In partnership with
Startup marketing has a funny way of making every quarter look the same. Plans change. Launches move. Sales needs a deck. Someone asks for “one quick test.” And suddenly Q1 is gone. So this month at SUM we’re asking a simple question: What if Q2 looked completely different?
We’re inviting more startup marketers into the community to trade ideas, share what’s working, and help each other out. And because every good campaign needs an incentive… we added one (see below). 🎁
IN THIS ISSUE
🎁 March Giveaway
✍ The Ink Well
🌎 Around the Web
📝 SUM Poll
📍 SUM Community Events
😂 In the Meme Time
🎁 March Giveaway
This month we’re inviting more startup marketers into SUM, and we’re giving away 4 x $200 gift cards.
→ 2 winners: new members who join SUM free before March 31
→ 2 winners: current members who refer someone
Already a member and know someone who could use SUM help? Share your referral link or forward this newsletter their way. Q2 is just three weeks away. Let’s make sure the people who need this community find it before then. 🐙
THE INK WELL
Meet Stacy Thal
Stacy Thal is a Senior Brand & Creative Strategist who has led in-house brand and creative work at Google, Walmart, and Yahoo.
What marketing hill would Stacy die on? “Positioning comes before promotion. You can have the best creative, the smartest AI stack, and a huge media budget, but if you’re not meaningfully different — and you can’t say that difference in a way customers instantly understand — you’re just paying to be ignored.”
Slow Is the New Fast: How Startup Marketers Can Do Less and Win More
We’ve all experienced the hamster wheel. You’re executing everything — social, email, events, sales enablement — but you never quite have time to step back, evaluate what’s working, or think about what you should be doing instead. The result? 52 emails and 52 articles in a year and you’re in the same place you started.
During a recent Expert Session, former solo marketer Alex Stonehouse discussed the urgency epidemic we’re all facing in the startup marketing world and why deep work is an undervalued advantage.
Have a strong POV? Submit your pitch to get published in The Ink Well.
1,000+ Proven ChatGPT Prompts That Help You Work 10X Faster
ChatGPT is insanely powerful.
But most people waste 90% of its potential by using it like Google.
These 1,000+ proven ChatGPT prompts fix that and help you work 10X faster.
Sign up for Superhuman AI and get:
1,000+ ready-to-use prompts to solve problems in minutes instead of hours—tested & used by 1M+ professionals
Superhuman AI newsletter (3 min daily) so you keep learning new AI tools & tutorials to stay ahead in your career—the prompts are just the beginning
AROUND THE WEB
Nearly half (49%) of US consumers have used TikTok as a search engine, up nearly 20% in 2 years. [Adobe]
One of the simplest LinkedIn ad tests for 2026: boost posts from employee accounts using Thought Leader Ads, which are driving higher engagement than brand posts. [SearchEngineLand]
Last year, engagement declined across Instagram, LinkedIn and Threads. [Buffer]
A decade ago one in four searches ended without a click; today it’s over 65%, as AI answers and search features increasingly intercept traffic. Here’s what to do about it.→ [MarTech]
IN THE MEME TIME
