Amazon ⚔️ Meta.

Why advertisers are dropping Meta for Amazon, BeReal’s downloads plummet for the first time, and more. February 13, 2023 [Read in browser]( [logo] [sponsor]( Good morning. Punctuation is expensive. If you don’t believe us, [read one marketer’s fascinating speculation]( about the reason Google lost $100B following its AI demonstration. Just one more reason to dot your i’s, cross your t’s, and mind your commas… ADVERTISING Amazon digs into Meta’s market, Yelp breaks records [article-image] Nom nom nom… looks like Amazon is eating Meta’s share of the pie. In a surprising turn, more and more brands are [shifting their ad budgets from Meta to Amazon](. Why the change? Marketers have long relied on Meta’s powerful ad targeting. But after Apple’s privacy updates, Meta’s targeting suffered quite a bit. Meanwhile, Amazon has been working hard to improve its own ad tech—and the investment is paying off. Marketers are getting ROAS from Amazon, where shoppers generally have higher intent and search for particular items. The cup floweth over: … With cash. Amazon reported a staggering [19% year-over-year growth last quarter](, while Meta saw a 4% decline, falling for the third consecutive quarter. Of course, Amazon has just 7.3% of ad market share compared to Meta’s 20.8%. But Amazon’s continues to grow, while Meta’s continues to slide. And Yelp needs no help: The company had a memorable last quarter, with [net revenue jumping to $310M](—a record-breaking 13% increase. CFO David Schwarzbach says Yelp’s growth is due to advertisers taking advantage of its “high-intent, more affluent audience.” Why we care: When you’ve got the budget and you’re looking to diversify, it’s helpful to know which channels are working for advertisers. If you’re in e-commerce, Amazon is probably worth testing out, if you haven’t already. And if you’re in retail, dining, or some other brick and mortar space, Yelp could be worth experimenting with, too. Speaking of channels… APPS BeReal’s new reality, and Spotify’s new climb Uh oh… looks like BeReal is facing its first downward trend since launch. Meanwhile, Spotify’s growth curve seems to be hitting Kilimanjaro levels. Don’t call it a Clubhouse: BeReal peaked at 1.25M weekly downloads in August 2022. It’s seen a [steep 95% decline since](. But it might be too early to call BeReal a passing fad. The app still has a steady number of daily active users, and there’s a chance seasonality is affecting download numbers. Spotify wrapped: The popular music streaming app [ended the year with 62M downloads](. Not only that, it gained nearly a quarter of a billion new users in 2022, and has captured one billion users since 2018. Why we care: The BeReal scenario proves that even great ideas hit a wall. Between the slump in downloads and Instagram and TikTok stealing the app’s core features, recovery is difficult, for sure. But not impossible. And if you’ve been wanting to run ads on Spotify, now’s probably a great time to start… SPONSORED BY HUBSPOT Be honest… [article-image]( Are you making marketing decisions based on what your customers want… or based on your gut? With the economy tightening, connecting with customers is only going to get harder—unless you know what they’re looking for. To understand consumer actions and expectations in 2022, we surveyed 1,000+ individuals across the US, [then collected our findings in one place](. And in [this report from Brandwatch and HubSpot](, you’ll discover how Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers are making consumer decisions, from purchasing habits to social media, data privacy, and more. You’ll learn: - The values they expect from companies. - The channels they use to make purchases. - Why trends are changing across the board. - The impact that brand activities and influencers have on purchase decisions. - How matching expectations can make all the difference in revenue. … And loads more. [Find out what consumers want from your brand now.]( MARKETING Why collecting first-party data is so vital—and how to do it effectively [article-image] You probably noticed: targeting is already hard, and it’s getting harder as more restrictions get imposed on platforms. Which means you need to rely more on data you collect on your own properties. This is known as first-party data. And setting up your business to collect it will give you a valuable pool of user information you can use for campaigns. First-party data comes with a plethora of upsides like: - Consent. People who give you a name, email, and phone numbers want to hear from you. Much better than interrupting someone who hasn’t consented to your messages. - Secured data. Users that consent know that their data isn’t used for third-party ads. - One-to-one. You can segment users by intent, interests, stages of the buying process, and more. - Automated campaign improvement. Take Google’s Performance Max campaigns, for example, where you can add a bunch of audience signals using first-party data. Very cool. One of the most effective ways to collect first-party data is to add pop-ups to your website. Of course, do them wrong, and pop-ups will be annoying, intrusive, and counterintuitive. Thankfully, Navah Hopkins [shared three pop-up strategies]( that should help you be engaging without being annoying: #1 – Entrance offers. This pop-up happens when a first-time visitor comes to your website. Try to welcome them in an engaging manner by inviting them to play a game for a discount, for example. Navah recommends using a two-step offer, [something like this.]( #2 – Exit offers. These pop-ups tend to have lower engagement but can yield powerful last-minute results. You should make the offer engaging, the copy easy to read, and have everything focused on the offer. [Here’s an example.]( #3 – Valued member. Here, focus on the brand voice and give something of value, like a special offer, [inviting visitors to be the first to know about discounts or product launches](, and more. This element can attract users that value brand loyalty and relationship building. Got it? Time to collect first-party data! Try one, or try them all – and watch the data come in. SPONSORED BY THE PEAK STUDIO Steal Robinhood's secret weapon—without having to buy a media company [article-image]( B2B marketers are competing with media publishers and apps for customers' attention. That's why HubSpot and Robinhood bought media companies. But if you don't have $30M to spend on a newsletter… [there's always The Peak Studio.]( [The Peak Studio team grew their flagship daily newsletter to 100,000+]( subscribers with a 50%+ open rate. And now, they’re ready to help you create your own high-engagement newsletter. All you have to do is hit send. [Book a chat.]( THE CREW’S INSIGHTS Are your branded search campaigns wasting money this way? [article-image] Imagine this: You search for your brand on Google and a competitor’s ad pops up right next to yours. Oh no. “They’re bidding on my keywords,” you think. So you quickly create a branded search campaign and bid on your brand’s keywords to secure real estate against your competitors. You’ve fixed the problem… right? Actually… you might be throwing away your ad dollars on clicks that your competitors aren’t even bidding on. Before you bid on your brand’s keywords, check your auction insights report first. Then ask yourself four questions: - Are your competitor’s ads showing up often alongside your ads? (Overlap rate). - Are your competitor’s ads regularly showing up above yours? (Position above rate). - Are your ads mostly showing up above your competitors or appearing when theirs aren’t? (Outranking share). - Are your competitor’s ads ranking in top positions of the search results? (Top of page rate). If you answer “No” to most of these questions, running a branded campaign may not be a smart investment for your brand. The Crew’s Insight: Don’t let a simple Google search dictate your ad strategy. You may be wasting your money. Do your due diligence first with auction insights and go from there, because your ad dollars might be better spent somewhere else. ROUNDING UP THE STACK [MARKETING INSIGHTS:]( How does this supplements brand get away with ads on Facebook? How do you create a top 1% email marketing campaign? Or get up to $4,000 in discounts on tools and services? Learn all this and more with Stacked Marketer Pro. [Get full access for 7 days for just $7](.* [AI MARKETING:]( Sneak peek alert! Here’s how search advertising may look in Bing’s AI-generated responses. It appears you can see the websites the AI gets answers from when you hover over a source, along with ad placements. Interesting… [GOOGLE:]( Gambling is getting more regulated in the Brazilian market. Starting March 30, all advertisers promoting “complex speculative products” such as financial spread betting will have to be licensed by the country's authorities and certified with Google. Good to know. [INFLUENCER MARKETING:]( Remember Brand Connect? YouTube’s platform that connects brands with content creators is “shaking up its business model” and moving from a hands-on program to a “self-service” model. Could open opportunities for some interesting collabs. [GOOGLE:]( Clip that coupon directly from Search. Google’s visual, clippable coupon feature was already available in Google Shopping, but now users can see it directly on their search engines. You may want to try it out, too. *This is a sponsored post BRAIN TEASER I’m tall when I’m young and I’m short when I’m old. What am I? You can find the [answer here](. [poolside-logo] POOLSIDE CHAT 9 lives and 3 personalities [article-image] The Myers Briggs test has 16 personality types. Meanwhile, it looks like the Meow Briggs test offers… three. Yep, a breakthrough discovery in cat psychology concluded that cats [have only three personalities](: - Playful cat (PC). This is your typical extroverted cat, eager for any opportunity to engage another furball in a tight, jolly, grip. The cheerful “YOLOs” of the group. - Agnostic cat (AC). Kind of like aggressive INTJs. Don’t touch them on their “off” days, because they might treat you like a mouse. Will likely attack you on the “on” days, too. - Intermediate cat (IC). Some days they’re purring, rolling around playfully… other days they’re hissing and clawing. Quite moody, this bunch. So is your cat a PC, AC, or IC? SHARING IS CARING Our newsletter goes great with coffee. … And tea. And Red Bull. And whatever you’re drinking these days. Oh, and guess what? When you get 30 marketers to subscribe, we send you a free mug to go with your beverage of choice. Plus, you unlock other prizes along the way, like: - The Crew’s Top 10 Insights (2 referrals). - The Ultimate Holiday Marketing Deep Dive (4 referrals). … And more. 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. 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