E-COMMERCE
It’s slowing down… but not everywhere
Sometimes the grass really is a little greener on the other side.
Walmart is the latest retail giant to report missed earnings expectations “by a wide margin,” citing that shoppers might be taking a break.
Why the slowdown in the US? For one thing, thrifting is becoming increasingly popular.
And as life returns to “normal,” some businesses are stalling in a post-pandemic world that no longer prioritizes remote shopping and interaction.
Uncertain economic and political environments may play a role, too.
But e-commerce is picking up speed in other regions: We recently reported how Mercado Libre, the biggest e-commerce company in Latin America, has seen unprecedented growth.
And they’re not the only ones…
- Africa: E-commerce company Jumia is following Mercado Libre’s footsteps, with revenue increasing by 44% from Q1 last year.
- Asia: Sea, owner of the largest e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia, reported e-commerce revenue growth of 64% during Q1.
Why we care: Because you can test your offers in different waters.
If you’re running a business that’s not location sensitive or you’re shipping worldwide, it doesn’t hurt to target non-US markets where e-commerce is growing faster.
PRIVACY
Tech companies accused of yet another, bigger breach
Better keep one eye on your analytics and the other on the news…
According to data from the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), tech companies are taking advantage of a real time-bidding (RTB) system to gain access to people’s personal data.
Not a good look: The RTB strategy tracks users’ online activity in order to automatically buy or sell ad inventory… and it’s exposing US users’ data 294 billion times a day!
The ICCL is already calling it the “biggest data breach ever recorded.”
Throwing sand: Google has issued a response denying the ICCL claims and promoting Privacy Sandbox, their alleged cookieless solution that eliminates tracking.
They also released a progress report about Privacy Sandbox yesterday.
Why we care: Europe is already pushing dense privacy regulations—and marketers are feeling the pressure.
If it’s true that tech companies are tracking and sharing users’ online behavior more than they claim, legal issues could get even messier than they already are.
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Boost the ROAS of your PPC campaigns with these 7 ad copy tests
There’s only one way to get better results from your pay per click (PPC) campaigns… and that’s by running tests.
But if you could use guidance on what tests to run and how, Jon Clark shares 7 tests you can try.
Let’s get testing, shall we?
Numerical abbreviations vs full numerical value: We all know that numbers in your copy improve response… but which numbers resonate more? 15M or 15,000,000?
A test will tell.
Variations of price inclusion: You can also test headlines showing prices vs. headlines without prices.
And you can test different price variations.
Discounts: Test if percentages, actual pricing, or fully written offers convert better.
Appeal to emotions: Give dimension to your copy by leveraging your audience’s emotions. What do they hate? What do they love? What’s their most urgent problem?
To get a clearer example of this, you can check out the kinds of headlines that drove more engagement on Facebook and Twitter.
You can also try headline analyzing tools to predict the engagement a headline might get before you invest money in it.
Calls to action (CTAs): Shop now. Buy now. Purchase. Order. Find out. Discover. Request…
Different CTAs will get different results. Test them!
Testing your ads will definitely lead to better performances. These 7 ideas can help.
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THE CREW’S INSIGHTS
Facebook Marketplace isn’t just for dirty old couches
Quiz time…
Did you know that Facebook Marketplace now has more users than Craigslist?
And did you know that you can sell new items on Facebook Marketplace, too?
This is good news: Unlike almost every other marketplace platform, Facebook Marketplace is now a marketing channel for e-commerce brands, too.
We spent last month doing a deep dive into e-commerce growth channels, and here are the insights we learned about Facebook Marketplace:
- More than 1B people use Facebook Marketplace. It’s a massive platform filled with all sorts of people.
- You can include a “shipping” option under your listings for non-local items. In October 2021, Facebook added the feature to ship items from your home base, so you no longer have to live in a city to sell stuff there.
- Plenty of people are already hopping onto this trend. If you browse Facebook, you’ll notice that there are plenty of sellers who consistently list new items.
And here’s a tip for leveraging Facebook Marketplace: Yes, you can do the listing process on your own.
But there are already freelancers on platforms like Fiverr and Upwork that offer Facebook Marketplace services. They’ll manage your listings for you.
This is one of many underrated e-commerce growth channels we broke down in our latest Deep Dive. Check out the preview here.
ROUNDING UP THE STACK
INSIGHTS: Ever find yourself marveling at great marketing ideas by successful brands? Stop marveling and start implementing! We spend hundreds of hours analyzing what’s working for big brands so you can swipe ideas, reduce trial and error, and grow your brand. Learn more here.*
BUSINESS: No more playing phone tag with customers. Yelp added a “request a call” feature so users can message businesses, request quotes, and schedule appointments directly on the app. Seems like a useful feature, especially if you’re in services.
ADVERTISING: Couldn’t verify your business on Google because of your location? Check again. Google expanded their Advertiser verification program to 15 new regions including the Netherlands, Western Sahara, and more.
GOOGLE: That’s cool. Google is letting legacy G Suite users opt-out of the automatic June 27 transition to Google Workspace. Of course, the news is a bummer if you already jumped to Workspace even though you didn’t want to…
APPLE: Use responsibly, marketers. Apple just launched new rules that allow developers to automatically increase app subscription prices without user consent.
*This is a sponsored post.
BRAIN TEASER
What is cut on a table, but is never eaten?
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.
Try long-pressing the “back” button on your iPhone
…it will save you the endless tapping going back when you’re deep into an app.
You probably didn’t know that.
Even if you did, you should still check out this useful Twitter thread for 9 additional iPhone hacks that could make your life easier.
… And give you a few cool tricks you can use to impress your friends.