New creative tools, broader search reporting and a healthier July trading picture. Our take on what deserves your attention.
July’s AI marketing trends raise a useful question: as producing content becomes easier, what gives customers a reason to trust it?
This month’s Lab Report looks at creative tools, search discovery and the quality of growth. Here is our take on the developments worth turning into action.
Meta’s Muse Image Puts More Creative Tools Within Reach
Meta introduced Muse Image in July, with access through Meta AI and plans to bring it to advertisers through Advantage+ creative. Read Meta’s announcement.
Our Take: Faster production can help teams explore ideas, but the commercial value comes from better decisions. A product image still needs to represent what customers will receive. A new background still needs to suit the brand.
Build human review into the process. Check product details, proportions, claims and the setting before using generated imagery. Make each variation answer a creative question instead of simply filling the content calendar.
Reels Translation Opens More Language Options
Instagram expanded AI-powered Reels translation to French, German, Italian, Japanese and Korean on 14 July. The tools can translate, dub and lip-sync supported videos. Read Meta’s update.
Our Take: Reach only becomes useful when your business can serve the people watching. Start with markets where you already see demand and can support delivery, customer service and local expectations.
Choose a clear product explainer, have a fluent speaker review the result, and test a small number of videos before widening the programme.
Social Content Gets a Clearer Search Reporting Role
Google made Search Console platform properties globally available in July for supported social and video accounts. This extends reporting beyond content on your own website. Read Google’s announcement.
Our Take: Your digital content strategy should give useful posts a longer working life. Customer questions can become clear video titles, demonstrations and explainers that people discover beyond the original feed.
Bring social and SEO planning together around the questions each asset answers. Keep reporting clear about where the content was discovered and what that activity produced.
PH’s July Read: Protect the Quality of Growth
In PH’s July retail and ecommerce portfolio, median revenue rose 5.9% from June, orders rose 7.1% and customer count rose 7.2%. Median discount value fell 13.5% over the same period. These are client-portfolio results, rather than a measure of every New Zealand retailer.
Our Take: More orders alongside lower discount value is a useful starting point for a margin conversation. It does not prove that every store became more profitable.
Review contribution margin, product mix and repeat purchasing alongside revenue. A useful ecommerce growth strategy protects the quality of the next sale as carefully as the volume of sales.
What to Take Into August
Pick one practical improvement: a clearer creative review process, a carefully checked translation test, or a shared search and social content review.
The future of digital marketing will bring more tools. Your advantage comes from knowing which customer problem each one helps you solve.