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YOU CAN NOW CHOOSE THE KIND OF CONTENT YOU SEE ON INSTAGRAM REELS

Instagram's “Your Algorithm,” available to English-speaking users, allows people to directly influence their Reels feed by selecting and adjusting topic preferences.

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APPLE TURNS TO GOOGLE TO POWER AI UPGRADE FOR SIRI

Apple is upgrading Siri and other services by relying on Google Gemini AI. The multi-year deal reflects that its internal AI could not match Google in capability or scale in the short term, even though it plans to keep Apple Intelligence running on its devices and private cloud systems. Analysts expect consumers to welcome the move as AI features spread across smartphones, even if AI is not yet a primary driver of iPhone purchases. The partnership may raise regulatory scrutiny since past Google deals on Apple devices were worth billions of dollars, including more than $26bn paid in 2021 to secure default search placement.

BIFURCATION OF THE US ECONOMY HITS THE SHOPPING MALL

US shopping malls show a widening split between a small group of strong performers and a large group in decline as the economy bifurcates. The top 100 of roughly 900 malls hold about 50% of total asset value, while the bottom 350 hold just 10%, and C and D malls saw occupancy fall by more than 26 percentage points from 2016 to 2019. Pressure is rising as lower-income consumers face higher bills, and 34% of consumers plan to spend less this year, with 43% citing tariffs. Brands and retailers must either move upmarket to target the top 10% that drives 50% of US spending or compete harder on value, which requires strong brand equity to support pricing and promotions.

ZUMBA'S REVENUE GROWTH FROM APP2WEB FLOWS

Zumba increased lifetime value by over 17% by shifting high-intent users from in-app purchases to app2web checkout, accepting lower initial conversion in exchange for higher retention, higher trial-to-paid rates, and elimination of app store fees. Conversion friction was reduced by mirroring native purchase flows, pre-selecting plans in-app, defaulting to Apple Pay or Google Pay, and auto-redirecting users back to the app post-purchase.

HOW TO PROVE IMPACT FROM LIFECYCLE MARKETING

Impact shows in behavior change. Users adopt features, reach value faster, ask questions, or re-engage before churn. Focus on one key behavior, compare cohorts instead of campaigns, and track metrics from immediate actions to long-term outcomes. A simple spreadsheet can reveal real change. Show what happens after a click or nudge to demonstrate value. Lifecycle marketing works by changing how customers engage and find value, not by linking every action directly to revenue.

HOW SIMPLE SEMANTICS INCREASED OUR AI CITATIONS BY 642%

HubSpot increased page citations by AI tools by rewriting key content into semantic triples (sentences structured as subject-predicate-object). Pages were restructured so core concepts appeared early and in answer-first phrasing, helping AI models reliably associate HubSpot with categories like marketing automation. This change was implemented alongside existing SEO fundamentals such as schema and backlinks.

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PERPLEXITY AT WORK: A GUIDE TO GETTING MORE DONE

This guide shows how to use Perplexity as a unified workspace to scale your work and move faster. It outlines prompts for research, email triage, meeting prep, document lookup, and multi-step browser actions. It also includes tips like using @tab for context and breaking complex tasks into steps. It shares tactics for reducing switching by letting Comet and Email Assistant summarize information, manage inboxes, group tabs, schedule meetings, and automate recurring routines with shortcuts and tasks.

ABOVE THE FOLD (EVENT)

This 2-day in-person event in Fort Lauderdale gives B2B SaaS marketers practical website tactics through small group workshops. Facilitators include Anthony Pierri, Tas Bober, Jess Cook, Rob Kaminski, and more. Sessions cover landing pages, content strategy, positioning, pricing pages, and demos. Attendees can choose a $660 ticket that includes three pitch room sessions or a $990 ticket with workshop access only.

IS IT TIME TO KILL ALL THE MASCOTS?

Creative teams should challenge default mascot requests and evaluate whether other brand assets can better communicate value. Strategic alternatives such as distinctive color systems and direct language can stand out more effectively than anthropomorphic characters. Mascots should be a deliberate choice tied to long-term brand strategy, not a reflexive response to category trends or competitors.

NETFLIX WANTED TO REINVENT LIVE TV. IT HASN'T BEEN EASY

Netflix is expanding into live programming to challenge traditional TV, but reliable live streaming has proved harder than expected. The company has aired more than 200 events, yet big moments like the Jake Paul–Mike Tyson fight revealed limits in delivering millions of unicast streams at once. Netflix has since upgraded routing, tested fixes through smaller livestreams, and built a live operations center. It says performance is improving as it prepares for a broader global live push in 2026.

PINTEREST SAYS GEN Z USERS ARE FINDING THEMSELVES IN PINS

Pinterest is positioning visual search and customization as higher-intent pathways to purchase than AI chatbots or text-heavy platforms.

WHAT TO DO IF YOUR RESEARCH IS FALLING FLAT

Effective insights are paired with an interpretation of impact and a recommended path forward.

AMAZON SUPERSIZES ITS WALMART RIVALRY WITH NEW BIG-BOX RETAIL CONCEPT

Amazon's superstore concept builds on recent Whole Foods tests that merge in-store browsing with automated fulfillment and aims to capture more spending that still happens in physical stores.

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EARLY AI SIGNALS FROM HOLIDAY SALES

Direct AI-driven ecommerce traffic remained small despite fast growth last year. US online holiday sales hit $257.8B, up 6.8%. Salesforce estimated that AI influenced 20% of Christmas retail spending. Adobe reported a 693% jump in AI-driven traffic, but the gains came from small baselines, and it did not share AI's share of total traffic or revenue. Most AI referrals came from desktop at 73% and concentrated in research-heavy categories like electronics and appliances. AI is affecting consideration more than clicks or final purchases.

HOW RISING RETAIL BRANDS USE INFLUENCERS TO COMBAT DIGITAL OVERLOAD

Rising retail brands are leaning on influencers and everyday creators to cut through digital fatigue. They're using community-driven content to amplify organic moments. Authentic creator networks help brands capitalize on unexpected virality and reach consumers who are weary of traditional ads. Beyond Yoga and Mejuri now treat community as a core function. They're tapping niche creators and turning strong organic posts into paid media. Demand for human-centered creators is growing.

VIBE CODING TIP: FINE-TUNE AN LLM ON YOUR LINKEDIN POSTS WITH CLAUDE CODE

Collect at least 50 LinkedIn posts and convert them into JSONL training data using the Claude browser extension. Use Claude to validate the JSONL file and then kick off a Python script to start fine-tuning your model. Generate new LinkedIn posts in your voice by prompting the model with topics. Refine its output by giving the model feedback and asking it to adjust the system prompt.

FIND BOT CLICKS IN YOUR EMAILS

Add a random link to a period at the end of one paragraph to roughly measure how many bot clicks are inflating your reporting.

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DEFINING, MEASURING & WINNING WITH QUALITY CONTENT IN 2026 (WEBINAR)

Three SEO experts will discuss how to define "good content" for search beyond traffic and rankings. They'll share frameworks for building and measuring high-quality content and site-wide UX and technical issues that can hold great content back. The free event will take place on January 15 at 10 AM PT.

GOOGLE'S NEW TECH WILL LET YOU BUY STUFF DIRECTLY FROM AN AI CHATBOT

Google's Universal Commerce Protocol is a new open standard that allows users to complete purchases directly inside AI chatbot conversations. Built with retailers like Shopify, Walmart, and Wayfair, the system enables shoppers to browse, select, and buy products without leaving the chat interface. Payments will run through Google Pay with shipping details pulled from Google Wallet.

DISNEY UNVEILS TIKTOK-LIKE VERTICAL VIDEO, AI VIDEO GENERATION TOOL

Disney is rolling out a TikTok-style vertical video format across its digital platforms. It's expanding beyond ESPN into news and entertainment to drive more frequent, daily engagement. The company has introduced an AI video generation tool that lets advertisers create and version ads from existing brand assets, plus an AI-powered planning tool that captures objectives, audience intent, timing, and constraints.

EVERYTHING IS TV AND NOTHING IS TV

Consumer AI is evolving toward TV as digital behavior shifts to video. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and podcasts are dominated by passive viewing. As generative media improves, AI products will resemble TV through personalized and endless shows. At the same time, AI will drive major cost declines across industries by automating labor and turning services into software, similar to how TV prices fell 98% since 2000. These efficiency gains follow Jevons' Paradox, where lower costs raise demand and expand markets rather than replace them.

WHAT THE PERPLEXITY-AMAZON LAWSUIT COULD MEAN FOR DIGITAL ADVERTISING

Amazon's lawsuit against Perplexity AI centers on whether agentic shopping tools undermine ad-supported commerce by bypassing promotions and brand-controlled experiences. Amazon claims Perplexity's Comet agent poses security risks and disguises automated activity as human behavior. Perplexity argues the real issue is lost advertising exposure when AI agents shop instead of people. If agents transact without seeing ads, retailers risk losing both media revenue and direct customer relationships.

FROM TRENDING SOUND TO $43 MILLION LEGAL RECEIPT

CORPORATE VS. PERSONAL HANDLES

Use personal handles of trusted thought leaders instead of corporate accounts to reach your audience.

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GOOGLE: DON'T MAKE “BITE-SIZED” CONTENT FOR LLMS IF YOU CARE ABOUT SEARCH RANK

Google is pushing back on the growing SEO practice of “content chunking”. Breaking articles into ultra-short sections to appeal to LLMs can hurt long-term search performance. Google representatives say these tactics are based on false assumptions about how Gemini and other AI systems influence rankings. Google does not reward bite-sized formatting designed for bots, and continues to rely heavily on human behavior signals like clicks and engagement to determine relevance.

7 DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS TO WATCH FOR IN 2026

Short-form video dominates attention across platforms. AR glasses and interactive experiences are becoming more common. Threads is growing as a real-time discussion hub, while Reddit faces saturation, and teen-focused apps are emerging. AI-generated content may reduce sharing, and algorithm opt-outs could reshape engagement.

5 PRICING IDEAS TO DRIVE UPGRADES

Quarterly billing works better for products that require setup because it filters for serious buyers and reduces early churn. Removing seat limits and pricing on usage metrics increases adoption and speeds monetization when collaboration drives value. Raising prices across all plans while increasing entry tiers more, i.e., a ~27% increase vs. ~12% on higher tiers, pushes customers toward upgrades.

GUIDE TO CREATOR-LED GROWTH: ZERO COST AND NO PITCHING

Most companies ask creators to share content and get ignored. The ones that win supply the benchmarks, frameworks, and original research that creators need for their audiences. This give-first approach turns brands into upstream sources that get cited without pitching, which brings warmer leads, lower acquisition costs, and shorter sales cycles. It works only with consistent value over months.

QUERY FAN-OUT: WHAT 60,000+ SEARCHES FROM CHATGPT & GOOGLE SHOW (WEBINAR)

Chris Long (Nectiv) and Josh Spilker (AirOps) will discuss how LLMs retrieve content from searches via fan outs and share real-world examples of how content changes can increase LLM mentions and citations in this free event on January 14 at 1 PM ET.

FREE N8N COURSE (59 MINUTE VIDEO)

This course walks through how to build an LLM workflow, a low-autonomy AI agent, and an autonomous agent from scratch using n8n, a combined workflow automation and agent-building platform that can handle use cases like competitor monitoring, chatbot-style assistants, inbox workers, and multi-agent research systems.

SHOULD LINKS BE UNDERLINED? IT'S WORTH A/B TESTING

Underlining links improves usability and accessibility, even if it affects visual appeal. Google's tests showed that removing underlines reduced clicks, slowed interaction, and lowered revenue. Hover underlines had little impact and were shipped for competitive reasons. Details matter because hover states and larger targets can help recognition, while color-only links hurt performance. Accessibility standards warn against relying on color alone, since many users are colorblind and hover cues fail on touch devices.

INSTAGRAM IS BETTING ON THE MOMENTUM, NOT THE REACTION

Instagram argues that a “raw aesthetic” preserves authenticity, but AI already mimics those cues through UGC generators and AI influencers with large followings. As AI realism improves, audiences are growing more skeptical. Surveys show discomfort and declining trust in AI-generated content.

STREAMING WIDENS SPORTS MARKETING FIELD

Streaming is expanding sports marketing reach by bringing in younger viewers and boosting engagement beyond linear TV. Traditional broadcasts still deliver scale, with football driving a 20% lift in broadcast viewership and the Super Bowl reaching 127M viewers, but streaming skews younger. On Tubi, 26.2% of Super Bowl viewers were 18 to 34. Sports documentaries add momentum, with viewing minutes rising from 4.7B in 2021 to 16.9B in 2024.

WHAT METRICS SHOULD YOU USE FOR SEO/AEO?

SEO and AEO should be measured primarily by revenue, not rankings, clicks, or traffic volume.

SOCIAL MEDIA SLANG ISN'T FOR EVERY BRAND

Most brands should avoid slang unless it naturally fits their voice and audience.

6 NEEDED SKILLS TO MOVE FROM CONTENT MARKETING TO HEAD OF MARKETING

Master the funnel, goals, messaging, marketing ops, and team building.

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WHEN CONSUMERS ARE FINANCIALLY STRESSED, THEY LOOK FOR RELIABILITY

Financial stress is reshaping how consumers evaluate brands. A recent study found that only 52% of consumers feel financially secure, and those who feel insecure are more risk-averse and less tolerant of friction. These consumers rate brand experiences lower on satisfaction and trust, prioritizing reliability and recommendations over price. In uncertain economic conditions, trust reduces decision fatigue and becomes a key driver of loyalty.

AT CES 2026, MARKETERS GET SERIOUS ABOUT AGENTIC AI, CREATORS, AND RETAIL MEDIA

CES 2026 showed a shift from flashy technology to practical execution in marketing. Agentic AI gained momentum as it moves toward automated media buying while requiring trust and transparency. Creators are evolving into full media businesses as they expand into streaming and podcasting and gain pricing power. SiriusXM saw a 300% increase in podcast revenue as creators adopted omnichannel distribution and programmatic access. Retail media growth now depends on off-site investment and consistent measurement, as return on ad spend (ROAS) varies by as much as 63% across networks.