
From 404: Strategy Not Found (Newsletter by Sean Hecking)
In the early days of Internet marketing, all digital ad work was done manually. Photoshop animated GIF Display ad banners were popular. Each slide of the animation was created frame by frame, exported then uploaded to different paid media networks. Most of these jobs in the 2000s were called “web master”, “web designer”, or “interactive marketing director”. Very little was automated. Marketers needed to know several skills just to run ads, send emails, and keep the company website running smoothly. Downtime and errors were much more common as a result. Hey, we were all just learning how this all worked, right?
Age Of Specialists
Then came the “Age Of Specialists” (2007-2022). “Social Media Ads Specialist”, “SEO Content Specialist”, etc. Marketers became highly skilled and specialized in their craft and knew their target audience. Want to rank #1 for “vegan dog treats”? No problem. We’ll have one of our SEO content strategists who specializes in DTC pet products reach out to you for a discovery call.
Return Of The Generalist
Yes, some of the hype around AI transforming marketing and redefining jobs is true, just not in the way people expect. They’re not really replacing jobs. They’re sorta taking us back to the late 90s and early 2000s, the “Age Of Generalists”. Tools like Meta AI are allowing the “marketing person” at startups or in-house corporate generalist to create short videos from iPhone still images. Need a quick meme based on a social media celebrity faux pas that happened 20 minutes ago? No problem. AI has got you.
The Future
While wearing more hats may be appealing to younger workers recently entering the field, more experienced marketers wearing fewer hats are left scratching their heads. Today’s AI tools don’t seem to greatly benefit higher end agencies or someone with decades of design experience. Larger brands can’t pivot based on short term trends. They can’t change as quickly as a startup. Their brand messaging needs to be more carefully thought out and more attention to detail is needed. Much of the benefit from AI tools seems to be in lower skilled tasks and areas of digital production work.
What do you think? Are we headed into a new age of marketing generalists?
Other Digital Marketing News
Is Google Destroying the Web?
The BBC goes into more detail on Google’s preview of an AI first future with AI Mode. Some popular SEO thought leaders and publishers saying it could destroy the open web, while many Google representatives saying it enhances or increases web content consumption.
The data tells us that fewer people are clicking through to read more. For popular quick research based queries that require less thought, the AI result is generally enough information to get an answer without clicking; recipes, code snippets, workout tips, who has the most home runs at Fenway Park, etc. There are, however, industries where a summary is not enough; legal services, B2B, healthcare, insurance, large purchase decisions like auto and a home. These are just a few examples where clicking through makes sense.
A Zero Click Future?
Publishers are feeling the impact of Google AI Overviews & AI Mode to their content marketing efforts. As impressions grow, clicks stay flat or decline. The solution? Don’t chase rank and Search clicks. Focus on a diversity of referrals and click sources. Going all-in on one or two channels isn’t and never was a good digital strategy.

Brand Awareness Is Cool Again?!
After being picked last in dodgeball for the past decade, brand awareness is now cool again! Marketers are looking for ways to quantify results due to a decline in clicks with some shifting away from keyword ranking reports and KPIs like clicks to more broad measures of brand performance.

It appears that brand building may be back en vogue. In 2025, brands are refocusing their KPIs and efforts to reach a larger audience and grow their awareness. This is great news, as brand impressions are a good sign of overall marketing success. Branding is also a more sustainable way to grow business long term.
WhatsApp Finally Getting Ads
After years of resisting monetization of WhatsApp, Meta is finally bringing the ads. The ads will be sponsored by businesses in its story-like feature.
The status feature lives within WhatsApp’s “Updates” tab and allows users to share disappearing text, photo, voice notes, or video messages. But now, you might see sponsored content in addition to the updates shared by friends or family members.
The change could give advertisers a chance to reach younger demographics. Although Meta states that targeting features may be limited to location and interests in the first roll-out.

What’s A Headless CMS?
I’ve been researching flat file content management tools running on mostly front-end code like HTML, JavaScript, and CSS for several years. Unfortunately during the 2010s, these platforms were very early in development and not ready for prime-time. It looks like a few leaders have emerged in the space and have matured enough to the point of replacing other popular blogging platforms and content management tools.
Ghost
In coming newsletters I’ll be documenting my journey into the world of headless CMS using Ghost. Tired of updating WordPress plugins and dealing with security issues? A CMS like Ghost may be a good option. There are several benefits to going headless over more traditional server side code & fetch from a database sites. Here are just a few reasons for making a switch:
- Faster content display
- Fewer security holes and attacks
- Less code, plugins, and fewer templates (may not always be the case)
- AI bot friendly
- Less server load during peak
- Fewer hosting requirements
I’m also testing these features for SEO performance and overall ease of management. Look for updates in the coming months.