😃 New emojis.

Instagram launches a marketplace for creators, how to take amazing product photos, and more. July 14, 2022 [Read in browser]( [logo] [sponsor]( Good morning. It’s Thursday, which means it’s actually Friday in the UK… or at least in the parts of the UK that are trying out the four-day work week. If you’re not lucky enough to be in the UK, you have just eight work hours, two cups of coffee, and one lunch ‘til Friday. SOCIAL MEDIA New emojis are coming [article-image] Why use words when you can use emojis? The Unicode Consortium—the organization responsible for selecting the emoji icons we use everyday—is [currently considering new emojis]( for Android and iOS next year. Sneak a peek: 31 emojis are under consideration, including a jellyfish, a wireless symbol, and different variations of a pushing hand. Emojipedia has already drafted the first mockups, but we’ll know the final choices sometime in September. Why we care: New emojis can be useful for grabbing attention and making copy, social media posts, and even emails more engaging. It’s why we use them in our own subject lines! You can also help combat “emoji fatigue” by surprising customers with novelty and emojis they’ve rarely seen—and maybe never used—before. INSTAGRAM New marketplace for creators just opened up Run influencer campaigns? This may come in handy… Instagram just started [testing a Creator marketplace](, a new dashboard where you can discover and connect with content creators. … And it comes with filters: The new feature—currently being tested by a few select US brands—would let you search the entire creator library using categories like: - Number of followers. - Demographics. - Interests. - Location. It will also display creators who’d like to work with you and let you add favorites to a wishlist. That’s convenient: Instagram designed the marketplace to let brands and creators establish goals and deliverables, make adjustments, and complete payments without ever having to leave the app. Why we care: If Instagram’s marketplace proves to be a success, you’ll have another tool for sourcing and managing creators. Of course, it could also increase competition if brands end up pursuing the same influencers. Speaking of pursuing influencers… SPONSORED BY IMPACT.COM Never waste money on an influencer campaign again [article-image]( 75% of marketers are investing in influencer marketing activities… But only 36% consider their efforts effective. The problem is, most brands are following the same off-the-shelf approaches to running influencer campaigns. So if you don’t want to waste money, read [the Ultimate influencer program starter kit by impact.com](. It costs $0 and it shows you: - 5 approaches used by 5 different brands that resulted in successful campaigns—and how to create a successful campaign specific to your situation. - Tired of kissing frogs? [Here’s how to find]( the influencer of your dreams, live happily ever after, and convert customers together. - How to quickly and easily create a blueprint for an influencer campaign that gets great returns. - The 6 most common mistakes brands make that burn their budgets. [Go get it!]( PS: Want to learn what a robust growth engine can do for your influencer campaigns? [Get a demo of impact.com here](, no strings attached. E-COMMERCE Forget the studio photographer. You can make perfect product photos “at home” [article-image] Many brands rent out entire studios and spend big money hiring professional photographers. But what if you’re just starting out and funds are… tight? Shopify published [a compelling guide]( to making professional e-commerce shots on your own… at home. Let’s go over the steps… Set up a home studio: You’ll need a dedicated place for your photoshoot. And yes, you’re gonna need some equipment… camera, reflector, white background, surface, etc. But don’t worry. All you really need is your smartphone camera and a spacy, illuminated room with good window light to get quality shots. Style the shots: Experiment with your photography. Use different background colors and angles, and breathe life into your shots with props. Shopify lists the most effective composition styles for e-commerce: the “C” and the “diagonal" — which you can read more about in the article. But you can test out other variations, too. Get the lighting right: Placing a table in front of a large window should be good enough to get you the shadows and light you need for great shots. Just remember to shoot during the “golden hours,” or the last hour before sunset and the first hour after sunrise. Take photos from all angles: The more angles you get, the more “faithful” the mental image of the product you create for your customers. “Eye-level,” “close-up,” and “bird-eye” shots all help online shoppers imagine the product as though they’re seeing it in store. Post-processing: You don’t need expensive photo editing software to retouch your photos. There are plenty of free tools available online. When you’re editing photos, pay particular attention to white balance to make the photo feel “warmer.” Also, make sure you tweak brightness, contrast, and color saturation just enough to make images appear lively. Finally, compress your photos before uploading them to your store so you can preserve their quality and resolution. And there you go… You’ve got quality product photos that are ready for the world! SPONSORED BY AIR Struggling to get quality content for your project? [article-image]( Just how difficult and time-consuming is it to find, organize, approve and share visual assets on Google Drive and Dropbox? Way too much! That’s why marketing teams are saying “adios” to Google Drive and Dropbox, and [saying “hello” to Air](. Teams at Curology, the NBA, and even Google are using Air to manage their creative and visual assets, and saving up to 10 hours a week! [Do you want up to 520 hours a year saved? Try Air today.]( THE CREW’S INSIGHTS You should be advertising on more holidays than you think [article-image] OK, pop quiz. Which holiday is bigger: - December 25th. - May 4th. Most of you probably said December 25th. Because, well, it’s Christmas day. And May 4th is, well… It’s Star Wars day. May the 4th be with you. Why we’re talking about Star Wars: Although Christmas is, on its face, a much bigger holiday than May 4th, that’s not a universal truth. We recently talked with a marketer who works for a gaming café. For a “nerdy” audience, Star Wars day might be just as good a reason to run holiday advertising as Christmas. This all brings us to a bigger point: There are thousands of niche holidays, and you can probably find at least one for your specific audience… - Pet owners: April 11th, National Pet Day. - Anime fans: April 15th, National Anime Day. You get the gist. Point is, people often use holiday promotions as an excuse to buy things they want. And if you can find excuses to run ads on obscure, niche holidays, you might be able to make some extra sales. For inspiration, Hubspot put together a list of [278 niche holidays]( you can use—and this is only the tip of the iceberg. If you liked this insight, you’re going to love our most recent Deep Dive. It’s packed with holiday marketing tactics and insights to help you get ahead. [Check out the preview here.]( ROUNDING UP THE STACK [BUSINESS:]( What’s a deal with a Kardashian worth to a company’s share price? Who profits from your morning cup of coffee? Chartr subscribers know! Join 230,000+ others who love snackable charts and easy-to-remember data insights. [Sign up for free today.](* [INSTAGRAM:]( If you can pin posts, why not show ads? Instagram may soon allow you to show ads on your profile feed. That’s the second piece of good news for Instagram influencers today. [ADVERTISING:]( It’s official now! Netflix chose Microsoft as their global advertising partner to serve ads on the streaming platform. Up for some Netflix and… ROAS? [ANALYTICS:]( “My brand is different.” Well, good news if you’re unique, because custom objectives are finally coming to Google Analytics 4 (GA4). This means you’ll be able to select any event as a conversion and better track performance. [TWITTER:]( Split tweet. Twitter is rolling out A/B tweet tests on the ads API. Does this mean new third-party testing tools are coming soon? [SEO:]( Local SEO “recipes,” SEO gap analysis, visual search tactics… These are a few of the nuggets dropped so far in MozCon 2022. The official “Day One” recap will catch you up on the deets. [GOOGLE:]( Google My Business mobile app is officially retired. It’s not surprising… Google had already rebranded the feature Business Profile and moved the app management to Maps and Search. Still, it will take some getting used to… *This is a sponsored post BRAIN TEASER Can you write down eight eights so that they add up to one thousand? You can find [the answer here](. [poolside-logo] POOLSIDE CHAT No fears, just vibes [article-image] Do your friends say you’re a great hype person? … Then maybe you should apply for an official [“vibes manager” for an NFT company.]( With crypto crashing, and NFTs and tokens losing their shine, companies are struggling to maintain both hope and hype. So they’re hiring “vibes managers,” people who can promote new projects to incoming investors and existing founders. If they can just manifest those vibes enough, maybe we’ll see crypto’s fortunes revive… SHARING IS CARING Know what’s easier than negotiating a permanent “work from home” deal with the C-suite? Sharing today’s newsletter with other people. Not only that, it makes you look insanely well-informed in front of other marketers... and it might even help you build rapport with the right executives. Plus, you earn great rewards. Every time you share your custom link—and your friends and coworkers subscribe—you earn points toward exclusive content, merch, and more. Get started by hitting the link below! [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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