TLDR MARKETING 2026-01-26

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OWL LABS' 9TH ANNUAL STATE OF HYBRID WORK REPORT

56% OF CEOS SEE NO AI IMPACT, BUT MARKETING IS THE EXCEPTION

Most CEOs still see limited financial returns from AI. 56% report no impact on revenue or costs. Only 30% see revenue gains, and 26% see cost reductions. A clear internal gap is forming. 43% of C-suite leaders say AI saves them 8+ hours a week, compared with just 5% of workers. Meanwhile, 40% of employees report no time savings at all. As budgets shift from experimentation to accountability, pressure is rising for AI to prove real value. Marketing stands apart. AI is already shaping brand visibility and directing much of media spend, making it one of the few clear near-term enterprise wins.

5 WAYS TO BE CUSTOMER-FRIENDLY WITH PRICING

Remove friction in pricing access and limits. Meet customers where they already communicate. Remove pricing objections through public price-matching. Add flexible payment options and raise usage caps to levels. Make Enterprise pricing clearer by showing a “starts at” price.

HOW TO ACE B2B BRAND STORYTELLING THROUGH THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

B2B brand storytelling works when you center people, not products. Treat customers as the hero and show how your solution helps solve real problems. Build credibility through thought leadership and empower employees to share authentic stories. Share value directly in feeds with zero-click content, lean into relatable and entertaining posts, and expand reach through partnerships with credible external voices.

BUILD A REPEATABLE LINKEDIN POST TO NEWSLETTER WORKFLOW (WEBINAR)

The panelists will walk through how to choose newsletter topics by analyzing LinkedIn data and in turn use LinkedIn posts to grow your newsletter subscribers. This idea is to build one system where each feeds the other. The free event will take place on January 28 at 9:30 AM PT.

WHATSAPP VS. SMS: WHAT GLOBAL BRANDS REALLY NEED TO KNOW

Choosing between WhatsApp and SMS should start with regional user behavior, not pricing. SMS performs best in North America, while WhatsApp drives stronger engagement across much of Europe and Latin America, where it is the default messaging app. Cost only becomes relevant after channel fit, shaping how frequently brands send messages and which moments truly justify mobile interruptions.

HOW SEOS ARE USING COMMON CRAWL'S WEB GRAPH DATA FOR AI RANKING SIGNALS

AI visibility is increasingly tied to how often a site appears in Common Crawl data, and that frequency is influenced by link-based authority metrics like Harmonic Centrality (HC) and PageRank. Common Crawl uses HC to determine crawl priority, and sites with higher HC scores are crawled more frequently. More frequent crawling means more appearances in monthly archives, which means greater representation in AI training data. Research also shows that traditional Google rank still matters. Position 1 pages have a 46-48% chance of AI citation versus about 19-20% at position 10.

IT'S TIME TO START YOUR CONTENT CREATOR ERA

Building and growing a personal audience is becoming a major advantage for hiring and company growth. Creator skills translate directly to marketing and distribution, and an existing audience acts as a built-in trust signal and channel. Startups increasingly treat employee social followings as assets, while employees who publish consistently can stand out in hiring. The practical path is to focus on one platform, speak in your own voice, stay in a clear niche, engage heavily in comments, and commit to the long term.

APPLE IS REPORTEDLY TURNING SIRI INTO A FULL AI CHATBOT

Apple is redesigning Siri into a conversational, text-and-voice AI.

MARKETING LESSONS FROM THE CMO OF G2, SALESLOFT & DRATA (52 MINUTE VIDEO)

An interview with Sydney Sloan on what the 2026 marketing playbook actually looks like.