SparkToro Blog

Posts by Rand Fishkin:

Data Product SparkToro

We’ve Launched a Brand New SparkToro Today with 10 (yes TEN) New Features

Rand FishkinBy Rand Fishkin
It’s time for a new, screenshot-worthy look. It’s time to deliver those key features you’ve been asking us for. It’s time for better data, graphed over time. It’s time for an all-new version of SparkToro. Today, we’re releasing a massively upgraded, fully-overhauled version of our audience research platform. <Slaps roof of car> This baby’s got so much audience research juice,…
5-Minute Whiteboards Advertising Marketing Psychology

Demand-Creation vs. Demand-Converting Marketing

Rand FishkinBy Rand Fishkin
One of the fundamental mistakes I see executives and marketing leaders make over and over is investing in the wrong part of the demand funnel. In this week’s 5-Minute Whiteboard, I’ll walk through an example of demand creation at the top vs. middle/bottom of the funnel, and explain why it’s critical to understand whether you have one of two problems:…
5-Minute Whiteboards Agencies Industry Marketing Psychology Tactics

How to Use Mental Jujitsu to Convince Your Boss/Team/Client to Make the Right Marketing Investments

Rand FishkinBy Rand Fishkin
“How do I convince my boss/team/client to invest in my audience’s true sources of influence? Especially when those sources are so hard to prove attribution?” Friend, I hear you. So, for this week’s 5-Minute Whiteboard, how about we try a little mental jujitsu to get everyone aligned on the reality of how the modern web works, and how people make…
Data Marketing Research SEO

New Research: Google Search Grew 20%+ in 2024; receives ~373X more searches than ChatGPT

Rand FishkinBy Rand Fishkin
For years, two questions have dominated both marketers’ interest and the media’s coverage of Google Search: Are AI Tools taking market share away from Google? Is Google search growing, flatlining, or declining? I’ve seen wild speculation that Google’s market share is down 5-10% since ChatGPT’s launch, and heard anecdotes across my feeds from people claiming that they never use Google…
Data Research SEO

New Research: How Often Do Americans Search Google? Which Search Verticals Do They Use?

Rand FishkinBy Rand Fishkin
Last quarter, we published an extraordinary analysis of hundreds of millions of Google searches alongside our clickstream panel partners at Datos (A Semrush Company). That analysis opened many marketers and creators’ eyes to the reality of how people use Google in 2024, i.e. navigational-heavy, and significantly weighted toward the top few thousand queries. This quarter, we’re back to examine several…
5-Minute Whiteboards Industry Marketing Predictions

Unpopular Opinion: Public Relations is the Future of Marketing

Rand FishkinBy Rand Fishkin
Public relations is a dying trade. Mainstream media has less influence than ever. Pitching for coverage is a thankless, fruitless task. Yeah, well, I think PR is poised for a massive comeback. Here’s why: Traditional media may have less influence, but diverse, distributed sources of influence have never, NEVER held more sway over opinions and buying behavior. The 2.5 hours…
5-Minute Whiteboards Industry Marketing Zero Click

Traffic Is Down; Revenue Is… Up?

Rand FishkinBy Rand Fishkin
It’s weird times in the digital marketing universe. For decades, traffic and sales went together like peanut butter and jelly, cacio and pepe, palak and paneer. But, in the last few years, we’ve seen a deeply strange trend where the two have become unbound. In example after example, traffic can fall while revenue rises. Why is this happening? And is…
5-Minute Whiteboards Content Marketing Industry Marketing Zero Click

Why Do We Need Zero Click Marketing?

Rand FishkinBy Rand Fishkin
You’ve heard of zero click marketing — and yes, you definitely heard it here first. We’re talking about creating standalone value in the platforms where people hang out, instead of dropping teasers and links in hopes that people will be compelled to click over to your site. It’s marketing where people already are and speaking to them in a way…
5-Minute Whiteboards Marketing Research Tactics

The Biggest Mistake We Make When Asking: “Where Are My Customers?”

Rand FishkinBy Rand Fishkin
It’s January, and that means many marketers are tasked with a project to identify new channels and sources of influence for new potential investments. This year is likely more active than most given the decline of Google search traffic, the rise of AI, the Twitter exodus, and the meteoric growth of Threads and Bluesky. But, far too many times, we…

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