👋 Authentic.

How to increase your chances of page one rankings, Facebook’s plans for economic “headwinds,” and more. July 4, 2022 [Read in browser]( [logo] [sponsor]( Happy Monday. It’s a new month, which means— Dramatic pause… —we have a new Deep Dive for you. If you want to run profitable holiday campaigns this season, you’ll want to take a look at this one. Details below. FACEBOOK The future looks serious [article-image] … That’s [according to a memo]( Facebook employees received from the company’s chief product officer, Chris Cox. Serious times call for serious measures: The memo warns of a “slower second half of the year,” but it also lays out the company’s plans for the near future: - Perfecting Shops ads: According to Cox, keeping users on the platform is key to “mitigate signal loss.” It looks like Facebook will double down on Shops apps to ensure “exceptional onsite experience.” - Going all in on Reels: Time spent on Reels has doubled year over year. Cox’s memo describes a “shift towards recommending relevant content” to billions of users… Turning Facebook’s feed into TikTok, essentially. - Company metaverse pages: Among other metaverse updates, the memo mentions making company accounts accessible throughout the metaverse. Does this mean we’ll see the Meta Business Suite in the metaverse soon? Why we care: Economic “headwinds” aside, if you’re running ads on Facebook and Instagram, this could be good news. Facebook’s investment in what’s working for users could mean higher engagement and conversion for marketers. And speaking of what’s working on social media… SOCIAL MEDIA Is “authentic” social media taking over the web? Younger generations just aren’t into perfection. And going by recent trending apps, the time of fancy filters and face apps may soon be over… Honest answers only: “NGL” (Not Gonna Lie) is the [most recent Instagram sensation.]( The app lets users send anonymous questions to and receive truthful responses from other users. It also removes foul and derogatory language with machine learning and language filters, creating a more positive environment where users can express themselves freely. The rise of authentic apps: Anonymous Q&A apps like Ask.fm saw brief success in the past, while Ask Me Anything (AMA) on Reddit continues to be popular. Meanwhile BeReal, another authentic app, [just keeps growing](. What can you do: If you want to resonate with the youngsters, be honest and raw. Try being open about your brand’s weaknesses, run Q&A campaigns, and leverage user-generated content (UGC). Not gonna lie… A more authentic web could be a good thing. SPONSORED BY INSIGHTS 400+ marketers told us which holidays produced the most sales [article-image]( We spent the last 30 days gathering data, marketers’ surveys, and case studies about marketing during the holidays. And what we discovered surprised us: - Black Friday is not the biggest spending holiday in the US. - The products that drove the most conversions during winter holidays, plus the three types of products people start buying heavily wayyy before winter holidays begin. - Month-long holidays most brands aren’t taking advantage of. - How out-of-stock items can be an opportunity to snap up your biggest competitor’s market share. … And much more. We packed everything into The Ultimate Holiday Marketing Deep Dive, which [you can preview here](. Yes, Q4 holidays are months away… but it’s almost time to start getting ready. The data inside The Ultimate Holiday Marketing Deep Dive will set you up to make lucrative marketing decisions while everyone else is planning their campaigns last-minute. [Join Insights to get it.]( SEO How a simple Google search can increase your chances of ranking on page one [article-image] So you spent a few hours doing keyword research, and now you have a juicy list of queries to target… Stop right there! Before you invest time in making content, take a few seconds to find out what the competing content looks like… and what your chances are of ranking in the search results. [Niche Site Lady recommends you look for six characteristics]( in the ranking content. And it’s easy… you can identify them with a simple Google search. Let’s start looking… Do the titles match the keywords? If you search for “How long to drive across Scotland?” and the first articles in the results are about “How to visit Scotland,” that’s a sign you might have an easy win. How does your Domain Rating (DR) stack up against the competition? Check the DR of each website on page one. Ideally, your DR should be higher. Are there forums on page one? Usually, Google only ranks forums like Reddit and Quora when there are no good articles to show. If you’re seeing sites like that at the top, there’s a good chance you can beat them. Are there e-commerce websites on page one? This could mean you misunderstood the intent of the keyword. … Unless you’re planning to write a listicle like “Best products to bring on holiday.” Then you could be onto something. What’s the word count of the top 5 articles? If they’re all really short, you have a higher chance of beating them. What’s the quality of the content? These are the signs of poor quality: - Poorly written. - Big walls of text. - Stock photos. - Bad grammar. - Not enough headings. Doing this simple search analysis will help you decide if it’s worth creating the content or not. And who couldn’t use a lift when it comes to search engine optimization? SPONSORED BY CHARTR The surprising stories data tells us [article-image]( What is a deal with a Kardashian worth to a company’s share price? When are Twitter users happiest? Who profits from your morning cup of coffee? When you’re a subscriber to Chartr’s free newsletter, this is the kind of stuff you learn. This visual newsletter helps you [get smarter and thrive in conversation](. Join 230,000+ readers who love snackable charts and easy-to-remember data insights into business, tech, entertainment, and society. [Sign up for free today.]( THE CREW'S INSIGHTS When you shouldn’t use the “%” figure for growth numbers [article-image] It’s a familiar scene… You get a weekly growth report from your marketing team or your agency. You open it up. Wow, a 25% week-over-week growth in active users! This is huge! Then you check the actual numbers: Your user count went from 4 to 5. Sure, it’s 25%... but suddenly the growth doesn’t feel so huge anymore. Here’s the problem with percentage metrics: Because of how most people have been conditioned to view percentages, they create the illusion of stable growth. Many agencies like to use percentage metrics with early-stage startups because 25% looks a lot better than… well, “we added one user.” But when you’re in the early stages of a campaign or company growth, your numbers are going to fluctuate a lot. Using percentage points to track growth at early stages adds a layer of confusion that you don’t need. If you gained one, five, or ten users, just say so. Later on, when you have tens of thousands of users and growth is more predictable, percentages make more sense. The Crew’s insight: When you’re dealing with easy-to-digest numbers, percentages can obscure the real picture. Instead, celebrate the successes as they come along. Whether it’s one new user or 10, it’s still a win. ROUNDING UP THE STACK [ADVERTISING:]( While we can’t predict the future of Connected TV (CTV) advertising, we do know what isn’t happening. Real-time bidding. That could be good news for brands that invest in creative… [ECONOMY:]( Inflation hits everyone differently, based on their demographic group. This post by Axios will help you understand how inflation is affecting your customers' spending habits. [AMAZON:]( Ad groups are finally coming to Sponsored Brand (SB) ads, while SB video campaigns can now utilize multiple video ads. It’s still not perfect, though. Amazon doesn’t select best performing ads, so you need to test multiple ads yourself. BRAIN TEASER A little boy goes shopping and purchases 12 tomatoes. On the way home, all but 9 get mushed and ruined. How many tomatoes are left in a good condition? You can find the [answer here.]( [poolside-logo] POOLSIDE CHAT It’s a boat. It’s a plane. It’s a… flying ferry! [article-image] If you’re lucky enough to be in Sweden, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to take the “flying ferry” to work soon. Candela, an electric boat company, designed [the Tesla of watercraft](: an electric boat that floats on hydrofoils and “flies” across water at top speeds. Now that the company has sold 100+ leisure boats, they’re developing ferries that can carry 6–30 passengers. Sounds like the dream commute! Of course, if you can take one of these bad boys to work, you’ll never have an excuse for being late to work again. Pros and cons. SHARING IS CARING “Cool hoodie… Where’d you get it?” —your jealous friends When you share our newsletter with smart marketers—and they subscribe—you can earn free merch, like the Stacked Marketer Zip Hoodie (50 referrals). And you unlock other great prizes along the way, like: - The Crew’s Top 10 Insights (2 referrals) - Total access to the growing library of The Crew’s Insights (4 referrals) … And more. Hit the link to get started! 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