🔥 Interview questions.

How to “grade” content, what Meta’s, Pinterest’s, and Twitter’s earnings reports reveal to marketers, and more. April 29, 2022 [Read in browser]( [logo] [sponsor]( Happy Friday. What would it take to get you to reuse your hotel towels? [Psychologists tested two messages]( on patrons to find out. One message asked them to reuse their towels for environmental reasons, while the other claimed 75% of residents were already reusing their towels. Guess which message worked. ADVERTISING Are you spending less on social media ads? Because someone is… [article-image] There’s an interesting pattern in Meta’s, Twitter’s, and Pinterest’s first quarterly earnings reports… Meta reported [user growth is making progress again](, but overall revenue barely grew since last year. The company also reports that Reels take up more than [20% of Instagram usage](, while videos take up 50% of time users spend on Facebook. Twitter missed [its revenue expectation]( but reported that user growth is better than expected. But… They also admitted they’ve [overcounted daily users for three straight years](. Pinterest [cited an overall decline in users]( since the pandemic, while seeing slightly improved year-on-year revenue. The Crew’s take: These platforms share a common denominator. Users are increasing, yes. But revenue? Not so much. Which makes us wonder… Are advertisers hitting the brakes on social media ads? Or is TikTok getting a bigger share but we can’t see it since they are not a public company? [As we learned from the search platforms reports]( we covered yesterday, search ad revenue keeps rising. So this is probably where part of that ad budget is going. If this trend continues, it could reveal insights into what ads are working with customers—and where advertisers should budget their dollars. GOOGLE New Merchant Center updates let you add more product data Provide your customers with relevant details, and they’re more likely to buy. Google knows this, which is why they update their Merchant Center product specifications every year. What’s new: This year, they’ve [announced some juicy additions]( which will help you to: - Pause and restart ads quickly. - Provide accurate shipping information depending on the country. - Better use unique product identifiers. - Include the availability date for backorder and preorder products. Not everything’s live yet, though: Some features are rolling out immediately, while others will be available at the end of June. Why we care: Additional product data will improve your customer’s search experience and should give you extra brownie points in ad quality score. And in marketing, the first to implement new features is usually the first to reap the benefits. SPONSORED BY SOMIN Advertisers are slashing their costs per click by more than 30% with machine learning and automation. [article-image]( There are many tools that claim to improve your campaigns through automation. However, automation is only part of the solution and most of them do not bring true optimization to your campaigns. SoMin’s powerful AI profiling algorithms and automation marries two solutions to bring real performance gains. It automates the process of finding audiences that work for your business so you can smartly increase your performance and cut costs. Just look at what SoMin's users are achieving: - MotherCare, a household brand in the APAC region increased their digital marketing returns by over 100% - Citibank generated 43% cheaper cost per lead and 53% more conversions from clicks - McDonald’s generated an increase of 438% in Quality Reach leading to 6x increase in ROAS SoMin gets you results at a fraction of the cost. Wondering how they do it? [Read their case studies on how they helped their clients achieve their KPIs here.]( Want to stop overpaying for mediocre results? [Improve the performance of your campaigns now.]( BUSINESS Questions to ask potential employers during a job interview [article-image] Before going on a job interview, most marketers will spend their time preparing for questions they might get from the interviewers. But if you want to land the right role, it’s essential that you ask good questions, too. Because while the interview is evaluating you, you’re also evaluating the company! After going through tons of job interviews, Amber Naslumad curated a [list of great interview questions]( that will help you find that dream job. Here are three of them: “What’s one of the hardest decisions you had to make as a team this last year?” This question will give you a sneak peek into the biggest changes the company went through lately—and whether those are changes are worth getting excited about. Responses like “We had to fire 10 people” or “We expanded into a new market” can be very revealing. “How (and how often) do you gather feedback from your teams and employees, and what's an example of something you changed this year based on that feedback?” This will tell you how receptive the leadership team is to ideas, suggestions, and your own expertise. And whether they’re receptive enough to act on it. “What's the most fun experience you've had with your team or colleagues this year?” Curious about the vibe or culture of the team? This question will help you find it out. There are several others, so be sure to [read Amber’s full thread](. You’ll be more than ready for that next interview. SPONSORED BY ATTEST Discover the profitable audience insights you’re missing with the help of an expert [article-image]( 64% of marketers say it’s getting harder to keep up with changing consumer trends. [That’s why Attest pairs you with a market research professional]( who helps you plan your research and get truly actionable insights. You’ll be quick to adapt and stay ahead of competitors. “I was actually really surprised at how much effort and attention the customer research team gave my team. Consistently, the standard of advice was above and beyond what I was expecting to get.” —Liz Yates, Head of Growth, Oddbox [“Show me what customer insights I’m missing”]( THE CREW'S INSIGHTS How to grade content from agencies or freelancers [article-image] You need content, so you hire an agency. Or a freelancer. They submit the work to you for review. And sure, it looks okay. But how do you know whether or not the content they’ve submitted is good quality—and worth what they’re charging? Let’s walk through a few simple guidelines for grading the content you pay for. Try grading it using three simple ratings: - Clarity: Is the information presented in a clear, organized way? Is it enjoyable to read without losing substance or clarity? - Context: Does the piece fit the context it’s being used in? For example, if it’s intended for social media, is the content formatted accordingly—and does it stay within character limits? - Style: Is the tone of the piece appropriate for what you’re using it for? If you paid for blog posts, they should be informational and helpful, not promotional or “sales-y.” And if your brand’s overall style is more relaxed, they should read in a casual way, as opposed to sounding academic or formal. Go through each piece of content you’ve received and grade it based on these guidelines. That should give you a good idea of whether the content is quality or not. And if you’re too busy to “grade” content… Outsource! Some of the smartest people we know outsource their content grading to professionals they trust. So if you purchased videos for ads, but don’t know whether they’re up to par, have a Facebook Ads expert grade them. Paid for blog posts? Have the best writer you know look them over. Regardless of the approach you take, we hope this helps you review content more easily—and quickly. ROUNDING UP THE STACK [B2B MARKETING:]( Does your website get a lot of traffic, but not many leads? Instead of spending more money on traffic, monetize the visitors you’re already getting. Join the 500 other companies using Plezi and transform your website into a lead-generating, client-winning machine. [Plezi makes it easy!](* [TIKTOK:]( Its recommendation algorithm was only the start. Better tracking and targeting is also coming to TikTok! The popular platform just grabbed a page out of Meta’s book by adding third-party cookies to their conversion pixel. [E-COMMERCE:]( Are online sales slowing down? Maybe… Home delivery companies in the US reported the first drop in revenue in two years. Keep an eye on this road if you’re in US e-commerce. [GOOGLE:]( Care for a glimpse at Google's alleged cookieless solution? The Privacy Sandbox Developer Preview is now available for download so you can test it out and play with new features. [SNAPCHAT:](Is there any doubt that augmented reality (AR) is Snap’s biggest value proposition? The company is investing in technology that will make virtual try-ons available on retailer’s own product pages. Their first global partner? Puma. [ADVERTISING:]( Vertical ads are all the rage. Buzzfeed agrees… And just announced Upshots, a vertical ad format compatible with TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Another format to try out if you’ve got the budget. [PPC:]( After switching off the AdWords API days ago, Google launched a new version of their Google Ads API, along with some significant updates. *This is a sponsored post. BRAIN TEASER What becomes white when it is dirty? You can find the [answer here](. [poolside-logo] POOLSIDE CHAT Can you beat this Guiness World Record? [article-image] It sounds easy… But it’s definitely not. You need a towering will to succeed, and eight pieces of candy-coated chocolate. What in the world are we talking about? The man who [succeeded in stacking seven M&M’s on top of each other](, beating the previous world record of six M&M’s! And no, he didn’t lick ‘em to make them stick. Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re off to build our own M&M’s tower. Wish us luck. SHARING IS CARING *click* That’s the sound of you unlocking free content and merch. When you share our newsletter with other readers—and they subscribe—you unlock Deep Dives (normally $99), mugs, hoodies… Even a trip to Vienna to meet The Crew! It’s all possible. Just depends how often you’re willing to look insanely well-read to your peers. Share your referral link below to start unlocking the rewards. Takes 30 seconds to do! [article-image]( [CLICK TO SHARE]( Or copy your referral link: [ [SUBSCRIBE]( | [INSIGHTS]( | [ADVERTISE]( You are receiving this email because you want to know what is going on in digital marketing. 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