ADVERTISING
Advertisers start seeing the impact of iOS 14
If you’re in Facebook groups for advertisers or follow other marketers on Twitter, you’ve no doubt seen that many (and we mean many, more than we can count) people have talked about reporting issues from Facebook.
It’s not only a Facebook issue, as you might already know.
- Pinterest also made an announcement to their advertisers, saying they expect a gradual decline in IDFA availability for reportings and targeting. You can read the full announcement here.
- Snapchat is still quite silent about the topic, aside from this page without many details. It’s not encouraging, since Snapchat is one of the apps likely to be most impacted by this.
- Google has not made any big announcements surrounding this. Advertisers do say their reps are in contact, but there’s no guidance from Google yet either.
These confusing times will continue. Right now, the only thing that’s clear is that marketers will have to adapt, like always.
CLUBHOUSE
Is this going to be the app of 2021?
It’s not that TikTok has finished its growth but it’s undeniable that Clubhouse has been the talk of the town so far this year.
We’ve explained a few things about the app before but the weekend brought some more news.
First off, Clubhouse secured another round of funding – which means interesting developments are coming. Here are the main points:
- Android app. Yes, they are going to begin work on their Android app soon. This means it’s not yet in development, but the news is better than nothing.
- Scaling infrastructure. The app doubled its users from 1 million to 2 million in a very short time so they need to make sure their infrastructure can keep up with the demand.
- Discovery and ranking. The team is planning to improve the discovery and ranking features in the app so that high-quality conversations are easier to find.
- Funding creators. There will be tests that allow creators to be paid directly. Clubhouse will also create a Creator Grant Program to support Clubhouse creators.
The Crew’s take: We like to poke fun at the fact that Clubhouse does have many fake gurus who like to hear themselves talk, but that’s true of any platform.
We can’t deny that Clubhouse has an interesting concept that can be similar to livestreams (think Twitch) but voice only and for non-gaming. Or live podcasts. Or live panels. Or live brainstorming sessions. It has potential, if you manage to filter through the noise.
We’d certainly suggest keeping an eye on it and try to get activity going there. It’s your chance to be early on what is potentially the next TikTok or Instagram.
SPONSORED BY THE DAILY UPSIDE
Former investment banker starts a newsletter. What happens next will shock you!
Is that a familiar headline format? Well, that’s what you can get rid of if you subscribe to The Daily Upside.
A free newsletter that covers the most important business stories in a style that’s engaging, insightful, and fun, without the clickbait and sensationalism.
Written by a former investment banker (yep, that part is true), it’s the easiest way to get actual insights, not just the headlines. Learn about everything from what’s driving coffee futures to Disney’s streaming ambitions.
WRITING
Overcoming your writing blocks
One of the biggest hurdles to running a successful newsletter or writing a great novel?
Actually getting started.
Julian Shapiro surveyed over 100 people to understand how they got through their writing blocks.
He identified four main writing blocks, and shared different ways to overcome each one of them.
Blocker #1: Procrastination. If you procrastinate occasionally, that’s normal. But if you’re stuck into a procrastination circle, mind that it’s the result of two reflexes:
- Indulging in immediate rewards like browsing YouTube instead of writing.
- Avoiding work you perceive to be uncomfortable or tedious.
Let’s tackle these two problems:
- Listen to flow-inducing music like this Spotify playlist.
- Remove the internet. Those memes are distracting you!
- Speed past tedium: Get yourself immediately interested by starting from the sections that interest you the most.
If this doesn’t work, you may have other problems:
- You don’t believe in an ROI from writing.
- You’ve chosen a topic you don’t like.
- You don’t put effort into finding interesting things to say.
Blocker #2: Lacking good ideas. You can get ideas by:
- Consuming other content related to your niche.
- Using real stories from your life.
Blocker #3: You’re concerned that no one will read it. Julian suggests that you should write to clarify your own ideas, in order to make sense of your mind and the world around you.
Getting to the bottom of the idea you care about is also how you grow an audience:
“Thanks to the algorithmic nature of Twitter, YouTube, and SEO, truly great and authentic content eventually surfaces over time.”
Final blocker: Fear of being judged. If this fear freezes your fingers and you can’t type a word, consider these solutions:
- Add a disclaimer to your writing: “I’m sharing early thoughts. I encourage readers to share their own experiences to help refine my thinking.”
- Instead of sharing your own ideas, curate others’. Many publications (like the one you’re reading now) curate third-party content.
- Use a pseudonym: blogs like Slate Star Codex and The Last Psychiatrist don’t share their authors’ names. Still, they have millions of readers.
ROUNDING UP THE STACK
FACEBOOK: Users from the UK will be moved to California terms, avoiding EU privacy rules. “Dataxit” is a thing…
CHROME: Making SEOs’ life easier, the new version of the browser, Chrome 88, will add Core Web Vitals developer tools.
LINKEDIN: The social network adds controls to let users choose who sees their posts.
PINTEREST: The augmented reality feature “Try On” from Pinterest has expanded, allowing users to try on eyeshadow.
TIKTOK: If you, or someone you know, wants to become a TikTok creator, this is where you should start. Will you create the next trend after “sea shanties”?
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.
This is one way to live forever…
It’s not Google, but Microsoft that has plans to let you or your loved ones live forever… Sort of.
The company known for MS-DOS, Windows and Office has filed a patent to turn dead people into chatbots.
It sounds rather dark when we put it that way, but the idea of “uploading your consciousness” to live forever is not new. We’re still far from that, but it’s a start.
An extreme simplification of how it would work: The AI-based chatbot will be built based on a profile of a person, using their images, voice data, social media posts, messages and more. Then the chatbot learns to “be” that person.
If this sounds exactly like the plot for that one Black Mirror episode, that’s because it basically is.