Fundamentals
15 posts in the journal tagged "Fundamentals".
TikTok Ad Library: How to Use It for Creative Research
The TikTok Ad Library is two free tools: Creative Center for top ads and the Commercial Content Library for competitor search. Here's how to use both.
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Media buying 101: a beginner's guide to buying ads
Media buying 101 for beginners: how media buying works, the step-by-step process, key terms, common mistakes, and how to start buying ads in 2026.
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Media planning vs media buying: how they differ
Media planning vs media buying explained: the difference between the two, how the combined process works step by step, and who owns each part in 2026.
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Types of media buying: programmatic, direct, and more
The main types of media buying explained — direct, programmatic, self-serve platform, and traditional (TV, OOH, print) — with when to use each in 2026.
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What is media buying? Definition, process, and types
A clear definition of media buying: what it means, how the process works, the main types, and how it differs from media planning. The 2026 plain-English guide.
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№ 06 Meta Ad Library competitor research: the operator's playbook
Six Meta Ad Library workflows operators run, the tools that turn it into a swipe file, and how AI agents query it programmatically. Field guide for 2026.
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№ 07 Best AI Ad Agency Websites in 2026: Positioning Teardowns
Fifteen AI ad agency websites torn down on positioning, hero hook, and services framing. The patterns worth copying and the ones to retire in 2026.
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№ 08 TikTok Creative Center: The Operator's Playbook for 2026
Six TikTok Creative Center reports actually worth mining, the swipe-file workflow operators use, and the noise to ignore. A field playbook for 2026.
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№ 09 The best marketing newsletters worth reading in 2026
Twelve marketing newsletters with editorial standards worth the inbox space in 2026: who they're for, what they ship, and why they earn the open.
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№ 10 The 2026 community-led growth playbook
Community-led growth has matured past the Slack-and-Discord era. The 2026 playbook for building, measuring, and compounding community as a growth channel.
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№ 11 Email for mobile app marketers in 2026
What email actually does for mobile app marketing in 2026: the three jobs that work, the patterns that hold up, and where it fits alongside paid + organic.
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№ 12 SEO vs AEO in 2026: what's actually changed?
Search has fractured into traditional SERPs and AI answer engines. How SEO and AEO differ in 2026, what's stayed the same, and how to budget for both.
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№ 13 CPI benchmarks for mobile apps in 2026, by category and region
What a healthy Cost Per Install actually looks like in 2026, by app category and major region. Plus the four levers that move CPI fastest.
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№ 14 How we test AI advertising tools
The protocol behind every review on ad-stack — three reference briefs, twelve metrics, no agency discounts, no preview builds. The only variable is the tool.
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№ 15 The state of AI UGC tools, mid-2026
A field map of the AI user-generated-content tooling market in mid-2026 — what's actually a tool, what's still slideware, and where the category is heading.
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