Search gets shopping, multisearch, and “discussion” boosts
Google is like that one friend who runs several marathons, triathlons, and mud runs a year.
It’s their lifestyle. And it’s hard to keep up…
Not just for browsing: It seems Google wants to transform its search engine into a fully shoppable experience. The company added nine features based on three categories:
- Visual ways to shop, including what’s trending, 3D shopping, Google-recommended complimentary apparel pieces, and access to a visual product feed that looks like an e-commerce marketplace.
- Tools to help users shop, like buying guides for every niche. There’s also a page insights tool that tells you the upsides and downsides of a brand’s website experience. Did you catch that? Upsides and downsides of your web experience. Yikes!
- Personal shopping experiences that give users curated personal recommendations, several product filters, and a Discover tool where you can “scan” images of clothing with Lens to see where you can buy it.
Multi for multiples: Google is making its multisearch feature—previously in beta—widely available. The feature lets you ask a question about an image by pointing your camera at it.
For instance, the “multisearch near me” option helps you find out whether an unfamiliar item—such as a plant—exists in your local gardening shop. Nice!
Spirited debate: You’ll soon see a new search tab labeled “Discussions and forums” which will help you find helpful content from forums and message boards.
SEOs and content marketers, you might want to double down on helpful, well-written forum posts.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
AI video generators are here
That escalated quickly…
Just months after AI image generators entered the mainstream, Meta raised the bar by announcing Make a Video, their text-to-video generator.
Lights, camera, input: Just like AI image tools, Meta’s Make a Video generator transforms text prompts into video content.
You’ll also be able to turn still images into videos, just like Meta brought Rembrandt’s The Storm on the Sea of Galilee to life. Crazy.
When it’s available: Make a Video—the first of this kind to be released to the public—is expected to become available to everyone by November.
Why we care: Creating videos in seconds could help marketers who can’t afford expensive producers design custom ad creatives on their own.
And video designers can use the power of text-to-video to enhance their own creations and create amazing stuff.
What a world we live in.
SPONSORED BY DEMAND CURVE
This top virtual marketing event starts next week. Are you going?
Next week, Demand Curve is hosting Growth Summit on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, October 4–6.
The best growth marketers and startup founders will share how they’re currently growing their businesses in an uncertain economy.
Growth Summit is quite a bit different than other virtual marketing events…
- It’s raw—experts share real growth stories.
- It’s focused on tactics, not fluffy theory.
- It’s completely free for Stacked Marketer readers.
Here’s what you can expect from the sessions:
Wes Kao and Shane Parrish are diving deep into education and entertainment.
Alex and Leila Hormozi are outlining their sales engine strategy.
Jack Butcher is running a live interactive design workshop.
Nik Sharma is showing you how he scales DTC brands.
… And Hiten Shah is teaching you how to create and grow sticky SaaS products.
Check out the full speaker list and get your free ticket here.
MARKETING
Why emojis can make your campaigns more engaging—and how to use them effectively
These “digital hieroglyphs” are everywhere: in your DMs, in social media posts… and even in this newsletter’s subject lines.
But did you know that a strong emoji game can make your campaigns more engaging?
Adobe’s The Future of Creativity report published useful data on emojis, including insights you could easily apply to your marketing efforts.
Here’s when and how you can use emojis in your ads:
1 – To make your message engaging. 91% of US users agree that emojis make it easier to express themselves.
Another 73% say that emojis make a message friendlier, funnier, and “cooler.”
And 50% of users are more likely to respond to messages that contain emojis. Talk about a simple way to make your audience responsive…
2 – To resonate with your audience. Semantics matter. Different generations may use the same symbols to express different things, so make sure you use emojis only when you understand what they mean to a certain demographic.
By the way, most misunderstandings com from , , , so it’s best to avoid using them altogether.
Also, , , and are considered unlikeable. Don’t use them if you want customers to like your brand.
3 – To strengthen customer relationships. 88% of users are more likely to feel empathetic, and 75% are more likely to feel connected to messages containing emojis.
Using emojis properly in your ad copy can build brand loyalty and inspire those “good vibes” around your brand.
Interesting stuff, right? Almost seems like not using emojis would be risky!
And if you don’t know where to start, you can always go with everyone’s top five favorite emojis: , , ❤, , and . You don’t need much to make your campaigns pop!
SPONSORED BY UPFLUENCE
Pay-per-click ads are out, creators are in
With the rise of PPC ad costs, brands are shifting their focus to different channels that offer lower customer acquisition costs (CAC) and better returns.
And they’re turning to Upfluence to quickly identify and connect with creators who can tell their brand story, drive sales… and slash their CAC.
Thanks to the Upfluence platform, you can easily launch and manage creator affiliate programs. And you only pay for conversions.
Not bad at all.
THE CREW’S INSIGHTS
The psychological lever that increases conversions on expensive products
Put a $50 lawnmower next to a $150 lawnmower, and the second one feels more expensive.
Tell the customer that the $50 lawnmower lasts only 3 months while the $150 lawnmower lasts for a decade, and suddenly the first one sounds really expensive.
Truth is, you have more power than you realize over whether a customer feels your product is expensive or not.
In the end, the difference between “cheap” and “expensive” depends entirely on context.
Here’s how you can use this principle in your marketing:
This is called the Cost of Ownership close. It’s a tactic that involves reframing prices to show cost over time, and it’s frequently used by people selling expensive products.
Here are a couple concrete examples:
- A skilled web designer charges $5k to design your site. While you could find someone on Fiverr to do the work for a fraction of the cost, the designer reminds you that by spending $5k now, you’re getting a site that’s better-designed for the long haul—and will more than repay the investment in conversions.
- An apparel brand charges $100 for a white t-shirt. Their web copy notes that while the shirt is expensive, it’s the only white t-shirt you’ll need to own for the next 5 years—and if you bought something cheaper, it would wear out within months.
See? You have complete control over how you frame the price of your product.
If your customer thinks your product is expensive, put it in context, and they’ll feel differently.
That’s the power of simple tricks like Cost of Ownership.
And that’s just one of the 30 sales-closing techniques we included inside the System 1 Manipulation report, Part 2. It’s reserved for Stacked Marketer Pro members and you can check a preview here.
ROUNDING UP THE STACK
MEDIA BUYING: Here’s something that will help you with all paid media that you have to manage—virtual cards with cashback from Juni. Create all the virtual cards you need with high custom-spend limits in USD, EUR, GBP, or SEK. Get Juni now.*
SEO: Now that the September core update-quake is over, winners and losers have started rising from the debris. It seems government and e-commerce websites got boosts, while news sites and even YouTube got pushed down. Wild.
TIKTOK: Combine Canva and TikTok, and you can create eye-catching brand awareness campaigns. And if you want inside knowledge about what works, this short little guide might provide some answers.
GOOGLE: Ads console lagging? You’re not alone. It appears the entire dashboard suffers from latency issues. Google says they’re “investigating the issue,” so until it’s fixed, the best thing you can do is be patient. Ugh.
META: So long, car and real estate listings. Meta is removing the ability for Facebook Business Pages to sell vehicles, real estate, and rentals January 30, 2023. This move impacts several markets, so make sure you browse the list!
*This is a sponsored post
BRAIN TEASER
I have a tongue and though I cannot walk, I’m known to get around.
What 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.
The calorie-packed sandwich bomb
People argue about putting pineapple on pizza, or salt on watermelon.
And that’s fine. Personal food tastes have stirred debates for centuries.
But every once in a while, you come across something that should be deemed universally gross…
… Like the peanut butter and mayonnaise (PB&M) sandwich.
Umm… yuck? Apparently this sandwich was a thing during the Great Depression when stacking yourself with calories was essential—and Uber Eats was nonexistent.
Rumor has it some households still cherish this energy bomb. Guess you can’t diss it ‘til you try it…