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Good morning,
Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC:
🔥 Branding During Chaos
Connect with your audience even during volatile times.
📦 Daily Tariff Update
The latest breaking news below.
👟 Nike’s Comeback Is Delayed
How the shoe brand is impacted by tariffs.
You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Herzog Jewelers, GAMMA Sports, and Karma Dives. 👋
🧨 Ready For A Sales Revelation? This Key Strategy Lets You Compound Your Conversions
Let’s face it—getting TikTok traffic is one thing. Turning that traffic into real, repeat customers? A totally different game. 🎲
That’s where UGC and verified reviews come in. Today’s shoppers trust real voices over branded content—and when you connect social proof with your TikTok Shop strategy, conversions don’t just improve—they compound. 💥
👏 REVIEWS.io and TikTok are teaming up in a live webinar this April 23rd at 12:00pm PST / 3:00pm EST to show you how.
Discover how fast-growing brands use UGC and high-LTV review flows to outperform standard creatives and drive serious sales. 🛍️
✨ It’s free, it’s fast (just 30 mins), and yes—you’ll get the recording if you can’t make it live.
Don’t miss this one. 🎯
* sponsored
💡 Branding Tactics During ‘Unprecedented Times’
Consumer sentiment is tanking. 📉
But now is not the time to stop messaging to the top of the funnel.
Pilothouse shares that as the trade war escalates and tensions rise, a knee-jerk reaction is for brands to shelter in place.
But, brands that stay active and connected — even when it’s tempting to pull back — put themselves in a stronger position for what’s next.
Here's how to connect with your potential customers during these unprecedented times.
1️⃣ Be Referential Without Taking a Side
Follow the news cycle and reference what's happening without necessarily taking a position.
👉 Brands should aim to be satirical and approachable when tackling current events and trends.
2️⃣ No More Selfish Touch Points!
This is something Pilothouse considers all the time, but it’s more important now than ever.
Users on social media are seeing a ton of frightening news headlines every 2.5 seconds. 😰
So offer them a respite through entertainment and levity. Think about how you can make your marketing communications a safe space for your ICP to have a good time.
👉 Entertainment & empathy are particularly important in times like these. Meet folks where they are.
3️⃣ Creator Selection Sensitivity
Have you seen the cost of eggs?!
Audiences don't want to see a wealthy influencer unaffected by real events telling them how to spend their money.
👉 Start thinking about how you can hero your actual customers by checking in with top purchasers, sending them products or discount codes, and featuring them in content instead of creators.
4️⃣ Consistency in Comms
What sells in times of chaos is consistency, so try and stick to styles and color palettes that are tried and trusted while simultaneously tightening up consistency in your languaging and messaging.
👉 Find a phrase that you can repeat in content as a tagline for your brand.
5️⃣ Remain Cognizant of The Attention War
Whether intentional or not, major news events and political drama often pull attention away from everything else. It’s a constant battle for audience focus — and during these media frenzies, brands need to get even more creative to break through.
👉 On the ad side, we need to be cleverer than before when trying to capture attention.
The takeaway?
In uncertain times, the brands that win aren’t the loudest or the flashiest — they’re the most human.
If you can create content that cuts through chaos with empathy,
entertainment, and a clear message, you’ll not only hold attention, you’ll build real loyalty.
📧 This One Change Boosted Email-Driven Revenue by 87%
✅ 87% increase in email-driven revenue
✅ 105% increase in customer retention
✅ 432% increase in email subscribers
That one change? Partnering with the Pilothouse Email and Customer Retention team.
Octopied Mind came to Pilothouse with a strong brand and a loyal community—but their email strategy wasn’t delivering the retention and revenue they knew it could.
Here’s the strategy Pilothouse deployed:
Want to see these results for your brand? Let’s chat.
📦 Weekly Tariff Highlights
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.
April 17, 2025 update:
🌐 IN THE SOCIAL SPHERE
Nike’s comeback is delayed as its supply chain takes a big hit.
After investing billions of dollars for the past 30 years into its manufacturing base in Vietnam, Trump’s 46% tariff on goods from Vietnam leaves the shoe giant scrambling.
The world’s largest shoe brand has been making major moves the past year, including partnering with SKIMS on an upcoming collection, but tariff turmoil has caused shares to slide 30% this year.
Newly appointed CEO Elliott Hill warns that further declines in revenue and profitability are expected as they deal with the tariff fallout.
⚡ QUICK HITS
🚨 The DTC team is growing. We're looking for an ambitious, self-starting salesperson to join our partnerships team. If you're passionate about ecom and sales, we'd love to hear from you.
📅 EVENTS
SEO Spring Training - SEO Spring Training is 2 days of conference and breakout sessions (plus 2 VIP Days) of researched, strategic actionable plans from experts who have worked their way to the top and have turned their businesses into something bigger.
🗓️ May 1-4, 📍 Chandler, AZ 💰 $1,197 - $2,897
Data Innovation Summit - This event brings together data, AI, and advanced analytics experts. Topics covered include applied AI, generative AI, data engineering, and modern data strategies, offering attendees numerous opportunities for learning, networking, and benchmarking best practices.
🗓️ May 7-8, 📍 Hybrid: Stockholm, Sweden & Online 💰 €249 - €499
📰 NEWS
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DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight and Frances Du. Edited by Eric Dyck.
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