Automation has changed marketing. Google, Meta, LinkedIn, and other platforms now do things that used to take full-time specialists: bidding, targeting, placement decisions, creative combinations, budget allocation, and even parts of measurement.

In the traditional media landscape, consolidation is the name of the game, and the game just got a lot smaller. Once the Nexstar-TEGNA merger is fully cleared, Nexstar will control 80% of U.S. households. For brands in Little Rock, Memphis, and Dallas, Nexstar has effectively become the “gatekeeper” of local CTV inventory.

In a digital landscape that’s obsessed with what’s hot and new, it’s easy to fall into the trap of trend-chasing. Timely, ripped-from-the-news-cycle content can generate short bursts of attention, but it rarely builds long-term traffic that keeps paying off month after month.

Some marketing experts treat a media pitch like a finish line, moving on to the next thing as soon as they hit send on an email or land a placement. But a seasoned professional knows that securing the story is only the beginning. True impact lies in leveraging that win to further sustain media presence and hone lasting relationships with the producers, directors, editors and beat reporters who will ultimately decide what moves forward and what doesn’t.

mhp.si, one of the state’s largest and oldest full-service marketing agencies, today announced the promotions of Rachel Powers, APR, to Director of Public Relations and Lauren Stephens to Strategic Communications and Engagement Manager, strengthening the agency’s leadership across integrated communications disciplines.

“Just post more” might be the vaguest social media advice people still just blindly follow. 

If your agency is just passing along what the platforms say, you do not have a strategy partner. You have a middleman.

Most teams do not realize when their marketing starts sounding like everyone else. It happens slowly. A few buzzwords creep in. Calls to action get softer. Pages get more polished and less clear. Then performance drifts, and nobody can point to one obvious reason.

People are anxious about money, rates, and the broader economy. They are trying to make smart decisions while feeling like the rules keep changing. At the same time, they are bombarded with offers from fintechs, national banks, local institutions, and every app that wants to be the new place where their money lives.