❌ Can’t scale? STOP making these 3 mistakes

Estimated read time: 3 min, 19 sec

In this week’s letter 📨:

• ✋ 3 growth mistakes you need to stop making now

• ✅ Testing static ads? Here’s what to keep in mind

• 💰 Segment your customer data to unlock $$$

• ​​​​🛏️ #FeaturedAd - FluffCo

• 👗 #BrandedCatalog Spotlight - Ted Baker

• 🆕 What’s new @Socioh

If a friend forwarded this to you, subscribe so you don’t miss anything! And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Scaling Your Business? Here Are Three Growth Mistakes To Avoid.

Struggling to scale?

Whether you’re a business owner doing $1M annually and struggling to reach $5M or a smaller business and stagnating, chances are you’re making one of these mistakes.

Here are 3 growth busters that can kill your brand, according to Alex Greifeld:

1. You stop going after new customers: So your business grew last year? Great. But to maintain the same growth this year, you need to maintain last year’s rate of new customer growth which means adding more new customers (since your base is now bigger).
   
   So what do you do? While it’s tempting to focus on retention, not going after new customers is the wrong strategy.
   
   Why?
   
   “Only 5-9 of every 100 customers you acquire will make a 4th purchase, and only 1-2 will hang on for a 7th or 8th purchase.”
   
   So unless you have a subscription-based model, you’re going to need to maximize new customer acquisition.
   
   

2. You’re using discounts and promos to acquire customers: If you’re using heavy discounts and promos to steal customers from your competitors or convince fence-sitters to buy from you, it’s a no-brainer that your ads will convert well.
   
   But retaining such customers is hard work.
   
   Price-sensitive customers are very likely to churn and extremely unlikely to buy upsells.
   
   Acquiring them by reducing your profit margin is a poor marketing strategy — and can leave you drained, with all your resources going into planning sales.
   
   

3. You’re repeating the same hooks and offers: Say you hit a formula that worked for you and helped you grow your business. What happens when that formula stops working for you?
   
   For example, if your CTR is down even though you’re using creative templates that worked for you, it may be time to speak to your customers and find out why, instead of making and testing more creatives with similar content.
   
   If you’re scared to try new things, chances are you’ll get pigeonholed within the same platform and/or audiences.

Want to read more? You can subscribe to Alex’s newsletter here to read the entire post. (No, this prompt is not sponsored. Alex’s content is genuinely engaging and well-researched.)

Create Static Ads That Convert. Test This Strategy Now.

Testing ad creatives is one of the biggest levers you can pull on Meta.

And you’ve heard us say that it’s not enough to just test different creatives, it’s important to test a variety of different creative formats — carousels, image ads, and video.

And while there’s a lot of content out there on how to create good videos — hooks, psychology, UGC, etc., and we’ve got you covered on catalogs — there doesn’t seem to be enough on image ads.

What works and why? What should you draw attention to?

How should you position your message and design around it?

Here’s a great example (with breakdown) of a static ad by @HireFireTeam😀 

Thank you, Jess, for all the helpful tips — we’re bookmarking this one!

Not Segmenting Your Customer Data? Here’s Why You Should.

Want to maximize your profitability and growth?

Start with your existing database.

Who are your best customers? And how did you acquire them?

Take a look at this tweet by @drewsanocki to understand why RFM analysis with your customer data is key to success:

And no, you don’t need more tools to do this, unless your revenue is over $1M. Just make a spreadsheet and spend an hour with your customer data every week, and you’re sure to notice the difference!

#FeaturedAd - FluffCo

Brand: FluffCo
Category: Home Goods
Format: Single Image (Story)

WHY IT WORKS:

Who needs a new pillow?

More people than you think. Certainly more people than those looking for one.

And even though it’s not a recent ad, this simple yet effective creative by FluffCo speaks to both.

But what’s so special about this ad?

After all, it uses a simple product photo with a simple short review “Voted Best Pillow 2021 - by Men’s Health”.

But that’s exactly what works. The simple photo highlights the social proof. And when it’s by a publication titled “Men’s Health” it allows the brand to add credibility and appeal and target an entirely new audience — people suffering from cervical pain, or those who just want to sleep better.

And once it has your attention, the ad caption reinforces another message — their pillow got ranked above Ritz Carlton’s pillows. Nothing can spell more luxury and comfort, can it?

Want more ideas? See this ad and 1000s of others in Socioh’s ad library.

#BrandedCatalog Spotlight - Ted Baker London

Brand: Ted Baker London
Category: Apparel
Template type: 2-image with rotating USPs

WHY IT WORKS:

• Minimalist design is used to highlight the brand’s high fashion/luxury photo shoot.

• The 2-image catalog helps shoppers visualize how their apparel will look worn.

• The addition of the cut price increases FOMO and incentivizes clicks.

Create dynamic catalogs using multiple images from your product feed. Get started with Socioh’s Branded Catalogs here.

What’s New @Socioh

New ads this week — Parachute Home, Molekule, Onsen, and more. Find these ads and tons of inspiration in Socioh’s ad library.

P.S. We update our library with new ads every week.

Why am I getting this newsletter?

The world of advertising is evolving fast, and keeping up with it all can be exhausting.

This is why we deliver what you need to know — and only what you need to know, once every week. So you can make the wisest decisions about your ads.

This newsletter is curated by Socioh.

Don’t want to receive this email? Just unsubscribe using the link in the footer and you won’t hear from us again.

Join our FB group for pro tips & insights about Facebook advertising.