📈 API prices.

Microsoft introduces a new ad type, Twitter is cranking up the prices on its API, and more. March 14, 2023 [Read in browser]( [logo] [sponsor]( Good morning. We’re wishing you two egg yolks in your eggs this week. Apparently finding two yolks in one egg is a sign of good luck. And while this has only happened to us once or twice, it sure felt lucky at the time… TWITTER Bye bye, free API [article-image] The news out of Twitter HQ reminds us of our bedroom temperature: too cold one minute, too warm the next. It looks like the app plans to strip away the free access tier and [throw on several significant price increases](… Who can use the thermostat: Elon Musk tweeted earlier that Twitter’s free API has been “[abused badly](” and hinted that a new paid plan was in the works. According to leaked documents, the lowest API pricing plan will cost a staggering $42k/month—14 times higher than the previous highest pricing plan. Whoa. How many tools will survive and thrive with that kind of expense? We’ll see.. At least there’s a new video course: Twitter launched an 8-episode educational series on “[creating unskippable video ads.](” The videos—each less than two minutes long—could help you improve your video ads and boost your campaign performance. Cold take: Your favorite Twitter tools could get expensive. Even worse, a steep price increase like this could drive out a bunch of useful apps that can’t afford the new plan. Keep an eye on your favorite tools… Hot take: But if you’re running ads, the platform’s official video series seems like a time-efficient way to refresh or even boost your video ads game, which could work for platforms outside Twitter, too. And given that Twitter’s current situation might make buying ads on the platform cheap, it could be a good time to try more ads on the platform…. MICROSOFT New ad type for healthcare services just checked in Head’s up, docs. Microsoft is [rolling out Doctor and Clinic Ads]( to help medical service providers promote their practices. Show me where it hurts: These “intent-triggered” ads can position your services based on users’ search queries, including conditions, symptoms, specialists, and more. Microsoft says these rich placements are “dynamically generated” based on feed file data such as your service types and location. So the more data you provide, the better. Who can use the ads: Doctor and Clinic Ads are currently available in several markets, including Australia, the UK, the US, India, Germany, France, and Canada. Why we care: The new ad type could help you get yours, or your clients’ clinic right in front of patients using Microsoft’s vast ad network. And if you haven’t had healthcare providers in your client list until now, you can use this news to start pitching. Could make your job a little easier! SPONSORED BY ITERABLE Where DoorDash, Warby Parker, and Asana go to create a truly personalized joyful customer experience [article-image]( Calling all dreamers, builders, and makers! If you want to step up your marketing game and [create memorable customer experiences]( at scale… … Hear directly from movers and shakers building highly profitable customer experiences… … And exchange insights, creative ideas, and storytelling tactics with like-minded professionals from around the globe… … Then make your way to the beautiful Bay Area for [Activate Summit this April 17–19](. This hybrid summit will show you how to close the data activation gap and give you a seat at informative talks from leaders at Sandboxx, PGA, NBC Universal, and others. Or you can [connect digitally]( with like-minded dreamers, builders, and makers who are solving the same issues you encounter daily. Bonus: Register now for a chance to win a $1000 gift card from Airbnb. You could be one of the three winners announced during the conference! [Register now and get your chance to win.]( MARKETING If you want to be an A-level CMO, do this… [article-image] Sure, mastering the inner workings of online ad channels can make you a smooth operator behind the scenes. But if you want to be a top-level chief marketing officer (CMO), Dave Gerhardt says [skillsets alone aren’t enough](. You also need to master top notch communication. Let’s see what he means… Control the narrative. Marketing is one of the least understood industries. It’s not easy to explain or justify what you do to other departments. Dave says that by being clear and confident in his communication, he managed to climb up the ladder much quicker than he thought. So show what you’re working on and demonstrate why it matters. That’s how you’ll steer the entire marketing ship, both internally and externally. For external communication, always keep the end in mind. It’s not about what you want to say, but what your audience needs to understand. If they don’t hear it, or they’re confused or bored, that’s on you. For internal communication, you’ll have to practice and hone your skills within the team. Dave lists a few tips to get started: - Read a few books on public speaking. - Watch 2–3 great public speakers on YouTube, take notes, and recreate their talk outlines. - Streamline internal communications. You don’t have to be a CMO yet to start practicing this. Find areas of the business you can own within your team, and start sharing updates on them. Publish short presentations or Loom videos and send them as weekly updates as your managers. That’s a start that you want to build on. Keep in mind that if communication is something you struggle with, that could be a reason not to take a marketing leadership role. You may perform better by being “in the trenches” instead of managing people. But if you want to become a CMO, just pretend the “C” in your role stands for “Communication.” And you won’t fail. SPONSORED BY HUBSPOT Every big idea needs a bodacious marketing plan. [article-image]( This is how it goes… - Take [this little blueprint.]( - Carefully consider your value props, target market, growth plans, and a few more things. - Fill in the blanks. And there you have it — your very own roadmap. A tidy marketing plan fit for potential investors, customers, and co-workers. All because you hunkered down and knocked out this free HubSpot template. [Download it now.]( THE CREW’S INSIGHTS Yep, you can use AI to mock up gorgeous landing pages. Here’s how to do it [article-image] Something most people know how to do: Type a prompt into ChatGPT. Something hardly anyone knows how to do: Use AI to generate mockups of stunning landing pages. We’re here to teach you how to do the second one. Over the past month, we spent hundreds of hours diving into AI. Along the way, we discovered a few techniques for getting AI image generators to do landing page designs for you. One thing to know: If you want to do this, you should be using Midjourney. We tried other image generation tools, like DALL-E, but they didn’t quite understand how to build a landing page. Midjourney did. Ready? Great. Here’s how to write a good prompt: - Start with the phrase “marketing landing page.” This gives the AI a foundation for building your page. You can always add customizations from there. - Include the type of CTA you want. For example, a prompt for an email capture page might read, “marketing landing page with email signup.” - Add color and style customization prompts. For example, you could write something like “marketing landing page with email signup, pinterest aesthetic, cute color palette, behance” to get a cute, light, airy design. - If you want something to feature prominently in the image, include it in the prompt. For example, “marketing landing page with alfa romeo in the center, bold color palette.” What to do from here: Use AI to give you inspiration for landing page design and format. And if you want to take it a step further, use AI to illustrate images you can include on the real above-the-fold section of your site. Want to learn more about how you can use AI for cold emails, copywriting, and advertising? [Sign up to Stacked Marketer Pro and get the complete guide.]( ROUNDING UP THE STACK [CONSUMER TRENDS:]( Want to understand and move on trends before your competitors do? Brands like L'Oreal, Unilever, and LVMH use data-driven insights from Spate’s dashboard to uncover the next big trend, who owns it, and best brand positioning. [Book your free trial.](* [SEO:]( Less common languages don’t equal less quality content. Even if there’s no support hreflang code for them! Google’s John Mueller clarified this by saying that “good content is good content” and you shouldn’t deindex it just because it doesn’t have a hreflang. [E-COMMERCE:]( Phew, that was quick. Etsy is processing seller payments again after freezing transitions during the weekend due to the Silicon Valley Bank crash. The platform will use other payment partners and the issue should be resolved soon. What a relief. [APPS:]( Want Google to link the install button to your app’s organic search result? Use deep linking. According to Gary Illyes, when the search engine starts associating your website with your app, it will add the Play Store or App Store download button. Sweet. [SEO:]( If your site structure is due for a spring cleaning, make sure you check out this list of tips by John Mueller. He doesn’t recommend shifting subdirectories, but says you could set the root homepage as the x-default to avoid confusion. Good to know. *This is a sponsored post BRAIN TEASER They have no flesh, nor feathers, nor scales, nor bone. Yet they have fingers and thumbs of their own. What are they? You can find [the answer here.]( [poolside-logo] POOLSIDE CHAT Oh, you weren’t “carful” with your payments? Bye-bye. [article-image] Imagine this: You’re sitting in your car, driving to work… When the car abruptly stops, then drives off to the nearest dealership to be repossessed. … And there’s nothing you can do because you missed your monthly auto payment. Yikes. Luckily that scenario can’t happen… [unless Ford gets a patent that would allow the company to do exactly this]( with its self-driving cars. When we imagined the future of cars, it looked different in our heads. Who would’ve thought abandonment issues could start with your favorite car… SHARING IS CARING Know what’s easier than asking your boss for a bigger marketing budget? Sharing today’s newsletter with other people. It also makes you look insanely well-informed in front of other marketers... and might even help you build rapport with the right executives. Plus, you earn great rewards. Every time you share your custom link—and your friends and coworkers subscribe—you earn points toward exclusive content, merch, and more. Get started by hitting the link below! [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