Brand plays a measurable role in growth by influencing how quickly users trust a product, how much they spend, and how likely they are to share it. Figma's 2024 Config event is a great example. It drew over 10,000 attendees showing how a strong brand can accelerate product-led growth. In general, companies that outperform their PLG ceilings do so by integrating the brand and treating it as a foundational element of the user journey and the long-term growth strategy.
The internet is eating itself – we're rapidly approaching a future where human-written content will become a premium product again.
This post explains the different tasks each ChatGPT model is designed for.
Gap's “relevance-first” strategy, including dance-focused ads and simplified pricing, reflects a belief that cultural connection and relevance ultimately drive revenue growth.
Infinite Reality is acquiring Napster for $207 million to transform it into a social music platform focused on fan engagement and monetization. Napster, which currently offers 110 million high-fidelity tracks and operates as a legal streaming service, will introduce virtual concerts, social listening parties, and gamified experiences. Infinite plans to let musicians sell tickets, merchandise, and digital content while using AI for customer service and analytics. Napster has changed hands many times since its peak. Infinite aims to leverage Web3 and AI to revitalize the brand in the metaverse.
Podcast fandom is rapidly growing, with over 190M Americans listening regularly and 83% of monthly listeners identifying as podcast fans. Fans engage deeply, with 54% of them considering podcasts a daily routine and 38% preferring podcasts over other media. 68% of podcast fans are more likely to pay attention to ads relevant to their interests. Advertisers benefit from passionate fans, with 55% more likely to trust brands that support their favorite podcasts.
2025.03.26·wondery-fandom.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com·15 min read·TLDR Marketing Inactive subscribers drag down sender reputation and reduce inbox placement, hurting even high-performing campaigns. Email engagement is a key deliverability factor, and maintaining a lean, responsive list leads to stronger performance. The recommendation is to re-engage or remove dormant contacts to preserve data quality, cut platform costs, and ensure reliable performance tracking.
Companies can reduce fraud in AI chatbots by humanizing them. This can be done by giving the chatbots human-like names, avatars, or tones, or by informing users that a human monitors the AI. Users are 34.7% more likely to act unethically and 10.6% more likely to give false reasons for returns when interacting with AI compared to humans, but human-like chatbots reduce unethical behavior by 18.5%. Guilt prevents unethical actions, and human-like features create an emotional connection that discourages unethical behavior. For critical tasks, notify users that a human will take over to further reduce fraud.
Excalidraw grew to 850,000 monthly active users and 89,000 GitHub stars by eliminating traditional onboarding. Users land directly in the fully functional product with no signup, tutorials, or friction. Its simplified toolset and intuitive design make it easy for users to feel competent immediately. The intentionally imperfect, hand-drawn aesthetic encourages faster ideation, easier sharing, and creates instant brand recognition, driving organic growth.
This guide provides benchmarks based on title, function, location, company size, and team structure. It highlights pay differences by role, region, and common benefits, and reveals areas where marketers feel stuck. It also includes a salary negotiation guide with strategies, scripts, and a value-mapping exercise to help marketers secure higher pay or effectively build their teams.
Pinterest Performance+ automates audience targeting, creative optimization, and budget adjustments, helping advertisers improve efficiency. Brands have seen a 20% decrease in CPA with fewer inputs. To maximize results, advertisers should track conversions, align goals with volume, use diverse ad formats, combine Performance+ tools, allow time for learning, and test ads continuously. Case studies like Seraphine and Princess Polly show major revenue growth and cost savings with this approach.
Automated Lead Nurturing (ALN) boosts conversions by up to 23 percentage points, but it only works well for new leads, short sales cycles, and low-value deals. ALN performs poorly in complex B2B sales or high-ticket transactions, where buyers rely more on research and personal interaction. Its value lies in accelerating qualified sales interactions, not in passive engagement, therefore measuring open rates or clicks may be misleading to evaluate its performance.
SKITTLES' ‘Legally Acknowledge the Rainbow' campaign introduces SKITTLES POP'D with a playful twist. Fans must sign a SKITTLES-themed legal document before trying the new crunchy candy. Running from March 25 to April 6 on social media, it includes an interactive Snapchat tongue-signing filter.
A 1967 Bank of America ad set in Disneyland offers a timeless lesson for B2B marketers: emotional resonance drives decisions.
Shopify's hybrid monetization model combines flat-tier subscriptions with usage-based transaction fees, aligning revenue growth directly with merchant success.
Website examples to use when briefing designers.
The pandemic reshaped consumer behavior, with many diverting spending to experiences and bringing new expectations to retail. Retailers struggled initially but are now adapting to meet demands for better in-store experiences. Consumer power has returned stronger than before. However, inflation, tariffs, and economic uncertainty have kept sentiment low, with confidence dropping 22% since December.
In November, Google said it would conduct a test in 8 European countries that would omit results from EU-based news publishers for a small percentage of users. The company is now reporting that the news has no meaningful monetary value for the company. Google saw no change in ad revenue and only a 0.8% drop in usage. European copyright law says the company must pay publishers for using snippets from articles, but Google will likely use these results to try to limit news outlets' negotiating leverage.
Audience on third-party platforms doesn't translate to ownership, as brands are constrained by platform rules, limited access to user data, and the constant threat of reduced visibility or account issues. By shifting to owned communities, brands gain full control of engagement, enable peer-to-peer interaction, and build resilient, high-retention spaces. This approach has been adopted by brands like Gymshark, YETI, and Jeep to drive loyalty and lower CAC.
Top-performing products often go under-leveraged in ad accounts because marketers focus on volume rather than efficiency metrics. The hero product strategy flips this by prioritizing products that deliver the best return per click based on conversion rate, margin, and ad engagement. Once identified, these products are pulled into isolated campaigns with specific keyword targeting, custom ad creative, and remarketing flows to drive both acquisition and retention more efficiently than broad catalog strategies.
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TechSmith Snagit is a screen capture and recording tool that lets users take screenshots, record videos, and edit images. It includes features like annotation, text recognition, GIF creation, and the ability to capture scrolling screens. It's commonly used for creating tutorials, documentation, and presentations.
These free tools help writers find words, improve clarity, and generate ideas. Related Words, Reverse Dictionary, and Power Thesaurus expand vocabulary, while Hemingway and Text Ranch refine writing. Answer The Public and Copywriting Examples offer inspiration, and other tools assist with rhyming, comparisons, and crafting compelling headlines.
Boathouse surveyed 150 CEOs and found that 24% gave their CMOs an A, while 71% gave As or Bs. Concerns remain about trust and alignment between CMOs and marketing overall. CMOs improved in soft skills, with 65% of CEOs saying they understand business goals and 61% calling them performance-minded. However, 49% of CEOs said CMOs are “on the periphery” of growth strategy, and grades dropped in areas like trust with the C-suite and driving innovation.
Vague CTAs like “Learn More” and “Start Now” don't drive meaningful conversions. Strong CTAs reduce friction by solving a problem, feeling intuitive, and clearly guiding the next step. For example, “Compare Pricing Options” is clearer than “See Plans,” and “Test Your Skill Level for Free” is more compelling than “Start Now.”
Insights on growth, product, AI, and leadership.
IKEA's Severance spot works because it's not just timely - it feels personally tailored to the viewer.
Meta plans to introduce millions of AI-generated profiles that will post, comment, and engage on Facebook and Instagram, mimicking real users. These profiles will include bios and visual identities, making them largely indistinguishable from standard human accounts. Meta's goal is to increase engagement by populating feeds with AI-driven social activity.
Only 66% of Fortune 500 companies had a marketing leader in 2024, down from 71% the year prior, with large gaps across sectors. 80% of tech companies had a CMO compared to just 51% of industrial firms. One-third of marketing leaders didn't hold a “chief” title, while 16% had dual roles blending marketing with revenue or customer oversight. These shifts reflect marketing's growing integration into broader business strategy, often extending beyond the traditional CMO role.
Marketing leaders don't need more content, they need better curation to make smarter decisions. Convince & Convert rebranded its newsletter to The Trendline to focus on strategic insights, broader curation, and a clearer format. Delivering immediate value without requiring clicks, the new structure includes key sections like “The Big Picture” for strategic takes, curated links, and interactive audience polls. Successful email marketing today requires audience research, zero-click content, and curated insights that build trust and authority.
To become a podcast guest, research the podcast, reference past episodes, and pitch a relevant idea. Personalize pitches using transcripts and prioritize quality podcasts by checking rankings on Listen Notes or Rephonic. Podcasters should focus on valuable content, repurpose episodes across channels, and leverage video for platforms like YouTube.
Google ranks businesses in Maps based on relevance, distance, and prominence, which includes online reputation and citations. To improve placement, businesses should claim and verify their Google Business Profile, ensure consistent NAP (Name, Address, and Phone) data across directories, and accumulate positive reviews. Engagement metrics like click-through rates, clicks to call, and direction requests also influence visibility and ranking.
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Enhance your technical skills by learning to call APIs for data collection, write SQL queries for analysis, and automate workflows with tools like Zapier or Make. Use Google Apps Scripts to automate tasks in Sheets, clean data with Python and Pandas, and visualize trends with Looker Studio. Scrape public data with BeautifulSoup or Scrapy, and automate tasks with Python. Build dashboards using tools like Notion, Airtable, or Retool, master pivot tables and advanced formulas in Google Sheets, and use regex for data cleaning.
Performance Max campaigns in Google Ads now show which search terms are triggering ads, allowing negative keywords to be added directly from the Search Terms report. This change gives advertisers the same level of insight and control they have with standard Search campaigns.
Credible founders with strong opinions can outperform company brands on LinkedIn, especially with an active audience and marketing support. Instead of having executives write from scratch, marketing should capture insights from conversations, voice notes, or Slack threads and repurpose them into short-form content aligned with company messaging. Posts should reinforce 3-4 core brand themes, be published consistently, and include real-time engagement to boost visibility in LinkedIn's algorithm.
A well-structured social media portfolio should highlight both creative execution and strategic thinking. Minimal text is best, letting the work speak for itself with a design inspired by social media feeds. Tools like Gondola help track past work by aggregating posts and metrics. Documenting work as it happens makes portfolio building easier, and crediting collaborators adds transparency. Starting with a basic Notion page or a list of links is a good first step.
Charity campaign inspiration from Mind, Refuge, and Women's Aid.
Podcast super listeners, those tuning in for over 8 hours a week, are a powerful audience for brands. They're 60% more likely to purchase advertised products online and 71% more likely to buy in-store. Podcast consumption has grown 5X in the past decade, now making up nearly 20% of daily audio time. Ads resonate strongly, with 76% of heavy listeners discovering new products through them and 57% more likely to buy from sponsors, giving marketers a direct, highly engaged audience with strong purchasing power.
Older Gen Alpha tweens influence major household purchases, with 61% having a say in their parents' car choices and food decisions. By age 10, 68% already own a luxury product, signaling their early engagement with brands and spending. The cohort also prioritizes inclusivity and personal relevance over sustainability.
Hosting a conference positions a brand as an industry leader by controlling the narrative, attracting top experts, and driving innovation. It creates strong networking opportunities and generates positive brand associations that last beyond the event. Conferences also provide valuable content for ongoing engagement and PR opportunities, boosting visibility and credibility. Brands like Apple, Notion, and HubSpot have used conferences to strengthen authority, showcase products, and build engaged communities.
Marketing fails when teams prioritize tactics over strategy. To fix this, define your brand differentiation, ICP, pain points, and value prop before crafting messaging. This foundation strengthens copywriting, automation, team structure, and GTM motions, making tactics more effective. A strong strategy creates a feedback loop that continuously refines execution.
Traditional rating-based surveys, such as asking consumers how likely they are to purchase a product or visit a restaurant, often produce misleading results. These studies fail to account for real-world trade-offs. Research shows that forcing respondents to prioritize choices, such as ranking a movie among their top three weekend plans or choosing between clear and conflicting options. This approach, used in discrete choice models like MaxDiff and conjoint analysis, enhances market research by identifying true consumer preferences rather than hypothetical intentions.
GetStencil is a fast and easy-to-use graphic design tool for creating social media graphics, ads, and marketing visuals. Users can preview, share, and schedule posts with Buffer, plus integrate with WordPress, Dropbox, and more. Stencil streamlines content creation with high-res downloads, filters, and browser extensions.
Gemini has launched Canvas, an interactive space for real-time editing and coding, and Audio Overview, which transforms documents into podcast-style discussions. Canvas streamlines writing and coding by allowing users to refine drafts, adjust tone, and preview web app prototypes. Developers can generate, edit, and test code within Canvas, making collaboration seamless. Audio Overview converts files into dynamic AI-hosted conversations, summarizing complex content for easy listening.
Subscription businesses often fail to scale because they prioritize growth over retention, not realizing that churn mathematically caps their total user base and revenue potential. At a 20% monthly churn rate, a company will lose 100% of its users within a year, making sustainable scaling impossible without continuous and expensive customer acquisition. Companies that optimize retention benefit from extended growth cycles, greater valuation multiples, and increased profitability, while those that ignore churn struggle to maintain a growth trajectory.
CMOs prioritize volume metrics, such as pipeline, ARR, and MQLs, rather than efficiency metrics like cost per opportunity or marketing CAC. Larger companies track cost per dollar of pipeline, new logo revenue, and expansion revenue, while smaller companies rely more on inbound leads. Scaled companies use multi-touch attribution, combining models to analyze the full customer journey and optimize investment. Companies that track cost per revenue, not just cost per pipeline, make better budget decisions and gain clearer insights into marketing effectiveness.
The framing effect, affordability illusion, and rule of 3 are brain science tactics that make buyers say “yes”.
People often say what they think sounds good in surveys, which doesn't represent their actual behavior.