Greg Isenberg - The TikTokification of the Internet

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Hey folks,

Media never stands still. It's moved from the printing press, through radio and TV, to the dawn of the internet and the rise of social media. Now, we're stepping into the era of short-form video.

I used to work near Instagram's early office in SF and I watched it take off. I realized then that Instagram would be where the next big brands would make their mark.

But I never acted on that insight. Meanwhile, big brands like Chubbies (568k followers), Hidden NY (2M followers), Aime Leon Dore (1.2M followers) were born on Instagram. I sat there while it all happened in front of my eyes.

Today, every social platform has become video-first. It's the "TikTokification of the internet". Sometimes I don't know if I'm on Reels on TikTok. It all kinda feels the same.

But the good news is, during media shifts like there's this moment in time that if you play your cards right you can outcompete the biggest brands out there. You become superhuman for a moment and can shortcut your way to the top.

And there's more good news, you aren't late to the party, the short form era is just warming up.

Twitter just started promoting video recently, LinkedIn announced just 2 days ago that they are adding a TikTok-like feed in their app. And the algorithms across all platforms are getting hungrier and hungrier for video content more everyday.

Our feeds are about to get flooded by video content, much of it made by AI. "Made with AI" is the new "Made in China" Cheap, floods the market and hit or miss quality.

Most short form won't get noticed. But the short-form that gets noticed, will go parabolic. I posted a video of Pharrell and Maggie Rogers, and the tweet got 20M views in 24 hours. That would never happen with text.

Creating video content that resonates, that genuinely engages your audience, is essential. This challenge varies with each audience. Now, the task is to find the right style and format for your videos.

The real challenge is creating video content that doesn’t just capture attention, but holds it. Engages. Resonates. And that magic formula varies wildly across audiences.

Here’s where you experiment:

• Direct to camera vs polished studio interviews
• Animated adventures vs classic black and white
• Quick-fire humorous skits or deeply emotional narratives
• Behind the scenes vs professional shots
• Hilarious vs serious
• Q&A Sessions vs. narrative storytelling
• Educational vs entertaining
• 30 second vs 3 minutes

Nail your style, and the rest is about scaling your video strategy. Get that right, and you’ll wonder why you ever hesitated.

Bottom line is for better or for worse the internet has new rules now.

Dive into the video, find your niche, and make content that’s unscrollable. That’s the game now.

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Next up, bookmarks I saved this week worth reading

#1

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Sebastian Groebner @SGroebner “Include a QR code.” “Add a line to explain the visual.” “It needs a call-to-action.” A “No” to all of the above. That’s why the latest @British_Airways campaign by the lovely folks of @Uncommon_Studio is so utterly marvelous. Again. 1:46 PM • Mar 28, 2024 427 Retweets 6458 Likes Read 63 replies

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In marketing, sometimes the best practices are the worst practices. Marketing is about standing out and making noise. This was well-done.

#2

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Zach 🏴 @zachpogrob To anyone making IG reels The way you go giga viral- is one video pops off- someone clicks your profile (which goes straight to reels) Then they binge your other reels- and those start going viral So- make reels that are similar to each other- in terms of video/thumbnail… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1773359932080845215 10:42 AM • Mar 28, 2024 4 Retweets 115 Likes Read 11 replies

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How to go "giga-viral" with Reels. I agree with this approach. I've had Zach on the pod before. You can listen at Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube​

#3

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Being Travis Cody @beingTravisCody Forrest Gump had a budget of $55M and grossed $678M at the box office. On paper… it LOST money. How is that even possible? Because “Hollywood Accounting” is the greatest form of legal money laundering ever invented. And it’s why a “net profit deal” (especially for authors)… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1771537209893744739 9:59 AM • Mar 23, 2024 357 Retweets 2227 Likes Read 93 replies

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This astonished me and I don't get easily astonished. I had no idea Hollywood had it's own accounting system.

#4

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Cody Schneider @codyschneiderxx how to start your internet money career learn a skill you can sell online as consulting with no employees get clients talk case studies in public on youtube for inbound do videos daily cold email cold dm then make productized service then make software do 10+ years 10:0 PM • Mar 28, 2024 2 Retweets 33 Likes Read 3 replies

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This is directionally right. Not a big fan of cold dm, but replace with community or a newsletter and this feels right.

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#5

The Boring Marketer @boringmarketer Dollar Shave Club - product page analysis Every inch of the page is optimized for higher conversions. If you are a D2C, use this landing page formula for free: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1773047818183139754 2:1 PM • Mar 27, 2024 12 Retweets 108 Likes Read 5 replies

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I had to screenshot this image on how to design a landing page that converts and with SEO benefits.

Yesterday, Mr. BoringMarketer told me about how a real estate firm landed a $2M client from SEO. If you haven't set up a call with BoringMarketing.com already, I recommend doing so over here. It's totally free to book a call, so you have nothing to lose but learn about this whole new world of AI-assisted SEO.

Thank you for reading Greg's Letter. I hope you found it valuable. Forward to a friend if you did or share on social to get others thinking.

I'll keep writing if you keep reading. I read every reply if you care to reply :). You might get an answer back.

Before I head off...

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Until next week.

Be well,

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