Today's Digital Marketing Pulse
Accenture Song acquires creator agency Whalar to boost influencer capabilities
Accenture Song announced the acquisition of Whalar, adding a 170‑person global creator and social team while keeping co‑CEOs Emma Harman and Jo Cronk in place. The deal 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 tools.
Woolworths Senior Media Manager Joins Comcast’s FreeWheel
Comcast’s FreeWheel has hired Woolworths senior media manager Alan Jenner as Director of Platform Partnerships for Australia and New Zealand. Jenner spent nearly five years leading programmatic at Woolworths and previously held senior roles at LiveRamp, Comscore, Optus and Telstra. FreeWheel, an ad‑tech platform connecting advertisers with premium streaming, CTV and BVOD inventory, is expanding its regional footprint amid rapid growth in connected‑TV advertising. The move aims to accelerate partnership development and capitalize on the convergence of linear and digital video markets.
Google Discover Update: Early Data Shows Fewer Domains In US via @Sejournal, @MattGSouthern
NewzDash’s early analysis of Google’s February 2026 Discover core update shows a shift toward locally relevant, in‑depth content and a drop in click‑bait style items. In California, local articles in the top 100 rose from 10 to 16, while Yahoo’s presence fell...
SEO Agency's AI Hype Hides Paid Self‑promotion Tactics
Another SEO agency that claims to be a great partner to lead clients into the AI search era This one not only uses self-promoting listicles, but clearly pays to be listed on everyone else's "best of" listicles too I'd be a bit...
AI-Driven Playbook: Build $100M Ecommerce From Scratch
How to build a $100M+ company with AI in ecommerce: Step 1: AI scrapes social media for viral content in a niche It's watching what's trending, what's getting engagement, what people are talking about. Step 2: AI creates organic content around that niche Start...
Grokipedia as a Backdoor to Getting Found in LLM AI Search
Grokipedia, xAI’s AI‑generated encyclopedia, is rapidly becoming a cited source for large language model chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude. Launched last year, it relies on the Grok LLM to create and edit entries, offering marketers a new backdoor to appear...
Master These 5 Essentials to Boost Clothing Sales
If you’re going to sell clothing, you need to understand these 5 things. This is why your content flops and your sales stay stuck.
Simplify GTM: One Goal, One Audience, One Offer
If your GTM feels stuck, run this experiment. It will take you 30 days: 1. Pick ONE growth goal. Pipeline, activation, or expansion. Not all three. 2. Pick ONE audience. Not "SMB + mid-market + enterprise." One. 3. Pick ONE...
The Anatomy of Perfect Content: How Marketers Can Reach Consumers in the AI Era
The Expedia Group Advertising "Science of Wanderlust" study surveyed over 7,000 consumers and used eye‑tracking to pinpoint the creative elements that cut through today’s AI‑saturated content stream. It found video drives purchase intent three times more than static images, while...
Meta Prioritizes Broad Targeting Over Tight Layering
Meta just made detailed targeting "mostly a suggestion." Graph API v25 dropped this month bringing an inevitable conclusion to a direction they have been signaling for a long time. Your audience selections? They're now inputs, not constraints. If you're still building campaigns around tight...
Virality Doesn't Equal Follower Growth on X
If you're chasing virality on X, it does nothing for your followers. Here are analytics from two days, side by side. One with 30k views, and one with over a million. The 30k day saw a lot more followers. The viral post?...
Waterloo Sparkling Water Names Dentsu Creative Social AOR as Brand Expands
Waterloo Sparkling Water has appointed Dentsu Creative as its social agency of record, coinciding with the rollout of new flavors Banana Berry Bliss, Melon Medley and a year‑round Lemon Italian Ice. The partnership is timed to the opening of the...
In‑house Shifts Often Raise Costs, Lower Revenue—Keep Agency Insights
One of our brands we've been working with long-term moved to an internal person last month but they kept us on view access of the account(s). Since they took over? CPA is up 48% ncCPA is up 109% Spend is up 32% Revenue is down...
Product Improves, CAC Rises: AI Amplifies Growth Dilemma
your product gets better every week, but your CAC gets worse every month Can your product get good enough to generate organic growth before your marketing channels saturate with scale? AI is going to supercharge this conflict. We’ll write even more and...
How to Stop Publishing Content Nobody Cares About and Create Content Your Audience Loves
The article advises founders to stop producing irrelevant content and instead focus on audience‑centric, authentic storytelling. It stresses that understanding who you write for, being genuine about successes and failures, and publishing consistently are essential for building trust, especially among...
Start with Bottom‑of‑Funnel, Flip Funnel, 44× SQL Growth
A cybersecurity SaaS came to us with a problem 👇 - Pipeline flat - About 1 demo per month - Marketing basically paused 12 months later: - 44x SQL volume - 1200% more opportunities - Deals closing 3x faster than...
On the Move: French/West/Vaughan Signs Sykes
French/West/Vaughan announced the hiring of Drew Sykes as Vice President of Social Media and Influencer Marketing, bringing experience from Ignite Social Media and North Carolina State University. Cyber‑security firm Axonius named Meghan Marks as Chief Marketing Officer, leveraging her track...
What UGC Content Moderation Means for Brands and Marketers
User‑generated content (UGC) is reshaping modern marketing by leveraging authentic consumer voices across platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and review sites. Brands that showcase real experiences see higher engagement, expanded reach, and improved SEO, as search engines favor fresh, user‑authored material....
The 10 Fastest-Growing UK Instagram Accounts Of January 2026
Manchester United led the UK Instagram surge in January 2026, adding 497,000 followers to reach 66.1 million total. Harry Styles, Owen Cooper, Olivia Dean and other entertainers followed, each gaining between 191,000 and 419,000 new followers. The growth was driven by a...
What Amazon’s Big-Box Move Means for Retail Media and Brands
Amazon is opening its largest ever big‑box store, a move framed as a physical challenge to Walmart and Costco but primarily a data play. The new footprint expands Amazon’s ability to observe shopper behavior, serve retail media ads, and claim...
Monetize Your Thank‑You Page with One‑Click Upsells
Brands will spend $50 to get a customer to checkout and then show them a generic Shopify thank-you page… Make it make sense. That page has a 100% view rate. Higher than: → Your homepage → Your landing pages → Every ad you've ever run It's...
How to Optimize Your Content for LLMs With Semrush
Semrush’s AI Search Optimizer helps marketers re‑engineer existing pages so large language models can cite them confidently. The tool scans a chosen URL, evaluates structure, clarity, E‑E‑A‑T signals and schema markup, then delivers a prioritized list of rewrite actions. Semrush’s...
Rewarded UA Unlocked
Rewarded user acquisition (RUA) is a mobile marketing strategy that grants players in‑game rewards for completing post‑install tasks such as tutorials or level milestones. By tying incentives to meaningful actions, RUA drives higher engagement, retention, and ultimately better return on...
Turn One Proof Asset Into Two Claim Formats
Hot take: your audience isn’t consuming your content. They’re consuming someone else’s screenshot of it. Or a creator recap. Or an AI answer stitched from whatever looked most consistent online at the time. So “we posted 5 times this week”...
Podcast Advertising Fell In January From Holiday High
Podcast advertising spend plunged 21% in January, falling to $59.8 million for the top 15 advertisers from a December peak of $75.9 million. The decline follows a holiday‑driven surge and signals a market correction. Despite the overall drop, brands such as T‑Mobile...
'As Long as the Message Gets Out': Ky. FD Lights up TikTok with Fire Safety and a Sense of Humor
The Owensboro Fire Department (OFD) launched a TikTok channel to spread fire‑safety messages and boost recruitment. Within a week the account amassed 1,400 followers, with its debut video garnering over 15,000 views and subsequent clips reaching thousands. The department pairs...
From Good to Better: The Real Focus Required to Scale Profitably
The article highlights the often‑ignored "good‑to‑better" stage where businesses are healthy but growth stalls without intentional focus. It argues that founders must shift from reactive fixes to strategic clarity, carving out dedicated thinking time. By concentrating on one of three...
Sitemaps Don't Guarantee Indexing Without Valuable Content
Sitemaps aren't a directive. You still need to prove a site's worth to Google... -> From John: "One part of sitemaps is that Google has to be keen on indexing more content from the site. If Google's not convinced that...
This Election Season, Buyers Can Curate Deals Based On Voter Values
OpenX partnered with data firm Givsly to launch a sell‑side curation platform that lets political advertisers target voters by shared values rather than party affiliation. The solution works across premium CTV and digital publishers, including Newsweek, Plex, Xumo and Scripps....
The #1 Difference Between Sales and Branding
In this brief episode, Gary Vaynerchuk discusses the importance of clear calls‑to‑action, the value of constant community engagement, and his personal vision for the New York Jets, including a youth jersey program to build brand loyalty. He emphasizes that entrepreneurs...
ByteBrew Launches AI-Powered Cross-Promotion Network to Scale App Portfolios
ByteBrew has introduced ByteBrew Ads, an AI‑powered cross‑promotion ad network that lets developers move high‑value users between apps in their portfolio. The service relies on Ctrl, the company’s proprietary AI engine trained on massive app data, to target users based...
Google Ignores Sitemaps Lacking Fresh, Valuable Content
Google won't use your Sitemap file if it isn't convinced of new/important content says John Mueller of Google https://www.seroundtable.com/google-index-sitemap-content-40973.html #google #seo #googleseo #sitemaps
Sell Ideas, Not Time: The Wealth of Ownable Concepts
Top paid experts all have one thing in common: They sell ideas (not just time). And iIdea owners get rich. Simon Sinek charges $100K+ for a keynote today. But before his famous “Start With Why” TED Talk? He was a relatively unknown marketing consultant. One...
Google: A Spike In Impressions Doesn't Cause Problems For Search
Google Search Console users reporting sudden impression spikes were reassured by John Mueller that higher impression counts do not harm search performance. Mueller clarified that the increase is merely a visibility metric and not a ranking signal. The spikes can...
Big $400M Firm Forgets Favicon, Obvious SEO Slip
$400M software company. No favicon in the SERPs. Took me 3 seconds to find the problem. 🤣🤦♂️ https://t.co/KAHXJpjGXY
Google’s AI Detection Triggers Ongoing Traffic Drops
Wow, the Jan 21 unconfirmed update was a bloodbath, and impacted sites are still dropping to this day This is another one in the marketing space; lots of AI-assisted content, self-promotional listicles, who/what/when content, etc. I think Google is getting better at...
Why Vimto Has Partnered with Fatafeat for Ramadan
Vimto has introduced its new Vimto Rose flavour in the Middle East by partnering with Warner Bros. Discovery’s Fatafeat channel during Ramadan. The collaboration embeds the drink within the channel’s Kitchen Tales programming, positioning it as a natural ingredient for recipes, mocktails...
Influencers Drove Gymshark’s $128M Growth, Not Ads
Gymshark went from $0 to $128M in 6 years using influencer marketing. No TV ads. No billboards. Just athletes who genuinely wore the brand. Meanwhile you're running cold Facebook ads with zero social proof. That's the gap.
Meta Predicts Lower CPA Before Any Spend
Got this one click pop-up after publishing a new campaign today. Spend more & get I get lower CPA? Wow... campaign hasn't even spent a dollar yet and Meta knows so much about it already🤯 https://t.co/sBqVkF3uUB
How to Do a Content Audit: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide (2026)
The 2026 guide outlines a step‑by‑step content audit process, emphasizing seven essential phases from goal definition to implementation. It stresses that 61 % of marketers perform audits at least twice yearly to keep content fresh and performant. The article highlights key...
Major Brands Suffer Brutal Ranking Drops in Late January
Wow, the late January ranking volatility was BRUTAL for these 2 companies and they just keep dropping. These are not small sites; they are brands everyone knows. https://t.co/ee0OWA9Irn
Self‑promoting Listicles Cause Ongoing Organic Search Decline
Ooof... organic search trends and ChatGPT citations for 2 SEO agencies that went hard on self-promoting listicles. The drop-off has continued: https://t.co/Z6U6IhHWhL
Google Search Console Page Indexing Report Missing Data Prior to December 15
Google Search Console's page indexing report is missing data prior to December 15, a reporting bug that affects every user of the tool. The gap eliminates historic indexing metrics, making trend analysis impossible for that period. Google has not issued an...
GSC Indexing Report Bug Omits Pre‑Dec 15 Data
Google Search Console page indexing report bug is missing data earlier than Dec 15 https://t.co/y7yTnWMPqo https://t.co/12gwQoqnWm
Weekly SEO Recap: Google Volatility, Review Disappearances, AI Updates
Catch up on last week with the SEO Video Recap covering the week long super heated Google volatility, Google reviews are disappearing again, links in AI Mode and AI Overviews are updated, Google Ads news and more https://t.co/e9yXgyFhbD
How AI Search Is Reshaping Visibility: From Rankings to Mentions
In this episode, host Jordan Cooney and Otterly AI CEO Thomas Paham discuss how AI-powered search engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini are rendering traditional SEO metrics—rankings and clicks—obsolete, with the majority of queries now resulting in zero clicks. Thomas...
Google Admits Indexing Data Gaps Are Just Side-Effect
Google's @johnmu on the page indexing data missing issue - "just a side-effect" - story updated at https://t.co/y7yTnWMPqo https://t.co/Aa09Vs5Avg
Search Spikes Don’t Harm Google Search, Says John Mu
Google's @johnmu said a spike in search impressions does not cause problems with Search https://t.co/Gx8bDf2WoW https://t.co/cLxH8TBMF9
SEO Fundamental: Google Explains Why It May Not Use A Sitemap via @Sejournal, @Martinibuster
Google’s John Mueller clarified why a technically valid sitemap can still show a fetch error in Search Console. He explained that if Google isn’t convinced the site offers new, important content, it may ignore the sitemap altogether. The Reddit user’s...
What California’s Streaming Loudness Regulation Means For Broadcasters And Ad Tech
California’s SB 576, effective soon, mandates that ads in streaming content be loudness‑matched to the surrounding program, extending the CALM Act principles to digital platforms. The law places compliance responsibility on the entity delivering the ad to California viewers, exposing the...
Shark Beauty and LOOKFANTASTIC Bring Live Social Commerce Experience to AI-Driven Catwalk
THG Studios unveiled its World’s First AI‑Driven Immersive, Shoppable Catwalk, integrating a live TikTok shopping segment hosted by Shark Beauty and LOOKFANTASTIC. The event coincides with Topshop’s high‑street comeback through John Lewis, offering both in‑person and global viewers the ability to...