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
KIME Review 2026: The AI Search Visibility Platform Built for Brands That Want to Win in LLM Search
KIME is a purpose‑built AI search visibility platform that monitors how Shopify brands appear in large‑language‑model responses such as ChatGPT and Perplexity. It provides prompt‑level share‑of‑voice, citation analytics, sentiment scores and an Action Centre that delivers weekly optimization recommendations. Pricing starts at €149 (~$160) per month for 25 prompts and scales to €399 (~$430) for 100 prompts, with enterprise options for unlimited coverage. The tool targets ecommerce merchants earning $100K‑$5M who already have solid SEO foundations and need data‑driven AI‑search insights.
TriCoast's Nick Risher On Why Owning The Content Changes The Math
TriCoast Media, a film distributor with a 5,000‑title library and four FAST channels, has evolved into a supply‑side platform (SSP). By offering its content to publishers at a reduced revenue‑share rate, it can secure cheaper CPMs for backfill inventory. This...
AI-Powered Rules Automate LinkedIn Message & Invite Management
Imagine this: LinkedIn lets you create a prompt/instructions (let's call it MESSAGES.md and INVITES.md ). You can write instructions as to how to handle DMs and invites to connect. Examples: 1) Auto-archive any messages that are requests for a "paid...
Context Matters: How to Target Smarter When Tracking Gets Worse
With third‑party cookies disappearing, 60% of brands feel unprepared, leaving small advertisers especially vulnerable. Lacking first‑party data and limited budgets, they struggle to track and retarget prospects. Contextual targeting—matching ads to page content—offers a cookie‑free solution, delivering up to tenfold...
Integral Ad Science Expands TikTok Ad Quality Measurement to Four New Formats
Integral Ad Science (IAS) announced on April 21 that its TMQ solution now covers TikTok Search ads, upgraded campaign creation, GMV Max and TikTok Lite, giving marketers a fuller suite of brand‑safety and viewability metrics on the platform’s fast‑growing ad...
Lime Technologies Q1 Profit Rises 8% as SaaS Adoption Fuels Growth
Lime Technologies AB posted a first‑quarter profit of SEK30.37 million ($3.3 million), up 8% year‑over‑year, and revenue of SEK199.86 million ($22 million), a 6.2% increase. The gains reflect stronger adoption of its SaaS platform for B2B customer engagement, underscoring rising enterprise demand for digital...
Microsoft Launches AI‑focused Premium Content Marketplace to Challenge Google
NEW: @Microsoft saw @Google become the dominant information marketplace over past 20 years. Now, it wants to get ahead for AI era. — The company is building a premium content marketplace for publishers, advertisers and merchants to transact on — It's...
The Contract Layer for Agentic Advertising
The IAB Tech Lab’s OpenDirect standard provides a machine‑readable API for guaranteed, direct‑sold ad campaigns, mirroring the role OpenRTB plays in programmatic. As AI agents begin to negotiate, book, and manage these campaigns, a deterministic, shared state model eliminates the...
ChatGPT Ads Now Offer CPC Bidding Between $3 And $5: Report via @Sejournal, @MattGSouthern
OpenAI’s ChatGPT Ads Manager has added a cost‑per‑click (CPC) bidding option, with bids ranging from $3 to $5 per click. The change follows a rapid price decline since the pilot’s February launch, where CPM rates fell from $60 to as...
TinyLog: One Backlink a Day
TinyLaunch’s latest post urges creators to boost their SEO by earning one backlink per day through directory submissions. It explains that Ahrefs’ Domain Rating (DR) reflects backlink strength and that a modest 365 backlinks annually can markedly improve rankings and...
GrowthRise Mastermind Recap Apr 21, 2026
The GrowthRise Mastermind recap highlighted key decisions around display advertising platforms, noting that AdRoll is most effective when a company’s Google spend is below $50,000, while Google Display outperforms once that threshold is crossed. It reinforced that a 1.5‑2% click‑through...
Apple Maps Is Getting Ads, and It Just Lost the One Thing that Made It Worth Using
Apple confirmed that ads will be integrated into the Maps app’s search results and a new Suggested Places feature beginning summer 2026 in the US and Canada. The ads will promote nearby businesses, turning Apple Maps into a paid advertising...
Stop Measuring. Start Moving: Closing the Execution Gap in Peak Sales Moments
Marketers often treat BFCM data as a post‑campaign report, missing real‑time optimization opportunities. QR code scans, which capture high‑intent consumer signals, are especially underutilized—one‑quarter of marketers failed to act on 2024 scan data before Cyber Monday. Brands that responded to...
Google Adds AI-Qualified Call Leads to Improve Measurement
Google Ads is rolling out an AI‑qualified call leads feature that evaluates the substance of inbound calls rather than just their length. The machine‑learning system generates call summaries and tags, feeding higher‑quality signals into smart bidding and reporting. Recording is...
We Let AI Plan Our SEO Week. Here’s What It Recommended.
Foundation Inc. used multiple AI tools to create a data‑driven SEO Week Survival Guide for attendees of the April 27‑30 conference in Manhattan. The guide ranks coffee spots, restaurant picks, and analyzes how AI cites conference sponsors, revealing that Culture Espresso received...
BrightonSEO San Diego 2026
BrightonSEO returns to San Diego for its fourth U.S. edition, running September 15‑16, 2026 at the San Diego Convention Center. Organizers anticipate more than 1,500 attendees from the United States and abroad. The two‑day agenda blends expert‑led workshops, keynote talks...
What a Q4 CPG Campaign Taught Us About Influencers’ Real ROI
A leading consumer‑appliance CPG brand partnered with an agency to run a two‑month Q4 influencer campaign that split creators into awareness‑focused storytellers and performance‑driven affiliates. The full‑funnel approach delivered 148% of forecast impressions, over 200 K clicks, and lifted both hero‑SKU...
The Agentic Shift in Martech: Three Examples
Legacy enterprises are deploying AI agents like Claude and Codex to replace weeks‑long martech workflows with hour‑scale interactions. By converting plain‑language prompts into infrastructure‑as‑code, self‑service tracking instrumentation, and automated analytics recommendations, these agents democratize tasks traditionally reserved for engineers. The...
Creators Are Not the Future of Affiliate Marketing, and That’s a Good Thing
The article argues that influencer marketing and affiliate marketing are fundamentally distinct and should not be forced into a single model. Affiliate programs are performance‑first, driven by measurable actions like sales and revenue, while influencer campaigns are fee‑based and measured...
CPC Ads Favor Sponsors, Leave Newsletter Creators Shortchanged
When will ESPs figure out that this model of CPC for ads in email newsletters puts all the benefit in the sponsor's hands and very little in that of the newsletter creator? I never opt-in because why would I dilute...
Celebrity-Backed Supplements Spark $338B Market Battle
Vogue’s latest feature highlights a fierce competition among dietary supplement categories, driven by celebrity launches, TikTok‑fueled stacks and soaring consumer spend. The global supplements market is valued at $338 billion in 2025, with UK beauty‑supplement sales up 163% year‑to‑date.
ThinkNow Launches ThinkNow Media, a Curated Programmatic Platform Powered by Nexxen
ThinkNow announced the launch of ThinkNow Media, a new programmatic department that pairs its zero‑party multicultural audience data with Nexxen's Curated Marketplace. The service, aimed at political and public‑affairs advertisers, promises tighter quality control, cultural relevance and privacy‑forward reporting across...
REFUNNEL Fixed What We Couldn't in 7 Days
In this episode, Jordan West of Social Commerce Club explains how his agency solves the TikTok Shop bottleneck for creators by using ReFunnel’s automated operations platform. He highlights four key pillars: custom landing pages and Shopify integration for seamless order...
My Proven Ad Strategies Vs. Time‑Wasting Tactics
Ad insights… what works for me and what I find to be a waste as a full time author
How Native CTV Is Solving the Channel’s Attention Problem
The NewFronts highlighted a shift in connected‑TV advertising toward performance, with native CTV emerging as a key format. By embedding ads into the smart‑TV home screen, brands reach viewers during the 10.5‑minute browsing window before content selection, turning attention into...
Batch and Schedule Posts with Trending Audio—Options Exist
You can still batch and scheudle your content that requires trending audio or music... you do have options
TripleLift Unveils TL Spark, AI‑Driven Layer for Outcome‑Based Ads
TripleLift announced TL Spark, an intelligence layer that stitches together supply, creative, audience data and measurement to power outcome‑driven programmatic buying. The launch arrives as AI‑powered ad spend is projected to hit $57 billion this year, and two‑thirds of buyers say...
IPL 2026 Ad Race Sees Digital-First Categories Dominate CTV
The IPL 2026 advertising landscape shows a stark split between Connected TV (CTV) and Linear TV. Digital‑first categories such as e‑commerce media, entertainment and social platforms captured 35% of CTV ad volume, while traditional mouth fresheners led Linear TV with...
Stepherson Inc., Superlo Foods Expands Loyalty, Digital Engagement With RSA America
Stepherson Inc. has rolled out RSA America’s loyalty and digital engagement platform across all 11 Superlo Foods stores in Memphis and Mississippi. The multi‑year agreement adds a unified rewards program, digital coupons and a branded mobile app designed to lift...
‘The Creative Is Coming Out of the Internet’: What This Year’s Webby Winners Say About Advertising
The 2026 Webby Awards highlighted a shift in advertising where creative originates on the internet rather than being imposed on it. Winners showcased AI‑enhanced campaigns, from a Dr Pepper jingle generated online to the “death of Duo” stunt, and blended digital...
Stop Comparing Content to Performance; Value Your Role
In my first marketing job, I gaslit myself into thinking that if my content marketing results weren’t keeping up with the performance team’s, my job was worthless.
Shift B2B Marketing: Educate, Inspire, Build Trust
Thank you Sean Callahan for inviting me to join my friends Andy Crestodina , Mimi Turner , Jane Bartel and Jillian Ryan in the latest feature in the ANA "B2B Marketers Face a Crossroads." My POV: Most B2B marketing is...
New Programmatic 'Transparency' Initiative Excludes Advertisers
The IAB Tech Lab announced a new Programmatic Governance Council aimed at boosting transparency in the roughly $200 billion U.S. programmatic advertising market. The council brings together agencies, publishers and platforms such as Dentsu, Omnicom, Disney, Amazon Ads and The Trade...
Google Ads Makes Call Recording Default For AI Lead Calls via @Sejournal, @MattGSouthern
Google Ads now enables call recording by default for AI‑qualified lead calls in the United States and Canada. The AI reviews recordings to identify high‑intent signals—such as scheduling a consultation or expressing purchase intent—and counts only those calls as conversions,...
GEOGrow.ai Unveils Next-Level AI Visibility Platform at LEADSCON Las Vegas
GEOGrow.ai unveiled its AI Visibility Platform at LEADSCON in Las Vegas, offering brands, marketers and growth experts a suite of tools to secure and grow presence in AI‑driven search. The platform introduces Brand DNA Monitoring, AI Memory Audits, Agentic Content...
Stat Roundups Generate Far More Backlinks than Thought Leadership
What's the best type of content to get links? It's not thought leadership content. It's a round up of a series of stats and facts associated with niches relevant to your category & customers. A lot of people hate on stat...
IAB Tech Lab Launches Programmatic Governance Council
IAB Tech Lab announced the creation of a Programmatic Governance Council, bringing together leading agencies, publishers, and ad‑tech platforms such as Dentsu, Disney, Amazon Ads, and The Trade Desk. The council targets the roughly $200 billion U.S. programmatic advertising market, which...
One AI Character, Endless Content Across Media
Most creators still rebuild content from scratch. New prompt. New image. New workflow. But what if you could create one AI character once and generate content with it forever? Images. Videos. Campaigns. All from a single conversation. I explored this new model using @Picsart Aura. This changes how...
Use Printer-Friendly Pages for SEO, Hide via robots.txt
I know there's been some debate on "LLM specific content" couldn't you just call it "printer friendly" and basically make a stripped down version of your content that is indexable? You are creating duplicate content, but you could maybe...
How I Passively Collected 500 Email Subscribers in 90 Days
The author reports that by focusing on Substack, they passively amassed roughly 500 email subscribers in just 90 days, a stark contrast to the labor‑intensive lead‑generation tactics previously used on X. A single Substack post, created with the WriteStack scheduler,...
Cut Facebook Ads, Build Sustainable Profitability
Blueland reached profitability and $300M in sales by *cutting* over $1M/month in Facebook ad spend to focus on a stronger business foundation. Meanwhile you're burning all your cash on Facebook ads to chase unprofitable growth instead of building a sustainable...
Higher ROAS Doesn’t Guarantee Profit: P&L Matters
Paid ads winners in the 2026 eComFuel report had 2.5x ROAS. Losers had 4x ROAS. The difference was the P&L! Survey has 300 stores, $3.5B revenue, and 6 years of data. Link in replies. https://t.co/5XjFgANzNn
'Always On' Isn't Broken -- The Way We Use It Is
The article argues that today’s “always on” advertising has devolved into a blanket, budget‑draining approach that treats every audience as constantly receptive. It calls for a shift from a channel‑centric mindset to a behavior‑centric one, activating each medium only when...
17 Content Types That Thrive in Google’s Zero‑Click Era
New: 17 Content Types to Survive Google’s Zero-Click Future Google Zero is coming for many sites, but Google still sends billions of visits per day to the web What kind of content survives? Not generic blog posts. AI killed that strategy (1/2)...
AI Monitors Oncologist Chatter at ASCO 2025
AI-powered social media listening of oncologist conversations at ASCO 2025 - Ghosal @brunolarvol @mtmdphd Gramling @Larvol https://t.co/azRDBVYLGK #ASCO26 abstr 9045 Poster Bd # 512 #hemonc #Scicomm #ASCO25 @ASCO
Revive Top Posts: Reshare, Repackage, Reach New Fans
Underrated marketing move: Go back to your top 10 performing posts from the last year. Rewrite them. Reshare them. Repackage them. Your audience has grown. New people haven't seen them. The message still hits. Don't let your best work collect dust.
Consistent LinkedIn Posts Unlock $15K Partnership Deals
I have booked more than $15K in co-marketing and partnership content deals with AI/AEO companies since I started posting daily on LinkedIn and switched my newsletter to a weekly cadence. This was not on my bingo card for 2026, but...
AI Agents Replace Entire Marketing Teams—Build Yours Fast
One person running AI agents can now handle what used to take an entire marketing team. The question isn't whether this model wins. It's whether you build it before your competitors do.
AI Marketing Tools List Keeps Growing with New Additions
The best list of #AI #marketing tools anywhere continues to expand: https://t.co/1MqMiJP4M3 New tools added recently include @Onlypult, @vidnoz_official, Rovo by @Atlassian , NoteGPT TTS, @buffer, Cora, @meetgranola, @eclincher, and @NaturalReaderAi.
Meta Drains Brand Budget Early with Terrible ROI
Love waking up to Meta spending 60% of a brands daily budget before 7am PT. Love that it spent almost 20% from midnight to 1am. Love that the CPA was 5x our goal and time on site metrics were basically...