📊 Google Opens AI Floodgates
GM nerds ☕️☕️☕️
welcome back to the newsletter that’s like Rihanna’s halftime show but without the pregnancy announcement— non-stop bangers, no babies. that’s my promise to you 🙏
off the charts rizz 😍
Speaking of Ri-Ri, there’s an important marketing lesson here. Technically she played that show for free— Fenty action says otherwise:
Get your bag, Queen 👑👑👑
So. What’s good this week?
→ AI Insight 🤖👀
→ Google Updates 📊✅
→ Another Social Media Round-Up 📲🤠
→ Figuring Out Team KPIs 🤝🍻
→ Tons more, just read the newsletter bro ‼️
But first…
This Week’s Pod 🗣️🎙️
This wek we’ve got Spencer Haws in the haws. He’s talking LinkWhisper and Niche Pursuits, he’s talking SaaS, diversification from Google, niche sites in general (and his step away from Niche Pursuits), increasing leads, and tons more. It’s a banger, don’t miss it.
AI Insight 🤖👀
If you thought this was the week I was gonna chill on that Bing, Bard, ChatGPT, and generative AI content? Well, then you’re really not paying attention to what’s going down out there. Good thing you’re reading the newsletter, for real:
→ During their huge public demo, Bing AI dropped the ball and made some massive mistakes. As the linked blog mentions, nobody called them on this, but at least 3 significant errors can be found in the footage from the demo.
→ The Bing subreddit has been hard at work testing the ChatBot, with some wild stories about Bing “losing control” and going crazy.
→ Some content creators are also voicing concern about AI-generated content:
check the full article here— interesting stuff
→ For something completely different, check this collab between David Guetta and AI-generated Eminem; Guetta’s calling generative AI the Future of Music… no idea how shady feels about it
Team KPIs 🤝🍻
Worth checking out this piece: 10 Marketing KPIs You Should Share with Your Team.
Basically, the article drops its take on which KPIs are important or useful to share. Some have serious motivational power. Others are just overwhelming.
Recommended by LinkedIn
1. Sales revenue & Attribution of Marketing Revenue
These are technically different points, but they’re close enough IMO.
Success in marketing is all about the benjamins. Moral victories don't count for s**t. So, why not share the facts re: revenue... even if the picture isn't pretty
Letting them in on the Ws and Ls re: revenue helps "instill a sense of ownership" and "reinforces the fact that they are all in the same boat, working toward the same end goals." More than this, keep your team in the loop on how much revenue can specifically be attributed to digital marketing.
2. Customer acquisition cost & Cost per acquisition
When it comes to customer acquisition metrics, it’s essential everyone’s on the same page. To win, you gotta keep decreasing that CPA. Let the whole team in on clearly understanding that goal.
3. Website traffic to lead ratio
Some say this is the most important of all.
Generating traffic is a means to an end, an important one. But it's not the end in and of itself. That's why your marketing team should be aware of the difference(s) between opening and closing the deal.
Google Updates 📊✅
What’s going down at Google? As usual, lots worth mentioning.
Throwing it back to AI, it's official: AI-generated content is not against Google guidelines.
Rather than banishing AI-generated content or restricting it, Google says their plan is to incentivize good content that complies with E-E-A-T. Here’s some practical advice re: putting that into practice.
Google modified its spam / circumvention policy. TLDR; "undermining restrictions placed on content, a site, or an account, or otherwise continue to distribute content that has been removed or made ineligible from surfacing" was added. Read the piece for the whole deal.
Finally, it looks like the long-anticipated mobile-first indexing might finally be on the horizon.
SM Round-up 📲🐮
Quite a few platforms made a wave or two this week. Love to see it.
→ Looks like more layoffs at Meta, unfortunately. Whether Zuck is running this into the ground or not, Meta’s probably worth advertising with for now (at least to some degree, at least for some products) IMO. If you agree, here’s a good guide to maximizing your FB ad conversions.
→ Check this LinkedIn Blog: The 10 Most Common B2B Marketing KPIs and How to Use Them. You gotta trust this— it’s written by their own mf Content Strategy Lead!
→ Elon has def stirred the pot non-stop since taking over, but this Twitter update might be the most controversial yet? 4000 characters for Blue subs.
Elon also took some heat for firing an engineer bc his tweets weren’t getting enough engagements. Hope that’s not the whole story. But either way, Elon gonna Elon, love it or hate it.
→ This piece looks into the next wave of potential apps looking to take on twitter while it stumbles through this adjustment phase. Most notable items: Mastodon has fumbled the bag at world-historic levels, and Instagram’s founders’ new app “Artifact” might be a contender
→ Speaking of insta, Reels creators can accept virtual gift$ from their fans now
→ Looks like TikTok is giving its creators the option to paywall select content; also, this NYT article on Gen Z TikTok internships is the kind of thing that your grandparents will never understand ever…
→ Last, arguably not least. Be Real makes the cut because they’re finally adding a new feature.
Keep An Eye Open 👀👀👀👀
Some friends of the pod, like Ryan Darani and Gael Breton, will be dropping their takes on SEO strategy in the age of AI. Free of charge webinars, Feb 27 & 28. If you can stomach another zoom meeting(s), get in on this.
PS: Interested in working with working with me on SEO? Schedule a call and see what we've done for brands like Thrasio, Sotheby's, Medtronic, and hundreds of others!