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NOTES ON GOOGLE ADS NEW STRATEGY TOOL

Investment Strategy in Google Ads gives advertisers a fast way to see the 7-day performance impact of budget changes across all campaigns in one view. It centralizes projections at the account level and shows how removing budget limits could affect conversions, conversion value, or clicks. It is useful for short term periods such as Cyber Week, while Performance Planner remains better for longer planning horizons of up to one year. It still lacks fields for tCPA and tROAS, so advertisers should review its recommendations carefully and monitor outcomes.

INTRODUCING SOCIAL CHANNELS IN SEARCH CONSOLE

Google is testing a new Search Console feature that gives site owners a unified view of Search performance for both their websites and connected social channels. The update expands Search Console Insights to show clicks, impressions, top pages, top queries, and audience locations for supported social channels. It also surfaces additional traffic sources such as Image Search, Video Search, News Search, and Discover. The feature is available only to a limited group of sites that Search Console identifies automatically.

INSTAGRAM IS TESTING A NEW FEATURE THAT LETS CREATORS SHARE EARLY ACCESS TO THEIR REELS WITH FOLLOWERS

A new feature in testing, Early Access Reels, lets creators restrict content to followers for 24 hours. Non-followers see a teaser with a countdown and a prompt to follow. This model incentivizes immediate engagement and builds loyalty by giving followers first-look privileges. Unlike Trial Reels, which exposed content to wider audiences first, Early Access rewards community-building and exclusivity.

HOW DO PEOPLE USE AI ASSISTANTS?

Most AI sessions are short and transactional. The median conversation has 2 turns, and over 80% of sessions stay under 1,000 words. Assistants generate about 60% of all content and produce roughly 1.5x more words than users. Only 35% of sessions show any commercial intent, and the largest share of those are early awareness (10%), while 65% of all sessions fall outside the commercial funnel and focus on tasks like brainstorming (7.7%) and planning (6.5%). A small group of long and complex sessions over 2,500 words accounts for only 4.2% of the total but represents the highest value use cases.

WHY THE FUTURE OF MARKETING BELONGS TO CREATIVES WHO THINK LIKE CODERS

Campaigns today operate as adaptive systems rather than single static ideas. AI has turned every consumer interaction into a dynamic input. The most effective creative professionals now approach campaign building with a developer mindset. They test, release, and improve quickly. This means replacing the traditional push for perfection with fast iteration and structured learning. Coders break and rebuild continuously, a behavior now essential for campaign success.

7 MARKETING PREDICTIONS FOR 2026

AI will push ads to get more creative, marketers to get more technical, and headcount to shrink.

5 TACTICS TO INCREASE LIVE EVENT REGISTRATIONS

Tips include giving out door prizes and asking people to comment with speaker questions on LI posts.

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WARNER BROS DISASTER? NETFLIX INKS DEAL FOR TROUBLED HOLLYWOOD GIANT

Netflix will likely consolidate streaming inventory across HBO Max and its own ad-supported tier, expanding its footprint in premium ad formats. This move will create a new scaled challenger to Disney and Amazon for high-value video ad budgets. It also raises the bar for branded content partnerships, audience targeting, and global reach in connected TV.

WORKING FROM HOME IS HARMING YOUNG EMPLOYEES

Remote work can hinder younger employees' career growth by limiting training, mentorship, and advancement opportunities. Many report missing informal learning and struggling to build visibility with managers. In-person proximity improves skill development, while remote work slows career progress and increases unemployment among recent graduates. As a result, younger workers are spending more time in offices.

3-STEP FRAMEWORK FOR ACCOUNT-FOCUSED WEBINARS

Focus webinars on a small set of target accounts and build the session specifically for them. Drive attendance with a structured sequence by calling top accounts 3 weeks out, involving a customer co-presenter 2 weeks out, sending the deck 1 week out, and texting key registrants the day before. Use a concise 30-minute format that shares learning, customer results, implementation, and Q&A. Then follow up within 2 hours with recordings, templates, and personalized sessions for target accounts.

WINNING BACK CUSTOMERS REQUIRES FIXING WHAT DROVE THEM AWAY

Winning back customers or employees is more effective than acquiring new ones. However, it requires admitting mistakes and proving real change. People leave when gaps form between expectations and experience. Most win-back attempts fail because they rely on generic messages, discounts, or incentives without addressing the root cause. Effective win-backs start by diagnosing why someone left, fixing the issue, owning the mistake, and showing concrete proof of improvement. Outreach should be personalized, returning must feel like an upgrade, rejoining should be easy, and reinforcement after the return is essential.

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GEMINI TIP: SELECT MULTIPLE CHROME TABS TO QUERY

OPENAI SAYS IT'S TURNED OFF APP SUGGESTIONS THAT LOOK LIKE ADS

OpenAI paused app suggestions in ChatGPT after users reported that they appeared as ads. These were unpaid recommendations for platform apps, but the execution created confusion. Future brand placements in AI tools will require clear separation from promotional content and stronger user controls.

PRODUCT MARKETING PRIORITIZATION: A FIELD GUIDE FOR DOING LESS, BUT BETTER

Most PMM teams struggle to prioritize because they lack a clear strategy. A solid strategy stays simple, actionable, and flexible. This guide shows PMMs how to set goals, define their role, cut low-value work, and use an Action and Priority Matrix to rank tasks by impact and effort so they focus on quick wins.

MARKETING MISTAKES MADE BY GOOGLE+

Google+ failed because millions of sign-ups did not turn into real use, and 90% of sessions lasted less than 5 seconds. The platform never built emotional pull or a clear identity, and users spent only about 3 minutes/month on it despite more than 200M registered accounts. Over-integration into products like YouTube and Gmail caused friction instead of adoption, and two data leaks that exposed millions of profiles damaged trust. Without creator activity or a core action that kept users returning, the platform could not build habits and ultimately shut down.

NEW RESEARCH: WHAT WE LEARNED FROM ANALYZING 60K+ GOOGLE FAN-OUT QUERIES

Google uses an average of 9.06 fan-out queries per prompt, and 59% of prompts trigger between 5 and 11 queries. Software prompts generate the most fan-outs at 11.7, while Local prompts generate the fewest at 3.79. Fan-out queries average 6.7 words, and 77% fall in the 5 to 8 word range. The most common Ngrams include 2024 or 2025 at 6.26% and reviews at 2.14%, which shows that fresh content, comparison content, and review content are major drivers of what Google chooses to surface.

WHAT ARE MID-MARKET SAAS MARKETING LEADERS PRIORITIZING?

Leaders are focused on pipeline quality, adjusting to AI search, and brand strength.

CANVA'S UNIQUE CANCELLATION FLOW

When users cancel, Canva shows the premium features they used most and how many times they used each one.

WHY YOUR MARKETING ISN'T WORKING

A consistent theme is misalignment between content and distribution.

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IF EVERYONE WANTS A VILLAGE, WHY ARE BRANDS STILL BUILDING ISLANDS?

Convenience culture has reached its limit, leaving people feeling disconnected. This is driving a renewed desire for community and belonging. Small behavior shifts show people choosing human interactions over automated services, and cultural conversations online reflect fatigue with self-sufficiency. Some brands are responding with community-minded ideas like shared rides or lending libraries that bring neighbors together. 2026 will favor brands that help people feel part of something rather than offering another frictionless service, because people now value connection more than efficiency.

FAKE AI-GENERATED SHOPS, ADS FLOURISH ON FACEBOOK

AN OUTBOUND PLAYBOOK FOR 2025

Workflows.io reached $2M ARR by combining cold and signal-based outbound with AI-enhanced qualification. Starting from a wide TAM, the team used Clay, ChatGPT, BuiltWith, Crunchbase, and other tools to enrich and score prospects. Campaigns were segmented by signal strength and account tier. Top-performing plays were driven by founder LinkedIn engagement and customer alumni tracking. Sequences included email and LinkedIn variations tested for performance. Signal-based outreach delivered 2x to 10x higher results, with a standout 25.4% reply rate from messaging warm founder connections.

PROMPT FOR TURNING YOUTUBE VIDEOS INTO NEWSLETTERS

This AI prompt streamlines turning YouTube videos into multiple newsletter ideas. The prompt feeds a video transcript to Claude, which identifies potential topics for short- and long-form emails, evaluates which topics align best with the offer being promoted, and provides a ranked list of relevance. The output includes main themes, recommended email format for each topic, and a congruence score with the offer, making it faster and easier to generate 4-5 actionable newsletter ideas from a single video.

DO SELF-PROMOTIONAL “BEST” LISTS BOOST CHATGPT VISIBILITY?

The majority of citations ChatGPT uses for product, software, and agency recommendations come from listicle content, with blog-based “best” lists leading across categories. A study found that brands that rank themselves highly in such lists were more likely to be recommended. In the software category, general landing pages were cited more than blog posts, while in product queries, actual product pages dominated. First-party links more often pointed to internal landing pages than to homepages or listicles. Citations from low-authority and non-editorial websites remain frequent, particularly outside of Google's ecosystem.

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STREAMLINE YOUR SEARCH CONSOLE ANALYSIS WITH THE NEW AI-POWERED CONFIGURATION

New AI-powered features in Google Search Console are designed to reduce the time it takes to set up analysis in the Performance report. The tool turns natural language requests into filters, comparisons, and metric selections. It can narrow data by query, page, country, device, search appearance, or date range, and it can also set up complex comparisons and select metrics like Clicks or Average CTR. The rollout is limited, and the feature only supports the Performance report for Search results.

SAVEE

Savee is a platform for collecting and discovering design inspiration. Its mobile app lets users save ideas, organize them in customizable grids, and search by image or color to find visually similar content. It also supports team collaboration and integrates with Figma and major browsers, serving as a hub for both inspiration and design work.

HOW TO DO ANNUAL PLANNING FOR SEO

Annual SEO planning enables execution of high-impact initiatives, even in a volatile traffic environment. This piece describes a process beginning with a candid SWOT to assess internal strengths and external opportunities. Traffic goals are set using data from Google Search Console, separating branded queries and identifying meaningful baselines. These traffic targets are then tied directly to revenue, supported by TAM analysis. Each tactic is evaluated for lift and feasibility before being scheduled with clear milestones and dependencies. A strong plan also includes internal alignment, cross-functional support, and a defined structure for requesting resources or visibility.

2025 WAS THE YEAR OF EVERYTHING

Marketers faced intense pressure this year. Tight budgets, AI overload, and economic uncertainty are pushing CMOs to focus on end-to-end growth rather than just campaigns. The widespread use of the same AI tools is producing similar outputs that fail to engage consumers. Standing out requires speed, creativity, and real human insight. Brands must read culture in real time, act on moments that matter, and build micro-communities, leverage influencers, and create immersive experiences. Differentiation is no longer optional, it is essential.

REPLYING TO YOUR COMMENTS ON LINKEDIN BOOSTS ENGAGEMENT BY 30%

Analysis of 72,000 LinkedIn posts found that responding to comments consistently correlates with a 30% increase in post engagement, even when controlling for account size and topic.

COPY THAT BLENDS IN VS. COPY THAT RESONATES

Most content falls flat because it doesn't reflect how customers actually think or live.

10-STEP PLAN TO LAUNCHING A PODCAST

Tips include using a good mic like the Shure MV7, investing in cover art, and recording a few episodes before launch.

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THE MATH IS CLEAR: LLMS HAVE FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGED SEARCH

LLM-based search has created a fundamental break from the traditional ranking model because it now generates a single probabilistic answer rather than a list of documents. This shift means classical SEO and LLM search optimize different mathematical objectives, so strong pre-LLM strategies do not guarantee strong visibility in LLM answers. Long pillar pages that perform well in traditional SEO lose retrieval strength in LLM systems because BM25 length normalization and dense embeddings favor short, tightly scoped pages. This change represents the biggest mathematical shift in search since the field began, and it alters which content strategies matter most, even if the core tactics remain the same.

DESIGN & MARKETING TRENDS 2026

2026 will be defined by AI moving from experimentation to infrastructure. Nearly 70% of teams use it, but only 8% have fully systemic workflows. The focus is on intentionality and building strategic systems rather than chasing trends. Visual platforms lead, with Instagram at 55%, TikTok at 51%, and YouTube at 42%, driving short-form video, motion graphics, and human-plus-AI hybrid visuals. Teams prioritize accessibility, brand consistency, and data storytelling while moving away from over-polished visuals and vanity metrics.

ADD A TIMELINE BLOCK TO YOUR HOMEPAGE

A growing website trend is the addition of timeline or onboarding expectation blocks on homepages that outline what happens on day 1, day 7, day 30, and beyond. Brands like Ramp, Numeral, and Hockeystack use this to clarify the process upfront, which helps stakeholders prepare and align before calls. This simple element reduces friction and improves readiness from the start.

B2B-FRIENDLY HOLIDAY CONTENT IDEAS

A “holiday toolkit” can showcase essential end-of-year tools in a save-worthy graphic. Classic holiday memes can be remixed to highlight familiar pain points. Industry products can be reimagined as festive characters in a carousel. A Wrapped-style yearly recap, a thank-you wall celebrating customers and partners, or holiday-themed product analogies all offer fast, engaging formats built for shares and saves.

SHORT VS. LONG CONTENT IN AI OVERVIEWS: THE DATA SAYS BOTH WORK

An analysis of 174,000 pages found that content length has almost zero impact on AI Overview citation or placement. Pages with under 1,000 words make up the majority of citations and are just as likely to appear in top positions as longer content. It means the best approach is to prioritize content clarity and query alignment instead of word count. The focus should be strictly on what the audience needs to know, nothing else.