📦 - Don’t Be Delulu About Your Audience

DTC 542 - Google Ads Update, Audience Targeting, Words of Appreciation Tuesday, April 23, 2024 Meeting takeaways: 37 minutes long. 😂 Did you do anything like this in the beginning of your career? Good morning, The House has once again passed a bill that, if approved by the Senate, could result in a total ban on TikTok in the U.S. The new bill gives the app nine months to divest or risk being banned. 🕜 Stay tuned as the Senate is set to vote in the next few days, we’ll keep you posted on all the latest developments. Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC: - Google announces they will retire some ad customizers next month. Keep scrolling to learn how you can prepare for the phase-out. - We chat about how to understand your audience with a data-driven approach. - And… an easy way to reduce employee churn. It only takes a few seconds. You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Apeel, Haiper AI, and Doghouse Distillery. 👋 GROWTH 🔑 Brands Can Still Win Amidst The Industry Changes, Learn How Riddle us this: Is there ANY industry that moves as fast and changes as much as ecommerce does? It sure doesn’t feel like it. 😅 We’re about to say sayonara to cookies AND hasta la vista to stable acquisition costs amidst election volatility. Yet, through the uncertainty, Saysh and Doen are still [finding ways to win with email and SMS](. Join Klaviyo’s panel-style discussion on April 24th at 12 p.m. ET where they’re sharing their strategies on growing audiences and revenue. [Hear their mindset on](: - Growing your list - Maximizing results across email and SMS - Building a campaign calendar - Preparing for BFCM - Collecting, organizing, and using customer data Summer and BFCM prep are right around the corner. Make sure you have all the[information and insights you need for success](. 📈 [Save My Seat]( *Sponsored PLATFORM UPDATE 🔧 Google Will Retire Some Ad Customizers Next Month Google is phasing out ad customizers for expanded text ads (ETA) and dynamic search ads (DSA) and pushing responsive search ads as the most effective ad format. What are ad customizers? Ad customizers allow you to define custom attributes like product name, model, or price in real-time, making it easier to scale and personalize your ad messages. Why? Google has been trying to make responsive search ads the primary ad format for a while now. In 2022, Google announced that advertisers would no longer be able to create or edit expanded text ads, unlike RSAs. When will this happen? This phase-out will come into effect on May 31st, 2024. Note: ETAs will still run but advertisers won’t be able to use ad customizers which provide dynamically generated content based on the info provided. If you are still running text-based ads, the general recommendation is to rebuild these campaigns before they are fully deprecated. What you need to know if you advertise on Google: The Pilothouse Google team shares that, luckily, advertisers can easily replicate these campaigns. Here are some next steps: Duplicate Expanded text ads (ETAs) by pinning headlines and descriptions within your RSAs. 💡 Don’t worry about Google calling your ad strength “poor” if you know those specific headlines are the ones that work. Ad strength isn’t as important as ad relevance. Duplicate Responsive Search ads: Run tests by pinning certain headlines against an unpinned variant to see which ad performs best if you believe specific ad copy is superior to rotating through various headline and description combos. Take this time to set up and test RSA campaigns against your existing ETAs so that ad performance doesn’t dip. UGC 📸 Not All UGC Is Created Equal… Here’s How to Make It Work for You: Not all UGC is created equal. Which means it doesn’t all perform too hot… 😬 Ditch the scripted "UGC" and lean into [real, authentic testimonials with minisocial's micro influencer creators](. Plant People uses [minisocial]( to get content that converts. They’re seeing: - TikTok ads performing in the top 1% CVR 🥳 - 50% decrease in costs per add-to-cart 🤗 - Over a 30% increase in ROAS 🤩 Ready to get started with 15% off your first project? [Reach out to minisocial]( in April (act fast!) and tell them DTC sent you. 🫡 [“I’m Ready to Make Better Ads”]( *Sponsored PODCAST 🎧 Audience Targeting 101 In this episode of the pod, Avery, Pilothouse’s Social Content Lead, returns to chat about the importance of understanding your audience and how to tailor your marketing efforts to reach them effectively. Brands may have misconceptions about their audience and should adjust strategy based on their data analytics and insights. Avery explains: “Ask yourself, what words and emojis does my target audience like to use? What do they enjoy posting about, and what content do they engage with? You can use all that data to understand their pain point and inform your ad copy.” In this podcast, we cover: - Why data analytics is important: How a home goods brand assumed their target audience was millennial women, but men actually resonated with their ads. - How TikTok shapes consumer behavior and trends: Avery shares that she loves the sad hamster meme. - How the upcoming U.S. election will impact ad costs and why banning TikTok during an election year is a bad PR move. Learn how to understand your audience using a data-driven approach and leverage these insights from [Pilothouse]( to create creative ad copy that converts. 👉 You can listen to the full episode with Avery [here.]( 🌐 IN THE SOCIAL SPHERE Remember to give your team some words of appreciation! Acknowledging their efforts will go a long way. 🫶 Can't view the image? [Click here]( ⚡ QUICK HITS ❓Guess what percentage of shoppers still prefer retail? 71%! To combat, DTC brands are adopting a Where-to-Buy solution to benefit from the increased presence of established online retailers. [Read more here](. * ⏰ LAST CHANCE for 1 month FREE! Visually.io, the no-code CRO platform for Shopify Plus, will boost your CVR by 10% within a month. [Claim your FREE month - April installations only](! * 📰 NEWS - YouTube [launched a new ad format called Select Shorts](. - The EU Data Protection Board [wants to make Meta’s ‘pay or consent’ model illegal.]( - Coca Cola [twists its iconic logo for its new ‘Recycle Me’ campaign.]( - A YouGov survey [shows Temu’s brand awareness is up, and 9 in 10 Americans have heard of the online marketplace.]( 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. 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