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

“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…

How to Turn Audience Research Into Content Ideas

If you’ve ever stared at a blank content calendar wondering what to create next, you’re not alone. Even the most prolific writers* sometimes feel like they’re running nonstop on the content creation hamster wheel… even after ideas dry up and writer’s block sets in. But while continuing your creation habit can build momentum, sometimes the best content ideas aren’t hiding…
Data Marketing Research SEO

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

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…
Marketing Startups

ROI vs. VOI: Smart Marketers Look Beyond the Numbers

Most of us default to Return on Investment (ROI) for measuring marketing success. It’s the tried-and-true metric that quantifies financial returns. Money in, money out. But we all know the messy reality of attribution. The prospects who subscribe and unsubscribe from our newsletters, who toss us a LinkedIn like now and then, who eventually Google us one day because they…

Unpopular Opinion: Public Relations is the Future of Marketing

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…

Traffic Is Down; Revenue Is… Up?

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…

Why Do We Need Zero Click Marketing?

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…