Categories
Google, Meta, Ambient Computing, What Is Marketing, Platforms, Branding, Messaging, Metrics, GA4, Questions
July 2025
: Purchases keep the lights on, but what happens after the purchase is what wins hearts and minds. …
: Trust has always been tricky in digital marketing. Building it in a post-AI world only more so. All …
:
This is interesting
In a recent update, Google has started indexing and sourcing Instagram content. …
: The streaming wars are over, YouTube and Netflix won. On average, YouTube has an audience of seven …
: Your best-performing ad won’t look like an ad. via CXL’s newsletter
: Because it’s still human to human in the rush to embrace AI tools, it’s easy for marketers to …
: Add this to the interesting pile: Google Shopping ad clicks surge 18% in Q2 as Amazon, Temu pull …
: Gary Washburn gets it, generations are garbage: I think it’s stereotypical of people putting …
: Listening to my morning Celtics podcast when host John Karalis uses the example of leaving a party …
: Amtrak on creating a viral messaging campaign We need to be really different and captivate … …
: Partnerships and ad buys with prestige names confer status internally in the businesses that make …
: The work of marketing is not the selection of suitable messages. The work is the task of engaging …
: ”By Humans, For Humans” How long until this is a positioning signal? How long until this is a signal …
: If you can prove it in 5 seconds, don’t explain it in 20. We’re all tired of explanations and …
: The clock circus continues TikTok is reportedly developing a separate version of its app for U.S. …
: It appears Meta’s Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns will be dead early next year. Start building your …
: Apple is bringing in the big guns to power Siri: now with AI! OpenAI and Jony Ive are thinking …
June 2025
: Many decisions people make are part of a status game—whether explicit or implicit in the decision. …
: What’s the difference between this flop of an Apple commercial: And this hit: Story A story …
: CTV CPMs are down. Why? more inventory, more buyers looking for performance and a growing appetite …
: If your advertising works, what does it say about the group of people who respond to it? -Gabe the …
: Don’t obsess over getting attention. Focus on earning it.
: Remember when a big deal was made about Gen Z using Instagram and TikTok to search for places to …
: Early indications suggest that legacy SEO tactics —such as aggressive link building, keyword …
: Your ad/post/content isn’t just competing with the other options around it in the feed. It’s …
: “We’ve got a bunch of great C chords! There’s gonna be some E minors and some G’s! And some cymbal …
: Meta is growing its smart glasses lineup 🕶️ Another name brand partnership, this time geared towards …
: Silicon Valley has agreed, smart/XR glasses are the future. The Goliaths are taking the iterative …
: amid the race to automate, a critical truth is emerging: the brands making the most significant …
: May was a rough month unless you could partake in the Memorial Day sale bonanza, based on my …
: Turns out Meta is like X and LinkedIn, it doesn’t want your links in the main post. Users have …
: Amazon 🤝 Roku Amazon Ads and Roku Announce Partnership Creating the Largest Authenticated CTV …
: This Exponential View episode is worth a listen as a quick overview of the current tech inflection …
: Jasmine Enberg gets it: people aren’t going to buy your product, tariffs or not, if they …
: This SparkToro post that the messaging categories we emphasize to clients are really as old as …
: If you knoll you know Sorted verses unsorted pictograms should be used strategically, depending on …
: If you’ve been paying attention, this isn’t a surprise Using the ad tools Meta is developing, a …
: facts don’t have any meaning unless people pay attention to them, and people pay attention to, and …
: Marketing is messaging. And messaging is the act of setting expectations by guiding perception. This …
: Amazon wants to be the Google Ads of CTV (potentially) moving to auction-based buying. Lower costs, …
: OXO started as an accessibility-centric company. “Oversized” handles for easier use by arthritic …
: The tariff situation shows why messaging matters: If these big household brands and retailers are …
: Survey says… 41% of consumers say they want more personalized deals and offers, not simulated …
: I misheard “monetization upheaval” (in regards to publishers in the age of AI) as the “monetization …
: American Eagle is taking a new route to reach its Gen Z audience—through the written word. & …
: You can use LinkedIn as a CTV ad delivery channel: Connected TV Only Campaign Connected TV video ad …
: How confident are you in your product that you’d talk positively about your competitors’ products in …
May 2025
: Brands are micro-cultures &, as Eliot Peper says Culture is a collective project in which we …
: Your brand isn’t in the pixels, it’s in the work you put in to build it and co-create a reputation …
: More ads in more places: Discord edition Discord has begun rolling out In-Game Rewards — branded …
: Drop the look, keep the voice. High-performing brands have shifted to voiceover-first UGC, Ads that …
: Tracking a submit button click is not the same as tracking the submission. Measure the action you …
: What Google announced at I/O that you might want to know about (hint: it rhymes with “hey why”) AI chat-based search for all An AI-powered shopping …
: Lots of people focus on getting attention. Stopping the scroll. Perfecting the hook. Pausing the …
: Loomer on Lead Forms Jon Loomer has been writing a lot about Meta Instant Forms lately, so here’s a round up of …
: Ad targeting is no longer what you think it is Changing who performs the action is rarely about …
: How will marketers react to uncertainty (thanks tariffs!)? According to EMARKETERS Zach Goldner: I …
: Could be handy when working out potential audience size Population Around A Point tool
:
Sometimes you just need to acknowledge the state of reality and keep things simple
: It’s not just about delivering the right message to the right person. It’s about …
: Some Google updates you might have missed earlier this year: Exclude age groups from shopping …
: If you’re using link click optimization on Meta ads, you’re doing it wrong.
: Louis Grenier & co shared some great nuggets on a fun CXL webinar earlier this week: …
: What memorable message is your marketing leaving? Is it easy to remember? Does it focus on the …
: The Art of the Deal author and Big Daddy Xi continue their game of tariff checkers with a new round …
: Could Google’s best anti-trust defense be to play up its coming irrelevance? Apple SVP of …
: Charlie Day with the advice all marketers need to hear: A good campaign probably has a little bit …
: You can set brand guidelines in Meta Ads Manager to help steer / personalize the AI to your brand …
: Tears for Fears shows songwriting is just like making ads You get a great title, it’s half the …
: The indicators are fine, the vibes are bad A fair amount of US economic hard data — like consumer …
: Audio on! “That move led to a spike in branded search, stronger revenue, and better margins, even …
: About that pull forward…again Behind the 0.3% contraction in GDP [in Q1] were numbers …
: Again, about that pull forward… From The Daily Upside: To prepare for a slowdown of global …
: It’s a little paradoxical, but good ads simultaneously tell us two things: (1) you won’t …
: While I expect the tariff strong arm to be walked back to some degree, predicting anything right now …
: What’s the scrappy / DIY version of that big, expensive campaign idea?
: If it can be easily scaled, it can be easily copied. What’s something you’re willing to work harder …
April 2025
: Escape the Feed When I’m interviewing someone or talking to someone looking to break into marketing, I always …
: Do you need to do the whole thing? Or can you just do the part you’re particularly good at as …
: People feel increased prices long before potential reshoring employment shifts from tariffs, these 3 …
: Eventually all large platforms become commerce platforms When ChatGPT users search for products, …
: Perplexity wants to be Google, but based in AI vs. traditional search. From TechCrunch: “That’s …
: The easiest job in marketing is to give people what they’re telling you they want. And sometimes …
: Each individual is a heliocentric universe in which they are the sun. When it comes to your …
: Right human Right message Right time
: Do something expensive to increase the perceived value of your thing. via Nudge
:
This highlights the difference between “creative” as a noun and “creative” as an adjective.
A …
: It’s no so much the tariffs themselves (though they’re certainly not helping, especially …
: From Meta: we are expanding ads in Threads to all eligible advertisers globally, as well as access …
: Here’s how the DOJ & friends want Google to break up its search monopoly: No more paying for …
: Have a podcast and not seeing much growth? Try these tips from Grow the Show: Completion rate < …
: The behavior change Manton outlines here is one I find myself mirroring I’m now asking AI for …
: The point isn’t going viral. Unless your business is monetizing the hamster wheel. As Gabe the Bass …
: Social media is a discovery > demand creation channel. In a fragmented QVC / infomercial kind of …
: Good marketing happens when the narrative a brand tells about itself aligns with the narrative …
: Rodney Brooks predicts a potential future for genAI LLMs that can explain which data led to what …
: It’s not always our expectation of success that’s proven wrong, it’s our expectation of timeframe …
: About that pull forward induced analysis trap… From The Fed: Import growth was strong …
: Some good news buried in all the tariff whiplash The CPI dropped 0.1% in March (gas dropped 6.3%) …
: My own personal Siri? Apple Inc. will begin analyzing data on customers’ devices in a bid to …
: The hits keep on coming for Google Google created an illegal monopoly in the online advertising …
: The China tariffs are changing the ecommerce landscape in the US as the major players grapple with …
: The tea leaves are still swirling, but early reads aren’t great, Bob A February survey of ad …
: There’s a potential analysis trap brewing as businesses see decent sales / revenue performance …
: Embrace the boring stuff. Internally, people usually want to do the flashy, exciting stuff. But …
: Maslowvian marketing “Human beings,” writes [Drew Eric] Whitman, “are biologically programmed with …
: Trust boosts purchase potential. And transparency boosts trust. I love this example from the Nudge …
: Buyers are willing to pay more for things sellers are willing to charge less for. Why? Because the …
: It’s not the magnitude, it’s the trend. For the first time since 2015, Google’s global share of the …
: Consumer sentiment isn’t great, Bob. According to the Behind the Numbers podcast the animal spirits …
: BeReal brought to you by BetterHelp That’s right, the drop everything and take a pic app snagged …
: Meta is adding a deluxe version of its smart glasses this year, likely trying to keep its lead. …
: So…what is the tariff rate on China now? I shared 125%, but I’ve also seen 110% and 145%. Seems like …
: Had a great time @ Grok Conf (unrelated to the AI model) Some of my notes from the various talks: …
: This is true for more than concert tickets They have to believe that when they expend a tremendous …
: Google will start using “Landing Page Screenshots for Video Ads for Demand Gen …
: About those tariffs, they’re on hold. For now. Kind of. For 90 days, it’ll be 10% on …
: When thinking about the assets you’re going to create as part of your marketing mix—whether …
: Is playlist design the new branding exercise? a new study, researchers found that when background …
: Google Merchant Center now uses your marketing email content “in places across Google such as …
: Consumers are sophisticated, they know when they’re being marketed and sold to. Even though …
: We should all strive to approach our work with this belief from Khalilah Olokunola Today I consider …
: Every little thing it does is magic, because… It reduces decision friction. Or, as Why We Buy …
: Based on my kids, real-time generative AI produced entertainment should be the preferred medium for …
: We talk about this with clients a lot, and currently have a company thinking about switching to us …
: It’s hard for people to imagine, sometimes, something that hasn’t happened yet. So many things that …
: It’s not brand OR performance marketing. It’s brand AND performance marketing. Only …
: You have to be authentic to who you are as a brand, otherwise you’re not going to win, and …
: Let the trade war begin The White House announced" a 10% tariff “on all imports from all …
: Creative analysis and optimization is top of mind for me right now, so I really like this flowchart …
: More than half (54%) of American consumers say they don’t pay attention to the brands they buy, as …
March 2025
: If you’re always thinking about your audience and how they’re going to feel when they experience the …
: Shane Parrish shares the root of good marketing and brand building (though I think he was just …
: An HBR article shares the findings of an ecommerce pricing study undertaken using A/B testing. One …
: Sunday Paper: Is It Better To Have Many Short Impressions, Or A Few Long Ones – What Science Says About Advertising Length And Frequency The optimal length for typical video ads is around 10 seconds, while atypical ads may require 20 to …
: Availability trumps loyalty. From David Gottlieb on the Behind the Numbers podcast: In our specific …
: The art of the offer from Kay Allison via Rusty Blazenhoff: How to craft an offer. And, as it turns …
: [A business] is defined by the want the customer satisfies when she buys a product or service. To …
: TechCrunch shares that a social media tester found: a “Write with Meta AI” prompt on Instagram that …
: Hook. Story. Close. The DO Lectures sent an email last year that I keep coming back to about a framework for writing …
: YouTube Shorts are commonly viewed as a vehicle for clips to function as marketing / awareness tools …
: Display is dying Returns on programmatic ad auctions are returning so little, Digiday could not …
: According to Semafor: [YouTube] is currently developing a feature that would allow host-read ads to …
: 🚨 Annotations are back in Google Analytics! 🎉
: On consumer modes: People respond far better, purchase more often, and remain more loyal when …
: Trump’s trade policies may lead to significant price increases for consumers, affecting both …
: Trump’s trade policies may lead to significant price increases for consumers, affecting both …
: Structured Serendipity the promise of consistent, reliable delight Consistent, reliable delivery of …
: You can now use company lists and retargeting lists to build LinkedIn Predictive Audiences. Full …
: So as your building your thing, refining your process, engaging your audience…How much has to be new …
: Property incentivizes us. Prices guide us. Profits lure us to new changes and losses discipline us. …
: Part of the abstract from the paper The Rank Length Effect: The same ranked items elicit more …
: A business enterprise has two basic functions: marketing and innovation -Peter Drucker
: CuriousMarketers.(Book)Club: $100M Offers Made Easy Ben Preston’s “100M Offers Made Easy” provides an overview of creating …
: A Tariffs Headline Roundup Concerns are rising about a potential U.S. economic slowdown due to consumer spending shifts and the …
: Marketing is the act making a promise—or a series of promises. Good marketing delivers on that …
: A slew of earnings reports last week from the consumer discretionary sector raised the specter of …
: Word of mouth is always the best marketing…but after your first impression doesn’t go as planned, …
: I love this ad Not because it’s especially good or cool. Because instead of rambling on …
: The Anti-Instagramable Taco Shop Grabbed tacos with some coworkers last week from a restaurant that opened in an old UPS Store space. …
: More findings from Podscribe’s recent podcast performance report: Ads bought per episode …
: New study sheds light on the role of sound and music in gendered toy marketing commercials aimed at …
: Zig to your competitors’ zag and have much success. It’s science! contrarian investment funds far …
: People love free samples. Is the marketing opportunity of the future free tastes? Novel technology …
: Smaller is better. At least when it comes to podcasts for ad performance. Smaller podcasts …
:
The Content Quality Cliff
I like this Quality Cliff model from Animalz.
A baseline of quality is needed for any piece of …
: Get Your Freq On Ad frequency is a common consideration for advertisers (this being the number of times a person is …
: Are you going to get out of the way and stop making things that are about you and instead start …
: At Blue Ion, we’re big into help brands uncover, articulate, and share their mission, vision, and …
: Meta changed the default inventory filter setting to allow ads to deliver alongside all content: …
February 2025
: Is SEO for AI all about vectors? Instead of relying on exact keyword matches, search engines now …
: YouTube is making changes to avoid the most annoying ad placement occurrence on the platform, a …
: As a follow up to my post about Alexa+, this is the inflection moment for voice assistants. Adding …
: GenAI as customer lock in Alexa Plus is $19.99 per month on its own or free for Amazon Prime …
: Promotions and sales are a lever. But if pulled too often they become your brand. (See: JCPenny) …
: The 2024 holiday shopping season proved splintering is still the trend. One other thing that I saw …
: Brand vs. Performance marketing? Trick question. Brand equity is the foundation—it’s Job #1 for any …
: Advice from the guy behind the Gorillaz videos, Pete Candeland: You always try to build …
: Research has shown that rhymes are more memorable. But I much prefer this way of saying it from the …
:
From MediaDailyNews: Search Ads Slide As A Way To Reach Consumers
Not a new trend—and likely even …
: One of the 9 F’s of Attention is Future Me. Purchasing is an act of aspiration. Buying a future …
: Amazon is running a beta called shop brand sites directly, which surfaces results for brands not …
: The Walmart index is…unclear The mega-retailer forecasts lower growth this year, saying: “We …
: Retro is an evergreen trend, thanks to the One Song podcast I now have a benchmark for what that …
: Microsoft’s Clarity is an under discussed part of the analytics toolkit (who doesn’t like free …
: There’s no use in being a lesser version of Lego. This is not just about Lego. via Behind the …
: Beware “not” Soon after being exposed to a message, people forget whether or not there was a “not” in it. Meaning …
: EMARKETER with more good research, as usual. the most intrusive ads and the least likely to be …
: Marketers are bystanders. In the words of Peter Drucker: The bystander sees things neither actor …
: From the Don’t Say Content ladies: There’s nothing to fell when it’s mass produced Remember when …
: The 9 F's of Attention The digitally-mediated world today is a competition for attention. Attention being the currency …
: Brand value. Brand equity. Brand strength. All fancy words for how much customers care. Or, as Seth …
: The second Good Life 2030 report highlights that what’s missing in our age of comfort and …
: Some interesting findings from a study comparing Google Search to chatbot traffic (caveat: chatbot …
: Drew Hanlen is an NBA trainer for some of the world’s most elite players, his approach to writing …
: Boring is the default—fight it What ideas are not boring and worth trying? Ones that scare you to …
: Building on this post, I like the point made at the end of the episode. The experiences are …
: Sam’s Club has overtaken cult favorite Costco. At least when it comes to happy customers. It’s done …
: we didn’t ban noisy aircraft we banned supersonic aircraft Incentives matter and words matter. …
: TV is now the primary device for YouTube viewing in the US. and according to Nielsen, YouTube has …
: As Seth said: Discovery doesn’t just happen in the online store’s search box. I would go further …
: Anthropic released the Anthropic Economic Index The Anthropic Economic Index aims to understand …
: All advertising is unwanted, so if you’re going to crash the party, bring some champagne. -Bob …
: Like IBM, Oracle, and Sun before it, Apple seems at risk of moving from innovator to …
: Is this the dawn of cheap AI? DeepSeek was just the beginning 🤖 AI researchers at Stanford and the University of Washington were …
: Chesterton’s Fence There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the …
: Amazon is ramping up to release its gen-AI powered Alexa (unless it gets delayed again). Pricing …
: You get personalities out of the shop and all that’s left is the retail experience. You need the …
: Life gets better as you replace transactions with relationships. -Kevin Kelly So do brands and …
: Here is my summary of a 1-Minute summary of a massive social media trends study for 2025. Instagram …
: How much of the resilient consumer spending trend is due to buying before Trump’s Trade War …
: This ad read (not ad, just read) is great. You can hear the bit of a laugh after the reality TV line …
: Jan Swafford: The ability of a machine to do or outdo something humans do is interesting once at …
: Marketers are privileged indeed to make promises. Why make promises you know you can’t keep? -Seth …
: These definitions from Robin Sloan are helpful: An accurate definition of “influencer” is: a …
: Give them pleasure—the same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare. -Alfred Hitchcock …
: Work can only be universal if it is rooted in a part of its creator which is most privately and …
: Does Meta have its long-desired hardware platform? Or at least the start of it? It’s extended the …
: Doing business on the internet is about convincing people you don’t know that you have …
: I love this. It’s ridiculous. And it works because it’s ridiculous. It’s so over the top that it’s …
January 2025
: The best businesses understand and embed themselves into the lifestyles and self-conceptions of …
: This quote from The Daily Upside doesn’t surprise me: Sales of new homes picked up …
: In the theatre the audience want to be surprised—but by things they expect. -Tristan Bernard And …
: I love a good hierarchy / process workflow for uncovering the core cause of ad performance swings, …
: No rate change from The Fed this month as the committee waits to see what exactly is going to happen …
: Proof that the linear marketing funnel is a dinosaur The average American spends over 3 hours …
:
Creating a digital ad strategy is a balancing act of:
What the algorithms will reward on each …
: “Authenticity” is mentioned a lot when it comes to content. This can be a weird word for …
: Great work finds emotions, stories and possibility. Great work invents new boxes. The Yellow Brick …
: Is your brand a noun or a verb? A mirror or a window? A mission statement on the wall or values in …
: Can you turn the wait into an experience?
: Change is the only thing you can rely on in digital marketing. Banner ads and social media campaigns …
: Businesses fail either because they leave their customers, or because their customers leave them …
: TikTok is back but I don’t see it in the Apple App Store. Basically the original idea of how the ban …
: In The Race to Replace The Clock, Instagram followed YouTube’s lead, increasing Reels length to 3 …
: From Bloomberg: Supreme Court Upholds Law That Threatens US TikTok Ban I wrote a lot of words about …
: the organizing principle of digital advertising, which is the individual consumer. What Facebook — …
: [YouTube] has officially begun rolling out three-minute Shorts to all users any vertical or square …
: 2025: rise of the smartglasses? Halliday Glasses have boarded the smart spectacles hype train, …
: Soliddd’s scientifically formulated and user-tested virtual reality smartglasses are lightweight and …
: Rory Sutherland with a truth bomb: People don’t necessarily know what they want. Economists …
: We’re about a week out from a potential TikTok ban taking effect in the US and it seems like there’s …
: NBC News—part of the network that was home to late night hosts from Johnny Carson to David …
: Amazon’s retail business is basically just an R&D lab for the company’s real business: being a …
: Unpacked an order with multiple items and noticed each one had been checked off by hand on the …
: I think both brands and work relationships—with employers, coworkers, peers, clients, customers, …
: The markets are betting on inflation not just being so 2024. the US government’s monthly auction of …
:
This is a good reminder from this year’s Seth Godin daily calendar, curated and illustrated by …
: From the abstract of the paper Do Influencers Influence? A Meta-Analytic Comparison of Celebrities …
: You can obsess about your customers or you can obsess about your competition. Both work, but of the …
: This post on social doubt has a great nugget to use in your messaging: define who your product …
: Google Ads in 2025 One of Google’s ad leads (title is ridiculous) sat down for an interview with MediaPost with some …
: Misconception: Brands should be casting a wide net when marketingReality: Niche …
:
Inspired by Seth Godin’s post: “Does it work?”
: After Gemini said it couldn’t write marketing content, I asked ChatGPT. Here’s what it …
: 2025: The Year of AR? Sources told the Financial Times that Meta is planning to expand its partnership with Ray-Ban to …
: Gemini Won't Write Your Marketing Content For You As part of an experiment, I pasted a recent LinkedIn post of mine into Gemini and asked it to: …
: From Platformer’s 2025 predictions: Everyone copies Meta Ray-Bans. The other tech giants come …
: You can look at products and you can tell whether they have soul or not. When you’re building a …
: If a customer relationship is viewed as a relationship (novel, I know)… Focusing on the transaction …
December 2024
: Here’s Seth Godin on the podcast tour to support his book launch: The conversation is the product, …
: Meta now sets 1-day engaged-view by default in a campaign’s attribution setting. Jon Loomer also …
: From The rise and fall of rationality in language 📝 All in all, our results suggest that over the …
: A classic from Tim Harford: Buy a coal mine, drive a gas guzzler, and other uses of reverse logic …
: 2 quotes that seem contradictory but are complimentary. One from Tyler: So please develop a better …
: Semiconductorctor and data center infrastructure expert Dylan Patel shared this handy heuristic on …
: I don’t understand this one Google is testing a feature that allows the same advertiser to appear …
: Google has added Brand Guidelines to Performance Max campaigns. A fancy name for moving business …
: From David Perell: This is the power of symbolism: with one strong, vivid image, you can …
: Humanity needs stories. People lead their individual life as a story. One of the reasons you need …
: “Get curious. Childlike curious.” -Dan B. Nelken in A Self-Help Guide for Copywriters by Dan B …
: 😎😎😎 Meta plans to add displays to its Ray-Ban smart glasses as soon as next year, as the US tech …
: Is modern Apple an innovation company or an iteration company? From Bloomberg: In typical Apple …
: Kyla Scanlon on Social Video Tyler Cowen asked Kyla Scanlon (economics communicator/educator) about TikTok, Reels, and social …
: I’m far from a meme expert, but this from Seb Joseph makes sense: Whether it’s a visual gag, an …
: from @Manton: I support the mad king take any other potential feature and run it through the …
: COWEN: I don’t know. There are still democratic incentives in the system. I think …
: The core intuition is simply that you should be asking more questions. -Tyler Cowen
: What great marketers actually do is create the conditions for the community to change and grow in …
: Economics views homo sapiens as rational animals (probably my primary beef with the topic of my …
: The IAB has put together a handy podcast ad example gallery. Could be especially useful when talking …
: Personal consumption expenditure index drop day: From the preceding month, the PCE price index for …
: 2024 saw the streaming TV ad market start to look a lot more digital and less like traditional TV, …
: Gabe the Bass Player with yet another great post. (Music is a great place to look for marketing …
: First Microsoft Ads, now Google Ads: audiences based on interactions with your results and ads on …
: Meta is forecast to continue its shift to being an Instagram company in the near term: Instagram …
: Another Fed meeting, another fed rate cut In support of its goals, the Committee decided to lower …
: “I have no ego in this.” -a client The best way to approach planning and performance …
: Are you filtering through the fluff? Or fluffing up the filter?
: I just concluded a prez to the Blue Ion crew by saying that smart/AR glasses are the next consumer …
: As for the promisor…it’s exciting to make the promise. You get to look cool and powerful and …
: The headline: Google To Have More Core Updates, More Often Details are thin, but this slide from the …
: Will mobile game ads be wired in 2025? So far AppLovin has the magic 8 ball saying Outlook Good 🎱 …
: The appeal of late night show hosts was (and still is) their mix of personality and taste. Makes …
: Third-party cookies are a tool, not a strategy. They influence how marketing is delivered and …
: How to Make a Video According to TikTok (Shop) First Meta, then LinkedIn, now video making tips from TikTok (Shop). You Gotta Have a Hook You have …
: Inflation is sticking around. From the BLS: The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers …
: Everyone’s coming for Meta 😎 Solos challenges Meta’s Ray-Bans with $299 ChatGPT smart glasses …
: 4 tactics from CMOs on maintaining a healthy marketing funnel in tough times Bottom funnel traffic …
: As the name of this blog might suggest, I’m big on curiosity. “It’s lo-fi chill electronic …
: Advertising accounted for 9% of Amazon’s revenue in Q3 (up 19% from Q2). That’s compared …
: Your creative is more important than your targeting. Don’t leave the ad content as an …
: From the Bureau of Labor Statistics: Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 227,000 in November, …
: The simplest law of pricing The price paid will always be less than the value it creates for the …
: A good economic rebuttal to some of the requested punishments in the Google anti-trust case. …
: “But, our server is FIVE times slower. There is no silver bullet that is going to fix that. We’re …
: ‘Immediately recognizable’ is the key. What do you have that is? Gabe Anderson …
: To expand on the approach of peak media, the peak was probably 2023. People worldwide spent less …
: The status quo, relative to alternatives, likely will get worse as the pace of innovation increases. …
: Google may not be killing off cookies, but it is ramping up first-party data features for marketers. …
: To add subtlety is to spend extra time, energy and money on an aspect of the project that (by …
: Abstract for the paper Brand Teasing: How Brands Build Strong Relationships by Making Fun of Their …
: Despite fears of skittishness, US consumers poured a record amount of cash into online retail on …
: The whole podcast linked to here is worth listening to, if only to hear a true infovore’s approach …
: Tyler Cowen’s core principles of economics: Incentives matter There’s always an opportunity cost …
November 2024
: you create the conditions for people to do the things they’ve always wanted to do Seth Godin on the …
: Forrester has made its 2025 predictions 🔮 In: “Brand smart” Out: Brand safety embracing …
: Welcome to the totally predictable ad market circus Rather than normalcy, we’re finding huge …
: Beware negative social proof. a.k.a. the “well, if everyone else is doing it…” effect Definition = …
: It’s easy to focus on winning but I think have to focus more on how not to lose than you do on how …
: It’s looking like inflation is back on the bingo card for 2025. Using our rule of thumb that …
: Interesting to see Google continue to shift features into the third-party realm. This time, …
: Plenty of pixels have been spilled discussing the Jaguar rebrand, but this post is worth checking …
: Foursquare is open sourcing its locations database. a foundational open data set, Foursquare Open …
: You can no longer follow hashtags on Instagram. Which is not something I particularly care about, …
: "What's ChatGPT's share of search?" Very tough to answer. But, if we assume: - Every LLM prompt is a …
: Reddit traffic is exploding thanks to its recent licensing deal with Google. And some of those …
: From Seth: stories are the basic building block of culture & Stories that resonate are the …
: Why is Spotify a video platform now? the reason why there's this big video push is because it's part …
: The headline: OpenAI is thinking about making its own browser Not a surprise. They’re also …
: The game of “take control, give control” continues, this time with Meta giving …
: Regulators have submitted their Google punishment wishlist to the judge, and it rivals many a kid’s …
: The good news: While the election was surely a distraction, US consumer spending continues to be …
: I like this idea, just might steal it 6. Native Font Psychology Using platform-native fonts like …
: We’ve started to see performance bounce back for our clients most in danger of a …
: Google Analytics 4 adds benchmarking data reference metrics that help you compare your business …
: Google’s getting ready for shopping szn Google Lens Google Lens can quickly show you product …
: Samsung and Google are working on smart glasses to rival Meta’s Ray Bans to be released late …
: Pew Research has released the latest update to its data set on US adult social media usage. The …
: A survey says trio A study by Harvard Business Review found that 95% of purchasing decisions are …
: [Trump] wants tariffs on imports and intends to shrink the labor pool by reducing migration, both of …
: The study found that companies that relied heavily on social ads weren’t getting their full money’s …
: Thoughts on building a media network from the NBA Front Office Show that’s also great brand building …
: Why I think 11/6 was a release valve ⚡️ A question is now an answer, attention is freed up, and ad auction pressure is relieved. As I …
: Some insight on Pinterest Performance+ bidding for shopping campaigns: Performance+ bidding …
: Nike: A Cautionary Tale Building a brand is: Expensive in the short run Cheap in the long run But a strong brand can also …
: Meta is all about Reels, but video is the hardest asset type to produce (I’d accept the …
: I posted on LinkedIn to “pay attention to the details.” Called it a note to self, maybe should have …
: Customer service is a chance to create delight and impact. It can amplify or undermine the marketing …
: According to EMARKETER, we’re almost at peak media with “a plateauing of consumption in the 11 media …
: Turns out Meta has a hidden quality score for ads. According to my Meta rep (who can’t see the …
:
I ended my post on lessons from Dropout with:
Trying to do what the industry heavyweight(s) does …
: consumer confidence fell unexpectedly mid-October What could have caused that 🤔 Fall 2024: the vibe …
: Seth builds on this sentiment in this great podcast strategy walkthrough. There are 4 decisions you …
: Choose your customers, choose your future -Seth Godin
: Apple continues its services push: Any verified business can now create a consistent brand and …
: data shows consumers remember and engage with emotionally-resonant ads. Marcus Johnson …
: Google giving us more control? With brand guidelines, you can control how your brand is represented …
: Bloomberg: Baidu Readies AI Smart Glasses to Rival Meta’s Ray-Bans Meta’s are becoming computers …
: Turn On, Tune In, Dropout: Business Lessons from College(Humor) Sam Reich, CEO of Dropout (formerly CollegeHumor), sat down with Fast Company to talk about the …
: Pinterest Pushing Further Into Social Commerce Talked with my Pinterest Ads rep today and got some more insight on a couple commerce features in …
: The Federal Reserve has dropped the fed rate target another 1/4 point (0.25%), putting it in the …
: CapCut has launched Commerce Pro, an AI-powered rapid asset creation studio. Image and video (from …
: It seems Google is testing adding if there was a change to that score because of "competitive …
: Now you can ignore everything I put in the big election spending post from yesterday. We will pause …
: Apple Inc. is exploring a push into smart glasses with an internal study of products currently …
: Election Campaign Spending Crowds Out Your Messaging I’ve been harping about election campaign spending and its impact on marketing expectations …
: How the election outcome could impact how you make marketing decisions in the years to come. Because …
: audio makes up 31% of media activity consumption in the U.S. in 2021, but only received 8.8% of the …
: But one day you’ll be the last person writing words on the web and wonder where everyone went. Ryan …
: Perplexity (AI) is adding to its competition with Google (and most major tech platforms), trying to …
: My team is probably tired of hearing me talk about this stuff, but context is important. Especially …
: Trick-or-Treating With Ad Platform Announcements from October From Google: Performance Max and Standard Shopping ads will now compete head-to-head in the auction …
: Some of your ads feel more expensive lately? This might be why: The Harris campaign has instead …
: This post from Jyll is a must read for any paid account manager. As it turns out, when we only show …
October 2024
: Meta is developing its AI search engine (and apparently has the “most-used AI assistant in the …
: We always tell clients that what they think is boring is probably what they need to talk about the …
: Meta is developing an AI search engine, to be embedded in its Meta AI chatbot. The company has …
: Meta’s plan for growth among younger demos: Discovery Utility Surface content like an …
: More than 40% of leading brands secure 10% plus of their annual e-commerce revenue from holiday …
: Been doing this thing with TV ads lately where I unmute for the last second or, at most, two seconds …
: Some homework from Steven Soderbergh: Just looking at something and going, I like that, and then …
: Everything is TV Now Last year the flip happened, people spent more time on TikTok than watching TV. There was an …
: Small improvements in our systems translate into large improvements to the customer experience. …
: cranes are a proxy for construction and infrastructure investment. Since both are closely and …
: I might start including this in all analytics reports and dashboards. via XKCD
:
U.S. Media Reactions Report finds people overall are being more receptive toward advertising. Nearly …
: The most surprising thing I found about business was the large concern for finance and low concern …
:
What sticks out attracts attention. Which is kind of the point.
Don’t smooth the edges of your …
: This is handy Here is a quick look at the differences in post life on some of the major platforms: …
: Ben Thompson on Meta: Market = time & attention Differentiation = horizontal services that …
: The Chick-fil-A Play app will launch on Nov. 18 and will feature a variety of content, including an …
: The differences between the most and least productive companies can be startlingly high. By …
: I’m always looking for ways to do keyword research “better,” so I like this A …
: If a jacket is made by Patagonia or a piece of hardware is made by Teenage Engineering, you can …
:
From Forked Lightning:
the U.S. economy added 19 million total jobs between 2013 and 2023 but lost …
: This quote from Ben Thompson triggered a thought distinct nation-states, with their own languages. …
: In line with people “adding luxury and indulgence around the margins,” the self-gifting trend is …
: Survey says… 69% of consumers worldwide say email is their preferred communication channel …
: If you don’t schedule time for maintenance, your equipment will do it for you. -Deb Chachra via A …
: Consumers continue to focus on value, and are responding to price reductions Smaller form factors — …
: Video is the most compelling form of content: 63% of B2B buyers say that short-form social video …
: When you are running prospecting ads at a large scale, you often need to “over explain” the benefits …
: Fun listen about Formula 1 as a brand and it’s accidental rise in popularity. Pandemic + Netflix doc …
: We study the macroeconomic implications of narratives, defined as beliefs about the economy that …
: Imagine this but in a pair of glasses like Meta’s Orion: The future of watching football is here 🤯 …
: Glamming up a robot risks overpromising what the robot as a product can actually do. That …
: This post combines two things I like: Dracula and AI. as a rule of thumb, in most companies if one …
: AI will turbocharge contextual capabilities, and the most important piece of content these days is …
: How to Make a Video According to LinkedIn Every platform is a video platform these days (at least that’s what it feels like). That …
: Meta is working on “New Brand [Safety &] Suitability Controls”. The big one I know …
: B2B advertisers are increasingly turning to social to spread the word. Unsurprisingly, LinkedIn is …
: When a potential customer visits your site, they aren’t trying to talk themselves out of …
: “After years of post-pandemic revenge spending, consumers are becoming more prudent as they face …
: Ads With Positive Words Get More Clicks We find that experiencing positive emotion at the outset of an online product search primes …
: Learn from the Magic Castle Hotel, LA. (I LOVE this story the Do Lectures shared in their email newsletter, in partnership with Hiut …
: Ryan Holiday writes about the spectacle: it captures attention, sparks curiosity, and draws people …
: Survey says… 80% of respondents said cost savings is more important than convenience, …
: Search Ads Campaign enables sophisticated keyword-based ads which specifically target TikTok's …
: I like this idea from the Alt Marketing School newsletter: Create an Objection Smasher page or post …
: The marketing trend of 2024: In: AI (& context) Out: Control Early this year this was based on …
: Our culture leans toward the idea that we should intervene and that our results should be visible. …
: a VR headset is about withdrawing from interactions, whereas augmented reality is obviously about …
: My major design goal here was…I wanted to push controls, as much as possible, down the screen. So I …
: that’s really the single core question about the future of Generative AI - is this a new general …
: I think most companies fear that they don’t have enough of a young person’s perspective. …
: The manager looks at him and says, “HA! You think I am in the music business? No. I’m in the Iron …
September 2024
: Meta just casually announced an AI-powered AR glasses prototype. Ambient computing accelerates.
: Word spreads because taste aligns…not because of wild interruption. Gabe the Bass Player …
: Adobe’s holiday shopping predictions are in: major discounts this season–up to 30% off listed …
: This. If you try to be for everyone, you end up being for no one. Or, as Vonnegut said, “if you …
: Meta reportedly rolled out an ad algorithm update in August. It caused a lot of volatility, but …
: We’ve been preparing all our clients for this: The vast majority of political ad spend happens …
: Minimum Viable Website: A Thought Exercise If your website had to fit entirely on a phone screen—only one page, no scrolling, no links—what …
: Thinking about God promotes greater acceptance of Artificial intelligence (AI)-based …
: Roku announced a self-serve ad platform which include two ad types I want to test: Action Ads: …
: YouTube confirms advertisers can broadly target your paused screentime: “As we’ve seen both strong …
: 85% of registered voters surveyed trust podcasts more than any other news and information source, …
: Social Savannah’s top… Black Friday strategies / hooks for Meta: Unboxing reaction …
: Another check in the fun fall for marketers checklist: In light of the progress on inflation and the …
: A client wanted some guidance on keywords to use in their social content to help reach their …
: Meta wants your holiday ad dollars, so it’s rolled out: More prominent promo callouts …
: Posts with a lot of comments look to be more heavily weighted when it comes to what shows up in your …
: This list of trajectories for future festivals includes some good potential trajectories for brands …
: I work with a lot of real estate clients at Blue Ion, so I think a lot about how the market may …
: Aim to be effective, but unpredictable. That is, you want to act in a way that AIs have trouble …
: 6 seconds is the magic number for all kinds of content these days. The average site visitor surveyed …
: A good place to find new customers is by looking for already established things that you are similar …
: New toy alert Generative AI search engine Perplexity said it will launch ads in Q4 …
: “newstalgia”—a desire for familiarity combined with novelty Molly Gabris …
: Always design a thing by considering it in its next larger context – a chair in a room, a room in a …
: And so, Swift has put up something of a door: access to her costs fans at least $12.99. Here’s the …
: Citing continued inflation and high interest rates, 33% of consumers say they will spend less …
: Despite Apple’s long lead, Spotify Technology SA. and Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube have …
: Brands can help combat this general fatigue with campaigns centered around solving a problem in an …
: What?! The goldfish brain is evolving! Engagement on longer short-form video is increasing across …
: Google Is A Monopolist? Part 2 Google and the Justice Department are set for a rematch of sorts on …
: SEO approach for blog content from David CH of SaaSPad.co (YouTube link): Write like ChatGPT Not …
: This Fall Will Be Fun For Marketers: Part 3 2024 is projected to be a record-breaking …
: If you ask a co-worker to do some research for you, you probably aren’t worried they’ll fabricate …
: Consumers and ecommerce brands agree the sector’s outlook is positive. But they part ways when …
: Snapchat will soon start “experimenting” with placing sponsored messages next to chat threads from …
: According to LibSyn, podcast ad CPMs are: :30 second = $18 :60 second = $25 Which means, on average, …
: 🔮 AI-powered voice assistants accessible in cars will boost audio ad performance.
: Low-income consumers feeling a pinch in the economy are leading to lower-than-expected sales for …
August 2024
: YouTube became the first streaming platform ever to exceed 10% of total TV usage in July. Nielsen …
: Growth hacking is just that—hacks, tricks, shortcuts. It’s like lighter fluid. There’s a …
: Building a brand is: Expensive in the short run Cheap in the long run 95% of consumers are likely …
: This Fall Will Be Fun For Marketers: Part 2 67% of consumers are anticipating marketing fatigue by …
: What are your expectations of the circus? We couldn’t get the elephants because we were too busy …
: Sales and marketing are not just a tax you pay for not having a great product or great service. …
: Every interaction with a customer is an exchange of trust. You’re either banking trust or …
: “The time has come for policy to adjust,” Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell said Friday, in his most …
: Chick-Fil-A is reportedly cooking up a family-friendly streaming service I don’t understand …
: Apparently that “unknown” age range in Google Ads is mostly teenagers and younger users. Google …
: Apple Podcasts can now be streamed from the web. Apple announced on Monday that its Apple Podcasts …
: New learnings from The Meta Rep™: If you pause a campaign / ad set / ad, you have 7 days to turn it …
: said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on a call discussing the results with investors. “Over the long term, …
: A new study reveals the promise and limitations of interactive TV advertising. The key findings: 36% …
: The best way to provide value to your stakeholders is to provide value to your customers. Notice …
: People may be spending less time on Facebook (just the blue app, not Instagram), but it certainly …
: This is an excellent guide to Meta’s Audience Segments powering Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns (ASCs) …
: YouTube is a powerhouse but also still somehow underrated as a marketing channel (video is the …
: Turns out Meta is removing detailed targeting exclusions and the leaked announcement wasn’t a bug, …
: Sounds like clickbait: an idea so wild it just might work! The idea is that the US would require …
: This vibes with what I’ve been seeing in reporting Intent is building, evidenced by improved …
:
As TikTok and Instagram unseat Google in the realm of local search, I see a realm of possibilities …
: Google wanted advertisers to turn everything over to the algorithms with Performance Max, …
: I love this from Sidekick Books: Award-winning publisher of hybrid and experimental multi-author …
: So what keeps us going? For some, it’s fear. But for most of us, it’s belief in our actions. And …
: US mortgage rates plummeted this week after weaker-than-expected employment data raised …
: Last month, the price of a USPS stamp increased 5 cents to 73 cents. A change that may further …
: More Meta insights from my (really good) rep. Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns can handle up to 150 …
: How do you set a budget for Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns? According to my (really good) Meta rep, …
: Netflix will charge advertisers CPMs (cost per thousand viewers) between $20 and $30 for some of its …
: Originally mentioned back in May, Apple is leaning in to Safari being the anti-Chrome. Safari is …
: A federal judge ruled that Google violated US antitrust law by maintaining a monopoly in the search …
: This should be fun #Y2K38 (absolutely click through for the animated visual at the very least)
: Great communities thrive on repeatability. The rituals, the culture, the gatherings, and the …
July 2024
: This from earlier provides a good reminder These strike me as great questions to ask from the POV of …
: Stanislavsky taught his acting students to ask three questions of their characters in any scene: …
: From Apple: Apple Maps on the web is available in public beta, allowing users around the world to …
: Google has pulled the plug on pulling the plug on third-party cookies in Chrome. It seems they …
: Now your products don’t have to be in Walmart for your ads to be there. The retail giant said …
: pay much greater attention to your style, the visuals, the story they tell. Remember: images linger …
: IKEA and Home Depot have Halloween decor featured on their home pages. Just heard a grocery store …
:
Do the same thing as everyone else and get worse results.
via Seth Godin’s daily calendar
: Research from Ariyh shows that native ads may have great click rates, but that traffic doesn’t stick …
: From Tom Asacker: Ask them if your organization, your culture, is producing the results it is …
: Similar to Google: Microsoft Ads is rolling out a new feature called “brand lists” for Performance …
: If you’re having different kinds of conversations in the same moment, it’s really, really hard to …
: 🚨 🪦 Google to kill off URL shortener once and for all Links shortened with goo.gl will stop working …
: Stories are our wealth. -Joy Harjo from Secrets from the Center of the World 📚
: was assumed that for a streaming service to work as a standalone business, you needed at least …
: Paramount might do for streaming TV ads what Spotify did for podcast ads: make it accessible at …
: Ad tech giant Taboola has struck a deal with Apple to power native advertising within the Apple News …
: This is an interesting stat about Prime Day ads: 15 dollars of incremental sales for every dollar …
: The best ideas are when you’re like, “we can never do this, we’re going to get in big trouble, this …
: Sacred places are the first places to be destroyed by invaders and iconoclasts, for whom nothing is …
: she found it hard to believe that all living things needed to speak. Believe, said the bear. Whether …
: According to research headlines featuring common words outperform those with complex phrasing when …
: A little trend watching thanks the Gen Alpha’s digital behavior (even though generations are …
: YouTube Sees Brand Fans Move From Consumers Of Culture To Shaping It Content creators are the new …
: Apple is targeting to begin mass production of new “AirPods with camera modules” by 2026 … According …
: Spotify for Podcasters has introduced the ability for podcast audiences to leave comments on …
: From the 2024 Women’s NCAA tournament reaching a peak of 24 million viewers at the final game, to …
: From today’s Ben Evans email: A few years ago this would have been expensive and time-consuming if …
: From MarTech: Steve Ganem, Product Director of Google Analytics, on what’s ahead for GA4 More …
: Fun trick for ecomm competitor analysis Landing page research hack. Go to /sitemap.xml on any …
: People are addicted to escape -Abass Wurie This was said about drugs, but drugs are are just one …
: Meta’s Instant Forms are a powerful lead gen tool, but quality can be low out of the box. Here …
: Thanks to Gabe the Bass Player, I’m beginning to see that I think of brands like songs. Some are …
: The sweet spot is caring deeply about the process while not caring too much about the outcome. …
: The age of multi-media brands is here findings revealed a strong preference across the board for …
: Good news: Fourth of July gas prices are set for a three-year low Adjusted for inflation, US gas …
: When it comes to naming in the branding process, we regularly talk about how a name is an empty …
June 2024
: Pinterest will now allow users to create short videos of their curated Pinterest boards, designed to …
: People want ads that make them laugh Humor is a more prominent factor than purpose, surprise, or …
: Robert Greene defining the curiosity gap: People love mysteries and enigmas, so give them what they …
: Love these quotes from AriZona Iced Tea’s founder about the 99 cent cans People say, ‘How do …
: Next addition to the Google graveyard: infinite scroll Google said this change is to serve the …
: consumers form more negative impressions of and are less persuaded by influencers who disable social …
:
Eventually, a promo heavy strategy becomes your brand position. See: JCPenney
via Bad Machinery
: My Meta rep’s go-to approach for creative differentiation in Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns: Create …
: Cue the Khaled memes: PayPal announced plans to create a new advertising platform rooted in …
: Of course, there are times where sharing your strategy may be unproductive. Like when signaling to …
: More on the Google ranking factors leak & why it shouldn’t distract you from focusing on users. …
: Google’s search ranking factors leaked & the SEO world has been doing its best Shark Week …
: Word is Meta Advantage+ product teams are broken out by feature—like an Audiences team & an Ad …
: Survey says… Of the industries included, podcasting provided the highest short-term return on ad …
: Instacart plugs retail media data into YouTube Shopping ads to fuel offsite growth There are two …
: Disney has 2 new ad types for streaming. The first: boring shopping ads via QR codes. The second has …
: What do you get when you mix Google’s Performance Max and Meta’s Advantage+? Pinterest Performance+ …
: Retailers and brands with very strong brands and brand positioning are doing well. And those that …
: 28% of listeners say they listen to “all of the ads” on podcasts, the highest percentage among all …
: Artificial Intelligence: A Definition Walter Sinnott Armstrong with my favorite definition of Artificial Intelligence: “It occurs whenever …
: YouTube is taking its next step in the ongoing tug of war between ad tech and ad blockers. The …
: Now we can all be Mr. Beast YouTube is finally rolling out the ability for creators to test and …
: On Brand: Authenticity & Personality Blake Droesch on the type of brand that won’t be disrupted by AI And other technologies …
: Costco has entered the chat. Costco is building out an ad network built on its trove of loyalty …
: Following up on my post about how to make a video according to Meta, from Meta: we won’t recommend …
: From a Meta rep, creative differentiation isn’t just about designing assets that look …
: Anything created before you’re 15 is just the way the world has always been. Anything created …
: Let’s build a brand with a soul — Jaylen Brown (@FCHWPO) February 9, 2024
: I think the future, as seen for the last 20 or 30 years, is task-specific UIs that reduce complexity …
: 36% of respondents had the highest attention quality with the version of the ad containing the …
: The resale industry (formerly known as second-hand shops) is growing fast. The segment could double …
: Good advice from James Clear There are at least 4 types of wealth: Financial wealth (money) Social …
: Can you over-communicate with clients?
: I really like this: Marketing’s value proposition for a brand is not growth but differentiation. …
: This chart is interesting because I feel like brands firmly focus on the items in the middle. …
: When asked how Dave Matthews Band sells out so many shows… Dave Matthews’ line is always, “we only …
: Instagram confirmed it’s testing unskippable ads after screenshots of the feature began circulating …
: I’m always wondering where to draw the line with advertising frequency, so I’ll take …
: I agree with Rushkoff on this: The value of this technology in creative work is not to come up with …
: Average marketing budgets have fallen to 7.7% of overall company revenue, down from 9.1% in 2023 …
May 2024
: LinkedIn has reduced the size of link preview images for organic posts, while maintaining larger …
: How to Make a Video According to Meta Looking for a video formula? This is The Playbook According to Meta: Logo visible within the first …
: Dexa: AI-powered search of podcast content
: Might grocers' price cuts ease inflation and the current vibe-cession? Target began cutting prices …
: All ads I want to try Around half of streaming viewers have taken some action upon seeing a pause …
: Google is emailing advertisers to notify them it will soon begin automatically pausing low-activity …
: I posted the other day about sharing your strategy with everyone, then I read a Seth Godin piece …
: “Running with scissors is a cardio exercise that can increase your heart rate and require …
: Share Your Strategy with Everyone It’s tempting to keep it to ourselves, but making it collaborative …
: If you use Meta’s Advantage+ Shopping campaigns you may be familiar with the new(ish) audience …
: when corporations talk about values, was it because of ethics? Or aesthetics? Is it a value or a …
: AI is a sea change. For marketing: Out: Control In: Context In many ways this is a return to an …
: Black Friday became the Turkey 5 weekend which feels like it’s becoming Black November with the way …
: Google Marketing Live continued a recent trend for Google Ads, making it more and more like social …
: Basically me, if you replace philosophy with marketing and the sign with a billboard promoting …
: While Google is Meta-fying its ad platform as fast as it can, Zuck+Co might be returning the favor. …
: I’m fully bought into the gospel according to Jon Loomer When you obsess over targeting, it becomes …
: it’s teaming up with OpenAI to add the startup’s technology to iOS 18, the next version of the …
: Functional fixedness is a cognitive bias that limits a person to use an object only in the way it is …
: From The Guardian fraudsters impersonated WPP’s CEO using a fake WhatsApp account, a voice clone …
: Benedict Evans’ prediction for WWDC: More will probably be about how it uses LLMs to deliver new …
: About that ad-supported plan… Netflix’s cheaper, ad-supported tier now has 40 million global …
: It’s happening Netflix will launch an in-house advertising technology platform, by the end of …
: A year ago, Google said that it believed AI was the future of search. That future is apparently …
: Expect Meta to remove detailed targeting exclusions. Maybe on June 28, maybe another day. This is …
: Instagram is going small? The platform is introducing a ranking change that will give smaller …
: More Shiny New Ad Toys Meta Marketers get ready: ads are coming to Threads a lot sooner than expected. The tech platform …
: Questions tend to be framed from the perspective of making existing audio content reach more people. …
: Walmart advertisers will be able to match the retailer’s shopper data with Disney’s proprietary …
: Consumers have different preferences. It’s ultimately about removing friction in the experience, but …
: Podcasts drive consistent growth in awareness, likelihood to seek information, purchase intent, and …
: Asked a client how we can provide better service than previous agencies… “Just show up, …
: CapCut users are scrambling since news of the potential TikTok ban broke. Some said they were …
: Are you building an audience or building traffic? via ComicLab podcast
: In the simplest terms, stores serve as hubs of fulfillment and support distribution logistics. This …
: Instagram looks to be experimenting with a new option that would enable you to hide the description …
: It seems to me that in recent times, there has been a great push toward exclusivity and identity. …
: It’s been a while since I’ve written about the splintering of spending across …
: Everyone can be an ad platform now. This is just the beginning. In it’s first-ever NewFronts …
: Wild stat from Meta’s creative team (that I heard second hand so grain of salt): The amount of …
April 2024
: I kind of love this idea: How to transform your Google Ads headlines with anti-audiences To define …
: Meta recommends 30% of your budget be allocated to Advantage+ Shopping campaigns (if applicable). …
: Finished reading: How to Say No by Diogenes 📚
: Why “Curious Marketers Club”? In the words of James Clear: There are many recipes for success. …
: Yup JPMorgan’s pivot to advertising means all companies are adtechs now The crumbling of cookies …
:
YouTube is big enough that it’s its own category when it comes to how people watch videos
via …
: Reddit has launched their Meta catalog and Google Shopping ads clone: Dynamic Product Ads. Very …
: The power of influencers continues to grow, but their status as a marketing channel has been …
: So about them cookies Google delays third-party cookie phase-out to 2025 (maybe) For the third …
: About that TikTok ban The Senate passed a bill on Tuesday that would restrict the video app TikTok, …
: Temu is spending like crazy on advertising “As a result, this increases everyone’s CPA (cost per …
: A ByteDance ban might be getting closer to reality: The House once again passed a bill that could …
: Market your brand the way your brand’s personality would. What people get stuck on with brand …
: Cookieless ad targeting requires marketers to understand how consumers use their websites …
: Future Forecast on AirChat, the Twitter + Clubhouse lovechild: people are actually moving away from …
: The Future G.I. Joe Promised As TV has progressed from ephemeral programming delivered via wires to on-demand catalogs in the …
: Finished reading: The Ghost Writer by Philip Roth 📚
: “con-trar-i-an n. an investor who makes decisions that contradict prevailing wisdom, as in buying …
:
This is from Seth Godin‘s daily calendar.
Logos are not brands.
They’re bat signals for the other …
: On Tuesday, the United Nations financial agency published its latest annual World Economic Outlook, …
:
Consumers are turning to loyalty programs for discounts to help offset persistently higher prices. …
: Choose your customers, choose your future. -Seth Godin
: This is where I’m trying to spend more of my time
: Finished reading: Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill 📚
: Shorter copy drives more action. It’s science! 3 ways to shrink your copy: Fewer words Fewer ideas …
: Anybody can get traffic, but it’s hard to build an audience. -Casey Newton via Sounds Profitable
: Everything is marketing. Unless what you’re doing is unique, it’s really marketing at the end of …
: Is attention the new attribution? The New York Times is partnering with Adelaide, a company that …
: It begins? Ferret-UI offers the possibility of advanced control over a device like an iPhone. By …
: 🔥 insight from Tom Webster: years ago, in the late 20th century, where I am from, there was a thing …
: Indicator Bingo March 2024 Inflation is up The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.4 percent in …
: Finished reading: HOLE. by HIROKO. OYAMADA 📚
: Ulta Beauty's Retail Media Move A recent episode of eMarketer’s Behind the Numbers podcast focused on retail media and this …
: Audio always I think in-store radio is a place where we’re seeing retailers start to play, I …
: In response to the Search Engine Land piece about Google Ad Strength that I responded to, Google …
: Followers are dead. From the head of Instagram: I understand why people focus so much on follower …
: Meta disclosed Instagram ad revenue as part of the antitrust process. Instagram earned: $11.3 …
: Google Ad Strength: Garbage or Nah? PPC experts are saying Google’s Ad Strength metric is garbage. Google says: Ad Strength is at the …
: Zig vs. Zag Lucky vs. Repeatable It’s so important to know the difference between the two when attempting to …
: On today’s podcast episode, we discuss which digital behaviors Hispanic Americans over-index …
: Shiny New Ad Toys Walmart it is opening up Walmart Connect to brands that have not traditionally sold their products …
: Finished reading: The Ballad of the Sad Café by Carson McCullers 📚
: AI and the Complexity of Loss - blog.rinesi.com Highly recommended for anyone interested in the more …
: Facebook will play videos in full-screen vertical by default. Plus some UI updates. Think TikTok …
: Apple Car is dead, meet Apple Robot? With robotics, Apple could gain a bigger foothold in …
: March’s job numbers are in: Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 303,000 in March, and the …
: Sounds like Google is kicking the tires on an acquisition of HubSpot. This is a really interesting …
:
Audio. Always.
Podcasting deserves a larger role in media plans as opposed to “test and learn” …
: retail media networks could be a driver for programmatic audio as the next essential advertising …
: Good reminder: Ads Optimization is Literal When you select a performance goal in the ad set, the …
: 🚨 Meta Is Broken For the second time in just over a month, Meta’s apps, including WhatsApp, and to some extent, …
: Anyone trying to garner attention these days is essentially a media entity. This means owned media …
: The AI search engine Perplexity is going to start testing ads Related questions, which include …
: A Brand is Empty, then Full A new brand is an empty vessel. The meaning doesn’t come from the name or the logo, but from …
: Looking forward to playing with this new reporting feature from Meta (because I’m a data …
: The premise is that creators make content for a brand, but instead of living solely on social media …
: Social media is a major gatekeeper at this point—the other one is search—so if you’re building …
March 2024
: Finished reading: The Wager by David Grann 📚
: via the Future Forecast podcast: Nowstalgia: hyperfast way of looking at nostalgia of things that …
:
Friday Bits & Bytes | 032924
Why Marketers need to embrace the funny when it comes to podcasting While there’s no sure-fire …
: Attention Spans or Filter Quality? Are our attention spans really getting shorter? I hear this said a lot. But I also know people who …
:
Wednesday Bits & Bytes | 032724
Ad Market Expands 10.4% In February The U.S. ad market expanded at its greatest rate in nearly two …
:
Tuesday Bits & Bytes | 032624
Exploding Topics: Anti-Detect Browser
Anti-detect browsers are web browsers designed to minimize …
: Sunday Bits & Bytes | 032424 Welcome to Agency Adventure! Agency Adventure is a custom, desktop video game created by Snapchat …
: Saturday Bits & Bytes | 032324 Marilynne Robinson on Biblical Interpretation, Calvinist Thought, and Religion in America (Ep. 207) …
: Building a brand is Expensive in the short run Cheap in the long run
:
Friday Bits & Bytes | 032224
Evolving Google Analytics for more insightful measurement
To make it easier to compare these …
: On Top Social Media Referral Traffic Sources YouTube is a sleeping giant—it’s not just a TikTok competitor or a Netflix competitor or a …
: What We Can Learn from Bad CEO Quotes The CEOs of Kellogg and Wendy’s recently caused a bit of public outcry. From the Kellogg end: We’ve …
: Tuesday Marketing Links | 031924 IN AN ERA OF COLLABORATION SATURATION, HOW DO BRANDS STAND OUT? 71% of people agree that the story …
: As technology advanced we became increasingly more like computers—adapting to their way of working, …
: Monday Marketing Links | 031824 Cookie Deprecation is Coming - Should Advertisers be Worried? Apple blocked third party cookies for …
: It's A Metric!: First Time Impression Ratio Today’s metric is one I just learned about: First Time Impression Ratio (FTIR) According to …
: Why I Am Not Using “Notes” Disguised as a post about a Substack feature is a reminder that: Most …
: Are you trying to find a solution for a problem you haven’t created yet? A hypothesis is useless without a test. Pick a measuring stick and get going. Iterate over time. You …
: Saturday Marketing Links | 031624 AI Prompt Engineering Is Dead / Long live AI prompt engineering According to one research team, no …
: Finished reading: Head Lopper Vol. 2: Crimson Tower by Andrew Maclean 📚
: Friday Marketing Links | 031524 TikTok’s potential U.S. ban stirs marketers, spurs contingency planning Meta could capture between …
: I like this take on new tech adoption from Douglas Adams. any new technology is received …
: “Audio all the time” is one of my core marketing beliefs for 2024, so I always like more evidence …
: Advertising is the new subscription revenue for platforms and Apple wants a piece. via Gizmodo …
: For most of us the key to the great commercial or ad or marketing idea or message lies within …
: Finished reading: The Weirdstone of Brisingamen by Alan Garner 📚
: 😬 last year, the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) published a two-part report finding that …
: Today a client said “it doesn’t matter what we think, let’s try stuff out and see what works.” Music …
: The Nudge podcast covered irrational prices, noting they essentially act as a hook cementing your …
: What the birth of the spreadsheet teaches us about generative AI There is one very clear parallel …
: Not great Bob! Advertising still largely fails to adequately represent women with intersectional …
: Are the algorithms starting to turn on generative AI? Google has updated Search to derank spam …
: How To Connect To Your Clients' Meta Account One of the most annoying things we have to deal with on a (fairly) regular basis with Blue Ion …
: It feels like the “new normal” we were promised / warned about during the height of the …
: The Biden White House is backing a bipartisan bill that could lead to a ban on the hugely popular …
: Finished reading: Head Lopper Volume 1: The Island Or a Plague of Beasts by Andrew Ross MacLean 📚
: Is the future of radio TV? YouTube is the dominant player in podcasts (now with RSS feed ingestion). …
: I’ve said it before, but here’s someone else saying it: Boring is the worst thing your brand can …
:
How do you maximize your ads' ROI?
Better creative.
Creative quality is the primary lever we have …
: Stanley is trying to dial back the drops frenzy by borrowing a page from the Taylor Swift playbook …
: Another Podcast’s episode Google Gemini and AI bias unpacks the weights and training data stuff I …
: I’m a big pedal steel fan, so when Jason Isbell started talking about it on the Broken Record …
: From episode three of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs: Once you give a collection of …
: Finished reading: The Last Horse: Prologue by Aaron Tucker 📚
: Finished reading: John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 8: Rake at the Gates of Hell by Garth Ennis 📚
: The more you know 💫 Ada Lovelace, the daughter of poet Lord Byron, wrote the first algorithm …
: In the section of a recent The Email Marketing Show episode titled “Don’t make the mistake of …
: Investment is (slowly) trickling back into ad tech recent activity is a stark contrast to the …
February 2024
: Ambient computing is coming Apple has explored the idea of developing new wearable devices — …
: What happens when the usual forms of human-computer interface get disrupted? OpenAI is working on …
: Wendy’s looking to test surge pricing at restaurants The Amazonification of physical retail. …
: This is maybe not the thing to say in a time of inflation when It’s Been 30 Years Since Food Ate Up …
: after the spike in online shopping ignited by the 2020 Covid quarantine, the e-commerce share of all …
: According to the Dotdash Meredith CEO: “if you cannot show performance, you are dead.” The …
: Spotify has big goals for its ad product The long-term aspiration, as stated by CEO Daniel Ek, is …
: Some quotes from Dave Gerhardt on the Marketing Against The Grain podcast: You say small business, …
: From a great Dan Oshinsky LinkedIn post on email metrics: What does a good click-to-open metric …
: In The Abstract: Effectives of Limited Time Promos in Online Retail The paper Examining the Efficacy of Time Scarcity Marketing Promotions in Online Retail from the …
: The New York Times is reportedly developing a generative AI tool to enhance ad targeting. The …
: Quick Hit Google Bits Google Analytics 4 launches new trend detection insight trend change detection focuses on slower …
: Walmart on its reported (and now confirmed) interest in buying Vizio: We believe VIZIO’s …
: If you want something to outlast a particular profit-driven business cycle, you have to make it …
: Finished reading: John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 7: Tainted Love by Garth Ennis 📚
: This, to me, is the evolution of search. The search engine naturally becomes a task execution …
: You get what you build. We wrote a dialogue with our music that was a continual growth. We know what …
: Slack is launching a suite of built-in AI features that serve up summaries of threads and channel …
: Federal Reserve officials continued to worry that inflation could stay stubbornly high during their …
: Rather than an attack on the platforms, we can see this as the culmination of what social networks …
: ICYMI: What Apple’s iOS 17 privacy shift means for marketers With iOS 17, the company will remove …
: 82,000,000: Number of people in the U.S. who listen to AM radio monthly Audiences have splintered. …
: news agencies and digital advertisers are increasingly capturing attention online through the use of …
: You are responsible for your site’s chatbot, because duh “In effect, Air Canada suggests the …
: Serial Killer or Assassin? Are you a serial killer or an assassin? (In terms of marketing. Hopefully you’re neither in the …
: “Old news” but timely as we get more privacy laws & cookies crumble Why Sephora’s …
: More from OG journo-blogger Matt Welch: The early readers of those early blogs had an amazing …
: 2024: the year of audio research has shown that audio ads outperform video ads in grabbing …
:
Trying to decide on a color this year?
Pinterest has identified five key color palettes that will …
: OG journo-blogger Matt Welch on legacy media, like the Village Voice & LA Times: Never could …
: Companies have moved focus from growth to revenue since Fed rates rose above 0. Especially those …
: Finished reading: John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 6: Bloodlines by Garth Ennis 📚
: Walmart is in talks to acquire Vizio, which sells a popular line of value-priced smart TVs that …
: I’ve been waiting for TikTok’s fall, but didn’t see them being their own worst enemy TikTok’s …
: Think of some recent digital ads that caught your eye or spurred you to take action: What …
: This doesn’t surprise me Retail sales, which captures spending on all goods and food …
: I’m turning into a Google bear 🐻 An antitrust trial this fall Shedding services Competition from …
: It’s important to remember that each individual listener actually does experience the record in …
: Two Anthony De Mello quotes: A village blacksmith found an apprentice willing to work hard at low …
: We’re not rational decision makers, we’re rationalizing decision makers. An important fact to keep …
: NVIDIA’s new local LLM chatbot seems tailor made to corporate office/knowledge workers Those with …
:
Soft landing? More like slow landing.
CNN spoke with the Atlanta Fed President, who:
is …
: Earlier this month I asked if Google was now Microsoft. Magic 8 ball says “Signs point to yes” 🎱 via …
: Nearly 90% of consumers no longer trust influencers Consumers are becoming fed up with influencer …
: An important caveat to the Stanley Drops. They were the fuel, not the fire or the fire starter. The …
: Drops: the key to Stanley Mania™️ Stanley hired Terence Reilly, the marketer credited for …
: Some thoughts on the Vision Pro from Benedict Evans: Any use case that doesn’t land on the pinnacle …
: “The buying of time or space is not the taking out of a hunting license on someone’s private …
: Podcast consumers prefer funny and entertaining ads but say they currently hear more ads that …
: the most powerful institutions, brands and people are the ones who are in alignment with their …
: Streamers differentiate on content. The tech is basically all the same and you can only do some many …
: Speaking of chips, Nvidia is feeling the heat from the new crop of startups looking to serve the …
: Sam Altman’s next galaxy brain idea: Sam Altman Seeks Trillions of Dollars to Reshape Business of …
: Finished reading: Agostino by Alberto Moravia 📚
: Why might the investment in brand marketing be increasing? MarTech: Web analytics is badly broken …
: 36% of marketers worldwide will increase investment in brand marketing this year, a 13 percentage …
: 🔋 batteries are an “atoms” technology — something that powers our physical world instead of helping …
: About those indirect competitors So next time you think about how to garner more listeners, think …
: The cookie has crumbled and the replacement isn’t out of the oven yet. At least in the short term, …
: Apple enters the chat Apple has released a new open-source AI model, called “MGIE,” that can edit …
: I love headlines like this Netflix’s Threat Isn’t in Hollywood. It’s YouTube …
: Sounds like the digital ad market is doing just fine Meta’s fourth-quarter ad sales jumped 24% from …
: Come together, right now On my TV ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery team up to launch sports …
: Finished reading: Prayers to the Nature Spirits by Julia Cameron 📚 God of Coyote, God of Fox, Teach …
: Apple is asking its developers and partners to describe its forthcoming Vision Pro headset as a …
: Finished reading: Demon Wars by Peach Momoko 📚
: Basically a low key year ahead Chief marketing officers (CMOs) enter 2024 with an imperative to …
: Finished reading: Hojoki by Kamo no Chomei 📚
: Hey, it’s me, your friendly neighborhood podcast stan… research has shown that audio ads outperform …
: So what about those cookie crumbs? Uncookied Chrome users appear to be monetizing about 30% worse …
: Seemed like Google wanted to be a platform for everything you might need to do on the web. (Which …
: Google Search’s cache links are officially being retired Google claims it’s less necessary now that …
: If you want to glimpse the future of search, don’t look to Google.
: In what feels a classic Amazon move, Prime Video ads launched with fixed CPMs lower than …
: Finished reading: John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 5: Dangerous Habits (New Edition) by Jamie …
: Asked: Test or beta? Answered: Google has now rolled out campaign level headlines and descriptions. …
: Good news! Nonfarm payrolls expanded by 353,000 for the month, much better than the Dow Jones …
: Ads that rhyme, stay in mind The average believability of the proverbs in the non-rhyming condition …
: Acast is brining AI to podcast ads Called Collections+, the AI-powered tool pulls podcast and …
: New Meta attribution setting: Engaged-view when someone plays your video ads for a minimum of 10 …
: Going one step further on: The grow first, monetize later playbook is what causes louder …
: Seems inflation makes ad-supported media more appealing 13% of consumers are opposed to ad tiers on …
: Finished reading: Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie 📚
January 2024
: Create Google search ads, with AI! The conversational experience enables advertisers to generate …
: TikTok tests feature to make every post shoppable as social media giant moves to create …
: Threads is rising, TikTok is stalling, and Instagram is #1. I’d venture weathering this latest …
: You may have heard the Google Ads rule of thumb that you need 30 conversions before changing your …
: Sending a free copy of something to garner attention? Send 2 Make it easy to share. Make it easy to …
: Wired: Threads? Tired: TikTok? Threads is continuing to grow, having tripled its downloads …
: Meta has started rolling out its “first generative AI-powered features for ad creatives in Meta’s …
: From Growth Hacks Weekly: Dangle the carrot! Outcomes > Features The formula is 🥕 + How = $$$ …
: Add New Jersey to your list of states with privacy laws The bill covers any company doing business …
: Whenever there’s an economic upheaval, there’s two kinds of dancing that emerges: line …
: Manton Reece on Apple’s EU App Store game: Because of their decades of truly great products, Apple …
: Netflix Inc. has acquired the exclusive rights to Raw as well as other programming from World …
: A Costco anecdote: When Amazon was going through a difficult time after the dot com bust, Jim …
: Costco inspires a crazy amount of loyalty, largely because of their obsession with the customer. You …
: John Lee Dumas of the Entrepreneurs on Fire podcast said on the Nudge podcast that in a post-AI …
: & an always timely reminder from Ben Evans: Your MPs’ WhatsApp group can be secure, or it can …
: Ben Evans on reactions to new rules or regulations but also probably on your customers & target …
: Third-party cookies have been killed in the name of privacy, but the short-term replacement is the …
: Finished reading: Big Boy Leaves Home from Uncle Tom’s Children by Richard Wright 📚
: We are underestimating how cheap it’s going to be to copy an existing business in 2024. You’re no …
: When you have a generic content generator, everything looks generic content generating the content …
: Re: Apple paying for training data Meta is in the best position here because of its social graph and …
: Techmeme Ride Home with some interesting Apple AI bits: has an open source LLM working on deals …
: Meta is aware of a loophole that lets the message spam tsunami through & engineering is working …
: As interest targeting slowly goes by the wayside in favor of AI and algorithmically driven …
: Meta expert Andrew Foxwell says the removal of detailed targeting means no more narrowing interest …
: TikTok usage is starting to slow — is TikTok Shop to blame? new data indicates that TikTok’s growth …
: Sponsored article are now available on Linkedin you can now sponsor them for awareness, engagement, …
: Finished reading: Haruki Murakami Manga Stories 1 by Haruki Murakami 📚
: WhatsApp noted that its 2 billion user base sends 7 billion voice messages daily. via TechCrunch
: Test or beta? Who knows, but hopefully it’s a toy we all get. Google is toying with campaign-level …
: Older Homeowners Are Staying Put, Freezing Out Young Families I don’t expect this segment of …
: The more you know! How Many Words Fit In A 30 Second Voice Over? Approximately 60 words fit into 30 …
: The incredible shrinking podcast industry | Semafor: dominant podcasting platform had begun …
: The monoculture is dead. The math is simple: more people are consuming more of everything than ever …
: Google Ads match types: Exact Match is really phrase match Phrase Match is really broad match Broad …
: From Meta: We’re discontinuing some detailed targeting options because they are either not widely …
: Finished dabbling: Mind Management, Not Time Management by David Kadavy 📚
: From Seeing the Present in Past Tense: There seem to be many things these days that we’ve committed …
: The left digit bias the idea that $7.99 seems cheaper than $8, even though $8 is only negligibly …
: Finished reading: Demon Days Treasury Edition by Peach Momoko 📚
: Instacart is an advertising platform that dabbles in grocery delivery, just in time for the Retail …
: Finished reading: Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson 📚
: Tom Asacker on “measure twice, cut once” That’s great advice if you’re dealing with a static plan, …
: At the edge of the cliff is all possibilities and unknown. You don’t know what’s coming. -Tal …
: When the press release should have been a tweet but they accidentally used the expanded character …
: ‘Difficult’ and ‘impossible’ are cousins often mistaken for one another, with very little in …
: Read this tweet now…er… today I used to use the word “now” in my copy. “Buy now” “Join now” “Unlock …
: About that potential supply shock from the Suez: Freight prices are set to jump Monday, while …
: I’ve seen this idea proved out in client accounts. UGC-like ads see up to a 29% increase in …
: This is interesting: Netflix is seeing strong growth of its advertising-based plan, having recently …
: Kash’s garden She doesn’t grow plants. The plants grow themselves. Her job is to create conditions …
: YouTube—the unofficial king of podcasts—is coming for the crown. If you’re a podcast creator, you …
: The arc of clarity bends toward simplicity. -Rohan Rajiv Hike Picasso’s Hill Write like you’re …
: This: US credit card balances hit a new record as delinquencies rise in the background + The …
: A still-in-progress big list of digital ad specs to maximize your creative’s usefulness, …
: Customer service is a choice It’s either part of your strategy or you’re paying for your mistake. …
: Big List of Digital Ad Specs As AI continues to takeover many of the tasks that marketers thought made up their "secret sauce," …
: This lesson from Inside Taco Bell’s Innovation Kitchen: “You can change either the taste or the …
: Vice on the trendy Stanley Tumblers responsible for a $676 million increase in revenue, from 2019 …
: From Exploding Topics: Immersive dining is part of the Immersive Experiences meta trend. Searches …
: When I started doing things just for growth’s sake and didn’t let the product simmer within the …
: About that Google kicking cookies to the curb thing… Google is phasing out third-party cookies this …
: 🍪 ☠️ The day has come, with Google activating the first stage of its cookie-removal strategy today …
: Rumor has it the TikTok Shop team is 6 people strong. More X than Meta. The more I hear about TTS, …
: From FedEx to airlines, companies are starting to lose their pricing power Consumers may be …
: The current state of shipping & returns: Returns totaled $743B in 2023; reach 14.5% of sales …
: Beware viral trends: It seems people spent the last few days of 2023 encouraging their followers to …
: Black Sheep Thinking: Aim For "No" My goal for you this year is to hear “no” more. Sounds weird, right? Here’s why… If your …
: The other TikTok Shop shoe drops From The Information: The company on Wednesday told sellers it …
: On a list of behavioral science tips from Social Media Examiner: Simplify Complexity: The Cognitive …
: Elon/X (unsurprisingly) can’t make up his/its mind about link titles in feed previews. It’s obvious …
: Meta’s big new announcement is…browser history? Facebook recently rolled out a new “Link History” …
: This is why you’re like Picasso… As you get good at something, you embrace more complex options …
: The amateur does not know what to do. The master knows what not to do. -James Clear The master has …
:
Picasso's Hill
As you improve at something, you journey along a curve. You’ve probably seen the memes. I’m sure …
:
2024 Resolution: Defer To Data
Here’s another New Year’s resolution for curious marketers: DEFER TO DATAWhy guess when you can …
: 2024 Resolution: Defer To Data Why guess when you can test? We don’t need to rely on our opinions …
: LinkedIn has always been one of the more expensive “social” ad platforms, and it doesn’t look like …
: 2024 Resolution: Kill Your Ego The work we do as marketers isn’t about us. As soon as a brand …
:
2024 Resolution: Kill Your Ego
Here’s a New Year’s resolution for curious marketers: KILL YOUR EGOThe marketing spectrum goes from …
: On Algorithms The algorithms always know when I’m having a back flare-up, because I tell them …
December 2023
: Andrew proves his point with the story of Overstock. The O.co rebrand lasted less than a year …
: If you are anything except your exact brand match .com, you cannot or should not refer to yourself …
: The thing that people don’t think about enough is the audience. The audience is the most important …
: I knew Google paid Apple a lot for default search engine status, but seeing it put this way was …
: From Future Party: A new app called Whatever gives users all the tools to plan and ideate dates As …
: The Streaming Wars are a case study in the impact of interest rates. Pre-COVInflation, money was …
: 2 theories on why the Great Rebundling is coming: Netflix was the default, everything else (except …
: FT: ‘Shakeout has begun’ after $5bn streaming loss for Netflix rivals The Great Rebundling is …
: Jon Loomer: Are Blogs Making a Comeback? Social devalues links in favor of videos. Search engines …
: “The story of Ender’s Game is not this book, though it has that title emblazoned on it. The story is …
: Andrew Rosener on LLMs & AI: these things aren’t creating new ideas, they are really good at …
: That heady brew of supply shock meets demand spike (free money!) caused the end of the free money …
: Hamburger menu in the top right of the screen is one of the worst mobile UX implementations around.
: And yes (like most things), marketing can be used for evil. The very first report linking overuse …
: If you sell a product for kids/families, you should be running podcast ads. Because survey says: …
: Evidence that podcast ads continue to work.
: The Crucial Timing of Ads Through the lens of podcast ads: Budgets shrink in January as brands pull …
: Warner Bros. Discovery in talks to merge with Paramount Global Is The Great Rebundling about to …
: Humans Prefer AI-Generated Content, New Research Suggests: AI content - either written entirely by …
: At every step, fish are often being processed to some degree. The more processing you get and the …
: Mr. Beast launched a YouTube analytics tool. The tool itself may not be groundbreaking (yet?), but …
: UBS economist Alan Detmeister told the WSJ that the shelter component of CPI inflation can be …
: I’ve heard many references to the incentive misalignment that we see on Google where what the user …
: Compared to Podcast Pioneers (4+ listening years): Podcast Newcomers are Young Podcast Newcomers …
: This mission “for the benefit of humanity” is incomprehensible. It’s like “don’t be evil” or “zombie …
: An anecdote via Andrew Foxwell on Today in Digital Marketing(https://todayindigital.com/premium/): A …
: Instagram Chief Offers Insight Into Threads Content Ranking To clarify, having a comprehensive list …
: Called “Active Listening,” CMG claims the capability can identify potential customers “based on …
: More on Threads’ ActivityPub tests a step towards fediverse and ActivityPub support. So, this is an …
: 🚫🍪 On January 4, we’ll begin testing Tracking Protection, a new feature that limits …
: Zuck on Threads: Starting a test where posts from Threads accounts will be available on Mastodon …
:
How To GA4: Session Source / Medium
Previously included in the Hacking GA4 post about search bar filtering, this bit now has its own …
: Want to know which traffic sources and mediums are driving what kind of metrics and engagement in …
: Instagram is considering a new feature called “flipside” that allows users to establish a new, …
: 🍪 Cookie Crumbs In light of this (from the linkblog): Google Analytics is improving privacy features in anticipation …
: Startups are ideas searching for a business model. -Jonathan Fields Or, as the curious marketer …
: Google Analytics is improving privacy features in anticipation of third-party cookie deprecation …
: Nuggets from Mickie Kennedy One of the most important things that small businesses ignore is their …
: Not many surprising predictions in this piece, but I’ve been waiting for this: The fastest-growing …
: This would be a welcome Christmas present: prices fell 2.6% [this past October] from a year …
: I’ve been posting (and thinking) a lot about audiences lately (and how to talk with them) So …
: Kurt Vonnegut predicted that we would have to invent our own tribes because we’ve lost that tribal …
: That’s the thing about audiences, they never fit neatly into one box or another. In different …
: Chatbots are hot like Hansel (again) ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, is working on an open …
: This is one of the biggest things I’ve taken away from recent Google search algo updates: topical …
: Eric Schwartzman on the Myth of Organic SEO and what he learned delving into the realms of black hat …
: Update on the update on the missing UTM data in GA4: I still see lower level parameters populating …
: Instagram is a great illustration of the splintering of social media: users now “post a lot more to …
: Ready advertiser one? (Or maybe .5 since it’s not VR?) Blippar’s AR units leverage both front and …
: The thin gray line Google’s big drop is a horizontal line. Ads may be easier to distinguish from …
: Looks like Google realized Signals-based thresholding was annoying to everyone: Google signals will …
: Update on the missing UTM data in GA4: As of this morning I can see lower level parameters …
: [Simone Weil] says to imagine a farmer that goes down to the farmer’s market. He’s gotta BUNCH of …
:
GA4 Tip: Search Bar Filtering
This is either a nice feature I stumbled on today. Or a bug that will get "fixed" soon. Hard to tell …
: 🚨 GA4 Error Warning Starting on (roughly) November 30, some UTM data has stopped populating in GA4. …
:
Case Study: Sendero’s Sales Stampede
What if your limited edition drop was an offer and not a product?
Sendero ran an offer drop that …
: Generations are garbage. Most demography is made up nonsense that isn’t true. I think it’s often …
: More thoughts related to my previous post: Aim to create moments of delight for everyone involved in …
: More from how “To Make Your Business Stand Out This Christmas”; or, how to do marketing any time of …
: How “to make your business stand out this Christmas”; or, (for this part) how to market your …
: Search is splintering, social media is changing, and AI is here, which means the playbook needs to …
: Scratch and sniff marketing? Snap has filed a patent that… introduces specially-modalized stickers, …
: Inverse animal spirits? More than a quarter of Americans are “doom spending” in order …
: Pinterest’s direct links for ads is out of beta. With other Pinterest ads, it takes two clicks for …
: More ads in the same places: YouTube Shorts edition To check if the YouTube Shorts ad format is …
: In case you haven’t heard: Consider this your final warning: Google is going to start wiping …
: 🚨 Update yo shit Apple fixes two new iOS zero-days in emergency updates
: I’m always saying this: AI is a tool. We can use it for good or bad, it’s us that is …
: Google Ads added more algorithm signals (robot food) to Performance Max campaigns. Search themes in …
November 2023
: Jingles all the way The I Want My Baby Back campaign re-affirms the power and longevity of sonic …
: I’m always saying this: AI is a tool. We can use it for good or bad, it’s us that is …
: I’ve been thinking about this lately: As your fans and customers change you have to make the choice …
: Are you thinking about your audience wrong? There’s the audience you envision and the audience you …
: Shifting screens Piggybacking off the ads in Prime Video post from earlier, the end of the free …
: More ads in more places: Prime Video edition Starting in early 2024, Prime Video shows and movies …
: Using a noun in place of a verb turns something from an action into an identity. Example: being …
: You can’t please everyone. From a piece on holiday campaign inspiration: Gap leaned into the …
:
Ecomm Success Tip: Drops
This started life over on the linkblog, but I think it deserves more space so I'm bringing it over …
: Battery tech is one of the developmental fields I’m most interested in, and this news is why: …
: Lessons from game design (1) Strategy is making decisions that involve trade-offs. That’s why …
: More ads in more places: Airplane edition; or, grocery stores in everything United Airlines may …
: What about adding white space when it comes to copy? Emotional messages should be below / at the …
: Increasing the white space between products on your site also increases customer favorability of …
: A heads up for any social media managers and Reels makers out there: Instagram now allows anyone to …
:
Simple Modern recently hit 1 million orders via their Shopify site and one of the co-founders …
: Speaking of consumers wanting experiences and brand created content, Louis Vuitton (& Co) is …
: Survey says… consumers would like their smartphones to recognize their daily commute and suggest …
: Survey says… influencers aren’t as influential as they once were & the creation of modern …
: According to Etsy the trends of the season are all about whimsy, comfort, and nostalgia. I consider …
: Sephora’s recent biannual sale snafu carries two good lessons. It may be time to rethink the …
: Generations are garbage but the rise of dupes amongst younger shoppers is probably a sign of …
: The OpenAI carnival did give us marketers an early holiday gift, a reminder: In today’s …
: Ah yes, of course. Makes total sense. Only logical end point. We have reached an agreement in …
: From Adweek: Mobile and desktop ad-block rates are experiencing a gradual uptick, increasing by 11% …
: If you don’t feel like spending your Thanksgiving arguing about gag orders or OpenAI or Fed …
:
Generation Garbage
I was getting ready to start a series of posts / resources about generations. What does each cohort …
: More ads in fewer places According to research by Tinuiti, around 31% of U.S. adult consumers …
: In light of That OpenAI Thing, this was a timely post. a reasonable consensus of experts on NPOs …
: Here’s more on pricing (this is turning into an informal Pricing Week). Always place your …
: Speaking of abstraction, it’s partly why frequent flyer programs work so well amongst the …
: Pricing is an interesting practice They determined that when the prices were listed with the dollar …
: This OpenAI stuff is a cluster. The AI race is fast and furious right now. The board’s decision may …
: Speaking of shopping looking different Hyundai Says it Will Start Selling on Amazon CarMax, …
: Marketing 101 Don’t sell anything you wouldn’t buy yourself. -Charlie Munger
: It’s going to be really interesting to watch how AI impacts product development. Especially with …
: Why do shoppers abandon their ecomm carts? Shipping costs (guilty! Sometimes it’s the only way to …
: Useful tidbit from The ‘Gram for those that don’t like being phished or hacked: Emails from …
: 🤯 OpenAI announces leadership transition The board of directors of OpenAI, Inc., the 501(c)(3) that …
: An audio ads study found that less is more when it comes to copy. Cutting 10 words (per minute) …
: Just heard from a Google rep that it takes up to 7 days for data to properly populate GA4’s …
: Everyone loves a benchmark. A study found… The average month-on-month growth rate for podcasts is …
: And Snap makes 3 Amazon Reaches Deal to Run Shopping Ads on Snap The end of the free money train …
: TikTok Shop enters its knockoff phase. TikTok creators have been pitching apparent knockoffs of …
: While TikTok tries to make its content and discovery engine an ecommerce platform, Amazon is …
: I get it, you wish your e-commerce business were selling the way it did in 2020, when U.S. …
: The splintering of social has barely begun. Before long, we might have a slew of new reading tools, …
: if you turned a browser history — the most neglected piece of the software — into a robust and fully …
: Did you know shopping season is starting? Looks like Google does. Big G has rolled out some new …
: Google mulled offering paid-for no-logging private Search subscription I think there are 2 reasons …
: Steal This: Intentional Stance I was introduced to Daniel Dennett's concept of the intentional stance via Seth Godin. It reads like …
: More ads in the same places Meta is turning its monetization focus to WhatsApp, including lead gen …
: Not ideal Many car manufacturers are selling car owners’ data to advertisers as a revenue boosting …
: The OpenAI as platform company era has begun. GPTs are a new way for anyone to create a tailored …
: Tag, You're It: How to Think About Google Tag Manager (GTM) The Google Analytics 4 era is upon us, and to do GA4 right you're likely going to need Google Tag …
: Generative AI comes to Google Ads: advertisers can generate all the assets they need for a campaign …
: Spirit Halloween runs on memes: Memes of the Spirit Halloween banner taking over vacant department …
: Luxury is coming out of lockdown: Consumers are now shopping IRL for brand quality and prestige, …
: The biggest challenge a marketer at a big company faces is the specter of industrial short-term …
: TikTok can get people to spend money in the app, but can they get people to shop? users sent over …
: So Walmart won Black Friday ads, right?
: Refer-a-friend programs can make relationships feel like transactions, which isn’t ideal. …
: Routine is a core tenant of cult brands, this tip from [Arvid](Accessibility for Profit — The …
: I am pro blogging (obviously) in part because I think building a brand on someone else’s platform is …
: I recently wrote that the current splintering of social media is maybe time for the rebirth of …
: What if I told you that Meta's new "feature" which tells you how much you can raise …
:
20-Trendy-3: The Year of the Splinter 🐀
I've referenced it a few times here and there, but here's my ✨ Trend of 2023: ✨
The Year of the …
: Who knew?! Intrusive ads that disrupt consumers’ browsing experiences or shopping journeys risk …
: Steal This: Easy VIP Experience This is a third hand anecdote, but the idea is brilliant. There is a doctor's office at Johns …
: This isn’t surprising: November is when that spend really starts to play out, though, with 53% of …
: Google is going Apple and hiding IP addresses. The feature is called IP Protection (formerly …
: Sephora with a timely example of the good and bad of sales. First the good, they’ve created …
: The unbundling and splintering continues as BuzzFeed (the darling of modern media brands) looks to …
: Big G runs on ads and AI and is still working to combine those 2 to create the future of Google …
October 2023
: Happy Halloween! It’s now shopping season… It’s time to talk turkey because brands are gearing up …
:
Goblins of GA4: Data Thresholding
The Google Analytics 4 transition has been less than enjoyable for many a marketer and analyst. But …
: An everything is customer service anecdote There is a doctor’s office at Johns Hopkins that is …
: I’ve said about Meta: There really isn’t a company better at monetizing via ads. Some might be …
: This idea from Adam Grant (~44:16) is (also) great reasoning for why generations as marketing …
: AI isn’t going to replace people, but it will replace people that don’t use AI. via Manton Reece …
: Massive Meta Minithread I’ve collected too many tabs of Meta related stuff, so here it all is. Chat with AI in Messenger …
: The more important it is to meet your numbers, the more important it is to stop concentrating on …
: We might have reached peak vertical video: Have consumers started to cool towards short-form video? …
: I’ve been waiting for streaming to make TV advertising easier and more accessible, Amazon is giving …
: In R.I.P. Social Media Managers I wrote: Organic social media for brands is dead. And it has been …
: This is my kind of lateral thinking: Disproving Based on the idea that the majority is always wrong …
: Podcasts are coming to TV. This is partly Amazon connecting the dots between existing parts to get …
:
Community & Curiosity: Pod Notes
The Philosophy of Community™ (~7:10):
Can you bring groups together and create a sense of belonging …
: According to Sprout Social: Nearly three-quarters (74%) of consumers say they’re likely to reach …
: McDonald’s “I’m Lovin’ It” jingle has been getting lodged in brains for 20 years. Why is it so …
: Speaking of TV ads: ‘Pause Ads’ Creep Onto Hulu, Peacock and Max as Streamers Seek New Revenue …
: According to Martech: Shoppable ads are beginning to make an impact on smart TV audiences, with 55% …
:
Goblins of GA4: Data Lag
Despite solid realtime reporting, it can take up to 24 (and maybe even 48) hours for data to fully …
: Henry Ford’s “any color as long as it’s black” choice may have been too minimalist, but more, more, …
: Meta is bringing generative AI to ads with: Backgrounds for product images Magic crops to stretch …
: A good listen on how to think about the current landscape of AIs and LLMs. Add some Douglas Rushkoff …
: Emotional labor has become a competitive advantage. Our commitment to showing up as a human, even …
: Why am I extra bullish on podcasts right now? TV and film producers prepare for potential …
: More social shifting to messaging as Meta starts testing broadcast channels on Facebook, following …
: Everything old is new again, which is why Media Mix Modeling is the new attribution. measurement …
: Marketing nerds unite! A chewy piece comparing ecomm promo language performance. Thrown in the ring: …
: Google is further signaling the decay of attribution modeling with the announcement: First click, …
: Streaming’s big pain point: there’s too much stuff to watch / Despite more available programming …
: TikTok doesn’t want marketers obsessing about last-click attribution. In part because TikTok …
: Steal This: Fake Pork How can you turn an L into a win? The ad above is from La Vie Foods, a vegan food company from …
: An HTTP exploit is being used for DDoS attacks. This means that while patching efforts are well …
: CPMs are dropping across streaming TV platforms and the gap between platforms is shrinking. Could …
:
Who Owns The Brand?
From the linkblog (which you can get as a handy weekly email digest):
This bit from The Garden …
: Imagine that people with disabilities are pioneers anticipating your future. -Yuki Goto OXO Good …
: 2 types of curiosity via the ethnobotanist Mark Plotkin (paraphrased): When the shaman holds out …
: When groups of people with a shared preference or attitude choose to do something, we see markets …
: Daniel Jalkut with the product design dream: If you can take something that people do today and …
: Another principle from the Nudge podcast episode mentioned earlier is to publically demonstrate your …
: I like these 4 marketing principles from the Nudge podcast: Different is better than better Keep …
: This bit from The Garden Report podcast is bigger than sports. The teams are your property as the …
: Social has split into public and private versions. Public is content creation by influencers, …
: ChatGPT can query the web again. Which means it’s crawling the web. Which means it’s indexing the …
: More ads in more places: the metaverse (but not the Meta version) [Roblox has] made a notable hire …
: The only way to give your fans the gift of an amazing (yet fairly generalized) feeling is to make a …
: R.I.P. Social Media Managers The dream job of the social media minded youth is coming to an end. (Yes, hyperbole (and, yes, not …
: Marketing is changing, it’s time to adapt. the era of traffic—chasing scale of anonymous …
: Do you use data, or get used by it? “Advertisers prioritize cost over value, sometimes to their own …
: Snapchat+ brings in almost $20M a month for the AR/camera/messaging platform. Meta may offer an …
: For Google Ads peeps, looks like Discovery campaigns are being auto-upgraded to Demand Gen.
: The dawn of the age of the ideapreneur Okay, so access to tech won’t differentiate you and prompt …
: 3 developmental fields at the top of my interest list: Chips (especially for AI) Batteries Nuclear …
: LinkedIn announced AI-powered automated ad campaign creation that “will recommend an end-to-end …
: X (Twitter) is desperate for money since Elon has been scaring off advertisers. If you can’t get …
: [Meta wants] to try to continue to shift advertisers from these lever pulling to creative iteration …
: 🎉🎉🎉 If you’ve enabled Google Signals for your property, simply disable “Include Google Signals in …
: Schwarzenegger‘s Sales System Figure out what you are selling Figure out the customer Write a …
: As in music, so in branding: As a composer/improvisor I am trying to construct a cosmos – give out …
: X (Twitter) has stopped showing meta data on links. Now (for me) they look like images with a little …
: The Fed won’t be lowering rates as soon as we/they hoped. (& fed student loans are back.) …
: Moments of chaos are moments of opportunity. -Don’t Say Content
: After 81% of agency pros told Digiday last year that they purchased advertising on Facebook on …
: Apple has all the pieces for it’s own search engine. It just needs the appetite to give up $8B in …
: Headline: Gen Z is more likely to be OK with targeted ads — here’s what the numbers say / Shopping …
September 2023
: Product placements can drive searches and purchases, research finds This is why: Apple made it easy …
: A glimpse of the future from the All-In Podcast: The app developers—as they’re called today—are …
: Google is on trial. AI will reinvent search behavior. Social is closing off, going private, and …
: Thinking about starting a podcast for your brand? Will it be narrative or non-narrative? Consider …
:
The Future OS: Confirmed
I posted earlier this week about the new ChatGPT multimodal and how it's a glimpse into the future …
: Consumers are spending less on streaming TV services while increasing their usage of ad-supported …
: Here’s a fun attack vector In practice, this means that bad actors are identifying websites that …
: All we have as marketers is trust. If that’s a currency we’re willing to spend, then we get what we …
:
The Future: Consumer Computing
OpenAI announced ChatGPT Multimodal.ChatGPT can now see, hear, and speakWe are beginning to roll out …
: TikTok Shop is going hard for the holidays, but not everyone is pumped about it. Quickly, quietly, …
: The algorithm is the brain behind my opinion. via the Digital Folklore podcast
: Facebook can be sued over allegations that its advertising algorithm is discriminatory This has …
: See what I mean? We are the messaging team on TikTok. Our team’s mission is to facilitate …
: Social media is splintering into content created by the few and private sharing by the many. Or, all …
: Apple suddenly remembered it had a podcast app and wants to pull a Spotify and YouTube Music by …
: In the world of email marketing, clicks are more valuable than opens. Especially now that many email …
: Speaking of holiday shopping season, it’s not all about the Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) …
: Once the online checkout process starts, you want it to be as easy as possible for the shopper. …
: The era of subsidizing subscriber numbers in a free money, growth-before-everything-else market is …
:
5 Ways to Get More Customers
Looking to grow your business? Here are 5 to-do's you can use to increase your customer count, …
: The person who tells the best story rules their corner of the world. -James Clear Brands are …
: More ads in more places, Microsoft is rolling out Conversational Ads in Chat. First up: Compare …
: Update time! Apple emergency updates fix 3 new zero-days exploited in attacks
: I’ve been waiting for this: Amazon brings generative AI to Alexa I think once generative AI models …
: Remember that Apple announcement about removing link tracking in Safari (private browsing plus …
: Huh… some TikTok users are now seeing a new prompt appear within their search results in the app, …
:
The Future?
ad copy:
American men are beginning to realize that it is ridiculous to buy good suits and then …
: Obama’s speechwriter could be talking about marketing here: The most important thing about …
:
What do users want from your brand on social?
Responsiveness Updates on new products / services …
:
How Will Marketing Survive AI?
Same As We’ve Always DoneIt’s not about the platforms or the tactics (or the snake oil).
It’s about …
: Google: where the algorithm’s made up and the prices don’t matter The search engine “frequently” …
: How to write good marketing messaging: Write marketing copy, newsletters, emails, and messages as …
:
What Can We Learn From Socks?
False proxies — Akimbo: A Podcast from Seth Godin — OvercastOvercastI love this question …
: From Social Media Today: 3 Important Social Media Trends of Note for 2023 Hot = LinkedIn Not = X …
: Quick refresher on some brand settings in Google Ads. If you want to use broad match keywords but …
:
It's A Metric! Hook Rate
Are your videos thumb stopping?
Do they have the right hooks?
To find out, calculate the hook rate. …
: Google will now use AI to tell you how to optimize your video ads based on their “data-backed …
: There is an expression in Japanese that says that someone who makes things of poor quality is in …
: Podcasts remain an underrated messaging medium for brands (whether via content or advertising). …
: More ads in more places: Spotify will let artists pay to appear as homescreen recommendations …
:
Steal This: Your Haters' Words to Your Stans Ears
No matter what you do, you'll have fans and you'll have haters.
As I said previously:
💡Want cult …
: 🚨 Zero-Day Security Vulnerability Found in Chrome, Firefox and Other Browsers Update your browsers
: (HBO) Max is keeping its ad load light compared to other streaming platforms. Why? buying …
: Interesting… Some search results on TikTok now include a snippet and link to Wikipedia. More …
: Marketing strategy: a synopsis Who’s it for? What’s it for?
: You Can't Please Everyone. It's Science! I consider this empirical evidence that you can't please everyone. A bat and a ball cost $110 in …
: 🚨 Password-stealing malware targets thousands of Facebook business Be very careful how you use …
: Trends.co is watching the growth of the “joyconomy,” which is basically just people …
: Biggest surprise (sarcasm) announcement from Pinterest Presents: The platform will be launching a …
: Pinterest Presents is happening now. A lot of these “announcements” are kind of old …
: Not surprised by these findings at all: More than three-quarters (77%) of respondents head straight …
: Data storytelling is the process of presenting data insights using narration and visualization. …
: Every platform is basically a Shorts platform. Don’t change the content, change the medium of …
: I recently mentioned some of Google’s post-cookie plans are a bit controversial. Like this one: …
: Apple Boosts Spending to Develop Conversational AI The marriage of voice assistants and LLMs is …
: Not far away—or perhaps very far away—depending on who did the measuring -The Girl in the Tower by …
: Hitting thresholding issues in GA4? You can try turning off Google Signals, or changing your …
: Exclusive: ChatGPT traffic slips again for third month in a row Exclusive: this is irrelevant AI …
: Update your iOS Apple released software updates on Thursday to address two zero-day vulnerabilities …
:
Tom Asacker on Brand
An excellent synopsis of what branding can be.
branding as a continuous, progressive process.
One …
: Pinterest’s new computer vision-powered body type technology to make search more inclusive Search …
: The post-cookie Chrome is just about ready, which means the officially death of third-party cookies …
: A great listen for illustrating marketing via celebrities.
: There are concepts for everything, and I think it is important in any industry to go beyond those …
:
The Procurement Spectrum
This episode of The Knowledge Project podcast with Ray Flemings starts off with a hell of a story …
: Marketing Against The Grain on Sales vs. Marketing 💡Marketing is eating the world.Wrapping up the sales vs. marketing roadshow with one final podcast …
: The B2B B2C divide is dead. It is now B2P: Business to Purchaser.
: Another day, another holiday shopping survey 38% of Americans plan to start their shopping before …
: What can marketers learn from the Burning Man floods? Public perception doesn’t matter (to an …
:
Don't Say Content on Sales vs. Marketing
I thought I was going to be done talking about sales vs. marketing last week, but podcasts keep …
: According to Google, the Cyber 5 shopping period is now Cyber 12.
: Google Discovery Campaigns are becoming Demand Gen (Discovery + YouTube Shorts) starting in October: …
: Just got the new Meta ads manager audience setup flow. It’s 2 sections: Audience Controls Set …
: What you should also do if you’re a brand doing influencers, is run Google Ads. Because people will …
: A good question to ask on a regular basis: Are you here for your customers, to give them what they …
: The era of the Western is here (again). Expectations are the genre will “make a roaring return in …
: Insight from Jack White When you put something out into the world, the bigger it gets, the less control you have of it. Your …
: According to behavior science, to boost believability, trustworthiness, and memorability, use: …
: The EU is cracking down on “very large tech platforms.” This means: Less personalized ad targeting …
: A winning ecomm email framework (that’s working right now): Company name in the “from” …
: 45% Of U.S., U.K. Advertisers Have Used Same Ad Approach For Past 5 Years 71% of this group don’t …
: Some Q4 offer planning tips from Foxwell Digital: Keep it simple People want % or $ off Don’t do …
: Some email A/B tests to consider running: Subject lines Message text Framing of message (question …
: Spicy metric hot take: Click rates are overrated if you aren’t driving the action you actually …
:
The OG Patagonia?
One last story from Morgan Housel to close out the week.
Sugar, milk, and eggs were all rationed …
: These 5 Prelaunch Secrets can be generalized to 3 ongoing tasks that build strong brands. Learn …
August 2023
: This question from the Growth Daily newsletter is in line with something I’ve been thinking …
: More competitor spying! Er, I mean, competitive research and inspiration gathering. Meta Adds …
:
A Story About JFK
Here's another short story that illustrates two recent posts:
Sales is marketing (and everything is …
: A new podcast ad spend report is out and some big brands are making big moves into the space. HP …
: Is a ‘retail-cession’ slowly brewing as the holidays approach? Consumers may just be shopped out. …
: Actual value is commodification. Perceived value is differentiation. via Demand Curve Growth …
: A great story on positioning, storytelling, and marketing via Morgan Housel. Ford had no interest …
: no one person has control of what the brand is via Growth Daily The company doesn’t even have …
: A Story About Henry Ford A great story on positioning, storytelling, and marketing via Morgan Housel. I'm not going to indent …
: The salad days of streaming are over. 29% of US internet households are canceling streaming video …
: Experian fined $650,000 for not letting you opt out of its spammy emails / The US government found …
: Cage Match: Sales vs. Marketing Some rivalries have reached legendary status. Lakers-Celtics. Tom & Jerry. The Hatfields & …
: Both X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok are reinforcing the walls around their gardens. The first by …
: Interested to see which feed users end up preferring. And how turning off the algorithm impacts ad …
: The expected customer action rate is the most important element of our [ad] auction. Jake Bailey, …
: On the perils of design by committee: No one has ever not bought a product because of the font. Or …
: Perhaps the money is not to be made in the rivers themselves, but from the men working them. -The …
: Never forget that absolutely everything you do is for your customers. Make every decision — even …
: Google Search app could soon introduce a new Notes feature SEO angle: less room for your page on the …
: A nice guide from Search Engine Land for the GA4 crowd. Setting up event parameters in GA4: …
: Rebrands: A Cautionary Tale Changing Its Name Tanked X’s Downloads in App Store and Play Store So …
: Gen Z is all about the memes
: It Doesn't Matter What You Mean It matters what they think. Once you put something out there—a brand, a campaign, a product—you no …
: On-demand audio (paid streaming, podcasts, owned music, etc.) officially has more share of ear than …
: The retail reckoning could be coming. With student loan payments returning this fall, retailers …
: Older Adults Make Up Just 4% Of People Featured In Ads That age group [60+] represents 16% of the …
: Part of why I think podcast ads are highly underutilized currently. Nearly 90% of comedy podcast …
: The team over at Conversion Rate Experts published a list of 11 effective strategies for selling …
: More ads in more places: TikTok Search edition Introducing the TikTok Search Ads Toggle The Search …
: Steal This: Divide the Audience Yesterday was about making sure you had a hateable brand, but it's not truly that extreme. You just …
: The 90s / early 00s are the trend du jour, which is fine. But I take issue with this: the current …
: College dorms are big business. college students are expected to spend $20B more than last year, …
: 3 things all brands should keep in mind: Don’t mistake interest for trust. If you promise to …
: And my inflation-fighting interest rate concerns might be materializing: more worrying is defaults …
: Just a reminder that placements through things like audience networks are usually garbage. GroupM is …
:
The Best Brands Are Hateable
Let's start with an aside, the Sounds Profitable podcast is a great listen for concepts communicated …
: TikTok continues its everything app approach to expansion by testing the music-streaming waters. …
:
Survey says…
Google and Meta are still the go-to duo for marketing spend.
Surprises to me in …
: The labor illusion makes us value more highly something that takes more effort. Why do you have to …
: Turns out the last 12 months wasn’t too bad for agencies, with at least half of those surveyed …
: A good reminder that LLMs are snapshots of human knowledge and expression as filtered through the …
: More (Amazon) ads in more places. Amazon Sponsored Product ads will now appear on Pinterest, …
: I’d wondered what Meta’s Multi-Advertiser ads looked like, guess I can now safely opt-out of this …
: Tips & questions from Klaviyo itself. Goal: 3:1 return on Lifetime Value (LTV): Customer …
: Own It Black Friday Cyber Monday panel lightning round: Give a gift card with purchase of $X Email: …
: More from the Own It conference. How to create an advantage this holiday shopping season (Black …
: Prime Day Part 2: Dealectric Boogaloo returns this October Holiday shopping season is already …
: Consumer spending continues to climb month-over-month. July marks the fourth straight month of …
: Just 1% of the Nation’s Homes Have Changed Hands This Year, the Lowest Share in at Least a Decade Is …
: More Own It insights: Focus on finding the right customers, not as many customers as possible. Use …
: Some interesting takeaways from Jones Road Beauty’s session at the Klaviyo Own It conference: …
: Google Discovery campaigns will be replaced by Demand Gen (basically Discovery Max, now with YouTube …
: Just noticed this in Meta Ads Manager today, Meta Shops stats will now be sent to third-party …
: On Brand Aesthetics If you look and act like all the other brands in your category. To consumers you are the same as all …
: Podcast ads are doing great. iHeartMedia, Spotify and Acast reported revenue growth between 12% and …
: Black Friday shopping intent breakdown across generation: 38% of baby boomers plan to shop on BF …
: Cyber 5 creep is here. Gone are the days of Black Friday kicking off the holiday shopping season. …
: Branding is all about aspiration, so this technique from Droga5 (via Julian Cole is genius. Don’t …
: Consumers want 2 things more than they want speed: Transparency Control A survey found shoppers …
: The Google graveyard grows. Starting in early October 2023, any Shopping campaigns using Enhanced …
: Of Ads & Algorithms: A Meta Rant Meta’s ad optimization algorithm is an idiot savant (which is the case for most algorithms). It’ll …
: Disney+ prices are going up…again. Except for the ad-supported options. The Fed’s rate hikes have …
: Yelp’s ad revenue rose 14% in part (it said) because of “a change in behaviour.” A shift away from …
: Moz rolled out a new brand-level metric, which is fine. But this idea is far more valuable: Brand …
: New social platform WeAre8 wants to share ad revenue with the users who watch them. Easier than …
: More ads in more places: Lyft debuts in-app ads to help brands reach riders in transit / …
:
The Consumer Price Index (inflation measure) hit it’s lowest growth rate in over two years.
It …
:
Steal This: IRL Cart Abandonment Follow Up.
Would you rather compete for space in the inbox or the …
: Steal This: IRL Abandoned Cart Follow Up This won't work for all businesses (duh)—at least not shipping a sample product—but would you rather …
: More GA4 updates: New, pre-built report: audiences. It includes 6 default metrics and any audience …
: Slowly getting more regex in GA4 🎉 One of the (if not THE) biggest adjustments Google Analytics …
: Captcha’s are a data collection method for creating labeled data sets for deep learning training, so …
: Shoppers be shopping, but they’re searching for savings. Retailers need to ‘competitively …
: 4 Questions for Determining Worth (and therefore pricing): Am I selling information (commodity) or …
: Brands Are Narratives Every brand is a narrative that begins to shape the identity of itself and its …
:
Brands Are Narratives
Early on, your brand shapes its own narrative.
But over time the narrative becomes shaped by the …
: The size of your funnel doesn’t matter if it points to a site that won’t perform. …
: 🚨 New acoustic attack steals data from keystrokes with 95% accuracy When Zoom was used for training …
: A group formed by Meta, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services and TomTom is releasing data that could …
: I stand by the opinion that podcast advertising is woefully underrepresented as a percentage of most …
: TikTok’s looking to align its ad targeting processes with emerging data privacy shifts through the …
: What’s hot like Hansel on YouTube? Popular media as a muse: inspired by big media events, like the …
: What are the kids doing these days? If they’re between the ages of 6-12, they might be listening to …
: I’ve been waiting for this since the #BanTikTok fervor. The Record: Lawsuit: ByteDance’s CapCut app …
: 🚨 New variants found of malware that targets Facebook business accounts 🚨 To gain access to target …
: The Drum: Nearly 90% of consumers no longer trust influencers Is this why Pinterest basically …
: More ads in more places. Walmart: more self-checkout screen and in-store radio spots Uber: not …
: The race for a generative AI-powered smart assistant is on. Axios: Google Assistant to get an AI …
: What signals are left if these are removed? Is advertising worth it at that point? Meta Platforms …
: Sometimes it’s a good reminder that just because if works somewhere else, doesn’t mean …
July 2023
: As the cookie gods severed their ties to the marketing world, watching as the idols made in their …
: For platforms, it’s all about attribution and proving ROI (/ROAS) in a world of increasing …
: #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt Or maybe it didn’t Search Engine Land: Study: TikTok loses popularity as …
: Sometimes telling people not to do what you want them to do is the right move. Unless they’re …
: Missed this in Netflix is lowering ad costs bit: Netflix has had preliminary discussions to sell …
: Finally! Google appeared to have gotten rid of the notoriously buggy feature that was GBP call …
: self-upgrade tools are also rolling out now to easily upgrade Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) campaigns and …
: Maybe the animal spirits won’t win out this time. “To me the most important signal out of …
: Netflix is courting advertisers with discounted rates: Some advertisers are now being offered …
:
🎙️Weekend Listens: Lessons from Bud Light, Boring Businesses, and Cop Procedurals
Turns out the Bud Light boycott was good for one thing: marketing lessons.
Know your customerDon't …
: Notice a Perspectives filter at the top of Google lately? “Tap the filter, and you’ll exclusively …
: Meta is ‘is seeking to patent a system for “user identification with voiceprints” for social media …
: Performance Max now in Microsoft (aka Bing) Ads! The future: all robots, all the time Microsoft …
: Are You Curious? If not, this probably isn’t the place for you. I’m curious, about most things, which makes me glad …
:
How does it serve the user to tell them the price is increasing but not from what / by how much?
I …
: I’m a sucker for new browsers, so guess I’m downloading Arc now. The Verge: The excellent Arc …
June 2023
: Steal This: IKEA - Proudly Second Best A powerful message. Delivered simply. Reflecting the customer's reality.
May 2023
: I Call My Shot: Post-AI Trends Last week I shared what AI thinks about itself, along with some of my thoughts on both AI and AI's …
: Wait, What Happened? Google, YouTube, Podcasts, & Social Google Says, “How Do You Do, Fellow Kids?”Social media, nowin your search results! It’s blatantly …
: Follow The Money: Where Ad Platforms Spend Their Ad Dollars (+ More Ad Placements) Your Favorite Ad Channels' Favorite Ad ChannelsIt’s always interesting to see where the digital …
: 🎙️ Weekend Listens: Serving Through Sales Funnels, Stanning for Podcast Ads, Economic Warning Signs, & How to Be Ubiquitous A good listen on how to structure your sales funnels, ad-landing page congruence, and some quick …
: 🤖 What AI Thinks About AI I was recently asked by a client to talk to their team about AI. What it is, what it means, etc etc. …
:
🎙️ Weekend Listens: AI, More AI, Community, Motivation Tricks, & Would A TikTok Ban Be 'Un-American'?
🐙 Generative intelligence can propel productivityListen now (19 min) | A new era of labor efficiency …
April 2023
: Meta’s Very Good Day Meta remembered how to make money and posted year-over-year revenue growth for the first time in a …
: AI In Everything, Analytics Give-and-Take, Shoppers' Sharing Preferences, & Livestream Shopping Isn't (Quite) Dead Our AI FutureIt should be obvious by now, but soon The Platforms will be AI everything. They already …
: 🚨Meta Meltdown: Check Your Budgets You've probably heard by now, but a Meta bug decided budgets are for chumps over the weekend and …
: Meta Goes Twitter, A TikTok Guide, Google's Woes, & The Post-AI Browser MetadonDetails about Meta’s “Twitter clone” are starting to leak. Why the quotes? Because it feels …
:
TikTok is Tops, Acura Goes Anime (Again), & A Pinterest-Shaped Opportunity (+ IKEA)
The Clock Keeps TickingTikTok may be getting headlines for all the wrong reasons, but it seems to be …
: 🗞️ Herding Headlines 04.03.23 Engage-a-thon 2023The recent trend for social/content platforms has been expansion; free money …
: Retail.Tea.Leaves.04.01.23 Rethinking ReturnsAmazon is testing a new feature in an effort to cut down a returns: adding a …
March 2023
: 🗞️ Links & Thinks 3.31.23 Animal Spirits in Ad MarketsAs has been discussed in this space previously, ad spending is cooling …
:
About Curious Kyle
Who the hell is this guy?
Hi! I'm Kyle.
Not Kyle. That's a bear. I don't know it's name, so it could …
: Checking In On Netflix's Ad Tier The Netflix ad tier has hit the 1 million user mark. Which means it won’t have to refund advertisers …
January 2023
:
❤️🔥 Make Your Brand A Cult
If there were a year to transform your brand into a cult brand, 2023 would be it.If you want a brand …
: 👹 News Headlines & Animal Spirits We may be heading towards a recession (we technically always are, it’s just a matter of time frame), …
October 2022
: The Cookie-pocalypse Deconstructed The fallout from The End of Cookies has already (for the most part) happened and now various …
: Generative AI Models are the next creative director Any company that wants to be (even tangentially) an AI company is rolling out generative tools to …
: The Age of Unbundling Just as markets boom and bust, they also bundle and unbundle. We are currently in a phase of …
: East vs. West: Attention Platforms Edition The past week or so has felt like the dam breaking in terms of TikTok showing its ambition and …
June 2022
: 💼 Who’s Left Holding the Bag? The market is mixing signals like a middle school dance. Housing prices and mortgage rates are up. …
February 2022
: The Trinternet Your GDPR-compliant cookie banner is actually a violation of GDPR. And so is your analytics …
February 2020
: 2020 Tech and Marketing Trends Distilled It’s a new year, a new decade(?), so you know what that means: it’s trend time! We dusted off our …