Sonata Insights

This was one of my most impactful and attention-grabbing pieces of research last year. Midway through the year, 99% of people who used an AI site still used traditional search too. It'll be interesting to see how things have changed when the update comes out this month.

Happy new year! Do you know how your customers are using AI sites? My newest Datos collab has some answers.

2024 was a big year. I went from a stable 19-year career as an analyst at eMarketer into the unknown as an independent researcher and advisor. Here's a look back at what Sonata Insights has accomplished in 2024. You can find links to all the assets in the comments. If you'd like to partner with me as I dig deeper into AI and marketing in 2025, please reach out!

Relevance has been redefined. I was part of the team that worked on this research with WARC and TikTok, and it was one of the most challenging (but also rewarding) projects I did in 2024. We started with a simple goal: Identify the types of content consumers consider relevant on social and video platforms - and from there, develop a framework detailing what brands should do to be more personally and culturally relevant to their audiences. We asked ourselves hard questions like: What is culture? (Dr. Marcus Collins was an invaluable resource on this!) How important is cultural relevance for brands? Is it necessary for all brands? What is personal relevance? Do consumers think of personal and cultural relevance differently? Should marketers? How can marketers be relevant without feeling like they need to jump on every trend that comes along? I'm happy to say this research helps answer these questions.

Are consumers ready for ads created with AI? Our new study - in partnership with IAB - reveals there's an enormous gap in sentiment between consumers and industry executives. Read the research here: https://lnkd.in/eMKDdURP

I am proud to partner with IAB for this groundbreaking research on consumer AI attitudes!

I am super excited to let you all know about my latest research collaboration! I was part of the team that produced this groundbreaking WARC + TikTok white paper that explores what it means to be personally and culturally relevant to consumers. The research was grounded in a consumer survey that identifies the key aspects of content and advertising that people consider relevant. Then, we layered in interviews with ad industry leaders Amy Lanzi of Digitas, Jesse Spencer of Coca-Cola, Heather Stuckey of Mars, Mark Lynch of Stellantis, Alex Whitlock of Burberry, Kory Marchisotto of e.l.f., and culture expert Dr. Marcus Collins. The end product is a guide and framework for successfully creating relevance on social and video platforms (hint: it's not about jumping on every trend). Thank you Alexis Wolf for the opportunity to work with WARC on this important research. The white paper is free and ungated. Please check it out! https://lnkd.in/gAiZm7wj

I'm putting two predictions about AI+ads out here right now: 1) Ads in AI experiences will be a big story in 2025. 2) ChatGPT and Meta will be the two companies we'll be talking about. AI platforms like ChatGPT have a huge opportunity ahead of them: They can introduce new forms of advertising that take advantage of the unique capabilities of AI. What I've seen so far on Copilot and Perplexity isn't very revolutionary. But I expect ChatGPT -- or more likely, Meta -- will launch something truly groundbreaking in the next year. (Don't be fooled by the ho-hum example ChatGPT gives you when you ask it what an ad on ChatGPT might look like.)

Which do you use more, Amazon's app or the website? For me it's the website. Did you ever stop to think about what kinds of products you usually shop for on the app vs. the website? No? Me neither. But now I'm fascinated. I just spent the past few weeks diving into the data to uncover the differences in Amazon shopper behavior in-app and on the website. This project was a unique opportunity, thanks to Datos, A Semrush Company and MFour Mobile Research. I don't normally research ecommerce trends -- social media + AI is usually my thing -- but my curiosity was stoked. It turns out that: 1️⃣ App users and web users engage differently with Amazon—and events like Prime Day drive unique behavior changes. 2️⃣ Some product categories dominate in-app, while others lead on the web. 3️⃣ Want to know which group is more loyal to Amazon—and who’s more likely to shop at competitors like Walmart or Target? It’s in the report! Get the full paper here: https://lnkd.in/gNkzfYXR So... what about me? Here's the last 5 things I bought. Which two do you think I bought on the app?

Do you know how app shoppers and web shoppers compare? It's a harder question than it sounds, but there's good news: Sonata Insights' new white paper (in partnership with Datos, A Semrush Company, has some answers! https://lnkd.in/ggDhsX3J