Navigating Marketing in the AI Era & Tariff Changes
Weekly briefing for AI-first marketers. News, tactics, and tools that move the whole funnel.
Rohit Maheswaran
May 01, 2025
Hello there 👋,
Welcome to the very first edition of the Full Funnel newsletter!
We're thrilled you're here for the beginning of what we hope will be a valuable addition to your weekly reading.
Full Funnel is dedicated to modern marketers navigating the increasingly complex world of marketing and growth in the AI era. Each week, we'll deliver actionable insights on driving measurable growth, optimizing your marketing stack, and staying ahead of industry shifts. No fluff, no jargon—just practical strategies you can implement today.
Our vision is simple: to equip every marketer with the AI super-powers and strategic thinking needed to create growth that compounds across the full funnel. Whether you're a CMO, growth leader, or business executive looking for reliable growth levers, we've got you covered.
On the Menu This Week:
AI reality check: What's hot, what's hype, and why AI is now table stakes.
Strategic tariff responses that protect margins without alienating customers
The evolution of customer loyalty (hint: it's all about community, not points)
AI gets vocal: The latest leap in AI voice cloning and what it means for your audio content.
Platform Pulse: Google Ads shakes things up, and Microsoft brings AI shopping assistance mainstream.
AI tools actually worth adding to your stack in 2025
The AI Marketing Shift: From Novelty to Necessity 🤖
It feels like just yesterday AI was a buzzword. Now? It's fundamentally reshaping how we approach marketing. Generative AI isn't just for playing around anymore; it's becoming essential for creating hyper-personalized content, streamlining workflows, and making smarter creative decisions.
Think personalized email sequences at scale, dynamic landing pages adapting in real-time, and testing and ad creative variations faster than ever. Researchers are even developing AI methods to create and test ad visuals more efficiently, saving time and budget without sacrificing quality.
Takeaway: If you're not experimenting with AI for content creation and personalization, you're falling behind. Start small, test specific use cases, and build from there.
Tariff-Proofing Your Growth Strategy 🛡️
The sweeping US tariff changes of April 2025 have created significant headwinds for marketers across industries. With the 10% baseline tariff on most imports and escalating country-specific rates (particularly the 125% China tariff), brands are facing tough decisions about pricing, sourcing, and messaging.
Yet savvy marketers are finding ways to navigate this volatility:
Messaging shifts: Focus on transparency rather than apologetics. Brands explaining the situation clearly while emphasizing value are maintaining customer loyalty despite necessary price adjustments.
Selective price increases: Rather than across-the-board hikes, smart brands are analyzing product margins and customer price sensitivity to apply selective increases on less elastic items.
Ad efficiency: Ironically, costs per click (CPCs) dropped 7% and CPMs fell 18% after the tariff announcement, potentially making this an ideal time to maintain or even increase ad spend if you have inventory.
Domestic messaging: Brands with US-made products are seeing unexpected opportunities to highlight their "Made in America" credentials, with significant consumer receptivity to this messaging.
Takeaway: Don't panic. Map your product portfolio against tariff impacts, identify pricing flexibility, and communicate with transparency. The brands that maintain trust during this period are likely to emerge stronger when markets stabilize.
The New Loyalty Playbook: Community Over Discounts 🤝
Traditional loyalty programs that rely solely on points and discounts are quickly becoming obsolete. The most successful brands in 2025 are pivoting to community-based loyalty models that foster emotional connections rather than transactional relationships.
Companies like LEGO, Peloton, and Sephora have thrived by fostering strong, interactive communities that keep customers engaged beyond transactions. This approach is proving critical as acquisition costs continue to rise.
Key loyalty trends emerging in 2025:
Experience-based rewards instead of discounts - exclusive events, early access, and personalized interactions are proving more valuable than simple price cuts
Gamification elements - according to recent research, 47% of consumers seek more immersive experiences that incorporate gamification, play and joy
Value-aligned communities - Nearly 60% of Gen Z and Millennial US customers stated being more loyal to a brand that speaks up in the face of social issues
Try this: Rather than investing in another discount-based loyalty program, experiment with creating exclusive Slack or Discord communities for your best customers. Provide value through expert access, peer networking, and exclusive content rather than just pricing incentives.
🤖 AI Content Creation Gets Real
Generative AI has rapidly shifted from a cool experiment to a core marketing engine. We're seeing tools move beyond text into truly usable audio and video outputs, changing workflows dramatically.
Case in point: ElevenLabs rolled out Professional Voice Cloning. This isn't just text-to-speech; it's about programmatically creating custom, high-quality voice replicas via their API. Imagine scaling personalized audio messages, instantly creating voiceovers for video variations in multiple languages, or giving your chatbot a unique, consistent brand voice. This level of automation opens up new avenues for connection and efficiency.
Takeaway: Explore how AI voice (and soon, video) can automate repetitive content tasks, freeing up your team for higher-level strategy and creativity.
📈 Platform Shifts & The Rise of AI Shopping
The platforms aren't standing still. Two recent developments catch our eye:
Google Ads Search Shakeup: Google is testing allowing ads that win top placements to also bid on spots lower down the SERP. This could increase impression share for top performers but might also require closer monitoring of bidding strategies and performance segmentation. Understanding true incremental lift across placements becomes even more critical – unified measurement platforms such as Lifesight help make sense of this cross-channel complexity.
Microsoft Copilot Gets Shoppable: Microsoft launched its Copilot Merchant Program, letting retailers integrate product catalogs directly into the AI assistant. Users can get personalized shopping advice and product discovery powered by AI, directly within the Copilot interface. It signals a future where AI assistants become significant commerce channels.
Takeaway: Stay agile. Platform changes require testing and adaptation. Keep an eye on how AI is being integrated into discovery and shopping journeys – it’s happening faster than you think.
AI Tools Worth Adding to Your Stack 🤖
AI content creation tools have proliferated rapidly, making it hard to separate the truly valuable from the merely adequate. Based on our testing and conversations with leading marketers, these are the tools actually delivering ROI in 2025:
 | ContentShake AI |
 | StoryChief AI Power Mode |
 | Lumen5 |
While these tools are powerful, the most effective approach combines AI efficiency with human creativity. Use AI for first drafts, research, and optimization, but keep humans involved for strategy, brand voice consistency, and emotional connection.
Try this: Start small by implementing one AI tool in your workflow. Set clear metrics to track time saved and quality improvements. Many teams report 40-60% efficiency gains when AI is properly integrated into content production processes.
This Week's Giveaway
Auto-magically 🪄 generate an infinite number of stunning product images using raw photos of your product(s). Simply list your product SKUs in a Google sheet along with a few raw shots, and wake up every day to a library of ready-to-use, social media-worthy product images and videos in various environmental settings.
To receive the workflow, simply refer one friend/colleague to the Full Funnel newsletter!
That’s a wrap for this week! The AI wave is massive, but also full of opportunity for marketers ready to experiment and adapt. Keep testing, keep learning, and keep focusing on delivering real value.
Found this useful? Share it with a marketing peer!
— Full Funnel Team