Heidi Schwende2 days ago5 min read We're heading into Q1, which means budget conversations are happening right now. Before you finalize spend on campaigns, content programs, or that shiny new martech platform, get the foundation right first. Your website excellence,…
Heidi Schwende4 days ago4 min read Why Most CMOs Are Organizing Lists Instead of Driving Revenue Three forces are converging on your 2026 marketing budget: AI is fragmenting how buyers discover brandsprivacy regulations are shrinking your targeting optionsacquisition costs keep…
Heidi Schwende6 days ago6 min read A Reality Check for CMOs Planning for 2026 Why This Year Was Different Every year brings change but 2025 was different. This was the year that separated what came before from what comes next—a…
Heidi Schwende7 days ago4 min read Things are moving fast. Too fast to write something once and walk away. Back in September, I wrote about ChatGPT's Instant Checkout launch—Etsy sellers, the Agentic Commerce Protocol, and a promise about Shopify expansion.…
Heidi Schwende7 days ago6 min read What It Actually Means for Your Marketing Budget Advertising has arrived in AI search. Google expanded ads in AI Overviews to 12 countries in December 2025. OpenAI is building ad prototypes for ChatGPT. Perplexity…
What Serious CMOs Are Actually Doing 2026 will not reward curiosity, creativity, or experimentation for their own sake. It will reward marketers who can execute cleanly, prove impact, and take market share while others are still debating frameworks. Most CMOs…
An Analysis of the Data McKinsey just dropped their State of the Consumer 2025 report, and if you're in marketing, you need to pay attention. Not because it's telling us anything shocking—but because it's confirming what many of us have…
Google rolled out major AI-powered shopping features starting in mid-2025, and they're reshaping how shoppers discover and purchase products. If you're running a product-based ecommerce business—whether you're selling direct to consumers or to other businesses—this isn't another tech trend you…
I'm reviewing Q1 budget proposals from marketing leaders right now, and I keep seeing the same pattern: they're still funding SEO like AI discovery isn't fundamentally changing how buyers find information. Here's what I'm seeing in the data: Organic traffic…
AI is a tool, not a strategy. It's a capability, not a business model. Sundar Pichai just told the BBC something every marketing agency should tattoo on their foreheads: AI models are still making mistakes, and businesses need to stop…