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.
Amazon Opens Its Ad Stack to AI Agents With MCP Rollout
Amazon announced an open‑beta of its Ads Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server, a unified gateway that lets AI agents connect to Amazon Ads with a single integration. The MCP translates natural‑language prompts into structured API calls, turning multi‑step advertising tasks into conversational commands. Built on Anthropic’s open standard, the protocol reduces the reasoning burden on agents and prevents outdated API usage. The move arrives as Amazon’s ad business grew 24% year‑over‑year to $17.7 billion, signaling a push toward agent‑driven commerce.
Moore Announces Dan Thain as Chief Integrated Creative Officer
Moore, a leading constituent experience management firm, announced Dan Thain as its new chief integrated creative officer. Thain will set the strategic direction for Moore’s integrated creative function and oversee the digital creative team, leveraging his background in nonprofit fundraising...
AI Generates Full Lead Magnets Instantly for Founders
You've heard of Vibe Coding. But now Vibe Marketing is here better than ever. We're rolling out a v2 of our most popular feature for Instant where our AI will create an entire Lead Magnet, Landing Page and Middle-of-Funnel Content...
Effective SaaS Ads Require
Many SaaS teams believe more ad spend = more pipeline. But here are 3 layers they skip: 1. A pipeline strategy that starts at the bottom of the funnel, not the top. 2. A quality-first mindset that prioritizes best-fit leads...
Chrome Ad Blocker Caught Hijacking Amazon Affiliate Links
A Chrome extension called Amazon Ads Blocker, marketed as an ad‑hider, was found to silently replace creator affiliate tags on Amazon product links with its own identifier (10xprofit‑20). Socket researchers discovered the extension injects the tag on page load and...
AI-Driven Thought Leadership Turns SME Insight Into Sales
Thought leadership should be a sales tool, feed search results, and build authority. That's a lot. But what if AI could help you surface and scale that internal expertise? By pairing AI tools with intentional workflows, you can capture unique...
Advanced Ways to Use Competitive Research in SEO and AEO
The article urges marketers to integrate competitive research for both traditional SEO and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) in 2026. It contrasts the benefits of SEO tools—keyword intent, demand capture—with AEO tools that shape demand, influence early‑funnel decisions, and dictate brand...
How a Creator Made Five Figures with Live Shopping
In this episode of Tea with GaryVee, Gary outlines why Live Shopping is the biggest opportunity of 2026 and walks listeners through the exact steps to start selling on platforms like TikTok Affiliate, showing how a creator leveraged his framework...
Close Your Pay Gap: 5 Revenue Streams for Independence
Your employer won't pay you what you're worth. They can't. Their model only works if there's a gap between what you produce and what you cost. A great way to close that gap is to work for yourself. Here are...
Google Ads Replacing Support Form With AI Agent
Google Ads has replaced its traditional support form with an AI‑driven chat agent, accessible via the usual support URL. The chatbot introduces itself as an AI advisor, prompting users to describe issues before offering assistance or escalating to human help....
The In-House Vs. Agency Debate Misses the Real Paid Media Problem by Focus Pocus Media
The article argues that the long‑standing in‑house versus agency debate overlooks the real paid‑media challenge: how performance leadership is structured. Companies often see campaigns run smoothly, yet growth stalls because tracking, strategic ownership, and systematic testing are weak. The author...
18 PPC Statistics To Inform Your Pay-Per-Click Strategy
The episode breaks down 18 key PPC statistics across conversion rates, social media, search, marketplace, and video advertising, highlighting benchmarks like a 7.52% average conversion rate on Google Ads and a $5.26 average CPC. It shows the massive scale of...
SERPs with Ads + AI Overviews Grew by Over 394% in 2025
Google has dramatically increased ad presence on search results that feature AI Overviews, jumping from 5.17% in March 2025 to 25.56% by October—a 394% rise. The growth is uneven across placements, with bottom‑of‑SERP ads now appearing on roughly a quarter...
Custom Channels Intros In-Store Engagement Platform
Custom Channels has launched a unified in‑store engagement platform that links audio promotions with digital signage and loyalty applications, aiming to influence purchase decisions at the point of sale. The solution moves music from background ambience to a data‑driven communication...
Controversial Proposal To Label Sections Of AI Generated Content via @Sejournal, @Martinibuster
A proposal by David E. Weekly suggests a new HTML attribute on the element to label AI‑generated sections of a page. It aims to meet the EU AI Act Article 50 requirement for machine‑readable AI content disclosure, addressing the gap...
Motorsport UK Picks Agency to Steer Transformation
Motorsport UK has selected digital agency Engage to spearhead a long‑term strategic transformation, beginning with a comprehensive website refresh. The governing body, representing over 100,000 members across grassroots to elite racing, aims to modernise its digital presence, improve accessibility, and...
Havas Helia Beats Off Four to Retain Avanti West Coast
Havas Helia has secured a three‑year extension—potentially up to 2030—to continue managing Avanti West Coast’s CRM and loyalty programmes after a five‑agency pitch. The renewal builds on a partnership that began in 2020 and includes full‑service delivery from acquisition strategy...
Faire Teams up with Spring Fair to Launch National Survey
Faire and Spring Fair have launched the "Voices of Retail" campaign, a national survey inviting UK independent retailers to share insights via a five‑minute questionnaire available at the Spring Fair exhibition and online. The survey runs until 2 March 2026 and will...
Apply Sports AI Tactics: Real‑Time, Personalized, Scenario‑Driven Business
4 practical AI lessons from sport. Sport is one of the best stress tests for AI, because decisions are fast, public, and high stakes. Here are 4 AI lessons every executive can steal from elite sport 👇 4) Fan Engagement...
EBay’s New Ad Attribution Rules Look a Lot Like a Seller Tax
The episode breaks down eBay’s new Promoted Listings General attribution model that takes effect on January 13, 2026, explaining that any click on a promoted listing within the past 30 days will attribute all subsequent sales of that SKU to...
Four Things to Think About When Targeting Mobile Monetization Strategy
Mobile app developers must move beyond acquisition to a nuanced monetization strategy that blends multiple revenue streams. A hybrid mix of in‑app purchases, ads, and subscriptions mitigates market volatility while increasing lifetime value. Understanding user segments and behavioral signals enables...
Top 8 Doran Alternatives For Shopify In 2026
In this episode Greg Styczynski outlines why Shopify merchants outgrow basic review apps like Doran and need more powerful solutions. He reviews eight top alternatives—Yotpo, Judge.me, Loox, Stamped, REVIEWS.io, Okendo, Junip, and Vitals—highlighting each platform’s key features such as AI‑driven...
Primark Launches New Youth-Focused Label
Primark has introduced a new youth‑focused label called The Primark Scene, aimed at Gen Z shoppers who feel underserved by traditional kids’ ranges and adult fashion. The line, shaped over an 18‑month research period with direct input from teenagers, features low‑rise...
Exclusive: Mac and Depop Are Teaming up to Convert Gen Z to Buy Lipstick
Estée Lauder’s MAC brand is launching a first‑ever beauty partnership with resale platform Depop to tap Gen‑Z shoppers. The collaboration features influencers Jordyn Woods and Leah Kateb curating wardrobes, with each purchase rewarding buyers a MAC lipstick and custom Depop...
Gymshark’s Jennifer Lai Discusses Building Range Before Chasing Titles
Jennifer Lai, a former Adidas and Dyson executive, has joined Gymshark to design and launch its first North American brick‑and‑mortar stores. She will oversee expansion, operations and people, creating a community‑first retail experience that mirrors the brand’s digital DNA. Lai...
Product Photography Pricing Factors: How Much Photos Cost
The episode breaks down product photography pricing in 2026, explaining that daily rates typically range from $500 to $3,000 and per‑image fees from $50 to $350, with costs varying by experience, shot type, equipment, location, scope, editing, and turnaround time....
Master All Six Essential Ecommerce Email Flows
The 6 flows that should be running in every ecommerce email account. Most brands have 2 or 3. The ones doing it right have all 6. Here’s how to think about them: Welcome is your handshake. Highest open rates you’ll see. Don’t blow...
TikTok Announces ‘TikTok Live Fest’ Event
TikTok announced its first large‑scale Live Fest, scheduled for February 12 at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. Emmy‑winner Keke Palmer will host a showcase that mixes Hollywood star Demi Lovato with top global TikTok creators and competition winners across multiple creator leagues. The...
Why Your Best Ads Are in Your Comments Section
The episode explores how beauty brand Ouai turns customer comments into its most effective advertising and product decisions, highlighting the $300 million company's use of real user language for the hit St. Barts fragrance and hair‑type‑based campaigns. Former CEO Hannah Beals explains...
TikTok Announces Creator Showcase for Black History Month
TikTok announced its 2026 Black History Month showcase, spotlighting a curated roster of #BlackTikTok creators across fashion, entertainment, sports, food and more. The platform highlighted an 11‑fold increase in unique #BlackTikTok posts since 2020 and promised in‑app exposure, branded‑account promotion,...
Meta Announces Discovery Improvements for Creator Marketplace
Meta has upgraded its Creator Marketplace with smarter recommendation engines that surface creators who have previously engaged with a brand, tagged its products, or shown explicit interest. The platform now includes a “Similar Creators” search that mirrors top‑performing past partners...
10 Bloop Alternatives & Competitors For 2026
In this episode Aaron Orendorff walks listeners through the top ten alternatives to Bloop for loyalty and rewards, highlighting each platform’s key features, from Yotpo Loyalty’s strategic partnership model to Smile.io’s Shopify‑centric simplicity. He stresses three pillars for choosing a...
How To Calculate, Use, and Boost Customer Growth
In this SAP Emarsys episode the hosts define customer growth as the net increase in a brand’s customer base and walk through the simple growth‑rate formula, highlighting the need to account for both new acquisitions and churn. They stress that...
Front‑load Hard Work Now, Reap Freedom Later
Underrated life advice: Front-load your life with painful stuff. When you're young, work as hard as possible to acquire skills that will never go out of style. As you get a little older, use those skills to build something meaningful....
Reclaim Traffic with Smarter Ads
With AI chatbots and shopping agents siphoning organic visits, ecommerce marketers are shifting toward smarter ad targeting to sustain growth in 2026. A Harvard Business Review survey shows 74% of U.S. adults 18‑30 used an AI chatbot in the past...
Companies Exploit AI Search, Blurring Ethical Optimization Lines
👀 How Businesses Are Manipulating ChatGPT Results - Happy to see me quoted in this WSJ piece going through how companies are spending to optimize for AI search answers, and in some cases, with a manipulative angle. One thing I...
Relisting: Boost eBay Views Without Ad-Spending
David Brackin shows eBay sellers how a manual bulk relist of stale inventory can dramatically boost visibility without spending on Promoted Listings. By ending and restarting the bottom third of low‑engagement listings during their scheduled renewal, the items receive a...
Negative Reviews: How To Handle Negative Product Reviews
The episode explores why negative product reviews happen and how businesses can turn them into strategic assets. Host Jake Miller of Fellow explains that gaps between expectations and reality drive most bad reviews, and that passionate customers often leave detailed...
When to Use ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Copilot
The article maps five popular AI assistants—ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Copilot—to the specific tasks they handle best. ChatGPT shines for polished, decisive writing, while Claude is more tolerant of half‑formed ideas and exploratory drafts. Perplexity delivers short, sourced answers...
Websites Must Evolve Into User‑Controlled Dynamic Interfaces
The annoying part about being able to build ANY interface at the drop of a hat with Claude Code is that… You want to pull your hair out when a website’s design doesn’t serve you. Pinterest: why aren’t ads pinnable? Why...
22‑Year‑Old Rakes $200K Days
Investigating The 22/yo Who Got Rich Selling Boring Digital Products WATCH HERE 👉 https://t.co/zuimbouzPJ Franco has built a massive business selling digital products. He’s scaling to $200k days, becoming one of the highest-paid digital product sellers at the age of 22....
The Redesigned Offerwall Monetization Dashboard: What’s New and Next
Tapjoy, now part of Unity, has rebuilt its offerwall publisher dashboard to deliver a unified, data‑rich interface. The redesign adds advanced filtering, dynamic visual reports, and new app‑level metrics such as DAU, DUV, and DUC. A refreshed placement page gives...
Ecom Founders Turn Sunday Dread Into Strategic Planning
Everyone on Sunday: I don't want to go to work tomorrow. Ecom founders on Sunday: Planning the week's A/B tests and product launches. Different mindset. Different life.
Demand Generation Beats Brand: Master Lead Magnets Now
Forget what the gurus say. Real B2B marketers know the truth. Most B2B Marketers are told to just post content, build a brand, and pray that leads follow. But after years in the trenches with clients, I’ve seen a brutal...
Why Ecommerce Revenue Is Being Won (And Lost) At Discovery—Not Checkout
The episode argues that ecommerce revenue is now decided during the discovery phase rather than at checkout, emphasizing that shoppers form confidence and intent early through search, category navigation, and recommendations. While checkout optimization remains important, it only impacts a...
Brand Is a Performance Lever, Not Just Aesthetics
Most brands treat “brand” like decoration. Colors, fonts, or a silly mood board someone approved once and never revisited. Then they wonder why performance gets more expensive every quarter. This happens when brand is viewed as aesthetic instead of infrastructure....
How To Use a CRM POS System To Grow Sales (2026)
In this episode Brooke Kiley explains how integrating a CRM with Shopify POS creates a unified customer record that syncs online and in‑store activity, enabling true omnichannel commerce. She outlines the benefits—single‑view insights, personalized clienteling, and automated loyalty/retention marketing—backed by...
AI Search Shifts Focus From Clicks to Late‑Funnel Leads
Yep. AEO/GEO/SEO/WWJD/IMO/YOLO... AI search is important and there is no better team in the game than Docebo. Last year, Kyle Poyar interviewed Silvia Valencia and Valeriia Frolova about how to actually think about AI search, and I believe it's still...
Consolidate Tools: Self‑Host, Automate, and Use APIs
Running a lean, bootstrapped (solo) business requires using a lot of tools. But be careful. Don't let it get out of hand. ⚠️ You want to avoid: - High costs - +30 open tabs - Overlapping functionality - Data scattered...
Early Influencer Gifting Fueled MVMT’s $100M Success
MVMT watches made $100M with ONE strategy: influencer gifting before anyone else did it at scale. Meanwhile you're waiting for organic reach. That's the gap.