ADVERTISING
Your next ad might be on Netflix
It looks like an ad-supported format is coming to Netflix after all these years.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings confirmed that the streaming service is finally open to adding a low-priced tier that would include targeted advertising.
What changed? Netflix is hurting for cash. They lost 200,000 subscribers in Q1 alone, and dropping services in Russia hasn’t helped.
A low-priced subscription could keep the “occasional viewers” happy while pulling in advertising revenue.
Why we care: If Netflix opts for an ad-supported tier, you’d be able to place your ads in front of a captive audience.
And between Netflix’s first party data, and the opportunity to run contextual campaigns, the opportunity would be anything but chill.
META
Your Facebook Ads might be improving on their own
About a month ago, we came across anecdotal evidence that Facebook Ads were performing better, despite Apple’s privacy changes.
It’s not all “he-said-she-said,” either: Days after the anecdotal reports came out, we learned that Meta was driving better results for advertisers, thanks to its improved internal SKAN modeling.
Plus, Apple might be feeling the bite: Another reason why your Meta Ads may be improving is because people are buying fewer Apple devices.
Apple recently fell to second place in smartphone market share, just behind Samsung.
And we know that Samsung runs mostly on Android, which doesn’t yet have its own version of app tracking transparency (ATT).
The Crew’s takeaway? Don’t give up on Facebook Ads. If trends like these continue, they could still be a good revenue source, even if Meta isn’t booming like… well, TikTok.
SPONSORED BY ATTES
Discover what makes your customers buy. Then plug it into your marketing strategy.
Did you know that 56% of marketers rely on their own intuition when it comes to knowing what consumers want?
Or that 1 in 3 marketers aren’t confident about who their target customer is?
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Attest helps you easily access the highest-quality consumer research data you need to make strategic marketing decisions.
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Not convinced? Here is what Trustpilot has to say:
“Attest makes it extremely easy for my team to gather and analyze consumer research, which we use to build and market a better product.” Lauren Sims, Head of Consumer Marketing, Trustpilot
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6 lessons from 300 LinkedIn posts for growing followers and attracting clients and partnerships
After years of testing content on LinkedIn, Casey Hill succeeded in getting millions of views with his posts and winning nearly a hundred clients for his business in 2021.
Not only that… LinkedIn helped him seal partnerships, hire talent, and get invitations to podcasts and webinars.
Casey recently shared what he learned in the Nothing Held Back Facebook group.
Here are his six lessons:
- Write from experience. Don’t parrot general advice from other content. Instead, share what you experience first-hand. If you run a test, share it and ask for the opinions of your followers. When you engage with someone else’s content, do it by sharing your experience.
- Write in storytelling format. A character, a call to adventure, adversity. These are all elements used in compelling stories. Add them to your LinkedIn posts. And for better engagement, start your post with the tension point or conflict and work towards the resolution.
- Your overall engagement is crucial. Follow and connect with as many as target customers and potential partners. Then leave at least 15–20 comments a week on other people’s posts.
- Write a compelling hook in the first 2–3 sentences of your post.
- If the engagement to your post is growing by 20% or more per hour, don’t share another post. Viral or fast growing posts usually double in engagement in the first two hours. So, wait before sharing. As a rule of thumb, wait four hours before posting again.
- Shoot for an average of 4–5 posts a week. As Casey Hill says, frequency is often debated. But according to his experience, a compelling post daily, or every other day is ideal.
- Sharing links can cut your reach by 70-80%, so focus on crafting original content instead.
LinkedIn, when used right, can be an incredible platform for growing businesses.
Casey Hill’s lessons will help you leverage its B2B power.
SPONSORED BY MXLTIPLY
7 steps for creating posts that actually generate cash flow… in less than 1 hour per week
Forget Gary Vaynerchuk’s “create 100 pieces of content a day.” No more crafting boring posts on social media, wondering why only your partner likes them.
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THE CREW’S INSIGHTS
TikTok is way bigger than you think
In today’s edition of why you should be advertising on TikTok…
TikTok is a lot bigger than you might think. Back in September last year, TikTok announced that it had 1B monthly active users.
And according to an even more recent CloudFlare report, TikTok was the most popular domain in the world during late 2021.
To put a bow on this thing, here’s how TikTok ranked in the world’s top app stores in May of last year:
- Overall app stores (all combined): #1
- Apple App Store: #1
- Google Play Store: #1
TikTok remained one of the top-downloaded apps in the world throughout the year.
So, yes, TikTok is massive… But there’s still room to grow.
App Annie has forecasted that TikTok could reach 1.5B users in 2022.
And, Google confirmed that they’re looking for ways to include short-form content in organic search results––which means, of course, even more people downloading TikTok.
What this all means: TikTok isn’t a cute platform where kids dance and lipsync and get into drama.
Well, it is that, but it’s also much more. More than a billion people use this platform every month, and every smart marketer we know is taking advantage.
Because it’s such an important channel for modern marketers, we spent the last few months putting together a deep dive on TikTok marketing: Hundreds of hours of research, statistics, and best practices. Read it in our Insights community here.
ROUNDING UP THE STACK
AGENCY: Semrush is the secret tool that successful agencies are using to land more clients, execute daily tasks faster, and build lucrative long-term client relationships. Try Semrush for free today and grow your agency business.*
TIKTOK: Want to go viral on TikTok? Try going deep. Turns out in-depth analysis and solving mysteries work just as well as skits videos.
MICROSOFT: If you still haven’t migrated from Microsoft’s expanded text ads (ETAs) to responsive search ads (RSA)… it’s okay. Microsoft Advertising has moved the transition deadline to August 29, so no need to rush.
PRODUCTIVITY: Should you take on another project? What should you work on next? Brie Wolfson suggests scrapping your to-do list and using these productivity templates instead. And we might just do it, too.
WORDPRESS: WordPress 6.0 Beta 2 is now ready for testing! But remember, don’t try to test it on an important website. You know how easily those plug-ins and templates can break.
*This is a sponsored post.
BRAIN TEASER
I stand when I’m sitting, and jump when I’m walking. Who am I?
You can find the answer here.
POOLSIDE CHAT
Cool tech, (funny) business, lifestyle and all the other things marketers like to chat about while sipping cocktails by the pool.
Try your best poker face on this AI tool
As if virtual meeting rooms aren’t awkward enough…
Class is a new AI tool that scans your facial expressions to determine how you’re really feeling during a video call.
Right now it’s being tested in virtual classrooms with the aim of improving educational material based on how engaging it is for the students.
It wouldn’t surprise us if Class finds a place in business meetings, too.
Maybe we’ll try those animal filters on Zoom after all…