Let’s go through the latest in digital marketing news, resources, tools, and jobs…

Social media leadership skills for 2026 (+ KPIs to track)
Colleen Christison
What does it take to lead a social team in 2026? Explore 5 core skills, how leadership differs from management, and KPIs to track.

At Mod World, Reddit’s CEO Just Gave Brands More Reasons To Build Their Own Communities
Brent Csutoras
Reddit’s CEO Steve Huffman shared his vision for Reddit: the front page should bring people into communities; following and joining could become different relationships; better moderation has to protect legitimate participation too; and why brands should build their own communities.

More than half of US adults use social media to get their news
Andrew Hutchinson
A new Pew report found that 58% of Americans consider social media an important way to stay connected to current events. Of those, 13% consider social apps their most important source of information.

How to build your social media team for the future of marketing
Jasmine Williams
Jasmine breaks down how to structure a social media team, which roles to prioritize, and how to build and manage a team that’s prepared for the future of marketing.

Your Google Ads Account Is Hitting Its Targets, So Why Isn’t The Business Growing?
Sarah Stemen
Sarah shares seven reasons the Google Ads account looks healthy while business growth stalls: the target was never tied to margin, the easiest conversions come from existing customers, brand terms are claiming credit for existing demand, and more. 

Google Ads Introduces Centralized Policy Issue Tracking
Hana Kobzová
Google Ads has introduced a Policy Summary page under the Admin section, giving advertisers a centralized view of policy issues affecting their accounts and ads. The new layout also allows advertisers to sort issues by cost, conversions, or ROAS, making it easier to prioritize policy reviews.

How to build a Google Ads dashboard with Claude that ties spend to outcomes
Tania Brown
Tania explains how Google Ads reporting leaves a lot to be desired when you’re trying to see your full funnel and shares how to build a dashboard in Claude: Decide what you want to understand from your dashboard, choose your data sources, prompt Claude with specific details, and add features that make it an analysis tool.

Google Ads in AI Mode expand to new markets
Shashi Thakur
Google is bringing ads in AI Mode to Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Singapore. The company plans to expand to additional locales, including Brazil, Mexico, and the United Kingdom soon.

How I Decide Where The Next $100,000 Of Marketing Budget Should Go
Jason Shafton
Jason shares how to allocate your next marketing budget increase by weighing retention and conversion fixes against more paid search, then stage funding around research.

How to identify content gaps for AI visibility
Cassie Wilson Clark
Cassie goes through how to use prompt-tracking data and existing content to identify AI visibility gaps, review competing sources, and decide what to do next.

7 B2B marketing shifts that will define 2027
Andrea Cruz
Andrea shares how the metrics, tactics, and playbooks that once drove B2B growth are losing their edge: from MQLs and last-click attribution to revenue impact, from brand awareness to measurable brand impact, from search volume to AI visibility and citations, and more. 

AI SEO Requires A Unified Content Strategy
Joe Hall
Joe shares how brand messaging needs to be consistent across all channels to train LLMs the right way: conduct a comprehensive review of how your company is represented across its various digital channels, establish a central source of truth for brand messaging, bring the appropriate marketing teams into the process, and periodically evaluate how AI search systems describe your brand.

The 7 Features of Highly Effective B2B Influencer Marketing Programs
Nick Nelson
Nick shares seven features of highly effective B2B influencer marketing programs: Partner with a broader mix of influential creators, invest in the relationship, not just the transaction, use purpose-built influencer marketing technology, and more. 

YouTube tests reduced payment threshold for creators
Andrew Hutchinson
YouTube is experimenting with a lower payment threshold, reducing payments from $100 USD to $20 USD (or the local currency equivalent). This will apply to October 2026 payments for a randomly selected group of creators in the U.S., India, and Indonesia.

How the Instagram Algorithm Works: Your Up-to-Date 2026 Guide
Shivani Shah
Shivani shares how the Instagram algorithm ranks feed, stories, reels, and Explore, plus the three signals Instagram CEO says matter most: Watch time, likes per reach, and sends per reach are the signals Instagram Head Adam Mosseri says carry the most weight in ranking.

Creators are now classified as small businesses, but what does that actually mean?
Alyssa Mercante 
On Oct. 15, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued the nation’s first small business classification guidance for content creators. Alyssa explains what this classification means for the creator economy and whether it helps creators or is just window dressing.

Third-Party Citation Optimization Prioritization in an AI Search Era: A Framework [With Worksheet & Claude Skill]​
Aleyda Solis
Which third-party citation opportunities are worth pursuing? My framework helps you assess citation influence, brand association, marketing alignment, business value, durability, and effort using your own context and evidence. It now includes a Claude skill with the worksheet to support the assessment.​

How To Analyze Server Logs for AI Search​
Zach Chahalis 
Zach explains how to access server logs, identify verified AI bots, and investigate problems preventing them from receiving your content. A practical starting point for checking whether AI crawlers can reach your priority pages and identifying critical technical issues.

​AI Visibility: Find the right queries to track with AlsoAsked​
Katarina Dahlin 
Katarina walks through using People Also Ask and Search Console to develop an AI visibility tracking list, with a barefoot footwear example. Learn how to gather questions, classify intent, remove irrelevant queries, and prioritize commercially useful prompts.