The Daily Carnage

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How to Boost Your Newsletter Open Rate

MAY 31, 2026

Beehiiv’s analysis of top-performing newsletters suggests that excellent open rates are the result of consistently delivering value and building trust over time.

The average newsletter on beehiiv sees open rates around 38–41%. The best publishers (those that become part of users’ routines) regularly achieve 55% or higher.

A predictable schedule, highly relevant content, and a clear editorial focus are the common demoninators. They don’t appeal to everyone. They serve a specific audience very well.

Plus, engagement starts before the email is sent. These creators often validate ideas through social channels, segment audiences based on interests, and continuously test subject lines (short > long) and calls-to-action.

And community matters, too. Newsletters that encourage replies, referrals, and reader participation tend to see stronger retention and long-term growth.

These are the key drivers of 55%+ open rates:

Consistent publishing schedule
Highly relevant, niche content
Strong audience trust and credibility
Short, tested subject lines
Audience segmentation
Actionable content readers can use immediately
Community engagement through replies and referrals
Clear, repeatable newsletter structure

Head to Beehiiv for more.

Your Google Maps growth might be stalling

MAY 27, 2026

A lot of local brands assume Google Maps growth is linear. It’s not.

Most businesses see fast early ranking gains from profile optimization, reviews, and category updates. But once those basics are covered, growth tends to slow — and staying visible becomes more about consistency than setup.

Some things to consider:

Google increasingly rewards ongoing activity. Fresh reviews, updated photos, regular posts, and continuous engagement appear to matter more over time than one-time optimization fixes.

Behavior signals may also play a larger role than brands realize. Clicks, calls, saves, and direction requests can help reinforce visibility in competitive markets.

At a certain point, local SEO starts behaving more like social distribution: freshness and activity sustain discoverability.

Quick hits:

Fresh activity matters more than static optimization
Review quality may outperform review quantity
Engagement signals likely influence rankings
Competitive categories require constant maintenance
Local SEO is now an ongoing channel, not a setup task

Head to SEOPressor for more.

LinkedIn Shares Video Tips

MAY 26, 2026

LinkedIn is pushing video, and they’ve shared some tips for how to perform.

As everywhere, authenticity and repeatability are outperforming polished production. Creators who win on LinkedIn are building recognizable systems, not one-off viral posts.

Some things to consider:

Start with expertise you already have. The best-performing videos are rooted in real experience and a clear point of view. Industry commentary, lessons learned, and simplified trend breakdowns perform well because they feel credible and practical.
Consistency matters more than perfection. LinkedIn recommends posting 2–5 times weekly, with 1–2 video posts. Sustainable cadence beats sporadic high-production content.
Series-based content is becoming the dominant format. Repeatable frameworks create familiarity and audience retention. Named formats (“How I Did It,” “Pick Up the Tab,” etc.) make content easier to scale and easier for audiences to recognize.
Behind-the-scenes content builds trust. Audiences increasingly respond to process transparency rather than polished outcomes. Showing workflows, planning, scripting, and execution creates credibility.
Native LinkedIn video is being prioritized. Vertical, mobile-friendly uploads appear to receive stronger placement in LinkedIn’s evolving video feed.
The platform is clearly investing in video discovery. LinkedIn is expanding its video tab and carousel internationally after extensive testing.
Simplicity wins. Smartphone footage, captions, natural lighting, and one clear idea per video are enough to succeed.

Head to LinkedIn for more.

The State of Brand Deals

MAY 26, 2026

The creator economy is becoming more structured, performance-driven, and platform-specific.

Some of the most important insights:

TikTok currently leads in ad disclosure compliance, with 52% of sponsored posts properly disclosed, compared to 42% on YouTube and just 29% on Instagram.
YouTube has emerged as the strongest platform for long-term creator relationships, averaging 13.5-month partnerships and a 50.9% repeat collaboration rate.
TikTok partnerships are far more transactional, with 71.8% of creator relationships ending after a single collaboration.
Affiliate-first partnerships dominate YouTube, where 52.9% of deals are affiliate-based instead of flat-fee sponsorships.
Q4 remains the busiest season for influencer campaigns, but each platform follows a different engagement rhythm, making platform-specific budget planning increasingly important.
Brand deals now account for 12.7% of creators’ annual income, while more than half of creators reported year-over-year income growth.

Overall, brands are shifting away from vanity metrics and toward measurable, long-term creator partnerships, increasingly investing in creators who can drive conversions across more than one campaign.

Google Ads Benchmark Report 2026

MAY 20, 2026

According to WordStream’s Google Ads Benchmarks report, 2026 marks the first year in five years where average cost per lead declined across industries.

Advertisers are becoming more effective at using Google’s AI-powered campaign tools, audience targeting, and conversion-focused strategies to improve efficiency over simply driving more clicks.

Google’s Performance Max and automated bidding appear to reward advertisers with stronger relevance and better-qualified traffic.

Brands that invest in first-party data, creative testing, and landing-page optimization are seeing stronger returns despite higher media costs.

Some insights to know:

Average click-through rate (CTR): 6.64%.
Average cost per click (CPC): $5.42.
Average cost per lead (CPL): $66.69.
Average conversion rate increased in 87% of industries.
CPLs declined year-over-year for the first time since 2020.
Legal industry had the highest CPL: $131.63.
Arts & Entertainment had the lowest CPL: $26.84.
CPCs have increased more than 100% since 2015.
AI-powered campaigns are outperforming many manual strategies.
Landing-page quality is becoming more important than keyword volume.
Automation is reducing wasted ad spend.
Competitive industries continue to see aggressive bidding pressure.
First-party data strategies are becoming critical for targeting and attribution.
Performance Max adoption continues to rise across industries.
Advertisers focused on efficiency are outperforming those focused only on scale.

Dig into the data at WordStream.

Rules for Organic Social Growth in 2026

MAY 19, 2026

Organic social has shifted from “brand publishing” to “attention engineering.”

The brands and creators winning today are simply the most recognizable, opinionated, and human.

A few unwritten rules for organic:

Sound like a person, not a company
Optimize for retention and shares, not followers
Prioritize strong hooks in the first sentence or two seconds
Create content that sparks recognition (“this is so true”)
Post native-looking content instead of polished ads
Develop a distinct tone and worldview people remember

Consistency alone is no longer enough. Audiences reward clarity of perspective more than cadence. A smaller account with a sharp point of view can outperform a large account posting generic “value content.”

Also, people now search social for education, recommendations, and expertise. So, that means useful, specific, searchable content performs better than broad messaging.

Check out Noble Growth Insights for more.

What’s a Good Search Query?

MAY 17, 2026

A “good” search query is clear, specific, and natural.

Instead of broad terms like “coffee,” users now search in conversational, high-intent phrases like “best light roast coffee for cold brew under $20.”

And search engines increasingly prioritize search intent over exact-match keywords. Whether someone wants to learn, compare, buy, or solve a problem determines what type of content should rank. A query like “business plan” is ambiguous, while “how to write a business plan for a startup” signals a much clearer need.

Adding phrases like “for beginners,” “best,” or “under $50” can narrow intent and increase the likelihood of appearing in featured snippets, AI overviews, and voice search results.

A strong search query usually has:

Clear user intent
Specific wording and context
Natural, conversational phrasing
Long-tail keyword structure
Relevant modifiers (“best,” “how to,” “near me”)
Alignment with user needs and SERP behavior

Check out Clearscope for more.

Inbox Placement in 2026

MAY 13, 2026

Inbox placement is increasingly determined by trust and engagement, not traditional spam-check tactics.

Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft now rely heavily on AI-driven filtering systems that evaluate sender reputation, user behavior, and content relevance.

As a result, we have to demonstrate long-term credibility rather than focus on short-term deliverability hacks.

Here’s what you should know:

Inbox placement depends heavily on user engagement signals.
- Opens, replies, clicks, saves, and deletions all influence reputation.
- Low engagement can reduce inbox visibility over time.
Authentication is now a baseline requirement.
- SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are essential for sender trust.
- Improper authentication increases spam-folder risk.
AI is reshaping inbox filtering.
- Providers analyze behavior patterns and content quality at scale.
- Attempts to manipulate filters are increasingly ineffective.
List quality matters more than list size.
- Inactive subscribers damage sender reputation.
- Consistent list cleaning improves long-term performance.
Reputation is built gradually
- Sudden spikes in email volume can trigger filtering concerns.
- Warm-up strategies remain important for new domains and IPs.
Subscriber experience is becoming the core metric.
- Relevant, expected, and timely content performs best.
- Brands must align messaging with subscriber intent and preferences.

Head to Litmus for the full scoop.

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.

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