TikTok Rolls Out Holiday Targeting 🎉 Small Businesses Win With Creativity On Socials 👩‍🎨 Ahrefs New AI Overview Tracking 🤖

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Happy Friday Marketing Engineers!

If you’re new, welcome aboard 👋. If you're a seasoned Engineer, thanks for sticking around! Coming up today: 10 great Halloween email and sms marketing examples, social media's role in reshaping online shopping, and how to calculate net dollar retention rate (ndr).

Is there something else you’d like to see here? Got a hot tip? Hit reply and let us know what you think. 🧠 Or smash a button on our feedback poll at the bottom!

🚀 Adam

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🗞 Marketing News

TikTok Rolls Out Automated Ad Targeting For The Holidays [2 min read]

TikTok has launched new automated advertising solutions, including "Smart+" for comprehensive ad management and "GMV Max" to optimize TikTok Shop campaigns. These tools leverage AI to improve performance, with Smart+ users experiencing a 52% increase in return on ad spend by targeting more engaged consumers. Also, TikTok is enhancing privacy and measurement capabilities through Privacy-Enhancing Technologies and Conversion Lift Studies, allowing advertisers to gain valuable insights and measure campaign impacts while safeguarding consumer data.

Small Businesses Are Getting Creative On Social Media And Driving Traffic [4 min read]

This effective use of social media has led to increased sales, higher foot traffic, and enhanced brand recognition, allowing these businesses to attract customers from wider geographic areas and establish a strong community presence. Also, digital marketing agencies play a crucial role in supporting these efforts by developing and maintaining consistent, high-quality social media campaigns across multiple platforms. Humor and content with personality pay off!

Ahrefs Introduces AI Overview Tracking Feature [1 min read]

The new feature enhances the platform’s ability to analyze search engine results pages (SERPs) and perform keyword comparisons. This feature is integrated into the "Top Pages" section for analyzing SERP features and the "Keyword Explorer" for comparing keywords, with initial user feedback indicating that it is functioning effectively and providing valuable insights. Currently rolling out to users, the AI overview tracking aims to deliver more comprehensive data on AI-generated content in search results, helping SEO professionals adapt their strategies to the evolving search landscape.

🤖 AI

AI Will Require 80% Of Engineering Workforce To Upskill Through 2027 [2 min read]

AI will create new roles and transform software engineering through enhanced productivity, AI-native development, and the emergence of specialized AI engineers. This transformation will unfold in three stages and to support these changes, organizations must invest in AI developer platforms and upskill their teams to effectively integrate AI capabilities and bridge existing skills gaps.

Geoff Hinton And John Hopfield Win Nobel Prize In Physics For Foundational Work In AI [2 min read]

Hinton, known as the "godfather of deep learning," developed the backpropagation algorithm, while Hopfield created the Hopfield network, both of which have revolutionized AI by enabling advanced machine learning techniques and modeling human memory. This prestigious award highlights the pivotal role of artificial intelligence in the fourth industrial revolution and underscores the global recognition and importance of advancements in the field.

Electronic Tongue Reveals AI Inner Thoughts [5 min read]

Researchers at Penn State developed an electronic tongue that can distinguish between similar liquids and identify food safety issues by integrating a graphene-based sensor with an artificial neural network. The study revealed that the AI achieved over 95% accuracy in sample identification when allowed to define its own assessment parameters, significantly improving upon human-defined criteria. This technology has potential applications in food safety and medical diagnostics, demonstrating the system's robustness and its ability to mimic human decision-making processes.

🧠 Hacks & Tactics

10 Halloween Email And SMS Marketing Examples [12 min read]

Creatively integrate Halloween themes into marketing, use seasonal colors, imagery, and storytelling to engage your audience, even when products aren’t directly related to the holiday. Some brands prioritize building community and relationships with their audience by focusing on shared experiences rather than direct sales. Also, many emphasize the use of urgency and special promotions to drive immediate action and boost sales during the Halloween season.

Leverage Both A Static Image And Video In One Ad [1 min read]

To optimize your ad performance, start by using a static image as the primary format to attract clicks. Customize video versions for placements like Reels and Stories, where users expect video content, to ensure both ad formats are utilized effectively. Finally, monitor the performance of each version using the breakdown feature to assess their visibility and effectiveness, keeping in mind that the feature may have occasional glitches.

Mini Tools Are 10x More Powerful Than Free Trials [4 min read]

Mini-tool marketing involves creating free, simple web apps that address specific problems, helping to generate buzz and leads for the main products while subtly showcasing their technology. The strategy includes examples of successful tools that have generated significant revenue and user engagement by offering immediate value. The process of creating a mini-tool is streamlined into a 24-hour playbook, highlighting steps like selecting a feature, simplifying its use, and effectively launching it to attract users.

⚙️ Machine Shop

Social Media's Role In Reshaping Online Shopping, According To Retailers [13 min read]

Social commerce is rapidly growing, with millions of Americans engaging in social shopping, making it an important channel for brands. Key trends driving this growth include seamless in-app shopping experiences, short-form product videos, and collaborations with nano- and micro-influencers to build trust. To succeed, brands should focus on engaging content, using interactive experiences like quizzes, and building communities that foster genuine connections rather than merely pushing products.

How To Calculate Net Dollar Retention Rate [6 min read]

Net Dollar Retention (NDR) measures how much existing customers expand, net of churn, during a specific period, and excludes new customers to avoid overstating growth. Common mistakes in calculating NDR include incorrectly including expansion dollars from new customers, failing to segment customers, and relying too much on headcount increases. While a high NDR indicates strong retention, companies may miss growth opportunities if they don't invest enough in customer acquisition.

Common And Costly Product Messaging Mistakes And How To Avoid Them [9 min read]

Startups often struggle with product messaging by focusing too much on features, lacking customer specificity, and failing to clearly communicate the benefits and transformation their product offers. To address these issues, create a clear Unique Selling Proposition (USP), emphasizing customer-specific benefits, and ensuring consistent messaging across all touchpoints. Also, four frameworks—3 Ps (persona, positioning, personality), 5 factors to define personas, 12 brand archetypes, and a structured messaging framework—to help craft more effective and impactful product messaging.

Navigating The Intersection Of ABM & Demand Generation In B2B Marketing [6 min read]

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) and demand generation must be differentiated and integrated, with ABM focusing on targeted, high-value accounts and demand generation casting a broader net. Common misconceptions, such as the belief that these functions operate independently or that ABM is a "silver bullet," need to be addressed through strategic collaboration. Strong alignment between marketing and sales, supported by continuous communication and shared objectives, is essential for the success of both strategies.

🔮 The Future

U.S. Consumers Fed Up With Excessive Texts And Emails [12 min read]

U.S. consumers are overwhelmed by the high volume of marketing texts and emails, resulting in elevated unsubscribe rates and reduced engagement. Compared to global peers, American consumers take more proactive measures to block and resist unwanted marketing communications. To maintain engagement, marketers must prioritize delivering valuable, relevant content, respect consumer data privacy, and employ ethical marketing practices.

Zoom's Custom AI Avatar Tool May Come With Risks [3 min read]

Zoom is developing a feature that creates AI-animated, photorealistic avatars based on user-recorded video clips, allowing users to script what their avatars will say with synced audio. While this innovation aims to enhance asynchronous communication, there are concerns about potential misuse and deepfake risks, prompting Zoom to implement various safeguards, including advanced authentication and watermarking. Amid the rise of deepfakes and ongoing regulatory efforts against AI-aided impersonation, Zoom's new feature raises important questions about responsible use and content integrity.

🚧 Research Lab

Tools we are testing. Let us know on Discord if you have any experience or recommendations!

NotebookLM

Meant to help users organize and manage their information. We are exploring its note organization and retrieval features, and integrating it into our daily workflow for tasks like study planning, project management, and brainstorming sessions. We wonder might it enhance research efficiency, improve collaboration on projects, and streamline information management for students and professionals alike. Stay tuned! {m)

Take a look at the tools we use every day, after extensive testing, in 🥞 Stack👇

🗳️ Feedback Dept!

That's it for this week! See you next week. 😎

✌️ Team Marketing Machine

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🥞 Stack

Tools we use to keep our business running.

Discord - find community with text, voice, and video chat. Join us!
Beehiiv - engage newsletter audiences and grow subscribers
Clickup - project management and team collaboration
WordPress - build websites and blogs
Elementor - a drag-and-drop builder for WordPress
Buffer - streamline social media scheduling and analytics
ElevenLabs - convert text into realistic voiceover
Riverside - record high-quality audio and video remotely
Zapier - automate tasks by connecting web apps
Claude - AI language model focused on safe and ethical text processing
Midjourney - generate images from text prompts using AI

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