I think everyone will agree that 2020 just needs to dig ⛏️ itself a hole and disappear. As we countdown the rest of this horrendous year, we also know how lucky we are to still be intact and growing 🌱 as a business.
We’re all heads down delivering marketing strategies for a fresh new year, rebranded logos to bring diversity and evolution to existing businesses, websites to enable e-commerce, social media management to find, engage and motivate consumers and every now and again we I pull out a Vodka Cruiser 🍹 or 2 (don’t judge me) to replace the afternoon ☕ caffeine hit. Don’t worry, the rest of the team has much better taste in alcohol.
If you’re thinking now is the time to make a move on your business marketing, you’re right.
And we’re still here to help you get there.
At least for another 3 months until we all get a summer holiday!
Valentina xxx
Apple V Google: Who will win the search battle?
I do love a good conspiracy theory 😲, and whether or not this is legit, well, you can decide. Data is signaling though…
The tech-heads are reporting that Apple may be showing signs it’s looking to launch a search engine to compete against Google Search. How do we know? Well, the techies stay on top of beta releases and support pages, and they’ve noticed a few things, such as Spotlight Search on iOS and iPadOS 14 beta, a significant update to its Applebot support page, an increase in crawling from AppleBot and a recruitment push for search engineers.
Put the billions of dollars aside (Apple doesn’t need the 💰) there’s more to gain for Apple than bucks. The anticipated personalised hub could be pretty big at disrupting Google’s 🔍 monopoly, but also the pushing of apps, Apple News and Apple TV 📺, plus so much more. What I see in all of this though, is the horror of the Apple ecosystem strength tightening around my neck. It’s the exact reason I ditched the iPhone for Samsung and eliminated my Apple ID.
What it will do, is screw up SEO as we know it. If there’s another platform and operating system to optimise against, with different rules and features, we’ll bump into another learning curve once again as developers and businesses alike.
How’s your privacy anxiety feeling now? Any surprise at the latest Apple ads highlighting their privacy approach? Nothing by Apple is a coincidence.
Facey’s Terms Of Service Change from 1 October
Those pesky little notifications from Facebook can pack a punch if you’re not actually taking any notice of them, so I’m highlighting it for you. One little change, one massive impact. From 1 October, Facey’s Terms Of Service will include a rather significant update:
“We also can remove or restrict access to your content, services or information if we determine that doing so is reasonably necessary to avoid or mitigate adverse legal or regulatory impacts to Facebook.”
The wording is covering what you can share and do on Facebook. 🤔
You have hopefully seen the uproar that Facebook may have to block users and publishers in Australia from sharing news on the platform, based on new proposed legislation here. If it passes, the new Australian rules would force Facey and other tech players to compensate 📰 news publishers for their content. There goes the share button functionality without a royalty being paid! What did Facey say to that? 🛑 They threatened to cut off access to all news content for Australia. Charming.
First Impressions With Subject Lines
Subject lines are one of the easiest ways to start converting your email 📧 marketing efforts.
The big opportunity is making sure people read 👓 your email. If the email gets delivered to an inbox, the next thing you need to do is actually ensure your audience read it and take notice. Just like this newsletter!
As part of a webinar email marketing series I’m running, you’ll find our first blog/video in a six-part series on email marketing. Part 1: Subject Lines!
If you think about user behaviour, the first thing we do is open up our inbox each morning and we shortlist or cull ✂️ our email inbox based purely on the subject line. Don’t want this to happen to your email marketing?
I’m sharing all the tricks of the trade, including more than 50 examples of subject lines that:
- deliver a value proposition
- are time-sensitive and play on our FOMO
- are news / information / updates based
- arouse curiosity
- create a personalised approach to marketing
It’s a 30 min video or an 8-minute speed read. Up to you! Jump aboard and start your upskilling today.
Woodland Studio & Farm: Your Exeter Short Stay
Picture this: a tree-lined driveway, sweeping views of rolling landscapes, fresh country air, a flock of sheep 🐑 ready for your attention and a beautifully styled studio accommodation overlooking aaaall of this… sound like something you could handle?
Woodland Studio Exeter is a charming farm stay in Exeter. The perfect place to retreat and escape the daily grind ⛰️. You can bring your small dog, the kids will keep busy running through the orchard or feeding Audrey the Alpaca, while you sit back, unwind and pop a sparkling🍾 🥂.
Margot, the owner, was actually a competition winner of ours from 2019, and we worked together to coach Margot through managing her social media profile with confidence. Many months later, Margot approached us to take her gorgeous property to the next marketing level.
We started by creating a lovely new brand identity, including the design of a new logo, followed by a sparkling new website, guest notepads and promotional postcards.
Watching our local businesses grow and positioning themselves in such a mature way makes my heart sing. They are the soul of our region and we are thrilled to be able to help bring their vision to life. Check out the gorgeous property and book your short stay now.
Aussie App Critterpedia: Shazam for Critters
Shazam was one of the first truly useful apps that I remember from 1999. We were using it on Big Brother marketing in the early 2000’s and the fact an app could listen and identify a track and artist within seconds was nothing short of magic.
Useful apps, as in ACTUALLY useful, are quite hard to come by. The Yates My Garden app is right up there with the best (again, don’t judge me) and now there’s this: Critterpedia – identifies critters by a quick pic 🕷️.
The new AI-driven app allows smartphone users to identify snakes 🐍 and spiders, learn which species live in their area and how to take precautions to minimise risk. Australia boasts more than 2,000 species of spider and 170 species of snake. While more than 90 percent are likely harmless, at least two types of spider and 12 species of snake are venomous enough to kill humans.
At the very least, it would cut down the Just Ask Southern Highlands Facebook page content by half 🐛 if everyone 🦗 used the app. Oh, and it would save me calling the fire brigade 🚒 to our place too (I must admit though, there’s something nice about 8 men coming to my rescue over a snake call 💪).
Until next time, enjoy! 😀
