TikTok analyzed thousands of video ads to determine what drives conversion rates: - **Videos with a clear call-to-action saw a 152% lift** in conversion. Below, we break down TikTok's analysis, and share how you can integrate these tips into your vid
TikTok analyzed thousands of video ads to determine what drives conversion rates:
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Videos with a clear call-to-action saw a 152% lift in conversion. Below, we break down TikTok's analysis, and share how you can integrate these tips into your videos.
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What level of formal education do most indie hackers have? Here are the poll results, plus a list of free courses to help you keep learning.
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Founder Jaclyn Schiff shifted her perspective on marketing, and achieved 50% growth since last year. She shares how she validated PodReacher, two principles that transformed her career, and the choice to remove pricing from her site.
Want to share something with nearly 85,000 indie hackers? Submit a section for us to include in a future newsletter. —Channing
📽 TikTok Videos That Convert
from the Growth & Acquisition Channels newsletter by Darko
If you want to create short videos that convert, TikTok has some data-driven tips for you. Keep reading for more!
TikTok videos
The news: TikTok analyzed thousands of video ads to determine which video elements drive conversion rates. Here are a few of the findings:
- High-resolution video ads (720p and above) saw a 312% lift in conversion compared to their lower resolution counterparts.
- Vertical-format videos (shot in 9:16) saw a 91% increase in conversion when compared to videos that did not match the screen resolution; these were framed by black bars at the edges of the screen.
- Videos with a clear call-to-action saw a 152% lift in conversion when compared to videos that didn't clearly state what the audience should do next.
TikTok has also published industry-specific best practices for e-commerce stores and gaming apps.
The opportunity: Small changes like these can make all the difference when it comes to achieving a positive ROI for your short videos. Pay close attention to these details, although they may appear insignificant at first glance.
2021's most popular emojis
The news: The Unicode Consortium has published a list of 2021's most frequently used emojis.
Without further ado, here are the top 10:
😂 ❤️ 🤣 👍 😭 🙏 😘 🥰 😍 😊
As you can see, most of them are face emojis.
The Unicode Consortium also published a list of emojis that are in the top of their category. Here are some of them:
- 🚀: Rocket ship, symbolizing progress.
- 💪: Flexed biceps, symbolizing strength, success, and overcoming a struggle.
- 💐: Bouquet, symbolizing celebrations and relationships.
- 🦋: Butterfly, symbolizing change, beauty, nature, and transformation.
The opportunity: One of the simplest ways to get more attention for your posts is to include emojis in them. Emojis can be used in Facebook Ads posts, emails (both the body and the subject line), and other copy.
These frequently used emojis will give you some good ideas on what to use. The last thing you want to do is to use emojis that no one knows about, thus making your copy more confusing.
Facebook targeting
The news: Facebook has published an analysis on when to target people in your ads based on their interests, rather than their demographics. We don't get this kind of advice from Facebook often, so let's take advantage of it!
The findings: Ads with demographic targeting performed better than interest-based targeting ads when the interest-based ads were too narrow. When the ads using interest-based targeting were broad enough, both types of targeting performed similarly.
Best for founders: Interest-based targeting may be better for indie hackers. Facebook found that interest-based targeting had double the success for when you want people to take a certain action, like signing up or purchasing. Interest-based targeting will not generate as much brand awareness as demographic targeting, but if you're on a tight budget and need to make sales quickly, it's the better option.
The opportunity: According to Facebook, interest-based targeting works. Just don't make it too narrow, or you'll be wondering why only 100 people saw your ad and no one converted.
What types of videos work best for you on TikTok? Share below!
Discuss this story, or subscribe to Growth & Acquisition Channels for more.
📰 In the News
from the Volv newsletter by Priyanka Vazirani
📜 Reddit is rolling out end-of-the-year recaps.
💰 Discord creators can now earn with subscription-based memberships.
📝 Visa is launching crypto consulting services.
📈 2021's fastest growing brands.
🎶 Michael Jackson owned almost all the music created by the Beatles.
Check out Volv for more 9-second news digests.
🎓 Free Courses for Founders
by James Fleischmann
What level of education do you need to become a founder? When it comes to indie hackers, there are various educational backgrounds and professional careers represented. However, learning never ends! So here's a list of free courses for founders who want to dive into something deeper.
Degree of degrees
I conducted a poll to see what level of education people have here on Indie Hackers. Here are the results:
As you can see, most of those who took the poll did pursue some sort of higher education. On that same poll, I got a couple of comments that I thought were interesting:
One of the things I have found most helpful was the network I got from going to college. This network has been key for everything from my first job, to starting my first company, and in my opinion, I don't think I could have formed as strong of a network without college.
On the other end, this comment implied that the era of higher education is ending:
You don't need a degree to be a founder. You don't need a degree for many of the jobs asking for one. It's a social norm, one that is shifting.
If we're being real, the only test of being a founder is being able to sell something, and then do it again and again. Here's a checklist to help you find your way through the launch of your first product.
Free courses
For those who want to learn on their own, here are some free courses that might help.
Founders courses:
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Startup School: Y Combinator's course on starting, running, and growing a business.
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How to Build a Startup: This course is designed to help you come up with ideas and validate them effectively.
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Hubspot Academy: Hubspot's academy features courses on several topics, primarily focusing on marketing. There are also sales, customer service, and writing courses.
Marketing courses:
SEO courses:
Product design:
Coding courses:
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Code Academy: Lots of great courses on coding for whatever language you want to learn (Python, Java, JavaScript, Ruby, SQL, C++, HTML, CSS, etc.). It's free for the basic courses, and $19.99 per month for a pro membership.
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w3schools: Learn web development for free.
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Tuts+: More than 20K free tutorials, many of which are about coding.
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Codewars: If you're looking for some fun, Codewars gamifies the experience of learning. They also offer more languages than most other free course providers.
Free university courses:
Several universities are offering free online courses these days. Check out Harvard's free courses covering a wide range of topics. And here's a curated list of the best free university courses for founders.
EdX is also a fantastic, mostly free resource where you can access some of the best courses in the world from universities and businesses. The quality of teaching doesn't get much higher than what you'll find in these courses.
Other ways to educate yourself
Bootcamps:
Here are a few free bootcamps for coders:
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Skillcrush's Free Coding Camp: Learn HTML, CSS, and some UX design.
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freeCodeCamp: A nonprofit that offers courses and certifications for free. We're talking 30K hours of free content, so dive right in.
- Hack Reactor's online coding bootcamp: People say this is one of the best, and they offer a free prep course for beginners too.
Newsletters:
I'd recommend subscribing to industry newsletters to keep you in the loop. Here's a list of newsletters for founders.
Books:
Here's a list of some of the best startup books out there.
What courses have helped you the most as a founder? Let's chat!
Discuss this story.
🧠 Harry's Growth Tip: Conversational Copy
from the Marketing Examples newsletter by Harry Dry
Load up on personal pronouns. People pay attention when you talk directly to them.
Go here for more short, sweet, practical marketing tips.
Subscribe to Marketing Examples for more.
🎙 Jaclyn Schiff's 50% Growth Increase
from the Indie Hackers Stories newsletter by Teela Fleischmann
Founder: Jaclyn Schiff.
Founder of: PodReacher.
Recent growth: 50% increase from 2020.
Zone of genius: Productized services, project management, and content creation.
Jaclyn has spent the last three years building PodReacher, a productized service that repurposes recorded content into high-quality, traffic-grabbing written content. Within just a few months of launching, she was earning enough to go full-time. Read on for more about her journey!
On the origins of her indie hacking journey
I've always had a bit of an entrepreneurial drive. Both of my parents are self-employed, so becoming a founder wasn't some mystical thing. I’d gone back and forth between a typical job and freelance work for the first ten years of my career.
Then, I worked for a B2B publication in Chicago. Eventually, I lost faith in the publisher, so I gave my notice without having a plan in place. This is not like me, but I did it.
I spent two years working on a few stable freelance projects before deciding to try to grow my own business. I knew that growing a business was challenging, but working for someone else is also challenging in its own way. I was at the point where it was more appealing to face the challenges of growing my own business than adjusting to a new job.
On coming up with an idea that worked
I love listening to podcasts. It’s just a medium that I’ve really enjoyed, and that's part of why I wanted to create a business involving podcasting. Since I had a lot of interest in the industry, I read a lot of newsletters about podcasting. One day while reading a newsletter, I saw that someone was looking to turn a podcast into a blog post. Since I have a background in journalism, it was particularly interesting to me.
I went on Upwork to see whether anyone else was looking to turn a podcast into a blog post, and I found that a few people were looking for just that. I wrote a few samples, then used them to pitch the idea of repurposing podcast episodes.
That’s how I picked up my first clients. At first, I wrote the content myself. Pretty early on, I began to contract writers. I found most of my writers on Craigslist in the beginning. Now, there are months when I’m paying 20 or more different writers. It feels like a big responsibility, and an honor.
Podcasts will always be central to the PodReacher story. These days, we’ve expanded beyond podcasts to any recorded content, including webinars and virtual conferences. It has been a natural evolution as we started working with bigger companies.
On growth
We’ve used a lot of cold outreach to grow. In the beginning, I’d use Listen Notes to find companies that were podcasting, and reach out to them. Now, we work with a firm that does the initial outreach.
It only took a couple of months for PodReacher to replace the income I was making from the other stable gigs I had. I waited until I had two consecutive months where I made as much as I was making with my other work, then I dropped the other gigs and went all-in with PodReacher. That was cool to be able to do.
Since then, it’s been a slow and steady process. There are times when I feel I’m in a slump and get discouraged, but then something always pulls me out of it. I’ve been working on PodReacher since 2018, and this year we’re making about 50% more than we were last year at this time, so we are growing.
Being in a service business means that you probably aren’t just going to flip a switch and open the growth floodgates. There’s so much care and attention needed at every stage. I’m proud of where I am, but I admit that I do feel jealous sometimes when reading Indie Hackers and seeing stories of rapid growth.
On shifting perspective on marketing
In the beginning, I positioned and marketed our service thinking of the kinds of things I appreciate when making a purchase online. As in, what would I like to buy, or what kind of marketing would appeal to me? But earlier this year, I realized I’m not the target customer. So why have I structured the customer journey as if I am? This shift in perspective has resulted in a number of big changes.
For one, we no longer have pricing on our site. That’s because there are actually a few details we need to know before we can give a quote for some projects. The sales flow is slightly more complex than I was allowing it to be before. As a buyer, I prefer to see the price upfront, but this isn’t a dealbreaker for our target customer.
We’re also broadening the language of our website right now to emphasize our expanded focus on any type of recording, not just podcasts. It has helped the sales process a lot because people come in with a clearer idea of what we can do for them.
On two principles that transformed her career
- Pay attention to what motivates you.
- Make it as easy as possible for others to say “yes” to what you are offering.
Start, and then keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Discuss this story, or subscribe to Indie Hackers Stories for more.
🐦 The Tweetmaster's Pick
by Tweetmaster Flex
I post the tweets indie hackers share the most. Here's today's pick:
🏁 Enjoy This Newsletter?
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Special thanks to Jay Avery for editing this issue, to Nathalie Zwimpfer for the illustrations, and to Darko, Priyanka Vazirani, James Fleischmann, Harry Dry, and Teela Fleischmann for contributing posts. —Channing
