Mike Canarelli

Premium ad placements can create opportunities, but buying attention is only the first step. The real value comes from giving people a reason to act, whether that means clicking through, exploring a product, or making a purchase. That’s where creative, targeting, and the landing page need to work together. Even a well-placed ad can fall short if the message doesn’t connect or the next step doesn’t deliver on the promise. At WTM, we focus on connecting digital marketing efforts to business results. Impressions matter, but conversions and revenue tell a much more useful story. performancemarketingworld.co…

AI can speed up marketing decisions, but relying on generated insights without real consumer data can lead brands in the wrong direction. WTM focuses on connecting search, advertising, and campaign performance to real customer behavior. AI can support that process, but actual engagement and conversion data remain essential to understanding what resonates with an audience. The goal is to use AI to make smarter marketing decisions while keeping real consumer behavior at the center of the strategy. performancemarketingworld.co…

Performance marketing is getting harder to measure by the last click. Consumers might discover a business through AI, research it across the web, and convert somewhere else. If you're only tracking the final interaction, you're missing part of the story. For WTM, this creates an opportunity to rethink how businesses get discovered. Strong SEO, useful content, and a consistent digital presence can help brands show up when potential customers are researching solutions, including through AI platforms. The companies that win will understand how customers actually make decisions and build their marketing around that behavior. AI is changing the path to purchase, but trust and visibility still matter. adweek.com/performance-marke…

One of the risks with AI in marketing is how easy it is to mistake better numbers for better results. AI can optimize campaigns, lower acquisition costs, and improve conversion rates. But if those improvements aren't translating into new customers, incremental revenue, or stronger business performance, what are we really accomplishing? Optimizing toward the wrong metric can make a campaign look successful without creating much value. The best marketers will know how to use AI without handing over the thinking. Technology can make execution faster and more efficient, but setting the right objectives, understanding the customer and knowing what success actually looks like still require human judgment.

Marketing can become less effective when every dollar is judged by what it can prove immediately. Clicks and conversions matter, but they don't capture the full impact of building brand awareness and staying relevant to consumers. The stronger approach is to measure both immediate results and the factors that drive future demand. Reach, brand recall, and incremental sales should inform budget decisions alongside attribution, especially when privacy changes make individual-level tracking less reliable. markhub24.com/post/the-futur…

A 15-year partnership is something worth recognizing. During a recent client visit in Los Angeles, I had the opportunity to spend time with Tom Hayden, our primary contact at the National Notary Association. Tom and I have worked together since 2011, and he has been an incredible partner throughout that time. In an industry that's only been around for 20 to 25 years, a relationship that spans 15 of them is especially meaningful. It's a reflection of the collaboration, trust, and commitment that make long-term partnerships successful. Grateful for the relationship and looking forward to many more years of working together.

AI-driven discovery is starting to create real commercial value, but many businesses are still approaching it like traditional SEO. For WTM, that creates an opportunity to help brands rethink how customers discover, evaluate, and choose their services. Showing up in AI recommendations takes more than ranking on Google. Businesses need clear website content, credible information, and direct answers to the questions potential customers are asking. Their digital presence needs to make it easy for AI platforms to understand what they offer and who they serve. WTM can help businesses adapt their digital marketing strategies before AI discovery becomes more competitive. The brands investing in visibility now have a chance to get ahead while others are still catching up. performancemarketingworld.co…

Digital marketing is moving beyond getting found on Google. As AI platforms start acting like personal concierges, brands need to show up in the recommendations and answers that influence what people do next. For WTM, this means helping businesses rethink their content, SEO, and digital presence for a world where customers increasingly rely on AI to research options and make decisions. Clear information and credible content will matter just as much as traditional search rankings. The goal is to make sure your business is part of the consideration process before a potential customer ever visits your website. Visibility is evolving, and marketing strategies need to evolve with it. performancemarketingworld.co…

An iced coffee at a job interview somehow became a viral debate. That’s a pretty good reminder for marketers: the smallest, most ordinary behaviors can become surprisingly powerful cultural moments. People don't share a discussion about interview etiquette because they care deeply about coffee. They share it because they recognize themselves in it, have an opinion, or want to argue with someone who does. That tension is what gives a tiny idea legs. For brands, there’s something useful here. The next big piece of cultural relevance may not start with a massive campaign. It could start with a very ordinary behavior that people suddenly realize they have an opinion about. hr-brew.com/stories/iced-cof…

AI is making competent content easy to produce. That means originality is becoming a competitive advantage. When every brand can publish polished answers to the same questions, the brands people remember are the ones with something real to say. The most valuable insights often already exist inside a business, in customer experiences, employee expertise, and lessons learned firsthand. The challenge is getting those perspectives into the content people actually see. searchengineland.com/human-e…

First-party data is becoming more valuable when customers get something useful in return. The strongest data strategies create a clear exchange rather than asking people to fill out another form. At WTM, that means thinking beyond lead volume. The goal is better information about who is actually interested, so marketing dollars can be focused on higher-value prospects. Better data should lead to better decisions, not simply bigger databases. When the information is useful and actionable, marketing becomes more efficient. martech.org/how-to-maximize-…

AI is making search more contextual, which means showing up for the right keyword may not be enough. Brands need to understand what people are actually looking for and why. As platforms like Google bring advertising into personalized AI search, businesses need to rethink how their content answers customer needs and how they measure performance. Visibility matters, but it needs to translate into meaningful action. WTM Digital helps connect discoverability with business outcomes. As AI changes how people find and evaluate brands, the focus should be on reaching the right audience, delivering relevant content, and measuring what drives leads and revenue. searchengineland.com/google-…

More traffic won’t fix a broken customer journey. If the experience after the click creates friction, more media spend simply creates more expensive drop-off. At WTM, this is why marketing performance has to connect the full path from acquisition to conversion. The audience, message, landing experience, and follow-through all need to work together. The best place to look for growth may be the traffic you’re already paying for. Fix the journey before increasing the budget. Full piece: thedrum.com/opinion/cro-may-…

AI is changing how people discover products, but being recommended by a tool doesn't guarantee a sale. Consumers still need a reason to trust a brand before they're ready to buy. That means brands need to think about how they show up in AI-driven search while making sure their content gives people useful, credible information. Visibility gets a brand considered, but trust helps move a customer toward a purchase. WTM Digital works at the intersection of discoverability and performance. As AI reshapes the path to purchase, brands need a strategy that connects being found with turning that attention into measurable business results. performancemarketingworld.co…

Performance marketing is moving from automating tasks to automating decisions. That changes what good marketing looks like because the system needs to understand the business goal, not just optimize a single metric. For WTM, that means looking beyond clicks, leads, and conversion rates. Marketing performance has to connect back to revenue, customer quality, and what actually moves the business forward. The value of AI will come from giving it the right context and clear boundaries. More automation is useful. Better decisions are what matter.

Not every conversion starts with a search. A customer might discover a brand on social media, remember it days later, and eventually search for it when they're ready to buy. That’s why digital marketing works best when channels support each other. Social content builds awareness and familiarity, while search helps capture demand when someone is ready to take action. For WTM Digital, the focus is on understanding how these channels work together to drive results. Measuring clicks and conversions matters, but understanding what influenced the decision gives brands a clearer picture of what’s working.

More automation in marketing means less room for sloppy measurement. As platforms take more control over targeting and spend, businesses need to be sharper about where their budget is going and what it’s actually producing. That matters at WTM because marketing performance ultimately needs to connect to revenue. Clicks and cheap leads don't mean much if they don't turn into qualified opportunities and customers. The more control platforms take, the more important it is to have clean data, clear KPIs, and a close eye on what’s driving real business results. searchengineland.com/google-…

Advertising is moving closer to the moment when people are actually paying attention. Netflix bringing Pause Ads into programmatic buying is another example of platforms giving marketers more control over when and who sees an ad. That makes audience data and creative context more important. Reaching the right person is only part of the equation. The message has to make sense for the moment it appears. performancemarketingworld.co…

Nike’s challenge isn’t finding the next athlete, campaign, or product. It’s making sure the brand still has a clear reason to matter to the customer. That applies well beyond sportswear. Brands can have massive reach and still lose relevance when the customer experience, product, and message stop moving together. WTM Digital sees this in the way businesses approach digital marketing. Attention only goes so far. The website, content, and customer experience have to reinforce why someone should choose the brand and come back. performancemarketingworld.co…

AI can get a brand in front of someone, but discovery alone does not create a customer. If people are finding brands through AI and not sticking with them, the gap is happening after the click. That puts more pressure on the experience that follows discovery. Your website, content, positioning, and follow-up all need to reinforce why someone should choose you, not just make sure they can find you. That is where WTM Digital spends a lot of time. AI discoverability matters, but it has to connect to a digital experience that builds trust and gives people a reason to come back. performancemarketingworld.co…