#116 The Least boring Weekend Newsletter

August 20, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 14 minutes

Good Morning Readers!

Here’s to wishing for a successful day ahead!

TikTok, the fastest growing social media platform in the world, is introducing 3 types of shopping ads to help brands connect with users and drive sales. TikTok's new video ads give brands the tools to tell their story in a creative, compelling, and authentic way. With these new formats, TikTok is taking a major step forward in becoming a key part of the global eCommerce ecosystem. 

The three versions of TikTok Shopping Ads that will be available to be tested are:

  1. Catalog Listing Ads - Brands can scale their product catalogs throughout TikTok and extend their presence even beyond For You page to omnichannel surfaces like Recommended Products or Related Products by using Catalogue Listing Ads.

  1. Live Shopping Ads - With the help of Live Shopping Ads, businesses can easily direct potential consumers to live shopping experiences via the For You stream while maximizing the branding impact of their live events.

  1. Video Shopping Ads - In order to increase the effectiveness of the campaign, marketers may use video shopping advertisements to showcase one or more goods in their in-feed video commercials. These ads offer dynamic experiences based on the shopper's desire to buy and incorporate an optimized ad delivery strategy and smart targeting.

It's using its popularity among young people to do so—and if the 3 ad formats below mentioned are any indication, TikTok could be on the way to seriously challenge Instagram (which has a large chunk of the market) in this arena. Brands are going to be watching their outreach here because TikTok could turn into a viable and potentially very lucrative social advertising channel moving forwards.

Almund’s newsletter will give you all kinds of tips for DTC brands and much more.

Alright, so let’s get right to it!

This newsletter is going to dive into:

🛍Alpha Metaverse Partners With Future Of Ecommerce Space

⏰How Retailers Can Reap Real-Time Engagement Benefits

🥇 Brand Of The Week -  Colourpop

The Biggest Mistakes With Facebook Ads & How To Fix Them

🎁 Brand Deals Of The Week

📕 Top Reads Of The Week

⚙️ Plenty Of Jobs Await You!

So, scroll down to THE VERY END & read up on what’s yet to come your way!

Alpha Metaverse Partners With Future of Ecommerce SPACE

Alpha Metaverse Technologies Inc. has announced that SPACE Metaverse has partnered with Alpha through its wholly owned subsidiary Shape Immersive to support Alpha in developing eCommerce experiences in the metaverse. SPACE Metaverse focuses on esports, mobile gaming, eCommerce, blockchain, and high-growth opportunities. SPACE, a forerunner in the metaverse commerce field, was founded in 2021 with the goal of enabling users to create and construct their own distinctive virtual locations in addition to buying and selling products and services.

The goal of SPACE is to create a metaverse where users may engage in events, commerce, gamification, and other pleasurable social activities without being constrained by geographical limits. The shape will collaborate with well-known businesses that are entering the metaverse to create retail stores and online shopping experiences on the SPACE platform. Given the exponential growth in the number of customers joining the metaverse, SPACE is focused on providing users with the resources they need to produce virtual goods that can be purchased, as well as a platform that helps them profit from their virtual assets and creativity.

Shape and SPACE will work together to improve SPACE's value and make it the best e-commerce platform in the metaverse. The new virtual space will allow retailers to test out new products and services in an immersive environment before they launch them in real life. It will also offer opportunities for customers to interact with products before purchasing them.

How Retailers Can Reap Real-Time Engagement Benefits

In the modern world, if you don't know where your customers are, you're not going to be able to sell them anything. And if you don't know what they're buying, you can't make sure they're getting what they need. In fact, it's not enough to just know where your customers are: you have to be able to keep track of their movements and adapt in real-time. If you want them to keep coming back for more, then you've got to get ahead of their needs—and that means being able to anticipate what those needs are going to be.

Retailers can reap real-time engagement benefits by using a combination of social media platforms, customer service, and data analysis tools. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are great for engaging with customers and providing immediate responses to their questions and complaints. They also have the added advantage of being free to use.

  • Use real-time engagement to increase customer retention - Retailers can use real-time engagement to engage with their customers and help them feel heard and appreciated. When a customer feels like their voice is being heard, they're more likely to stay loyal to the brand.

  • Use real-time engagement to lower abandonment rates - Abandonment rates are high in eCommerce—people abandon their carts because they don't feel like their questions have been answered or felt heard by the retailer. By using real-time engagement, retailers can answer questions that would otherwise be abandoned and retain those customers who might have left without ever hearing back from the company.

  • Use real-time engagement as a sales tool - Real-time engagement can be used as a sales tool to help close sales faster and increase conversion rates on your site by offering personalized offers based on the information you already have about your customers (like how many items they've purchased). It's also important for retailers to keep in mind that real-time engagement isn't just about posting things on social media—it's about being present in the moment and aware of what's happening around you so that if there is an opportunity, like an event or promotion, you can seize it before someone else does. 

Above all, retailers can take advantage of the fact that social media had no pre-determined rules. That kind of freedom means they can leverage every opportunity when it comes to engaging with customers, who are just as social and connected as they are. By focusing on what they want to achieve over the long term and leveraging real-time engagement wherever possible, retailers can take the right steps to find lasting success.

Brand Of The Week -  ColourPop

If you're a fan of the Disney Channel Original movie High School Musical, then you'll be thrilled to know that Colourpop Cosmetics is releasing a new makeup collection inspired by the beloved 2006 film. If you want to channel your inner Sharpay, then this makeup collection is for you! The Disney+ series High School Musical the Series was inspired by the 2006 film Disney's High School Musical, which shocked the tween world with its iconic characters and spectacular musical performances. With a fresh cosmetics line influenced by the first film, the cosmetics company ColourPop is now returning to the Wildcats' stadium.

Three tinted lip crayons, three pressed powder blushes, and a crème gel liner are all part of the new licenced collection. Fans may be as daring as Sharpay Evans with the "Just a Tint" lip crayons, which are available in three vivid, dazzling shades. The pressed powder blushes each have a different hue and an imprinted picture from the movie.

In case you're not familiar with it, High School Musical was a popular TV series about teenagers at East High who were also members of the school's basketball team (and also sometimes sang). The show ran from 2006-2008, and it spawned two spinoffs: High School Musical 2 and Princess Protection Program. If you're looking for something fun to do this weekend, why not watch the movies back-to-back?

The Biggest Mistakes With Facebook Ads & How To Fix Them🌝

Facebook ads are a great way to get your business out there, reach customers you may have never met before, and expand your brand. But if you're not careful with how you run them, you could end up spending a lot of money on ads that don't bring in the return you were hoping for.

Here are some of the biggest mistakes people make when creating Facebook ads and how you can avoid them:

  • Not understanding their audience: Before you create an ad, it's important that you understand who you're trying to reach. If you don't know who they are or what they like, then you won't be able to create an effective ad that will resonate with them. You can use Facebook's Audience Insights tool to learn more about your target audience.

  • Not being willing to test different versions of an ad: When it comes to advertising, there isn't always one right answer. Sometimes testing different versions of an ad can help you figure out which parts work best with your target audience so that you can optimize them further down the line.

  • Not Optimizing Your Ads For Mobile: Facebook ads are optimized for mobile by default, but if you're not careful, your ad image might become too small or blurry when viewed on a mobile device. It is recommended to use a 1:1 aspect ratio (the same height as width) when creating your ad images so that they look crisp even when scaled down for smaller screens.

  • Not using a landing page: If your ad only links to your website and nothing else, it's basically useless—you're just paying for clicks that will never convert into customers or leads. If you're going to spend money on Facebook ads, make sure you have a landing page set up where people can go when they click through your ad.

  • Don't use only one ad type: A lot of people think it's best to stick with one type of ad for their campaign, but that's actually not the case. You should actually try out different types until you find which ones work best for you and your audience.

  • Not having a clear call to action: The most important thing you need in your ad is a clear call to action (CTA). This is where you tell people what your ad is about so they can click on it. You want a CTA that tells people what they'll get out of clicking on it—not just "click here" or "visit my site." For example, if you're promoting a coupon code for new customers, your CTA could say something like "Grab this coupon code now!" so that people know exactly what they'll get when they click.

  • Putting your whole ad copy in the headline: You want to make sure that people who see your ad are intrigued enough by the first line that they'll click through to find out more. You can do this by writing an attention-grabbing headline that includes a benefit for them (or something funny), and then using the rest of the ad to expand on that benefit.

  • Not Split Testing Ads: Split testing allows you to test different versions of an ad against each other—for example, one version might show up on mobile devices while another shows up on desktop computers. By doing this, you'll learn which ad performs best with different types of audiences and platforms. You can set up multiple variations of a single ad and test them against each other using Facebook's split testing feature.

Brand Deals Of The Week

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Spend only $300 for HP 11th Gen i3 15.6" Laptop with free delivery

Best-Selling Natural Calming Chews for Dogs by NutriPaws for $13.99 with a 20% discount

Shop with Home Depot, save 25% on storage solutions

Top Reads Of The Week

Amazon Is Reportedly Experimenting With Tiktok-Style Feed On Its App.

Walmart Looks Into The Social Media Influencer For Matchmaking Business.

Kohl's Lowers Their Forecast And Attributes Lower Sales From Middle-Class Consumers To Inflation.

Creators On Tiktok May Now Post Stories On Facebook And Instagram.

Target's Earnings Significantly Decline When The Business Sells Off Excessive Inventory.

IN NEED OF A JOB?  WE'VE GOT PLENTY AWAITING YOU!

Sr. Leader, Ecommerce Development - Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corporation

Chief Marketing Officer - Balsam Brands

CHOOSE SUCCESS below and have a great weekend! Get that D2C business runnin’.