Welcome to the 1167 new marketers and founders who joined last week! In this newsletter, we're covering brand differentiation, ads, and negations.
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Together with Insense.
Marketers often forget to test their UGC ad creatives in advance—before the sudden demand for UGC in Q4. But by knowing your winning ad formula, you’ll be able to quickly produce and scale content when you need it most.
How? Insense. Through their creator marketplace, you can get a steady flow of authentic UGC starting at $50 per video. It’s so simple to use that just one marketer can manage 50+ collaborations at once, in one space.
Here’s what companies have been able to achieve with Insense: - Wonderskin sourced 100 UGC video assets with a budget under $5K.
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Thrasio generated 3 million views for a total of 25 products.
- Wholesome Goods scaled UGC production for whitelisted ads, leading to consistent ROI.
You can get up to $200 in credits for UGC until October 26. Book a free strategy call to claim your offer (exclusive to Demand Curve readers).
As a bonus, here’s a free creative testing guide from Insense that will help you identify top-performing CTAs and hooks for higher conversions. |
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Within a day, his post had gotten 20 million impressions.
His question points to a wider trend: Brands are getting more homogenous in their design, UX, and messaging. Creativity is losing out to CRO—and consumers are getting bored.
Reminder: Consumers like being surprised and delighted. Otherwise, TikTok wouldn’t exist.
To prevent brand burnout—that’s consumer fatigue caused by brand uniformity—differentiate your brand. Consider using an “onlyness statement” to do that. What is it that only your brand is doing?
Follow this structure: “Our brand is the ONLY ___________ [your business category] that __________ [your differentiator].” For example, “Trader Joe’s is the only grocery store that makes shopping unique and fun.”
Then flesh it out: - What: The only [your category]
- How: that [your differentiator]
- Who: for [your customers]
- Where: in [your market geography]
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Why: who [your customers’ need state]
- When: during [the underlying trend]
Another example: - What: The only motorcycle manufacturer
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How: that makes big, loud bikes
- Who: for macho guys (and macho wannabees)
- Where: mostly in the US
- Why: who want to join a gang of cowboys
- When: in an era of decreasing personal freedom
You can see how that encapsulates Harley-Davidson’s slogan: “American by birth. Rebel by choice.” 2. Mine product reviews for ad angles
Insight from Nik Sharma. Creative teams often rely on instinct and assumptions alone to answer customers’ “whys”: - Why they should click on your ad
- Why they should be excited about your brand or product
- Why they should buy
Until you understand which “whys” truly resonate, your campaigns will never reach their full potential. If you run social ads, try a simple four-step exercise to uncover high-impact creative concepts. 1. Write down 25 reasons why someone should buy your product. We'll use a hypothetical example of deodorant from an eco-friendly DTC brand.
2. Look at the product's reviews, and make a list of all the benefits people talk about. If someone says: - "It's long-lasting"—put a tally mark
- "It's natural"—put a tally mark
- "It smells great"—put a tally mark
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"It's long-lasting"—put a second tally mark
3. Sort benefits from most to least tallies. 4. Match the top 10 benefits with your list of "whys." Now you have a messaging matrix for 10 ad angles—using your customers' words. Every angle on the list should have: - A clear why
- A clear problem it's illustrating
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And the benefit it provides
Test these angles in your campaigns to see what resonates, then iterate on top performers. |
3. Test negations in your copy
Insight from Ariyh.
Get this: Simply using negations (words like “no,” “don’t,” “never”) can increase your engagement and word of mouth. In a study of more than 15,000 tweets and Facebook posts, more people viewed, engaged with, and acted on posts that had negation words. Consider testing them in your copy. A few examples of how to frame your content using negations: - Tell users what not to do. “Don’t settle for XYZ.”
- Explain what your product helps avoid or reduce. “Never worry about [problem] again.”
- Create a sense of impossibility. “You can’t find a better deal anywhere else.”
Why do negations generate more engagement? Research suggests that since these words seem powerful and assertive, they signal higher social status. So consumers who desire status tend to engage more. Given these findings, negations might have a stronger impact on luxury brands or other businesses that sell status-signaling products. 4. New virtual event to attend Sponsored by Sparktoro.
In-person marketing conferences compete with, well … other in-person marketing conferences. They compete on location, ticket prices, and dates. But the unique challenge with virtual events? They compete with everything else that’s happening in attendees’ living rooms.
That’s why the team at SparkToro is launching the first story-focused marketing event: SparkTogether. First-hand experiences, told by the people who lived them, with confidential metrics and outcomes revealed. And these speakers—April Dunford, Ross Simmonds, Wil Reynolds, Liz Fosslien, Jay Acunzo, and more—are able to be candid because SparkTogether will not be recorded.
This isn't the virtual equivalent of the hotel ballroom with burnt coffee and boring trail mix. It's the post-conference fly-on-the-wall conversations at the back of the bar. Leaders dissecting their wins and honestly sharing their mistakes.
You can watch SparkTogether anywhere only on November 10.
Plus, only DC readers get a special discount—save $50 off the $300 ticket price. Offer expires 11:59pm PST, Friday, October 21.
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News you can use: -
Google search is getting some notable updates: 1) On mobile, ads are now labeled as “Sponsored.” 2) Mobile searches now display site names, and site logos/icons are also easier to see. 3) Google launched a refreshed, simpler version of their Webmaster Guidelines for site owners—and changed the name to Google Search Essentials.
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A TikTok trifecta too: 1) TikTok released a new campaign type: Focused View. Ads will get delivered to the viewers most likely to either watch the ad for 6 or more seconds, or interact with the ad in the first 6 seconds. 2) TikTok’s revenue from livestreaming grew by 900% in the past two years—compared to 500% growth for TikTok ads. Livestreaming still accounts for only 15% of TikTok turnover, but that growth rate is worth
mentally bookmarking. 3) TikTok is apparently building its own US fulfillment centers, which could signify ecom ambitions.
Our top source for new product launches, tools, and analysis: the Department of Product Briefing.
The Department of Product Briefing is a weekly selection of product launches, analysis, tools, frameworks, and thought-provoking tidbits from around the web. It's designed to help you build winning products. Top product people from companies including Spotify, Netflix, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft get their product briefings every week. Get your product briefing for free here.
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Top new marketing jobs
If you're looking for a top growth role, check out the opportunities below from our job board. |
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— Nick, Grace, Joyce, Dennis, and the DC team. |
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