The Daily Carnage

The savvy marketer's hub for industry news, insights, resources, and culture.

Today’s Issue

Do You Substack Up?

How brands are using Substack.

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What is Substack Marketing?

MAY 11, 2026

Substack is quickly becoming a high-trust marketing channel because it prioritizes depth, personality, and direct audience relationships over algorithm-driven reach.

According to Meltwater, social media mentions of Substack increased nearly 30% between late 2025 and early 2026.

Brands are investing in editorial-style storytelling that feels more personal and community-oriented.

Leading brands are using Substack in three main ways:

Sponsorships with creators. Brands partner with established writers whose audiences already trust them. Companies like Walmart and Banana Republic use native newsletter sponsorships to reach niche communities authentically.
Branded newsletters. Companies like Rare Beauty and Shopify publish editorial content that blends brand storytelling with useful insights, interviews, and community conversations.
Founder-led publications. Executives and founders use personal newsletters to humanize their brands through candid reflections and lifestyle content. This approach helps audiences connect with the people behind the business.

As we’ve seen recently, audiences value authenticity over polished advertising. So, as platforms become more crowded and algorithm-heavy, Substack offers brands a quieter space to build your brand community.

Check out Meltwater for a closer look.

Key Elements of Engaging Writing

MAY 10, 2026

What is the “forward pull?”

It’s the feeling that makes readers want to keep going instead of clicking away. Readers stay when the writing builds momentum, curiosity, and emotional connection.

Valuable content alone is not enough. Your article or piece might very well contain useful information but still, ultimately, be forgettable because it lacks tension or personality.

And then there’s the issue of clarity. Readers are more likely to continue when sentences are easy to process. Simple, direct language and varied structure reduce mental fatigue and improve retention.

Engaging writing should ideally have…

A strong opening that sparks curiosity
Clear structure and logical flow
Specific examples and vivid details
Conversational, natural language
Emotional tension or stakes
Distinct opinions or original insights
Varied sentence rhythm and pacing
Smooth transitions that create momentum

Check out Reads to Leads for more.

How to Track ChatGPT Traffic

MAY 6, 2026

Tracking ChatGPT traffic is a new discipline that blends SEO, attribution modeling, and brand monitoring.

Unlike traditional search, where clicks and rankings are visible, AI platforms operate in a semi-opaque layer. That means that we have to reconstruct visibility indirectly using multiple signals rather than relying on a single dashboard.

A brand might be recommended inside ChatGPT, considered by the user, and only visited later via direct or branded search. If you’re only measuring last-click attribution, you’re missing most of the impact.

Here’s a practical, step-by-step way to track and act on ChatGPT traffic:

Segment AI traffic in analytics. In tools like GA4, create custom channel groupings or filters to isolate known AI referrers. Expect gaps… this is directional, not perfect.
Monitor “direct” traffic spikes. Look for unexplained increases in direct visits or branded search. These often correlate with AI exposure, especially after publishing high-value content.
Track brand mentions in AI outputs. Use platforms like Semrush to monitor where your domain appears in AI-driven results and how frequently you’re cited versus competitors.
Benchmark competitors’ AI visibility. Identify which competitors are being recommended in ChatGPT responses. Analyze their content structure, authority signals, and topic coverage to understand why.
Optimize for citation, not just ranking. Structure content with clear answers, credible sourcing, and strong topical authority so it’s more likely to be referenced by AI systems.
Correlate content launches with traffic changes. After publishing, track whether certain pages drive lifts in branded queries, direct visits, or assisted conversions.
Build feedback loops. Regularly prompt AI tools with your target queries and evaluate how your brand appears. Treat this like a new kind of SERP testing.

Dig into the full guide at Semrush.

How to Break Through The AI Noise

MAY 5, 2026

Some good news: AI has made human-centered marketing more valuable, not less.

As automation floods channels with polished but generic messaging, what stands out now are experiences that feel real, personal, and credible.

Authentic human connection remains a primary driver of conversion. Businesses investing in real conversations (via phone, live chat, or direct interaction) see stronger relationships and higher satisfaction, even at higher operational cost.

Physical and tangible marketing (like direct mail) is also regaining power. Something you can hold signals legitimacy and effort. This “realness” reduces skepticism and improves recall, making prospects more likely to engage.

And finally, since most purchasing decisions are emotionally driven, sharing real customer experiences, especially through testimonials and case studies, builds credibility in ways AI-generated messaging cannot replicate.

Key data:

AI adoption is accelerating faster than past technologies like smartphones and social media.
ChatGPT reached 100 million users in 2 months.
52% of Americans use AI weekly.
Direct mail is perceived as:
- +11% more personal
- +17% more attention-grabbing
- +17% more trustworthy than email
70% of purchasing decisions are driven by emotion

Check out Entrepreneur for more.

AI Gives Inconsistent Brand Recommendations

MAY 4, 2026

New research from SparkToro highlights a huge AI misconception: While we tend to think of tools like ChatGPT as consistent “answer engines,” they actually behave more like probabilistic generators.

In controlled experiments with nearly 3,000 responses, identical prompts rarely produced the same list of brand or product recommendations (less than 1% of the time) and almost never in the same order.

We’re used to traditional SEO, which assumes stable rankings. But AI outputs appear to show variability in three dimensions: which brands appear, how many are listed, and how they’re ordered. So, “tracking your position” inside AI responses is pretty much meaningless. It’s not fixed.

But while rankings are chaotic, brands that consistently show up, regardless of position, are more strongly associated with a given intent in the model’s training and retrieval patterns.

Here’s what to know:

AI recommendations are non-deterministic. The same query yields different outputs almost every time.
Rank tracking is unreliable, as order and inclusion constantly change.
Prompt diversity amplifies chaos. Users phrase the same intent in wildly different ways.
Visibility share (frequency of mentions) is a more defensible metric than rank.
AI tools reflect association, not endorsement. They predict likely mentions, not “best” choices.
Marketers should demand transparent methodologies from AI tracking vendors.

Head to SparkToro for a closer look at the numbers.

Why “A/B/T” Content Is Taking Over in 2026

APRIL 29, 2026

For years, A/B testing has been the gold standard for optimizing marketing performance. But a new format is gaining traction: A/B/T testing, where the “T” stands for theory.

Instead of just testing variations, marketers are now building content around a clear hypothesis—something they believe will resonate—and using that as a third angle alongside traditional A and B versions.

This shift reflects a bigger change in how content is created. Instead of tweaking headlines or visuals, the focus is more on exploring ideas, narratives, and psychological triggers more intentionally.

A/B/T content invites audiences into the experiment. You’re not simply showing two options, but testing a perspective.

It also performs well because it feels more thoughtful and less mechanical. People engage more when there’s a clear “why” behind what they’re seeing.

Plus, it pushes teams to think beyond optimization and into insight generation.

To recap, A/B/T content…

Encourages hypothesis-driven creativity
Moves beyond surface-level testing
Builds more engaging, idea-led content
Invites audiences into the experiment
Generates deeper insights, not just wins
Feels more intentional and less templated

Check out DMNews for the full scoop.

Cheaper Clicks Aren’t Always Better

APRIL 28, 2026

Rising cost-per-click can actually signal improving campaign quality rather than declining performance.

With smart bidding, we’re no longer paying for clicks indiscriminately, instead bidding on the likelihood of conversion. Algorithms evaluate signals like intent, behavior, and context, and then bid more aggressively for users who are more likely to convert.

As a result, higher CPCs often mean you’re winning auctions for the most valuable prospects, not wasting spend.

Cheap clicks are often cheap because they’re low intent, ignored by competitors, or tied to irrelevant queries.

Here’s what to know:

High CPC can indicate high intent. You’re paying more to reach users closer to conversion.
Smart bidding prioritizes value, not volume. Algorithms optimize for outcomes like conversions or revenue.
Low CPC can signal poor traffic quality. “Leftover” clicks often don’t convert.
Business economics matter more than click cost. Metrics like CPA and ROAS are more meaningful than CPC alone.
Context is critical. High CPC is good only if conversion rates and profitability follow.
And there are limits. High CPC becomes a problem when it exceeds the value of a customer or reflects inefficiencies.

Head to Search Engine Journal for more on the high CPC paradox.

Why You Should Try BTS Content on Social

APRIL 27, 2026

Behind-the-scenes social content invites audiences into the process of how something is made, who is involved, and what happens before the final post goes live.

And that kind of transparency builds a lot of trust, which is increasingly valuable in a hyper-produced and polished environment.

BTS content humanizes a brand. When creators share brainstorming sessions, mistakes, or works in progress, they become more relatable. Audiences feel like insiders rather than spectators.

It also solves a practical challenge: consistency. You can turn one effort into multiple pieces of content.

Plus, informal, real-time content often aligns better with platform algorithms and user preferences, especially in short-form video.

To recap, BTS content…

Builds trust through transparency
Humanizes brands and creators
Makes audiences feel included
Increases content output efficiently
Boosts engagement with authentic, casual formats
Reduces pressure to be perfectly polished

Learn more from Planoly.

What Makes AI Choose Your Product (Or Not)

APRIL 21, 2026

AI agents follow predictable biases when shopping for consumers. They rely heavily on surface-level signals such as ranking position, badges, and structured data.

For example, items labeled “Overall Pick” are disproportionately favored, while “Sponsored” tags can reduce selection rates, even when the underlying product is identical.

Here are the key biases to be aware of:

Position bias: Higher-ranked items get disproportionate attention.
Badge/label bias: “Best” or “recommended” tags strongly influence selection.
Anti-ad bias: Sponsored labels may reduce trust.
Model-specific bias: Different AIs favor different products.
Data clarity bias: Well-structured, machine-readable information wins.
Choice concentration: A few products capture most selections.

Take a closer look at the data at Science Says.

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