The Bolt: Digital Tools for Concrete Results
Inside this issue:
Hey ??
Welcome back to the Bolt!
This week we’re talking TikTok Shop (and why your brand shouldn’t use it), clickbait headlines (kinda like what we just did), email open rates & more.
Let’s get to it ....
?? 6 Reasons your Brand SHOULD NOT be on TikTok Shop
TikTok Shop is everywhere right now.?
And it’s not by accident.?
With what feels like every fourth scroll including a link to a shop featuring Temu knock-offs (for incredibly low prices we might add), TikTok is betting heavy on its shopping feature as a revenue stream for its business; so much so that it’s even subsidising delivery and other discounts at its own expense to incentivise brands (and individual sellers) to onboard and sell their products there instead. ???
And if the last 12 months have shown us anything, it’s that TikTok has no intention of slowing down.?
Rather, it’s increasingly likely that TikTok will continue its aggressive ambition for growth as it seeks to bite into the market share of brands like Shopify, Amazon and so on over the coming months and years. ??
And now, more than ever, brands want a piece of the pie.
But is TikTok Shop for everyone??
It’s undoubtedly great for individual sellers selling cheap knock-offs, but is it great for larger, more established brands?
We think sometimes, but not all of the time.
Here’s 6 reasons why your brand might not be suited to selling on TikTok Shop:
1?? Say goodbye to your data (or some of it)
First off, let's talk about data ownership—or the lack thereof—on TikTok Shop.
Imagine going on a date but not being able to get your date's phone number. ??
That's somewhat what it feels like. On TikTok Shop, you get the customers name and address for delivery purposes, but no email and no phone number. All you're left with is a username and no real way of re-marketing to your customers, other than to run ads (more money for TikTok) to those who have previously purchased.
This puts a damper on your after-date (or rather, after-sale) plans, meaning you'll have a harder time retaining customers in the long-run.
2?? Youth in the spotlight
Moving on, consider the audience.???
TikTok is the cool, younger cousin in the social media family.?
If your brand is aiming to win over a more mature audience, you might find TikTok Shop akin to playing your favourite jazz records at a high school party—not quite hitting the mark.?
It's crucial to align your marketing efforts with platforms where your core audience loves to hang out.
3?? The High Life vs. The High Price
Let's not ignore the price tag ??
TikTok Shop is the king of impulse buys, where lower-cost items reign supreme (like those cheap Temu knock-offs we keep mentioning).?
If your brand specialises in high-ticket items, convincing someone to make a spur-of-the-moment purchase can be as tricky as selling ski equipment in the Sahara.?
The platform's environment is simply more conducive to "add to cart" moments for less expensive treats.
4?? Product complexities
TikTok's quick and engaging format is not ideal for products or services that require detailed explanations or longer contemplation before purchase.???
If your brand offers products that need in-depth tutorials, extensive feature explanations, or cater to a specialised market, the platform's format might not allow you to convey your message effectively.
5?? Brand & tone mismatch
If your brand's aesthetic or tone doesn't align with the vibrant, fast-paced, and often quirky nature of TikTok, it might be challenging to create content that resonates with users.?
TikTok thrives on creativity, humour, and trends.???
Brands with a more serious, luxury, or niche focus may struggle to find their footing without diluting their brand identity.
6?? Influencers: The Gatekeepers of Success
And lastly, linked to our last point, is the creative you use for promoting your product.?
TikTok Shop thrives on the charisma and reach of influencers.?
If you're not already in the influencer marketing game, it can feel like showing up to a potluck without a dish.?
Sure, partnering with influencers can be a powerful move, but it's not everyone's cup of tea—especially if you're new to this scene or your brand doesn't quite click with TikTok's influencer culture. ????
So what should you do?
TikTok Shop offers a vibrant and dynamic marketplace that's not to be underestimated.?
However, like a specialty coffee blend, it's not for everyone??
Assessing your brand's unique needs, audience, and marketing capabilities is key to finding your perfect match in the vast world of e-commerce platforms.?
Do that, and you’ll know for sure whether TikTok Shop is the right place for your brand.
?? Email Open Rates: 3 Reasons you can STOP Worrying about them
Measuring the success of an email marketing campaign by evaluating its open rate is so 2020.
Or at least we thought it was…
According to this 2023 study by MailJet, 42.7% of email marketers said open rate is one of their most important success metrics, while just 7.6% of marketers cited ROI as an important metric.
Yes, 6x more marketers care about the open rate of an email vs its actual performance in driving business performance.
Need we say more?
So, with that in mind, here’s why using open rates as a success metric should be left behind for good…
1. The Illusion of "True Opens"
First things first, let's talk about how open rates are tracked.?
Using a tiny, transparent image known as a pixel, "opens" are counted each time this image is loaded.?
However, if the recipient's email client doesn't automatically load images, that open isn't counted. With many email clients setting images to off by default (like Gmail, for example), we're missing a huge chunk of the picture.?
Imagine throwing a party and only knowing about the guests who RSVP'd; you're in the dark about who actually shows up. ??
2. The Overcounting Conundrum
On the flip side, sometimes open rates are more generous than your gran’s cookie jar.
When images are enabled, an email that's merely glanced at in a preview pane registers as an open. Certain email clients, like Hotmail, mark emails as opened the moment you scroll past them.?
And let's not forget those auto-responses that cheekily count as opens.?
It's like counting every person who walks past your store as a customer—even the ones just using your entrance to escape the rain.
3. The Apple Effect: Inflating Your Numbers
In 2021, Apple went ahead and threw a wrench into the works with its Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) feature, which essentially serves open rates on a silver platter without considering actual engagement.?
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This feature inflates open rates by hiding users' email activity, making it tougher than ever to gauge genuine interest.?
Depending on various factors, like device usage and iOS system, a staggering 80% of these "opens" could be MPP-generated illusions.?
To use the party analogy again, it's akin to thinking your party is the talk of the town, when in fact, most guests are just cardboard cutouts.
The Takeaway: A Call for Change
So, what's a marketer to do? It's time to look beyond open rates and focus on metrics that matter—those that truly reflect engagement and interest.?
Consider click-through rates, conversion rates, and the quality of interactions in your emails.?
These metrics give you insight into how compelling your content is and how it drives recipients toward your goals. ??
?? 10 Clickbait headlines you can use in your content
We’ve all been clickbaited at some point in our life.?
And as annoying as it is, especially if the content doesn’t match the headline being advertised, clickbaiting tactics can prove to be a really effective way for getting users to take action (be it watch your video, click on your ad on Facebook etc.).
It’s just important that you do it in an ethical way without sacrificing brand integrity.
So, with that said, here’s 10 clickbait headlines that you can use in your content (courtesy of Search Engine Journal):
??These headlines are seen in video where the camera follows the main subject as document their life / experience with X. For example, POV: You just ordered X from Boohoo
4. “…they don’t want you to know”
5. “This is what X…”
For example, “This is why these jeans have sold 1,000 times” ??
6. “You won’t believe X”
7. “This is how X…”
These types of headlines are best used when trying to solve problems.?
For example, “This is why designers make more money than X”
8. “Did you know X?”
Everybody loves to be challenged to see if they did in fact know what it is they’re about to watch / read…
For example, “Did you know that 42,000 people are using X”
9. “The Last X You’ll ever Need”
10.? “You won’t believe X…”
Creating a crafty, clickbait headline
Remember, the art of effective clickbait lies in balancing intrigue with integrity.?
Your headlines should act as enticing invitations, not deceptive traps. By promising—and delivering—valuable, relevant content, you build trust with your audience, turning casual clicks into lasting engagement.?
Keep it clever, keep it honest, and watch as your clickbait headlines transform browsers into loyal followers and hopefully, in time, loyal customers ??
?? No Correlation Between Social Media Engagement and Content Readership
??? Social media apps are gradually becoming more valued as entertainment sources, while actual interaction shifts to smaller, enclosed chats and communities
All social platforms have seen a decline in personal posting, which could be due to concerns about social posts coming back to haunt you at a later stage, or could be a result of people trying to avoid angst and argument in-stream, or both.
That’s a key trend to note for anyone trying to understand how media engagement works, and where people are more active. But it’s also interesting to reflect on this in relation to social platform metrics, and what we’re actually being told by the different stats and insights.
The team from earned media insights platform Memo have published a new report which looks at how social media engagement relates to content readership, and whether more social media shares and comments leads to more people actually clicking through to read your posts.
???They found that across all the articles and topics analysed, there was no clear connection between social engagement and actual readers of the news.
This underlines something you probably already knew, most people commenting online aren’t necessarily reading the post, but are often just reacting to the headline, while efforts to increase post reach, through more engagement, also may not lead to more people visiting your actual content.
Does that mean that social media is useless for websites looking to drive traffic?
Well, no, the brand awareness benefits would still be significant, though there is a secondary element, in that while fewer people are engaging with content in-stream, more are now sharing links in message threads.?
Another element that the Memo analysed was sentiment, and whether positive or negative stories generate more engagement in social apps.
And Despite there being more positive coverage in the article sample, social engagement was higher per article among negative articles.
So while the data here likely only backs up what you already suspected, it is worth considering what this means for broader online engagement, and the trends that drive action online.
?? Google Adds Social Media Posts to Business Listings
?? Are your social media posts ready for google?
After expanding access to its option to add social media profiles to your Google Business listing back in October, Google has now added a new section within its business listings in Search, which displays recent social media posts from your connected profiles.
Google Business profiles now have a new sub-section titled “Social Media Updates,” which displays the latest posts from your linked social apps. Businesses owners can connect their Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok and X accounts via their Google Business dashboard.
Google says that the social post previews are populated automatically based on the social profiles linked to the business. And while you can (and should) manually link your social media accounts, Google also notes that it may add social media links to eligible Business Profiles automatically in some cases.??
Last year, Google enabled more businesses to add social media links to their Google Business profile, providing another way to showcase your social profile links within Google Search and Maps ??
This new element builds on this, which could help to provide more context within your Google Business listing, and generate more interest in your products and/or services, so get those socials in order and ready to show off!
?? Rounding off The Bolt
As usual, here’s some stories from marketing from around the world…
?? Catch you next time on 2nd April?
Thanks for taking time to read edition #23 of the Bolt!
We’ll be back again on the 2nd April for edition #24 (a Tuesday, rather than a Monday).
Hit subscribe and if there’s anybody in your network that you would like to see this, then tag them in the comments or forward it on.
Sara and the team at Expert Trades
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Ecosystem Support @ Partnerhub? | Airtable, CRM
7 个月Very interesting Sara CallowIt'd be great to have you join us next Wednesday for the TikTok virtual networking event with their team and service providers when we will be discussing a lot of this. I think you could bring a lot of good discussion to the table. Can you make it? https://www.airmeet.com/e/a2e21f80-aa5e-11ee-82e4-bd7bb895ef8e
Loving your insights on clickbaiting, I totally agree on using it effectively without compromising on the brand's integrity. The true art of creating engaging content is maintaining that fine balance between intrigue and honesty!