🛒 100+.

Shopify rolls out a cartload of updates, Microsoft Advertising is coming to new markets, and more. February 10, 2023 [Read in browser]( [logo] [sponsor]( Happy Friday. A friend recently suggested that people who claim they enjoy winter only “enjoy” it for the things they do to get away from it. You know, things like snuggling up in a warm house, drinking hot chocolate, soaking in hot tubs… activities that have nothing to do with the cold. Do you agree? Hit reply and let us know. We’re not totally convinced… E-COMMERCE Hello, Shopify one-page checkout… and 100+ more updates [article-image] Yep, you read that number right. Shopify just [dropped more than a hundred product enhancements]( to improve the Shop App and lubricate the checkout process. Mobile shopping is huge: Need proof? Shopify has been polishing its shoppable marketplace mobile platform called Shop. New features include: - Shop Minis, a software developer kit (SDK) for mobile devs that helps you “extend their Shopify app functionality to Shop.” - Shop Store customizations. You can now add product collections, best sellers, reviews, branding, and add Shop Minis features to build more brand presence. - Shop Cash campaigns. You can target Shopify customers that have earned Shop cash—a special platform currency they earn while shopping—with special offers, and pay only when the customer is acquired. - Sign in with Shop, which helps you identify high-value customers earlier during the buyer’s journey. Very smooth: Shopify also introduced a one-page checkout, removing the previous touchpoints customers had to go through before reaching the checkout page. Oh, and there’s a new drag-and-drop Checkout Editor that lets you build an entire one-page checkout experience without needing any code. Sweet. Why we care: This is all good news for Shopify merchants and developers. The improved Shop App could help you boost sales and acquisition on smart devices, while the one-page checkout should streamline the buyer journey and reduce abandoned carts, among other things. And speaking of improvements… MICROSOFT Rosy updates just in time for Valentine’s Day Why yes, Microsoft does have Valentine’s Day plans: it’s expanding into new markets. Again. Not only that, but the ad giant [announced a number of ad updates]( that could make advertising on the platform festive as we approach Valentine's Day. Have ads, will travel: Microsoft Advertising just landed in 34 new markets, racking up its total availability to a grand total of 164 markets. And now you can dip into these markets with improved advertising tools like: - Enhanced cost-per-click (ECPC) and last-touch attribution. They’re both available in all markets, giving you ways to optimize and automate your bidding strategy. - Data exclusions for automated bidding should support bidding algorithms in the event of website outages or unexpected changes in conversion tracking. - New in-market audience segments for Valentine’s Day are now [available in several countries](. - Pilot for custom combinations allows you to create combined lists of different audience types including Customer Match, Custom Audiences, Remarketing, etc. - Better conversion tracking, including Universal Event Tracking (UET) tag deletion, simpler custom events, and the ability to implement tracking across your account. - Google imports smart campaigns available in 11 new markets, including the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, France, and more. Why we care: After big AI-related announcements in recent days, Microsoft has gone back to updating and expanding its network – which is potentially good news for advertisers. Despite more automation, it seems you’ll still have control over your campaigns, while the addition of exclusions can ensure your campaigns don’t hit a wall in unpredictable situations. Now’s a good time to test it all to see if it really works… SPONSORED BY STACKED MARKETER PRO 50 cognitive biases con artists use to trick people—and how you can use them to win customers [article-image]( Why does the “cup and balls” trick work over and over again… even though everyone knows it’s a scam? We decided to research scams like this to find out why they work… … And whether marketers can learn anything from the psychology behind them. Turns out there are 50 cognitive biases that con artists use to win money and sensitive information from unwitting people over and over again. And we found lots of examples of companies leveraging these biases in their marketing. Want to learn how these biases work? You’ll find all the info and marketing examples in our [System 1 Manipulation report](! Note: We’re not encouraging you to trick or scam people. But if you have a legit offer… There are ethical ways to get customers to choose you over the competition. Best part is, you can check the Pro Report on cognitive biases for just $7 for 7 days. And no, that’s not a trick. [Check out the preview of the System 1 Manipulation report.]( MARKETING Is the customer always right? [article-image] It’s a question as old as time. And no matter what you think, a happy customer is a returning customer. So many brands succumb to a policy of overpleasing, no questions asked. But what happens when customers do take advantage of this policy? Or when they don’t understand your product that well... what then? Instead of banging your head against the wall, [Mickey Mellen suggests you make a small tweak]( to this centuries-old policy: A customer is always right, he says, in matters of taste. This means that—from a marketer’s perspective—a customer is never ever wrong. If you offer a red and yellow variation of the product, and the red sells, then red is better. Full stop. The same goes if you’re a service provider. Let’s say you’re cutting hair and your customer wants an odd haircut. You just do it. They pay for it and they’re happy when it’s done. The same goes for when there’s friction. What if your product is great and your customer disagrees, but you’re both misunderstanding the situation? Mickey provides Zendesk’s analogy as an example: a customer reaches out telling you their web chat is broken. You look at the account and notice that they didn’t implement it properly. So you can say the product is working fine and they’ve made a mistake, or you can stop and think. Maybe your documentation should be clearer. Maybe you could improve your onboarding emails. If you assume the customer is always right, you assume responsibility for your customer experience. And in the end, both you and the customer are happier. The bottom line: In business, and especially marketing, it’s crucial to understand what your customers really want as it can help you retain them and improve your own brand. So instead of blindly following the “customer is always right” approach, dive into their complaints and add the aspect of “taste and friction” to the policy. Yes, they can be wrong. But when they’re right, and you understand their intent, you can finetune your marketing strategy – from ranking better on search engines to making your ads pop with conversions. FROM THE CREW Subscribe to Stacked Marketer’s ultimate newsletter bundle for a chance to win a $1,000 Amazon gift card [article-image]( We looove newsletters. So we partnered with four of our favorite newsletters for a very special sweepstake! Simply [subscribe to all the newsletters]( including this one (don't worry, you won't be receiving it twice) to get all the latest marketing news, startup insights, and visual data analysis. And when you do, you’ll automatically be entered for a chance to win an Amazon gift card worth $1,000. Yes, it's that simple. [Go on, sign-up today!]( THE CREW’S INSIGHTS Are we actually in a recession? [article-image] “We’re in a recession.” If we had a dollar for every time we’ve heard that in the last few months, we’d have so much money we’d finally be able to fly all our readers out to Vienna. But… are we in a recession? And if so, what does that mean for marketers? You should know: Recessions are usually confirmed on a delayed timeframe. For example, the recession in December 2007 wasn’t confirmed until December 2008, when half the world had negative GDP growth rates. But, a downturn is likely: [91% of CEOs]( are bracing for a recession, and [97% of CFOs are cutting costs](. So recession or not, companies are being cautious. The recent tech layoffs are a great example of this. What does that mean for you? Well, some customers might be more wary of buying. But even serious recessions only account for a few percentage points of shrinkage in economic activity—which leaves the vast majority of money still in play. The insight? We might be in a recession, but the vast majority of people are still making purchases. Instead of thinking in doom-and-gloom terms, it’s more helpful to recognize that there’s plenty of opportunity out there. Want to learn how to seize that opportunity—and adapt your marketing for a recession? [Join Stacked Marketer Pro to read our latest report](, which teaches you how to craft effective marketing during a recession. ROUNDING UP THE STACK [SAAS MARKETING:]( Growing Up is the free weekly newsletter that helps you build your career in SaaS marketing through sneak peeks into growth experiments, insights into SaaS SEO, and more. There’s a reason 78.83% of subscribers read every issue. [Subscribe to Growing Up for free with one click](.* [TWITTER:]( So, you probably heard about the new 4,000 character limit for Twitter Blue users’ tweets. But did you know Twitter Blue is expanding to three more markets and will soon cut ads shown by half for all premium users? Now you do. [GOOGLE:]( AI-generated content just got the official pass from Google. In its latest blog, Google says it rewards high-quality content “however it's produced.” As long as you use AI to make content better, there’s nothing to worry about. Good to know. [PODCASTS:]( Whoa. A new study shows the majority of US podcast listeners respond after hearing a podcast ad. Moreover, the US podcast ad market is expected to surpass $4B in value next year, with 65% of marketers looking to increase spending. Worth exploring. [SEO:]( If you noticed a “Google Prober” or a “Google Producer” user agent among your traffic metrics, don’t worry – that traffic is legit. Jon Mueller confirmed these are official Google requests and warned that feeds won’t work properly if you block them. *This is a sponsored post BRAIN TEASER I have forests but no trees. I have lakes but no water. I have roads but no cars. What am I? You can find the [answer here](. [poolside-logo] POOLSIDE CHAT 5000x your investment with this simple trick [article-image] Storage Wars? Pawn Stars? How about some simple farm shed hunting instead? While digging through an old outhouse near New York, a local collector found an interesting painting in “pristine condition,” only “covered by a few bird droppings” – and bought it for $600. Turns out the artwork is a “surprisingly well-preserved” oil sketch by [renowned seventeenth century painter Anthony Van Dyck.]( Next thing you know, this same painting gets sold for $3.1M. Talk about some nice ROI. Of course, the bird droppings did drop the price a little bit. What can you do? 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