Today's Digital Marketing Pulse
Accenture Song Acquires Whalar to Bolster Influencer Marketing
Accenture Song announced the acquisition of Whalar, adding a 170‑person global creator agency and keeping co‑CEOs Emma Harman and Jo Cronk in place. The deal also includes a three‑year strategic partnership that gives Accenture access to Whalar’s talent‑management, technology and venture assets, integrating the creator network with Accenture’s data and AI capabilities.
How To Build A Winning HVAC Marketing Strategy
HVAC firms must dominate local search by mastering Google Business Profile and Local Services Ads. Their website should act as a conversion‑centric hub, mobile‑optimized with instant contact options. Reputation management, content marketing, and targeted paid ads amplify trust and lead flow. Leveraging maintenance contracts, email nurturing, and data‑driven tracking turns one‑time calls into predictable, high‑margin revenue.
How to Build a Video Asset Library That Drives Revenue Across Email, Ads, and Landing Pages
The article outlines how ecommerce brands can build a video asset library to repurpose Facebook and Instagram videos across email, SMS, landing pages, and paid ads. It provides a quick decision framework, step‑by‑step download methods, format guidelines, and a simple...
Multiply Closes $9.5M Funding
Multiply, an AI‑native media agency targeting B2B firms, emerged from stealth with a $9.5 million Series A round led by Mayfield. The funding includes contributions from Sorenson Capital, Instacart co‑founder Max Mullen, Google Gemini head Josh Woodward, and senior executives from...
Avoid Risky AI Search Tactics; They Damage SEO
One of the worst things you can do for AI search visibility? Destroying your SEO performance with shiny new AI search tactics that are ultimately dangerous for SEO - and by extension - AI search. In my latest Substack article, I wrote...
How New Infrastructure, Like the Model Context Protocol, Is Reshaping Marketing Workflows
Amazon Ads has launched an open‑beta Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that gives AI agents a contextual layer over its advertising APIs. The protocol lets agents orchestrate multi‑step campaign creation, ad‑group configuration, and analytics queries with a single natural‑language prompt....
Smmwiz Emerges as One of the Best and Cheapest SMM Panel Platforms for Social Media Growth in 2026
Smmwiz has positioned itself as one of the leading and cheapest SMM panel platforms in 2026, offering a broad suite of engagement services across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and more. Its low‑cost pricing, rapid order fulfillment, and intuitive dashboard enable...
Google "Developing" Opt-Out of Generative AI Features in Search
Google announced it is developing a mechanism that lets website owners opt out of having their content used in generative AI features within Search. The move is part of a broader response to the UK Competition and Markets Authority’s proposed...
Invest in These DTC Essentials, Not Fancy Extras
A few things that are actually worth the money (for DTC operators): • A founder who will record videos • Knowing contribution margin before opening Ads Manager • A creative producer you can text at 9 am and have content ASAP • Raw over...
Mass Audiences Aren’t Dead: 5 Takeaways From Index Exchange At Marketecture Live
At Marketecture Live III, Index Exchange VP James Wilhite argued that mass audiences haven’t vanished—they’ve simply fragmented across devices, platforms, and time. The challenge for buyers is not reach but planning, as fragmented signals make audience visibility difficult, especially in...
Google Retires Several Legacy Ad Format Policies
Google announced that as of March 17 it is retiring several legacy ad format policies, including those governing form ads, image quality, responsive ads, and text ads. The removal reflects the migration of these older formats into newer, automated campaign...
SMX Now: Learn How Brands Must Adapt for AI-Driven Search
Visibility now hinges on AI-driven search, not just rankings. SMX launches its monthly SMX Now webinar on April 1, featuring iPullRank experts Zach Chahalis, Patrick Schofield, and Garrett Sussman. They will unveil iPullRank’s Relevance Engineering (r19g) framework for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and an...
Before You Commit At NewFronts, Ask One More Question
NewFronts are prompting marketers to lock in streaming and CTV buys, but many overlook whether their operational infrastructure can handle the resulting creative load. The shift to personalized, AI‑driven ads creates thousands of variants, demanding new governance and delivery processes....
LinkedIn Posts Now Surface in Google Discover for Influencers
Cool new update from Discover Snoop: Individual LinkedIn Posts are now appearing in Google Discover. This is in addition to X, Instagram, and TikTok posts already showing more frequently in there. And as @AndellDam has recently been highlighting, this appears to...
Google Brings Vehicle Feeds to Search Campaigns
Google Ads now supports vehicle feed integration in Search campaigns, allowing automotive advertisers to pull inventory from Merchant Center into text ads. The update adds clickable assets that display make, model, price and images alongside standard ad copy. Users can...
Meta Pays Creators Up to $3K Monthly to Join Facebook
NEW: Meta is offering creators who have large followings on other platforms (but who don't regularly post on Facebook) up to $3k a month in bonuses if they start posting on Facebook, it's the company's latest plan to bring higher...
AI Demands a Composable Martech Canvas, Not Stacked Tools
Bryce Peake, who led marketing decision sciences at Domino’s, says this in my new report with Databricks, released this morning — and I think it gets to the heart of it: “We’ve been trying to modify the same martech stack we’ve...
Thrad Extends Its Partnership with Betadine Through iNova Pharmaceuticals
Thrad has extended its partnership with Betadine through iNova Pharmaceuticals to launch digital‑first, AI‑native advertising campaigns for healthcare brands. The first effort is a Betadine Feminine Care initiative that aims to create supportive, informative spaces for women. By combining Betadine’s...
AI Content Fuels Gen Z’s Growing TikTok Skepticism
We’re underestimating how much AI-generated content is going to change the way people approach social media. What happens when there’s a layer of distrust to everyone’s scroll? We already have an idea of the impact. A recent Harris Poll survey...
Emotion-Driven Marketing Wins: Heated Rivalry Powers Panels
Happy to report I did indeed incorporate Heated Rivalry into all 3 of my panels at SXSW - Viral Nation’s Emotion Economy of Social Media - Heated Rivalry made people feel seen. Tap into emotion in marketing Patreon’s Building Brands...
Meta's GEM: Bringing LLM-Scale Architectures to Ads Recommendation
Meta introduced GEM (Generative Ads Model), a foundation‑model approach that treats ad recommendation like a large language model. The architecture separates sequence and non‑sequence features, uses an InterFormer to handle long user histories, and adds a Student Adapter to keep...
Anyone Can Build AI Agents in Hours
We gave every person at Wynter 1 week to build their own AI agent. Budget of about 4 hours each. Today was demo day. Everyone presented what they built. Most had never built anything like this before. Some had zero technical background....
Run 36,000 AI Experiments Nightly for Free
Your competitor runs 50 marketing experiments a year. You can now run 36,000. For free. Andrej Karpathy just open-sourced Auto Research. It runs AI experiments every 5 minutes on a single GPU while you sleep. We’re already testing this at Single Grain....
EBay Beta Testing Video Ads in Promoted Listings Priority Cost-per-Click Placements Starting in Australia
eBay has begun beta‑testing a video‑enabled version of its Promoted Listings Priority in Australia. The feature allows sellers to attach 5‑ to 60‑second videos that auto‑play in eligible ad placements, reverting to static images where video isn’t supported. Pricing remains...
Diversify Ad Spend: Single-Platform Reliance Risks Revenue
Pinterest's CEO blamed tariffs for the company's weak Q4 2025 performance. > Stock dropped nearly 17% > They laid off 15% of the workforce. Tariffs had nothing to do with it… Pinterest's ad auction was being propped up by a handful of large...
Global Signs Nectar Deal to Boost Digital Audio Activity
Global Media has struck a data partnership with Sainsbury’s Nectar360, merging first‑party shopper information with its own listener data on the DAX digital audio platform. The integration lets advertisers target UK audio audiences using anonymised purchase insights and directly measure...
Meta Ads Q&A – What’s Actually Working in 2026
In this episode, Smart Marketer’s Molly Pittman and Director of Advertising Denis Paskalev field live questions about what’s actually working with Meta Ads in 2026, covering campaign structure, creative testing, and scaling strategies for various business types. They emphasize that...
When an Affiliate Marketing Article Turns Into a Tool
KonverJ’s recent thought‑leadership piece argued that affiliate marketing succeeds when treated as a partner ecosystem rather than a single channel. Reader demand for actionable guidance prompted the firm to convert the concept into a practical planning aid called the Audience...
Lottery Operator Launches In-House Agency, Studio 59
National Lottery operator Allwyn is establishing Studio 59, an in‑house creative and content studio slated to open in April. The unit will unify creative, social, production, planning and brand marketing to accelerate content creation across retail, digital and communications channels....
Outsourced Content Can Drain Your Brand’s Spark
Did the social media content for your business lose its luster after you outsourced it? Before all you social media managers come at me, hear me out:
How To Build An SEO Commissioning Workflow: From Tickets To Requirements via @Sejournal, @Billhunt
Enterprise SEO often fails because teams are involved too late, operating reactively with ticket‑based fixes that delay implementation and repeat structural errors. The article proposes an SEO commissioning workflow that embeds search requirements at the design stage, defining intent, eligibility...
Researchers: Meta, TikTok Steal Personal & Financial Info When Users Click Ads
Researchers from Jscrambler allege that Meta and TikTok advertising pixels harvest extensive personal and financial data from users who click ads, even when users explicitly opt out. The pixels collect PII, credit‑card details, and granular shopping‑flow information, running before consent...
Sprout Social Alternatives: Social and Influencer Platforms for Scalable Brand Programs
Sprout Social has long served as an all‑in‑one hub for social publishing, engagement, analytics and, more recently, influencer campaign management. As brands’ influencer programs mature, many find that a single suite can’t meet the deeper relationship‑building, payment tracking, or listening...
Best Instagram Walls for Websites With Real Examples
Instagram walls transform Instagram posts, influencer content, and user‑generated media into continuously updated website assets. By aggregating multiple pieces of social content, they turn fleeting feeds into persistent social proof that supports trust, product discovery, and conversion. The guide outlines...
Twirl Alternatives: Comparing Creator Marketing Platforms for Growing Brands
Twirl remains a popular choice for structured creator‑led content, but growing brands are seeking platforms that can handle larger creator volumes and more flexible workflows. Alternatives such as Modash, Humanz, Creator.co, Billo, Collabstr, Insense, Influee and Trend.io each emphasize different...
Human Voice Beats AI-Generated Content in Marketing
I had a planning call this week and we ended up talking about the "content marketing is dead" idea. I think it’s the opposite. AI makes average content cheaper to produce, so average content gets ignored even faster. If you want your...
The Real Reason Social Media Isn't Working for You
In this episode Gary Vaynerchuk explains why most real‑estate agents’ social‑media efforts fall flat and what they need to change. He argues that content quantity and quality both matter, but the real breakthrough comes from treating attention like a real‑estate...
Bing Business Profiles With Image Slider
Microsoft Bing has rolled out an image slider within its Business Profiles local panel, allowing users to scroll through a business’s photos directly on the search results page. The feature, confirmed live on March 18, 2026, appears in listings that...
Adpro& Group Wins Fine Tissues Mandate Across the Levant Region
Adpro& Group has been appointed by Fine Levant to lead the creative, social and media mandate for Fine Tissues across Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq. The deal revives a partnership that ended in 2017 and adds the Fine Baby...
Here's What I Learned After 100 Posts on Substack
The author celebrated 100 Substack posts for Tracy’s Tidbits, reflecting on lessons learned about audience composition, publishing cadence, and content formats. Consistency—publishing every Wednesday—proved essential, while cross‑posting to LinkedIn emerged as the primary traffic source. Visuals and short “Notes” added...
Pick a Niche, Stay Consistent, Get Early Traction
New blogger? Do these 5 things immediately: • Pick a clear niche • Publish helpful content • Comment on other blogs • Network with bloggers • Stay consistent Speed + consistency = early traction.
Missing Social Media Messages Can Kill Your Brand
Near misses are dangerous to your health. Near misses in #SocialMedia can be fatal to your business. A miss means your message isn't being heard by potential customers. Your brand could crash. https://t.co/6CgUC488Df
How CRO Drives Ecommerce Longevity
Founder Adam Pearce explains that ecommerce longevity hinges on diversified traffic sources and a robust conversion rate optimization (CRO) program. He details how CRO improves advertising efficiency, strengthens organic search and generative‑AI visibility, and fuels personalized email marketing. Real‑world examples—from...
Measure Real Conversions Without Pixels, Compliantly
Healthcare marketers lost pixel tracking. Now what? Russell Reid explains how teams can still measure real conversions — compliantly.👇 Learn more: https://t.co/EqD4ALkqrm @AllianceInno @nex_analytics #hcmktg https://t.co/3jIOMDiCO4
Turn Customers Into Creators, Cut Ads, Grow 50%
Chubbies grew 50% year-over-year by turning 1.5M customers into content creators. Free UGC from their 'Chubster Nation' replaced paid ads. Meanwhile you're spending on ads with no community behind your brand. That's the gap.
Gen Z Fave Dua Lipa Joins George Clooney as Nespresso’s Global Ambassador
Nespresso has appointed pop star Dua Lipa as its new global ambassador alongside longtime face George Clooney. The partnership will launch on April 14 with the “Vertuo World” campaign, signaling a creative shift aimed at attracting Gen Z coffee drinkers. Nespresso’s...
Search Decline Hits Small Publishers Hardest
New data suggests small publishers (10k daily pageviews or less) are hit hardest by search traffic declines —Chatbots only drive 1% of all traffic referrals, so they can't make up the gap —News sites get most page views from AI platforms, but...
TradeDesk Likened to Ryanair, Charging for Every Breath
"TradeDesk is the Ryanair of the programmatic world, won't be long before they charge you for breathing next to someone logged into Kokai" $TTD as seen on @Reddit 🤣🤣🤣
Huge Performance Gap Revealed in 2026 Email Benchmark
The 2026 Klaviyo Email Benchmark Report is here 📊 We analyzed: • 600+ brands • 740M emails • $300M in 30 days ($3.6B annualized) And found a massive gap between top performers and everyone else. Most ecommerce brands have no idea where they actually stand. https://t.co/N9YXthbeeI
Tweet Relevant Content to Appear in Google Discover
How to show up in Google Discover 2026 edition: tweet things you also might be interested in 😅 https://t.co/QuiAVIpyCy
Twitter Adds Unlabeled Sponsored Posts to Following Feed
Twitter has switched to showing people you don’t follow in your following feed, without saying it’s an ad