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Field Notes

What we're seeing
in the data.

Working briefs from the Stratalyst team, concrete patterns we're seeing across portfolios, written for marketers who need to act on them this quarter.

AI Strategy May · 2026

Is your data AI ready? For most companies, the honest answer is: not yet.

Every leadership team is in the AI conversation, and most data infrastructures aren't built to answer it. Here are the five readiness gaps we see most often, what they actually cost in pilot time, and how long each one takes to close.

9 min read
AI Search Apr · 2026

The zero-click era is here. Here's how to be the answer, not the link.

Google's AI Overviews now dominate 60%+ of commercial queries. We mapped what changed for our clients' organic revenue, and what to do about it.

8 min read
Attribution Mar · 2026

Why blended ROAS beats platform ROAS, every time.

Channel-level metrics are how platforms grade themselves. Blended is how the CFO grades you. A practical model for shifting the conversation.

12 min read
Paid Media Feb · 2026

Reading Performance Max: a Stratalyst field guide.

PMax is a black box, but not entirely opaque. Six diagnostic queries we run on every account in the first 48 hours of an engagement.

6 min read
Practice Jan · 2026

The age of AI in marketing belongs to the agencies that double down on relationships.

Algorithms don't read the room. They don't notice when a client is anxious about a deadline they didn't tell anyone about. The agencies winning right now are leaning into what AI can't do.

5 min read
Influencer Jan · 2026

Brands will start ditching real influencers for digital ones. Here's what shifts.

AI-generated avatars are getting indistinguishable from humans. Brands are about to take influence in-house. Here's what changes when they do, and what survives.

5 min read
Attribution Dec · 2025

Open your Source/Medium report. The AI referrals are here.

ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, all sending traffic now. Most companies haven't optimized for any of them. The early movers will own a brand-new acquisition channel.

7 min read
Reporting Nov · 2025

You don't need more dashboards. You need one that actually works.

Most teams aren't suffering from a lack of data. They're suffering from too many dashboards. A practical framework, the 50% Rule, for cutting through the noise.

6 min read