The Daily Carnage

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Get People to Read Your Emails

NOVEMBER 16, 2025

Inboxes are bursting and brains are fried.

But copywriters have cracked the codes for getting people to open, click, and answer emails.

So, here are the four big ones:

Appeal to self-interest. The fastest way to lose a reader is to start with what you want. Lead with how your message helps them. Make the benefit unmistakable from the first line.
Write a good subject line. A great email no one opens is just a diary entry. Strong subject lines promise a benefit, deliver news, spark curiosity, or blend all three.
Be human. Write like a person talking to another person. Short sentences. Short paragraphs. No handbook jargon.
Have a clear CTA. If you want someone to do something, ask directly. One email = one action. Add a deadline. Make the next step stupidly easy.

Persuasion is a courtesy. It’s removing friction, offering clarity, and respecting the reader’s bandwidth. Read more from Barking Up The Wrong Tree.

And, uh, P.S…. everyone always reads the P.S.

The Great SEO Traffic Decline

NOVEMBER 12, 2025

SEO traffic is indeed dipping in 2025. But not for the reasons you might think.

ChatGPT may be stealing search share, but new data from Grow & Convert suggests that Google’s AI Overviews could be the real cause.

Rankings and impressions are rising, conversions are steady (or growing), and yet clicks are falling. Sites are showing up more often in search results, but fewer users are clicking through.

And this shift aligns with Google’s March 2025 rollout of AI Overviews, which now deliver summarized answers directly in the SERP.

AI Overviews still mention brands, but users often:

Open a new tab to search the brand directly
Click a “dotted” AI Overview link that triggers a branded search
Go straight to the homepage instead of the blog post

Which means traffic that used to be counted as “organic” is now showing up as direct or branded, creating new attribution blind spots.

Basically, SEO is still working, it’s just harder to measure its full impact. Here’s how to adapt:

Add a “How did you hear about us?” field to lead forms
Track both blog and homepage traffic
Monitor branded search volume over time
Include LLM referrals in analytics reports

The target is always moving, huh?

The Great SEO Traffic Decline

NOVEMBER 12, 2025

SEO traffic is indeed dipping in 2025. But not for the reasons you might think.

ChatGPT may be stealing search share, but new data from Grow & Convert suggests that Google’s AI Overviews could be the real cause.

Rankings and impressions are rising, conversions are steady (or growing), and yet clicks are falling. Sites are showing up more often in search results, but fewer users are clicking through.

And this shift aligns with Google’s March 2025 rollout of AI Overviews, which now deliver summarized answers directly in the SERP.

AI Overviews still mention brands, but users often:

Open a new tab to search the brand directly
Click a “dotted” AI Overview link that triggers a branded search
Go straight to the homepage instead of the blog post

Which means traffic that used to be counted as “organic” is now showing up as direct or branded, creating new attribution blind spots.

Basically, SEO is still working, it’s just harder to measure its full impact. Here’s how to adapt:

Add a “How did you hear about us?” field to lead forms
Track both blog and homepage traffic
Monitor branded search volume over time
Include LLM referrals in analytics reports

The target is always moving, huh? Head to Grow & Convert for more.

Social Salaries in 2025

NOVEMBER 12, 2025

The 2025 Link in Bio Social Media Compensation Survey gathered insights from 2,500 respondents from 390+ cities and 40 countries to understand how experience, title, industry, and other factors influence pay.

Key takeaways:

Experience matters. Entry-level salaries increased slightly (3.3%), keeping pace with inflation, but senior professionals with 12+ years in the industry saw a substantial 12% year-over-year increase.
Title impacts pay: No surprise! Social Media Directors saw the biggest salary growth (+14%), while Social Media Managers’ median salaries are now standardized at $85,000, reflecting adjustments for new senior-level titles. Top earners, especially generalists, can make $229,000–$256,000+.
Employment type & industry: Most respondents work in-house (70%), but freelancers and agency workers still report competitive pay. Technology leads in median salaries, followed by ad agencies, while sectors like Food & Beverage, Healthcare, and Beauty saw $10,000+ increases.
B2B vs B2C & company size: B2B professionals earn roughly 10% more than B2C peers, and larger companies generally pay more, though self-employed respondents can compete with mid-sized company salaries.
Gender gap: Women dominate the industry but still earn almost 25% less than men on average. Men are nearly twice as likely to hold director-level roles.

So, entry-level pay and gender equity still need improvement.

Social Salaries in 2025

NOVEMBER 11, 2025

Key takeaways:

Experience matters. Entry-level salaries increased slightly (3.3%), keeping pace with inflation, but senior professionals with 12+ years in the industry saw a substantial 12% year-over-year increase.
Title impacts pay: No surprise! Social Media Directors saw the biggest salary growth (+14%), while Social Media Managers’ median salaries are now standardized at $85,000, reflecting adjustments for new senior-level titles. Top earners, especially generalists, can make $229,000–$256,000+.
Employment type & industry: Most respondents work in-house (70%), but freelancers and agency workers still report competitive pay. Technology leads in median salaries, followed by ad agencies, while sectors like Food & Beverage, Healthcare, and Beauty saw $10,000+ increases.
B2B vs B2C & company size: B2B professionals earn roughly 10% more than B2C peers, and larger companies generally pay more, though self-employed respondents can compete with mid-sized company salaries.
Gender gap: Women dominate the industry but still earn almost 25% less than men on average. Men are nearly twice as likely to hold director-level roles.

So, entry-level pay and gender equity still need improvement. Take a closer look at Link in Bio.

The Bye-Now Effect

NOVEMBER 11, 2025

What’s the Bye-Now Effect, you ask?

It’s a subtle psychological trigger that makes people more likely to buy when they see the word “bye.” Yeah, really.

Because “bye” and “buy” sound identical, the brain unconsciously connects them.

In one study, readers who saw “so long” said they’d pay $30 for a dinner-for-two package. Readers who saw “bye-bye” said they’d pay $45. That’s a 50% jump from just a tiny word swap.

When our brains are overloaded or distracted, we rely on shortcuts. So a word like “bye” quietly primes us to think about “buying,” even if we don’t realize it.

Here’s how to apply it:

In branding: Use subtle primes in product names, like IT Cosmetics’ “Bye Bye” collection.
In email subject lines: Hook readers before they even open, like Olive & June’s “Bye-bye, smudged polish.”
On product pages: Pair “goodbye” messaging with UGC or testimonials, like Dove’s “Goodbye to damage” campaign.

Small word cues can lead to big conversions.

PPC: Lower CTR Might Be Better

NOVEMBER 10, 2025

For PPC, a high CTR is a win.

But… more clicks doesn’t necessarily mean more success. A lower CTR can actually signal stronger targeting, higher-quality traffic, and ultimately, a better return on investment.

Here’s why: If your ad attracts too broad an audience, you’ll pay for unqualified clicks that never convert. Ads with lower CTRs often pre-qualify users, setting clear expectations and filtering out those who aren’t a good fit.

To determine ad success beyond CTR, use impression-based metrics like:

Conversion per Impression (CPI): Conversions ÷ Impressions
Revenue per Impression (RPI): Revenue ÷ Impressions

And when you’re optimizing campaigns, ask yourself:

Who am I actually attracting with this ad?
Am I setting the right expectations for my landing page?
How can I discourage unqualified clicks?

Remember, a slightly lower CTR paired with a higher conversion rate almost always beats an ad that brings in clicks but not customers.

Maintain Authenticity in Influencer Marketing

NOVEMBER 6, 2025

At Semrush’s Spotlight conference, Sarah Adam, head of influencer marketing at Wix, shared three steps for brands looking to scale their influencer strategy without sacrificing what makes it real:

Discovery. Her team spends full days researching niches before choosing creators who genuinely belong to their communities. They apply three filters: bio (real member of the audience), data (consistent engagement), and content (authentic and useful).
Creative freedom. A good brief guides, not dictates. Adam likens it to giving a map, not a GPS route. Use plain language, define clear goals, and set only essential rules.
Feedback. Edits should focus on factual accuracy instead of tone or style. Her rule: if content could go live without your note, delete it.

Tell People Who Your Product Isn’t For

NOVEMBER 5, 2025

Some new research suggests that telling people who your product is not for can actually be more persuasive than saying who it is for.

People were up to 48% more likely to choose a product when it used negative framing, like “Not for risk-taking investors,” rather than positive framing, like “For a safe investment.”

The effect works because it signals specialization and makes your product feel tailored.

It’s especially effective for products with strong personal preferences, like coffee, hot sauce, mattresses, beauty products, etc.

Here’s how to activate it:

Use negative framing in product descriptions, ads, and social posts (“Not for people who hate dark roast coffee”).
Highlight specialization to make your product feel tailored for your ideal customer.
Test on preference-driven products first (food, beauty, lifestyle), since effectiveness may vary for other categories.
Combine with context by referencing customer habits, history, or product use.
Compare rivals carefully to showcase strengths and differentiate your offering.