Artificial intelligence will shape the way your customers interact with your brand. That’s undoubtedly true. In fact, it’s possible we’ll see cases where the customer might not interact directly with your business, letting their AI agent handle the transaction on their behalf. OK, that’s still probably a few years away. But it’s clearly on the hori…

Digital gatekeepers always work to get between you and your customers. That was true five years ago, ten years ago, twenty years ago. And it’s still true today. They kill organic traffic to raise their revenues and gain greater profits. That hasn’t changed in decades, and I don’t believe it’s going to change anytime soon. What can you do about it? …

Consumers are adopting AI at a remarkable pace, as fast as they adopted computers and the internet. And we’re only starting to see how that might shape our businesses in the longer term. Part of the problem is that it’s not always easy to know which customers are using artificial intelligence and how they’re using it. One way to think about it thou…

A listener of this show told me recently that, “People are already overwhelmed with the amount of social media they manage.” That’s a real challenge, on that can make it tough to find the time, resources, and budget to break up with Google, Facebook, and the rest of Big Tech. And that’s a problem. Because reducing your dependence on Big Tech is cor…

Google faces enormous threats to its business. New entrants using artificial intelligence may provide a better search experience for their customers. Those same new entrants are also competing for Google’s massive ad revenues. And, of course, the search giant is fighting for its life in a government antitrust case. Those are major challenges — and …

Is AI destined to make content, music, art, and marketing worse? Almost certainly. Truly. It’s also almost certainly going to help many people create many great works that they had neither the skills or access to create in the past. That’s the reality of new technology and new tools. As the quote says, “when you invent the ship, you invent the ship…

Google makes immense amounts of money. It is, by far, the biggest website in the world. Its size and success, though, can mask deeper issues. Its size and success can hide big problems. And Google has a big AI problem. Google, in all likelihood, is also one of the the biggest drivers of traffic and revenues for your business. And its problems — big…

Building Plans for an Uncertain Future — Big Tech Earnings Q2 2024 (Thinks Out Loud Episode 431) Big Tech announced their earnings for Q2 2024 and, to be honest, not much has changed in terms of the big trends. Lots of talk about artificial intelligence. Lots of talk about cloud computing. Lots of talk about advertising. You know what we didn’t hea…

We talk a lot on this show about diversifying away from Big Tech generally, and about diversifying away from Google, specifically. Which is great in theory. But it can be hard to do in practice. As one listener of the show said recently, “People are already overwhelmed with the amount of social media they manage.” Even if you want to diversify, it …

The big news story this week is that Google lost (the first round of) its antitrust case in Federal court. While it’s way too soon to know for sure how this will affect your business in the near term, it’s nowhere near too soon to think about why it matters in the long run. Because, if you’re like most businesses, Google represents a significant ch…

Big Tech and AI are the biggest threats to your business. At the same time, they’re also the biggest enablers of your business. Putting them to work for your business… The post How to Put Big Tech and AI — the Biggest Threat and Biggest Enablers of Your Business — to Work (Episode 428) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.…

Peter Drucker said it years ago: Your job is to create a customer. But creating a customer can be hard, especially as media and creators and influencers get bought out… The post Revisiting Bundling, Unbundling, and Customer Acquisition (Thinks Out Loud) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.Di Tim Peter

Smart companies are using AI to improve their sales, marketing, and customer service. Even where the tools aren’t transformational, they’re helping businesses large and small drive greater effectiveness and efficiency.… The post Why AI Makes Customer Experience Even More Important for Your Business (Thinks Out Loud Episode 427) appeared first on Ti…

Are you still bullish on artificial intelligence for marketing? I am, even despite the AI hype cycle starting to run its course. Yes, more people are asking, “What’s the point… The post Revisiting What Marketers Really Need to Know About Putting AI to Work (Thinks Out Loud appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.…

The world is changing quickly. Artificial intelligence and Big Tech and changing customer behaviors are advancing rapidly. It can feel like they’re running us down like a hungry bear and… The post Revisiting AI is the Bear: Learning to Be a Better Marketer in the Age of AI (Thinks Out Loud) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.…

The AI hype cycle is running its course, with more people starting to ask, “What’s the point of artificial intelligence for our marketing and our business anyway?” That’s good. That’s… The post What Marketers Really Need to Know About Putting AI to Work (Thinks Out Loud Episode 426) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.…

In a recent episode, we looked at how Google is using artificial intelligence to change the search experience and why that’s ultimately a risk to your business. To offset that… The post The CORE Methodology: How to Build Traffic and Revenue Beyond Google — Part 2 (Thinks Out Loud Episode 425) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.…

Google is changing search. The company’s AI Overviews features increasingly puts answers in front of customers, bypassing the need for a click. The problem for you is that those clicks… The post Google is Changing Search. How to Build Traffic and Revenue Beyond Google — Part 1 (Thinks Out Loud Episode 424) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.…

In the immortal words of Omar Little, “You come at the king, you best not miss.” And we all know that Google is the king, right? But history shows what… The post Google AI Overviews in Search Highlights Its Big AI Problem (Thinks Out Loud Episode 423) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.Di Tim Peter

The world is changing quickly. Artificial intelligence and Big Tech and changing customer behaviors are advancing rapidly. It can feel like they’re running us down like a hungry bear and… The post AI is the Bear: Learning to Be a Better Marketer in the Age of AI (Thinks Out Loud Episode 422) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.…

AI might be in the “trough of disillusionment” among some people but it’s far from dead. Not only have Google and OpenAI made amazing advancements to their tools in recent… The post The Best AI is Now Free For Everyone: Revisiting Will Your Customers Use AI? (Thinks Out Loud) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.…

Just as we do every quarter, it’s time to review Big Tech’s earnings. We do this because you’ll always learn something about the state of digital from what Amazon, Google,… The post Taking the Long View: Big Tech’s Earnings and the State of Digital Q2 2024 (Thinks Out Loud Episode 421) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.…

Despite a long-standing history in marketing, Scott Cohen of InboxArmy lives in the future. He knows why email marketing is so important in a marketing landscape increasingly affected by artificial… The post AI, Email, and Marketing in the Future: Revisiting the Thinks Out Loud Interview with Scott Cohen from InboxArmy appeared first on Tim Peter &…

With all the changes that artificial intelligence is bringing to the marketplace, it can feel awfully tough to keep up. As marketers and strategists, though, we need to look beyond… The post Revisiting Picks, Shovels, and the AI Gold Rush (Thinks Out Loud) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.Di Tim Peter

If you’re like most people, you might think of anniversaries as a time for looking back. Not me. Usually, I prefer to look ahead. But, this year, I’m making an… The post Lessons Learned: The TPA Anniversary Show (Thinks Out Loud Episode 420) appeared first on Tim Peter & Associates.Di Tim Peter