Situating LLMs for Creatives: Philosophy, Workflows, and Political Economy
A practical, philosophical, and politically grounded guide to how creatives should use AI without surrendering the human parts of creative work. This article explains what large language models really are, why they are not “intelligent” in the human sense, where AI tools help with automation, research, coding, file handling, and analytics, and where they still fail at novelty, judgment, meaning, and strategy. It also explores generative AI through the lens of labor, value, and creative work, arguing that the real threat is less aesthetic than economic. For marketers, editors, designers, producers, and other digital creatives trying to decide whether AI belongs in their workflow, this piece offers a clear answer: let the computer do the computer things, and protect the human work that only humans can do.
The Return of Hybrid Attribution: Ad Conversion Strategies for Unusual Business Models
Learn how hybrid online/offline ad attribution helps businesses track conversions when standard digital tracking alone falls short. This article covers offline attribution, promo codes, call tracking, QR codes, CRM uploads, and creative conversion strategies for podcasts, service businesses, restaurants, real estate, and other unusual business models.
Seeing Beyond the Numbers: Why Data Visualization Matters
This is called Anscombe’s Quartet, and it’s a striking reminder that data visualization isn’t just a nice extra, it’s often the critical step in truly understanding what those numbers are trying to tell you.
How Small Businesses Are Using Algorithms and Statistics to Hack Marketing
You don’t need a tech degree to start using algorithms in your marketing. Affordable tools and platforms like Google Ads or email marketing software often have built-in features to analyze performance and recommend next steps. Begin by identifying a specific marketing challenge and apply these principles step by step. Over time, you’ll see smarter campaigns and stronger results.
CAJU Q&A #1
Though tracking conversions across different digital marketing channels can feel like juggling flaming torches, I’ve got some multi-touch attribution techniques that might simplify things. Exploring advanced attribution models like Data-Driven Attribution (DDA) can be a game-changer. They use machine learning algorithms to analyze how each marketing touchpoint contributes to a conversion, giving you a clearer picture of your customer's journey.
What Programmers and Creatives Can Learn From Each Other
Coding can be easily dismissed by creatives as non-creative, but one only thinks that way if one has never really tried programming. When you find an elegant and simple solution to a difficult logical problem in a coding language, it is a feeling of such sublime bliss, that it rivals the feeling one gets from a eureka moment when creating art… If you make a mistake or if life throws you an error, smile! You just learned something. If you’re clever, you’ll build new ways of handling that situation in the future. That is how bugs become features.
What Google’s Insistence on AI Means for Your SEO
Rather than praying to the SEO gods that Google will deem your site worthy of appearing higher in the search results, and making your site content sound robotic in the process, one might bypass that strategy altogether and put your content directly where your audience is. A strategic content campaign that delivers useful and entertaining content to online viewers where they’re at does something for them and endears them to your company before they’ve even seen your site.