By focusing on deals, value, and experiences, retailers can build a perception of value that resonates with discerning consumers. “The unremarkable retailers and brands are going to struggle because consumers are only spending when it's enjoyable, when they derive some pleasure from the purchase,” our analyst Zak Stambor said on the ”Behind the Numbers” podcast.

US in-store retail media ad spend will total $370 million this year. But as the channel expands, oversaturating stores with ads can cause tension between retail media teams, which focus on maximizing ad dollars, and merchants, which focus on the store as a whole. Online advertising and in-store advertising are not two distinct channels, but instead work together.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss if influencers can actually deliver both upper- and lower-funnel outcomes, the common successes (and mistakes) brands make when blending influencer and affiliate tactics, and how best to align influencer content with a brands message. "In Other News," we talk about Frank McCourt's bid to buy TikTok and what to make of Meta shutting down 'Workplace'. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Max Willens and Carissa Flinders, the team lead of influencer partnerships for AWIN.

Over the weekend, thousands of alleged Google Search API documents were leaked. The highly technical documents purport to cover Google’s over 14,000 ranking factors, how link value and click behavior are evaluated, and how Google classifies smaller sites. But for the average marketer focused on building a brand, the news may be more exciting than actionable.

To be effective communicators, marketers must convey data in easy-to-digest ways. Whether they’re advocating for more resources, delivering a performance report, or influencing strategic decisions, marketers should integrate data at every step, presented in a cohesive way. Here are six steps to tell data stories effectively.

Over a quarter (26.6%) of US internet users will use generative AI at work next year, according to our June 2023 forecast. Many applications will come from tech companies embedding AI into existing workflows, like using Microsoft Copilot for productivity or Google Gemini to create images. To stay ahead of the AI innovation curve, marketers should seek out and experiment with new applications, according to experts at the BrXnd NYC AI in marketing conference earlier this month. Here are four key takeaways from the event.

LinkedIn’s not just for B2B marketers. B2C brands in sectors like automotive, hospitality, music, sports, and travel are investing in the platform. “LinkedIn is definitely heading into a direction where more direct B2C marketing is going to become prevalent,” said Jordan Schultz, vice president and head of social and digital creative at marketing agency Known.

“Creator is in their name. So let them create.” That was the advice Sophie Jamison, CEO of Lightning Media, shared at the recent EMARKETER Summit. Jamison warned against giving creators too much direction and was optimistic about the future of social media marketing, even if TikTok goes away.

The integration of AI into marketing is a top priority. Nearly 60% of organizations worldwide are integrating genAI into their marketing efforts, and almost 80% had allocated or planned to allocate budget to genAI in their marketing initiatives in the six months following an October 2023 survey by Capgemini. AI offers benefits but also introduces ethical and regulatory considerations and the need to improve data management.

“The pace of change and innovation is accelerating, and that's bringing with it a lot of big new challenges for advertisers to navigate,” our analyst Jasmine Enberg said during our recent Outlook and Strategies for 2024’s Second Half summit. “It's also bringing pockets of new opportunities as ads become ubiquitous across platforms, creators reshape strategies, and AI powers it all.”

Intuit Mailchimp used AI to create a B2B marketing campaign focusing on the “clustomer,” the amorphous and diverse audience brands must reach with ads. The resulting ad performed in the top 5% of Ipsos ads, a success which Intuit Mailchimp CMO Michelle Taite attributed to the team’s willingness to experiment with AI.

In today’s episode, host Bill Fisher is joined by researcher Man-Chung Cheung and analysts Sarah Marzano and Carina Perkins to discuss the in-store retail experience. What’s next for Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology, what lessons can be learned from Asia-Pacific, and how is Tesco helping marketers get in on the in-store act?

US digital ad spend will cross $300 billion for the first time this year, per our March 2024 forecast. That’s good news for advertisers, but it also means it’s harder to stand out. While exposing consumers to a brand multiple times across channels is vital to brand awareness, hitting consumers with the same creative over and over again or bombarding them with emails and text messages can hurt marketing impact. Here are five key stats on marketing fatigue across connected TV (CTV), email, and messaging.

Banks cannot meaningfully engage consumers without using social media, but it’s exposing them to more potential brand damage than ever. They must understand emerging risks and prepare to combat them.

The tech helps marketers and creators generate more relevant and diverse content, but it has to align with companywide strategies.

Gen Alpha is on track to become the largest generation. Banks must start building relationships with children today to convert them into customers as they grow up.

Generative AI is yet to have a profound impact on media plans and marketing workflow. “The promise of genAI is to ultimately achieve a digital dream state of advertising…where the right message reaches the right consumer on the right platform at the right time,” our analyst Max Willens said on an episode of the “Behind the Numbers” podcast. “But right now, the costs associated with those technological capabilities are not there, nor has the ROI been worked out … We’re a ways away.”

On today's podcast episode, in our "Retail Me This, Retail Me That" segment, we discuss the role of the store for the beauty space, Walmart's involvement in this product category, and how TikTok is changing things. Then, for "Pop-Up Rankings," we rank the top three social media trends that have influenced beauty products and how they're marketed. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts analysts Sky Canaves and Carina Perkins.

Generative AI search engine Perplexity will launch ads in the next few quarters. But while advertisers probably don’t need to form Perplexity ad strategies just yet, they should keep an eye on how the search engine is approaching monetization for clues into what Google (and other emerging search competitors) could do in the future.

Generative AI is still maturing, but marketers aren’t waiting to fold it into their workflows, including content creation to audience segmentation. Marketers’ top use case is personalization, but they say copywriting has the most potential. Here are five charts demonstrating how marketers are using generative AI right now.