Global Digital Marketing & Retail by Alex 57
Global Digital Marketing & Retail by Alex 57
Inspiration from across the world for retail enthusiasts, e-commerce professionals, marketing lovers and technology fans. Welcome back! I summarized some great links again, I stumbled upon this week.
I embed here below the “Notebook LM” AI generated conversation/podcast of this newsletter. The quality, I give it an 8. Generated in 5 minutes or so. Tested it in the previous newsletter as well. I can imagine great use cases for a tool like this.
🔮The future of E-commerce: 40 tips from Greg Eisenberg (part 2)
As promised in the previous edition of this newsletter, herewith the second part of Greg Eisenbuergs, 40 trends or predictions for E-commerce in the (near) future. It’s a great list for inspiration. Some of the predictions are already happening (especially in Asia). Enjoy this second post, for the first post, click here.
Thanks,
🦖Mr Beast Rule Book / Guide leaked, now available
Mr Beast, the most famous and succesful YouTuber, now has over 100 employees in his production studio, and recently this ‘onboarding’ document was leaked. It seems (but I already knew from previous interviews, I read on mr Beast) that mr Beast is a humble and down to earth guy. This onboarding guide only confirms that and is great to read and to learn from. I highlighted a few elements of it that I find interesting, but do read it completely, it digs into (simple) data analysis that is essential for every video creator.
Mr Beast writes the document like he is a friend, makes you feel welcome, totally not formal.
”So, if you read this book and pass a quiz I’ll give you $1,000. Sorry in advance for all the run on sentences and grammar issues, I’m a youtuber not an author haha”.
I fully agree on this part, don’t think in silo’s we all need to do it together, you need to understand each other, so you can help each other:
“I could make a separate book for creative, a separate book for production,a separate book for editors, etc. but I think that’d be dumb. Everything we do here is interconnected and the more you understand about what others are doing and trying to accomplish, the better set up for success you will be.”
He clearly starts with a goal, an objective:
“Your goal here is to make the best YOUTUBE videos possible. That’s th number one goal of this production company. It’s not to make the best produced videos. Not to make the funniest videos. Not to make the best looking videos. Not the highest quality videos.. It’s to make the best YOUTUBE videos possible”
It’s all about data and creativity:
“I’d say I have a good grasp on what makes Youtube videos do well. The three metrics you guys need to care about is Click Thru Rate (CTR), Average View Duration (AVD), and Average View Percentage (AVP). Make sure you know those abbreviations because that's how most people will refer to them”.
The 1-3 minute tactic:
Let’s say we have 10 minute video about a guy surviving weeks in the woods. Instead of making the first 3 minutes of the video about his first day then progressing from there like a logical filmmaker would. We’d tried to cover multiple days in the first 3 minutes of the video so the viewer is now super invested in the story.
3 minute re-engagement:
A re-engagement can be described as content that is highly interested that fits the story and makes people genuinely impressed.
Creativity saves money:
I agree with this also, I try to do this always as well (sometimes difficult if others who you collaborate with do not have the same idea). That’s why it is good mr Beast writes it in the guidelines in my opinion.
“Our prize for the video just went from $20,000 down to $1,825 because we didn’t just throw money at the problem and we used creativity. This applies to everything every single one of you do. Whether it be finding a crane for a video, deciding prizes, picking locations, finding critical components, or doing the most miniscule thing, use creativity to save money.”
100% true:
Hook people at the start of the video, transition them to an amazing story that they are invested in, have no dull moments, and then have a satisfying payoff at the end of the video with an abrupt ending
Read the full guide here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JK2YjmyRrnTj9Yc4zj2VP_MufxZJ8WgN/view?usp=sharing
❌Death of the persona: embracing AI-driven personalization
As also mentioned as one of Greg’s Eisenberg’s predictions above, AI-driven personalization will have a big impact in the near future. AI-driven personalization has effect on traditional “persona’s” that many company’s still use today. Therefore it is important to read this article on what is coming in the near future. A few citations:
Search cost: AI can significantly reduce search costs by delivering better product recommendations and helping users find what they need more quickly and efficiently.
Designers need to ensure that algorithms are built on diverse and accurately labelled datasets that represent all user segments. Furthermore, continuous learning and human feedback from real users (and customers) are essential for refining AI systems and preserving their effectiveness.
As we progress, integrating AI into design systems will become increasingly critical for companies aiming to stay relevant at scale.
Read also the 10 questions to ask when designing for personalisation (full list in the link). I just highlight a few important onese here:
What user data will be required to personalize this component, and how will I ensure its accuracy, relevance, transparency and avoiding bias?
How do I measure if the personalization I have introduced is effective or useful? For example, shorter time in the app or fewer interactions in specific areas.
Will this feature be used across multiple devices and within different situations? For example, while running and sitting at a desk.
Can my user control these changes? Is this customization instead of personalization? For example, give me healthier options instead of following my unhealthy behavioural data.
https://uxdesign.cc/death-of-the-persona-4b929cf721f9
https://thedesignsystem.guide/blog/revolution-of-design-systems
🇺🇸 Amazon’s new TV show: Amazon’s new ‘shark tank’-style show gives winners top billing in its store
How do you brand your store as the everything store? How do you brand your store as the marketplace? How do you engage (potential) sellers to board on your marketplace? How do you help small sellers to get more visibility?
There are many ways, but Amazon now get’s 1 million Alex Kudo’s from me for this idea:
Amazon’s New ‘Shark Tank’-Style Show Gives Winners Top Billing in Its Store
In competition show, sellers compete in front of Amazon executives and celebrity judges
The show is the retailer’s latest attempt to marry content and commerce. Persuading consumers to shop through Internet-enabled televisions has long been a goal of traditional entertainment companies, but getting viewers to scan the QR code can be difficult.
Part of Amazon’s goal with the show is to help smaller retailers gain broader exposure on the e-commerce site.
I think it will be a great watch.
👨💼B2B Marketing playbook for 2024 (still valid)
Ok, we are nearing 2025, but this playbook is still very much valid, I think. B2B marketing is fun, I like it. It’s same same but also sometimes very different from B2C marketing and especially that different part is nice. Creativity can make an exponential difference here.
has written a great list here on substack: It’s not just about making a fancy ad and hoping people come to your store or visit you online. It’s about a community, about cornerstone content and about offering solutions. Check it out via the link below (don’t forget to save the “16 ad formats across the B2B journey”).
🚀Marketplace watch: Etsy how to rank in Google
So I follow Etsy, the marketplace, I wrote earlier on their new strategy. I stumbled upon an article, I think made by someone who works at Wix (which has integrations with Etsy), but the article is a very nice read and explains how to rank in Google with Etsy (and when it is more difficult).
Details:
https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/resource/optimize-your-etsy-shop-for-google
🤣Freedom watch: Thierry Breton’s joke
Now I am not a big fan of Thierry Breton. Recently there was a lot of news on censorship and regulation from Breton and he was fired. But I do need to give him credit for his joke on X which is really quite funny.
That’s it for this edition,
Never stop learning!
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