DTC682: Steal This Meta Ads Cyber Week Checklist

Good morning,

In case you didn't hear... OpenAI finally added search to ChatGPT to compete with Google.

The feature is only available for paid subscribers at the moment but will roll out to free and enterprise users in the coming weeks.

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

🧥 Burberry’s picturesque ad campaign celebrates their iconic outerwear and British heritage with stars like Olivia Colman and Eberechi Eze.
📘 Steal this Meta Ads checklist for a successful Cyber Week.
💸 Learn how to optimize every ad dollar and dodge these Q4 missteps!  
📸 And…don’t make excuses when it comes to ad creation and just hit record.

You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Delray Dunes, KEENS Belfast, and Canoe Wild. 👋

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🧥 Burberry’s Standout Fall Winter Outerwear Campaign

Burberry, the iconic London fashion retailer, teamed with stars like Barry Keoghan, Zhang Jingyi, Cara Delevingne, Cole Palmer, Eberechi Eze, Little Simz, and Olivia Colman to create a short film series called ‘It’s Always Burberry Weather.’

The gorgeous ad campaign shot across London and the British countryside shows how their outwear, the Trench, the Harrington, the Quilt, the Puffer, the Parka, the Aviator, and the Duffle, can be worn in real-life scenarios, celebrating the brand's long-standing British heritage.

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Why this campaign works so well

Burberry's Tagline, 'It's Always Burberry Weather' demonstrates how their versatile outerwear can be worn rain or shine and for any occasion, showing off a range of styles that work with their diverse cast of actors and their individual storylines.

Burberry takes it one step further by crafting a unique storyline for each character and Burberry item.

The brand inserts its designs seamlessly into the storyline while celebrating their British heritage with different slice-of-life moments: fishing in silence, counting sheep in the countryside, getting caught in the London rain without an umbrella.

The campaign feels intimate, peaceful, and aspirational for viewers who want to unplug and spend more time reveling in the wonders of nature. It serves as a much-needed antidote to today's disruptive climate.

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The takeaway?

By going against the grain, Burberry's latest campaign stands out against its competitors and appeals to customers who feel fatigued by the push towards overconsumption during the fall and holiday season.

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✅ Steal This Meta Ads Cyber Week Checklist

Need help setting your Meta ad account up for success?

Pilothouse shares these Meta tips for Cyber Week with links to valuable resources.

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‘Right Now’ Checklist (start 2-3 weeks prior to Cyber Week)

• Simplify your account structure to reduce constraints such as narrow audience targeting and restrictive bids/budgets to exit the learning phase faster.  
• Leverage automation by spending 30-70% of your Cyber 5 budget on Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns.
• Meet customers where they are by toggling on “website + shops” in your Advantage+ Shopping campaigns.
• Showcase a variety of key visuals and motivators across your campaigns to reach new audiences and drive incremental purchases for holiday.
• Deploy differentiated creative on a consistent weekly or bi-weekly basis to unlock new audience pools and combat creative fatigue.
• Create and deploy Performance Reels assets to improve performance across all placements; ensure they are vertical video format (9:16), created with sound on, and within safe zones.
• Lean into Creators for an added layer of transparency, new audiences, and performance gains.    
• Share high value customer information parameters for better event match quality, aiming for a rating of good or great.  
• Ensure payment setting is high enough for expected holiday scaling. If using a Credit Card, pre-check spending limits. If using Credit Line/Monthly Invoicing, check the monthly limit. To increase limits, reach out to Meta Support Pros.

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Cyber Week Checklist

• Scale early and often! The cost of waiting may be higher than the cost of relearning; bid and budget changes are less significant to the learning phase than other changes.
• Schedule Ads in advance to avoid delays. Your ad (and creative) can be reviewed and approved before the day of launch.
• Reach wider audiences by increasing your optimization window to 7-day click/7-day click, 1-day view.
• Pause low-spend/low-performance ads and replace them with new, diverse creative. Do not pause high-performing/high-fatigue assets!
• Highlight promos with frames and overlays to enhance your creatives and align with key seasonal moments.

🎧 Q4 Google Campaign "Don'ts" Every Media Buyer Should Know

In this episode of the AKNF podcast, Adam and Zavire from Pilothouse’s Google team share essential marketing "don'ts" to help brands optimize their Q4 efforts and avoid costly pitfalls.

Hear about common campaign missteps, set realistic goals, and learn how to stay agile in the high-stakes holiday season.

If you’re Q4 planning (we know you are, DON’T miss this episode). 🚨

Tune in to the full episode here.

🌐 IN THE SOCIAL SPHERE

Don’t overthink it and just hit record.

You don’t need a huge video production team to create a compelling ad.

All you need is a camera, your story, and communicate the problem your product can solve.

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⚡ QUICK HITS

🎄 Are your ads standing out this holiday season? Direct mail has best-in-class pricing, quick turnaround, and proven high ROAS that will help you get the best Q4 yet. Book a demo with Poplar here. *

📥 Got a B2B Biz?

Join dozens of B2B companies finding demand-gen success through our niche community of 160k brand leaders and founders this year. Talk to our team to learn more.

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Have you heard our latest podcasts?

• 🤠 TWBERP 5: Outdoor Brand Filson’s Approach to Email Aesthetics
• 🥣 Scaling a DTC Bone Broth Empire with Brodo’s Marco Canora
• 👻 AKNF 450: Spooky Media Buying Mistakes Haunting Performance
• 🎯 TWBERP 4: Retargeting Tips - Boost Revenue Post-Purchase
• 🧢 How DadGang Scaled Their Brand Into A Multimillion Dollar Biz
• ✅ TWBERP 3: BFCM Email Strategies That Work

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

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

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