MICROSOFT
You can now target 29 new countries with Microsoft Advertising
More countries, more opportunities.
Microsoft has announced the expansion of Microsoft Advertising into 29 new countries in Europe and Africa. They’ve also added support for 19 new languages.
You’ll be able to use most ad formats and features in these new markets, such as text ads, responsive search ads, retargeting, audience targeting (by age, demographic, location, device) and so on.
Why should you care: If you have a potential audience in Central or Eastern Europe (the majority of the countries added are in that region), this is an opportunity to reach more potential buyers.
ADVERTISING
What ads won the Super Bowl?
The Rams won the Super Bowl game. But who won the Super Bowl commercials?
YouTube has published a top-10 list of the most viewed Super Bowl ads on gameday and here are the winners:
- Amazon won. Creepy Alexa definitely drew a lot of attention.
- T-Mobile came in second, featuring Zach Braff and Donald Faison.
- Hyundai wins bronze for their “History of Evolution Ad”.
But just getting views is not the only goal behind such an ad. Coinbase surprised everyone with a 60s QR code that created quite some buzz. And enough people scanned the code that it crashed Coinbase temporarily.
Why we care: It’s always interesting to see which ads get people to take action. Maybe one of these ads will inspire you to come up with a killer angle for your next video blockbuster ad.
SPONSORED BY THINKIFIC
The data-backed guide to doing your first $100k in online course sales
There’s probably nobody who has more data on online course businesses than Thinkific.
With over 50,000 course creators and 50 million courses sold, Thinkific has created a free step-by-step guide to get you your first $100,000 in course sales. It doesn’t matter if you have no prior experience with courses!
If you have an expertise that can be taught online, this guide can help you decide if you should create a course for it. Then it will then help you get your first $100,000 in sales. And it’s a completely free guide. Not a bad deal, right?
Here are five of the main things the guide will teach you:
- How many monthly enrollments you’d need for your revenue goal.
- How to validate demand before you create the course.
- How to eliminate competition by choosing a specific niche.
- How to create a compelling brand and unique value proposition.
- How to build and optimize your marketing funnel.
Download the guide for free here.
COPYWRITING
An unsolicited headlines masterclass by the LinkedIn News team
After five years using LinkedIn, Ryan McCready noticed that every headline LinkedIn publishes in that little News section is perfectly written and positioned:
- “Omicron goes west”
- “A must-read sign of the times”
- “Apartment living at all time high”
So, after collecting LinkedIn News headlines for months, he finally cracked the code and discovered what made those headlines great.
Here are the characteristics:
Embrace intentional vagueness: If your headline tells the whole story, then why should they click on it? Open loops, omit information, make your audience want for more.
These are some examples:
“Job market booms in four states” – They intentionally omitted the names of the states.
“Tesla loses key top executive” – They left out the name of the executive.
Cut unnecessary words: Pretend that every word costs you $1000. This will help you cut what’s unnecessary.
“In 2022, Apartment living is trending at an all-time high of 97% occupancy.” → “Apartment living at all time high”
“Unemployment rate fell from 4.2% to a healthy 3.9% in December.” → “Unemployment drops while hiring stalls”
Bury the interesting metric: Save the most important piece of data for the full article, or… throw it behind a lead capture form.
“96% of brand marketers use Twitter to network in 2022.” People won’t click here because you gave them all the information already.
But here are some good examples:
- “Peak TV hits yet another peak”
- “COVID vaccines help Walgreens profit”
Lead with the big name or brand: Back when we used long subject lines, we used this tactic too. It’s not new, big names draw attention:
“Walmart bets on the future of food.” Even though you don’t care about the future of food, you might care about Walmart.
“TikTok star quietly snags BOSS gig.”
SPONSORED BY DEATH & CO
There’s never been a better time to invest in hospitality
Death & Co is an integrated hospitality group creating unique cocktail experiences across the U.S.
Their annual revenue grew by 98% from 2020 to 2021. With 5 different revenue streams and several industry awards, Death & Co is a truly critically acclaimed investment opportunity.
And they’re surfing the growth opportunities created by COVID to scale: Low rents. Lower starting up costs due to existing infrastructure. Expanded talent in the job market.
Learn more and invest in Death & Co here.
THE CREW’S INSIGHTS
Swipe this basic abandoned cart email sequence
Each product you sell has a different set of objections to buy, so the cart recovery sequences you use will take time to optimize. But, as a good starting point, you can swipe this sequence right here.
1) Thirty minutes after the customer leaves your website: Remind them to complete the purchase, include a link to their cart, and ask them if they need any information to complete the checkout or if they encountered any issues along the way.
2) Four hours after abandoning their cart: Ask them if they had any problems during the checkout, tease them about the product once again, and include a link to their cart. Give them a discount or free shipping.
3) Twelve hours later – “life on the other side” email: Show them the transformation your product will create by sharing your most captivating reviews and testimonials. In this way, you build social proof and desire at the same time. Also, start teasing the urgency and scarcity factors.
4) Two days after – warming up: Now the prospects aren’t as warm as they were on the day they checked your product. You need to build up desire again: show them the problems your product solves, show them how your product made the life of your customers better. And leverage urgency again. If you can, increase the discount or offer other incentives.
5) Three days after – guarantee + urgency: Get more aggressive with urgency or scarcity. And tell them that this decision has no risk because they’re covered by a guarantee.
ROUNDING UP THE STACK
SMS MARKETING: Learn how to increase your LTV, ROI and brand loyalty using SMS marketing. This free guide will show you the A to Z of this channel. Cut the learning curve and start making sales with SMS quickly. Read The Complete Guide to SMS Marketing here.*
GOOGLE: Microsoft Ads is not the only one bringing you something new. Google will allow gambling ads in certain African countries.
SNAP: We’re all familiar with YouTube mid-roll ads and with how they always cut off a great part of the video, right? It appears that Snap wants to apply this format to Stories (yes, stories). Let’s see how things go.
TIKTOK: They’re slowly eating away at YouTube’s lunch. Apparently, TikTok will allow 5-minute videos. At this rate, TikTok could become what Quibi wanted to be. Remember that name?
ADVERTISING: Will ad costs rise with inflation? This article offers an interesting perspective. Short answer is yes, but it might not be as much as you’d expect.
*This is a sponsored post.
BRAIN TEASER
What belongs to you, but other people use it more than you?
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 Dutch plan to throw eggs at Jeff Bezos’ yacht
We reported a few days ago that Dutch authorities wanted to temporarily demolish a bridge in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, so Jeff Bezos’ “pleasure yacht” could pass.
Now, it appears that things are not going as smoothly as Bezos anticipated.
Locals in Rotterdam have expressed their displeasure and are already making plans to throw eggs at the yacht if this occurs.
There is even a Facebook event about it, with 16,000 people interested and 4,700 “going.”
That’s a lot of eggs.
According to the organizer, Pablo Strormann, the protest began as a joke and, like many jokes, quickly got out of hand.
The locals will not have it easy; according to a reporter who analyzed the boat, the egg will have to travel 71 meters to hit the yacht’s hull, a “difficult, but not impossible feat.”