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Welcome to Volume 58!
Black Friday is a week away.
We do hope you are ready to grab your favorite products at amazing discounts on Amazon, Walmart, Target, and other stores.
In case you missed it, Amazon announced on Monday that it will hold a 48-hour sale starting at 12:01 A.M. PST Thanksgiving.
You can access thousands of exclusive deals across different products by asking, “Alexa, what are my deals?” via Amazon stores, the company website (amazon.com/blackfriday), or in-app.
Companies like Facebook and Linktree are also spreading good cheer with their latest product updates. Before we jump right into the exciting bits we have to share, here’s a peek at what’s to come:
- Rivian’s Blockbuster IPO Feeds Off Amazon’s Influence
- Brand New Linktree x Shopify Integration
- Facebook Also Rolls Out New Shopping Features
Rivian’s Blockbuster IPO Feeds Off Amazon’s Influence
Reading and writing about Tesla’s trillion-dollar success was a thrilling experience. However, Rivian’s mind-blowing debut tops the chart this week.
Last week, the first real Tesla competitor led a blockbuster IPO, pricing its initial public offering at $78 a share. The per-share price was higher than the initial $57-$62.
Before the day was over, the price surged 30%. Rivian raised about $12B in total at the end of the day. Talk about the largest IPO of the year!
The most exciting part of their successful debut is that the company, which has no immediate revenue stream, now has a valuation close to $100B. To date, the share price continues to rise. As of today, it is $172, with a market cap of $146B.
Of course, I’m not here to advise on whether or not you should buy the stock. Instead, I want to show you a critical element that shot Rivian to the stars.
That’s Amazon’s influence.
Amazon bet on Rivian’s potential success.
The retail giant led a $700M investment round in 2019 and announced that it was ordering 100,000 of Rivian’s electric cars. As a result, big brands like Ford, T. Rowe Price, and Cox Automotive invested in the company.
B2B Marketers can take a page out of Rivian’s playbook.
The company leveraged Amazon’s investment, and the CEO’s sway over his network and followers, to earn prospects’ trust and buy-in.
Hijacking influence, especially from one of the largest companies in the world, can give prospects the validation they need to make an investment. Companies can “borrow” third-party influence to win prospects over.
Another amazing thing about this kind of collaboration is that both parties win.
Rivian gains more customers and investors, while Amazon’s initial investment (which gave them a 20% stake in the business) is now worth a lot more.
The right influencers can help get your product in front of your target audience.
They get your products in front of new prospects, drive more traffic, create brand awareness, and boost sales.
There are many ways you can leverage the influence of big brands.
For instance, here at Foundation, we create in-depth case studies on successful industry giants. We’ve written about companies like Slack, Shopify, Masterclass, Figma, Buffer, Airtable, Gong, and a host of others.
We leverage their influence to get more eyes on our content, and in turn, these brands get more exposure, and marketers learn from their strategies.
The Shopify piece, for instance, generated impressive traffic stats, and the asset’s value is on the rise as it delights readers and boosts conversions.
Brands also hijack our influence to get similar results.
You can also identify leaders in your niche, cultivate a relationship with them, and seek creative ways to collaborate. You can establish agreement terms and kick-off if they are open to it.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Rivian raised about $12B in a single day, and the company is now worth $100B
- Hijacking influence, especially from one of the largest companies in the world, can give prospects the validation they need to make an investment.
- Companies can “borrow” third-party influence to win prospects over, even without a product.
Brand New Linktree x Shopify Integration
“Link-in-bio” is a word in the B2B and B2C circles, particularly for Instagram users.
Linktree, one of the popular “link-in-bio” tools, has helped creators display all their important links to their products and services in one place for a handful of years already.
The Linktree team has added another feather to their hat with the holiday season approaching. They are making it easy for consumers to find and purchase their favorite creator’s products with the new Shopify Integration.
Rather than redirecting users to another website to shop for their favorite creator’s products, Linktree brings the shop directly to consumers.
The store feature allows business owners and marketers to showcase their Shopify products directly in the app so that consumers can explore and make easy buying decisions.
This partnership is a big win for the B2B industry. It empowers marketers, creators, and business owners to “share more, sell more, curate more, and grow more.”
Here are some things you can do with this new feature:
- Showcase new arrivals
- Highlight your best selling products
- Promote amazing product deals for special days like Black Friday
- Curate holiday gift guides filled with links to their products
Linktree partnered with PayPal to launch its “Commerce Links” feature earlier this year.
The feature enables direct payments on Linktree globally. Now, with the latest Shopify collaboration, users in 200+ countries can offer consumers an omnichannel shopping experience and receive direct payments.
The link-in-bio service has evolved into a distribution channel where users can close deals without leaving the platform.
Twitter is also doing something similar with its professional accounts. One of the professional profile modules, the shop module, lets users purchase products without redirecting to another website.
As a creator in the B2B space, your Instagram marketing effort is about to become a lot more rewarding with the link-in-bio upgrade.
Beyond a distribution channel for your content, you now have a promotion channel for your products that increases your organic reach and boosts your chances of higher sales.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Linktree collaborates with Shopify to launch its store feature, allowing users to display products, boost organic reach, and generate more sales.
- This partnership empowers marketers, creators, and business owners to “share more, sell more, curate more, and grow more.”
- The Linktree upgrade boosts Instagram’s value as a direct distribution channel.
Facebook Also Rolls Out New Shopping Features
Facebook took some major hits this year. However, despite the storms, the company keeps bouncing back, adding innovative features to its mix on a weekly basis.
Recently, the company launched a series of shopping features to help admins and creators generate more revenue streams. These features include shops in groups, product recommendations, and a test of live shopping for creators.
Shop in Groups lets group admins set up a store on their associated Facebook page.
With this feature, members can see a list of products and make buying decisions directly from the group page. All payments go to the group admin, and it’s up to the admin to decide what they want to do with the money. They could decide to invest it in their business, a non-profit, or use it as an extra income stream.
The Product Recommendations feature allows users to recommend products they have used in the past.
For instance, if we have a Facebook shop that lists our latest product, BRICK, and multiple users recommend it to others, it will start to appear within other users’ news feeds.
People trust recommendations, that’s why 88% of people trust reviews written by other consumers as much as they trust recommendations from friends or colleagues.
The ability to boost prospects’ trust batteries and influence their buying decision is a huge benefit of the new Product Recommendation feature.
The Live Shopping Feature allows creators, influencers, and brands to cross-stream on their individual Facebook pages to sell a product. This feature is similar to the Instagram collab feature rolled out in July this year. Two brands can easily collaborate and leverage each other’s following to boost engagement and sales.
With the holiday season fast approaching, it’s no wonder Facebook keeps rolling out more exciting collaborative ways for creators and brands to drive more revenue.
B2B Marketers can leverage these features to boost awareness, build trust, and increase conversions. The live shopping feature is still in beta mode, while the other two are available in-app and on the web.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Facebook launched a series of shopping features to help admins and creators generate more revenue streams.
- These features include shops in groups, product recommendations, and a test of live shopping for creators.
- B2B brands can leverage these features to collaborate better, get their content in front of more people, earn trust, maximize engagement, and increase revenue.
OTHER NEWS OF THE WEEK:
🎧 Spotify acquires Findaway to bring audiobooks to its 381 million monthly active users.
📸 Twitter now displays images in full without any cropping.
👎🏼 YouTube is making the dislike counts on videos private across all platforms.
HIRING BRILLIANT B2B MARKETERS:
BRAIN FOOD OF THE WEEK:
Early this week, I read an article from a former colleague.
He was describing a scenario most people can relate to. They are still struggling to land a decent job several years after leaving school.
If you’ve walked in these shoes before, you must have received advice like, “Find a niche, learn all you can about that niche, build a portfolio, and start pitching.”
Or my personal favorite: “There are numerous opportunities on LinkedIn. You just have to position yourself, be unique, and stay consistent if you want to be heard.”
Everyone indeed needs to take action to attract the things they truly desire.
But let’s be honest.
As great as these pieces of advice are, they are easier said than done.
Some people want to implement these, but they don’t know where to start. Some have started, but they are seeing no results. Not everyone has learned to get out of their own way and commit to doing all they can to succeed.
If you have achieved some level of success in your career, you kinda owe it to your community to help others succeed.
Here are three ways you can do that without wearing yourself thin:
📌 Be a “Guide” who is willing to be vulnerable when necessary
People want to hear your struggles and how you overcame them. So, be vulnerable. Back up your advice with real experiences people can relate to.
📌 Go out of your way to leave feedback
After reading a post that resonates with them, some people like to reach out. You may not have the time to respond to each person, but you can block time to engage with your audience. Shout out to Ross for teaching me how to do this.
📌 Be creative with your time
You don’t have to respond to everyone who leaves a comment. Instead, you can browse through the comment section and your inbox to identify and address the most pressing questions/concerns in your next post without mentioning names.
You can also host a webinar on the topic, start a community on Telegram or Slack and get other experts on board to help offer some guidance, and offer mentorship to some people in your community if you can.
📢 Remember, we rise by lifting others.
It’s also important to set boundaries while helping others and stick to them. That way, people know to respect and value your time and advice.
Of course, not everyone you help will take the needed action and transform their lives. But the few or the many who would take that step will make your efforts worthwhile.
Shout out to everyone already doing these. You’re the real MVP.
TWITTER THREAD OF THE WEEK:
30 things you should have accomplished by 30 by Ryan McCready
IN CASE YOU MISSED THESE:
- How Brands Can Survive The Commoditization Of SaaS
- How 5 Simple Words Pushed Figma To A $10B+ Valuation
- This Content Distribution Strategy Earned 26,282 Page Views In 7 Days
WHAT WE’RE WIRED INTO THIS WEEK 🎧:
These round-ups are brought to you by me, Jessica O., every week ✌!
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