📦 - Ways To Celebrate Earth Month 🌍

DTC 535 - Earth Month Ideas, Customer Trust, and It’s Not Too Late   Friday, April 12, 2024 It sounded smart in my head I swear… 🥴 Good morning, Beauty and wellness brands are heading to the desert this weekend. 🌵 The Coachella music festival is estimated to bring in around 125,000 concert-goers this year, and companies are going all out by sponsoring parties and hosting pop-ups to build buzz. Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC: - Different ways brands can celebrate Earth Month. - How to build customer trust and sell more (advice from a former CIA operative) - And… a reminder that it’s never too late to start making content. You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Amanda Valentine, Moon Temple Spa, and Felino Cars. 👋   SUSTAINABILITY 🌎 How Brands Are Celebrating Earth Month April is Earth Month, so it’s a great time to discuss your brand’s sustainability commitment and spread awareness about ways consumers can minimize waste and offset their carbon footprint. Here are five ideas for ecommerce brands who want to position themselves as sustainability advocates: - Share tips on how to minimize waste This is an easy way for brands in any product category to show their commitment to being environmentally friendly. Create social content on ways customers can take small steps to reduce their environmental impact. The compostable phone case brand [Pela]( shares tips and tricks on its Instagram page in this clear, eye-catching visual. This messaging aligns with their brand mission to protect the planet and is a simple way to bring awareness. [Pela posts tips on how to minimize waste] - Turn recycled packaging into new products [The Ordinary recycles defective bottles into glass trays] [The Ordinary]( recently shared online that they’ve recycled a few of their defective glass bottles and turned them into these aesthetic glass trays. Customers who spend a certain dollar amount at Selfridges will receive the item as a gift with purchase. Not only is this a GWP that appeals to customers (judging from the comment section) but it recycles materials that can’t be used and gives them a second life. - Partner with a recycling program If your brand runs a recycling initiative, this is a great time to promote it! [Glow Recipe]( recently posted this image carousel on their Instagram page, educating customers on how they can recycle their beauty empties. [Glow Recipe promotes partnership with Pact Collective] The beauty brand partnered up with the nonprofit [Pact Collective]( to simplify the return process for customers. On the Glow Recipe website you can request [a free recycling shipping label]( or drop off clean containers at a local Sephora. - Share your sustainability wins and goals for the year [Krave Beauty invites followers to join their Earth Month Virtual Summit] [Krave Beauty]( documents their yearly wins in its [comprehensive sustainability report]( and hosts an Earth Month Virtual Summit to share its progress with customers. They openly share stats and break down the amount of monetary funding they contribute to each nonprofit organization such as [Climate Neutral]( and [Women’s Earth Alliance](. The report also documents their sourcing process for ingredients and packaging and explains their climate and energy offset programs. Offering details and statistics like this makes it clear to the consumer that you have the numbers to back up your claims, boosting your brand reputation. ⭐ - Continue to innovate product packaging [Youth To The People’s message on sustainable product packaging initiatives] The vegan skincare brand [Youth To The People]( posted a message about their latest product drop and packaging innovation. Their best-selling cleanser now contains the same amount of product but with 37% less glass, and how their new cleanser refill pouch uses 96% less packaging materials. While there are apps like [Planet]( that allow you to offset your carbon footprint, making changes to your packaging can also make your brand more sustainable. The takeaway? This is a great time for ecommerce brands to post about their sustainability commitments and connect with environmentally-conscious consumers. Younger audiences like Gen Z want to align themselves with brands that share the same values, so take advantage of the hashtag #EarthMonth. 💚   PSYCHOLOGY TACTICS 🕵️ 3 Ways To Build Customer Trust (From a CIA Agent) The Pilothouse Meta team shared some tips from Andrew Bustamante, a former CIA intelligence officer turned Fortune 10 corporate advisor, on applying CIA psychology tactics to get people to trust your brand. Why? Because people buy from people they trust. These tactics have helped grow Andrew Bustamante's business by 300% each year for the last three years. 📈 Let the customers sell themselves. Present a topic or pain point and allow the customer to express interest in it. Then, confirm and validate those pain points. Don't force the benefits of the product. By continuing this process, customers have the ability to convince themselves of the product's value, potentially leading to higher average order values. The best salespeople only do some of the talking. The best salespeople ask leading questions and allow customers to voice their opinions, letting them feel understood and heard. Ask questions, and allow customers to guide the direction of the sales process. Time isn't against us. It is a tool to break things down. Gaining trust isn't something that comes quickly. The same can be true for your potential shoppers through paid media! Yes, Q1 and Q2 tend to be slower intent periods, but [Pilothouse]( explains that spending and nurturing your TOF audiences can allow for a great pool for retargeting in Q3 and Q4.   🌐 IN THE SOCIAL SPHERE You’re not too late to the party. Overthinking can get the best of us but the most important thing is to start now! Can't view the image? [Click here](   ⚡ QUICK HITS ❓ Where does your brand fit in the increasingly competitive world of ecommerce? Should you use a hybrid Direct-to-Consumer and Where-to-Buy to get ahead of the competition? [Read all about it here](. *   📰 NEWS - Court filings [reveal Instagram makes more ad money than YouTube and generated 32.4 billion in ad revenue in 2021](. - Google’s AI image generator Imagen 2.0 [can now create 4 second long GIFs.]( - Benefit Cosmetics [partners with Scrub Daddy on a limited edition POREfessional kit](. - Music AI generator Udio [has launched and its capabilities rival Suno AI.](   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? - 🌱 Epic Gardening’s [Strategic Leap from Content to Commerce]( - 🔍 Neil Patel on [AI’s Impact on Marketing and Future Trends]( - 🎵 [AKNF 391](: Strategies for Brands and Creators to Maximize TikTok Engagement - 🧔🏻 Anthony Mink on [Live Bearded’s EOS and Disrupting Legacy Capitalism]( - 🔑 [AKNF 389:]( Unlocking SEO Success in 2024 - 💰 Rick Cadotte on [Four Sigmatic’s TOFU strategy after Meta challenges]( 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. [Direct To Consumer]( Pilothouse, 1011 Government St., Victoria, BC V8W 1X6, Canada [Advertise with DTC]( | [Work With Pilothouse]( [Unsubscribe](