Good morning.
Remember back when you were a kid, how you had to argue over who got to sit near the windows and who had to sit on the hump in the van?
Good times.
Anyway, happy hump day. It’s not Friday, but at least it’s not an uncomfortable bump in your seat.
WhatsApp gets a suite of new features, Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp campaigns all appear in Ads Manager, and more
It’s one of those “when it rains, it pours” days for Meta. And by rain we mean updates.
Here’s an umbrella: Meta dropped several big announcements at Conversations 2025 yesterday.
To give you a quick summary, you can now:
- Run Instagram and Facebook ads that link to WhatsApp chats, and manage them all from Ads Manager. You can also stick a WhatsApp button on your Google Business Profile, which is pretty cool.
- Use all the WhatsApp Business Platform and the WhatsApp Business App features at the same time from the same phone number.
- Send order tracking and other support updates via the Direct Send API.
WhatsApp also lets you optimize Ads that click to messages for lead acquisition and purchases, among other things. Pretty cool.
What’s coming next: Larger businesses are getting the ability to call and receive customer calls, shoppers are getting the ability to click select business links in WhatsApp, and more.
There’s lots we don’t have room to cover, so make sure you read the announcement in full. It’s a biggie.
Slide in: Also, Threads is finally getting direct messages. It’s also getting group messaging and inbox filters, too.
For now, DMs are only allowed between your Threads followers or mutual followers from Instagram who are ages 18+.
Also, users can control who’s allowed to DM them or not, so you may be limited when it comes to cold messaging.
Threads also added a highlighter that marks Trending topics and “unique perspectives.” Sounds like suggested content to us… and maybe more visibility for you?
Heads up: Target CPA and Target ROAS are going away
Mark your calendar: Starting August 4, Microsoft Advertising is phasing out Target CPA and Target ROAS as standalone bidding strategies for new campaigns.
Instead, you will have to use Maximize Conversions or Maximize Conversion Value, with the option to input target CPA or ROAS values manually.
This should be good news: It brings Microsoft in line with Google Ads (Google did this back in 2021) and it should make cross-platform campaign management simpler.
In the meantime, your existing campaigns and portfolio strategies will stay untouched, but any new campaigns you create will follow this updated, more automated structure.
Going forward, all updates via API, Microsoft Advertising Editor, and any bulk actions related to Target CPA or Target ROAS will now default to Maximize Conversions and Maximize Conversion Value, respectively.
Bottom line: The strategy labels may change, but the functionality remains.
But you might want to get familiar with the new naming to stay efficient and avoid any surprises when building future campaigns.
Can you afford your growth strategy?
If you don’t know your customer lifetime value (LTV), you’re walking into a nightmare scenario:
High customer acquisition cost (CAC), wasted ad budgets, unprofitable scaling… and even growth that destroys your margins.
And the last thing any marketer needs is missed revenue targets, panicking executives and clients, or budget cuts… right?
But once you know your LTV, you can plan growth strategies and run campaigns that increase both revenue and profits—and that means happy executives and happy clients.
That’s why we created the LTV Playbook—a clear guide to calculating and improving your LTV no matter your industry.
Inside, you’ll discover:
- A 3:1 profit ratio formula for calculating the LTV that works for your business.
- Practical, low-effort tactics to increase LTV before and after checkout.
Plus other strategies to help you unlock more value from every customer.
YouTube Shopping ads tips, straight from successful creators
At the recent VidCon 2025, YouTube creators like Carter Kench, Christie Xie, and Ben Schlichter opened up about how they use YouTube Shopping, and one thing’s clear:
It’s not just convenient, it’s a serious revenue stream for brands and creators alike.
Here are the key takeaways from their panel:
1) Affiliate links are thriving.
With YouTube Shopping, creators can tag products in-video with timestamps, boosting clicks by 43% compared to using description links alone.
Carter swears by it, and Christie uses auto-tagging to save time and stay organized.
2) Content first, commerce second.
Christie says YouTube Shopping is “content first, shopping experience next.” All three creators agreed: Authenticity matters.
In other words, creators should only recommend what they actually believe in, and brands should double down on partnering with influencers who are a good fit.
By the way, even negative reviews can earn affiliate revenue thanks to full-basket commissions. Who would have thought?
3) Affiliate performance = deal leverage.
Ben used his affiliate sales data to pitch Lowe’s and landed a brand deal. “That knowledge is power as a creator,” he said.
4) Let the audience guide you.
From lip gloss obsessions to viewer-suggested product reviews, audience behavior in YouTube Studio is driving content strategy.
As Ben put it: “75% of my shopping video ideas don’t come from me anymore.”
… Which is kind of how marketing is supposed to operate anyway, you know? Customers first!
So there you have it. Whether you’re working with affiliate partners or you’re a creator yourself, these insights are worth bookmarking.
Agreed?
Prime your customers’ minds to see your product as the obvious choice
You don’t need pressure tactics to convert customers.
Most people rely on mental shortcuts to make decisions. Like defaulting to the “most popular” option without even reading the fine print.
When you understand how people make decisions, you can position your products and offers more naturally.
… And make your messaging more relevant, sticky, and persuasive.
Psychology of Marketing shows you how to do this with one powerful insight each week, plus real-world ways to apply it.
Different year, same burnout
A year ago, we reported that most marketers were feeling overwhelmed in their roles.
The reasons are plenty. Low compensation, too much work and context switching, external pressure, geopolitics, economic uncertainty… it all takes a toll.
One year later, the situation hasn’t changed:
Feeling it, too? It’s okay if you do. You’re among the majority.
58% of marketers are feeling overwhelmed. Nearly the same number feel undervalued, and half of the marketers are emotionally exhausted. Ouch.
Besides that, there seems to be a lack of enjoyment (48.2%) and feeling of detachment around almost half the people in the industry.
The Crew’s opinion: The current pace and expectations in marketing don’t seem to align with what people can realistically sustain.
The “always on” mindset is wearing marketers down.
But there are ways to ease this and keep the flame going. We’ve written more about it, among other things, in our updated Data Story on marketer burnout. Check it out.
EMAIL CASE STUDY: Got a product to sell and an email list? It’s all you need to generate 5-figures by next weekend. In this case study, Simone shares the steps they followed to turn a small 3,000 list into a 5-figure launch.*
E-COMMERCE: Want to boost sales on TikTok? Now’s the time. The app is hosting two shopping events—one that celebrates locally made products in the US, and a familiar 13-day “Deals for You Days” starting July 7th. Nice.
TIKTOK: TikTok Shop just landed in Japan—its 17th market besides the US, UK, Singapore, Vietnam, and others. It’s the app’s chance to capitalize on 33M TikTok users in the country, as well as diversify markets due to its uncertain US future. Konnichiwa!
GOOGLE: The latest core update has been rolling for a couple of days now. And compared to previous iterations, this one shows regular volatility so far. The full update will apparently take three weeks to roll out, so keep a close eye on your Search Console.
STREAMING: The cord is definitely cut. 83% of US adults are now subscribed to streaming services, while only 36% use cable or satellite TV. It’s not strange, it’s just tech and audiences evolving. It’s also a chance for you to test out some CTV ads.
SEO: Imperfections make us beautiful—or, if you’re a website, make you rank. According to one report, many top pages have invalid HTML codes, but that doesn’t stop them from conquering SERPs. Who would’ve thought there’s charm in broken code?
REDDIT: A little help? Why not. Reddit is adding more automated ad tips to its ads manager to help you spend your dollars more efficiently, and will only suggest chances when it thinks you might’ve missed something. Certainly sounds nice, in theory.
*This is a sponsored post.
POOLSIDECHAT
Cool tech, (funny) business, lifestyle and all the other things marketers like to chat about while sipping cocktails by the pool.
Red pandas = cute, fluffy alarm clocks
A hotel in China has been letting red pandas deliver guest wake-up calls.
Yep, the adorable, cat-sized, endangered ones.
Apparently the hotel is known for its red panda experiences. But while the idea is popular for its cuteness, the pandas have been paused due to backlash from conservationists.
Sure, they’re fluffy and charming, but maybe these pandas aren’t the best choice for an alarm clock when there are so few of them left.
We’d totally settle for giant panda alarm clocks, though. Please?
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