Edition #4: Long-term Thinking and Paradigm Shifts in Marketing

I’ve been thinking about a CNBC video I saw recently titled ‘Why Direct-To-Consumer Companies Like Casper, Allbirds And Peloton Are All Struggling’. Long story short, it details the rise of brands within the D2C space and how the internet gave massive leverage for entrepreneurs and investors to ease into building new ventures. And during 2010-2015, all was positive and ticking upwards… until it wasn’t.

What comes easy never lasts, the foundations of its pursuit tend to be weak. I’m not knocking on entrepreneurs trying to innovate truly, but if you’re in it to be part of the entrepreneur club, you’ll be in for a trick, not a treat.

The ease of launching a startup in whichever business model of your choosing, can take minutes. We are in the golden generation of starting things, but how will you finish?

Here’s a well-kept secret in the startup world… most companies are not profitable, I’d call them all a bubble but that undermines potential.

Marketing friends, just because your ROAS is peaking above 200%, doesn’t mean the D2C brand you work for is profitable, there are additional costs involved in the process:

• Paying employees (you)

• Paying for the promotion of the product

• Paying for the creation of the product

• Paying for the packaging of the product

• Paying for the delivery of the product

• Paying for the customer support of the product

• Paying for the loyalty program of the product/business

That’s not an extensive list by the way. Hopefully, you get my drift. The grass looks greener from either side.

With AI and automation now massively escalating the building of more businesses, we have a responsibility. Do we create something shiny (chasing trends) and empty (no inherent value) OR do we create something that innovates (improving what is and what may be) and solves problems (tangible value)?

Let’s think smaller in terms of starting, but bigger in terms of providing extreme value to our chosen tribe. Lead us to a better future, will you?

Google Ads and Gemini AI

Another one of my predictions is coming to fruition, being able to launch omnichannel campaigns in mere minutes, without assets, just a website is enough. On January 23, 2024, Google announced a conversational experience in creating Google Ads campaigns, powered by Gemini. (Source: MarketingDive)

The conversational experience enables advertisers to generate relevant ad copy, including creatives and keywords, directly from your website. This tells me, the importance of your website’s overall impact in future marketing activations.

I predict that your website copy, creatives and audiences will have more inherent value than ever before, as LLMs will likely use this to contextualise how to market your business more effectively in future. Website developers and agencies, rejoice.

Apple Adopting RCS for Even More Security

Apple will be adopting the RCS (Rich Communication Services) standard on iOS devices later this year. While SMS marketing is still niche and has more privacy concerns than any other channel (in my opinion), marketers will rejoice in knowing that it is a form of communication that has very strong engagement. 

What you need to know about RCS:

• Richer Communication: RCS allows for more engaging content than SMS, including high-quality media sharing and interactive messages.

• Verified Sender Status: Marketers can appear as verified senders, increasing trust and authenticity.

• Non-reliance on Cellular Signal: Unlike SMS, RCS doesn't require a cellular signal, broadening communication capabilities.

• Increased User Engagement: Enhanced messaging features are expected to drive consumer engagement, making RCS an attractive option for marketers.

• Growth in RCS Usage: Active RCS users are projected to reach 2.1 billion globally by 2025.

• Boost in Operator Revenue: Global operator revenue from RCS business messaging is expected to grow significantly, influenced by Apple's adoption.

(Source: MarketingDive)

Will AI Impact the Workplace Environment?

If you haven’t spent a couple of hours mind-mapping how AI can help your day-to-day, especially at work, now is the time. Not only can it improve your overall well-being and increase output, but it will also improve how you work with others.

Sifted and Zoom have partnered up to announce Zoom’s AI-companion feature, which helps users generate a summary of what’s discussed after that point and send it to the host afterwards. There seem to be a lot of these tools popping out of the woodwork. I call them AI meeting recorders.

Some of what these tools can do include:  

• Composing Messages: AI Companion can help draft emails and Zoom Team Chat responses with the appropriate tone and length, enhancing communication efficiency.

• Summarizing Information: Offers quick summaries of chat threads and meeting discussions, enabling efficient catch-up and response.

• Meeting Assistance: Provides real-time help during meetings, such as summarizing discussions in progress, identifying mentions of your name, and noting any missed action items.

• Smart Recordings: After cloud-recorded meetings, it automatically creates organized recordings by chapter, highlights key information, and generates action items for attendees.

• Scheduling Assistance: Detects meeting intent in chat messages and will display a scheduling button in Team Chat to streamline the process (feature coming soon).

• Idea Generation: Helps generate ideas on a digital whiteboard and organize content into categories, improving brainstorming sessions.

• Communication and Presentation Feedback: Will offer real-time feedback on communication and presentation skills during meetings to aid improvement (feature planned for the future).

(Source 1: Sifted)

(Source 2: Zoom)

Long-form Video on TikTok

Why is TikTok leveraging long-form videos (more than 1 minute) on its platform? Is it trying to follow the YouTube formula? Or is this an experiment to see if they can get users to stay on the App for longer?

As a YouTuber, cutting my long-form videos to shorts is a bit of a hassle, so I like this change in positioning. I have yet to upload a long-form video on TikTok, but may do so now. I’ll let you know my results in a few weeks! 

According to TikTok, here are the benefits of uploading long-form content to its platform for its creators:

• Focus more on storytelling and more informational educational content

• Build more trust and connection with your viewers (I have yet to test this out)

(Source 1: TikTok)

(Source 2: The Drum)

A New Way to Browse the Web?

There’s a new web browser looking to challenge Google Chrome, the question is, is it a good product and will I effectively use it? Find out from our latest video release below. 

Worthy Reads

• Apple Overhauls App Store, iPhone Features in EU to Appease Regulators (Source: Bloomberg)

• Six rules of hiring for growth teams or growth marketers (Source: Lennys Newsletter)

• Elon Musk says Neuralink has implanted its first brain chip in humans (Source: The Guardian)

• New ways to search in Google this 2024 (Source: Google)

• Get Ready to Hack Your Growth in 2024: Top Trends You Can't Ignore (Source: Growth Hackers)

• Apple says it’ll show its GenAI efforts ‘later this year’ (Source: TechCrunch)

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