Posts | Marketing with Dave

Stop Losing Articles: A Free, Permanent Read-It-Later System

On May 22, 2025, Mozilla announced that Pocket would shut down on July 8, 2025, with data export available until October 8, 2025. Like many readers, I had years (and thousands) of articles in Pocket. When the shutdown notice hit, I went looking for a replacement and discovered what I actually needed from a read-it-later system. My must-haves The search (a lot of apps, a lot of dead ends) I tried a long list of apps in the stores and brainstormed with LLMs about edge cases and workflows. Many tools were great readers but failed my permanent copy test on

Comparing Free Behavior Analytics Solutions: Hotjar, Microsoft Clarity, and Mouseflow

As a business grows its martech stack, website analytics is usually one of the first tools selected, most often Google Analytics because it is free and connects directly to Google Ads. Website analytics tells you what happened. Before long, answering why it happened becomes critical. That is where behavior analytics comes in: session replay, heatmaps, and lightweight feedback that reveal the reasons behind the numbers. Martech landscape: These tools fit in the Behavior Analytics / Experience Analytics family within the Scott Brinker (chiefmartec) landscape. Free plan comparison (2025) Legend: ✓ = included — = not included Limited = included with caps (see notes)

Case Study: How Toys R Us Lost Its Digital Edge to Amazon

Brief Summary Toys “R” Us signed a ten-year exclusive deal with Amazon in 2000, which redirected its online sales to Amazon and delayed its own eCommerce efforts. When Amazon breached the deal by expanding toy vendors, Toys “R” Us sued and ended the agreement—but it had already lost critical digital momentum. Company Involved Toys “R” Us, once the world’s largest dedicated toy retailer, focused on toys and baby products. Marketing Topic Public Reaction or Consequences Media and analysts viewed the exclusive Amazon deal as a strategic error that gave digital dominance away. The lawsuit restored control, but not runway. Concurrently

Market Your Way to Growth by Philip and Milton Kotler Book Summary

Market Your Way to Growth: 8 Ways to Win by Philip Kotler and Milton Kotler (2013) introduces eight strategic pathways to achieve business growth even in the toughest economic climates. In the face of slow growth and limited customer demand, the authors argue that companies can still thrive by creatively expanding and adapting their marketing strategies. The book outlines actionable methods – from increasing market share and innovating offerings to forging partnerships with governments – showing that by embracing these pathways, businesses can outperform competitors and prosper in a low-growth world. Top Three Quotes Book Theme Market Your Way to

The Martech Handbook by Darrell Alfonzo Book Summary

Top Three Quotes Book Theme The Martech Handbook by Darrell Alfonso is about building and managing an effective marketing technology stack to attract, engage, and retain customers. The book provides a clear step-by-step framework for understanding and selecting marketing tools that drive business value across all areas of marketing. In essence, it bridges the gap between marketing strategy and technical tools, showing marketers how to leverage technology (from automation and data platforms to analytics) in a strategic, customer-centric way. Alfonso covers everything from why businesses need MarTech and what key categories exist, to how to design a cohesive tech stack

A Historical Evolution of Marketing Technology (Martech)

Marketing technology – or martech – has evolved over more than a century, from the first media advertisements to today’s AI-powered digital ecosystems. Below is a timeline of key milestones in the history of martech, highlighting how new channels, tools, and regulations have shaped the industry. Each brief milestone captures a pivotal development (spanning B2B and B2C marketing) that pushed marketing into a new era. 1920s–1940s: Broadcast Media and Early Advertising 1922 – Radio advertising debuts: New York’s WEAF station airs the first paid radio commercial on August 22, 1922 – a 15-minute spot for a real estate firm. This