Marketing as we know it is collapsing.
Ads don't work. SEO is a graveyard. Influencers are expensive and useless.
What's left?

Welcome to the era of the Great Marketing Reset.

The only question is: 

Will you adapt. or vanish.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but lately, marketing feels... weird.
Like, you’re doing all the "right" things — ads, SEO, email, maybe even bribing an influencer with a free tote bag — and nothing moves.

At first, I thought it was just me.
Maybe my coffee was too weak. Maybe Mercury was in Gatorade again.
But the more I talked to other founders, marketers, and clients, the clearer it became:

It’s not us. It’s the whole system.

The old marketing playbook?
Toast. Burnt toast.
Ads are getting ignored, SEO is drowning in AI sludge, and email open rates are dropping faster than my WiFi during Zoom calls.

We’re not in a slump.
We’re standing at the edge of a full-blown marketing reset.

And honestly?
I think it’s the best thing that could happen.

Everything You Know About Marketing Is Dying

You know that feeling when you show up to a party. but it’s dead?
The lights are on, the music’s playing, the snacks are sitting there...
but somehow, the energy is just gone.

For me, that’s marketing right now.

• SEO? Drowning in AI articles and Reddit threads. Everyone’s just fighting for scraps on page 5 of Google.
  
• Paid ads? Might as well light your budget on fire. Prices are up, clicks are fake, and the only people getting rich are the platforms.
  
• Influencers? Oversaturated. Overpriced. Over it. (Audiences can smell a #ad from a mile away.)
  
• Email marketing? I’d love to tell you people are reading your newsletters. but honestly, they're buried under 437 spam messages about hair vitamins and flash sales.
  
• PR? You’ll spend five grand just to get mentioned in an article that your mom pretends to read.
  
• Viral loops? Hope your product is so good it makes people scream, because the old "invite your friends!" gimmicks don’t fool anyone anymore.

The truth is,
every major channel we used to rely on is maxed out, overpriced, and ignored.
The party’s over.
The lights are still on, but everyone important left hours ago.

Why This Collapse Was Inevitable

Looking back, this collapse shouldn’t feel surprising at all.
It’s not a random glitch in the system, it’s the natural outcome of how marketing works when too many people chase the same thing for too long.

There’s actually a name for it.
Back in 2011, Andrew Chen coined something called The Law of Shitty Clickthroughs, and honestly, once you understand it, you see the writing on the wall everywhere.

He put it simply:

Every marketing channel eventually gets worse over time, no matter how good it was at the beginning.

Here’s how it usually plays out:

1. A new channel opens up. It’s fresh, it’s exciting, it works.
   
2. Early adopters see crazy good results.
   
3. Then everyone else floods in.
   
4. Audiences get overwhelmed, start tuning everything out.
   
5. Costs go up. Engagement goes down. And what used to work effortlessly becomes a grind.

It’s not because marketers are getting worse.
It’s not because audiences are getting meaner.
It’s just that everything saturates eventually.

That’s why so many brands right now are watching their old "sure thing" tactics fall apart, and scrambling to figure out what’s next.

The truth?
The collapse was always inevitable.
It was just a matter of time.

What Survives After the Reset

Here’s the good news:
Marketing isn’t dead.
Lazy marketing is.

What’s left?
The stuff that small brands are actually better at, if you lean into it.

If I had to boil it down, there are three things you need to survive (and win) after this reset, and here’s exactly what to do:

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1. Build a Product People Can’t Shut Up About

Let’s be honest, if your product isn’t great, no marketing tactic in the world can save it.
The best ad, the flashiest launch, the most polished website, it all falls flat if people don’t genuinely love what you’re offering.

In 2025, good products aren’t just "nice to have."
They’re your only real marketing channel.

But here's where it gets tougher:
It’s not enough to be good in a crowded market.
You have to be noticeably better, so much better that people want to tell their friends about it.

That’s what I call having a 10x Differentiated Solution.

It means:

• Solving a painful problem 10x faster, easier, or more affordably than your competitors.
  
• Creating an experience that feels dramatically better — not just "a little" better.

Start here:

• Make a list of your top 3–5 competitors.
  
• Write down exactly where you win. (Is it price? Speed? Simplicity? Better service? More beautiful design?)
  
• If you can’t name something obvious and exciting, it’s a sign to sharpen your offer.
  
  

And don’t worry, you don’t need to win at everything.
Just be so strong even at just one small thing that it becomes the reason people remember you.

👉 A good product gets people to stay.
A 10x product gets people to talk.

That’s the foundation.

Without it, every marketing move becomes twice as hard, and twice as expensive.

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2. Focus on "Tiny but Mighty" Channels

You don't need a million followers.
You don’t even need 10,000.
You need the right 100 people who actually care.

Instead of:

• Burning money on Google Ads...
  
• Posting to 10 dead social media accounts...
  
• Waiting for SEO magic to happen...
  

Try this instead:

• Create a simple WhatsApp or Telegram group for your top customers. Treat them like VIPs.
  
• Run a free online workshop or mini event, even if only 10 people show up.
  
• Personally DM or email 50 people you know just to say hi, check in, and be human.
  
• Offer a secret perk or early access to your most loyal customers, make them feel special.
  
• Partner with another small brand to cross-promote, double your audience for free.
  

👉 Do the things most big brands can’t , or won’t, do.
Not because they don’t work, but because they don’t scale. Big companies need automation, reach, and dashboards. But you? You’re not playing that game. This is where small brands win: by doing the human, unscalable stuff most people won’t bother with. And that’s exactly why it works. Fewer people doing it means fewer people competing. 

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3. Be Braver with Your Brand

You don’t have to be loud.
You don’t have to be crazy.
But you do have to be clear, human, and a little bit bold.

Ask yourself:

• Are we playing it too safe?
  
• Could a stranger tell what makes us different in 5 seconds?
  
• Are we willing to say something real, not just what sounds good?
  

Simple ways to be braver:

• Use your real voice when you post. No corporate jargon, no fake "professional" tone.
  
• Say who your brand is for, and who it’s not for. (Yes, it’s OK to turn some people off.)
  
• Share your "why" story, people don’t just buy products, they buy people.
  
• Stop trying to be everything to everyone. You’ll be unforgettable to the right ones.
  

👉 Because in a world full of boring brands, even a little bit of honesty and boldness makes you magnetic.

A Note From Me to You

If you’ve been feeling like marketing is heavier than it used to be,
you’re not wrong.
Things have changed.

But change isn’t bad news.
For small brands, it’s an opening.

The marketing reset isn’t here to punish you.
It’s clearing the stage for you.

This new era of marketing isn’t about doing more.
It’s about doing what matters, better.

And if that’s what you’re building?
I’m cheering for you. Always.

Peace,

Pik

🌸 Would love to hear,  are you feeling the shift too? Yes or No?

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