🔗 Links.

More email subscribers and first-party data? Yes, please! Instagram now has Story links for everyone. October 28, 2021 [Read in browser]( [logo] [sponsor]( Happy Thursday! What rhymes with Shiba? Money! Okay, not really…but this altcoin is making huge gains in the crypto market thanks to rumors that it will [appear on Robinhood](. If this was forwarded to you from a friend, here’s how you can subscribe [for free](. INSTAGRAM Everyone can now add links in Stories [article-image] Bye-bye, 10k followers limit! [Instagram has announced]( that anyone can now share links to external websites from a Story, regardless of follower count. How you can do this: Using Instagram’s “Link Sticker” feature. After you've uploaded your Story photo/video, click the sticker tool from the top navigation bar. Then, tap the "LinkSticker" and type in the URL. Et voilà ! Instagram also plans to improve the “Link Sticker” tool so users can see what they're clicking on (i.e. link previews). The Crew’s take: This is huge. Instagram has historically been stingy when it comes to allowing you to link to other websites. This update could lead to a few things: - More influencers for your product: There are accounts with less than 10,000 followers and a highly engaged customer base. Can you find those accounts for your specific niche and offer them a deal? - More affiliate marketing on Instagram: Every Instagram user can now easily test their "monetizability.” Simply post a photo or video with an affiliate link and see if it works. If you have an affiliate program, this is something to think about. Early bird gets the clout: Ready to be an early adopter? Try testing this new feature with [your personal referral link]( for @stackedmarketer and give yourself a boost towards winning our referral prizes. You can grab yours from the Share section at the end of the newsletter. ADVERTISING Google, Twitter and Spotify: Apple ain’t got nothing on us Two days ago [we reported that]( Facebook and Snap were complaining about slower growth in Q3 2021 as a result of Apple's privacy update. Google, Twitter and Spotify have a message: We ain’t in that category. All 3 companies released their quarterly earnings reports yesterday and these are the results: - [Google’s advertising business]( has increased by 43% year after year, from $37 billion to $53.1 billion. YouTube ad revenue reached $7.2 billion, up from $5 billion the previous year. - [Twitter’s advertising revenue was $1.14 billion](, a 41 percent increase from last year. - [Spotify’s revenue from ads]( jumped by 75% to $376 million. Apple’s privacy update? What update? Both Google and Twitter described the impact of Apple’s ATT update as “modest.” Spotify didn’t mention anything (They were probably too excited about making that much money from ads in the first place to think about Apple at all.) The Crew’s take: Podcast ads are growing fast. Keep an eye on this space because [Spotify has recently rebranded itself]( to appeal more to marketers like us. Also, in a post-ATT world, contextual > behavioral ads. We’re already seeing this with Google (which mainly relies on keyword targeting) outperforming Facebook and Snap (which mainly rely on behavioral targeting). SPONSORED BY MAGAZINE GOLD How you can use InStyle, Men’s Health, Eating Well, and other top magazines to get email subscribers and first party data [article-image]( In these Apple ATT times, owning first-party data - read email addresses - is like owning gold bars during inflation. And big boys like Kellogg, Procter & Gamble, and Coca-Cola know a smart method to generate subscribers, for very cheap prices. No, you don’t need an 8-figure budget to do the same. [All you need is Magazine Gold.]( They allow marketers to offer a full year subscription to their customers' favorite magazines as a gift. And you can use these free gifts to enhance top-of-funnel engagement, without hurting your long-term LTV. For instance, if you own a beauty brand, you can give away a full year to InStyle in exchange for the visitor subscribing to your newsletter. Without having to use discounts or free shipping codes that usually appeal only to mid-of-funnel audiences and hurt the AOV. Healthy-Finds, for instance, experienced an instant [double-digit boost in subscriptions]( when they started using magazine subscriptions as a gift incentive. The best part? The magazine issues get delivered with your own branding elements. [Build a huge list for a tiny little cost. Get started with a free trial!]( MARKETING Two factors you should consider before running a pre-order sale [article-image] There are many reasons to use pre-orders: - Validate an idea. - Build hype: Apple is the master here. - Avoid overproduction. - Cash flow: You can start collecting sales even before the product is ready. Pre-order sales, however, aren’t always successful. [And this Ariyh issue written]( by Thomas McKinlay will show you what to do to have a bang of pre-orders. First of all, if you think that your product is unlikely to sell out, you should offer incentives to get as many pre-orders as possible. This is because people prefer immediate rewards rather than investing in future rewards. But what kind of rewards should you use? - If a product launch is near (1 week for ex.), both free gifts related to the core offer and monetary promotions (discounts) are effective. - When a product launch is far (e.g. 9 weeks), free gifts are more effective at increasing pre-orders. For instance, video game companies successfully use free virtual gifts (e.g. exclusive downloadable content) to encourage pre-orders. What about the period between the pre-order time and launch time? Usually, the further away the launch date is, the less likely people are to pre-order. However, this will depend on the type of product: - Hedonistic products are more prone to anticipate enjoyment (think about dreaming about your next vacation before it starts) rather than functional products. Therefore, the time frame won’t influence the success of the pre-orders. - Rational purchases instead are harmed by launch dates that are too far away. Now you know how to make a bang on your next pre-order sale. However, besides the incentive and time frame factor, don’t forget to create as much buzz as possible. SPONSORED BY MOTION If you feel like the Ads Manager doesn’t give you the data you need... [article-image]( [Motion]( is a visual analysis tool that helps you easily identify what makes a creative a winner, conduct comparative analysis (eg. image vs video), and share creative learnings with your team or clients. Performance marketing teams at high-growth DTC brands and agencies like ​​Cuts Clothing, Foxwell Digital and Caraway use Motion to learn what creatives work best and why. [Try Motion for free now and get a complimentary onboarding call to prepare for BFCM.]( THE CREW'S INSIGHTS What to avoid when you buy ads in newsletters [article-image] Ads in newsletters are great. But many people are put off by bad experiences, and it’s because purchasing ads in newsletters isn’t a uniform experience. There’s no overarching algorithm or standardized procedure, which means you’ll run into people who don’t have your best interests at heart. It’s tricky to know what to avoid if you’re new. So here’s our advice: + Watch out for open rate statistics. Most newsletters will advertise their open rate as a primary selling point. But get the specifics on how they’re calculating this rate. You want to learn a newsletter’s unique open rate: This is the percentage of individuals who opened the email. Unfortunately, some newsletters (and even one of the big ones, in our experience) will advertise their total open rate. This includes repeat opens. For instance, if you have an audience of 10 people and one of them opens your email 10 times, your total open rate would be 100%. It’s just a trick people use to inflate numbers. And since Apple Mail Privacy is rolling out, open rates are even less relevant. + Be skeptical of sky-high prices. Yes, newsletters can give you access to high-quality audiences. No, that doesn’t mean you should pay more than it’s worth. Here’s a general rule: Ask for the average number of clicks per sponsored placement. Divide the price by this number to get your CPC. For B2B, a number around $5 CPC is not bad. For B2C, you certainly want something lower than that. + Be cautious if you get pushback when asking for numbers. Great newsletters won’t hesitate to give you relevant numbers like unique open rate, average clicks on sponsored placements, and newsletter CTR. If they do hesitate… You should be careful. Oh, look: It’s a natural segway to telling you that you can advertise with us – without the red flags – [by going here](. ROUNDING UP THE STACK [E-COMMERCE:]( Money for free? Close! This Shopify app helps you acquire new customers for free. Social Snowball supercharges your word-of-mouth marketing and turns your customers and even nonbuyers into raving affiliates selling your products. [Discover why it’s so effective in acquiring affiliates.](* [AMAZON:]( “Send Me More Info.” That’s the name that was announced for Amazon Ads’ newest voice call-to-action (yes, Amazon has voice CTAs). Here are all of the announcements made at Amazon Ads’ annual conference. [ADVERTISING:]( You’ll never guess which messaging platform is set to introduce ads: It’s Telegram! Matt Navarra has the inside scoop. [GOOGLE:]( It’s all about video. Video reach campaigns are now available to all Google Ads users globally. [MOBILE:]( Which were the most downloaded mobile apps in August? AppFigures has the list. [LINKEDIN:]( Guess who’s going after Fiverr? LinkedIn rolls out its “freelance services” marketplace worldwide. [GOOGLE:]( This has been the week of Zapier partnering up with pretty much every ad network. It was TikTok yesterday, and today it’s Google Ads. *This is a sponsored post. BRAIN TEASER I build bridges of silver and crowns of gold. Who am I? You can find the [solution here](. [poolside-logo] POOLSIDE CHAT Answer the phone! [article-image] It's sometimes a good idea to answer calls from numbers you don't recognize. Especially when you're lost on a mountain. [This was the case]( for a hiker who was lost for about 24 hours on a mountain in Colorado. Fortunately, his phone was turned on, so rescuers tried to contact him. The only problem: he ignored the phone calls because he didn't recognize the number. Fortunately, everything worked out in the end, and the hiker returned to their lodging. Lesson: According to the officials, “if you’re overdue according to your itinerary, and you start getting repeated calls from an unknown number, please answer the phone.” On the other hand, if you're down to your last 2% battery power, the last thing you might want to do is blow it on someone from the other side of the world who desperately wants to sell you duct cleaning services. FCC, take notes. SHARING IS CARING Share this email with your friends and get cool rewards! From our Insights Poolside Chat, to stickers, T-shirts, one-of-a-kind coin, custom-made magazine cover, to lifetime Insights full membership and a trip to Vienna, Austria! Just click the button below! It takes less than 60 seconds to share. 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