Bob’s Weekly Reading Picks
2019.8.11 volume 31
Content
1.Print on Demand: A Low-Risk Way to Sell Custom T-Shirts, Books, and More
2.How to Spend Your First $100 on Google Adwords
3.Publisher Spotlight: BuzzFeed
4.How TikTok Could Fail
5.The Smartphone Revolution Was the Android Revolution
6.Apps for the Old: Silver Screens
7.电子烟产业链全景图
1.Print on Demand: A Low-Risk Way to Sell Custom T-Shirts, Books, and More
What is print on demand?
Print on demand is a process where you work with a supplier to customize white-label products (like baseball hats or tote bags) with your own designs to sell them on a per-order basis under your own brand.
Pros and cons
Pros
Create products quickly
Shipping is taken care of
Low investment, lower risk
Cons
Lower margins
Less control over shipping
Limited customization
Keyword match type summaries
| Match type | Special symbol | Example keyword | Ads may show on searches that contain: | Example searches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broad match | none | women’s hats | Close variations of the keyword, related searches, and other relevant variations. The words in the keyword don’t have to be present in a user’s search. |
|
| Broad match modifier | +keyword | +women’s +hats | All the terms designated with a + sign (or close variations of those terms) in any order. Close variations include terms with the same meaning. Additional words may appear before, after, or between the terms. |
|
| Phrase match | “keyword” | “women’s hats” | Matches of the phrase (or close variations of the phrase) with additional words before or after. Close variations include terms with the same meaning. |
|
| Exact match | [keyword] | [women’s hats] | Exact matches of the term or close variations of that exact term with the same meaning. |
|
Write successful text ads
- Highlight what makes you unique
- Include prices, promotions, and exclusives
- Empower customers to take action
- Include at least one of your keywords
- Match your ad to your landing page
- Appeal to customers on mobile
- Check for common ad text mistakes
3.Publisher Spotlight: BuzzFeed by Awin
In what way does BuzzFeed utilize affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing enables BuzzFeed to structure partnerships with key advertisers where incentives are aligned and where there is uncapped potential to scale the partnership.
Affiliate marketing also provides BuzzFeed an additional data source that signals how content, brands or certain products resonate with the BuzzFeed audience.
What kinds of products and deals resonate with your audience?
The BuzzFeed audience is comprised of savvy shoppers who are looking for products that add utility to their lives, are a steal for their investment, or have the highest user reviews.
The rule of thumb is surfacing:
- Products that have 4 stars or above
- Products that have multiple (verified) user reviews
- Products and retailers that have the most competitive price point within their respective category or product-set
- Deals that are 20% off or higher (or a similar value in $ off)
- Deals that are exclusively available to our audience
What are the key factors in determining which programs to join and what do you look for in an advertiser partner?
We exclusively rely on our editorial content to determine the partnerships we pursue.
Qualities of our top advertising partners include:
- Seamless ecommerce experience
- Competitive pricing
- Strong user reviews
What is the best way that an advertiser can help support their partnership with you?
The best advice for any advertiser is to proactively and consistently communicate opportunities with the BuzzFeed affiliate team, and to trust the team’s recommendation for what opportunities to pursue.
Has there been a pivotal shift or turning point in your affiliate activities within the last 12 months? If so, what was it?
In the past 12 months we have pivoted our strategy towards:
- Diversifying our strategic partner set
- Focusing on efficiencies in the program and identifying the distribution strategies that effectively amplify the highest converting content at scale
- Testing new formats across key platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Snap and Twitter
4.How TikTok Could Fail
The Chinese company ByteDance, which had bought an American app named Musical.ly in November 2017, rebranded it as TikTok.
The company spent nearly $1 billion on advertising the app in 2018, the Wall Street Journal reported in June.
ByteDance already has several hugely popular apps around the world, and the startup’s $75 billion valuation gives it the resources to compete with anyone.
a.TikTok has to fix its funnel. Too many people try TikTok, use it a few times, and never return.
b.TikTok has to keep shipping hits. Every social app is, on some level, a fad, and those that don’t evolve are doomed to fade away.
c.TikTok has to court influencers — and keep them happy. Celebrities on social media tend to go two places: wherever the audience is, and wherever the money is.
d.TikTok has to manage its relationship with regulators around the world. ByteDance has already run afoul of the US government, settling privacy concerns with the Federal Trade Commission in February for $5.7 million.
5.The Smartphone Revolution Was the Android Revolution
Three principal forces pulled off this coup.
There was Google, with its software and services; Samsung, a South Korean electronics giant waking from its slumber; and China, where a stunning economic rise created a massive audience for life-changing gadgets. Together, this unwitting coalition created an unprecedented technological transformation. 
6.Apps for the Old: Silver Screens
The elderly are the next big growth market for Chinese tech firms.
Tech companies want to lure more Ms Shis and Mr Zhous online—and take a bigger slice of the 7trn yuan ($1trn) that Chinese seniors are expected to spend on consumer goods in 2020.
To tech firms, the disconnectedness of China’s 250m-odd old, or 18% of the population, is an opportunity.
In 2017 JD.com, a big e-commerce firm, found that they spent 2.3 times as much as the average user. Their typical deposit in Yu’E Bao, an online cash-management service controlled by Alibaba, a giant internet firm, is 7,000 yuan compared with 4,000 yuan across all ages.
7.电子烟产业链全景图
