Good morning,
Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC:
💍 How Committed Are You?
Sweetheart Candies’ clever V-Day campaign nails customer engagement.
🧠 Meta’s New Ad Rules
Health & wellness brands, here’s what’s changing—and how to adapt.
🔥 Scarcity Sells
The psychology behind urgency and faster conversions.
You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Mr. Vitamins, Poppa Porkys, and Centripetal Sports. 👋
🤔 Is Your Current Strategy Enough for 2025?
Now that the dust has well and truly settled on 2024, it’s time to reflect: Did your brand achieve its full potential?
🤷 Did you scale to where you envisioned?
🤷 Were your brand partners fully aligned with your goals?
🤷 Were you truly satisfied with the results?
If you’re not 100% confident in your answers, don’t let your reflection of 2025 look the same.
Get your brand backed by Pilothouse, a team that’s as invested in your success as you are. So invested, in fact, that they make money when you do.
Underwhelming results aren’t just ‘bad luck.’ If your current agency or team missed the mark, or if you think the mark could be higher, it’s time to ask: Would I be happy with more of the same in 2025?
Click here to schedule your free call with the Pilothouse team now.
💰 Trump Temporarily Reinstates De Minimis Tariff
President Trump has signed an executive order allowing small packages from China (shipments under $800) to continue entering the U.S. without additional charges.
However, this is only temporary. Trump plans to eliminate the de minimis exemption once the U.S. has established a system to "fully and expediently process and collect tariff revenue."
Read more about this ongoing story in our News section below.
Keep in mind: These details are current as of writing but could change before this reaches your inbox.
💍 Sweetheart Candies Want To Help Customers Take Their Relationship To The Next Level
Last year, Sweetheart Candies' blurry misprinted candy hearts went viral when they launched their situationship campaign, poking fun at people sending mixed messages.
This year, they are going the opposite route: asking customers to be direct with their words and commit.
The cheeky ad campaign:
The video ad shows how Sweetheart Candies has added new messages into its candy hearts rotation, such as "Marry Me" and "Move In."
The twist? These aren't just big declarations of love. Sweetheart Candies claims this is also a legally binding commitment. 😆
Customers can scan these candy hearts on their phone and land on Sweetheart Candies website where they can access resources to truly take their relationship to the next level.
To make this happen, Sweetheart Candies partnered with businesses like Piece of Cake Moving & Storage and Courtly so couples can easily book a move or marry online.
To access the online experience, all customers need to do is purchase a bag of Sweetheart Candies.
The takeaway?
The ad tagline 'Mean What They Say' will resonate with customers who are ready to level up their relationship.
Sweetheart Candies once again does a great job of capturing the cultural mood in their campaign to kickstart a conversation.
🛍️ 51M Reviews Reveal Exactly What Shoppers Think, Want, and Need
The reviews say it all: what shoppers love, what they return, and what keeps them coming back. 🛒
So, Yotpo combed through 51 million unfiltered reviews and distilled them into 80+ must-know insights and recommendations. 🌟
From denim fit frustrations to beauty’s biggest gifting wins, The Shoppers Have Spoken breaks it all down and gives you expert-backed recommendations to help reduce returns, improve product pages, and drive repeat sales. 👏
It’s the secret weapon to refine your strategy and give them exactly what they’ve been asking for.
📣 The shoppers have spoken. Find out what they said.
💰 OpenAI’s $300 Billion Dollar Valuation
It looks like OpenAI will receive a $40 billion investment from SoftBank at a $260 billion pre-money valuation.
SoftBank will pay out the funding over the next 12 to 24 months, meaning OpenAI is on its way to being a $300 billion company.
At this new valuation, OpenAI will be worth just as much as TikTok’s parent company ByteDance.
🎧 How Meta’s New Ad Rules Impact Health & Wellness Brands
Meta’s latest advertising update is shaking up the health & wellness space, restricting event tracking for many brands.
This means brands selling supplements, wellness products, or other health-related items may no longer see key conversion events like purchases and add-to-cart in their Meta ad accounts.
In this episode, Pilothouse Meta experts Taylor, Jocelyn, and Aves break down what’s happening, what brands should do, and how to stay compliant while still driving results.
In this podcast, we cover:
✅ What’s Changing? Meta’s new event tracking restrictions explained.
✅ Who’s Affected? How Meta is categorizing health & wellness brands.
✅ Workarounds That Work: Using upper-funnel event tracking to maintain ad performance.
✅ Creative & Messaging Shifts: Why brands need to sell a lifestyle, not just a product.
✅ Long-Term Impact: Will Meta roll out similar restrictions to other industries?
❗ Meta is prioritizing user privacy, and these changes are likely just the beginning. If your brand is affected, tune in to get the insights you need to adapt your strategy.
👉 You can listen to the full episode with Taylor, Jocelyn, and Aves here.
🌐 IN THE SOCIAL SPHERE
Is your site getting traffic, but visitors are failing to convert?
Give customers an extra nudge by creating a sense of scarcity.
Adding copy like ‘Only available for a limited time’ or calling out there’s ‘limited stock’ are great ways to get them to purchase or fear missing out.
📥 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?
Don’t forget to rate the DTC Podcast on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight and Frances Du. Edited by Eric Dyck.
Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.
Please note that items in this newsletter marked with * contain sponsored content.
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
