And please, explain like I’m five (ELI5).
P.S. The DTC team still has free tickets available to GROW LA this Thursday, February 23rd. Don’t miss out on DTC growth talks, workshops, meetings, and tactical lessons from 1000+ high-growth retail brands.
In this newsletter, you’ll find: 👇
📦 Optimizing your evergreen campaigns and AI site/shop split on Meta
📦 Are abandoned carts a problem or a revenue opportunity?
📦 Nine steps to improve your email deliverability
📦 The free answer to TikTok success
Read till the end to access exclusive DTC swag. 😎
👉 If a pal forwarded this to you, subscribe, so you never miss out.
Are you sitting on some winning evergreen campaigns but don’t know how to optimize them?
Have no fear; the Pilothouse Meta team is here! 🦸♀️
Here’s the sitch: try duping your evergreen winners into an Advantage+ campaign (if available on your Meta account).
Recently, the team employed this tactic for a client where the Adv+ campaign was set up with:
Not sure what a site/shop split is? At an ad set level, Meta lets you choose where to send your traffic. When choosing a site/shop split, Meta’s AI will send clickers where they think they’re most likely to convert!
In the same timeframe, this new Adv+ campaign had a 1.91 return-on-ad-spend (ROAS), compared to the 1.44 account average ROAS for the same timeline.
The Pilothouse Meta team says to use Advantage+ to your advantage! Start testing campaigns because you never know what might work for your account. 👀
Are abandoned carts a problem or a revenue opportunity?
Looking to reduce cart abandonment rates, increase your brand's ROI AND make shoppers excited to purchase from you? (Of course, you are. That's why you are reading this newsletter 😉)
You, like many of us, were probably stuck indoors in 2020. This shifted shopping behavior. Now many people window shop and add items to online carts that they never expect to buy.
Knowing the right psychological cues allows marketers (like you) to combat abandonment and drive higher conversion rates. 🚀
By following the tips and strategies outlined in this guide, you will:
👉 Take your marketing efforts to the next level. Download the guide today and start boosting your ROI!
Spam/Promo Folder, Be Gone!
We all know about the darn Promotions inbox and the dreaded Spam folder. Nobody wants their emails ending up in either of these tabs 🙀.
Luckily, we’re got the tips you need to help hit that Primary inbox like a champ. But first, a heads up…
🤔 No one really knows all the secrets behind reaching the Inbox 100% of the time. Gmail, for example, is highly variable. Your message could go to the Primary inbox for one user and Spam for another. It’s not black and white.
However, one thing is clear: if you send emails people don’t want to read, you’re probably gonna end up in Spam. No way around it. 🤷
Additionally, if you don’t have the basic tech stuff in place — like a solid sender/domain reputation, custom authentication with DKIM/SPF/BIMI, and a good ESP — these tips may only get you so far.
So, assuming you’ve got all that taken care of, here are some straightforward ways to improve your email deliverability. 👇
1️⃣ Optimize for engagement
One of the best ways to improve your email deliverability is to send emails that prompt engagement. When a user opens, clicks—and even better, replies to—your email, it signals to ISPs that people like getting your messages.
You’re probably familiar with best practices for optimizing for opens and clicks, but what about replies? 🤔
Here are some ways to elicit a response to your email, which can do wonders for deliverability:
🦸 Pro Tip: Having high engagement early on in your welcome emails is the best way to ensure the rest of your emails end up in the Inbox.
2️⃣ Get whitelisted
Fast-track to the Inbox by asking users to whitelist you, or add you as a contact (instructions vary for email providers). This tells providers that you’re essentially a VIP and shouldn’t be sent to Spam.
3️⃣ Ask for a manual move
Suggest that users drag your email to the Primary Inbox from Promotions or Spam, which will make it more likely that your subsequent few messages end up there. (And if they like your emails, they’ll probably do it.)
A nice little Gmail shortcut is to “star” the email, automatically moving it to Primary. ⭐
Heads up: these strategies may not keep you in the Inbox indefinitely, so you might need to include reminders once in a while.
4️⃣ Avoid “trigger” words and phrases (especially in the subject line)
While this isn’t a sure bet, there’s a theory that certain words, phrases, and tendencies trigger providers to send your email to Spam. This is especially true when it comes to your subject line, although the body of the email applies as well.
Spammy triggers to avoid:
In other words: if it looks like Spam, and it quacks like Spam… well 🤷
If you’re still working on improving deliverability on those pesky emails, keep scrolling for part 2. 👇
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5️⃣ Test variations in your “From” line
If you aren’t doing it already, use your brand name in your “From” line. This helps reduce Spam complaints and improve open rates, which will help deliverability.
You could also test sending emails from a company individual to give messages a more personal feel.
Others, like Chase Dimond, have experienced better open rates by using their email domain in the “From” line.
The options are endless — just remember to test and see what’s working!
6️⃣ Consider simple emails
Image-heavy emails with very little copy can be hallmarks of Spammers, so providers tend to be wary of them. Additionally, some ISPs don’t display images by default, which means they may not even show up for some users. Images are also slower to load, which impacts UX and engagement.
This is why many brands are experimenting with simpler, text-based emails to improve load time and deliverability. 📮
Of course, this is all highly brand relevant. If your emails are extravagantly designed, full of GIFs and crazy animations but have killer engagement keep fighting the good fight! 👊
(And if you use images, make sure they’re properly compressed and include alt text.)
7️⃣ Clear Unsubscribe button
This should be a no-brainer, but the sad truth is we all experience the “where the F is the unsubscribe” moment on a much-too-regular basis. 🤦
It doesn’t have to be in screaming red letters. Just make sure your unsubscribe button is easy to find because if readers can’t see it, they’re more likely to hit Spam/Complaint — a guaranteed killer for deliverability.
Here’s a pretty good example of a subtle yet clear unsubscribe link:
8️⃣ Practice good list hygiene
Just like your hands, regularly cleaning your list is an excellent idea. Unopened emails, unengaged subscribers, and bounce rates can all affect your sender reputation and overall deliverability.
A few tips for good list hygiene:
9️⃣ Use Spam checkers
And finally, the sure-fire way to know if your emails are making it to Primary or Promos… is to test them!
Free email spam checker tools like Litmus, Email on Acid, and GlockApps are extremely helpful. Add them to your email workflow if you want to maximize deliverability. 📨
Did you find these tips helpful? Did we miss any? Hit reply and let us know! (See what we did there? 😉)
🛍 Instagram announces removal of live stream shopping elements.
👀 Meta: Increasing our ads transparency.
📺 Google: Improve how you plan, buy, and measure your CTV campaigns.
🤖 You.com takes aim at Google and Microsoft with multimodal chat search.
🥪 Sandwich chain Subway is exploring a possible sale.
👟 Kuru Footwear’s Turnaround Playbook: Sean McGinnis On The CRO Tactics That Doubled Revenue (C-Suite Mentor Preview).
🧑🦲 iRestore Hair Growth System: Kevin Chen - The True Impact of Costco.
⚔️ Mini Katana: Karly McFarland on $100M in Email Sales and Why She Sold Her Agency and Turned to the Brand Side (C-Suite Mentor Preview).
🤑 The Oodie - Davie Fogarty: Lessons From a Fast $400M.
💸 Andrew Wilkinson at C-Suite in Victoria: Bootstrapping vs. VC vs. PE vs. Angel.
💡 Listen to the Biggest Marketing News Stories Today.
Don’t forget to rate the DTC Podcast on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight, Kelsey Hess, and Michael Venditti. Edited by Claire Beveridge and Eric Dyck.
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