The Daily Carnage

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

Today’s Issue

Are You Optimizing for AI Yet? 🤔

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How Long Should Reels Be?

JULY 23, 2026

Just because you can post a 20-minute Reel now doesn’t mean you should.

New research from Socialinsider, based on an analysis of 6 million Reels published during the first half of 2026, suggests the sweet spot for both engagement and views is 45 to 60 seconds.

Reels under 30 seconds generated respectable performance, but they were consistently outpaced by videos in the 45–60 second range. That one-minute window delivered the highest engagement rate (0.35%) and the highest median views (10,374).

And while IG technically supports longer videos, Reels over three minutes are no longer recommended to non-followers through the Reels tab, dramatically reducing discovery potential. Engagement drops by more than half, making long-form Reels a poor choice for growth-focused content.

Here’s the golden strategy:

Aim for 45–60 seconds as your default Reel length.
Prioritize completion and storytelling over making the shortest possible video.
Avoid Reels longer than 3 minutes if your goal is reaching new audiences.
Test different lengths with your own audience, since content type and industry still influence performance.
Review your analytics regularly instead of relying solely on platform-wide benchmarks.

Head to SocialInsider for more.

Better PPC Reporting

JULY 21, 2026

Dashboards don’t always tell the truth.

PPC reporting can create a false sense of success by emphasizing vanity metrics, cherry-picking comparisons, or stripping away relevant context.

For example, a campaign with big click-through rates or declining cost per click might seem like a win, but if those clicks aren’t converting or generating profitable revenue, they’re little more than feel-good numbers.

Likewise, comparing performance against outdated benchmarks or reporting only the best-performing campaigns paints an incomplete picture that can lead stakeholders to make poor strategic decisions.

Focus on questions executives actually care about:

Did revenue or qualified leads increase?
Did advertising become more profitable?
Which campaigns drove meaningful business results?
How did performance compare to realistic goals… not just last month?
What external factors influenced the numbers?
What changes should happen next based on the data?

The best reports provide context, explain why performance changed, acknowledge what’s not working, and outline the next steps.

Head to Search Engine Land for more.

Durable YouTube Content Compounds ROI

JULY 20, 2026

On YouTube, creator content behaves like a long-term marketing asset, generating views, clicks, searches, and purchases long after your initial campaign ends.

YouTube’s search-first ecosystem gives branded creator content a much longer shelf life than feed-based platforms. Videos continue to surface whenever viewers search for relevant topics, products, or reviews.

According to Google’s data:

40% of a YouTube video’s views happen more than one month after it’s published.
30% of clicks from sponsored creator videos occur after the first 30 days.
Viewers who watch a video about a brand are 13x more likely to search for that brand.
Those same viewers are 5x more likely to purchase from the brand.
Pairing creator content with YouTube’s AI-powered advertising solutions can increase incremental ROAS by an additional 16%.

That means you should evaluate long-tail metrics like branded search volume, assisted conversions, and ongoing traffic months after publication.

Head to Think with Google for more.

How to Earn Trust on Social

JULY 20, 2026

As you know, social media rewards speed, trends, and hooks.

But content that creates lasting impact gives people a little more substance. Every post should be both relevant to the moment and genuinely valuable to the audience.

Here’s how to move people on social:

Prioritize substance alongside entertainment.
Tailor content to each platform instead of reposting everything.
Treat short-form content as a complete story, not just a trailer.
Invest in carousel posts to build Instagram audiences.
Don’t overlook YouTube Shorts as a growth engine.
Pair problems with solutions instead of relying solely on outrage or controversy.

Attention is really only the first step. Brands that educate, inspire, or genuinely help their audience are more likely to earn trust… and trust is what keeps people coming back.

Head to Link in Bio for more.

How Often to Email SaaS Leads

JULY 11, 2026

“How often should we send?”

New research suggests the better question is: How relevant is each email to the person receiving it?

The right frequency depends on where someone is in the customer journey, how engaged they are, and what type of email is being sent.

A trial user who just signed up may benefit from frequent onboarding messages, while an established customer may only need occasional updates.

Key takeaways from the research:

New leads and trial users often receive the highest frequency, with some SaaS companies sending emails daily or multiple times per week during onboarding.
Established customers typically receive fewer emails, often around 1–3 per week or even monthly depending on the product.
Disengaged subscribers should usually receive fewer emails, since sending more messages rarely creates interest.
More than half of respondents monitor engagement and unsubscribe rates when deciding whether to adjust frequency.
Lifecycle stage matters more than a fixed schedule; triggered emails based on user actions often outperform generic blasts.

Check out Userlist for more.

“Made With AI” Can Tank Engagement

JULY 11, 2026

A new study suggests that telling people you used AI could come with an engagement penalty.

Researchers from the University of Southern California analyzed over 1 million TikTok posts alongside eight controlled experiments to understand how “Made with AI” disclosures influence audience behavior.

When people knew content was AI-generated, they were less likely to interact with it, not necessarily because the content was worse, but because they assumed the creator invested less effort.

Here are some of the biggest findings:

7–8% fewer likes on posts labeled as AI-generated.
7% lower overall engagement, including comments and shares.
Creators were perceived as putting in 15.6% less effort.
Audiences felt 14.5% less connected to creators who disclosed AI use.
The effect largely disappeared when the AI tool was seen as requiring skill or expertise, such as advanced creative software.

Audiences appear to value the human effort behind the final product, so simply adding an “AI-generated” label without context may unintentionally signal low effort.

Analyzing Competitor Ad Spend

JULY 11, 2026

You know what you’re spending on advertising. Do you know what your competitors are investing, or how those budgets are split across channels?

Estimating competitor ad spend is more accessible than you might think.

The goal is to identify trends. Are competitors increasing investment in video? Pulling back on display? Prioritizing paid search over social? Those signals can reveal where they see opportunity and where you might have an opening.

Use competitor ad spend data to:

Benchmark your budget against other advertisers in your market.
Compare channel mix across display, social, video, and paid search.
Track spending trends over time to spot seasonal pushes or strategic shifts.
Identify competitive keywords with high traffic costs and decide whether they’re worth pursuing.
Evaluate top-performing ads and campaigns to understand what messaging competitors are amplifying.

And combining spend estimates with ad creative, landing pages, and keyword research provides a much fuller picture of a competitor’s strategy.

Head to Semrush for more.

Instagram Reels Stats for 2026

JULY 10, 2026

Socialinsider analyzed 140k Instagram Reels from business accounts published between January and June 2026.

Data showed that reach, engagement, and even ideal posting habits vary significantly by account size and industry.

They’re still your best best for expanding your audience, especially for brands with fewer than 50,000 followers. But once an account grows beyond that threshold, carousel posts begin outperforming Reels for reach.

Key stats to know:

Reels are the top-performing format for reach on accounts with fewer than 50K followers.
30–60 second Reels deliver the highest reach.
Reels generate more reposts than any other Instagram content format across all account sizes.
Hotels & accommodation, restaurants & cafés, and travel are the industries with the highest Reels engagement.
Larger accounts tend to have lower skip rates, indicating stronger audience loyalty.

Head to SocialInsider for more.

Effective BOFU Content

JULY 7, 2026

We tend to pour resources into top-of-funnel blogs to attract traffic, then wonder why those visitors never become customers.

The missing piece is often bottom-of-funnel content, or content created for people who already know they have a problem and are actively evaluating solutions.

At this stage, readers want confidence, clarity, and proof that they’re making the right decision.

A few characteristics separate effective BOFU content from the rest:

Lead with the buyer’s problem, not your product.
Address a specific audience instead of trying to appeal to everyone.
Show real-world use cases that help readers picture success.
Compare solutions objectively before introducing your own offering.
Connect features to business outcomes, like saving time, reducing costs, or minimizing risk.
End with a clear next step, like booking a demo, downloading a resource, or starting a free trial.

A high-intent visitor needs different content than someone just beginning their research. Invest in BOFU assets like comparison guides, case studies, buyer’s guides, and decision-focused articles to support your prospects at the moment they’re ready to buy.

Head to Mint Studios for more.

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