Welcome to the official Wildlives Media newsletter, where we talk all-things digital marketing, activations, and more. From high-level updates & expert tips from the pros on our team to upcoming events, this is your main source of truth for all-things Wildlives Media. So pour yourself a cup of coffee, relax, and enjoy your new favorite newsletter.
WHAT WE'RE UP TO
BIG THINGS HAPPENING
April was a whirlwind for us as our event activation arm spins up quickly with Fuel Fest, Riverside Chattanooga, and Formula DRIFT Long Beach. The team continues to crush it with a full-service activation program that leaves our clients with more time and less stress. Additionally, our content team has been growing rapidly, and we recently hit 10k followers on IG - a testament to the banger machine.
The social and ads team have been putting smiles on faces and flowing money into bank accounts like the salmon of capistrano.
Oh yeah... And this newsletter. We thought, “Hey... We really do a lot of cool s***... Maybe we should share some of it with other cool people without expecting anything in return," so here we are! Sharing our cool s*** with you, cool people. Ta!
~ AJ Anderson, President
DON'T BE A BOT: PERSONALIZATION MATTERS
With the rapid evolution and adaptation of Ai, email marketers and consumers alike have begun a seemingly irreversible journey towards a world full of automation. Whether for better or worse (with plenty of signs pointing either direction), it comes at a cost of losing some sense of humanity and personal touch with the content we push and receive. By adding personalization and storytelling wherever you can to email campaigns and flows, your audience will take notice, ultimately leading to better engagement - so what's not to like about that?!
Here are some quick tips on how to make sure you don't sound like a robot who just used ChapGPT to crank out your latest email copy, ensuring a tailored experience that engages and converts:
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Address Them Directly: Use first name personalization tags in your descriptions, or even subject lines (for Klaviyo, it's {{ first_name|default:'' }})
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Share Relevant Content: Tailor your message based on their interests or previous interactions, and get creative with segmenting audiences based such preferences
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Tell Stories: Share anecdotes, brand experiences, or customer testimonials to add that human touch wherever and whenever you can
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Use Conversational Language: Write like you're talking to a friend, not a business prospect - make them want to feel a part of the conversation to foster engagement
As long as you don't sound like a robot, you should be fine. That said, make sure your audience knows that your brand cares by taking the extra step and creating that sense of community they ultimately seek out and resonate with.
*Quick Disclaimer: this section was NOT made in ChatGPT!
~ Ian Peterson, Email Marketing Expert
WILDLIVES FIGHTS BACK AGAINST POLITICS
In the world of Paid Ads right now, political candidates and parties are ramping up their spend for their 2024 election bids. Both parties are dumping billions of dollars into their campaigns, with multi millions going straight to paid ads platforms like Google and Meta.
The challenge is that on someone’s social media feed, there is limited real estate. And Meta is incentivized to give that real estate to the highest bidder, which often is one of these political candidates. That’s why we’re getting creative on how we fight back.
We’re using unique retargeting strategies, new AI features on each platform, and taking this time to help our clients create meaningful and engaging campaigns through organic social to get lower CPCs and still capture that feed real estate. These crusty politicians may have money, but we’re outsmarting them and fighting back to make sure our clients keep winning.
~ Eli Singh, Digital Ads Specialist
NOT THIS AGAIN...
Once again, TikTok is in the news, but this time, it seems different. On April 24, 2024, President Joe Biden signed the 21st Century Peace through Strength Act into law. This bill would effectively ban TikTok in the United States if ByteDance, TikTok’s operating entity, does not sell the app within 270 days as it is deemed a “foreign adversary controlled application” by the President. TikTok has stated that it plans to fight the potential ban in court. So what does this mean for you?
First and foremost, any social media platform can disappear without notice and take your audience along with it, so we always recommend that you have other means of communicating with your audience. So, start building that email list if you haven’t already!
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Diversify your social efforts. Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts are the most obvious alternatives, but Snapchat, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook prioritize short-form videos.
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Make sure you have reserved your username on other platforms whether you plan to publish content on them or not. You never know when you might want to start.
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Talk to your influencers and athletes. Make sure you have a plan in place for content deliverables you are expecting that encompass TikTok in case of a ban.
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Keep an eye on the situation and connect with our team if you have any questions or need to discuss how to pivot your strategy.
Here are some useful resources on the ongoing situation:
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Response from TikTok's CEO *Another Quick Disclaimer: This does not constitute legal advice and is for informational purposes only!
~ Nicole Bogusinski, Social Media Manager
LOOKING AHEAD
UNDER THE NIGHT LIGHTS
May is going to be TIGHT as we launch our relationship with KW & ST Suspension, throw our infamous TYPE S “Night Lights” event hosted by Larry Chen at Nappy Boy Automotive just before Formula DRIFT Atlanta, and continue to line our clients pockets with pure gold.
Hey... maybe we’ll see ya out there!
Oh yeah, we also have a "super curated" Spotify playlist to share with you all - brought to you by our very own Wildlives team - as well as an exclusive first look at our upcoming t-shirt drop... but you'll have to sign up for our newsletter to see that!