Facebook’s new feature, Paid Online Events, lets you run paid online events
The name might be lacking in creativity points, but this new feature from Facebook is a unique way for small businesses, creators, and influencers to make some extra cash. Available (and free!) now, the feature allows you to run paid events on Facebook. Here are the details:
- Everything, from payment processing and ticketing to event hosting, is done on Facebook. The new feature makes it surprisingly simple to set up, promote, and run a paid online event of your own.
- You’ll get to keep 100% of the revenue – except on iOS. If your users are paying through iOS, Apple will take a 30% commission on the revenue, in what Facebook calls an ‘App Store tax’. Epic Games is currently in a battle royale with Apple on this same issue.
This new feature has plenty of potential for marketers. It’s also being reported that you’ll be able to create custom audiences based on event attendees, which could open up some new doors for advertising.
Cross-platform communication is on the way
On Friday, Facebook took another step in their march to simplify communication between Instagram, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp. As reported by The Verge, some users have received an update, titled ‘There’s a New Way to Message on Instagram’, which adds more features, and replaces the DM logo with the Messenger icon.
There’s currently no way to message between Instagram and Messenger, but this update points in that direction. If and when a unified form of communication hits, chat marketing will likely become even more essential for marketers.
ADVERTISING
Five tips for creating video ads that sell
You know all those hockey-stick screenshots and 0 to $1M e-commerce success stories you see? Well, a hefty chunk of that success comes from advertising. Good advertising.
Unfortunately, coming up with killer creatives for a video ad is hard. Fortunately, ad agency founder Edvinas Maciulevicius posted a guide in the Ecom Empires Facebook group that gives some great pointers.
Here’s how you can create winning video ads on a consistent basis:
- Present your product immediately. Edvinas recommends showing your product within the first 3 to 4 seconds of your ad to capture attention and increase awareness.
- Have a shock factor within the first 10 seconds. Shock value is one of the best ways to get people to stick with the entire ad – in Edvinas’ example, he showcases his swim trunks ad, with a butt squeeze and some extra-large junk on display.
- Don’t sell the customer on features, sell them on emotion. Instead of telling people what your product can do, show them how it will improve their lives – and how it’ll make them feel.
- Have a strong call to action. Please, leave ‘Buy Now’ and ‘Learn More’ in the dust.
- Add in some humor! Funny content is king, especially on social media (and it sells).
These are some great pointers, and they’re particularly relevant to running ads on social media. Now get out there and sell some product!
SPONSORED BY SOFARM
Don’t let Facebook ad account bans ruin your Q4
Picture this: you’re an agency with tons of clients, an affiliate network with tons of FB affiliates or a coach that teaches FB Ads. How often do your clients, affiliates or students ask you about what to do when their ad account gets banned?
With SoFarm, you can offer them a solution. Your brand and SoFarm’s tested and proven infrastructure.
It’s right on time for Q4, which promises to be the biggest of all time for online sales…
With all the COVID-19 restrictions for physical stores, most of the action will happen online. Walmart for example announced that it won’t run any Black Friday promo in its brick and mortar stores. But are you ready?
Unfortunately it’s not a matter of “if” but “when” your FB ad account gets banned. It’s one of the most common questions in all communities – “How can I get my account back?” And very often those bans are impossible to appeal quickly.
So how can SoFarm help your business? White-label, ready-to-go service for creating ad accounts that you can provide to your clients, affiliates and students under your own brand.
Prepare for a record-breaking (and hopefully, less stressful) Q4. Reach out directly over email! Or reach out on Skype: live:martin.work.ch
COPYWRITING
Why we should all still be looking at old Porsche ads
Few brands have the level of marketing genius that Porsche has demonstrated throughout the years – and even fewer have written better copy.
Here are five times that old Porsche ads had us emptying our wallets for their cars, and the lessons we can learn from them:
- If you insist on air conditioning, you can always hit the track and roll down the window at 160 mph. The lesson: who cares if your product doesn’t have every single feature when it has the ones your customers care about.
- You may get lost, but not in the crowd. The lesson: let customers know your product stands out, unapologetically.
- Look at it this way, it’s either a very expensive sportscar or a very reasonable racecar. The lesson: if you don’t like what they’re saying, change the conversation. In this case, Porsche reframes the narrative that their cars are too expensive.
- Honestly now, did you spend your youth dreaming about someday owning a Nissan or a Mitsubishi? The lesson: making fun of other competitors is great, especially when it’s actually funny.
- When you get the urge, you can go topless. The lesson: you can advertise a feature and include some shock factor at the same time, and it can be very effective.
Honestly now, did you spend your youth dreaming about someday writing bad copy? No? Well, follow Porsche’s lead here: keep it funny, keep it simple, and know what you’re good at.
And – if you do it right – you might make some money, too.
ROUNDING UP THE STACK
SEO: This, again? It appears that for the second weekend in a row, Google’s been playing with the algorithm – but this time, things seem a little more structured.
TIKTOK: Donald Trump is now giving TikTok 90 days to sell, instead of the original 45. This would give the company until early November to come to a deal.
FACEBOOK: You now have improved options to control alerts when you follow a Facebook Page. So long, unnecessary notifications!
TIKTOK: If you’re interested in diving into analytics on TikTok, the company just published a guide detailing how you can get the most of the platform’s analytics features.
SEO: Heading tags are a ranking factor. Wait, no, they’re not. Yes they are. No they’re not. That’s the internal dialogue that SEOs have had for years – fortunately, Google’s John Mueller clarified some points on just how important heading tags are.
BIG TECH: The U.S. Justice Department is reported to be going ‘full tilt’ on the big tech antitrust probe. We shouldn’t expect much action soon, but it’s a sign that things are still moving along, and against big tech.
BRAIN TEASER
Welcome to week three of our subject line challenge! Take a guess: which subject line last week got the highest open rate?
🔥 Bringing the heat.
👋 So long.
🤑 Would you pay?
📉 Trending downward.
🗞️ Big news.
The options are currently all tied for first in our Twitter thread. Vote and see 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.
OK, so everybody loves Helvetica
Here’s something you don’t see too often – an Italian graphic designer, Emanuele Abrate, recently did an interview with Bored Panda about the fonts used in big brands’ logos. Turns out, everybody loves Helvetica (and Futura). Here were our favorite logo font reveals:
- The North Face, Energizer, Kinder, and even Star Wars all use some version of Helvetica. If you’re starting a new brand, maybe use Helvetica? Everyone else seems to do it.
- Supreme, Nike, Red Bull, and FedEx use some form of Futura. These logos give Helvetica a run for its money – and for good reason, as the font looks great.
- Twitter uses Pico for their unique, rounded font. This is a pretty cool one – it’s not necessarily conventional, but we love the font.
You can check out the full post here, with plenty of other brands to explore!