🤕 Bracketing.

Every platform wants to be an ad channel, a brutal e-commerce trend, and more. November 29, 2022 [Read in browser]( [logo] [sponsor]( Good morning, can you help us? We’d love to learn more about you and [get your thoughts on our newsletter](. Don’t worry, it’s super easy and should take less time than brushing your teeth. In exchange for your answers, we’ll send you a free copy of The Ultimate Holiday Marketing Deep Dive (normally $99). Simply [answer the questions](, reply with a screenshot of a submitted survey, and we’ll send you the guide. Come to think of it, getting marketing tips worth $99 for answering a few questions isn’t a bad way to start a Tuesday… ADVERTISING You’all got anymore of them ads? [article-image] As if you needed any more proof that ads make the digital world go around… Now Yahoo wants in: The company is making Taboola its native ads partner, [taking a 25% minority stake in the advertising network](. Why? Because “digital advertising has a huge wind at its back over the long term,” according to Yahoo’s CEO Jim Lanzone. Better than Prime: Meanwhile, Amazon’s recent earnings report shows that the company [made $36B from ads this year](, a 58% increase from 2021. That’s $2B more than all of Amazon’s subscription services combined, including Prime video, music, eBooks, and Audible. Whoa. Microsoft plans to double down: The tech giant spent the year expanding and improving its ad network and features, and is [planning to double its ad revenue to $20B next year](. Microsoft’s leadership wants to “differentiate from competitors,” possibly providing streaming ads, gaming ads, and more through partnerships and their own assets. Why we care: The good news is, if you’re in the digital advertising space, you’ll probably never run out of work. It seems the only problem will be picking the right ad platform as channels keep expanding and adding new networks. Exciting times! E-COMMERCE Bracketing might be your new headache Some people make brackets for fantasy football or the World Cup. And others prefer making brackets for… merchandise. According to a [recent survey, 63% shoppers reported bracketing this year](, a practice where they order variations of the same item, keep the one that fits, and return the rest. It’s a hair-puller: 15% of users say “it’s just the way they shop,” and for better or worse, bracketing is rapidly becoming a habit among consumers… … And a logistical nightmare for e-commerce brands. Getting items back via carriers after investing resources in packaging and fulfillment, plus removing items someone else could buy from stock… you get the gist. What you can do: It’s a tough problem for retail brands. Scrapping free shipping and returns takes away convenience, which could also hurt your brand and make you fall behind competitors. However, some surveys found that offering sizing charts, precise measurements, and honest customer reviews can prevent bracketing. So can new technologies like virtual and augmented reality, which can help customers try on or visualize items before they order them. The more you know… SPONSORED BY CLEARBIT How to quickly identify dream B2B customers that propel your growth [article-image]( There are customers that will never be satisfied. And then there are customers that love your product and talk well about you at marketing conferences. There is an easy way to attract great customers… And that’s by defining your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) – customers that get the most from your solution and become advocates. [Clearbit and HubSpot teamed up to provide you with a guide]( on how to create, activate and scale your ICP, with a free interactive worksheet. [Defining your ICP can help you with:]( - Lead Scoring and Routing: Prioritize sales reps’ time and build a seamless buyer journey. - Ad targeting: Targeting your ICP on ad platforms keeps costs low and conversions high. - Web Personalization: When you know your ICP, you can identify the types of segments to personalize your site for. - Intent-based outreach: Identify ICP accounts visiting your website for more personalized outreach that converts. [Get dream customers only – free download.]( SOCIAL MEDIA The anatomy of a perfect Reddit ad [article-image] Reddit ads can pose quite the challenge. Yes, Reddit offers a highly-engaged user base that you can hit with precise targeting and cheap traffic. But that same user base has little patience for ads. While it’s not easy to make ads that Redditors actually like, there is good news. Reddit released an [official best practices guide]( that should help you figure things out. Let’s start crafting… Reddit says there are two aspects in ad creatives you should focus your attention on: #1 – Headlines and messaging. Reddit users read. A lot. And headlines that manage to call out product benefits and value propositions are among top-performing campaigns. When it comes to copy, treat your audience as you’d treat well-informed friends. Your tone should be authentic and conversational, while staying true to your brand. #2 – Creative assets. Feature both images and videos in your ads, since users enjoy both. Also, Reddit says 80% of the top performing video campaigns reveal the brand logo within the first three seconds. So make sure you follow this three-second rule as well. In addition to the above, Reddit offers several other tips that should help: - Leverage conversation placement to hit places where users are most engaged. - Use KarmaLab, Reddit’s in-house creative strategy team, for creative support. - Experiment with humour and pop-culture references. Redditors love that. - Demonstrate platform knowledge by calling out specific subreddits, themes, etc. - Don’t use hashtags and emojis, because Redditors don’t use them. - Provide value in your ads. If they’re well crafted, users will engage with them. That’s pretty much it. The only thing left is to fire up the ad manager and start working. Remember, Reddit is a very different platform from Meta and Snap. Cater to Redditors’ interests and preferences, and you’ll see results. SPONSORED BY #PAID How to recession-proof your sales with creator marketing [article-image]( Yes, experts are predicting a recession in 2023, but there is some good news: During a recession, consumers still spend money. They just do it differently. [In a live virtual event on December 7](, the #paid team will show you trends, tactics, and creative solutions for decreasing your risk by integrating creators with your marketing campaigns. [Save your spot for the event—it’s free to attend.]( THE CREW’S INSIGHTS How Haruki Murakami consistently writes bestselling novels [article-image] If you haven’t read Murakami, you’ve at least heard of him. He’s penned a number of modern classics, like 1Q84 and Norwegian Wood. A movie called Drive My Car, based on one of his short stories, won the Oscar for Best International Feature Film this year. In other words, Murakami knows writing. And if you’ve been paying attention to this section of the newsletter in the past, you know we love sharing frameworks from authors, from Stephen King to Neil Gaiman to Brandon Sanderson. Here’s Murakami’s novel-writing rule: [He writes]( a specific amount of words each day, about 1,600. No more, no less. If he’s feeling particularly inspired, he cuts himself off. And when he just can’t write anything… well, he forces himself to hit his word count anyway. Why? Murakami believes it’s the routine, the daily rhythm of 1,600 words, that helps keep him honest. Otherwise, it’s easy to get out of habit. How this relates to marketing: We think it’s equally good advice for those of you who do any sort of creative work, whether it’s content writing, copywriting, design, performance marketing, etc. We know firsthand that some days, you feel uber-inspired, and other days… you want to do nothing. Murakami’s consistency rule can help you make sure you’re in control of when and how you generate good work, and save you from being at the whim of the creativity gods. Happy writing—or whatever it is you’re working on today! ROUNDING UP THE STACK [CONVERSION RATE OPTIMIZATION:]( We found the ultimate list of conversion-boosting experiments every marketing and growth team must try. 50 successful tests from different brands in beauty, travel, hospitality, fashion, retail, nonprofits, and more. All for free. [Download the list here.](* [SEO:]( So, apparently guest posts should be nofollow. According to John Muller, this has long been Google’s policy, and your links can be treated like spam if caught. John says guest posting is “more of an ad than a natural link.” Bummer… [META:]( Oof, that hurts. Meta has been charged with a $275M penalty for breaching Europe’s data protection law. The fine is related to an inquiry opened in mid-April of last year, when the personal data of 530M Facebook users was exposed online. [INFLUENCER MARKETING](: A lot of money has been invested in the influencer industry – $16.4B this year alone, to be precise. Even more interesting are the returns on that spend. It’s worth it, as long as you get a few things right. *This is a sponsored post BRAIN TEASER What can be swallowed, but can also swallow you? You can find [the answer here]([.]( [poolside-logo] POOLSIDE CHAT Videobombing elephants [article-image] You know how it goes: you see a reporter doing a live broadcast, and you just have to jump into the frame. You can’t resist grabbing 15 seconds of fame, and apparently, [elephants can’t resist it, either](. Several elephants recently interrupted a reporter's speech halfway through with their own attempts to fit onto the screen. Their timing couldn’t be more perfect, really. Before the interruption, the reporter was describing the threats faced by these adorable creatures. How can you ignore the plight of elephants after such an adorable video bomb? SHARING IS CARING Honestly, our newsletter is better with a beverage. And reading Stacked Marketer while drinking your favorite beverage in a great mug? It’s perfect. We’d love to send you a mug to go with your coffee, tea, or… whatever you drink in the mornings. All you have to do is share our newsletter with other smart marketers. Once you get to 30 referrals, we’ll send you a free mug. You’ll unlock other prizes along the way, too, like: - The Crew’s Top 10 Insights (2 referrals) - Access to the growing library of The Crew’s Insights (4 referrals) Sip. Mmm, not bad. Share the referral link below to get started! [article-image]( [CLICK TO SHARE]( Or copy your referral link: [ [SUBSCRIBE]( | [SM PRO]( | [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. Or you can unsubscribe from all daily updates by clicking [here.]( Our postal address: Spectrum IT Solutions GmbH, Canettistrasse 1/Top 0107, 1100 Wien, Austria