One post a week. Practical notes. Templates included.
Three categories: vertical playbooks (deep dives by industry), problem playbooks (one tactic, executed end-to-end), and benchmark calculators (real numbers, with the spreadsheet). Subscribe and we'll send each one in a 2-minute email.
Problem playbook
How we ran an AI Visibility Audit on ourselves — and what we found
Most marketing agencies start with case studies of clients you can't verify. We started by auditing ourselves. Here's the raw score, what it told us, what we changed, and what we plan to publish every month so you can watch the trajectory.
Artem TsubanovMay 15, 2026Problem playbook
What is an AI citation score and why it matters for your HVAC business
AI citation score is a 0-100 measure of how often your business is named when homeowners ask AI assistants for local-services help. Here's how it's calculated, why it predicts booked jobs better than any other single metric in 2026, and how to read your own score.
Artem TsubanovMay 12, 2026Benchmark
Why 87% of independent HVAC contractors don't show up in ChatGPT
We tested ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI on 30 homeowner-style HVAC queries across 12 US metros. Eighty-seven percent of independent contractors weren't named once — even ones with 800+ five-star reviews. Here's what we found, why it happens, and what closes the gap.
Artem TsubanovMay 9, 2026Benchmark
How AI search is replacing Google for local services — by the numbers
Forty-five percent of homeowners now ask AI apps to recommend local services. A year ago that number was six percent. The shift, the data, and what it means for an independent HVAC contractor in 2026.
Artem TsubanovMay 6, 2026Benchmark
SMB marketing budget by vertical · 2026 benchmark
What SMBs actually spend on marketing, by vertical and posture. Sourced from Borrell 2024 Local SMB Ad Spend Outlook, BLS QCEW industry classifications, and TNova client implementations.
Artem TsubanovMay 4, 2026Benchmark
Cost per lead benchmarks by vertical · 2026
Per WordStream's 2024 Google Ads benchmarks + the LSA 2024 Local Services report, here's what a lead actually costs across the verticals we serve, and what to budget for booked-job CAC.
Artem TsubanovApr 9, 2026Problem playbook
Where AI actually saves SMB marketing time in 2026 — and where it doesn't
We measured time-spent on marketing tasks for SMB clients with and without AI tooling. Some tasks dropped 70%, some barely moved. Here's the honest split.
Artem TsubanovFeb 18, 2026Benchmark
Lead response time benchmarks: top performers reply in under 5 minutes
Per Lead Connect's replication of the Oldroyd & Elkington Harvard study, contacting a lead inside 5 minutes makes you ~21x more likely to qualify them. Here's what response times actually look like across SMB.
Artem TsubanovJan 22, 2026Problem playbook
The 60-second lead-reply SLA — how we set it up end to end
Per the Lead Connect study, contact-to-lead odds drop ~10x between minute 5 and minute 10. The Twilio + Make + CRM contract that gets first-touch under 60 seconds, every time.
Artem TsubanovDec 5, 2025Benchmark
SMB website conversion-rate benchmarks · 2026
What "good" conversion looks like for an SMB site, by vertical and traffic source. Sourced from WordStream landing-page benchmarks, Unbounce data, and TNova client implementations.
Anastasiia TsubanovaNov 12, 2025Problem playbook
Core Web Vitals: does a slow site actually cost you conversions?
Per Google's own 2024 case study aggregations, sites hitting Core Web Vitals thresholds saw 24% lower abandonment. The benchmarks, the trade-offs, and what to fix first for an SMB site.
Artem TsubanovOct 20, 2025Problem playbook
The 6 GA4 events SMBs should actually track (and the 30 they shouldn't)
GA4 ships with 30+ enhanced measurement events. Most are noise. The 6 that produce decision-grade data, and how to wire them.
Artem TsubanovSep 28, 2025Benchmark
GBP photo benchmarks: how many photos top performers have, by vertical
BrightLocal's 2024 Local Consumer Review Survey says photos drive 60% of local-business decisions. Here's what good actually looks like, by category.
Anastasiia TsubanovaSep 4, 2025Problem playbook
Schema markup for local-business sites: what actually moves rankings
JSON-LD schema is the easiest SEO win nobody implements. The 4 types Google uses for local-business surfaces, and the marginal ranking lift we see.
Artem TsubanovAug 12, 2025Problem playbook
Review velocity beats review count — the math behind why
A profile with 60 fresh reviews outperforms one with 400 stale ones. Per BrightLocal 2024, consumers discount reviews older than 90 days. Here's what to do about it.
Anastasiia TsubanovaJul 19, 2025Problem playbook
Every extra form field costs you 3–7% of conversions — the math we actually see
Every field above four drops form-completion rate. Per HubSpot's 2024 State of Marketing report, contact forms with 3 fields convert ~25% better than those with 6. Here's how to trim.
Artem TsubanovJun 26, 2025Problem playbook
Why your Google Business Profile photos are dragging conversions down
Per Google's GBP documentation, complete profiles get more clicks than incomplete ones. Photos are the most-skipped field. Here's what to shoot, in what order, and how often.
Anastasiia TsubanovaJun 3, 2025Problem playbook
Missed-call-text-back: the $40/month automation that recovers 18–32% of dropped calls
If your phone rings unanswered, the lead is gone in 5 minutes. The Twilio + Make.com setup that auto-texts every missed call, what to write, and the recovery rates we actually see.
Artem TsubanovMay 10, 2025Problem playbook
Email marketing for SMB in 2026: still the highest-ROI channel, mostly ignored
Per the DMA 2024 Marketer Email Tracker, email returns $36 per $1 spent on average. Most SMBs send 2 broadcasts a year. Here's what to actually send, and how often.
Anastasiia TsubanovaApr 15, 2025Vertical playbook
Marketing playbook for an independent restaurant (single-location)
Independent restaurants don't have an ad budget — they have a Google Business Profile, an Instagram, and word of mouth. Here's how to make those three work as a system instead of three half-broken inputs.
Anastasiia TsubanovaApr 2, 2025Problem playbook
Nextdoor for local acquisition: when it works, when it's a distraction
Nextdoor produces good leads for the right verticals (home services, child-care, pet care) and bad ones for almost everything else. The exact verticals, the recommendation flywheel, and what to spend.
Artem TsubanovMar 22, 2025Vertical playbook
Med-spa marketing: booked treatments, not just leads
Med-spa lead-to-treatment ratios are brutal — half the leads ghost. The playbook that gets booked-treatment cost in line, with the consult-to-treatment numbers we actually see.
Anastasiia TsubanovaMar 4, 2025Problem playbook
Should an SMB still spend on Yelp in 2026?
Per the LSA 2024 Local Services Industry Report, Yelp's share of local-business lead origination declined for the fourth straight year. The four cases where it still pencils — and the many where it doesn't.
Artem TsubanovFeb 26, 2025Vertical playbook
The marketing playbook for a 1–3 chair dental practice
Dental new-patient acquisition is mostly about three things: GBP completeness, review velocity, and a website that books an appointment in three clicks. Here's the actual stack.
Anastasiia TsubanovaFeb 8, 2025Vertical playbook
The home-services marketing stack we run for $3–8M operators
Google Local Services Ads, Nextdoor, missed-call-text-back, and a Yelp page that doesn't bleed budget. The exact channel mix, the automations, and the dashboards that survive month four.
Artem TsubanovJan 30, 2025Vertical playbook
Marketing stack for solo and small-firm law practices ($1–4M)
Per the 2024 Clio Legal Trends Report, the average attorney bills 2.9 hours a day. The 5 marketing channels and 3 automations that fit inside an existing practice without becoming a second full-time job.
Artem TsubanovJan 15, 2025
Visibility
How AI search is replacing Google for local services — by the numbers
The 6%-to-45% behavior shift in twelve months. What it means for independent HVAC contractors.
Coming soonfree audit →Visibility
Why 87% of independent HVAC contractors don't show up in ChatGPT
Brand citation share data versus the chains. Why Roto-Rooter and ARS dominate AI answers.
Coming soonfree audit →Visibility
What is an AI citation score and why it matters for your HVAC business
Definitional reference for an emerging metric. How we calculate it. Why it predicts booked jobs.
Coming soonfree audit →
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