Michael Borchetta

What is SGE, and what does it mean for higher ed marketers? Search Generative Experience employs advanced machine learning techniques to produce organic search results and recommendations that are customized to the unique needs and preferences of each user. SGE "provides 'AI Overviews' in response to certain keyword searches in the form of interactive bubbles above traditional organic search results." Why should we care? Carnegie lays out exactly how higher ed institutions can use this tool to their advantage. #SGE #AI

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Trust is best built on foundations of accountable results, so it should be no surprise that the more advertisers are seeing the results of what AI can do, the more trusting they’re becoming. EMARKETER recently shared the results of an Advertiser Perceptions report that more than half of advertisers trust AI “for tasks like ad investment and optimization,” and are “increasingly willing to place ads beside AI-generated content.” “In 2023, roughly 60% of advertisers were open to this idea according to Advertiser Perceptions,” says EMARKETER, “but now, nearly 70% are receptive to advertising adjacent to AI-generated material.” According to its Trust in Advertising study, only 17% prefer to advertise within human-generated content strictly, with 14% yet to form an opinion or address genAI at all (down from 29% last year). “Advertisers are warming up to AI-powered content, but the majority want verifiable accuracy and brand-suitability,” writes Sarah Bolton, EVP Business Intelligence at Advertiser Perceptions. “When we conduct the Trust in Advertising study again in 2025, we expect outcomes of the 2024 US election cycle, growth of generative AI in all parts of the media ecosystem and role of ethical media investment at the boardroom level to determine whether advertisers are contributing more to problems or solutions in a fraught information landscape.” #AI #genAI #adsalesmanagement #AIadvertising #adsalesoptimization #adsalessoftware #publishing #publishingindustry #digitalpublishing #mediapublishing #AIsoftware #AImarketingsoftware #digitalmarketing #digitalmediamanager #digitalmediamanagement #MarketingManager #MagazineManager

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A Timely Direct Mail Reminder in Honor of National Poster Worker Day (July 1st) When your marketing efforts add up, so does your revenue. Our omnichannel solutions maximize your ROI by allowing you to reach your customers wherever they are - including in their homes. We're so grateful for the hardworking postal workers who help ensure our mail arrives at its destination! Check out our blog post to learn more about how direct mail can reinforce your advertising campaign. #DirectMail #Marketing #Omnichannel #NationalPostalWorkerDay

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One of the most common questions I am asked by CMOs is "...how do we integrate adtech and martech so that we can present an AI experience using targeting data from both platforms?" Below is The AICX Institute's methodology for driving a fully integrated AICX, the AI-powered Customer Experience. The convergence layer key integration points are: 1) the CDP 2) the Data Warehouse and surrounding ecosystem (pre-CDP data flows) 3) the AI Predictive Environment (data science) 4) Ad Revenue Management (ARM) 5) BI Platform. Data integration is the key to providing the nextgen AI experience for your brand. Stay ahead of the AI personalization wars, join The AICX Institute, it's free: https://lnkd.in/g86MhJyY aicxinstitute.com #ai #martech #adtech #personalization #AICX #data #cdp

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💡 B2B Newsletter Tip: You don’t need lengthy, formal emails to engage your audience. In fact, short, creative formats can work wonders in B2B marketing! Here are a few simple ideas: 3-Bullet Update: Quick, impactful points—an industry insight, a company update, and a practical tip. 5-Minute Interview: A quick Q&A with an expert, delivering valuable insights. Content Roundup: Curate high-value articles, saving readers time with key takeaways. Customer Spotlight: Share a brief success story showcasing your solution's impact. One Thing to Try: A quick actionable tip with a clear call to action. Keep it simple. Keep it valuable. Less really can be more!

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The latest from our R&D blog

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As 2025 approaches, Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) and other business leaders are witnessing a significant evolution in SEO strategies due to the transformative power of AI. This shift means adapting SEO to account for AI-driven search engines, changing content formats, and novel search methods. Here’s an in-depth look at what’s changing and how CMOs can leverage these developments for continued success. Big thanks to our CIO, Leslie Richards, who shares the "what's next" in AI in this essential article. https://lnkd.in/eK_vUkwM

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Do you need help to leverage #ChatGPT or AI bots to create top-notch marketing or sales prompts? Check out my book, "The Modern AI Marketer: Guide to Gen AI Prompts," now available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. https://lnkd.in/eRNjVqe7 #GenAI #B2Bmarketing

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Wow, I can’t disagree with the premise of this article more. I’m glad to see there are some dissenting voices in this article who rightly called out the additive benefits of AI to media buyers. There are so many painful mundane tasks including reporting and basic optimizations that AI can streamline. It’s time to further automate these tasks and free these digital marketers to be strategists. https://lnkd.in/eTTQCirf

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B2B Budget Bliss: Resources Are Being Poured Into Acquisition https://lnkd.in/eFPWnTEY MediaPost with Stirista & Ascend2 research.

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We talked about one of the tricks people use, Ad Hominem Attacks, before, but this time, I want to focus on a different trick: Ad Ignorantiam.

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Flying in the face of other reports on widespread B2B marketing budget strains — and, with it, the faces of anyone feeling those particular strains on a daily basis — a new survey of B2B and B2B tech marketers found that 92% are going to see increased marketing budgets this year, with just as many creating more content than last year. In fact, the 10Fold Communications study, titled Engagement Equation: How B2B Tech Marketers Are Creating And Delivering Content That Captivates In 2024, found that 40% expect to create as much as 3-5 times as much content as they did in 2023, and 13% expect to produce 10 times more. “The findings paint a clear picture of a global surge in content marketing,” the report says. “Marketers across various industries are significantly increasing content output, with some — including manufacturing/robotics and IT networking — aiming for exponential growth.” Helping with that surge, of course, is AI, which 81% of survey respondents said they leverage occasionally or frequently to create that content. “AI’s efficiency is particularly useful when distributing content in written formats,” the report says, “including social posts, e-Books, contributed thought leadership pieces, whitepapers, etc.” Social media and video content were far and away the most prioritized formats (for 46% and 41% of respondents, respectively), followed by blogs (20%) and newsletters (19%). 10Fold says companies with a budget between $250,000 and $499,999 allocated for content development “stood out for their aggressive social media focus,” with a planned 51% increase for social media content distribution. “[This suggests] a potential sweet spot for budget allocation that allows for efficient content creation and a strong social media presence,” the report says. “For those with modest to low marketing content budgets, increasing the amount of social content is one way to cost-effectively amp up the volume.” #contentmarketing #aimarketing #marketingbudgets #publishing #publishingindustry #digitalpublishing #mediapublishing #AIsoftware #AImarketingsoftware #digitalmarketing #digitalmediamanager #digitalmediamanagement #MarketingManager #MagazineManager (Photo Source: 10Fold)

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Consumers are 3X MORE LIKELY to keep a piece of LENTICULAR direct mail over standard print. This innovative approach grabs attention, enhances engagement, and makes your brand unforgettable. Let's boost your ROI for direct mail campaigns! #advertising #directmailmarketing #lenticular

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Why Implementation Matters for Fractional CMOs https://lnkd.in/evfzMSVM . #fractionalcmo #digitalmarketingagency #bostondigitalmarketing #brickmarketing #nickstamoulis

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Gartner reports that marketing budgets are falling and most CMOs are banking on AI saving the day. But what are marketers giving up when they join this race to the bottom? Of course, we cannot lose sight of the transactional part of the funnel, but at some point you have to give people more than a rational reason to engage with a brand at the risk of commoditization. At @Firehouse, our approach has been to lean in even further into what we do best — strategy and creative — while sacrificing our media-buying department. We don’t need to handle all a big client’s business. We have to bring our care, thought, and creativity into every campaign, even the ones that go up one minute and disappear the next. I am not opposed to using AI. It’s about finding the right balance. Developing people’s affinity with a brand for long-term loyalty is the job of a good creative agency and precisely what AI doesn’t do well. Creativity and efficiency can be complementary. Just don’t hand over all your power and responsibility to the tool. #AI #machinelearning #Firehouse #creativity #agencies #marketing #advertising #efficiency

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While Google’s most-recent delay for phasing out third-party cookies provided a stay of execution — and, with it, more procrastinating for those relying on the trackers — a new study shows that more marketers are putting value in collecting other forms of data. The 2024 B2C Marketing Audience Building Report, from Porch Group Media, surveyed more than 350 B2C marketers, finding “the diversity of data sources marketers utilize directly correlates with success.” “We uncovered that having confidence in the data types and sources used to build audiences has a significant impact on the effectiveness of a data strategy,” the report says. “In fact, those who exhibit the highest confidence in this regard are an astounding 5.5x more likely to have very effective data-driven strategies than their less confident counterparts (89% vs. 16%).” More than 90% of B2C marketers were using first-party data they had collected in their strategies, with 84% using second-party data significantly or somewhat, and 67% using third-party data significantly or somewhat. “An overwhelming 73% of those surveyed feel cookie depreciation will greatly inhibit or somewhat limit their ability to access the right data to build audiences,” the report says. “In an effort to alleviate the impact of cookie deprecation, 53% of those surveyed have already implemented a strategy to identify and target audiences without relying on third-party cookies.” For those collecting first-party data, 40% report improved customer experience, 39% an increase in customer retention, 36% an improved advertising ROI, 36% an increase in customer engagement, and 36% an improved accuracy in targeting. Obviously, the importance of quality data can’t be overstated. A unified CRM platform with marketing automation and intelligent analytics can help get the most out of data, simplifying every decision and providing a provable ROI. #firstpartydata #audiencedevelopment #audiencegrowth #thirdpartydata #cookies #cookiealternatives #cookielessfuture #b2cmarketing #publishing #publishingindustry #digitalpublishing #mediapublishing #AIsoftware #AImarketingsoftware #digitalmarketing #digitalmediamanager #digitalmediamanagement #MarketingManager #MagazineManager (Photo Source: Porch Group Media)

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Visionary leaders in B2B are at a bit of a disadvantage. Their vision never reaches those it intends to impact. Our would-be storytellers (marketers) have all been tasked with pumping out assignments that generate vanity metrics and contact information of people that don’t want to buy. But the reality is, you don’t need “leads”, you need believers—believers in a shared vision of the future. As it turns out, believers buy. Your marketing should be a movement where every message leads the audience not only to believing in a different future, but to becoming an active participant in making it a reality. B2B marketing can be different. But to get there, we need marketing LEADERS to lead a fundamental shift in perspective. They need to align leadership teams and commission marketing teams to tell the story they should be telling —the story of the change you seek to create for the world. Thoughts?

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A hard truth for CMOs: likes and follows don’t drive revenue. I know this can be a hard pill to swallow. But CMOs aren’t using metrics to their full potential. Watch this video to find out the better way to use metrics to increase your ROI.

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