Today's Digital Marketing Pulse
Consumer journeys go non‑linear, MiQ study finds
MiQ’s ‘From Funnel to Flexibility’ study, analyzing data from 53 million households and 700 trillion signals, shows 87 % of shoppers change digital activities at least hourly and 42 % describe their purchase path as random. The research, based on surveys of over 4,000 consumers and 600 marketers in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, challenges the traditional linear marketing funnel.
Also developing:
By the numbers: DOJO AI raises $6M Seed round
Google Ads Agencies Hit With Scam Client Leads
Google Ads agencies are facing a surge of phishing scams that masquerade as high‑value client inquiries. Scammers craft spoofed emails and newly registered domains to trick agencies into granting access to My Client Center (MCC) accounts. Google’s product liaison, Ginny Marvin, urged advertisers to flag suspicious messages and report compromised accounts through Google’s dedicated form. Agency founders like Pauline Jakober have documented how these attacks slipped past initial checks, highlighting the growing sophistication of the fraud.
Aggregates Guide Tests, Brand Data Drives Decisions
Some individual brand illustrations of the relationship between campaign level CPMr and iROAS. Important to always view aggregate data as generally useful and specifically useless. Use aggregates to help you decide which things to test first and then check the data...
Hostinger Rolls Out $7‑Month AI Team to Cut SMB Consulting Costs
Hostinger introduced Hostinger Agents, a subscription service that bundles seven discipline‑specific AI assistants for $6.99 a month. The suite aims to replace costly freelance consultants for small and medium‑size businesses, offering on‑demand strategy, SEO, legal, and sales guidance.
AMC Decides to Recreate Quibi, Release The Audacity Pilot in Three-Minute Clips on TikTok
AMC is launching the pilot of its tech‑drama "The Audacity" on TikTok, breaking the episode into 21 three‑minute vertical clips. The move revives the short‑form streaming playbook popularized by the now‑defunct Quibi. The series, starring Billy Magnussen, will also air...
AI-Generated Influencers Flood Feeds as Brands Bet on Synthetic Stars
AI‑generated influencers are now a mainstream marketing tool. Andreessen Horowitz invested in content‑automation startup Doublespeed in late 2025, while research from Graphite shows AI‑written articles surpassed human‑written pieces in November 2024. The shift is sparking a debate over authenticity, job...
Google Core Update Shifts Ecommerce Visibility to Specific, Value‑Rich Sites
🚨 After analyzing some of the ecommerce winners and losers from the Google March Core Update, the clearest pattern is that it redistributed visibility unevenly across query sets, with no single obvious explanation behind all shifts and a few late...
ChatGPT’s $100B Ad Goal Demands Precise Product Discipline
How can ChatGPT reach $100BN in advertising revenue? "If my reverse-engineered input assessments are anywhere near what OpenAI used in its model to project $100BN in annual advertising revenue, then the team faces a formidable challenge, albeit one that is surmountable...
B*tchwork My AI Did For Me, Part 6: Writes and Publishes My Substack From a Text on My iPhone
A creator used a single iPhone text to trigger an AI workflow that drafted, illustrated, formatted, and published a Substack article to 102,000 subscribers within minutes. The system automatically generated a cover image, created a paid post, and queued social...
Why Instagram’s Shoppable Reels May Be Too Little, Too Late
Instagram has finally rolled out shoppable Reels, letting creators tag products and earn affiliate commissions directly within the app. The feature arrives after rivals such as TikTok Shop, YouTube Shorts and dedicated influencer platforms have already built robust commerce ecosystems....
Merchant API Lands in Google Ads Scripts Ahead of Content API Sunset
Google Ads scripts will start supporting the Merchant API on April 22, 2026, as the legacy Content API for Shopping is slated for retirement on August 18, 2026. The Merchant API introduces a modular architecture that breaks functionality into sub‑APIs,...
ROAS Misleads When New Customer Rate Falls Below 80%
ROAS is the most deceptive metric in your ad account • ROAS looks healthy: your new customer rate is quietly declining • You push into cold audiences: ROAS drops so you pull back • You pull back: you recirculate warm demand through the...
5 Best Tools to Auto-Generate Ads in 10+ Languages for Social Media
Social media marketers now need to produce ads in multiple languages quickly, and AI‑powered platforms are filling that gap. The article lists five top tools—Lapis, Canva, AdCreative.ai, Smartly.io and Creatopy—that can auto‑generate creatives and copy in ten or more languages....
Stop AI Repurposing: Test Small, Grow Big
The biggest lie in content marketing is the "AI content machine" that automatically turns one big piece of content into ten small ones. Last year: ▪️ I got 9M+ impressions on my LinkedIn posts ▪️ Ahrefs Blog got 3M+ unique visitors ▪️ Ahrefs YouTube...
B2B AI Content Must Prioritize Human Engagement Over Bots
I think AI in the B2B space right now is rife with "stuff" written purely for LLMs. No human is ever going to read it, and if they do, they'll be bored to DEATH. If you're going to spend money on...
DerbySoft Case Study: Scaling Success with AI Max for Search
DerbySoft integrated Google’s AI Max for Search into campaigns for major Japanese hotel chains, delivering a 68% lift in clicks, 51% more conversions, and a 45% boost in conversion value between November 2025 and February 2026. AI Max consumed just 34% of the total...
How Fake People Became Real Influencers
The New York Times reports that AI‑generated influencers—synthetic avatars that look human—are flooding social feeds to market supplements and other products. A Graphite study shows AI‑written articles have outpaced human writers since November 2024, and venture‑backed firms like Doublespeed are offering bulk...
Google Ads Simplifies Enhanced Conversions Into a Single Switch
Google Ads is consolidating its enhanced conversions tools into a single feature with an on/off toggle, eliminating the split between web and lead conversions. Starting June 2026, advertisers can feed user‑provided data through website tags, Data Manager, and API integrations...
LinkedIn Is A Sales Tool. Start Treating It Like One
LinkedIn is no longer just a networking platform; it has become a core sales engine for B2B firms. The article argues that executives should treat LinkedIn with the same rigor as traditional sales tools, leveraging data, targeted outreach, and content...
Hulken’s Wheeled Tote Bags Go Viral with Gen‑Z, Driving $29 M Sales Surge
Hulken’s boxy, fold‑up wheeled tote has become a must‑have accessory for Gen‑Z shoppers on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, propelling the company’s revenue from $390,000 in 2020 to $29 million in 2024. The surge underscores how rapid social‑media trends can translate...
Fox Pivots to Creator‑driven Content, Betting on Tubi and Influencers
Fox announced a strategic shift toward creator‑driven programming, highlighted by a January deal with Dhar Mann Studios and Tubi’s recent profitability. The move aims to replace franchise reliance with influencer‑powered content, reshaping ad revenue and audience targeting.
EFF Leaves X, Raising Alarm for Digital Marketers Over Platform Viability
The Electronic Frontier Foundation announced it is leaving X after two decades, noting a 97% drop in post impressions and dissatisfaction with Musk’s policy changes. The move signals a potential shift in X’s user base and ad ecosystem, prompting marketers...
Inside 5 Food and Beverage Influencer Campaigns that Delivered Measurable ROI
Food and beverage brands are turning to highly strategic influencer programs to cut through a crowded market. Campaigns by Habit Burger, Chobani, Tapatío Ramen, bibigo and Totino’s combined creator‑led activations, cultural‑moment ownership, and direct shoppable paths to generate measurable impressions,...
Pick Native Integrations for Intentional Funnel Success
Blog drop on funnel integrations & how they effect your client journey as a whole. (Plus to use the native integrations your platform has orrr just load up Zapier for everything... 🙃) Check ittt → https://projectgrowthmode.com/2026/04/10/choosing-the-right-integrations-for-a-more-intentional-funnel/
Local Ad Spend Forecast To Grow 8.1% This Year
U.S. local advertising is forecast to reach $184.5 billion in 2026, an 8.1% increase year‑over‑year. Digital media drives the bulk of growth, expanding 9.3% to $104.1 billion and representing 56.4% of the market. Traditional media still adds $80.4 billion, buoyed by $8.4 billion in...
Top Agencies Earn 9× More From Automations
Here's how you know if your agency is in the top 10% of ecommerce marketing agencies: @Omnisend just analyzed 717 agencies managing almost 3,000 brands, and the gap between the best and everyone else is bigger than you'd think. The top agencies...
Oikos Celebrates Athletes' Strength, Perseverance
Danone’s Oikos yogurt brand has unveiled its first All‑Strength Team, led by top high‑school basketball recruit Saniyah Hall, to showcase athletes’ perseverance across Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok. The campaign, produced with Over The Edge, highlights training, recovery and high‑protein...
Unlock $15K‑20K Monthly with 11 Essential Email Fl
A brand doing $200K/month can capture $15-20K/month from one automation they didn't have turned on. Pull your email dashboard right now. What % of total revenue is coming from flows? If it's under 20-30%, you built your launch setup and stopped. 11 flows...
Launch Fast, Refine Later: Only Avoid Errors or Embarrassment
I gave a client some advice in a meeting today that felt almost reckless to say out loud, but I stand by it completely. When you're reviewing content before a website launch, ask yourself one question: is this factually incorrect,...
Instagram Is Finally a Sales Channel: What Meta’s Affiliate Commerce Rollout Means for Shopify Merchants
At Shoptalk 2026 Meta unveiled native affiliate product tagging on Instagram and Facebook, turning creator Reels into trackable sales events. The phased rollout begins in spring 2026 across 22 countries and includes affiliate partners such as Amazon, Shopee, Temu and eBay. For...
March Google Core Update Brings Modest Gains for News Websites
Google rolled out its March 2026 core algorithm update between March 27 and April 8, aiming to surface more relevant content. Sistrix data shows modest visibility gains for top news brands – The Guardian (+9.0 points) and Money Saving Expert...
The Creator Who Paid for the Product: Dan Lovatt on What Builds a Real Brand Partnership
Interior designer Dan Lovatt formalized a long‑term ambassadorship with COAT, a climate‑positive paint brand, after a year of buying and recommending the product out of his own pocket. The partnership, built on genuine product use, shared values and minimal briefs,...
Stanify’s Hank Leber on Turning Brand Comment Sections Into Business Intelligence Tools
Stanify, a Los Angeles‑based AI startup founded in 2025, automates brand comment and direct‑message management across Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube. In its first ten months the platform processed close to three million comments for enterprise clients in CPG, gaming,...
I Almost Paid $2k for This. Built It Free
A creator avoided a $2,100 agency quote by building a zero‑cost cold‑email automation using n8n, Groq AI, Google Sheets, and Gmail. The workflow reads leads from a spreadsheet, generates personalized subject lines and email bodies via Groq, and saves drafts...
Digital Platform Ripe in Town Launches Brand Partnership Program to Connect Advertisers With Australian Travel Audiences
ripe in Town, a digital platform spotlighting regional Australian food, stays and travel, has unveiled a brand partnership program aimed at advertisers targeting regional travel audiences. The offering includes branded guides, integrated campaigns, content series, sponsored features and directory placements...
GrowthLoop Installs Co-Founders Rotio and Iftikhar as Joint CEOs
GrowthLoop has elevated co‑founders Anthony Rotio and Tameem Iftikhar to co‑chief executive officers, restoring a founder‑led structure. The split places Rotio in charge of enterprise distribution and Iftikhar over AI product development, a move timed with a fresh investment from...
The 11 Best Local SEO Tools in 2026
The article outlines the 11 best local SEO tools for 2025, highlighting both free and paid solutions that help businesses dominate Google Search and Maps. It details Google Business Profile’s free listing capabilities and Semrush’s suite—including GBP Optimization, Listing Management,...
Blend Timely and Evergreen Content for Balanced Success
Timely content gets a spike in engagement and relevance. Evergreen content gets the long game. You need both in your content strategy.
Follower Count Doesn't Determine Content Quality
The size of your followers has nothing to do with your ability to share quality content.
AI Won’t Fix Advertising – It May Scale Its Chaotic Nature
Industry hype suggests AI will solve advertising’s chronic inefficiencies, but the article argues otherwise. The core problem is a fragmented ecosystem of disconnected platforms, siloed data, and inconsistent measurement that AI cannot fix on its own. Adding generative AI merely...
Mike King Explains SEO vs GEO/AEO at Raleigh Meetup
The Difference Between SEO and GEO/AEO. We’ve got the legendary Mike King (@iPullRank) in Raleigh to break it all down for you at the Triangle SEO Meetup. 📅 Tues, April 14 | 6-8 PM 📍 Pendo (downtown Raleigh) RSVP: https://t.co/ggwtBOYWCw https://t.co/7d7dl657PH
Consistency Drives LinkedIn Success for B2B LLM Content
Started leaning into @LinkedIn at the end of February with regular, thoughtful posts around my new topical focus (which is largely in-depth editorial-driven B2B content to boost LLM citation rate.) The algorithm there favors the consistent, my GOD https://t.co/CJLI37Swp0
Core Update Done, GSC Bug Fixed, Mueller On Gurus – SEO Pulse via @Sejournal, @MattGSouthern
Google confirmed the March 2026 core update completed on April 8 after a 12‑day rollout, allowing SEOs to begin post‑update analysis. A long‑standing Search Console bug that over‑reported impressions for nearly a year was disclosed and will be corrected, trimming reported visibility...
Emojis Reveal Weekly Top Email Opener
I like Fandango's playful use of emojis in their subject lines. It's a hint at what the biggest opener is each week, which the preview text reveals. #emailmarketing #digitalmarketing https://t.co/im0LJaESVb
Google Challenges BBC Listicle Claims, Sparking AI Accuracy Debate
In this week’s NYT piece, Google’s said that the BBC article about self-promoting listicles used “unrealistic searches people wouldn’t actually do.” I have some thoughts about that, and about AIO accuracy overall. Check it out: https://t.co/F19vPuNkXO
The Real Challenge: Reaching the Right Audience, Not Better Content
Most agencies are solving the wrong problem. Everyone's obsessed with better content. Better creative. Better copy. But the problem was never the content. It was always getting it in front of the right people.
Friend Recommendations Outperform Brand Claims via UGC
Consumer psychology shows we trust recommendations from friends far more than brand claims. UGC amplifies this by adding names and handles, making it feel like a creator's endorsement, not just an ad. #MarketingTips #UGC https://t.co/RON1r2soLB
Structure Content for AI, Not Just Volume
Publishing more content won’t get you cited in ChatGPT. What does: • clear Q&A • direct, quotable answers • real insights from sales and demos Most of it already exists. It’s just not structured for AI. Teams showing up aren’t louder. They’re easier to quote. https://t.co/uStErEmEI7
OpenAI’s Ad Flop Reveals Widespread Misunderstanding of Advertising
It appears Openai is failing badly in ads. The key problem is everyone thinks they understand ads as we all deal with them constantly. As someone who has spent two decades in the space, I can confirm...
AI Teammates Amplify Digital Influence in Sales
The Conversational Scale: Deploying AI Teammates for Digital Influence https://t.co/dRtl1KKfe3 via @DLAIgnite #SocialSelling #DigitalSelling #Leadership #ArtificialIntelligence #Tech #TechNews #AgenticAI #AIAgents #Agentic #AI #FutureOfWork #Strategy #Sales #Marketing https://t.co/2N950paVgz
Stop Teaching Solutions; Spark Insight to Drive Demand
Your content isn't converting because you're teaching people to solve their problem. Instead of showing them why they can't solve it alone Education decreases demand Insight creates it