Daniel Marx

𝗔𝗜 𝗠𝗮𝘅 𝘃𝘀. 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝘅: 𝗗𝗼 𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵? 🤔 This is a question I get asked a lot by advertisers lately. And the short answer is: YES - any brand should use both. ✅ But I have to admit, at first sight there seem to be a lot of similarities. 🚀 𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀:  ➡️ AI Max is like upgrading existing search campaigns. It brings the power of AI-driven Broad Match, keywordless targeting, and ad customization to text ads on Google Search. It's enhancing what most advertisers are already do well. ✨ ➡️ Performance Max is a stand-alone campaign type. It serves ads across channels, from Search to Shopping, to Display and YouTube, and to Gmail. It's introducing new ad opportunities to meet customers where they are. 🌍 𝗦𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲? PMax serves across all Google channels. AI Max is specifically for the future of search. ✅ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘂𝘀𝗲?  Trying to maximize reach across touch points? ↳ Use PMax. Trying to reach users when they search? ↳ Use AI Max. Trying to be successful with Google Ads? ↳ Use both. How are you combining PMax and AI Max? Let me know in the comments! 💬 -- 🔔 Follow me for more posts on digital marketing, careers in tech, and life at Google. ♻️ Share this post with your network if you enjoyed it.

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When our search traffic started dropping about two years ago, we doubled down on SEO: did more primary research, published more content, updated content more frequently. And still, our Google traffic didn't grow. At first, it was probably just the algorithm & competition muting our extra effort. But as gen AI rolled out in search, it became clear: search engines becoming answer engines were killing the economics of educational SEO. Our blog content had always been a key pipeline driver. It generated search traffic and product signups. More importantly, it built up our domain authority up & helped us rank product-related content. We had a limitless amount of content we could create. Our 100+ integrations gave us an endless amount of topics. We published 5x/week at our peak.   But now, AI started giving those answers directly, without ever sending them to our site. Two quarters ago, we made a hard-right shift. We stopped fighting for Google scraps. And started showing up where conversations were actually happening. 👉 I went all-in on LinkedIn publishing. We began planning a small number of multi-format, multi-channel campaigns. We did more on other social sites, especially Youtube. But measuring impact? That’s where things got tricky. Getting someone to click from social to our website: not easy. The traditional marketing attribution models didn't capture the full picture.   So we built a new approach: 1. 𝗢𝗻-𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀. Impressions, engagement, follower growth. These tell us what content is resonating. It’s hard to prove that reach & engagement drive business, but it certainly gives direction on what content and topics might inspire action. 2. 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. We still link to other content (events, research reports, surveys, dashboard templates, etc). We have no shortage of offers that can drive a conversion and we don’t have a problem creating social content that highlights those offers in interesting ways. 3. 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. We ask everyone who signups for our product, “How did you hear about us?”  It’s not perfect since they could lie on that form just to get past it, but the data is pretty consistent month over month. (If you want to see this data, follow me and click the bell. I’ll be sharing it.) 4. 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵. Most readers don’t engage publicly on social media. But they remember. And weeks or months later, they show up in our CRM via branded search or a direct visit. Today, we get about ~27% of our signups from social media. So yeah, the shift worked. Not because social publishing replaces SEO. It's actually harder. But because it does something SEO no longer can: build preference before someone is even looking. PS. Wanna know if you're ahead or behind in transitioning your marketing strategy? We'll be revealing data we've collected from 300+ companies next week. Register for a seat -> https://lnkd.in/ePXBt9Mj

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OTTO just handed sellers a new lever, manual keyword targeting for Sponsored Product Ads. Beta results show +120% ROAS and +50% CTR when brands take control. This is a big shift for Germany’s homegrown giant. Instead of relying only on contextual placements, you can now bid on the exact search terms shoppers type on otto. Booking runs in Partner Connect, you get an automated keyword report, you can mine auto-suggest, and you set bids per term. In practice, this puts OTTO closer to Amazon’s style of control, with EU retail media nuances. What it means 🔑 Precise query control, fewer irrelevant clicks and cleaner intent. 💸 Comparable CPCs and ROAS to benchmark, easier budget moves from awareness to intent. 🧩 Smarter mix, keep automated SPA for discovery, harvest winners into manual sets. ⚙️ Flywheel effect, search learnings feed titles, attributes, pricing and stock. What to do this week 🧪 Start with margin-safe heroes, confirm price, stock and delivery accuracy in ChannelEngine. 🎯 Seed 25 to 50 core queries per cluster from titles, attributes, synonyms and OTTO auto-suggest. 🧱 Build tight ad groups by use case or subcategory, set conservative starting bids and expand. 🔍 Read the keyword report frequently, add new winners, pause low quality terms fast. 📊 Track CTR, CVR and ROAS at query level, shift budget toward proven intent. Operator lens, this is German precision for your search spend. If you already run OTTO via ChannelEngine, a two week test is enough to see if keyword control beats your current automated SPA baseline. Curious which queries you would bet on first for your category? #OTTO #RetailMedia #MarketplaceAds #ecommerce #ChannelEngine

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According to iBusiness, 84% of the top 100 SEO agencies in Germany offer GEO services. For 30% GEO is already a top focus area. For 7% GEO is the number 1 priority!

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How I structured an account with 25,000 SKUs and different price points: We split our approach based on product price: 1. Low-ticket items: - Great for new customer acquisition - Can't deliver high ROAS immediately 2. High-ticket items: - Different pricing strategy needed - Higher profit potential Our solution: Structure for low-priced products: - Based on forecasted conversion rates - CPC cap with Max Clicks - Focus on cheap traffic Structure for high-value products: - Feed-only PMax campaigns - tROAS bid strategy Current results: - First optimization rounds completed - Some campaigns hit 5+ ROAS instantly - Others showed clear signals about AOV limitations The structure keeps evolving as we learn and adapt. My goal here is to show what structured, hybrid approaches can look like - instead of blindly going “all-in” on one campaign type. Just take a bit more time to think and don’t be afraid to approach the task creatively.

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𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐚 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫. For years, our region has been defined by constraints: 🔹 Smaller budgets 🔹 Leaner teams 🔹 Founders expecting marketers to handle everything Each global marketing wave created new specialists: 🔸 SEO experts during the rise of search 🔸 Community managers with the boom of social 🔸 Growth hackers through the rise of e-commerce and SaaS But AI has shifted the pattern. It isn’t creating more niches—it’s amplifying the impact of 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴. Across Asia, the marketers driving real results today are those who: → Move fluidly across channels → Combine strategy with hands-on execution → Use AI to extend their reach without bloating team size I saw this firsthand early in my career. Working across paid media, content, and email gave me the ability to connect the dots. That foundation shaped how we built 2Stallions Digital Marketing Agency: 🔹 Holistic strategies that tie together every channel 🔹 Specialists with cross-domain knowledge, not siloed experts 🔹 SOPs that encourage collaboration so we can act as a generalist for clients—even while individuals deepen their expertise This approach has become 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐈 𝐞𝐫𝐚. For marketers in Asia, this is the biggest shift since the Internet. Those who adapt will grow stronger. Those who don’t will be automated away. The question is no longer if you should evolve into a generalist. It’s 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲 you can do it before the industry moves ahead without you. 👉 How are you evolving your skills to stay relevant in the AI era? #MarketingStrategy #DigitalMarketing #AIMarketing #FutureOfWork #MarketingGeneralist #AsiaBusiness #Leadership

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Zero-Click SEO: Winning Traffic Without Rankings Google is changing. Search is no longer about “10 blue links.” It’s about answers shown directly on the SERP. → Only 40% of U.S. searches end in a website click. → Zero-click searches are up to 27%. → When AI Overviews appear, clicks drop by half. Your traffic isn’t just competing with other sites. It’s competing with Google’s own answers. To win, now optimize for visibility. Not just rankings. What works now: → Write 40–60-word answers AI can pull. → Use questions, steps, and bullet structures. → Add schema markup (FAQ, HowTo, Article). → Focus on entities, not just keywords. → Create citation-worthy content with stats and visuals. → Publish short videos — YouTube still gets clicks. → Build brand demand with newsletters, tools, and direct visits. The goal is not just traffic. It's attention. It's mentioned. It's trust. Show up in AI Overviews, snippets. Even if clicks fall, you gain visibility. And when clicks come, they’re higher intent. SEO isn’t about gaming Google. It’s about meeting users where they are. Zero-click SEO isn’t the end. It’s the next chapter. If your strategy still counts backlinks and rankings only… You’re already behind. Need expert help with SEO, content, or backlinks? I help brands grow visibility and authority in the zero-click era.

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The worst-kept secret in ecommerce is out in the open. OpenAI launched checkout, initially partnering with Shopify, Etsy and Stripe to enable direct purchases from ChatGPT. 🛍️ Shopify merchants will be able to sell directly through ChatGPT "very very soon". 🥣 US users will be able to buy from US Etsy sellers through ChatGPT as of yesterday. Etsy shares popped +16% on the announcement . 🌐 OpenAI also partnered with Stripe to build the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) to allow others to integrate. Last night I sat down with Amy O'Brien from Vogue Business to discuss what this means for ecommerce brands: https://lnkd.in/epz9FvN9 You can also see the official announcement from OpenAI here: https://lnkd.in/eg3kp_Pv; from Shopify here: https://lnkd.in/eBf88DVs; from Etsy here: https://lnkd.in/e9huvyiS; and Stripe here: https://lnkd.in/eQm8QTEd. p.s. give Azoma a follow, very exciting announcement coming shortly 👀

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