Morgan Borer

CMO: “My CEO doesn’t really ‘get’ PR.” Me: 😬 When I hear this during discovery calls I’m inclined to *politely* pass on the opp. Why? Because these engagements rarely end well. Here’s how this movie plays out: 1. CEO thinks PR spend = instant glowing stories in The Wall Street Journal or TechCrunch 2. CMO then gets caught between unhappy CEO & frustrated PR agency 😩 3. The whole relationship becomes a circular firing squad within 3 months: *CEO steamed at CMO & PR agency🤬 *CMO stunned at CEO’s unrealistic expectations & at agency for failing to somehow deliver miracles 🪄✨ *PR team miffed with agency owners for putting them in unwinnable position, & at CMO for not “going to bat” for them with CEO. 🙄 You know how this movie ends, right? ⚡️PR agency gets fired because somebody’s head must roll⚡️ — End scene 🎬 — A subplot here is that a CEO who doesn’t get PR *also* usually doesn’t get marketing. To them, sales leads > brand. So the CMO is also a moth dancing on a 🔥 All of this is why PR firms *MUST properly set expectations* with prospects prior to engaging. The goal: Under promise & over deliver. This saves everyone — the CMO, CEO, PR agency — from wasted time & bad blood. This lesson was learned the hard way - many times over 🤦‍♂️ But make no mistake: This is the way ✊ #publicrelations #marketing

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CMO: “My CEO doesn’t really ‘get’ PR.” Me: 😬 When I hear this during discovery calls I’m inclined to *politely* pass on the opp. Why? Because these engagements rarely end well. Here’s how this movie plays out: 1. CEO thinks PR spend = instant glowing stories in The Wall Street Journal or TechCrunch 2. CMO then gets caught between unhappy CEO & frustrated PR agency 😩 3. The whole relationship becomes a circular firing squad within 3 months: *CEO steamed at CMO & PR agency🤬 *CMO stunned at CEO’s unrealistic expectations & at agency for failing to somehow deliver miracles 🪄✨ *PR team miffed with agency owners for putting them in unwinnable position, & at CMO for not “going to bat” for them with CEO. 🙄 You know how this movie ends, right? ⚡️PR agency gets fired because somebody’s head must roll⚡️ — End scene 🎬 — A subplot here is that a CEO who doesn’t get PR *also* usually doesn’t get marketing. To them, sales leads > brand. So the CMO is also a moth dancing on a 🔥 All of this is why PR firms *MUST properly set expectations* with prospects prior to engaging. The goal: Under promise & over deliver. This saves everyone — the CMO, CEO, PR agency — from wasted time & bad blood. This lesson was learned the hard way - many times over 🤦‍♂️ But make no mistake: This is the way ✊ #publicrelations #marketing

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Big news from boohoo today... We started working with boohoo back in 2022 to radically scale their influencer programs. They were already working with hundreds of influencers in a one-to-one capacity. And like most brands, they had roughly reached their capacity in cost / effort. We were able to set up automated creator programs and scale their relationships into the thousands. Now, we're taking the next step and giving all of those creators their own storefronts on the respective boohoo properties. With the content machine in place, it's time to shift the focus to monetization. Now boohoo will be getting the full-funnel benefit of working with creators. Top of funnel brand awareness, and a best-in-class conversion experiences with LoudCrowd's native creator storefronts. Congrats to Stephanie Riddell, Edith Batchelor and team! Excited to be part of boohoo's #socialcommerce journey. Blog / press in comments. #boohoo #influencermarketing #creatormarketing #affiliatemarketing

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After you’re done with that, do this: 1. Note video styles that work 2. Go to JoinBrands  3. Hire a UGC creator or a few 4. Tell them to create in that style 5. Get videos featuring your product 6. Post them everywhere organically 7. Turn them into paid ads too Get the data. Make an informed guess. Test. Adjust. Start getting more sales. It won’t be easy, but it’s a lot more doable when you have the right tools. P.S. My UGC marketplace helps you find proven creators and get persuasive content made for affordable prices.  Hit the “visit my website” button to check it out.

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🔥 The Head of Instagram explains that the algorithm now prioritises the number of shares of your content... 💡 NEW action to take to GROW your Instagram account - as your new CTA, ask viewers to share with 3 friends. Making the number specific, will switch off the autopilot of 'share now' or 'like, share and comment' 😉 Try it out and let me know how it goes 🤓 🩵 Other key points: ⭐️ Around half of all video impressions are viewed with sound off. ⭐️ Meta is prioritizing creators over publishers “because we believe power is going to continue to shift from institutions to individuals across industries". ⭐️ TikTok being banned in the U.S. is a concern from the perspective of more and more platforms being banned in more regions “and countries and governments using that stick as a way to push their own agendas”. #SMM #socialmedia #Instagram #SmarterQueue #marketingtips #TikTok

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There's a lot of talk on this platform about what not to do in influencer marketing, so I wanted to spread a little positivity and spotlight those in the biz who are getting it right... A big shoutout to Kendall Eaton of 829 Studios - Digital Agency & Marketing Consultancy and Jane Amendolara of Connelly Partners. 👏 As a creator, working with these two professionals has been a pleasure. They excel in communication, provide clear and concise creative briefs, offer flexibility when life or the creative process throws up unexpected surprises, prioritize genuine collaboration, and ensure prompt payment upon conclusion of the campaign. If you're a creator or a brand partnering with Kendall or Jane, rest assured, you're in capable hands! #influencermarketing

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Tuesday morning hard truth coming at you. CMOs aren't fairy godmothers. And our customers sure as hell aren't Cinderella. ❌👸 We've all been there. Staring at our customer data, dreaming up elaborate campaigns to win over the haters and turn them into brand evangelists. We fancy ourselves the fairy godmothers of the marketing world, armed with a magic wand (or a killer creative brief) that can transform any ugly duckling into a loyal swan. 🦢 And so, we tell our teams to spare no expense, to leave no stone unturned in pursuit of this mythical "brand hater turned brand advocate" story. 💸💸💸 (Cue that speech from Braveheart). But it’s a fool’s errand. A quest to convert the unconvertible. Because the hard truth is, some people just ain't buying what we're selling. And no amount of marketing pixie dust can change that. Now, I'm not saying we should completely write off our detractors or stop trying to expand our reach. But we need to be smart about where we focus our efforts. Our time and resources are better spent delighting the customers who already love us, reaching out to those who are open to hearing our message, and yes, even accepting that some folks will never ever be into us. And you know what? That's okay. It doesn't mean we've failed as marketers or that our products are trash. It just means we're living in the real world, not a fairy tale. Oh, and if an agency or consultant tries to sell you on the idea that they can turn every brand hater into a brand lover? Ask to see the receipts. And if they can't deliver them, run, don’t walk. Run like you're fleeing the palace at midnight. 👠 Agree? Disagree? Think I've been sniffing too much glitter? 🤷‍♀️ #CMOconfessions #BrandReality #MarketingMythBusting #CustomerLoyaltyGoals

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TikTok is often seen as the fun and young social network that doesn't generate ROI for brands. I've lost count of people saying "It's not for B2B" or "It's just kids dancing." But those are outdated views and couldn't be more wrong! TikTok as a platform continues to drive culture like no other social network. Mini communities have formed including #BookTok #CorporateTok #ScienceTok and #TeachTok. And numerous songs and fashion trends have hit mainstream consciousness because of Tiktok. In addition, the organic reach and interest based algorithm are truly disruptive. It's an entertainment platform and a search engine all in one. As a B2B brand we at RS surpass 100k views on organic posts pretty regularly and even achieved over a million views on one video. That just doesn't happen on other platforms without a huge ad spend. But can it actually lead to sales? Last week at #SocialDayLDN I had the pleasure of listening to Carl Ellis ✈️and Ola Quadrio discussing exactly this topic. B2B brands need to sit up and take notice. The #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt hashtag alone has 9.6m posts. That is 9.6m people who are openly sharing a purchase that they made because of content that they consumed on TikTok. 64% of users have discovered new products and services on TikTok in the last month alone. And almost a quarter of users have posted a video featuring a product that they have purchased using the platform. The power of TikTok shop is exciting. Yes it is predominantly B2C right now, but Google and Facebook were consumer led at one stage too. The buying behaviour and user experience makes it a very exciting proposition. It's time for B2B to start taking TikTok seriously. #TikTok #SocialMediaMarketing #DigitalMarketing #Ecommerce #B2B

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I'm really not sure what will happen with the TikTok ban, But I do know creators who have built 90%+ of their total social audience over there. And they make most of their revenue from sponsorships, collabs, & merch. Which will essentially go to zero if they are unable to figure out a monetization strategy that doesn't rely on that audience. Pretty sad. If there's ever been a wake up call to diversify your social presence, now is the time. What to do: → Cross-promote top performing content across different platforms. → Encourage people to follow your other accounts for differentiated content. → Start a closed group where you can engage with your community directly (via discord, telegram, whatsapp, circle, slack, etc.) → Grow an email list of your most loyal followers so that you can contact them if shit hits the fan. I had my wake up call back when I built up a few huge FB biz pages during the 2014-2017 era and had organic reach reduced down to basically zero. One account with 300k followers went from thousands of engagements per post to ~200 views, 4 likes, 0 comments, per post. Absolutely wild. Hundreds of hours wasted. We're building on rented land. Diversify. Own your audience as much as possible. And don't put too much confidence in these apps. (especially if you rely on them for your livelihood) They have more power than you think.

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Lucy Reid and I were discussing this in our weekly editorial meeting yesterday. We're planning a bigger piece on brand marketing and this sort of VIP / community based activation will be part of the content. I'm a big fan of REFY and what they've done here. Reminds me of a campaign Batch LDN did where they took their ambassadors away for a shoot / holiday. Something I want to explore in our content is how brands maintain authenticity with these activations. There is a world in which their VIP customers are simply big influencers in waiting. So I want to learn how they balance these questions with the objective of such endeavours - which is to buck the trend of traditional, and let's be honest quite tired, influencer marketing. I'm also curious as to when brands should do this. Early in their journey? Late? And how does one scale it? Is it scalable? Another adjacent trend I really like is how brands are creating BTS TikTok content. shout out SheerLuxe and Dr Sam's Skincare. More thoughts coming soon.... #brand

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As Alex Hormozi says in $100M Offers Make an offer so good people would feel stupid saying no. Having worked in ad tech for > a decade, I know the industry is rampant with products and agencies promising the world yet they always want to lock brands into long-term commitments with next to zero accountability for performance NeonPixel does this differently As a performance marketer at a direct-to-consumer brand Just imagine if you could target audiences in the market for products today  And convert them at 25% of the blended CPA vs your current meta campaigns With tracking and conversions visible directly inside your Google Analytics in real-time... Oh and if the performance of your campaigns are not meeting your expectations, you have the option to cancel at anytime with a 48 hour notice! Start Today. Results Tomorrow!

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Marketing operations is a great field to work in, but if we're being realistic, there are some career path challenges. The prospects narrow considerably above the director level. This doesn’t mean I’m bearish on marketing ops (far from it—I think it’s more vital than ever). But I do think it’s important to have a clear-eyed perspective on what you want to do long-term and plan accordingly.  So, what are your options? 1) MARKETING OPS / MARTECH LEADERSHIP There are plenty of director-level MOPS roles, and this is a great place to be. (Note: there is no rule that you need to continually increase your title!) If you DO aspire to an executive position, the “VP of Marketing Operations” titles are relatively scarce and competition is high. So if you really want to climb the ladder AND stay focused purely on MOPS, it means getting lucky and quite often working at a bigger company. This could be great for you, but it’s not everyone’s happy place. 2) REVOPS LEADERSHIP RevOps exec titles are more common, and this can be a natural jump. But for most MOPS pros it will require significant upskilling on sales and CS. Keep in mind most RevOps execs still come from a sales ops background. So I think this may work best as an internal move, which allows you to grow your experience gradually. 2) BUSINESS SYSTEMS LEADERSHIP BizSys is a great field that plays to the technical strengths that many MOPS leaders have. But you may need to upskill in topics like security and APIs or gain knowledge of platforms outside the marketing comfort zone like ERP, HRIS, etc. 3) CONSULTING If you love the craft of MOPS, want to stay hands on, and don’t want to play the corporate game, consulting is an amazing career path. It lets you capitalize on your strengths, be recognized as an expert, and have more control over your destiny. The downside is a lack of long-term ownership over a single company’s MOPS function, which may be important for some people. 4) ANY OF THE ABOVE + SIDE HUSTLE You don’t need to make a drastic change to your day job to earn extra income and expand your experience. • Start a newsletter • Start a podcast • Take on some consulting clients • Do some coaching • Take up a completely unrelated craft and sell stuff on Etsy This can create a wonderful counterpoint to your more-structured FTE role—something that’s completely your own. The downside? It can be time-consuming and hard on your work-life balance. So you need to set clear boundaries. —---- Bottom line: there’s no one “right” way. It’s what works for you at a given time. I think this is an important discussion to have as a MOPS profession. Come be part of that discussion tomorrow (June 12th) at the next MOps Huddle with Crissy Saunders, M.H. Lines, Raja Walia, Darrell Alfonso, and Thao Ngo 💜. Between this crew, we've probably done it all! 😉 This is practitioners only, no recording, unscripted, all straight talk.

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Cold Email Subject Lines to Ban aka "Jump Scare" Subject Lines 🛑 If we can collectively agree to ban the most anxiety-inducing cold email subject lines that would be awesome. I'm not just saying this as a comms pro, I'm saying this a co-founder who doesn't need "fake" urgency that borderline trolls my inbox. Lately, I've been calling them "jump scare" subject lines. They definitely get your attention, stress you out, and then immediately piss you off. And I can promise, I've never bought a single service or product from an email like this. (and yes, since I use cold emailing, I also can be sold via cold email). You need your ideal customer to open the email. But the end game is for them to like you, trust you, and buy from you. If you focus just on "how do I get them to open" you miss the end goal - and most likely the relationship and the sale. A service provider should aim to make their customer's lives easier, calmer, better from first touch -- and "jump scare" subject lines do exactly the opposite (even for a brief second). Getting a cold email from someone you don't know with the following subject lines: 🛑 Urgent! 🛑 You're an Impostor (like what the actual F lol) 🛑 Hey, I'm pretty upset... 🛑 You're late! 🛑 Waiting in Zoom... 🛑 You better take a look at this ASAP Are all examples of "jump scare" email subject lines I have received, that I blocked instantly and that should be banned. I love the power of cold email. In fact, when I was 25 cold email totally changed my life. I built a business off the power of new, cold connections. It completely changed my perspective on what's possible. Later on when we started Pink Shark, I built my first top-tier media contacts through the power of cold outreach. Hyper-personalized, small-batch, warm and valuable is how you build relationships from a block of ice. Not scaring people half to death and pretending like they missed a meeting. Like who needs that? LOL. Curious, what are the worst/most anxiety-inducing cold email subject lines you've ever received? #coldemail #sales #outreach #media #pr #publicrelations #emailmarketing

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I just spent 48 hours in NYC with one of the most successful DTC brands in history 🤯 Obvi are a supplements brand famous for getting to $60m of revenue in just 4 years 😮 Here's the BIGGEST lessons I learnt: 1. Stay lean at all costs They're a $60m brand, I was expecting a snazzy office, what I got was a basic space and broken chairs. It's tempting as you grow, to think you need bigger and better, you don't. STAY LEAN 2. Do the basics really well Founders are obsessed with paid ads, email, product, brand and operations. They focus on doing the basics exceptionally well 3. Hire a core team, outsource everything else They have 12 FT ppl and everything else is outsourced. Their POV, it's more efficient to outsource than hire and you get a wider range of expertise looking at the problem 4. Community doesn't have to be complicated They created a fbk group, scheduled the first 20 posts and then let the most engaged members become admins and run it. Now 100k members and the bedrock of their innovation and launch strategy 5. Creative diversity is key to scale Running paid ads? You need to be running low-fi statics/video AND hi-fi statics/video. Different target customers resonate with different styles of content and if you're not creating them all you are leaving money on the table 6. Organic content and visibility have to be part of your strategy If you're running paid, organic content (PR, founder posts, podcasts) will boost trust and make your paid perform SO much better 7. You need to spend time with ppl further ahead than you Learning from these guys has been transformative for me and MyoMaster. Spend time with people out of your league doing things you can only dream of Gorgias - THANK YOU for sending me on this trip Ashvin Melwani and Ankit Patel thanks for the incredible insights

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Love this interview from AlphaSense with an ad industry expert discussing current client trends. My Key Takeaway: CMOs are increasingly concerned about macroeconomic trends, but they haven't reduced their spending yet. Additional Key Points: - Growing interest in smaller platforms like Pinterest and Snapchat as a hedge against potential TikTok bans - Pinterest sees 30% growth in May, driven by Amazon integration YouTube growth slows slightly but remains strong at 24% in May - Innovations in influencer marketing could be a significant trend, benefiting platforms that can scale and automate collaborations effectively Overall, the digital advertising landscape remains strong, with most major platforms showing healthy growth despite macroeconomic uncertainties.

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We're not going to de-prioritize TikTok until consumer engagement on the app dips or it's banned and gone for good. It's just presenting our clients / target market in general with WAY too much upside. Particularly in a year in which CPMs are going to go through the roof with elections in November and the Summer Olympics occupying eyeballs, acquisition strategies that don't entirely break the bank for advertisers are beyond critical. A recent study by Earnest Analytics highlights opportunities on TikTok and, particularly, with TikTok Shop. - Engagement: 11% of U.S. households have shopped on TikTok Shop, indicating strong initial adoption. - Loyalty: High retention with 81% of February 2024 sales from repeat customers, highlighting customer satisfaction. - Dominance: Captures 68% of the social shopping market share, significantly outperforming competitors. 🎩 Hat tip to Abhi Mahule for sharing the study + summarizing key points

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🔥 HOT NEWS 🔥 in resale following exciting announcements from TikTok about a new pre-owned marketplace and hot on the heels of zero listing fees from eBay and Depop, this time from Nibble... ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ We have delivered phenomenal results from AI negotiation – yes, you are reading the case study doc right... +145% conversion (!!) in AB testing for SneakerCycle. Nearly half of shoppers who start negotiating with Nibble on SneakerCycle go on to purchase and those that didn’t are still quick to give Nibble great positive feedback. So, if you are reading this and you are in resale we know your marketplace channel is important to you but so is your direct site, where you save listing fees and get the best customer insights... we can install Nibble on your Shopify site in 10 minutes and start an AB test straightaway because I want you to be as sure of the results as I am.

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The worst mistake we’ve seen DTC brands make 👇🏻 (After scaling 100+ brands) Not diversifying your creatives ❌ You’re not just competing against your direct competitors… But with the entire Internet in the battle for peoples’ attention. Multi-dimensional creatives are a necessity today, not a ‘good to have’. You need the right balance of brand-led and performance-focused content. Different things work on different platforms. Adapt accordingly… (If you’ve tried running META creatives on TikTok, you know what I’m talking about). You HAVE to be on multiple platforms. It doesn’t matter if you have a million followers on one platform if you have 0 on others. Customers will view it as a red flag and trust you less. Different customer segments prefer different ad types. People like to consume information in different ways. Some may be more open to high-production, where others may connect deeper with UGC. So cover all your bases. 📣 To unlock new lines of revenue and new audiences: → Be omnipresent → Never blindly repurpose content → Diversify your creatives (statics, UGC, high-prod ads) Want us to help you scale your DTC brand with effective strategies like these? Find us at Hambi Media!

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