Hey 👋 The Crew here.
Soooo…
Apparently Google is testing a new SERP feature where you’ll be able to copy an emoji you googled with a click of the button.
Useful. But pretty bad news for emoji websites.
Just goes to show that nothing is certain. And that, if you want to build something, better start today instead of delaying it.
Let’s start with building some knowledge…
Reading time: 4 minutes, 52 seconds.
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100+ ChatGPT prompts to revolutionize your day
You’re probably using ChatGPT to take a few things off your plate, right?
Nice. Now it’s time to take things up a level.
Because the real magic happens when you treat it like a teammate, not just a tool.
A teammate who handles repetitive tasks, streamlines processes, and surfaces insights you didn’t even know to look for.
That’s how smart marketing teams are getting more done in less time.
HubSpot’s free guide, How to Use ChatGPT at Work, reveals their strategies, systems, and workflows.
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- A prompt-writing framework that helps you get sharper, more useful answers.
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Endowed Progress Effect
In 2006, researchers Nunes and Drèze had a popular car wash hand out two types of loyalty cards to their customers:
- 50% of customers got a card that required 10 stamps for a free wash.
- 50% received a card that needed 12 stamps—but this one came with two completed stamps upfront.
Obviously, both groups needed 10 stamps in total to get a free rinse and shine.
The results? Only 19% of the first group redeemed it. Meanwhile, 34% of the second group redeemed the card—and did so much quicker.
This is the Endowed Progress Effect.
It’s the psychological phenomenon where we’re more motivated to complete a goal when we feel like we’ve already made some progress toward it.
… Even if that progress is artificial or “gifted”—aka, endowed.
For example, if you join a reading challenge but can mark off a few books you’ve previously read as complete, you might have more motivation to start it, and keep reading.
Or, if you start filling out a survey with some answers already pre-filled, you’re more likely to finish.
The best part is, the Endowed Progress Effect is a cheat code for making your customers more invested in your brand.
Three ways to leverage the Endowed Progress Effect
1) Give your customers a head start
When you sign up for LinkedIn, you’re taken to the “complete your profile” screen.
Legend has it that no one who got to this screen has seen the progress bar completely empty.
This little green progress bar incentivizes users to keep filling out their profile and commit to the platform.
In your case, this will look different depending on what you sell:
Maybe a user adds an item to the checkout, and immediately gets notified that “step 1 of 4 is complete.”
You might do the same for a SaaS shopper who chooses a payment plan for your platform. Or show a similar experience to clients when they’re onboarding assets.
Simple visual cues like these give users a sense of advancement and encourage them to keep going.
2) Notify existing customers about benefits a bit later
Sometimes, the Endowed Progress Effect works best when it’s sudden and unexpected.
Booking does this with its Genius loyalty program. A new member isn’t aware that they can get discounts on select trips with this program.
However, when they book their first few stays, the platform notifies them that they’re very close to getting to Genius level 2. In this case, a client who maybe didn’t even plan to book a trip will do so, just to get that shiny upgrade.
How do we know? Well, the person who wrote this newsletter is currently at level 2—and found out it only takes one more trip to reach Genius 3.
Got any recommendations?
Don’t reveal the goal right away. Instead, surprise users with unexpected progress after a few actions. This triggers the Endowed Progress Effect.
3) Offer welcome bonuses
When you sign up for Starbucks in some countries, you immediately get bonus stars that you can use to redeem a free coffee or other perks.
Now that you know about Endowed Progress, you can see how this is beneficial. You get immediate value for your progress—even though all you did was sign up.
Afterward, you’re more likely to keep collecting stars, buying more Starbucks products, and becoming a loyal customer.
Another example: Remember when you first joined Duolingo, and the app gave you an XP boost as soon as you started?
These rewards make you feel like you’ve already made progress on your journey, even if you’re at the beginning.
Use it. You’re already 1/3 of the way there just by reading this newsletter.
… See what we did there?
AI EDUCATION: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Midjourney… So many names, but what’s actually useful for you in your work? There’s a newsletter called The Deep View that exists to sift through all the noise and get you up to speed on what’s actionable with AI products, and it’s free. Join 452,000+ subscribers with one click and let AI empower you.*
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AI MARKETING: Image generation might get even better. Google just released Imagen 4, its most advanced text-to-image model yet. The tool—available in paid preview via Gemini API and limited free testing in Google AI studio—might now generate even more accurate results. Nice.
VIDEO MARKETING: Whew, over 96% of Gen Z now watch digital video. That’s basically all of them. YouTube is their go-to, followed by Instagram and TikTok. If you haven’t already, you should probably lean into video. Especially since 80% of the US as a whole watches, too…
SEARCH: Is AI traffic better? Not really. While users can bounce quickly and view fewer pages, they do stay slightly longer than AI crawlers. AI tends to drive one-and-done visits. That might be good for conversions, but you probably won’t get the repeat visits you’re looking for.
*This is a sponsored post.
ICYMI, last time we looked at the Primacy Effect.
The “Progress-making” Crew
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