[A business] is defined by the want the customer satisfies when she buys a product or service. To satisfy the customer is the mission and purpose of every business.

-Peter F. Drucker

Business don’t exist without customers (at least not for very long).

Everything is customer service.


TechCrunch shares that a social media tester found:

a “Write with Meta AI” prompt on Instagram that allows people to get AI-generated suggestions for comments to users’ posts.

(This is known as “pulling a LinkedIn”)

Content creation and engagement on social platforms has shrunk as they’ve turned more into entertainment and social sharing platforms.

But they need content and signal to feed algorithms and extend scroll sessions.

Minimize the effort to dopamine release.

How long until a platform delivers real-time content generation and social-style commentary via AI?


Hook. Story. Close.

The DO Lectures sent an email last year that I keep coming back to about a framework for writing better.

Hook > Story > Close

Which is, of course, a framework for marketing better.

Hook

This is where you appeal to the reader / watcher to catch their attention.

The offer will tell them about the transformation that this will give them.

Stop the scroll / swipe / page turn long enough to get them to stay with you.

The hook is at least 40% of the reason you will be successful.

Story

Sharing your perspective. Doesn’t need to be about you, but needs to answer why you.

Here you can share your one belief about this offer.

Why are you unique? Why should they keep giving you their time / attention? Why should they give you their money?

Close

This is the part where Alec Baldwin yells at you about coffee and Cadillacs.

The questions DO recommends answering:

What’s in it for me?
How do I know this is for real?
What’s been holding me back?
Who is to blame for that?
Why should I trust you?
How does it work?
How can I get started?
Why now?
What do I have to lose by NOT doing it?

It’s almost about pushing your potential customer away so that you only pull in the ones your offer is truly for. And you put them in control of the decision so they don’t feel tricked later.

(Not in the framework, but understood, make sure to deliver what you promise. Doesn’t matter how good your messaging is if it turns out to be a lie.)

Set the hook.
Tell the story.
Close the deal.


YouTube Shorts are commonly viewed as a vehicle for clips to function as marketing / awareness tools for longer form content. Looks like Netflix wants to expand this thinking with a dash of UGC.

Last fall, Netflix released “Moments,” a new feature that lets users clip and share parts of shows they’re watching via links that point back to Netflix. Now, the company is considering expanding that effort — perhaps with more prominent billing in the product itself — according to a new job listing.


Display is dying

Returns on programmatic ad auctions are returning so little, Digiday could not find a source to speak on the record. One anonymous revenue lead at a North American publisher says they’ve seen double-digit CPM decreases across the board in 2025. An executive says online display ads bought through auction in the fall are down as much as 30% compared to 2023’s Q4

AI (and other algorithms) + the growth of retail media (thanks 1st party data) + longstanding wariness around programmatic = growth of more attractive (or hyped) alternatives for marketers

via Sounds Profitable