Cartoon Avatars, LinkedIn Leads, And AI Audiobooks! 🌳📈📚
ALSO - The 7 pillars of modern SEO, lean campaigns, passion into profit.
May 15th, 2025
This week's most crucial marketing story comes from Audible, Amazon's audiobook giant. Audible announced it will start using AI-generated voices to narrate select book titles. This move has sparked outrage among some authors and professional narrators, who worry about the impact on their craft. However, the change could be a game-changer for indie authors, making audiobook publishing more accessible than ever.
More about this story and other goodies below! 🤓🥰😄
Latest Marketing Guides, Strategies, And Hacks
# 1 - The 7 Pillars Of SEO Content That Skyrocketed Organic Traffic By 1,300% - Gotch SEO's latest guide unveils a 7-pillar process that propelled their page's organic search traffic by an astonishing 1,300%! Key insights include how keyword targeting should prioritize relevance and intent over sheer volume. Gotch stresses the importance of publishing unique, fresh data to stand out amid repetitive AI content, while maintaining relevance through optimization tools like Frase. Backlinks also remain vital, confirming that a holistic approach is still essential for SEO success in 2025. Read more on Gotch SEO.
# 2 - Cartoon Avatars? Yes! They're Your Secret Branding Weapon - Beehiiv's newest marketing guide explores how AI-generated cartoon images can serve as powerful brand mascots! With a stylized cartoon avatar, creators can infuse their brand's colors, deliver tips visually using bubble art, and experiment with diverse styles like claymation, Pixar, or cyberpunk to keep content fresh and engaging. Beehiiv also shares real-world prompts you can try to launch a cartoon mascot in the next ten minutes. Read more on Beehiiv.
# 3 - Unlocking LinkedIn - 20 Little-Known Features To Supercharge Sales In 2025 - Snovio's latest guide shares LinkedIn's top 20 features for boosting business sales. My favorites include LinkedIn's Social Selling Index (SSI), which helps track your brand-building and relationship efforts. Snovio also posits that your LinkedIn URL can effortlessly enhance professionalism and searchability, making it easier for prospects to find and remember you. Participation in LinkedIn Groups is also a prime way to network, share expertise, and uncover new leads. Read more on Snovio.
# 4 - Lean Campaigns - The Agile Way For Small Businesses To Test And Win - Lean campaigns are an innovative, low-risk method for small businesses to test marketing ideas before scaling up. The strategy begins with clear, measurable objectives and a deep understanding of your target audience, followed by developing a hypothesis about which creatives will convert. The real power lies in rapid testing and learning, so you can craft a winning marketing creative and break even on ad spend, or aim for a positive return on ads. Read more on Benchmark Email.
# 5 - Turning Passions Into Profit - 20 Hobbies That Can Earn You Real Money - GetResponse's 2025 hobby guide reveals how everyday hobbies like content creation, jewelry making, dog walking, and gardening can become lucrative side hustles with the right approach. The keys are identifying a niche audience willing to pay, understanding each hobby's monetization potential, and ensuring scalability through innovative marketing and product development. GetResponse also emphasizes that success hinges on matching your passion to market demand and engaging your audience effectively. Read more on GetResponse.
Marketing News And Updates For May 2025
Audible Rolls Out AI Voices To Narrate Audiobooks, Sparking Industry Debate - Audible has announced that it will introduce more than 100 AI-generated voices in multiple languages to narrate audiobooks. Audible aims to make this AI voice production technology available to publishers and authors through managed and self-service options. While Audible touts the technology as a breakthrough for accessibility and scale, the announcement has drawn sharp criticism from authors and voice actors, who argue that AI narration strips away the artistry and emotional nuance that human storytellers bring. Many narrators also feel stressed that this AI narration technology will ultimately steal their jobs! Read more on The Guardian.
PayPal And Perplexity AI Partner To Simplify Shopping With One-Click Payments - Perplexity AI is partnering with PayPal to let users make instant purchases through its chat interface using PayPal or Venmo, starting this summer in the U.S. In the real world, this move enables people to shop and pay seamlessly while chatting with Perplexity, powered by AI. The partnership brings Perplexity's conversational shopping tools to PayPal's massive user base, aiming to make AI-driven shopping faster and easier. Perplexity hopes this will change how consumers buy online, making transactions as simple as chatting with an assistant. Read more on AOL.
Google Experiments With Interactive AI Overviews For Smarter Recipe Searches - Google is piloting a new recipe search feature powered by AI Overviews, designed to help users discover and filter recipes more intuitively. Currently in Search Labs, this experimental tool allows users to browse recipe ideas and customize results by swapping ingredients or exploring alternatives within an interactive carousel format. The AI-driven approach aims to streamline recipe searching, making it easier for home chefs to personalize meal planning based on dietary needs or available ingredients. Read more on Search Engine Roundtable.
CrowdStrike Cuts 5% Of Workforce, Citing AI Replacing Human Roles - CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity firm that made headlines after last year's global IT outage, announced it will lay off about 5% of its workforce, roughly 500 jobs, as part of a strategic shift toward AI-driven efficiencies. CEO George Kurtz told staff that advances in artificial intelligence have allowed the company to automate tasks and "flatten our hiring curve," directly contributing to the decision. However, the layoffs are also part of a broader realignment to focus on growth areas and improve operational efficiency. Some analysts also note that financial pressures and the need to rebuild momentum after recent setbacks are likely factors. Read more on Reuters.
Education Company Chegg Slashes Workforce As Students Rush To AI Platforms - Chegg, an online education company, will lay off 22% of its staff (248 employees) and close its U.S. and Canada offices by year's end. This downsizing comes after a steep 31% drop in subscribers and a 30% revenue decline, driven by students shifting to AI-powered tools. The company cited intensifying competition from Google's Gemini AI and free academic access from OpenAI and Anthropic as factors accelerating its downturn. Chegg expects restructuring to save up to $110 million annually by 2026, but the move underscores how generative AI is rapidly disrupting traditional education platforms and eroding their user base. Read more on The New York Post.
More Nerdy Stuff I'm Reading Right Now
# 1 - Amazon's Vulcan Robot Signals A Colossal Shift In Warehouse Work - Amazon's new Vulcan robot, now operating in U.S. and European warehouses, uses advanced touch-sensitive technology and AI to handle 75% of the company's inventory with human-like dexterity. While Vulcan can pick, stow, and rearrange items at speeds comparable to humans, Amazon insists the robot will augment, not replace, workers. Amazon employees will also gain new technical skills and specialized roles alongside the machines. That said, an internal company document also says that robots will help to "flatten its hiring curve", ultimately hiring fewer humans in the future. (So, Amazon has no plans to fire their current human employees, but they may slow hiring in the future.) Read more on Business Insider.
# 2 - VPNSecure Axes Lifetime Subscriptions From Paying Customers, Citing New Owner Oversight - VPNSecure is a popular VPN service that recently sold to new owners. But, the new owners have abruptly canceled all lifetime subscriptions of existing customers, claiming they were unaware of these deals when acquiring the company! Long-time customers who had the lifetime deal are understandably flustered. Despite reviewing up to a year's financial records, the new management insists there was no mention of lifetime subscriptions in any documentation, leaving affected users incredulous and frustrated. The company apologized for the surprise and thanked those who purchased new plans. Still, the move has fueled skepticism about lifetime digital service promises, especially during ownership transitions. Read more on ARS Technica.
# 3 - Gemini Nano Brings Instant AI Scam Protection To Chrome Users - Google is rolling out Gemini Nano, its on-device AI, to boost scam defenses in Chrome's Enhanced Protection mode. This upgrade gives users real-time warnings about scams by analyzing web content locally and sending suspicious findings to Google Safe Browsing for further review. The feature debuts in Chrome version 137 for desktop, with Android support expected later in 2025. Google says Enhanced Protection now offers twice the defense against phishing and online threats compared to the standard setting. Read more on TechCrunch.
# 4 - Professors' Use Of ChatGPT Sparks Student Backlash Over Academic Fairness - College students are pushing back after discovering professors using ChatGPT to assemble course materials! The students call it hypocritical, given restrictions placed on student use of AI tools. At Northeastern University, one student even demanded a tuition refund, arguing that instructors' reliance on generative AI undermines academic integrity and transparency. Professors, however, defend their use, claiming that AI enhances their teaching and efficiency. This controversy spotlights the evolving debate over AI's role in higher education and the need for clear, consistent policies for faculty and students. Read more on The New York Times.
# 5 - FAST Channels Surge As Free TV Becomes The New Streaming Default - Free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels are rapidly rising in popularity, leading to many household names like David Letterman, Chuck E. Cheese, and 50 Cent launching free channels. The number of FAST services in the U.S., U.K., Germany, and Canada has jumped 17% since June 2024, reaching 1,755. The explosive growth in viewership, such as The Roku Channel's 67% gain since April 2024, signals that the demand for free entertainment is skyrocketing. Read more on Axios.
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