All Posts by Justin Rankin
The Future of AISO is Expertise at Scale.
Every week somebody tries to sell me the next AI tool that’s supposedly going to change marketing forever. And every week I find myself asking the same question: What are you feeding it? Because AI hasn’t replaced marketing. It has simply exposed who was creating real value and who was relying on shortcuts. The funny […]
The future of AI isn’t about teaching AI. It’s about proving that you’re the one worth learning from
Let’s get something out of the way… AI does not wake up every morning excited to visit your website. It doesn’t care about your logo, your brand colors, or the fact that your nephew built your website in a weekend after watching six YouTube videos and drinking three energy drinks. What AI cares about is […]
Is AI Just a Security Blanket During Economic Uncertainty?
Everyone wants to “do AI” right now. Cool. What does that even mean? Because from where I sit, it sounds a lot like walking up to a builder and saying: “Yeah, just build me a house.” No bedrooms defined. No budget. No idea if you want a ranch, a modern box, or something that won’t […]
The Race for Inbound Authority Just Changed… and Marketing Didn’t Get the Memo
There’s a scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark where Indiana Jones grabs the idol, hears a click, and suddenly the entire cave decides it’s time to kill him. The boulder drops. The walls start moving. And Indy? He runs. Not walks. Not strategizes. Not books a follow-up meeting to discuss cave optimization. He runs […]
Has Marketing Been Replaced by Revenue Experts
Let’s stop pretending. “Marketing” as a standalone function is getting its ass handed to it. Not because it doesn’t matter. Because it was never supposed to operate alone in the first place. And now? The people actually driving growth aren’t marketers. They’re revenue operators. People who don’t give a damn about impressions, likes, or your […]
People Don’t Search Like Cavemen Anymore
There was a time when we all collectively agreed to talk to the internet like we had three brain cells left. “vet near me” “dog ate toy what do” “roof repair cheap fast” Short. Robotic. Slightly concerning. And it worked… because search engines needed it. But that version of the internet? Yeah… it’s gone. Now […]
“Home Wrecking”: The Private Equity Affair Happening in Home Service Marketing
There’s a phrase everyone knows. Home wrecker. Usually it shows up in gossip, reality TV, or awkward Thanksgiving conversations. It’s the person who shows up, changes the dynamic, and suddenly the relationship that seemed stable starts falling apart. Now let’s talk about the affair happening in home service marketing. Because if you run a roofing […]
The Lever Nobody Talks About in Marketing
The Lever Nobody Talks About in Marketing Most marketing conversations sound like this: “We need more leads.” Cool. From where? Usually the answer is something vague like: Google. Social media. SEO. “Brand awareness.” Which is a fancy way of saying: we’re not totally sure. And to be fair… that’s not always the business owner’s fault. […]
Agentic AI Is the Line Between Busy Marketing and Predictable Revenue
For the last two years, the business world has been yelling about AI. AI for blogs. AI for images. AI for emails. AI for social posts. All helpful. Some impressive. None of it the real shift. Because the real shift isn’t AI content. It’s Agentic AI. And that’s the moment where everything stops being interesting […]
Intent Data + AI Lead Scoring
Or: How to Stop Guessing and Start Acting Like Revenue Matters There was a time in marketing when a “qualified lead” meant someone downloaded a PDF, filled out a contact form, or accidentally clicked your ad while trying to close it. And everyone celebrated like real progress had been made. Sales said the leads were […]
Stop Drawing Marketing Funnels Like You’re Planning a Waterslide
There is a very specific kind of comfort in the marketing funnel. It is neat, predictable, and color coded. Usually built in PowerPoint by someone who has not talked to an actual customer since 2017. And look, I get it. Funnels make chaos feel organized. They give leadership something to point at in meetings. They […]
CTV + Google Brand Awareness Is the Best Play in Uncertain Times
(Yes, even when everyone is panicking and hoarding ad dollars) Every time the economy gets weird, businesses do the same dumb thing. They freeze. They slash marketing. They obsess over “immediate ROI.” They demand leads now… but also want them cheaper, better qualified, and somehow immune to reality. Cool. Makes total sense. Here’s the uncomfortable […]
AI Did Not Kill Marketing. It Exposed It.
Goodbye, Traditional Agency. This is not an angry breakup. It is not even dramatic. It is that quiet moment when you realize you have outgrown something, you wish it well, and you walk away while an explosion happens behind you and you absolutely do not look back. Traditional agencies, this is that moment. You taught […]
Theft with a brand kit…
We are in a new kind of space race, and this one is not about who gets to the moon first. It is about who actually survives the next evolution of marketing. Every agency out there is screaming about AI like they just discovered fire. They are dropping words like “innovation,” “automation,” and “integration,” then […]
Is That Human… or Just ChatGPT Wearing a Mustache?
We’ve officially reached the part of the internet where no one knows what’s real anymore. Half the posts on your feed were probably written by a large language model that thinks “having a good weekend” is an acceptable personality trait. The other half? Written by someone using AI and pretending they didn’t. And that’s fine. […]
AISO 2.0
Everyone’s still out here trying to figure out how to rank on Google while the actual game is being rewritten in real time and most of you haven’t even noticed. Welcome to AISO 2.0, the era where search optimization stops being about keywords and backlinks and starts being about partnerships and pipelines. AISO 2.0 Let’s […]
AI Is Eating Everything…Except CTV
Let’s not sugarcoat it: every other ad channel you “think” you’ve mastered is being steamrolled by AI right now. Google Ads? CPCs are climbing while search volumes nosedive, and AI overviews are happily stealing the clicks you paid for. Social? You’re competing against bots, fake engagement, and platforms that change their algorithms more often than […]
How to Build an AI Death Star (Step by Step)
AI didn’t just “enter” marketing — it broke into your house, drank your last LaCroix, reorganized your fridge, and is now wearing your hoodie while running ads for your competition. This isn’t a “trend.” It’s not optional. It’s a full-scale takeover of how digital marketing and business workflows operate. And here’s the part no one […]