Shakers July 2026 · Marketing performance
A vast field of identical cream spheres with a single luminous lime form of value rising above them

We proved we can generate volume. Now prove it creates value.

New-talent acquisition broke out in July: total volume more than doubled versus June. But against target the picture is split, only a third of users can be explained by the channel report, and the published GMV table was left blank. The August job is not a bigger signup number. It is a reconciled, attributable, quality-qualified funnel leadership can fund.

New talent · total
2,999
+110.8% vs June
96.1% of target1,423 → 2,999
Users
1,838
+57.1% vs June
153% of targettgt 1,200
MQLs
1,056
+351.3% vs June
73% of targettgt 1,440
Active users
105
+452.6% vs June
43% of targettgt 240
01The spike

Every funnel stage grew. Not every one hit target.

Acquisition accelerated across the board versus June, led by MQLs and active users. Against the July plan, though, only Users overdelivered. Volume is no longer the constraint. Quality and activation are.

MQLs234 → 1,056
+351.3%73% of 1,440 target
Users1,170 → 1,838
+57.1%153% of 1,200 target
Active users19 → 105
+452.6%43% of 240 target
Total new talent1,423 → 2,999
+110.8%96.1% of target
02Value signals

The value is in the channels. It was never consolidated.

Published GMV shows up across the July channel table, yet the executive GMV summary, small biz to enterprise, was left entirely blank. The proof of value exists at channel level. It was not rolled up, targeted, or attributed to a single owner.

Referral€877,000
Outbound (mkt assist)€546,160
SEO (organic)€525,766
Paid Search€269,201
Web€93,000

Read this as signal, not a total. These are per-channel published-GMV figures exactly as reported. They are not additive: attribution overlaps across channels (Influence and Expansion also reports ~€1M published GMV, and Events ~€1M, largely the same enterprise motion), and the report's consolidated GMV table for July was blank. The action is ownership of a single, reconciled GMV number, not a bigger bar.

Every channel reported GMV
Referral €877k Outbound €546k SEO €526k Paid Search €269k Events ~€1M OFFICIAL GMV —
The executive total was left blank
03Paid supply

Paid supply found scale.

LinkedIn and Google generated 408 supply signups on €13,614 of media. LinkedIn drove the volume and cut its cost per signup by more than two thirds.

€37.53 / signup · −70.8%
LinkedIn Ads · supply
320 users
408 lead forms (+221%) · €12,010 spend · x16.8 users vs June
€18.22 / signup
Google Ads · supply
88 users
22% of paid supply · €1,603 spend

Supply is now 81% of paid spend (€13,614 of €16,754). That concentration is exactly why the next chapter matters: a number that large has to be defensible.

04Attribution gap

The platform says 320. HubSpot says 64.

This is the month's real risk. The signup that justifies the largest slice of spend cannot be reconciled, so the true cost per signup is a five-fold range, not a number.

320
LinkedIn platform
64
HubSpot attributed
€37.53
if 320 is real
5×cost-per-signup range
€187.66
if 64 is real

Decision needed: pick one source of truth per funnel stage (platform, GA4, product, or HubSpot) and reconcile 320 vs 64 before more budget rides on the higher number.

Marketing, setting the August budget
TRUST 320 platform · €37.53 each TRUST 64 HubSpot · €187.66 each
Both buttons spend real money
05Demand

Demand is surviving, not scaling.

Paid Search held its efficiency on lower spend. LinkedIn Demand stayed paused, and Google Ads demand-MQL tracking is still broken, which blocks CPL and MQL-to-SQL optimisation.

SQLs
17
down from 18 (−1)
CPL
€198
improved 6.2%
Published GMV
€269,201
Paid Search
06Organic

Organic is not dead. It is underbuilt.

SEO and AEO produced 180 supply signups at zero media cost, and SEO remained the largest inbound source of published GMV. Non-brand held up; the brand story is a shift from free clicks to paid ones.

Organic signups
180
169 SEO + 11 AEO · €0 media
SEO published GMV
€525,766
largest inbound contributor
AEO share of voice
5%
new channel · baseline set
Organic brand clicks
−22%
non-brand only −10%, avg position +2.1
Paid brand clicks
+16.7%
on €1,783 spend
Brand demand didn't leave
€ INVOICE ORGANIC PAID
It just started arriving with an invoice
07Influence and Expansion
The chapter that carried the month

One motion quietly held up July's value.

While acquisition chased volume, Influence and Expansion booked ~€1M in published GMV, 45.4% of it international, with Italy the main driver. It also opened three plays that did not exist in June: a community event series, social selling, and account-based gifting.

July's headline value
One bright lime pillar bearing a heavy slab while the columns beside it crack
One motion held most of it up

So the numbers reconcile: this ~€1M and the Events ~€1M line in the channel table are the same enterprise/events motion, counted once. Read them as one number, not two. Referral (€877k) and Outbound (€546k) are separate motions with their own attribution.

Published GMV
~€1M
45.4% international · Italy lead
Builder Stories
27
attendees · 32 registered · S1 launch
Social selling
82
quality supply leads
ABM gifting
4
target accounts
New play · community

Builder Stories

  • First session hosted by a Shakers builder: 32 registered, 27 attended, 5 shared their experience.
  • Built to turn talent into advocates and seed a repeatable Q3 series.
New play · social selling

Social selling

  • 82 quality supply leads from a single salary-table post.
  • Learning: it drives reach but sparked controversy, so tone has to be handled deliberately.
New play · ABM

ABM gifting

  • Gifting to 4 target accounts: Fynza, Sonnedix, Softonic, MásOrange.
  • Drove account progress; the first structured ABM motion of H2.
Q2 events already generated the pipeline
€ € € 296 SQLs 80% never opened
80% of it never got a follow-up
08Building the engine

Foundations that don't show in a KPI yet.

Three pods spent July building capability rather than posting numbers. These compound into Q3, and one carries a data-quality warning worth flagging now.

Content · POC Vero

Content

  • In-house audiovisual setup nearly complete: podcasts, interviews, product explainers in-house.
  • Miguel Arias podcast recorded.
  • Success stories: Mango Q4 and Microsoft landing.
  • Press kit and repositioning roadmap.
Brand · POC Aino

Brand

  • Paid talent-acquisition campaign with landing pages for LinkedIn and PMax.
  • Verbal identity and tone guide; enterprise sales deck.
  • Builder design system: Avatar Kit 44 variants, Builder Cards 28 across 14 clusters.
Conversion and Retention · POC Gabi

Conversion

  • +40 supply landing pages shipped.
  • First supply referral campaign: email open 34%, CTR 3.3%.
  • Referral test converted just 3 referrals (0.3%).
  • Warning: supply data not 100% reliable, legacy mixed with new.
09Budget

Budget reality arrives in month one.

Supply spent 27% of its H2 budget in the first month of six, and the forecast already exceeds the balance left. The correction is small, but it has to land before the remaining months lock.

H2 supply budget spent€13,614 / €50,000
planned month-1: €10,500
Remaining
€36,386
Aug–Dec forecast
€39,500
27%of H2 spent · month 1/6
10Executive decisions

Three decisions unlock August.

Choose the source of truth

Platform, GA4, product or HubSpot. Define the official number per funnel stage and reconcile 320 vs 64.

Decide on LinkedIn Demand

Restart with budget, target CPL, SQL volume and stopping criteria, or reassign the €3,000. Call needed by mid-August.

Close the budget gap

Approve the €3,114 supply reallocation before the Aug–Dec forecast is committed.

August focus

Reconcile acquisition

Close platform vs HubSpot gaps and explain at least 95% of paid users.

Build the downstream funnel

Spend, form, signup, completed profile, approved, active, matched.

Fix the paid forecast

Reallocate €3,114 and settle whether LinkedIn Demand returns.

Unblock organic

HubDB, scalable supply/demand SEO clusters, consistent AEO measurement.