Pinned Comments, Holiday Shopping & Marketing Horror Stories

September 12, 2025

We’ve barely dipped our toes into September and it already feels like the sprint to year-end has begun. Don’t worry! This week’s newsletter is stacked with time-saving solutions, early holiday shopping insights, and industry updates to help you keep pace without burning out.

Plus, don’t miss our Trick or Truth call for marketing horror stories. It’s like group therapy… but with prizes.

IN THIS ISSUE

  • 🎃 Trick or Truth

  • 🔥 From The Ink Well

  • ✍️ SUM Poll

  • 🌎 Around the Web: Holiday Shopping, AI Discovery, Instagram & CapCut Updates

  • 🎧 StartUp Marketing Uncut

  • 😂 In the Meme Time

🎃 Trick or Truth: Call for Marketing Horror Stories

We’re asking startup marketers to share their funniest, scariest, and most outrageous marketing horror stories (the kind that make you cringe, wince, or nod in solidarity).

Submit your story this month, and in October we’ll share the best (worst?) ones for folks to guess: Trick or Truth? Featured storytellers will also snag exclusive SUM merch.

FROM THE INK WELL

What could you do with an extra day every week?

Even the most experienced marketers waste hours recreating templates that already exist. In this OSSUM reality check, discover the true cost of duplication and how our vault of proven frameworks can free you up to focus on strategy.

Interested in sharing your POV? Submit your pitch to get published in The Ink Well.

SUM POLL

How many hours a month do you spend on repeat work (frameworks, templates, reports) that probably already exist somewhere?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

SUM PODCAST

🎧 Introducing StartUp Marketing Uncut

Formerly SUM Disruptors, our podcast is back with a new name, a new host (The Kay Prince), and all new unfiltered conversations with marketers in the startup trenches. Episode 1 drops next week!

In the meantime, catch up on Season 1.

AROUND THE WEB

  • Holiday shopping starts earlier every year: 20% of consumers have already made their first holiday purchase (with Gen Z leading the way). [Martech]

  • Learn the key differences between search rankings and AI citations, and how to create content that performs in both worlds. [Search Engine Land]

  • Instagram now allows you to pin your own comment on posts, so you can steer the conversation or lock your CTA in place. [Adam Mosseri]

  • One-third of US adults use AI agents to discover brands. What’re you doing to show up? [eMarketer]

  • You can now export CapCut videos straight to LinkedIn. [Social Media Today]

SUM POLL RESULTS

IN THE MEME TIME