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DEMAND CAPTURE VS. GEN

The difference between demand capture and demand gen illustrated by blog post titles.

IMMERSIVE ‘Y'ALLTERNATIVE': WALMART EMBRACES SOCIAL TRENDS IN GAMIFIED COMMERCE EXPERIENCE

Walmart has launched Walmart Realm, a new virtual home for gamified, immersive shops created in partnership with influencers. Three initial virtual shops highlight products selected by popular creator partners: So Jelly, an underwater playground; Y'allternative, a gothic Western destination; and Go Chromatic, a futuristic metallic world. Walmart Realm also includes creators' social content and three mini-games inspired by the featured products. Walmart plans to expand the platform to include additional digital storefronts and partnerships with creators beginning in July.

THIS FOUNDER SAYS MEME TECH IS THE NEXT BIG THING

7 KEYS TO UNLOCK A FLOOD OF HIGH-QUALITY REFERRALS

Referrals attract your ideal clients, shorten your sales process, command premium fees, and dramatically increase customer lifetime value. Yet, while over 80% of people say they'd be thrilled to refer businesses they love, less than 30% actually do. Tactics to generate more referrals include presenting a referral offer to every client, creating a champion program of raving fans, generating referrals from your employees, building a strategic partner network, and launching your own networking hub. For B2B companies specifically, you can also offer client benefit calls to customers' trusted advisors or teach referral marketing.

FIGHTING SUBSCRIPTION CHURN: 32 TACTICS TO INCREASE YOUR RETENTION AND GET BACK TO GROWTH

This article includes 32 tactics to reduce subscriber churn, including attempting to re-engage “at-risk” accounts and incentivizing early renewal. To reduce churn effectively, a company should first conduct research to understand why its most profitable customers typically churn. The findings should illuminate numerous issues and opportunities that can be addressed systematically.

PINTEREST 2024 CONTENT CALENDAR

A look at the top Pinterest trends and seasonal moments by month. June is themed as the “main character” and characterized by the icon era, al fresco, shareables, and getaways. September is themed as “level up” and top keywords include “hard refresh”, “throwbacks”, and “in season”. November represents “gratitude” and covers anything that seeks warmth from inside out through the foods you eat and company you keep.

THE TRADE DESK UNVEILS THE SELLERS AND PUBLISHERS REPORT

The Trade Desk's new biannual Sellers and Publishers Report highlights the rise of premium internet content. The top 500 digital publishers now account for 50% of open internet advertising revenue. The report also includes a list of the top 100 open internet publishers valued by advertisers for their quality and reach.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE GENERATION EFFECT: IMPROVE BRAND RECALL

The Generation Effect explains why we remember something more when we put more effort into recalling it. For example, a 2020 study found that people were more likely to remember brand names with a single missing letter, compared to fully spelled-out brand names. To take advantage of this principle, use hidden letters in your next ad, incentivize active participation in your product, or make your social media posts interactive.

DOES GOOGLE'S “SITE REPUTATION ABUSE” POWER ENDANGER ALL OF US?

Google's new policy on “site reputation abuse”, effective May 5, de-ranks third-party coupon pages on popular sites. It views them as spam meant to manipulate search rankings. This change impacts large news and lifestyle publishers who rely on high-margin revenue from these pages. The decision has sparked debate within the affiliate space, with some supporting Google's move and others defending third-party coupon pages. Despite Google's dominance, new players like Amazon and TikTok are driving innovation and collaboration. The $150B US digital coupon market emphasizes the potential for growth through strategic partnerships.

HOW FOUR BRANDS WON GEN Z THROUGH MEMES, AUTHENTICITY, AND COMMUNITY-BUILDING

Brands like tbh Skincare, Heaps Normal, Liquid Death, and Barbie have won over Gen Z. These brands utilize platforms like TikTok, promote socially conscious messages, and create unique, engaging content that resonates with Gen Z's values. Their success demonstrates the effectiveness of genuine, culturally relevant marketing in building strong connections with this influential generation.

US COURT TO HEAR CHALLENGES TO POTENTIAL TIKTOK BAN IN SEPTEMBER

A U.S. appeals court set a fast-track schedule to hear legal challenges to the potential ban of TikTok.

CTR HAS A <1% CORRELATION WITH AD RECALL

CTR doesn't correlate with any brand growth metrics, including brand awareness, purchase intent, or ROI.

SEQUEL.IO'S COMPETITIVE MESSAGING

A screenshot showing how Sequel.io effectively differentiates and positions itself from competitors on its homepage.

GEN Z DRIVES A TEEN-JOB COMEBACK

Gen Z is reversing a decades-long decline in teen employment. The labor force participation rate for 16-19-year-olds rose to 38% in April 2024. Factors driving this trend include rising wages for younger workers and the need for teens to support their families amid inflation. The long-term decline in teens working for pay lines up with several other trends (ie. delayed driving and dating), indicating that today's kids are growing up slower than kids of previous generations.

INSIGHTS FROM GOOGLE'S LEAKED SEARCH DOCUMENTS AND WHAT THEY MEAN FOR SEO

Leaked Google documents have surfaced, revealing valuable insights into the company's search algorithms. These documents emphasize the importance of using nofollow links consistently and maintaining high content quality, particularly in categories like Travel. While the authenticity of these documents has not yet been confirmed, they seem to validate long-held SEO strategies and practices.

9 POPUP USE CASES YOUR COMPETITORS DON'T KNOW ABOUT YET

Popups are not only for capturing email addresses – they are also a great way to increase on-site e-commerce conversions. They build social proof, drive traffic to your newest products, tease upcoming sales, and more. This article walks through 9 popup use cases that don't include asking for an email address.

PRODUCT RELEASE SHOWCASES

A product showcase is an opportunity to share recent improvements, enhancements, and capabilities in your product – all bundled together into a cohesive narrative. This tactic is increasingly popular among software companies, as it enhances marketing efficiency, improves customer perception, and facilitates internal alignment. This post includes examples from Shopify, Canva, Hubspot, Workhuman, and VTEX.

71 SOCIAL MEDIA POST TEMPLATES TO SPEED UP YOUR PROCESS

71 social media post templates that can help streamline the content creation process, ensuring visually appealing and consistent posts across multiple platforms. Covering Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, and more, these templates help maintain brand cohesion and engage audiences effectively.

TIKTOK LAUNCHES MANAGEMENT PLATFORM FOR CREATORS

TikTok Studio is designed to help creators analyze their performance, track improvements, and make more informed decisions. Creators can manage all aspects of their presence, including video uploads, editing, performance analytics, and more. TikTok Studio replaces Creator tools within the TikTok app as well as the Creator Center web app, but creators can continue to access the full suite of tools and resources on a desktop web browser.

PAYPAL READIES ADVERTISING PLATFORM ROOTED IN REAMS OF TRANSACTION DATA

PayPal has announced plans to create a new advertising platform rooted in transaction data generated by its nearly 400 million active accounts. The offering is designed to help merchants sell more products and services while acting as a discovery engine for consumers. PayPal joins financial players like Chase Bank and hospitality companies like Expedia in launching media networks that attempt to use companies' first-party data to sell advertising.

KLARNA CUTS SPEND BY $10 MILLION A YEAR WITH AI

Klarna has cut marketing spending by $10 million annually through the use of AI, achieving a 40% reduction in costs while increasing campaign numbers. AI tools like Midjourney, DALL-E, and Firefly have reduced production expenses by $6 million, speeding up the image development cycle from 6 weeks to 7 days. Klarna's AI-powered Copy Assistant now handles 80% of the company's copywriting, further enhancing efficiency and reducing reliance on external suppliers.

OLD MARKETING VS. NEW MARKETING

This post shares 6 ways to leverage your story to stand out in today's market. Customers today want to hear from humans and prefer a personal approach. They expect two-way conversations and need to be heavily educated before any direct communication takes place. Humor also goes a long way — tell stories of times when things went wrong or were imperfect.

WHAT IS THE AUDIENCE FUNNEL?

SEO tactics to move users through the funnel at various stages, including informational, navigational, commercial, and transactional.

10 VISUALS TO CHANGE HOW YOU THINK ABOUT MARKETING

10 graphics to change your perspectives on complex words vs. simple words, the power of a good story, and writing for clarity.

RECALL OF KEY MESSAGES FROM ADS

The percentage of recall for each individual message decreases as you add more messages to an ad.

Up your game with LMNT ↗️

ADOBE'S CONTROVERSIAL MARKETING IS FUELING A WAR WITH CREATIVES OVER AI

Adobe's recent marketing for Photoshop's AI features, such as “generate background”, has sparked backlash from photographers. The controversy began when Adobe's website suggested users could “skip the photoshoot” by using AI to add or replace backgrounds, which many photographers saw as undermining their profession. Adobe has since removed the contentious language and emphasized that its AI tools are meant to enhance, not replace human creativity. This issue reflects broader tensions between creatives and tech companies over the impact of AI on creative jobs.

WHAT THE TECH IS DOMAIN SPOOFING?

Domain spoofing in digital advertising is a fraudulent scheme where scammers create websites that mimic legitimate publishers to sell fake ad inventory. The spoofed sites can distribute malware, sell illegitimate products, and are often overloaded with ads. To combat domain spoofing, advertisers use supply-path optimization. This brings buyers and sellers closer together, providing marketers with a clearer idea of where their ads end up.

HOW MANY KEYWORDS PER AD GROUP IN GOOGLE ADS?

Choosing the right mix of keywords can increase your reach while also reducing unnecessary ad spend. Google lets you set up to 20,000 target items (such as keywords or customer groups) per ad group, but you should be using less than 2,000 per ad group. The exact number to use depends on your business size, campaign goals, competition, budget, and keyword match types. Over your campaign's lifespan, you should remove keywords that fail to deliver results, test new ones, and continue to track keyword performance.

HOW TO DO AN IN-DEPTH CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AUDIT

A CX audit involves analyzing every touchpoint from initial contact to post-purchase and identifying areas for improvement to enhance satisfaction and loyalty. It also helps prevent customer losses, as even a single negative experience can deter 45% of customers from making a purchase. An effective audit requires a skilled, cross-functional team, clear objectives, appropriate tools, and a detailed analysis of all customer interactions. The insights gained should then be linked to business metrics.

started with Neurons

CHATGPT PROMPTS USING THE “RULE OF 3” FRAMEWORK

Distilling any topic into 3 things makes it more memorable, while also making the content clear and concise. First, reframe your topic into a question. Next, use abstraction laddering to anchor it to a bigger question that more people can relate to. Finally, put your topic into 3 lists: 3 reasons why your topic matters, 3 categories that will help target the audience, and 3 extra tips. This document includes templated ChatGPT prompts to make this process easier.

MARKETING CHANNEL MENU TEMPLATE

A list of 45 channels to consider as part of your marketing strategy. Channels are labeled based on their impact on the customer journey, their cost, and their measurability. The channels cover content, CRM, events, OOH, paid, PR, social, sponsor, video, and more.

3 CHROME EXTENSIONS FOR SEARCH CONSOLE

GSC Guardian helps correlate Google's updates with your site's traffic by overlaying Search Console reports with information from Google's Search Status Dashboard. Google Search Console Enhanced Analytics compares clicks, impressions, and positions across two periods to analyze (via color coding) traffic fluctuations, trends, and more. GSC Crawl Stats Downloader allows you to download all crawl stats with one click, rather than manually downloading multiple CSV files from the platform.

AI OVERVIEW'S DANGEROUS FAILS + A LIFE LESSON

Google's AI Overviews has been criticized due to its inaccuracies, which range from plain bizarre to perilous to public health. The rushed launch reveals a company that is reacting based on fear of being left behind in the 'AI race'. This article discusses examples where the AI Overview displayed incorrect information including medical misinformation, inaccurate data, and poor recommendations.

TIKTOK WORKS: MISSIONS FOR THE MODERN MARKETER

This report shares 4 missions for marketers to elevate strategies and deliver impact and growth. First, cultivate new growth by engaging both new and existing users. Second, captivate attention through creative and memorable content to build lasting brand equity. Third, explore full-funnel strategies that leverage multi-screen approaches to maximize short and long-term impacts. Lastly, scale holistically by integrating organic and paid content optimizing marketing effectiveness and providing a comprehensive performance overview.

STOP! OR GO DIRECTLY TO EMAIL JAIL

A list of 10 email “crimes” that either violate an ISP rule or simply annoy your subscribers and customers.

4 TYPES OF HERO SECTION CTAS

4 different CTA buttons you can incorporate into your page's hero section: classic, value-focused, objection-focused, and CTAs with a form.

GTM MADE SIMPLE (WEBINAR)

Anthony Pierri and Robert Kaminski from Fletch, known for rewriting over 200 homepages for companies, will be rewriting Distribute's homepage in real-time on May 29 @10AM PT.

THE TOP SERP FEATURES IN 2024

The most prevalent SERP feature in early 2024 is “related search,” which appears in 99% of SERPs, a notable rise from 84% in 2023. Video features have shifted to be more common on smartphones than desktops, indicating changing user behaviors and technological improvements. In terms of share of voice, local packs (places) lead, followed by carousels and Knowledge Graph results, with organic results dropping to 34% overall and 28% on smartphones.

GOOGLE SCRAMBLES TO MANUALLY REMOVE WEIRD AI ANSWERS IN SEARCH

Google's AI Overview product has been generating bizarre responses, prompting the company to manually disable the feature for specific searches. Errors include suggestions to eat glue or rocks. Google maintains that its AI outputs high-quality information, though it acknowledges some errors and is working on improvements.

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE STRATEGIES: (GOOD) FRICTION IS GREAT FOR CX

Certain types of friction in customer experiences can enhance satisfaction and create memorable moments. Good friction, like the anticipation while unwrapping a chocolate or the effort in assembling Ikea furniture, activates dopamine and makes these moments more enjoyable and memorable. To leverage this effect, companies should minimize bad friction while incorporating good friction. This involves evaluating friction points in the customer journey and ensuring that any friction present heightens the contrast with peak positive moments.

72% INCREASE IN 6 MONTHS — WIZ'S WINNING CONTENT INVESTMENT

Wiz, a cybersecurity company, used a broad marketing mix to grow site traffic from 226K in November 2023 to just under 390K as of April 2024 — a 72% increase over just 6 months. The company invests in brand building with a strong visual identity and uses field marketing and paid search to get its identity in front of people. Organic search accounts for 26% of site traffic, bolstered by content marketing on its Wiz Academy subfolder and a strong backlink profile. The brand also uses social selling on X, LinkedIn, and Reddit to drive roughly 25,000 monthly visits.

STEAL MY TEMPLATES: 7 MUST-HAVE ONBOARDING EMAILS

FUNNELYTICS: VISUALIZE AND OPTIMIZE CUSTOMER JOURNEYS

Funnelytics is a tool for businesses and agencies looking to streamline their marketing efforts by mapping customer journeys, measuring performance, and identifying optimization opportunities. The tool pulls data directly from website pages through a tracking script. Plans start at $79 per month and a free trial is available.

5 SECRET CANVA PRO TOOLS

This guide outlines how to use Canva Pro to create transparent shapes, add grain/noise effects, frame pictures, outline with dots, and find overlays.

THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF SOFTWARE PRODUCT MARKETING MANAGERS

Launching new software products has become increasingly challenging, making the role of PMM essential for successful product launches. Software companies with established PMM functions see higher revenue growth than their peers. PMMs act as translators between product development and GTM teams and navigate the complex path to market acceptance by understanding and priming the market. This article includes a chart that outlines the role and responsibility based on the product development life cycle.