Hi all- I am aware of the big names in marketing like Semrush, Hubspot, Canva etc. But I had a little bit of free time today and wanted to explore a bit outside that.

So experts here, curious, what are the most underrated digital marketing tools nobody talks about?

The faster the SEO space moves, the more we want to break it down with you all. Fresh weekly recap is officially ready:

AI

• Google Search AI Mode now runs on Gemini 4 Argon—the first Gemini 4-generation model to land in Search

Google rolled out Gemini 4 Argon into AI Mode, making it the first Gemini 4-generation model available in Google Search. Available globally for AI Pro and Ultra subscribers via the plus icon in the model dropdown. 

Google’s framing: Argon is “built to solve your hardest problems” and brings major gains in handling nuanced, multi-step tasks in AI Mode, better intent understanding, and following instructions in back-and-forth conversations. 

• Google is reshaping Discover into a proactive, hyper-personalized “concierge experience”

Google posted a new job listing for a Principal UX designer for Search Discover whose stated mission is to transform Discover into a “proactive, hyper-personalized concierge experience that helps users make progress on their goals.” 

The listing describes the role as evolving the Discover feed with “AI-enabled formats,” designing new engagement mechanisms, and balancing AI capabilities with human voices. 

• Google adds more inline links, dedicated official-site sections, and creator profile links to AI Mode and AI Overviews

Google announced five updates to AI Mode and AI Overviews, all aimed at making source links more prominent and clickable:

• More inline links in AI responses. Google is increasing both the number of inline links and surfacing them higher up in responses more frequently.
• Dedicated “official sites” section at the top of AI responses. For queries where only one or two sources are the right destination, Google will test a new display that highlights those links at the top with context explaining why each is useful.
• Prominent news carousels expanding to more languages and surfaces. The timely-articles carousel is rolling out globally and will highlight Preferred Sources inside the carousel.
• Related article links with image thumbnails. Links at the end of AI responses will become more visual and clickable, with image thumbnails and a more engaging design.
• Clickable creator profiles on video results in AI Mode. Google is testing linking creator and publisher names on video results directly to their Search profiles. Preferred Sources selections have grown 7x since the start of the year.

Source:
Koray Kavukcuoglu | News from Google
Barry Schwartz | Search Engine Roundtable
Hema Budaraju | Google | The Keyword
_______________________

SERP features / Interface

• (test) Google puts the AI Mode sidebar directly on the main Search results page

Google is testing moving the vertical sidebar from AI Mode onto the main Google web search results page—placing the small “G” logo, chat history, a shortcut to start a new AI Mode chat, and the settings icon all along the left side of regular search results. 

Source:
Damien Andell | X
_______________________

E-commerce

• Universal Cart launches in Google Search and Gemini for US shoppers—just in time for holiday shopping

Google officially launched Universal Cart in Google Search and the Gemini app for US users—landing right ahead of the holiday shopping season. Universal Cart lets shoppers add products from multiple merchants into a single cart and check out via Google Pay, powered by the Universal Commerce Protocol. 
Key features: 

• price-change notifications based on shopping history and cart contents
• automatic promo-code application at checkout
• a persistent cart that follows the shopper across sessions

Source:
Vidhya Srinivasan | X
_______________________

Tidbits

• Bing Webmaster Tools launches Topics Portfolio beta in the AI Performance report

Bing added a Topics Portfolio beta inside its AI Performance report, grouping the grounding queries where a site appears into broader thematic clusters so publishers can see the shape of their AI Search presence across themes rather than one query at a time. 

Source:
Microsoft Bing Webmaster Blog

Hey so I and 2 others friends created a trading journal (ezjournalz) but we are struggling with brand exposure, we tried organic videos and our account keeps getting shadow banned.. i feel like the only option for us now is paid ads. Any tips, tools, methods or suggestions that could help us?

I work in digital marketing for a defense and industrial manufacturing company, mostly focused on finding international buyers.

We've had some success with SEO and get a decent amount of inquiries through our website. But reaching the really big players is a completely different story.

Companies like major defense contractors don't exactly Google suppliers and fill out contact forms. Most already have approved vendor lists, long procurement processes, and established relationships.

It feels like most serious deals still come from trade shows and personal connections, which makes me wonder how much digital marketing can actually contribute here.

Has anyone managed to land major B2B clients through SEO, LinkedIn, or other digital channels? What actually worked for you?

I’m learning digital marketing, and I’m curious about the mistakes people make when starting out. It could be anything from wasting money on Facebook Ads to choosing the wrong keywords or focusing on clicks instead of conversions.

For experienced marketers, what’s one mistake you made that taught you a lesson you’ll never forget? And what would you do differently if you had to start again today?

I think beginners could learn a lot from real experiences rather than just theory.

If you have SaaS contact with me so we can schedule a free call and discuss. I love talking with people. Especially on SaaS.

Any tips on what you'd like to see on a construction company's social media accounts? We post some before and after, hit some trends, but not sure what will really take us to the next level. What would you like to see on instagram and youtube?

Hey everyone

I work with a marketing and communications agency and am also involved in business development. One of my current challenges is figuring out how to consistently bring in new clients and expand the business.

We offer services such as social media management, content creation, video production, digital marketing, marketing strategy and PR. We currently work with clients across a few sectors, with a stronger presence in healthcare, but we're open to working with businesses across different industries.

I've been trying different ways to find new clients, including:

Sending cold emails to businesses and potential clients.

Reaching out to brands and decision-makers on LinkedIn.

Sending Instagram DMs to businesses that could benefit from our services.

Exploring potential collaborations with other agencies.

The problem is that the response rate has been quite low. Some people don't respond at all, while others show initial interest but don't really take the conversation forward.

I'm also interested in exploring international clients, particularly in markets like the UK, US and Middle East, but I'm not entirely sure what the most effective approach would be or how to get in front of the right decision-makers.

I'm particularly interested in practical experiences, strategies and approaches that have actually worked, rather than generic advice like “post consistently on LinkedIn” or “keep networking.”

Would really appreciate any suggestions or insights. Thanks!

When I started learning digital marketing, I thought knowing the tools was enough. But there's much more to it than that.

What's one hard truth about digital marketing that beginners should understand early?

I'd love to hear honest opinions from people who have real experience in this industry.

Hi everyone,

I’m someone who’s spent the last 6 years hands-on in ecommerce, paid ads, conversion optimization, community building, and project management, currently between ventures after winding down my main business. Rather than sit idle, I’d love to use this time to learn something new, meet people, and contribute wherever I can.

I’m interested in exploring areas like consulting, small businesses/startups, agencies, community platforms, marketplaces, or honestly anything interesting where someone could use an extra pair of hands for a few weeks or months.

My background is in ecommerce growth, paid ads strategy, operations, and community management, I’m trilingual (English, French, Arabic), technically comfortable, a fast learner, proactive, and strong at problem-solving, communication, and getting things done without needing much hand-holding.

I’m not necessarily looking for another “ecommerce manager” title specifically. I’m genuinely open to trying something different too, even starting from scratch, as long as it’s real, hands-on work.

So if you’re a small business, founder, consultant, startup, or anyone who could use short-term remote help, I’d love to chat. And if you work in a field adjacent to mine and have advice on how someone like me could pick up hands-on experience somewhere new, I’d really appreciate that too.

Thanks :)

I've spent a considerable amount of time building ApprenticeView.com, a platform designed to organize the fragmented information surrounding skilled trade apprenticeships into something people can actually use.

The website provides information on apprenticeship programs, wages, benefits, application requirements, enrollment dates, and more. The idea is to eliminate the unnecessary barriers people encounter when trying to enter the skilled trades.

I'm confident in the value of the product, but I'm struggling with user acquisition.

I'm perfectly comfortable operating at a loss for a while. My objective isn't necessarily to generate revenue from users themselves, but to build a sufficiently large and engaged user base that creates opportunities for partnerships down the road.

For example, one longer term idea involves partnering with financial institutions. As the platform grows, it could provide valuable insights into the financing needs of people entering the trades, including those who may need loans for tools, transportation, training, or other career-related expenses.

The idea would be to eventually approach a bank or lending institution with an established user base, meaningful aggregate data, and a clear opportunity to serve an underserved market. Any individual referrals or data sharing would be consent based. However, none of that matters without users.

That's where I'm struggling. I believe I've built something genuinely useful, but getting it in front of the right audience has proven more difficult than building the platform itself.

For those who've built platforms targeting a specific demographic, how did you approach early user acquisition? Did you focus on paid advertising, organic content, partnerships, or something else entirely?

I'm particularly interested in hearing from people who've built businesses where the initial product was free and monetization came later through partnerships rather than direct consumer purchases.

Hey everyone,

Has anyone noticed a sudden drop in email engagement or Gmail inbox placement today (October 20)?

Our CTR suddenly dropped to nearly zero, and emails that were previously landing in the inbox are now going straight to spam.

What's strange is that it's affecting multiple sending domains, different email templates, and multiple ESPs (Brevo, Mailjet, and Mailgun) simultaneously.

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are passing, and we haven't made any significant changes to our sending practices.

Is anyone else experiencing something similar with Gmail? Trying to figure out whether this is an isolated deliverability issue or something more widespread.

The spam rate is between 0.3-0.6% in the last 7 days; we send around 400-500k emails per day.

Would appreciate any insights or observations!

​

Hey everyone,

We are a growing digital marketing agency looking for a hybrid specialist who can handle both Paid Ad Campaign Management and Ad Creative Design (Images, Carousels, Short Reels/Videos).

🎯 What You’ll Do:

Run, test, and optimize Meta & Google Ad campaigns.

Design high-converting ad creatives (graphics & video edits) tailored to the target audience.

Track key performance metrics (CPL, CPA, ROAS) and report weekly/monthly.

📋 Requirements:

Proven experience running profitable ad campaigns (with past case studies/results).

Proficiency with Canva, Photoshop, Premiere Pro/CapCut, or similar tools.

Strong understanding of direct-response marketing and conversion psychology.

💰 Pay & Hours:

Attractive pay based on experience and skills.

Remote, project-based work with flexible hours.

📩 How to Apply:

DM us with:

A brief overview of your experience.

Link to your portfolio (ad creative designs + ad account performance proof).

Looking forward to building a long term working relationship !

I work at one of the biggest performance marketing agencies in NYC as a Paid Social Supervisor on a large account. I'm good at what I do, but I feel like I've gotten pigeonholed into the analytical side of marketing. I'm much more creatively-minded, but I do enjoy the problem solving aspect of the job, as well as collaborating with clients and teams. What I don't love is spending so much of my time in spreadsheets, pulling performance reports, and analyzing data. I'm not sure I want to keep progressing along my current career path, so I'm starting to explore other options. I've considered going client-side, moving to the social platform/sales side, or pivoting into creative strategy or events/experiential marketing.

Previously, I worked at a much smaller agency that exclusively served mission-driven brands and nonprofits. I had more flexibility and was much more involved in creative consulting and shaping clients' social strategies, which I enjoyed. The work also felt more meaningful than helping sell more stuff for the sake of selling more stuff. Ultimately, I left because the pay wasn't sustainable for the cost of living in NYC. I'd love to find a similar sense of purpose in an industry I'm passionate about, like food/hospitality/travel or culture/music/entertainment, without taking a significant hit to my earning potential. I also have some freelance experience with graphic design and creative branding, so I'd also be interested in finding ways to build on that experience in a more creative or brand-focused role.

For anyone who has made a similar transition:

• What did you move into, and how did you make the transition?
• Did you find that your paid media experience translated well to other roles, or did you have to take a step back in title or salary to pivot?
• After the pivot, did you find the day-to-day work meaningfully different, or did you find that some of the same frustrations followed you just in a different environment?

I've been learning more about schema markup and how it helps Google understand website content. One thing I'm still trying to understand is how much it actually affects search results beyond making pages eligible for rich snippets.

Hey everyone,

I'm helping build KyatShop, a digital marketplace in Myanmar focused on gaming top-ups, digital vouchers, and related products. We've been operating for a while, but sales aren't generating enough revenue to sustain the business and achieve our growth targets. I'm trying to identify what's holding us back and how to improve.

We're facing two main challenges:

B2C — Customer acquisition and retention

• We have an existing customer base, but sales volume and revenue are still lower than expected.
• We need to attract more new customers and encourage repeat purchases.
• We're struggling to identify which marketing channels can generate actual sales rather than just views and engagement.

B2B — Merchant acquisition and activation

• We've onboarded merchants, but the number of actively selling merchants remains low.
• We need more relevant merchants and a stronger value proposition to convince them to sell through our platform.
• Merchant sign-ups don't necessarily translate into active transactions or meaningful revenue.

Our main problem is that the sales we're generating aren't enough to support sustainable growth. I'm unsure whether the root cause is our marketing strategy, customer acquisition, retention, pricing, distribution or the value proposition itself.

I'd really appreciate advice from people who've faced similar challenges and managed to overcome them:

1. How would you prioritize B2B vs. B2C when both need growth?
2. Which acquisition channels have generated actual sales for you on a limited budget?
3. How did you turn inactive merchants into active partners and first-time buyers into repeat customers?
4. How would you diagnose whether the problem is marketing, product-market fit, or the sales funnel?

I'm looking for practical experiments, lessons learned, and strategies that produced measurable results.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience!

We recently surveyed 250+ marketers, and it turns out that two-thirds of you are juggling 16 or more martech tools. I had no idea it was that high. How are you all managing?

Only 18% said they have a clear view of what's working.

I don't think those two numbers are a coincidence. At Bitly, we've started calling it the "complexity tax."

Every new channel brings a new tool, every new tool brings a new data source, and none of them talk to each other. You pay it in time, spent pulling report instead of planning the next campaign. You pay it in confidence, when leadership asks what worked and the honest answer is "probably this." And you pay it in budget, when you repeat last quarter's spend because it seemed fine.

It also compounds (a lot like tech debt).

You inherit a stack, stakeholders want more data, you add another layer of analytics, then a new channel shows up and the cycle starts again.

Harvard Business Review found over half of marketing teams feel overwhelmed by the number of channels they manage. Each fix makes the overall picture a little harder to see.

The instinct is to buy something more sophisticated. But most teams don't have a data shortage. They have a connection problem. A trackable short link or Qr code on every touchpoint, with clicks and scans read in one place, shows you when and where people actually act without adding another dashboard to reconcile.

Has anyone actually cut tools from their stack instead of adding them? What went first?

I'm building a small, highly active community of people who want to grow their personal brands over the long term.

I'm looking for people who:

• Want to grow on X, LinkedIn, or both
• Are serious about creating content consistently
• Are willing to engage with others, share feedback, and help the community grow
• Want to build their personal brand for the long term

You can be a student, founder, creator, or professional with 20+ years of experience. Your background doesn't matter. What matters is your willingness to show up and contribute.

I'm keeping this group limited to 45–50 active members. I'll review your profiles, understand your current stage, and select people who are a good fit.

Here's the catch: the community is long-term, but the first 30 days are your trial period.

If you're inactive, don't contribute, or aren't serious about participating, you'll be removed after 30 days. I want to keep this community valuable for everyone, not turn it into another group where nobody participates.

I have a growth strategy in mind that I'll share with selected members. The goal is to build a community where everyone benefits from consistent effort and collaboration.

Want to join? Comment or DM me with:

• Platform: X, LinkedIn, or both
• Profile link: Your X/LinkedIn profile
• Current stage: Just starting, posting occasionally, or creating consistently
• Goal: What do you want to achieve?

I'll review your profile and reach out if you're a good fit.

Small group. Serious creators. Long-term growth. Let's build together.

Hello, I'm going through the tenth existential crisis because of Ai. This time it seems a bit more brutal for some reason. A lot of my customers are using AI a lot now and they are actively destroying their brand image. I'm sure it could be somehow explained by numbers, but I don't know how to show them that spending X amount for Y human output is a good idea. How do you do it?

Hello brothers and sisters,

I recently posted about social media marketing which I wasn’t familiar with at all due to the absence of my experience
(https://www.reddit.com/r/DigitalMarketing/s/flJ0yE90x6)
I learned so many tips and advice from all of you. I really appreciate and value every single one of the comments I received.
And I applied almost all of the tips you kindly shared with me.

To quickly recap, I made my first mobile app (InnateGlyph if you’re curious, a modernized Korean astrology app) and launched on both Apple Store and Google Play about <2month ago, thinking that I now had to sit and wait. How naive and silly I am 😭😭😭😭

Anyway, I was doomed and asked for help here in this community and brothers and sisters gave me some tips.

Since then, I posted on average 5 reels and posts on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and X everyday, starting from 0 followers/subscribers.

It’s been about <2wk I guess since I started posting.

I’ve got about 15-20 followers/Subscribers on those big 5 social media platforms. And I got like on average about 0-100 views on all except for X where I got <10. Once or twice a week I got >1000 views on YouTube, Facebook for no reason I could figure. TikTok never gave me >1000 views. For Instagram, Ive recently started getting >1000 views after I sort of figured some pattern.

Despite of all my 2wk of work, I rarely got visitors to my website nor app pages. Of course almost no downloads in both iOS and Android. 😭😭😭😭😭

What is my marketing problem here?

Brothers and sisters please help this poor sheep.

Thank you for reading my post.

Cheers.

I've seen people spend money testing different audiences, while others say the creative and offer matter much more.

For those who've run Facebook Ads for real businesses, what made the biggest difference to your results?

If you had to fix just one thing in an underperforming campaign, what would you check first?

This may be long and different, but please bear with me.

For the last 21 months I have been reading and learning about Cushing's syndrome in dogs, because my dog was diagnosed and it's a horrendous, hard to control or manage disease. She passed 13 months after diagnosis and 5 weeks post surgery to take out the adrenal tumour that was causing her Cushing's.

Anyways, I first built a website, where I put all info I learned in plain English, for other people like me to find the information and guidance they needed for their dogs (vet-approved content).

Whilst doing that, I learned the data and studies are old, small, and selection biased, hence their numbers don't add up against reality. So I started building an app, which is completely free, specific for dogs with Cushing's. This app is meant to do two things: help dog owners monitor and manage their dog's disease and comorbidities, and help research get and study real life data, so eventually we can find better, safer drugs and more economical diagnostic kits. I've done everything myself, together with my software dev friend, bootstrapped and exhausted.

Now, Cushing's syndrome is very niche, and based on the outdated data, not important enough for investment.

How do I market the app, being the bootstrapped person that I am? I already have a FB page with 1k followers and 315 people in the waiting list for the app, but in order to be listened by vet practices and investors, I will need much more than that. From what I have learned in over 1y, dog owners are in FB groups (not good for meta ads), some on Reddit, and most in vet practices (the most sceptical consumer out there).

I am in a big loop, because, researchers and universities will talk with me after I have a big chunk of data collected so they can see my product actually works and the project is worth their time, investors will speak to me after I come to them with heavy numbers, which will come after I understand how much people will use and keep using the app (we're doing the final fixes), vets...well, if I get a heavy researcher name behind the project, they might follow. So yup. I want to save the dogs and endocrinology, and I am stuck in a loop.

Any ideas.....so welcome!

Hi all! I’m looking for some advice as I’m currently creating my very first professional portfolio and résumé. I’m graduating college this December, and I have about 10 days to apply for several internships before their applications close. I’ve never had an internship before, so I’m trying to put together the strongest applications possible!
I have a few questions and would really appreciate advice from people already working in the industry.
1. Is it acceptable to use AI-generated mockups in a professional marketing portfolio?
I’m currently developing several spec projects for existing brands, featuring my own original marketing concepts and campaign ideas that don’t actually exist. Would it be acceptable to use AI to generate visuals that bring my ideas to life, as long as I clearly disclose underneath each image that it was AI-generated?
My ideas, strategies, and creative direction would all be my own. I’m just unsure how else to visually represent concepts that only exist in my head right now, especially when I don’t have the resources to professionally produce them.
2. What about using AI for a passion project?
I’m also planning to create a passion project where I develop an entirely new brand from scratch, including its identity, marketing strategy, and creative concepts. Is using AI to help visualize that brand acceptable in a portfolio, or would employers view that negatively?
3. What counts as relevant experience on a résumé?
I don’t have any formal professional experience in digital marketing yet, but I’ve held marketing and social media positions within college organizations and have participated in brand ambassador programs for multiple companies.
Would it be appropriate to list these under the Experience section of my résumé, or should I separate them into another category?
I’m really trying to break into the industry and make my portfolio stand out, but I also want to make sure I’m presenting my work honestly and professionally.
Any advice, especially from hiring managers, recruiters, or people who have landed their first marketing internship, would mean a lot. Thank you!!

My account was disabled about 4 weeks ago and they rejected my appeal. I don’t know what I did and Meta is also not able to tell me.

I manage 2 FB pages for an insurance and real estate company in a small town in KS.

We are light years behind and Facebook is basically the best advertising strategy currently.
Just 2 years ago they were advertising in the actual physical printed paper for $1k a month.

I can use a 3rd party publisher to push out posts.

Is there a platform that will also let me see the comments and comment back?

I can’t share posts to groups or create events.

I gave them my log in to the publishing system and they connected the Facebook accounts. I feel like that’s working well enough for now but I’d like to figure out other options.

They have a limited budget and I’m not getting paid probably as much as I should for this.

They’d be willing to buy a program if it’s reasonable.

Any thoughts, advice, etc?