Howdy,

Hold onto your hats — we’ve got some digital marketing news for ya!

• Can a fake brand win at AI search? Apparently, it can and did… in the first month of an experiment done by SE Ranking. Granted, most citations were for branded queries that the fake website explicitly answers. Lots of interesting insights:
  • Perplexity started citing them first, but not always their brand pages.
  • Deep guides (5,000–6,000 words), Review articles, and Comparison (“vs”) articles were the strongest performing content formats.
  • In this experiment, clustering topical articles on a page did not generate AI citations.

The wrap up: AI bots are working to provide the best answers, they just don’t always know when the sources are bogus. It’s up to us to provide the best answers by staying on top of AI optimization best practices.

• Scaling AI companywide is no small feat. McKinsey released some intriguing questions to ask your company before jumping onto the AI train.

• Brands that clearly use AI-generated content in their marketing — what do you really think about it? Pause while you think. Now, take a look at this recent EMARKETER Chart of The Day. The majority of respondents to that question were neutral. Those who said, “it would make them trust the brand less” (31%) far exceeded those who said “it makes them trust the brand more” (7%).

• YouTube is testing a “conversational search experience” for Premium users. Basically, YouTube’s lil AI bot is going to assemble info for you so you don’t have to pilfer it from a bunch of videos. YouTube SEO can only help here, y’all.

• Speaking of social SEO, here’s SocialFly’s article on TikTok SEO, including info on keywords, hashtags, engagement, and trending audio/formats. 

• Influencer marketing — what can your brand do to make the most of your campaigns? Offering creative freedom, clear communication, and growth opportunities are great places to start! What makes influencers stay includes compensation, audience feedback, and a positive brand relationship. 

• Creators… in the C-Suite? Oh yes, well, popular creators are naturally tapped into culture and trends. The key to making this work is alignment on compensation and having the brand/creator/audience fit.

Black Girls CODE is teaching thousands of young women to lead and innovate in the tech/science/math space. Since 2011, BGC has been helping to improve the pipeline for girls of color in tech. The organization has chapters across the globe, including New York, Seattle, and South Africa. Learn how and why this organization needs your support: Black Girls CODE.

I started doing a mindfulness breathing exercise from Thich Nacht Hanh.

“As you breathe in, count 1 in your mind, and as you breathe out, count 1. Breathe in, count 2. Breathe out, count 2. Continue through 10, then return to 1 again…. When the count is lost, simply return to 1 and keep trying until you can keep the count correctly.”

Simple, right? Well, when the pressures of life kick in, staying mindful long enough to get to 10 can be challenging.

I’ve found it to be a stress gauge. The lower my count is, before my mind wanders off into the woods of things past and upcoming, the more I restart the exercise. My goal is to get to 10 at least twice without restarting.

Days with more restarts signal when your mind needs mindfulness most. So, be especially patient, loving, and curious at those times — as they tend to be when we learn the most about ourselves.

You got this 😎

Natalie

It’s the season of the mosquitos. 

Here’s a super-easy, organic mosquito control method for your yard.

Ya welcome.