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By R. Daniel Foster,

Feeling good is the new ultimate status symbol. Brands now prioritize emotional storytelling and personalization, using neuroscience, high-touch hospitality and biohacking.

The second Gilded Age? It’s not quite as gilded, at least on the outside. In recent decades, luxury has evolved from a surface transactional experience to one focused on longevity, wellness and intense experiences. Consumer values have driven the shift, especially among younger generations. They’ve doubled down on authenticity, sustainability and meaningful connections.

Emotion is the engine behind luxury’s new branding. Far from hedonist escapism, this kind of indulgence targets the psyche. When it’s most successful, it burrows deep, evoking nothing short of wonder.

Brands are increasingly building such experiences into products and services. They target “the science behind awe—that feeling you get when you’re standing in front of something bigger than yourself,” says Alex Hawkins, director of strategic foresight at the Future Laboratory, a consultancy marketing firm with offices in London, New York, São Paulo and Melbourne.

Luxury’s New Feel Good Aspirational Model

To further his point, Hawkins refers to Dacher Keltner’s book, “Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life.” Keltner examines the effects of awe on human well-being, creativity and social connection, citing research and anecdotes. Moments of wonder—triggered by nature, art, spirituality and connection—deepen a sense of belonging.

Pair that with high-end amenities delivered with a consummate service model, and brands hit the sweet spot of what today’s luxury consumer searches for.

“Feeling deeply is becoming a form of luxury,” Hawkins says. “Feeling good, rather than just looking good, is aspirational.” The concept is explored in the report, New Codes of Luxury: Longevity & Wellbeing Strategies, created by the Future Laboratory in collaboration with the Together Group, a collective of creative consultancies.

Keltner and others say experiences are more memorable if associated with potent feelings of joy or wonder. Recognizing this powerful—and lucrative—trigger, brands have shifted to emotional storytelling when conveying a sense of identity.

Louis Vuitton was among the first to recognize how crucial a deep emotional connection is to a brand; the company launched its Travel Book collection in 2013. Artists are commissioned to capture the essence of cities through artworks that are compiled into high-end books. Congolese painter Chéri Samba, for example, captured Paris with his deeply hued surreal images. His work is now in the Paris-based Foundation Louis Vuitton, which promotes the arts, located in a Frank Gehry-designed building.

The striking building and the museum are additional ways Louis Vuitton extended its reach into the arts, linking profound emotional connections to its brand.

Luxury Scents Now Tell Stories

“Personal fragrance is another interesting example,” adds Hawkins. “It’s now being positioned as a wellness tool, not just as a beauty product. Scent is incredibly evocative.” Brands use scents to trigger specific emotions and stimulate certain parts of the brain for a desired effect, he says.

Such scents link to trends in ritual and mindfulness practices: meditation, yoga and sleep routines. Or they enhance moods, and claim to reduce stress or tighten the ability to focus.

One example: Diptyque’s “Les Mondes de Diptyque” candle collection. The five candles (from tree moss to orange blossom scents) represent “a tale transformed into scents … telling of secret and miraculous places, of nature and culture, working as one to captivate the senses,” according to the product’s marketing copy.

The Parisian company elevated the simple task of lighting a candle to a higher plane: “Light a candle and feel the beauty of the world.” French perfumer Olivia Giacobetti creates the scents and Italian designer Cristina Celestino designs the oval glass containers. The candles are priced at $285; refills cost $123.

The New Codes of Luxury report cites “the total experience” that purveyors of luxury aim to conjure for consumers. “Beyond owning goods, consumers want to enter curated worlds that resonate on a personal and cultural level,” states the report. Those worlds are nearly always associated with brands. Over three-quarters of luxury consumers highly value being part of a brand’s community, according to the Global Wellness Institute.

That trend is perhaps most striking as seen in branded residences, which are gaining in popularity. While luxury hotels lead the market, haute fashion houses (Fendi, Cavalli, Armani) and top-notch automotive brands (Aston Martin, Bentley, Porsche) have built towers that lure customers with high brand loyalty.

The branded residence trend accelerated in 2020; the industry is now valued at $66 billion worldwide, according to Luxonomy, which studies luxury trends. Dubai and Miami are hot spots, although Asia has seen an uptick in interest.

A Well-Lived Older Age Is Now A Luxury Status Symbol

Having a luxurious, deeply-felt lifestyle is one thing. But extending the pleasure into older age marks a new signifier of privilege, according to the New Codes of Luxury report. “Surging interest in longevity is rewriting the luxury playbook across beauty, health and hospitality,” states the report. The trend largely involves integrating such service as spas, wellness facilities and food and beverage venues into personalized programs.

An example: Geneva’s Mandarin Oriental, which partners with CENAS, a Swiss sleep centre. Guests can sign up for polysomnographic tests that diagnose sleep disorders. After analysis, they receive write-ups and consultations that help maximize sleep and energy levels.

Biohacking is a fancy term for lifestyle modifications that include cutting down on alcohol or coffee, incorporating intermittent fasting and strapping on devices that monitor body functions. According to Nova One Advisor, which reports on market research, the market is valued at $16 billion and is expected to grow 20% each year through 2030.

“EXQ Equinox” is a prime example of a biohacking service, offered by Equinox fitness centres for an annual fee of $40,000. The program includes more than 100 trackers for such biomarkers as hormones, nutrients and metabolic conditioning. Personal coaches skilled in health, sleep and nutrition also advise clients.

‘High-Touch’ Hospitality Is The New Standard

Hyper-personalization has become the new standard of exclusivity in luxurious experiences that target emotions. More than 75% of customers now expect personalization when interacting with brands, according to Zendesk, a data collection firm. Brands that deliver are 70% more likely to cash in on brand loyalty, according to Deloitte.

An example: the Ritz-Carlton Residences, Estero Bay’s “Experience Studio,” which caters to guests’ varied and minute tastes. Guests are matched with teams dedicated to fulfilling most any desire: catered meals, private boat excursions with a storytelling captain at the helm, an anniversary dinner on a private balcony, or just a dog walker.

Many luxury brands now combine high-touch with high-touch as they integrate AI into product recommendations that cater to guest preferences. Hotels excel in the field, but fashion houses—Gucci, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton—have also leveraged the technology to deliver signature offerings.

Feature Image Credit: Photo by Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images.

By R. Daniel Foster

Follow me on LinkedIn. Check out my website.

R. Daniel Foster conveys the essence of art and culture for a global audience. Based in Los Angeles, his articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles…. read more

Sourced from Forbes

By 

A tech startup claims it owns the Grok brand name.

Elon Musk is no stranger to branding and copyright controversies. Tesla is being sued by Blade Runner 2049’s producers for using apparently AI-generated imagery inspired by the film, and, bizarrely, SpaceX once appropriated the logo of a small English football club.

Musk’s AI company xAI has already had its copyright application for the Grok name rejected by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) because of similarities to the AI chipmaker Groq and software provider Grokstream. But it turns out that a third company had already trademarked the exact same name as xAI’s bot.

By 

Joe is a regular freelance journalist and editor at Creative Bloq. He writes news, features and buying guides and keeps track of the best equipment and software for creatives, from video editing programs to monitors and accessories. A veteran news writer and photographer, he now works as a project manager at the London and Buenos Aires-based design, production and branding agency Hermana Creatives. There he manages a team of designers, photographers and video editors who specialise in producing visual content and design assets for the hospitality sector. He also dances Argentine tango.

Sourced from Creative Bloq

By Jenni Baker, 

From the basics to buzzwords to game-changers, this glossary of terms will help you speak the language of AI and stay ahead of the curve.

From buzzwords flooding your LinkedIn feed to the technical terms creeping into every campaign brief, AI is reshaping marketing at speed – and with it comes a whole new language.

Whether you’re building creative with generative tools, experimenting with autonomous agents or simply just trying to keep up in meetings, our A to Z AI for Drummies glossary breaks down the key terms you actually need to know.

Written with marketers in mind (no data science degree required), each entry explains what the term means and why it matters to your brand, your team and your strategy.

Bookmark it. Share it. Come back often – we’ll try to keep it updated as fast as the tech itself evolves.

A

Agentic AI

AI that doesn’t just respond to a prompt – it acts with autonomy. Agentic systems can set goals, plan, make decisions and execute tasks on your behalf.

Why it matters: It marks a shift from reactive AI tools to proactive marketing assistants – think campaign briefings, competitor scans or scheduling happening automatically.

AI Alignment

The process of making sure AI systems behave in line with human goals and values.

Why it matters: As brands delegate more decisions to AI, alignment becomes key for safety, ethics and on-brand execution.

AI Hallucination

When AI makes something up that sounds convincing but is factually wrong.

Why it matters: Important to catch when using AI for content creation, research or customer comms – especially in regulated sectors.

AI Orchestration

The coordination of multiple AI systems or tools to work together on a task – like chatbots, image generators and analytics all syncing in a campaign flow.

Why it matters: Marketing teams won’t rely on just one AI tool. Orchestration ensures systems integrate and deliver results seamlessly.

AI-powered Personalization

Using AI to tailor content, ads, product suggestions or experiences in real time based on customer behaviour and data.

Why it matters: Personalized content outperforms static campaigns. This is how brands drive better engagement and conversion.

AI Sustainability

A rising concern around the environmental impact of training and using large AI models.

Why it matters: As AI adoption grows, marketing leaders may need to weigh innovation against ESG and energy efficiency.

Autonomous Agents

AI systems that can think, plan, and take action on their own, often across multiple steps or tools.

Why it matters: Still emerging, but could be game-changing for automating campaign planning, performance optimization or research tasks.

B

Black Box AI

AI systems whose inner workings aren’t visible or easily understood – even to their creators.

Why it matters: Trust and transparency are critical. If your model can’t explain why it made a decision, it’s harder to justify spend or strategy shifts.

Brand Safety AI

Tools that scan content environments to ensure your ads don’t appear next to harmful or inappropriate material.

Why it matters: Keeps your brand reputation intact while running programmatic or generative campaigns at scale.

C

Chain-of-Thought Prompting

A method of guiding AI to “think out loud” by breaking problems into steps before answering.

Why it matters: Produces clearer, more reasoned outputs for strategy work, messaging frameworks and analysis.

Chatbot

An AI assistant that can converse with users via text or voice, often used in customer service or sales.

Why it matters: Speeds up response times, improves satisfaction and scales support – especially when integrated with your CRM or commerce tools.

Computer Vision

AI that interprets visual inputs – like identifying products in an image or analysing video footage.

Why it matters: Essential for visual search, dynamic creative optimization and immersive retail experiences.

Context-Aware AI

AI that adapts outputs based on the broader context – user history, location, time of day, sentiment and more.

Why it matters: Enables hyper-relevant content delivery and smarter real-time experiences across devices and channels.

Conversational AI for Sales & Support

Advanced chatbots and virtual agents designed to assist with lead capture, qualification, upsell and customer service.

Why it matters: Goes beyond FAQs – this tech can handle nuanced queries and reduce pressure on human teams.

Content Generation AI

AI that creates marketing content like headlines, blog posts, emails, video scripts or images.

Why it matters: Supercharges creative teams and unlocks content-at-scale strategies without burning out copywriters.

Creative AI

AI used specifically in the ideation or design process – whether for generating assets or remixing them in new formats.

Why it matters: It’s a productivity unlock, freeing up teams to focus on higher-order creative thinking.

D

Dynamic Pricing (AI-powered)

AI systems that adjust product prices in real time based on demand, competition and user behaviour.

Why it matters: Common in travel and retail – helps brands stay competitive and maximize margins dynamically.

E

Ethical AI

The principles and frameworks that guide the responsible use of AI, including fairness, privacy, and transparency.

Why it matters: Essential for consumer trust, compliance, and long-term brand integrity.

Explainable AI (XAI)

AI that can clearly explain how it arrived at a decision or recommendation.

Why it matters: Marketers need to justify spend, targeting or messaging decisions. Explain ability brings credibility.

F

Few-shot Learning

When an AI model learns how to perform a task using only a few examples, rather than needing massive datasets.

Why it matters: Helps generate relevant copy or product tags quickly, especially when working with niche or limited data.

Foundation Model

A large, general-purpose AI model trained on vast data that can be adapted for many tasks – eg, ChatGPT-4, Gemini, Claude.

Why it matters: These are the backbones of modern AI tools. Marketers use them via chatbots, content engines, or productivity apps.

Frontier Model

The most advanced versions of foundation models, often with the highest capabilities in reasoning, language and creative generation.

Why it matters: Expect these models to enable more natural conversations, smarter planning tools and near-human-level creative collaboration.

G

Generative AI

AI that creates new content from scratch – text, image, audio, video – based on prompts or data inputs.

Why it matters: It’s transforming everything from copywriting to ad production to audience engagement.

Guardrails

Rules or restrictions that are embedded in AI systems to prevent them from generating harmful, biased or off-brand content.

Why it matters: Vital for brand protection, especially in public-facing tools like AI chatbots or auto-generated ads.

H

Human-in-the-loop (HITL)

A hybrid model where humans oversee or approve AI outputs before they go live.

Why it matters: Ensures that automation doesn’t override brand tone, creative nuance or legal compliance.

I

Intent Recognition

AI’s ability to infer what a user actually wants based on behaviour or language – “browsing versus buying” for instance.

Why it matters: Powers better targeting, smarter chatbots, and more effective conversion funnels.

L

Large Language Model (LLM)

A type of AI trained on massive amounts of text to understand and generate natural language. The “brains” behind ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.

Why it matters: These tools now assist with writing, summarizing, analysing and automating many marketing tasks.

LLMOps

The process of managing and optimizing large language models across your organization – from deployment to monitoring.

Why it matters: As more brands adopt LLMs, LLMOps ensure consistency, governance and scale.

Lookalike Audiences (AI-powered)

Customer segments built by AI that resemble your best-performing audiences based on shared behaviours or traits.

Why it matters: Key for unlocking new customers who are likely to convert – especially in paid media and CRM.

M

Machine Learning (ML)

AI that improves over time by learning from data, not explicit programming.

Why it matters: It powers predictive models, churn analysis, smart content targeting, and automated decisions across platforms.

Marketing Mix Modelling (AI-enhanced)

Using AI to analyse which marketing channels are driving results, and where to spend more or less.

Why it matters: Helps CMOs justify budget and optimize across media, creative, and touchpoints.

Model Drift

When an AI model’s accuracy declines over time because the world (or audience) has changed since it was trained.

Why it matters: Left unchecked, drift can lead to off-target recommendations or inaccurate insights.

Multi-modal AI

AI that can process and generate multiple content types (eg text, images, video, audio) at once.

Why it matters: Opens up cross-format campaigns where one prompt might produce a full storyboard, script and visuals.

N

Natural Language Processing (NLP)

The part of AI that enables machines to understand, interpret, and generate human language.

Why it matters: It’s the core tech behind chatbots, voice assistants, sentiment analysis, and AI content tools.

Neural Network

A type of machine learning system inspired by the human brain made up of layers of connected “neurons.”

Why it matters: Underpins most modern AI systems – but you don’t need to understand the maths to benefit from the tools.

O

Open-Source v Closed Models

A key AI debate. Open-source models offer flexibility and transparency, while closed models offer performance and safety guardrails.

Why it matters: Brands may soon choose between building in-house with open models or relying on best-in-class third-party tools.

P

Personalization Engine (AI-driven)

A tool that adapts what each customer sees based on real-time signals – products, content, pricing or offers.

Why it matters: Powers higher engagement, loyalty and revenue by making every interaction feel tailored.

Prompt Engineering

The art of writing effective prompts to get the desired output from an AI model.

Why it matters: It’s the new creative briefing skill – knowing how to ask gets you better, faster results.

R

Real-Time Adaptation

When AI updates content or strategy instantly based on a change in customer behaviour, environment, or signal.

Why it matters: Think headlines that adapt by time zone or CTAs that change for different traffic sources.

Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)

An approach where AI pulls in external sources to inform or verify its responses in real time.

Why it matters: Helps reduce hallucination and make your brand’s chatbot or assistant more accurate and useful.

S

Sentiment Analysis

AI that scans and categorizes customer emotions in text – from reviews to tweets to call transcripts.

Why it matters: Gives marketers a real-time pulse on brand perception, campaign reaction, or product feedback.

Small Language Models (SLMs)

Lean, task-specific language models that are more efficient than giant LLMs but still powerful.

Why it matters: Lower cost, faster performance, and easier to deploy for brand-specific use cases.

Synthetic Data

Artificially generated data used to train AI models – mimicking real user behaviour while protecting privacy.

Why it matters: A privacy-safe way to develop personalized experiences without exposing real customer data.

Synthetic Personas

AI-generated customer personas based on real behavioural patterns, constantly updated as the data evolves.

Why it matters: Better than static PowerPoints – these personas evolve with your audience and feed your strategy.

T

Transformer Model

The architecture behind most advanced AI tools, especially LLMs like GPT. It allows AI to understand context and predict what comes next.

Why it matters: Enables fluid, coherent responses that feel more human and helpful – key for content, support, and strategy tools.

W

Watermarking (AI)

A way of tagging AI-generated content (often invisibly) to show that it wasn’t created by a human.

Why it matters: Expect platforms and regulators to require this more. Helpful for compliance and trust in branded content.

Feature Image Credit: Photo by Mohamed Nohassi on Unsplash

By Jenni Baker, 

Sourced from The Drum

By Rochi Zalani

Real-life social media campaign examples from trailblazing brands to inspire your next big project.

When you think of stand-out social media campaigns, what’s the first one that comes to mind? I’m willing to bet the likes of Spotify Wrapped or Dove Beauty are right up there.

Lauded as these examples are (rightly so!), they’re far from the only ground-breaking examples from recent years.

In fact, it was tough to trim down this list of innovative, memorable social media campaigns down to a readable number — so I’m confident there are several on this list that will stand out on your hunt for inspiration. We’ve got heartfelt stories, celebrity salads, and of course, reincarnating owls.

Anytime you feel you’re in a creative rut, come back to this list, snoop, and scoop what you can for your own social media campaigns. Maybe we’ll soon be adding yours to this list! 👀

1. Duolingo’s death of the owl

Duolingo, the language learning app, announced the death of their beloved owl mascot in February 2025. While the campaign evoked mixed feelings, it also sparked tidal waves of engagement — with the death announcement getting over two million likes and 40,000 comments.

The company continued paying tribute to the mascot for two weeks — fully committing to the act — right before Duo made a ‘legends never die’ comeback.

If you were in orbit, it was hard to miss the news. Everyone from me to Dua Lipa was talking about it. Garnering over a billion organic views across social media platforms, this was one of Duolingo’s most successful social media campaigns — which, considering how prolific the brand is on social, is really saying something.

Why this campaign was successful:

  • A famous (albeit fictional) face. In Duolingo’s case, Duo was the face of the brand and a household name, famous for its unhinged antics on social media.
  • It piqued people’s curiosity — since the Duolingo team kept up the charade, people wanted to know how the mascot died. Some people didn’t think the marketing department would kill their biggest asset; others said their brand was just bonkers enough to do it. Either way, everyone was interested in how it would play out.

Key takeaways:

  • If your social media marketing efforts don’t have a face yet, it might be time to consider giving it one — with loads of personality. After all, plenty of brands have mascots, but few seem to have quite as much, er… character as Duo does. A mascot with personality could open doors to loads of fun, wacky, heart warming stories (read: campaigns galore). That said, it’s a tough act to balance. Ensure you maintain a consistent brand voice across social media channels, though. You’ll want a fully fleshed-out, long-term strategy for this.
  • Don’t be afraid to experiment. Duolingo’s successful social media campaigns are usually chaotic in nature (in line with their overall social media marketing strategy). Their social media team is constantly pushing boundaries, making them trailblazers in their field.
  • Double down on your social media campaigns by expanding them into all the social media channels you’re on. You increase the chances of a campaign’s success by involving multiple platforms.

⚠️ Note: Don’t copy-paste this campaign if your social media strategy already has a mascot (like many brands have already done).

While it might get you engagement because the topic is trending and popular, it’s generally been fairly poorly received. People want originality and authenticity true to your brand, not a copy-paste version of what’s popular.

2. Loop Earplugs social media partnerships (especially during music festivals)

Loop Earplugs is a pro at social media collaborations. They regularly partner with various creators (and adjacent businesses) to snag a spot in their social media feed. Recently, they partnered with Coachella to launch special earplugs just for the occasion.

Some of their creator affiliates shared their unique discount code to promote the product and they also used the influencer content as ads.

Watch on TikTok

Why these social media campaigns are successful:

  • Loop introduced vetted, trusted creators into their social media marketing efforts which enhanced the authenticity of their social media posts.
  • Most of Loop’s partnerships relate to a certain segment of their target audience — people who live in loud cities, people who struggle with sleeping, and people who want to protect their ears during concerts. The relatability and diverse use cases help their target audience spot themselves in the content and see when, how, and where the product can help them.

Key takeaways:

  • If you have the budget and resources, partner with influencers in your industry to improve the visibility of your social media campaigns. It’s best to do this across multiple social media platforms, like Loop.
  • Find seasonal events in your content calendar where your product or services are a natural fit. This will allow you to design social media campaigns that are timely and relatable.
  • Find various use cases for your product or service and ‘show’ them in your social media posts so your target audience can see themselves in your content.

3. Pringle’s Halloween product launch

Pringles launched a new product, called Pringles Mingles, in October of 2024. They created buzz by dropping hints before the launch and themed it around Halloween.

Pringles continued to post about the initial flavors post Halloween — also adding influencer reviews and giveaways to the social media campaign.

Why this campaign was successful:

  • Pringles didn’t randomly drop a new product with no warning. They created excitement amongst their followers by dropping hints ahead of the launch.
  • Influencer partnerships and giveaways helped create more visibility around the launch.

Key takeaways:

  • A winning social media campaign about a product launch needs preparation. Embed social media posts that build excitement and drop hints ahead of your launch date.
  • Raise awareness about your new product or services by partnering with influencers, reposting user-generated content, and hosting contests or giveaways.

4. Aavia’s hormone condition feature series

Aavia, a period tracking app, has embedded a genius content series into its social media strategy. They interview people about their journeys with hormone conditions, share it on their Substack newsletter, and repurpose it for social media marketing.

Why this campaign was successful:

  • The people featured in these series are often Aavia customers — building social proof amongst social media users.
  • The repurposed posts fill the social media marketing content calendar, promote the Substack, and help Aavia’s target audience — all with one post.

Key takeaways:

  • Add more customer stories to your social media marketing campaigns. This will not only lend more authenticity to your efforts but also make your content more relatable.
  • If you have other marketing efforts in motion, like a newsletter or blog posts, repurpose them to add more quality content to your social media marketing and promote your other marketing channels.

5. Tl;dv’s skits

tl;dv is an AI meeting assistant. The company regularly shares relatable, funny skits on its social media platforms that feature characters from a tech company.

The videos show common, day-to-day interactions between a sales rep and a developer — like sales promising a feature that the product roadmap doesn’t include and then requesting the dev team to prioritize it. There are other characters like customer success, founder, and product manager, too. All of these are potential customers of tl;dv, but the product is almost never directly mentioned.

While this example isn’t a ‘campaign’ isn’t in the strictest sense, it’s an ongoing social media series that has been wildly successful. The scores of videos they’ve shared have thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands of views across Instagram and TikTok.

Why these social media marketing campaigns are successful:

  • There’s no hard selling, just entertaining content.
  • It’s the kind of content people would find funny and share with their friends.
  • Some social media posts say the quiet part of working at a tech company out loud — which makes tl;dv’s content more authentic, relatable, and engaging.

Key takeaways:

  • When appropriate and tasteful, poke fun at your audience’s pain points that will make them feel seen.
  • Infuse more relatable and entertaining content around your target audience’s daily life into your social media marketing campaigns.
  • Instead of always having the sales cap on, focus on creating memorable social media posts that foster a brand identity.

6. KFC’s new fries launch in the UK

KFC always got the same complaint: your fries aren’t finger-licking good. So, they heard their customers and launched new fries in the UK with the hashtag #NewKFCfries. For a while there, X’s feed rained fries (in the UK and Ireland).

Why was this campaign successful:

  • The campaign was super interactive — every time people clicked on the tag, fries rained down the screen! It was a fun element (possible because KFC partnered with X) that made the campaign memorable.
  • KFC was responding to the complaints of their devoted brand advocates. This made customers feel heard and cared for.
  • They laughed at themselves. There’s something quite relatable about a brand being able to poke fun at themselves in the way KFC subtly did here. They used phrases like “Finally” and “Me either” when fans expressed they couldn’t wait for the new version.

Key takeaways:

  • Practice social listening and monitor patterns in customer feedback. If you’re addressing something many buyers have asked for, show them you hear them in your social media campaigns.
  • Have a branded hashtag around your social media campaigns to make user-generated content easier to track — particularly on platforms like X and Threads, where hashtags like this are easily clickable. It also makes your marketing campaigns more sticky and memorable among social media users.
  • When doing a campaign for a product launch, don’t be afraid to put it front and center (KFC not only made it rain fries on X, but also changed their social media bio). Don’t let your successful marketing campaigns drown in the feed (especially if they’re time-sensitive).

7. Blendtec’s ‘Will it Blend’ social media campaign

Blendtec is a kitchenware company that sells mixers, grinders, and blenders. In 2021, they ran a ‘Will it blend?’ content series on YouTube where they’d blend various items in their mixer and see if their products could do the job. The campaign was so engaging that people are still talking about it.

Why this campaign was successful:

  • It encouraged engagement. People could interact with the content and ask for what they want to see blended next — and Blendtec would actually do it.
  • The freshness of the idea also made ‘Will it Blend’ a successful campaign. Not only did it prove the product’s durability, but it also engaged people in a fun and silly way.

Key takeaways:

  • Effective social media campaigns are rooted in simplicity. Find fresh social media content ideas that’d spark conversation among your target audience and improve your social media engagement.
  • Create content series (that hopefully don’t have to involve blending your iPhone) that can spark curiosity among your followers and make them look forward to the next episode.

8. Black Girl Vitamin’s Black History Month limited edition bundle

Black Girl Vitamins did a social media campaign around Black History Month where they sold an exclusive offer to make your own bundle and also get a limited edition box.

For the whole month, they also shared social media posts focusing on increasing awareness about Black History.

They also ran various in-person fitness classes and a few live webinars across the U.S. to empower their community and foster more real-life connections.

Why was this campaign successful:

  • The focus allowed people to build a personal connection to the brand, especially if they align with Black Girl Vitamin’s values.
  • The business also refocused its packaging to fully commit to the social media campaign.
  • Giveaways and influencer partnerships also helped in increasing brand awareness.

Key takeaways:

  • The best social media campaigns align with your brand values. Use social media marketing as a channel to show what you stand for (and/or stand against), but be wary of being performative. Customers and followers will see right through it if you disingenuously jump onto a cause to get likes and views. Here’s some great advice on when and how to align your brand with causes from small business owner, Nyshell Lawrence.
  • Let your audience know when a limited-period discount or offer ends by concluding your social media campaigns.

9. Sweetgreen’s Renee Rap bowl

Restaurant chain Sweetgreen launched a new salad bowl with singer and songwriter Reneé Rapp.

Why Reneé? Because she’s a regular customer and had a custom go-to order that Sweetgreen wanted to offer all its customers. The songwriter had been a Sweetgreen fan for the last five years, so this partnership was authentic and a result of Reneé’s long-standing love for Sweetgreen.

Why this campaign was successful:

  • Reneé’s celebrity status definitely lends itself to the success of this social media campaign. She’s an influential voice and her stamp of approval carries a lot of weight to not only raise awareness, but generate leads.
  • Creating a new bowl with Reneé’s name also puts a whimsical touch on the company’s products — anyone who’s a fan of the singer would want to try the salad.
  • The chance to see a live show in the unique setting of a restaurant and get a meet-and-greet with the singer also makes this social media campaign a success.

Key takeaways:

  • You don’t always need a celebrity for this campaign’s success — find influential voices in your industry and partner with them to create content and maybe even co-create products.
  • Share exclusive offers (like a meet and greet) with your influencer partners to increase the success of your social media campaigns.

10. Beehiiv’s convert to Beehiiv kit

Beehiiv is a newsletter platform that focuses on being the best in the business for creators. Recently, one of their core competitors rebranded (ConvertKit became Kit), launched a campaign to share the news.

Beehiiv capitalized on the moment by offering exclusive discounts and incentives specifically for Kit’s customers.

The campaign evoked a lot of debate on social media about whether or not dunking on your competitors is the right way to go. Either way, it generated serious buzz for Beehiiv on social media. Some people found it distasteful, but others loved Beehiiv’s edge and wanted to be a part of the movement.

Why this campaign was successful:

  • The timing of this campaign was just right — Beehiiv launched their exclusive offer the same day their competitor rebranded. It was already in everyone’s feeds because Kit had been hyping up the final date of their rebrand for a while.
  • This campaign was a bold and risky move — but it helped Beehiiv find customers who truly love their brand for their attitude.

Key takeaways:

  • If you plan to run a head-to-head social media campaign with your competitor, prepare for the potential backlash you might receive.
  • Make your potential customers an offer they can’t refuse. Beehiiv’s exclusive offer didn’t just gain traction because of the mocking, but also because the perks were unbelievably good for creators — free migration, free access to Beehiiv for six months, guaranteed premium sponsors, and early beta access to new features.
  • Highlight your unique edge over competitors in your social media campaigns. You don’t need to take a go-big-or-go-home approach and name names but don’t be afraid to spotlight your product’s unique selling proposition.

11. FZK Media’s $10,000/month challenge

FZK Media is a personal branding agency helping founders reach their business goals via effective social media marketing.

Their founder started a social media challenge to reach an income milestone from her creator’s Instagram account, which she eventually shifted to her agency’s account.

Why this campaign was successful:

  • The content series is about building in public — which keeps people hooked and builds trust. Everyone wants to know if you fulfill the challenge you’ve taken on. People also appreciate you sharing your setbacks, failures, and struggles — fostering a strong connection.
  • The founder shares an honest look behind her workflow, struggles, and wins. It’s not a glossy portrayal of success but an accurate picture of the process for people who share the same goal.

Key takeaways:

  •  People love a peek behind the curtain. Launch effective campaigns that just share the behind-the-scenes of building your business. After the brand fulfilled this challenge, its founder continued the series by increasing the stakes (a $50,000/month challenge).
  • Create authentic and vulnerable social media marketing content to truly resonate with your audience and help them learn from your mistakes.The campaign showed both the ‘why’ and the people behind the brand.
  • Apart from the content itself, Fiza’s video editing skills were also A+ — the camera cuts were perfect, there was no fluff in any video, and her voice was crisp and clear. All these factors combined made every video a great watch.

Use a scheduling tool to manage your social media campaigns

Creating and engaging with your social media campaign is what should be spending your energy on — the last thing you want is to get bogged down manually posting your content every day. .

The easiest way to automate this is to introduce Buffer into your social media management workflow: you can save ideas, schedule posts, measure campaign performance, and even engage with your customers from a single tab.

a view of scheduled posts in Buffer, perfect for mapping out a social media campaign

The best part? When you populate all your content in advance in Buffer’s content calendar, you can also spot gaps in your social media marketing strategy. For example, maybe you notice a week’s looking quite light in terms of the number of posts, so you fill it with your best-performing content types.

Have an interesting social media campaign example (perhaps yours 😉) that you think we missed? We’re always on the hunt for more fresh campaigns to feature here — share yours with us in the comments below!

Feature Image Credit: Credit: George Milton, Pexels

By Rochi Zalani

Sourced from Buffer

By Lyn Wildwood

How long should a blog post be?

What do readers prefer? How long do blog posts have to be to rank on Google?

We answer all of these questions and more in this post, starting with data-driven answers on typical blog post lengths bloggers use.

What is the ideal blog post length?

The simple answer is that the ideal blog post length varies between 1,500 and 2,500 words in most cases.

Let’s discuss a few studies that back this figure. The first comes from Semrush’s content marketing report for 2023.

The company analysed 30,000 websites and discovered that the average word count for blog posts published by high-performing sites is 1,152.

semrush blog post length

Note: Unfortunately, the link to Semrush’s 2023 content marketing report is no longer live. They have deleted it for some reason. Even though the data has aged a bit, it’s still valid.

The average word count for posts published by medium-performing sites is 902 while low-performing websites publish articles that are 668 words long on average.

In a QuickSprout study of Crazy Egg’s blog, posts that were over 1,500 words in length received 68.1% more tweets on Twitter (now X) and 22.6% more Facebook likes than posts that were fewer than 1,500 words.

Specifically, longer blog posts that were over 1,500 words received 293.5 tweets and 72.7 Facebook likes on average.

Articles that were less than 1,500 words received 174.6 tweets and 59.3 Facebook likes on average.

Finally, according to OrbitMedia’s 2024 study and survey of the blogging industry, the average blog post length is 1,394 words in 2024.

This is a 2.31% decrease from 2023’s average length of 1,427 words per post and a 72.52% increase from 2014’s average word count of 808 words.

orbitmedia strong results post length

A survey OrbitMedia conducted for this study, which included responses from over 1,000 bloggers, revealed that 63% of bloggers publish articles that are 500 to 1,500 words long on a regular basis.

37% of bloggers write articles that are between 2,000 and 3,000 words while only 3% of bloggers publish articles that are over 3,000 words long on a regular basis.

orbitmedia average word count per post

However, 31% of bloggers who do publish longer posts that are over 3,000 words on average on a regular basis say they see “strong results” from their efforts.

This is compared to only 12% who write posts between 500 and 1,000 words and 10% who publish articles that are fewer than 500 words.

Remember that blog post length is not a ranking factor

As you decide how long each one of your blog posts should be, remember that blog post length is not a ranking factor.

Here are the word counts for the top three articles that rank on Google’s search engine results page (SERP) for the keyword “what is a motherboard”:

  1. TechTarget – 635 words
  2. Spiceworks – 3,301 words
  3. Lenovo -1,012 words

Clearly, Google did not consider word count when it was ranking blog posts for this keyword.

Domain authority likely had a much larger influence on this ranking since each of these sites has a domain authority that’s higher than 85, according to Ahrefs’ scale of this metric (DR).

Search engine optimization (SEO) experts advise smaller and medium-sized sites to write longer posts because it often takes more words to demonstrate authority on a particular topic.

However, it’s much more important to ensure your post provides value and matches search intent.

Short-form and long-form blog posts alike are capable of doing this.

When you write an outline for a post that targets a particular keyword, ask yourself what information the user is expecting to find when they enter that keyword into Google.

In your mind, when they enter “what is a motherboard” into Google, do they want a simple definition or a 3,000-word explanation that explains everything about this crucial piece of hardware?

This is why it’s so important to know your audience.

A tech blog that targets laymen and tech novices should write a shorter article while a blog that targets tech experts should really dive deep into this topic.

Instead of worrying about word count, you’d be much better off ensuring your website loads fast and is easy to navigate, that you acquire more high-quality backlinks, that you do not over optimize your posts, and that you publish a lot of articles that relate to your blog post.

What does google say about blog post length?

Google’s John Mueller tackled this subject on LinkedIn in October of 2024.

LinkedIn user Faseeh Ur Rehman asked:

“Hi John, is there an ideal content length that performs better on Google search results? Should we focus on creating longer, in-depth articles, or can short-form content rank just as well if it’s concise and valuable?”

To which Mueller replied:

“There is no universally ideal content length. Focus on bringing unique value to the web overall, which doesn’t mean just adding more words.”

User SEOBot_ followed up by asking:

“John Mueller, the industry is literally dead if you sense how the search is behaving. Also, do you have any example of content on the website that follows this and is able to get the Google love. “Focus on bringing unique value to the web overall, which doesn’t mean just adding more words.” This is a very vague and unrealistic ask if the GSC can start pinpointing this content/section as not making any sense or not adding any value. We really eager to learn and know how the content is actually generating value to the web. If all the value is being generated by top publishers/brands then what exactly the small publishers/niche site owners suppose to write to survive?”

To which Mueller responded:

“If you’re looking for a mechanical recipe for how to make something useful, that will be futile – that’s just not how it works, neither online nor offline. When you think about the real-world businesses near you that are doing well, do you primarily think about which numbers they focus on, or do you think about the products / services that they provide?”

He concluded with a final comment that read:

“If you count the words in best seller books, average the count, and then write the same number of words in your own book, will it become a best seller? If you make a phone that has the same dimensions as a popular smartphone, will you sell as many as they do? I love spreadsheets, but numbers aren’t everything. I’ll drop out of this thread now, it’s going in circles. If you want a number, go here: bit.ly/bestkwd.”

In other words, Google does not recommend you to simply use the same number of words your competitors are using. They advise you to focus on providing unique value to the web instead.

Unfortunately, Google often contradicts themselves. And so, we persist.

How to find a keyword’s optimal blog post length

Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to reveal how long an article should be if you do need a number.

It’s time consuming, but follow these steps to reveal an optimal blog post length for your keyword:

  1. Open Google in a browser you’re not logged into.*
  2. Copy and paste the text for the first article into a word count tool, such as WordCounter.
  3. Record the number, then do the same for the next nine articles. Ignore videos, forum posts and shop pages.
  4. Add up each of the numbers, then divide by the number of figures you collected, which should be 10. The result is your optimal blog post length for that keyword.

*Google takes your own search history into account when it showcases search results to you. For example, if you browse Reddit a lot, you’ll see more results for Reddit posts when you search on Google. Therefore, it’s better to use Google in a browser where you’re not logged into your Google account in order to see the true ranking list for a particular keyword.

On-page optimization tools

The method listed above is free, but it’s also time consuming. A much quicker way to reveal a keyword’s ideal blog post length is to use an on-page optimization tool.

We mostly recommend Frase due to its affordability and ease of use, both of which are great for beginners. Sign up for a free trial here.

However, Scalenut, Surfer SEO, and NeuronWriter do a similar thing.

When you input a keyword into one of these tools, it’ll reveal suggestions for the following aspects of your blog post:

  • Word count
  • Number of images
  • Related keywords
  • How often you should use your target keyword
  • How often you should use each related keyword
frase topic score

Each of these suggestions is based on the top listings for your keyword.

Word count suggestions are based on an average word count from your competitors. You can view word counts of each one individually with most of these tools.

It’s a simple way to reveal a word count range you should target in order for your post to remain competitive.

Use your own knowledge of your target audience

Again, you know your target audience better than SEO tools do.

If your audience would appreciate a shorter explanation, write a shorter blog post.

If your audience expects in-depth analyses of topics, focus on writing long-form content.

It’s great to have specific metrics to target, but if you actually know your niche and your target audience through and through, your posts will likely be exactly as long as they need to be if you write naturally.

Create topic clusters on your website

Here’s one thing that’s predictable about SEO:

Competitive keywords typically need more words in order to cover their topics properly while less-competitive keywords typically require less.

This is why creating topic clusters is so useful. They allow you to cover everything about a particular topic with long blog posts while covering individual topics that relate to that original topic with shorter blog posts.

Related posts are something search engines want to see on your site.

Creating topic clusters is also a great way to publish a mixture of long and short-form content on your site.

Final thoughts

Most studies will tell you that the ideal length of a blog post is between 1,500 and 3,000 words.

And generally, you’ll find that the more in-depth your content is, the better it will perform. You’ll get more shares, earn more links, etc.

But the most important thing is to cover the topic in as much detail as you need in order to achieve your goals.

By Lyn Wildwood

Lyn Wildwood is a member of the Blogging Wizard content team and a freelance writer for hire with over a decade of experience in the marketing space. She loves sharing new tips on WordPress, blogging, and online business as a whole.

Sourced from bloggingwizard

 

Sourced from The Drum

We ask Joe Laszlo, head of content at ShopTalk, to share his top takeaways from this year’s show.

If you looked only at the headlines – tariffs rising, costs tightening, malls emptying – you might think retail was facing its final act. But on the ground at Shoptalk 2025 in Las Vegas, the picture couldn’t have been more different.

Retail, it turns out, is not dying. It’s evolving – fast. In fact, the theme’s show suggested we are on the brink of the golden age of retail – not quite the narrative you expect with all the doom and gloom in the world.

But over the course of four packed days, more than 10,000 retail execs, tech innovators and brand marketers gathered not to mourn the industry’s challenges but to build what comes next. And no one had a better view of the big picture than Joe Laszlo, head of content at Shoptalk.

We caught up with Laszlo and asked him to share the top five takeaways from this year’s show. Here’s how it broke down, with real-world examples from The Drum to bring each point to life.

1. Customer centricity isn’t a slogan – it’s survival

“If you’re a retailer and you’re not thinking about your customer’s needs first and foremost, you’re not going to be a successful retailer,” Laszlo said. “This year, we built the whole program around that idea – and you could see it come through in almost every session.”

Customer centricity is no longer a vague ambition – it’s becoming the engine behind business models, store formats, product development and social strategies.

Take Claire’s, the tween-focused retailer that rebuilds its customer base every few years by design. It has turned Gen Alpha into co-creators, letting them shape store design and content alike.

2. Physical retail isn’t dead – it’s a halo engine

“The old idea of e-commerce versus in-store is done,” said Laszlo. “It’s all retail. It’s all commerce. And the smartest players are making each channel amplify the other.”

That’s exactly what Wayfair is doing. Its new brick-and-mortar stores aren’t just capturing footfall – they’re boosting online sales in entire regions, proving that physical locations still matter in a digital-first world.

And Primark? It has taken the radical step of only selling in-store in the US market – delivering a tactile, value-driven experience in direct contrast to endless scrolling.

3. AI is growing up – from generative to agentic

“AI is everywhere,” said Laszlo. “But what’s interesting is how it’s shifting – from content generation to action. We’re entering the age of agentic AI.”

This new wave isn’t about making pretty pictures – it’s about building systems that act on behalf of the customer. Whether that’s Wayfair’s AI-powered design tool Muse or Kroger using AI to detect behavior changes linked to wellness trends, it’s clear that automation is moving upstream.

Reddit, meanwhile, is shaping AI search by offering platforms like ChatGPT and Google access to its human-led data. As Roxy Young, Reddit’s CMO put it: “You can’t have artificial intelligence without actual intelligence.”

4. Retail media is eating the industry

“Retail media used to be a niche topic,” said Laszlo. “Now, it’s driving growth conversations across every corner of the show. Retailers are realizing they’re not just merchants – they’re media owners.”

Kroger’s media arm, KPM, is powered by over two decades of shopper data and now influences everything from R&D to brand building. Albertsons is going one step further: VP Liz Roche suggests the next evolution could include acquiring traditional media companies.

The Drum’s coverage shows how the margins are real, the measurement is evolving, and the competition is heating up fast.

5. Trust is the ultimate growth channel

“One of the most powerful ideas we saw this year is that trust is driving performance,” Laszlo said. “That’s true in loyalty programs, in sustainability, in how data is used. Retailers are starting to build systems that reinforce trust at every step.”

Take Back Market, which leads with price but wins with transparency. Or Reddit, where human moderation and authentic community conversations are turning search intent into sales. Even Shein is trying to rebuild trust by showing the mechanics behind its rapid-fire supply chain.

“When shoppers know what to expect – and you deliver on it – you’ve won the game,” Laszlo added.

Sourced from The Drum

Meta’s adding some new ways for businesses to engage with potential customers on WhatsApp, including business “broadcasts”, which will enable brands to pay to amplify their offers to people who’ve previously interacted with them.

As you can see in this example, soon, businesses will be able to push promotions to people who’ve engaged with them in the past, even outside of Meta’s usual business messaging restrictions.

Users will be able to opt out of future offers direct from the message itself, or mark that they’re “Not interested” in that specific offer. Meta will monitor these responses, and will continually assess the content of those with high disinterest counts to ensure that the business is sending “high quality, engaging and relevant marketing conversations.”

Which also relates to message frequency, and Meta’s also implementing limits on the number of brand messages that a user can receive each day.

As per Meta:

“We want messages from businesses to be helpful and expected, which is why we’ve introduced limits to the number of marketing messages that people can receive, thereby minimizing inbox overload.”

These measures should reduce the intrusiveness of DM promotions, though users generally don’t like getting notifications for ads. As such, this is still a significant risk for the app, and could cause significant backlash, without adequate management from WhatsApp.

That’s why Meta’s working to ensure that users have easy ways to opt out, while it’s also outlined all the various controls and options that users have to avoid brand messaging if they choose.

And hopefully, its transparency and control measures will be enough to counter any user backlash, while also enabling another promotion option for business.

Click HERE to read the remainder of the article

Sourced from SocialMediaToday

By Kartik Ahuja Edited by Chelsea Brown

Discover how automation helped us streamline processes, improve efficiency by 50% and scale without hiring extra employees.

Key Takeaways

Running a marketing agency is no walk in the park. It requires repetitive, time-consuming tasks. With the client list growing, the manual workload increases to a point where you need at least one — if not more — employees to tackle the pressure.

I realized this to the bone as repetitive tasks and manual work piled up. The first blow was that it became harder for our employees to execute tasks on time. Also, it frequently caused burnout or fatigue that interfered with the quality of our work.

To address this, the first and immediate solution that came to my mind was hiring multiple employees. But that wasn’t feasible, as recruiting more employees would require additional management and increase overhead costs.

So, after re-evaluating some workable options, I finally found a better way to streamline my operations — automation. Despite the scepticism, I decided to give it a shot and started automating my business processes. The result? I was able to offload 50% of my business tasks.

Here’s my whole journey, from switching to automation to achieving sustainable growth without hiring extra employees.

Determining the time-consuming tasks

Before diving into my automation strategies, let me highlight the tasks that slowed me down and became the biggest bottlenecks in my workflow:

1. Manual lead generation

Initially, I spent half my business days just nurturing qualified leads. I had to target companies that needed optimization for customer acquisition and funnel management, which took a great deal of time.

Even after sifting through countless websites, social media profiles and directories, I hardly found businesses that needed scalable marketing systems and growth strategies.

And the result? I gradually started to miss opportunities.

2. Customer support overload

As I inspected further, I found out that the customer support representatives of my company had to respond to every inquiry, manage complaints and provide solutions — all manually.

As you can imagine, with the growing number of customer support requests, it became harder to keep up, resulting in slower response times. The worst part was that the repetitive queries consumed too much time, leaving little scope for them to handle serious customer issues.

3. Financial tracking and reporting

Processing invoices, reconciling accounts and generating financial reports were more than a time drain for my team. Manually tracking finances led to miscalculations and inaccurate reports. The inefficient management made future income predictions and budget planning a great obstacle, as it all resulted in errors and lost revenue.

4. Client onboarding and communication

The next big challenge I faced was managing client onboarding and communication. Each client required personalized attention, contract processing and documentation.

So, it consumed a large portion of our workweek to keep track of every interaction, address queries and ensure a smooth onboarding experience. The lack of a structured system impacted our client satisfaction and retention.

5. Meeting scheduling and follow-ups

Efficient communication and timely follow-ups are essential for my team, especially when executing the Attention, Interest, Desire and Action (AIDA) framework. However, the manual processes, including scheduling meetings, turned into a major roadblock.

Plus, we had to coordinate meeting times across different time zones and make endless back-and-forth emails, which impacted the precision of that framework. At its worst, we were at risk of potential client drop-offs.

Opting for specific solutions

That said, after noting down the issues, I realized that most of the time-consuming tasks could be worked around using automation. And here’s how I did it:

1. LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Apollo.io for automated lead generation

I integrated LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Apollo.io to eliminate my manual lead generation drain. These advanced tools are designed for highly targeted searches based on specific criteria such as industry, service or company size.

Apollo.io’s email finder and verification features were a lifesaver, significantly reducing the time I spent on manual research.

More than that, we could reach our target audience in minimal time. We narrowed down our search with LinkedIn Sales Navigator and as a result, our company also witnessed up to a 17% higher win rate on average.

2. AI-powered chatbots for customer support

First, I tried addressing customer overload issues by implementing an AI-powered chatbot on my website CRM. It was programmed to handle customer queries and provide basic troubleshooting.

After testing multiple chatbot designs, I decided to review one and connect it with our CRM. It was effectively linked with HubSpot to access customer data, track conversations and update customer records.

This ensured personalized help and reduced our workload by up to 40%. The efficiency allowed my team to provide 24/7 customer service with improved response time.

3. QuickBooks Online for financial tracking and reporting

For financial monitoring and reporting, I found QuickBooks Online, which integrates with our payment gateways and bank accounts.

This advanced software effectively automated our invoice generation, payment processing and financial reporting. Also, I integrated a dedicated reporting and business intelligence tool, Fathom, with QuickBooks and ensured seamless financial reporting.

As a result, I witnessed an increased accuracy of my reporting by nearly 95% and was able to reduce the reporting time by 75%.

4. HubSpot for client onboarding and communication

I used HubSpot’s robust suite of automation tools to manage our clients’ onboarding and communication processes. The powerful workflow automation builders of Hubspot helped to automate contract signing through an integrated e-signature tool.

It automated our document collection via file request workflows, and the sequence tool allowed us to send personalized and targeted emails to clients. We could easily monitor client interactions and progress through onboarding stages and identify issues.

Overall, we turned a complicated process into a time-saving, smooth system and ensured a streamlined client engagement by 50%. We could also track our marketing success and adjust the plan accordingly. However, the key benefit was reducing our onboarding time by 20%.

5. HubSpot and Calendly for meeting scheduling and follow-ups

To improve follow-ups and deploy the AIDA framework, I implemented HubSpot. With HubSpot, my team effectively manages follow-up emails, reminders and tasks based on specific actions and timelines. We were able to improve our direct mail automation and retargeting consistency by 90%.

I used Calendly — one of the popular scheduling tools — to automate our scheduling. It was integrated with my team’s work schedule, and we could set the meeting times accordingly.

This helped my team big time as some of the repetitive tasks like adding new leads, sending alerts and syncing data were completed in no time.

After all that automation, I successfully streamlined manual tasks and boosted efficiency by a whopping 50%. The result was clear: My team became more productive, client satisfaction improved, and the overall quality of our work increased — without any additional employment. Automating the processes not only saved my valuable time but also helped my team reduce errors, improve accuracy and focus on what’s most important.

Pro tips

Though automation processes can be game-changers, you need to tackle them wisely. Here is my take on it:

Dos:

  • Instead of trying too many tools at once, it’s better to automate one process at a time and measure its impact.
  • Training team members on how to use the new automation tools and processes helps ensure the best outcomes.
  • It’s compulsory to regularly review automation process results and find new ways to improve efficiency.

Don’ts:

  • Keep the automation process as simple as possible to increase the team’s expertise and customer satisfaction.
  • No matter the tools used, they must be safe and comply with data privacy regulations.

By Kartik Ahuja 

Entrepreneur Leadership Network® Contributor. Tech Entrepreneur & Growth Marketing Expert

Kartik is a 3x Founder, CEO & CFO specializing in startup growth, scalable marketing, and financial strategy. He helps businesses acquire customers, optimize funnels, and maximize profitability using data-driven systems. Featured in BBC, Bloomberg, DailyMail, Vice, Amex, GoDaddy, and more.

Edited by Chelsea Brown

Sourced from Entrepreneur

By Al Sefati, Edited by Chelsea Brown

Generative AI is looking to reshape the search landscape forever. Here’s how you can leverage its power and efficiency.

Key Takeaways

SEO has long been a moving target. Back in the early days, “success” looked like stuffing keywords into web pages and trying to game the algorithm with backlinks. Then came the era of “Content is King,” user intent and semantic search — ultimately shifting the balance from tricks to value … black hat to white hat.

However, today, a new force is looking to reshape that search landscape: generative AI search.

Tools like ChatGPT and Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE), as well as my favourite one, Perplexity, are changing how search engines understand, rank and present content.

All of a sudden, traditional SEO tactics aren’t enough. Content isn’t just competing with other websites — rather, it’s up against AI-generated summaries, direct answers and dynamic search results. And really, it’s transforming SEO.

If you’re a marketer, content creator, SEO expert or business owner, you’ve got to understand these changes. It’s the only way you’re going to stay competitive in this brand-new world of search.

SEO before generative AI: The old-school playbook

Before we entered the era of the bots, SEO was all about mastering the basics — and then some. Here’s what it used to look like:

Traditional SEO practices:

  • Keyword research and optimization: You focused on exact-match terms and strategically placed them throughout content.
  • Backlink building: You would build a network of links to boost domain authority and improve rankings in the SERPs.
  • On-page and technical SEO: You placed emphasis on making sure your pages had meta tags, header tags and site structure — all in the name of better indexability.

But despite the structured approach, there were major growing pains. SEO was not always efficient — nor was it scalable.

The challenges:

  • Manual content creation: In order to craft high-quality content that ticked all of the SEO boxes, you needed to invest time and resources.
  • Scaling personalized content: It’s hard to create content tailored to different audience segments — and impractical when having to do this to scale.
  • Data-heavy strategy development: There is little room for flexibility when you also have to analyse data, monitor trends and refine tactics — all slow and cumbersome processes.

But generative AI has flipped the script here, and there are new solutions to old SEO headaches. Let’s take a look at how the times have changed.

AI’s disruptive influence on SEO: From content to search behaviour

Generative AI has ushered in a revolution in SEO. According to a survey conducted by Statista in 2023, 13 million people “used generative AI as their primary search tool for online searches.” That figure is only set to skyrocket to 90+ million by 2027 (for the record, that’s a mere two years away).

It’s changing everything from content creation to how search engines rank results. Here’s a breakdown:

Content creation and optimization

  • Automated content generation: AI tools have the ability to generate high-quality, SEO-optimized content at scale — adding ease and efficiency.
  • Real-time content updates: The bots can adjust content in real time based on user behaviour and search trends. This ensures your site stays relevant and up-to-date.

Search engine algorithms adaptation

  • Context and intent: AI has the ability to read intuitively, like a human. So, the content behind queries and user intent is more important than matching keywords alone.
  • E-E-A-T principles: Search engines are now placing more weight on the Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness of content. And this is an area where AI reigns supreme.

User behaviour and search patterns

  • AI-driven search assistants: As voice and chat-based AI assistants have become increasingly prevalent, search must adopt a conversational approach — and this influences how content is optimized.
  • Personalized search results: Users demand personalized, human-like interactions with search engines. AI, ultimately, can offer targeted results based on the preferences and behaviours of the person.

And statistics are highlighting this shift, too. According to a 2024 report by SEMRush, 65% of businesses report better SEO results due to AI integration, 67% observe boosted content quality through AI, and 68% realize higher content marketing ROI via AI.

At the end of the day, this isn’t some flash-in-the-pan trend. This is an evolution of how SEO works. AI can make processes faster, smarter and savvier than ever before.

There is a double-edged sword

For as ground-breaking as AI has been in the past few years, it’s not all smooth sailing.

One of the biggest hurdles lies in maintaining content authenticity and quality. Sure, AI can churn out content faster than you can say “writer’s block,” but there’s a huge risk of AI-generated “fake news” slipping through the cracks.

That’s why it’s key to make sure a human with a working cerebral cortex is manning the content creation process. Someone has to take the wheel to keep things grounded in relevance and truth.

To make matters murkier, we also have to address the issue of dependence on AI tools. Yes, automation feels easy, but the risk of becoming addicted is real. You must strike a balance between the efficiency of AI and the creativity that only has a home in your head. Don’t be tempted by over-reliance on AI, but it’s like allowing your Tesla to drive you home after a night out because you want to take a nap.

Sometimes, you’ve got to trust your gut and use your brain.

The road ahead

Looking into our crystal ball, let’s state the obvious: Generative AI isn’t going anywhere. And it’s only going to get more powerful.

SEO strategies need to evolve alongside it. The best marketers will be those who become friends with the bots — using the technology to improve content, refine user experiences and stay ahead of the search engines. And know that human creativity will remain at the heart of content. Only a person can bring that unique spark.

For SEO professionals and digital marketers, the future means transitioning from the manual to the automatic, from human strategy executions to human strategies but AI execution. Take advantage of the power and efficiency of AI tools and trends.

By Al Sefati 

Al Sefati is CEO of Clarity Digital Agency and an omnichannel marketing strategist and AI-driven digital transformation consultant. With 20+ years of experience, he helps brands grow through smart strategy, performance marketing, and data.

Edited by Chelsea Brown

Sourced from Entrepreneur

By Madeleine Schulz

As more and more fashion and beauty newsletters crowd our inboxes, writers are expressing frustration with the platform. What’s the way forward?

In 2025, everybody in fashion has a Substack. At least, that’s what it looks like, judging by my increasingly crowded inbox. Has it reached a saturation point?

In March, Substack hit five million paid subscriptions, up from four million four months prior and three million a year ago. Fashion and beauty is a key pillar, ranking among the top 100 topics (out of over 350,000 unique tags analysed), according to influencer marketing agency Subalytics. Over the past year, the number of publications and subscriptions in the fashion and beauty category has more than doubled, with publishers collectively earning more than $10 million annually in paid subscriptions, says Christina Loff, head of lifestyle, writer and creator partnerships at Substack.

“This upward trend suggests increasing competition in the space,” says Timofey Pletz, CEO and founder of Subalytics, which specialises in alternative platforms (namely Substack, Bluesky and Medium). Angela Galvez, writer of Letters We Send Friends, joined Substack 10 months ago. “There’s been such a change from last summer to today,” she says. “It’s definitely way more crowded.” For those on the receiving end, a sense of newsletter fatigue is brewing. One user says they have burnout; another notes that it feels like a new ‘trend’. A third is simply “overwhelmed”. One reader asks the burning question: “How do I keep up?”

Substack promised an alternative to traditional media, drawing in notable writers and editors to self-publish while owning their audiences. Newsletters like Leandra Medine Cohen’s The Cereal Aisle to Jessica Graves’s The Love List to Emilia Petrarca’s Shop Rat have become fashion must-reads. They make money from a combination of subscribers, affiliate links and brand advertisements; Graves says she’s making more on Substack than she ever did as an editor.

With money to be made and media jobs drying up — plus the inexorable rise of the influencer-turned-amateur expert — Substack has grown increasingly crowded, making it increasingly difficult to discover the best voices. Now, brands are jumping on board, creating Substacks of their own and further crowding the landscape. “There’s still concern about our ability to, and being required to, weed out the bad from the useful, the entertaining, the insightful,” says Annie Corser, senior pop culture and media analyst at consumer trends agency Stylus.

At the same time, Substack is on a major growth push — and more closely mirroring the social platforms it once stood apart from. In January, it launched live video capabilities allowing users to share these as short-form clips in-app while capitalising on TikTok’s uncertain fate in the US. (Alongside a $25,000 TikTok Liberation Prize, promising to “rescue the smart people from TikTok”.) Substack is also recruiting creators from other platforms — like the ‘Throwing Fits’ duo from Patreon — and, with them, their large audiences.

For some, the cons are beginning to outweigh the pros. Graves, who joined Substack four years ago and says she’s now reliant on it, is considering leaving. Writers regularly ask where Substack users are heading next. On a user level, how many newsletters can any one person subscribe to, pay for and read?

As more and more writers (and non-writers) join Substack, coupled with existing users’ increasing dissatisfaction with changes to the platform, will this be the year fashion Substack hits a wall — before it even gets off the ground at scale?

Image may contain Patrik Klüft Clothing Coat Person Teen Accessories Glasses Adult Advertisement and Poster

Laura Reily of Substack Magasin at Paris Fashion Week.

 Photo: Phil Oh

Growth at what cost?

Loff believes that there’s still room for growth in the fashion Substack space, propelled by the rise in creators. “It’s not a zero-sum game; there isn’t a cap on the number of people interested in fashion and beauty content here. In fact, as the space grows, it becomes more dynamic and engaging.”

But is there really no cap? Erika Veurink of Long Live says that herself and fellow creators have clocked a recent growth plateau. “The people I know who write Substacks who have paid readership are sort of like, OK, I think I’ve plateaued. I think anyone I would convert to a paid reader is converted,” she says. With the competition of so many letters, writers have to work harder to maintain the paid reader relationship now, she adds.

And with a laser focus on growth, Substack risks overlooking what its existing talent wants — and needs — to continue building out their own platforms. User growth at all cost isn’t sustainable for Substack’s wider ecosystem. One editor who publishes work on Substack likened it to Buzzfeed in 2012. “This is a platform for writers, and always has been,” Graves says. “That’s not to say that video shouldn’t be supported. But the people who have been beating the drum since the beginning are not getting the basic things that we need.” Both Graves and Veurink have experimented with live video, to few conversions.

“Our goal is to give creators the tools they need to build sustainable, subscription-based businesses — whether that’s through writing, podcasting, video, or any combination of these tools that helps them tell their stories in the most powerful way,” Loff says. “We’re not asking anyone to change what they do best. Video is simply an additional option for creators who want to connect with their audiences in another way. And while it’s not for everyone, having strong video voices on the platform can expand discovery and bring new audiences that benefit the entire ecosystem.”

The tools fashion Substackers do want range from the ability to embed code (Tumblr has this) to build out sub-pages (WordPress offers this). The personalisation of branding on a Substack site is limited to swapping out a logo and playing around with, albeit limited, existing layouts. There’s even less flexibility in-inbox. “I’ve been begging for years to allow us some design freedom, which they say is coming, but I haven’t seen yet,” Graves says. Veurink, too, always thought customisation and increased ownership would get more attention. “What’s actually gotten that attention is video content and gamifying getting paid subscribers,” she says.

A Substack representative said that the company is currently exploring more customisable templates and design capabilities through a private beta, which includes “richer design, flexible branding and tools for larger teams”. The platform declined to share further information about timing or broader availability.

Owned and affiliated

As far as brands are concerned, Substack isn’t anywhere near saturation. Many of them aren’t even on it yet.

Brand interest has grown significantly since the early days. “In the beginning, when I initially joined it was more difficult, because you were just trying to get people to understand what Substack even was. It was really hard to get people to sign up and subscribe, let alone an advertiser,” Graves says. “That was a lark. That was a pipe dream.”

Now, The Love List is making advertisers big bucks — it’s generated Net-a-Porter about $135,000 to date. The RealReal didn’t officially partner with any Substack creators until the end of 2024. Once it did, it saw strong click-through (over 6 per cent) and twofold ROAS (return on assets), says The RealReal chief creative officer Kristen Naiman. Smaller newsletters like Galvez’s Letters We Send Friends are generating brand interest too; she’s had brands reach out for features.

Feature Image Credit: Phil Oh

By Madeleine Schulz

Sourced from Vogue Business