The Daily Carnage

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

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6 Tips for Solo Marketers

OCTOBER 29, 2025

Marketing, party of one?

You’re the strategist, designer, copywriter, analyst, and occasionally the person packing boxes. The “solo marketer” title is becoming increasingly common.

Here’s how to survive and thrive alone (if you must):

Protect your creative time. Time-block space for deep thinking. Treat creative work as essential, not a luxury.
Don’t try to do everything. Prioritize high-impact initiatives and let go of the guilt of unfinished tasks.
Build systems alongside strategy. Document processes early, from naming conventions to content calendars, to make future scaling smoother.
Communicate your boundaries. Be honest about capacity. Overwork isn’t sustainable or strategic.
Celebrate the small wins. Track and share progress often.
Build and lean on your marketing community. Even if you’re solo, you don’t have to go it alone. Create a “shadow team” of peers you can lean on for ideas, feedback, or sanity checks.

Hang in there, Swiss Army Knives.

The Job Market Pinch

OCTOBER 28, 2025

According to Taligence’s Q3 U.S. Marketing Jobs Report, listings for entry-level marketing roles dropped 8.6% year-over-year, though a 5.4% quarterly uptick hints at a slow rebound.

The average marketing job now stays open 41 days. CMOs saw a 10.1% YoY pay drop. Meanwhile, entry-level salaries remain stagnant at about $50,000, with minimal movement from last year.

Here’s the breakdown:

Overall marketing roles: Down 5.2% QoQ
Growth marketers: Demand up 36.2% YoY
Product marketers: Demand up 8.9% YoY, highest median salary at $158,496
Communications pros: Demand down 17.5% YoY
Pay transparency: Now in 53% of listings, up 7.8% YoY
Top-paying states: California ($114,993) and New York ($110,001)

A Case Against Trend-Jacking

OCTOBER 27, 2025

Brands are mistaking participation for presence. Sorry if that hurts.

Trend-jacking can deliver short-term engagement, but it rarely builds long-term cultural influence.

It’s easy to take a meme format, swap in your logo, and hit post. But as feeds fill up with recycled humor, brands lose their distinctiveness.

Gen Z especially sees through the mimicry. They’re looking for authenticity and purpose over another “relatable” brand that tries too hard to belong.

So, how do you move from participation to ownership? You have to know your brand, have a clear voice, and create moments that feel organic, not opportunistic.

Here’s how:

Know your identity. The basics! Define your brand voice, purpose, and audience role.
Lead with originality. Use cultural moments as springboards, not scripts.
Be selective. Quality over frequency. Not every trend deserves your logo.
Add value. Join only those conversations where you can contribute meaningfully.
Own your space. Don’t chase relevance. Create it.

Visibility ≠ influence.

How To Persuade a Skeptical Audience

OCTOBER 23, 2025

When you’re writing to a skeptical or highly experienced audience, your copy can’t rely on fluff or broad appeal. It’s gotta be precise.

Here’s how to sway them:

Skip the preamble. Get right into the conversation your audience is already having.
Speak their language. Use the tone, terms, and rhythm your readers use with one another.
Disarm objections directly. Address the biggest “yeah, but…” before they can even think it.
Trade adjectives for proof. Replace “amazing” with data, stories, or testimonials.
Offer multiple reasons to act. Balance emotional appeal with logical benefits.
Lead to a crossroads. Paint a vivid “stay the same vs. change” scenario.

Check out Conversion Rate Experts to see this insight in action.

How To Persuade a Skeptical Audience

OCTOBER 22, 2025

When you’re writing to a skeptical or highly experienced audience, your copy can’t rely on fluff or broad appeal. It’s gotta be precise.

Here’s how to sway them:

Skip the preamble. Get right into the conversation your audience is already having.
Speak their language. Use the tone, terms, and rhythm your readers use with one another.
Disarm objections directly. Address the biggest “yeah, but…” before they can even think it.
Trade adjectives for proof. Replace “amazing” with data, stories, or testimonials.
Offer multiple reasons to act. Balance emotional appeal with logical benefits.
Lead to a crossroads. Paint a vivid “stay the same vs. change” scenario.

Check out Conversion Rate Experts to see this insight in action.

Video is Everthing

OCTOBER 22, 2025

According to new Kantar research, 69% of U.S. viewers prefer to watch a video over reading or listening when learning something new.

And that preference now extends far beyond “how-to” content. Video has become how people shop, search, and connect.

Among all platforms, YouTube stands out as the one destination serving every stage of this experience. Viewers say it offers the best shopping-related content (91% agree), from instructional videos to product reviews and unboxings.

83% of Gen Z say they’d rather watch their favorite creators than studio-produced content, and 82% of U.S. viewers agree that YouTube has the most trusted creators. Research shows YouTube shortens the average video shopper’s journey by six days.

So, what does this mean for marketers?

Reconsider video’s role beyond reach and awareness.
Build creator partnerships rooted in authenticity and expertise.
Align investments with the nonlinear, video-first journey.
Think of YouTube as a full-funnel platform, not just a channel.
Experiment with emerging formats, from Shorts to podcasts.

YouTube’s 2025 Culture & Trends Report

OCTOBER 21, 2025

YouTube’s 2025 “Culture & Trends” report analyzed the top 5,000 most-purchased products from the first half of 2025 and the top 1,000 videos by transaction on tagged products over a 60-day period. It also surveyed thousands of online users aged 14–49 to understand their attitudes towards internet shopping.

Notably, 61% of 14- to 24-year-olds agree that YouTube has helped them discover brands/products they didn’t know about.

Some key findings…

Creators: Influencers leverage their expertise to become trusted sources who offer solutions to address their viewers’ needs.
Communities: Groups of channels with shared interests create collective content that significantly influences purchasing decisions.
Content: Innovative formats help shoppers search for, learn about, and ultimately buy products.
Product trends: Real-world trending products have the potential to transform into even more popular online phenomena.

How Often Should You Post on TikTok?

OCTOBER 19, 2025

A new Buffer study analyzed 11.4 million TikTok posts across 150,000+ accounts to approximate an answer to the existential question: How often should we be posting?

Well, the short answer is about 2 to 5 times per week. That’s where creators see the biggest lift in average views per post (up to 17% more views compared to posting just once a week). Beyond that, the gains taper off, though they don’t disappear.

Here’s the average view lift by posting frequency:

2–5 posts per week → +17% views
6–10 posts per week → +29% views
11+ posts per week → +34% views

So yes, as we suspected, posting more does help, but not necessarily because each video performs better. It’s because more posts mean more shots at virality. The median TikTok still gets about the same number of views, but the top 10% of posts (the ones that break out) perform exponentially better the more you post.

The good news is that you don’t have to burn out chasing daily uploads. Going from 1 post a week to 2–5 is your sweet spot.

What is Reverse Imposter Syndrome?

OCTOBER 16, 2025

Reverse imposter syndrome flips the classic notion of imposter syndrome.

Instead of doubting your abilities internally, you’re confident in your skills, but external observers don’t fully recognize them. Wes Kao describes it as a perception problem: your work is excellent, but visibility and signals are limited, leaving others unaware of your contributions.

This tends to affect high-performing folks who are hardworking, results-driven, and quiet about their achievements (the GOAT co-workers).

Their work may be behind the scenes or highly technical, and while they deliver impactful outcomes, colleagues, managers, and stakeholders may not perceive the full extent of their expertise.

If that sounds like you, here’s how to reverse… reverse imposter syndrome:

Speak up! Share learnings, strategies, and results with broader teams.
Frame your contributions strategically. Connect your outputs to business outcomes and decision-making.
Be visible to the right people. Ensure key stakeholders see your high-impact work.
Develop consistent messaging. Practice clear, authentic ways to communicate accomplishments.
Position yourself as a partner, not just a doer. Demonstrate strategic insight alongside execution.