⚙️ Go with the flow

Automation now available on Shopify Basic!

Author

Kyle Tully
August 02, 2023

Welcome to Morning Commerce!

Here’s what’s good:

  • Spy on successful TikTok ads

  • Youtube trends you need to know

  • How to get links from news outlets

  • Using negative reviews as an ad hook

  • 14 examples of strong brand positioning

  • Shopify Flow is now available on Shopify Basic!

And more — it’s been a busy week (as usual) in Shopify land. Let’s dive in.

— Kyle Tully

ACQUISITION

Spy on successful TikTok ads

Want to know what’s working on TikTok right now?

TikTok has launched its ads library where you can spy on high-performing ads.

You can search by brand or product keywords, filter by location, industry, objective, ad format, likes, language, and date range.

You can click on an ad to watch it… but clicking on the “see analytics” button gives you all the good stuff. Full ad performance breakdown, creative summary, and even an interactive time analysis showing when in the video (down to the second) people clicked or converted 🤯

No excuses not to go viral on your next campaign.

Youtube trends you need to know

Youtube has started publishing a “culture and trends” report highlighting popular trends on the platform.

“In 2022, we observed a major shift in pop culture, one that was driven less and less by viral moments with mass appeal. Instead, we found that creators and their viewers were prioritizing personally relevant content that reflected their unique interests.”

From quiz posts and premieres, to faceless channels, trend spooting, and mastering the algorithm… definitely a series to pay attention to if you’re doing any kind of video marketing.

Turning Sh*t into Sugar

If you’re anything like me, negative reviews trigger a wild ride of emotions from hurt to annoyed, anxious to powerless, curious to acceptance… often all in the same breath.

But negative reviews aren’t the end of the world.

Especially if they’re the exception.

Oats Overnight ran this fantastic ad highlighting some of the 1-star reviews their products have received. Like the chocolate oats being “too chocolatey“, or the strawberries & cream being “like eating cardboard but with more steps“ 💀

SEO

“We landed massive links on The Independent and dozens of other news outlets”

Fery Kaszoni shared a nice little SEO case study that you could model for almost any niche.

Here’s what they did:

  • Downloaded house price data from Ireland’s Property Services Regulatory Authority.

  • Analysed house prices from 2010 and 2022.

  • Calculated the price change that happened over 12 years.

  • Wrote a report, outlining and summarising each county’s increase.

  • Found journalists from Ireland who cover house prices and finances.

  • Sent them an email.

Within a few days, journalists started writing about their research and they started getting links from high-quality news sources. Simple but brilliant.

BRANDING

14 examples of strong brand positioning and why they work

If you think branding is just about your logo and colours… or are a little confused at what brand positioning actually means and how you’re supposed to implement it… then this deep-dive article from Guido Bartolacci is a great place to start.

Your company's positioning is key to helping consumers understand why they should pick your brand over others.

You’ll discover:

  • What are the different types of brand positioning

  • How do you write a brand positioning statement

  • How do you measure positioning success

And see 14 examples of strong brand positioning. One for the swipe file.

CONVERSION

To quick view or not?

Quick views are a feature usually seen on collection pages or collection lists.

They let the user open an enlarged view of a product — usually an image along with some paired down product information and a add to cart button — without ever leaving the current page.

Quick view functionality is available in most Shopify themes, but should you use it?

New research from Baymard Institute says… it depends.

  • Spec-driven products, where purchase decisions are made on a multitude of product features and attributes, should not use quick view.

  • Visually-driven products, such as apparel or decorations, can use quick view… however the devil is in the details.

The key determiner is whether the quick view gives the user enough information to make an informed purchase decision. And whether it gives the merchant enough room to do a complete selling job.

If they still have to click through to the product page — for sizing info, product specifications, delivery info, or to see reviews etc — then quick view just adds another click in the process. (And in my experience often confuses people!)

Customer loyalty isn’t what it used to be

New research fresh outta 8451° (courtesy of Hubspot) shows customers are increasingly exploring different brands and have their own definition of what loyalty actually means.

Some high-level takeaways:

  • Loyalty ≠ exclusivity.

  • Value and trust are key… and “loyalty” can shift quickly to where these are to be found.

  • 43% definite loyalty based on preference. (Only 5% definite it as “that brand and nothing else“.)

Tips to increase your odds at earning loyalty:

  1. Price competitively. (62% said good value for money was most important.)

  2. Have products in stock. (Supply chain issue are one of the main reasons customers cheat on you.)

  3. Optimise your website. (A single frustrating experience can lead customer astray.)

  4. Connect throughout the journey. (Provide information, recommendations, and personalised experiences.)

TOOLS & RESOURCES

SHOPIFY NEWS

Shopify Flow is now available on Shopify Basic

One of the biggest reasons for upgrading to Shopify Plus — access to Shopify Flow — is now available on all Shopify Plans. This is huge news and IMO adds an insane amount of value to your Shopify account.

If you’re not familiar with Shopify Flow, it’s a workflow automation app that can take care of all those annoying, repetitive, and error-prone tasks that humans hate doing.

It lets you do things such as:

  • Get notified by email when product variant inventory is low

  • Create a task in Asana or a card in Trello when inventory is low

  • Get notified when an order containing a specific product is cancelled

  • Notify your customer support team about all split fulfillments

  • Standardize tagging for new products

And a million other use cases.

Flow uses a simple Trigger → Condition → Action component architecture.

The trigger can be almost anything that happens in your store — customer create, order created, order cancelled, refund created etc.

The condition can be almost anything related to your store or customer — billing address, metafields, number of orders etc.

The action can be almost anything you do in Shopify — add a tag, remove a tag, archive an order, notify someone, update a metafield etc.

Check it out here and let me know what automation you set up!

Four new Shopify updates

INSPO OF THE WEEK

Bold imagery, almost overwhelming text, and the largest footer logo man has ever seen are just some of the things that make Utu stand out. But for me, it’s the little things that really set this design apart. Like the LA sunrise, sunset, and UV index report above the menu. Or the “shop by spf rating” dropdown. Or the seamless subscription options on the product page. Worth a gander!

How we can help…

🔥 Looking for an experienced Shopify Partner to work with? 
Smart ecommerce brands rely on us for innovative design, development, optimisation, and growth strategies to create highly profitable Shopify websites. Work with our consultancy.

🎯 Want to reach our audience? Hit reply to discuss advertising.