DTC847: Leveraging Prime Buzz, High-Volume Meta Testing, Squishy Soft Pillows

Good morning, 

Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC:

💸 Steal Attention and Drive Conversions 
Prepping paid media for Prime Day.  

🤦 High Volume Meta Testing
Scale creatives like a pro. 

📦 Daily Tariff Update
U.S. and China trade deal. 

🩷 Squishy Soft Pillows Squishmallow enters the sleep category. 

You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: CitiusTech, BTH Clinics, and Sedona Spirit Water. 👋

📊 Psst...How Does Your Ecommerce Performance Stack Up In 2025?

Cart abandonment is at 70%. Checkout upsells are driving up to $92K in extra revenue. And some brands are seeing 20x ROI just by optimizing three simple touchpoints.

🤔 Wondering how your cart, checkout, or upsell performance compares to your competitors…and how you can level up?

👀 Aftersell’s new 2025 Upsell & Revenue Benchmarks Report breaks down what’s working—and what’s wasting money—for 45,000+ ecommerce brands.

Inside, you’ll find:

• Industry-specific AOV & upsell stats
• Cart, checkout & post-purchase benchmarks
• Actionable insights to lift revenue across the funnel

Compare your KPIs to leading brands and unlock your next growth lever. 💪

🎯 Ready to base your strategy on practices backed by real data?

Get the insights you need to chart a map to success. 

💡 Five Ways To Leverage Prime Buzz In Your Paid Media

Prime Day isn’t just Amazon’s game—it’s your chance to steal attention, drive conversion, and turn casual scrollers into loyal customers.

Pilothouse shares ways to get your paid media dialled in for the big day:

1. Duplicate + Schedule Early

Prep your high-performing BAU campaigns to launch fresh with boosted budgets.

🕧 Schedule them to go live at midnight to catch the early risers and deal hunters.

2. Use 1-Day Click Optimization

Speed is everything. Switch to 1-day click to capture fast purchase intent.

👉 Set generous cost caps to prevent your ads from fading during peak hours.

3. Fresh Creative > Fancy Creative

Prime Day feeds are noisy. 

Rotate in punchy UGC, product demos, and time-sensitive overlays (e.g.“Only 24 Hours!”) to grab attention.

4. Advantage+ Shopping Is Your MVP

If you're not running Advantage+ campaigns, now’s the time.

Let Meta’s automation do the heavy lifting with broad targeting and real-time optimization.

5. Retarget Post-Prime

Don’t let all that traffic go cold!

Retarget visitors and add-to-carts in the days after with urgency-driven offers or bundles.

Remember: Prime Day is a sprint and a setup. Get the most out of your spend now—and plant seeds for Q4.

Let’s make it your highest ROAS day of the summer. 🚀

💥 The Future Is Here. Here’s Six Ways AI Is Evolving Ecommerce in 2025

Smarter operations start with smarter systems. Is your brand ready? 🧠

👉 Swap surveyed 100 ecommerce execs to uncover how AI is reshaping operations, boosting margins, and powering next-gen retail strategies in 2025.

Inside the guide, discover:

• 📈 Where AI is transforming ecommerce operations
• 💡 How it’s driving faster decisions and stronger margins
• 🔍 What early adopters are doing differently
• 📊 Key predictions shaping AI’s role in retail this year

AI is no longer a future trend - it’s the new operating system for growth, and it can’t be ignored.

👏 Don’t get left behind.

📦 Your Daily Tariff Check-In

Whether it’s a minor tweak or a major shift, we’ll keep you posted on the latest tariff changes—so you’re always in the know. 

June 30, 2025 update:

• U.S. and China Sign Trade Deal 
  
  • Trump confirmed that a trade deal has been reached with China but didn't provide further details last week.
    
  • This trade pact will stabilize relations between the two economic superpowers.
    
  • As part of the agreement China will supply rare earths to the U.S. and U.S. will cancel a series of restrictive measures on China. 
    

Keep in mind: These details are current as of writing but could change before this reaches your inbox.

🎧 How Pilothouse Tests 30+ Creatives Weekly on Meta: A Practical Guide

In this episode of the DTC Podcast, Eric Dyck speaks with Taylor and Jacob from Pilothouse’s Meta team to unpack how high-volume DTC brands test creative at scale on Meta. 

Learn their hybrid approach using ABO (Ad Set Budget Optimization) for insight discovery and Advantage+/CBO for scaling winners—while keeping testing spend lean at 5–10% of total budget.

In this episode, we dive into:

• 30+ ads/week testing: How they structure ABO for high-velocity creative discovery.
  
• Budget allocation: Keep risk predictable by dedicating a small portion to tests.
  “If you're spending X amount a day, test budget is just 5–10% of your total budget… doesn’t hurt to run tests.”
  
• Meta signals: We explain what defines ‘net-new creative’ and how visuals,text, and video intros impact delivery.
  
• AI vs. human oversight: Balance Meta’s algorithm with strategic media buying.
  
• Health & wellness challenges: Dealing with regressions in data permissions
  
• Channel diversification: Why brands pivot to AppLovin amid Meta data limitations.
  
• Seasonality playbook: How to capitalize on lower CPMs pre-summer and prep for Q4. 

👉 Listen to the full episode with Taylor and Jacob here.

Squishmallows launches a new line of pillows called SquishPillow!

The billion-dollar brand promises the line will combine comfort, functionality, and its signature softness. 

It combines the "Squishmallows' proprietary super-soft fill with a dreamy, ultra-soft pillowcase made from the brand's signature velvety material."

These are now available online at Target.com and in store.

📥 Got a B2B Biz? 

Join dozens of B2B companies finding demand-gen success through our niche community of 150k brand leaders and founders this year. Talk to our team to learn more.

Have you heard our latest podcasts?

• ❓Ad-venturous 7: Answering Gen Z Questions I Have As A Gen Z 
• 😀 TWBERP 39: How To Keep Your Customers Long Term 
• 🚴 Bookstrapping Revel Bikes from Innovation to Acquisition 
• 🔒 AKNF 518: CCPA/CPRA Explained For Ecomm Tech Managers  
• 🧓 Ad-venturous 6: All About Baby Boomers 
• 📧 TWBERP 38: Stop Double Tapping Unengaged Addresses 
• 🍘 How Back To Nature Repositioned Away From ‘Plant-Based’

Don’t forget to rate the DTC Podcast on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight and Frances Du. Edited by Eric Dyck.

Please note that items in this newsletter marked with * contain sponsored content.