The Weekly Sharpener #98

Time for your greatest hits....

👋 Hey fam!

I'm really excited to share this 👊 Tuesday roundup with you! Give me a break, I was on vacation, but now some very 🔥 content for you.

This week we dig into Ad Creative and how you make it work for you this BFCM with Mirella Crespi (CEO of Creative Milkshake). She shares the account testing structure she sees with the best brands. What kind of creative is getting requested most by brands currently.

And what she would do if she needed to create ads that needed to drive impact during BFCM and beyond.

We also look at how Facebook is sunsetting it's instant articles functionality in favor of a more video-centric approach.

Finally, we dig into some high performing creative and which one could be easiest and most effective for you to action.

Enjoy and hope you're thriving!

Cheers,

Chase

The Weekly Sharpener #94_Is your brand part of the culture? If not, 😬...

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It's the playoffs - sorry not sorry

🎙Add Creative

Apple Podcast 🍎 II Spotify 🎧

A sneak peek from Episode 24 👀

I think the most successful media buying teams that I, I feel like we've worked with, um, in the past year, they come to us equipped with this knowledge, right? Like, they're like, Okay, so this year we've tested these ad types, these concepts. , this is what we feel like have worked the most for us.

And then we're like, perfect. Like let's take this and like make the most of it rather than, um, you know, trying to come up with net new content at this stage. It's like too far. Yeah. Late in the game. Yeah. Um, and it's exactly like you said, it's like you had all year to validate so much. In terms of, in terms of like what's the key pain points, the target audience, the messaging you're going for.

Um, and of course you always have like campaign specific creatives if you are launching like a holiday edition Yeah. Or a gift set. Yeah. Whatever it is. But that is so easy to kind of layer on top of Yeah. Um, creatives or content that has already been proven. And yeah, I feel like that's the, the, the most valuable advice that I can give now is just like, look back, um, in this year and the content that has worked for you, how can you double down on that, um, to extend the lifetime of it and repurpose it, even getting like your best ads.

Mirella Crespi - CEO @ Creative Milkshake

If you enjoy the episode, please rate us 5⭐️'s & share!

Content that matters 🐐

Facebook Announces the Retirement of ‘Instant Articles’ - The Latest Step in the Reformation of the App

The move is the latest in Meta's broader reformation of Facebook.

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/Facebook-Announces-the-Retirement-of-Instant-Articles/634191/

Why it matters: This is simple - before, Facebook was investing in the platform being a place to share content. As usuage patterns have trended towards video-centered creative so has the product roadmap for Meta products.

What does that mean for you -> you need to be investing in video everywhere.

You website needs video - check out Kahani for that.

Your ads need to be videos - I hope I don't need to pitch that one 😂

Simply put your content strategy needs to be centered around different forms of content, whether organic or paid. See the examples in the next section 🔥

Thread of the Week 🧵

Why it matters: This is direct peak behind the curtain of a brand who is testing at scale. Why not use their investment as some proven help for you as you create new ad angles/styles.

My favorite Ash shares is the GIF - why? It hold all the elements of VIDEO + STATIC.

  • Static = quick for your customers to understand

  • Video = dynamism that allows you to feel more premium + engage more deeply across multiple value props with the customers.

  • GIF brings that together nicely. See the example below 👇

Expert Strategy + Learnings

Some amazing learnings from thought leaders in DTC.

Carl's CRO Tips 🙌

Here's how you can build trust elements in the cart drawer: - Add a progress shipping bar for transparency - Add social proof & store benefits - Add Payment Badges to establish authority

For more 🔥 follow Carl Weische from Accelerated.

Rahul's Paid Media Learnings 🤘

You expect info on CRO from Carl 👆 but we can't make ads work with out it. So here are some of Rahul's favorite tests he's run. 👇

Hero page - Your headline will make or break your landing page. State your value proposition in your header. Make sure it’s bold, a statement or it’s making a point. Try not make it too long.

Follow Rahul from Reach Digital for more 🧠

Creative Cuts ⚔️ - ICYMI

Want to learn about WHY the creative you love works and how you can leverage it 👇

Worth Your Time 💡

From our Library 📚

Paid Ad Diagnostic for when you're Ads are not converting sales

https://www.trypencil.com/post/paid-ad-diagnostic-when-your-not-converting-sales

What are Shopify Audiences & How should I use them?

https://www.trypencil.com/post/what-are-shopify-audiences-how-should-i-use-them

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