LinkedIn COO Touts AI as Key Driver for Recent Rev Growth

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Good morning or afternoon, wherever you may be. We’ve got an interesting set of news briefs for you today, from the world where marketing and AI tech intersect…

TODAY’S AI-POWERED MARKETING UPDATE:

• Top News: LinkedIn COO Touts AI as Key Driver for Recent Rev Growth

• Big Tech: Report: Apple Testing AI-Powered Ad Placement Platform

• Blockchain & AI: ChainGPT Offering $1M in Grants to AI-Powered Blockchain Startups

• Contrarian View: How Marketers Are Getting AI All Wrong

• Notable Startup: AI-Powered Marketing Platform Ripple Raises Pre-Seed Investment

• Master Marketing Tip: Larry Weber, founder and CEO of Racepoint Global

TOP NEWS

LinkedIn COO Touts AI as Key Driver for Recent Rev Growth

LinkedIn COO Daniel Shapiro posted an article touting new AI features in the company’s premium subscription products, which he credited with leading an acceleration in the company’s notable revenue growth over the past year.

“LinkedIn Premium subscribers are up 25% year-over-year, and it’s now a $1.7 billion annual business,” Shapiro writes.

The company’s new AI features help job seekers and small business owners “achieve their goals faster through more personalization with every interaction,” he adds.

More than 70% of LinkedIn’s premium subscribers have adopted its AI-powered writing suggestions and profile recommendations, or both, and early tests “also show 90% of subscribers with access to our AI-powered job experience find it ‘useful,’” according to Shapiro.

BIG TECH

Report: Apple Testing AI-Powered Ad Placement Platform

Apple is testing an AI system that determines optimal placement for ads on its App Store, according to a report by Business Insider.

The system, intended to improve ad campaign performance, is currently being tested with a select group of customers.

The approach is similar to Google's Performance Max and Meta’s Advantage+, and could be applied across more of Apple’s various channels, according to the published report, which cited two people familiar with the company’s plans.

BLOCKCHAIN & AI

ChainGPT Offering $1M in Grants to AI-Powered Blockchain Startups

ChainGPT, a provider of AI-powered Web3 infrastructure tools and services, announced the launch of a grant program with a total of $1 million to support innovation at the crossroads of AI and blockchain.

The new program offers three tiers of funding, including scaling-focused growth grants, builder grants to kickstart early-stage innovation, and research grants for newly launched projects.

Early recipients of grants include Cookie3, a Web3 marketing analytics platform that enables organizations to grow their audiences faster by optimizing their marketing performance using data analytics and insights.

“As a startup that provides incubation and an IDO launchpad, we will also provide promotional support, technical guidance, and partnership opportunities for participants in our grant program,” said Ilan Rakhmanov, CEO and Founder of ChainGPT.

“This initiative is designed to encourage the next wave of digital innovation by promoting shared learning that will pave the way for a more robust Web3 space, where AI and blockchain will unlock new possibilities and redefine what is possible in the digital domain,” Rakhmanov added.

CONTRARIAN VIEWS

Opinion: How Marketers Are Getting AI All Wrong

In a new article criticizing the actual value of generative AI tech for professional marketers, author Aaron Templer bluntly states his opinion that “the output is filled with errors and biases, and it's straight-up crap content that's probably, in large part, stolen.”

Citing a recent academic paper by Dr. Emily Bender of the University of Washington, Templer describes current GenAI tools as “nothing more than algorithms that are ‘haphazardly stitching together sequences of linguistic forms…according to probabilistic information.’"

“I'm not sure what generative content you're consuming, but from what I see, no one with a modicum of taste wants any part of it (including, it should be more-than-noted, our customers),” writes Templer, who is owner of the Denver-based branding and digital marketing agency Three Over Four.

“Too few among us want to admit that what we're bragging about mastering is little more than a bullshit generator,” Templer argues. “Or as someone in my Mastodon feed called it, ‘mansplaining as a service: superficially plausible but totally fabricated nonsense presented with unflagging confidence.’"

NOTABLE STARTUP

AI-Powered Marketing Platform Ripple Raises Pre-Seed Investment

2048 Ventures, a firm that makes early-stage investments in the range of $500,000 to $2 million, has led a pre-seed deal for Ripple, a startup that’s developing an AI-powered, email marketing campaign planning platform.

“The product allows brands to create a well-designed campaign in seconds, just from a prompt. Or a whole month of emails in minutes with the help of their planning assistant. Making edits can be done via chat or in their easy to use editors,” according to 2048.

“Ripple is creating a complete workflow overhaul, replacing the need to use various marketing tools and agencies; instead, pioneering an AI-powered marketing solution that is integrated, coordinated, and seamless.”

TODAY’S MARKETING MASTER TIP:

Larry Weber, chairman & CEO of Racepoint Global, has founded several other public relations and interactive marketing agencies including The Weber Group, ThunderHouse and W2. His clients have included AT&T, Boston Scientific, Coca-Cola, Deere, General Electric, General Motors, IBM, Kaiser Permanente, Lotus, Microsoft, Panasonic, SAP, and Verizon Wireless.

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THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY, FOLKS!