If You’re On Social Less, Your Website NEEDS This
From the inbox: Past editions of my monthly newsletter, The Clarity Report. Subscribe here if you’d like to receive this monthly dose of marketing insights, strategy breakdowns, and bite-sized nuggets to help you get at least 1% better at marketing.
Issue 007 TL;DR
→ What your website really needs if you’re spending less time on social
→ 3 must-reads for small business marketing in 2026
→ The exact way we’re using UTM links to track which emails drive the most sales
→ Behind-the-scenes: RFPs, new hires, and a sneak peek at something for marketers
→ The better way to run ads (and why more isn’t always more)
The Marketing Insight
What Your Website Needs If You’re Moving Away from Social in 2026
It makes a lot of sense that people are spending less time on social media, but what’s interesting is how often people think a strong website only matters if they’re focusing on SEO. The truth is that it matters just as much (if not more) when referrals and networking are your main drivers.
When someone finds you on social, they get a steady drip of your personality through videos and pictures… they hear your voice, your values, the random little details that make you feel human. They might notice you love iced coffee year-round or that you have strong opinions about Google Docs.
Those small things build connection! When social isn’t doing that work anymore, your website has to.
Yes, it should be optimized for search. But it also needs to be optimized for connection. People landing there want to feel you. They want clarity, warmth, context, and cues that say, “Oh, I get this person.”
Connection doesn’t disappear when social fades, it just moves to another platform that also needs your time.
This month’s Insight comes straight from my friend Jess of Jess Creatives — a web designer and strategist who helps nutrition and fitness pros build websites that get them found, trusted, and booked.
The Scroll
Quick-hit insights and must-reads to keep your strategy sharp.
Brick’s Marketing Strategy: How a Product-First Brand Engineered Coordinated Virality
I’ve been lowkey obsessed with how Brick has taken over the online conversation in January so I’m breaking down how they engineered momentum to create what I call “coordinated virality.”
7 social media trends you need to know in 2026
Sprout Social’s recent trend report is here and reveals that social search is now outpacing traditional SEO for younger audiences, especially on TikTok and Instagram. Plus they’re sharing 6 other trends you’re not going to want to miss!
Your Current Digital Marketing Strategy Won’t Hold Up in 2026. Here’s the New Playbook.
While Entrepreneur argues your 2026 strategy isn’t about optimizing isolated tactics anymore, I’d argue there’s still value in them—as long as each one ladders up to a strategy that aligns brand presence, media efficiency, and full-funnel performance around intent.
What’s Working in Marketing Right Now
Getting More Granular with UTMs
If you know me, you know I’m a little data nerd 🤓 and I do not make decisions without first checking the numbers or digging into some research.
But as your business grows, the kind of data you need often changes too. And that’s exactly where we’re at with one of my clients right now.
High-level, we already know email is a strong revenue driver. But we’re evolving her email marketing into more of an ecosystem this year—multiple flows, campaigns, segments, and touchpoints all working together—and that means we need to get way more specific with our tracking.
It’s no longer enough to just say, “This sale came from email.”
We want to know which email. Which sequence. Which campaign. That way we can double down on what’s actually working and tighten up what’s not.
So we’re using UTM links to tag every email and campaign element. And thanks to her Google Analytics setup, we’re already seeing clear patterns in where her members are coming from and using that data to make smarter tweaks in real time.
If you’re only tracking top-level channels but you’re having trouble making decisions, it might be time to get more granular. Because the more precise your tracking, the easier it is to optimize what’s actually moving the needle. 🙌
From My Corner
A little BTS look into my own business(es) right now:
January has been a little more of a reset month for me which is a welcomed change of pace from how hectic the second half of 2025 felt. Here’s some of the big things happening in my world though:
I’ve been focused on putting together the marketing team for a client. Interviewing and hiring 4 freelancers to help us execute the strategy this year.
We’re ramping up to releasing our product at BRDGE into the world which means we’re also ramping up our marketing and sales efforts (finally!)
I’ve also been playing with the idea of creating something for my fellow marketers — think crowdsourced support from people that get it. I’m still working out the details but if you’re interested in learning more (and maybe helping shape how this works), respond to this email!
Inbox SOS
Q: Our new ads agency is running a ton of creatives across a wide range of audiences all at once, and it feels chaotic and is not yielding the results we expect. Should we be doing that, or is there a better way?
A: I’ve seen this strategy a lot lately, and while I’m sure it works for some accounts, it clearly isn’t working for you. That’s because this strategy often spreads your budget too thin and makes it hard to pinpoint what’s actually working, essentially making it impossible to optimize.
It might be better to experiment with something like this to see if this structure works better for your business:
Start with a smaller number of well-defined audiences (based on purchase behavior, lead magnet history, or email list segmentation).
Use test creative with clear messaging and angles tied to your offer.
Only scale what performs after 3–5 days, then consolidate audiences if needed.
Keep retargeting warm leads, but resist the urge to blast cold broad audiences before you’ve validated what converts.
One of my clients recently saw a significant performance lift by doing just this — narrowing the targeting, being specific with the brief, and holding back some creative for mid-launch refreshes.
Need help figuring out what’s actually working in your marketing? That’s my thing. 👉 Book a Strategy Session or Explore Other Ways to Work Together
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