Business Growth and Digital Marketing News & Tips 03-08-26

The tools, tips, news and advice you need to grow your business.

Why does it happen?

Because it happens.

Roll the bones.

– Neil Peart

Every business is making bets every day, whether it realizes it or not. The most consequential bet is not on people or tactics, but on clarity — what you offer, where you compete, and who you choose to serve.

Some recent stats back this up.

• 34% of small businesses that fail, do so due to a lack of proper product-market fit. (Chamberofcommerce.org)
• 20-23% of new businesses close within their first year, about 50% within five years, and around 65% by their tenth year. A lack of customer demand is consistently highlighted as a top cause. (LendingTree.com)
• In a sample of 101 unsuccessful startups, companies reported that 42% of failures were based on the lack of consumer interest in the product or service. (Wikipedia)

Despite these facts, many organizations still just “roll the bones”. They have no data and have made no decisions about whether their services and target market are actually sound. They try to stay broad and target everyone. Bigger is better. More is more. They want optionality, and sometimes they get lucky and win. Most times, they don’t. Even if they’re moderately successful, they probably miss a lot of opportunities to win more often.

The good news is that the difference between actual gambling and winning at business is that you can actually stack the odds if you play the game correctly.

Read More

---

What you need to know:

AI Overviews Hit More SERPs
BrightEdge data shows Google’s AI Overviews expanding fast across multiple industries, changing where clicks go and what pages get cited. Marketers should prioritize “citation-ready” content blocks, stronger brand signals, and tracking zero-click impact. Read More

GEO Becomes The New SEO
As answer engines reshape discovery, this guide breaks down how to earn mentions and citations inside AI-generated results, not just rankings. Useful for building a GEO playbook (entities, structure, proof, and distribution) that drives branded demand even with fewer clicks. Read More

Google Maps Out Commerce In AI
Google’s Ads & Commerce leader outlines how AI Mode, YouTube, and Gemini are being connected to more “assistive” shopping flows. If you sell products, expect more competition inside AI-driven consideration moments, and plan feed quality, promo strategy, and creator partnerships accordingly. Read More

Meta Says Ads Are Getting Smarter
Meta details new AI-driven improvements that lifted clicks/conversions and highlights rapid growth in incremental attribution. Marketers should revisit attribution comparisons, creative testing velocity, and how they measure “incremental” outcomes vs. platform-reported conversions. Read More

Target Tests Ads Inside ChatGPT
Target’s Roundel is among early testers of ads in ChatGPT, aiming to prove outcome-driven value—not just impressions—in conversational placements. Marketers should watch early pricing/measurement signals and consider “intent keyword” strategy for prompt-based discovery. Read More

Instagram Pushes Reels Even Harder
Instagram is testing a design that opens into Reels and adds more Reels feed controls, reinforcing short-form as the default discovery mode. Brands should shift creative planning toward Reels-first hooks, cadence, and performance-based iteration. Read More

YouTube Makes Auto Dubbing More Usable
YouTube expanded auto dubbing availability and languages while improving speech naturalness. This is a practical growth lever: translate winning creator or brand videos into new markets without re-shooting creative. Read More

Super Bowl AdBlitz Reveals Winners
YouTube published its AdBlitz winners based on views and engagement, offering a real-world signal of what broke through beyond TV airtime. Use it as a creative teardown library for pacing, humor, creator integrations, and rewatchability. Read More

LinkedIn Rebuilds Feed Ranking System
LinkedIn published details on a transformer-based sequential recommender now driving Feed ranking and lifting time spent in A/B tests. For B2B marketers, this means organic distribution will keep leaning into predicted engagement patterns—tight hooks and strong early interactions matter more. Read More

---

MARKETING BASICS

Digital Marketing Acronyms

When I stepped into the world of Digital Marketing as a Project Manager, one of the first things I noticed wasn’t timelines or workflows. It was the acronyms. SEO. MQL. ICP. ROI….it felt like alphabet soup. Marketing, especially in the B2B world, runs on shorthand. While that language is efficient once you understand it, it can feel like stepping into a conversation already halfway finished if you don’t. Read More

SEARCH MARKETING

Generative Engine Optimization

Suddenly, it isn’t enough to show up on a search engine results page; you need to show up in the answers that people get from AI systems. Enter Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and AI Search Optimization — the strategies marketers must understand to stay visible in 2026 and beyond. Read More

---

LEARNING “ON THE GO”

Subscribe to Our Podcast

Free episodes of advice and conversations around improving and aligning your marketing, sales and operations to grow your business. Check it out here!

---

KEEPING UP

News Archive

Have you missed our email and need to catch up on recent marketing and business news? We have a complete archive on our website.

Check it out here!

Get our newsletter in your inbox

Viewing this online? Sign-up to receive all this great information and free content in your inbox. Sign-up here!