AMAZON
Buy-now-pay-later is coming to Amazon
It was just a matter of time.
Amazon has announced that they’ll be adding the buy-now-pay-later functionality to their platform by partnering with Affirm, a market leader in this space.
Amazon customers in the US will be able to split purchases over $50 into multiple monthly payments without facing any late or hidden fees. Some purchases will incur interest. Others will not.
Availability: Initially, only a few US customers will be able to use this feature. However, that will change in the coming months.
What this all means to you: Better conversion rates if you sell more expensive products on Amazon. According to a blog post by Affirm, businesses that implement buy-now-pay-later options see an average conversion increase of 13.3%. Not too shabby.
No more Shopify jealousy: Shopify sellers have had the buy-now-pay-later feature for quite some time.
Looks like the playing field is evening out now.
APPLE
It’s beginning: Apple’s 30% cut may soon be history
Here’s why: After getting sued left and right, Apple has published a post outlining a series of concessions. One of them is now allowing app developers to email customers and share payment method information outside of the App Store. (Shocked? Us, too.)
However, there is a catch. Okay…a couple catches. For one, you can only email customers whose information you obtained outside of the app. Here are a few more.
The good news is that more changes are almost certainly on the way. One bill, for example, could force Apple and Google to allow you to sell apps on third-party app stores using third-party payment methods.
One small step for Apple. One giant leap for the app ecosystem.
SPONSORED BY LIVESTORM
Is Facebook planning to get rid of text on their platform?
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Read the free report and discover how video engagement is changing the world and your business.
SEO
Email outreach for backlinks: 5 lessons from 111 emails
Are you trying to get backlinks via email outreach?
We know…it can be a real [redacted].
Tim Soulo from Ahrefs shared his experience sending 111 outreach emails to get backlinks for a keyword research blog post.
He ended up with 17 backlinks and 5 powerful lessons that will help you make your link building process that much easier.
1. People won’t read your quality content.
“Would you stop what you’re doing to read a 6,000 word article written by a seemingly random person?”
Probably not.
The heavy lifting is done by the pitch. You must assure them that they will link to a quality resource.
2. Your brand and reputation are a massive help.
When your reputation is strong, you don’t need to persuade people that the article is good. They will trust the content by default.
Tim Soulo said that they get most of their links from their Ahrefs fans.
3. People want an incentive. In some cases, a good piece of content and a strong brand aren’t enough. Incentive matters.
And throwing money isn’t the best option here. People that accept money in exchange for a backlink will probably link to anything. And this creates a footprint that will sooner or later be picked by Google. That spells t-r-o-u-b-l-e.
What works instead? Link exchange. A legitimate exchange between two valuable resources is not flagged by Google. So if you’re pitched a high-quality resource, go for it…and reciprocate.
4. To get more high-quality links, you’ll need more high-quality prospects. Look for posts that mention something that you have extensively covered in your article.
Obviously, before reaching out you will want to judge the reputation of the domain, the quality of the content, and so on.
5. Avoid poorly written templates: A good outreach template won’t help you win over prospects that completely ignore you. But a bad email will disqualify you from accessing prospects that would have been open to collaborate.
Avoid using templates that follow the old common framework. Instead, stand out by focusing on the answer to this question in your email: “What makes your piece of content unique and link-worthy?”
ROUNDING UP THE STACK
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INSTAGRAM: What’s trending lately? Instagram has the answers with the newest issue of their “Insider” magazine.
SEO: Don’t let Google change your search results titles. Here are some data-driven suggestions on how to accomplish this.
SNAPCHAT: Visual search. Visual search everywhere. Snapchat wants to become your go-to picture search engine.
FACEBOOK: What do the most popular posts on Facebook have in common? They’re plagiarized.
TIKTOK: If you see a “Promote” button next to each TikTok post, don’t be surprised. It’s a small(ish) feature the social network added a few days ago.
PPC: Get verified or get out. Starting August 26th, Google will require advertisers from 12 more countries to complete advertiser verification.
CLUBHOUSE: Yes, they’re still alive and kickin’. Clubhouse has published a “Creator Common” resource to help you become more successful with the platform.
*This is a sponsored post.
BRAIN TEASER
A man leaves home and makes three left turns, only to return home facing two men wearing masks. Who are those two men?
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.
It’s a boat. It’s a plane. It’s boat-plane!
LA to San Diego in 50 minutes. New York City to Boston in 2 hours. All without traffic on the road or the headache of an airport.
This startup aims to make this a reality by converting sea lanes into high-speed transit corridors.
A boat-plane: This airplane takes advantage of the “ground effect” by skimming the surface of the sea from just a few meters above. Basically, it utilizes air and water to provide smooth and fast travel.
Regent, the company behind the boat-plane, has received $9.5 million in funding from people like Mark Cuban and Peter Thiel to help iron out a few kinks before fully launching.
Let’s hope their journey will be smooth sailing.