Go Fish Digital

Most SEO programs are still chasing traffic. Bandwidth focused on something different: growing non-brand visibility in the searches that actually drive pipeline. Using Barracuda, we identified high-intent opportunities, prioritized the right content and technical work, and focused on the pages closest to conversion. The result: +1,363% increase in non-brand clicks QoQ 📈 +153% increase in conversions YoY 🙌 More traffic doesn’t always mean more growth, unless it’s the right traffic. If you’re curious how this came together, the full case study is worth a look: https://hubs.ly/Q049rh2l0 And if you want to see what Barracuda could uncover for your brand, you can explore it here: https://hubs.ly/Q049rgDj0 

Marketing is getting harder to diagnose. Not because there’s less data, but because performance issues are showing up downstream from where they actually start. This month’s Marketing Current looks at where breakdowns are happening in 2026—from rising CPAs that begin before paid media, to the gaps between #AI, #search, #social, and #creative that quietly impact performance. Inside, we cover what the integrated buyer journey actually looks like today, how to audit your marketing across channels, and why visibility now depends on being retrieval-ready, not just searchable. You’ll also find new resources, case studies, and practical frameworks designed to help teams connect the dots across their marketing. If you’re trying to understand how everything is (or isn’t) working together, this one’s worth a read.

Shoptalk through Samantha Bessey Ritter and Kristin Costigan's lens 📸 A few days of great conversations, catching up with brands, and hearing how AI is shaping what’s top of mind right now. If you didn’t get a chance to connect with them while they were there, feel free to reach out — always up for a good conversation! AfterShip Gorgias

A lot of apparel brands we talk to aren’t stuck on targeting, they’re stuck on creative. We see it all the time. You know who you want to reach, but getting enough high-quality creative out the door (and fast) is where things stall. That’s why we built Performance Creative. It’s all about turning the assets you already have into content that actually works: • Static images → motion • UGC → polished, ad-ready creative • Product visuals without a full shoot. • Quick-turn creative for launches and seasonal moments. We’re also putting together a handful of free demos for qualifying brands—using your own assets to show what this could actually look like in practice. The example here is how we’d approach this for a brand like Levi’s. You can explore it (and see if a demo makes sense for your brand) here: https://hubs.la/Q048gFKV0

Integrated marketing used to mean coordinating channels. Now it means controlling how your brand is interpreted across discovery. Because the discovery layer has changed: • 360 out of 1,000 Google searches now result in a click to the open web. • AI Overviews appear in up to 25% of queries. • Buyers consult nearly six sources before deciding. By the time someone clicks a paid ad, they’ve already formed a narrative about your brand. And if that narrative is fragmented, paid ends up paying to fix it. A few practical places to start: 1. Lock your category definition Use the same one-sentence description across your homepage, product pages, PR, and landing pages. If the language shifts, AI systems average it and your differentiation weakens. 2. Audit interpretation, not just rankings Search your core category prompts in Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity. Ask: Are we included? How is the category defined? Who gets named instead? 3. Check landing page coherence Your paid landing pages should reinforce the same positioning buyers saw upstream. If the narrative changes, conversion efficiency drops. 4. Diagnose CPA increases correctly If impressions rise but clicks or conversion rate soften, don’t assume media failure. Sometimes the issue started earlier in discovery. Integrated marketing today isn’t about being everywhere. It’s about being interpreted consistently everywhere. See the major takeaways here: https://hubs.la/Q046XG0k0

How does AI decide which brands it trusts enough to recommend? Large language models and AI search systems don’t evaluate brands the way traditional SEO did. They look for credibility signals across the web. The same signals show up again and again: Consistent category definition AI models compare how your brand is described across your site, social profiles, and media mentions. Independent validation Reviews, backlinks, analyst reports, and press coverage carry more weight than brand claims. Structured, extractable content AI systems surface answers, not pages. Clear formatting makes your information usable. If those signals are inconsistent, AI answers reflect that. If they’re clear and aligned, your brand becomes easier for AI systems to recommend.

Lauren Lyster representing Go Fish at SXSW and doubling down on what we do best — winning on TikTok!

Missed our latest session on how discovery is shifting across social, creators, and AI? You can watch the full conversation on demand here: https://hubs.la/Q047kry10 One of the biggest takeaways: 🔎 Search is becoming a validation step, not the first touch. A few practical implications for brands: → Build trust before the click. Your product page should reinforce a decision someone is already leaning toward. Use reviews, UGC, guarantees, and clear product details. → Creator content drives discovery. Formats like “Get Ready With Me,” tutorials, and real-life demos introduce products in ways ads can’t. → Keep messaging consistent. If your ads, social content, and product pages tell different stories, trust breaks down. The brands winning right now make every touchpoint reinforce the same message. As a customer yourself, where does discovery usually start for you? A creator? TikTok? Reviews? AI? Let us know in the comments!

The biggest change AI brings to advertising isn’t automation. It’s where the advantage moves when automation happens. Three updates this month show where things are heading: • Meta embedded AI agents directly inside Ads Manager. • Google is testing sponsored placements inside AI-generated search answers. • ChatGPT is experimenting with ads inside conversations. When platforms automate bidding, targeting, and testing, the edge moves somewhere else. Structure. Here are a few practical implications marketers should start acting on now: 1. Treat budget architecture like product architecture. If platforms handle micro-optimizations, performance depends on how budgets connect across channels. 2. Align paid and organic messaging. AI search doesn’t see “SEO vs PPC.” It sees one brand signal. If your ads promise one value prop and your content says another, AI models detect that inconsistency. 3. Make content machine-extractable. AI search pulls answers, not pages. Structured product data, schema, and clear formatting now influence visibility. 4. Build creative modularity. AI systems generate and remix assets. Brands with adaptable creative systems will scale faster. Read the full breakdown: https://hubs.la/Q0475J3_0

Integrated marketing sounds simple in theory, but in practice it’s where many brands struggle. This week’s question for the team: What’s the biggest sign a company’s marketing isn’t truly integrated yet? Curious how different disciplines see this. We’d love to hear your perspective! 👇 Drop your thoughts below. Dan Hinckley Meghan Houston Logan Durant Lauren Lyster David Dweck Laura Peterson Ryan Smith Kalina MacKay Rebecca Antonellis Thomas DelSignore Laura Hovhannisyan Meghan Barahona, MBA Meaghan Langston Nikki Healey Amy Boek Jaimie Hart Jenny Frey Kelley Stauffer Lisa Throckmorton Katie Hanusik Elizabeth Shea Mya Surrency Sebastian Campos-Alvarez Thomas Driver Serena T. Breanne Bartlett Mackenzie Kattwinkel Jazmine Edwards Lauren Goudie Austin Hennen Vigil Liam Dilallo