META
Reels APIs are finally coming to Instagram
Ever noticed that third-party social media tools and analytics have a Reels-shaped hole?
You’re not the only one.
Meta noticed it too… and they’re finally starting to roll out the Reels API.
… to the lucky few: Starting today, up to 25% of Instagram developers will be able to integrate Reels with content publishing, hashtag search, mentions, and more.
Meta plans to roll out the Reels API to all developers by July 6.
And the good news is, if your app has already been verified, you won’t need to put it through another App Review.
Why we care: These APIs will give marketers the ability to publish Reels to Instagram Business accounts, see Reels social interaction metrics, and lots more.
Good news if you’ve been waiting to use and analyze this type of content for your brand!
MICROSOFT
Do you know what your customers are doing?
When you’re looking for advertising tips, sometimes it pays to listen to the platform itself.
Take Microsoft’s list of 2022 consumer trends driving ad engagement, for example.
It includes some interesting insights into shopper behavior:
- Gaming the system. Customers are savvy when it comes to deals. They’re abandoning shopping carts to trigger discount codes, signing up for offers using multiple emails, and more.
- A picture’s worth a thousand clicks. When small and medium-sized businesses added images to Microsoft Advertising campaigns, they saw a 21% increase in impressions, click-through, and revenue.
- Going to work to… shop? Yep, customers are shopping at work. And the trend is expected to grow.
Tools for the job: Naturally, Microsoft believes their tools are perfect for helping marketers connect with customers.
If you’re using Microsoft Advertising, now’s a good time to brush up on their features.
Why we care: Pay attention when the ad platforms you use collect and report on first-party user behavior.
This information can be a goldmine for getting the most out of your tools and reaching more customers effectively.
SPONSORED BY CLEARBIT
CPMs higher than gas prices?
We all know that the cost of paid advertising is going up… But what can we do about it to push the cost per acquisition down?
There are four pillars that you need to analyze to shrink your advertising cost and again enjoy those sweet 2018 margins.
And they are:
- Targeting and segmentation
- Creative and content strategy
- Channel distribution
- Measurement
Clearbit packaged a free bundle that will help you decrease your cost per acquisition.
You’ll discover how marketing teams are navigating the tumultuous advertising ecosystem right now. And what they’re doing to protect their margins while growing their market share.
The bundle is made of:
- The Four Pillars of a successful paid media strategy
- A webinar targeted toward paid advertising in a world of rising cost
- A planning framework to strategize and execute paid marketing campaigns
MARKETING
A surprising source for the best marketing ideas
Great marketing ideas don’t come out of Zoom calls and team meetings.
They come from moments of “scrappiness” when your mind is rushing, when you’re exploring different pieces of information and creating connections.
And there are at least 16 ways you can capitalize on that creative chaos.
Amanda Natividad breaks them down in a useful Twitter thread.
Let’s boogie…
1) Make a Twitter List for inspiration and include:
- 20 people you admire in your niche.
- 10 people in your target audience.
- 5 people you can see yourself mentoring.
This will make your Twitter feed inspirational and actionable, and help ideas to flow naturally.
2) Create a “Customer Advisory Board.” Befriend customers you get along with and ask them what challenges they’re facing. Brainstorm solutions and ideas together.
3) Read support tickets and customers’ replies to your emails and social media accounts. This can be a great source of inspiration for improving your product and the perception people have of your brand.
You can also ask your sales team for the most common objections and questions they get.
4) Think out loud. Record yourself discussing a problem, or a solution. Rant about everything. Then transcript the audio.
Here are some prompts that Amanda suggests to help you get into the flow quickly:
- Most people get this wrong…
- Right now, this is bugging me…
- I wish more people knew about…
These are just four of the 16. Read Amanda’s full thread to see more ways for generating ideas from that useful mental chaos.
SPONSORED BY BLACK CROW AI
DTC marketers, use your first-party data to supercharge your ROAS now
Mitigate the effects of iOS14.5 and get back to highly targeted audiences that generate more sales with great ROAS.
That’s what over 150+ DTC brands have been able to do since they started using Back Crow AI, the machine learning platform for e-commerce.
Black Crow AI uses your first party data to identify your highest value prospects, and enables you to advertise to them directly. Their real-time predictions have helped brands meaningfully improve their marketing performance by creating highly targeted audiences for Facebook and other marketing channels.
Learn more and start with a 30-day free trial.
THE CREW’S INSIGHTS
What to do when major world events occur
Two things generally hold true in marketing:
- People prefer to buy from brands that share their values.
- When brands try to share their political and moral values, customers often perceive it as tone-deaf.
Sadly, it’s too easy for brands to make tone-deaf comments during major world events.
And seeing as there are major world events happening all the time, we arrive at the question:
How should marketers approach messaging when major world events occur?
The short answer is… it depends on your business.
But here are a few rules of thumb:
- Try to avoid speaking out if you have nothing helpful to add. When the war in Ukraine began earlier this year, The Crew wrote a short statement explaining why we wouldn’t cover the war. Because we’re a marketing newsletter, it seems unhelpful to comment on something outside of our expertise.
- If you do speak out, keep it short. Unless your brand has an identity based on a particular issue, most people won’t be sitting at the edge of their seats to hear what your brand has to say about the latest world event. So if you speak out, keep it brief.
- Never make it about your brand. We’ve seen this many, many times. When major world events happen, avoid putting the spotlight on your brand, and focus instead on offering value in a way that’s relevant to your identity and purpose.
Finally, a friendly reminder: When a war breaks out or a tragedy occurs, most people aren’t waiting with anticipation to hear what their favorite e-commerce brand has to say.
In many cases, no response is the best response.
ROUNDING UP THE STACK
MARKETING: Making $12,416 in profit with a utility app. This case study reveals stats, monetization flow and ad campaigns a marketer used to make $12,416 in profit with his own mobile app. Their secret? Monetizing their app with push notifications from ProPush. Read the free case study and join ProPush to get the same or higher result.*
ADVERTISING: Care for a glimpse of what’s working? The Standard Media Index reports that digital advertising has grown 13% since 2021, while out-of-home ads rose by 42%. TV ads have dipped by 10%. Magazine ads, meanwhile, had a 22% decrease. Ouch.
GOOGLE: Running Google Ads for financial products and services? Take note… There’s a new verification policy required if you’re targeting Australia, Singapore, and Taiwan.
METAVERSE: Yes, the recent crypto crash and drop in NFT prices hurt, but it hasn’t broken marketers’ spirits. Several brands believe there’s plenty of promise in NFTs and the metaverse… including Gucci and Samsung.
TWITTER: Journalist mentions are PR and SEO heaven. So how do you get them? According to the Pew Research Center, more than nine out of every ten journalists use Twitter to do their jobs. Seems like a good day to make some Twitter Lists…
*This is a sponsored post
BRAIN TEASER
The day before yesterday I was 21, and next year I will be 24. When is my birthday?
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.
Yes, adult potatoes are a thing
Don’t you think the man who got hit by one would know?
According to a rant he posted in the Connahs Quay Facebook group, the man claimed a little grew threw a “fully grown adult potato” at him.
It bounced off his Lexus and hit him again.
He went on to say he’s a “proud family man, library member, and a Lexus owner,” and he doesn’t deserve adult potatoes hurled at him, or his car.
Maybe his attacker saw the message… it went viral, after all.
We had no idea “fully grown adult potatoes” were a thing.
Does that mean potatoes go through puberty?