Likely Marketing

In a world obsessed with publishing more content, brands are learning a hard truth: AI doesn’t trust what brands say about themselves as much as what others say about them. In this episode of Likely **Marketing, we explore why AI visibility is no longer built on content alone, but on citations, credibility, and repeated validation across the web.From Reddit discussions and podcasts to digital PR, analyst reports, and industry directories, AI systems like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Perplexity learn from the wider information ecosystem around your brand. Because in the AI era, visibility isn’t earned by publishing more. It’s earned when your brand becomes repeatedly cited, discussed, and trusted across the Internet.(00:00) Intro(01:12) The information environment AI actually learns from(03:07) How to ensure that your brand registers with AI, not just exist online(04:38) So, which channels can help brands register with AI?(09:15) Single mention is not enough, AI looks for pattern as an indicator of influence(11:36) Here’s a quick list of things to do to get cited by AI(13:52) A broader view on getting mentioned by AI

The first version of the web gave us clicks. This one quietly takes them away. In this episode, we explore how AI browsers like Dia Browser, Comet Browser, Opera Neon, Atlas Browser, and Google Chrome are turning the internet into an intent-driven system where decisions happen before clicks. What starts as a search becomes a conversation, then an action—summaries replace scrolling, agents compare options, and workflows replace journeys. While cookies still exist, real power is shifting to context, memory, and AI-led actions. For marketers, this means your audience may never visit your site, yet still choose you. Visibility is no longer about ranking—it’s about being selected inside an answer. This is marketing for AI browsers—where influence happens before the click.(00:00) Intro(01:19) A snapshot of what’s new across each AI browser, so far(11:50) What are the AI browsers doing to lock-in the users?(13:58) How are AI browsers tracking user journeys, and how can marketers use that to their advantage?(17:35) How are AI browsers handling cookies?(20:24) What’s next for AI browsers and marketers?

AI didn’t kill websites, it made them invisible. There was a time when platforms like Google defined discovery, and ranking meant relevance. Websites were the internet’s home. But today, AI search, social platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, and voice assistants intercept intent before a click ever happens. Answers are delivered instantly, journeys are compressed, and clicks are disappearing. Yet behind every AI-generated response lies a source, and that source is still a website. The role has shifted from destination to infrastructure: powering AI, building trust, and owning data. In the future of websites with AI search, your site isn’t the front door, it’s the engine.(00:00) Intro(01:12) How a website became “home” for businesses(04:47) Now, there are forces that are pulling discovery away from websites(10:57) So, what is the value of having a website now?(15:23) Should brands be investing in a website?(18:55) What is the likely future of websites in times to come?

It began with a small shift inside Instagram, a simple “Add link” button that marketers had waited years for. But this wasn’t just a feature update. It was a signal. For a decade, “link in bio” shaped how traffic flowed, powering tools like Linktree and defining what organic growth looked like. Now, with caption links available only through Meta Verified, the journey from discovery to conversion collapses into a single tap, if you’re willing to pay. This episode explores how Instagram caption links for marketing turn frictionless conversion into a paid advantage, blur the meaning of “organic,” and quietly introduce a new reality: it’s no longer just about who earns attention, but who gets to convert.(00:00) Intro(01:40) Instagram caption links - how it works and why it matters(03:14) How Instagram caption links differ from Stories or bio links(05:09) Reasons why Meta decided to allow caption links on Instagram now(10:36) Are Instagram caption links a “deal sweetener” for a tiered social media?(13:18) The bigger question - are traffic and conversion from caption links truly organic?(14:58) Strategic takeaways for marketers, brands and creators with respect to Instagram caption links(18:09) Parting thoughts…

You open your analytics dashboard, searching for the next big content bet—sports, food, drama but nothing sticks. Then you notice a pattern: horror. Not jump scares or gore, but something deeper. Since 2015, horror movies have evolved into a global attention engine with low budgets, massive ROI, and strong retention across theaters and streaming. But the real story lies in the audience—young, diverse, and highly engaged. They don’t just watch; they feel, share, and return. The reason is psychological. Horror taps into sensation-seeking and “safe fear,” delivering intense yet controlled emotional experiences that people often enjoy together. That shared emotion drives memory, loyalty, and community. For marketers, the lesson is simple but powerful: attention follows emotion, and loyalty follows shared experience. Horror movies were never just about fear, they reveal how audiences think, feel, and behave.(00:00) Intro(01:49) Love for horror stories has been growing rapidly…(04:23) …but who’s watching them? (audience demographics)(05:28) The psychology behind the desire to be scared(09:17) Quick takeaways on the horror genre and the underlying psychology of the audience

We are living in an age of information overload where AI can generate content faster than ever. Feeds are full of polished posts, perfect visuals, and algorithm-friendly messages—yet most of it disappears from memory within seconds. This episode explores the growing tension in AI for branding and marketing. As generative AI floods the internet with “AI slop”—content that looks impressive but feels hollow—audiences are becoming better at spotting it and trusting it less. Interestingly, this shift is pushing some of the most thoughtful brands like Apple, Polaroid, Heineken, Muji, and Dove to move AI backstage. They use AI for research, insights, and personalization, but keep the brand story human. Because in a world of automated content, authentic human stories are becoming the real competitive advantage.(00:00) Intro(01:59) The AI slop has created a paradox for brands and marketers(05:17) Examples of brands avoiding AI-generated content, and why?(10:15) How are brands using AI quietly, in the background?(14:34) How can brands and marketers figure out whether they can lean on AI or not?(17:49) Few more words on this tension around using AI for branding and marketing…

For years, digital advertising chased cheap scale. Programmatic buying promised low CPMs and limitless reach, but brands lost control of context. Ads appeared beside misinformation, low-value content, and misaligned audiences. Privacy laws tightened, cookies faded, CAC rose, and trust declined.This episode explores the rise of curated advertising — premium, handpicked environments like Private Marketplaces, trusted publishers, trade media, newsletters, communities, and AI chat surfaces. It’s a shift from buying everything to buying what’s worth it.Yes, CPMs may be higher. But the real metric is outcome. Curated advertising redefines CAC and ROAS through context, trust, and high-intent placements. Is this the end of cheap digital ads — and the return of quality?(00:00) Intro(01:28) What is curated advertising?(04:48) How does the curation mindset changes the game for SEM, social, trade media, and newsletters?(08:31) Are curated social - groups and communities - brand safe zones for advertising?(10:41) Where does chat-vertising or AI advertising sit?(12:27) Will curated advertising make online ads more premium? How will it affect CAC and ROAS?(14:30) Closing thoughts…

At the start of the year, you open your marketing plan and wonder: is Threads worth the effort, or just another platform to maintain? When Meta launched it in 2023, 100 million users signed up in a week. Today, it sits at nearly 400 million monthly active users with strong engagement and Gen Z attention.So why aren’t marketers prioritizing Threads for marketing?This episode explores the tension between scale and significance. Threads has reach, lower ad costs, and Meta’s backing—but lacks clear positioning, mature ad products, and proven ROI stories. It feels powerful, yet undefined.Is Threads an early opportunity hiding in plain sight, or a platform still searching for its purpose? Listen in as we unpack whether it becomes a marketing essential—or remains a watchlist experiment.(00:00) Intro(01:08) Let’s start with the launch of Threads(02:44) Where does Threads stand today - users, behaviour and context(05:28) How are marketers and creators using Threads, right now?(07:40) Reasons behind why Threads is not a marketing priority, yet(10:36) What Threads is, and is not, providing to the brands, marketers and creators(12:18) What Threads needs to do going forward…(14:21) In summary…

Two brands meet. Not on a billboard. Not in an ad break. But quietly—where trust already lives.Over the last five years, brand collaboration marketing has stopped being a flashy stunt and started behaving like a system. A new operating model for growth. One where brands borrow credibility, share culture, reduce risk, and expand meaning—together.In this episode, How brand collaborations quietly became the new marketing system, we trace how collaborations moved from hype to necessity. From product drops and shared audiences to value-led partnerships and immersive brand worlds. We unpack why some collaborations compound trust and community—while others collapse under misaligned audiences, values, or messaging.This isn’t a highlight reel. It’s a map. Of what works, what breaks, and why collaboration has become the fastest path to relevance in a trust-first, culture-driven market.Because the future of marketing isn’t brand protection.It’s brand expansion—through authentic, value-aligned partnerships.(00:00) Intro(01:13) Brand collaborations have been growing fast in the past 5 years(02:43) What kind of brand collaborations have been happening?(05:24) What are key drivers behind brand collaborations?(09:37) Situations when brand collaborations might go wrong…(14:08) Brand collaborations are here to stay…(15:49) Parting thoughts…

What if OpenAI’s biggest missing piece isn’t better models—but better intent?This episode begins with a rumor: OpenAI might acquire Pinterest. But quickly, it becomes a story about where AI, search, and marketing are actually headed. Pinterest isn’t just a visual platform. It’s where humans plan, dream, decide, and shop—leaving behind rare, intent-rich visual signals at scale.We unpack why OpenAI would care about Pinterest’s 200+ billion images, Gen Z discovery behavior, and inspiration-to-purchase loops—and how that data could reshape AI image generation, AI commerce, and future ChatGPT interfaces.For marketers, the message is clear: search is turning visual, discovery is replacing keywords, and the funnel is collapsing into moments. This isn’t M&A gossip. It’s a preview of intent-driven, visual-first marketing in the AI era.Whether the deal happens or not, the shift already has.(00:00) Intro(01:18) Why would OpenAI even want to acquire Pinterest?(05:43) Is there a lacking in OpenAI’s models when it comes to image processing and image or video generation?(10:07) The possibility of Pinterest’s UI influencing Sora and ChatGPT ads(12:15) Whether OpenAI acquires Pinterest or not, it could mean a lot to brands and marketers(15:31) What is the bigger picture that emerges from this OpenAI acquiring Pinterest speculation?

Standing at the edge of 2025, this episode begins like a quiet realization rather than a breaking news alert. Marketing didn’t collapse under AI. It was clarified.In What I Hope for Marketing in 2026 When AI Meets Trust and Community, this story walks through a year where AI-powered search rewrote visibility, algorithms exposed empty tactics, and content abundance stripped marketing down to its core. Clicks became scarce, trust became currency, and community emerged as infrastructure—not a trend.As the noise grew louder, one truth became clearer: AI can scale speed, but it can’t scale belief. Brands that survived 2025 didn’t chase reach; they earned relevance. They didn’t automate authenticity; they designed for trust. They didn’t run campaigns alone; they built cultures people wanted to belong to.This episode looks forward to 2026 with intention and optimism—hoping for marketing where AI enhances thinking, visibility goes beyond clicks, trust is engineered into every touchpoint, and communities are treated as long-term assets.Because the future of marketing isn’t about being everywhere.It’s about being meaningful—where it matters most.(00:00) Intro(01:04) The ‘Visibility Crisis’ that brands and marketers faced in 2025(03:59) Marketers faced email marketing authentication issues(05:42) Social media marketing became more complex(07:29) AI created the paradox of content creation(08:55) Their conversion strategies had to fill the trust gap(10:02) Community-building became extremely important(11:48) 7 ways in which the marketing community coped with these shifts(16:04) What do I hope for marketing in 2026?(20:29) What marketers need to remember in 2026…

In 2025, the social web is quietly shifting. Feeds are fading, and “inner circles” are rising. When TikTok launched Bulletin Boards, it seemed like just another feature—until creators realized it unlocked something the algorithm never could: direct, intimate community. Suddenly, platforms everywhere began rebuilding smaller, quieter digital rooms where real connection lives again.This episode dives into the return of micro-communities—why users crave them, why creators are reclaiming control, and why brands must learn to build belonging instead of chasing reach. From VIP groups to thought-leader hubs, the future of marketing belongs to those who can nurture community, not the feed. Step inside the new era where conversations go deeper, relationships get stronger, and loyalty grows in the spaces that feel like home.(00:00) Intro(00:55) Let’s talk about TikTok’s Bulletin Boards(03:19) Bulletin Boards have a nostalgic echo(04:44) TikTok’s Bulletin Boards is similar to what other social platforms have(07:32) Why are social platforms focusing on community features?(10:54) Practical ways B2C and B2B brands can benefit from online communities(13:33) Build an online community, but keep an eye on the challenges, too(14:43) Where is all this headed?

Social media isn’t just for posts anymore — it’s a binge-worthy streaming platform, and brands are turning into mini studios. In this episode, we dive into the rise of scripted social media series: entertaining, episodic content created by brands like Bilt, Alexis Bittar, Nike, and RedBull. From unbranded mockumentaries to AI-generated stories, discover how these series hook Gen Z and millennials, build communities, and redefine marketing. Learn why traditional ads are fading, how storytelling drives engagement, and why the future of social media marketing may look more like TV shows than commercials.(00:00) Intro(01:19) Why are brands creating scripted series for social media series?(04:22) Who’s engaging with these scripted series and what does the data say?(07:17) Scripted social is bringing the unbranded marketing trend with it…(09:57) … and changing the traditional social media content strategy.(12:52) Community building is the real value of scripted social(13:58) What is the likely impact on B2B marketing strategies?(15:37) Can scripted social series lead to conversions?(17:45) How does marketing look like in the new world of scripted social?