META
2022 is just continuing trends from 2021 when it comes to Meta
First off, targeting for Facebook Ads (or do we call them Meta Ads now?) will be scaled back.
There are four targeting options that will be removed starting January 19th, 2022:
- Health causes
- Sexual orientation
- Religious practices and groups
- Political beliefs
Impacted campaigns will still be able to deliver into late March and you should expect the changes to propagate over time in your ad accounts.
Instagram is also continuing the trend of trying to compete with TikTok by focusing on Reels and doubling down on video.
E-COMMERCE
Last years holiday season was not quite like the year before but it wasn’t horrible either
That’s what Mastercard’s SpendingPulse report is telling us. This report looks at the retail sales in the US from Nov 1st to Dec 24th (aka, the Holiday Season).
And while you might hear often that 2021 was tougher than 2020 (which is true), it still wasn’t bad. Here are some of the numbers:
- Total retail sales (excluding auto sales) grew 8.5% in 2021 vs 2020 and 10.7% vs 2019.
- E-commerce grew 11% in 2021 vs 2020 (which doesn’t sound like much). But it did grow 61.4% vs 2019, the last pre-pandemic holiday sales season.
So, even with fewer restrictions in place these days, e-commerce is still continuing on its upward trajectory. Let’s see what other reports tell us in the next few days – now is the period where everyone’s tallying up their numbers for Q4 2021.
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SAAS
Pricing rules for SaaS companies
Sunsama, a daily planner app for busy professionals, has a document where they explain to users the thought process behind their pricing.
And looking at it, we thought this could be useful for other founders too…
You may not agree with all of them, but we are sure at least one of them will help you price your product better:
Price should be determined by the value created: When you get a lot of value out of a service, it feels fair to pay a high price for it.
If you think you’re making your user’s life exponentially better, you shouldn’t be afraid to raise your prices.
Free forever plans create bad incentives and aren’t sustainable: Users on free plans are fickle and their requests dilute the product, impacting other users.
On the other hand, having paying customers sends a signal to the company that users are getting value from it. In turn, the company invests money to improve the experience for them.
Price for sustainability, not vanity: Having a huge free user base may land you a deal with a venture capitalist. But a small cash flow won’t make you sleep well at night.
Many Sunsama competitors went out of business because they failed to make money even though their user base grew quickly.
No lifetime deal: Lifetime deals don’t incentivize a business to improve its product.
Discounts for commitment: Sunsama gives a discount only to users who commit to paying for a year. When a customer commits for a year, they create cash flow for the business to improve their product.
No Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or seasonal sales: A customer shouldn’t be penalized (or rewarded) when they find out about your product. Moreover, these sales can give a false perception about the value of your product.
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THE CREW’S INSIGHTS
A different (and sometimes better) way to upsell
Upsells are important to get your AOV higher. The most aggressive ones show you 3 or even 4 upsell options before you’re able to pay for the product you added to the cart in the beginning.
This “straight-for-the-jugular” approach may work to increase the average order value. However, it can sometimes add too much friction to the sales process, lowering conversion rates.
There are alternatives, like the system that Athletic Greens follows.
They go for the upsell after you have completed the purchase, and it only shows up in your account. Here’s a screenshot of how it looks.
This comes with some benefits:
- A smoother experience: Trying to upsell before the checkout is complete adds more friction to the process. And it increases the risk of users abandoning the cart.
- You don’t risk being “the aggressive salesperson:” Asking for the upsell after the purchase can make the user feel more comfortable with your brand.
- Removes the risk for the user to add to the carts’ unwanted items.
Should you or should you not try it? It depends.
There are pros and cons to each – we just wanted to make sure you have this idea in your marketing arsenal.
ROUNDING UP THE STACK
INFLUENCE MARKETING: Don’t gamble on influencers… The right creator gives you the right audience that is already in line with your brand’s value. Upfluence helped OMEGA, Mapiful, KEEN, and 1600+ brands find the perfect creators to match their brands’ characteristics…and drive sales! Find your match here.*
AMAZON: Do these names say anything to you? Shopee, SHEIN, Meesho. No? Well, we can let you know these three apps overtook Amazon as the most downloaded e-commerce apps of 2021.
GOOGLE: Ah, that’s some good news… Google Ads now has an asset library that will make managing everything in your account much easier.
E-COMMERCE: Just when you thought “unprecedented” was a thing of the past… the costs of online returns are soaring to unprecedented levels and retailers are feeling it according to Axios.
SEO: Before heading off for the holidays, Google started to roll out its December 2021 update. Here’s how it impacted search results.
LINKEDIN: The company was accused of inflating ad metrics, but a judge dismissed the case.
GOOGLE: You get more flexibility for your Smart Shopping campaigns with the new placement exclusion feature Google has rolled out.
*This is a sponsored post.
BRAIN TEASER
I have two hands, but I can not scratch myself. What am I?
You can find the solution here.
POOLSIDE CHAT
Cool tech, (funny) business, lifestyle and all the other things marketers like to chat about while sipping cocktails by the pool.
When your Tesla Model 3 had just a little too much for Christmas dinner
What do you think of when you hear “emissions testing mode?” Well, for Tesla, it’s just a fart feature (and one big joke).
The laughable bug was made wildly apparent when this Model 3 owner discovered their Tesla won’t stop farting. The Tesla would let one rip every time its doors were opened.
Elon Musk seems fond of the feature, having tweeted that he wants to have “invented car fart” on his gravestone.
Believe us when we say we did not expect our first newsletter of 2022 to end with a fart joke, but here we are…cracking one!