Each wave of “Google killers” fails not due to a lack of innovation, but because Google's defenses are structural, spanning user habits, product integration, data scale, and capital deployment. The company continues to evolve with AI while anchoring itself in personalized search quality, global infrastructure, and unmatched platform reach. Consumer behavior, not just product performance, remains the driving force behind Google's enduring search leadership.
95% of creators engage audiences through direct-to-fan models, with 25% using personal storytelling as their preferred strategy. For revenue, 27% rely on fan subscriptions and 23% on merchandise sales. This shift reflects platform saturation and algorithm changes disrupting traditional ad income. The creator economy is maturing, with 61% working full-time and 94% diversifying platforms like YouTube and TikTok to reduce risk. AI adoption has reached 91%, mainly for creative inspiration and faster workflows. Music remains vital, with 94% citing it as key to engagement.
Notion's B2C2B influencer strategy focuses on creator-led storytelling to drive adoption from individuals to teams. The Notion team uses tools like Archive to identify creators who already use the product, making campaigns feel authentic and relevant. Briefs are designed to highlight clear a-ha moments that showcase utility and ease of use. LinkedIn plays a key role by encouraging discussion and extending reach while also serving as a channel for community engagement and social listening.
Native video on LinkedIn is outperforming text posts in reach and engagement as users seek content that feels authentic and personal. Marketers are using video to demonstrate expertise, build trust, and highlight team knowledge across key topics. A structured approach that includes thoughtful planning, quality recording, strategic editing, and repurposing helps scale impact while reinforcing brand credibility.
Optimizing content for AI search requires focusing on chunk-level retrieval by making sections independently clear and well-structured. Content with concise summaries and a factual tone should be easy to synthesize. Earning citations demands accurate, up-to-date claims and clear authority signals like authorship and sources. Covering topics broadly and deeply through clusters improves relevance. Supporting multimodal content and ensuring crawlability for AI bots is also essential.
This guide covers different types of social media content beyond typical memes and videos. It includes AI-enhanced formats and immersive experiences. The guide explains what works best on each platform, when and why to use each format, how AI tools can speed up content creation, and offers examples, tips, and ideas.
First-time marketing leaders often derail their credibility by either clinging too tightly to the work or detaching too quickly from their team. Four major mistakes are common: defaulting to random acts of marketing instead of high-impact work, failing to delegate effectively, neglecting coaching and mentoring, and ignoring internal marketing. Leaders should model prioritization using frameworks like KPO (Key Performance, Projects, and Ops) goals and delegate clearly using review tiers and project briefs. Coaching requires intentional time and tools like traffic light frameworks to focus energy where it matters most. Marketing leaders must regularly educate the rest of the company on what marketing does and why it matters.
Brands today are being challenged to balance cultural timing with emotional resonance. Creators like Andrew Huang and Dami Lee are using data and digital tools while staying grounded in human connection. Platforms such as Roblox and Apple Vision Pro offer immersive, community-driven storytelling opportunities. Others are turning inward to shape reality itself. Meditation expert Luca Del Deo introduced tulpamancy, the practice of creating vivid imaginary companions with agency, as a lens for internal worldbuilding.
Advertising aimed at older audiences continues to rely on outdated stereotypes, often portraying aging through extremes such as frailty or exaggerated vitality. This approach ignores the complexity and diversity of how people experience life beyond 55. While some are planning retirement or managing health changes, many are still building careers, caring for family members, staying physically active, and pursuing new passions. These consumers express frustration at being reduced to ads for stairlifts, wills, or funeral services that do not reflect their lifestyle or self-image. Instead, they want to see relatable depictions that mirror the full spectrum of later life.
Formats and topics have a greater impact on LinkedIn posts than post length or the use of short sentences.
People build lists, save inspiration, and make shoppable back-to-school plans in June on Pinterest.
Decentralized social media platform Bluesky reached 36 million users in just 16 months. Offering creators true ownership of their content and audience, Bluesky challenges traditional platforms that control algorithms and extract most of the revenue from creators' work. Its customizable “feeds” system allows users to control how content is distributed, driving more traffic to publishers without penalizing outbound links. Safety and community growth are core to its design, with early viral moments and invite-only access helping form strong, diverse user groups. COO Rose Wang envisions Bluesky as the last platform that creators will need.
AI is creating new human jobs in the areas of trust, integration, and taste. Roles like AI auditors, ethicists, translators, and escalation officers will ensure systems are accountable and fair. On the technical side, jobs such as AI integrators, assessors, plumbers, and personality directors will help embed AI meaningfully into organizations. Creative and strategic roles like product designers, story designers, and world builders will grow in importance as companies rely on people with strong judgment and vision to guide AI toward outcomes that connect with human preferences.
GitHub uses both an embedded email capture form and a secondary call-to-action button on its homepage, a combination not commonly seen together on other brand sites.
Uppercase brand names are seen as more competent and distant, while lowercase ones are viewed as warmer and friendlier. In experiments, unfamiliar brands appeared 52% more competent in uppercase and 68.8% warmer in lowercase. Cultural context matters: Americans rated lowercase brands as 16% warmer, while Chinese participants rated uppercase brands as 11.2% more competent. For B2B brands targeting professional, hierarchy-valuing markets, uppercase is more effective. Lowercase suits friendliness-focused strategies in egalitarian cultures.
Google Search Console now includes clicks, impressions, and position data from AI Mode. A click counts when a user clicks an external link. Impressions are counted when your content appears in AI responses. Positions are tracked individually for each element. Follow-up questions in AI Mode are treated as new searches. While this update brings more visibility into AI-powered results, Google still doesn't allow filtering specifically for AI Mode data.
Dave Gerhardt, Founder of Exit Five, will join Andrei Țiț, Head of Product Marketing at Ahrefs, on June 24 to break down the current state of search, what strategies are no longer effective, and how to maintain visibility as earning clicks becomes more challenging.
Livestream purchases now account for the majority of user activity on TikTok Shop, with over 75% of users buying directly during events. The platform's summer campaign includes a price match guarantee and cashback incentives, adding transactional urgency to its entertainment-first model. This approach closes the gap between engagement and purchase, increasing the platform's utility for both brands and consumers.
Poor media formats are causing a decline in campaign ROI because 75% of ad inventory receives no active attention. Ads placed in low-attention environments waste billions of dollars, with brands losing 43 cents for every dollar spent. Strong creative cannot overcome dull media since attention levels set the limit for ad performance. Attention drops sharply in fast-decay formats like mobile and scroll-heavy placements, while slow-decay formats like premium video hold attention longer and perform better. Shifting focus to measuring actual viewer engagement through Attention Volume, which combines attentive reach and active attention time, can improve media planning by prioritizing where attention truly happens.
Most marketers treat inbound and outbound as separate or even competing strategies, often choosing one over the other based on preference rather than effectiveness. Both approaches should be interdependent components of a unified revenue system. Inbound builds trust and generates engagement, but without structured outbound follow-up, much of that interest goes unconverted. Conversely, outbound efforts that ignore buyer behavior underperform in isolation.
Unilever embraces a five-part formula to build desire for its brands: science, aesthetics, sensorial experiences, sharing, and a youthful spirit.
Brands now build universes to meet consumer demand for connection and shared values, not just products.
P.F. Chang's quickly jumped on a viral TikTok cake joke, turning the moment into a viral stunt.
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Delve ran 4 ads across 2 TLDR newsletters and brought in 66 leads, with a meaningful chunk from enterprise. The result: $1M in attributed pipeline and a 52x ROI.
Since 2013, social media as a news source in the US has doubled from 27% to 54%. It is now ahead of TV and online news sites. Weekly video consumption is high, with 72% watching online news content. The shift is most rapid among 18- to 24-year-olds, marking a fundamental change in how information is consumed. The trend is more pronounced in regions like Latin America and Southeast Asia, but not as much in Europe and Japan.
AI tools often collect behavioral data (i.e. clicks, scrolls, and hovers) to power recommendations, ads, and automations. However, the way they gather and interpret this information isn't always obvious. A lot of this data is inferred rather than explicitly given, which can lead to flawed assumptions. Brands should be cautious about relying too heavily on AI outputs without understanding where the data comes from and how it's labeled. Decisions based on shallow engagement data can create feedback loops, where mediocre content gets reinforced simply because it aligns with past low-effort interactions. Those using AI in content or customer experience should push for more transparency, ask what signals are being collected, and recognize that true intent isn't always reflected in surface-level behavior.
Focus on creating a seamless experience from registration to post-event content when hosting virtual events. Use a simple signup form and a landing page that clearly shows the value, speaker lineup, and agenda. Treat the event like a show, not a meeting. Add branded visuals, music, giveaways, and interactive features like live chat and Q&As to keep energy high. Plan your sessions with repurposing in mind so they become podcast episodes, social clips, and follow-up emails. Track campaign performance, drop-off points, and audience engagement to refine future events.
Interactive content formats including image sliders, assessments, and interactive videos help marketers increase content effectiveness by creating immersive experiences that invite user action. These formats not only enhance storytelling but also simplify complex decisions, such as selecting a product or understanding cost implications. As tools for building interactive content become more accessible, brands of all sizes are integrating these tactics into their strategy to elevate engagement, collect valuable first-party data, and strengthen their digital presence.
Consumer perception shifts with text tilt. Upward angles evoke energy and movement, while downward angles suggest calm and ease. Researchers found shoppers were significantly more likely to buy products when the text direction matched the product's intended emotional outcome, influencing both purchase intent and post-purchase satisfaction. The visual orientation triggered subconscious associations that impacted performance across ads, packaging, and landing pages.
Reddit is launching a new feature for advertisers that slots positive posts from Reddit users right under their ads. The new feature, called Conversation Summary Add-ons, dynamically integrates positive content from Reddit users directly below an advertiser's creative.
Facebook is merging all videos into the Reels format, removing the need to choose between posting a video or a reel. Audience controls remain intact, so users can still decide who sees their content. The Video tab will now be called the Reels tab, but content variety and recommendations won't change. Past videos will stay where they are, while all future video posts will automatically be shared as reels. These updates will roll out gradually across profiles and Pages.
As unhinged marketing becomes more common across social platforms, its ability to differentiate brands has weakened, with only 23% of consumers viewing it as genuinely bold. Brands that succeed are those that reflect a clear and consistent identity across all customer touchpoints, focusing on transparency and authenticity rather than manufactured chaos and short-term virality.
Ryan Hashemi, founder of Snowball, helps brands build strong internal YouTube teams by bridging the gap between corporate marketing and creator-driven content. Many brands rely on agencies or in-house teams that lack a clear YouTube strategy. Snowball focuses first on making content people love before tying it to business goals. It hires storytellers rather than traditional YouTube experts. It also applies creator economy principles to shift brands from costly ads toward building loyal audiences through organic content. The vision is for brands to become content studios that tell stories and own their audiences.
The biggest concerns around AI adoption remain misinformation, accuracy, and potential reputational damage.
4 reasons to post an IG carousel over a single image.
This report looks at how young men engage with social media influencers and the impact on their views and mental health. Only 25% trust what they see on social media, yet 43% trust the influencers they follow. Nearly half believe social media gives them a negative view of the world, and 70% want to see more content from positive male role models. Over half say depictions of men online feel unrealistic, and 24% have switched the platform they primarily use in search of a healthier, more positive social media experience.
As AI eliminates traditional marketing bottlenecks, the demand grows for leaders who can translate automation into strategic growth. Fractional CMOs, who are more focused on oversight rather than execution, bring scalable expertise and objectivity that full-time roles often lack. Their value comes from their ability to align AI with human insight to create faster, more intelligent brand-building systems.
Effective marketing taps into overlooked problems and clear positioning. Dyson succeeded by solving real, everyday challenges like hair styling, while Skechers grew by focusing on comfort for people on their feet all day. Rebrands only work when they clarify confusion, not just change logos. HBO dropping “Max” succeeded by leaning into recognition, while KIND's update faltered without a clear story. AI-first positioning often backfires unless directly tied to customer benefits, as Duolingo learned. Nostalgia works when paired with real value, like Red Lobster's $19.99 shrimp deal featuring Joey Fatone.
While ‘comments' involve brands engaging in conversations on social media, whether by replying to customer posts or joining comment threads on viral content, ‘community' building goes much deeper. Comments do increase visibility, show brand personality, and create casual interactions, but they are only one part of a broader strategy. True community building focuses on creating lasting connections, offering shared spaces, and providing ongoing value that goes beyond reactive engagement. Relying only on comments can lead to shallow interactions and comment fatigue. Building a real community requires an effort that involves more than just the social team.
Ranking #1 no longer guarantees website traffic, and traditional SEO that targets keywords is becoming less effective. Many users now get answers directly from AI tools, skipping websites altogether. A new search strategy emphasizes influence-based metrics such as share of voice, citation visibility, and overall reach across platforms. This free 30-minute-long webinar will take place on June 18.
PayPal's Storefront Ads is a shoppable ad format that lets consumers browse and purchase products directly within publisher sites and apps without being redirected. The ads use PayPal's shopping data and payment tools to enable seamless checkout via PayPal or Venmo. Business Insider, Vox Media, and Horizon Media are early partners. A US rollout is planned for later this summer.
WhatsApp is introducing ads for the first time, placing them within the Updates tab where 1.5B users engage daily with statuses and channels. The new formats include sponsored status updates, promoted channels, and paid subscriptions, allowing businesses to reach users without interrupting private chats.
Product loyalty often forms through emotional connections rather than superior features or design. A product may stick because it solves a problem reliably, feels familiar, or enters a user's life at the right moment. Loyalty also grows through early adoption, trusted recommendations, or the effort it would take to switch. Over time, the product becomes part of the user's story, making it feel personal and hard to replace.
YouTube's Player for Education program allows creators to earn revenue when their educational content is embedded in school materials. Even though the videos run without ads, creators are paid based on watch time through licensing fees from educational partners. A new section in the YouTube Studio app lets creators track earnings from these placements.
Ad revenue from UGC and platforms will exceed the amount earned from professionally produced content this year.
63% of Gen Z customers don't use credit cards - they use debit cards or tools like buy now, pay later, or Cash App Borrow.
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There are plenty of digital analytics tools. But what if instead of a tool, you had a team of always-on AI analysts? Join the upcoming live session to see Amplitude Agents in the wild [4], and hear from (human) AI leaders including Sarah Guo of Conviction, Dmitry Pimenov of OpenAI, Matan Grinberg of Factory AI, and Tony Gentilcore of Glean.
Premium large format Digital Out of Home (DOOH) ads are far more effective at capturing attention than online digital formats. They generate 5X more attention and hold it significantly longer. Viewers engage with these ads 8.2X longer than online display, 5.5X longer than social media, and 1.6X longer than online video. They also drive up to 2.5X higher brand recall and brand choice when using video creatives. This increased attention is linked to long-term brand profitability, especially when premium DOOH is combined with standard OOH. 3D DeepScreen formats also boost brand desirability by 32%.