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Welcome to today’s edition of Marketing Scroll, bringing you the latest marketing & retail stories in 60-word value bombs.

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PERFORMANCE MARKETING

🎯 X Unveils Targeted Ad Options for Premium Subscribers Only

X's new ad feature targets Premium subscribers, offering marketers a niche but potentially lucrative audience amidst owner Elon Musk's controversies and a push to lessen ad reliance. Less than 1% of users are Premium, but as "active spenders," they're an attractive market. This aligns with X's aim to "reduce the platform’s reliance on ad dollars" and encourage freer speech.

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SOCIAL MEDIA

📉 X's User Engagement Drops with Reduced Average Visit Duration

Elon Musk claims "total user seconds" as the best engagement metric for app X, showing 360.7 billion seconds daily. Despite reported increases, this suggests declining user time or fewer users. Critics argue these figures don't accurately reflect engagement, challenging marketers to assess X's true value and reach, especially as Musk's assertions lack independent verification. 

OUTLOOK

📈 Adobe Reports Record-Breaking $222 Billion in Online Holiday Spending

Holiday e-commerce soared to a record $222.1 billion, up 4.9% YoY, driven by Cyber Week and robust BNPL usage. BNPL reached an all-time high with $16.6 billion. Discounts peaked across categories, while mobile sales dominated over 50%. Despite inflation, real demand fueled spending, per Adobe Analytics insights.

🛍️ Retailers Reclaimed $743B in Returns, $101B Lost to Fraud, Reports NRF

In 2022, returns reached $743 billion, 14.5% of sales, with $101 billion (13.7%) in fraud, reports National Retail Federation and Appriss Retail. E-commerce's rise boosts returns and fraud, prompting retailers to adopt measures like shorter return periods and fees to mitigate losses. Amidst soaring digital sales, innovative strategies are crucial for managing returns and maintaining "frictionless retail."

ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE

🔍 Study Reveals 94% of Google SGE Links Differ from Organic Results

Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE) often diverges from the top 10 organic search results (93.8%), indicating a need for new SEO strategies. There's a low URL overlap between SGE content and organic results (4.5%), emphasizing the importance of targeted SEO. SGE's "Generate" button format is predominant (65.9%), suggesting a shift in user interactions. 

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