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.
Consistency in Marketing: Benefits, Elements, and Tips
The episode explains how brand consistency—through visual elements, messaging, voice, tactics, and customer experience—drives recognition, trust, and revenue growth, citing the Rule of 7 and a 10% lift statistic. It outlines practical steps: assess consistency with a brand persona, create and share detailed brand guidelines, centralize assets, audit the full customer journey, and schedule regular reviews to prevent drift. By anchoring decisions to a clear brand identity and using tools like DAM systems and regular audits, marketers can ensure cohesive experiences across all touchpoints.
Canadian Retail News From Around The Web For January 22, 2026
JLL projects that 65% of former Hudson’s Bay retail space in Canada will be leased within two years, driven by multi‑tenant strategies. Ontario’s new job‑posting regulations introduce mandatory pay transparency, AI disclosure and hiring follow‑up, reshaping retail employment practices. Brands...
Unique Creative Concepts Outperform Volume‑Driven Iterations
Biggest shift we've seen from an creative perspective over the last 6 months is a shift from volume --> unique concept identity. Previous volume would carry 90% of accounts into positive growth performance. But something changed in August / September...
Coach Arrives at The Sims
Luxury fashion brand Coach announced a partnership with Electronic Arts’ The Sims franchise, introducing a line of virtual clothing, accessories, and home décor for players. The collection will be available for purchase through The Sims’ in‑game store, marking Coach’s first...
Polarized Reactions: 60% Hate, 40% Love AI Singer
What 2026 will be like. Just got this DM: “Hi Robert, we're working with a major artist (billons of streams, household-name collaborators) on something that feels like it's crossed a new line. We've created a social robot with her voice. Early users...
Scaling Hair Care Product Photography: How Beauty Brands Win Without Endless Shoots
In this episode, Steve Hutt explains how hair‑care brands can slash visual production costs by 40‑60% using AI‑generated “Digital Twins” and hybrid workflows that blend annual studio shoots with on‑demand AI imagery. He highlights how AI instantly creates diverse, hyper‑realistic...
Twilio and AEG Bring Real-Time Personalization to Live Sports and Entertainment
Twilio has deepened its multi‑year partnership with AEG, extending its customer‑engagement platform to Crypto.com Arena, the LA Kings and the AXS ticketing system. The collaboration enables real‑time, data‑driven personalization of fan communications across SMS, email and in‑app channels. By integrating...
Instagram Tests Changing ‘Following’ Display to ‘Friends’
Instagram is piloting a profile redesign that swaps the traditional “Following” count with a “Friends” metric, showing only users who follow each other. The small‑scale test, confirmed by Instagram to Business Insider, aims to make reciprocal connections more visible. The...
How To Sell Technical Products on Shopify Without Overwhelming Customers
Steve Hutt explains how Shopify brands can sell complex technical products by flipping the traditional sales script: start with the buyer's high‑stakes problem, then educate before showcasing features. He outlines the Education‑First Framework, which layers quick answers, deeper content, and...
How Foodology Is Accelerating Its US Growth Through TikTok Super Brand Day
Foodology, a Korean inner‑beauty brand, leveraged TikTok’s Super Brand Day to launch its Cutting Jelly in the United States. A Kylie Jenner mention sparked viral buzz, helping the product earn Amazon’s Best Seller badge and a 378% year‑over‑year revenue increase...
TikTok Adds More Control Options to Smart+ Campaigns
TikTok has upgraded its AI‑driven Smart+ campaigns with new creative‑selection and management tools. The Auto‑select feature scans existing ads and creator content to recommend top‑performing creatives automatically. Advertisers can now preview every possible creative combination in Ads Manager and use...
Shoppable Shopify UGC: Turn Customer Posts Into Sales
The episode explains why user‑generated content (UGC) is essential for Shopify stores, highlighting that shoppers who engage with UGC convert up to 161% more and that visual reviews boost purchase likelihood by 137%. It outlines how making UGC shoppable—by tagging...
YouTube’s CEO Outlines Key Areas of Focus for 2026
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan unveiled the platform’s 2026 roadmap, emphasizing AI‑driven creator tools, new Shorts formats, and expanded commerce. Over one million channels already use YouTube’s AI suite daily, and the company will roll out AI‑generated Shorts, text‑prompt games, and...
What’s Actually Working in B2B SaaS Marketing in 2026
Enterprise B2B SaaS marketers in 2026 are abandoning the myth of a single magic channel and instead layering eight proven acquisition levers—retargeting, LinkedIn sponsored and thought‑leader ads, Meta lookalikes, Google search, high‑volume AI‑personalized cold email, systematic LinkedIn connections, and weekly...
Nick LeRoy Turns SEO Consulting Into Fundraiser for Minnesota Immigrant Support
SEO veteran Nick LeRoy converted his consulting platform into a fundraiser for Minnesota immigrant support, offering services in exchange for donations to the GiveMN charity. Within seven hours the campaign raised roughly $1,950, backed by prominent SEO agencies, SaaS firms,...
Affiliate Influencer Marketing In 2026: How To Approach Influencers The Right Way
In this episode, Moe Sid explains why affiliate influencer marketing has become a high‑ROI staple in 2026, highlighting the shift from one‑off campaigns to always‑on systems that create shared accountability between brands and creators. He notes the maturity of the...
How Macy’s Media Network Navigates Complex ‘Coopetition’ with Amazon
Macy’s Media Network partnered with Amazon’s Retail Ad Service (RAS) in August, becoming the first major retailer to pilot the platform ahead of the holiday season. The collaboration has attracted over 175 new brands to Macy’s sponsored‑products offering and bolstered...
How Pet Brands Use Bylo.ai’s Emoji Maker to Create More Shareable Content
The episode explains how pet brands can leverage Bylo.ai’s AI-powered emoji maker to turn customer photos and brand phrases into custom, on‑brand emojis that boost shareability across social, email, and SMS. It walks listeners through a three‑step workflow—selecting core reactions,...
Same URL in AI Overviews and Blue Links Counts as One Google Search Console Impression
Google Search Console treats a URL that appears in both an AI Overview and the traditional blue‑link list as a single impression. John Mueller confirmed that the platform aggregates multiple appearances of the same URL on a SERP into one...
AI and the Future of Marketing: Strategy, Human Value, and the CMO Role
In a Duct Tape Marketing podcast, Peter Benei explains that artificial intelligence is reshaping marketing far beyond a new gadget, automating large‑scale content production while leaving strategic judgment and creative taste to humans. He argues that CMOs will transition from...
Simplify, Focus, and Clarify: The Real Marketing Breakthrough
Every marketer wants a breakthrough. Here’s what they usually need instead: • To tighten the copy • To sharpen the CTA • To simplify the funnel • To remove the distractions • To say what they really mean You need...
Small Business Marketing Predictions for 2026
Constant Contact’s 2025 Small Business Now survey highlights five marketing trends that will shape small‑business success in 2026. Email continues to deliver the highest engagement, even as only 41 % of owners view it as their primary channel. Social media is...
Channel99 Introduces AI-Driven Paid Search Optimization for B2B Marketers
Channel99 unveiled an AI‑driven Paid Search Optimization tool aimed at B2B marketers, shifting measurement from click‑based metrics to cost‑to‑engage target accounts. The platform scores keywords and ad groups by their ability to reach ideal customers, surfacing waste and recommending budget...
Zamora Books Into Motel for Premium Limoncello Brand
Spanish family-owned Zamora Company has appointed creative agency Motel to develop an integrated global campaign for its premium limoncello brand, Villa Massa. The partnership follows Zamora’s €2 million investment to double production capacity at its Sorrento plant, targeting expansion into the...
Guideline Strengthens Senior Leadership Team with Three Strategic Appointments
Guideline announced three senior leadership appointments: Steve Silvers as Chief Product Officer, Michael Laxineta as Senior Vice President of North American Data, and Vivian Herron as Senior Vice President of Sales for North America Brands and Agencies. The hires follow...
Instagram’s Top Boss Is Missing the Point About AI on the Platform
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri warned that AI‑generated content will flood the platform and threaten authentic creator voices. He argues that authenticity will become “infinitely reproducible” and that labeling AI work will be harder than watermarking. The article counters that Instagram...
How to Turn Packaging Into a Revenue Driver (Not Just Another Cost)
Packaging is often seen as a cost, but the article shows it can be a revenue driver. By treating packaging like a marketing asset and measuring revenue per visitor, brands can justify higher spend when conversion lifts outweigh material costs....
Wix Introduces Harmony AI Website Builder via @Sejournal, @Martinibuster
Wix unveiled Harmony, an AI‑powered website builder that blends natural‑language prompts with its existing visual editor. The new platform, featuring the Aria AI agent, lets users generate pages, adjust designs, and add commerce features through simple commands. Harmony supports seamless...
Web Governance As A Growth Lever: Building A Center Of Excellence That Actually Works via @Sejournal, @Billhunt
Web governance is positioned as the missing link that turns digital strategy into measurable growth. The article outlines how a Center of Excellence (COE) built on guardrails, clarity, and evolution aligns leadership, tech, marketing, and data teams. It stresses that...
#489 - 2026 Amazon Keyword Research Masterclass - Part 1
In this first part of the Amazon Keyword Research Masterclass, Helium 10’s Bradley Sutton walks listeners through the fundamentals of 2026 Amazon keyword research using the Cerebro reverse‑ASIN tool. He demonstrates how to filter for revenue‑driving keywords, track historical ranking data,...
Lloyds Expands AI Training Scheme to Entire Workforce
Lloyds Banking Group will roll out AI training to its entire 67,000‑strong workforce over the next 12 months, aiming for 100% AI literacy as part of a £4 billion digital transformation agenda. The programme will deliver bite‑sized modules on ethical AI...
Essential Steps for 2026 Generative Engine Optimization
I took my time spent hours bantering with Claude to help me shape my playbook on Generative Engine Optimization for 2026. This is what I got: 1) Find if your customers are there 2) Make better prompts to track 3) Audit how much of...
Define Your ICP—Even Roughly—To Simplify Success
Block or unfollow me, but I will keep repeating it—defining your ideal customer profile (ICP), even in vague terms will make your life so much easier. I just wrote an article on how to create your ICP 👇
Using AI for Email Content: What Marketing Leaders Should Know
AI is becoming a staple in email marketing, but its success hinges on solid governance, high‑quality data, and strict consent management. Marketers must integrate AI with CRM systems, consolidate records, and ensure compliance before automating subject lines, copy, and calls‑to‑action....
Copywriting Works When You Tap Human Emotions
Effective copywriting isn’t about clever words. It’s about understanding human emotion. Once you know what drives people, you can write copy that actually moves them to act. Clayton Makepeace broke this down into 16 dominant emotions. Bookmark this and use it as a reference....
SEO Visibility Spikes for Entertainment Title Pages
Interesting trend: There was recently an uptick in SEO visibility among these similar page types (@sistrix): - IMDB movie titles - Spotify track pages - Netflix movie titles - Spotify artist pages - Rotten Tomatoes movie pages - Goodreads book titles https://t.co/lyQjJf6ds1
International SEO in 2026: What Still Works, What No Longer Does, and Why
International SEO’s traditional playbook—country‑specific URLs, localized content, and hreflang—no longer guarantees visibility in 2026’s AI‑driven search landscape. AI models now prioritize semantic equivalence, entity clarity, and local authority before applying ranking signals, causing simple translations and page‑centric tactics to be...
Boost AI Search Visibility Using SME-Driven Article Updates
Improve AI Search Visibility by Updating Your Articles with These SME Questions https://t.co/3eiulkRccS via @LinkedIn
LLMs Pull Google’s Dynamically Rewritten Meta Descriptions
If ChatGPT (and other LLMs) are retrieving snippets from Google's search results, they aren't retrieving exact meta descriptions; they are retrieving whatever Google dynamically re-wrote the meta description to based on the query. 2020 study from @ahrefs: https://t.co/q8OMGtt50k
Google Search Ranking Volatility Heated Again January 21
Google’s search algorithm exhibited renewed volatility on January 20‑21, following a previous spike reported on January 15. The fluctuations resurfaced after a brief lull over the weekend, causing noticeable position swings for many sites. Analysts observed that the volatility is...
Google Ads Still Not Coming To Gemini (Post ChatGPT Ads Announcement)
Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis confirmed at Davos that Google has no plans to introduce ads to its Gemini AI product, even as OpenAI announced upcoming ads in ChatGPT. The statement reiterates Google's December claim that Gemini will remain ad‑free,...
Google Adds "Answer Now" Button To Gemini App - If You Can't Wait...
Google has introduced an “Answer now” button in its Gemini app, allowing users to halt the model’s ongoing reasoning and receive an immediate reply. The shortcut leverages the Gemini 3 Flash model, which prioritizes speed over the more nuanced answers generated by...
Google Local Service Ads Verified Section Details
Google is trialing new verification fields in its Local Service Ads detail screen. The pilot adds “Passed License Check,” “Number of Recent Bookings,” “Passed Background Check,” and “Has Business Insurance.” The changes were first spotted by Anthony Higman, who posted...
Social Media Strategy in 2026: The Digital Threads Framework for Real Results
The post outlines a 10‑step "Digital Threads" framework for building a results‑driven social media strategy in 2026. It highlights that over 4.6 billion people use social platforms, yet many firms miss out due to vague planning. Core steps include setting SMART...
Google Search Monopoly Appeal Legal Docs Mention Search Signals
Google has appealed the search‑monopoly ruling and filed affidavits arguing against court‑ordered data disclosures. The documents detail the proprietary signals—DocID mappings, crawl timestamps, spam scores, and device flags—that Google would have to share with qualified competitors. Google claims releasing this...
How Recommender Systems Like Google Discover May Work via @Sejournal, @Martinibuster
Google Discover operates as a large‑scale recommender system built on the Two‑Tower architecture originally devised for YouTube. The model creates separate embeddings for users—based on watch history, search tokens, location and demographics—and for content items, matching them via similarity scores...
TransAct Appoints Dana Loof as Chief Marketing Officer to Accelerate Growth and Platform Expansion
TransAct Technologies announced the appointment of Dana Loof as Chief Marketing Officer to steer its global marketing strategy and accelerate growth of its BOHA! platform and casino‑gaming solutions. Loof brings a 30‑year track record in high‑growth tech firms, including senior...
Consumer Text-Based Purchases on the Rise
In 2025, 65% of consumers completed purchases through brand text messages, marking the first time text messaging outpaced email for promotional offers in Vibes’ nine‑year study. The report also found 81% of respondents view RCS messaging as superior to SMS,...
Five Tanning Firms Scorched as ASA Turns up the Heat
The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned five tanning‑related advertising campaigns after finding them to be misleading and irresponsible. The ads, from SunShine Co, Tanbox Towcester, The Sun Company, Tan & Deliver Home Hire Sunbeds and Byrokko, claimed sunbeds...
Liverpool FC Signs SAS to up the Club’s Marketing Game
Liverpool Football Club has signed a multi‑year global partnership with SAS, appointing the tech giant as its official AI marketing automation partner. The club will roll out SAS Customer Intelligence 360 and SAS Viya to power real‑time analytics, campaign management...