Q1 2026 delivered 42 pieces of earned coverage driven by proactive SMG placements and strong organic pickup. Headline wins include ZDNet (5.3M UVM — Shawn Spooner AI thought leadership), IT Brew and UC Today thought leadership features, and the Billboard Insider AI/OOH feature. The HOKA "Night Run" UV mural campaign generated significant organic pickup across The Drum, Retail Gazette, MarTech Series and more. David Krupp's PPC Land quote on the Abu Dhabi billboard investment was evidence of a successful thought leadership strategy. The Agent Odyssey podcast with Shawn was recorded and posted.
Q1 2026 Goals & Focus Areas
Current priorities, key targets, and focus areas for Q1 2026.
Q1 2026 KPI Snapshot
Earned Coverage
pieces Jan–Mar 2026
On-Message Hits
Directly placed by SMG
Total Reach
Unique visitors (UVM)
Ad Value Equiv.
No releases this quarter; lower AVE
Coverage Analysis — Q1 2026
Coverage Theme Breakdown — Q1 2026
Monthly Press Hits — Q1 2026
Feb peak driven by Shawn's UC Today commentary and HOKA "Night Run" organic pickup
Standout Coverage — Q1 2026
Month in Review
Secured 185 pieces of earned coverage including 58 on-message placements, generating $4.81M in ad value equivalent and reaching over 519.53M unique visitors. Q4 was a breakout period with 73 mentions and $2.86M AVE, driven by the audrai launch and global hires release. Coverage spanned Adweek, Digiday, Campaign, MediaPost, AdExchanger, and DailyDOOH, reinforcing billups' share of voice in the OOH space.
2025 Full Year Performance
Earned Coverage
Total pieces YTD
On-Message Hits
Directly placed by SMG
Total Reach
Unique visitors (UVM)
Ad Value Equiv.
Supported by news wire distribution
Quarter-over-Quarter Performance
Coverage Analysis — 2025
Coverage Theme Breakdown (2025)
Monthly Press Hits — 2025
Q4 peak driven by audrai launch + global hires release
Standout Coverage — 2025
Secured 152 pieces of earned coverage including 110 on-message placements and 4 contributed articles, generating $8.87M in ad value equivalent and reaching over 952.68M unique visitors. Key releases — Outsight and Billie acquisitions, Cedara partnership, Attention metrics, APAC leadership, Middle East expansion, MediaBridge Global acquisition, and Sustainability — drove volume across Axios, Digiday, Adweek, Campaign, MediaPost and more. SMG also secured invites to 5 Tier 1 events including Fortune AI Breakfast, Adweek Best of Badass Bosses, and Forbes Cannes. Coverage grew +139% year-over-year into 2025.
2024 Full Year Performance
Earned Coverage
Total pieces YTD
On-Message Hits
Directly placed by SMG
Total Reach
Unique visitors (UVM)
Ad Value Equiv.
Supported by news wire distribution
Quarter-over-Quarter Performance
Coverage Analysis — 2024
Monthly Press Hits — 2024
May peak driven by Billie acquisition + measurement momentum releases; Jan driven by Outsight acquisition
Standout Coverage — 2024
SMG's first year with billups delivered 65 pieces of earned coverage — over 63% secured directly by SMG — including 35 on-message placements and 6 contributed articles. The program generated $189K in ad value equivalent and reached over 20.4M unique visitors. Key releases included the Global CSO appointment, TAC Media acquisition and Global CEO announcement, OOH Labs acquisition, and billups Analytics launch. Coverage grew +89% YoY, and +287% since SMG's program kickoff.
2023 Full Year Performance
Earned Coverage
Total pieces YTD
On-Message Hits
Directly placed by SMG
Total Reach
Unique visitors (UVM)
Ad Value Equiv.
Supported by news wire distribution
Coverage Analysis — 2023
Coverage Theme Breakdown — 2023
Monthly Press Hits — 2023
Sep peak driven by Global CSO release + TAC Media/Global CEO announcement
Standout Coverage — 2023