Recent Articles

Young mother at pharmacy

CDP use cases for retailers

Watch here Summary: This article discusses the benefits of using Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) in retail, emphasizing their ability to integrate customer data from various sources for a comprehensive view. It highlights practical applications like personalized product recommendations, targeted mailings, and custom in-store experiences using QR codes and customer data. The author, experienced in CDPs…

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red-haired girl with cookies

4 ways publishers can use propensity models

Watch here Summary: The article discusses how publishers use AI-driven propensity models to predict customer behaviors, like subscription renewal, based on data like site engagement and demographics. These models vary across businesses and are used for identifying potential customer churn, optimizing lead sales, segmenting customers based on their acquisition source, and encouraging behaviors linked to…

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Woman listening to podcast

How to make a subscriber-only podcast

Listen here Summary: The article discusses challenges in creating a subscriber-only podcast due to the podcast ecosystem’s preference for open, ad-supported content. Platforms like Apple and Spotify support this model, and while options like Patreon or platform-based subscriptions exist, they allow the platform to control subscriber information. The author suggests using a paywall for podcasts,…

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personalization

The downside of personalization

Summary: The article discusses the complexities of online personalization. It emphasizes the need for consent and transparency in using personal data like browsing history for customization. The author advises considering whether personalization is more beneficial to the business or the customer, warning against intrusiveness and the creation of echo chambers. The article also distinguishes between…

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Get granular with user data

Get more granular with your user data

Summary: The article discusses the importance of granular data analysis over aggregated data in various contexts. This idea extends to different scenarios like social media, television viewership, and book readership. The author emphasizes the value of detailed feedback, such as pinpointing a specific social media post causing unfollows or identifying the exact moment viewers stop…

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Print vs. digital reader comprehension

We need to improve reader comprehension online

Summary: The article discusses how reading on paper often leads to better comprehension and retention than digital reading, citing fewer distractions and engagement of more senses as key factors. It suggests enhancing digital reading by reducing distractions, such as intrusive ads, and incorporating features like text-to-speech, note-taking, and providing contextual elements like unique typefaces and…

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Publisher in chains

Publishers need to be decolonized

Summary: The strategic imperative for publishers right now is not to get money out of Google, but to change the terms of the deal. They say that one sign of colonization is that the people colonized start to believe and repeat the rhetoric of their colonizers. Sometimes that seems to apply to publishers and Big…

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questions

The next step for publishers is to learn from your audience’s questions

Summary: The article discusses the value of questions in social media and AI interaction. The author shares experiences with ChatGPT, both its capabilities and limitations, and reflects on an essay by unCharles about the hierarchy of social media engagement—likes, comments, and questions, with questions ranked highest due to their interactive nature. Questions reveal much about…

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The media puzzle

Redefining Customer Value in the Age of Media Fracturing: Insights from Robbie Kellman Baxter and Me

The image for this post — and the strange words — was created by Dall-E Summary: The article discusses Robbie Kellman Baxter’s “Customer Retention Metrics Kit,” focusing on the challenge of retaining customers in a fragmented media landscape. It explores the evolving definitions of ‘customer’ and ‘subscriber’ in the context of diverse media platforms, stressing…

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A/B testing

Mastering A/B Testing: Strategies and Insights from Sascha Bossen and Yours Truly

Summary: In his article on A/B testing, Sascha Bossen emphasizes monitoring the novelty effect, ensuring statistical significance in test groups, focusing on one KPI per test, and using usability testing when traffic is low. Additional advice includes avoiding prolonged tests, not getting overwhelmed by uncontrollable variables, and mimicking successful companies like Amazon. A/B testing can…

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Addiction

Promote engagement, not addiction

Summary: The article reflects on the ethics of customer engagement, contrasting legitimate service with addictive tactics. The author compares the straightforward transaction of buying coffee with the manipulative practices in social media and some online content, where engagement aims to addict users for ad revenue and data collection. This is likened to drug dealer behavior…

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elegant woman reading magazine

Does AI + publishing = Idiocracy?

Summary: The print to digital transformation in publishing led to a decline in the quality of content as publishers pursued reach and traffic. AI threatens to accelerate that decline. Publishers need to stop and think about the future of their industry and how to arrest this decline in quality. Bo Sacks visits my inbox every…

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Man buying newspaper in NYC

Publishers desperately need a strategic summit to hammer out how the industry will survive

Summary: The article discusses the challenges facing the publishing industry, emphasizing the need for long-term, strategic thinking. It references Dominic Young’s ideas on revitalizing publishing through casual sales, akin to buying a newspaper without the hassle of subscriptions or giving personal information. The concept is compared to micro-payments, which haven’t been widely successful due to…

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