COMING AT YOU THE WEEK OF 5.9.23
GUYS, IT’S ME, HAYLEY.
I’VE EMERGED FROM THE COCOON OF NEW MOTHERHOOD TO HANG OUT WITH YOU GUYS AND GIVE YOU THE MARKETING NEWS.
I’ve been:
- staring with goo-goo eyes at baby
- trying to wipe toddler’s butt while nursing baby
- staring at new baby’s centimeter-long toes
- teaching toddler that baby breaks easier than baby dolls
- etcetera
And during this wild time, it’s reminded me that no one gives a rat’s booty about this marketing stuff we do. People’s lives are their own. And they’re filled with *life.* They will buy when the stars align.
Your job is to set up the stars for when they’re ready.
Stop stressin about the people you aren’t reaching, the people who aren’t buying.
And when setting up the stars, remember those full, vivid lives people live and you will reach them more effectively.
– Hayley
THIS WEEK’S MOST IMPORTANT MARKETING NEWS
BLOCK YOUR SYNDICATED CONTENT INSTEAD OF USING CANONICAL TAGS
That’s Google’s new recommendation.
GMAIL IS ADDING A BLUE CHECKMARK TO SHOW VERIFIED BRANDS
We’ll start seeing checkmarks next to brands that have completed the verification process Gmail uses, BIMI. Here’s where to start that process if you haven’t completed it yet.
THE NEW-AND-IMPROVED BING IS NOW OPEN TO EVERYONE
Bing’s new AI juice has tempted me to download Edge to try it out. And now I—and anyone else who’s been tempted—don’t have to join a waitlist. It’s open to anyone. It wouldn’t hurt to check out some innovative(?) search results.
REDDIT POSTS ARE NOW MORE SHAREABLE
With Reddit’s new share menu, you can post threads to your Instagram stories and text them to your uncle. Reddit’s ad options and a few updates like this are making it a better-and-better-looking spot for marketing efforts.
Their first story spot will let your ad appear first between friends’ stories. They’re also launching ads in their short-video feed, Spotlight.
INSTAGRAM ADDS NEW METHODS FOR COLLABORATING WITH CREATORS
Instagram said, “Advertisers can now boost more types of organic Instagram content as partnership ads, including branded content with the paid partnership label, Instagram Collab posts, @mentions, people tags, product tags, and other content without the paid partnership label.”
They’re also changing the term branded content ads to partnership ads.
TIKTOK NOW OFFERS AN AD PLACEMENT DIRECTLY AFTER TOP-PERFORMING VIDEOS
TikTok already offers a Pulse ad spot by the content that performs in the top 4%. After reading a bunch of articles, I can’t quite tell what the difference will be between the Pulse and Pulse Premier spots. It might be more control over the topics of the videos your ad will appear next to. If you figure it out, let me know.
GOOGLE’S APP AD SELLING IS SHIFTING TOWARD REAL TIME BIDDING
By the end of October, Google will only support real-time bidding for ad space in apps. That will replace the waterfall process that’s been in place, which takes more time to match an advertiser to an ad spot. For now, Google is offering more real-time bidding integrations to third-party app monetization platforms (yikes at all that jargon) so developers can get used to this method of media buying.
USEFUL LINKS
EXPERIMENT INDICATES SOCIAL MEDIA TRAFFIC IS NOT PROPERLY MARKED IN GA
Sparktoro published an experiment that reveals a bunch of social media traffic incorrectly labeled direct in Google Analytics. I just learned that’s called dark traffic—visits that are labeled direct but actually aren’t.
HOW TO CREATE A CUSTOM FUNNEL REPORT IN GA4
A custom funnel report, yummmm. This kinda thing is so good because it helps you keep the full picture in mind with your customer journey. And it gives you valuable insights on how well your planned journey is working for your customers. So check that page out if you wanna set that bad boy up.
GROWING UP NEWSLETTER
Ok, this one is for my SaaS and software marketers. Brendan humble-brags that 78% of his subscribers read each email he sends out. That’s wild. But it makes sense because his emails share the results of the regular survey he sends to 600 SaaS marketers asking them what they’re doing that works (for their marketing and career tactics). So if you don’t want that, I don’t know what to do with you.
If you’re ready to get those emails right away, click this guy 👇
WHEN TEENY TINY IS THE BIGGEST WIN
I don’t really get it, but my four younger brothers are really concerned about rewriting the narrative that “bigger is better.” Who knows why. But when it comes to marketing stuff, I agree that bigger is not always better.
Especially when it comes to the effort our potential customers need to make before converting. We really want to make that teeny tiny. The story of the newborn Pampers brand is a great example of this.
Back in the 1960s, Pampers was a new product that faced skepticism from parents who were used to using cloth diapers. (I am a bit confused on who needed convincing, but I guess new stuff can really freak some people out.)
Proctor and Gamble (Pampers’ parent company) knew that they needed to offer potential customers a convenient introduction to their product. So, they started offering free samples of Pampers to hospitals, which would then distribute them to new mothers. Ba-da-bing, ba-da-boom.
This strategy turned out to be super successful. New mothers were able to try out Pampers without any financial commitment, and they quickly discovered how much easier and more convenient they were compared to cloth diapers. Proctor and Gamble saw a massive increase in sales and Pampers quickly became a household name.
So what’s the barrier you can lower for your customers??
INTERESTING STUFF