2026 Digital Marketing Trends: Expert Predictions for Paid Media & Ecommerce

2026 Digital Marketing Trends: Expert Predictions for Paid Media & Ecommerce

Every January, the digital marketing world floods with predictions: some insightful, many recycled, and a few wildly off base. But 2026 feels different. We're not just watching incremental platform updates or minor algorithm tweaks anymore. We're witnessing fundamental shifts in 2026 marketing trends: how consumers discover products, how platforms deliver ads, and how marketers prove their work actually matters. The gap between brands that adapt and those that cling to old playbooks is about to become a chasm.

So we asked our team at Revel Marketing Partners where they think the industry is headed this year. What follows isn't speculation from the sidelines. These are predictions from the directors and leaders who are already navigating these changes with our clients, and who have strong opinions about what's coming next.

Revel Marketing Partners’ 2026 Digital Marketing Predictions

AI and Headless Commerce Are Reshaping the Shopping Experience

Kayla Faires, Founder & CEO:

"The future of digital marketing is about rebuilding infrastructure so you can move as fast as the platforms change. Two shifts are converging: headless ecommerce architectures, and agentic search systems where AI answers questions and makes recommendations before consumers reach your brand. Creative velocity and experimentation speed now determine ROAS, and legacy platforms are making it harder and harder to deliver. At the same time, discovery is shifting from queries to AI-mediated recommendations. Brands will compete less on keyword ownership and more on structured, machine-readable truth: clean product data, pricing logic, availability, and positioning that agents can interpret and recommend. As automation increases, judgment becomes the differentiator. The winners will pair flexible infrastructure with authentic brand building. Brands that actually stand for something and show their authenticity, while also leaning into new tech will compound advantages while others optimize yesterday's funnel."

Michele Keating, Account Director:

"Short-form video, AR try-ons, and creator demos won't just support ecommerce—they'll replace traditional PDPs. Live shopping will become the default, and UGC becomes the most trusted conversion asset."

AI-Powered Search and the End of Traditional Search Behavior

Abby Peterson, Director of SEM:

"2026 will mark the inflection point for paid search as AI advertising platforms fundamentally compress the user research journey. What once took 10+ searches now happens in a single ChatGPT conversation. Google Paid Search will remain a revenue powerhouse, but declining traffic volumes and intensifying CPCs will force a strategic reckoning: we can no longer afford to bid broadly. Success in this new landscape belongs to marketers who get ruthlessly selective with keyword targeting, double down on high-intent bottom-funnel terms, and maximize every click with precision audience strategies. The brands that will win aren't fighting this shift, they're adapting their strategies across both ecosystems while search is still profitable."

Brandon Elston, Paid Media Specialist:

"Brands that invest in GEO to appear in LLMs like ChatGPT & Gemini, will finally see a noticeable impact on purchases, especially from new customers. With the introduction of Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) and direct integration of ChatGPT to Shopify, it is becoming increasingly more beneficial for consumers to shop on LLMs compared to search engines. This is because users can shop products across brands and make a purchase all in one ecosystem without browsing dozens of sites for inventory, products, or to find the best deals. A survey from Centerfield last year showed that the top 3 reasons users shop with AI are getting answers to product questions, comparing products or brands, & getting product recommendations, all top of funnel discovery type searches that could lead to discovering new brands and products."

Raw Creativity and Authenticity Will Beat AI Perfection in 2026

Paige Baugnet, VP of Client Services:

"I predict that we'll continue to see authentically raw and unpolished creative perform exceptionally well in 2026 as a direct counter to AI-generated perfection, particularly as consumers become increasingly skeptical about distinguishing real from fake content. In a digital landscape saturated with polished, algorithm-optimized visuals that all start to look eerily similar, people will actively crave authenticity and realness—the imperfect lighting, the shaky camera work, the unfiltered moments that signal genuine human creation. Brands that lean into this 'intentionally unpolished' aesthetic beyond the existing creator playbook will likely see stronger engagement and trust metrics, as audiences reward the vulnerability and transparency that comes with content that feels unmistakably human."

Jessica Shepherd, Chief Operating Officer:

"In 2026, the digital marketing industry will feel the real disruption not through job loss, but through the loss of excuses for mediocre thinking. As AI makes execution cheap, taste becomes a true competitive advantage—especially for beauty, fashion, and lifestyle brands where differentiation lives in nuance, not volume. The biggest brand risk won't be getting AI wrong; it will be sounding like everyone else who got it 'right.' That's why human review will increasingly serve as the new quality assurance layer—not to slow creativity down, but to protect brand distinctiveness in an automated world."

Marketing Mix Modeling, Diversification and the Shift to Incrementality

Amanda Moorhead, Account Director:

"2026 is going to be all about incrementality and accurate measurement for marketing. Last-click attribution isn't telling enough of the story, privacy changes are throwing a wrench into reporting, and relying on the same old methods is going to bring lackluster results. The brands that will unlock growth are those who can answer one critical question: 'What actually moved the needle?' That's why I'm excited to work with my clients on implementing MMM tools and diversifying their media mix. The future isn't about which touchpoint gets credit—it's about proving which dollars are truly incremental."

Gretta Schultz, Director of Paid Social:

"2026 is the year digital marketing finally gets its "infrastructure" right - better measurement, smarter and more consistent/reliable automation, and creative journeys that prioritize sustainable growth over quick wins."

Ashley Simpson, Director of Affiliate Marketing:

"We predict affiliate programs will prioritize channel diversification and robust partner vetting following high-profile removals like PayPal Honey, while navigating increased FTC enforcement under the Consumer Review Rule that rewards proactive compliance. We expect the industry to accelerate its shift from last-click attribution toward outcome-based models that credit partnership contributions, as both affiliate and creator marketing mature with greater emphasis on measurable ROI over vanity metrics. Affiliate publishers will continue expanding beyond Google Search dependence through multi-channel strategies spanning social platforms, direct traffic, and emerging opportunities like OpenAI's ChatGPT ads. Meanwhile, long-term creator partnerships will become the standard as brands recognize the value of sustained relationships, with emerging content formats and technologies requiring affiliate programs to evolve their partnership structures and compensation models accordingly."

What This Means for Your 2026 Strategy

The through-line in all of these predictions? 2026 rewards the strategic over the reactive. Whether it's demanding proof of incrementality, embracing rough authenticity over AI polish, adapting to compressed search journeys, optimizing for AI-powered discovery, or protecting brand voice in an automated world, the brands that will thrive are those willing to challenge their assumptions and evolve their approach. The tools are getting smarter, the platforms are getting more automated, and the consumer is getting more discerning. Your strategy needs to keep pace. At Revel Marketing Partners, we're not just watching these shifts happen. We're actively helping our clients navigate them. If any of these predictions hit home and you're wondering how to adapt your own marketing strategy, let's talk. Because the future isn't something that happens to you. It's something you build toward, one smart decision at a time.

Revel Interactive Rebrands as Revel Marketing Partners to Reflect Its Evolution and Focus on True Client Partnership

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DENVER, COLORADO // JANUARY 30, 2026 — Revel Interactive today announced its rebrand to Revel Marketing Partners (RMP), marking a meaningful next chapter for the agency and formalizing a shift that has been years in the making.

Since its founding, RMP has been focused on connecting brands with people in meaningful ways. As digital marketing has evolved, so has the agency. What began as an interactive marketing shop has grown into a full service digital marketing partner that works closely with clients to shape strategy, guide decision-making, and drive measurable growth.

“Partnership has always been at the center of what we do, and this rebrand makes that clear” said the RMP team.

An Evolution Rooted in How RMP Works

The shift to RMP is not a change in direction. It is a clearer expression of the agency’s role as an extension of its clients’ teams. The agency focuses on performance-first digital marketing, guided by close collaboration, constant iteration, and a practical mindset that treats every recommendation as if the budget were their own.

RMP believes agencies should do more than execute tasks. The team works alongside clients to challenge assumptions, uncover opportunities, and help brands become stronger marketers over time. The goal is not just short-term performance, but long-term capability and confidence.

This approach has shaped RMP’s growth, its client relationships, and its point of view. The new name reflects that reality and sets the stage for what comes next.

What Has Not Changed

While the name and visual identity are new, RMP’s foundation remains the same. The agency continues to operate according to a set of core values that guide how it works every day.

RMP chooses action and accountability, turning ideas into results. The team focuses on strategic impact by pairing curiosity with clear goals and measurable outcomes. Humor remains part of the everyday, helping the team do serious work without taking themselves too seriously.

Courage plays a key role as well, pushing the team to step outside comfort zones and continue learning. Respect and openness guide every relationship through transparency, professionalism, and trust. Above all, RMP is committed to partnership with its clients, offering straightforward guidance and long-term collaboration as a true extension of their teams.

“These values have guided our work from the beginning,” the team shared. “They are staying exactly where they are.”

Looking Ahead

Revel Marketing Partners represents a more accurate reflection of who the agency is today. With a refined identity and the same commitment to performance and partnership, RMP is focused on helping clients navigate change, grow with intention, and build for the future.

Same people. Same mindset. Just a name that finally fits.

For more information, visit revelmarketingpartners.com.

About Revel Marketing Partners

Revel Marketing Partners is a digital marketing agency that works as an extension of its clients’ teams. Through close collaboration, strategic thinking, and a practical approach to growth, RMP helps brands drive results today while building stronger marketing foundations for the future.

Paid Search in 2025: Less Control, More AI, and the Lessons That Matter for 2026

If 2024 was the year Google introduced AI-powered campaigns, 2025 was the year they became the preferred path.

Google did not just roll out new features. It changed how paid search works. Automation moved from helpful to expected. Manual controls shrank. AI stopped assisting and started choosing. Google's message was consistent: Smart Bidding and AI-driven campaigns deliver better results. The problem? Automation didn't guarantee success. Advertisers with strong fundamentals saw impressive gains. Those without them lost ground quickly. The difference came down to understanding what Google's automation actually required, and what it couldn't fix.

2025 Was the Year AI Took the Wheel

Google’s direction was clear throughout the year: manual options are becoming increasingly limited, while AI-powered campaigns are taking center stage.

Enhanced CPC disappeared. Call-only ads got a sunset date. Campaign creation flows nudged advertisers toward automated formats. The message was consistent. This is where paid search is going.

At the center of it all was Google’s Power Pack approach: Performance Max, Demand Gen, and AI Max for Search.

Performance Max continued expanding as the all-in-one campaign type. Demand Gen evolved as a discovery-focused channel. AI Max entered as a Search feature suite promising broader reach through keywordless matching, automated copy, and dynamic landing pages.

For accounts with clean conversion tracking and strong first-party data, results improved. For accounts without that foundation, performance became harder to control.

AI did not fix broken setups. It amplified them.

The Cost of Automation

Google framed 2025 as a year of efficiency. Advertisers felt the cost side more clearly.

Average cost per lead increased year over year, with some verticals, such as retail, seeing 40–50% increases in CPCs over the past five years. While reporting improved, automated campaigns still required a level of trust many advertisers weren’t prepared to give.

Performance Max remained the clearest example. Even with improved reporting, the system required trusting algorithmic decisions over manual intervention. When results dipped, the solution was often to wait for the system to learn rather than make strategic adjustments.

Automation delivered scale, but it demanded surrendering control. In 2025, advertisers had to decide whether that tradeoff made sense.

Brands with authentic, involved, and vocal communities saw significant performance improvement. Brand communities also benefit the brand by providing endless UGC, instant feedback, and primed audiences to assist paid social efforts. 

What Actually Worked in 2025

AI Overviews Opened New Visibility, With Limits

Ads expanded into AI Overviews across more devices and regions. When they appeared, they mattered. These placements show up before users scroll and influence decisions early.

The challenge was consistency. Advertisers could not control when AI Overviews appeared or measure performance in a meaningful way. There was no way to optimize directly for them.

We treated these placements as incremental upside, not a strategy to chase. Strong fundamentals helped. Weak ones did not.

Performance Max Became More Practical

2025 was the first year Performance Max felt usable at scale.

Search term visibility improved. Channel-level reporting became clearer. Asset-level insights actually helped guide optimization. The controls that had always existed, negatives, demographics, search themes, finally had the transparency needed to use them effectively.

When paired with strong feeds, varied creative, and active management, Performance Max delivered. When treated as a set-it-and-forget-it solution, it consistently underperformed.

Creative Became a Performance Requirement

Google’s creative tools removed friction. Asset Studio and in-platform generation made it easier to produce volume quickly.

That mattered because automated campaigns need creative variety to work. Headlines, images, and video now directly influence performance.

The catch was quality. Some AI-generated creative worked well. Some felt generic or off-brand. In testing, assets generated without brand guidance often drove lower engagement and shorter performance windows. When creative inputs were structured and reviewed, we saw stronger CTRs and more stable conversion rates. AI helped scale output, but human direction made the difference.

The brands that performed best used AI for speed, not strategy. Human direction still matters.

Clean Data Became Non-Negotiable

AI-powered campaigns exposed data weaknesses.

Accounts with accurate conversion tracking and proper value assignment outperformed those without by margins exceeding 2x in many cases. Duplicate conversions, missing values, and weak signals led to inefficient bidding and unstable performance.

First-party data like Customer Match helped strong accounts get stronger. It couldn't fix broken fundamentals.

What Didn’t Work and Why It Matters

Blind Adoption of AI Max for Search

AI Max for Search launched in beta with significant buzz, but our early testing revealed clear limitations.

We saw irrelevant keyword matching, exclusions that were not always respected, and clunky setup flows. Automated copy sometimes missed brand intent entirely.

AI Max for Search showed promise as an expansion tool, not a replacement. Used carefully, it uncovered incremental volume. Used blindly, it created noise.

We will continue testing AI Max for Search in 2026, but with guardrails firmly in place.

Treating Performance Max as a Cure-All

Some advertisers tried to consolidate everything into Performance Max. Results usually suffered.

Performance Max excels at scale. It struggles with nuance. Brands with complex catalogs, promotions, or seasonal priorities still needed structured Search and Shopping campaigns.

The strongest accounts used Performance Max alongside other campaign types, not instead of them.

The Control Paradigm

The control paradox isn't going away. Google will continue removing manual options while adding "controls" that operate within automated guardrails.

The creative tension will intensify. As AI generates more assets, brand consistency becomes harder to maintain at scale.

AI optimizes for metrics. Brands care about positioning and voice. Those priorities do not always align.

Revel Interactive’s Bottom Line

2025 made one thing clear: automation is not the problem. Blind automation is.

The advertisers who succeeded weren't the ones who followed every Google recommendation. They were the ones who understood the systems, tested them critically, and intervened when automation couldn't account for business nuance.

2026 will reward that same approach. Clean data, varied creative, and strategic oversight will separate strong performance from mediocre results.

AI is powerful, but it still needs direction. The future of paid search isn't choosing between humans and machines, it's knowing how to use both well.

Sources

• LinkedIn Pulse: Google Ads News 2025 Recap

• LinkedIn Pulse: Google Ads News Q4 Recap

• Search Engine Journal: What Google’s 2025 Year in Review Tells Us About the Future of PPC

• Google Accelerate: 2025 Google Ads Recap

• WordStream: 2025 Google Ads Updates

• Google Ads Help: About Changes to Google Ads Features and Automation

• Search Engine Land: Google Ads Tactics to Drop

• PPC Land: Google Phases Out Call-Only Ads by February 2027 in Push Toward Automation

• DM Cockpit: Top Google Ads Trends in 2025

• Fluency: How to Automate Google Ads in 2025: Three Use Cases for Growth

• PPC Hero: Why Are Google Ads CPCs Increasing?

• This blog was edited with the assistance of Claude AI.

Honey Terminated from Affiliate Networks: What Brands Should Know

In January 2026, Honey (owned by PayPal) was removed from two major affiliate networks within the span of a few days. Rakuten Advertising terminated Honey from its network effective January 12, cutting off access to roughly 2,000 retail partners. Shortly after, Impact.com removed Honey from its Discovery Marketplace and temporarily suspended its account following a compliance investigation. 

These actions come amid growing attention on attribution practices and code usage behavior tied to browser extensions. While PayPal has since issued a response, the decisions by both networks point to a broader shift in how compliance is being enforced across affiliate programs. While Rakuten and Impact.com have taken action, other networks like CJ Affiliate have not commented, though industry watchers expect similar enforcement could follow.

What Happened

Rakuten Advertising notified advertisers on January 12, 2026 that Honey had been terminated from its affiliate network, effective immediately. Rakuten declined to comment publicly on the decision.

Impact.com followed on January 17, 2026, announcing that Honey had been removed from its Discovery Marketplace and that its account was temporarily suspended. According to Impact.com CEO David Yovanno, the action came after a thorough investigation that found Honey to be out of compliance with platform policies related to attribution practices. Impact.com stated that Honey’s suspension will remain in place while the company verifies that required changes have been made.

Together, these actions remove Honey from two of the largest affiliate ecosystems, significantly limiting its access to merchant partnerships.

PayPal’s Response

After Rakuten’s termination, PayPal issued a response. The company stated that it is aware of the actions taken regarding Honey and is working with Rakuten on a resolution.

PayPal explained that the issue stemmed from legacy code implemented prior to its acquisition of Honey. According to the company, the code impacted less than 0.1% of Honey’s traffic and has since been identified and deactivated. PayPal emphasized that Honey supports billions of shopping trips per year and reiterated its commitment to maintaining a fair and compliant ecosystem.

While PayPal maintains that the issue has been resolved, affiliate networks have continued to take enforcement action based on their own investigations and standards.

Why This Matters

Honey has faced declining revenue for many brands and ongoing challenges around enforcing code usage rules and maintaining program integrity. Networks are increasingly enforcing standards to protect advertiser trust and ensure consistent attribution.

For brands that relied on Honey, these removals may create short-term gaps in affiliate coverage or tracking. However, they also highlight the importance of understanding where affiliate value is truly coming from and how attribution is being earned.

More broadly, this situation reflects growing scrutiny of browser extensions and last-click attribution behavior across the industry.

What Brands Should Do Next

This is an ideal time to reassess your affiliate mix and shift efforts toward partners that offer more control and predictable performance. Brands should review where last-click conversions are coming from, especially at checkout, and confirm that attribution aligns with actual value provided.

If Honey played a meaningful role in your program, expect some redistribution rather than outright loss. Work with your network to identify partners that are likely to benefit and ensure tracking remains stable.

Consider partners like Checkmate, which provide:

• Exclusive codes that cannot be leaked publicly

• Easy-to-manage code controls

• Reliable performance and tracking

Taking proactive steps now helps protect your program, reduce attribution risk, and maintain strong relationships with both affiliate partners and networks.

Revel Interactive’s POV

At Revel Interactive, we see this as part of a broader trend toward transparency and accountability in affiliate marketing. Networks are drawing clearer lines around compliance and partner behavior, and enforcement is becoming more consistent across platforms.

Brands that adopt partners with clear rules, reliable reporting, and measurable value contribution will be better positioned for stability and long-term growth.

Want more context? Read our original January 2025 coverage on Honey and affiliate compliance here.

Sources:

• Hello Partner: Rakuten Advertising Removes PayPal Honey Browser Extension From Its Network

• PPC Land: Honey Loses Access to 2,000 Clients After Rakuten Network Termination

• MegaLag: Honey has just been TERMINATED from the Rakuten network. Email below shared by a user on LinkedIn.

• PPC Land: Impact.com Just Kicked Honey Off Its Network for Hiding Cookie Theft

• Hello Partner: PayPal Responds to Honey Stand-Down Allegations and Rakuten Removal

ChatGPT Ads Are Coming in 2026: What Marketers Need to Know Now

If you thought the Performance Max rollout kept you on your toes, buckle up. We're about to witness something we haven't seen since Google Ads launched in 2000: a completely new search advertising paradigm.

ChatGPT is testing ads internally right now, and the launch is imminent, likely Q1 or Q2 of this year. As someone who's been managing paid search campaigns through most major platforms evolution over the past 13 years, I can tell you this one feels different. And here's why we should all be paying attention.

Why This Matters More Than You Think

Let me start with the numbers that made me sit up straight: 800 million weekly active users. That's not total downloads or registered accounts, that's active weekly users engaging with ChatGPT right now. For context, that's roughly the population of Europe using this platform every single week.

Unlike when Google or Meta added new ad formats to existing platforms, OpenAI is building an advertising business on top of a product that users deeply trust with personal questions, financial decisions, and sensitive information. The second those ads feel intrusive or manipulative, users bolt. That constraint actually creates opportunity for advertisers willing to play by different rules.

What Makes Conversational Ads Different (And Why We Should Care)

I remember when smart bidding was introduced, when mobile-first indexing hit, when Performance Max forced us all to surrender control. Each time, we adapted. This is going to require something else entirely—a shift in mindset, not just methodology.

• Traditional Search Ads: User types "project management software" → We bid on that keyword → Our ad shows → User clicks

• ChatGPT Ads: User asks "I'm managing a team of 8 across 3 time zones and drowning in email threads, what do I need?" → AI understands context, intent, pain points → Sponsored recommendation appears in the answer

See the difference? We're not bidding on keywords anymore. We're bidding on actual human intent expressed in natural language. That's simultaneously exciting and terrifying.

The implications for how we structure campaigns, write ad copy, and think about targeting are huge. We've spent years optimizing for search queries. Now we need to optimize for conversations.

The Uncomfortable Truth About "Sponsored Recommendations"

Here's the part that's keeping me up at night, and I think we need to talk about it honestly: OpenAI is reportedly testing the ability to "prioritize sponsored content" within ChatGPT's actual responses. Not just sidebar ads, sponsored content in the answer itself.

Imagine a user asks ChatGPT: "What's the best way to treat a headache?" and the response prioritizes Advil because it's a paid placement, potentially burying information about when to see a doctor or alternative remedies.

That's a trust issue, plain and simple. And as advertisers, we have a responsibility to think about whether we want our brands showing up that way.

My take? The advertisers who win on this platform won't be the ones trying to game the system with the highest bids. They'll be the ones whose products genuinely solve the problem the user is asking about. ChatGPT's success depends on maintaining user trust, which means relevance isn't just a nice-to-have—it's existential for the platform.

The Revel Approach (What We're Actually Doing to Prepare)

At Revel Interactive, we're not waiting for an official announcement to start positioning our clients. Here's a glimpse of our playbook:

1. We're Recommending Microsoft Shopping Budget Now

Here's the strategic move: we're recommending clients allocate 5-10% of their paid search budget to Microsoft Ads Shopping. Why now? Because the setup barrier is practically non-existent. Microsoft Shopping can pull feeds directly from Google Merchant Center through a simple integration, no need to build an entirely new merchant account or duplicate all your feed work.

Why does this matter for ChatGPT? Given the OpenAI-Microsoft partnership, having an active presence on Microsoft Ads positions clients strategically for when ChatGPT advertising launches. Whether the ad platform integrates directly with Microsoft Ads or operates as a standalone system, clients with existing Microsoft Shopping campaigns will have cleaner data, established feeds, and the infrastructure to move quickly.

Budget constraints have kept many of our clients focused solely on Google, but the Microsoft integration removes the operational barrier. Now it's just about carving out a small testing budget to establish presence before ChatGPT ads go live and competition intensifies.

2. We're Working with Clients on Conversational Product Descriptions

Here's something we're starting to explore: AI-driven platforms need different feed optimization. Your product title "Women's Running Shoes Size 8" performs great in traditional Shopping. But ChatGPT users ask "What are comfortable running shoes for someone with flat feet who runs 5Ks?"

We're working with clients to test conversational product descriptions that answer questions, not just list features. It's a different skill set, closer to content writing than traditional feed optimization. Not every client is ready for this yet, but the ones who are will have a significant head start.

3. We're Setting Realistic Expectations with Clients

This is critical. We're not telling clients to shift budget from Google to ChatGPT in Q2. We're not promising this will be a silver bullet. What we are recommending is setting aside 5-10% of their Microsoft Ads Shopping budget as "experimental" so we're ready to test when beta access opens.

We learned this lesson with Performance Max: clients who had budget flexibility to test early got ahead. Clients who waited until their competitors had months of data struggled to catch up. 

4. We're Studying Conversational Search Patterns

Try this exercise: Go to ChatGPT right now and type in questions your customers ask. Not keywords, actual questions. See what comes back. Is your brand mentioned? Are your competitors? What content is ChatGPT pulling from?

We've been doing this for weeks across client verticals, and it's revealing. Some brands show up constantly. Others are invisible. That visibility gap exists before paid ads launch, which means there's organic opportunity right now.

The Three Scenarios We're Planning For

Nobody knows exactly how ChatGPT ads will launch, so we're preparing for three possibilities:

Scenario 1: Standalone Platform
OpenAI builds their own ads manager, similar to Google Ads or Microsoft Ads. We'd need to learn a new interface, new reporting, new optimization levers.

Scenario 2: Microsoft Ads Integration
ChatGPT becomes a new campaign type within Microsoft Advertising. This would be ideal. We already know the platform, our clients are already set up, and we could launch day one. Our bet? This is most likely given the OpenAI-Microsoft partnership.

Scenario 3: Hybrid Approach
Standalone platform that also integrates with Microsoft Ads for product feeds and some targeting. Honestly, this feels most realistic given how complex ad ecosystems work.

We're positioned for all three, with the heaviest emphasis on making sure Microsoft Ads infrastructure is solid across our client base.

What We’re Watching For (And You Should Too)

The next 90 days will tell us a lot. Here are our early warning signals that launch is imminent:

• OpenAI job postings for "Advertiser Success" or "Agency Relations" roles

• Microsoft Advertising webinars or documentation mentioning ChatGPT integration

• Beta program invitations starting to circulate (these usually leak to Reddit first, honestly)

• Updates to OpenAI's terms of service around commercial content

The moment we see two or more of these signals, we'll know we're weeks away, not months.

The Real Question: Should You Care Right Now?

It depends on your clients and your capacity.

You should absolutely care if:

• You manage e-commerce clients (shopping integration is coming)

• Your clients have strong Microsoft Ads performance already (lowest barrier to entry)

• You have budget flexibility to test new platforms (first-mover advantage is real)

You can wait if:

• Your clients are local service businesses without e-commerce (ChatGPT ads will skew toward retail initially)

• Your clients have razor-thin margins (beta testing requires budget cushion)

What you absolutely should not do is ignore this until Q4 2026 and then panic when competitors have been optimizing for six plus months. We've seen this before with Performance Max, and it doesn't end well.

Final Thoughts: Staying Ahead Without Losing Our Minds

Look, I get it. Another platform, another set of unknowns, another thing to explain to clients who are still asking why their exact match keywords aren't actually exact anymore. The pace of change in paid search is exhausting.

But here's what I keep coming back to: we're watching the birth of conversational advertising in real time. Twenty years from now, we'll tell newer marketers about "the time before AI ads" the same way we talk about "before smartphones" or "before Performance Max."

The agencies that thrive won't be the ones with perfect information, none of us have that. It'll be the ones who stay curious, test intelligently, and help clients navigate change without overpromising or fear-mongering.

At Revel Interactive, we're approaching this the way we approach every major platform shift: informed optimism, strategic preparation, and a willingness to be wrong and adjust quickly. That's worked for us through every Google update, every Meta algorithm change, and every new feature rollout. No reason to change the playbook now.

Stay tuned. We’ll be sharing updates as we learn more. And if you want to talk through what this means for your specific clients? You know where to find your Revel team. This is what we're here for.

Sources:

• The Information: OpenAI's Ads Push

• BleepingComputer: OpenAI Testing Ads

• This blog was edited with the help of Claude AI.

2025 Paid Social Retrospective: Platform Winners, Creative Trends, and What's Driving Performance in 2026

The paid social landscape underwent major shifts in 2025, with creative formats evolving, platform competition intensifying, user behavior changing, and of course, the increasingly relevant role of AI in the everyday. As we get further into the new year, reflecting on last year's winners, losers, and understanding the key takeaways is paramount to staying competitive.

Platform Winners and Losers

TikTok really cemented itself as a performance marketing powerhouse in 2025. Previously viewed as more of an awareness/discovery platform, the ever-advancing algorithm, in combination with the robustness of TikTok Shop's interface, proved that the platform can and did drive meaningful conversion volume.

Meta proved resilient among competing platforms. Instagram Reels gained popularity as users embraced the endless scrollability format inspired by TikTok, and Sales campaigns continue to become more hands-off as a self-driving conversion engine.

LinkedIn and Pinterest also emerged as somewhat unexpected winners. LinkedIn further solidified its place as a B2B paid social powerhouse with meaningful ROI, despite its high CPMs. Pinterest quietly dominated purchase-intent audiences, with its keyword-based visual search and Google-like shopping features driving notable conversion rates for brands in fashion, home decor, and lifestyle verticals, more than previous years.

X and Snapchat struggled in 2025—with advertisers being hesitant about brand safety within X, and Snapchat losing its Gen Z audience as their preference moves to other platforms.

2025 Paid Social Creative Trends

True Authenticity

As AI-generated and AI-enhanced creative becomes more and more common in our feeds, users are responding more favorably to raw, authentic, human-made content. Audiences are hyper-aware of "faked" UGC and overpolished brand images. Genuinely real, unpolished content from actual customers saw engagement rates 3-5x higher than traditional creative. Users trusted micro-influencers over highly produced brand content.

Brands with authentic, involved, and vocal communities saw significant performance improvement. Brand communities also benefit the brand by providing endless UGC, instant feedback, and primed audiences to assist paid social efforts. 

Volume & Variation

Brands testing 20+ creative variations per month consistently outperformed those running less frequent (i.e., quarterly) refreshes. Paid social platform algorithms' appetite for novelty and newness meant fresh content, even if imperfect or less differentiated, beat stale winners.

2026 Paid Social Predictions

Algorithm-Guided Broad Targeting

As we've seen from Meta's Sales campaigns, platforms' AI-guided algorithms work best with broad targeting with few limitations. The new targeting is creative and landing page signals. There's potential for platforms to start taking more and more control away from advertisers and putting it into the hands of their own algorithms and technologies to drive results.

In-platform Social Commerce

TikTok Shop's success is leading more paid social platforms to improve their own native commerce capabilities, including Meta and Pinterest. The line between content and commerce is gradually disappearing, as we've seen with the swift integration of TikTok Shop items into creator-made content. The shoppability of ads is no longer a click to a website, they now fully circumvent websites altogether, with the shopping experience staying in the platform.

Authenticity Saturation

Brands will be in competition as to who can be the most authentic with their paid social content –the most real, in a landscape where users are valuing that more and more. Winners will emerge in terms of whose ads people actually trust and believe in, versus whose are performative and scripted.

The Bottom Line

As we move through 2026, success will come down to embracing platform evolution rather than fighting it. That means leaning into algorithm-guided broad targeting, investing in creative volume over perfection, building involved customer communities that fuel organic and paid social content, and preparing for the shift to native in-platform commerce.

The brands that will dominate aren't those clinging to old playbooks, they're the ones willing to let evolve alongside platforms' AI algorithms & focusing their energy on what algorithms can't replicate: genuine human connection and trust with their audiences.

How Meta’s Updated Creative Testing Tool Can Benefit Your Brand

Meta has updated its creative testing capabilities to a more streamlined approach that can be set up directly at the ad level in Ads Manager. Here’s what you need to know:

The Old Process:

Historically, A/B tests were a manual process requiring you to create a dedicated testing ad set with duplicated creatives. This required additional budget for testing purposes, and these campaigns were not optimized for performance. Another approach was to test ads within the same ad set, which resulted in unbalanced results. For example, Meta will always favor the top performing ad, so it’s not exactly an apples to apples comparison if one ad gets a majority of the spend.

What’s Changed? 

You can now implement creative testing at the ad level; allowing advertisers to fairly test creative within existing ad sets. This new process addresses the skewed ad delivery, while still optimizing for performance during the testing period. This streamlined process allows you to select the creative you want to test, and the tool handles the process of splitting up the budget and audience fairly across the ad variations.

Select the “Set up test” button within the “Creative Testing” section at the ad level

Here’s what the new ad set up allows you to control within the test: 

• Number of ads to test (2-5 variants)

• Duration of the test

• Recommended: at least 10-14 days 

• Daily budget

• Metric used to compare performance

There are several ways creative testing can benefit your brand. As competition (CPMs, CPAs, etc.) increases, which is especially relevant during peak Q4 holiday rush, finding the top creative variants is essential. If your creative isn’t resonating, no amount of good targeting or budget shifts will compensate. The insights from the creative testing tool provide learnings for your brand to focus on cost management and improve ROAS in a highly competitive environment. This tool also allows you to compare performance across new customers, which is crucial when trying to understand which messaging and creative helps get new shoppers in the door.

Beyond the tool itself, Revel combines the latest platform innovations with a thoughtful, data-informed strategy and close partnership to ensure a cohesive creative approach that ladders up to your broader brand goals.

Sources:

• Facebook Business Help – A/B Test Types Available on Meta Technologies
• Facebook Business Help – Create an A/B Test by Duplicating an Ad Set or Ad
• Facebook Business – A/B Testing / Measurement
• Facebook Business Help – Create Ad Campaigns in Meta Ads Manager
• Facebook Business Help – Ideal Time Frame

This blog was edited with the help of Claude AI.

Photo: © cottonbro studio from Pexels

Ad Fatigue on Meta: How to Detect It Early + Fix It Fast

As marketers, a common challenge we encounter is ad fatigue on Meta. Even high-performing Meta ads can start to lose effectiveness over time. Audiences scroll past, click less, and conversion rates can begin to decline. Unfortunately, if you don’t catch it early, it can drain your budget and annoy your audience.

We’re here to help you identify early signs of ad fatigue, what metrics to monitor, and how to refresh your creative strategy to keep your campaigns performing at their best.

What Is Ad Fatigue and Why It Happens

Ad fatigue occurs when your audience sees the same ad too many times and stops engaging with the ad. Because of this, Meta’s algorithm may deprioritize your ads in delivery. 

Common causes:

• High ad frequency with limited audience size

• Stagnant creative (overusing the same visuals, copy, or format)

• Over-investing in retargeting strategies 

This leads to:

• Lower CTR

• Higher CPA

• Declining site traffic

• Declining ROAS and wasted ad spend

An easy way to check when Meta believes your audience has seen your ad too many times is by looking at your Delivery column. If it says “Creative limited” or “Creative fatigue,” that could be a signal you are dealing with ad fatigue. However, note that it can also warn “Creative limited” while a new ad is ramping up, so don’t worry about it if you see it right after uploading new ads.

Metrics That Signal Ad Fatigue Early

To catch ad fatigue early, monitor these metrics closely:

1. Click-Through Rate (CTR)

A declining CTR period-over-period suggests viewers are tuning out. Compare current CTR against your historical averages to establish a benchmark, then also be sure to note trends week over week or month over month (though we recommend refreshing your ads more frequently!)

2. Frequency

This is the average number of times a user has seen your ad over a specific period of time. According to Meta, a frequency over 3–4 times in a short period of time (7 days or less) often correlates with declining engagement. However, it depends on the campaign objective and funnel stage. It’s key to consider the time range that you’re evaluating performance. Seeing a frequency of 10 over a month doesn’t necessarily signal alarm bells, while that same frequency over 7 days would be considered high.

It’s also important to note that frequency compounds if you are delivering the same ads at various funnel stages. For example, showing the same ad to your Prospecting audience and your Retargeting audience feels repetitive to the user as they move down the funnel. Although Meta may show your frequency as 1-2, in reality, that user could be seeing your ad upward of 5+ times unless you have good creative differentiation at each funnel stage.

3. Engagement & Feedback

Decreasing likes, shares, and comments can also indicate fatigue. These user behaviors directly impact how Meta evaluates your ad quality and can have a negative impact by lowering the quality ranking in the auction.

4. Meta Delivery Insights

Lastly, be sure to do frequent scans of the Delivery column in Ads Manager to check for system-detected issues like “Creative Fatigue” or “Creative Limited.” If that signal is showing early after a new ad upload, it could be due to the ad ramping up.

How to Fix Ad Fatigue on Meta

Once you spot signs of fatigue, here are a few tips on how to revive performance:

A. Refresh Your Creative

New visuals, formats, or messaging can breathe life into your campaigns. According to Meta’s Creative Differentiation guide, varying your ad’s framing, focal point, or context can improve performance significantly.

Quick refresh options:

• Change the image or video

• Reframe copy or headline (different benefit or hook)

• Switch CTA from “Sign Up” to “Download” and include a downloadable PDF

• Adjust background color or the layout

• Add a new frame or overlay on imagery

B. Expand or Adjust Audience Targeting

• Combine cold and warm audiences where relevant

• Refresh lookalike audiences with high-quality seed lists (e.g. purchasers)

• Layer interests or broaden targeting slightly to reach new users

C. Experiment With Formats

• Test single image vs. carousel vs. video

• Leveraging Reels and Stories placements

• Testing interactive formats (like polls or forms for giveaways, lead gen, etc.) 

Build a Proactive Creative Rotation Plan

The best fix for ad fatigue is prevention. Build a rotation cadence into your ad strategy:

• Most brands can benefit from refreshing creative about every 7–14 days 

• Set up a creative pipeline using a project management system 

• Use A/B testing to evaluate new concepts quickly

Meta’s own best practices reinforce that frequent variation in creative (even minor changes) boosts performance by keeping content feeling fresh and relevant. 

Ad fatigue is avoidable with the right signals and systems in place. By tracking CTR and frequency early and often and by having a creative refresh strategy in place, you can protect your Meta ad performance and scale more sustainably.

Want to catch fatigue before it starts? At Revel, we ensure our clients’ ad creative remains fresh and relevant in order to maintain performance and scale success. Contact us today to get your Meta campaign’s creative strategy optimized!

Source:

• Facebook Business Help – Ad Fatigue & Creative Refresh
• Facebook Business – Creative Differentiation / Prevent Fatigue
• Influee – Ad Fatigue on Facebook

This blog was edited with the help of Claude AI.

Photo: © Emanuel Ursu's Images

Shopify’s New ChatGPT Shopping Experience

Online shopping just took a major leap forward. Shopify has officially teamed up with OpenAI to let merchants sell products directly inside ChatGPT conversations. No new tabs, no redirects, and no checkout forms that make you lose steam mid-scroll. Just chat, click, and buy — all in one place.

Source: CNBC

HOW IT WORKS

This new shopping experience comes from a partnership between OpenAI, Shopify, and Stripe. It has two main parts:

• Instant Checkout

• When ChatGPT recommends a product, a “Buy” button appears in the chat. You tap it, confirm details, and the purchase is complete in seconds.

• Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP)

• This is the secure technology behind the scenes. ACP lets ChatGPT send product details and process payments without sharing private customer data.

Source: OpenAI

What This Looks Like for Shoppers

Imagine this: you’re chatting with ChatGPT and say, “Can you recommend a good vitamin C serum under $50?”

A few products appear. One looks perfect — brightening, lightweight, and in your budget. You hit “Buy,” confirm your shipping and payment information in the chat, and your order is done. No browser tabs. No redirect. No abandoned carts.

For now, the feature supports single-item purchases and is available to U.S. ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Free users. Multi-item carts and broader merchant rollouts are coming soon.

Why Merchants Are Paying Attention

For Shopify sellers, this integration opens a whole new sales channel without rebuilding your store.

1. Easy setup: Orders show up in your Shopify dashboard like any other sale.

2. Full control: You handle shipping, returns, and customer support.

3. Secure payments: ACP works with your existing payment processor, making transactions smooth and safe.

More than 700 million people use ChatGPT every week. This gives Shopify sellers a huge audience to reach.

The Commerce Shift Has Begun

OpenAI takes a small transaction fee from purchases made in ChatGPT. That means merchants pay only for real sales, not clicks. This changes the cost model for digital commerce.

Shopify’s stock rose 8.1% after the announcement. Big names like Glossier, SKIMS, Spanx, and Vuori are joining the rollout soon. Etsy sellers are already live, and early results show strong demand.

How to Prepare

Online shopping just took a major leap forward, and merchants need to be ready. This isn’t just about having a good website anymore — it’s about being optimized for AI‑driven discovery.

This marks the start of AI optimization — the next step beyond SEO. Merchants will need to think differently to get noticed and recommended in ChatGPT. At the core of this is having clean, detailed product data and feeds that AI can easily understand.

Here are the key focus areas:

• Clear product data: Honest, detailed product titles and descriptions make it easier for ChatGPT to surface your items.

• Up‑to‑date pricing and inventory: Keep information accurate to avoid disappointed shoppers.

• Feed optimization: ChatGPT’s product results are powered by conversational search and rely on structured, accurate data. This means making sure your product pages and feeds are fully optimized.

Revel recommends these best practices to prepare your feeds for AI:

• Ensure ChatGPT’s crawler (OAI‑SearchBot) can access your site by reviewing your robots.txt file.

• Improve product detail pages with clear titles, rich descriptions, and schema markup.

• Use tools like IndexNow to keep your product data fresh and accurate in real time.

• Optimize Google and Microsoft Merchant Centers, as ChatGPT pulls data from multiple sources.

• Sign up for early access to feed submission opportunities when OpenAI launches them.

The question is no longer just “How do I rank on Google?” It’s “How do I get recommended by ChatGPT?” To explore this further, check out Revel’s ChatGPT Shopping Results Optimization Guide.

Embracing Headless Commerce

As AI-driven shopping experiences like ChatGPT Instant Checkout become more prevalent, adopting a headless commerce architecture can provide significant advantages for merchants.

Headless commerce decouples the front end (what customers see) from the back end (your Shopify store), allowing for greater flexibility and customization. This separation enables businesses to deliver personalized and consistent shopping experiences across various channels, such as websites, mobile apps, and even voice assistants.

Key benefits of headless commerce include:

• Omnichannel experience: Deliver a seamless shopping experience across multiple touchpoints.

• Rich personalization: Tailor content and product offerings to individual customer preferences.

• Flexibility and agility: Quickly adapt to market trends and customer demands without disrupting the backend.

• Best-of-breed integrations: Integrate with specialized tools and platforms to enhance functionality.

• Scalability and performance: Scale your business efficiently as it grows.

By adopting a headless approach, merchants can future-proof their stores and stay ahead in the rapidly evolving e-commerce landscape.

The Bottom Line

The Shopify ChatGPT integration is more than a feature. It’s a shift in how people shop online. Conversations become transactions. Shopping becomes instant.

For merchants, it opens new opportunities. For shoppers, it makes buying effortless. This is the future of online shopping — and it’s already here.

SOURCES

• Big Commerce

• Yahoo Finance

• EC Digital Strategy

• CNBC

• OpenAI

• Shopify

• Eesel.ai

• CBS News

Photo: © CNBC

Why Advertisers Should Take TikTok Shop Seriously This Holiday Season

The 2025 holiday season is shaping up to be one of the most competitive in years, with businesses battling for share of wallet amid an unpredictable consumer confidence landscape. Advertisers need to prepare early and solidify their strategies in advance, while also remaining nimble as the season unfolds. 

One way brands should be preparing for the holiday season is by diversifying their advertising channels, and one channel that should be seriously considered is TikTok Shop. TikTok Shop is emerging as a retail powerhouse that brands should no longer dismiss as a legitimate advertising and sales channel. With its unique combination of entertaining creator-made content and seamless e-commerce features, TikTok Shop has quickly evolved from a buzzy experiment to a full-fledged sales platform backed by impressive results.

TikTok’s undeniable sales momentum 

TikTok Shop officially launched in the U.S. in late 2023, and has seen explosive revenue growth ever since. “...global TikTok Shop GMV surged to $33.2 billion in 2024 — more than doubling year-over-year. The U.S. alone contributed $9 billion of that total, marking a staggering 650% increase just 16 months after TikTok Shop launched stateside..” 

This momentum shows no signs of slowing, with projections indicating that the number of TikTok shoppers will grow nearly 6% annually,  reaching over 55 million by 2027. TikTok is also capturing and driving customer loyalty, with over 80% of TikTok Shop sales coming from repeat customers.

Major brands have long since taken notice, particularly in the beauty and personal care space. Powerhouses such as Tarte Cosmetics, K18 Hair, and Glossier are already thriving on the platform, offering product bundles, free shipping incentives, and exclusive TikTok shop discounts to capture shoppers’ attention and drive sales on the platform. 

Seamless Entertainment-driven shopping 

TikTok Shop is the epitome of entertainment-driven e-commerce. Creators remain the platform's heartbeat, and TikTok integrates them directly into the sales process. Through built-in affiliate programs, creators earn commission on every sale they drive, motivating them to produce authentic, high-quality content for brands. This model transforms influencer marketing from a top-of-funnel awareness play into a measurable, purchase-driving strategy. On top of this, the TikTok Shop purchase experience is seamless for consumers by allowing all phases of the purchase journey to occur without leaving the app  –including discovery, reviews, checkout, and even customer service follow-up. This frictionless buying experience boosts conversion rates and encourages impulse buys. 

Built-in Holiday Sales Visibility 

TikTok caters very well to the price-conscious shopper, consistently highlighting discounts, bundles, and free shipping incentives that nudge shoppers toward conversion. Savings incentives are placed front and center, displaying deals within product pages, creator videos, and the “Shop” tab, so users can spot them instantly. These tactics align perfectly with Black Friday/Cyber Monday and broader holiday promotions, ensuring that limited-time offers and seasonal discounts stay highly visible across content and product listings, and that shoppers are fully aware of every savings opportunity a brand provides.

Where Revel Comes In 

The holiday season is always a high-stakes time of year for brands, and 2025 will be no exception. As businesses solidify their strategies, TikTok Shop should at the very least be part of the conversation. 

Revel recommends starting to test this channel now, cultivating creator partnerships, and highlighting compelling offers to establish a presence on the Shop and connect with the users on the platform. 

Through our Creator management program, we help brands manage Creator relationships and take advantage of trending TikTok opportunities, and with our integrated TikTok and Paid Social management services, it’s easier than ever to build momentum. 

If you aren’t yet, exploring TikTok Shop now can give your brand fresh reach and a clear advantage when the holiday rush is in full swing.

Photo: © Leeloo The First from Pexels

Measuring ROI in Influencer Campaigns: What Metrics Actually Matter

As more brands expand into influencer marketing, the question arises: “how should you measure success in this new channel?”

When it comes to influencer marketing, "ROI" isn't just about sales—or even simple reach. It's about understanding what success looks like for your unique campaign goals and choosing the right metrics to reflect that.

Influencer marketing is here to stay as it continues to dominate on platforms like Instagram and TikTok. 58% of consumers now have TikTok profiles, and 82% of Gen-Z users are on the platform according to Sprout Social. Additionally, 36% of social-driven direct purchases occur on TikTok, making it a proven commerce-enabled medium. 

Once you’ve decided it’s time for your brand to launch an influencer campaign, here are the metrics that truly matter when evaluating success.

Key Metrics Across the Funnel

According to the Digital Marketing Institute, six essential KPIs to track for an influencer campaign are: traffic, engagement, conversions, brand awareness and sentiment, audience growth rate, and ROI (source: Digital Marketing Institute). 

Traffic (such as clicks and page visits) shows intent, while engagement (likes, saves, comments, shares) reflects content resonance—especially crucial for influencer marketing.

Influencer Marketing Hub also groups success metrics into similar categories: immediate campaign metrics, ROI & sales-related metrics, and brand awareness & sentiment metrics (source: Influencer Marketing Hub). 

• Immediate metrics: Reach, engagement, click-throughs

• ROI/sales-related metrics: Conversions, sales value, cost per acquisition

• Brand awareness & sentiment: Surveys, mentions, sentiment shifts
  

70% of marketers now measure ROI in influencer marketing campaigns, though about 13.6% still face challenges with measurement. (source: Influencer Marketing Hub). 

At Revel Interactive, we work with our brands to determine KPIs aligned with brand goals as well as where the brand is in their stage of growth. Ie, for a growing D2C brand, we would hone in on Brand Awareness strategies. 

Putting It All Together: The Metrics That Matter

How to Measure and Report Effectively

1. Align metrics to campaign objectives—set measurable KPIs upfront with the campaign objectives in mind.

2. Use tracking tools—use UTMs, affiliate links, promo codes, and analytics dashboards to monitor traffic and conversions.

3. Incorporate sentiment analysis—brand awareness surveys and social listening can uncover shifts in perception.

4. Benchmark and iterate—compare performance to past campaigns and industry benchmarks.
   

Final Thoughts

ROI in influencer marketing isn’t one-size-fits-all. It’s not enough to count likes or views. The real success comes from knowing what you want, selecting metrics that align with those objectives, and interpreting them in context—whether that's sales, long-term brand equity, or cultural relevance.

By blending campaign performance with strategic context, you’ll measure not just activity, but real impact.

Interested in launching a creator marketing campaign to complement your existing paid media strategy? Reach out to your Revel account manager to learn more about our creator offerings or reach out through on our website.

Sources:

• Digital Marketing Institute – 5 Essential KPIs for Your Influencer Marketing Campaign
• Influencer Marketing Hub – How to Measure Influencer Campaigns
• Sprout Social – TikTok Statistics & Insights

This blog was edited with the help of Claude AI.

Photo: © warrengoldswain from Getty Images Pro

One in Five ChatGPT Citations Go to Reddit and Wikipedia, What Does That Mean for SEO?

What’s Happening with ChatGPT Referral Traffic?

Referral traffic from ChatGPT has declined dramatically since mid-July. According to research from Profound, led by Josh Blyskal, referral traffic dropped by 52% in a single month². This decline was not due to technical issues but rather to a shift in how OpenAI’s systems select and weight citations in responses.

The takeaway is clear: ChatGPT is prioritizing answer-first sources. And right now, the major winners are Reddit and Wikipedia.

The Rise of Reddit and Wikipedia in ChatGPT Citations

Profound’s study found that one in every five ChatGPT citations is directed to only three sites: Wikipedia, Reddit, and TechRadar. According to Marketing 4 Ecommerce, “Citations to Reddit increased by 87% in late July, while Wikipedia citations increased by 62%.¹

Why these two platforms? They align with the way Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) works.

• Wikipedia offers structured, neutral, and regularly updated content that models can easily parse

• Reddit delivers user-driven discussions, real comparisons, and opinions that capture how people actually evaluate products, tools, and ideas
  

Both are frequently updated, both use natural language, and both provide clarity in a way that AI tools reward.

Why Brands Are Losing Citations

This shift creates challenges for brand websites. When a user asks ChatGPT, “What’s the best CRM for startups?,” Reddit is cited because it contains a thread comparing multiple options. By contrast, a brand website often says “Request a demo.”

The difference is utility. In an answer-first ecosystem, vague marketing copy underperforms. AI favors sources that:

• Compare multiple solutions

• Provide step-by-step how-to answer

• Include structured, neutral information
  

How to Optimize for Reddit and Wikipedia to Gain AI Visibility

While you cannot control OpenAI’s algorithms, you can influence your chances of being cited by optimizing for the ecosystems AI favors.

1. Wikipedia Optimization

Wikipedia has been a weighted dataset in LLM training for years. Its structured, community moderated content makes it a priority source. To optimize:

• Ensure your brand or product has an accurate, neutral Wikipedia entry

• Provide citations from reputable third-party publications, not self-published sources

• Strengthen topic-level entries related to your industry. AI favors category-level context (e.g., “Ecommerce platforms”) as much as brand-level pages
  

2. Reddit Optimization

OpenAI also has a data licensing agreement with Reddit, giving ChatGPT direct access to Reddit’s API. That means Reddit is not just cited, it’s baked into the pipeline. To optimize:

• Participate authentically in relevant subreddits

• Know the culture, lead with value, and be transparent

• Encourage community discussion of your brand or product

• Share insights, comparisons, and helpful resources, not promotions

• Focus on engagement: upvotes and comments improve visibility and likelihood of being cited in LLM outputs
  

3. Align Your Content with Answer-First Search

Even outside these platforms, your website should mirror the formats that ChatGPT prefers:

• Publish detailed comparative guides

• Create question-and-answer content

• Add statistics, quotations, and sourced data

• Write in natural language, structured so an AI model can easily synthesize your information
  

The Volatility of AI-Driven Traffic

Just as with Google’s algorithm updates, traffic from ChatGPT is volatile. A single adjustment to citation weighting caused millions of lost referrals in weeks.

That instability underscores a new reality. Visibility in AI ecosystems depends on answer-first content, participation in community moderated platforms, and agility in adapting to AI’s evolving signals.

The Future of SEO in the AI Era

Search is not dead, but it is decentralized. Traditional SEO metrics like keyword rankings and organic clicks are no longer the sole measure of visibility.

Instead, marketers must now optimize for:

• Citations in AI engines (visibility within the answer itself)

• Presence on weighted platforms like Wikipedia and Reddit

• Answer first content formats that solve problems directly
  

ChatGPT will not kill SEO. But it will kill SEO strategies that fail to adapt. Brands that invest in credibility, utility, and community presence will continue to earn visibility.

Ready to adapt your SEO for the AI-first era? Our team at Revel helps brands integrate Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) strategies to gain visibility in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and beyond.

Sources:

• Marketing4Ecommerce – The Referred Traffic from ChatGPT Drops
• Search Engine Land – ChatGPT Traffic Referrals Plummet

This blog was edited with the help of Claude AI.

Photo: © Tim Witzdam from Pexels

3 Strategic Use Cases for Target CPA Bidding in Meta That Drive Real Results

The Smart Advertiser's Guide to Target CPA Success in Meta

In the black box of Meta’s targeting it can be difficult to ensure we are paying the right amount to acquire the right customers at the right moment. Target CPA bidding in Meta allows you to set a cost-per-result target, with the algorithm automatically adjusting spend to hit that goal, but knowing when and how to deploy this strategy separates successful campaigns from budget black holes.

At Revel Interactive, we've identified three strategic use cases that transform how businesses approach target CPA bidding in Meta. These proven strategies help our clients achieve measurable results while keeping acquisition costs sustainable.

The bottom line: Target CPA bidding works best when you understand the customer journey and can differentiate your bidding strategy based on where customers sit in that journey.

Strategy 1: Bid Up for High-Value New Customer Acquisition

The first strategic use case involves being willing to pay more to acquire new customers—but only when the data supports it. This approach is dependent on having data to know the average customer lifetime value and repeat purchase rate. 

Here's how it works: when you understand that a new customer will generate $3K in lifetime value, paying $75 to acquire them instead of $45 suddenly makes financial sense even if the ROAS on the first purchase isn’t ideal. Especially, when owned channels like email and SMS play their part and keep repeat purchase rates high and retention costs low. Meta's algorithm can optimize for conversion objectives while targeting specific cost thresholds, allowing you to capture high-intent prospects who might otherwise go to competitors.

Key implementation tactics:

• Set your target CPA 20-30% higher than your current average for new customer campaigns

• Use broad targeting to give the algorithm maximum data points

• Focus on conversion-optimized creative that emphasizes value propositions

• Track back to actual customer LTV to validate the strategy's effectiveness

This approach works particularly well for businesses with strong repeat purchase rates and clear customer value metrics. 

Strategy 2: Bid Down on Existing Customers to Avoid Double-Spend

The second strategic application focuses on efficiency: preventing your paid campaigns from competing with your organic retention efforts. When email marketing, SMS, or other owned channels would naturally bring customers back, paying premium advertising rates creates unnecessary overlap.

This strategy requires sophisticated audience exclusions and careful target CPA calibration. Effective audience segmentation allows you to assign individual budgets to different customer segments and track their performance separately, ensuring your ad spend targets genuinely incremental conversions.

Strategic implementation steps:

• Exclude high-LTV repeat customers from standard conversion campaigns

• Create separate, lower-bid campaigns for existing customers who haven't engaged recently

• Set target CPA 30-40% lower than new customer acquisition campaigns

• Pair with retention email sequences to test incrementality

The key insight: you're not trying to eliminate spend on existing customers entirely, but rather ensuring paid channels complement—rather than duplicate—your retention marketing efforts. In this strategy the goal is to use paid dollars to convert inexpensive repeat customers and allow owned channels to do the rest. This would be applicable when there is a strong focus on new customer acquisition within an account. 

Strategy 3: Targeted Re-engagement for First-Time Customer Loyalty

The third use case creates a strategic middle ground: bidding up specifically on first-time customers who haven't made a second purchase within your typical repurchase window. This approach recognizes that the jump from first to second purchase often determines long-term customer value.

Improved audience targeting and relevant creatives lead to higher conversion rates, and this strategy applies that principle to the crucial loyalty-building phase. Instead of treating all existing customers the same, you're investing strategically in the subset most likely to become loyal, repeat buyers.

Tactical execution framework:

• Create custom audiences of first-time single purchasers within the designated repurchase window

• Set target CPA 10-20% higher than standard retargeting campaigns

• Develop creative specifically focused on second-purchase incentives

• Use dynamic catalog ads to showcase complementary products

• Test discount offers against value-focused messaging

This approach typically shows strong results because you're intervening at a critical decision point in the customer journey. From here, owned channels can reengage these now loyal customers in the future. 

Making Target CPA Work: Implementation Best Practices

Regardless of which strategic use case you're implementing, several best practices ensure success with target CPA bidding in Meta:

Give the algorithm room to learn. Target CPA requires a learning phase of 7-10 days where performance may fluctuate, but rushing to make changes during this period resets the optimization process.

Start with realistic targets based on historical data. Setting your target CPA at your actual 30-day CPA provides a solid baseline before gradually optimizing up or down based on your strategic objectives.

Structure campaigns for clear signal clarity. Mixing different customer types, purchase intents, or funnel stages in the same campaign dilutes the algorithm's ability to optimize effectively. Keep your strategic use cases in separate campaign structures.

Monitor beyond just CPA metrics. Track customer lifetime value, retention rates, and incrementality to ensure your target CPA strategy delivers genuine business value, not just efficient conversions.

Dynamic Creative and Automation Amplifiers

Target CPA bidding pairs exceptionally well with Meta's automated creative tools. Dynamic catalog ads particularly work effectively when combined with target CPA strategies, especially for the first-time customer loyalty campaigns where you can showcase personalized product recommendations.

Consider these automation enhancements:

• Use Advantage+ campaigns for broad new customer acquisition

• Leverage dynamic catalog ads for loyalty-building campaigns

• Test creative variations systematically within each strategic use case

The Strategic Advantage

The businesses that succeed with target CPA bidding in Meta understand that it's not just about hitting cost targets—it's about aligning those targets with customer journey strategy. By implementing these three use cases thoughtfully, you create a bidding approach that supports both immediate performance and long-term customer value.

Ready to implement strategic target CPA bidding that actually drives business results? Our team at Revel Interactive specializes in developing data-driven Meta strategies that align with your customer lifetime value metrics. Let's discuss how these approaches can transform your acquisition and retention efforts.

Contact Revel Interactive today to optimize your Meta campaigns with strategic target CPA bidding approaches that deliver measurable business growth.

Sources:

• Impulse Analytics – Facebook Ads Strategy 2024
• LeadsBridge – Meta Ads Strategy 2025
• The EE Digital – 2025 Facebook Ads Benchmarks
• 30characters – Target CPA in Google Ads 2025
• Search Engine Land – Target CPA Bidding Guide
• AdMetrics – Scale Facebook Ads 2025

This blog was edited with the help of Claude AI.

Photo: © Christian Chan from Getty Images

Social Media Platform “Threads” Launches Paid Advertising for Marketers

Instagram’s text-based platform Threads is now allowing advertisements, giving marketers access to its 300 million active monthly users. While initially tested with a select group of advertisers, ads are now accessible to all users as of late April 2025, nearly two years after the platform launched. At the end of August users can now optimize their media and placements on Threads just like any other Meta placement. 

What is Threads? 

Instagram’s response to X (formerly twitter), Threads is a text-based platform that allows users to participate in discussions, share updates, and follow other profiles they are interested in viewing. This platform is only accessible to Instagram users. (Instagram)

While very similar to X, a key differentiator between the two platforms is the focus on “kindness” and more of a “positive environment” according to the platform creators. (MarTech)

How will ads work? 

• Meta is expanding its advertising placements by adding Threads as an option in Ads Manager, allowing ads to appear directly in users' Threads feeds

• The new placement is called “threads feed” and will be on by default for new campaigns using the Advantage+ placement. Marketers have the choice to opt out using manual placements (Meta)

• Threads will focus ads where people are over-indexing on the app, to deliver relevant and personalized content to each user. To strengthen the personalization, Threads has put measures in place such as surveys, to understand what people want to see. There will also be an option to skip ads, report, or hide them. (Meta)

Is Threads a good fit for your brand? 

• If you’re looking to reach a younger audience or increase your male customer base, Threads could be a good fit. Its user demographics skew heavily towards the 18-34 age range, and 57% of users are men (Statistica)

• 20% of users are 18-24

• 29% of users are 25-34

• With ad spend down 59% on X, and marketers looking to explore new platforms, Threads offers an alternative in the text-based marketing space and is the fastest growing social media platform since its launch. (MarTech)

• Threads provides three objectives for ads, allowing advertisers to reach users at all stages of the funnel:

• Awareness 

• Traffic

• Sales

Interested in expanding your paid program to Threads? Your Revel team is happy to chat through next steps!

Sources:

• Instagram Help – Threads Ads Guidance
• Search Engine Land – Threads Ads Global Launch
• Digiday – Meta’s Threads Expected to Launch Ads This Year
• Meta Business – Introducing Ads in Threads
• Statista – Threads
• MarTech – Marketing on Threads: What You Need to Know

Unlocking Growth with Demand Gen: Go Beyond Search Marketing to Find New Customers

Reimagining display and YouTube campaigns with Demand Gen for smarter awareness marketing.

Introduction 

At Revel, we see Google’s Demand Gen campaigns as the bridge between awareness and conversion—meeting over three billion monthly users, according to Google, right where they're exploring, not just searching. For brands ready to expand beyond search, Demand Gen unlocks new scale and reach, comparable to social platforms in Google’s own ecosystem. It’s a fit for clients with strong conversion tracking, visual-first assets, and a minimum $3,000/month budget. Brands that are starting to plateau in search and want to compete with the influence of social without paying inflated costs should explore Demand Gen as an option for top to mid funnel customer acquisition. 

Content & Audiences

Demand Gen thrives on visuals; matching creative to context helps our clients pair the right mix of video, imagery, and UGC depending on their vertical. For e-commerce, that means balancing lifestyle storytelling with product-centric assets; for B2B and services, it’s about weaving in trust, expertise, and social proof. Each industry requires its own creative rhythm—beauty moves fast with trend-driven content, while education and construction benefit from longer, credibility-focused narratives. Our role is to guide clients in building the right blend so their content feels native, engaging, and persuasive across YouTube, Discover, and Gmail.

Reaching the right audience is just as critical. Revel’s “audience stack” approach starts with lookalikes and custom intent, then layers on in-market signals, retargeting, and life events. Unlike broad affinity audiences, this precision keeps campaigns focused on high-intent prospects while still allowing Google’s AI to optimize. We structure campaigns around prospecting or retargeting, excluding converters to maximize efficiency that scales reach without losing relevance.

Why Demand Gen 

Demand Gen isn’t search—it’s mid to upper-funnel—and success means looking at the bigger picture: engagement, assisted conversions, and lifetime value. Early weeks are about learning and reach; months two and three bring stabilization as CPAs normalize, creative winners emerge, and campaigns scale. With clear benchmarks by vertical and a disciplined refresh cycle for assets, we help clients measure what matters most: sustained growth, not just short-term clicks.

Demand Gen captures audiences earlier in the journey. By combining Google’s owned inventory with Revel’s creative, targeting, and measurement expertise, we help clients harness Demand Gen as a growth engine. This isn’t about running ads for the sake of ads—it’s about building an adaptive, data-driven system that continuously learns, optimizes, and drives meaningful results. Reach out to the Revel team for more info.

Source:

• Google Ads Help. "About Demand Gen campaigns." Google Support.
• Google Ads Help – Ad customizers
• Google Ads Help – Campaign-level assets
• Google Ads Help – About ad extensions
• Google Ads Help – Video action campaigns

This blog was edited with the help of Claude AI.

Photo: © Brett Jordan from Pexels

TikTok Symphony 101 - What Is It, and How Can We Utilize It?

In the ever-evolving digital landscape, it is now necessary to incorporate AI into our daily operations. As digital marketers, brainstorming how to effectively accomplish this without losing the human element can seem like a difficult task. To solve this problem, TikTok launched Symphony Creative Studio, an AI toolkit that streamlines ad content creation and removes barriers for brands wanting to create native TikTok advertising.

What is TikTok Symphony?

At its core, the Symphony Creative Suite is designed to reduce the time, effort, and cost of producing TikTok-ready content, enabling more brands to create effective campaigns on TikTok. With Symphony, users can: generate ads by providing some preliminary information about their product(s), create ads with digital avatars (AI-generated content creators), translate and dub videos, and more. With the tool currently being free, there’s no reason not to try out Symphony’s capabilities for yourself. So how does it work? 

How To Use Symphony 

You can access TikTok Symphony by searching for it and clicking through to the Symphony Creative Studio homepage. Clicking “Get started” will prompt you to log in to your TikTok business account, where you can start editing in Symphony. From there, you can experiment with any of the following creative tools Symphony offers, such as:

• Image to Video: Turn your static image into a thumb-stopping video clip.

• Generate TikTok Ads: Quickly generate new videos by providing some basic information about your product and business. 

• Avatar Videos: Generate a video of an avatar narrating your content, using the script you provide them with.

• Generate Scripts: Describe your product or service to generate high-impact scripts based on insights from trending TikTok content. These scripts can then be used to generate videos. 

• Generate Avatars: Narrate scripts with your own generated avatar. 

• Translate and Dub Videos: Broaden your reach by choosing language and voice settings to translate and dub your videos into different languages.

• Video Editor: Edit your video with TikTok-style features, adding things like captions, avatars, music, and more. 

• Refresh Ads: Refresh an existing video asset with trending audio and themes to boost engagement. 

Does Using Symphony Make Sense For My Brand or Client?

With all the exciting features that TikTok Symphony offers, you may be eager to get into the creative tool and test out its capabilities for yourself. To determine how utilizing this tool makes sense for your brand or clients, ask yourself the following questions:

• Is TikTok a platform that makes sense for my brand/client’s product and/or service?

• Is my brand/client’s core demographic on TikTok? How does their core demographic spend time on the platform?

• Does my brand/client face creative limitations currently that would hinder them from being successful on TikTok? If so, how can Symphony assist in combating these challenges?

• Does my brand or client have any brand guidelines that would make creating content in Symphony difficult?

Conclusion

In summary, TikTok Symphony can be an effective tool to help you eliminate (or at least, reduce) some of the creative challenges your client may be facing when serving ads on TikTok. If the key hurdle to being on TikTok is limitations on developing “TikTok-first” creative, Symphony may be just the tool you’re waiting for. At Revel Interactive, we take pride in determining how we can help our clients utilize new digital marketing tools. Let us help you seamlessly incorporate these new tools into your strategy.

Source:

• TikTok Symphony Creative Tool
• TikTok Creative Studio

This blog was edited with the help of Claude AI.

Photo: © Fanny Beckman from diversifylens

5 Ways Email Marketing Enhances the Customer Journey for Beauty Shoppers

In the world of beauty, it’s not just about the products—it’s about the experience. From the moment a shopper discovers your brand to the day they reorder their favorite serum, every touchpoint matters. Email marketing is your chance to educate and surprise your customers—whether you’re dropping skincare tips, sending restock reminders, or just saying “happy birthday.” For beauty brands, email isn’t just a marketing channel—it’s part of the glow-up.

So how does email marketing build on the overall customer experience with your brand? Read on for a few tips!

PERSONALIZED PRODUCT RECOMMENDATIONS

From skin type to shade matching, email lets beauty brands deliver suggestions based on quiz responses, past purchases and more —making shopping feel curated, and truly personal.

POST-PURCHASE EDUCATION AND CARE

Automated flows that include skincare tips, how-to videos, ingredient education, or seasonal routines will keep customers engaged.

REPLENISHMENT AND REORDER REMINDERS

Email reminders based on when a product will run out helps bring customers back right when they need to restock, making their lives easier and boosting retention. This is also a great place to suggest a “subscribe and save” option if that’s something your brand is able to offer.

BUILDING LOYALTY BEYOND THE PRODUCT

Birthday discounts, VIP perks, or early access to new products sent to email subscribers show appreciation and bring value to your customers.

EDUCATION DRIVEN STORYTELLING

Education-Driven Storytelling: Email marketing is a brand’s opportunity to sell your USP (unique selling proposition) like cruelty-free formulas, sustainable packaging, or expert-backed formulations—building brand loyalty over time.

The brands winning in today's competitive beauty landscape aren't just selling products—they're building relationships, one thoughtfully crafted email at a time.

If you have email marketing needs, drop us a line! We’d love to chat all things email with you!

Beyond Inspiration: How Pinterest Can Be a Revenue Driver for Fashion Brands

Pinterest advertising delivers impressive ROI for premium fashion brands targeting style-conscious consumers—but many brands still view it as purely an inspirational platform rather than a conversion driver.

The Pinterest Advertising Opportunity Backed by Industry Data

Fashion brands often wonder where to invest their advertising dollars for the best return. Recent analysis of Pinterest campaigns for premium fashion brands reveals the platform can deliver significant revenue impact beyond brand awareness. This performance aligns with broader industry findings. Measured's latest 12-month data from more than 70 incrementality tests shows Pinterest consistently outperforming other view-based social platforms in incremental ROAS. And yet, Pinterest is still often thought of as a secondary social platform. 

When executed strategically, Pinterest campaigns have generated substantial conversion volumes and revenue attribution that rival traditional advertising channels. The data suggests many fashion brands are missing a significant opportunity by under-allocating Pinterest in their media mix.

Success on Pinterest is built around two core strategies that leverage the platform's unique targeting capabilities: keyword-targeted prospecting campaigns and engagement-based retargeting campaigns.

Why Pinterest Works for Fashion: The High-Intent Advantage

Pinterest offers something unique in the social landscape that particularly benefits fashion brands. As industry measurement experts note, Pinterest creates a high-intent environment where users actively search for inspiration tied to life events, seasonal moments, and specific product categories—meaning ads are often welcomed, not skipped.

In addition, Pinterest attracts a distinctly spending-focused audience compared to other social media platforms. Over half of Pinterest users (55%) are willing to make purchases of $50 or more, and they're twice as likely as TikTok users to spend $150 or more on a single purchase. This contrasts sharply with TikTok, where lower-priced products tend to perform better.

Fashion brands achieve stronger performance when they align Pinterest campaigns with natural shopping cycles and provide customized creative for keyword targeting. Spring, summer, and holiday campaigns that capture users during active wardrobe planning periods typically see the strongest results, taking advantage of Pinterest's longer consideration cycles where content has a longer shelf life than ephemeral content on other platforms.

Retargeting for Proven Performance

Retargeting campaigns consistently emerge as conversion champions, reaching website visitors and engaged users with targeted messaging. In our experience, these campaigns tend to maintain steady month-over-month performance, with strong conversion rates and revenue attribution that validate Pinterest's place in the marketing mix.

This performance becomes even more significant when viewed through proper measurement frameworks. While Pinterest's strength in influencing consideration and purchase over slightly longer time horizons is often undervalued in last-click attribution models, incrementality testing reveals the platform's true business impact.

Prospecting Through Strategic Keyword Targeting

Fashion and seasonal keywords provide powerful opportunities to reach new audiences actively searching for style inspiration. Using a structured approach with multiple keyword groupings paired with specialized creative for each segment has proven effective across client campaigns.

Premium Keyword Investment Strategy

When certain keyword groupings dominate spend early in campaigns, implementing a tiered approach allows for better budget distribution and optimization. This structure has helped brands achieve significant month-over-month spend increases while maintaining or improving efficiency, often seeing revenue gains of 30% or more from keyword targeting optimization.

These performance gains validate industry observations about Pinterest's measurement advantages. The platform's improved ad tech stack helps advertisers better target and measure performance, revealing incremental growth that might otherwise remain hidden.

Attribution Success Across Multiple Models

Platform-Attributed Performance

Pinterest's native attribution tracking shows strong results across client campaigns, with conversion volumes that demonstrate the platform's ability to track user journeys from initial engagement through final purchase.

Last-Click Attribution Validates Impact

Google Analytics data consistently confirms Pinterest's impact through last-click attribution, typically showing:

• Strong user acquisition through Pinterest paid social

• High-quality sessions with impressive engagement metrics

• Engaged session rates often exceeding 30%

• Meaningful revenue attribution through last-click measurement

The combination of platform and last-click attribution provides confidence in Pinterest's true impact on customer acquisition. This dual attribution success addresses a critical industry challenge: platforms like Pinterest often don't shine in click-based metrics, but prove their value when you measure what actually moves the business through proper incrementality testing.

Creative Performance Highlights

Video Content Excellence

Pinterest's video capabilities prove especially valuable for showcasing fashion products:

• Video view times consistently exceed platform averages

• Total video views can reach impressive volumes across campaign portfolios

• Longer video engagement correlates with higher-value keyword audiences

User Engagement Quality

Analytics data reveals impressive user behavior patterns:

• Above-average engagement time per session indicates users actively browse and consider products

• High event-per-session rates demonstrate meaningful interaction with site content

These engagement patterns reflect Pinterest's unique proposition: users approach the platform in a discovery mindset, actively seeking style solutions and inspiration. This emotional state creates ideal conditions for fashion brands to showcase products, build desire, and drive purchases.

Strategic Takeaways for Fashion Brands

Pinterest Users Shop with Intent

Strong conversion rates across campaign types reveal that Pinterest users approach the platform with purchase intent. They arrive ready to discover and buy, making Pinterest a valuable addition to a fashion brand's advertising mix. This shopping behavior explains why Pinterest consistently ranks at the top among view-based social platforms in industry performance benchmarks.

Attribution Modeling Matters

By tracking both platform-attributed and last-click conversions, brands gain a complete picture of Pinterest's impact. Platform attribution captures the full customer journey, while last-click attribution validates final conversion moments. Monitoring both metrics helps brands understand Pinterest's role in the conversion path.

This measurement approach is crucial because Pinterest's performance might be hidden from view if you're relying solely on last-click, pixel-based attribution to make budget decisions. With proper incrementality testing and unified measurement frameworks, the signal becomes clear: Pinterest delivers strong, measurable incremental ROAS.

The Opportunity Cost of Under-Investment

Despite proven performance, Pinterest remains under-allocated in many media plans. Fashion brands often fall into common perception traps: viewing Pinterest as niche, lacking the headline-grabbing appeal of other platforms, or undervaluing its longer-term influence in favor of immediate click-based metrics.

This misalignment represents a significant opportunity cost. Industry data suggests advertisers stand to benefit meaningfully from increasing their budget allocation to Pinterest, especially when paired with strategic campaign management.

The Pinterest Advantage for Fashion

Pinterest's evolution into a conversion-focused platform creates unique opportunities for brands targeting style-conscious consumers. The platform's combination of visual inspiration and shopping intent provides an environment where fashion brands naturally excel.

The dual attribution success we consistently observe—strong performance in both Pinterest's native tracking and Google Analytics measurement—provides confidence that Pinterest delivers measurable business impact beyond vanity metrics. When combined with industry-wide incrementality testing that shows Pinterest outperforming other view-based social platforms, the case for increased investment becomes compelling.

Getting Started with Pinterest Advertising

Ready to explore how Pinterest advertising can drive revenue for your fashion brand? The key is approaching Pinterest with the same strategic rigor as other major platforms, using proper measurement frameworks to capture its full business impact.

Next Steps:

• Connect with your account team to discuss Pinterest advertising strategy for your fashion brand

• Schedule a consultation to explore Pinterest campaign opportunities

• Implement incrementality testing to measure Pinterest's true impact on your business

• Discover how we help brands maximize Pinterest advertising performance

If Pinterest isn't at least in the mix for your fashion brand, and treated with strategic importance backed by proper measurement, you may be leaving incremental growth on the table.

Source Links/Citations:

Campaign insights based on Revel Interactive's analysis of Pinterest advertising performance across multiple fashion brand clients. Results may vary based on brand, audience, and execution.

• Measured – Incrementality Testing Analysis
• Highspot Viewer

This blog was edited with the help of Claude AI.

Photo: © from pixelshot