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Messenger gets new engagement tools, and the promised AI features start rolling out
If you’ve ever wondered how to keep customers talking to you once they buy, well, it seems Meta was wondering about this, too.
Just message them: Messenger now lets you send marketing messages similar to how you would send emails to your list, which means you can:
- Engage and re-engage shoppers exclusively on Meta.
- Personalize messages… or send them to everyone at once.
- Add subscribers. And delete them, too? This part is fuzzy.
Who gets it: All developers have access to it in the Marketing API, and the feature is also available to businesses in select countries, including the US, Australia, Mexico, and others.
There are quite a few steps to setting these up, so read the announcement carefully. Maybe with a caffeinated beverage.
As promised: Back in June, Meta was testing new AI generation features in Ads including sticker calls-to-action and background generation.
Fast forward to today, and it seems they’re finally rolling out for real. Jon Loomer shows you where to find them and how to turn them on, if you’re interested.
Who knows, maybe they’ll help you bump up engagement for your ads.
Triple Play: Ads fixed, taxes automated, and Veo 3 rolls out globally
While you were stuck in that three-hour client meeting about “brand voice consistency,” Google was busy releasing updates and fixing issues.
First up: Veo 3 is getting released to 159 more countries. Gemini Pro subscribers can now generate 8-second videos with text prompts using Google’s Veo 3 model.
There is a limit though: You only get three videos per day.
Not enough time to tell a story, but plenty to make your competitors wonder how you suddenly became a “video production expert.”
No more math: If you’re a US merchant using Google Merchant Center, congrats on your newfound free time.
Google now automatically calculates taxes based on shopper location—no manual setup required.
Those sounds you hear are product disapprovals getting tossed in the trash can. Ahh…
Sorry about that: Google Ads and Search Ads 360 had a mini meltdown yesterday with error messages and lag that would make dial-up internet nostalgic.
Luckily Google fixed it by 11:30 pm ET. Just a friendly reminder that even tech giants occasionally try turning it off and on again.
Low dwell times and CTRs? Improve your ads with these attention-grabbing tactics.
If your campaign is getting impressions but not getting dwell time, clicks, or conversions, there’s a good chance your ads aren’t getting attention.
The good news is, this is a common challenge for marketers.
So we studied how standout brands craft messages that get noticed—and clicked—without resorting to clickbait or obnoxious tactics.
Then we packed those findings into The Science of Grabbing People’s Attention report.
Inside, you’ll learn:
- Why our brains are wired to ignore most things—and how to tap survival instincts to break through.
- How to use contrast (not just loudness) to make videos and visuals pop.
- How to interrupt patterns without turning people off.
Pro tip: You can apply these insights to more than ads. They also work on landing pages, videos, emails—even product pages.
Try them on the ads people skipped. You might be surprised how much attention you earn the second time around.
Using AI agents in PPC: What to know, and ideas for what you can build
AI agents showing up in PPC isn’t on the horizon; it’s happening now.
Campaigns are being managed faster, smarter, and with less hands-on time.
This shift isn’t just about adopting tools. It’s about evolving from scripts to rules to fully adaptive agents.
Benjamin Wenner recently broke down what we need to know. Let’s take a look…
Scripts are just the starting point: They’re powerful, rule-based, and great for repetitive tasks like pausing low-ROAS keywords or exporting reports.
But they can’t adapt. Every condition has to be coded, and anything outside script logic gets ignored.
And while automated rules can simplify things, they’re limited because they can’t react to nuance, can’t learn, and can’t coordinate across platforms. Not like we humans.
AI agents change all that. They don’t simply follow instructions, they interpret goals, plan steps, and act across systems.
For example, a simple agent might research keywords using Google Trends and export them to a sheet.
Multi-agent setups go further. One agent manages others, like a strategist directing keyword, creative, and bidding specialists.
Eventually, you get full-funnel automation all connected by AI.
You can even ask questions like “Which keywords have high ROAS and low impression share?” and you’ll get an answer.
And if you want even more control, frameworks like LangChain or CrewAI let you custom-build agent workflows from the ground up.
Sounds like a lot, right?
It doesn’t have to be overwhelming: You can start by replacing one rule or script with an agent that does the same job, but better.
Then expand to tasks like research, budget shifts, or reporting–anything repetitive and logic-driven.
The future of PPC isn’t just more dashboards, it’s smarter systems that think like you do, just faster.
Good offer. Solid copy. So why aren’t they biting?
It’s not what you say—it’s how people perceive it.
The human brain is full of quirks and strange mental associations.
And once you understand customer psychology, you see everything more clearly: How you frame your offer, time your message, even where you place a CTA button.
Psychology of Marketing gives you one principle each week to help you understand your customers better—and become more effective at influencing what they do next.
Are you working more for less?
For most marketers, the answer is yes.
When the budget flow gets cut, marketing departments are first on the chopping block.
And if you’re in the industry, you’ve probably felt a lot of turbulence as a consequence of a tough economy and disruptive factors like generative AI.
The cuts and layoffs usually leave those who “survive” with an even bigger task on their hands: Splitting the work among the remaining few.
… Which leads to stats like these:
Nearly half of all marketers have been forced to take on more work for the same pay. And it cuts across all seniority levels.
Granted, some marketers got tons of extra work with a minor uptick in pay. So the situation could be worse.
The most affected respondents are C-suite executives and management. That makes sense, given they’re usually well-equipped and skilled enough to take over operations.
And when there’s a lack of personnel, you need to take a step down and put out fires.
The Crew’s take: Teams are leaner, workloads are heavier, and expectations keep rising.
What used to be a two-person job often gets quietly handed off to one person. And if you’re not careful, that quickly becomes the new normal.
Worse still? This kind of “invisible promotion” often flies under the radar.
What can you do if impacted? We’re out of space to answer, but we listed some friendly tips in the full article, so check it out. It’s free. And it helps you take a break!
MARKETING STRATEGY: “Other newsletters stay high-level,” one Tactics reader told us. That’s fine if you like theory and inspiration—but it’s not so great if your boss wants results. That’s why the Tactics newsletter gives you one strategy or tactic every Saturday you can actually implement the next week. Get it for free.*
SEARCH: ChatGPT referrals might be growing, but they’re not enough to counter the decline of search traffic, according to Similarweb. Organic traffic dropped from 2.3B to 1.7B, which clearly isn’t enough to offset the difference. Something to note for your next SEO report.
AFFILIATE MARKETING: July could be a lucrative month for creators. Amazon is doubling influencer commissions for Prime Day across categories like jewelry, beauty, and power tools. If you’re listed on Amazon, it might be a good time to gain some visibility—with the right creators.
SEARCH: If you’re mentioned by high-traffic websites, does it mean AI chatbots will also mention you more often? As with everything else SEO, it depends. On the chatbot, that is. AI Overviews favor mentions, ChatGPT is so-so, and Perplexity is more balanced, apparently.
INFLUENCER MARKETING: Virtual influencers are racking up the views. The most popular gaming YouTuber is AI-generated, and has over 2.5M YouTube subscribers! Should you partner with them? Maybe. It’s not clear whether or not they’re making money yet…
*This is a sponsored post.
POOLSIDECHAT
Cool tech, (funny) business, lifestyle and all the other things marketers like to chat about while sipping cocktails by the pool.
Bob Dylan walked so Lomax could run
It’s often debated how many songs Bob Dylan has written.
Some say 150. Others say 600. Most agree he wrote at least four.
But one Texan artist puts Bob to shame. Over his 70-year career, Alan Lomax wrote over 17,000 traditional songs.
We did the math: that’s roughly 4.5 songs a week for 70 years. And that’s without using AI. Whew.
Most of them are folk, but he also wrote gospel, blues, and jazz, several of which are performed by some big-name artists.
He wasn’t just prolific, he was on a mission to preserve true Americana and push for cultural equality through music.
Respect. Definitely going to listen to him this weekend…
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