New Discovery ad features just landed
We know, we know.
It’s hard to think about ugly Christmas sweaters when it’s hotter than a grill outside, but…
Google just announced several new Discovery ad features with an eye toward holiday campaigns, and they seem useful.
Here’s the breakdown:
- New ad experiences. Social and Promotion tabs in Gmail will now include details like product images and prices, making them more browsable. Also, they’ll be powered by machine learning to mix and match assets for best results.
- Better creative support. You’ll see recommendations on what to add or remove when creating ads, plus ad and campaign ratings and optimization scores.
- Audience insights tool. You can now view asset reports to check and compare performance. You can also see how your audience segments are performing.
- Improved campaign management. Audience builder lets you create and reuse audiences across campaigns. You can also use Google Editor and API so you can manage your campaigns at scale.
Why we care: According to Google, 78% of users prefer to check their feeds for personalized recommendations, which is where Discovery ads come in.
And with the holidays approaching, this set of features could help you get more out of your campaigns.
E-COMMERCE
DTC brands are banking on affiliate marketing
Between iOS14 changes and crumbling cookies, e-commerce brands are finding new channels to reach customers.
Turns out one of those channels is affiliate marketing.
What’s going on: According to a new report by the Performance Marketing Association, affiliate marketing spend grew to $9.1B in 2021—47% higher than previously reported three years ago.
And according to surveyed brands, two new affiliate channels are getting increasingly prominent in the DTC world:
- Influencers: Editorial gift guides, reviews, and influencer recommendations resonate with younger generations, and sometimes account for as much as 35% of all sales.
- Press releases: Public relation (PR) firms have started building affiliate marketing operations to work with and promote retail startups.
Why we care: If you’re looking for new ways to connect with customers, affiliate marketing could be an effective channel to work into the mix.
As always, it pays to observe what’s working for other brands and find ways to apply those lessons to your own marketing.
SPONSORED BY STACKED MARKETER PRO
4 logical fallacies that can make people trust your brand
Eminem used to win rap battles by rapping honestly about his flaws. You can use a similar approach in your marketing to build trust.
Once you tell your audience why they should not buy your product… they will trust all the reasons why they should.
And there are other ways to gain trust…
Anecdotal appeal: People trust a story more than statistics. So if you have the data to prove that your product is better than your competitors’… But they have compelling testimonials, they win.
Because of the “designer fallacy,” we’re more likely to trust things that look good. Apple is a master here.
The “spotlight” principle: When companies present their best product first, people assume their other products are equal in quality.
… And that’s from just two of 76 pages of psychological hacks in The System 1 Manipulation Report.
Discover more psychological hacks here.
E-COMMERCE
Want high-performing Facebook ads? Spend time optimizing your ad copy
Here’s a little secret…
The best performing ad copy isn’t usually the one that “feels” the best to you.
It’s the one that passes the audience test.
Daniel Hegman shares an interesting example of an effective copy split test that reveals the kind of copy that works at which stage of the buyer’s journey.
Here’s the scoop…
First, Daniel chose two different campaigns for a fashion brand as a testing base, one for advertising beauty products and the other for Valentine’s day ads.
Then, he created two copy variations for prospecting and remarketing of both campaigns:
- Short copy consisting of only one line.
- Long copy consisting of three lines.
All copy variations had the same tone and sentiment, the only difference being length.
Also, all ads were put into the same ad set, allowing Facebook to automatically adjust budgets depending on the performance.
Here’s what he found: While there weren’t stark winners or big changes in engagement for cold audiences, remarketing audiences definitely preferred shorter copy.
In other words, the higher the intent, the shorter the copy.
If customers already have their wallets out, your final “push” should be short and snappy.
On the contrary, colder audiences sometimes prefer a bit more education in their copy.
The takeaway? Always be optimizing. In addition to testing copy length, you should also test different words, tone, and any other hypotheses that you feel can move the needle!
SPONSORED BY ONLINEJOBS.PH
Bring your virtual assistant up to speed with the “Bootcamp in a video”
What if your virtual assistant (VA) could operate at a Terminator-like level?
Grinding out tasks faster than you can… All while making little to no mistakes.
This is what happens after they go through The VA “Standard Operating Procedure” Training Course. And it’s not just for VAs – you will learn tons about structuring and managing a remote team in general!
It contains $29,000 worth of training… From customer support to LinkedIn Ads… And the full library of courses costs less than a flight from New York to Vienna!
THE CREW’S INSIGHTS
How to inspire better ideas from your team
OK, so managing people is tough.
And it’s especially tough when you need great ideas, quick, and they don’t seem to be coming from anyone.
There’s one thing that almost every good manager does to solve this: When you have a live meeting or asynchronous brainstorming session with your team, never reveal your true opinion on the subject until the last possible minute.
For example:
- You set up a meeting to brainstorm new ad ideas.
- You get ideas from each person in the room.
- You save any feedback for the very end.
- Once everyone’s exhausted all their ideas, then you provide your insight.
Normally, this doesn’t happen. Many managers, creative directors, and founders feel tempted to give feedback in real-time.
Or, in other cases, they provide their opinions before anyone beneath them gets the chance to talk.
This can prevent your team members from sharing great ideas because they’re worried they’ll get criticized or shot down.
Why this tactic works: By hiding your true opinions until the end, you’re allowing your team to share their ideas fearlessly.
That helps you get every possible idea out onto the floor—getting you the most novel ideas possible.
Yes, it’s a simple tactic, but it works.
ROUNDING UP THE STACK
MARKETING: This is handy. We came across a swipe file of marketing examples from landing pages to emails. Seems like a great way to smash creative blocks and try out new marketing ideas.
SEO: Google just added more links to content guidelines. Don’t worry, they were already published a few years before. It seems Google is organizing the guides for easier access.
PODCASTS: People will throw money at you for a podcast appearance if you’re established enough… and vice-versa! If you want to build some clout, don’t wait for others to invite you. Offer to pay them for an interview instead.
GOOGLE: Here’s a useful search trick… If you put your query in quotation marks, Google’s snippet will always show the quoted words in the context they appear. They pull results from meta description tags, too, FYI. So update yours accordingly.
BRAIN TEASER
Forward I catch fish, backward I am the tenth of numbers. 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.
This man creates an entire orchestra… with his mouth
Philharmonic or symphonic?
Nope, this one is monophonic.
He’s a maestro. Member of a solo orchestra. One-man army of strings, brass, and percussion. A virtuoso.
Meet the French beatboxer who creates the sound of an entire orchestra using only his voice.
No. Way.
Not sure about you, but we’re totally exploring new sounds and vocal ranges the next time we’re in the shower…