The Hidden Power of Compounding in Customer Lifetime Value & Life

What if small, consistent efforts were the secret to exponential growth — in business and life? Discover how the compounding effect powers customer retention, lifetime value, and personal success.

So this just happened to me last night… I stayed up till 3 am to catch Tony Robbins’ Thrive 2025. I was expecting the usual adrenaline rush. The kind of high-octane, fire-walking motivation Tony’s famous for. What did I get instead? A masterclass in compounding. And not just in finance, my friend, but in life.

It wasn’t about grinding harder or waking up at 4:45 am to chug protein and cold plunge into greatness. It was about patience. Yep, patience, my young padawan. The idea that the tiny, often invisible things we do every single day — like writing one blog post, tweaking that onboarding email, setting up a basic CRM flow, or meditating for five damn minutes. Those aren’t minor. They’re seeds. And over time, they grow. Quietly. Exponentially.

This isn’t just life advice. It’s marketing strategy 101. Because what’s true in self-improvement is equally true in business: Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) isn’t built in a day. It compounds. And at the heart of LTV is one underrated, under-budgeted, and often misunderstood superpower: retention. Just like your habits, retention works in the background, and when done right, it multiplies everything you’ve already worked for.

Welcome to the compounding era. Whether you’re chasing better customers or a better version of yourself. It starts with the small stuff. Let’s dig in.

1. Retention: The Underrated Growth Lever

Let’s start with some marketing math. Not the kind that gives you a headache, but the kind that makes your CFO smile.

Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) is the total revenue a business can expect from a single customer over the course of their relationship. The classic formula looks like this:

LTV = (Average Order Value × Purchase Frequency) × Customer Lifespan

Simple, right? But here’s where it gets juicy.

Most marketers obsess over Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) — how much it costs to win a new customer. That’s fine. CAC is sexy. It’s a metric that gets budget approvals, earns high-fives in boardrooms, and keeps paid media teams employed. But if CAC is the sizzle, LTV is the steak. (You can obviously tell I’m getting hungry!)

Here’s the dirty little secret: Retention is the multiplier marketers overlook.

Acquiring new customers gets headlines. Retaining existing ones gets results.

Every improvement in retention does two things:

It extends your value tail: meaning customers stick around longer and spend more.
It reduces your payback period: meaning you recover your CAC faster, freeing up cash to reinvest.

The key insight?

Retention doesn’t just improve LTV, it compounds your return on CAC.

Every touchpoint that increases engagement, builds loyalty, or reduces churn is a small investment that quietly pays off… again and again.

Want to find out more on why LTV & Retention is the untapped growth engine for sustainable app growth? Click here to read!

2. Why 1% Improvements Can Lead to 100% Revenue Growth in 70 Days

Let’s play a quick thought experiment.

If you improved your product, UX, CRM, or user onboarding by just 1% every single day, how much better would you be in 70 days?

Not twice as good. Not three times.

Exactly 2x better. That’s the magic of compounding.

Mathematically, if you grow 1% daily, by Day 70, you’re at 2.01x your starting point. You’ve doubled your output. Not by going viral, but by going consistent.

This is what the best brands and people do. They improve incrementally. They iterate. They optimise. They test.

That blue curve? That’s not just data. That’s your edge.

Key Insight: Tiny improvements don’t feel revolutionary in the moment. But given time, they stack. That’s the power of compounding. It’s not sexy, it’s unstoppable.

3. How the Growth Mindset Mirrors Lifetime Value Strategy

Let’s step outside the marketing dashboard for a moment.

Compounding isn’t just a business strategy. It’s a life philosophy.

As the late Steve Jobs once said:

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward.”

Think about that. The effort you put in today — learning a new skill, running that extra mile, reading one chapter before bed, it doesn’t feel like much. It might even feel pointless. But months or years later, you’ll realise those micro-efforts were your game-changers.

Just like in LTV, your life has a hidden balance sheet. And you’re either making deposits or letting it sit idle.

Write one page a day? That’s a book in a year.
Reach out to one new contact daily? That’s 365 new connections.
Show up at the gym three times a week? That’s 150+ workouts that future-you will thank you for.

Key Insight: Growth isn’t always visible in the now. But it’s always accumulating. You just need to keep making deposits.

Final Thoughts: The Compound Effect Is Your Competitive Advantage

In both business and life, the winners aren’t the ones who sprint the fastest. They’re the ones who just don’t stop walking. It’s not the viral campaigns or the once-in-a-blue-moon breakthroughs that build greatness. It’s the daily reps, the quiet consistency, the marginal gains that stack like bricks.

Whether you’re fine-tuning your CRM flow, optimising a push notification, or trying to squeeze out one more rep at the gym, the results won’t show up overnight, but they will show up. And when they do, they’ll look like momentum. Growth. Progress. Maybe even mastery.

So let’s stop worshipping at the altar of “overnight success” and start celebrating what really moves the needle: patience, persistence, and process. The stuff that compounds. The stuff that lasts.

Here’s your moment of truth:

What’s one small thing you’ll commit to today — in your work or your life — that your future self will thank you for?

Make that deposit. The compound effect is already ticking.

Growth Marketing ROI: Think Like a Portfolio Fund Manager

What if you managed your marketing channels like a financial portfolio? Discover how to drive smarter ROI by applying investment principles—diversify, monitor, and optimize like a fund manager.

So… with the recent market turmoil caused by a policy-tweeting President, I began to obsess over my personal investment portfolio. Mapping out my risk tolerance, allocating between equities, bonds, and even a cheeky play on thematic ETFs. Then it hit me, this is exactly how I’ve approached growth marketing for years.

Campaigns are like stocks. Channels are your asset classes. And ROI? That’s your return on capital. Whether it’s a bullish Meta campaign or a stable Google Search ad group, every move in marketing has its risk profile, expected return, and opportunity cost, just like managing a fund. It’s all the same game, just different dashboards.

And here’s where my finance training rears its analytical head: whether you’re investing $10K into ETFs or $1M into paid media, the fundamentals still hold. Know your objective. Balance risk and reward. Monitor religiously. Growth marketing isn’t about throwing money at shiny new platforms, it’s capital allocation with a creative twist.

So what happens when you start managing your campaigns like a portfolio manager? Let’s dive in. Your marketing mix may never look the same again.

1. Define Your Investment Mandate (a.k.a. Growth Objective)

Before a fund manager touches a single stock, they define their investment mandate. Income, growth, capital preservation — the goal shapes the portfolio.

Marketing isn’t any different. Are you acquiring new users? Building brand awareness? Maximising ROAS? Each objective requires a different mix of tactics, channels, and creative risk-taking.

And while I’d argue that every marketing dollar should ultimately ladder back to ROAS (let’s not pretend we’re a charity), the level of aggressiveness varies. Some brands want immediate cash flow; others play the long game with upper-funnel storytelling.

Your objective is your compass. It dictates how much you allocate to Google Search versus YouTube, branded versus performance, retention versus acquisition.

“Without a mandate, you’re just guessing with money.”

2. Diversify Campaign Bets (Like Building an Asset Allocation Strategy)

Enter Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT), the finance nerd’s holy grail. MPT says investors are naturally risk-averse and should diversify across assets to optimise returns while minimising volatility. The same logic applies to growth marketing.

Every channel has its own risk-return profile. Facebook might have a 10% ROAS upside, but it swings wildly depending on algorithm changes. Google Search? A reliable blue-chip with steadier returns. Influencer campaigns? The crypto of marketing: moonshot or dumpster fire.

Let’s break it down:

If you have four equally weighted channels with expected ROAS of 5%, 8%, 12%, and 18%, your portfolio’s expected ROAS is:

(5% x 25%) + (8% x 25%) + (12% x 25%) + (18% x 25%) = 10.8%

Not bad, but here’s the kicker: thanks to channel correlation (or lack thereof), your total portfolio risk could be lower than the sum of individual risks. That’s the magic of diversification. Facebook and TikTok may perform differently during the holiday season; one could tank, the other could thrive.

So design your stack accordingly:

Core Holdings: Your proven, high-conviction channels: Google Search, Meta, CRM.
Growth Picks: TikTok, UGC, influencer seeding, affiliate plays.

Base channel weightings on historical performance, CAC consistency, and campaign volatility. Measure each channel’s ‘variance’ using historical data, and track cross-channel correlations to understand how one campaign’s success (or failure) might affect others.

“Diversification is not just defense — it’s intelligent offense.”

3. Monitor Performance Like Stock Positions — and Cut the Losers, Double Down on the Winners

Fund managers have Bloomberg terminals. You have dashboards, or at least you should.

Every marketer should have a real-time view of channel spend, ROAS, CAC, CPM, and variance. Not just per channel, but in aggregate. Are you up overall? Or just being buoyed by one runaway success hiding a handful of underperformers?

But data’s only useful if you act on it. Set hypotheses for each campaign, like you would set target prices for stocks.

If Meta Ads doesn’t hit CPA targets in two weeks? Trim the position.
If YouTube starts outperforming by 20% with lower CPA? Scale it.

Here’s the tough love part: detach emotionally. The fact that “Instagram always worked before” doesn’t mean it’s a forever hold. In both markets and marketing, rational detachment is your moat.

“Be a performance pragmatist. Love the result, not the channel.”

4. Rebalance Regularly

The market changes. So should your marketing mix.

Just as fund managers rebalance portfolios quarterly, smart marketers reassess their stack frequently. What’s working? What’s stale? Are you overexposed to a declining channel? Is there a new ad format or beta worth testing?

Your media mix should reflect today’s consumer behaviour and not last quarter’s case study. Stay close to martech developments, algorithm shifts, and platform evolutions. What’s volatile today might be a stable performer next month (and vice versa).

Rebalancing isn’t just housekeeping. It’s strategic foresight.

“Past performance is not indicative of future results — in finance and in marketing.”

Final Thoughts: From Markets to Marketing – ROI Is All About Discipline

At the end of the day, growth marketing and investing share one simple truth: results come from discipline, not gut feel.

Thinking like a portfolio fund manager forces you to zoom out. It pushes you to look past the shiny new platform or viral ad and ask: Is this worth the risk? Does this align with my objective? How does this play with the rest of my mix?

It’s a mindset shift — from reactive tinkering to strategic capital allocation. It removes emotion, enforces structure, and most importantly, keeps your decisions grounded in risk-adjusted returns.

“The best marketers don’t just launch campaigns. They manage capital. Thoughtfully. Strategically. Relentlessly.”

So the next time you’re about to drop $100K on a campaign, pause. Take a breath. Ask yourself — would your portfolio manager do the same?

And now I want to hear from you.

👉 What’s your current “blue-chip” channel? The one you’d bet the farm on?

👉 And what’s your “high-risk, high-reward” play? The TikTok of your portfolio?

Drop them in the comments or DM me. Let’s compare portfolios. Who knows, your next winning bet might just come from someone else’s allocation.

🫶🏻 Thanks for reading till the end.

➡️ Follow Mervyn Chua and reshare to help others.

📌 Save this post for future reference!⁣⁣⁣⁣

Growth Lessons from a Bottle: Why Great Campaigns (Like Wine) Need Time

What if your underperforming campaign just needs time to breathe? Discover how wine and performance marketing share surprising growth lessons — from learning phases to long-term ROI.

So, this happened to me over the weekend. We opened a bottle of red that we had high hopes for. Big name. Good vintage. Great reviews. But right out of the bottle? Flat. Harsh. Tannic in all the wrong ways. Honestly, a letdown.

But an hour later? After it had time to breathe, open up, and evolve… it was stunning. Balanced. Complex. Worth the wait. The kind of wine that makes you pause mid-sentence and just feel the glass.

And it hit me: this is exactly how many of our marketing campaigns behave. We launch with big expectations, pour it all out at once, and when the early results don’t sing, we panic. We start tweaking headlines, slashing budgets, and questioning the whole strategy.

But what if the problem isn’t the campaign… but our impatience?

In growth marketing, just like in wine, time, patience, and the right environment can turn something disappointing into something extraordinary. Campaigns, like Cabernets, go through phases. Raw at first, misunderstood midway, and (if nurtured well) magic in the end.

Let’s decant this idea a little. Because your next high-performing campaign might not need a new funnel or fresh creative, it might just need to breathe.

1. Let It Breathe: Campaigns Have a Learning Phase

You don’t chug a bold Cabernet Sauvignon right after popping the cork. At least, not if you want to enjoy it.

Just like wine needs oxygen to open up, your digital campaigns need time to exit their learning phase. And this isn’t just a poetic analogy — Meta and Google literally call it that.

When you launch a new campaign, the algorithm is like a blindfolded sommelier. It’s sniffing around, trying to figure out: Who’s clicking? Who’s converting? What creative actually works?

The platform needs space to gather data, test hypotheses, and refine delivery. Kill it too early, and you’re judging the wine by the first whiff of the cork.

Lesson: “You can’t judge a campaign (or a Cabernet Sauvignon) by the first sip. Give it oxygen. Let it gather data.”

Rushing to optimise too soon is like swirling a Merlot once and declaring it lifeless. Patience isn’t a virtue here, it’s a strategy.

2. Some Wines (and Campaigns) Just Take Time

Some things, like Barolos, Bordeaux blends, and customer acquisition on a new channel, need time to shine.

Sure, your TikTok ad might blow up in a day. But that LinkedIn lead gen campaign for your B2B SaaS product? That’s not a sprint, that’s a marathon in slow motion.

Different campaigns operate on different time horizons. Why? Because of:

Different user intent: Not every click is conversion-ready.
Different buying cycles: A $5 impulse buy behaves very differently from a $15K software subscription.
Different value: High LTV users are worth waiting for.

Yet too often, marketers give up after three days and declare the campaign a flop. (Imagine dumping out a 2010 Margaux because it didn’t sing at first sip. Blasphemy.)

Lesson: “Just because it doesn’t convert in 3 days doesn’t mean it’s not working. Judge your work by its lifetime contribution, not its launch day.”

The trick is knowing which wines (and which campaigns) are worth the wait.

3. Time + Environment = Enhanced Performance

Wine doesn’t age well just because of time, it needs the right environment: temperature, humidity, and a wine fridge (or a dark calm cellar).

Campaigns are no different. If you don’t have the right setup of audience signals, attribution, and conversion events, you could be ageing vinegar, not value.

Let’s talk about the numbers — the nerdy stuff that saves budgets and reputations. To decide if a campaign is truly working, you need statistical significance. That means:

You’re not reacting to noise.
You’ve hit the sample size to validate your KPI.
You’re making calls with confidence, not vibes.

The ideal sample size is driven by:

Confidence level (typically 95%)
Margin of error
Baseline conversion rate

So, before you switch off a campaign based on 7 conversions and a hunch? Don’t. Let the data cook. Aim for at least 100 conversions per variant for directional reads, and one clear KPI to rule them all. Everything else? Supporting actors.

Lesson (Use this mini-framework):

Reach statistical significance
Validate the trend over time
Test incremental lifts

Because a great campaign isn’t built in a day, and neither is a Pinot Grand Cru.

Final Thoughts: Sip Slowly, Scale Wisely

That wine wasn’t bad. It was just misunderstood.

Same with some of our campaigns.

In our rush to optimise, scale, and show ROI by yesterday, we sometimes forget that growth (like fermentation) takes time. It’s not about sitting still; it’s about letting the right things evolve under the right conditions.

Good campaigns, like good wines, reward patience.

The great ones? They get better with time, attention, and just the right environment.

So the next time your dashboard screams “underperforming,” take a pause. Ask yourself:

Has it had time to breathe?
Is it being judged too soon?
Are we measuring the right things, or just reacting to noise?

Because maybe, just maybe, that underwhelming campaign is your next best-seller in disguise.

🍷 Call to Action

What campaigns have you written off too early? What if you just needed to let them breathe?

Let’s start decanting, not discarding.

Keep It Simple, Marketer: How to Evaluate Martech Tools Like an Investor

Discover a simple, profit-focused framework for evaluating martech tools like an investor. Learn how to cut through the noise, avoid shiny object syndrome, and make smarter marketing decisions that drive real business impact.

So this happened to me earlier this week at the MarTech Summit in Singapore… I had more than a few conversations that ended with the same question: “Is this tool really worth the investment?” 🤔

I’ll be honest. Being surrounded by some of the brightest marketers, coolest demos, and the latest marketing tech was super energizing. There’s a real buzz that comes from swapping ideas, learning about new platforms, and imagining the possibilities. ⚡ But that same buzz can quickly morph into overwhelm when you’re faced with a dizzying lineup of dashboards, AI-powered features, and bold promises that this is the tool that will change your life (and pipeline).

Sound familiar? You’re not alone.

In a sea of tools, demos, and jargon-filled pitches, how do you actually cut through the noise and decide whether to pull the trigger on a new martech investment?

Here’s a radical idea: Keep. It. Simple. 💡 Strip away the vanity metrics, the shiny features, and the FOMO. Because at the end of the day, if a tool doesn’t help your business make more profit — by increasing revenue or reducing costs — then it’s probably not worth your time (or budget). 📉💸

Let’s dive into how to make smarter, simpler, and more business-driven decisions when evaluating your next martech investment.

Why Marketers Overcomplicate ROI 🤯

Let’s face it. Marketers are notorious for falling in love with shiny new tools. It’s easy to get swept up by sleek demos, AI-powered this, machine-learning that, and dashboards that look like they belong on the Starship Enterprise. 🛸

But here’s the thing:

🔧 Features Over Functions

We often focus on what a tool can do rather than what it should do for our business. That leads to complexity over clarity and, ultimately, clutter in your stack.

📊 Too Many Metrics, Not Enough Meaning

With every tool claiming to give you “data-driven insights,” we end up swimming in KPIs but still struggle to make decisions that move the needle.

🧠 Analysis Paralysis

You’ve got dashboards for days but no clear next step. Sound familiar? When you try to track everything, you end up understanding nothing.

✅ The Shift Needed

It’s time to stop asking, “Is this tool cool?” and start asking, “What’s the business impact?” The real question is: Does it move us closer to profit?

The KISS Framework for Martech Justification 💡

“Keep It Simple, Stupid (but Smart).” 😄

Let’s bring it back to the one question that really matters:

👉 Will this tool drive profit?

Everything else is noise. Strip away the fluff and focus on the two simple levers that drive profit: Revenue Growth and Cost Reduction.

💰 Revenue Growth

Invest in tools that earn their keep by helping you sell more or sell better:

Improve conversion rates: CRO tools, smarter funnels, or better lead scoring.
Enhance personalisation: More relevant emails or platform experiences = more engagement = more sales.
Boost retention: Loyalty platforms and CRM systems that drive repeat purchases = higher LTV.

💸 Cost Reduction

Save time, cut waste, and do more with less:

Automation: Think email workflows, content AI, and smart scheduling.
Reallocate manual effort: Free your team from grunt work so they can focus on strategy.
Better targeting: Stop burning ad dollars. Smarter targeting = less waste, more ROI.

A Finance-Informed Lens on Martech Investment 📊

Here’s where my background in finance and asset management comes in handy. Let’s take a step back and think like an investor.

🧮 Net Present Value (NPV) for Marketing Tools

Every martech tool is a business investment. And every good investor asks:

“Will the return outweigh the cost and is it better than using that money elsewhere?”

Break it down like this:

Upfront Cost: Licenses, integrations, onboarding, training. 💵
Benefits Over Time: Either in revenue gains or cost savings over 12 months (a typical contract period).
Opportunity Cost: What else could you do with that money?

So the mental model becomes:

“Will this tool deliver more value than its cost over a 12-month horizon?”

Even if you don’t build a full spreadsheet model, this mindset helps you make smarter, more grounded decisions.

Simple NPV Breakdown:

🧾 Initial Cost = license + internal hours for implementation
📈 Forecasted Impact = estimated uplift in conversions or time saved
🔁 Discount Rate = your company’s risk appetite or benchmark ROI

No buzzwords. Just business thinking.

How to Build a Simple Business Case Without Drowning in Data 🛠️

Don’t worry, you don’t need to be a spreadsheet wizard to justify a tool. Just follow this simple, no-fluff approach:

1. Start with a Hypothesis

“If we implement this tool, we expect a 10% increase in lead conversion.”

2. Estimate the Dollar Impact

10% more leads converted × average revenue per lead = projected revenue gain

3. Add the Estimated Cost

Subscription fee + implementation hours (people x time)

4. Consider the Time to Impact

Will results show up in weeks or months? How fast can we get to value?

5. Align with Stakeholders

Finance and leadership don’t care about CTRs or impressions. They want to know if this makes or saves money. Talk in business terms and not just marketing jargon.

🚀 Final Thoughts: Be the Bridge Between Marketing & Business

At the end of the day, marketing isn’t just about crafting clever campaigns or plugging in the latest tools. It’s not just creative, and it’s not just technical — it’s a growth engine. 💡

And the most effective performance marketers? They think like investors. 📊 They know that every tool, every tactic, and every touchpoint needs to serve a higher purpose: profit.

When you lead with simplicity, profit-focused thinking, and business clarity, something powerful happens:

👉 You stop chasing shiny objects.

👉 You start making confident, data-informed decisions.

👉 And most importantly, you become a true strategic partner to the business. And not just the person who runs the ads or manages the tech stack.

So here’s your next move:

💬 If you’re currently evaluating a martech tool or stuck in one that isn’t performing, ask yourself: What’s the impact on profit?

If you can’t answer that clearly, maybe it’s time to go back to basics. Strip away the noise, follow the numbers, and focus on what actually moves the needle.

Because sometimes, the smartest strategy is the simplest one. 💥

Want more content like this? Follow along as I break down growth marketing with a business-first mindset — minus the fluff and with a healthy dose of real-world strategy. 👊

The Algorithm Is the Audience: How Social Search Is Rewiring Discovery, Desire, and Decision-Making

Social search is transforming how Gen Z discovers and decides. Learn why traditional SEO isn’t enough, and how marketers can optimize for TikTok, Instagram, and beyond in this deep-dive into the future of search.

I used to search with intent. I’d open Google, type a specific question, and sift through a buffet of blue links, carefully choosing what felt the most credible or relevant. There was structure. A sense of control. I knew what I was looking for, and I trusted that the answers were buried somewhere in those ten little links.

But these days? I don’t really search. I scroll.

I’m not asking questions. I’m being shown answers. The algorithm decides what I see before I even know I want it. And what shows up isn’t shaped by what I’m looking for. It’s shaped by who I am, or at least who the algorithm thinks I am.

Welcome to the rise of social search, where discovery is ambient, content is the answer, and Gen Z finds dinner, skincare, career advice, and emotional validation all in one single vertical feed.

And this isn’t just a personal shift, it’s a generational one.

📊 Recent studies show that nearly 46% of Gen Z (and 35% of millennials) now prefer searching on social media platforms over traditional search engines. In fact, Gen Z uses Google 25% less than Gen X.

Almost 1 in 4 young consumers now use social media as their primary search tool. Nearly 40% of Gen Z would rather turn to TikTok or Instagram than Google when looking for information, from fashion tips to restaurant reviews. They’re skipping traditional search results for the rich, visual, and human-first feeds of social apps.

Platforms like TikTok and Instagram aren’t just taking over search—they’re redefining it. And if you’re still optimizing for keywords while your audience is getting travel tips from a 19-year-old in a hoodie lip-syncing to SZA… you’re not just behind. You’re invisible.

This isn’t a trend. It’s a reprogramming of how we discover, trust, and decide. Social platforms have become the new interface for curiosity. And if marketers don’t adapt, they’re basically whispering into the void.

1️⃣ The Death of the Keyword

Traditional search was all about declared intent. Type in a question, get a list of links, and click the best match. It was structured. Predictable. SEO was the game and keywords were king.

But Gen Z? They’re not playing by those rules.

This is a generation raised on the infinite scroll where discovery isn’t something you seek but something you stumble into. On platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts, content isn’t surfaced because you asked for it. It appears because the algorithm has decided it fits your vibe.

📲 Social search is passive, predictive, and hyper-personalized. You don’t ask. It answers. Before you even realize you want to know.

According to Search Engine Land, Gen Z prefers short-form, visual-first content over traditional text results. Platforms like TikTok deliver instant gratification — fast, entertaining, and straight to the point. No digging through a long blog. No dodging SEO fluff.

This isn’t just about how we search. It’s a fundamental shift in why we engage.

📉 Traditional search is about information.

📈 Social search is about identity.

The algorithm profiles your behavior, tastes, and micro-engagements to serve you content that feels right. Creepy? Yes. Efficient? Also yes.

🚨 For marketers, here’s the wake-up call: Keywords no longer guarantee relevance. If your content isn’t designed to stop the scroll, it won’t be seen—no matter how well it ranks.

2️⃣ From SEO to CEO (Chief Entertainment Officer)

In the age of social search, creators are the new curators of discovery. They don’t wait for users to ask questions, they create content that shapes what people see, want, and believe.

And in this landscape? Influence = authority.

🔥 Marketers need to stop being just useful. They need to become watchable.

Traditional SEO taught us how to write to rank. Social search demands we create to resonate. Your audience doesn’t want more blog posts. They want stories, faces, and scroll-stopping moments.

Because here’s the truth:

✅ Authenticity is the new SEO.

Gen Z isn’t buying the polished, over-optimized, brand-safe content anymore. They crave realness. Slightly raw, a little unfiltered, deeply personal. A TikTok video of someone sharing a genuine review outperforms a thousand-word article optimized for “best supermarket wines under $50.” Why? Because it feels like advice from a friend, not a faceless brand.

Want to build trust?

Collaborate with real people
Ditch the overly scripted content
Speak with relatability, not just authority

In today’s attention economy, your role as a marketer isn’t just to rank, it’s to perform. You’re not just a strategist anymore… you’re the Chief Entertainment Officer.

3️⃣ Social Proof is the New Relevance

In the past, SEO relevance was mechanical: keywords, backlinks, metadata.

But in the world of social search? ✨ Relevance is human.

Comments, saves, shares — these are the new ranking signals. A flood of “omg needed this 🙌” tells TikTok the content is working. Social platforms don’t care about domain authority, they care about momentum.

👥 Gen Z trusts people, not platforms. When they search, they’re looking for community-driven answers:

A Reddit thread with 200 upvotes
A TikTok with relatable tips in the comments
A YouTube comment thread full of context and hacks

They want to see people debating, sharing, and validating information in real time.

💬 Social search isn’t just a search engine, it’s a conversation.

This is what modern relevance looks like: Not matching a query, but matching a moment. If your content doesn’t feel personal, useful, or timely, it won’t matter how optimized it is. It will vanish in the scroll.

Your new job? Create content that sparks discussion and earns attention from a crowd that talks back.

4️⃣ So What Should Marketers Do (Besides Panic)?

Breathe. This shift isn’t a threat—it’s an opportunity. Here’s how to show up where your audience is already searching:

✅ Optimize Content for Social Search

Start treating your social content like SEO content.

🔍 Best practices:

Use keywords naturally in captions and on-screen text
Add alt-text and relevant hashtags
Join platform trends early
Create content that answers real questions

This isn’t about keyword stuffing. It’s about being findable and watchable. Think like your audience: “What would I type into TikTok?” Then create content that delivers that answer natively and authentically.

🤝 Leverage Creators and Community for Reach

If social search is powered by peer trust, then creators and user-generated content (UGC) are your secret weapons.

Why? Because people trust people.

💡 Here’s how to tap into that:

Collaborate with influencers whose values and audience align with yours.
Encourage UGC by inviting users to share their own experiences with your product or service.
Be active in communities where your audience already lives, whether that’s Reddit, Discord, or TikTok comments.

Community-powered discovery builds trust faster than any ad ever could. And when your brand shows up in the voice of someone your audience already relates to, it hits differently.

💰 Expand Your Paid Search Playbook to Social Platforms

Paid search isn’t just a Google (or even Bing) game anymore. As social platforms mature into search engines, they’re also offering new paid ad formats tailored for discovery.

🛠️ New tools to try:

TikTok Search Ads (currently in beta) lets you place your brand directly in search results when users look for specific keywords.
Instagram’s Explore Feed isn’t a direct ad placement, but smart targeting can put your content in the feeds of users engaging with similar topics.
YouTube allows you to target specific search queries with video ads, perfect for intent-rich discovery moments.

If you’re already fluent in Google Ads, you have a massive advantage. Apply that expertise to TikTok and YouTube to get ahead of the competition before those auctions become saturated.

🌐 Embrace an Omnichannel Search Mindset

Search doesn’t start and end on one platform. Gen Z’s journey might go:

TikTok ➡ Reddit ➡ Google ➡ Instagram ➡ Checkout

Or, all in reverse. You need to be discoverable everywhere.

🧭 Some practical ways to do this:

Maintain a consistent brand voice across platforms, while adapting your content format to fit each ecosystem.
Cross-pollinate content: Turn a high-performing blog post into a TikTok explainer, or summarize it into a carousel for Instagram.
Listen to the signals: If you’re seeing a spike in referral traffic from Reddit or YouTube, double down where it works.

The future of search is fluid. Your strategy should be too. To win, your content needs to show up where your audience lives, in the format they trust, with the voice they recognize.

🚀 Final Thoughts: Stop Searching, Start Showing Up

The future of search isn’t about asking questions, it’s about being seen. Algorithms now shape what we discover, who we trust, and what we desire before we even know we’re searching.

Gen Z is showing us what’s next: a search experience that’s visual, social, and deeply immersive. It’s not just a shift in tools, it’s a shift in mindset.

So here’s your challenge 👇

🔎 Audit your presence:

Can someone easily find your product via a TikTok search?
Are you showing up in Instagram’s suggested content?
Do you appear in Reddit discussions or YouTube comment threads?
Are your posts showing up for relevant keywords in social captions or alt-text?

Call to action: Don’t wait for this wave to wash over your brand. Ride it. Assemble your team and start building a social search strategy.

💡Call to action: Pick one platform where your audience is active and start creating content built for discovery. Launch a TikTok tip series, or refresh your Instagram SEO.

Because in this new reality…

The brands that win aren’t just searchable — they’re seen.

Retention & LTV: The Untapped Growth Engine for Sustainable App Success

Struggling with app growth? 🚀 It’s not just about downloads—retention & customer lifetime value (LTV) are the real game-changers. Discover proven strategies to keep users engaged, maximize LTV, and build a sustainable, high-growth app. Read now! 🔥

Quick story from my younger days. When I was a kid, I was obsessed with playing Risk, the board game. My strategy? Pure domination. I’d go all-in on conquering as many territories as possible, expanding my empire at breakneck speed. But no matter how aggressive I played, I never won. Why? Because I was so focused on acquiring new lands I completely ignored retaining the ones I had already conquered. Eventually, my empire would crumble, leaving me frustrated and wondering where I went wrong.

Fast forward to today, and I see many mobile apps making the same mistake. They pour massive resources into acquiring new users, celebrating each new download like a conquered territory. But soon after, their users churn, engagement drops, and retention rates plummet.

The reality? Growth isn’t just about acquisition—it’s about retention.

According to Harvard Business Review, increasing customer retention by just 5% can boost profits by 25% to 95%. Yet, many apps continue to chase new downloads without a clear strategy for keeping users engaged and maximizing their lifetime value (LTV).

The mindset needs to shift. Sustainable app growth isn’t about how many users you can acquire—it’s about how many you can keep.

In this article, we’ll dive into:

✅ Why Retention & LTV are the real drivers of long-term app growth.

✅ Proven strategies to improve user retention and keep engagement high.

✅ How to maximize LTV and turn users into loyal, high-value customers.

If you’re serious about building an app that doesn’t just grow but thrives, let’s get into it. 🚀

Why Retention & LTV Matter for App Growth

Imagine pouring water into a leaky bucket—no matter how fast you fill it, the water keeps draining. That’s what happens when mobile apps focus solely on user acquisition without a retention strategy.

This is where the retention curve comes in. It tracks over time (stated in days/months on the X-axis) how many users stick around after downloading an app (stated as a percentage of the cohort on the Y-axis).

📊 A steep drop-off means high churn, leading to lost revenue and higher acquisition costs.
📈 Apps that flatten the retention curve by keeping users engaged see sustainable growth and higher profitability.

Why does this matter? Because longer retention leads to higher Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)—the total revenue a user generates throughout their relationship with your app. And the business impact is undeniable as stated by Harvard Business Review:

Acquiring a new customer is 5 to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one.
A 5% increase in retention can boost profits by 25% to 95%.

The message is clear: Sustainable app growth isn’t about how many users you attract but how many you keep and monetize effectively.

Strategies to Improve User Retention

1. Onboarding That Hooks Users

First impressions matter. Users who don’t see value in the first few minutes are likely to churn. A well-designed onboarding flow should:

✅ Be frictionless: Reduce sign-up steps and unnecessary inputs.

✅ Use interactive tutorials: Guide users through the app’s core value.

✅ Implement gamification: Offer rewards, streaks, or progress bars to encourage engagement.

✅ Set up habit loops: Introduce triggers (push notifications, in-app nudges) that bring users back naturally.

🛠 Example: Duolingo uses gamification in the form of bite-sized lessons and streak rewards, making language learning addictive from Day 1.

2. Personalization & Lifecycle Marketing

Generic marketing doesn’t cut it. Users expect personalized experiences tailored to their behaviour and preferences. Here’s how to do it:

✅ Behavioral segmentation: Group users based on in-app actions (e.g., frequent buyers vs. occasional users).

✅ AI-powered engagement: Predict churn and send targeted re-engagement messages at the right time.

✅ Multi-channel outreach: Use push notifications, emails, and in-app messages to maintain user interest.

✅ Leverage customer engagement platforms: Tools like CleverTap can help automate personalized messaging at scale.

🎵 Example: Spotify’s Discover Weekly leverages AI to personalize music recommendations, increasing user retention.

3. Community & Engagement

A strong sense of belonging keeps users coming back. Apps that foster community-driven engagement see higher retention rates. Strategies include:

✅ In-app social features: Enable discussions, groups, or friend-based challenges.

✅ User-generated content (UGC): Let users contribute content, reviews, or experiences.

✅ Referral & rewards programs: Incentivize users to invite friends and stay engaged.

✅ Feedback loops: Regularly collect and act on user feedback to improve the app.

🚴 Example: Peloton’s leaderboard system turns workouts into a community-driven competition, boosting retention.

Increasing Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)

1. Monetization Strategies That Work

To maximize LTV, apps must choose the right revenue model. Here are three proven approaches:

1️⃣ Subscription vs. One-Time Purchases: Recurring revenue models (like Netflix and Spotify) generate predictable income, while one-time purchases work for premium features.

2️⃣ Microtransactions & In-App Purchases: Popular in mobile gaming apps (e.g., Fortnite’s skins and battle passes) to drive incremental revenue.

3️⃣ In-App Ads (Without Killing UX): Striking a balance is key—offering an ad-free premium tier can also boost LTV.

📺 Case Study: Netflix’s Ad-Supported Tier

Netflix started with a pure subscription model, but to increase LTV and tap into price-sensitive users, they launched a lower-cost, ad-supported plan which hit 70 million monthly active users in 2 years. This not only expanded their customer base but also unlocked a new revenue stream from advertisers.

2. Loyalty & Referral Programs

Loyal users are your best marketers—they buy more, stay longer, and bring in new users. Here’s how to extend user lifetime engagement:

✅ Reward repeat usage: Offer perks for continued engagement (e.g., streaks, points, or exclusive content).

✅ Referrals for organic growth: Encourage users to invite friends in exchange for rewards.

✅ Ecosystem integration: Combine loyalty, payments, and partnerships into a single experience.

☕ Case Study: Starbucks Rewards

Starbucks built a powerful loyalty ecosystem by integrating:

✅ Mobile payments (seamless transactions)

✅ Exclusive perks (free drinks, personalized offers)

✅ Content partnerships (Spotify playlist curation)

The result? 60% of Starbucks’ U.S. transactions now come from its rewards program, driving both retention and LTV.

Want to find out how to improve ROAS the smart way backed by math? Click here to read more.

Final Thoughts

Retention and LTV aren’t just buzzwords—they’re the backbone of sustainable app growth.

🔹 Retention ensures your app doesn’t bleed users after acquisition.

🔹 Higher LTV means more profitability from each user over time.

🔹 A well-executed retention strategy lowers CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) and creates a self-sustaining growth engine.

If you want your app to not just grow but thrive, shift your focus from downloads to long-term engagement.

👉 Now over to you: What strategies have worked best for you in improving retention and LTV? Let’s discuss in the comments! 🚀

Fall in Love With the Work, The Wins Will Come

Discover how a simple mindset shift—from chasing outcomes to embracing the process—transformed my approach to performance marketing, creativity, and long-term growth. A thought-provoking take on the quote: “Fall in love with the process and the results will follow.”

💡 Quote of the Week: “Fall in love with the process and the results will follow” — Bradley Whitford

I’d be honest. I used to chase end results like a man possessed — more income, more leads, more conversions, more possessions. It felt like progress. And in some ways, it was. But looking back, I realised I was constantly chasing the next high, hitting one target only to move the goalpost. It became a loop of short-term wins that left little room for joy, creativity, or meaningful growth.

Then I came across this quote:

“Fall in love with the process and the results will follow.” — Bradley Whitford

That hit differently.

What changed the game for me wasn’t a smarter hack or a better framework, it was a mindset shift. When I stopped obsessing over outcomes and started genuinely enjoying the work itself, something clicked. I found more clarity, more peace of mind, and ironically, better long-term outcomes.

Turns out, when you fall in love with the craft, the scoreboard starts taking care of itself.

🛝 Process is the Playground of Growth

Real, sustainable growth doesn’t come from one big breakthrough. It comes from showing up, testing, learning, and tweaking — day in, day out.

I’ve seen this play out in my work with A/B testing gaming video creatives. Sometimes the “ugly” variation outperforms the polished one. Sometimes what you think will convert ends up flopping. But every test is a data point, and every insight sharpens the next move.

Same with building growth loops — they rarely take off on the first try. But when you treat the process as a playground for discovery rather than a pressure cooker for instant wins, that’s when compounding magic kicks in.

Small daily inputs, repeated over time, create massive momentum.

🎨 Obsession with Outcomes Can Kill CreativityWhen you’re glued to dashboards and only chasing KPIs, it’s easy to default to “what’s safe.” You end up recycling what worked instead of exploring what might.

But when you genuinely love your product or your craft, something shifts. You start taking smart risks. You lean into curiosity. You play more, experiment more, and that’s when performance marketing actually gets exciting and effective.

Some of my most successful campaigns didn’t come from chasing the perfect CTR. They came from being fully immersed in the storytelling, the customer journey, and the creative process.

Loving the process made the work better and the results followed.

🏃🏻 Habits > Hype

Anyone can launch a flashy campaign. Not everyone can show up every day when things get hard or boring.

The best growth I’ve ever seen, both in business and in life, comes from unsexy consistency: tracking what matters, reviewing performance, asking better questions, making small tweaks, and doing it all over again.

Fall in love with those tiny actions, and you’ll build the resilience and systems that scale.

In the long run, quiet consistency beats viral hype every time.

💭 Final Thoughts

The best founders and marketers I know don’t just chase results — they live the process. They obsess over customer problems, they get excited about small wins, and they treat every test like a new opportunity to learn and grow.

In doing so, they don’t just build great businesses—they build unfair advantages.

Because when you love what you do, you don’t burn out chasing metrics. You build momentum that lasts.

📣 If you’re a fellow marketer or founder stuck in outcome-obsession mode, let’s connect.

I’m building a community of growth lovers who care more about the craft than just the clicks.

Let’s grow together — the right way.

Boosting ROAS the Smart Way: The Math Behind More Profitable Ads

Learn how to optimize ROAS with smarter strategies. Discover the math behind Return on Ad Spend and how improving Average Basket Size, Conversion Rate, and Cost Per Click can drive better ad performance and profitability.

I’d be honest. When I first moved into digital marketing from a background in math and quantitative finance, I saw things a little differently. While most marketers focused on creative storytelling and audience psychology (which are undeniably important), I naturally gravitated toward the numbers. I wanted to break down ad performance the way I would analyze financial models—through data, formulas, and strategic optimizations.

One of the biggest misconceptions I’ve seen in performance marketing is the belief that cutting costs alone improves Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). Many marketers think that slashing CPC (Cost Per Click) or reducing spending on “underperforming” campaigns is the key to profitability. But that’s only part of the equation.

ROAS isn’t just about how much you spend, it’s about how much value you generate from every dollar. And to truly optimize ROAS, you need to understand its mathematical makeup. In this post, I’ll break ROAS down into its three core components — Average Basket Size (ABS), Conversion Rate (CVR), and Cost Per Click (CPC), and show you the strategic levers you can pull to drive better ad performance.

Let’s get into it. 🚀

What is ROAS? (Defining the Formula)

Let’s start with the basics. Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) is one of the most critical metrics in performance marketing. It tells you how much revenue you’re generating for every dollar spent on advertising.

ROAS Formula:

For example, if you spend $1,000 on ads and generate $3,000 in revenue, your ROAS is $3,000 / $1,000 = 3

This means you’re earning $3 for every $1 spent.

While a higher ROAS is ideal, blindly optimizing for it by just cutting costs can be misleading. To truly maximize ad performance, we need to break it down further.

Breaking Down ROAS: The 3 Key Components

ROAS is influenced by three key factors:

1. Average Basket Size (ABS)

What it means: The average amount a customer spends per purchase.

Why it matters: If customers spend more per transaction, your revenue increases without needing more conversions.

2. Conversion Rate (CVR)

What it means: The percentage of visitors who clicked on an ad and made a purchase.

Why it matters: Higher conversion rates mean you extract more value from the same traffic.

3. Cost Per Click (CPC)

What it means: The cost of acquiring each visitor to your site.

Why it matters: Lowering CPC without sacrificing traffic quality means getting more conversions for the same budget.

Rewriting ROAS using these components:

This equation makes it clear: To improve ROAS, you need to increase ABS, improve CVR, or lower CPC. Let’s dive into how you can optimize each.

Strategies to Improve ROAS via Each Component

A. Increasing Average Basket Size (ABS)

Let’s take an e-commerce brand as an example. Instead of focusing on acquiring more customers, they increased revenue by maximizing how much each customer spends.

Tactics to Increase ABS

✅ Upsells & Cross-sells: Recommend complementary products (e.g., “Frequently bought together” or post-purchase upsells).

✅ Bundling: Offer product bundles at a slight discount to encourage higher spending.

✅ Free Shipping Thresholds: Set free shipping at a slightly higher value than the average order to push customers to buy more.

🛍️ Case Study: Ravin Boosting Average Basket Size (ABS)

Ravin, an online fashion retail brand, implemented Wiser’s product recommendation engine to enhance customer engagement. By displaying related and frequently bought together items on product pages, they achieved a 30% increase in conversions and a 12% increase in sales.

B. Boosting Conversion Rate (CVR)

Let’s say you’re running a subscription app. You get clicks, but many users drop off before converting. Improving CVR means turning more of those clicks into paying customers.

Tactics to Improve CVR

✅ Landing Page Optimization: Make checkout seamless, ensure fast-loading pages, and optimize for mobile.

✅ A/B Testing Offers & Creatives: Experiment with different CTAs, ad visuals, and pricing models to see what converts best.

✅ Trust Signals & Social Proof: Showcase reviews, testimonials, and security badges to reduce buyer hesitation.

🥗 Case Study: FastEasy Boosting Conversion Rate (CVR)

FastEasy, a mobile fitness app, faced challenges in efficiently conducting A/B tests for their campaigns. By integrating Reteno’s AI-powered marketing automation platform, they were able to run multiple experiments simultaneously without relying heavily on developers. This approach led to a 29% boost in conversion-to-subscription rates.

C. Lowering Cost Per Click (CPC)

A mobile gaming app wanted to scale its paid campaigns while maintaining profitability. Lowering CPC without sacrificing quality was the key.

Tactics to Reduce CPC

✅ Better Targeting: Use lookalike audiences, retargeting, and negative exclusions to focus on high-intent users.

✅ Ad Quality Score: Platforms like Google Ads reward high-relevance ads with lower CPCs. Improve ad copy, CTR, and landing page experience.

✅ Bid Optimization: Adjust bids based on performance insights such as time of day, device, and geo-targeting can significantly impact CPC.

🕹️ Case Study: Voodoo Games Lowering Cost-per-Install

Voodoo Games, a French mobile game publisher, by actively testing more than 500 videos a week for their hit game Mob Control, reduced their CPI and surpassed $200M in revenue at an average of 150% ROAS.

Final Thoughts: The Smarter Approach to ROAS

Improving ROAS isn’t just about spending more, it’s about spending smarter. By understanding the math behind ROAS and optimizing its key components — Average Basket Size (ABS), Conversion Rate (CVR), and Cost Per Click (CPC), you can make strategic, high-impact changes that drive better profitability.

At the core of all successful ad campaigns is data-driven decision-making. Testing, iterating, and refining based on real numbers, not just gut feelings, ensures that every dollar you invest works harder for you.

So, what’s your biggest challenge with ROAS? Drop a comment below, and let’s discuss! 🚀

User Acquisition vs. Retention: How to Balance Both for Sustainable App Growth

Struggling to grow your app? Discover why balancing user acquisition and retention is the key to sustainable app growth. Learn data-driven strategies to optimize CAC, LTV, and engagement at every stage—from early traction to scaling success. 🚀 #GrowthMarketing #AppSuccess

I’d be honest. Early in my career, I fell into the classic growth trap — thinking that if we just poured millions into acquiring users, we’d build a thriving app. And for a while, the numbers looked great. Installs were skyrocketing, CAC was manageable, and investor decks were filled with impressive graphs. But then reality hit — users churned just as fast (or even faster!) as we acquired them. The growth wasn’t real. It was a leaky bucket.

That’s when I realized that sustainable app growth isn’t about choosing between acquisition and retention—it’s about mastering both. You can drive downloads all day long, but if users don’t stick around, you’re just burning cash. On the flip side, obsessing over retention without feeding the top of the funnel can leave you stagnant.

In this article, I break down:
✅ Why focusing only on acquisition is a costly mistake
✅ How strong retention improves LTV and reduces CAC over time
✅ A data-driven approach to integrating both strategies based on your app’s growth stage

The Growth Trap: Why Focusing Only on User Acquisition is Costly

It’s easy to get caught up in the numbers game—pumping money into ads, watching downloads roll in, and feeling like your app is taking off. But here’s the reality: if users aren’t sticking around, you’re not growing—you’re just spending.

Many app companies fall into the “growth at all costs” mindset, prioritizing new user acquisition before ensuring that their product delivers long-term value. The result? High CAC with low retention, leading to unsustainable growth.

A prime example? The early days of many food delivery and ride-hailing apps. They threw massive incentives at users—free rides, discounted meals, referral bonuses. It worked for short-term installs, but when the discounts disappeared, so did the users. Without a solid retention strategy, these companies burned through capital with little to show for it.

User acquisition is important, but without strong retention, it’s like filling a bathtub with the drain open.

The Retention Advantage: Why Keeping Users is the Real Growth Lever

Acquiring users is just the first step—keeping them engaged is where the real growth happens.

✅ Improves Lifetime Value (LTV): The longer a user stays, the more revenue they generate.
✅ Lowers CAC Over Time: Higher LTV allows you to spend more efficiently on acquisition, improving return on investment.
✅ Drives Organic Growth: Engaged users naturally refer others, reducing reliance on paid marketing.

A simple framework for thinking about retention:

👉 Acquisition → Engagement → Habit Formation → Loyalty

Acquisition: Bring users in through targeted marketing.
Engagement: Deliver immediate value to keep them interested.
Habit Formation: Create experiences that make your app part of their daily routine.
Loyalty: Turn users into advocates who bring in more users.

Think about apps like Duolingo and TikTok—they don’t just attract users, they create behaviours that keep them coming back. Through gamification, push notifications, and personalized content, they build habits that drive long-term retention.

Finding the Right Balance: A Data-Driven Approach

So, how do you strike the right balance between acquisition and retention?

Data is your best guide. Here are the key metrics to monitor:

📊 CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) – How much are you spending to acquire a user?

📊 LTV (Lifetime Value) – How much revenue does a user generate over their lifetime?

📊 Retention Rate – What percentage of users stay after X days?

📊 Churn Rate – How quickly are users dropping off?

📊 DAU/MAU (Daily/Monthly Active Users) – How engaged is your user base?

Your strategy should shift based on where your app is in its growth journey:

🚀 Early-Stage Apps – Use acquisition to test product-market fit. The goal is to validate demand quickly and iterate based on user feedback.

📈 Scaling Apps – Once you have a commercially viable product, shift focus to scaling acquisition while building core retention mechanisms (onboarding, push notifications, loyalty programs). The goal is to improve engagement and reduce churn.

🏆 Mature Apps – Growth becomes more about sustainable expansion. This is where upsells, community building, and referrals take center stage. The goal is to turn your users into your biggest advocates.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, real growth isn’t about choosing between acquisition and retention—it’s about making them work together. You can’t just fuel the fire with new users if the bucket is leaking, and you can’t focus only on retention without a steady stream of fresh users coming in. The most successful apps master the balance, using data to fine-tune when to push for scale and when to double down on keeping users engaged.

So, where does your app stand today? Are you struggling to acquire users, or is retention the real challenge? Drop a comment—I’d love to hear your thoughts and swap insights! 🚀

2023 Digital Marketing Predictions

At this point, doing a 2023 prediction now seems to be cheating. I admit that predictions are hard and it probably took me longer than I should to assemble my views. While better late than never, hopefully this will spark conversation and hold us accountable for our predictions.

AI-Powered Digital Marketing

Let’s start with an easy and obvious one – something I have already wrote about previously. Whether we like it or not, the rise of AI in Digital Marketing is upon us.

2023 is probably the first year we see the start of real competition to Google’s Search dominance in the form of Microsoft’s new AI-powered Bing. However, this hype about AI has already transcended Search marketing, and many Ad Tech businesses are eager to incorporate AI into their products.

With AI providing efficiency, what this means for Digital Marketers is the need to go beyond building deep technical expertise and instead focus on soft skills like problem solving, strategic thinking and creativity.

Focus on Enhancing Customer Lifetime Value

From a macro economic standpoint, 2023 is set to continue the tailwinds of a turbulent 2022. Rising interest rates, inflation and a potential recession.

With such a gray backdrop, more companies will probably prefer to be conservative with their digital marketing budgets. As such, to obtain growth in revenue, companies will need to extract higher value per user.

Companies should therefore focus on product and monetisation to enhance their customers’ LTV. Improving LTV will also reduce the opportunity cost caused by the rising interest rates.

Apple to Extend its Digital Advertising Dominance

Since Apple released iOS 14.5, the importance of Apple Search Ads to Digital Marketers has grown drastically. This has clearly revealed Apple’s ambition in the digital advertising space.

Apple’s strengths lies predominantly in its ecosystem. With full visibility of its audiences within the iOS ecosystem, Apple is in the best position to provide personalised ads and measure its effectiveness.

All Apple needs now, is to build its own ad exchange and demand-side platform.

Privacy Forces Transition to Probablistic Tracking

Towards the end of 2023, Google is expected to finally release its Privacy Sandbox initiative where it will reduce cross-site and cross-app tracking. This is almost equivalent to Apple’s iOS 14.5.

So, Digital Marketers should prepare for a world without deterministic tracking such as device IDs or cookies. The broad solution to this is probabilistic tracking and it is likely that advertising platforms will resort to using this.

Tiktok to Finally Overtake Meta and Google

Let’s face it. Attention spans are dropping globally. (If you made it to this point, kudos to you!) We have been saying it for years that video as a medium is the next big thing. Specifically in 2023, short-form videos will takeover the world. To combat Tiktok, Meta and Google have both released their own versions in the form of Reels and Shorts respectively.

It is probably still a stretch that Tiktok may actually overtake the two behemoths in 2023. But with as the fastest-growing platform dominated by youths, it is clear that the future, for now, lies in Tiktok’s hands.

In all, 2023 will definitely be another interesting year for digital marketers.

What other futures do you see yourself in 2023?