📈 Good descriptions.

TikTok vs. Instagram Reels, how to craft the first sentence of a cold email, and more. September 5, 2022 [Read in browser]( [logo] [sponsor]( Good morning. Deliverability is essential. Subject lines are important. But marketers don’t talk enough about the importance of first sentences. We’re hoping to correct that today. You’ll see what we mean in today’s The Crew’s Insights section. ADVERTISING Netflix ads may be available sooner than expected [article-image] Looks like someone’s in a hurry… Netflix had initially planned to launch their ad-supported tier in early 2023, but now the company says it [could be as soon as November 1st.]( What we know so far: It seems Netflix wants to beat Disney+, which is set to release their ad tier in early December. According to reports, Netflix plans to release the tier in multiple countries including the US, UK, Canada, France, and Germany. … And it’s not cheap: Netflix plans to charge advertisers around $65 per 1000 views. There’s also a cap of $20M so viewers don’t see the same ads too often. Additionally, the ad-supported tier will have an ad load of 4 minutes per an hour of TV shows, or they'll roll before the movies start. Why we care: If you intend to advertise on streaming platforms, now’s the time to plan your strategy. And now that you have an idea of how much CPCs will cost, budget forecasting should be a little easier. GOOGLE It’s official: Examples of good and bad meta descriptions now out You don’t have to guess anymore. Google [updated their help document with examples]( of the best and worst practices when creating your article’s meta description. It’s pretty straightforward: The bad: These practices won’t cut it… - Listing keywords: “sewing supplies, yarn, colored pencils, sewing machines, threads, bobbins, needles.” - Redundant descriptions: “Local news in Whoville, delivered to your doorstep. Find out what happened today.” - No summary: “Eggs are a source of joy in everyone’s life. When I was a small child, I remember…” - Too short: “mechanical pencil.” The good: These practices will keep your website on Google’s good side… - Explain in-depth details about the store: “Get everything you need to sew your next garment. Open Monday-Friday 8-5pm, located in the Fashion District.” - Use a snippet from a specific news page: “Upsetting the small town of Whoville, a local elderly man steals everyone’s presents the night before an important event.” - Summarize the whole page: “Learn how to cook eggs with this complete guide in 1 hour or less.” - Be specific and detailed: “Self-sharpening mechanical pencil that autocorrects your penmanship. Includes 2B auto-replenishing lead…free shipping on $50+”. Why we care: Knowing what Google is paying attention to can help you improve your rankings and traffic. It’s especially helpful to get specific guidance on Google’s meta description preferences, given how rarely it uses them… If you’re an SEO, you know what we mean. SPONSORED BY SEMRUSH The solopreneur’s toolkit for getting more money out of your content marketing efforts [article-image]( Creating winning content is not easy. You’ve got a small budget. Resources are scarce… and you have to compete against big players. It’s like playing a chess game against a joint venture of Grandmasters. There aren’t many pieces left on the board… And not much time before expenses get bigger than revenue. [That’s why Semrush created the Content Marketing Platform](: It helps solopreneurs develop and scale their content marketing, all from one place. With Semrush’s platform, you get more revenue from your content efforts by: - Easily finding fresh, new content ideas. - Optimizing your content so that new customers can find you. - Saving work hours by automating your content tasks. With only one content toolkit, you can enhance your visibility, reach new customers, and drive sales. [Save money on content marketing while making more from it. Try it free.]( SOCIAL MEDIA TikTok vs. Reels: Which one will get you the most views and revenue? [article-image] They appear the same at first. But if you want to turn your videos into traffic and conversion machines, it pays to look a little closer at the differences between TikTok and Reels. [Tim Duncan’s Twitter thread]( walks you through four key differences between the two platforms. Let’s unravel this spool… 1 - The algorithm: Both platforms optimize for watch time. However, it’s not the percentage of the video viewing that makes a difference, but the time. With Instagram, it doesn’t matter how long your video is. TikTok, on the other hand, prefers longer content. Instagram prefers videos that are 6–10 seconds long. TikTok likes them to be between 25 and 60 seconds long. 2 - The description: On TikTok, there’s an 80-character description limit. On Instagram? The limit is 2108. Users will read your Reels description while reviewing the video several times, so the ideal Reels formula would be a 6-second video with a long, interesting description. 3 - Reach: TikTok happily sends traffic to any new user. But while you might post one video and get 4M views on TikTok, that doesn’t guarantee consistency or growth. With Instagram, you need to earn your growth over time, which means you have to post frequently for months before things “click.” From there you can snowball… and your reach becomes more stable. 4 - Monetization: Tim believes Instagram is better optimized for making money. You can build sales funnels through Stories, Highlights, etc. However, gaining and building an audience on TikTok is much easier, and you can do it more quickly. Long story short, while the two platforms are different, using one doesn’t exclude the other. The best approach is to repurpose your content on both platforms and build on their strengths to grow your brand awareness. Good luck! SPONSORED BY STACKED MARKETER PRO How a leaked MIT paper can help you gain influence in your market [article-image]( A while ago, a leaked MIT paper showed how game developers architect “users’ frustration” during video games to encourage them to spend more money. Our minds come with many fallacies. And [Part 2 of the System 1 Manipulation repor](t is full of examples of how game developers, salespeople, and companies like Amazon, Facebook and Reddit exploit them. [Join Stacked Marketeer Pro to get it.]( THE CREW’S INSIGHTS How to craft the first sentence of a cold email [article-image] So you’ve convinced someone to open your cold email. Your from name and subject line worked, and so did the preview text. Well done. … But don’t pop the champagne yet. Now it’s time to deliver. Which means… You’re gonna need a damn good first sentence. Done right, the first sentence sets the tone and hooks the reader enough to keep reading your email. We recently came across an email from Superhuman with a fantastic first line: “Hi there 👋 Megan here from the Superhuman Customer Engagement Team! (I’m a real person, I live in the bay area, and I love being outside ⛰️). Here’s how to make an opener like this work: - Create a casual tone. Emojis do the trick in this case, but they may not work for every audience. - Address the awkwardness. The line “I’m a real person” addresses one of the most common objections to cold emails and makes things personal right away. - Relate to the reader. Creating a sense of relatability—hobbies, personality—instantly makes your cold email more enjoyable and relatable. If you’re sending cold emails, keep these three principles in mind next time you send off a batch. They may just help you book that call. ROUNDING UP THE STACK [DESIGN:]( Creatives have a significant impact on your marketing efforts. That’s why marketers at Shopify, Amazon, and Salesforce rely on Superside to get exceptional videos and images. Plus, Superside is seamless, and they deliver quickly. [Elevate your brand with premium creatives.](* [E-COMMERCE:]( Don’t use… Buy with Prime? Shopify says the feature places a code snippet in your storefront that violates Shopify’s terms of service and removes the platform’s ability to protect you from fraudulent data orders and data theft. Hmm… [GOOGLE:]( There’s a new Play Store billing system in pilot mode. It’s called “user choice billing,” and it’s testing alternative billing options besides Play. It’s not available in the US, it’s for apps-only, and it will cut fees by only 4%... for now. [TWITTER:]( Looks like Spaces won’t be a mobile-only feature for much longer. Twitter is working on adding the Spaces bar to the website as well. Can’t say we didn’t see it coming *This is a sponsored post. BRAIN TEASER A man describes his daughters, saying, “They are all blonde, but two; all brunette but two; and all redheaded but two.” How many daughters does he have? You can find the [answer here.]( [poolside-logo] POOLSIDE CHAT Janet Jackson crashes computers [article-image] Who needs hackers when you can play the right music? The hack: Apparently, a major manufacturer found out that playing Janet Jackson’s hit “Rhythm Nation” [would crash certain laptop models](. Turns out a part of the song contained natural resonant frequencies used by the devices’ hard drives, causing them to stop working. The solution: To solve the problem, engineers had to add custom audio filters that removed the offending frequencies during audio playback. Not even computers are immune to Janet Jackson’s videos, we guess… SHARING IS CARING We’re total suckers for the rule of reciprocity. It seriously means a lot to us when you share our newsletter. 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