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It’s National 🥮 Sticky Bun Day, Reader! 🤤 Dig in!

In today’s edition:

• Today's 👉 Tip of the Day is for analysis

• A framework for 🔥 Reels-ready content

• Instagram’s future 🍎 iOS App Clip

• YouTube retains top 📺 streaming slot

For many marketers, the greatest utility lies in quickly eliminating waste by discontinuing campaigns, platforms, and other initiatives that generate negative returns on investment. Losing money helps no one. 

Determine 3 Key Metrics

To begin with, focus on your traffic sources and landing pages. Later, you can dive into more complicated metrics.

First, find out how many people viewed your sales landing pages from which traffic sources. Then, track the number of people who added your product or service to their cart or viewed the pricing table of your software as a service. Finally, determine how many people bought your product.

Then you can ask questions like what to do if Facebook mobile is converting at half the rate of desktop. Leveraging data to stop ineffective marketing spend makes room for new strategies and tactics that drive your business's growth and build stakeholder trust.

Today's tip is inspired by JJ Reynolds.

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The VAT Framework for Crafting Effortless Reels

Since launching in 2020, marketers have realized immense value from Instagram Reels. But creating Reels on a consistent schedule can feel overwhelming.

By adopting a system around video capture, audio integration, copywriting, and editing, you can start building an addictive Reels presence that pulls in your ideal viewers and expands your engagement and reach.

Video: Build a B-Roll Library

Reels thrive on dynamic visuals, but filming customized footage daily takes a lot of effort. That's where B-roll comes in clutch. Creating a B-roll library gives you a content bank of your custom-made stock videos that you can reuse and repurpose for creating Reels and content.

For example, think of glancing at your watch to signify time passing or focusing on typing hands when you’re discussing work. Film 10–20 second clips of your:

• Daily tasks and work processes

• Expressions and reactions

• Walking from different angles

• Business location scenes

• Product showcase montages

• Weekend activities and hobbies

As you set up your shots, pay attention to your composition within IG’s user interface. Usually, the top third of frames is where your hook or text will go, the bottom third is where you’ll see your username and caption. So, it’s a good idea to position your subject in the middle of the frame. Also, be mindful of IG’s side icons (like, comment, and send). Keeping inside IG’s “safety zones” will ensure everything is in frame for your viewers.

Next, organize your clips into topical albums so you can access them quickly. Then, store clips locally on your phone or in the cloud via Google Drive or Dropbox for security.

Audio: Narrate With Intention

Trending sounds, original voiceovers, ambient songs, or standard music all have different benefits, and the sound you choose to accompany your Reel depends on its purpose.

If the goal is to entertain, a trending sound will work well. But if your goal is to inspire or educate within your niche, forgo mainstream sounds in favor of an original branded voiceover with complementary ambient music. This is especially useful for those marketers looking to discuss products, share a realization, teach a new skill, or tell an origin story.

Pro Tip: Align the vibe of your B-roll and your ambient music.

Use these tips to help your Reels gain further traction:

• Use songs and samples that are familiar to your audience

• Trim songs and samples to fit your Reel's duration precisely

• Adjust music volume to 6–8% behind voiceovers/narration

• Enable closed captions to incentivize listening

• Use Meta’s royalty-free sound collection to avoid copyright issues, especially if you are running ads with your Reels. You can find this collection by swiping up and selecting the music sticker in Stories or by tapping the audio icon in the Reels camera.

• Schedule some Reels as audio-off to evaluate the visual impact 

Text: Craft an Effective Hook

Just like a headline, an opening hook grabs your audience’s attention and conveys your Reel's value.

Draft hooks that immediately speak to your target viewer within the first two seconds of your Reel. For example, “Five Hook Ideas to Save Time” or “I Asked AI to Audit My Instagram Account, and This Is What It Said.” The best hooks give your audience a reason to watch your Reel the whole way through, thereby boosting your completion rate.

Keep hooks succinct in one brief sentence, utilizing keywords. They should be clear, concise, personalized, and provide context for your Reel. Next, display your hook for 5–7 seconds on screen so your audience can digest the message before you elaborate.

To guarantee your hooks shine, ask yourself these questions:

• Is the text contrasted against the background?

• Is the font legible and sufficient size?

• Is the messaging personable?

• Is the text readable?

Today's advice is provided with insights from Laura Bitoiu.

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🗞 Instagram iOS App Clip: Instagram is rolling out an App Clip in its latest iOS app update—a mini version of the app that lets users quickly access specific functionality without installing the full Instagram app. The App Clip, currently in beta testing, focuses solely on the Reels short video feature. It will allow iPhone users to watch an IG Reel sent via iMessage directly in the clip instead of their web browser. Users can scroll through and share other popular Reels for a limited time before being prompted to download the main app. While the App Clip aims to improve the IG experience, the app still lacks an iPad version, disappointing users requesting an optimized iPad app. The App Clip feature is expected to launch publicly soon. Source: 9To5Mac

🗞 YouTube Retains Top Spot for Streaming: YouTube has been named the number one streaming platform by watch time for 12 consecutive months by Nielsen. This means YouTube is the top destination where viewers are choosing to watch their preferred content from creators, artists, and media partners. Key metrics demonstrating YouTube's top position include: over 1 billion hours of YouTube content is viewed globally per day on internet-connected TVs on average; the number of top YouTube creators who get the majority of their watch time on TVs has grown by over 400%; and views of YouTube Shorts on connected TVs have doubled from January to September 2023. Source: YouTube

Did You Know?

Cal Ripken Jr. holds the record for playing in the most consecutive baseball games: 2,632!