🚀 Meta Madness!

Let's lead with wellness and champion conscious commerce together!

In this email:

• Commerce trend: Zuck’s vision on how you’ll be using Meta Ads

• Commerce tips: Checkout: the final battle in eComm

• Wellness: Your DNA vs. Health Gurus: Who Should You Listen To?

• Mindset: Spencer Matthews’ Marathon Odyssey: 30 Days, 30 Challenges, One Mission

🎧 Listen: how to add Etsy as a selling channel, interview with Dylan Jahraus

COMMERCE MACROTRENDS

Zuck’s vision on how you’ll be using Meta Ads

If you buy media or paid traffic from any publicly traded company, you, as a matter of self-interest, have to listen to their quarterly earnings calls and read their financial reports to understand the direction the company is going and make sense of what they have been up to in the previous quarters.

I did just this for Meta, as it is an important platform for our companies. They recently had their earnings report call (this is the transcript: Meta Q2 2024 Earnings Call Transcript) and here is the audio recording: YouTube Audio Recording.

Besides this Q2 being a stellar month on the P&L front for Meta, with a 22% increase in revenue YoY and net income and EPS growing by 73% respectively, I picked up on some key points you must know about if you’re either an e-commerce operator or a business that buys media from Meta. Here goes:

Meta AI

Meta is taking AI seriously - in the first quarter of 2024, they officially launched Meta AI. Which was part of Meta’s broader efforts to enhance its artificial intelligence capabilities, particularly with the introduction of their latest AI model, Llama 3, an upgrade from version 2.

Meta AI was originally only integrated into their key consumer-facing platforms: Facebook & Instagram Reels, and WhatsApp primarily as an upgraded recommendations engine that constantly improves user engagement, making their apps stickier and, as a result, providing more value to advertisers. Now however, Meta AI, which is now a ChatGPT rival and customer facing, is on track to become the most used AI assistant by the end of 2024, according to Meta. Their focus right now is ramping up user adoption to the 100s or millions and billions of users. I’d suggest that you keep a close eye on its progress.

If you’re not using Advantage+, please start ASAP

A study conducted this year demonstrated a 22% higher return on ad spend for US advertisers after adopting Advantage+ Shopping campaigns. Advantage+ Shopping has been expanded to include an additional 10 conversion types, including objectives like “add to cart”.

Generative AI Features: More than one million advertisers have used at least one generative AI ad feature like image expansion, background generation, and text generation. Meta is rolling out full image generation capabilities into Advantage+ creative, which is already showing improved performance for advertisers using the tool.

Advantage+ Audiences has seen significant growth since being made the default audience creation experience for most advertisers in Q4. Campaigns using Advantage+ audience targeting saw an average 28% decrease in cost per click or per objective compared to regular targeting.

Meta Lattice Ad Ranking Architecture

Meta’s Lattice Ad Ranking Architecture is an advanced AI model designed to optimize ad performance across its platforms. It consolidates multiple specialized models into a few large neural networks, improving the quality and relevance of ads by 8% on Facebook and Instagram. Lattice uses trillions of parameters and leverages historical data to enhance targeting and ad delivery, resulting in higher ROI for advertisers. This architecture also enhances hardware efficiency and adaptability, allowing for better scalability and maintenance.

Reels

Reels is making significant progress. Specifically, time spent on Instagram grew by 24% due to Reels. Reels is projected to become revenue-neutral by the end of 2024 or early 2025, with expectations for positive contributions afterward.

Meta will be introducing new ad formats to enhance Reels’ monetization potential, aiming to create new revenue streams through these short video and business messaging products.

Takeaway: Focus on reels in content creation for organic and paid ads.

Next 18-24 months - Business Messaging AI

Zuck said that business messaging, i.e., WhatsApp and Messenger, are under-monetized because “the cost of engaging with people in messaging is still very high, but AI should bring that down dramatically for businesses and creators.”

Meta is working on increasing engagement in their messaging apps in the immediate future to increase their ads inventory on WhatsApp and Messenger.

Their plan is to scale Meta AI’s frontend use through AI-enhanced messaging to hundreds of millions or billions of users - at that scale, they’ll monetize. I think at about this time next year we will be hearing major announcements.

COMMERCE TIPS

Checkout: the final battle in eComm

Here are some key strategies to improve this journey for your shoppers:

Product Description Page (PDP) Tips:

1. Inform Shoppers

• Benefits-Focused Information: Clearly communicate how the product benefits the shopper’s life. Specifications and features should support these benefits. Provide clear information about delivery times.

• Product Videos: Use short videos to demonstrate the product in use, offering shoppers a better understanding.

• Brand Story: Share your brand story or mission statement to connect with the shopper.

• FAQs: Address common questions directly on the PDP to preemptively answer shopper queries.

2. Gain Trust of Your Brand

• Customer Reviews: Display customer reviews prominently to provide social proof.

• Authentic Testimonials: Feature testimonials from satisfied customers.

• Trust Badges: Display secure payment icons, return policy highlights, and warranty information.

• Clear Return Policy: Outline the return and refund policy clearly to reassure shoppers.

3. Ease Transition to Checkout

• Visible Call to Action (CTA): Ensure the ‘Add to Cart’ or ‘Buy Now’ button is prominent.

• Simplified Options: Limit the number of clicks needed to add the product to the cart. Provide easy options for size, colour, or quantity.

• Real-Time Inventory: Show real-time inventory levels to create urgency and inform shoppers of availability.

Shipping Information: Provide clear shipping details and costs early to avoid surprises at checkout.

Checkout Process Tips:

1. Switch to Shopify Payments

Leverage Shopify Payments, a digital wallet used by over 100 million shoppers. Shopify’s identity network offers a frictionless one-click checkout experience. According to a big three consulting firm, Shop Pay lifts conversions by up to 50% compared to guest checkout and outpaces other accelerated checkouts by at least 10%. Shopify Payments is accessible for any platform via their headless commerce offering.

2. Add Alternative Payment Options

Diversify your payment options to cater to different preferences. Add at least two alternative payment methods like a top Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) service and PayPal. Offering more payment choices can reduce friction and increase conversion rates.

3. Personalisation and Assistance

• Personalised Recommendations: Suggest products based on the shopper’s browsing and purchase history.

• Live Chat Support: Provide access to live chat support or customer service to assist with any issues during checkout.

• Save for Later: Allow shoppers to save items in their cart for later or create a wish list.

4. Clear Communication and Transparency

• Order Summary: Present a clear, concise order summary with product details, quantities, and prices.

• Transparent Shipping Costs: Display shipping costs early in the checkout process to avoid surprises.

• Estimated Delivery Date: Provide an estimated delivery date based on the shopper’s location and chosen shipping method.

Enhancing the checkout experience can significantly reduce cart abandonment rates and boost customer satisfaction. Remember, every great journey starts with struggle and ends in wisdom – make sure your checkout process reflects this wisdom.

HEALTH IS WEALTH

Your DNA vs. Health Gurus: Who Should You Listen To?

Health advice is abundant and often contradictory. Some advocate for carnivore diets, while others swear by veganism. Influencers often tout their protocols as the gospel of perfect health, but this is far from the truth. Understanding your unique genetic makeup is crucial for personalized health optimization.

Know Thyself: The Key to Personalized Health

A health-focused DNA test is the first step towards knowing yourself. Let me explain why:

1. Individual Wiring: Each of us has unique genetic wiring.

2. Predispositions: We have individual predispositions to certain health outcomes.

3. Distinct Reactions: Our bodies react to specific diets in unique ways

Personal Insights from My DNA

Here are some specific key insights from my health-focused DNA that I’m using to tailor my health journey:

1. I’m sensitive to caffeine but not to alcohol.

2. A Mediterranean diet suits me best due to my high sensitivity to fats and carbs.

3. I have a sweet tooth and a higher risk of weight regain.

4. Cruciferous vegetables are essential for me to detoxify my body.

5. I need to supplement with antioxidants, co-enzyme Q10, iodine, niacin, omega-3 (ALA), vitamin B6, and K.

6. I require 9 hours of sleep due to a predisposition to insomnia but have a high tolerance for stress.

7. My optimal sports regimen is high power, high strength, and low endurance.

8. I have a high heart rate response to exercise.

9. Taking magnesium significantly increases my blood pressure.

The Takeaway

A health-focused DNA test provides the truth about your individual health needs. It enables you to tailor your nutrition, exercise regime, sleep, supplementation, and recovery in a way that truly works for you.

So, exercise caution when following advice from your favorite health influencer on Instagram or TikTok.

Know Thyself First.

MINDSET OF WINNERS

Spencer Matthews’ Marathon Odyssey: 30 Days, 30 Challenges, One Mission

Is anyone else following Spencer Matthews’ incredible journey? Spencer is on an awe-inspiring mission to break a world record by running 30 marathons in 30 days through the scorching Jordanian desert at the peak of summer. That’s a staggering 1,266 km (or 786 miles) in total! Today marks marathon #9 out of 30 for him.

What’s truly remarkable is that he’s doing all of this to raise money for the UK charity Global’s Make Some Noise, which supports food banks, provides mental health aid to domestic violence victims, and funds community projects across the UK. Every single penny from this challenge goes directly to the charity.

I think something deep is pushing Spencer to achieve greatness: he tragically lost his brother Michael on Mount Everest in 1999 when Spencer was only ten years old. Spencer seems to be channeling his grief and determination into this extraordinary feat. Our takeaway here is to find a deep-seated WHY.

I’ve also noticed that Spencer and his team wake up really early in the morning to run while the temperatures are lower. This disciplined approach helps him manage the extreme conditions and maintain his physical and mental strength.

However, this journey is not a solo endeavor. Spencer relies on a dedicated team to support him every step of the way. From logistical planning to recovery and mental support, his team ensures that he can focus on running each marathon. Building anything meaningful is always about collective effort, collaboration, and teamwork.

The path to achieving greatness is paved with discipline, dedication, a resilient mindset, and a strong team.

I wish Spencer the best of luck and am rooting for him to smash this record. 🌟

Follow his journey on his IG.