The App Collective Episode 16
Getting creative
Hi!! The heat index in Miami on any given day over the last 2 weeks has been at a 9 and the temperature has been 90 degrees. Things, as some might say, are heating up around here in more ways than one.
It’s my birthday week so I purchased a pair of Nike Dunks. It’s an annual tradition and usually something I do to go to Shopify partner conferences - both aligning around a similar time period so you should easily be able to recognize me at Preditions and Editions wearing a bright yellow pair of sneakers.
I would love to take full credit for this ‘branding’ idea on my own. It’s actually something that Kurt Elster coined at Shopify’s partner conferences where he wears a polyester camouflage jacket so people can easily recognize him. He’s also quite tall with a distinguished beard and quaffed hair, but it’s the jacket that makes him easy to spot in a crowd. Thanks for the idea, Kurt. My 5’4” chunky self will be rocking bright shoes for 2 days. If you see me, come say hi.
What’s Inside
Getting creative
Getting creative
We all love a good meme or a moment on social media that blows our minds to get everyone talking.
Remember the 2015 dress color saga? It was a viral tidal wave moment in which a collective number of people across platforms debated the color they thought the dress was. Very rarely do we all have something on the internet where everyone knows that moment.
Then, there are other industry-specific attention-grabbing moments. Our industry, eCom, is seeing some creative experiences right now. Kith just rolled out a 4-minute commercial posted to the CEO, Ronnie Fieg’s X feed with a star-studded group of legends to participate in John Leguizamo's character's quest to get Ronnie’s number. I watched the entire thing and wanted more. Please watch it also. If you want to. But, like, watch it.
Another example is the recent collab between Muddy Bites® <> Crumbl Cookies with a pistachio gelato flavored cookie drop featuring Muddy Bites®. The video the founder Jarod Steffes posted this week on X makes me wish we had a Crumbl in Miami. While the collaboration is so creative and the cross over we all didn’t know we needed, the assets (video) used across socials to get people to notice are what made me stop in my feed to figure out what was happening.
While most Shopify SaaS apps may have a limited budget or little to no clout that matches larger companies, the digital landscape offers a plethora of opportunities. (*cough* that was NOT AI writing that I swear tee hee hee) With numerous apps available to merchants today, you should be creating attention-grabbing content.
The opportunity for Shopify apps
This may be the most long-winded way of me saying, hey, Shopify apps; you should be utilizing video and creative content ideas on social media creatively to inspire, grab attention, and entertain potential partners and merchants to learn more about what your product does or offers.
Showcase partnerships/collaborations
Leverage social media to showcase new partnerships you form for your app like the Crumbl <> Muddy Bites® example.
AfterSell recently posted about their partnership with Skio on X.
Engage with prospects
Jacob Thomas, in charge of sales at Sendlane, is one to watch on X. Some of his social media posts for Sendlane specifically are extremely creative. His goal is to grab the attention of merchants and, more importantly, agencies that hold a lot of influence over which ESPs will get them further faster when managing their email marketing campaigns. He's not selling any product in his posts, just like the Kith commercial. Well, sort of. In his few-second videos, he focuses on overcoming the most commonly used objection he probably gets to switch from a platform like Klaviyo to Sendlane: migration (i.e., moving house, movers, cost, etc.). It's a huge investment to make the change, and immediately, he squashes that with how Sendlane does everything for and with your team. If you aren't already following him, I suggest you do.
Then there's Daniel Guthrie, Head of Growth at One Text, who recently posted on X about sending a prospect a stuffed dinosaur to grab their attention. HOW CREATIVE is that!? If someone sent me a plushie, I would give them 15 minutes to pitch me their solution. What a conversation starter!
The opportunity for you
There's a wide-open ocean of opportunities to get creative and stand out from the competition. I have said it before and will say it again: the merchants you want to work with expect you to do the types of things they are doing. Now is the time to start leveling up your social media content strategy. You can do something as small as ordering holographic stickers with your company logo and a silly slogan and mailing them out to prospects with a funny note. Create a video series about overcoming common objections or hurdles about your app to build trust with merchants to purchase your product.
It's time for many of you to shift your social media content to speak to the merchant more than each other. Knowledge sharing is important, don't get me wrong, but remember who your target audience is. They are sharing a stage with you on social media. The days of 'building in public' are a little tired, and it's time to harness the strength of being creative during this era to grab your ICP’s (ideal customer profile) attention.
Do you know how Taylor Swift is currently on the Era's Tour? She's constantly filling the tour with surprises, twists, and turns to keep people entertained while talking about it. She is a literal genius marketer, among other things.
Just this past week, during her 87th performance in Paris, which is her boyfriend Travis Kelce's football number, she dedicated songs to him, wore his team's colors, and more. She's selling her shows to other prospective concertgoers while at her shows by creating viral moments on the internet.
Harness the power of creativity in your marketing this summer, and continue to let things heat up in 2024. I expect to see some fun and exciting creative content from all of you. I'm watching! 👀
We have some guest contributors coming up soon in future episodes, so stay tuned.
Until next time,
Deb
PS: Thanks for reading and subscribing. Share this with your colleagues. The more, the merrier, as they say!
Simultaneously scared and excited to try more creative marketing ideas going forward!