📦 - Max Is Short For??? 🤔

DTC 520 - AI Shopping Assistants, Amazon Placements, and ShopTalk Friday, March 22, 2024 Max for short, but us marketers all know what it really stands for. 🤣 Good morning, Last week, an Amazon seller was accidentally charged $300,000 after the automated platform served ads in regions where customers couldn't even buy his product. 😲 This is a reminder to always be checking in on your ad accounts to make sure things are looking as they should be. These mistakes can be costly so keep scrolling down as we’ll provide tips on how to audit your Amazon account and make your dollar stretch. Read the full story in the news section below! Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC: - We test out the Alby AI shopping assistant to see how it impacts the online shopping experience. - Step by step instructions on how to audit your Amazon account using placements. - And…when to finally walk away when tactics no longer work. You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Slice Mobile, Manpower Power Tools, and Bodacious Olive. 👋 SCALE 🚀 This Brand Doubled Their Sales… And Your Brand Can Join Them A service based brand joined Pilothouse’s brand accelerator, Pilot Program, with one goal in mind: [scale](. 🚀 The team took over their campaigns, revamped their creative approach, and saw results better than anyone could have expected… 💥 Their sales doubled and their AOV increased by over $30! This isn’t a one-off success story. The team has [opened up limited spaces for Pilot Program]( to help your brand achieve results like these. If you want to scale to new heights, get in touch with the partnerships team today. 🚨 [Kickstart your growth and unlock your brand’s full potential](. *Sponsored CUSTOMER SATISFACTION 🤖 Does AI Shopping Assistant Alby Have All The Answers? Outdoor experiences company [Evo]( recently integrated an AI shopping assistant across their site to improve user experience, customer satisfaction, and increase conversions. You can spot this feature on their PDP pages directly below the product’s photo gallery 👇 [Evo integrates AI shopping assistant Alby into PDPs] Visitors can see other questions customers have typed into the AI chatbot or create a question of their own to ask. The Shopify compatible app is called [Alby]( and provides customers with answers to specific queries about the product related to materials, features, and even sizing. But can Alby really answer customer questions accurately? 🤔 We put it to the test! Experiment 1: Size and Colors When prompted to find an unavailable size for a SKU, it only took a few seconds for the AI shopping assistant to scan inventory and provide a link to a similar offering. Experiment 2: Create a Look When prompted to create an outfit, the AI shopping assistant was able to recommend links to complimentary SKUs. This is a great way to upsell customers and increase average order value. Experiment 3: Find Discounts When prompted if there was an active discount available or discounts for bulk orders the chatbot replied that the user would need to contact the customer service team for more information. The takeaway? - Increase Customer Engagement: Adding this AI feature to PDPs is a fun way to engage with customers who are looking for more product information and is another opportunity to upsell. - Beware of limitations: AI chatbots shouldn’t replace your customer service team but can act as a nice add-on. More complex questions should be directed to a human agent so customer satisfaction stays high. While there are some limitations to what AI shopping assistants can do, this is still a powerful tool that customers can use and elevate their shopping experience. How have you integrated AI into your ecommerce site? Reply back and let us know! AMAZON TIPS 🔧 Amazon Audit Tactics The [Pilothouse Amazon team]( is back with Part 2 of the tactics we use to quickly assess potential client’s Amazon accounts. (If you missed Part 1, check it out [here](.) This time we will talk about placements including a couple of quick spots you can check to see if your team or agency is on top of things. First up, Amazon Ad Placements. Did you know your Amazon ads targeting a keyword can show up on product pages that Amazon deems as “related” to that keyword? You might be thinking ‘And what does “related” mean’? Your guess is as good as ours, so we typically recommend doing your best to eliminate these mysterious impressions. Here’s how to audit your Amazon ad placements: - Open up some of your highest spending Sponsored Product campaigns and click “Placements”. - Set the date range to the last 30 days to see recent data - You’ll likely see data that looks something like this - the highest CPC top of search, but also the highest conversion rate - and the lowest CPC but also lowest CVR and ROAS on product pages. This is a great place to do a quick assessment of if these campaigns are actually working as intended or not, and also provide an opportunity for quick improvements by increasing the Rest of Search and Top of Search [Bid Adjustments]( to push more towards those and away from product pages. Unless a particularly odd strategy is being implemented - keyword targeting campaigns are primarily meant to land in search, and ASIN targeting campaigns are primarily meant to land on product pages. If the placement data shows the opposite is happening, then your Amazon Ad Manager should likely be editing these multipliers to correct that scenario. Check back in Monday for our piece on Amazon bid history! 🌐 IN THE SOCIAL SPHERE Did you attend the Shoptalk conference this year? Reply back to the newsletter and let us know what were some of your highlights from the event! Can't view the image? [Click here]( ⚡ QUICK HITS 🍿 Are your email and SMS channels as stale as an old bag of chips? If so, get inspired by marketers at OLIPOP, Jones Road, Graza, Cann, & more. [See what's caught their attention lately](... * 📰 NEWS - Amazon [serves costly ads for people who can’t purchase the product](. - TikTok makes ad creation easier for SMBs with [its Sounds for Business collection.]( - Pinterest [drops festival trends report ahead of Coachella](. SPONSOR DTC 📥 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](. Have you heard our latest podcasts? - 💰 Rick Cadotte on [Four Sigmatic’s TOFU strategy after Meta challenges]( - 🍪 [AKNF 387](: How to extend the life of your cookies - 🪑 Dayne Rusch on [Vyper Industrial’s Eight Figure Shop Chair Journey]( - 📹 [AKNF 385:]( Why 3-5 second ads are crushing it on Meta - 💪 Dan Crosby on [BioSteel and Revitalizing a Hydration Empire]( - ✍️ [AKNF 383:]( Meta State of The Union 2024 Don’t forget to [rate the DTC Podcast]( on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) DTC Newsletter is written by [Rebecca Knight]( and [Frances Du](. Edited by [Eric Dyck](. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. Please note that items in this newsletter marked with * contain sponsored content. 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