⚡️ A question is now an answer, attention is freed up, and ad auction pressure is relieved.

As I said at the end of Election Campaign Spending Crowds Out Your Messaging:

Your marketing and messaging is like a fire, it needs a steady source of fuel to keep burning—to act as a beacon to the people it’s for. The election is a vacuum, it sucks all the oxygen (and attention) out, making it all but impossible for that fire to keep burning without any changes.

The election coming to an end, along with its ad campaigns (and the now unlikely possibility of a January 6 repeat), brings closure to the biggest uncertainty event of the year.

The oxygen is back.

The election ending opened a whole new can of worms, of course. I’m not saying it’s all rainbow giggles and unicorn farts now. But people and societies don’t do well with uncertainty.

It’s like when you have a vacation coming up—or a holiday—you know life continues on the other side of it, but all your focus is on getting to that date. It’s a planning and attention checkpoint. Your main focus is on getting prepared for and then enjoying that cabin getaway or Thanksgiving or girls’ trip.

That’s the election, but at the societal level.

The Guy Fawkes dam has burst, the emotions released. Now there will be hirings and firings, moves and migrations, revenge shopping and stockpiling. Oh, and the holidaze.

If I’m reading tea leaves, this is the brew I’m using to inform this guess:

• Halloween spend was big
• Inflations measures cooled a bit in September (specifically energy costs)
• The Fed dropped the rate again
• Consumer spending grew a bit more in September
• Amazon’s fall Prime Day event went big, but holiday shopping played a small part—like the OG summer event, essentials and little luxuries were the big drivers
• Tariffs are coming (one of the worms in said can), some purchases will be pulled forward to avoid their impact

The oxygen is back. The fires can be stoked again.

Some insight on Pinterest Performance+ bidding for shopping campaigns:

• Performance+ bidding optimizes for checkout volume—as many as possible.
• The new (& in beta) ROAS bidding optimizes for return on ad spend by focusing on higher-price items.

Algorithms give you what you ask for.

I posted on LinkedIn to “pay attention to the details.”

Called it a note to self, maybe should have been a note to Costco.

Costco recalled nearly 80,000 pounds of its Kirkland-brand butter products last month because they were missing a legally-required “Contains Milk” allergy statement.

This recall could’ve been avoided and impacted completely usable products, which has the potential for major losses for Costco. Don’t let this be your product – always make sure to double-check product packaging before going to production.

Customer service is a chance to create delight and impact. It can amplify or undermine the marketing investments that you say are important

As in all things, getting the systems right is the foundation for everything else that follows.

Everything is customer service

According to EMARKETER, we’re almost at peak media with “a plateauing of consumption in the 11 media formats measured.”

Americans are forecast to add 5 minutes of media consumption next year, and 4 the year after.

Social is basically saturated.

What’s your reach strategy now?

Think outside the feed.

I ended my post on lessons from Dropout with:

Trying to do what the industry heavyweight(s) does but a bit better is not a viable plan. Finding the gap in their model—the unserved audience—is a winning plan.

Know the game you’re playing. Know the way you want to play it. Know the strengths and weaknesses of the other players. Know your style. Know the loophole.

I decided to make a diagram

consumer confidence fell unexpectedly mid-October

What could have caused that 🤔

Fall 2024: the vibe got weird #analysis

there’s a lot of uncertainty. There’s financial strains. The election is behind us, but there’s always a transition uncertainty that happens that gets people no matter who wins. And if it’s your side or not your side, that still gets people a little bit worried before the official transition happens next year. So I think consumers are coming from a place of I don’t want to say scared, but a little bit more cautious

People might just ease into 2025 at this point.

Seth builds on this sentiment in this great podcast strategy walkthrough.

There are 4 decisions you make that determine the future of your business.

When you pick your:

• Customers
• Competitors
• Distribution
• Constraints

Choose your customers, choose your future

-Seth Godin

data shows consumers remember and engage with emotionally-resonant ads.

• High-quality video should be emotional, not just technically sound
• Consumers want to feel included
• Remember social media is associated with negative emotions
• Funny is memorable
• Brands that make people feel happy get paid

Brands aren’t people, but they can act like people are behind them.

Are you not entertained?

Sam Reich, CEO of Dropout (formerly CollegeHumor), sat down with Fast Company to talk about the brand’s journey (video embedded below, podcast version here to the subscription-based niche media company it is today.

On growing Dropout:

Because we’re not in the meta-sport of growing this business, we can be very slow and responsible and reasonable about it.

It’s important to know what game you’re playing. Otherwise you won’t know the rules and you’ll be using the wrong game board.

Be honest—at least with yourself—about what your true goals are for your brand. The best goals are the ones not derived from the covers of business magazines, hustle bro tweets, or scale-worshipping podcasts.

There’s more discussion around this idea in this episode of Seth Godin’s podcast (specifically around the 13:30 mark if you want just the growth talk).

On focus:

We are really 90% focused on growing the platform. And that focus, so far, has paid off.

Or, as the modern philosopher Ron Swanson says: “never half-ass two things, whole-ass one thing.”

But! don’t lose sight of the parts that make up the one thing.

For Dropout, growing the platform means attracting new audience and keeping existing audience happy and subscribing. Those are accomplished in different ways—but can leverage a common core approach.

Know the north star goal. Develop strategies and metrics for the highest leverage inputs for that goal. The C-suite / leadership mostly just wants the north star info, everyone else needs to focus on the core inputs.

On zigging to other’s zag:

This era of hyper-premium content has created a reactionary market where folks are really interested in stuff that feels a little bit more garage band-y and authentic.

A small player can come in and be disruptive because a big player can’t adopt their business model without disrupting their existing business model.

Trying to do what the industry heavyweight(s) does but a bit better is not a viable plan. Finding the gap in their model—the unserved audience—is a winning plan.

Know the game you’re playing. Know the way you want to play it. Know the strengths and weaknesses of the other players. Know your style. Know the loophole.

The podcast version gets into a lot more of the strategy and approach.