TIKTOK
A new training hub and an affiliate portal are in the works from TikTok
We can’t believe we didn’t see this one coming…
It’s not a surprise that TikTok is trying to put out more training material for businesses. What is surprising (at least to us, though it makes perfect sense now that it’s out there) is that TikTok is preparing its Shop Seller University where it will provide training for how to sell on TikTok.
Part of this will also be a platform where businesses can list their products and creators can promote them as affiliates.
It’s like TikTok turns into a mix of Shopify, Amazon and YouTube (or Instagram?)… very interesting but it makes so much sense!
Facebook Creator Studio gets some actually useful updates?
It’s been mentioned in the wild pastures of Twitter that Facebook is bringing a redesigned user interface to Creator Studio.
You know, the tool that should be used to manage the content you post on your socials but that you don’t really use because third party tools often do a better job.
Well, it’s getting a new look and some actually useful features like being able to customize a post separately for Facebook and Instagram.
We have a confession to make: We had no idea this wasn’t a feature yet. Sounds like it should have been near the top of the list from the very beginning.
Jokes aside, if you use Creator Studio, your job became slightly easier.
SPONSORED BY MAXWEB
Marketers must learn to take advantage of this channel!
There’s a lot of talk about how the advertising landscape as we know it will drastically change. iOS 14’s ATT, third party cookies plus more regulation on the horizon.
One channel that’s been tried and proven even through such times is email. Here’s a playbook for you to get going with this awesome channel right away.
- Watch Liss Graham’s intro to email. She discusses why email, what ESP to use, what automated sequences to build, how to fix common pitfalls, five case studies for making 6-figures a year and a Q&A from the recording.
- Go through Shawn Josiah’s list building presentation. Shawn explains where email is most powerful, how to calculate your ROI correctly and how a correct list building and monetization process looks like.
To give you a head start, MaxWeb has prepared a list of over 40 proven subject lines to use in your campaigns.
Don’t know what offers to promote in your emails?
MaxWeb has you covered here too. There’s a reason they won the Top CPA Network of 2020 in the Offervault Awards!
These are MaxWeb’s top recommendations:
- Silencil – Ask for the offer.
- Plant Insulin – Ask for the offer.
- Blood Pressure 911 – Ask for the offer.
- South Beach Skin Lab Erase Wrinkles – Ask for the offer.
- Autaphagene Weight Loss – Ask for the offer.
CONTENT MARKETING
Zooming into the content strategy of one of the most successful startups of the last 10 years
2.2M monthly visits.
47M backlinks.
A recent $36B valuation.
These stats summarize Stripe’s 10 years of spectacular growth.
The company is considered the “startup everyone loves” and that’s not a coincidence. Indeed, Stripe has a unique approach in creating content, building moats and strategies to make guest posting and influencer marketing work.
Ross Simmonds broke down some of the strategies that allowed Stripe to become a $36B firm. He went quite deep into it and these are some actionable takeaways:
+ Start from your audience: While most companies start their content strategy by defining goals, Stripe started by defining their audience needs. Though most SEOs plan content around most searched keywords, Stripe built their content to serve their audience the best.
+ Marketing to one is better than marketing to all: Stripe makes no secret that their favorite audience is developers. And if you go on their website, you’ll see that it’s plastered with dev lingo.
+ Build a moat for sustainable long-lasting growth: Stripe has built a moat in the payment processing industry through content and commitment to excellence. They create great content that turns their targeted audience into customers.
And as customers use the product, they gather more data that allow them to create still better content. It’s a virtuous circle.
+ Guest posting and influencer marketing: Creating top-notch content and distributing it through other brands and influencers comes with many benefits:
- Positioning yourself to get instant, high-quality traffic.
- Increasing exposure, brand awareness and credibility.
- Getting more subscribers.
Guest posting still works if you see it as an opportunity to unlock new audiences and build relationships with other brands, rather than building backlinks.
Community building: In 2012 Stripe launched a competition called “Capture the flag”. It was a development wargame that helped the community practice identifying and exploiting common security problems. Not only they strengthened the community with a fun activity. They also gained knowledge about their code.
Stripe’s investment in building a community doesn’t stop there, though. In 2017 they also acquired Indie Hackers, a knowledge-sharing platform (aka forum) for entrepreneurs.
The post doesn’t finish here, and it goes on by analyzing Stripe’s UX, URL structure for SEO, and more content tactics. Give it a read.
ROUNDING UP THE STACK
SEO: Brodie Clark shows Google’s “price drop” enhancement on mobile in action.
GOOGLE: The search giant started automatically populating the services section of Google My Business listings based on content it finds on your website.
TIKTOK: According to Charles Gasparino on Twitter, there are rumors that the White House may require TikTok to be sold outright, rather than the complex structure that had been proposed with Oracle and Walmart.
BUSINESS: David Perell just put together a short and sweet Twitter thread about Elon Musk and the blend between media and business.
MARKETING: There’s a nice 14-step Twitter thread from Julian Shapiro on how to acquire your first customers. It’s a good one!
BRAIN TEASER
What rock group consists of four famous men, but none of them sing?
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.
Turn your browser into an Xbox console
OK, gamers out there knew this was in the works. Still, it’s pretty cool to hear it’s getting closer and closer to becoming reality.
Microsoft has started testing its xCloud game streaming through a web browser. It’s still in private testing, but there should be a public preview soon as well.
Why is this cool? Well, Xbox players will be able to open their games through a browser on just about any device.
Don’t expect a smooth experience right away (looking at you, Google Stadia) but keep your fingers crossed for how this can evolve in the near future.