PRIVACY
Cookies had their shelf life changed
This change is a bit more technical but we’ll do our best to try to explain it…
First, do you know what cookies are? Bite-sized, gooey, chocolate-chip deliciou… Sorry, wrong cookies.
Browser cookies are just small pieces of data saved by your browser, in text format. This can be user ID, session ID, or really any text. It’s often used for tracking – that’s why it’s relevant to marketers.
What changed? Back in 2019, WebKit browsers had an expiration limit on JavaScript browser cookies that was up to a maximum of 7 days.
In a 2022 release, according to Simo Ahava, the mechanism has changed and there is no longer a set expiration cap on JavaScript cookies.
Wait, what’s WebKit? An open source web browser engine used by Safari and Apple… But Chrome is also based on WebKit.
So, what does this mean in practice? It means that 7 days is now the only limit. But it’s not 7 real-time days, it’s 7 days of browser use. For example, if you use your browser every day for 7 consecutive days, but never visit that one blog you found last week, those cookies from that blog will expire.
But, if you don’t use your browser for 7 days, and then on day 8 you visit the blog again, that counts as day 2 and cookies are updated.
In short: If someone uses their browser and stops visiting your website for 7 days or more, cookies are gone.
How does this affect users? That depends. Cookies are used for a variety of reasons and how this change affects your website will depend on how you use cookies. It’s a talk to have with your tech team.
MARKETING
74% of CMOs are facing budget cuts
We don’t mean to spread panic… But we have some interesting data and it’s better to be aware of it than live in the dark.
SALESmanago platform surveyed 250 Chief Marketing Officers in the UK, and the main idea that came out is: Marketing needs to take a leaner approach.
Here are the stats:
- 74% of CMOs have either seen, or are facing, cuts to their marketing budgets.
- 40% of respondents said they still struggle to prove the ROI of marketing to the CEO.
- 42% of marketers think customer loyalty will drop in the next 12 months.
Lean times ahead, but here are a few points from The Crew:
1) With crisis come opportunities: If you stacked up cash during these times, you might be able to find discounted prices. And CPMs might go down as well.
2) Be proactive:
- Audit your expenses and cut unnecessary ones.
- Money doesn’t disappear. It’s still in the market. You’ll just need to work more to take it.
SPONSORED BY SALESFORCE
2,500+ marketing managers, VPs, and CMOs revealed how to thrive in a data, privacy, and analytics era
This is big. Over 2,500 marketers, from marketing managers, to VPs, and CMOs, across a variety of industries and business sizes, from all around the world have shared key insights that you need to know to thrive in 2023 and beyond in marketing.
Salesforce’s Marketing Intelligence Report reveals:
- Why loyalty programs and customer consent are critical in a cookieless future
- The role customer journey analytics play in creating personalized experiences
- How real-time data access can improve marketing performance
There’s one more thing we like about this report! Salesforce divided high-performers from underperformers to understand what sets them apart.
Turns out high-performers are making better use of their own data compared to underperformers. And here are some stats:
- 64% of high-performing marketers have a defined AI strategy, compared to only 45% of underperformers.
- Speed to insights: high performers are almost twice as likely as low performers to strongly agree that they can quickly receive insights.
Curious to know more? Download the full report for free.
E-COMMERCE
6 unboxing experiences that will blow your customers’ minds—and make them want more
The closest thing to experiencing a new product is watching someone else use it.
That’s why unboxing videos are growing in popularity. They’re not only engaging to watch, they’re excellent ways to tell your brand story, invite customers to create and share social media content, and fortify loyalty.
They’re also no-brainer content for creator campaigns, especially if you’ve got a lot of products.
Keen to give them a try? Shopify has six ready-made ideas for you to consider…
1. Send handwritten notes. There’s nothing more personal or memorable than a handwritten note, especially with so many experiences happening online.
They’re fairly easy to scale, too. Just design and print a template, jot a short note, and drop it in the package!
2. Invite customers to post unboxing videos on social media. It’s one of the easiest ways to build word of mouth, especially when you offer customers incentives like posting their video on your brand socials.
3. Send discount coupons. They’re the gift that keeps on giving. You discount a little, and your customer is more likely to spend a little more.
4. Share a bio of the person who made the product. You hear so many marketers say it, it’s almost annoying. But it’s also true: people love and connect with stories.
So if you want customers to bond with your brand, let them in on the backstory of your products: who made them, what inspired them, and so on.
5. Tell customers where your product has been. Speaking of stories… another way to stir imagination is to turn your own product into a character.
Walk customers through your product’s journey, where it comes from, and where it’s been. Customers appreciate transparency; this is your chance to open up about your process.
6. Brand every piece. Ever bought something because it had a cool package? You’re not the only one.
The more effort you put into creating an experience with your packaging, the more unique and memorable it is… and the more customers will want to snag one for themselves.
There you go… Six ways to create effective unboxing videos. If only all ideas came this easy, no?
SPONSORED BY #PAID
Meet 10 TikTok creators who are ready to sell your product in minutes
TikTok is booming. People are following creators’ recommendations—and buying loads of products.
Don’t let your train pass because you’re having trouble finding the right creators.
With #paid, making sales on TikTok is easy.
#paid matches your brand with 10 verified TikTok creators that already know your brand and are ready to promote your products to their audiences.
Scale your brand and your sales with TikTok creators!
THE CREW’S INSIGHTS
When should you use statistics on your landing page?
Affirm’s ‘For Businesses’ landing page does a lot of things right, especially below-the-fold.
Why? Immediately below-the-fold, you’re not met with paragraphs of generic copy. You’re met with three simple statistics:
- +85% AOV
- 20% repeat purchase rate
- 12.7M+ shoppers
For context, Affirm is a buy-now-pay-later business. The three statistics above are some of the core statistics their customers care about. These three stats are better than any line of copy.
OK, so statistics are great. But how should you decide if you need to replace your fancy copywriting with a bunch of numbers? Consider the below:
- Only feature statistics if they’re truly relevant. Affirm’s +85% AOV statistic is enough to get most marketers drooling. If it’d been “used by 100K companies”, we doubt anyone would care quite as much.
- Only feature statistics if yours are great. Let’s face it: Your business—or the ones you’re marketing for—might have some problems. They might not have great numbers. If they don’t, it’s better to leave statistics out. For example, if Affirm wrote “+3% AOV”, it’d leave most of us wondering why the number was so low.
- Only feature as many statistics as you need to. There’s a good chance that Affirm’s page would be just as powerful if the AOV statistic was the only one they featured. Don’t feel pressure to fill out a template—feature only the numbers that are genuinely groundbreaking.
There you go. Have great stats? Try slapping them as high up on your page as you can. Trust us: your copywriter will understand.
ROUNDING UP THE STACK
EMAIL OPEN RATES: Here’s a trick to improve your email open rates: Sending the SMS follow-up message “Have you seen your email?” shortly after your email. This showed to increase open rates by 20%–30%. And it’s just one of the many SMS marketing tactics inside the November Stacked Marketer Pro report.*
SOCIAL MEDIA: A growing body of research suggests that human behaviour on social media – like coordinated activism, information cascades or harassment mobs – is similar to to beahviour assumed by flocks of birds..
PINTEREST: The race to the small screen is hot. Pinterest TV just expanded to Canada, with a focus on holiday shopping inspiration.
REGULATION: Who gets more fines? Google or the frat house that never stops partying? We’d say the first. This time, the fine worth $392M. What did Google do? They secretely tracked users’ location data, even after they turned it off.
FACEBOOK: A new feature enables members to make themselves moderator of a Group. You probably want to disable it for your group…
*This is a sponsored post
BRAIN TEASER
Alive without breath,
As cold as death;
Never thirsty, ever drinking,
All in mail never clinking.
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.
Swoosh your way to some royalties, if you have the creative chops
Nike’s definitely a brand you’ve heard about next to “Metaverse” talks.
And while the whole concept of the Metaverse has plenty of sceptics, the shoe maker is not slowing down its ventures in the space.
Meet Swoosh. A Web3-enabled marketplace to buy Nike virtual products… And the place where community members will be able to compete for a chance to design virtual Nike products.
If you win, you will also get royalties for the design, which sounds pretty sweet.
Unfortunately, the details are vague, so don’t quit your job with the plan to design virtual Nike kicks just yet.