TLDR MARKETING 2025-04-16

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TEMU'S US AD SPEND CRATERS AMID ESCALATING TRADE WAR WITH CHINA

As U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods rise to 125%, Temu has halted nearly all ad spend, with Google Shopping impressions falling from 40-50% in early April to 0% by April 12. Social activity also dried up, including a full stop in TikTok sponsorships. The drop created a temporary inventory surplus, but few brands are rushing in due to economic uncertainty and shifting budgets.

THE 2025 AI INDEX REPORT

The 2025 edition of Stanford's AI Index Report found that AI is increasingly embedded in everyday life. AI performance is improving rapidly, with benchmark scores rising by up to 67.3 percentage points in one year and language models sometimes outperforming humans in coding tasks. Business investment in AI reached $109.1 billion in the U.S. alone, and 78% of organizations now use AI, up from 55% in 2023. The U.S. leads in model output, but China is closing the quality gap while dominating in publications and patents. Governments are increasing regulation and investment, but global optimism and education access remain uneven.

DOES EVERY MARKETING CHANNEL *ACTUALLY* SUCK RIGHT NOW?

Marketing in 2025 is harder but not hopeless. Big, traditional channels like SEO and ads are saturated, but still useful when approached strategically. Emerging “little channels” like community and influencer marketing are becoming more scalable thanks to new tools. Success now depends on strong products and standout marketing—differentiation is key. Human-centered, creative, and trust-based marketing is rising in value, and teams need to stay nimble, make focused bets, and avoid one-size-fits-all playbooks.

DARK COLORS MAKE PRODUCTS SEEM MORE EFFECTIVE

Darker packaging makes products seem stronger and more effective, leading to higher purchase interest. In experiments, 65% preferred a darker anti-hair loss shampoo, judging it 12.3% better, and were 6.9% more likely to buy other personal care items with dark packaging. However, dark colors also raise concerns about side effects, which can reduce purchase intent, especially for sensitive products. Lighter packaging is better when safety is a key concern, such as for children's medicines or skincare for sensitive users.

VECTOR'S TOP-PERFORMING LINKEDIN AD

Vector's ad combines a hook, a pain point-focused headline, results-based UI screenshot, mascot, and CTA. Behind the scenes, it targets high-intent contacts identified by Vector, boosting both ad performance and budget efficiency.

VIDCLUE

Vidclue is a video idea library categorized by interactive engagement, educational explainers, industry insights, and comedy sketches. Click on the “shuffle” icon to get a video prompt, film your own take, and repeat the process to practice, batch content, and explore new angles.

STORYARB'S COFOUNDER'S FAVORITE MARKETING TOOLS

A go-to list of favorite marketing tools across different categories. It includes GrowthPair for offshore hiring, Distro for content creation, Typefully for social media, and Gumloop for automation.

UX NEEDS A BIGGER JOB - STARTING WITH EVERYONE

UX in D2C marketing needs to move beyond efficiency to reflect the diversity of users, integrating accessibility and emotional resonance into every touchpoint. When brands ignore users with disabilities or those less familiar with tech, they lose potential revenue and loyalty. Great UX means syncing every touchpoint, from personalized emails to checkout flows, into a cohesive and inclusive experience. Designing for the edges, like one-handed navigation or high-contrast visuals, improves the experience for everyone and turns usability into real impact.

GENAI: PROMPTING A BETTER MARKETING STRATEGY

AI is projected to drive 95% of customer interactions by the end of 2025. Prompts are emerging as the strategic bridge between human intent and AI execution. Marketers are already leveraging prompt engineering to enable hyper-personalization at scale, automate campaign generation, and maintain consistency across channels. Some successful examples include L'Oréal's GenAI lab generating customized recommendations, Airbnb improving CTRs by 30% through personalized itineraries, and Sephora increasing skincare sales by 35% using AI-driven skin analysis.

10 LINKEDIN ADS THAT DON'T LOOK LIKE ADS

LinkedIn ads that look like Slack chats, DM convos, and Google search results.

TIKTOK TAKES ON GOOGLE MAPS BY SURFACING REVIEWS IN THE COMMENTS TAB

TikTok now shows location-based reviews in a “Reviews” tab on some videos with ratings, photos, and links to reviewer profiles.

YOUTUBE EXPANDS ‘HYPE' PROGRAM, PROVIDES ADVICE AHEAD OF MID-ROLL AD CHANGES

Starting in May, YouTube will automatically insert mid-roll ads into “natural break points” in both new and existing videos.