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Tomorrow is International 🤖 Dalek Remembrance Day, Reader. Shoutout to the first Doctor!

In today’s edition:

• Today's 👉 Tip of the Day is for qualifying leads

• ⚖️ Testing trends for staying power

• A Facebook and Instagram 🙌 challenge strategy

• Instagram 👩‍🏫 profile image controls

• TikTok for more screens 📲

Are your videos attracting the right audience? Looking for a way to qualify customers before they click through to your website?

Qualify Potential Customers With Push or Pull Language

As part of your video strategy, you’re likely referencing your audience’s pain points and telling them a specific, relatable story as part of the sales process.

During your videos, you want to pull valuable leads toward you. At the same time, you want to push low-value or irrelevant leads away. 

That’s where “push-pull” language comes in.

For example, if you sell a software product for small businesses, then your content should actively push away major corporations. They’re not your target audience so your videos shouldn’t speak to them. Instead, you’ll use language, case studies, and stories that feature small businesses to pull other small businesses toward your brand.

Today's tip is inspired by Marley Jaxx.

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Spotting True Trends

When is a trend REALLY a trend? How do you know when to go all-in on something new?

Let's explore the dangerous side of moving too quickly and the upside of moving very fast.

Sometimes, Moving too Early can be a Dangerous Distraction

Here's an important consideration when analyzing a trend: Who tells you something is important?

For example, on December 15, 2020—in the middle of lockdowns—I wrote an article about why Clubhouse might be the next major social platform. That article ranked in Google search and resulted in a lot of people trying out Clubhouse—a social audio experience.

Clubhouse certainly felt like it had all the trappings of a huge trend.

Here's the problem: it all started because a handful of people with large audiences evangelized this new online experience. But, there was no objective evidence of a lasting transformation or disruption.

Beware of so-called trends that light up the sky and fizzle out as fast. I call these magnesium trends.

The Massive Upside of True Trends

On November 30, 2022, Open AI released ChatGPT—a generative AI chatbot.

Because I saw the trappings of a real trend, I recruited a friend who's a true AI expert to come speak on my podcast early in the rise of ChatGPT. I also invited him to speak on the stage at Social Media Marketing World in March of 2023.

It was NUTS. We've never had that many people interested in a breakout session.

How to Filter True Trends From Magnesium Trends

Here are some critical questions to ask yourself.

Is it Disruptive? Does what you're considering fundamentally change how people operate in life or business? Generative AI almost instantly disrupted the writing industry. Nearly all my writer friends were panicking.

Are People Talking About It? As you would expect, a trend should be the talk of the town. According to Pew Research, in May of 2023, 58% of adults in the United States had heard of ChatGPT. Pause and process that. Some serious word-of-mouth virality was required to go from zero to more than half of America in only six months!

Is It Sticky? Once you experience it, it's sticky if you want to keep using it. Clubhouse was a novelty. ChatGPT is a utility. The sticking power of a true trend results in people abandoning their old ways and embracing the trend as the new normal.

Are People Willing to Pay for It? A good trend solves a problem you didn't even know existed. If you're willing to fork over hard-earned cash to get it, that's a good sign the trend has staying power.

Here's the fun part: When you're early to a real trend, you can benefit from it. For example, early movers on trends can quickly become recognized thought leaders.

Today's advice is provided by Michael Stelzner.

The Challenge Strategy for Facebook and Instagram

5-day challenges work well for businesses with an educational component, like cooking, mindfulness, or business coaching. They also work for any company that can share expertise related to the benefits of their product or service. You need to get creative in finding an educational angle that relates to your business!

How to Run a 5-Day Challenge

First, create Facebook ads to attract signups for your 5-day challenge. Use lead generation ads focused on conversions and gather key information like name, email, and phone number from participants. Mention the private Facebook group where you will share challenge content in the ads. Be sure to highlight the benefits participants will gain so you start building excitement and laying the groundwork for future sales.  

Starting right after someone signs up for the challenge, you need to communicate regularly. Send them signup reminders and invites to join the Facebook group where the challenge will take place. You should also begin upselling other paid offers like special challenge tiers or related products on Day 1. This provides additional value and helps justify the contact data you have collected.

During the 5 days of the challenge, you need to stay highly engaged with participants daily. Share new educational content each day of the challenge. Run live video streams in the Facebook group. Actively reply to comments and questions that come in to build relationships with your participants. Your goal is to turn them into passionate brand advocates by the end of the 5 days!

It is imperative that you as the business owner show up consistently throughout the challenge as the subject matter expert. This means you need to balance the automation with an authentic human touch as you interact with participants.

Key Benefits of 5-Day Challenges  

5-day challenges are an effective way to both qualify and nurture leads by building commitment over the 5 days. 

Plus, the educational content you create can be reused for future challenges, saving you work. After the initial setup, the entire process can also be largely automated through platforms like HighLevel.

Today's advice is provided with insights from Allie Bloyd.

Need a New Strategy to Embrace Change in 2024?

The key to making big shifts comes down to one single strategy… removing ourselves from our normal, day-to-day routine and placing ourselves in an environment optimized for change!

Are you ready to:

1️⃣ Dream about what could be possible?

2️⃣ Discover new ways to approach challenges?

3️⃣ Explore new ideas with people who are just like you?

This is what happens when you attend Social Media Marketing World 2024—taking place February 18–20 (that’s only 60 days away 😳).

"I found my tribe… The people who speak my language and understand my challenges," said Shelley Roslund.

Yes! I’m ready to make big changes!

🗞 Instagram Profile Expansion Controls: Instagram has introduced a new privacy setting that allows users to prevent other people from expanding their profile picture. By restricting the expanded view, users can reduce the ability for impersonators to obtain clear, detailed copies that could facilitate account imitation. Source: Social Media Today

🗞 TikTok for Larger Screens: TikTok has optimized its platform for tablets and foldable devices, providing users with an enhanced viewing experience regardless of their device. This new update offers a complete upgrade to ensure TikTok is seamless and visually appealing across larger screens. Key features include a refined video feed for enhanced clarity, sleek top and bottom navigation bars for ease of access, and landscape and portrait orientation support. Users can now watch videos on bigger screens and smoothly navigate TikTok thanks to streamlined interface elements and flexibility in device positioning. As TikTok continues enhancing features like Topic Feeds for exploring content categories, the improvements pave the way for more immersive and customizable enjoyment of favorite videos in tablet and foldable formats. Source: TikTok

Did You Know?

Hedgehogs can travel up to two miles during evening foraging trips… on those tiny little legs!