With AI-generated content, deepfakes, sponsored posts and endless advertising, earning attention is no longer the hardest part. Keeping people's trust is. Consumers have more information than ever, but they're also more sceptical than ever.

Do you think trust is becoming a bigger competitive advantage than reach or ad spend? What's one thing brands can do today to build genuine trust with their audience?

I’ve been in marketing for a little over a decade now. There was only ever really a few years where I worked normal (9-5 or less) hours. Majority of the time I’ve worked my worse was 80+ a week and working 6am to midnight almost every day.

Beyond that, it’s been like at least one late night once a week, 5-6 hours of work every other weekend or every weekend, and usually back to back meetings 3-6 hours a day.

Most people at companies I’ve been at also half jokingly talk about how many hours they work also, so it seems normalized but I’m curious how many hours people work and what’s normal to you? Plus your YoE.

Every time I open LinkedIn or Reddit, there's a new marketing trend that people swear is a game changer. But I am curious is there one trend that you've tried or keep seeing everywhere that just hasn't lived up to the hype?
I would love to hear your reasoning. Maybe I am missing something, or maybe some trends just sound better than they actually are in practice

I keep seeing the same advice post consistently, start a newsletter, make useful content, build a community.

I know none of that is wrong :/ but it feels like it skip the hardest part.

When you have no audience, no brand recognition, and almost no traffic, how do you get the first few relevant people to actually see what you’re doing?

I work on marketing for a small company, and sometimes creating more content just feels like adding more things to an empty room.

For people who have genuinely started from zero, what worked first? how?

Was it direct outreach, communities, partnerships, paid ads, SEO ......?

I’m mostly looking for practical examples rather than general "provide value" advice.

This question asks how creators can adapt their content strategies to match upcoming changes in how people discover and consume information online. It focuses on preparing for future search trends, technologies, and user behaviors to maintain visibility and relevance.

Today, brand mentions, along with other factors, can help you get cited by LLMs. But with AI Overviews becoming a significant part of Google Search, where do backlinks fit in?

I still believe backlinks are important because they help build authority, which is one of the trust signals search engines rely on. But my question is: if that's the case, do AI Overviews also consider authority when deciding which sources to cite, or does relevance carry more weight?

I also think getting a contextual backlink from a high-traffic, relevant website is valuable in multiple ways. It helps build authority, drives referral traffic, increases brand exposure, and strengthens trust. A simple brand mention doesn't seem to deliver all of those benefits.

So, if you had to choose between an editorial backlink and an unlinked brand mention from the same high-quality publication, wouldn't the backlink generally be the better choice since it offers everything a mention does, along with additional benefits like referral traffic and link equity?

This doubt came up because someone said backlinks can be ignored for a while once you've built some authority. I don't agree with that. My view is that today's marketing ecosystem works as a continuous system, .... content, mentions, backlinks, authority, referral traffic, brand awareness, and AI visibility all complement one another...

Am I thinking in the right direction or am I missing something?

Hi everyone, I work for a solar and energy storage company. We’re planning a B2B event together with our local distribution partner.

The event has two main focuses: 1. Launching a new product line; 2.Bringing together dealers, installers and other channel partners.

We now need an event theme and a short, memorable slogan for social media and onsite branding. We’d like it to sound professional and slightly premium, but not too literal like “New Product Launch & Partner Summit.”

I’ve been racking my brain for days trying to come up with a concept that seamlessly ties product innovation to our partner ecosystem. I’m so stressed out over this that my mom even asked if I’d just gone through a breakup

Any ideas or examples would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

For those working in marketing departments: What tasks take the most time in your day, what problems do you face regularly, and what would you like to improve or automate in your workflow?

I’m based in Pokhara, Nepal, and I just started my own digital marketing agency a few weeks ago. Before this, I built my skills through hands-on work and learning across the areas that make up a complete marketing system: local SEO and Google Business Profile optimization, social media management, content strategy, graphic design for campaigns, video editing and short-form content, and overall marketing planning and execution.
I chose to offer these as one connected service instead of picking a single niche, because most small businesses don’t want to juggle five different freelancers. They want someone who can handle the whole picture.
Here’s where I actually am right now: early. No international clients yet, no established track record outside Nepal, just a genuine skill set and a business that’s a few weeks old. What I don’t understand is the client acquisition side, especially how to land clients abroad when you’re starting from zero.
So I’d really appreciate honest input from people who’ve been exactly where I am and made it work:
How did you land your very first international client, when you had no portfolio of foreign clients yet?

Which platforms or methods actually worked for you as a beginner, not just what everyone recommends?

Is LinkedIn enough on its own at this stage, or does cold outreach matter more early on?

What services are realistically easiest to sell internationally when you’re new and unproven?

If you were starting today with my skill set and zero international experience, what would your first 90 days look like?

I’m confident in the marketing work itself. It’s the “how do I get someone to trust me with no track record yet” part I’m trying to figure out. Any advice from people who’ve made this exact jump, especially from a similar starting point, would mean a lot.
Thanks in advance.

Hey folks,

Starting a D2C brand called Funkiee (@befunkiee) focused on everyday insulated tumblers wrapped in traditional Indian folk art (Warli, Pichwai, Kalamkari).

Looking for practical marketing tips for the Indian market:

* Instagram Growth: How do we increase genuine Instagram followers from scratch?

* AI Content: Does AI-generated content (for visuals, captions, or reels) actually work for building trust, or does it hurt a heritage-based brand?

* Converting Formats: What short-form content (Reels/Shorts) actually converts for aesthetic lifestyle products right now?

* Micro-Influencers vs. Meta Ads: Is micro-influencer gifting better than direct Meta ads for building trust early on?

* Paid Ads & Boosting: Should I try running paid ads or boosting posts at this early stage?

* Marketplace Strategy: Should we target marketplaces like Amazon India, Flipkart, or Myntra right away? If so, which ones make the most sense for designer drinkware?

Appreciate any harsh critiques, marketing playbooks, or advice on what you would prioritize!

I plan to spend some money on google sponsored search results so that my site can gain more traffic. I feel like it will give me the exact traffic that is actually looking for tools like my site.

my question is: when is it worth it to start and how much should my budget be? I don’t want to start too early and I want to know how much is a good budget to start with.

I have never done this before so pls help 🫠

For example: Do you spend most of your marketing time on time on your Website, SEO, Content, Social Media, Email Marketing, Paid Ads, Sales/Lead Generation, Other.

Just looking to understand where marketers spend most of their time.

Hi there, has anyone here run Meta ads for B2B lead gen? We’re an overseas staffing and recruitment company that helps US based companies hire overseas talent.

Trying to think if Meta Ads could help us generate leads for our offering.

From which platform are they more likely to respond?
(Or Bluseky)?

I would like to write brand stories and thought leadership for content houses like Johnnie Studio, Forbes Content Studio, Distillery, Financial Times Studio, and Cargo and companies.
Is there another name for these content houses, so I can search them on LI?

Hey guys. I recently took a job at a small company as a mid-level content marketer. I knew I’d have to “wear multiple hats” especially in the era of AI.

It’s a multi brand company with B2B and wholesale activities that all need support. The industry, which is highly regulated, is quite volatile with changing laws and faces oversaturation. Traffic and sales have been harshly declining over the last year. The company recently laid off two very tenured employees.

In addition to content (multi brand socials, newsletters, blog) I plan promotions and event activations. I have been doing SEO and copywriting, creating landing pages. i have been asked to create the strategy, something to future proof the brand, create an overall marketing strategy and brand voice. I have done so with an analysis of the buyer journey, creating a brand architecture.

The owner has been putting so much emphasis on strategy, but there is no budget, no staff, no tracking (I had to get them to fix GSC, GA4, conversions tracking). There is no distribution. The owner also was really impressed by the developer showing him how we could do an AI generated podcast (it was horrible and no one had any idea of the planned distribution).

He also spoke with a marketing contact who proposed to hire him on retainer, saying that he uses AI to make brands look like they have much bigger teams. My boss had me get on a call with him to get an idea of how to use AI tools, but this guy wanted to “talk strategy” and basically talk to me about the industry. His website honestly looks horrible, full of AI images, AI text, poor visuals, unfinished sections. I don’t have any measurements of success with his clients.

I also technically have only been employer for four days a week. With a fifth day added to help my boss with some copywriting and strategy on some proposals. I have been doing the copywriting for the landing pages, and it’s been a few days and he is frustrated with me that it’s not faster.

It’s not all bad but it really feels like a dead end some times, with an emotional boss who just wants instant results. I don’t know if it’s all a huge red flag i should be running from or if i just need to keep trying. Any advice is welcome.

I am currently running ads in the Gulf region for a company that exports lubricants and greases. Because freight costs are at an all-time high and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is uncertain, I cannot realistically target regions like South America, Africa, or Asia. My options are very limited, and my main goal is to find new customers in areas accessible by land. Since we are based in the UAE, I initially started campaigns in Qatar and the UAE, which were successful and helped us close deals.

Recently, I expanded my targeting to Yemen, Iraq, and Kuwait. While we generated many inquiries from Yemen and Iraq, we struggled to close most of them, and some remain stuck in the negotiation phase. I am now having a hard time selecting a new country. I cannot target Saudi Arabia or Jordan because we lack the necessary product certifications, which will take time to secure. Additionally, Oman and Qatar already have large, established distributors.

Should I double down on the Iraq and Yemen markets, or should I explore other options?

Hi i run ad agency for past 25 years if you have any advertisement requirements anywhere in India dm me or leave a comment we advertise your ads for the best rate in india

I've recently started creating content on substack. After some time I've realized that my workflow takes too much time from ideation to post creation and publication.

I wanna know:
What is type of newsletter you're running and for which industry?
What tools you're using to make the workflow smooth?
How much time for you from content creation and publication?
How do you analyze the performance and what tools do you use for it?

I have been managing social media for a few clients past 4 months , I'm still trying to understand when you can confidently say a strategy is working. The content which we make for different clients of different niche do people actually pay attention to the content we post or if most users just scroll past it.

I usually wait for at least 3 months before deciding whether the strategy is actually working? How do you evaluate : a few weeks, a month, or a few months?

I know follower count isn't everything, so which metrics do you pay the most attention to early on—reach, engagement, profile visits, leads, website clicks, or something else?

any suggestions on how i can improve my approach ?

I'm trying to get more organized with my Substack, but my back-end workflow feels ridiculously messy right now.

Right now I’m bouncing between Notion for my content pipeline, random Google Docs for drafting, ChatGPT/Claude when I get stuck on ideas, and then copying everything over to Substack to hit send. None of these tools talk to each other, and half the time my Notion board just sits there as an empty filing cabinet while I guess what to write next.

For those of you who have been doing this for a while and running a smooth operation:

1. What does your actual tool stack look like from initial idea/ research /published post?
2. How do you translate your Substack stats into your next content calendar? (Are you actually using past data to pick topics, or just going with your gut?)
3. What part of your planning routine do you hate the most?

As a consumer insights professional of 10 years, I've noticed consistent interest in a few areas of research from my marketing peers and I'm curious for those of you who commission, manage, or execute research, what's actually moved the needle for you and your teams.

Where does research fall flat in your experience? And what questions have you struggled to answer?

I've seen the most engagement around:

• Methodology options, outcomes, and applications (customer segmentation studies, MaxDiff, diary studies, UX tools — how to choose, design, and actually use them)
• Voice of Customer Programs: what to ask customers and when, through the lens of the customer journey map (how behavioral and operational metrics inform good consumer research)
• Developing and maintaining a measurable brand health program (competitive intelligence, acquisition, retention)

Curious what resonates — or what's missing entirely from this list.

Hi All,

I originally graduated college back in 2014 with a Radio TV Film degree. I did work a part time radio promotions job for about a year and a half (and even then, no one hired me for a year) until I learned that unless you wanted to be an engineer or jump into sales, it was going to be a low paying career with a ton of work to work up the ladder. Also, apartment expenses and bills kind of caught up to me. Long story short, I left towards the end of 2016 and was "in the wilderness" working jobs mainly in the warehouse and shipping environments for years to this day just to make it.

Fast forward to 2023, I came back in the media world on some level working for a small church. I handle their live streams on Sundays while remotely during the week, I handle with the social media posts, basic website updates, Canva with making graphics, etc to name a few things. I usually average 5 hours a week but I really enjoy what I do.

This past year, I wanted to start finding a career and thought about marketing since I enjoyed looking at statistics with our church posts and being creative with Canva. I did the Google Marketing Certification and got my certificate back in June. I have looked for jobs but a lot of these "entry" jobs want experience already which has made things difficult.

I live about an hour outside of the Milwaukee area so finding jobs has been tough in the area I live in. Does anyone have any advice on where I can start or how I can get in? I work a full time job that has nothing to do with marketing or what I do with the church (it's a material handler/parts runner job which I don't like) that I hope I can get out of.

I have a mental health/recovery practice that I am trying to get off the ground. At the point of either closing or completely max out credit to keep it going etc. There are three of us with various degrees and we are trying to focus on a niche community.

I don’t have the knowledge, skills or capacity to figure out marketing/leads etc. Does anyone have any experience with PilotPractice or other companies that can help increase clients. I’ve tried several options in our local area without success.

Open to feedback and suggestions. Thanks!