E-COMMERCE
Resale marketplaces are booming
Here’s a fun fact: By 2023, the resale market is expected to reach $51 billion. In fact, the resale industry is growing 11 times faster than traditional retail.
The reason: Declining prices (on resale marketplaces, that is). Traditional retailers like Macy’s and Kohl’s have recently raised their prices. In contrast, prices on second-hand marketplaces like TireUp, were 15% lower in Q3 2021 than last year.
The main players: Sites like eBay and Poshmark are the biggest traditional second-hand marketplaces. There are some vertical marketplaces that are gaining traction, however:
- RealReal, a second-hand fashion marketplace, reported $119 million in revenue in Q3 2021, with an increase of 53%.
- ThredUP, an “online thrift store,” reported $63.3 million in revenue in the third quarter, which is up 35% year after year.
Can you sell on second-hand marketplaces? Yes and definitely yes. You can sign up as a seller at any of the sites mentioned above. Many companies are already doing it:
- Lululemon has launched a “Like New” program.
- Macy’s started offering second-hand apparel in partnership with thredUP.
- IKEA said it would also enter second-hand reselling with its “buy back & resell” program.
YOUTUBE
YouTube plans to release a keyword research tool
There are hundreds of ways to do keyword research for YouTube, but none of them are directly supported by YouTube.
Well that’s about to change. YouTube has announced that it plans to release a “search insights” tool for creators. If you read more carefully, you’ll realize this is a fancy name for an actual keyword research tool. Here’s what you’ll get:
- Your viewers’ searches. This tab will display the keywords that people who regularly watch your content are searching for on YouTube. You’ll also see the search volume for each of these keywords expressed as low/medium/high labels.
- Searches across YouTube. This is as close to a general keyword research tool as YouTube has gotten. You’ll be able to type a keyword phrase and see related phrases with low/medium/high search volume.
Content gap: You will see a “Content gap” label next to some keywords that YouTube suggests. This is YouTube’s way of saying, “Our viewers can’t find the information they’re looking for when they type this keyword.” So there’s a “gap” where you can create “content” around the keyword. And boy, we marketers looove finding gaps.
Availability: Soon enough. YouTube said they’re still testing these features, but will expand their rollout shortly.
SPONSORED BY MOOSEND
Here’s an email marketing tool that can ramp up your SaaS marketing efforts
Whether you want to improve your win-back automations, your customer views, or enhance your transactional emails, Moosend’s got you covered.
If Moosend were a car brand it would be a Ferrari at the price of a Toyota Prius. But Moosend is not a car – it’s an email marketing tool. This means that for an extremely affordable price, you get premium features such as:
- A reactive support team that goes above and beyond to solve your issues. And they do it quickly.
- A UI so easy to use that you could let your 87 year-old in-law send campaigns.
- A customer dashboard that tells you everything you need to know about your customers and subscribers. So you can track what they like and want, and double down on that.
- Advanced personalization features.
- An easy integration system to combine your favorite apps with Moosend.
Moosend gives you everything you need to make more sales with email marketing. While, at the same time, not weighing on your balance.
And if you have under 1,000 email subscribers, it’s free!
MARKETING
Why and how you should use the Conversion API Gateway to set up Facebook CAPI
The Conversion API Gateway has been recently released by Facebook as a way to integrate the Facebook CAPI.
Businesses can send events with the Facebook pixel and Conversions API without requiring dedicated developer resources, so there is no need for third-party partners or coding.
In addition, as Facebook explained, the CAPI Gateway comes with other advantages:
- Speed: It reduces the potential Conversions API integration time from weeks to hours.
- Cost: Since the Conversion API Gateway requires lower technical resources or requirements, it comes with redacted costs.
- Low technical lift: Performance marketers with some technical expertise can set up and configure the Conversions API themselves with minimal support from developers.
- Low maintenance costs: Unlike manual direct integrations, the Conversions API Gateway will auto-update (with client consent) whenever new features become available, reducing long-term maintenance costs.
According to Jon Loomer, setting up the Conversion API Gateway is not easy or immediate. But you can do it.
And in this blog post, he outlined how to set it up.
You’ll need an Amazon Web Service account and access to your DNS management.
We won’t get into the technical steps, as it would be impossible to fit them here…But you can find the whole process that Jon Loomer explained in this post.
SPONSORED BY AAMA
Make a positive impact for the future of 400+ marketers
It’s Giving Tuesday and this year, the African American Marketing Association (AAMA), has the goal of helping their over 400+ members take their marketing careers forward!
To do this, the AAMA is looking for help from you!
With a donation, you can help hundreds of Black marketers build their careers. And you can also get your name and your company’s name on the donation wall on the AAMA website for the whole year!
Contribute to the career of hundreds of people.
THE CREW’S INSIGHTS
Can your store homepage sell?
You know that The Crew is always trying to help you make more sales.
With this in mind, we gathered some guidelines for you to make your store homepage better at converting prospects.
Here you go:
- Follow visual hierarchy: The right hierarchy directs users. For instance, if you want to get attention on a CTA, make it big, use contrasting color and white space around it.
- Make your homepage visually simple: Don’t overload your visitors with unnecessary text, images, or design elements.
- Show your best products and categories higher on the homepage.
- Use relevant copy for your CTA buttons: Text like “Buy now” or “Order Now” can make shoppers feel pressure. Such CTAs aren’t relevant for top of the funnel audiences. Instead, go for softer call-to-actions like “Find out more,” “Start shopping,” or “Learn more.”
- Show social proof: Shoppers heavily rely on social proof. Hence, it’s important to start showing this element from the get-go.
- Highlight deals and special offers: The faster you can put your prospects in shopping mode, the easier it will be to drive them to purchase.
Check the whole list of 18 homepage guidelines to increase the conversion rate of your homepage.
ROUNDING UP THE STACK
EMAIL MARKETING: With this tool you can get a 15% to 40% better open rate for your email campaigns, newsletter, and more. Folderly is an AI-based email deliverability solution that includes testing, health analysis, warmup, spam fix, and more – all in one single tool. Try it for free for 7 days.*
TWITTER: Jack Dorsey has resigned from Twitter. This is the full letter he sent.
SEO: Google’s mobile-first indexing is receiving a TBD (to-be-determined) deadline.
E-COMMERCE: How many people in the UK have used buy-now-pay-later services? According to a BBC article, more than 17 million.
WHATSAPP: Will WhatsApp become the dominant payment method in India? The company hopes so with this government approval.
FACEBOOK: Did you know you can’t unlike inactive pages on Facebook. Hopefully that will change soon.
*This is a sponsored post.
BRAIN TEASER
This is as light as a feather, yet no man can hold it for long. What am I?
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.
Stuck in a pub for 3 days with a rock band
Sounds like a dream come true? That’s what literally happened in one British town.
For three days, 61 people were stranded at Britain’s highest altitude pub, located 270 miles north of London. The reason? A severe storm that shut down all roads.
In the pub that night, an Oasis cover band was performing. The band was also stuck in the pub since the performance. Those lucky guys and gals had booze, drinks, and a live band performing for them for a full 3 days.
After everything was over, pub manager Nicola Townsend said the guests were in “really good spirits” (how could they not be?) Friendships were formed, and one woman said “I don’t want to leave.” Well, neither would we…
This isn’t the first time this has happened in the pub. In 2010, people were stuck for 3 days after New Year’s celebration. When they finally got out there was only one keg of beer left.