About that Google kicking cookies to the curb thing…
Google is phasing out third-party cookies this fall, but some sites will be able to temporarily re-enable them until the year end.
via MarTech
It’s GA4 all over again
🍪 ☠️
The day has come, with Google activating the first stage of its cookie-removal strategy today [January 4]
via SocialMediaToday
From FedEx to airlines, companies are starting to lose their pricing power
Consumers may be regaining power in the marketplace
It’s a shift from the recent years when consumers spent at a breakneck pace — and at high prices — lifting corporate revenues to new records. But faced with weakening demand, more price-sensitive consumers, easing inflation and better supply, some sectors are now forced to find profit growth without the tailwind of price hikes.
Societal gradient descent toward that long-rumored “new normal”
The current state of shipping & returns:
Returns totaled $743B in 2023; reach 14.5% of sales
Online sales have a higher return rate, with 17.6% or $247 billion of merchandise purchased online returned
&
about 81% of merchants are now charging their customers a fee for at least some form of returns.
&
Free shipping is more important to shoppers than same-day delivery
Three-fourths of U.S. online consumers said free shipping is among the most important criteria they consider when deciding where to shop online
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
