TLDR MARKETING 2024-09-18

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HOW GOOGLE GOT AWAY WITH CHARGING PUBLISHERS MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE

For years, Google took the same 20 percent commission for ad transactions that ran through its platform, even though it was higher than what any other industry player charged. The company never experienced any real pricing pressure – despite knowing its fees were higher than competitors' and being aware of customer complaints about its tools – due to its unshakable dominance in the market.

INSTAGRAM LAUNCHES ‘TEEN ACCOUNTS' AS CHILD SAFETY LAWS LOOM

Instagram is introducing "teen accounts" with enhanced parental controls and stricter default settings. Teens under 16 will need parental permission to opt out of restrictions, and parents can monitor who their kids message without viewing the content. Instagram will use AI to identify users lying about their age and move them to teen accounts.

HOW TO USE AI TO INCREASE EFFICIENCY IN YOUR USER RESEARCH

AI tools simplify user research and provide new ways to gather and analyze data. AI can be used to automate the analysis of large datasets, summarize insights from open-ended survey responses and interview transcripts, and more. It enables businesses to scale user research without adding workload while still ensuring a high level of accuracy. This post walks through examples of how to use ChatGPT for survey analysis and Fathom for interview analysis.

CASE STUDY: HOW TO CREATE THE PERFECT E-COMMERCE SITE

This case study looks at the challenge of balancing brand storytelling with effective sales strategies on e-commerce websites. Successful sites need to merge engaging narratives with a smooth, intuitive shopping experience. However, many brands struggle with this balance, often focusing too much on visual appeal or functionality. As customers increasingly arrive directly at product pages via social media or search engines, these pages become crucial in shaping their purchasing decisions. Many sites fall short in key areas like search and navigation.

H1 GALLERY

H1 Gallery curates a weekly roundup of the best marketing headlines on the internet.

THE BEST TIME TO POST ON LINKEDIN TO BOOST YOUR FOLLOWING + ENGAGEMENT

An analysis of over 1 million LinkedIn posts found that weekdays between 9 am and 5 pm are the best times for engagement, with spikes during mid-morning and lunch breaks. Posts at 4 pm on Tuesday and Thursday consistently perform well, while Friday has the highest overall engagement of any day.

10 CHROME EXTENSIONS TO SAVE YOU 10+ HOURS/WEEK

Eesel, powered by ChatGPT, organizes all your documents in one place. Merlin AI allows you to chat with AI on every website. Text Blaze eliminates repetitive typing with templates, creates text shortcuts for commonly used phrases, and streamlines emails and responses.

WHY GREAT MARKETERS LOOK AT PIPELINE COVERAGE, NOT JUST PIPELINE GENERATION

StartCo hit 105% of its pipeline generation goals, but its sales team only achieved 82% of their new logo ARR plan, indicating a misalignment between marketing and sales success. While marketing celebrated exceeding pipeline generation targets, the real problem was a decline in starting pipeline coverage, which fell from 3.1x to 2.4x over six quarters. Great marketers focus not just on generating pipeline but ensuring there's enough starting pipeline coverage to give sales a fair shot at hitting their targets each quarter.

ANNUAL PLANNING IMPERATIVE: CAC RATIOS

The cost of acquiring customers has risen due to longer sales cycles and smaller deal sizes, making CAC ratios essential for accurate budget planning. Two key CAC ratios — one blending new and expansion ARR and one focused solely on new ARR — can help forecast budgets more effectively. This method provides better insight than payback periods for determining the budget needed to hit revenue goals.

EXPEDIA LAUNCHES TRAVEL SHOPS, TAPS 100+ TRAVEL INFLUENCERS, CELEBS TO CURATE SHOPPABLE STOREFRONTS

81% of Gen Z and 75% of millennials rely on social media for travel decisions. Expedia's new Travel Shops feature allows over 100 influencers, celebrities, and brands to create shoppable storefronts on its iOS app, enabling users to book curated travel experiences. The feature, currently in the U.S., U.K., and Canada, is part of an invite-only release before a 2025 wider launch.

DO BIGGER EXPERIMENTS GENERATE BIGGER UPLIFTS?

An analysis of Conversion's past experiments finds that tweaks and small builds tend to come with a similar win rate and a higher average uplift than bigger tests.

LOW-HANGING SEO TIP: IDENTIFY SHORT TITLE TAGS

Identifying short title tags is still one of the biggest high-impact and low-effort initiatives in SEO.

3 COMMON MISTAKES IN E-COMMERCE EMAILS

Common mistakes in email programs include no ongoing testing, focusing on theory over key metrics, and lacking a holistic approach to growth.