66% of Gen Z are likely to buy directly from TikTok, and 40% are influenced by trending products on social media. They prefer short, funny content, with around 69% of Gen Z women and 66% of men favoring comedy and memes. Influencer marketing is especially effective, with over half willing to purchase products recommended by influencers, compared to just 10% of shoppers aged 55 and up. While most of Gen Z rejects AI influencers, men are more open to them. This group shops visually, relying on UGC and unboxing videos to validate purchases. They also research extensively online before buying in-store and often cross-check information across platforms and peer groups.
Audiences are increasingly opting out of traditional digital advertising by blocking or ignoring ads entirely, which reflects growing dissatisfaction with how brands communicate online. The overuse of interruptive banners, autoplay videos, and tracking-based personalization has created experiences that feel invasive and untrustworthy. To stand out, marketers must rebuild their approach through content that is more transparent, useful, and relationship-driven by focusing on owned channels and educational storytelling rather than depending on algorithms or short-term reach.
The Consumer Confidence Index increased by 12.3 points to 98 in May, driven partly by easing U.S.-China trade tensions. The share of consumers expecting a recession declined, and inflation expectations dropped to 6.5% from 7% in April. Confidence grew across all age, income, and political groups, with the strongest gains among Republicans. Despite optimism, economists warned that existing tariffs may soon push prices higher, and factory orders dropped 6.3% in April after a surge in March.
The era of publishing SEO-optimized blog posts on company websites as a default playbook is over, with long-form content now needing to justify its format, channel, and purpose. Marketers are evolving their GTM content strategies by producing show-like narratives with recurring themes, stronger editorial direction, and clearer voices that reflect company expertise. Control over analytics and conversions still matters, but building influence increasingly depends on participating in feeds like LinkedIn and Substack while anchoring high-value resources on a centralized and well-structured owned domain.
Only 49% of ecommerce sites offer a good user experience on product detail pages (PDPs), despite nearly all online shoppers relying on them to make purchase decisions. Optimized PDPs include clear titles, detailed descriptions, high-quality images or videos, reviews, and strong calls to action. Best practices also include social proof, scarcity tactics, mobile optimization, and AI-driven personalization, which can reduce customer acquisition costs by up to 50% and increase profits by as much as 30%. Mobile-friendly PDPs are essential, as mobile now accounts for 57% of ecommerce sales. Avoiding poor media, lack of product detail, and complicated navigation is critical, as these issues cause shoppers to abandon purchases.
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Tired of attribution blind spots? CallRail [10] shows which ads, keywords, and campaigns generate calls and form submissions.
Hosted by Canva, this webinar will draw from 2025 research to reveal how top brands plan to boost productivity, scale unique content, and preserve brand integrity. It will explore how 94% of companies are allocating AI budgets, how teams aim to streamline workflows, and how organizations intend to balance creativity with efficiency in an AI-driven landscape. Registration is free. The webinar will be held on June 10 with multiple live sessions available.
This guide summarizes tools for course creators, outlining their key features and pricing. HeyGen enables customizable, multilingual AI-generated videos with avatars and branded visuals. Udemy offers course hosting and student access but lacks integrated video editing. Skillshare uses a subscription model focused on community engagement but doesn't include course creation tools. Kajabi provides an all-in-one solution for managing, marketing, and selling courses with sales funnels and email automation. Thinkific offers customizable course design and branding with integrations for scaling, though it requires external tools for video and translation.
Kay-Kay Clapp, Head of Content and Social at Typeform, recommends clearly defining one key takeaway for each piece of content to align stakeholders and simplify creative execution. She uses modular content systems and structured workflows supported by clear briefs and AI to streamline production. Audience surveys serve as an effective tool to directly source relevant content ideas and quotes. SME-driven content provides unique perspectives that differentiate from generic AI-generated content. Clapp measures content effectiveness primarily through owned audience engagement and long-term audience growth, rather than traditional metrics like traffic or MQLs.
Chewy's marketing and CX model is rooted in hiring pet-loving staff, avoiding productivity scripts, and delivering ultra-fast phone support to deepen loyalty. Its GTM execution relies on building 95% of offerings in-house, from telehealth to veterinary care, ensuring quality control and a unified brand experience. The company rewrote its mission in 2018, successfully shifting from retail to an all-encompassing platform for pet wellness and convenience.
Users can now see how specific posts drive new profile views, new follows, and clicks to the Premium custom button.
Creators are visually blending digital and physical worlds by framing themselves interacting through phone screens.
The FTC's case claims Meta acquired Instagram and WhatsApp to eliminate competition in personal social networking, while Meta argues that competition from TikTok undermines the FTC's narrow market definition.
A survey of social media marketers found that Instagram is still the top priority for most (92%), followed surprisingly by LinkedIn (52%), then TikTok (50%). TikTok is considered the hardest platform to succeed on by 32.5% of respondents, while Instagram's flexibility makes it the top choice if marketers had to pick only one platform. Carousel posts have edged out short-form videos as the best-performing format, with 70.3% rating them highly. Professionally, 51% of respondents feel worse off than last year, and 61% reported budget and resource changes, with 58% seeing cuts. The biggest challenges social media professionals face are lack of time, limited creative support, and leadership that doesn't fully understand social strategy.
Over 80% of creators use AI in their workflows, and 40% rely on it end-to-end. Video is the top format, with 52.5% of creators focused on it. Chat tools remain the most used at 37.6%, followed by increasing use of audio and image tools, especially among educators and L&D teams. Adoption is highest among L&D (100%), educators (90%), and agency teams (85%). Younger creators under 25 lag behind, with only 41.8% using AI throughout their process. Most creators use 3 or more tools, reflecting a shift toward multimodal and stackable AI-powered workflows.
2025.05.28·46573392.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net·11 min read·TLDR Marketing Keurig's GTM strategy originally focused on machine placement to drive high-frequency pod purchases, but it stalled growth due to customer backlash due to excessive DRM restrictions. Under the new CEO, the company shifted from a saturation mindset to segmentation, targeting new usage occasions and environments such as dorms, offices, and small households. Strengthening partner incentives and rethinking pricing also helped rebuild alignment across retail and brand collaborators.
Cold outreach campaigns on Clay are seeing 45% reply rates by activating messages at the exact moment buyer intent is detected. Rather than rely on preset segments or scheduled sends, marketers use orchestration flows that adapt in real time based on behavioral and contextual signals. This shifts marketing from batch campaigns to continuous, signal-driven engagement that reaches customers at the optimal time on their journey.
Sock Candy, a fashion sock brand known for its sheer, artistic designs, quadrupled monthly revenue from $10,000 to $40,000 through creative Meta ad testing and weekly optimization. Growth was also fueled by indirect marketing on Reddit, where organic community engagement outperformed traditional promotional tactics. Strategic pivots based on customer behavior and selective platform use helped define a distinct brand identity focused on self-expression.
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If you have a product-led or hybrid motion, you're probably getting people signing up to use your product. Do you route them to sales? Do you let them do their own thing until they're ready to talk? Default looked at data from over 100,000 signups [9] and asked top growth
Acrolinx helps create clear, consistent, and compliant content at scale. It digitizes company-specific style guides, terminology, and tone of voice, providing real-time guidance to writers within their existing authoring tools. By integrating into workflows, Acrolinx ensures content aligns with brand standards, regulatory requirements, and inclusivity goals.
Zapier overhauled its Agents to support fully autonomous workflows. Features include single-purpose agents, organized Pods, an activity dashboard for oversight, and a faster creation process with new templates. These updates make it easier to build, monitor, and scale AI-powered automations that act independently across over 8K apps. Ready-to-use agent templates are available for sales, marketing, customer support, and productivity.
People with low AI literacy are more likely to adopt AI tools because they perceive them as magical. In a global survey of 19,504 people, those with less AI knowledge were 31% more likely to use AI and 29% more likely to describe it as magical. This sense of awe makes them prefer AI for tasks like writing or planning. To increase adoption, companies should highlight the "magic" of AI when targeting non-technical users, but avoid this approach with more technically savvy audiences.
Age remains one of the strongest predictors of media preferences, shaping how different generations engage with platforms, devices, and content formats. While digital adoption is widespread, younger audiences often prioritize short-form, mobile-first experiences, whereas older generations continue to favor linear content, longer formats, and familiar platforms. These behavioral differences reflect deeper contrasts in motivations, such as the desire for discovery versus comfort, or speed versus depth, making age-informed segmentation essential for any campaign.
The Philadelphia Eagles are capitalizing on the NFL's failure to ban the "tush push" by turning it into a marketing campaign and fan rallying point. The team released a $40 "Push On" shirt and launched a wave of social media content, including a 26-minute video of tush push plays. A proposal to outlaw the play fell two votes short, with 22 in favor and 10 against, and only one of the Eagles' 2025 opponents voted to keep it. Retired center Jason Kelce reportedly helped influence the vote. The team has embraced the play as a core part of its identity and branding.
YouTube is now the top TV distributor in the US, holding 12.4% of viewing time, up from 9.6% a year ago.
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan joins Nikhil Kamath to discuss the platform's growth, why audiences trust podcasters more than traditional news, and how AI can enhance creativity.
The templates include simple reminders, discounts/incentives, and personalized recommendations.
Copywriting in advertising is deteriorating as brands pursue slogans that generate conversation even if they confuse or alienate audiences. The shift away from persuasive writing toward rapid content production is driven by AI adoption, the collapse of traditional copywriting, and a perception that consumers no longer engage with longer form messaging. As agencies chase virality over clarity, the loss of focused craft has led to campaigns that shout rather than persuade, replacing brand narratives with surface-level disruption.
Google's AI Mode in Search hides referral data, making traffic from it invisible in Google Search Console and analytics tools, where it's instead classified as Direct or Unknown. This lack of transparency prevents website owners from knowing how much traffic AI Mode is driving, despite claims that it delivers higher-quality visits. The links generated include a “noreferrer” attribute, which strips referrer information and blocks attribution. While Google states AI features are included in overall search traffic, current documentation only references AI Overviews, not AI Mode, leaving significant gaps in reporting and visibility.
Brands can turn customers into thriving communities by prioritizing YouTube as a central content engine, repurposing videos across platforms, and deeply engaging in the comments. Transform power users into creators (and vice versa), using them not just for content but as credible advocates who resonate more authentically than branded messaging. Build advisory boards from engaged users to gather product feedback, test content, and foster loyalty. Make users feel heard, empowered, and involved at every stage.
Video is a powerful format for storytelling, but it only works when the story, audience, and business goals are well-defined before production begins. Many companies fall into the trap of producing content for volume or entertainment value, assuming visibility will translate to impact, but attention without intent rarely drives growth. Build strategic video systems that scale with the brand, resonate with the audience, and deliver insights that guide future efforts.
This webinar, led by Jess Cook (Head of Marketing at Vector) and Alex Lindahl (GTM Engineer at Clay), will look at how B2B teams can use buyer intent signals to drive pipeline and create high-converting campaigns. Aimed at demand generation, growth, and ABM professionals, the session offers strategies to align marketing with sales, prioritize intent data, and engage high-quality leads. It is free to register and will take place on May 28 at 12 PM CDT.
Laneige's sensorial marketing ties product launches to food and beverage collabs with local partners like Boba Guys, Dough Donuts, and Sidecar Doughnuts. It created flavor-inspired skincare experiences that engage multiple senses. Each launch included limited-edition treats, full-size product giveaways for early attendees, exclusive merch, influencer-hosted events, and community activations such as fitness classes to drive turnout and build buzz. This approach has helped Laneige stay the top-selling lip treatment brand in the US for 3 years. The brand tracks success through metrics like foot traffic, sales, video views, and especially shares and reach.
Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter tour features her haircare line Cécred as the official beauty brand and her whiskey brand SirDavis as the official spirit. The tour includes branded pop-up shops, specialty cocktails, and a robotic arm that pours her a drink on stage. The combination of entertainment and commerce positions the tour as a business blueprint that merges her personal branding with experiential marketing for her brands.
Spending 10% more on ads than your market share will result in you gaining 0.7% market share each year.
6 conferences and events happening across the US in July tailored for content creators and marketers.
A screenshot of Rand Fishkin's email explaining the rise of zero-click-everything.
Tech companies and payment services are betting AI will transform online shopping with personalized product comparisons, virtual try-ons, and AI agents that can purchase with user permission. While AI chatbots save time, consumers remain skeptical about recommendation accuracy and privacy, especially around payments. Retailers must adapt as AI may not always highlight their products, creating risks but also chances for smaller businesses if results rely less on ads.
Gen Z spends nearly 7h/day on their phones and is willing to sell their personal data for about $50 a month by sharing their browsing, buying, and streaming habits. About 88% of Gen Zers say they're open to sharing some personal data with social media companies if fairly compensated, compared to 67% of older adults. While more willing to be tracked, they still take privacy steps like clearing cookies and using anonymous browsers twice as often as other generations.
Tom Orbach grew his newsletter using creative tactics like handing out branded stress balls as ice breakers, adding shareable infographics to emails, and engaging with followers by offering free marketing advice in comments. He collects unsolicited positive feedback for social proof, sends personalized LinkedIn messages to new connections, and places small bets on emerging projects. Orbach leverages Substack recommendations by promoting other writers, launches creatively on Product Hunt, boosts successful LinkedIn posts with ads, and focuses on practicing marketing daily over just writing about it.
HubSpot built a customer-success engine on Reddit through a two-part moderation approach. A volunteer expert, Ryan Gunn, provides transparent, knowledgeable engagement, while the branded support account u/HubSpotHelp is managed by employees. The subreddit, with over 13K subscribers, acts as a space for education, peer support, and product feedback. Gunn's credible responses help build trust and influence product decisions, while u/HubSpotHelp adds value through AMAs, direct support, and highlighting key concerns.
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Delve ran 4 placements 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.
ColdIQ's founder shares the full tech stack behind scaling their outbound agency to $400K MRR. They use Notion for content planning, Tella and vidIQ for video creation, and Webflow, Surfer, and Ahrefs to grow SEO traffic. Outbound is powered by Clay, Relevance AI, and lemlist, while inbound relies on Wistia, Default, and HockeyStack to convert visitors. Warm leads are re-engaged with Breakcold and Customer.io. Ops run on Airtable, Puzzle, and Relevance AI, with sales closed via Attio, Qwilr, and Stripe.
This prompt turns ChatGPT into a senior marketing consultant who can generate a strategic growth report tailored to your brand. Enter in your website, goal, budget, and timeframe, and you'll receive insights on competitors, your current channels and creative, untapped growth opportunities, and a prioritized roadmap split into quick wins and longer-term plays. Each tactic comes with step-by-step instructions based on expert-level strategies.
Discord has over 200M monthly active users and is now testing unskippable, reward-based video ads. These ads only play when users are actively watching and are tied to in-game perks, ensuring full engagement. With interest-based targeting and opt-in personalization, Discord is positioning itself as a low-noise, privacy-conscious ad environment for brands targeting younger audiences.
People don't resist design changes, they resist poor design. Rebrands like Twitter to X, HBO to Max, and Jaguar's new logo failed because they discarded strong brand identities for bland and confusing replacements. In contrast, successful rebrands from Adobe, Google, and Kleenex showed thoughtful evolution that respected brand heritage. Good design simplifies, clarifies, and feels natural, while bad design does the opposite.