🌊 April update.

What advertisers need to know about “the good old days,” Google is rolling out an April update, and more. April 14, 2023 [Read in browser]( [logo] [sponsor]( Congrats, you made it to Friday. What’s your weekend uniform? Ours is a particularly soft and cozy hoodie known for being stolen by spouses and partners. We can send you one, but we have to warn you: you might end up “sharing” it with your significant other. Details at the bottom of today’s stack. GOOGLE April’s review update is out, and it’s not just about products [article-image] Products? What products? Google’s April 2023 reviews update just rolled out—and it doesn’t include the “product” in its familiar name because [this update covers reviews about products, services, and things](. Let’s talk about things: Google says [it will evaluate content]( written “with the purpose of providing recommendation, giving an opinion, or providing analysis.” Reviews can be about any topic and cover a single thing, or a comparison, or popular listicles. Oh, and it will evaluate reviews in a number of languages including Spanish, German, Vietnamese, and more. How this impacts you: It depends, of course. If your website is focused on reviews beyond product reviews, Google may evaluate your content sitewide and shake up your ranks. But if you only have a small percentage of review articles, you may only see volatility on those particular pages. Anyhow, the impact should be felt in the first 2–3 days, so let’s wait. In other news… Google Analytics 4’s [new experimentation integrations]([with third-party testing platforms]( are here with an audience-based approach. Worth a test, if you’re game. Mark your calendar: Finally, [Google Marketing Live]( is approaching. The virtual event will showcase the company’s new product innovations and will be held on May 23 and has opened for registration. Why we care: April’s update will likely be a hot topic in the following weeks. And with review content now being more comprehensive and vague, you may see some SERPrises. If you’ve done everything by the Google book, hopefully those surprises will be happy ones. ADVERTISING Now trending: nostalgia Targeting younger demographics? Then you better warm up your time machine… Take us back: They may have their whole lives ahead of them, but [Gen Z is already reminiscing about “the good old days”](—and advertisers are taking note. Users are flocking to platforms like TikTok to bond over events as recent as the early lockdowns – a phenomenon called “nowstalgia.” And brands are bringing back old packaging, and even using old trends as advertisements – like Rick Astley rickrolling one more time in an insurance ad. Alpha energy: Meanwhile, Gen Alpha, or the children born between 2010 and 2020, are [getting a say in their parents’ purchase decisions.]( Apparently millennial parents—having grown up during the recession—are teaching their kids to be responsible with money by asking for their input during purchase decisions. Mom, dad, I want that brand: About 50% of parents say their kids have a favorite food brand by the age of seven, preferred electronics and restaurants by age nine, and brand recall at age 10. Why we care: Gen Z slowly is gaining more purchasing power, so it’s useful to know that the yearning for memory lane can trigger a positive reaction. And with young family members already getting a say in family purchases, it might be good to adapt your advertising for the kiddos, too. SPONSORED BY ITERABLE Brands like Strava, GitLab, and ClickUp are revealing their successful strategies. Only 2 days left to register—are you going? [article-image]( Not sure if you heard, but there are must-see sessions happening at [Activate Summit.]( Just to give you an idea of what we mean, you’ll get the rare opportunity to: - Watch Aaron Cort from ClickUp break down how you can use lifecycle marketing to get ahead of Inflation and spiking interest rates. - Listen to Robert Schroko at A+E Networks reveal how his team used incremental conversion to scale impact and triple their send volume. - Hear John Volturo from Evolution shine a light on adding value during cutbacks by using tools to extract value and deepen customer relationships. And in case you didn’t already know… [There are only two days left to register.]( You can still grab your [free virtual ticket for the April 18 start.]( Plus, once you register, you're automatically entered to win a $1000 gift card from Airbnb. What are you waiting for? [Register now.]( CONTENT MARKETING Attention, content marketers – track these two KPI groups separately [article-image] How do you know if your content is actually successful? As you’re probably aware, this part of content marketing is hard. But there’s a simple key performance indicator (KPI) tracking structure that could help you improve your content marketing efforts. And in [his recent article](, Mateusz Makosiewicz walks you through it. Mateusz suggests separating your KPIs into two different groups—input and output—and tracking them separately so you understand clearly how your content performs. First, the input KPIs: These are your content resources, including articles you plan, produce, and distribute. Mateusz says there are three input KPIs: - Quantity. The amount of content you publish. Once you know what type of content helps you achieve your goals, the more you create, the more you grow. - Proportion. The type of content you create – from educational to entertaining which also corresponds with your goals – to gain interest, to warm up an audience, etc. - Distribution power. How easy it is to reach your audience. Do you have enough authority for organic traffic, a social media following, a huge email list? Note: don’t include cost-efficiency KPIs in the input because it can be counter productive when strategizing with content. OK, now for the output KPIs: These are the results of distributing content to your audience. This is the value you create through your content marketing efforts – not counting sales. Why? Well, let’s say you throw a birthday party for your kid and get them a birthday cake. The output is the cake, while the outcome is your happy kid. The same goes for content and sales. Output KPIs include: - Organic share of voice (SOV). Measuring SOV of your targeted keywords will tell you how visible you are to your audience compared to your competitors. - Organic traffic. You should know how much traffic you get thanks to ranking targeted keywords. This is qualified traffic and could turn into leads or sales later. - Leads. If you have lead magnets, you can measure leads as an output KPI. Oh, and there are more metrics, such as engagement, product usage, and feedback, all explained in-depth in the [original article](. Keep an eye on these two KPI groups, track them separately, and reap the benefits. Good luck! SPONSORED BY PSYCHOLOGY OF MARKETING Want to influence, convince, and convert your customers? Get this science-based newsletter [article-image]( What if your funnels, ads, and emails were built on solid science-based psychological principles? What would your conversion rate would look like? Hey, you don’t have to read 200 pages long Harvard papers to start doing it. You just need to subscribe to Psychology of Marketing. In every [Psychology of Marketing newsletter](, you’ll find one psychological effect, two real-world examples, and three dead-simple tactics to apply to your business. Join the 25,000+ marketers reading the Psychology of Marketing newsletter every Thursday. [Sign up for free now.]( THE CREW’S INSIGHTS Why your customers are abandoning their carts [article-image] Ahhh, the dreaded abandoned cart rate. Sometimes it can feel like people see online shopping as a game of "will I or won't I?" The good news? The reasons customers aren’t smashing the “buy now” button are very simple—and fixable. Let's take a look at why your customers might be abandoning their carts: - The extra costs are too high. Surprise fees, taxes, or shipping charges can quickly turn an eager shopper into a fleeing fugitive. Be transparent about all costs from the get-go, and consider offering free shipping or bundled deals to minimize the shock. - Shipping takes too long. People want things fast, so slow shipping times can be a deal-breaker. Make sure your customers know their estimated delivery dates, and maybe offer expedited shipping options too. - Lack of payment options. The more payment options, the merrier! Limited payment methods can deter customers from completing their purchases. Offer a variety of secure and convenient choices to accommodate all your customers' preferences. - They don’t trust your website. Remember, customers have to hand in their precious credit card information to make a purchase. If they feel like your website isn’t trustworthy, then they’ll skip that part altogether. Adding customer testimonials and warranties can help! Is that helpful? If so, time to fix these issues and turn those digital window shoppers into happy, cart-stuffing customers! ROUNDING UP THE STACK [ADVANCED GROWTH TACTICS:]( If you like Stacked Marketer, you’ll also like our new weekly newsletter, Tactics! Each Saturday we unlock fresh growth tactics from successful companies you use immediately to get results. [Subscribe for free.](* [REGULATIONS:]( Uh oh. The RESTRICT Act—the US bill that could ban TikTok—would also impact other online platforms, including Telegram, Amazon Web Services, and even hardware like Lenovo. You should read the list. Crazy stuff. [LINKEDIN:]( Whoa, new ad updates are out. LinkedIn is automatically optimizing Audience Network campaigns to better align with each website’s interface. Plus, there are new brand safety measures and Video Ads and Carousel Ads formats on Audience Network. Cool. [E-COMMERCE](: D2C retailers want to go wholesale – and they’re using new tools to get there. In the past few years, many brands have turned to Shopify, Faire, Walmart Business, and others to grow. The reason? Easier to reach wholesale customers. Hmm. [AI MARKETING:]( Robot journalists incoming. Insider—a popular global news publication—plans to experiment with AI-written text in their stories. “A tsunami is coming,” says the company’s editor in chief. “We can either ride it or get wiped by it.” [TWITTER:]( Watch out for the $Cashtags. Twitter is teaming up with eToro to show more financial information directly on the platform, which should also make it easier for users to buy stocks and crypto. Maybe Elon’s Dogecoin logo stunt wasn’t just for laughs… BRAIN TEASER A time when they're green, a time when they're brown, but both of these times, cause us to frown. But just in between, for a very short while, they're perfect and yellow and cause us to smile! What are we talking about? You can find [the answer here.]( [poolside-logo] POOLSIDE CHAT Care for a Mammoth meatball? [article-image] Tell us if this makes you hungry… A meat company managed to [cultivate meat from a long extinct wooly mammoth]( by creating mammoth muscle protein and fusing it with elephant meat and sheep cells. … Then made it into a meatball. Why? To show an example of how we could make meat available without the need to harm any animals or destroy wildlife. Very noble. Got any tomato sauce? We have a feeling it would go well with mammoth meatballs… SHARING IS CARING Temps are crazy lately. Need another layer? How about the Marketer Zip Hoodie? When you refer our newsletter to other smart marketers—and they subscribe—we send you the coveted Marketer Zip Hoodie (50 referrals). And you unlock other rewards along the way, like: - The Crew’s Top 10 Insights (2 referrals) - The Ultimate Holiday Marketing Deep Dive (4 referrals) Zip. Mmm, cozy. Share your referral link below to start unlocking exclusive content and merch! 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