Mobile & Technology

TikTok Q&A Stickers, ChatGPT Memory, and Google’s Core Update: Redefining Engagement and Quality

March 25, 2024 by basilpuglisi@aol.com Leave a Comment

The dynamics of digital interaction shift again as TikTok brings interactive Q&A stickers to the forefront, OpenAI introduces memory to ChatGPT, and Google rolls out its latest core update on spam and quality. These updates are not isolated — they reshape how audiences participate, how brands personalize, and how search visibility is determined. The thread connecting all three is control: creators gaining tools to guide conversation, AI gaining capacity to recall context, and search engines asserting authority over what deserves visibility.

This matters because cycle time per asset, percentage of on-brand outputs, organic traffic on non-brand clusters, community participation rates, and click-through from trusted snippets now all operate in a connected ecosystem. When you align social interactivity, AI memory, and search quality, the result is an integrated workflow where discovery and engagement reinforce each other instead of working at odds.

TikTok’s interactive Q&A stickers evolve a feature that started as a simple comment filter into a mechanism for community-driven campaigns. For creators, it means audiences can shape the narrative by submitting questions that become content prompts, driving higher watch time and repeat interactions. For brands, the tactic translates into measurable gains: a single Q&A prompt can generate multiple short-form assets aligned with trending audio, amplifying both reach and authenticity. The tactic is simple — deploy questions as campaigns, respond with tailored clips, and feed the resulting engagement into broader funnel strategies.

OpenAI’s February release of the ChatGPT memory feature changes the creative workflow itself. Instead of treating each prompt as a blank slate, memory enables continuity — remembering user preferences, style, and prior content. For marketers, this transforms production into an iterative loop: past brand voice guides future drafts, reducing off-brand variance and lifting production efficiency. Factics applies directly here: the fact is AI now recalls context; the tactic is to establish structured “memory profiles” for campaign types (blogs, emails, ads), then use them to cut production time while improving on-brand accuracy. This is where KPIs like cycle time reduction and consistency across touchpoints show their impact.

Google’s March core update tightens quality and spam standards, forcing a recalibration of SEO playbooks. The update rewards content that integrates signals of expertise and penalizes manipulative tactics that previously gamed the algorithm. For digital teams, this isn’t just about recovery — it’s about proactively aligning content to demonstrate authority, clarity, and community validation. The tactic becomes weaving Q&A-driven content and AI-personalized workflows into search-optimized hubs, ensuring Google sees engagement metrics and semantic relevance aligned with user intent.

The AI workflow in practice connects these updates seamlessly. A campaign might start with TikTok Q&A stickers to gather audience prompts, shift into ChatGPT memory-enabled drafting of responses and long-form assets, and conclude with SEO tuning designed for Google’s updated quality framework. The loop is tight, measurable, and repeatable.

Best Practice Spotlight

Fashion brand BOSS offers a powerful proof point. Its #MerryBOSSmas Branded Hashtag Challenge leveraged TikTok’s interactive creator tools — including Q&A-style prompts and stickers — to invite global participation. The campaign generated over 3 billion views and nearly 1 million video creations, reinforcing how community-driven features amplify brand storytelling.

“Interactive tools like Q&A make creators part of the campaign’s architecture, not just the delivery.” — Toptal, June 29, 2021

Creative Consulting Concepts

B2B Scenario
Challenge: A SaaS firm struggles with inconsistent content voice across blogs, whitepapers, and social posts.
Execution: Implement ChatGPT memory to retain brand-specific tone, run Q&A-style webinars repurposed into TikTok clips, and optimize blog hubs with Google’s updated quality signals.
Expected Outcome: 20% reduction in production cycle time, 15% increase in search snippet capture within 90 days.
Pitfall: Failing to periodically reset or refine AI memory, leading to drift in tone or outdated references.

B2C Scenario
Challenge: An eCommerce fitness brand wants to deepen engagement without expanding its design team.
Execution: Deploy TikTok Q&A stickers to gather customer workout questions, answer with short-form videos, and use ChatGPT memory to draft product copy consistent with the content themes.
Expected Outcome: 25% lift in repeat engagement on TikTok, improved conversion on SEO-optimized landing pages.
Pitfall: Over-indexing on audience questions without filtering for brand relevance, diluting focus.

Non-Profit Scenario
Challenge: A health nonprofit seeks to improve donor education and retention.
Execution: Use ChatGPT memory to personalize donor communications, launch TikTok Q&A prompts to address community health concerns, and integrate content into a Google quality-compliant resource hub.
Expected Outcome: 12% boost in donor retention through personalized messaging and stronger search visibility.
Pitfall: Allowing AI-personalized content to drift into overly segmented messaging, which may confuse or alienate broader supporters.

Closing Thought

The new playbook for engagement is not about choosing between social, AI, or search — it’s about recognizing how each strengthens the other when tied together by workflow. When community interaction drives AI memory and both feed into search visibility, marketing stops being reactive and starts compounding momentum.

The fastest-growing brands now treat engagement, personalization, and visibility as one motion.

References
OpenAI. (2024, February 13). Memory and new controls for ChatGPT.

TechCrunch. (2024, February 13). ChatGPT will now remember — and forget — things you tell it to.

ResearchGate. (2024, February 17). AI-driven personalization in web content delivery: A comparative study of user engagement in the USA and the UK.

McKinsey & Company. (2024, January 22). Unlocking the next frontier of personalized marketing.

TikTok Newsroom. (2021, March 24). Q&A rolls out to all creators.

Google Search Central Blog. (2024, March 5). March 2024 core update and new spam policies.

Toptal. (2021, June 29). TikTok Content Strategy (All The Best Tips for 2024).

LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads, Descript AI Video Editing, and Google INP: Building Authority Through Smarter Workflows

February 26, 2024 by basilpuglisi@aol.com Leave a Comment

The tools shaping authority and visibility are moving faster than campaigns themselves. In January, LinkedIn expanded its Thought Leader Ads, giving brands the ability to amplify executive voices and push trusted content directly into targeted feeds. At the same time, Descript introduced its biggest round of AI video editing upgrades yet, with smarter scene control, AI Actions, and improved audio workflows. Google added weight to the performance side of the equation by finalizing the Interaction to Next Paint (INP) metric, a new Core Web Vital that will replace First Input Delay in March. Each development alone pushes teams toward better creative, faster editing, or more precise technical standards—but together they redraw how authority is built and sustained in digital ecosystems.

The connection between these moves is workflow. LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads extend reach by elevating the credibility of leaders. Descript upgrades collapse editing steps so content can move from draft to publish in hours, not days. Google’s INP enforces consistency in site responsiveness, ensuring the customer journey holds attention once visitors arrive. Factics reinforce the shift: better ad targeting improves engagement rates, improved AI editing reduces cycle times, and stronger Core Web Vitals improve SEO visibility. The KPIs align: lower cost per lead, higher engagement percentages, faster production cycles, and stronger organic search rankings.

For a B2B brand, that might mean distilling a thought leadership article into a sponsored LinkedIn post by the CEO, cutting a highlight reel of commentary with Descript’s scene-based editing, and driving traffic to a site built with INP optimization in mind. For B2C, a brand ambassador’s post can be boosted as a Thought Leader Ad, repurposed into a customer-facing video within hours, and surfaced in search with technical performance that keeps mobile users from bouncing. In both cases, credibility, efficiency, and technical readiness converge.

The results are already measurable. Late last year, HubSpot used LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads to amplify posts from its CMO and executive team, targeting B2B decision-makers with leadership content. The campaign delivered a 25% increase in engagement rates compared to standard LinkedIn ads, proving that trust-driven creative performs more efficiently than traditional paid placements. For marketers, this translates into a sharper KPI framework: executive visibility scales faster, engagement quality improves, and acquisition costs fall when credibility and content velocity are aligned.

“Thought Leader Ads give us a way to scale trust by putting authentic leadership content in front of the audiences that matter most.” — Marketing Dive, Nov 15, 2023

Creative Consulting Concepts

B2B Scenario
– Challenge: A SaaS provider struggles with low engagement in standard sponsored ads.
– Execution: Use LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads to promote leadership blog excerpts, repurpose soundbites into Descript-edited clips, and drive traffic to a site optimized for INP.
– Expected Outcome: 25% lift in engagement and better organic search rankings within one quarter.
– Pitfall: Over-reliance on executives who don’t post regularly, creating inconsistency.

B2C Scenario
– Challenge: An online retailer wants to strengthen brand trust without a large ad budget.
– Execution: Amplify customer-facing posts from known ambassadors, edit unboxing videos with Descript AI Actions, and ensure site load meets INP standards to capture mobile conversions.
– Expected Outcome: Higher click-through rates on boosted posts and lower bounce rates on landing pages.
– Pitfall: Using generic voices in video editing instead of authentic spokespersons.

Non-Profit Scenario
– Challenge: A nonprofit advocacy group wants to influence policy discussions and donor trust.
– Execution: Promote the executive director’s posts as LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads, cut advocacy speeches into snackable Descript clips, and publish on a site tuned to Core Web Vitals.
– Expected Outcome: More visibility with policymakers and a measurable uptick in supporter conversions.
– Pitfall: Focusing too much on promotion without ensuring the site’s performance meets technical benchmarks.

Closing Thought

The advantage now lies with organizations that treat awareness, authority, and conversion as a single continuum. When executive credibility, AI-driven production, and technical performance are aligned, authority stops being a message and starts becoming an experience.

References

LinkedIn. (2023, October 17). Introducing Thought Leader Ads: Help your leaders become industry influencers.

Descript. (2023, November 7). Descript’s biggest update ever: New AI Actions, Video Editing Upgrades, and more.

Google Search Central. (2023, May 10). Interaction to Next Paint (INP) is replacing First Input Delay (FID) in March 2024.

Web.dev. (2024, January 31). Interaction to Next Paint becomes a Core Web Vital on March 12.

Artwork Flow. (2024, January 24). AI trends in creative operations 2024.

Justia Legal Marketing & Technology Blog. (2024, February 8). Google will update its Core Web Vitals metrics on March 12.

Marketing Dive. (2023, November 15). HubSpot leverages LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads to boost executive visibility.

Precision at Scale: AI Levels Up Creative, Email, and SEO

May 29, 2023 by basilpuglisi@aol.com Leave a Comment

AI has moved from “interesting assist” to a quiet operator embedded in everyday marketing work. GPT-4’s larger context window lets teams keep strategy, research, and long-form assets in one thread so the narrative actually holds together. Adobe’s Firefly introduces brand-safe generative imagery to comping and production, trimming cycles without creating IP risk. LinkedIn’s AI-assisted job descriptions tighten employer-brand language in the same ecosystem where prospects evaluate you. And Midjourney’s latest photorealism makes the jump from concept to carousel feel like one step, not seven.

For B2B teams, the practical win is orchestration. Long briefs, customer insights, competitive notes, and brand standards can live in a single GPT-4 conversation and come back as a coherent proposal or thought-leadership draft. SEO leads pair that with AI-assisted content gap analysis to map intent clusters and prioritize coverage that actually compounds authority. Design moves in parallel: diagrams and supportive visuals are generated inside brand-safe creative tools, so product marketing, sales enablement, and content ops finally run in lockstep.

All of this matters because the stack buys you speed and consistency. Put GPT-4 to work turning research and briefs into coherent long-form; use Firefly or Midjourney to collapse concept-to-creative; and let open-time personalization keep the feed and the inbox telling the same story. Track cycle time per asset, the share of on-brand outputs, non-brand organic movement on your priority clusters, carousel engagement, and email CTR—then double down on what clearly compounds.

For B2C brands, the lift is visual speed. Midjourney’s tighter prompt-following accelerates concepting for ads and social, while Firefly’s rights-clear generation and edit tools keep creative on-brand and legally clean. Carousels that used to require hours of back-and-forth can be spun up in minutes by pairing AI ideation and copy with template-driven design workflows. The story extends into email with dynamic image personalization at open time—product angles, offers, and visuals adapt per recipient based on live data—so the feed and the inbox stay in a single, consistent narrative.

Underneath the workflow changes is adoption at scale. GPT-4 rolled into production use across industries within weeks of launch. Firefly’s early beta saw massive asset creation, a signal that creative teams were ready for brand-safe generation. Platform-native AI—from conversational search experiences to AI-drafted job posts—keeps arriving where marketers already work, which is why adoption keeps climbing: less onboarding friction, more immediate value. The through-line: AI is moving closer to the work—inside the writing, the comping, and the posting—so your time can move back to positioning, creative direction, and channel strategy.

Best Practice Spotlight

Nike-Style Integrated AI Campaigns: GPT-4 Narrative + Brand-Safe Visuals + Real-Time Personalization

A global sports brand can combine GPT-4 for multilingual, context-rich storytelling with Adobe Firefly for on-brief, brand-safe visuals, then personalize everything at open-time through a platform like Movable Ink. Copy and creative iterate quickly, stay on-brand, and adapt to each recipient’s context the moment they engage—without brittle, net-new workflows. Keep a human review loop for voice, claims, and compliance; maintain a lightweight “AI edit spec” so speed never trades off against identity. Benefits include compressed creative cycles, a clearer rights posture while embracing generative imagery, higher engagement through context-relevant experiences across email/social/site, stronger loyalty via participatory content, and faster topic development by feeding SEO gap insights back into campaign themes.

Creative Consulting Concepts

B2B – The AI-Assisted Content Gap Accelerator

Challenge: A growth team needs to fortify topical authority across solution pages and thought leadership without adding headcount.
Execution: Run AI-driven content gap analysis on priority clusters (intent coverage, competitive deltas). Use GPT-4 to produce briefs and long-form outlines mapped to search intent and sales objections. Generate supportive diagrams and charts in Firefly for brand-safe visuals, and align employer-brand language with AI-drafted job posts so tone stays consistent across touchpoints.
Speculative Impact: Coverage depth could increase quickly, with non-brand organic and assisted conversions trending up as clusters harden.
Optimization Tip: Re-crawl quarterly, prune low-ROI topics, and tighten schema so AI-assisted summaries and emerging AI overviews favor your pages.

B2C – The Photoreal Carousel + Dynamic Email Loop

Challenge: A retail brand needs a steady cadence of high-quality carousels and story assets for launches and promos.
Execution: Use Midjourney for photoreal base concepts; refine in Firefly for cleanup, scene tweaks, and product consistency. Have GPT-4 generate caption sets and CTA variants by audience segment; extend the narrative into email with open-time dynamic image personalization so visuals and offers match each recipient’s context.
Speculative Impact: Asset throughput could double, with carousel engagement and email CTR improving as visuals and copy stay tightly aligned.
Optimization Tip: Maintain a prompt/preset library (lighting, palette, framing) so creative feels consistent even as volume scales.

Non-Profit – Donor Personalization Without Extra Headcount

Challenge: A lean communications team needs more stories and visuals to keep supporters engaged between major campaigns.
Execution: Draft supporter spotlights with GPT-4; convert each story into an Instagram/LinkedIn carousel using templates; personalize email imagery at open time with dynamic content tools to match donor segments (recency, cause, geography); reuse logic across web/mobile to avoid duplicate builds.
Speculative Impact: Email engagement could rise meaningfully, with repeat donations and share rates improving as storytelling stays relevant and tailored.
Optimization Tip: Refresh inputs monthly (cause priorities, performance data) so templates evolve with audience behavior.

Close the loop each month by reviewing cycle time, engagement, and non-brand organic movement on your target clusters — ship more of what compounds, cut what doesn’t.

References

OpenAI. (2023, March 14). GPT-4 technical report.

Version 1. (2023, March 14). OpenAI GPT-4 review.

Microsoft Bing Team. (2023, March 14). Confirmed: The new Bing runs on OpenAI’s GPT-4.

Adobe. (2023, March 29). Adobe Firefly beta updates.

Adobe. (2023, May 23). Generative AI as a creative co-pilot in Photoshop (Generative Fill).

Stokes, G. (2023, March 16). Midjourney v5 is out: How to use it.

LinkedIn Talent Solutions. (2023, March 15). LinkedIn tests AI-powered job descriptions.

Wei, Y. (2023, March 15). How LinkedIn is using AI to help write job descriptions.

Social Media Today. (2023). AI-powered carousel automation.

Movable Ink. (n.d.). Studio email personalization.

Khatib, I. (2023, February 17). What is Movable Ink?

Peterson, D. (2023, March 15). Universal data activation for cross-channel personalization.

Search Engine Journal. (2023). Content gap analysis & SEO.

Moz. (2023). AI tools for semantic content gap analysis.

Master of Code. (2023). ChatGPT statistics in companies.

Exploding Topics. (2023). Number of ChatGPT users.

Sixth City Marketing. (2023). AI marketing statistics (2025 compendium with 2023 data).

Statista. (2023). Popularity of generative AI in marketing (U.S.).

Influencer Marketing Hub. (2023). AI marketing benchmark report.

AI, Me, and the Road Ahead: How I Use Artificial Intelligence to Create Content That Works

January 1, 2023 by basilpuglisi@aol.com Leave a Comment

If you’ve read my work before, you know I believe technology should serve creativity, not replace it. That’s why in 2023, you’ll see two distinct kinds of content from me—each powered by AI in different ways, but with very different results.

Defining the Two Paths

Artificial intelligence can be an accelerator or an autopilot. When I talk about #AIAssisted, I mean I’m still in the driver’s seat—shaping ideas, fact-checking, editing, and adding that irreplaceable layer of human insight. When I label something as AIGenerated, I’m letting the AI take the lead, producing the content from a simple prompt with minimal intervention. Both have their uses, but only one carries my full creative fingerprint.

Additional Context: The Origins of the Terms

The distinction between AI-assisted and AI-generated content didn’t emerge with ChatGPT’s release. Both terms have been used in research, industry reports, and marketing circles for years.

AI-Assisted Content — This phrase appeared in academic and industry discussions well before 2022, often in contexts like “AI-assisted medical diagnostics” or “AI-assisted writing tools” such as Grammarly and Jasper’s early iterations. By the late 2010s, digital marketing agencies and SEO professionals were already using “AI-assisted” to describe workflows where humans retained creative control but used AI for research, outlines, and optimization.

AI-Generated Content — This term dates back to early experiments in automated journalism and text generation in the 2010s. Newsrooms such as the Associated Press used automated systems to produce financial reports, weather summaries, and sports recaps, labeling them as “machine-generated” or “AI-generated.” In the marketing world, the phrase was in use by at least 2018 to describe content fully produced by natural language generation (NLG) systems like Wordsmith or GPT-2, with minimal or no human editing.

By late 2022, the AI industry — along with journalists, academics, and marketers — was actively debating the quality, trust, and ethical implications of each approach. The public release of ChatGPT intensified that conversation but did not create it.

Why It Matters

The distinction isn’t just technical—it’s about trust, originality, and quality. Research from Nielsen and Spiegel Research has shown that authenticity and credibility drive higher engagement and conversion rates. AI can write fast, but speed doesn’t equal substance. Without human oversight, AI-generated work risks being generic, error-prone, and out of sync with brand voice.

B2B vs. B2C Impact

For B2B, AI-assisted processes protect the nuance needed to address complex challenges, long sales cycles, and specific industry contexts. In B2C, where speed and volume are valuable, AI-generated content can scale basic tasks—but human refinement still ensures emotional resonance and brand consistency.

Factics

Fact: Audiences rate content as more credible when they know a human was actively involved

Tactic: Clearly label content type (#AIAssisted vs. AIGenerated) to build transparency and trust.

Fact: AI-assisted processes can outperform human-only workflows for efficiency without losing quality

Tactic: Use AI for outlining, research, and draft refinement, but keep humans in control of narrative and tone.

Fact: Disclosure policies are becoming common across platforms and publishers.

Tactic: Adopt voluntary disclosure to get ahead of compliance trends and reinforce audience trust.

Platform Playbook

LinkedIn: Publish thought-leadership posts under #AIAssisted to signal human-led insight.

YouTube: Release behind-the-scenes videos showing how AI tools fit into your workflow.

Blog: Pair AIGenerated posts with human commentary sections to provide context and extra value.

Best Practice Spotlight

Nava Public Benefit Corporation’s AI Tool Experimentation — In 2022, Nava integrated AI into public benefits workflows to increase efficiency without losing service quality. By keeping humans in control of review and decision-making, they maintained trust while improving speed—proving that AI works best as an assistant, not a replacement (Nava, 2022).

Hypotheticals Imagined

The AI-Assisted Strategy Deck – You use AI to generate an outline for a client proposal, then add your case studies, data, and narrative. The result: a document that’s faster to produce but uniquely yours.

The AIGenerated Blog Experiment – You feed a topic into AI, publish the output with minimal changes, then compare engagement to an AI-assisted version. Data shows the AI-assisted version drives more shares and longer read times.

Hybrid Workflow – You produce product descriptions using AI, but manually craft the hero copy for the website. This blend saves hours but still delivers a branded experience.

References:

References:
AI‑Generated Content

AI‑Assisted Content / AI Assistance

ChatGPT Media, Press etc.

11. OpenAI. (2022, November 30). Introducing ChatGPT. OpenAI.

12. Lyons, K. (2022, December 1). OpenAI’s new ChatGPT bot: What it is and why it matters. TechCrunch.

13. Reuters. (2022, December 5). ChatGPT crosses 1 million users within a week of launch. Reuters.

14. BBC News. (2022, December 5). ChatGPT: What is it and why is it making waves?. BBC News.

15. Wikipedia contributors. (2022, December). ChatGPT. In Wikipedia.
16. Southern, M. (2022, December 6). The history of ChatGPT (timeline). Search Engine Journal.

Final Thoughts:

A Universal AI Perspective

For me, the use of AI is not limited to when I run prompts through ChatGPT or another named platform. It should be assumed that AI, in some form, touches every part of my work. From research and drafting to editing and formatting, AI tools—whether visible or invisible—are part of the process. Sometimes that means advanced language models helping refine a paragraph, other times it’s background algorithms suggesting the most relevant data sources, or automated systems streamlining workflow management. In short, my entire creative and strategic process is inherently AI-assisted, even when the final product reflects heavy human authorship.

I believe that everything we do is AI-assisted and has been since the first time we asked a computer to output anything after a prompt. The greatest example of this is the evolution of libraries’ card catalogues into searchable online databases and the ease of a simple Google search to find something. Whether we realize it or not, our digital tools—from spellcheck to search engines—are forms of artificial intelligence augmenting our thinking and expanding our reach. Recognizing this reality isn’t just a technical point; it’s a statement about how creativity, strategy, and technology have been inseparable for decades.

Customer Data Platforms: Powering Connected Marketing in a Fragmented World

September 28, 2020 by basilpuglisi@aol.com Leave a Comment

Customer expectations are higher than ever, yet the data that could help meet them is scattered across systems, channels, and teams. COVID-19 is accelerating the need for unified customer intelligence as brands rely more heavily on digital touchpoints. Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) bring together first-party, second-party, and third-party data to create a single, actionable customer profile. This unified view powers personalization, automation, and omnichannel orchestration — and brands that build this capability now are positioning themselves for long-term agility and loyalty.

From Disconnected Data to Unified Profiles

Without a CDP, customer data often sits in silos — marketing knows one version of the customer, sales another, and support yet another. CDPs break down these barriers by integrating data from CRM systems, e-commerce platforms, analytics tools, and customer service channels into a single profile. This profile updates in real time, ensuring that every interaction reflects the most current customer context. Soon, customers will expect this level of recognition as the standard.

B2B vs. B2C Perspectives

In B2B, CDPs enable account-based marketing programs to deliver hyper-relevant content, offers, and outreach by merging intent data, engagement history, and firmographics. Sales teams gain immediate insight into prospect behavior, while marketing can personalize campaigns at scale. In B2C, CDPs centralize purchase history, loyalty status, browsing behavior, and engagement across channels, allowing retailers and service brands to deliver offers and experiences that feel uniquely crafted for each customer. Both models benefit from having a shared, accurate, and real-time understanding of the customer journey.

Factics

What the data says: Gartner (2019) notes that organizations using a CDP see a 20% increase in marketing efficiency by eliminating data silos. Segment’s 2019 State of Personalization report finds that 44% of consumers say they will likely become repeat buyers after a personalized experience. Salesforce (2020) reports that 78% of customers expect consistent interactions across departments. How we can apply it: Audit existing data sources and map them into a unified customer profile. Implement real-time data feeds to keep profiles current. Use the CDP to trigger personalized messaging across all active channels. Establish governance to ensure data quality and compliance. Brands that invest in this infrastructure now are setting the stage for more advanced AI-driven marketing in the near future.

Platform Playbook

LinkedIn: Leverage CDP insights to create highly targeted ad audiences and InMail campaigns based on real-time engagement signals.
Instagram: Serve dynamic product ads informed by CDP data, aligned with recent browsing and purchase activity.
Facebook: Use CDP-powered Custom Audiences to run coordinated campaigns across multiple customer segments.
Twitter: Trigger promoted tweets tied to behavioral milestones captured in the CDP.
Email: Send lifecycle campaigns that automatically adapt content and timing based on unified customer profiles.

Best Practice Spotlight

Sephora’s Beauty Insider program integrates data from online purchases, in-store visits, mobile app interactions, and loyalty engagement into a unified profile. This enables Sephora to deliver personalized product recommendations, targeted promotions, and exclusive experiences across all channels. The CDP ensures that no matter where or how a customer interacts, the brand experience feels consistent and relevant — a capability that will only become more critical in the future.

Strategic Insight

What’s your story? You’re the brand that truly knows your customer, everywhere they engage.

What do you solve? Fragmented data that creates inconsistent and impersonal experiences.

How do you do it? By unifying all customer data into a real-time, actionable profile.

Why do they care? Because recognition and relevance at every touchpoint build trust, loyalty, and advocacy.

Fictional Ideas

A B2B cloud services provider integrates webinar participation, proposal downloads, and helpdesk ticket activity into its CDP. The marketing team uses this data to send tailored case studies before sales calls, while account managers receive alerts when engagement signals indicate a potential upsell opportunity. In B2C, a boutique hotel chain connects booking history, guest preferences, and loyalty activity to send personalized stay packages — timed perfectly before peak travel seasons.

References

Gartner. (2019). Market Guide for Customer Data Platforms. https://www.gartner.com

Segment. (2019). The State of Personalization. https://segment.com

Salesforce. (2020). State of the Connected Customer. https://www.salesforce.com

Forrester. (2019). The Evolution of Customer Data Platforms. https://go.forrester.com

MarTech Today. (2019). What is a Customer Data Platform? https://martechtoday.com

Adobe. (2020). Digital Trends Report. https://www.adobe.com

Strategy in Motion – Mobile, Video, and Feed Control

September 25, 2017 by basilpuglisi@aol.com Leave a Comment

As digital platforms evolve, strategic marketers must stay ahead of new tools, user behaviors, and platform priorities. September reveals five emerging themes that shape digital content and visibility: mobile-first indexing, expanded video capabilities, social ad access, audience feed control, and influencer marketing compliance. This convergence demands clarity of strategy, fast content adaptability, and ethical promotional structure.

Instagram Stories Ads Open to All

Instagram now allows all advertisers to access Stories Ads through Facebook Ads Manager. This move brings full targeting and analytics to one of the fastest-growing mobile formats. For brands, Stories now become an accessible space for creative, fast-moving, full-screen content—placing pressure on marketers to develop immersive, time-sensitive messaging strategies designed for vertical video.

Facebook’s ‘Snooze’ Test: User Control Rethinks Engagement

Facebook begins testing a ‘Snooze’ option that lets users temporarily mute friends, Pages, or Groups. The feature provides users with more control over their feed without unfollowing. For brands, this reinforces the importance of relevance—content must earn space, or it gets silenced. Engagement strategies must shift from frequency to value-driven interactions.

Mobile-First Indexing Begins Rolling Out

Google starts the initial phase of its mobile-first indexing shift. For websites, this means the mobile version is now the primary content source for search ranking. Businesses still relying on desktop-optimized content or slow mobile sites risk visibility losses. This change emphasizes responsive design, page speed, and mobile content strategy as non-negotiables for search success.

LinkedIn Launches Native Video Sharing

LinkedIn introduces native video uploads for all users, expanding beyond links or external embeds. This change brings business professionals into real-time, in-feed storytelling—giving thought leaders, consultants, and B2B marketers a direct way to demonstrate value. Expect short, authentic videos—from expert tips to product demos—to dominate feeds.

Influencer Marketing Faces FTC-Driven Realignment

After earlier FTC warning letters to brands and influencers about disclosure violations, September sees a shift. More businesses are revising contracts, requiring standardized disclosures, and rethinking influencer strategy. Authenticity, transparency, and long-term trust now sit at the center of effective influencer campaigns—not just follower counts.

Strategic Insight

What’s your story? A brand’s story must now reflect its adaptability to platform standards and user control.
What do you solve? You provide clear, accessible, and ethical digital content experiences that earn attention.
How do you do it? With mobile-optimized design, vertical and native video content, transparent influencer partnerships, and targeted Stories-style advertising.
Why do they care? Because audiences increasingly curate their digital world—and only brands delivering ease, value, and trust earn continued engagement.

Fictional Ideas

A nonprofit focused on nutrition education rolls out a mobile-first blog redesign in response to Google’s indexing shift. They supplement this with weekly native LinkedIn videos featuring a registered dietitian offering tips. On Instagram, they run Stories Ads showing healthy snack recipes using vertical how-to videos. Their influencers are required to disclose sponsorships with hashtags like #sponsored and link to transparent landing pages—improving both reach and trust in their message.

References

Facebook Business News. (2017). ‘Instagram Stories Ads Now Available to All Businesses’. https://www.facebook.com/business/news
TechCrunch. (2017). ‘Facebook Tests Snooze to Let You Temporarily Mute Friends, Pages, Groups’. https://techcrunch.com
Google Search Central Blog. (2017). ‘Mobile-First Indexing Rollout’. https://developers.google.com/search/blog
LinkedIn Blog. (2017). ‘Native Video Uploads Now Available to All LinkedIn Members’. https://blog.linkedin.com
Federal Trade Commission. (2017). ‘FTC Staff Reminds Influencers and Brands to Clearly Disclose Relationship’. https://www.ftc.gov

The Video, Speed, and UGC Shift in Digital Strategy

August 28, 2017 by basilpuglisi@aol.com Leave a Comment

Digital marketing is entering a sharper phase of evolution. In August 2017, we’re seeing a convergence of trends around video content, mobile ad performance, and user-generated content (UGC)—each reshaping how brands approach visibility, engagement, and trust. This month, Facebook, Google, Snapchat, and Adobe are all contributing to a larger narrative: performance and participation now sit at the center of strategy.

Facebook Watch: Episodic Content with Discovery Built In

Facebook officially launches Watch, a platform built for episodic content. More than just a video tab, Watch invites brands and creators to develop content series with built-in discovery tools. The interface encourages audience followings, comments, and reactions—positioning Facebook to rival YouTube and offer marketers a new route for long-form storytelling within an already engaged audience.

Google AdWords Adds Landing Page Speed: Performance Now Equals Experience

Google’s latest AdWords update includes landing page speed as a formal quality metric. This shift highlights how mobile usability is now a competitive differentiator—not just for SEO but also for paid performance. If your ad leads to a slow or poorly optimized mobile page, you’re paying more and converting less. Marketers are now forced to address load times as a conversion issue, not just a technical concern.

Snapchat Crowd Surf: Real-Time UGC Becomes a New Form of Storytelling

Snapchat’s Crowd Surf tool uses artificial intelligence to stitch together multiple user-submitted videos from live events, producing a single coherent multi-angle experience. This innovation takes user-generated content from raw material to editorial product. For brands hosting live experiences—concerts, launches, festivals—this opens a door to collaborative, immersive marketing that feels native to the platform.

Facebook Marketplace Ads: Contextual Commerce Arrives

Facebook expands ad placement to its Marketplace tab, which is already being used for local product discovery and second-hand selling. The move merges intent-based browsing with ad targeting. Unlike news feed ads, these placements happen when users are actively searching or browsing by category. It’s a sign that intent marketing is extending far beyond Google’s search box.

Adobe Leans Into UGC with Livefyre Integration

Adobe’s acquisition of Livefyre continues to unfold. The platform enables aggregation and moderation of user-generated content from across the social web. For businesses using Adobe Experience Manager, this means easier access to curated UGC for landing pages, product galleries, and campaigns. It’s a direct response to the rise in content authenticity demands from consumers.

Strategic Insight

What’s your story? Your content must now reflect speed, value, and involvement.
What do you solve? You help customers find what they want quickly and connect emotionally with your brand.
How do you do it? Through optimized mobile experiences, consistent episodic content, and tools that elevate audience participation—like UGC integration and multi-angle live video.
Why do they care? Because today’s audiences want content that’s not just fast or entertaining—they want content that feels like it includes them.

Fictional Ideas

A regional theater company uses Facebook Watch to stream behind-the-scenes mini-episodes of upcoming productions. Their landing pages, optimized for mobile, include embedded Crowd Surf-style fan reactions captured on Snapchat. Adobe’s Livefyre integration pulls in social posts with the hashtag #LocalStagePass, which appear in an interactive UGC gallery that helps new visitors connect with the community vibe—and ticket sales rise accordingly.

References

Facebook Newsroom. (2017). ‘Introducing Watch, a New Platform for Shows on Facebook’. https://about.fb.com
Google Ads Help. (2017). ‘About Landing Page Experience’. https://support.google.com/google-ads
TechCrunch. (2017). ‘Snapchat Crowd Surf Can Stitch Together Snaps Into One Concert Video’. https://techcrunch.com
Facebook Business. (2017). ‘Marketplace Ads Now Available to Advertisers’. https://www.facebook.com/business
Adobe Blog. (2017). ‘How Livefyre Helps Brands Connect with Consumers’. https://blog.adobe.com

The Rise of Intelligence: How AI Is Quietly Rewriting the Marketing Playbook

July 25, 2016 by basilpuglisi@aol.com Leave a Comment

Artificial Intelligence is no longer theoretical. As of July 2016, the shift from academic novelty to real-world application is accelerating. What was once the realm of labs and research papers is now fueling how platforms like Facebook, Google, and Amazon personalize content, interpret language, and serve smarter recommendations.

DeepMind Grows Up

After its headline victory against world champion Go player Lee Sedol earlier this year, Google’s DeepMind has moved into more practical applications. It’s now working with hospitals on medical imaging and patient treatment models, while also optimizing data center energy use. This isn’t science fiction—it’s live experimentation with global impact.

Facebook’s DeepText Reads Between the Lines

Facebook has introduced DeepText, a natural language processing system that can understand context in multiple languages with near-human accuracy. This system helps filter spam, power Messenger bots, and enhance content relevance in the News Feed. The machine isn’t just reading keywords—it’s starting to understand meaning.

Bots Are Becoming the New Brand Voice

Facebook Messenger, Slack, and Microsoft’s Bot Framework are all seeing a rise in chatbot integration. These AI-driven tools help businesses automate customer service, pre-qualify leads, and deliver content via messaging interfaces. This opens the door for marketing strategies that move beyond landing pages and email into conversations that feel one-on-one.

AI Personalization Is Now the Standard

Netflix, Amazon, and Spotify continue to fine-tune recommendation engines using machine learning. Consumers are beginning to expect personalized suggestions not just in entertainment, but across the web. This shift demands that brands understand how to deliver dynamic content that adapts to behavior, not just demographics.

Google’s RankBrain Redefines SEO

RankBrain, Google’s AI search system, continues to evolve. It doesn’t just process keywords—it interprets context and intent. Marketers must now consider how well their content answers nuanced questions. It’s not about matching words, but solving problems.

Strategic Insight: Adapt Before You’re Left Behind

• What’s your story? You’re not just another brand—you’re one that anticipates needs before customers articulate them.
• What do you solve? The problem of impersonal, interruptive messaging in a world expecting relevance.
• How do you do it? By leveraging data, automating responses, and crafting content that feels curated.
• Why do they care? Because attention is currency, and AI helps you spend it wisely.

Fictional Ideas

A boutique fitness brand wants to improve its retention and upsell new classes. It deploys a chatbot on its website and Facebook Messenger that recommends workout plans based on previous sign-ups. The system follows up with automated, personalized reminders and feedback requests. As the data grows, the chatbot improves its tone and suggestions. Clients feel understood—and keep coming back.

References

Google DeepMind. (2016). https://deepmind.google
Facebook Research. (2016). ‘Introducing DeepText: Facebook’s Text Understanding Engine’. https://research.facebook.com
Google RankBrain. (2016). Search Engine Journal. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/rankbrain-guide
Microsoft Bot Framework. (2016). https://dev.botframework.com/
Amazon Machine Learning. (2016). https://aws.amazon.com/machine-learning/

Natural Disaster Preparation in Your Pocket

February 7, 2013 by basilpuglisi@aol.com 1 Comment

Most of us are familiar with how convenient apps can make our lives these days. Do you need to map out your daily caloric intake? You’ve got it. Want one-button access to local movie showings? There’s no problem there either. What you may not know is that there are apps designed to even save your life during an emergency. Most U.S. Regions are susceptible to one form or another of natural disaster. Here are some ways your smart phone or tablet can help you get out of them safely:
American Red Cross
The American Red Cross apps: Hurricane App, Shelter Finder App, First Aid App, Earthquake App, and Wildfire App provide an easy-to-use toolkit designed to help you during a weather emergency. Information on these apps can be found at http://www.redcross.org/prepare/mobile-apps and accessed at the iTunes App Store and Google Play. You can broadcast your safety status to social networks like Facebook or Twitter with the touch of a button, create a family emergency plan using steps and checklists, monitor weather alerts for your location (or the locations of friends and family), or find an open ARC shelter.
Plerts
Plerts for the iPhone, iPod Touch (formerly BuddyGuard) is a free app platform with a plethora of useful tools to stay connected during a natural disaster or emergency. You can set up Plerts interface to connect to social media outlets like Facebook, sharing your condition with your personal network. The app includes the Lifelink program, which backs up recorded activities on your phone (real-time) during an emergency and stores them on a temporary cloud website. Plerts is also equipped with an impact detection function which uses the hardware in modern smartphones to recognize when the user has fallen or been involved in an impact over a certain degree of force. Find more information at https://plerts.com/. It is available on the iTunes App Store, and soon to Google Play.
iMAPWeather Radio
The iMapWeather Radio app accesses the GPS capabilities on your phone to monitor your location and safety, provides you with local weather information, and activates your phone’s alarm automatically in the event of an emergency. Find this app at http://imapweatherradio.com/ or Google Play and the iPhone App Store.
Disaster Readiness
Disaster Readiness is a preparation app that comes preloaded with 175,000+ resources on how to survive any given natural disaster. Its biggest highlight is that these resources are inherent to the app.In other words, should you be without service, you don’t need the internet to access them. Topics include: emergency planning, sheltering, evacuation in addition to specific emergencies like terrorism, fire, wildfires, chemical emergencies and more. Find the full list at http://www.phoneflips.com/2011/disaster-readiness-guide/. This app is available at iTunes, Google Play and Amazon.
FEMA
Frequently, the primary concern involved with communication during a natural disaster is power outages. Cell phone airways may be under a lot of pressure, taxed by thousands of worried people trying to contact their families. In contrast, text messages leave a very small footprint, requiring little service and are a reliable way to send as well as receive information. FEMA, along with its standard natural disaster app featuring many of the benefits of the other apps listed above, offers a text messaging program. By texting the FEMA number (43362), including a command in the body of the text, you can receive monthly alerts. These include preparedness tips, shelter locations and open disaster recovery centers. For more information on how to use FEMA’s text messaging program, visit www.fema.gov/text-messages.
Don’t be caught off guard during an emergency. In our digitally-connected world, the solution is as simple as your smartphone. Be prepared by putting all the tools requires, listed above, to safely emerge from a natural disaster as close to you as your pocket.
Jay Acker leads a production team at safetyservicescompany.com that creates safety training materials. SSC offers contractor certification assistance for ISNetworld®, PICS®, and other contractor verification servicers.

Well I Never, Five Tech Developments We Didn’t See Coming

January 22, 2013 by basilpuglisi@aol.com Leave a Comment

The world of modern technology moves so very quickly. It is difficult to keep abreast from week to week as scientists, computer experts and programmers come up with so many new and exciting developments.
Some innovations – such as the useful and fun Google Goggles – have come right out of nowhere in so far as the consciousness of the majority of the public is concerned.
Even mobile telephones with MMS capability, camera integration and web access are something which the public could never have imagined 15 years ago but which have become a necessity now. Other advances such as digital photo frames, mobile phone payments which work with scanners and online gaming with voice chat were hard to predict yet seemed likely with the way in which technology was headed for so long.
Here are just five of the most interesting developments in technology so far – we definitely didn’t see these ones coming!
iPod: The iPod is one of the iconic gadgets of our modern generation. Considering that the predecessor was the personal stereo CD player then this compact little machine really did amaze the general public. The gadget has come a very long way since the original came out and now boasts a touch screen, internet access, video capability, and an incredible amount of storage for games, music and apps.
Reverse image search: The reverse image search sites were a real innovation in themselves. To think that one could upload a photo and that software would find that item and all its relevant details on the internet was incredible.
Google Goggles has taken this technology mobile and through taking a simple photograph with a mobile phone you can find all manner of results on your chosen subject.
Cloud: Cloud computing is something which many in the know could have predicted. However, the way in which it has changed how we work forever is remarkable. By storing information and software on the internet, we now have access to our data in a way like never before.
Touch screens: We now take mobile phones with touch screens for granted and these can be purchased for a reasonable amount of money. However, when these first were introduced they were an incredible innovation.
Google Glass: Google Glass takes us into the realms of science fiction with its “augmented reality”. These streamlined glasses with a small screen above the right eye will give you information on your next appointment, the weather up ahead – and potentially so much more. This is one innovation which – if it caught on – would change the face of the world as we know it.

Sarah Paige is a writer with a keen interest in telecommunications. Sarah currently has her eye on cloud computing companies such as the Macquarie Telecom Group (ASX:MAQ). Follow her on twitter @sarahleepaige.