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Can you increase your product price without alienating customers? And new Google API updates. June 10, 2022 [Read in browser]( [logo] [sponsor]( Good morning and welcome to Friday. There’s a question The Crew has been debating. If you had to eat food from only one country’s cuisine for the rest of your life, which would it be? Popular choices on our Crew are Italian, Brazilian, and Thai food. Vietnamese food also gets a nod as a good choice but nobody’s top choice. So, what’s your top choice? ADVERTISING Amazon ads going local, Google launches new version of API [article-image] Is it ever dull in the advertising world? Doesn’t seem like it. And today we bring you updates from the two industry heavyweights. Is Amazon forming a Local Ads division? Yes, according to reports. The tech giant published a few [job openings for a “new Local Ads team”](... implying that they’re looking to provide more support to local businesses with effective advertising. Makes sense, as current Amazon sponsored search ads benefit bigger companies and your favorite mom-and-pop shop can’t afford them. Either way, local Facebook and Google ads are now getting a formidable competitor. …and speaking of Google: The company announced a new version of their [Google Ads API which includes updates to numerous client codes.]( If you want to use the new API, you must upgrade your client libraries and code. The updated example list should be published next week. Plus, financial scam ads are downtrending: Making Google expand their [financial service verification policy]( to three more countries: Australia, Singapore, and Taiwan. Now if you want to run financial ads in these markets, you can do so without fear as long as you get verified. And while we’re mentioning finances… BUSINESS Can you raise prices without rattling the cage? [article-image] When prices go up, the anger-o-meter and panic-o-meter usually follow. But when the inflation is [on a steady rise and costs of goods]( and services all skyrocket, you can either follow along or call it a day. So can you raise your prices without a customer backlash? According to reports, [it depends on the industry.]( Walking on eggshells: Businesses where low price drives customer satisfaction such as consumer durables, apparel, software, tech, can expect some disgruntled customers if they raise their prices. On the other hand, industries where there’s a higher brand loyalty like automotive, household, and personal products tend to not feel the same heat. There’s one constant, though. Companies with high customer satisfaction always have an easier time when the time comes to raise the price. Why we care: If you’re running a business, you’re probably already faced with the Hamletian dilemma - to raise or not to raise. But it looks like the only real question is – have you built enough loyalty and reputation? Because if you did, your customers are much more likely to accept the change, regardless of the industry. SPONSORED BY INSIGHTS Real life tested e-commerce growth tactics to implement now [article-image]( The internet is packed with content on how to grow your e-commerce business… But how much of that content is actually valuable? And is not the copy of the copy of the copy of some old strategies? Old strategies are not how you gain an edge over competitors… [That’s why we created Insights](. We don’t write strategies. We go out there, spend thousands of hours of research, and we find [growth hacks that are being used right now to maximize profits](. This means that you don’t have to spend hours separating the solid content from the trash. With Insights you can discover the strategies and growth hacks that other businesses – your competitors – are using to grow. Here’s a sneak peek of what’s inside: - The TikTok video that grew the revenue of a shaving cream brand from $54k to $146k - The creative lead-gen strategy Snow uses to bring prospects one step closer to buying… while growing an email list. - How Athletic Greens makes expensive podcast ads work. [Head over here, and discover how Insights can accelerate your growth.]( BUSINESS How subscription and SaaS companies can thrive during a tough economy [article-image] Twitter user Patticus analyzed 23.2k subscription and SaaS companies to get a glance at how the economy's red flags are impacting their revenue. In short, he found out that while the new sales are consistent, and in some cases growing, the churn-up rates and downgrades are getting higher. And [he revealed some practical actions]( to take to get ready for an eventual market contraction. There are two main actions to take: survival and lifetime value (LTV). Let’s start with survival: - Audit all your expenses: You might be paying for things you’re not using. Cut that cost. - Make sure you're “default alive” and have at least 10% margin for error if bootstrapped, and 18+ months of burn-rate if VC-funded. “Default alive” means you don’t spend more than you make, so you are breakeven or profitable. - Re-evaluate non-core projects. Now regarding LTV… There are two main areas: monetization and retention. For monetization, the actions to take are: - Focus on cross-sell: Happy customers consistently buy more during recessions. If you don’t have cross-sells, create an add-on, like priority support. - Evaluate customer segments. Segments affected more by a market contraction are less likely to buy so you can pull that ad spend. - Reduce discounts. For retention: - Fix credit card failures to boost your recovery rate. - Implement cancellation flows to customers that unsubscribe. You can do it with salvage offers or maintenance plans. - Run promotions to get monthly customers on quarterly and yearly subscriptions. - Create reactivation campaigns set for 60, 120, and 180 days after a customer cancels the subscription. Whether you think there will be a recession or not, some of these actions are still useful to boost revenue and cut costs. Hence, something to consider at any time. SPONSORED BY INSIGHTS Create clear, concise, high-converting landing page copy – the easy way [article-image]( Writer’s block. Especially copywriter’s block. It’s a thing, right? It’s such a common problem that we dedicated a few hundred hours of research to create the ultimate Landing Page Copywriting Deep Dive – [free sample here.]( Structured by themes into 4 sections and containing over 100 examples, this is your new swipe file for all things landing page copywriting. [You can get it if you subscribe to Insights here]( – risk-free, with our 24-hour money back guarantee. THE CREW'S INSIGHTS Cognitive biases that can affect your marketing [article-image] Cognitive biases are a hot topic these days. And while they’re not all applicable to this newsletter, we want to highlight a few common mental errors that could affect your own marketing––and how to recognize them. Here are the biggest ones: - Dunning-Kruger effect: This is the phenomenon where you think you know more than you do. And, ironically, it’s because you actually know very little. In marketing, this often happens when we assume we know a lot about specialized topics, like SEO or copywriting. The solution? When you can, let specialists dominate their own area. Don’t micro-manage. - Fundamental Attribution Error: When other people make mistakes, we often attribute their mistakes to their character. When we make mistakes, we attribute our mistakes to our situation. In marketing, this is a dangerous road––you can make excuses for yourself while thinking poorly of others. The solution? Every time somebody makes a mistake, try to put it in context the same way you’d do for yourself. - Anchoring Bias: Most people place lots of weight on the first piece of information they learn about a topic, whether that is credible information or not. Imagine that a friend teaches you how to set up TikTok Ads: Even if your friend is bad at running ads, you’ll give their initial advice more weight than advice you hear down the road. The solution? Acknowledge that you’re likely putting more stock in certain pieces of advice than others, and that your reasons for doing so may be bad. Use this to analyze your decision-making going forward. The Crew’s take: We’ve written this to help you understand a few of your own biases. But, it’s also helpful to understand that your customers will have these biases, too. Think about how you might be able to use these to your advantage as you market your products. ROUNDING UP THE STACK [BUSINESS:]( Nobody can predict the future, but everybody can subscribe to TheFutureParty. Every morning, they break down the trends of today that influence the decisions of tomorrow. Get insights and analysis on the business of culture right to your inbox. [It’s free to subscribe!](* [TIKTOK:]( Don’t be surprised if you soon get hit by suspiciously accurate TikTok Ads. The company will now rely on “legitimate interest instead of users’ consent” to display ads, meaning you might see ads based on your in-app activity. Yes, even if you opted-out first. [ADVERTISING:]( Privacy regulations, increased competition… All this is making advertising harder, according to 55% of surveyed mobile marketers. But there’s still plenty of optimism that things will get back on track. Fingers crossed! [FACEBOOK:]( Less and less people are scrolling Facebook nowadays. And experts estimate that the time spent on the platform will keep decreasing in the next couple of years… Time to do something about it, Meta. [GOOGLE:]( No more SERP shake-ups…for now. Google’s May broad core update rollout is officially finished. If you experienced traffic volatility and ranking performance, you can breathe a sigh of relief. Until the next core update. *This is a sponsored post. BRAIN TEASER Two fathers and two sons are in a car, yet there are only three people in the car. How? You can find the [answer here](. [poolside-logo] POOLSIDE CHAT Plenty of… bees in the sea? [article-image] Here’s another brain teaser for you. Are bees fish? Because according to the California court, [bees are legally considered fish.]( And all because of a simple loophole. The California Fish and Game Commision leveraged some lexical gymnastics to bypass the statute and list four species of bumblebees as endangered fish. But hey, a little mishap in verbiage is forgiven when it comes to saving the bees, right? Now let’s figure out how to legally change “monthly visitors” to “conversions” before our next reporting period… SHARING IS CARING Did you know you can earn a free Insights membership? Normally joining Insights costs $99 a month. But sharing our newsletter can get you Insights for free. Here’s how it works: - 100 referrals gives you a free month-long membership. - 250 referrals gives you a free Insights membership… for life. All you have to do is share your custom link with smart marketers, entrepreneurs, and CEOs to subscribe. When they subscribe, you earn points and unlock rewards. Hit the link to get started! [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. If you aren't thrilled about our emails, reply and let us know why. 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