Today's Marketing Pulse
McKinsey predicts agentic AI will power two‑thirds of marketing activities
McKinsey’s new report forecasts that agentic AI could drive up to two‑thirds of all marketing functions, shifting AI from a productivity add‑on to a core strategic engine. The analysis notes early adopters are using generative tools, while the next wave will involve autonomous agents that orchestrate decisions across workflows, guided by a five‑step implementation roadmap.
HubSpot Rolls Out 15 March 2026 Updates, Tightening Automation and Data Control
HubSpot announced 15 platform updates for March 2026, targeting automation flexibility, data integrity and a new sales workspace. The changes affect over 40,000 marketing professionals and include TikTok ad management, staggered email sends and expanded ticket‑automation capabilities.
What to Do When Your Substack Isn’t Growing. I Went From Stuck to 17,000 Subscribers When I Figured This Out.
The author recounts how he turned a stagnant Substack into a 17,000‑subscriber newsletter that now generates about $100,000 in revenue. He attributes the breakthrough to three tactics: a daily 20‑minute Notes routine that converts 500‑700 new subscribers each month, a...
Stellantis Narrows Focus to Jeep, Ram, Peugeot and Fiat in Brand Overhaul
Stellantis announced a strategic shift that will funnel most investment into four core brands—Jeep, Ram, Peugeot and Fiat—while relegating other marques to regional markets. The move aims to halt a sales slide in Europe and the U.S. and give marketers...
Kroger Leverages Fuel Rewards to Outpace Costco and Walmart at the Pump
Kroger’s network of more than 1,700 fuel centers, combined with its fuel‑points loyalty program, is pulling price‑sensitive drivers into its supermarkets, creating a measurable edge over Costco and Walmart. Executives say the strategy boosts store traffic and deepens customer loyalty...
Cox Automotive Acquires Fullpath in $100M‑Plus AI Deal to Bolster Dealer Platform
Cox Automotive announced the acquisition of Jerusalem‑based Fullpath, an AI‑powered dealership data platform, in a deal estimated at over $100 million. The move deepens Cox’s AI capabilities for its connected retail suite, targeting the $2 trillion U.S. automotive market.
Future of Recruitment: Moving Beyond First Impressions to Build Stronger Teams
Performance marketers are hitting diminishing returns with AI‑generated video because the initial frame often lacks the visual rigor needed for stable motion. Stuart Gentle labels this the "First‑Frame Fallacy," arguing that motion models like Nano Banana Pro simply amplify flaws...
AI Personal Shopping Turns Email History Into Tailored Deals
Shopping in AI Mode with Personal Intelligence enabled is the real deal... it can browse through *all* of your past purchases, upcoming travel plans, etc. via Gmail (for me, that's 10+ years of history) to cater its shopping recommendations. See...
Is There a Genre That Screams Spring?
A few years ago my publisher was doing a Summerween promo to promote horror books in the summer rather than the fall because of the association of horror with Halloween/October. And we talk about beach reads in the summer. Which...
Ditch the Pitch. Tell a Story to Drive Conversions and Win Trust
The article argues that traditional sales pitches hinder conversions, recommending storytelling that positions the client as the hero. It cites Harvard Business Review research linking character‑driven narratives to oxytocin release and Stanford data showing stories are 22 times more memorable...
Turn Hundreds of Followers Into a $350 Digital Product
If you have a few hundred followers on social media, then you are sitting on a digital product. But most writers struggle with packaging their knowledge into something readers will buy. So on Monday (April 27th), I'll show you how to build...
Who Is Swan Beauty?
Swan Beauty, a Michigan‑based beauty‑technology startup, unveiled its AI‑powered vanity mirror on Jan. 14, 2026 at a retail price of $795. Backed by the Mitchell Family Office and the recently acquired luxury retailer Cos Bar, the device combines a 15.6‑inch OLED screen, AI...
Apple's Incoming CEO John Ternus Faces Pressure to Launch Breakthrough AI Product
Apple’s soon‑to‑be CEO John Ternus is under intense scrutiny to roll out a flagship AI device that can sustain the company’s brand momentum after Tim Cook’s September exit. Industry analysts warn that without a breakthrough, Apple risks losing its edge...
Xbox Rebrands, Prioritizes Daily Active Players, Flexible Pricing
Xbox announced a return to its original brand name and a four‑pillar strategy that puts daily active players at the core, promises more flexible pricing for consoles and Game Pass, and signals a fresh look at exclusivity and AI. The...
Meta Launches AI Business Assistant Worldwide for Advertisers
Meta has opened its AI Business Assistant to advertisers of all sizes in major global markets, adding local‑language support and embedding the tool directly in Ads Manager, Meta Business Suite and Business Support Home. The rollout promises faster campaign insights,...
SAP and Google Cloud Team Up on AI‑Powered Marketing Suite for Enterprises
SAP SE and Google Cloud announced a strategic partnership that embeds SAP’s Engagement Cloud, CX, Joule and Gemini Enterprise with Google’s data platform. The joint solution lets AI agents orchestrate end‑to‑end campaigns, aiming to cut time‑to‑market and lift ROI for...
Chinese Micro‑dramas Explode: $12B Market, 1 in 10 Americans
Those Chinese micro-drama apps (ReelShorts, DramaBox, GoodShort) are hitting wild numbers. WSJ says 1 in 10 American adults watch them and estimated to hit $12b in 2027 (Hollywood did $9B box office in 2025). The apps do bite-sized English scripted video content…like...
Check What AI Actually Sees—And Says—Your Content
Your content looks complete to a human visitor. To an AI model fetching your page to generate an answer, it might be nearly empty. Two free tools changed how I think about this: @Adobe AI Content Visibility Checker (Chrome extension) shows you exactly...
MCS Gearup’s Brand‑First Play Fuels Rapid Growth in Tactical Gear Market
MCS Gearup, based in Bonita Springs, Florida, has used a purpose‑driven brand promise of quality, affordability and guaranteed service to accelerate its market share in the tactical gear space. The company’s focus on curated product selections, aggressive pricing and a...
Solo AI Founder Earns $1M+ Monthly After Rapid Validation
My next guest is making $1M+ a month (!) from 5 AI products that he built as a solo founder. Tomorrow, Tibo will break down: → How to validate and kill ideas fast → Why SEO is still his top channel in the...
Firefly Links 60,000 Moving Screens to VIOOH Programmatic Platform
Firefly has integrated its mobility‑based out‑of‑home inventory with VIOOH's supply‑side platform, giving advertisers programmatic access to more than 60,000 car‑top screens and 13 billion monthly impressions. The partnership widens the range of formats available in automated OOH buying and promises greater...
Google Expands Demand Gen with View‑Through Conversion Optimization for B2B Marketers
Google has rolled out view‑through conversion optimization to its Demand Gen platform, giving B2B marketers a way to attribute conversions that occur after an ad is seen but not clicked. The move broadens measurement beyond click‑through metrics and aims to...
Google Pushes “Bounce Clicks” Explanation For AI Overview Traffic Loss via @Sejournal, @MattGSouthern
Google Search head Liz Reid told Bloomberg’s Odd Lots podcast that AI Overviews are reducing what she calls “bounce clicks,” low‑value visits that quickly return to search. She argues the lost clicks are offset by higher query volume and stable...
Automated 7‑Point CRO Audit Finds Obvious Conversion Gaps
I built a skill that audits any marketing page for conversion issues — value proposition, headline, CTAs, visual hierarchy, social proof, objection handling, and friction points. You point it at a page and it runs through 7 dimensions in order of...
How to Build a High-Quality Real Estate Broker Email List
The article explains how real‑estate brokers—key decision‑makers for lenders, PropTech firms, and title companies—can be reached through a self‑built, verified email list rather than costly, outdated pre‑made lists. It highlights the rapid decay of contact data (about 2.1% per month)...
The 6 Questions of AI Marketing Adoption
The post argues that most marketers ask the wrong questions about AI adoption, focusing on courses and tool sprawl instead of experiential learning and strategic alignment. It outlines six guiding questions, starting with identifying the source of AI pressure—top‑down, bottom‑up,...
Global Business Scaling with Meta & Google Ads
I run a performance marketing agency based in India. If you’re a business anywhere in the world looking to scale with Meta/Google ads, let’s connect. www.iampremlata.com
Prioritize Top‑of‑Funnel Brand Awareness Over Bottom Conversions
After a decade at LinkedIn helping build the B2B Institute, one insight stands out: most marketers overinvest in the bottom of the funnel chasing conversions from people already in-market. While important, it’s a smaller, more competitive slice of growth. The bigger...
JK Maxx Paints Rolls Out ‘Maxx Karo, Relax Karo’ with Akshay Kumar
JK Maxx Paints has launched a new brand campaign, “Maxx Karo, Relax Karo,” featuring Bollywood star Akshay Kumar as its first brand ambassador. The light‑hearted TV commercial positions the paint maker as a one‑stop solution for homeowners overwhelmed by product...
Douglas Salinas Webster Launches Consultancy to Turn Vision Into Measurable Market Success
Marketing strategist Douglas Salinas Webster announced the launch of Webster Marketing Solutions, a San Francisco‑based consultancy that promises to turn corporate vision into measurable market success. The firm will deliver structured strategy, disciplined execution and data‑informed decision‑making for Fortune 500 firms and...
Posts Need Clear Intent and Action to Drive Revenue
Every post should have a: • clear intent (what decision it supports) • defined next action (DM, click, save, book) • path from attention to outcome Without that, you’re optimizing for visibility, not revenue.
Over 40% of Young Adults Turn to Social Media for Financial Advice, New Study Finds
New research reveals that more than 40% of Americans aged 18‑29 rely on finfluencers on TikTok, Instagram and other platforms for personal finance guidance. Experts warn of gaps in financial education and call for clearer disclosure rules as the trend...
Clarify Your Offer Before Scaling Distribution
Founders with distribution problems usually have an offer problem. More content won't fix it. More outreach won't fix it. More ad spend definitely won't fix it. Unclear offer + more distribution = spreading confusion faster. Here's how to tell if your offer is the problem: Send...
Prioritize Brand Control in AI, Not Third‑Party Data
Focus on your brand first in AI optimization. Imagine being Bank of America and having this prompt asking about overdraft fees being completely controlled by other sites. https://t.co/SLQNgPwkms
Steak 'N Shake Names Michael Boes First Chief MAHA Officer, Puts Nutrition at CMO Level
Steak 'n Shake announced Michael Boes as its first Chief MAHA Officer, a senior marketing post dedicated to nutrition, ingredient transparency and healthfulness. The move signals a strategic shift toward a health‑centric brand narrative and aligns the chain with the...
First 100 Users Reveal Product‑market Fit; Later Thousands Inform GTM
the first 100 users teach you more than your next 10,000 The former is about PMF, the latter is GTM. And of course you can learn a ton about GTM, but it's a more tractable problem particularly b2b
Gucci's China Push Was Cheap Growth, Not Authenticity
Luca de Meo, CEO of Gucci parent Kering: “Gucci in China has been used as a—can I use a very strong expression—a bit of a trash bin, or a place where they were looking for easy growth…People are very discerning...not...
Brands, Think You’ve Missed Out on the London Marathon? Think Again
Brands often assume that missing official London Marathon sponsorship means losing the marketing hook, but the event offers a broader ecosystem for engagement. Ambush tactics—such as supporting run clubs, pre‑race shake‑out runs, and community chats—allow non‑sponsors to embed themselves in...
Match Funnel Stages to Fishing Techniques for Success
Top of funnel content = commercial fishing Middle of the funnel content = Using a cast net Bottom of the funnel content = Fishing with a rod and reel It is essential you know this before developing your content strategy
Key SEO Takeaways From Google's Liz Reid Interview
I listened to the latest interview of Google's Liz Reid so you don't have to. Here's everything useful for SEO that I learned over an hour: . . . Thank you. Follow for more updates like these
Putting Your Brand on Show: The Power of Creative Activations
Brands are shifting from static ads to immersive activations that let consumers experience products firsthand. These pop‑up events, interactive installations, and sensory experiences create emotional connections and generate deeper engagement than traditional impressions. While logistical hurdles such as permits and...
Relevant Ads Benefit Advertisers, Users, and Meta Alike
Advertiser, users, and Meta alllll win when the most relevant ads are served to the most relevant users.
Cost Caps Not Spending? There's Likely a Reason
A lot of brands and agencies make this mistake. If cost caps aren’t spending - it’s probably for a good reason.
Meet The People Launches MTP Intelligence, A Proprietary AI-Enabled Platform Unifying Creative, Media and Commerce
Meet The People (MTP) has launched MTP Intelligence, an AI‑enabled platform that merges creative, media, commerce and analytics into a single workflow environment. Powered by the group’s RADaR Analytics unit, the system connects to clients’ existing tech stacks, eliminating traditional...
Great Strategists Win by Systems, Not Just Ads
Are the best creative strategists winning because they make better ads, or because they build better systems for ideas? https://t.co/jBeO6GRejl
Post Instagram Stories in Three‑Story Bursts, 24‑Hour Gaps
Here's how top creators post Instagram stories. I learned this from the author's mastermind I co-hosted with @JamesClear. They'll post sets of three stories and then nothing for 24 hours. Then three stories again, and repeat. https://t.co/xX5wrxy486
Modern Retail Podcast: What It Takes to Build a True Lifestyle Brand
In a live episode of the Modern Retail Podcast recorded at the Modern Retail Marketing Summit, Mandy Fry, co‑owner and president of Z Supply, explained how the Southern California apparel brand transformed from a single‑product T‑shirt line into a full‑fledged...
AI Turned My Review Into $700 Commission Today
One of my review articles got picked up by AI yesterday. In one day, it generated 30 sales and $700 in commission for me and $2100 for the client. What a nice morning surprise. https://t.co/rJEYvLyzvP
Distribution Beats Creation: Market Your Content Relentlessly
"Create great content and they will find you" Nah... They really won't. Market your content relentlessly. Promote your work consistently. Distribution is the only answer.
AR Becomes Operational Marketing Layer Demanding Instant, Clear Experiences
AR is shifting from experiment to an operational layer in marketing, where interaction is measurable and tied to intent. Brands must design flows merging physical context with digital cues since users expect immediacy and clarity in each touchpoint. Microblog @antgrasso https://t.co/3mSgVH5KPJ
Boost Profits by Doubling Conversion, Not Traffic
Most founders think they need more traffic. They don't. They need to fix their conversion rate. Doubling your CVR from 1% to 2% has the same impact as doubling your ad spend, but it's free.