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Welcome to Volume 50!
Happy Fall!! ‘Tis the season of sweater weather!!
Fall is one of my favorite seasons since I adore a crewneck and love a chill that doesn’t yet warrant a full-on winter coat. These chilly temperatures will hit Canada soon, but that doesn’t mean our US readers will need to bundle up any time soon.
Beyond the weather, there are many differences between Canada and the US. One of them is the performance, or lack thereof, of Twitter’s Super Follows.
Before we get into that, here’s a peek at what’s to come:
- Twitter gets less than expected from Super Follows
- GitLab is on track to surpass GitHub with its IPO
- iOS15 is changing email marketing for Apple users
Twitter Super Follows off to a not so Super Start
In the first two weeks post-launch, Twitter’s Super Follows feature is off to a slow start in terms of revenue.
Over the past two weeks, it has only brought in $600 in Canada. The US has seen greater success with this, and it has attributed $6,000 in revenue to Twitter’s bottom line; however, there is no way to know what amount of that total is due to Ticketed Spaces.
Quick Aside: Ticketed Spaces is Twitter’s ticketing platform that allows users to buy tickets to live events hosted on the platform.
With the rise of the creator economy, creators can enable Super Follows, which opens a paid subscription option to their audience. Twitter takes a 3% cut of all Super Follow subscriptions and leaves the rest with the creator, so they can also be less ad reliant.
Twitter is looking to diversify its revenue streams and move on from being an ad-reliant platform. So far, Twitter Super Follows is the most promising new feature.
The creator can decide what content these Super Followers receive, but it is typically Q&A style content, extra tweets, and behind-the-scenes access.
It is the perfect place for thought leaders to host mini-courses and connect with their top fans.
Although this feature didn’t take off right out of the gate, there is excellent growth potential for Super Follows and the value it will bring to social media influencers, thought leaders, and their audiences.
Key Takeaways
- Twitter Super Follows didn’t take off as expected, only generating $600 in Canada.
- Super Follows have a lot of potential to bring educational thought leadership content to top fans.
- Paid subscriptions for creators could be the future of the creator economy; your audience just needs to see your value first.
GitLab’s Going Public
GitLab is a platform for developers to share and collaborate on open code projects. It is a direct competitor to Microsoft’s GitHub and Atlassian, which host similar developer communities.
Microsoft acquired GitHub back in 2018 for $7.5B, showing the promise for software collaboration tools.
GitLab is a remote-first organization, which has been operating successfully as a global enterprise since 2014. I say successfully because GitLab says it has achieved a net revenue retention rate of 152% growth in July 2021.
Net revenue retention is a crucial metric for subscription software as it tracks the amount of or lack of churn experienced.
GitLab also achieved 69% growth in revenue quarter over quarter, $58M in quarterly revenue, and reached a $6B valuation!
As GitLab continues to grow and see success with this collaboration tool, it has geared up to be the latest high-growth tech company to file for an IPO following in the footsteps of Monday.com, Wise, and SquareSpace.
Keep an eye out for GTLB as it gears for its IPO following the paperwork filed late last week.
Key Takeaways
- GitLab, a developer collaboration tool, is ready to go public and file for an IPO.
- The GitLab IPO is another signal of the success being seen amongst tech companies.
- Remote work is key to unlocking a global talent pool that will help to build a billion-dollar company.
iOS15 and What It Means for Marketers
Apple is rolling out iOS15, and with this update, they are planning to remove developer access to important user data.
This restriction is putting email marketers in a dilemma regarding access to crucial user metrics.
Miranda Halpern of TechCrunch spoke with Vivek Sharma, CEO of Movable Ink, to drill into the new metrics we should be focusing on.
In light of iOS15, Apple Mail users can hide their IP address, which means less personalized data will be available to brands and downstream metrics will play a much larger role.
Think less about open rates and more on clicks, conversions and zero party data.
During the conversation between TechCrunch and Sharma, three key takeaways were outlined:
- Down-funnel metrics will become crucial. Clicks and conversions are the most accurate indicators of engagement.
- Move away from the thinking you need personalized data points and invest in zero and first-party data assets. You can do this by including polls within email campaigns, and Sharma notes that “true personalization is what people experience and what they see,” which is achieved through zero and first-party assets.
- Finally, you can be sure that email marketing will continue to be a successful go-to campaign asset.
Email marketing has been around for a while, and has gone through many iterations. It will only continue to grow as we strike a balance between privacy and personalization. So don’t worry too much about the new changes of iOS15.
Key Takeaways
- Access to personalized data reports from Apple Mail users is going to become redundant with the iOS15 update.
- The ability to send out super personalized email campaigns to Apple Mail Users will be restricted following the iOS15 update.
- Open rates are only one trackable metric; the real information is found within clicks and conversions, which will not be harmed by the iOS15 update.
OTHER NEWS OF THE WEEK:
🎮 Starting as a humble gaming chat platform, Discord has grown to be a community hub platform valued at $15B – Just $1B shy of WhatsApp’s $16B valuation!
📺 Chromecast continues to grow from Google’s version of Airplay as it expands its streaming by offering free (ad-supported) TV channels.
🤩 Cameo, the app that allows us civilians access to celebrity shoutouts, expands from pre recorded messages to allow for prepaid time on calls with your favorite celebrities.
BRAIN FOOD OF THE WEEK:
SpaceX launched the first all civilian trip into orbit earlier this week, and the 3-day orbit was a great success!
Minus the need to upgrade the washroom situation… SpaceX is deeming Inspiration 4 a fantastic first trip and one giant leap for space tourism.
TWITTER THREAD OF THE WEEK:
6 Helpful G Suite Hacks by Dickie Bush
WHAT WE’RE WIRED INTO THIS WEEK 🎧:
MONTERO by Lil Nas X (Best Track: MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name))
Originally sent out, by me Cali B, on Thursday, September 22, 2021.
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