📥 Promote.

The new app that’s getting more downloads than eBay, TikTok announces its first new feature in a while, and more. February 9, 2023 [Read in browser]( [logo] [sponsor]( Happy Thursday. Things you didn’t know you need to survive a winter in the office: - A warm hoodie. - A cozy mug. - Good things to read. Shh, it’s OK, we’re ready to send you all three. You’ll find the details at the bottom of today’s stack. TIKTOK Just served: More ways to target with Promote [article-image] Since 2021, TikTok’s Promote tool has made it possible to turn organic vertical videos into ads. Pretty cool. Now [the company is adding a few more features to Promote]( which should give you more options around who you target – and what you’re targeting them for. So shiny: In a bid to “make advertising easier and more accessible,” TikTok is introducing… - Traffic to your TikTok page. You can add a call-to-action (CTA) that will drive viewers directly to your profile from a promoted video. - A slippery slide into your DMs. The “more messages” goal allows you to drive traffic directly to your inbox. Important if you’re relying on interaction with customers. - Boosts for creator content. If you’re a brand working with influencers, you can now promote their videos and LIVE videos to help increase views to their target audience. - Specific location targeting. The location targeting feature allows local businesses to hit only nearby users with ads. Why we care: It’s been a while since we had an update from TikTok. But the app seems to have picked up where it left off: doubling down on advertising. It’s not surprising, since TikTok wants to assert itself as a dominant e-commerce platform. Remember when it [introduced Shopping Ads last summer](? Oh, and speaking of e-commerce platforms… E-COMMERCE This shopping app got more US downloads than eBay … And before you start guessing, check this out: the app only just landed in the US market in August! We’re talking about Temu, a discovery-based shopping app that provides [personalized shopping feeds]( of mostly affordable products. Maybe you’ve heard of it: Pinduoduo, Temu’s parent company, invests heavily in paid acquisition, aiming to get loads of users quickly so its algorithm-based suggestions kick off as soon as possible. Thanks to its compelling recommendations page, Temu is able to gather customer data fast. Guess who swiped this approach and spent $1B on ads to launch in 2018? Yep, TikTok. What makes Temu so popular? You know how TikTok shows users content based on their interests? Temu does the same – only with interesting and inspiring products. And it’s the first major shopping platform in the US to do this. That’s what makes it different from eBay and Amazon, both of which show suggestions, but are primarily search platforms. Can’t stop: But Temu brings another innovation to the table – it makes shopping feel like a game. From earning credits towards branded products by playing games, to creating thematic shopping carts of small, non-essential items you’d want to get in the future… Effective ways to keep people engaged, no? Why we care: Temu’s launch came right before the holiday season—probably not a coincidence. In four months, [it swallowed 16.5M downloads](. For perspective: that’s 400k more than eBay and “just” 1.2M fewer downloads than Etsy. Wow. If you’re in e-commerce, it’s a good platform to keep an eye on… SPONSORED BY STACKED MARKETER PRO How to stand out in the DTC saturated market: 3 marketing case studies [article-image]( Is the DTC market saturated? Not if you know how to stand out. [We analyzed the marketing playbooks of three outstanding brands in super-competitive markets.]( Peel Peel is a masterclass in carving a seven figure business in a competitive market: phone cases. Swiping ideas from this Stacked Marketer Pro report should put your marketing ahead of 80% of your competition. Goli Want to know how one of the biggest supplement brands conducts business? This Deep Dive shows you how to comply with Facebook ad policies, reveals Goli’s celebrity strategy to break past $100M, and more. Pete & Pedro Yes, it’s a huge brand in the male grooming space, but the truth is… Pete & Pedro isn’t doing anything out-of-reach for a DTC marketer. Case in point: its longest-running Facebook Ads could be shot, set up, and run by just about anybody. [Join Stacked Marketer Pro for $7 to get these three reports and 20+ more.]( PRICING Try to avoid this dangerous pricing model [article-image] Guess what? Shoppers love to spend. What they hate is feeling like they’ve been played. For example: imagine you go to a restaurant. You see the prices listed on the menu, good. You order your food. Great. … But when you get the bill, it’s 10–20% more expensive than you expected because of “hidden fees.” You ask why, and the server says you’re paying for cutlery, mandatory tip, service fee, etc. on top of your bill. And you’re finding out only after you have already finished eating. Yep, that’s a real tactic called drip pricing, [and Michael Bateman has written all about it.]( And yes, it’s a super effective way to extract more money because of the purchasing psychology behind it: once a shopper makes a buying decision, they don’t usually look back. Shoppers tend to focus on the initial price. By the time they get to the final “drip” price, they’ve already committed and they go “ah, well” as they checkout. Take Airbnb, for example. You find an apartment for $50 a night, but when you finally reach the checkout, you see a service fee, cleaning fee, country tax… and the price doubles. This trend is starting to appear in various industries, from hospitality to airlines. And as this trend becomes more common, more businesses will follow suit because they’ll feel themselves at a disadvantage if all their competitors are doing it. So why is this dangerous? Because even if it can make you more money in the short run, it makes your customers feel cheated out and upset. And you lose credibility long term. In a world where even legit businesses adopt “scammy” models, you should think twice. OK, so… what’s the solution? If you can avoid it – do it. It could help you retain tons of customers. But if you can’t, at least be honest about it. Don’t hide your fee away until the final checkout point. Instead, be open about it before shoppers commit. That’s how you’ll retain both your customers and your reputation. SPONSORED BY ADBISON How much are you paying for clicks and exposure that don’t happen? [article-image]( Fraud, bots, low quality audiences… they're everywhere. [AdBison]( makes sure you're showing personalized ads to real humans. How? [With TRIBUNAL](, AdBison’s in-house system that filters traffic using 52 metrics and data points. But that's not all. You can dramatically increase your traffic with AdBison Premium, get individual placement bidding, and earn up to 10% cashback on your spend. [Deposit $1,000 to be one of the first 20 readers to get AdBison Premium for free.]( THE CREW’S INSIGHTS 3 ways to write funny emails without inducing cringe [article-image] Being funny is one of those traits everyone thinks they have, but few people actually possess. So when marketers across the world sit down to write humorous sales emails, some hit the mark, and some really, really don’t. Here’s the good news: We read a bunch of funny emails and broke down the common traits of the best ones. There are a few tactics you can use in your own campaigns: - Break character. People have preconceived notions about marketing emails and tactics. Most of those notions include the word “boring.” Breaking character and being self-referential in classically “boring” marketing tactics is often entertaining. - Make a casual topic serious. One of our favorite emails is a sales email from the olive oil brand Graza titled “We Take Olive Oil Very Seriously.” It works because most people don’t give a second thought to their olive oil, so it’s attention-grabbing and mildly funny. - Put a twist on a classic phrase. One email used the line “We came. We launched. We conquered.” It’s not hilarious, but it’s fun, and it works. One thing we’ve noticed: The funniest emails don’t try too hard. You’ll notice the tactics above are fairly simple—nothing fancy. That’s because marketers aren’t comedians, and pulling off a complex joke is difficult. Instead of trying to make your email laugh-out-loud funny, focus on making it entertaining. Your goal is a purchase, not a laugh. For more email tactics, check out [our email marketing swipe file in Stacked Marketer Pro](. ROUNDING UP THE STACK [GIVEAWAY:]( Get a chance to win a $1,000 Amazon gift card with The Marketer’s Ultimate Newsletter bundle. Subscribe to these five awesome newsletters in one go, and you’re in for a chance to get that $1,000 gift card. [Enter here for free.](* [TWITTER:]( More words, more words, more words… that’s it, that’s the whole Tweet. In memorable fashion, Twitter just announced that longer Tweets are available to US Twitter Blue subscribers. If that’s you, you just got a lot more room to play around with… [YOUTUBE:]( Want to go big? You may want to look at this overview of the new Cost-Per-Hour Masthead ad placement on YouTube. It puts you in front of major events, product launches, company announcements, and more. Big ads require big bucks, though. [GOOGLE](: Heads up. Google will be renaming the “Webmaster Guidelines” section of the Abusing the ad network policy to “Spam policies for Google Web Search.” A small but important rename. [INSTAGRAM](: Awww, for me? Instagram is expanding its Gifts feature—which allows users to buy gifts for creators—to more users in the US. You can check if you’re eligible by going to your Professional Dashboard… [YOUTUBE:]( No more missed replies. YouTube is making it easier to find comment responses on Shorts. You can use it to find replies you have or haven’t responded to, as well as to check if there are new replies to your response. Handy. *This is a sponsored post BRAIN TEASER There are three stoves: a glass stove, brick stove, and wood stove. You only have one match. Which would you light first? You can find the [answer here](. [poolside-logo] POOLSIDE CHAT We may have a new future eSports champion [article-image] Look out, eSports players. It goes by the name of Nexto, and it will probably kick your… ah, soccer ball. … Because, as you’ve already guessed, [Nexto is an artificial intelligence bot](. The AI player was recently thrown into Rocket League, a car-based soccer game that requires fast reflexes and plenty of practice to master. How did Nexto fare on his debut? He dribbled with that car like prime Messi, going past players like Mbappe and flicking the ball off the hood to score some Neymar-like volleys. Urgh… gone are the days where chess players were the only ones wary of the machine. SHARING IS CARING Did you forget something? Remember: exclusive content and awesome merch are just a few referrals away. When you share our newsletter with other smart marketers—and they subscribe—you can earn access to premium rewards, like: - Two of our Stacked Marketer Pro reports (8 and 15 referrals), which are normally worth $99 each. - The Marketer Mug (30 referrals). … And more. Hit the link below to get started! 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