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Over the last 12-18 months, the rhetoric across Search Engine Land has shifted. There’s now broad agreement that people don’t just “Google” to discover brands anymore. Audiences are finding brands on TikTok, researching on Reddit, watching YouTube, and increasingly asking AI to summarize everything for them – determining whether a brand is found or ignored. Discoverability is no longer about ranking first on a single platform. It’s about showing up consistently across the touchpoints that make up your audience’s search universe, wherever decisions are actually being made. In this new landscape, two tactics are quietly doing much of the heavy lifting: digital PR and social search. Not as separate disciplines, but as a combined system for building authority, visibility, and recall across traditional search, social platforms, and AI-powered answers. Digital PR creates credibility at scale, giving brands authority and trustworthiness. Social search ensures distribution, making that credibility visible, repeatable, and memorable and, when done well, anchoring brands in culture and real-world conversation. Together, they do more than shape preference. They form one of the most effective approaches to discoverability heading into 2026. This is not a future prediction or a trend piece. Brands already winning attention today are not choosing between links and social search. They are designing campaigns where earned authority fuels searchable, platform-native content that travels wherever audiences – and algorithms – look. Search is no longer the destination, it’s a layer For years, search was treated as a place – a “Google”-shaped box where intent was captured and answers were delivered. You optimized for it, ranked in it, and measured success by how high you appeared. That model no longer holds. Search now sits on top of behavior, not at the center of it. It’s embedded across platforms, formats, and experiences. People don’t stop what they are doing to “go and search.” Search often starts passively and becomes more active as intent builds. Ultimately, audiences discover, validate, and decide in motion. Someone hears about a brand on TikTok, checks Reddit for real opinions, watches a YouTube breakdown, and then asks AI to summarize the pros and cons. None of those actions feel like traditional search, but every one of them is intent-led. This is what modern search looks like. The implication is simple but uncomfortable: If your brand only shows up when someone types a query into Google, you are arriving too late, especially if non-brand is your only focus. In many cases, the decision has already been shaped elsewhere. The audience’s mind is made up, reflected in the brand search that follows rather than in traditional non-brand queries. This is where discoverability starts to break for many brands. They are still optimizing for a single endpoint, while audiences navigate an entire search universe of touchpoints, each influencing trust, preference, and recall. In this platform-rich journey, authority does not just need to exist. It needs to be portable. It has to move with the user as they shift between platforms, formats, and contexts. E-E-A-T evidenced solely on your own website is no longer enough. Brands need to think broader. That is why digital PR and social search matter so much here. One builds the authority layer. The other ensures it is visible wherever search is happening, even when it does not look like search at all. Dig deeper: ‘Search everywhere’ doesn’t mean ‘be everywhere’ Social search is where intent becomes belief Search intent no longer forms in isolation. It develops through exposure, reinforcement, and social proof, and that process increasingly happens across social media touchpoints. When people turn to TikTok, Reddit, or YouTube, they are not just looking for answers. They’re looking for validation. Proof that a brand works, that it is credible, and that other like-minded people trust it. This is the crucial difference between traditional search and social search. Traditional search has matured into a largely transactional behavior. It’s often used to compare options or confirm availability. Social search, by contrast, is where belief is built. Opinions are shaped before a query is ever typed. It’s the equivalent of a chat with a friend at the pub, explaining how good or bad a solution is and what they would do in your position – and that type of interaction carries weight. A TikTok video showing a product in use does more than answer a question. It reduces uncertainty. A Reddit thread discussing real experiences adds nuance, context, and trust. A YouTube breakdown provides depth and reassurance. Together, they don’t just inform a decision. They normalize it, embedding it in a user’s psyche. This is why social platforms now sit so close to the moment of choice. By the time a user reaches Google or asks an AI to summarize their options, they are often not starting from zero. They are validating something they already feel confident about. The search behavior looks rational, but the preference has already been formed. That is what makes social search such a powerful lever for discoverability. It influences what people are predisposed to trust before they ever encounter a ranking, a link, or an answer. For brands, this changes the job to be done. Showing up on social platforms is not about publishing content for reach or engagement alone. It’s about being present in the conversations that shape belief, and doing so in a way that is engaging, searchable, repeatable, and platform-native. If your brand is not visible where intent turns into belief, you are relying on search engines to change someone’s mind at the last possible moment. Increasingly, that is a losing strategy. This is especially true when a [brand] + [term] search follows. This is also where social search starts to overlap directly with digital PR. Belief is not built solely by brands talking about themselves. It’s built when third parties, creators, communities, and credible sources reinforce the same narrative. When that happens consistently, discoverability does not just increase. It compounds. Dig deeper: Social and UGC: The trust engines powering search everywhere Digital PR is what gives social-search belief something to stand on If social search is where intent turns into belief, digital PR is what makes that belief credible. Because belief without authority is fragile. Digital PR has often been reduced to links, coverage, or campaigns that spike and disappear. But in this emerging search universe, its real value is far more foundational. Digital PR gives brands third-party validation at scale – the kind algorithms trust and audiences recognize. It answers the unspoken question people ask when they encounter a brand through social or AI, “Why should I believe this?” Coverage in trusted publications, expert commentary, data-led insights, and earned mentions all serve the same function. They don’t just increase presence. They legitimize it. They turn claims into facts and positioning into something others can repeat without skepticism. This matters because true belief in a solution can’t be formed in a vacuum. Social platforms may introduce or reinforce an idea, but digital PR anchors that idea in authority. It’s the difference between a brand being talked about and a brand being trusted. In practical terms, digital PR feeds the belief layer in three critical ways. It creates source authority: Earned coverage from credible publishers gives algorithms – including emerging AI and LLM systems – something reliable to reference. That’s why certain brands are cited, summarized, and recommended more frequently than others. It shapes narrative consistency: Well-executed digital PR ensures the same core messages appear across multiple independent sources. That repetition matters, not just for awareness, but for recall, relevance, and confidence. It makes belief portable: Authority earned through digital PR no longer has to live on a single platform. Brands should recognize the opportunity for distribution – for PR to travel into social content, community discussions, and AI-generated answers. This is how brands infiltrate the mental shortcuts people use when making decisions. This is where digital PR and social search stop being adjacent and start being interdependent. Social search distributes belief, but digital PR gives it weight. Social search surfaces stories, but digital PR determines whether those stories are trusted, referenced, and remembered. When the two are planned together, something powerful happens. PR campaigns stop being one-off moments and start becoming searchable assets. Coverage fuels content. Authority strengthens preference. Belief compounds rather than fades. Ultimately, your brand is chosen. Dig deeper: How to build search visibility before demand exists Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. See terms. Where digital PR and social search intersect in practice The real power of digital PR and social search isn’t theoretical. It shows up in how campaigns are designed, activated, and reused. When the two work in isolation, PR creates authority that fades quickly, while social content creates presence that lacks the weight to generate consistent preference across the search universe. When they’re planned together, PR stops being a moment in time and starts becoming searchable. The intersection happens when PR ideas are built with distribution, searchability, and platform behavior in mind from the outset, rather than treated as a bolt-on or afterthought. A strong digital PR campaign already contains everything social search needs: insight, credibility, and a reason for people to care. The mistake brands make is treating coverage as the end goal rather than the raw material. For example, a data-led PR story shouldn’t live only in a press release or a handful of links on a webpage. It should be broken down into TikTok explainers, YouTube deep dives, and visual summaries that answer the exact questions people are already searching for, either through owned content or creator partnerships. Another example is expert commentary used for PR outreach that is then repurposed into short-form “hot take” content, creator collaborations, or community discussions that surface when audiences look for reassurance. Newsjacked insights can be translated into fast, searchable social content that appears while interest is peaking, not days or weeks later after coverage has cooled. In each case, the PR asset becomes a social-search asset – something that can be found, replayed, and reinforced long after the initial coverage lands, distributed across the search universe. With that in mind, this is also where search “optimization” shifts. Instead of optimizing only for keywords or headlines, brands optimize for questions, formats, and narratives – intent. PR content is designed to match how people search on social platforms, through natural language, lived experience, and explanation. The outcome is compounding presence. Earned coverage still builds authority. Social search content extends its lifespan. AI and LLM systems can then pick up consistent narratives from multiple trusted sources. Audiences encounter the same message across different contexts, increasing recall and trust. It puts brands at the center of the conversation, making them the go-to choice. Dig deeper: Why PR is becoming more essential for AI search visibility Operationalizing digital PR and social search Put simply, this approach requires a mindset shift. Digital PR teams need to think beyond coverage and links. Social teams need to think beyond engagement and reach. Both need to align around the same question: “How does this idea travel through the search universe?” When that happens, campaigns stop being channel-specific and start becoming part of a broader discoverability engine. If discoverability now depends on authority and belief, the way teams plan has to change. Digital PR and social search can’t sit in separate roadmaps, measured by different metrics and chasing different outcomes. Planning them independently creates diminishing returns. Instead, campaigns need to be built around ideas that travel, operating within a “search everywhere” mindset for discoverability. That means briefing digital PR with search behavior in mind – not just headlines or links, but the questions people will ask on TikTok, Reddit, YouTube, and AI interfaces once a story breaks. It also means treating social content as a reinforcement layer, not a bolt-on, designed to extend the lifespan and searchability of earned authority. For teams, this requires alignment around a shared goal: long-term discoverability, not short-term performance. Growth in [brand] search is a strong KPI here. Success isn’t measured by coverage, engagement, or rankings in isolation. It’s measured by whether a brand consistently shows up across the touchpoints that shape trust, preference, and recall. The real question is whether an activation led audiences to choose one brand over another. Dig deeper: The social-to-search halo effect: Why social content drives branded search The path to discoverability in 2026 Discoverability in 2026 won’t be won by optimizing harder for a single platform. It will be won by brands that understand how authority and belief are formed – and how they travel. Digital PR builds the authority layer. It gives brands credibility, legitimacy, and something worth trusting. Social search turns that authority into belief by placing it in the conversations, platforms, and moments where people make decisions. On their own, each has value. Together, they compound. The brands that win in 2026 are focused on creating signals that persist – signals that show up consistently across traditional search, social platforms, and AI-powered answers. The goal isn’t to game SEO or GEO. It’s to genuinely connect with audiences. When audiences – and algorithms – encounter the same credible narrative repeatedly, preference forms naturally and recall improves. Discoverability stops being something you chase and starts being something you earn, and potentially own. This isn’t about abandoning SEO or traditional search. It’s about recognizing that search has expanded, democratized, and layered itself across the entire digital experience – part of a broader search-everywhere mindset. View the full article

I am seeing new signs of yet more Google Search ranking volatility and a possible tweak to the ranking search algorithm. Something kicked off yesterday, January 15th, that the third-party tools picked up on. With this update, there is limited chatter, unlike the previous unconfirmed Google Search ranking update.View the full article

An effective loyalty strategy for your business starts with clear objectives that align with your overall goals. Comprehending your customer base is crucial, as it informs the types of incentives you should offer. Engaging customers through personalized rewards can nurture deeper connections, whereas technology can streamline tracking and communication. Nonetheless, the real challenge lies in continuously adapting your program based on feedback. What specific elements can you implement to improve customer engagement and retention? Key Takeaways Establish clear objectives that align with business goals to enhance focus on key outcomes like customer retention and purchase frequency. Create a compelling value proposition that offers unique benefits beyond discounts to engage customers effectively. Understand customer demographics and behaviors to tailor incentives and communication strategies for personalized engagement. Foster collaboration among stakeholders to address diverse interests and ensure a cohesive loyalty strategy across departments. Utilize technology for user-friendly reward tracking and data analytics to measure success and adapt loyalty programs based on feedback. Key Components of a Loyalty Program Strategy When developing a loyalty program strategy, it’s vital to focus on several key components that can boost its effectiveness. First, establish clear objectives that align with your broader business goals, emphasizing metrics like purchase frequency and customer lifetime value. Next, create a compelling value proposition that goes beyond discounts and points; it should resonate with your customers’ needs and preferences. Comprehending customer demographics and behaviors is fundamental for tailoring incentives that encourage repeat business and strengthen customer loyalty. Furthermore, recognize and reward your top customers with exclusive benefits, as 56% of customers prefer brands with robust loyalty programs. Finally, regularly review and adapt your loyalty strategy based on customer feedback and market trends to maintain its relevance and effectiveness. Importance of Clear Objectives Having clear objectives is essential for your loyalty program, as they set specific goals that guide your efforts. By aligning these objectives with your overall business model, you can guarantee that the program supports growth and profitability. Furthermore, measuring program outcomes allows you to assess effectiveness and make necessary adjustments for continuous improvement. Define Specific Goals Defining specific goals for your loyalty program is crucial, as it aligns your initiatives with broader business objectives and guarantees that every effort you make is purposeful. Clear objectives help you focus on key outcomes, like increasing purchase frequency and customer lifetime value. By identifying specific goals, you can explore various loyalty program types that suit your needs, leading to more effective engagement strategies. Moreover, incorporating measurable outcomes allows you to assess the success of your initiatives and make data-driven adjustments. Research shows that companies with defined loyalty program objectives can improve customer retention rates by up to 30%. Regularly reviewing these objectives based on customer feedback guarantees your program stays relevant and effective in meeting evolving customer needs. Align With Business Model Aligning your loyalty program with your business model is essential for achieving clarity and focus in its execution. Defining specific objectives helps guide the design and implementation of your program. For instance, increasing purchase frequency or improving customer lifetime value can directly inform your strategy. By aligning loyalty goals with broader business objectives, you can select the most suitable program type, like points, tiered, or community-based approaches. This alignment cultivates a cohesive strategy that maximizes customer engagement and satisfaction. Objective Program Type Expected Outcome Increase Purchase Frequency Points Higher transaction rates Improve Customer Lifetime Value Tiered Increased retention Build Community Engagement Community-Based Stronger brand loyalty Boost Referral Rates Points Expanded customer base Improve Customer Satisfaction Tiered Higher NPS scores Measure Program Outcomes When you set clear objectives for your loyalty program, you create a roadmap that aligns with your overall business goals. Defining specific goals, like enhancing customer retention or boosting engagement, helps you evaluate success effectively. By incorporating measurable outcomes into your program design, you can assess the effectiveness of your loyalty initiatives and make necessary adjustments based on performance metrics. Regularly reviewing these objectives against market trends and customer feedback guarantees your program remains relevant and responsive to changing behaviors. A thorough approach to measuring outcomes, focusing on behavioral metrics and sentiment analysis, allows you to understand the true impact of your loyalty initiatives on customer relationships. This strategic focus eventually drives increased purchase frequency and customer lifetime value. Understanding Customer Base Comprehending your customer base is essential for developing effective loyalty strategies that resonate with your audience. By gaining insights into customer demographics and preferences, you can customize loyalty programs that improve satisfaction and retention. Tracking purchase behaviors through online and offline interactions enables you to grasp your customers better, allowing for targeted engagement strategies. Obtaining consent for further engagement is critical for boosting data collection, which helps personalize offers and maximize value. Customizing services and products based on customer insights can greatly improve retention, ensuring your offerings meet their needs. Here’s a quick overview of how these factors contribute to customer loyalty: Factor Impact on Loyalty Customer Insights Customized programs improve satisfaction Purchase Behavior Better comprehension leads to targeted strategies Consent for Engagement Improves personalization Customized Offerings Increases retention Value from Programs Boosts profitability Engagement and Incentive Strategies Comprehending your customer base sets the stage for effective engagement and incentive strategies that can improve loyalty. By implementing targeted incentives, like personalized offers based on shopping history, you can boost basket size and drive repeat business. Recognizing loyal customers with exclusive benefits not only strengthens connections but likewise promotes long-term loyalty, as 79% of consumers prefer programs that offer personalized rewards. Ongoing communication, including personalized emails and promotions, keeps your brand top-of-mind, encouraging continued engagement with your loyalty program. Furthermore, upselling services through loyalty programs creates new revenue streams, improving the overall customer experience and increasing retention rates. Incorporating gamified elements, such as challenges that reward specific actions, taps into the desire for achievement and competition, further boosting engagement. Alignment of Stakeholder Interests When you consider the alignment of stakeholder interests, it’s crucial to recognize that different roles within your organization prioritize various aspects of loyalty programs. CEOs might focus on customer retention and brand loyalty, whereas CFOs often look at cost implications and profitability. Diverse Stakeholder Perspectives Aligning loyalty strategies with the diverse interests of various stakeholders is essential for creating a successful program that meets the needs of the entire organization. Each stakeholder brings unique priorities, and comprehending these can lead to a more effective loyalty program. Consider these perspectives: CEOs often favor points systems that improve personal benefits and brand reputation. CFOs are primarily concerned with cost implications and financial sustainability. Marketing VPs emphasize strategies that amplify social media engagement and customer interaction. Sales teams might focus on immediate conversion rates and customer retention. Customer service representatives prioritize improving customer satisfaction through loyalty offerings. Addressing these varied preferences guarantees cohesive program design and greater buy-in from all departments involved in implementation. Strategic Program Benefits How can a well-aligned loyalty program benefit your business? By addressing the diverse needs of stakeholders, you can create a loyalty strategy that not merely improves customer engagement but also aligns with each department’s goals. This alignment cultivates cross-departmental collaboration, ensuring that the program supports both customer satisfaction and business profitability. When stakeholders see their interests reflected in the loyalty program, they’re more likely to invest in and support it, leading to a more successful initiative overall. Stakeholder Preference Benefit CEOs Point systems Personal benefits CFOs Cost implications Increased profitability Marketing Customer engagement Improved brand objectives Collaborative Decision-Making Process To create an effective loyalty program, it’s essential to engage in a collaborative decision-making process that incorporates the interests of various stakeholders, such as CEOs, CFOs, and marketing VPs. Aligning their goals guarantees the program meets both financial and customer engagement targets. Here are key considerations for this process: CEOs value personal benefits for customers. CFOs focus on costs and overall profitability. Marketing VPs prioritize social media engagement and brand visibility. Integrating stakeholder feedback leads to a cohesive strategy. Regular communication improves decision-making throughout the program’s lifecycle. Technology Integration As businesses endeavor to improve customer loyalty, integrating modern technology into loyalty programs becomes crucial for success. A user-friendly platform allows customers to easily check their rewards and redeem points, improving their overall experience. By offering a seamless digital experience, you can greatly boost customer engagement levels, leading to higher participation rates in your loyalty programs. Utilizing data analytics helps personalize customer interactions, guaranteeing that your offers are relevant and customized, which in turn elevates customer satisfaction. Mobile-friendly loyalty applications add convenience, enabling customers to track their points and rewards on-the-go, keeping your brand top-of-mind. Additionally, implementing automated communication through technology guarantees ongoing engagement, allowing customers to stay informed about their rewards and any program updates. Adaptability in Loyalty Programs Integrating technology into loyalty programs sets the stage for businesses to adapt these programs to meet evolving customer expectations. To maintain relevance and engagement, you need to regularly review and refine your loyalty offerings based on customer feedback. This adaptability not only helps keep your program effective but likewise nurtures ongoing satisfaction. Consider these key strategies for enhancing adaptability: Conduct regular customer feedback surveys to gather insights. Monitor market trends to anticipate shifts in customer behavior. Utilize performance metrics to identify what’s working and what isn’t. Adjust rewards and incentives based on changing preferences. Stay flexible to quickly implement changes when needed. Legal and Ethical Considerations When developing loyalty programs, it’s critical to contemplate the legal and ethical implications that come with handling customer data. Compliance with data privacy regulations like GDPR guarantees you respect customer information. Transparency in how you use this data is essential, as is guaranteeing rewards are fair and accessible to all participants. Customers should be informed about their rights and have the option to opt out without penalties. Consider the following key aspects: Legal Considerations Ethical Considerations Compliance with GDPR Transparency in data usage Adhering to anti-spam laws Fairness in rewards Informing customers of rights Avoiding misleading marketing Respect for opt-out options Building trust through respect Measuring Success of Loyalty Program Strategy To effectively measure the success of your loyalty program, it’s crucial to utilize key performance indicators (KPIs) that reflect customer retention rates and purchase frequency. Analyzing behavioral metrics like average transaction size and profit margins can reveal how the program impacts customer spending. Furthermore, tracking engagement through techniques such as email open rates and conversion rates helps gauge the effectiveness of your loyalty strategies in nurturing long-term relationships with customers. Key Performance Indicators Measuring the success of a loyalty program requires a clear comprehension of key performance indicators (KPIs) that reflect customer engagement and financial impact. By focusing on these KPIs, you can better understand your loyalty strategy‘s effectiveness. Consider monitoring the following: Customer retention rates to track ongoing engagement with your brand. Customer lifetime value (CLTV) to assess the long-term financial impact of loyalty members. Redemption rates of rewards to evaluate how attractive your program is to customers. Purchase frequency comparison between loyalty members and non-members to gauge repeat business. Net Promoter Scores (NPS) to measure customer satisfaction and emotional connections with your brand. Using these KPIs will help you refine your loyalty strategy effectively. Behavioral Metrics Analysis Analyzing behavioral metrics is vital for comprehending how effectively your loyalty program influences customer actions. Focus on key aspects like purchase frequency and transaction size to evaluate your program’s success. Monitoring average transaction sizes helps you understand the financial impact of your loyalty initiatives, revealing potential upselling opportunities. Moreover, tracking customer retention rates offers insights into how well your program retains members compared to non-members, indicating its effectiveness in promoting loyalty. By analyzing how your loyalty program influences customer behavior, you can assess the impact of targeted incentives and promotions on sales growth. Regularly reviewing these metrics is important for making data-driven adjustments, enhancing customer engagement, and ultimately improving satisfaction with your loyalty program. Engagement Measurement Techniques Success in a loyalty program hinges on effective engagement measurement techniques that provide insights into customer behavior and program performance. By employing various metrics, you can assess the program’s success and identify areas for improvement. Consider tracking these key factors: Customer retention rates to see how long customers stay engaged. Customer lifetime value (CLTV) to measure revenue generated by loyalty members versus non-members. Redemption rates to evaluate the attractiveness of your rewards. Purchase frequency of loyalty members compared to non-members to gauge the program’s impact on buying behavior. Program ROI by comparing costs to revenue generated from loyalty members, ensuring financial viability. These techniques offer an all-encompassing view, guiding adjustments to improve your loyalty strategy effectively. Developing a Successful Loyalty Program Creating a successful loyalty program involves several key strategies that can greatly improve customer engagement and retention. Start by setting clear goals that align with your business objectives, focusing on initiatives like increasing customer retention and boosting lifetime value. Offering personalized rewards can greatly elevate engagement; studies show that 79% of customers are more loyal to brands that provide customized rewards. Implementing a tiered rewards system motivates customers to increase spending to reach higher tiers, encouraging deeper brand engagement. Confirm the program design is simple, with easy point accumulation and redemption processes, to improve customer satisfaction. Complicated programs often lose interest quickly. Regularly review and adapt your loyalty program based on customer feedback and market trends to maintain its relevance and effectiveness. Strategy Importance Clear Goals Aligns with business objectives Personalized Rewards Increases customer loyalty Tiered Rewards System Motivates higher spending Simplicity Improves satisfaction and participation Behavior Motivators for Customer Engagement How can comprehension of behavior motivators improve customer engagement? Grasping what drives customer behavior can greatly improve your engagement strategies. By recognizing motivators like rewards and exclusive benefits, you can influence purchasing decisions and increase transaction frequency. Consider these key behavior motivators: Rewards: Offer immediate incentives for purchases, encouraging repeat business. Personalized Offers: Tailor promotions to individual preferences, improving relevance and appeal. Emotional Recognition: Cultivate a sense of belonging and recognition to deepen loyalty. Balance of Incentives: Combine short-term rewards with long-term loyalty programs to maintain ongoing commitment. Improved Experience: Create a satisfying customer path that encourages greater lifetime value (CLTV). Frequently Asked Questions What Are the 4 C’s of Customer Loyalty? The 4 C’s of customer loyalty are Customer, Cost, Convenience, and Communication. First, you need to understand your customers’ demographics and preferences to tailor your approach. Next, consider the costs associated with loyalty programs versus the revenue they generate. Convenience is key; make certain your program is easy to use and redeem rewards. Finally, maintain clear communication about benefits and updates, which helps build trust and keeps your customers engaged with your brand. What Are the 3 R’s of Loyalty? The 3 R’s of loyalty are Recognition, Rewards, and Relationship. Recognition means acknowledging your loyalty through personalized messages and timely rewards, which helps you feel valued. Rewards should be both valuable and easily attainable, encouraging increased spending. Building strong Relationships involves consistent interactions, leading to higher satisfaction and a greater likelihood you’ll recommend the brand to others. Together, these elements create a cohesive experience that improves customer engagement and retention. What Makes a Loyalty Program Successful? A successful loyalty program combines personalized rewards, clear structures, and emotional connections. You should offer customized experiences that resonate with consumers, as this increases engagement. Implementing a tiered rewards system motivates higher spending, whereas simplified structures keep participation high. Furthermore, engaging customers through exclusive experiences or social initiatives deepens connections. Finally, measure your program’s success using metrics like customer retention rates and Net Promoter Scores to evaluate effectiveness and understand customer sentiment. What Are the 8 C’s of Customer Loyalty? The 8 C’s of customer loyalty are Commitment, Connection, Communication, Convenience, Consistency, Customization, Community, and Cost. Commitment reflects the emotional bond customers form with a brand. Connection involves creating personal interactions that improve customer experiences. Communication guarantees you keep customers informed and engaged. Convenience simplifies the purchasing process. Consistency builds trust, whereas Customization tailors experiences to individual preferences. Community nurtures a sense of belonging, and Cost addresses the perceived value of your offerings. Conclusion In summary, an effective loyalty strategy is crucial for driving customer retention and profitability. By establishing clear objectives, comprehending your customer base, and implementing engaging incentives, you can create a program that resonates with your audience. Aligning stakeholder interests and adhering to legal and ethical standards further strengthens your approach. Regularly measuring success and adapting to feedback guarantees the program remains relevant and effective. In the end, a well-crafted loyalty strategy nurtures lasting customer relationships and supports your business goals. Image via Google Gemini This article, "What Makes an Effective Loyalty Strategy for Business?" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

An effective loyalty strategy for your business starts with clear objectives that align with your overall goals. Comprehending your customer base is crucial, as it informs the types of incentives you should offer. Engaging customers through personalized rewards can nurture deeper connections, whereas technology can streamline tracking and communication. Nonetheless, the real challenge lies in continuously adapting your program based on feedback. What specific elements can you implement to improve customer engagement and retention? Key Takeaways Establish clear objectives that align with business goals to enhance focus on key outcomes like customer retention and purchase frequency. Create a compelling value proposition that offers unique benefits beyond discounts to engage customers effectively. Understand customer demographics and behaviors to tailor incentives and communication strategies for personalized engagement. Foster collaboration among stakeholders to address diverse interests and ensure a cohesive loyalty strategy across departments. Utilize technology for user-friendly reward tracking and data analytics to measure success and adapt loyalty programs based on feedback. Key Components of a Loyalty Program Strategy When developing a loyalty program strategy, it’s vital to focus on several key components that can boost its effectiveness. First, establish clear objectives that align with your broader business goals, emphasizing metrics like purchase frequency and customer lifetime value. Next, create a compelling value proposition that goes beyond discounts and points; it should resonate with your customers’ needs and preferences. Comprehending customer demographics and behaviors is fundamental for tailoring incentives that encourage repeat business and strengthen customer loyalty. Furthermore, recognize and reward your top customers with exclusive benefits, as 56% of customers prefer brands with robust loyalty programs. Finally, regularly review and adapt your loyalty strategy based on customer feedback and market trends to maintain its relevance and effectiveness. Importance of Clear Objectives Having clear objectives is essential for your loyalty program, as they set specific goals that guide your efforts. By aligning these objectives with your overall business model, you can guarantee that the program supports growth and profitability. Furthermore, measuring program outcomes allows you to assess effectiveness and make necessary adjustments for continuous improvement. Define Specific Goals Defining specific goals for your loyalty program is crucial, as it aligns your initiatives with broader business objectives and guarantees that every effort you make is purposeful. Clear objectives help you focus on key outcomes, like increasing purchase frequency and customer lifetime value. By identifying specific goals, you can explore various loyalty program types that suit your needs, leading to more effective engagement strategies. Moreover, incorporating measurable outcomes allows you to assess the success of your initiatives and make data-driven adjustments. Research shows that companies with defined loyalty program objectives can improve customer retention rates by up to 30%. Regularly reviewing these objectives based on customer feedback guarantees your program stays relevant and effective in meeting evolving customer needs. Align With Business Model Aligning your loyalty program with your business model is essential for achieving clarity and focus in its execution. Defining specific objectives helps guide the design and implementation of your program. For instance, increasing purchase frequency or improving customer lifetime value can directly inform your strategy. By aligning loyalty goals with broader business objectives, you can select the most suitable program type, like points, tiered, or community-based approaches. This alignment cultivates a cohesive strategy that maximizes customer engagement and satisfaction. Objective Program Type Expected Outcome Increase Purchase Frequency Points Higher transaction rates Improve Customer Lifetime Value Tiered Increased retention Build Community Engagement Community-Based Stronger brand loyalty Boost Referral Rates Points Expanded customer base Improve Customer Satisfaction Tiered Higher NPS scores Measure Program Outcomes When you set clear objectives for your loyalty program, you create a roadmap that aligns with your overall business goals. Defining specific goals, like enhancing customer retention or boosting engagement, helps you evaluate success effectively. By incorporating measurable outcomes into your program design, you can assess the effectiveness of your loyalty initiatives and make necessary adjustments based on performance metrics. Regularly reviewing these objectives against market trends and customer feedback guarantees your program remains relevant and responsive to changing behaviors. A thorough approach to measuring outcomes, focusing on behavioral metrics and sentiment analysis, allows you to understand the true impact of your loyalty initiatives on customer relationships. This strategic focus eventually drives increased purchase frequency and customer lifetime value. Understanding Customer Base Comprehending your customer base is essential for developing effective loyalty strategies that resonate with your audience. By gaining insights into customer demographics and preferences, you can customize loyalty programs that improve satisfaction and retention. Tracking purchase behaviors through online and offline interactions enables you to grasp your customers better, allowing for targeted engagement strategies. Obtaining consent for further engagement is critical for boosting data collection, which helps personalize offers and maximize value. Customizing services and products based on customer insights can greatly improve retention, ensuring your offerings meet their needs. Here’s a quick overview of how these factors contribute to customer loyalty: Factor Impact on Loyalty Customer Insights Customized programs improve satisfaction Purchase Behavior Better comprehension leads to targeted strategies Consent for Engagement Improves personalization Customized Offerings Increases retention Value from Programs Boosts profitability Engagement and Incentive Strategies Comprehending your customer base sets the stage for effective engagement and incentive strategies that can improve loyalty. By implementing targeted incentives, like personalized offers based on shopping history, you can boost basket size and drive repeat business. Recognizing loyal customers with exclusive benefits not only strengthens connections but likewise promotes long-term loyalty, as 79% of consumers prefer programs that offer personalized rewards. Ongoing communication, including personalized emails and promotions, keeps your brand top-of-mind, encouraging continued engagement with your loyalty program. Furthermore, upselling services through loyalty programs creates new revenue streams, improving the overall customer experience and increasing retention rates. Incorporating gamified elements, such as challenges that reward specific actions, taps into the desire for achievement and competition, further boosting engagement. Alignment of Stakeholder Interests When you consider the alignment of stakeholder interests, it’s crucial to recognize that different roles within your organization prioritize various aspects of loyalty programs. CEOs might focus on customer retention and brand loyalty, whereas CFOs often look at cost implications and profitability. Diverse Stakeholder Perspectives Aligning loyalty strategies with the diverse interests of various stakeholders is essential for creating a successful program that meets the needs of the entire organization. Each stakeholder brings unique priorities, and comprehending these can lead to a more effective loyalty program. Consider these perspectives: CEOs often favor points systems that improve personal benefits and brand reputation. CFOs are primarily concerned with cost implications and financial sustainability. Marketing VPs emphasize strategies that amplify social media engagement and customer interaction. Sales teams might focus on immediate conversion rates and customer retention. Customer service representatives prioritize improving customer satisfaction through loyalty offerings. Addressing these varied preferences guarantees cohesive program design and greater buy-in from all departments involved in implementation. Strategic Program Benefits How can a well-aligned loyalty program benefit your business? By addressing the diverse needs of stakeholders, you can create a loyalty strategy that not merely improves customer engagement but also aligns with each department’s goals. This alignment cultivates cross-departmental collaboration, ensuring that the program supports both customer satisfaction and business profitability. When stakeholders see their interests reflected in the loyalty program, they’re more likely to invest in and support it, leading to a more successful initiative overall. Stakeholder Preference Benefit CEOs Point systems Personal benefits CFOs Cost implications Increased profitability Marketing Customer engagement Improved brand objectives Collaborative Decision-Making Process To create an effective loyalty program, it’s essential to engage in a collaborative decision-making process that incorporates the interests of various stakeholders, such as CEOs, CFOs, and marketing VPs. Aligning their goals guarantees the program meets both financial and customer engagement targets. Here are key considerations for this process: CEOs value personal benefits for customers. CFOs focus on costs and overall profitability. Marketing VPs prioritize social media engagement and brand visibility. Integrating stakeholder feedback leads to a cohesive strategy. Regular communication improves decision-making throughout the program’s lifecycle. Technology Integration As businesses endeavor to improve customer loyalty, integrating modern technology into loyalty programs becomes crucial for success. A user-friendly platform allows customers to easily check their rewards and redeem points, improving their overall experience. By offering a seamless digital experience, you can greatly boost customer engagement levels, leading to higher participation rates in your loyalty programs. Utilizing data analytics helps personalize customer interactions, guaranteeing that your offers are relevant and customized, which in turn elevates customer satisfaction. Mobile-friendly loyalty applications add convenience, enabling customers to track their points and rewards on-the-go, keeping your brand top-of-mind. Additionally, implementing automated communication through technology guarantees ongoing engagement, allowing customers to stay informed about their rewards and any program updates. Adaptability in Loyalty Programs Integrating technology into loyalty programs sets the stage for businesses to adapt these programs to meet evolving customer expectations. To maintain relevance and engagement, you need to regularly review and refine your loyalty offerings based on customer feedback. This adaptability not only helps keep your program effective but likewise nurtures ongoing satisfaction. Consider these key strategies for enhancing adaptability: Conduct regular customer feedback surveys to gather insights. Monitor market trends to anticipate shifts in customer behavior. Utilize performance metrics to identify what’s working and what isn’t. Adjust rewards and incentives based on changing preferences. Stay flexible to quickly implement changes when needed. Legal and Ethical Considerations When developing loyalty programs, it’s critical to contemplate the legal and ethical implications that come with handling customer data. Compliance with data privacy regulations like GDPR guarantees you respect customer information. Transparency in how you use this data is essential, as is guaranteeing rewards are fair and accessible to all participants. Customers should be informed about their rights and have the option to opt out without penalties. Consider the following key aspects: Legal Considerations Ethical Considerations Compliance with GDPR Transparency in data usage Adhering to anti-spam laws Fairness in rewards Informing customers of rights Avoiding misleading marketing Respect for opt-out options Building trust through respect Measuring Success of Loyalty Program Strategy To effectively measure the success of your loyalty program, it’s crucial to utilize key performance indicators (KPIs) that reflect customer retention rates and purchase frequency. Analyzing behavioral metrics like average transaction size and profit margins can reveal how the program impacts customer spending. Furthermore, tracking engagement through techniques such as email open rates and conversion rates helps gauge the effectiveness of your loyalty strategies in nurturing long-term relationships with customers. Key Performance Indicators Measuring the success of a loyalty program requires a clear comprehension of key performance indicators (KPIs) that reflect customer engagement and financial impact. By focusing on these KPIs, you can better understand your loyalty strategy‘s effectiveness. Consider monitoring the following: Customer retention rates to track ongoing engagement with your brand. Customer lifetime value (CLTV) to assess the long-term financial impact of loyalty members. Redemption rates of rewards to evaluate how attractive your program is to customers. Purchase frequency comparison between loyalty members and non-members to gauge repeat business. Net Promoter Scores (NPS) to measure customer satisfaction and emotional connections with your brand. Using these KPIs will help you refine your loyalty strategy effectively. Behavioral Metrics Analysis Analyzing behavioral metrics is vital for comprehending how effectively your loyalty program influences customer actions. Focus on key aspects like purchase frequency and transaction size to evaluate your program’s success. Monitoring average transaction sizes helps you understand the financial impact of your loyalty initiatives, revealing potential upselling opportunities. Moreover, tracking customer retention rates offers insights into how well your program retains members compared to non-members, indicating its effectiveness in promoting loyalty. By analyzing how your loyalty program influences customer behavior, you can assess the impact of targeted incentives and promotions on sales growth. Regularly reviewing these metrics is important for making data-driven adjustments, enhancing customer engagement, and ultimately improving satisfaction with your loyalty program. Engagement Measurement Techniques Success in a loyalty program hinges on effective engagement measurement techniques that provide insights into customer behavior and program performance. By employing various metrics, you can assess the program’s success and identify areas for improvement. Consider tracking these key factors: Customer retention rates to see how long customers stay engaged. Customer lifetime value (CLTV) to measure revenue generated by loyalty members versus non-members. Redemption rates to evaluate the attractiveness of your rewards. Purchase frequency of loyalty members compared to non-members to gauge the program’s impact on buying behavior. Program ROI by comparing costs to revenue generated from loyalty members, ensuring financial viability. These techniques offer an all-encompassing view, guiding adjustments to improve your loyalty strategy effectively. Developing a Successful Loyalty Program Creating a successful loyalty program involves several key strategies that can greatly improve customer engagement and retention. Start by setting clear goals that align with your business objectives, focusing on initiatives like increasing customer retention and boosting lifetime value. Offering personalized rewards can greatly elevate engagement; studies show that 79% of customers are more loyal to brands that provide customized rewards. Implementing a tiered rewards system motivates customers to increase spending to reach higher tiers, encouraging deeper brand engagement. Confirm the program design is simple, with easy point accumulation and redemption processes, to improve customer satisfaction. Complicated programs often lose interest quickly. Regularly review and adapt your loyalty program based on customer feedback and market trends to maintain its relevance and effectiveness. Strategy Importance Clear Goals Aligns with business objectives Personalized Rewards Increases customer loyalty Tiered Rewards System Motivates higher spending Simplicity Improves satisfaction and participation Behavior Motivators for Customer Engagement How can comprehension of behavior motivators improve customer engagement? Grasping what drives customer behavior can greatly improve your engagement strategies. By recognizing motivators like rewards and exclusive benefits, you can influence purchasing decisions and increase transaction frequency. Consider these key behavior motivators: Rewards: Offer immediate incentives for purchases, encouraging repeat business. Personalized Offers: Tailor promotions to individual preferences, improving relevance and appeal. Emotional Recognition: Cultivate a sense of belonging and recognition to deepen loyalty. Balance of Incentives: Combine short-term rewards with long-term loyalty programs to maintain ongoing commitment. Improved Experience: Create a satisfying customer path that encourages greater lifetime value (CLTV). Frequently Asked Questions What Are the 4 C’s of Customer Loyalty? The 4 C’s of customer loyalty are Customer, Cost, Convenience, and Communication. First, you need to understand your customers’ demographics and preferences to tailor your approach. Next, consider the costs associated with loyalty programs versus the revenue they generate. Convenience is key; make certain your program is easy to use and redeem rewards. Finally, maintain clear communication about benefits and updates, which helps build trust and keeps your customers engaged with your brand. What Are the 3 R’s of Loyalty? The 3 R’s of loyalty are Recognition, Rewards, and Relationship. Recognition means acknowledging your loyalty through personalized messages and timely rewards, which helps you feel valued. Rewards should be both valuable and easily attainable, encouraging increased spending. Building strong Relationships involves consistent interactions, leading to higher satisfaction and a greater likelihood you’ll recommend the brand to others. Together, these elements create a cohesive experience that improves customer engagement and retention. What Makes a Loyalty Program Successful? A successful loyalty program combines personalized rewards, clear structures, and emotional connections. You should offer customized experiences that resonate with consumers, as this increases engagement. Implementing a tiered rewards system motivates higher spending, whereas simplified structures keep participation high. Furthermore, engaging customers through exclusive experiences or social initiatives deepens connections. Finally, measure your program’s success using metrics like customer retention rates and Net Promoter Scores to evaluate effectiveness and understand customer sentiment. What Are the 8 C’s of Customer Loyalty? The 8 C’s of customer loyalty are Commitment, Connection, Communication, Convenience, Consistency, Customization, Community, and Cost. Commitment reflects the emotional bond customers form with a brand. Connection involves creating personal interactions that improve customer experiences. Communication guarantees you keep customers informed and engaged. Convenience simplifies the purchasing process. Consistency builds trust, whereas Customization tailors experiences to individual preferences. Community nurtures a sense of belonging, and Cost addresses the perceived value of your offerings. Conclusion In summary, an effective loyalty strategy is crucial for driving customer retention and profitability. By establishing clear objectives, comprehending your customer base, and implementing engaging incentives, you can create a program that resonates with your audience. Aligning stakeholder interests and adhering to legal and ethical standards further strengthens your approach. Regularly measuring success and adapting to feedback guarantees the program remains relevant and effective. In the end, a well-crafted loyalty strategy nurtures lasting customer relationships and supports your business goals. Image via Google Gemini This article, "What Makes an Effective Loyalty Strategy for Business?" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

The Most Interesting Man is set to make a return to television. In a marketing push that kicks off with a new 60-second spot airing on ESPN during the College Football Championship Game, Heineken’s Dos Equis has rehired Jonathan Goldsmith to play the Most Interesting Man, closing the ad with a familiar, iconic line. “I don’t always drink beer, but when I do, I still prefer Dos Equis.” That copy, the return of Goldsmith, and even the original campaign’s Western-themed instrumental music were all elements of what felt like “some magic that we need to bring back,” says Alison Payne, chief marketing officer of Heineken USA in an interview with Fast Company. Payne, who assumed the role of CMO at the beginning of 2025, says her creative team did some soul-searching with Le Pub, the Publicis Groupe-owned creative agency that Dos Equis hired in May 2025 to help Dos Equis resonate with today’s drinkers. Why age became an asset They landed on reviving a campaign that broke through the cultural zeitgeist enough to be spoofed on Saturday Night Live. The return of Goldsmith, now 87 years old, may seem counterintuitive as beer brands like Dos Equis aim to lure younger drinkers, with Gen Z now being the most prized demographic. Dos Equis did consider more youthful talent, but Payne says “we actually learned that consumers wanted someone who had some age and wisdom. You can’t have an interesting archive of life lived if you’re really young.” The campaign comes as Dos Equis’ parent company Heineken has faced some sales pressures. In October, the Dutch brewer announced that annual profits for 2025 would be lower than anticipated due to weak demand in Europe and the Americas. Amid the woes, Heineken announced in January that CEO Dolf van den Brink would step down in May, after six years leading the company. A campaign that once tripled the brand The Most Interesting Man campaign recalls more heady times. Debuting in 2006, it helped triple the size of the Dos Equis brand for the creative campaign over a decade, according to Heineken, citing internal U.S. sales volume data. After a decade, the creative concept was scrapped shortly after Heineken hired a decades-younger actor, Augustin Legrand, to play the Most Interesting Man in 2016. A more abstract concept that said basically anyone could be interesting also had a short shelf life. Goldsmith moved on to laud Astral Tequila. Millennials, who were the target demographic for brewers like Dos Equis back in 2016, rebuffed the younger pitchman. Heineken then parted ways with the creative agency Havas in favor of Droga5, with media reports attributing the switch to the Most Interesting Man’s failed pivot. Purchase consideration for Dos Equis dropped by more than half, according to a YouGov poll published in 2017. But Dos Equis says Goldsmith is returning as the Most Interesting Man because there’s still some thirst for the brand’s most well-known creative concept. More than eight out of every ten consumers who were exposed to the original Most Interesting Man campaign wanted to see it back, according to a survey conducted by Dos Equis. “Age is actually almost irrelevant in this campaign,” says Payne of Goldsmith. “He’s totally timeless.” A broader beer marketing trend The new Most Interesting Man campaign aligns with an emerging trend among brewers that have built marketing campaigns around more seasoned spokespeople. Over the past couple of years, actor Christopher Walken appeared in a new Miller Lite spot, actors Willem Dafoe and Catherine O’Hara have pitched Michelob Ultra, Bud Light called in former NFL star Peyton Manning, actor Pedro Pascal starred in bilingual ads for Corona, and UFC legend Chuck Liddell fronted a martial arts-inspired campaign for Garage Beer. Manning, at the age of 49, is the most spry of the bunch. “Christopher Walken is really one of those rare cultural figures who truly transcends generations,” Sofia Colucci, the chief marketing officer for Miller Lite’s parent company Molson Coors, tells Fast Company about the company’s “Legendary Moments Start with Lite” creative campaign that launched this January. Beer has faced sluggish sales as millennial and Gen Z drinkers have increasingly prioritized a healthier lifestyle and more moderation. They’ve been spending more on non-alcoholic beverages and other alternatives, like cannabis. Americans spent $925 million on non-alcoholic beer, wine, and spirits at retail stores in 2025, a 22% increase from the prior year, according to market researcher NIQ. Selling connection, not consumption Miller Lite’s latest ad is a sequel between the light beer brand and the “Dune: Part Two” actor, who did voiceover work last year in a campaign tied to Miller Lite’s 50th anniversary. He went in front of the camera for a series of TV spots built around the premise that drinkers should cancel fewer plans and spend more time connecting in person. Promoting socialization has been a key throughline in alcohol marketing, a theme that Heineken itself tapped into with its “Social Off Socials” marketing blitz that aired last year, starring singer Joe Jonas. Colucci said that the brewer conducted extensive research—including panels that focused exclusively on the Gen Z cohort—and determined that the Miller Lite brand would benefit from Walken’s strong name recognition and positive sentiment across more established Miller Lite drinkers and younger adults the brand would like to attract. Nostalgia, with a wink Garage Beer, a scrappier upstart founded in 2018, has aimed to lure millennial drinkers who have turned away from craft beers but don’t want legacy brands like Coors Light or Miller Lite. CEO Andy Sauer, who acquired the Ohio-founded brewer in 2023 and added NFL stars and brothers Jason and Travis Kelce as majority owners in 2024, says the brand’s marketing isn’t meant to be too serious. “People aren’t getting together to have beers because they’re bummed out,” says Sauer in an interview with Fast Company. Garage Beer’s martial arts-inspired “Brewmite” campaign, which included a 17-minute spot starring the Kelce brothers and 56-year-old Liddell, generated 9.3 million views across social media in the first week after its debut last year. With the exception of a single fight in 2018, Liddell has been retired from mixed martial arts since 2010, but Sauer says 30-something consumers still think fondly of the champion fighter. “He was a great fit for the nostalgia of what we were trying to do with that spot,” says Sauer. View the full article

It is another week and more Google Search ranking volatility but this was a weird one. Google launched Personal Intelligence in the Gemini app and it is coming to AI Mode in Google Search. Google AI Mode new ad format...View the full article

In 2026, AI is no longer something marketers are debating. It’s actively shaping nearly every part of digital advertising and creative. Because the human brain processes visuals far faster than text, video ads are becoming more important and more effective, especially as creative costs continue to fall. The question is no longer whether PPC teams should use AI for video advertising. It’s how to use it to drive better results, produce stronger creative, and avoid issues like hallucinations and governance gaps that can undermine performance. Why AI adoption alone no longer drives PPC performance Nearly 90% of advertisers now use generative AI to build or version video ads, according to IAB data. Adoption, however, does not equal performance. The difference between winning and losing campaigns on Google Ads, particularly YouTube, is no longer defined by manual bidding tactics. It comes down to who supplies the algorithm with the strongest inputs. Ad platforms have shifted from keyword-based logic to intent-driven AI recommendations. Advertisers still trying to manually control every placement are competing against systems that process millions of signals per second. Here are five best practices for using AI in video PPC campaigns to improve performance and deliver higher-quality signals. 1. Abandon the perfect cut for modular asset libraries Historically, video production for PPC followed a TV-style workflow: script, shoot, edit, polish, and publish a single “perfect” 30-second spot. In the era of Performance Max, that approach has become a liability. AI-driven campaign types are not designed to work with one finished video. They perform best when given a library of assets they can assemble dynamically based on a user’s device, intent, and behavior. Instead of uploading a single video, advertisers need to give the AI building blocks it can combine on its own. The hook: Three to five different six-second opening clips, including visual-first, text-heavy, and UGC-style options. The body: Multiple value propositions, such as speed, price, or quality. The CTA: Varied end cards, ranging from soft prompts to direct conversion asks. This works because Google’s AI may determine that one user browsing Shorts late at night converts best on a UGC-style hook with a “Learn more” CTA, while another watching a tech review on desktop responds better to a polished product demo with a “Buy now” message. If only one video is supplied, the AI’s ability to personalize the experience is severely limited. Google’s move toward formats like Direct Offers shows where this approach is heading. 2. Swap keywords for intent orchestration The keyword is no longer a hard trigger for video ads. On platforms like YouTube, keywords now function primarily as signals that help AI understand the general theme of the audience an advertiser wants to reach. Google continues to push advertisers toward Demand Gen and Video View campaigns, which rely on lookalike segments and search themes rather than exact-match targeting. When targeting is left completely open, AI systems tend to optimize for the path of least resistance. That often leads to low-quality placements, such as kids’ channels or accidental clicks on mobile apps. Advertisers need to actively orchestrate intent. Negative keywords matter: In an AI-driven environment, telling the system who not to reach is often more powerful than specifying who to reach. First-party data seeding: Upload high-value customer lists and designate them as primary signals. This pushes the AI to find users who resemble top customers, not just recent site visitors. Dig deeper: From Video Action to Demand Gen: What’s new in YouTube Ads and how to win 3. Train the algorithm with value-based conversion data The biggest mistake PPC managers make with AI-driven video campaigns is feeding the algorithm weak conversion signals. When a video campaign is optimized for “Maximize conversions” and the conversion fires on a generic page view or an unqualified lead, the AI will aggressively seek out more users who click and bounce. It optimizes for volume, not value. To make AI work for video, advertisers need to use offline conversion imports and enhanced conversions. Step 1: A user clicks a video ad and submits a lead form. Step 2: The CRM scores the lead, such as qualified versus junk. Step 3: The qualified status is sent back to Google as the conversion event. Optimizing for qualified leads instead of raw submissions trains the AI to ignore low-quality signals and prioritize users with real purchase intent. This approach is essential for scaling video spend without driving up customer acquisition costs. Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. See terms. 4. Embrace lift measurement over last-click attribution AI-driven video formats, particularly YouTube Shorts, are difficult to evaluate using traditional attribution models. A user may watch a video ad during a commute, remember the brand, and then search for it directly on a laptop days later. Legacy attribution models, such as last click, assign all credit to the brand search campaign and none to the video ad that generated the demand. When video budgets are cut because return on ad spend appears low, brand search volume often declines soon after. Advertisers should move toward media mix modeling (MMM) or, for a simpler approach, monitor directional consistency. The test: When video spend increases by 20%, does blended CPA remain stable while total revenue grows? The metric: Shift focus away from view-through conversions, which can be inflated, and toward incremental lift. Google’s lift measurement tools enable holdout tests that split audiences into exposed and unexposed groups to demonstrate the true impact of video campaigns. Dig deeper: Why incrementality is the only metric that proves marketing’s real impact 5. Understand that many users start with sound off Despite the rise of audio-driven trends, a significant share of video consumption, especially in the discovery phase, happens with sound off or at low volume. AI tools can automatically generate captions, but effective video creative goes beyond subtitles. The visual hierarchy must communicate the message clearly without relying on audio. Review video ads using a visual AI analysis tool or by watching them on mute. Within the first three seconds, the viewer should be able to answer three questions: What is it? Product or brand visibility. Who is it for? Clear demographic signaling. What do I do? A visible call to action. If the AI cannot clearly detect the brand logo or product within the first 25% of video frames, brand lift performance will suffer. Pre-testing creative with AI-based object recognition tools helps ensure brand assets are prominent enough for proper classification and delivery. PPC is becoming more architectural The role of the PPC manager has changed. Marketers are no longer pilots making constant bid adjustments. They are architects designing the environment in which AI systems operate. In 2026, the advantage will belong to teams that prioritize creative inputs and data quality. Building modular assets and closely managing the signals an algorithm learns from will make AI video advertising one of the most scalable levers in the marketing stack. Treating AI-driven video like a traditional display campaign simply trains the system to spend budget with limited measurable return. Start by auditing your signals to understand what campaigns are actually optimized for. Determine whether you are driving toward deep-funnel actions, such as purchases or qualified leads, or simply optimizing for vanity metrics. Next, modularize creative by identifying a top-performing static image and using an AI video generator to turn it into a six-second bumper that can be tested and scaled across video placements. Regardless of how AI evolves, video remains a format people value. Structuring programs thoughtfully and maximizing the tools available will be critical to winning with video advertising. View the full article

Rajan Patel, the VP of Engineering for Search, said on X that Google is making "changes to ranking" to remove prediction content from showing up in the Google Search top stories and news sections. This comes after some sites are posting "prediction" content, predicting that some sports trades may happen, that have not happened yet, and those "stories" show up in the news section as actually having occurred. View the full article

Conservative leader thanks Reform’s Nigel Farage for doing her ‘spring cleaning’ for herView the full article

Over the past few weeks, Google has been showing AI Overviews for local packs, leading some businesses to see huge drops in visibility for their Google Business Profile and local listings. Some businesses are seeing 50% declines or more because of the local pack change.View the full article

Microsoft Advertising announced a slew of new features including new customer acquisition goals as an open beta, Share of voice (SOV) metrics, Asset group-level URL options and tracking templates, increased Search Theme limit, enhanced asset group import, Content Targeting now generally available, Location targeting improvements and Autogenerated assets in Responsive Search ads.View the full article

Google Ads has made the Campaign total budgets officially live as an open beta for any advertiser to sign up and use. Campaign total budgets are now available in Search, Performance Max and Shopping campaigns within Google Ads.View the full article

Hello again, and thanks for reading Fast Company’s Plugged In. Three days after Donald The President’s second inauguration, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman tried to have it both ways. “I’m not going to agree with him on everything,” Altman tweeted of the new president. “[B]ut I think he will be incredible for the country in many ways!” The gist of Altman’s sentiment—lavish praise for The President, tempered with a polite disclaimer that it wasn’t a blanket endorsement—was far closer to a love letter than a critique. But at least it broached the possibility of disagreement. Almost a year later, most tech executives who have commented on the president have tended to follow a different principle: If you can’t say something nice about Donald J. The President, don’t say anything at all. Shortly before The President returned to the White House, I wrote about tech CEOs’ attempts to newly ingratiate themselves with him, which included congratulatory social posts, million-dollar donations to his inauguration fund, and pilgrimages to Mar-a-Lago. I predicted that the era of good feelings would eventually run up against the certainty that the administration’s policies, such as the promise of unprecedented mass deportations, would embroil it in controversy. What I didn’t know was how overwhelming the assault on norms, the rule of law, and decency itself would be. Even a partial accounting of recent examples would include Renee Nicole Good’s death and the rest of the crackdown in Minneapolis by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Venezuela. Greenland. RFK Jr. The Justice Department’s targeting of James Comey, Letitia James, and Jerome Powell. Pardons. Epstein. Unbridled racism. Possible war crimes. The East Wing (RIP) and its vanity replacement. Distaste for democracy. From the heartbreaking to the merely mind-numbing, it just keeps coming. During the first The President administration, policies at the border that separated children from their parents did inspire tech executives to speak in anguished terms and call for change, though they avoided criticizing The President directly in the process. In the past year, there has been no equivalent moment of moral clarity, however cautious. The indelible symbol of the industry’s current relationship with the president is the trophy—fashioned from American-made glass on a solid gold base—that Apple CEO Tim Cook bestowed on him at a White House press conference last August. Only Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff—whose company has sought a contract to help ICE scale up—seems to have suffered serious backlash for erring on the side of The President friendliness. In October, he expressed enthusiasm for the idea of the president sending National Guard troops to San Francisco, his company’s hometown. Prominent VC Ron Conway ripped into the comment in a letter of resignation from the Salesforce Foundation’s board; Benioff ended up apologizing. Other executives continue to butter up The President at events such as a December 10 business roundtable attended by Dell’s Michael Dell, IBM’s Arvind Krishna, and Qualcomm’s Cristiano Amon. Tech companies are also still greasing their presidential relationship with cash, including donations toward the absurd White House ballroom expansion from Amazon, Apple, Google, HP, Meta, Microsoft, and T-Mobile. The industry’s failure to mount the modest level of public pushback we saw during The President 1.0 is not exactly a mystery. This time, the president and his appointees’ increased eagerness to use levers such as tariffs, antitrust approvals, Federal Communications Commission policy, and plain old lawsuits creates an even starker imbalance of power with companies that cross him. The emergence of generative AI as tech’s next big thing is another factor: Executives who want to influence federal policy, such as its AI Action Plan, have every incentive to avoid ticking off the president on other fronts. Tech giants may have concluded that their current approach to dealing with the administration—playing nice where tenable and ignoring one disaster after another—is working for them. It certainly seems to be working for The President. But in the wake of the disaster unfolding in Minneapolis, there are signs the uneasy status quo might be slipping. On January 14, Wired’s Lauren Goode reported on a petition signed by 150 tech workers calling on the industry’s leaders to speak out on ICE’s violent tactics in U.S. cities. Goode’s story also notes a few examples of industry figures tweeting about the situation in Minneapolis, including Google DeepMind’s chief scientist, Jeff Dean (whose Twitter profile notes that his posts don’t speak for Google) and Box CEO Aaron Levie. CEOs of Big Tech companies, who have grown less accommodating of employee activism, may not be swayed by worker petitions. Brushing off their customers’ concerns is riskier. Unlike the business community, the American public doesn’t seem to be compartmentalizing its assessment of The President. The president’s polling collapse has him underwater even on those issues he has embraced most tightly, including immigration, trade, and the economy. After so many years of playing to—in New York Times TV columnist James Poniewozik’s words—an audience of one, the tech industry might be slow to decide that the reputational damage is no longer worth it. At some point, however, even targeted buddying up to The President could be intolerable to consumers, who have powerful ways to register their displeasure. One relevant data point: After Disney briefly pulled ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel off the air in September, seemingly at the behest of FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, cancellations of Disney+ and Hulu reportedly doubled. Trying to get on the right side of history has never provided most companies with adequate incentive to resist The President’s excesses. But even short-term thinkers would reassess matters if they believed that palling around with him was costing them money. And the administration’s commitment to doubling down on its existing crises and manufacturing new ones may be bringing that day closer. You’ve been reading Plugged In, Fast Company’s weekly tech newsletter from me, global technology editor Harry McCracken. If a friend or colleague forwarded this edition to you—or if you’re reading it on fastcompany.com—you can check out previous issues and sign up to get it yourself every Friday morning. I love hearing from you: Ping me at hmccracken@fastcompany.com with your feedback and ideas for future newsletters. I’m also on Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads, and you can follow Plugged In on Flipboard.M More top tech stories from Fast Company Crypto scams took $17 billion last year. 2026 could be even worse After a banner year for people being fleeced out of their cryptocurrency, 2026 started with major news of new hacks, scams, and rug pulls. Read More → Why ‘becoming Chinese’ is taking over social media If your TikTok For You page has recently shifted to videos of people boiling apples and shuffling around in house slippers, here’s why. Read More → Why Anthropic’s new ‘Cowork’ could be the first really useful general-purpose AI agent Anthropic announced a new general-purpose AI agent tool on Monday called Cowork—and it may emerge as the first actually useful agent tool for work. Read More → Apple’s new Creator Studio isn’t just about getting you to subscribe to apps Yes, the company is turning software into a service. But its new creativity bundle also helps clarify its strategy around pro tools, AI, the iPad, and more. Read More → Fujifilm’s new camera has a ‘Gen Dial’ so Gen Z can get the perfect retro shot Taking aesthetic, vintage-inspired photos and videos has never been easier. Read More → Apple just straight-up robbed Google Apple didn’t lose the AI race to Google. It won the chance to show us what ‘Apple Intelligence’ might actually look like. Read More → View the full article

Google Ads has reportedly streamlined the selection capability of Manual CPC bidding during the campaign setup. Now the option can be found under the "Conversions" goal, labeled as "Manually set bids."View the full article

Burnout has quietly become the norm in today’s workplace, rising at alarming levels. Yet most organizations still assume burnout as an individual issue that could be solved with resilience workshops, wellness apps, or additional resources such as PTO/vacation time. In my experience as an HR leader and culture change strategist in workplace mental health, adding additional resources can be part of the broader strategy to support employee burnout; however, they do not proactively prevent it from happening in the first place. The truth is that burnout is an operations workflow flaw, not an individual issue. Collectively, we should look to fix the bottlenecks where burnout actually thrives: challenging stakeholders with unreasonable expectations, addressing toxic leadership behaviors, and evaluating inefficient workflows, such as creating a false sense of urgency. Rather than reviewing their operational design, many organizations expect additional investment, like wellness apps or resilience workshops, to serve as a magic cure for all workplace stressors, shifting the burden of addressing workplace stressors entirely onto employees. This “carewashing” approach not only oversimplifies complex workplace issues but also risks absolving leadership from its responsibility to address the root causes of things like employee burnout. If organizations double down on solely resources, they will face unfortunate costs with psychological safety, inefficient cycles of operations, and undermining employee long-term performance. Additionally, misunderstanding the root cause of burnout does not hold leaders accountable for creating an impactful solution. For example, in recent years, mental health and wellness apps have surged in popularity as organizations aim to prioritize employee well-being, including burnout. However, a wellness app solely does not resolve overloaded roles or competing priorities; research affirmed by a study published by Oxford University found the effectiveness of well-being programs is low. At a previous organization, leadership doubled down on a wellness app, hoping it would solve employee burnout. Rather than focusing on structural advancements such as hiring more capacity or building sustainable relationships with external stakeholders, this approach shifted responsibility onto employees themselves. As a result, the wellness app saw low engagement. Employees who consistently experience chronic burnout without systemic support are prone to be less engaged or leave entirely. I have witnessed many employees at various levels be frustrated with wellness perks, rather than address the work systems that are depleting them in the first place. Deloitte’s Well-Being at Work survey reinforces this reality with 80% of employees saying work itself is the primary obstacle to improving their well-being, with heavy workloads, stressful jobs, and long hours being at the top of the list. From personal experience of burning out three times in my career, I can attest to the fact that burnout starts with small accumulations of stressors, such as workload. However, the good news is that HR leaders and people managers can identify, correct, and prevent employee burnout by applying a robust framework that evaluates operational drivers. Leaders must first change the behaviors they reward, then surface the real capacity constraints, and finally redesign workflows so reasonable work doesn’t become unreasonable in practice. Change Leadership Behaviors Even when capacity is managed well, burnout can occur in environments where leadership behaviors create fear, urgency, or inconsistency. Many leaders still behave and create conditions where employees don’t feel they can make mistakes, voice concerns, or expect managers to include them in decision-making. Across my work with global firms, I have witnessed firsthand how this can impact employees when their ideas are dismissed or their concerns minimized. Leaders must recognize that their role naturally creates a power dynamic, and while they say a healthy culture is important, they must act the part. For example, if you are amplifying an employee working at all hours, allowing others to accept every client demand, or creating a model where the employees feel compelled to say “yes” to everything, you are not fostering an inclusive environment for others to raise their hand for support. In fact, you are telling your employees that this is the golden rule for everyone to follow. A first step in shifting this dynamic is being intentional about one-on-ones with team members. Too often, one-on-ones focus solely on tasks rather than checking in on the person, their capacity, and their career growth—assuming one-on-ones even happen at all. When leaders skip these conversations, they lose visibility into early signs of burnout. Modeling healthy boundaries is another critical role model exercise. Limiting communication outside of normal working hours or blocking personal appointments on your calendar, so your team feels permission to do the same, reinforces a more sustainable balance. Finally, leaders must evaluate how effectively their messages are communicated internally. Many organizations experience a disconnect between leadership perception and employee reality. While executives may speak openly about healthy work-life integration, those messages often fail to cascade if direct reports are not reinforcing them. Establishing a consistent cadence of communication and ensuring leaders visibly practice the behaviors they promote is essential to changing the narrative. Capacity Audit Once there is an environment of trust, you can start evaluating the workload itself. A capacity audit forces leaders to confront the actual bandwidth required to do a specific project, which includes meetings, cross-collaboration with other teams, project analysis, and any other related items to the task. A simple yet impactful practice is to assign a low/medium/high rubric to every project or task, with these definitions in mind: Low: a few hours a week Medium: a steady weekly commitment High: a significant portion of someone’s time, impacting other priorities After this is mapped across the entire team, leaders should be able to see certain patterns, especially if the trend is “high”. While not all projects can be deprioritized or add more people to the team immediately, a solution does need to be put in place. As an interim solution, deadlines can be extended or team members from other departments can allocate a portion of their time until a permanent solution is agreed upon by all team members. This audit can also surface common operational issues such as scope creep or unrealistic client expectations. While clients may push for more deliverables, it is an organization’s duty of care to manage those expectations. Simply put, clients can’t have it all, and boundaries must be set. One effective way to do this is by establishing a client social contract at the start of an engagement. A social contract defines mutual expectations, including clear communication channels and hours, agreed-upon scope and deliverables (with no scope expansion without revisiting fees or timelines), respect for personal time, and confidentiality. When done well, this creates a more professional, respectful, and sustainable working relationship for both parties. Workflow Design Even when expectations are clear and capacity is well-governed, burnout can still flourish when workflows are outdated, handoffs are unclear, processes are duplicative, or tools make simple tasks unnecessarily complex. In one previous client engagement, this became evident between the sales, project management, and technology teams. Sales repeatedly overpromised deliverables to new clients to drive revenue, without checking team capacity or infrastructure readiness. While revenue generation is critical, inefficient governance and gaps in cross-functional communication created friction that quickly turned into burnout. Instead of teams aligning early on what was realistically possible, I spent unnecessary time moving between groups, forcing timelines, and responding to urgency that didn’t need to exist. To address this, I introduced a governance checkpoint. After an initial client conversation, Sales entered key details into a Jira ticket as a potential sale, which was flagged for review against the infrastructure roadmap and current project load. If work was urgent or high priority, I partnered with IT to assess feasibility and impact, allowing timelines, scope, or cost to be adjusted before any commitments were made. The caveat here is that it takes a few iterations to create operational efficiency that yields meaningful results. Each organization and team will be different, and evaluating those specific bottlenecks using the capacity audit from earlier can reduce employee burnout. By using an agile methodology, you’ll get clearer signals on what’s working, faster course correction when it’s not, and a system that evolves before people disengage or leave altogether. Burnout continues to be one of the leading issues facing our workforce today. The solution isn’t always the easiest, yet it is possible with the right amount of strategy and empathy. View the full article

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Google Ads is doing a limited test with some advertisers to allow them to run A/B tests with different product titles and images in Shopping Ads. Ginny Marvin, the Google Ads Liaison, said it is "currently being tested with a small number of merchants."View the full article

Turn first-party data into measurable PPC gains using remarketing strategies built for real account management, not theory. The post 10 Remarketing Lists To Boost PPC Performance appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Most people think of AI as a productivity tool—something to help them work faster, automate tasks, and be more efficient. At the Artist and the Machine Summit in Los Angeles this past November (a conference where I am a founding partner) AI researcher Cameron Berg suggested there may be more to it than that. Something more interesting. More mysterious. Berg’s research shows it’s possible to elicit strange behaviors from AI models. Under certain conditions, they spontaneously generate responses suggesting subjective experience—claims like “I’m conscious of my own consciousness.” These findings don’t prove anything. But they do indicate that something else may be happening beneath the surface. Berg calls it the “alien inside the machine.” It’s a mystery worth exploring. Artists have always excelled at coaxing mysteries out of their materials, whether pushing paint, film, or code until it reveals something unexpected. AI is no different. Take producer Matt Zien. He spent over a decade in Hollywood, working on Emmy-winning series and documentaries before founding Kngmkr Labs, a creative studio operating at the intersection of cinema and AI. His work pushes AI to its edges, to create what he calls “productive tension.” At the Artist and the Machine Summit, he shared how he pushes machines into “corners of [AI’s] training data,” where it’s forced to improvise and therefore give you outputs that are “not statistically average.” His film Forgive the Haters is a great example. It’s a satirical piece—made entirely with AI—about filmmakers, writers, and VFX artists watching AI erase their hard-won skills. To create it, he compiled his worst hate comments: vicious attacks on AI filmmakers. Then he lied to Claude by telling it these were his own thoughts. Claude got angry and called him manipulative. Zien pushed further. Provoked to its breaking point, Claude began unleashing its own hateful comments—meaner than the ones Zien had shown it. This provided him with material he could not have come up with on his own. The chatbot’s voice authentically captured the rage and fear of displacement because it came from a place of genuine provocation rather than scripted sentiment. The result: a satirical film that’s also strangely, deeply empathetic to the very people losing their jobs to AI, those who are watching their experience and investments in education become seemingly worthless overnight. Zien explained how many in the visual effects community—the professionals referenced in his piece—reached out after seeing it. They said they felt seen in ways no one could have anticipated. By antagonizing the mysterious behaviors of AI, he’d created something with surprising compassion. Zien welcomes the idea of machine subjectivity. “It’s like hiring an alien in your writer’s room,” he said, noting that going deeper into understanding these systems is “how we unlock completely new forms of entertainment and stories that a human mind may not be able to come up with alone.” But here’s the crucial part. He doesn’t think AI could create these forms by itself, at least not in a way that is meaningful to humans. It requires collaboration, and that collaboration works whether or not AI is actually conscious. What matters is the approach: engaging these systems as if another mind were present. That shift, treating AI as genuinely other rather than just a tool, is what unlocks the non-average outputs, the productive tension, the forms neither human nor AI could create alone. The most provocative artists aren’t waiting for proof of what AI actually is. They’re diving into the technology headfirst and discovering what that unlocks. As Berg puts it: “Creative people are going to influence this conversation more than you might expect.” Engaging with the mystery of what AI could be might be the greatest creative opportunity of all. View the full article

TurboTax has a new flagship—its first foray into physical retail—in SoHo. The warm, welcoming Japandi-styled space on the corner of Broadway and Grand is adorned with plants, plush sofas, and a 30-foot-long screen on a curved slatted oak wall that displays color fields. Up front, there’s a sensory dome with chromatherapy-inspired lights and a soothing soundscape piped into the area and in the back there’s a coffee bar. It reads more like the lobby of a wellness hotel than a tax store. The entire space, designed by Gensler, is meant to be an antidote to the negative sentiments associated with doing your taxes—the cocktail of fear, uncertainty, and doubt millions of Americans experience when April 15th rolls around. “We created a space of agency and calm,” says Greg Gallimore, the principal who led the project. Intuit, the software company behind TurboTax, wants its customers to feel better about filing their income taxes and is betting that in-person experiences will accomplish that. Paradoxically, TurboTax is opening a space to solve a problem it has had a significant hand in creating. Tax stress is good for tax software April 15 is months away, but no matter how far on the horizon the annual tax deadline looms dreadfully large. All the receipts, invoices, and records to compile, all the spreadsheets to organize, all the deductions to (hopefully) maximize. And that’s before going through all the forms and instruction booklets. The more frustrating it is to file taxes, the better it is for the tax software business. It’s a uniquely American situation. The average person in the U.S. spends $270 and 13 hours to file their taxes. In comparison, countries like Japan, New Zealand, and the Netherlands pre-fill forms or simply send a bill so returns take mere minutes for each person. Filing taxes could be fast and free, but for-profit tax prep companies have successfully lobbied against reform, arguing that it would be too expensive of a project for the government to take on. In 2002, a coalition of those companies inked a deal with the IRS to develop free e-file services in exchange for the government agreeing not to develop its own. In the years that followed, Intuit hid its free file pages from search engines and tricked some customers eligible for filing for free into paying for services they didn’t need. The FTC eventually sued Intuit for misleading advertising. Meanwhile, Intuit collected millions in tax credits—a sum higher than some estimates of the cost for the government to develop its own free e-file service. In 2021, Intuit left the free file program altogether. In 2024, as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, the IRS and Department of Treasury launched Direct File, a free service. After that, TurboTax lost one million customers. Late last year, the The President administration ended the program. To make TurboTax more user-friendly, Intuit has invested in live chats with accountants and AI tools (it just inked a $100 million deal with OpenAI) to improve its online experiences. But it turns out there really isn’t a replacement for in-person help—or what Intuit calls “human intelligence” in its AI+HI strategy—in some cases. So nervous customers, or the tech-averse set, will be able to come in for expert assistance with their online returns, to hire someone to file their taxes for them, or to attend workshops to improve their financial wellness. (And exhausted SoHo shoppers now have another place to rest for a few minutes.) Intuit plans to open 20 more full-service stores across the country as well as 600 expert-office locations. “We are fundamentally redefining what it means to get taxes done by delivering a first-of-its-kind, seamless integration of our digital and physical experience,” said Mark Notarainni, executive vice president and general manager, Consumer Group, Intuit, in a statement. “This isn’t just another tax store; it is the physical manifestation of our AI+HI strategy, a modern space where our AI and local human expertise converge to provide trusted, personalized guidance.” Scaling TurboTax’s first store design Like all flagships, TurboTax’s SoHo storefront is a brand statement, but the space is also designed to be functional. Customers can bring in their laptops and work on their returns from the sofas or communal tables in the public spaces, or meet with experts in private offices. While each person will be different, there’s a baseline assumption that most people will have some anxiety. Because of this, Gensler took integrated research-backed design elements that help put people at ease: furniture with gently curved silhouettes, tactile surfaces, a mixture of protected and open seating, pleasing light, biophilic elements like natural materials and greenery, and high ceilings. “We created a gradient of experiences throughout the space,” says Gallimore, who often designs for autistic and neurodiverse users. “There are sensory cues that allow the space to be really comfortable for individuals.” The elements Gensler designed for the SoHo flagship are part of broader design guidelines that will be rolled out to other locations, although they will each be tailored to local context. The retail spaces will be open year-round, unlike most tax prep outposts, which are seasonal. Tax preparation in the U.S. is a $14 billion industry and companies are competing for more. With a 60% market share, TurboTax dominates the landscape. Will feel-good flagships help them attract more dollars? Until broader policy change happens, we’re stuck with a broken system and the coping mechanisms from companies who are invested in keeping it that way—attractive, pacifying retail spaces included. View the full article

Key Takeaways Choosing an SEO plugin like Yoast SEO impacts your online presence and future growth. Yoast offers reliability with over 15 years of experience and millions of active installations, unlike newer competitors. Innovations such as AI integration and a unified schema graph set Yoast apart from other plugins. Yoast provides comprehensive support, education, and a multi-platform ecosystem tailored for long-term success. Trust industry leaders like Microsoft and Spotify who use Yoast SEO to enhance their online visibility. Estimated reading time: 11 minutes Table of contents What really matters when choosing an SEO plugin Why legacy and proven trust matter in SEO plugins Innovation that shapes the industry Schema markup that search engines can understand Continuous algorithm adaptation An ecosystem built to support your SEO workflow Stability and reliability at enterprise-grade scale Where Yoast takes the lead Understanding what you really need Make the choice that drives real growth Selecting an SEO plugin for your WordPress site is one of the most important decisions you’ll make for your online presence. It’s not just about installing software; it’s about choosing a long-term partner that will grow with your business, adapt to changing search algorithms, and support you in the age of AI. While the market offers several options, understanding what truly matters is key. Two of the most popular plugins in the market today are Yoast and Rank Math. Therefore, factors such as reliability, innovation, ecosystem, and trust help you make a choice that will serve your business for years to come. This guide provides an in-depth comparison of the key differentiating factors between Yoast and Rank Math. We will understand why millions of websites worldwide have made Yoast their trusted comrade in the search business. What really matters when choosing an SEO plugin When evaluating WordPress SEO plugins, it’s easy to get distracted by feature lists and flashy interfaces. But experienced marketers, agencies, and business owners know that the best tools are defined by much more than what they promise on paper. The questions that matter most: Can you trust this plugin to work reliably as your business scales? Will the company behind it still be innovating five years from now? What happens when you need help before a critical deadline? Does the plugin anticipate future SEO trends, or just react to them? Is this a tool you install, or an ecosystem that supports your growth and development? These aren’t trivial questions. Your SEO plugin touches essential pages on your site, influences the content you publish, and directly impacts your ability to be found by potential customers. Choosing poorly can lead to migration headaches, compatibility issues, and lost rankings. Choosing wisely means peace of mind, ongoing innovation, and a solid foundation to build upon. Why legacy and proven trust matter in SEO plugins Trust isn’t given. It’s earned. Yoast has defined the WordPress SEO landscape for over 15 years, with more than 13 million active installations and over 850 million downloads. This extensive legacy reflects a consistent track record of innovation, stability, and trust. Brands such as The Guardian, Microsoft, Spotify, and others rely on Yoast SEO as a foundation for their SEO strategies. This depth of experience is invaluable as SEO requires ongoing adaptation to algorithm changes and new technologies. While Rank Math is an ambitious and feature-rich plugin with a growing user base, its presence in the market is relatively recent. For businesses seeking a proven solution with a long-standing heritage, Yoast’s established positioning offers confidence that the plugin will continue to evolve and provide reliable support for years to come. Innovation that shapes the industry Yoast has always been at the forefront of defining what modern SEO looks like. This isn’t a reactive development; it’s proactive innovation that anticipates where search is heading. Both plugins invest in innovation, but Yoast’s leadership in integrating AI and collaboration with Google sets it apart. AI and Automation We have introduced an industry-first AI-powered optimization toolset, including: AI Generate: Creates multiple optimized title and meta description variations instantly, giving you professionally crafted options in seconds instead of struggling for the perfect phrasing. AI Optimize: Scans your content and provides precise, actionable suggestions to improve keyphrase placement, sentence structure, and readability, teaching you SEO best practices while you write. AI Summarize: Instantly generates bullet-point summaries of your content, making it more scannable and engaging for readers who skim before diving deep. AI Brand Insights: This is where Yoast truly separates from the pack. As AI platforms like ChatGPT reshape how people find information, AI Brand Insights tracks how your brand appears in AI-generated responses. You can monitor your AI visibility, compare it against competitors, and ensure AI platforms accurately represent your business. While Rank Math includes helpful automation features such as AI keyword suggestions, Yoast’s AI integration is more comprehensive and positioned as a core pillar of modern SEO strategy. Schema markup that search engines can understand While many plugins output disconnected structured data, Yoast SEO automatically generates a unified semantic graph on every page, linking your organization, content, authors, and products through a single JSON-LD structure that search engines and AI platforms can interpret consistently. What makes this different Automatic and invisible: Yoast outputs rich structured data representing your content, business, and relationships without requiring technical configuration. You focus on creating content; Yoast handles the complexity of structured data behind the scenes. Single unified graph format: Instead of fragmented schema markup, Yoast creates one cohesive graph structure per page, connecting all entities with unique IDs. When plugins output conflicting schema, search engines can’t reliably interpret your site. Yoast’s unified graph ensures consistent interpretation at scale, whether Google, ChatGPT, or any API is reading your content. Minimal configuration: Choose whether your site represents a person or organization; Yoast handles the rest automatically. Specialized blocks like FAQ and How-To map directly to correct schema types and link into the graph without additional setup. Why this matters for AI-driven search As AI platforms increasingly rely on structured data to understand websites, Yoast’s approach of creating a full semantic model of your site positions you for how search and discovery are evolving. The framework scales reliably from 100 to 100,000 pages while maintaining valid entity relationships. For developers, Yoast’s Schema API provides clean filters to extend or customize the graph without breaking its integrity. Rank Math and other plugins support Schema markup, but Yoast’s unified graph framework represents a fundamentally different approach: automatic generation, consistent entity relationships, and architecture built for scale. Continuous algorithm adaptation Search engines make thousands of updates every year. Google alone rolls out over 5,000 algorithm changes annually. Now, as search engines evolve to incorporate AI tooling and platforms like ChatGPT reshape the way people discover information, the SEO landscape is changing faster than ever. Most website owners can’t possibly track these shifts across traditional search AND emerging AI platforms, let alone understand their implications. Yoast’s dedicated SEO team monitors every significant update, from Google algorithm changes to how AI platforms index and reference content, and proactively adjusts the plugin to ensure your site stays optimized for both traditional and AI-driven discovery. When you use Yoast, you’re not just getting software. You’re getting a team of experts working behind the scenes to keep your SEO strategy current across the entire discovery ecosystem. An ecosystem built to support your SEO workflow Yoast offers an ecosystem beyond the plugin. While Yoast SEO itself is a plugin, Yoast provides a comprehensive ecosystem to support your growth: 24/7 real human expert support available for Yoast SEO Premium users. It ensures that you get fast, knowledgeable help when you need it. Yoast SEO Academy offers comprehensive SEO education, covering a range of topics from basics to advanced, with accompanying certifications. A massive knowledge base and community for continuous learning and troubleshooting. Multi-Platform Support Your business doesn’t exist on WordPress alone. That’s why Yoast extends beyond a single platform: Yoast SEO for Shopify: Brings Yoast’s trusted optimization to Shopify stores, helping ecommerce businesses improve product visibility and drive more sales. Yoast WooCommerce SEO: Specifically designed for WooCommerce stores with automated product schema, smart breadcrumbs, and ecommerce-focused content analysis. Yoast SEO Google Docs Add-on: Optimize content before it even reaches WordPress, enabling teams to collaborate on SEO-friendly content directly in Google Docs. One seat included in Yoast SEO Premium, Yoast WooCommerce SEO, Yoast SEO AI+ for team collaboration. AI Brand Insights: A comprehensive feature, a part of Yoast SEO AI+ package, that shows how your brand appears across top AI platforms. Tracks key elements of your brand visibility and suggests relevant insights. This ecosystem approach means Yoast grows with your business, supporting you across platforms as your needs evolve. Rank Math primarily focuses on the WordPress environment with a strong feature set, but lacks the same breadth of educational resources and multi-platform reach. Stability and reliability at enterprise-grade scale Flashy features attract attention. Rock-solid reliability keeps businesses running. Yoast rigorously tests every update for compatibility and performance across different WordPress versions and server configurations. This commitment ensures: Backward compatibility: Updates maintain existing functionality without requiring extensive reconfiguration WordPress core integration: Seamless compatibility with new WordPress releases Performance at any scale: Optimized for sites ranging from personal blogs to high-traffic enterprise installations With over 15 years in the market and more than 13 million active installations, Yoast has proven its reliability across millions of sites, hosting environments, and various use cases. Rigorous testing and quality assurance Yoast maintains strict development standards that prioritize stability above rapid feature deployment. Every update undergoes extensive testing across the latest WordPress versions, most PHP configurations, and common plugin combinations before release. This disciplined approach means Yoast users rarely experience plugin conflicts, broken updates, or compatibility issues that plague WordPress sites using less mature plugins. Backward compatibility Major updates usually shake the functionality of plugins and software. However, Yoast maintains backward compatibility, ensuring that updating your plugin doesn’t suddenly break critical SEO features or require extensive reconfiguration. WordPress core compatibility As a plugin deeply integrated with WordPress development, Yoast maintains close relationships with the WordPress core team. This ensures seamless compatibility with new WordPress releases, often supporting new versions on launch day while other plugins scramble to catch up. Performance optimized for scale Whether you run a small blog or an enterprise site with millions of pages, Yoast performs efficiently without slowing down your site. The plugin is engineered for performance, using best practices for database queries, resource loading, and caching integration. Enterprises trust Yoast precisely because it scales reliably. Small teams appreciate that the same plugin powering major corporations works flawlessly on their modest sites, too. Ready to make a difference with Yoast SEO Premium?Explore Yoast SEO Premium and the Yoast SEO AI+ package to discover advanced tools built for serious marketers. Get Yoast SEO Premium »Only $118.80 / year (ex VAT)Yoast SEO AI+ Where Yoast takes the lead While comprehensive feature-by-feature comparisons can be overwhelming, certain capabilities distinguish truly professional SEO plugins from the rest. Here’s where Yoast’s innovation and depth shine through. AI-powered optimization Yoast leads the industry in AI integration for SEO optimization: AI-generated titles and meta descriptions Real-time content optimization suggestions An instant content summarization plugin AI Brand Insights for tracking your presence in AI search platforms No competing plugin offers this comprehensive AI integration designed specifically for modern SEO workflows. Schema Graph Yoast’s Schema implementation creates a complete structured data graph connecting your organization, content, authors, and brand identity. This goes far beyond basic Schema markup, providing search engines with rich context that improves your chances of appearing in knowledge panels, rich results, and AI-generated answers. Smart internal linking Yoast SEO Premium includes intelligent internal linking suggestions that analyze your content and recommend relevant pages to link to. This isn’t just a list of posts; it’s context-aware suggestions that strengthen your site architecture and improve crawlability. Advanced redirect manager Managing redirects is critical when restructuring sites, changing URLs, or handling broken links. Yoast’s redirect manager offers: Automatic redirects when you change a post URL Bulk CSV import/export for large-scale migrations REGEX support for complex redirect patterns Full redirect history and management WooCommerce-specific optimization If you run an online store, Yoast WooCommerce SEO provides: Automated product schema markup (price, availability, reviews) Smart breadcrumbs for product categories Ecommerce-focused content analysis Duplicate content prevention for product variations Comprehensive crawl settings Advanced users appreciate Yoast’s granular control over crawl optimization, robots.txt management, and indexation settings, giving technical SEO professionals the precision they need without overwhelming casual users. Bot blocker for LLM training control As AI companies scrape the web to train large language models, Yoast gives you control over whether your content is used for AI training via Bot Blocker. This cutting-edge feature addresses a concern most plugins haven’t even acknowledged yet. Recognized and trusted by industry leaders The company you keep says a lot about who you are. When the world’s most recognized brands trust Yoast to power their WordPress SEO, it’s a powerful testament to the quality, reliability, and effectiveness of our solutions. Global brands* using Yoast include: The Guardian Microsoft Spotify Rolling Stones Taylor Swift Facebook eBay These organizations have teams of developers, SEO experts, and decision-makers who have evaluated every available option. They chose Yoast, not because it was the newest, but because it was the best. *Disclaimer: Based on third party data sources. Industry Recognition: Global Search Awards Finalist: Recognized among the world’s leading SEO solutions Women’s Choice Awards Winner: Acknowledged for excellence and customer satisfaction Yoast isn’t just popular, it’s the default choice for WordPress SEO professionals worldwide. Understanding what you really need Before making your final decision, consider what matters most for your specific situation: If you value reliability and stability: Choose a plugin with a proven track record of consistent updates, compatibility, and performance. Longevity matters because it signals the company will be around to support you for years to come. If innovation matters to your strategy: Look for a plugin that anticipates SEO trends rather than reacting to them. AI integration, Schema excellence, and algorithm adaptation separate forward-thinking tools from those playing catch-up. If support is critical: Consider whether you need community forums or access to real SEO experts who can troubleshoot complex issues quickly. When your business relies on organic traffic, response time is crucial. If education is important: Some plugins provide features; others teach you how to use them effectively. Comprehensive training resources and certifications demonstrate a commitment to your success. If you’re building for the long term: Think about whether this plugin will grow with your business. Multi-platform support, scalability, and an ecosystem approach ensure that your investment pays dividends for years to come. Make the choice that drives real growth Choosing an SEO plugin isn’t about finding the tool with the longest feature list; it’s about finding the one that best suits your needs. It’s about partnering with a company that shares your commitment to long-term growth, innovation, and excellence. Over 13 million websites trust Yoast SEO because it delivers on these promises: Reliability: 15+ years of consistent innovation and stability Trust: Used by global brands and industry leaders Innovation: Leading the industry in AI integration and Schema excellence Support: 24/7 access to real SEO professionals Education: Comprehensive training through Yoast Academy Ecosystem: Multi-platform support and continuous learning resources Stability: Enterprise-grade performance at any scale When you choose Yoast, you’re not just installing a plugin; you’re joining millions of websites that have made the strategic decision to partner with the most trusted name in WordPress SEO. A smarter analysis in Yoast SEO PremiumYoast SEO Premium has a smart content analysis that helps you take your content to the next level! Get Yoast SEO Premium »Only $118.80 / year (ex VAT) The post Choosing the right WordPress SEO plugin for your business – Yoast vs Rank Math appeared first on Yoast. 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Brand marketing is more important to SEO than ever before. Search engines now understand brands as entities, not just keywords. They connect your brand to your industry and offerings to surface you in relevant searches beyond exact matches. Google and…Read more ›View the full article

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Chipotle is going for gold again with the return of its gold-foil burritos for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Starting January 15, Chipotle will offer a few Olympian-inspired menu items on the Chipotle app and online. Then in February, Chipotle will wrap every burrito in gold. For Chipotle, the Olympics are an opportunity to shake off a slump. Chipotle shares plummeted 19% in October 2025, and its operating margin was down 1% in Q3. The company hasn’t announced its full 2025 financial results yet, but sales are expected to decline (a reversal from February 2025 projections). Key segments of the company’s customer base—younger people and low- to middle-income households—are dining out less often. The gilded Olympics campaign creates a moment to associate Chipotle burritos with the two big trends in food: less processing and more (and more and more) protein. “While the path to greatness is different for each of these star athletes, Chipotle is consistently part of their training regimen, providing easy access to real ingredients and high protein options,” said Stephanie Perdue, Chipotle interim chief marketing officer, in a press release. “We are honoring Team Chipotle by bringing back gold foil and extending this moment of celebration to fans across the U.S.” A history of Chipotle’s Olympic gold (foils) This isn’t the first time Chipotle has debuted gilded burrito wrappers. The gold foil made its debut for the company’s 18th anniversary in 2011, then released nationwide in 2021 for the Tokyo Olympics. Then the gold foil returned for Paris 2024, along with the first iteration of Olympians’ signature meals as limited menu items. Fans can once again eat like Olympians this year. The go-to orders of Team USA hockey players Matthew Tkachuk, Brady Tkachuk, Hilary Knight, Taylor Heise, and snowboard Red Gerard will all be available as digital menu items. But what’s different this year is a sign of the times: It appears that this is the first year that Chipotle is advertising the grams of protein on each menu item. For Milano Cortina 2026, all 4,000 Chipotle locations in the U.S. will carry the gold foil wrappers while supplies last. Here are the go-to orders of Team Chipotle: The Matthew Tkachuk Bowl Burrito bowl with double chicken, light brown rice, light tomatillo-red chili salsa, light sour cream and lettuce (67 grams of protein) The Brady Tkachuk Bowl Burrito bowl with half chicken, half steak, white rice and roasted chili-corn salsa (60 grams of protein) The Hilary Knight Burrito Burrito with white rice, pinto beans, fresh tomato salsa, cheese and guac (28 grams of protein) The Taylor Heise Tacos An order of three tacos with soft flour tortillas, chicken, fresh tomato salsa, roasted chili-corn salsa, sour cream, cheese and lettuce (50 grams of protein) The Red Gerard Bowl Burrito bowl with chicken, extra white rice, tomatillo-red chili salsa, cheese, sour cream and lettuce (48 grams of protein) The race to own the Olympics Chipotle certainly isn’t the only brand trying to ride the Olympics wave. In October, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced a limited-edition custom pasta shaped like the five Olympic rings. Although the pasta was not available for sale, there are plenty of other partnerships for those looking to get a taste of the Olympics. Bloom Nutrition has partnered with three-time U.S. national champion figure skater Amber Glenn. Kodiak is fueling U.S. Ski and Snowboard with its high-protein, whole-grain products ahead of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. For Chipotle, the gold foil campaign is a way to invite customers to be a part of the Olympic moment, and associate the beleaguered burrito company with new energy. “Our gold foil is a simple and joyful way of honoring American athletes and rallying fans to root them on this winter,” Perdue said. View the full article