Reddit’s got a (not so) secret project
Reddit’s the latest in a long list of platforms rumored to be working on their own Clubhouse-style audio rooms feature.
How it will work: According to Mashable, audio rooms may be included in Reddit’s “power up” program, which was announced in August 2020. Power-ups let you pay a subscription fee to gain access to premium Reddit features, like uploading HD videos and leaving GIFs in subreddit comments.
Why should you care: Live audio chat is on its way to becoming the next major content format. Discord launched Stage Channels two weeks ago, and Spotify recently acquired a live audio app.
Live audio is the current gold rush. Clubhouse discovered the gold, and now it seems like everyone (including Reddit) is trying to get a piece of it.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fast, dominant, and underutilized
81% of the US population uses YouTube. Facebook? Just 69%. That was just one of the headlining statistics from a recent Pew Research Report.
We briefly shared this last week in the newsletter. But today, we’re going to dive into some of the biggest takeaways from this massive report – and what they mean for marketers.
What you should know:
- Reddit is the fastest-growing social platform. Although just 18% of adults in the U.S. use Reddit, it’s growing quickly. And considering their push for new features (like the Clubhouse-style audio you just read about), it’s a platform to watch.
- Facebook and Instagram are still dominant. They’re first and third, respectively, on the frequency of use metric. These platforms aren’t losing much ground.
- YouTube is underutilized. The most popular social platform is also an underutilized acquisition channel. Simply type “Facebook Ads” into Google. Look at the number of results. Do the same for “YouTube Ads.” There is potential here.
The Crew’s take: We find the statistics about YouTube particularly interesting. It’s proven to be an underutilized acquisition channel, but more marketers are talking about it. There are some interesting ad options, too: Like the option to only pay when someone watches your ad for at least 30 seconds, or clicks on it.
We recently interviewed Noah Kagan, who believes wholeheartedly in YouTube as an acquisition platform. Learn about his thinking and insights in that interview here.
SPONSORED BY BRIGHT LEADS MEDIA
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COPYWRITING
The most valuable copywriting in the world
There’s plenty of copywriting theory on the internet. But, how much of that copywriting posturing can you say comes from a $1.6T company?
Alex Garcia wrote a great Twitter thread with seven tips from Amazon to “write like an Amazonian”. Here they are:
1. Use fewer than 30 words per sentence. This is good advice. And Scott Adams chimed in with a great reply, saying “Shoot for five. Ten is a lot. Twenty is bad writing.”
2. Replace adjectives with data. People gravitate to real numbers, not self-indulgent adjectives.
3. Eliminate weasel words. Be specific in your writing. This is similar to the advice about adjectives. When you can, write exactly what you mean.
4. Use the “so what” test. Once you’ve written something, read it and ask yourself if it would make sense from a reader’s perspective. The Crew’s tip: Take a 30-minute break after writing before doing this. You’ll come back with a fresh view.
5. Be objective. You’re probably seeing a common thread here: Be specific. Like how you shouldn’t use vague adjectives, you shouldn’t (normally) be subjective in your copywriting. Use real facts.
6. Avoid jargon and acronyms. Ever come across an agency site that says something like ‘We revolutionize the way groundbreaking brands revitalize their marketing’? Yeah – don’t do that.
7. Use subject-verb-object sentences. The grammar nerds out there will be happy about this rule! (That grammar nerds sentence was a S-V-O sentence, for context.)
Alex added plenty of context and examples in his full Twitter thread.
The bottom line: When a company like Amazon talks copywriting, we listen. These seven tips apply to most types of copywriting. In other words, this is a great checklist to go through as you’re writing.
ROUNDING UP THE STACK
EMAIL: Chase Dimond provides 5 tips on warming up your domain before you send email.
LINKEDIN: 500 million LinkedIn records were supposedly scraped and put up for sale. This is partially disputed by LinkedIn.
GOOGLE: Google is testing FLoC on a sample of Chrome users worldwide. Find out if you’re one of them with this handy online tool.
CLUBHOUSE: Someone reported 1.3 million user records were leaked from Clubhouse. Clubhouse disputed this claim, saying this is publicly available data.
BRAIN TEASER
POOLSIDE CHAT
Cool tech, (funny) business, lifestyle and all the other things marketers like to chat about while sipping cocktails by the pool.
Elon’s mind control project seems to be working
Elon Musk is usually busy with all sorts of, *ahem* unique projects (not Jurassic Park yet, though).
Among them all, Neuralink is one of the most unique: It’s a company that designs neural implants. In other words: Mind control devices… Kind of.
And while you may have seen some Neuralink clips floating around the internet previously, the company’s newest development is likely its most impressive:
Neuralink got a monkey to play Pong with its mind.
If you need to see it to believe it, watch the video here. First, the monkey played a game with a real joystick in its hand. Using that data, Neuralink’s implant was able to predict the monkey’s actions in Pong.
We watched the video. Our conclusion? The monkey may, in fact, be better at Pong than a few members of The Crew.