 Verticalization, Product Strategy & The Future of Service Businesses

42:36 Why Garrett Writes Every Day (And How He Does It at Scale)

44:51 How LinkedIn Content Changed His Career (After 12 Years)

47:02 Final Advice: Go Deeper. Don’t Abandon Channels Too Early.

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