I’m always looking for ways to do keyword research “better,” so I like this

A simple technique for more search traffic:

• Find a subreddit related to your business.
• Pop the subreddit link into Ahrefs (our go-to keyword generation tool) and look for the keywords that the page ranks for.
• Take the list of keywords and use them to optimize your content.

If a jacket is made by Patagonia or a piece of hardware is made by Teenage Engineering, you can probably tell who made it the first time you see it, even without a logo.

When your brand has fingerprints, don’t do things that require you to wear gloves.

-Seth Godin

Build a brand that doesn’t need explicit branding.

From Forked Lightning:

the U.S. economy added 19 million total jobs between 2013 and 2023 but lost 850 thousand retail sales jobs.

Retail sector employment is shrinking.

Based on the two graphs below, I’m guessing e-commerce is a big reason why. Along with in-store automation.

This quote from Ben Thompson triggered a thought

distinct nation-states, with their own languages.

This is basically what fandoms are.

The nation-state of Taylor Swift.
The nation-state of Formula 1.
The nation-state of Tolkien.
The nation-state of Star Wars.
The nation-state of Disney.
The nation-states of sports.

In line with people “adding luxury and indulgence around the margins,” the self-gifting trend is forecast to grow this year.

Most holiday shoppers (83%) plan to buy themselves a gift this year, up from 76.2% last year, according to JLL’s holiday shopping report.

Survey says…

69% of consumers worldwide say email is their preferred communication channel with brands

Brands need to be cautious about sending too many emails, because 25% of consumers worldwide unsubscribe from brand email and texts at least once per week

The bonus for brands is the first-party data email sign ups collect.

The bigger your list, the smaller your ad budget can be (depending on your business goals).

If you don’t schedule time for maintenance, your equipment will do it for you.

-Deb Chachra

via A Learning A Day

• Consumers continue to focus on value, and are responding to price reductions

• Smaller form factors — minis — also drove growth, “with travel on the rise and consumers looking for a little bit of affordable indulgence for at-home, too.”

These insights are from Target’s Q2 earnings call.

This was the trend of the summer: reining in COVID revenge spending but still adding luxury and indulgence around the margins, just downsized.

This holiday season projects to be a value bonanza

Video is the most compelling form of content: 63% of B2B buyers say that short-form social video content helps inform buying decisions, with 80% of those who consume video content saying that video-focused influencer content is one of the most trusted forms of content in B2B.

B2B buyers, they’re just like us!

Short form video has taken over. (Of course, this also means a new format / medium is next.)

• When you are running prospecting ads at a large scale, you often need to “over explain” the benefits and value props in your ad.

• If this isn’t a retargeting campaign, then it’s considered cold traffic. For this audience, simplifying the product and re-iterating all of the key value props is a must to get the most out of your media at scale.

• My favorite framework is to first write out how you would explain what you’re selling to a friend over text. Then write out the answer to, “Why did you buy this”, but think of someone asking that in a condescending tone. Combine that and you have an amazing prospecting ad.

I love a question that makes you alter your perspective, so the “why did you buy this” idea above is right up my alley.