How to Use SparkToro + LLMs to Do Marketing Magic

Most folks who follow me know I’m a bit of a late adopter and skeptic of AI. Yes, it can do some impressive things that takes humans a long, painful amount of time to replicate. But, they’re also stereotype machines whose reasoning and capabilities, especially in the creative and novel needs that marketing demands, isn’t replacing even 1% of jobs…

Seriously, please stop with the new acronyms. It’s still SEO: Search Everywhere Optimization.

It’s a day ending in Y, which means my social feeds are filled with people attempting to rebrand the acronym “SEO.” Look, I ain’t here to rain on your parade, so if you love calling it AIO or GEO or EIEIO, be my guest. I haven’t been an SEO for more than seven years, despite what all the “top SEO…

You’ve Done the Audience Research… Now What?

Our friend Tommy Walker, founder of The Content Studio, contributed the following, superb, much-needed article; thank you sir! Tommy was the Editor-in-Chief at ConversionXL, the first marketing hire at Shopify Plus, and Global Editor-in-Chief at QuickBooks. As a 20-year career veteran, his methodologies have contributed to 10-figures in revenue, and have become integral to developing category-defining brands. You’ve just wrapped…

Want better marketing output from your AI Tools? Give it real data about your customers.

An overwhelming number of marketers are using AI tools to bolster their campaigns, their tactical output, and even their strategic ideas. I don’t actually recommend all of those (AI can seriously mislead you on strategy, and using it to write anything you’re going to publish directly is a recipe for unsubscribes), but there are some clever, high-quality marketing use-cases out…

Getting Executive Buy-In: How to Tie Audience Research to Business Strategy

It’s a tale as old as time, or uh… for as long as you’ve been doing digital marketing: You’ve uncovered powerful audience insights that you fully believe will transform your company’s approach, but when you try to share them beyond the marketing team, eyes glaze over. Executives nod politely before steering the conversation back to quarterly targets and sales forecasts.…

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…

The Overlooked Reason Your Content Isn’t Gaining Traction

“Your content isn’t getting amplified? Well, maybe it’s not good enough.” If I haven’t said that out loud before, I’ve definitely thought it. But it’s the least helpful piece of feedback. It’s not specific and it doesn’t offer solutions for next time. Instead, consider this: Maybe your content doesn’t match the user’s intent. As in, there’s a disconnect between the…