?? 2-points of failure and the perfect b2b video length

?? Fresh Finds: 5 x News, Tips, and Trends

1/5 PRICING, SUBSCRIPTION

How to price your subscription model - Digiday (link to Facebook Watch ).

The crush: Subscription models are all the rage. Rightly so, your business generates consistent and predictable revenue. Plus, consumers have adopted this pricing plan thanks to Netflix and Prime.

The problem: If you're new to subscription business models, you may be scratching your head, wondering where's the logical place to start.

The solution: Digiday simple Yes or No framework.

Takeaways:

• Start here: Is your product for businesses or consumers?
• B2B can typically charge higher. Unless you don't have exclusivity, in which case customers won't pay anything.
• B2C is typically low to mid-tier pricing. However, if you have nothing exclusive or proprietary, customers won't pay for it.

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2/5 B2B, ADVERTISING

Insights: B2B Video Ad Performance - VidMob (link ).

The crush: Want to know how to advertise t-shirts on Facebook? You'll find advice on every corner of the internet. But B2B video insights are hard to come by until now.

The problem: B2B creative can be expensive and time-consuming to create. Budget clearances and sign-offs are the first hurdles. Then comes the creative.

The solution: VidMob and LinkedIn analysed 16K ads and revealed their findings in its 'LinkedIn Cheat Sheet' report. It examines how different asset types, text and visuals engage audiences. Here's the juicy part, it considers these variables at different stages of the funnel:

• Awareness
• Consideration
• Conversion

Macro findings:

• Video works across the entire funnel.
• Stick to short-form video (max 30 seconds)
• Video lengths in detail: Awareness, 7-15 seconds. Rest of funnel, 15-30 seconds.
• Include your brand logo or name at the conversion stage within the first 2 seconds. +17% lift in CTR observed.
• Include data and stats in the video
• Include text and headline in the video to highlight key points
• Remember viewers' love story, humans, and emotions. Include these in your creative to boost ad effectiveness.

Now, let's look at each finding from each funnel stage. We've included 'Must Do' when the percentage increase in the report is significant, 50%+ in a performance increase.

Awareness stage findings:

• (Must do) Display messaging in the opening quarter?
• (Must do) Stick to a 7-15 second video duration?
• (Must do) Use high text contrast paired with an emotional message)
• (Must do) Show a person in the opening quarter
• (Must do) Include CTA in the first 6 sec such as 'Apply Now, 'Learn More, 'Register' or 'Get a Quote?

Consideration stage findings:

• Open with data or stats.
• Stick to a 6-30 second video duration.
• Use high-contrasting colours
• Include human presence paired with a theme/story.
• (Must do) Use the word 'Expert' or 'Leader' in opening frames (Tip: First 3 seconds)
• (Must do) Feature city or local settings
• CTA language that works include: 'Get a Quote', 'Register', and 'Sign Up'—counter-intuitively, using these at the beginning of your creative increases CTR.

Conversion stage findings:

• Feature your logo or name in the first 2 seconds
• Stick to a 15-30 second video?
• (Must do) Include text overlays
• Feature a single person instead of a crowd
• CTA language that works: 'Sign Up' and 'Learn More

Final word: Context and alignment with your company and campaign objectives are everything. Also, pay attention to the 'Must Do's' as they are likely best practices.

3/5 - RISK, TWITTER, SUBSTACK

Twitter is now marking Substack links as unsafe - The Verge (link ).

The crush: If you post a link to your Substack article, your followers will receive a warning that "this link has been identified as spammy or unsafe".?

The problem: This isn't just a story about Twitter or Elon Musk. Nor his feud with Substack. This is a story about the dangers of relying solely on any Social Media platform for your business.

It can create a critical risk point in your business. By the way, you won't hear many people talk about the dangers of Substack. But here's why we're flagging it: Substack released a feature called 'Notes', similar to how a 'tweet' works. So Twitter kicked back by effectively banning Substack links.

What does this mean? It means that a decision made by Substack can lead to a second-order consequence, like Twitter banning your ability to send people yourarticles. That's two sets of things you have very little control over.?

This is dangerous for writers who earn? (or hope to) a living from their Substack subscribers. Because if Substack is where 'paid writing' lives, then Twitter is where you can use 'free writing' to create awareness of you and your product.?

The solution: Reduce the number of risk points in your business. Another way of thinking about it is to reduce the number of people who control the outcome of your business to the point where you don't have any say.?

How to do that:

• Write on your own website. Use something like WordPress
• Build your email list. Not just a Twitter following
• Learn the fundamentals of building a marketing tech stack

We wrote a 2023 guide on marketing tools for your business (link ). Guess what? Substack wasn't in the guide for the reason we're talking about today.

Final word: This is a complicated subject. We all rely on social media to some extent. And platforms like Substack have advantages such as Network effects and recommendation algorithms. But always be aware that locking your businesses into a certain ecosystem comes with risks as well as benefits.?

4/5 - MARKETING

Grow your business without a marketing budget - Aazar Shad via Twitter (link ).

The crush: No budget for marketing

The solution: @Aazardshad shares 14 tactics he's used to take a company from zero to 7-figures.

The summary:

1. Write high-intent bottom-of-funnel blogs (leave the top-of-the-funnel blogs for later).
2. Write actionable-reveal all blogs (promote these where people ask questions such as Facebook groups, Reddit or Quora).
3. Submit your business to industry directories.
4. Launch on Product Hunt (if you're not in tech, find an similar authority site in your industry)
5. Find a partner with an audience (distribution is priceless)
6. Run webinars on your topic (Russel Brunson still does this and generates $160m in annual revenue from ClickFunnels)
7. Identify your dream 100 customers (don't sell them, instead focus on solving their problem for free)
8. Leverage Facebook and LinkedIn groups (build relationships by being helpful)
9. Write guest posts for people who have an audience (they appreciate it as it helps their SEO and content production)
10. Switch on social listening (turn on Google alerts, Twitter notifications, Reddit and others. You're looking for people intending to buy now)
11. Answer questions on Quora and Reddit (answer questions without plugging your website)
12. Start an authority/contrarian newsletter in your niche (kind of like ours, but more niche)
13. Offer a cheap, useful tool (putting a price on your device, even if its $1, will act as a powerful filter for customers versus making a free tool)
14. Offer referral incentives?

Tip: Focus on one of the things you feel will work best. One passive approach, like setting up a referral and one active strategy, like answering questions on Quora and Reddit. Avoid spreading yourself thin.

?? 5/5 ADVERTISING, RETAIL MEDIA

Trend: Retail Media takes off - Intelligent Insider (link ).

The crush: The current economic climate negatively impacts mobile commerce, TikTok commerce, Shopify and more. Whereas 'Retail Media' continues to grow.

What is retail media:

"Retail media refers to advertising on a retailer's media network. Third-party businesses that look to reach relevant audiences will work with a retailer to create ad campaigns for those digital channels".

For example, big retailers have Amazon Advertising, Walmart Connect, Tesco Media and Insight. These are 'Retail Media Networks' (RMNs). They effectively enable brands to advertise on their network. More importantly, to their customers.

What's so special about RMNs??

They allow brands to access big retailers' 'first-party data'. This is important because as consumer privacy becomes a priority, third-party data we've all been used to collecting through cookies and pixels will become less valuable. In comparison, companies like Amazon have access to first-hand customer behaviour (and a lot more).

An example: Let's say you're browsing Amazon for a new office chair. A brand can advertise its chair on that page. Now let's say you're about to check out. They can advertise their peripherals, such as a footrest.

Trend data:

• Retail media is growing faster than all other US ad channels except connected TV.
• Ad spending is expected to reach $55.35 billion by 2024 (triple what it was in 2020 - yes the pandemic has been a helping hand here).
• Amazon has three-quarters of the US market share. With Walmart being the second largest RMN.

What it means to you:

• There's a growing advertising channel for physical goods
• You can bypass the need to collect your own first-party data (in the short term)
• You can get in on this trend early before the channel saturates

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