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A glimmer of hope for e-commerce, Google announces new updates for Performance Max campaigns, and more. February 24, 2023 [Read in browser]( [logo] [sponsor]( Happy Friday. This is an abandoned cart reminder for your dreams: Tomorrow is Saturday. It’s your chance to put your aspirations first, to do that project you’ve been thinking about, to start that book. … Or maybe just to organize that closet you’ve been ignoring until now. Either way, a new weekend means new possibilities, so invest a little cash and time. Looking forward to seeing what you accomplish on the other side… GOOGLE Performance Max is still maximizing [article-image] Google continues improving on Performance Max. Which makes us wonder… will it ever be fully “maxed out”? Anyways, the company announced a [couple of new additions to automated campaigns]( that should help you create and optimize your ads more easily. Whoa, shiny: The new features cover everything from video to reporting… - Page feeds help you send traffic to a specific set of landing page URLs on a website. You can also use labels to group URLs by a theme, which is handy. - Campaign-level brand exclusions allow you to exclude yours or other brand terms so Performance Max doesn’t serve on branded queries you don’t want. - Easier video creation comes with more editing tools that are integrated with Performance Max campaign setup. - New reporting and insights show you conversions, conversion value, cost, and other metrics. There are also budget pacing insights that help you understand how your campaigns work – or will work. Why we care: The new features should help you track campaign metrics at an asset group level, which should help with better ad management and optimization. Also, the new video creation tools could help you create high-quality videos from the campaign setup more simply… even if they’re not at the same level as designated tools. Overall, it’s good to see Google is listening to requests for Performance Max improvements. A good start. E-COMMERCE The E’s are going strong Might be coincidence, might be fate. Either way, both eBay and Etsy reported positive earnings for the previous revenue period—and that seems like a glimmer of hope for e-commerce. Take that, Wall Street: [Etsy topped Wall Street’s revenue estimates](, reporting $802.7M in 2022 revenue. Quite the lift from $717.1M in 2021. Etsy credits its expanded ads program as a “key driver for revenue growth.” … In addition to a successful holiday season, of course. Home goods, clothing, accessories, and jewelry are all seeing an increase in demand. Estimates – beaten: eBay also [reported a better than expected Q4](, hitting $2.5B in revenue. eBay’s ad revenue surged to $319M, a 19% growth compared to last year. More notably, advertising revenue from first-party ad products increased 27% to $276M. These new ad offerings—which include Promoted listings, optimized performance, and more campaign automation—all accelerated ad growth, according to the company’s CEO. Why we care: Yesterday we covered how Walmart’s ad business saw success during the last quarter. Amazon did well, too. And now? We have two more e-commerce giants living their best lives: eBay and Etsy. Hopefully it’s a sign that e-commerce will do just fine this year, despite all the pressures against it. Knock on wood. 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Amanda says it has to be something you’re good at and is interesting to your audience. And you should know how to spice it up and make it engaging. That’s the sweet spot. Bonus tip: research the event and the audience, and review social media and previous conferences to nail the voice and the expectations. #2 – Look out for yourself because no one else will. Even professional speakers forget to prepare stuff like headshots, bio, deck, outlines, etc. in time… and organizers fail to remind them. So make sure you have all the essential stuff prepared in advance, ask for deadlines upfront, and ask for feedback about your outline and deck from the organizers. Also, make a backup of your slides and find multiple ways to access them. That way if something unpredictable happens, you have a plan B. #3 – Practice, practice, practice. And no, that doesn’t mean repeating your words countless times. Think about your pacing, when you’re pausing, and so on. Practice posture, body language, and your gestures in front of your loved ones. And if you can handle it, record yourself and analyze your presentation like an audience member. Big gestures, moving your arms around, walking from one side to the other side of the stage… all these techniques can engage the audience. That may sound like a lot, but with practice it will come naturally. And with that, the stage is set. Hopefully you’re more ready to set it alight with your poise and knowledge. By the way, if you’re speaking in an event soon, let us know, we’d love to check it out! SPONSORED BY STACKED MARKETER PRO From zero to digital copywriting hero – in 2.5 hours [article-image]( When was the last time you read through a 20 pages sales letter before deciding to buy something? Probably never, huh? Then why would you go through a 12-hour course to learn to write long-form copy? That’s why we designed the [Copywriting Essentials course for Stacked Marketer Pro](. In just 2.5 hours, you’ll get the [skills, frameworks, and psychological triggers]( you need to write for the digital world. Not for magalogs. [Get all the details here!]( THE CREW’S INSIGHTS Why does low-quality content perform so well on LinkedIn? [article-image] If you’ve ever scrolled through LinkedIn, you’ll know that the headline to this piece is an overly-generous way to describe most content on LinkedIn. In fact, LinkedIn is so filled with low-effort content that there are [entire Twitter accounts]( dedicated to making fun of it. Why does this happen? A lot of it is due to LinkedIn’s algorithm, which prioritizes certain types of content—and certain levels of engagement. This incentivizes people to engage as early and often as possible, often forming “engagement groups” where everyone engages on everyone else’s content. And, because most people aim for mass appeal, they keep their content as generic as possible. How can you succeed without posting, well, garbage? Two ways: - Remember that reach does not equal quality. Imagine you’re a marketer posting on LinkedIn to reach clients. In this scenario, 30 likes on an insightful post is more valuable than 1,000 likes on a generic post—because those 30 people are able to recognize your insights. They’re the type of people you’d want to work with. - Lead with a clickbaity hook, then transition to good content. There’s no shame in leading with a dramatic hook. It’s what people (even smart people!) are used to reading on LinkedIn. After that, transition to high-quality content. As they say, when in Rome… By the way: our founder, Manu, is [trying some LinkedIn experiments of his own](, in case you want to say hello sometime. ROUNDING UP THE STACK [BUSINESS:]( What’s a deal with a Kardashian worth to a company’s share price? Who profits from your morning cup of coffee? Chartr subscribers know! Join 300,000+ others who love snackable charts and easy-to-remember data insights. [Sign up for free today.](* [YOUTUBE:](… Or YouPod? YouTube announced that it’s bringing both audio-only and video podcasts to YouTube Music soon, with background listening apparently available for free. If you have a podcast, sounds like you just got another distribution channel… [AI MARKETING:]( That last AI-generated image you created may never belong to you. Sounds dramatic, but the US Copyright Office recently disapproved the first copyright registration because the images were not “a product of human authorship.” Guess AI can’t do everything… [LINKEDIN:]( Good news if you’re using the app to build an audience. LinkedIn just added new visual elements for your profile, along with scheduling tools for newsletters. Probably worth checking out if you haven’t already. [SEO:]( Same, same. Turns out Google’s Discover feed uses many of the same signals it uses to determine organic search rankings. So if you’re using Discover for your brand, you should follow the same advice for SEO and create helpful, reliable, people-first content. [META:]( Loosening up. From now on, it’s unlikely you’ll have your account restricted or banned for less serious violations. Plus, you should better understand why Meta removed your content, giving you a chance to rectify your mistake. Sounds good, in theory. [AI MARKETING:]( Google has Bard, Microsoft has ChatGPT, and now Baidu has… Ernie? The Chinese tech giant announced that Ernie bot—its version of generative AI chatbot—is going public in March. *This is a sponsored post BRAIN TEASER Can you name three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday? You can find [the answer here](. [poolside-logo] POOLSIDE CHAT Work from home, or home for work? [article-image] You’ve heard about home offices. But have you heard about offices that look like… homes? One man reconstructed his company’s office space, replacing [cubicles and offices with actual mini homes]( – letting each employee decorate according to their own taste. But that’s not all. This little “office-slash-residence” neighborhood is decked out with pavements, park benches, fountains, and more. Plus, a little barn turned into a kitchen and toilets. Maybe this blurs the work-life balance line more, but the employees seem to like it. We just wonder… who’s gonna let the mailman in? SHARING IS CARING Probably shouldn't tell you this… but did you know you can join Stacked Marketer Pro for $0? Yep, when you get to 100 newsletter referrals, you get one month of Stacked Marketer Pro membership for free. It’s like getting $99 in your pocket just for clicking links! And you unlock other rewards along the way, like: - The Crew’s Top 10 Insights (2 referrals) - The Ultimate Holiday Marketing Deep Dive (4 referrals) Hit your custom link below to unlock exclusive content, merch, and membership! [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