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Universal Music Group has accused TikTok of bullying, saying the company wanted to pay a fraction of the rate other social media sites pay for access to its music catalog. As a result, Universal will stop licensing its content to TikTok when its contract expires on January 31. This will remove TikTok’s access to music from artists like Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, and Drake.
Alphabet's shares plunged after disappointing ad revenue results attributed to tough competition alongside mixed economic signals in the US. Its low ad revenue numbers suggest that companies are still uncertain about the pace of interest rate cuts from global central banks.
All brands, regardless of their stature or intentions, have flaws. Marketers should embrace these imperfections as opportunities for compelling storytelling and differentiation. It creates more human-centric content that resonates with audiences, building trust and authenticity by moving beyond traditional messaging structures and taking calculated risks.
Offering users a free trial of the full premium service on signup can increase conversion to paid premium by up to 40% compared to offering a freemium option that doesn’t require starting with a trial. This is known as a reverse trial, which drops down to a freemium tier if the trial expires. This tactic is effective because it creates a sense of loss. The user is able to experience the full functionality of premium, so being downgraded to the free tier highlights the new limitations. This psychologically makes them more likely to convert to a paid subscription.
SMTPing is a tool that improves email deliverability. Its free features include email verification to improve your email sender reputation. With a paid plan, you can access more email verification credits, the email warm-up feature, integrations with email applications, and more.
For many consumers, Spring is a time to declutter and break old habits. This article compiled emails from brands like Prose, Away, Tattly, and Legacybox to use as inspiration in leveraging the spring season into your email content strategy.
Good hooks get attention and are able to sustain it, are presented to the user immediately, and are not misleading or fake. This article delves into the science behind effective social media hooks. It presents examples from Instagram and TikTok posts, including quizzes or Q&As, text posts, trend hopping, and useful videos or tutorials.
Unlike many other SaaS companies, CreatorKit invests in a TikTok strategy to reach its audience. The brand succeeds by creating educational content that hooks users, keeps them entertained, and empowers them to take action. CreatorKit achieves “Content-Platform Fit” by posting videos that fit TikTok users’ unspoken norms and standards. This involves using hashtags, POV videos, popular sounds, and other tricks. CreatorKit proves that TikTok can be an effective marketing channel for SaaS brands.
This post contains common signs that your website isn’t converting as well as it could. Check to see if your site has product descriptions that are text blocks with no bullet points or icons. Fix any cases where your products have less than 10 reviews or no customer images. Avoid using technical words or jargon that your users often won't understand. Be sure to explain whether users have to pay for return delivery.
Danny Sullivan, Google's Search Liaison, replied to a post on X with very specific feedback on how to make an article more helpful. The article in question had experienced a severe drop in traffic from Google Search. Much of the feedback was around how information in the article could potentially be unclear or misleading to users. The article mentioned products that weren’t yet available, which could be unsatisfying for users. Sullivan also called out how the article claimed to be updated, yet included outdated information.
This visual chart showcases the most valuable global brands split by vertical in 2024. The brands' value was calculated by the degree to which they generated profits for the company.
This article rounds up 17 free survey tools and gives an overview of their features. It also compares the number of forms, questions, and answers supported.
LinkedIn summaries appear in the "About” section of your profile. It’s a space to define your career, ambitions, the value you aim to provide, and a little bit about your personality.
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Amazon has launched ads on Prime Video in the US, introducing an ad-supported tier alongside the subscription model. Prime members are automatically included in the ad tier and have the option to pay extra for an ad-free experience. Advertisers can select from three buying options, with prices ranging from $26 base CPM to commitments between $600,000 and $8 million for exclusive sponsorships.
Apple’s proposed Core Technology Fee for third-party app stores in the EU, which includes a €0.50 charge for each annual app install after 1 million downloads, has sparked criticism from Epic Games, Spotify, and Microsoft. Microsoft is concerned about Apple’s 17% commission and the new policy’s impact on its upcoming Xbox mobile store. It emphasizes the need for a more inclusive future in app distribution.
Pinterest shares 4 tips on how to improve the performance of Pin listings and create a more responsive in-app presence. It recommends brands to include terms people use when searching for their products in their product listings. Using a mixture of broad and exact words and phrases will trigger more queries. Pinterest also advises tagging products into multiple levels of categorization as it’ll score more highly in relevant searches and shopping categories. However, brands should only list their products once in any given category.
Internal linking is important for SEO, but it also contributes to good website UX. A poor linking architecture will lead to users bouncing or feeling lost. Your website should make it easy for users to continue their flow and should ensure messaging coherence along the way. This post contains a framework for site structure and internal linking for optimal UX and SEO.
This post contains 3 retargeting ad formats meant for prospects who have visited a high-intent page but haven't taken the next step. Say exactly what they have in mind, plus your differentiator to get them to take action. Show them a case study with real numbers so they can visualize a tangible outcome. Mention what they'll get if they hop on a call with you so they see the value in taking that step.
Generic navigation labels, like “Products” and “Solutions,” are unhelpful to users. Instead, make the labels specific and descriptive so visitors know what you do and where to click. Homepage slideshows are distracting and take visitors away from your one key message. It’s more effective to make the top of the homepage simple and descriptive. Brightly colored social icons on conversion pages are distracting and illogical. Placing these icons in the footer is a better option.
Bluesky, a decentralized social media platform, boasts a robust feature set, including a user-driven moderation system, interaction controls like moderation lists and reply settings, and unique customization options. This guide provides a feature comparison chart between Bluesky, X, and Threads based on user experience, moderation, content structure, privacy, and data collection.
Tinuiti’s Q4 2023 Digital Ads Benchmark Report analyzes trends across major platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, Google, and YouTube. It covers trends such as increased spending on Meta properties, the rise of AI-powered campaigns, and shifts in ad placement preferences.
This post outlines the indicators of a poorly run Growth function. Chasing new users and revenue without considering churn or retention is like filling a bucket with a giant hole at the bottom. Fixating on ‘hacks’ leads to desperate product experiences rather than a sustainable and defensible growth engine. Focusing only on quantitative data and choosing not to speak with customers will cap your optimization opportunities. To cure these symptoms, leadership must commit to a long-term strategy and invest in understanding the company’s unique growth needs.
Positive friction is adding both value and effort to a user’s experience at the same time. It can contribute to user retention and engagement. For instance, Duolingo's experiments with streak screens and additional clicks resulted in both short-term and long-term retention gains. Other positive friction examples include fitness apps Rise and Loona using extensive onboarding flows to enhance personalization and increase their perceived product value.
YouTube has launched AdBlitz hub, a place where all the Super Bowl ads will be displayed before, during, and after the game. The campaigns will be sorted by category, for example, “Comedy Ads”, “Dramatic Ads”, and “Inspirational Ads”.
Arc Search, a new mobile browser, integrates an AI-powered feature called "Browse for me" to summarize web pages and offer a streamlined search experience.
75% of top brands in the US and UK are targets of identity theft through Google Search Ads. The issue results in significant financial losses and creates considerable threats to customers. Common fraud practices include impersonating brands on Google Ads to steal customer data and hijacking affiliate programs to earn a referral bonus. Google said it is increasing efforts in safeguarding brands' reputations and shielding online shoppers, but bad actors are also constantly evolving their techniques.
You can now switch off read receipts via your IG Direct inbox. The setting is available within each individual chat. You can also turn off read receipts for all users in “Messages and Story Replies” settings. This can be handy for brands in managing customer expectations (in limiting customer angst).
A study found that people were more likely to appreciate “40% off” when the discount is revealed at checkout rather than upfront. The wrong approach makes users feel like information is being held hostage, like LinkedIn hiding profile viewers or Bumble pixelating faces until you pay. The right approach is to embed the element of surprise into your product while giving users some control and providing essential information to counterbalance any potential anxiety. Tactics include using a shuffle or random function, implementing secret features that users reveal, and randomizing user experiences.
Commenting on LinkedIn posts boosts your visibility. This post contains 10 golden rules and 10 fatal mistakes when commenting on posts. "Do’s" include sharing relevant links, tagging people to invite their insights, and making bold statements to make the poster rethink their opinion. "Don’ts" include leaving one-word comments, publicly announcing grammatical errors (use DMs), or self-promoting your own products or services.
A/B tests allow you to measure more accurately at the cost of making projects take longer. A/B testing is a great idea when there is a material amount of risk in making the change or an important change that is tough to detect without testing. It’s a bad idea when you are implementing a clear best practice, fixing something that is broken or unclear, or adding new features that you have clear evidence that users want. To run an effective A/B testing program, you'll need a testing tool, correctly configured analytics, sufficient knowledge of statistics, and the ability to explain results.
An n-gram is a contiguous sequence of ‘n’ items from a given sample of text or speech. Instead of focusing on single keywords, n-grams allow search engines to consider the context in which words are used. The N-Grams Text Analyzer App is free text analyzer app that shows unique and common n-grams between two bodies of text. It’s useful for analyzing why one page ranks better than another, optimizing your text for better n-grams usage, and featured snippet optimization. This post includes a link to the tool.
Tally is good for collecting feedback, market research, and even selling something. It can incorporate video, images, or descriptions. Typeform presents questions one by one, making it less overwhelming for survey respondents than traditional survey tools. Airtable lets you create forms with responses that flow directly into tables, making it easier to sort, filter, and share results efficiently. OpinionX is good for stack rankings. Coda works well for forms and documents and is more flexible than Survey Monkey or Microsoft Forms.
Marketing teams often focus so much energy on acquiring new customers that they miss out on harnessing the power of existing fans. Create content that truly resonates emotionally with your target audience in order to start building a fanbase. Identify and interact with vocal fans. Look for organic opportunities to showcase your most engaged fans to your whole audience. Whenever a customer reaches out with thoughtful feedback, make sure to respond personally and respectfully.
Nightshade, a project from the University of Chicago, aims to empower artists in the battle against unauthorized AI training by distorting image data, rendering it unusable for model training. It takes fewer than 100 poisoned images to start corrupting AI models. The idea is to protect creators from unauthorized use and force companies to pay to get consent before using their content to train the models. Glaze, another tool developed by the same team, prevents AI from being able to steal artists' styles.
The Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP) is organizing the Every Woman’s Marathon to connect with female runners and boost the profile of dairy milk against non-dairy alternatives. With input from an advisory board of prominent women runners, the event aims to create a holistic wellness experience beyond traditional marathons. MilkPEP believes that by creating disruptive and culturally relevant events, it will further its central mission of making milk more relevant in “modern wellness conversations”.
This article emphasizes the significance of LLMs to marketers and dissects their operational mechanics and intricacies. It covers the basics of how LLMs work, their limitations, and how users and marketers can work around some of their problems.
X is hiring 100 content moderators as its CEO prepares for a Senate hearing related to platform toxicity and child safety concerns.
Apple will adopt the RCS (Rich Communication Services) standard on iOS later this year, which solves the “green bubble” problem. Apple’s adoption of RCS could give marketers more reason to utilize it for business messaging, tapping into perks like sending high-quality media and longer, more interactive messages. Some marketers report seeing engagement rates about 30-35% higher with RCS compared to regular SMS.
Children aged 4-18 spent an average of 112 minutes daily on TikTok in 2023, surpassing YouTube by 60%. The study also explored kids' engagement with new technologies like OpenAI's ChatGPT, revealing that almost 20% of kids accessed the site in 2023. Despite concerns, social media app usage among kids remained robust, with TikTok, Facebook, and X being the most popular globally.
A look at emails from 7 different e-commerce brands, including BAGGU, Sonos, and Allbirds. The author breaks down how each brand uses different copywriting strategies to align with audience values, address pain points, and leverage seasonal trends. Each example demonstrates the importance of crafting compelling narratives and personalized messages to engage subscribers.
This article discusses the key marketing strategies that helped Custom Neon, a neon sign company, grow to almost $1M in sales per month. Strategies include testing the market through ads before even starting, relying on user-generated content to populate their social media pages and website, partnering with SEO experts for rebranding, and shifting focus to the B2B market during the pandemic.
Google Keyword Planner (and related tools such as Keywords Everywhere) provide data on the inputted keyword clustered with other similar terms. Ahrefs uses Google Keyword Planner data but attempts to ungroup the keyword clusters and refine search volumes using additional data sources. SEMrush uses its own algorithms to come up with another different number, but often ends up closer to Ahrefs than KWP. Consequently, for the term "Jigsaw Puzzle" you will see 40.5k volume in Google Keyword Planner and 21k volume in Ahrefs.
Litmus consolidated a list of 16 sources for email inspiration and ideas. Sites like Just Good Copy, Good Email Code, and Email Love contain a curated library of design-led emails, emails with great copy, and clean email code. Other email sources include Pinterest boards covering email designs by Campaign Monitor and WebTek.
A curated list of cheat sheets that cover marketing, AI, productivity, and more. The marketing ones include LinkedIn Growth, Facebook Ads, and creator tools.
The Growth function in an organization is often misunderstood in terms of what it does and where it should fit among teams. Growth is typically the glue between Marketing and Product to fix the activation gap – the area between new user acquisition and product feature use. It’s often organized under Marketing or Product, but it works best when combined with the Product function. Ideally, all teams understand growth and actively work towards it, regardless of the org structure.
Social memes centered around Josh Cellars' wine went viral last week. Its Chief Brand Officer noted the enthusiastic response, especially from the brand’s predominantly female team. This led to an increase in social media engagement and sales despite the typically quiet January period for the alcohol industry. Josh Cellars revived its social media presence and even returned to X - it hasn’t posted on the platform since 2019. The company is hoping to keep social capital up with collaborations and a new social strategy