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Your brand isn’t in the pixels, it’s in the work you put in to build it and co-create a reputation of meaning.

As Seth says:

It’s worth noting that when asked to name a great logo or a great brand name, almost everyone picks a brand they like and trust. The name is simply a symptom of that, not a cause.

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More ads in more places: Discord edition

Discord has begun rolling out In-Game Rewards — branded video ads tied to game-related perks.

How it works:

  • Unskippable, immersive video ads. These ads pause if users look away, ensuring full engagement.
  • Opt-in personalization. Users can enable “In-Game Rewards” to receive promotions tailored to their gaming activity.
  • Privacy-friendly targeting. Discord doesn’t rely on real names or invasive personal data, giving brands interest-based targeting with fewer privacy concerns.
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Drop the look, keep the voice.

High-performing brands have shifted to voiceover-first UGC, Ads that strip away the face, drop the performance, and just let the message land.

As Google Ads tries to become more like social, are social ads becoming more like podcasts?

via Buyology

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Tracking a submit button click is not the same as tracking the submission.

Measure the action you want taken, not a loose proxy or the easy thing that’s kind of the same.

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What Google announced at I/O that you might want to know about

(hint: it rhymes with “hey why”)

The two main questions for marketers:

  • How will this change user behavior?
  • How will big G monetize AI search?

We might get some hints during Marketing Live today.

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Lots of people focus on getting attention.

Stopping the scroll.
Perfecting the hook.
Pausing the swipe.

But what are you going to do once you get that attention?

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Loomer on Lead Forms

Jon Loomer has been writing a lot about Meta Instant Forms lately, so here’s a round up of recent test features and ideas on improving lead quality.

Recent updates / tests:

How to improve quality (list of 16 ideas):

  • Custom events based on post-form fill actions that signal a quality lead
  • Change who performs the action
    • “Changing who performs the action is rarely about targeting. Impact the people you attract with your ad copy, creative, and offer. Create form questions that apply to your ideal lead. You might even use conditional logic to kick out people who don’t qualify.”
  • Question quality
    • consider open-ended questions that aren’t easily answered with a yes/no or checkbox
    • add conditional questions
  • Optimize Landing Page > Confirmation Page > Outreach flow
  • A bit on Conversion Leads optimization
    • “When this is selected, Meta’s focus will be on finding people who perform other goal actions after submitting your form. To do this, you first need to define your funnel for Meta, which can be a long, frustrating process.”
  • A bit on form types
    • “More Volume” will be the most streamlined, making it as easy as possible to complete the form with the fewest steps.
    • “Higher Intent” will require an additional confirmation step. While the difference may not be significant, it can impact quality.
    • “Rich Creative” allows you to add more information to your form like social proof, incentives, and a product feed.
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Ad targeting is no longer what you think it is

Changing who performs the action is rarely about targeting. Impact the people you attract with your ad copy, creative, and offer. Create form questions that apply to your ideal lead.

-Jon Loomer

Craft your message in a way that resonates.

Use the language of your audience—both verbal and visual.

Understand what they want and deliver it in your unique way.

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rearrange the stack

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How will marketers react to uncertainty (thanks tariffs!)?

According to EMARKETERS Zach Goldner:

I think what marketers are going to do is what they always do during turbulent times.

Clamp down more on experimental spending

Reallocate more toward safer bets, like search > Lean more into the triopoly: Google, Meta, and Amazon

A Chinese pullback should lead to lower CPMs but be brave

Zig to the above zag

Now is the time for brand building and experimentation