Good morning,
Reddit’s stock surged 15% after it partnered with OpenAI last week to train its language learning model using Reddit content.
If this sounds familiar, that’s because it is. A few months ago, Reddit inked a $60 million/year data licensing deal with Google to do the same thing.
Get ready for more ‘According to a Reddit user’ answers from ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews!
Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC:
👀 Why brands should pay attention to the ‘deinfluencing trend’ and how to leverage the power of deinfluencers.
📈 Learn how Studs scaled their business into an 8-figure business and how they pivoted during the pandemic.
🤔 And…are you leveraging PR mentions in paid ads?
You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Cub and Bear Co., Bilo Events, and Frederick Wine House 👋
🍄 Four Sigmatic Is The #2 Best-Selling Ground Coffee on Amazon… Here’s How They Did It
The moment all brands dread… plateau. When Four Sigmatic’s spend and scale started flattening, they knew they needed to make a change.
Thus, Four Sigmatic and Pilothouse came together to give their Amazon game a serious boost, focusing specifically on Pay-Per-Click spend.
SEO and CRO strategic alignment first led to the revamp of product photos, descriptions, and A+ content.
To zero in on the middle and bottom of funnel, Pilothouse (1) utilized sponsored product ads to reach customers, and (2) did product line segmentation to target and retarget different customer groups.
870+ campaigns with bids managed daily has yielded Four Sigmatic:
🛑 Stop ignoring Amazon as a scale channel.
👛 The Power Of Deinfluencing
The deinfluencing trend has taken over social media, so ecommerce brands need to pay attention to this conscious consumption movement and rethink their influencer marketing strategies.
What's deinfluencing?
As a response to influencers and affiliates sharing video content about their massive shopping hauls and endless product recommendations, consumers are growing more skeptical about influencer claims about the next 'must-have product'. 🤨
Users are now using the hashtag #deinfluencing to share their honest thoughts about trending or viral products so others don't suffer the same fate of impulse shopping and then being disappointed by their purchase.
The hashtag #deinfluencing has quickly gained over a billion views on TikTok and shows no signs of stopping.
Why is this happening?
Social media users are more savvy than ever and can quickly tell when an influencer is promoting a product for a quick check rather than a genuine love for the product.
The rise of the deinfluencers
These vocal 'deinfluencers' are quickly gaining huge social media followings for honestly telling others which products are overpriced or not worth the hype. They are becoming influencers in their own right by putting brands on blast or sharing their no buy lists.
This type of content is an excellent way to build trust with their audience, so when they make a product recommendation, their opinion carries more weight since they are more discerning about what they promote.
Popular TikToker Jennifer Wang quickly gained over 387K followers for her honest clothing brand critiques and for encouraging her audience to 'buy less but buy well'.
Her detailed videos scrutinize a product's construction, materials, and seam finishes and determine if it's worth the price tag.
That's why her partnerships with clothing brands like Uniqlo are more impactful. They position the brand in a great light as being both high-quality and affordable.
The takeaway?
Transparency is key when it comes to influencing: Budget-conscious consumers want to make more mindful purchasing decisions and are looking for transparent rather than self-promotional content.
Brands may need to rethink their influencer campaigns: Rather than push influencers to share tracked discount codes, brands will need to do more of a soft sell so the partnerships appear more genuine.
Feedback is a gift: Brands should also monitor what people say about their products and competitors and why consumers create deinfluencing content around them. This feedback can be used to improve product packaging, formulation, or positioning.
New niche of influencers: Brands can partner with 'deinfluencers' to rebuild credibility since customers trust these types of influencers more than others.
Consumers are concerned with overconsumption and brands' lack of transparency, and influencers find the deinfluencing trend a welcomed respite.
Consider how you can leverage deinfluencing in your next marketing campaign.
🎧 How Studs’ Anna Harman Owns The Earscape Trend
In this episode of the pod, we chat with Anna Harman, the co-founder of Studs, about how she scaled the company into an 8-figure brand with experiential retail.
In 2019, Anna recognized the need for an alternative to traditional piercing. There was a gap in the market for a safe and inclusive space to get a piercing. She started a company that offered affordable and stylish piercings and stellar customer service. ✨
Anna explains: "We have a lot of repeat customers because people love the experience. And I think when a brand has great customer service, you will naturally have great retention."
In this podcast, we cover:
👉 You can listen to the full episode with Anna here.
🌐 IN THE SOCIAL SPHERE
You can always share media coverage in your organic posts, but what about using them as your ads? It’s an effective way to capture mid-funnel customers and only takes a few seconds to design.
⚡ QUICK HITS
📈 Up to 10x Subscriber Acquisition. Postscript’s Opt-in method keeps new subscribers onsite by using one-time passcodes, improving their customer experience. Find out more here. *
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DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight and Frances Du. Edited by Eric Dyck.
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