No More Search Funnels

🟡 4 Implementation Plays That Kill the Search Bar, Meta & LinkedIn Double Down on Ad Impact with Smarter Video, and more!

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In this newsletter, you’ll find:

🟡 No-Search Funnels: 4 Implementation Plays That Kill the Search Bar

📽️  Meta & LinkedIn Double Down on Ad Impact with Smarter Video and Engagement Tools

🏆 Ad of the Day

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🟡 No-Search Funnels: 4 Implementation Plays That Kill the Search Bar

If you’re still optimizing for SEO, you’re missing the plot.

The next frontier isn’t ranking. It’s removing the need to search altogether.

No-search funnels aren’t about visibility. They’re about inevitability. The product shows up where the user already is, wrapped in context, with zero friction.

Here’s exactly how to make that happen.

1. Dynamic Pre-Click Journeys (DPCJs): Before a user even touches your ad, you’ve already shaped their intent. How? Pipe in behavioral data from TikTok pixel, Instagram saves, and newsletter skim depth. Then run pre-click creatives that match their unspoken intent.

Example: A skincare brand notices a user engaging with “redness remedies” content on TikTok. The next Story ad they see isn’t a generic moisturizer. It opens with “Still fighting redness? Here’s a 3-step fix.” The CTA? Not “buy now” — it’s “get your routine.” That triggers a micro-funnel without search, starting from personalized tension.

2. Zero-Landing Ad Layers: Landing pages are optional when your ad is the store. Use multi-card carousels or in-ad forms with intelligent routing:

  • Card 1: Problem mirror (“Dark circles got worse this week?”)
  • Card 2: Contextual offer (“Get the exact combo that fixed it for 2,300 others last week”)
  • Card 3: Single-tap Apple Pay or UPI

You’ve gone from scroll → story → sale, with no search, no site, no friction.

Mobile, Visual Ads, and AI are reshaping ecommerce fast. In fact, mobile drove 60% of traffic, display ads jumped 156%, and AI referrals rose 1138% last year. Semrush & Euromonitor break it all down inside their free 2025 FMCG report. Get your report for free today.

3. Predictive DM Funnels: Plug your CRM into a chat automation layer (e.g., Attentive + Meta + Zapier). When someone abandons a product category twice, DM them not with nudge, but with a next-best alternative.

Message: “Hey, we noticed you passed on our protein powders. This new plant-based one’s been selling fast, want to try a sample before it’s live?”

This is a discovery funnel that feels like exclusivity, not marketing.

4. Intent-Layered Email Triggers: Send emails based on behavior delta, not segments.

Example: The User usually clicks through 3 content blocks. One day, they drop off after 1. Trigger an email:

“Only read one insight today. Want the TL;DR version straight to your texts instead?”

You’re not pushing product. You’re staying in sync. That’s what kills the need to search.

No-Search Funnels = Invisible Guidance

When done right, no one asks questions. No one googles alternatives. Because your funnel felt like their own idea. That’s the future. Build it now.

📽️  Meta & LinkedIn Double Down on Ad Impact with Smarter Video and Engagement Tools

LinkedIn is expanding its Wire video ad placements, and Meta is quietly rolling out a setting to consolidate likes and reactions across similar ads. Both updates reflect a push toward more impactful engagement—through premium alignment and unified social proof.

The Breakdown:

1. LinkedIn Wire opens premium video placements to more brands -  LinkedIn’s Wire program now lets more advertisers run pre-roll video ads alongside content from publishers like Bloomberg, Forbes, and WSJ. Brands can select placements in Campaign Manager and align their message with curated, high-trust video environments.

2. Wire taps into rising video consumption on LinkedIn - With a 36% year-over-year rise in video watch time, LinkedIn is positioning Wire as a high-value solution to enhance branding through professional content associations. The expansion includes EU publishers.

3. Meta adds ‘Social Information’ control for reaction unification - Some Meta advertisers can now combine likes and reactions across similar ad variants. If images and text are the same or similar, this setting (enabled by default) unifies engagement metrics, boosting perceived popularity without fragmenting social proof.

4. Unclear criteria, but strong potential for performance - While the exact similarity thresholds remain undefined, combining reactions could increase ad credibility and reduce friction in A/B testing. This could be especially useful when running multiple versions of similar creatives across placements or objectives.

Both updates give advertisers more control and efficiency in how they build trust and drive recall. LinkedIn Wire offers prestige through publisher alignment, while Meta’s unified social proof enhances consistency. Together, they reflect a shift toward smarter engagement at scale.

🏆 Ad of the Day

What Works:

The headline uses inverted persuasion (“You Should NOT Try…”) to stop the scroll. It challenges the viewer’s assumptions, triggering curiosity and the psychological reactance effect—where people naturally want what they’re told not to have. 

Each “reason” humorously mocks common consumer objections (e.g., “you hate delicious snacks”). This reduces resistance by framing skepticism as irrational, while making the brand feel friendly, confident, and witty. 

The product is dead-center, and the benefits (low carb, keto, high protein) are neatly framed in a “nutrition claim bubble,” helping the health benefits anchor visually in the consumer’s memory.

Broader Insights:

This ad directly tackles the 4 mental barriers people have about “healthy snacks.” Instead of listing features, it converts objections into micro-convictions—a core persuasive technique in conversion copywriting. The final CTA (“you might as well try”) mimics a peer nudge, reducing decision fatigue.

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