Beware viral trends:
It seems people spent the last few days of 2023 encouraging their followers to get to know them better. Or, according to one cyber-security expert, helping potential hackers access their information.
_via Business Insider
Black Sheep Thinking: Aim For "No"
My goal for you this year is to hear “no” more.
Sounds weird, right?
Here’s why…
If your aren’t getting reeled back in a bit, you’re not pushing far enough.
If you aren’t getting told “no,” you're not pushing far enough.
Our job (whether we’re agency or an internal marketer) is not just to give the client what they want, but to give them the version they didn’t know they wanted. To elevate their wants to a higher level of execution.
If we are being curious marketers then we have a vision for where things are going. What direction platforms are evolving in. What users are expecting and engaging with. And we need to pull our clients down those paths.
Brands have comfort zones. We need to find the edges and stretch them.
We need to aim for “no.”
The other TikTok Shop shoe drops
From The Information:
The company on Wednesday told sellers it will start taking a bigger cut of the sales they make on its app, by raising the commission it charges on most items to 8% over the next few months from 2% plus 30 cents per transaction currently. At the same time, TikTok Shop has started reducing some subsidies for merchants that sell on the app, according to a person familiar with the changes, limiting the offers to top-selling items as the company slashes its spending on the service.
On a list of behavioral science tips from Social Media Examiner:
Simplify Complexity: The Cognitive Fluency Principle
People gravitate toward information that takes less effort to process mentally. Simple and easy-to-digest messages feel more truthful and inspire greater confidence.
optimizing for cognitive fluency wins more positive reception and boosts response from your audience.
Picasso’s Hill anyone?
Elon/X (unsurprisingly) can’t make up his/its mind about link titles in feed previews.
It’s obvious why (it’s not because it “looks cleaner”), it makes links look images.
Which means:
- look less clickable
- stay in feed
- see more ads
- collect more pennies as revenue vanishes
This is why you’re like Picasso…
As you get good at something, you embrace more complex options (Notion over Apple Notes, leading meetings, etc).
As you get really good at things you make things simpler again (back to Notes, avoiding meetings, etc).
Reembrace simplicity.
The amateur does not know what to do.
The master knows what not to do.
The master has hiked Picasso’s Hill
Picasso's Hill
As you improve at something, you journey along a curve. You’ve probably seen the memes. I’m sure it’s got some fancy name like "The Complexity Curve of Mastery."
But it looks like a hill. So I’m calling it Picasso’s Hill
Why?
Because dude can draw and paint his ass off. But he got to his signature style by returning to simplicity. Check out Picasso’s Bulls if you want to see this in action.
So about that hill…
When you first start, you’re on the simple end of the curve.
As you progress you climb the curve to complexity.
Then you hit a point in your progress where you head back down the hill to simplicity.
But this doesn’t mean you’re back where you started. You hiked over a hill.
As James Clear puts it:
The amateur does not know what to do.
The master knows what not to do.
So keep it simple, stupid
JK, you’re not stupid 💜
2024 Resolution: Defer To Data
Here’s another New Year’s resolution for curious marketers:
DEFER TO DATA
Why guess when you can test?
The benefit of working in a digital world is rapid data collection. Digital is fast and flexible, use that to your advantage.
We don’t have to rely on opinions or gut feelings.
I have sat in so many meetings where taglines or ad creative or button color is discussed. Meetings filled with “I thinks” and “I likes”.
Don’t think and feel. Launch & learn.
- The algorithms want more pieces of robot food to learn on.
- People like different things.
- Our brands aren’t just one color and one phrase and one picture.
What I’m saying is:
Yes, I’m being a bit extreme. Our experience and our expertise is what makes us valuable. But we don’t have to settle on one thing.
Narrow down to a few options that represent your brand well and just put them out there. Let your audience decide.
We don’t need to rely on our opinions and gut feelings, we can find out what our customers actually like, which is way better.
Our opinions don’t matter. Our audience’s opinions matter.
Toss on the lab coat and start cranking out robot food.