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Issue 212
Suddenly feeling very small. 😅
If you’re new to DTC, welcome! You’re in good company with fellow newcomers from Molson Coors, Frame It Easy, Cru Wine, Mac, and Indigo Wild. 🌱
In this newsletter, you’ll find: 👇
📦 The incrementality mentality with Ryan McKenzie from Tru Earth [Free C-Suite Mentor Preview]
📦 How to join Loop’s upcoming DTC Roundtable with Nik Sharma, Kyle Hency, and more
📦 Bullet-proofing your Meta Ad Account for Q4 2022 with these 5 proven methods
📦 Simple, intuitive, and seamless subscription management with Yotpo
📦 Typography in motion – taking your copy to the next level
Read till the end to maximize your learning potential. 😎
👉 If a pal forwarded this to you, subscribe , so you never miss out.
🎧 On this 🚨 emergency update edition 🚨 of the DTC pod, Ryan McKenzie, cofounder and CMO of Tru Earth, is back to talk about what he’s bringing to the table as a mentor at the upcoming DTC C-Suite Mastermind event, how to approach acquisition and growth in these more tumultuous times, and how to focus on elements of your business that can be controlled and invested in for long-term success.
The Takeaways 👇
♻️ Out In with the old
Similarly to how curtain bangs and Y2K style are trendy in 2022 (yes, low-rise jeans are back 😐), the whole market proves that when it comes to selling your product what’s old is new again.
For example, a DTC brand that wants to build out a retail strategy can benefit from shifting its focus from broad awareness campaigns to a density mindset, AKA targeting people in a specific region where your product generates revenue. The more people know your brand and your product in one area, the larger your referral system gets, the more bang you get for your buck, and so on.
“If you only have one person in a town or state that knows about your product or has purchased your product… You don’t get that compounding effect because they may tell one or two people and then it dies.”
All in all, allocating a special budget to saturate specific regions where you want your product to sell is a good first step in acquiring a community of customers before branching out to those larger retailers.
🧪 Testing 1, 2, 3…
As we like to say in the DTC world, when the going gets tough, your CRO strategy gets going. 💪
Optimization is key in bringing costs down, but with optimization comes testing. Here are a few items Ryan talked about on the pod which you can test on your PDP for optimization:
Ryan even suggests a test – sending consumers to a landing page rather than a PDP to increase the consumer’s emotional investment in the product before hitting them with the price.
“You’re going to have the most bang for your buck on the first page that you send a person to, so address that first and slowly go down the funnel and make it better and better.”
📉 Going down, but looking up
During times of recession, consumers tend to spend less, trade down, and cut back on many CPG purchases. So, what strategies can you implement to increase your chances of success in future economic downturns? To start, Ryan thinks it’s about shifting your mindset.
“Your thoughts basically contribute to your reality. It’s really easy to get sucked into having a negative outlook and being very binary on whether things are good or bad, but realistically things are somewhere in between… You just gotta look at it with an abundance mindset.”
👉 Listen to the full episode with Ryan McKenzie here!
SPONSOR
Pencil it in! Join Loop’s Upcoming DTC Roundtable with Nik Sharma, Kyle Hency, and more
PSA: The current economic climate is on a slippery slope downward, and eCommerce is taking a hit.
You’ve likely seen:
Unfortunately, this perfect economic storm makes it challenging for eCommerce companies to acquire new customers.
But don't panic.
In Loop’s upcoming webinar, top DTC professionals will teach you how to keep your business thriving (yes, even during a recession) with proven customer retention strategies.
Featuring:
👉 Join Loop and your favorite DTC stars on Thursday, August 11th, 2022 @ 11:00 AM MDT.
With Q4 quickly creeping up the horizon, it’s time to start planning. We know that Q4 planning can feel like a mission…
But have no fear! Here are five things this meticulous Meta team is doing to tighten up their ad accounts.
Let’s jump in! 👇
1️⃣ Optimizing content
Optimize your content around front-end metrics, not just your purchases, ROAS, etc.
These front-end metrics could include:
Both of these metrics signal intent. Remember, just because someone didn’t buy doesn’t mean they won’t buy!
2️⃣ Testing messaging
Test your messaging in all funnel stages around necessity rather than luxury/‘nice to have’.
Economic downturn has people becoming more and more concerned about spending money on luxuries, so market your product from a need rather than want perspective.
3️⃣ Offering downsell opportunities
Especially for higher ticket items, give shoppers an opportunity to downsell. People still want cool stuff, they’re just not overly keen on spending bucketloads of money right now.
Offer them the chance to buy something else and spend less money.
4️⃣ Not scrapping ideas
Just because the content isn’t working right now doesn’t mean it won’t in Q4 when intent is higher. Don’t scrap ideas and angles that are tested when intent is low. Monitor their signals and apply learnings to future campaigns.
5️⃣ Knowing your audience
Know your audience and understand how inflation, interest rates, and market trends are impacting them.
Tune your messaging, offers, and lead generation efforts into ads that best represent your target market. This may include multiple iterations of the same ad if your audience is varied.
Have you started prepping for Q4 yet? Reply to this email and let us know your best platform tips! 👀
Your subscription app should be just like your favorite yoga pants: seamless. 🧘
That’s why DTC Shopify brands choose Yotpo for simple, intuitive, and seamless subscription management. It’s quick to launch, easy to use, and fast to grow.
Plus, your customers will dig it, too!
Yotpo removes the friction of subscriptions by allowing shoppers to easily skip, cancel, or pause their subs. And we all know that happier customers = better business.
So, got 8 minutes to spare?
🔓 Start unlocking more recurring revenue today (at no cost) with Yotpo.
Looking for some inspo to take your creatives to the next level? Try typography in motion!
You don’t have to actually animate your copy to achieve a sense of motion in your static pieces.
To make your ads (or images) movin’ and groovin’, try:
The possibilities for typography in motion are endless. Check out this ad from Adobe for inspiration 👇
🤝 Meta shares new insights into the economic value of social connectedness, based on platform data.
🤑 Celsius energy drink gets $550M investment from PepsiCo.
🏬 Brands are investing in e-commerce marketplaces and AI recommendations.
❎ Google temporarily disables the validate fix feature in Search Console.
🔄 How to reverse engineer your Instagram strategy for specific results.
👽 Dropping a Cool Million in Sales in Ten Minutes with Nell Diamond from Hill House Home and Ricky Choi from Outerspace.
💧 Is the future of DTC free? Dive deep with FreeWater's Josh Cliffords.
🥣 How General Mills is Going Direct To Consumer with Carter Jensen, Global Lead for DTC.
🍫 Tabs Sex Chocolate: Engineering Virality from Day One.
💸 Ridge Wallet CEO Sean Frank's Hot Takes After $100 Million+ in Sales.
☕️ Death Wish Coffee's Will Critcher Spills the Beans.
Don’t forget to rate the DTC Podcast on Apple. (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight, Kate Gullett, and Jordan Gillis. Edited by Eric Dyck.
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