👋 What’s selling: the dopamine rush of unboxing. Mofusand sells cute toy/collectibles, and their Blind Boxes, where you get a surprise design, are all the rage. The trend might never die. 

This week:

🛍️ Social's Shopping Surge - new data shows 81% discover products on social (and where exactly) 

🚨PSA: Not in Health & Wellness? Lucky You. - crucial updates for wellness brands (effective Jan 2025)

WHAT’S HAPPENING

🛍️ Perplexity launches AI shopping tool - Personalized shopping recommendations and one-click purchases from Shopify, Amazon, and more.

🚛 Temu opens US seller applications - US sellers can now join Temu’s marketplace, offering faster local shipping and increased competition for Amazon.

💳 Revolut’s 2025 roadmap - Plans include AI assistants, smart ATMs, mortgages, and a global bank push despite recent fraud issues.

✂️ US may end Chinese de minimis loophole - Proposal to cut duty-free imports under $800 from China, which Shein and Temu had been taking full advantage of to outcompete US competitors.

📚 ByteDance enters print books - Launching physical BookTok genres in bookstores by 2025.

TACTICS

Social's Shopping Surge

Girls, guys, and everything in between and beyond — social media is where it’s at. 

News flash, we know.

But are you aware of how much it’s where it’s at? 

Sprout Social surveyed over 4,500 consumers in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and Ireland, to understand their social media activity and preferences. 

The findings make it clear: all serious brands should have a serious social strategy. 

🟢 WHY YOU NEED TO BE ON SOCIAL

• 81% of people turn to social to discover their next purchase

  • Of which 61% go to Instagram (Reels)

  • And a surprising 60% turn to Facebook 👀

• People are interacting with brands on social more than ever this year

  • 48% more than they used to

  • 36% as much as they used to

🟢 WHY SOCIAL SUCKS

• Social is saturated

• User expectations are high in terms of

  • Entertainment

  • Constant reinvention

• It’s therefore a resource and time-intensive effort

🟢 HOW TO WIN AT SOCIAL WITH LIMITED RESOURCES

• Quality over quantity. Posting a lot might help get out there, but lack of novelty will lose you followers quicker. Focus on quality first.

• Focus your efforts. Instagram dominates, but each channel has a chief demographic. Pick yours wisely. You can win with a single Social Media platform.

• Stick with your strengths. On TikTok and Instagram, short form video (<15 seconds) works best. But if it’s not your forte, static images work very well on Instagram, and are far easier to make. In fact, they’re where AI can help the most, massively reducing cost and time.

🟢 USEFUL TOOLS

Our selection of trustworthy, user friendly picks

• Design: Canva 

• Content: Jasper AI

• Video: Capcut

• AI static generators: Superside or Adcreative.ai

• AI video generator: Icon.me (click here for its bold introduction and an offer)

Takeaway: Social is where it’s at — most serious brands need a serious social strategy. Here’s a good place to start: check your social profile –  is it immediately clear what you do? 

PSA 🚨

Not in Health & Wellness? Lucky You.

Heads up to all health and wellness brands: Meta is rolling out major changes that could significantly impact your advertising capabilities.

🟢 WHAT’S CHANGING

• Restrictions on bottom-of-funnel advertising for health-condition-specific products

• Limited ability to use certain conversion events

• No more retargeting campaigns

YOU MIGHT BE AFFECTED IF YOU…

• Target specific medical conditions

• Use terms like "Nature's [Drug Name]" or reference prescription medications

• Mention diagnosable conditions (even casually, like "Acne peeps")

• Make comparisons to medical treatments

🟢 YOUR NEXT MOVE

1. Check Your Status

   • Go to Events Manager > Overview or Diagnostic

   • Look for a "Review" option in the Limited Data Use section

   • If present, you're affected

2. Take Action

   • Submit an appeal within 30 days if you believe you're incorrectly flagged

   • Start planning alternative campaign strategies focusing on upper-funnel metrics

   • Consider shifting to available events like Landing Page Views, ViewContent, or App Install

🟢 MOVING FORWARD

• Evaluate your ad copy and targeting strategy

• Consider diversifying your marketing channels

• Plan for optimization around awareness and engagement rather than direct conversions

Takeaway: For advertisers concerned about these changes, it's crucial to start adapting your strategy now, before the January 2025 rollout.

FREE RESOURCE

Speed.

A slow site means losing customers. 

User experience and closing the education gap come next, but that’s all pointless if they leave before it loads.

Click here for a free website health check 👈

If yours is slow, you’ll also get steps on how to speed it up. 

Real conversion optimization comes next. 

GET MORE RELEVANT TACTICS

With ❤️,

The Early Checkout Team

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