events Archives - intent.ly

The new rules of search: 12 practical SEO, GEO & AEO tips for an AI-driven world

Ceej Johnson — Tue, 12 May 2026 14:44:19 +0000

Last month at the Awin ThinkTank Americas event in Chicago, Lily Ray took to the stage to lay out what many marketers are feeling but haven’t fully processed yet:

Search hasn’t been replaced by AI. It’s being expanded, fragmented, and quietly rewritten underneath us.

So if you’re responsible for growth, acquisition, or content, this isn’t theoretical anymore. It’s operational. Here are her top, no-BS takeaways you can apply immediately.

Stop saying “SEO is Dead” – it’s the foundation of AI search

The loudest narrative right now is also the most misleading. AI tools like ChatGPT don’t replace search engines – rather they depend on them.

AI models frequently pull from top-ranking Google results
Strong correlation: rank drops in Google = visibility drops in AI
Around 81% of AI Overviews cite top-ranking pages

Reality: If your SEO is weak, your AI visibility will be too.

AI search isn’t killing Google – it’s growing the pie

Despite the hype, Google is still approximately 13x bigger than ChatGPT on desktop. Users are starting to blend behaviours:

AI for discovery
Search engines for validation, visuals, navigation

Implication: You’re no longer optimising for one journey, you’re optimising for multi-touch discovery loops.

Traffic is declining – visibility is the new KPI

This is the uncomfortable shift most teams haven’t accepted yet: AI tools are designed to keep users inside the interface, and AI Overviews increase zero-click searches significantly.

In AI Mode, 93% of searches result in no click

Translation: Traffic is no longer the primary success metric, but influence, citation, and presence are.

AI traffic is small – but intent is high

Most sites currently see <0.5% traffic from AI tools, but those users:

Are deeper in the funnel
Convert at higher rates

Think quality over quantity: AI isn’t a traffic channel, it’s a conversion amplifier.

Structure your content like you’re writing for a machine

AI doesn’t “read” like a human, it extracts information instead. What works well:

TL;DR summaries at the top
Clear headings and sections
Direct question → answer formats
Structured comparisons

Best practice: Write like you’re briefing an assistant, not entertaining a reader.

Q&A content is back (again) – but for a new reason

AI loves formats like these, because it can lift answers directly into responses:

FAQ pages
Specific, well-answered questions
Product-level Q&A

Impact: If you don’t answer key questions about your brand, AI will use someone else’s answer instead.

Fresh content matters more than ever (but don’t fake it!)

AI models prefer recent, updated content and use search engines to find the latest data.

However, superficial refreshes don’t work and fake “updated” timestamps get penalised.

Rule: Update content when you have something new to say, not just to look fresh.

You don’t control the narrative – the internet does

The biggest shift? AI doesn’t just look at your site, it also looks at platforms like:

Reddit
YouTube
Wikipedia
LinkedIn

These are some of the most cited sources in AI responses today.

Implication: Your brand isn’t what you say it is. It’s what the internet consistently says it is.

Affiliate and review content has massive influence

One of the biggest under-the-radar insights is that close to 25% of top cited domains in AI are affiliate/review sites, and for product queries it’s even higher. AI is heavily shaped by:

“Best of” lists
Comparison articles
Review platforms

If you’re not present there? You’re invisible in AI recommendations.

Blocking AI crawlers = choosing invisibility

Some publishers are blocking AI tools, and the trade-off is simple: Block AI to protect content. But, you also lose all visibility in AI responses.

Strategic question: Do you want traffic, or do you want influence?

Don’t try to game it – you’ll lose

Common bad tactics like fake comparison lists, reviews or competitor attacks, and spammy AI-generated content at scale, risks:

Google penalties
AI model filtering
Legal exposure (FTC fines cited in the keynote)

Short-term hacks will kill long-term visibility.

Prepare for an “Agent-Led” future (this is the big one)

The direction of travel is clear: search is becoming task-based, not query-based. AI agents will compare products, book travel and make purchases.

Your site won’t just be read, it will be evaluated and acted upon by machines.

What you can do:

Structure product data (feeds, schema)
Ensure pricing, availability, and policies are machine-readable
Prepare for integrations with platforms like Google and OpenAI

Final thought

The biggest shift isn’t technical, it’s philosophical.

We’ve spent 20 years optimising for: “How do I get the click?”
We now need to optimise for: “How do I become the answer?”

Because in an AI-first world, the winner isn’t the site that ranks… it’s the one that gets consistently summarised, cited, and trusted.

–

More from Awin Global ThinkTank 2026:

There’s a Super Bowl every day on social media. Not everyone’s got the memo.

Ceej Johnson

Chris ‘Ceej’ Johnson is CMO at intent.ly. With over 15 years’ experience in digital, affiliate and performance marketing, he has a passion for all things consumer behaviour and innovative advertising.

The post The new rules of search: 12 practical SEO, GEO & AEO tips for an AI-driven world appeared first on intent.ly.

State of the Affiliate Nation 2026: Highlights from APMA launch event

Amy Jordan — Fri, 08 May 2026 08:43:52 +0000

Attending the Affiliate & Partner Marketing Association’s annual State of the Affiliate Nation 2026 launch event last week at Everyman Broadgate offered a timely reminder of just how resilient, and increasingly sophisticated, the affiliate channel has become. We joined senior marketers from across the industry to get a first look at the numbers from the third edition of this report, which remains the only piece of UK research built directly from network and platform data.

A channel outperforming the market

The headline stats presented by APMA Founder & Director Kevin Edwards make a compelling case alone. UK brands invested £1.8bn into affiliate and partner marketing in 2025, driving £20.7bn in revenue – a 15:1 ROI. Even more striking is the growth: the channel expanded by 7.3%, outpacing the wider UK economy by a factor of five.

But beyond the top-line figures, what stood out in Kevin’s session was the depth and credibility of the data. Built directly from network and platform submissions, this isn’t modeled guesswork, it’s a reflection of real market activity. And that clarity is critical for brands and agencies looking to justify investment in an increasingly scrutinised media landscape.

Tech-driven scale and evolving performance

The affiliate channel now drives around 1 million sales per day, with approximately 470 clicks every second, which Kevin pointed out equates to a staggering (almost) 15 billion clicks annually. These metrics highlight the infrastructure and tracking sophistication underpinning modern affiliate ecosystems.

The report demonstrates strong growth across tech partners which is up 18% year on year, with partners, CSS and influencer-led activity all contributing across the funnel – from discovery through to conversion. This reinforces a key shift: affiliate is no longer just a “last-click” channel.

In fact, one of the most important findings is the move beyond pure CPA models. Around 20% of spend now sits outside traditional last-click CPA, with tenancy, CPC and hybrid models gaining traction. For brands, this signals a more nuanced, tech-enabled approach to attribution and partner valuation, something we see increasingly in our own client strategies.

Sector trends and where to watch

The report also surfaced some standout vertical insights. While retail remains dominant, growth is being driven by sectors like travel and finance, both seeing double-digit increases. Meanwhile, health & beauty is a clear breakout category, with spend up 20% and revenue surging by 48% year-on-year – fuelled by trends like influencer-led brands and evolving consumer behaviours.

For agencies and brands, this kind of granular data is invaluable in shaping both partner strategy and budget allocation.

Full-funnel thinking and CRO alignment

In addition to unveiling the report highlights, the day’s panel session reinforced many of these themes, particularly the importance of full-funnel optimisation. Featuring leaders from Genie Shopping, Genie Goals and B&Q, the panel discussed how brands are increasingly diversifying partner mixes and investing earlier in the customer journey, from content and editorial through to conversion-driving partners and a focus beyond last-click metrics.

There was also a clear consensus that affiliate’s flexibility, especially in testing new models and partners, makes it a powerful channel in uncertain economic conditions.

Final thoughts

The event closed with a keynote from McDonald’s, offering a broader perspective on brand partnerships and the role of creativity in driving engagement – a fitting reminder that performance and brand don’t need to operate in silos.

Thanks to the APMA for hosting an insightful afternoon of content and perspectives. Members can download the State of the Affiliate Nation 2026 report to explore the full data set and insights in more detail.

intent.ly is a proud founding member of the APMA and we continue to support their work through our Gold membership. Learn more about joining 50 industry leaders and 130+ brands here.

Amy Jordan

Amy is intent.ly’s marketing manager, and she has 15 years’ experience working in marketing for global events and technology.

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There’s a Super Bowl every day on social media. Not everyone’s got the memo.

Ceej Johnson — Tue, 05 May 2026 14:38:30 +0000

I was sat at Awin Global’s ThinkTank Americas last week in Chicago, listening to a keynote from Mike Cessario, founder of canned flavoured water brand Liquid Death that didn’t feel like a prediction of the future, but more like a very direct observation of what’s already happening right in front of us.

At one point, Mike made a comment that neatly reframed the entire marketing landscape in a single line.

“There’s a Super Bowl every day on Social Media.”

Same scale of audience, same potential reach, but with one fairly brutal difference, which is that nobody is forced to watch your ad, nobody is sitting patiently through your message, and nobody really cares unless you give them a reason to.

That one shift alone explains why so much of what we’ve all been doing over the last decade suddenly feels a bit ineffective.

The “Beige Decade” meets the scroll

For a long time, we’ve operated in what I’ve called the beige decade, where the goal was to create marketing that performed reliably, looked polished, and didn’t really offend anyone in the process.

It made sense in a world where distribution could be bought and attention was, to some extent, guaranteed, because if people were going to see your message anyway, you could focus on refining it, optimising it, and making it incrementally better over time.

But what that keynote made very clear is that we are no longer in that world, because the scroll has fundamentally changed the rules.

You are not competing with your category anymore, you are competing with everything that exists in someone’s feed, and in that environment, safe, well-crafted, perfectly balanced marketing stands much less of a chance.

Not because it’s bad, but because it’s ignorable.

If it looks like an ad, it’s already lost

One of the more uncomfortable truths Mike touched on is how quickly people disengage the moment something feels like marketing, because the second that “this is an ad” trigger goes off in someone’s brain, their attention is gone and they’re already halfway down the next piece of content.

That makes the first few seconds of anything you produce disproportionately important, not in a theoretical sense, but in a very literal one, because if you don’t earn attention immediately, you don’t get a second chance.

Which is why the traditional model of carefully crafting a message and pushing it out with media spend is starting to break down, because the assumption that people will sit through it simply doesn’t hold anymore.

The brands winning are creating things people would watch anyway

The most interesting part of the session wasn’t just the diagnosis, it was the operating model behind how they’ve responded to it.

Instead of thinking about marketing as something that supports the product, the approach is to treat it as something people would choose to engage with in its own right, which is a subtle but important shift in mindset.

That’s where a lot of the more unconventional examples come in, whether it’s taking negative internet comments and turning them into content, or creating ideas that feel more like entertainment than advertising.

Not because it’s clever for the sake of it, but because in a scroll-based environment, entertainment is the only reliable way to hold attention long enough for anything else to land.

Small bets, fast output, big outcomes

Another thread running through the keynote was the idea that nobody really knows what’s going to work, which sounds obvious but is often ignored in how marketing is actually structured.

The response to that uncertainty wasn’t to spend more time planning or refining, but to build a model that allows for more output, more experimentation, and more opportunities for something to break through.

That means producing content more quickly, more cheaply, and with less attachment to any single idea, because the goal isn’t to get everything right first time, it’s to create enough chances for something to resonate.

It’s a model that looks far closer to how creators operate than how traditional campaigns are built, which is probably not a coincidence.

As Rory Sutherland puts it, “not everything that makes sense works, and not everything that works makes sense,” which is exactly why the only rational response is to create more opportunities for those slightly illogical, unexpected ideas to actually see the light of day.

Why creativity is quietly winning again

When you step back from it, what that keynote really highlighted is not a new trend, but a correction that’s been building for a while.

The beige decade was built on control, predictability, and optimisation, all of which made sense when attention could be managed and distribution could be controlled.

Now that attention is fragmented and optional, those same strengths have become limitations, because they naturally lead to work that is safe, refined, and very easy to ignore.

At the same time, a smaller group of brands have leaned in the opposite direction, creating things that are more distinctive, more entertaining, and occasionally a bit uncomfortable, which in this environment tends to be exactly what is required to cut through.

The reawakening era is already underway

We’re not moving towards a creative resurgence, we’re already in the early stages of it – it’s just not evenly distributed yet.

Some brands are still operating as if attention can be assumed, continuing to optimise within familiar frameworks, while others have fully accepted that attention has to be earned every single time.

Those that have made that shift are starting to separate themselves, not because they have better tools or better data, but because they are approaching the problem differently.

They are not asking how to improve what they were already doing, they are asking how to create something people would actually choose to watch.

It also reflects a broader shift that System1 have been talking about for years, where the industry has leaned too heavily into salesmanship, focused on persuasion, messaging and rational proof points, when in reality the work that drives growth tends to be far closer to showmanship, built on emotion, entertainment and memorability.

As Orlando Wood put it when keynoting our intent.ly Live! event last year – “if you want to grow, you have to put on a show.”

So, WTF am I trying to say here!?

If the Super Bowl is happening every day, then it’s becoming increasingly clear that many brands are still operating with a model built for a time when attention was more predictable and far easier to secure.

That’s not a failure of creativity, but a reflection of how it was deprioritised during a period where efficiency and optimisation delivered consistent returns.

The environment has shifted, and with it the requirements for standing out. Creativity is no longer optional, it is the mechanism through which attention is earned.

And for ‘entertainment-first’ brands such as Liquid Death, those who have already adapted to that reality are not just outperforming, they are separating from the rest of the market in ways that will only become more pronounced over time.

Ceej Johnson

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Top event success tips for 2026

Luke Matthews — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 12:45:28 +0000

After attending hundreds of ecommerce, affiliate and performance marketing events over the past few years, one thing is clear: events don’t generate ROI by accident. They reward preparation, intention, and follow-up. As we head into 2026, here are my top tips to make every event count next year.

1. Define your “why” before you book.
Are you hunting new partners, closing deals, or learning industry trends and insights? Perhaps you’re looking to elevate your brand, or even your personal brand for career development. Clear goals shape every decision – from sessions to meetings, and how you will measure success.

2. Book meetings before you arrive.
Your calendar should be at least 70% full before you land, to account for any last minute drop-outs while still leaving space for those adhoc meetings too.

Use the official event app, LinkedIn, and warm intros to lock in time with priority contacts. If the event presents an opportunity to strengthen existing partnerships, then consider planning a group dinner or side event while these key contacts are in town.

3. Use social media as a pre-event warm-up.
Post that you’re attending, comment on speakers’ content, and DM attendees. Familiarity breeds conversations on-site. This is also a great channel to promote any speaking sessions or side-events you might be involved in over the course of the main event.

4. Quality beats quantity in networking.
Ten meaningful conversations outperform fifty rushed ones. But don’t go in with half a tank – you still need some volume to hedge your success. Have an agenda, ask smart questions, be curious and listen more than you pitch. Remember, you have a short space of time that you need to maximise.

5. Anchor yourself with a hub.
Whether it’s your booth, a partner stand, or just a nearby café, having a “home base” makes follow-ups and drop-ins easier to manage.

6. Attend with intent, not FOMO.
You don’t need to attend every party. Choose the events where your audience actually shows up – and where conversations can happen. Being smart about planning your time will keep you fresh for those meetings that really matter.
Take notes immediately.

7. Capture context after each meeting.
“Great chat” won’t help you three weeks later. Note down their title, likely influence and the pain points you know you can help with.

8. Follow up within 48 hours.
Reference the conversation, add value, and propose a clear next step. Speed signals seriousness.

9. Finally, measure what matters – and be patient.
Event success isn’t about how busy you felt or what a good time you had – it’s about outcomes. Track ROI against the goals you set upfront: meetings booked, qualified leads generated, deals influenced, partnerships launched, and pipeline value created.

Just as importantly, remember that event-driven growth often lives in a long deal cycle. Some of the most valuable partnerships and revenue wins surface months after the event. Monitor progress over time, attribute influence across the pipeline, and review what genuinely moved the needle.

When you consistently measure, refine, and stay patient, events evolve from a short-term expense into a long-term growth engine.

See where intent.ly will be in 2026 (with plenty more still to be confirmed) – see you at an event soon!

Luke Matthews

Director of Sales & Partnerships

intent.ly/

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The Truth About Affiliate Payments: Key Takeaways from the APMA Webinar

Patience Kibblewhite — Tue, 04 Nov 2025 16:28:05 +0000

On the 14th October, intent.ly CIO David Ayre joined a panel session on “The Truth About Affiliate Payments,” – a webinar that brought together publishers, networks, brands, and agencies to discuss one of the industry’s biggest challenges: slow and inconsistent payments. Hosted by the Affiliate & Partner Marketing Association (APMA), the session tackled not just why payment delays persist, but also how the ecosystem can take practical steps towards real resolutions.

This summary was originally published in full by The APMA here.

Why Payments Matter

Julia Stent, Consultant Strategy Advisor & APMA Board Member opened with the headline findings from APMA’s research. “Over half of publishers in our study said payments impact their commercial progress and growth,” she said. She reminded attendees that the affiliate channel drives about £19 billion of revenue for UK brands. “If cash moved within 30 days, over half of businesses told us they would invest that cash flow in growth. Nearly one in five said they could create more jobs.”

The session is part of APMA’s Payments Project. The APMA has published a payments guide, Everything you need to know about publisher payments, that compares processes across 12 networks. It has run two publisher roundtables over the summer. The next step is a voluntary code of conduct for advertisers that sets clear standards. Julia’s message was simple: “This is not just an admin task. It is a fundamental growth task.”

What Publishers Are Facing

The panel painted a clear picture of the problem: months-long validation cycles, inconsistent rejection rates, and unpredictable reconciliation timelines. Warrick Lambert, CEO at Genie Shopping, described payment delays as “the biggest bottleneck in the channel.”

David Ayre, intent.ly CIO, focused on the day-to-day. “The first of every month is an administrative nightmare,” he said. “We were paid this year for transactions from 2019. It is good to be paid, but six years later is not a system you can plan around.” For David, transparency is as important as speed. “It is not always about cancellations. It is about knowing where the money is across multiple networks and invoices.”

The Network & Accelerator Perspectives

Carla Arrindell of Optimise emphasised that validation and payment are separate challenges, calling for better communication when schedules slip. Tools like “transactions-by-payment” reports are helping close the transparency gap, but consistency remains key.

Meanwhile, Rich Lane of Revving shared that the average affiliate payment (outside of travel) still takes around 100 days, far longer than what’s sustainable for many partners. He shared “Creators have ways to nudge brands on late payments. Affiliates don’t. We need a collective voice.”

When Faster Payments Unlock Growth

The panel shared real-world examples of how faster payments drive tangible business impact:

Genie Shopping, working with Revving, doubled growth for retailers with accelerated payment terms.
Optimise’s express pay model pre-pays high-quality partners, leading to stronger performance and trust.
intent.ly’s own experience shows that strong network relationships and clear communication can resolve blockers and speed up outcomes.

David commented, “We have improved outcomes by working with our network and agency contacts. Sometimes the blocker is on the advertiser side, such as POs or finance workflows. You need someone who can help resolve it.”

Final tips from the panel

Carla Arrindell, Optimise: “Get closer to contacts who can help, including finance. Build relationships so you get insight and support when things go wrong.”
David Ayre, intent.ly: “Talk to each other and be transparent, especially through peak. Get involved in the APMA.”
Rich Lane, Revving: “Share plans. If partners show what faster payments unlock next quarter, everyone understands the value.”
Warrick Lambert, Genie Shopping: “Leverage peak. Audit commissions, payment terms and rejection rates. Negotiate on timing and approvals, not only on CPA.”

The message across the board was consistent. Faster, predictable payments increase partner investment, reduce waste, and grow programmes. The fixes are known. The work is to apply them, communicate clearly, and measure the results.

Read the APMA’s full webinar summary for actions we can all take now and what’s next from the APMA.

Patience Kibblewhite

Patience is intent.ly’s marketing executive, with a passion for creative content marketing and social media strategies.

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intent.ly Live! 2025: Enhancing Shopper Journeys With A.I.

Patience Kibblewhite — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 14:14:26 +0000

A.I. is everywhere. Everyone is using it. Everyone is asking what is next and wanting to be involved in competing for the best implementation. A.I.’s expansion into the marketing scene, and brands’ race to the top is creating questions around how human collaboration compares. “A lot of the conversation is about replacing people’s jobs.” People are afraid something sacred or sincere, about our own abilities, is being actively threatened.

At this year’s intent.ly Live!, Al Ryrie, Founder of HelpMeChoose A.I., explored a fresh take on how brands can use A.I. as an enabler, not a replacement. As he explained, “A.I helps humans do more – not less.” His session, “Enhancing Shopper Journeys With A.I.,” focused on how marketers can combine human creativity and intelligent automation to improve decision-making, customer experiences, and ultimately conversions.

Facing the Problem

SmartChoice, a joint venture between intent.ly and HelpMeChoose A.I., is a generative AI-powered product recommendation guide, built to enhance the customer journey through intelligent interaction. Ryrie explained that SmartChoice uses A.I. to personalise experiences and turn consideration into confident conversion.

In a world where we often have “too much choice and too little time”, creating decision and choice paralysis, A.I. can assist us with deciding whether or not to make a purchase. Ryrie challenged brands to ask – how can A.I. help us make decisions more efficiently?

He highlights three key shopper expectations users are presenting, which A.I. tools have the power to solve:

Personalisation – “71 % of customers expect companies to deliver personalised interactions.”, McKinsey 2021
Speed and convenience – “72 % of consumers say they will remain loyal to companies that deliver faster service.”, Salesforce 2023
Guidance and recommendation – “67% of customers say they’d use A.I. to find the best prices, and 56% want help comparing products.”, YouGov 2025

How can A.I. Guide the Shopper?

Awareness – Intelligent targeting, A.I. lookalike modelling and dynamic creatives.
Discovery – Guided recommendations allow customers to discover new products.
Decision – Simplifies exception handling by answering crucial “does it do this one thing?” moments.
Conversion – Harnesses massive amounts of data to reveal opportunities and guide smarter improvements.

“Product quizzes have been around for a really long time”. However, Ryrie explained how A.I. has drastically improved them as it allows for greater levels of flexibility: “We can work with any number of product feeds and any number of customers”. Not only is the reach better in terms of business size, but it generates a substantial level of detail. Ryrie states “The personalisation is on a one-to-one level in a way that we couldn’t do prior to generative A.I..” Additionally, the speed of solutions like SmartChoice’s configurability is unmatched – it can easily be tailored and built out in different areas or facets of a customer experience.

Data Beyond What We’ve Seen Before

A.I. in ecommerce is a valuable data tool, providing insights that may not have previously been discovered. He states “It is very powerful in terms of data generation which wasn’t possible before and which can be fed back into everything else.” When gathering data through targeting different audiences, the behaviour of each segment produces amazing results as it is personalised at each stage. For example, SmartChoice answers questions that improve future business decisions and informs strategy. Ryrie exemplifies these as “Are we recommending the right things? Are we in the right place? Are they looking for something else? What does that tell us about the journey, that we can do better?”

How Relevance Rules

A.I. as a mechanism has always been about relevance. Ryrie explained that “You don’t get performance if the journey isn’t relevant to the customer.” People are under pressure to utilise A.I. because it is widespread and competitive. However, it is a futile addition unless thoroughly considered and relevant in implementation. Brands should consider using A.I. for its proven, unique qualities such as compatibility, intelligent bundling and prediction. It doesn’t have to be something radically new, but addressing a known issue – executed in a way that is relevant and flexible.

Why Segmentation Makes Strategy

Segments are a crucial part of building a guided journey with A.I., as they connect channels and tools back together. Existing segments must be prioritised as a foundation to build questions and answers upon, in the journey. This ensures “we’re feeding into existing activity so the data and customer profiles that are generated, can be taken back and used to power other areas.” This first-party data empowers companies to produce long-term strategies, in which users are creatively re-engaged. It’s not just a stand-alone tool – A.I. has the power to fundamentally improve a brand’s customer lifetime value.

Starting Isn’t Scary

Starting with A.I. might feel intimidating, but Ryrie’s advice is to “Start really small. A single campaign can be a great touchpoint to explore and see what comes back.” Ultimately, his message lies in the fact that blending A.I. technology with creativity and knowledge is the most effective approach. He follows with “A.I. doesn’t replace the thinking process of a business. There is a lot of historical knowledge there, about what works.” It doesn’t have everything – human originality and experience need to be fed in. Finally, reinstating that “it’s not a substitute for anything, it is a super-power that enables all of those things that we do already.”

Interested in how intent.ly SmartChoice might work for you? Book a demo with our team here.

Thanks again to Al and all our clients and partners for joining us at intent.ly Live! – you can read more insights from the day on our journal, including:

Patience Kibblewhite

Patience is intent.ly’s marketing executive, with a passion for creative content marketing and social media strategies.

The post intent.ly Live! 2025: Enhancing Shopper Journeys With A.I. appeared first on intent.ly.

intent.ly Live! 2025: Building a career that transcends affiliate marketing

Amy Jordan — Fri, 24 Oct 2025 14:53:06 +0000

Our third edition of intent.ly Live! included an insightful panel session packed full of practical advice on how to build a career beyond affiliate marketing. intent.ly’s Client Success Director Katy Scott was joined by two seasoned ecommerce pros who started out in affiliate marketing – Nicholas Caulfield, Senior Director of Growth & Operations at Expedia and Michelle Corp, Ecommerce Director at Lily’s Kitchen. Here’s a round-up of some of their top tips.

1. Start Where You Are and Stay Curious

While it often seems that few people start their careers with affiliate marketing in mind, those who find themselves in the industry discover a space full of opportunity and creativity. For many, it can become a launchpad for broader growth and lasting success.

Whether you come from journalism, advertising, or data, affiliate marketing gives you a crash course in how digital ecosystems work. What matters most is curiosity – seeing affiliate not just as a job, but as a training ground for commercial thinking, partnership building, and problem-solving.

2. Transferable Skills That Transcend Affiliate

Affiliate marketing is a microcosm of modern marketing: fast-paced, data-driven, and relentlessly collaborative. The panelists highlighted key skills that continue to serve them well in their senior ecommerce roles today:

Adaptability and resilience: Every quarter brings new tools, rules, and partners. Learning to stay calm under change builds long-term career stamina.
Relationship management and influence: Negotiating with partners teaches empathy, communication, and persuasion – critical in any senior leadership or cross-functional role.
Commercial thinking: Understanding how revenue flows, what drives ROI, and how incentives align gives affiliate professionals a rare strategic edge.
Data storytelling: Turning metrics into meaning is a skill honed in client presentations – and essential when talking to executives.
Preparation and research: Whether writing a partner brief or pitching internally, those who do their homework build trust and credibility.

“Account Managers have the pressure of maintaining relationships. As you develop, you learn how to influence people and your relationships.” – Nicholas

3. Future-Proofing Your Skillset

The digital landscape shifts fast, but so can you. The panelists shared practical ways to stay sharp:

Stay connected to industry news: Follow key publications like Hello Partner, The Drum, Econsultancy and eMarketer, as well as category-specific outlets like Skift, for the travel sector.
Learn from others’ work: Save great slide decks or campaign ideas you see and revisit them for inspiration.
Audit your own learning gaps: Build skills in data analysis, AI, or strategic storytelling – areas that bridge creativity and technology.
Keep asking “so what?” Data alone doesn’t impress a CMO – insight does. Always link your work to impact. Nicholas suggests always asking yourself, “How do I show insights that they are not already aware of?”
Utilise useful toolbar add-ons: Enhance your output and insights with tools such as BuiltWith, Datalayer, Hunter, Meta and Similarweb.

4. Taking the Leap: Pivoting Beyond Affiliate

If you’re ready to take on a new challenge in strategy, trading, brand marketing, or other leadership roles, the same principles apply:

Prepare – and pitch your value: Nicholas moved into strategy by spotting a gap and building a business case for the new role.
Expect resistance: People may question your move – use that as fuel, not discouragement.
Be ready to fail and learn fast: You won’t know everything in a new discipline, and that’s okay. Growth comes from discomfort.
Communicate expectations: When you do land that new role, set out a 90-day plan for how you’ll add value and make it visible to your peers and leaders.

5. Re-define Success Beyond Titles

Career growth isn’t just about salary or job titles. The panelists underlined the importance of aligning work with personal values – integrity, kindness, teamwork, and continuous learning.

“I have my personal goals which are layered on top of my core values. These are the main concepts that drive how I feel about myself and other people.” For Michelle, these guiding values serve as key markers that help her define what success truly means, where she wants to go in her career, and what she hopes to achieve.

Similarly, Nicholas urged us to reflect on our personal ‘lifelines’. “What are the three to five things that have shaped your career? I think people go through different measures of success as you progress through your career and as you progress through life.” He emphasised how our motivations are never static: “You go through ‘S’ curves – you complete one, adapt, and then begin another.”

Finally, Michelle noted, “Good things don’t come from your comfort zone.” Measure progress not just by promotions, but by mastery, autonomy, and purpose – and allow those priorities to evolve over time.

6. Mentorship and Continuous Learning

Mentorship doesn’t have to be formal. Seek out people who challenge you, inspire you, or have the job you aspire to next. The panel offered these tips for finding and making the most of mentors:

Look beyond your line manager – choose someone two steps ahead of you if you can.
Be specific about what you want to learn and how often you’d like to meet.
Treat every interaction – from interviews to networking chats – as a learning opportunity.
Remember feedback is a gift: Ask for it, apply it, and grow from it.

7. Final Advice: Take Risks, Prepare, and Stay Human

When asked for their final words on building a successful career in affiliate marketing and beyond, Nicholas and Michelle agreed on these key actions:

Take smart risks: The best career moves often look risky from the outside.
Do the prep: Know your audience, do your research, and show your thinking.
Stay authentic: Bring your personality and values into every conversation.
Keep learning: The most successful marketers stay endlessly curious.

Affiliate marketing builds commercially minded, adaptable, relationship-driven professionals – skills that translate far beyond the channel. Whether you stay in the space or step into new territories, those foundations will carry you forward.

Thanks again to Nick, Michelle and all our clients and partners for joining us at intent.ly Live! – you can read more insights from the day on our journal, including:

Amy Jordan

Amy is intent.ly’s marketing manager, and she has 15 years’ experience working in marketing for global events and technology.

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intent.ly Live! 2025: Connection, creativity and performance

Patience Kibblewhite — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 15:25:37 +0000

Looking back at our third intent.ly Live!, held in London’s Canary Wharf on 1st October, we explored what truly makes advertising effective in today’s landscape. From iconic campaigns of the past to the rise of AI-driven optimisation, the event examined the delicate balance between creativity, human insight, and data.

Bringing together brands, agencies, and networks from across the performance and affiliate marketing ecosystem, we explored why heuristics shape memorability, why Gen Z demand storytelling over selling, and how imagination and artificial intelligence can work hand in hand. Here’s a look back at some of the key lessons and inspiring speaker highlights.

Setting the Theme: Selling the Spectacle

Opening with an energising keynote, Orlando Wood, Chief Innovation Officer at System1, brought history, science and art together under the theme of “Selling the Spectacle.” Taking us back to 19th-century Paris and the high-kicking can-can dancers of the Moulin Rouge, Orlando detailed the symbolic nature of those who captured pure showmanship. “When you look back at the history of mass-reach advertising, you realise that the show and art were at its origins, and also the heart of its effectiveness.” Captured in brightly coloured posters by artists of the time, their performances and the artworks that followed, boosted the Moulin Rouge and it’s dancers into fame. “These artists, these performers were the influencers of their day and the advertising poster was their TikTok.”

From here, advertising grew from artful expression into measurable performance. Early 20th-century manufacturers began testing which versions of their mail-order ads drove the most responses, in the first form of A/B testing. This marked the beginning of two schools of advertising:

Showmanship: The emotionally rich, attention-capturing style that draws people in.
Salesmanship: The rational, message-driven approach that nudges consumers toward action.

The emotional connection created by performance-based advertising drives long-term engagement. As Orlando put it, “Showmanship makes your salesmanship work harder.” This is no simple hypothesis – neuroscience backs this up; while the right hemisphere of the brain responds to stories, characters and emotion, the left hemisphere focuses narrowly on information and direct messaging. Great marketing speaks to both, but it’s the showmanship – the creativity, humanity and story – that sparks attention in the first place.

In an age of data, efficiency and automation, marketers can’t afford to lose their sense of spectacle. Emotion and imagination remain central to how marketing connects and endures.

State of the Industry: The Great Affiliate Reset

Kevin Edwards, founder of The Affiliate & Partner Marketing Association (APMA), shared insights from their latest Publisher and Advertiser surveys, proving how the channel thrives on collaboration, trust, and adaptability. But, as he noted, “to tackle 2026 with confidence, the channel needs a reset – one that turns our fragmented ecosystem into a focused machine.”

While publishers and brands may have different priorities, both are ultimately striving for the same goals. Edwards identified three key “gaps” the industry must address:

The Perception Gap: Lack of recognition from senior brand marketers

Affiliate marketing has outgrown its “niche” status, yet many senior marketers still view it as a tactical or secondary channel rather than a strategic growth driver. Advertisers admit that C-level teams often misunderstand its value, while publishers note that affiliate success rarely gets celebrated alongside flashier channels like TV or retail media. Both sides agree: it’s time to amplify the data – budgets, growth, and optimism – to secure affiliate’s rightful place in the boardroom.

The Measurement Gap: Shared measurement & storytelling are critical

Advertisers and publishers alike want clearer and more defined data on the positive impact of affiliate marketing – and a shift from justification to confident storytelling around the ROI it delivers. “Our historic way of measuring and reporting is not fit for purpose anymore – we need to be more three-dimensional in how we talk about performance.” The industry’s reliance on last-click CPA overlooks affiliate’s wider influence across the funnel; shared measurement and storytelling are now critical to proving its brand-building power and inspiring broader market adoption.

The Investment Gap: Affiliate isn’t getting the investment it deserves

Advertisers see affiliate as a full-funnel channel, and publishers recognise that C-suite engagement is vital to unlock bigger budgets. Despite driving around £1 in every £10 of retail revenue – rising to £1 in £8 during Black Friday – affiliate remains underfunded. Closing this gap relies on trust and transparency, from compliance and timely payments to stronger codes of conduct, to build the confidence brands need to invest at the level this high-performing channel deserves.

Hear more results from the APMA surveys live at PI Live Europe, 21-22 October.

Brand Innovation in Action

Our brand partners took the stage to showcase how creativity, data and intent.ly’s smart technology come together in practice:

Dr. Barbara Sturm revealed how an embedded gift with purchase campaign helped lift AOV by 73% and reduced cart abandonment by 4%, using seamless incentives to enhance loyalty without discounting.
OPI demonstrated its generative AI-powered SmartChoice campaign, delivering playful, personalised recommendations with a 91% completion rate.
Hunter Boots shared how a dynamic basket overlay cut abandonment and increased conversions by 35% – a simple reminder of how relevance drives results.
Hughes Electrical showcased an in-page bundle upsell campaign that increased engagement, AOVs, and streamlined the buying experience for customers.

Each brand credited not just the results, but the partnership and innovation behind them. Equipped with real examples, they demonstrated how collaboration is what fuels performance.

Looking Ahead

intent.ly CMO, Chris Johnson, closed the event by bringing these threads together: creativity, connection and cohesion – and encouraged us to challenge the cult of measurement. His message reminded us that while tools and channels evolve, marketing’s real power lies in understanding people. After all, people buy people.

Thanks again to all our clients and partners for joining us and making the day so memorable – we’ll be sharing more insights from the sessions soon, including how to enhance shopper journeys with A.I. and how to build a career that transcends affiliate marketing.

Read Chris’s blog on “Advertising’s Beige Decade and the Return of Storytelling”.

Patience Kibblewhite

Patience is intent.ly’s marketing executive, with a passion for creative content marketing and social media strategies.

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Advertising’s beige decade and the return of storytelling

Ceej Johnson — Mon, 06 Oct 2025 15:34:17 +0000

This week I had the chance to present at our own intent.ly Live! event, and the theme I kept hitting replay on was what I can only describe as the beige decade. Ten years where advertising slowly measured itself into blandness. Campaigns got safer than Rory McIlroy with a nine iron (EURRRROPE). Clean, polished, polite… and utterly forgettable.

Beige became the default. Not because marketers suddenly lost their spark, but because every idea now has to survive an assault course of metrics before anyone dares to sign it off. Will it shift brand intent by 2.3 per cent in Bristol? Does it align with the brand health tracker? Will the dashboard smile politely at it? By the time a campaign clears those hurdles, the life has been ironed out. What’s left is something that looks lovely on a PowerPoint slide but has all the charisma of a cancelled train at Swindon.

At intent.ly Live! I reminded everyone of the ads that did burn themselves into memory… and not one of them would make it past today’s measurement mafia. Smash robots. Peter Kay’s John Smith’s “Ave it.” Drumming Gorrillas and Cadbury’s eyebrows. None of them ticked the sensible boxes. All of them were gloriously ridiculous. And that’s exactly why they lasted. You can still hear the robots cackling. You can still shout “Ave it!” on a Sunday league pitch and get a laugh. You can still raise your eyebrows in the mirror and look like an idiot. That’s culture. Beige doesn’t get a look in.

Now here’s the twist. Storytelling isn’t dead. It’s been buffering on 1% for a decade, and Gen Z are finally hitting refresh for us. This is a generation raised on scroll speed. If your ad is beige, it’s gone before the logo even appears. They demand personality. They demand story. They’ll forgive clunky, they’ll forgive cringe, but they won’t forgive beige. What they love is when a brand has clearly tried.

Look at the brands thriving through them. Duolingo with its deranged TikTok owl. Ryanair with the sassiest social team since airlines learned how to tweet. Even Jet2 Holidays somehow going viral because people started taking the mick and then couldn’t stop watching. None of this is beige. It’s loud. It’s weird. It’s alive. And brands stepping into the Gen Z era have to accept they won’t control the whole narrative. It will live (and mutate) in consumer hands. Brands must accept loss of narrative control but gain cultural participation.

And that was my point on stage. Measurement still has its place (of course it does) but it should become more of the backstage crew, not the headline act. The star is the story. Always has been, always will be. When measurement hogs the spotlight, we get the beige decade. When we put story first, culture does the measurement for us.

So maybe Gen Z are the ones saving us from ourselves. Maybe they’re forcing us back into bold storytelling because they simply won’t tolerate corporate wallpaper and ‘salesmanship’. Maybe, just maybe, that’s exactly what we need.

Beige is out. Colour is in. Or the ‘Reawakening Era’ – as I like to call it!

Ceej Johnson

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Affiliate marketing: 12 months into the AI crystal ball

Ceej Johnson — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 13:22:29 +0000

It has been a while since I’ve shared some musings from the Affiliate ecosystem. Whilst I can’t claim to be the all-encompassing artificial intelligence source of knowledge for said Affiliate market, there have been some clear noises made during recent travels and conversations that I do think need addressing. Let’s begin with a recent trip across the pond…

Affiliate Summit East. Bright lights, loud rooms, lots of calls for traffic and wide-ranging company merch (IYKYK). Amongst the noise, one theme cut through: AI. Not whether it’s coming, that ship’s long since sailed, but what it’s actually going to do to the affiliate market over the next year.

At the moment it feels like AI has arrived at the party, found the drinks cabinet, and is now standing in the corner chatting up everyone’s best clients. Brands are fascinated by it, want to be doing more with it, but seemingly don’t have the in-house talent or speed to develop much themselves. So what happens next?

AI’s role in search is exploding. Between January and May 2025, referral traffic from AI-generated answers grew by over 500% across a sample of sites. That’s not a gentle uptick; it’s proof that consumers are increasingly happy to let a machine do their Googling for them and in many cases, stop right there without ever clicking through.

Which brings us neatly to the big, ugly question: what happens when AI isn’t just pointing people to affiliates, but effectively is the affiliate? If an AI tool can recommend a hotel, a pair of trainers, or a SaaS platform with an affiliate link neatly tucked in, does it start competing with the very partners who’ve historically driven that traffic?

That’s the existential debate. Search affiliates, coupon sites and non-social content partners rely heavily on traditional search. And now, that search behaviour is being hijacked by AI overview boxes, zero-click results, and chat interfaces. To make it worse, nearly 60% of searches already end without a click. AI isn’t building you a funnel; it’s becoming the whole conveyor belt.

Calm down Ceej, I hear you saying. Let’s not panic just yet. Studies show that only a small fraction of AI answers are (currently) genuinely transactional. Most are still top-funnel snippets: quick definitions, instant answers, the sort of info that ends the session there and then. That means high-intent commercial content such as comparison pages, reviews and voucher codes (for example) still have a role. In fact, it’s often the very content AI cites when it does provide a source. So if you’re building for both humans and machines to pick up, you’re not out of the game.

Of course, there’s a catch. Being cited in AI answers doesn’t guarantee traffic. The challenge for affiliates is to create content strong enough that, when AI does scrape it, users still want to click through. That’s the new arms race: “Generative Engine Optimisation” or GEO if, like me, you’re collecting new buzzwords to confuse your friends and family who still don’t know what you do for a living, even more.

Comparison sites in particular will need to rethink. Will AI summarise your carefully-crafted Top 10 broadband deals page into a neat three-sentence box and leave you nothing but tumbleweed? Possibly. But if your data is solid and your page offers a reason to engage (interactive tools, live pricing, exclusive offers etc) then you’ve got a fighting chance.

And let’s not forget the other conversation still humming in the background: regulation. Last year it was data. This year it’s AI. Spoiler alert next year it’ll probably be data and AI, wrapped up in a compliance bow no one asked for. Tracking, consent, attribution models – they’re not going anywhere, and they’ll continue to shape what “performance” even means.

So, where will we be in 12 months?

Here’s my take from all our discussions at ASE and in recent months:

AI won’t replace affiliates entirely. It will chip away at the easy wins, but the performance model is resilient. Affiliate marketing has survived cookies crumbling, browsers sulking, and regulators sharpening their pencils. It will likely survive this too.

Traffic will shift. Expect fewer casual clicks and more filtered, higher-intent visits. That’s not necessarily bad news – it might even improve conversion rates.

Winners will adapt. Affiliates who treat AI as another distribution channel by optimising to be cited and building content that’s AI-friendly will continue to grow. The ones who bury their heads in the sand will end up writing LinkedIn posts about “the good old days of SEO.”

Brands will lean harder on partners. If AI innovation isn’t happening in-house, they’ll want affiliates and tech partners to fill the gap. That opens the door for anyone offering tools, integrations, and smarter tracking. (Yes I work at a tech partner business and it’s a shameless plug – but it’s a true and relevant statement).

So should you be worried? Only if you think doing nothing is a strategy. The affiliate market a year from now won’t look unrecognisable, but the centre of gravity I can see will have shifted. More AI in the mix, fewer lazy clicks and tougher competition for space in those AI-generated answers.

The trick will be treating AI as an amplifier, not an enemy. Work out how to be visible, how to be the source of truth, and how to add value beyond what a one-liner summary can deliver. Do that, and in 12 month’s time you can still be cashing in commissions even if the funnel looks a little different.

OpenAI to be 2026’s Super Affiliate? WDYT?

Ceej Johnson

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Rory Sutherland at Awin Global ThinkTank: A mind-bending closing keynote on psychology, perception, and peculiar bees

Amy Jordan — Fri, 30 May 2025 10:40:34 +0000

If you’ve ever wondered what behavioural economics, honeybees, petrol stations, warm cookies, and Winston Churchill have in common, Rory Sutherland just connected the dots in a keynote that defied logic – and then explained why defying logic might just be the secret to business success.

Awin Global ThinkTank 2025 wrapped with a suitably explosive finale, courtesy of the inimitable Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK. Sutherland is a natural storyteller on stage, engaging the audience with real business examples and anecdotes of behavioral economics and consumer psychology at play.

Data is not your friend (if you use it like everyone else)

Sutherland kicked off by questioning our devotion to data. Yes, it helps you benchmark. But when everyone is optimising the same metrics in the same way, we all become disturbingly alike. “The most innovative businesses,” he noted, “are those who’ve escaped the comparison trap.” You can’t stand out if you’re just trying to blend in more efficiently than the next guy.

Cue the bees

He recounted how 20% of bees ignore the waggle dance (their version of Google Maps) and buzz off at random. Inefficient? Hardly. These rebel bees are vital for discovering new pollen sources. Without them, hives get stuck in local maxima – overfed on yesterday’s flowers and starving tomorrow.

Takeaway? You need a little madness in the method. Randomness isn’t inefficiency – it’s optionality. Every organisation needs its metaphorical rogue bee.

Small psychological shifts = massive business gains

Forget moonshots. Sutherland prefers “moonhops” – small psychological changes that yield massive results. He cited the now-legendary $300 million UX win where an online retailer simply let people checkout as guests. Boom. Millions earned. Why? Because friction, no matter how minor, is the silent killer of conversions.

In that spirit, he lauded DoubleTree’s free cookies. A trivial cost, yet deeply memorable because they’re unexpected. No one waxes nostalgic about a £1,000 minibar but everyone remembers that gooey chocolate chip welcome.

Reverse benchmarking: be weird where others are boring

Instead of copying the market leader, ask what everyone’s overlooking and go hard in that direction. Fancy hotels offer standard perks like robes and minibars – so stand out with something unexpected, like the “departure lounge” one major brand introduced: a space where checked-out guests can sip espresso, catch up on emails, and unwind before heading to the airport. “Surprise is ten times more powerful than expectation,” Sutherland said, channelling his inner retail Yoda.

This philosophy turned the once-ignored London Overground into a Tube line in disguise. Same trains, same tracks – but with better signage and a lick of orange paint, Londoners suddenly noticed it existed. Ridership soared. Infrastructure rebranded, not rebuilt.

Framing is everything

Marketers don’t need to change the world – just how people see it. He gave the glorious example of Ronald Reagan, whose age threatened his re-election until he turned the concern into comedy: “I won’t exploit my opponent’s youth and inexperience.” One line reframed an entire campaign.

Even more magical? The Italian restaurant that couldn’t get anyone to sit in the basement until they rebranded it as “The Capri Lounge” and pretended it was always fully booked. Voilà – suddenly it was the most in-demand spot in town.

Embrace the illogical

The closing argument? We need fewer management consultants and more magicians. Logic scales incrementally. Psychology leaps exponentially. “Marketing,” Sutherland declared, “is the science of knowing what economics is wrong about.” Amen.

It was equal parts sermon and stand-up – slightly eccentric yet scientific, unapologetically human, and the perfect palate cleanser after a data-heavy event. As Rory closed to thunderous applause, one truth echoed louder than any KPI:

In a world obsessed with doing things right, sometimes the greatest advantage is doing the right thing weirdly.

Now, who’s up for installing a cookie oven in reception?

More from Awin Global ThinkTank 2025:

Dr Karen Nelson-Field: Marketers need to stop counting eyeballs and start earning them

Scott Galloway at Awin Global ThinkTank 2025: Vulgar, vital, and very much on point

Lily Ray at Awin Global ThinkTank: SEO is dead, long live SEO

Amy Jordan

Amy is intent.ly’s marketing manager, and she has 15 years’ experience working in marketing for global events and technology.

The post Rory Sutherland at Awin Global ThinkTank: A mind-bending closing keynote on psychology, perception, and peculiar bees appeared first on intent.ly.

Lily Ray at Awin Global ThinkTank: SEO is dead, long live SEO

Amy Jordan — Tue, 27 May 2025 15:15:31 +0000

If you thought SEO was just a quiet backroom discipline where nerds fiddle with metadata and whisper sweet nothings to Google’s algorithms, think again. Lily Ray – SEO expert by day, DJ and drummer by night – opened day two of Awin Global ThinkTank last week with her eye-opening predictions in light of Google’s recent unveiling of AI Mode.

Buckle up, my digital comrades. This ride gets bumpy.

The cycle of SEO doom (and gloom)

Ray kicked things off with a look back, and she’s seen every trick in the SEO book over her 15-year career: from keyword-stuffing and doorway pages to shady link-building tactics. She cleverly dubbed this predictable boom-and-bust loop the “SEO Goldrush” – a cycle in which clever SEOs find a new trick, share it at conferences like this, everyone copies it, Google notices, punishes it, and the whole thing begins anew.

The spam that ate the internet

Ray didn’t mince words when discussing what Google really thinks of SEO. Spoiler alert: it’s not always flattering. From spam updates to the famously brutal Helpful Content Update, Google has been in an all-out war against what it calls “content written for search engines.” That means thin affiliate pages, AI-generated fluff, and those dreaded “Best Running Shoes for Hamsters” lists that clutter SERPs.

If your strategy involved churning out 300 AI-powered articles about angel numbers and riddles, congrats – you’re probably already in Google’s sin bin.

Parasite SEO and the coupon catastrophe

In what might be the most gothic chapter of the modern SEO saga, Ray unpacked the phenomenon of “Parasite SEO.” We’re talking about high-authority publishers renting out their reputations to guest posters and promo code suppliers – most of it driven by third-party affiliate partnerships. The result? A wave of coupon content and product reviews that were neither transparent nor user-focused.

Google’s response? Swift and merciless. Entire swaths of content were de-indexed overnight, leaving many affiliate marketers holding nothing but broken links and broken dreams.

AI Mode and the rise of the machines

Then Ray dropped the mic on Google’s latest rollouts: AI Overviews and AI Mode. These new features are designed to keep users on Google by summarising top results into a neat AI-generated blob of information – meaning fewer clicks for publishers, and potentially the slow death of organic traffic.

The future of search might not even involve websites at all, since AI Mode results are more likely to link back to Google Business Profiles or other search results rather than your homepage.

So, what’s a marketer to do?

Despite the doomscroll-worthy vibe, Ray’s message wasn’t all despair. She pointed to bright spots – brands like TripAdvisor and product review pages that survived the purge by showcasing real-life testing and reviews of products. So her prescription? Go human or go home.

Optimise for AI summarisation, not just keywords: Structure content with clear, concise answers to common questions, and use headings like “Pros & Cons,” or “What to Know Before Buying”.
Invest in original research: Surveys, proprietary data, and genuine experience are gold.
Publish real product experiences: Especially important for affiliate and review content, include original photography, video reviews, and first-person narratives.
Get visual and social: Use YouTube, LinkedIn, Reddit and podcasts, and publish transcriptions. Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT eat this stuff up.
Think multimodal: Repurpose content across video, Q&A, social posts, and infographics. Control your narrative and keep content consistent and up to date everywhere.
Think in “snackable citations”: Pull key ideas from long-form assets into tweet threads, carousels, and short clips that can be individually embedded and referenced.
Build and maintain authoritative author profiles with online footprints: LLMs tend to trust and cite people, not just brands.
Measure visibility in LLMs: Tools like Profound and ZipTie.dev can show how often you’re cited, and the sentiment around it.

By adapting your strategy to how AI models ingest and output information, you’re not just playing the new SEO game – you’re helping write the rules.

The verdict

Ray’s keynote was a whirlwind tour through the tectonic shifts rattling the SEO industry. Her tone? Sassy, savvy, and at times sentimental. “Focus on the things search engines can’t take away from us,” she urged. Like actual expertise, meaningful content, and authenticity.

Follow Ray on LinkedIn for more takes and advice to get ahead of these seismic SEO shifts.

(We also really enjoyed her DJ set at the Bon Voyage Beach Party that evening!)

More from Awin Global ThinkTank 2025:

Dr Karen Nelson-Field: Marketers need to stop counting eyeballs and start earning them

Scott Galloway at Awin Global ThinkTank 2025: Vulgar, vital, and very much on point

Rory Sutherland at Awin Global ThinkTank: A mind-bending closing keynote on psychology, perception, and peculiar bees

Amy Jordan

Amy is intent.ly’s marketing manager, and she has 15 years’ experience working in marketing for global events and technology.

The post Lily Ray at Awin Global ThinkTank: SEO is dead, long live SEO appeared first on intent.ly.

Dr Karen Nelson-Field at Awin Global ThinkTank 2025: Marketers need to stop counting eyeballs and start earning them

Amy Jordan — Wed, 21 May 2025 14:02:12 +0000

Dr Karen Nelson-Field closed the first day of Awin Global ThinkTank (apparently after enjoying four Portuguese custard tarts – being from Australia, she doesn’t get to Portugal often!). She walked on stage armed with a fresh book manuscript, and a righteous mission to save marketing and media measurement from itself.

Attention, please (no, really, please.)

Karen’s central thesis was crystal clear: time in view is not attention. And yet, most digital ad metrics are based on the former while pretending to measure the latter. “You think you’re buying eyeballs,” she quipped, “but what you’re really getting is a magic trick – and not a very good one.”

Cue the magician metaphor that anchored the whole session: marketers and magicians have the same job – to control attention and shape perception – but marketers are playing on a stage that’s noisy, unpredictable and under constant attack from toddlers, TikTok, and WhatsApp notifications.

Your stage is a scroll

Her point? Magicians work on stages. You work on screens. And on screens, people scroll. Fast. So fast, in fact, that Karen’s research showed most digital ads get less than 1.5 seconds of actual human attention – if you’re lucky. Some formats fare even worse. Research shows that we scroll a huge 1,121% faster on the web than on TikTok – and you know we all scroll fast on TikTok…

She likened our current metrics obsession – time in view, impressions, duration – as an industrial-scale sleight of hand. We’re measuring “ads served” and pretending they mean “ads seen.” But in truth, 75% of non-fraudulent impressions get zero actual human engagement. That’s not brand exposure. That’s digital tumbleweed.

The branding magician’s toolkit

So, how do we escape the illusion? Karen handed marketers a wand – or at least a cheat sheet:

Brand early and often: If your logo doesn’t show up until second five, chances are your audience already swiped to a dog doing backflips.
Use distinctive assets: Think meerkats, golden arches, the M&M crew. Your brand should be recognisable in 1.5 seconds or less.
Leverage emotion: A well-placed laugh, tear, or “aww” moment helps ads stick in the memory (but only if they remember who it was from).
Don’t rely on creative alone: Even award-winning ads can underperform if the platform they run on doesn’t give them enough airtime to breathe.
And her most brutal insight? Great creative still drowns in a bad media buy. If your ad performs beautifully on YouTube but tanks on TikTok, it’s not your team – it’s the platform. Attention is platform-dependent, not just content-driven.

Performance marketing, you’re not off the hook

And for those smug performance marketers hiding in the back? Karen had receipts. She warned that ignoring attention means leaving money on the table – that real attention doesn’t just boost brand lift, it drives cheaper clicks, stronger ROI, and better long-term performance. It’s not just a branding problem. It’s your problem too.

Final thoughts: pay attention to attention

Dr Karen Nelson-Field’s talk was less of a keynote and more of a public service announcement. A nerdy, no-nonsense takedown of everything broken in ad measurement – served with a smile and a sugar crash.

Her final message? “Magicians master where the audience looks. That’s your job now.” In an age of scrolling, swiping, and skipping, attention isn’t a given – it’s earned. And if you’re not earning it, you’re paying for the illusion of impact while your competitors cash in on reality.

More from Awin Global ThinkTank 2025:

Scott Galloway: Vulgar, vital, and very much on point

Lily Ray at Awin Global ThinkTank: SEO is dead, long live SEO

Rory Sutherland at Awin Global ThinkTank: A mind-bending closing keynote on psychology, perception, and peculiar bees

Amy Jordan

Amy is intent.ly’s marketing manager, and she has 15 years’ experience working in marketing for global events and technology.

The post Dr Karen Nelson-Field at Awin Global ThinkTank 2025: Marketers need to stop counting eyeballs and start earning them appeared first on intent.ly.

Scott Galloway at Awin Global ThinkTank 2025: Vulgar, vital, and very much on point

Ceej Johnson — Wed, 21 May 2025 11:15:11 +0000

There’s no easing into a Scott Galloway keynote. You’re thrown straight into a high-speed blender of profanity, sharp wit, and unapologetically bold takes. In the first of four keynotes at this year’s global ThinkTank the NYU professor, entrepreneur, and serial truth-bomber delivered a keynote that was part economics lecture, part stand-up comedy, and part wake-up call to every marketer still coasting on cookies and clichés.

AI: Apocalypse or acceleration?

The heart of Galloway’s message was AI – but not the usual fear-mongering doom scroll. No, in classic contrarian fashion, he argued that AI won’t be the job-destroying overlord it’s been made out to be. “It’s going to create more jobs than it kills,” he said, acknowledging that some industries will indeed be “wrecked” but insisting the net effect will be opportunity – if we’re brave enough to grab it.

He compared the AI revolution to previous waves of disruptive tech – from the internet to mobile – and predicted a flood of new companies and business models. If you’re a recent graduate, he reckons now’s the time to jump into AI, not run from it.

The “big four” and the attention economy

Of course, no Galloway talk is complete without skewering the Big Four. Meta, Google, Apple, and Amazon all took their fair share of hits. “We’ve gone from information democracy to information feudalism,” he quipped, pointing out how a handful of platforms now command attention like medieval lords hoarding land.

The implication for B2B marketers? You can’t outspend these giants – but you can outsmart them. Own your narrative. Create IP. Build direct relationships. Be more than an algorithm’s afterthought.

On the future of work: “middle management is toast”

Galloway made it clear: if your job is to “move boxes from one side of the PowerPoint to the other,” AI’s coming for you. But if you’re a creator, a connector, or someone who can build – you’re golden. He urged brands to foster internal talent and ditch performative culture. No more “Zoom theatre,” no more “we’re a family” nonsense. Instead, build real businesses with real impact.

Tough love for marketers

For anyone working in marketing, the message was equal parts roasting and revelation. “Most marketing today is just trying to distract people long enough to shove a product in their face,” he said. The future lies in authenticity, utility, and yes – balls. Not the anatomical kind (though he’d definitely mention them) – but the creative courage to say something worth hearing.

His challenge to the room was simple: use AI to elevate, not replicate. Use data to inform, not conform. And above all, remember that good marketing isn’t about manipulation – it’s about meaning.

Final Thoughts: A Shot of Espresso and a Slap in the Face

In 30 minutes, Galloway managed to be offensive, inspiring, terrifying, and hilarious – all at once. He reminded us that we’re not just riding the waves of change; we’re shaping them. And in a world where B2B often stands for “boring-to-boring,” his call to make marketing braver, smarter, and more human was exactly what the room needed.

If you’re still waiting for permission to innovate – Galloway just revoked your excuse.

More from Awin Global ThinkTank 2025:

Dr Karen Nelson-Field: Marketers need to stop counting eyeballs and start earning them

Lily Ray at Awin Global ThinkTank: SEO is dead, long live SEO

Rory Sutherland at Awin Global ThinkTank: A mind-bending closing keynote on psychology, perception, and peculiar bees

Ceej Johnson

The post Scott Galloway at Awin Global ThinkTank 2025: Vulgar, vital, and very much on point appeared first on intent.ly.

Surviving the privacy apocalypse: Key takeaways from ASW’s slightly terrifying keynote

Ceej Johnson — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:22 +0000

Another year, another Affiliate Summit West, where a global industry entourage descends upon Vegas to discuss the future of affiliate and performance marketing alongside, naturally, to see how long we can survive on nothing but coffee, networking and Vegas-priced cocktails. This year’s keynote was a sobering reminder that, much like my ill-advised blackjack strategy, tracking and attribution in affiliate marketing are under serious threat.

After a hyped-up, on-stage DJ attempted (and despite best efforts in my opinion, failed) to rally the morning troops from their jet-lag / late-night slumber / morning “Vegas” mood, Steve Brown, CEO at Moonpull was joined on stage by Santi Pierini, CEO at CJ, David Lloyd, Chief Customer Officer at Awin and Garth Harris, General Manager at CAKE, to discuss the ongoing impact of privacy regulations, the crumbling effectiveness of tracking, and how we, as an industry, can pivot before we all collectively crash into a compliance-shaped brick wall.

Here’s what went down – and why it matters.

1. Privacy regulations: digital marketing’s favourite nightmare

If you thought GDPR was just an annoying consent modal that users blindly accept, think again. Between Europe’s stringent data protection rules and the patchwork of US state regulations (CCPA, CPRA, VCDPA – you get the idea), marketers are facing stricter enforcement. Consent is king, and if your tracking strategy doesn’t align with new regulations, your legal team might start twitching uncontrollably.

2. The great traffic disappearance act

According to the panel, up to 50% of traffic (30% in the US, 50% in Europe) can be affected, depending on the consent mechanisms deployed. With browsers tightening privacy restrictions and ad-blockers on the rise, businesses are struggling to attribute revenue accurately. The message from the panel? Adapt or risk losing measurement entirely – leading to revenue loss, inaccurate attribution, and some very awkward performance reports.

3. Consent: no longer just a checkbox

The days of the default opt-in are over. Now, users need to actively say, “Yes, please track me” which, let’s be honest, most won’t. That means brands have to work harder to build trust and offer value in exchange for data. The key takeaway? Transparency isn’t optional – it’s survival.

4. EU vs. US: who’s got it worse?

The short answer? Everyone. The EU’s GDPR is ruthlessly strict but at least consistent. Meanwhile, the US has a ‘choose-your-own-adventure’ approach to privacy laws, with different rules for different states, however the CCPA is generally seen as the ‘starting point’ for said adventures. The panel references the teams of people they’ve had to hire and departments they’ve had to create in order to deal with data compliance.

5. Affiliate marketing’s identity crisis

Without reliable tracking, how do we prove conversions? If no one gets credit for the sale, does the sale even exist? The industry is scrambling; refining tracking models to ensure sales are accurately credited, preventing lost revenue and maintaining confidence in performance marketing.

6. The first-party data land grab

With third-party cookies crumbling like my post-conference stamina, brands are racing to collect first-party data. The catch? Users are getting stingier with their personal info, so incentives need to be smarter. No, a 5% discount won’t cut the mustard – start thinking of VIP access, exclusive content, and rewards worth remembering.

7. AI: the rebel tool against the tracking crackdown?

There was growing chatter during the panel that AI and probabilistic tracking might be the industry’s secret weapon against the tightening of tracking capabilities. With traditional methods becoming increasingly restricted, AI-driven models and data science could offer ways to maintain attribution accuracy without breaking privacy laws. While some see AI as another overhyped buzzword, others believe it could be the key to keeping performance marketing measurable and profitable in a post-cookie world.

8. Industry unity: a rare but necessary concept

The panel stressed that tackling privacy challenges isn’t a solo mission. Ad networks, publishers, brands – everyone needs to work together. That means lobbying for fairer regulations, sharing best practices, and maybe even agreeing on some universal tracking standards (gasp).
There was a shout out at this point towards the significant work that Kevin Edwards has been putting in since founding the Affiliate & Partner Marketing Association (shameless plug – intent.ly is a founding member), unifying industry stakeholders in order to lobby with regulators and showcase the value that the affiliate and performance market drives.

9. eCommerce woes: conversions in crisis

Brands are feeling the sting, with conversion rates slipping thanks to tracking limitations. Without personalised targeting and retargeting, customers are slipping through the cracks, taking their wallets with them. Marketers need smarter, privacy-safe strategies to keep shoppers engaged.

10. Fines: the scary bit

Ignore privacy laws at your peril – regulators are handing out fines like conference swag. The stakes are high, with penalties reaching (unbeknownst to me) up to $7,500 per single violation in the US. In other words, make sure your legal team isn’t spending too much time at the ASW happy hours.

What next? 5 actionable steps for survival

So, what’s the playbook for the affiliate and performance marketing industry, and for those within that who are tasked with navigating this chaos?

1. Invest in first-party data
If you’re still relying on third-party cookies, stop. Build your own data strategy, find ways of rewarding and incentivising users to share information, and nurture those direct relationships.

2. Adapt your attribution models
Experiment with probabilistic attribution, AI-driven models, and new tracking solutions to bridge the tracking gaps. As an example – more info on Awin’s new conversion protection initiative (CPI) here.

3. Work with regulators, not against them
The industry needs to stop treating privacy laws as an enemy and start collaborating with policymakers to create practical solutions that work for everyone.

4. Educate customers on data transparency
Users aren’t anti-tracking; they’re anti-creepy-tracking. Be clear about what data you collect and how it benefits them, and you might just win them over.

5. Collaborate as an industry
Brands, publishers, and networks need to work together to create new standards, share data responsibly, and ensure performance marketing doesn’t become a relic of the past.

Final thoughts: no one’s safe, but we must adapt

Let’s be honest – tracking and data protection aren’t exactly the sexiest topics, especially not at 10am in Vegas when half the room is still clutching an espresso like a life raft. But credit where it’s due – this session was well-moderated, engaging, and genuinely insightful. Turns out, discussing the slow demise of traditional tracking can actually be interesting… provided you throw in a bit of existential dread and a lot of caffeine.

The days of frictionless tracking and free-flowing data are gone, but affiliate and performance marketing isn’t dead – far from it. If we innovate, adapt, lobby and maybe say a small prayer to the compliance gods, we can turn privacy challenges into opportunities.

Ceej Johnson

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