📦 Pot O’ Gold Nuggets

DTC 152 - Jones Road Beauty genius, St. Patrick’s Day promos, How to run YouTube Ads on a budget [DTC]( Banter ☘️ St. Patrick’s Day marks two years of DTC Newsletter and Podcast! And because Wednesday is a totally socially accepted weekday to have a pint, please raise your glass to another year of digital commerce growth and success together! 🍻 If you’re new to DTC, welcome! You’re in good company with fellow newcomers from Bottle None, NICE, Condé Nast, 36VINE, Jimmy Joy, GLO Science, and Atlantic Records. In this newsletter, you’ll find: 👇` 📦 Two ‘divergent’ approaches to St. Patrick’s Day promos 📦 Valuable insights and takeaways about subscription commerce with Recharge 📦 The fast road to 8 figures with Jones Road Beauty's Cody Plofker 📦 An inside look at running YouTube ads on a budget 📦 How to solve the biggest influencer marketing mistakes with Impact Read till the end to access exclusive DTC swag. 😎 👉 If a pal forwarded this to you, [subscribe]( , so you never miss out. Creative Inspiration Two approaches for St. Patrick’s Day promos Unless you’re a milkshake or party supply company, you’re not likely building in-depth product ties to St. Patrick’s Day, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be an effective promotion opportunity. Based on what worked last year, we asked [Pilothouse Studios]( for some examples of influential St. Patty’s creatives we have queued up. And we were not disappointed. These examples perfectly illustrate the flexibility and fun of the snake driving holiday. 🐍🍀 Big Blanket: bold and branded Check out [Big Blanket’s]( beautifully branded approach here in these two 6x9 creatives that highlight their forest green and gold product variants. 💥 The Flash Sale is a great way to create urgency, especially when tied to a lower profile holiday that not everyone remembers is happening (especially when their bar-hopping days are scarce.) Speaking of scarcity, the creative on the left mentions “only 300 remaining” to further ramp up the urgency… lucky us. The Big Blanket creative is an excellent example of creating a beautiful and striking promotion while staying on brand to celebrate St. Patty’s. JustWears: Over the top hilarious Other brands, like the UK’s [JustWears]( can go a bit … wilder. JustWear’s website refers to their intimates’ unique “segmented” design as “a palace for your phallus,” so we know they’re not holding back when it comes to the humor. It’s rare that an ad actually makes you chuckle, but a ripped leprechaun in his undies sitting in a theater with an indoor rainbow might just do that. If an ad does make you laugh, it’s likely an excellent scroll-stopper, and funny, topical ads like this are a great way to stay top o’ mind with your existing customers, as well. If your brand can handle it, don’t be afraid to go over the top to find your pot o’ gold. Whether you stick with bold, branded, and beautiful, or go completely over the rainbow with your creatives, don’t let another St. Patrick’s Day pass you by as an opportunity to engage your customer! Sponsor What's the subscription commerce landscape really like in 2022?? How did subscriptions brands of your size and vertical perform over the past twelve months? 🤔 We'll tell you. In 2021, despite new challenges, merchants of all sizes and verticals saw subscribers spend more and stay on longer. ✅ Recharge analyzed data from over 12,000 merchants with over 25 million subscribers to bring you [valuable insights]( about the state of subscription commerce, as well as takeaways you can apply to your own business. - See how subscription merchants fared in terms of AOV, MRR, and LTV - Learn how powerful brands saw an impact on customer retention - Dive into the result of providing flexible options like skips, swaps, and one-time purchases Discover the most popular integrations for merchants of all sizes. 👉 [Get free access to the report and skyrocket your commerce in 2022.]( Podcast 🎧 This week’s pod is packed with insights from the Director of eCommerce at [Jones Road Beauty]( , Cody Plofker. Jones Road was founded by makeup artist Bobbi Brown on the philosophy that the world doesn’t need more beauty products; it needs better beauty products. They offer clean, strategic, high-grade formulations that work on every skin type and tone—and are as simple to use as they are to master. If you want to learn how Jones Road hit eight-figure revenue in just two years, what type of content crushes it on TikTok, how to structure Facebook ad campaigns for maximum simplicity, and what makes for a killer quiz… You’re gonna want to tune into this one. ‍The Takeaways: 👇 💡 Try driving your TikTok traffic *here* As opposed to the standard PDP, Cody runs all of their TikTok traffic to a beauty quiz. Why? A quiz better matches the mindset of a TikTok user: “I’m just here to be entertained.” By using entertaining content like a quiz, you can capture users’ attention on the platform and follow up later (via email or SMS) to reach them when they’re in more of a buying state. 🤯 Quizzes also allow you to gather zero-party data, which you can then use to later enhance the buying experience, driving higher conversions and AOV. Cody’s tips for a killer quiz: - Overcome any objections with the quiz questions so that the customer is 100% confident you’re suggesting the right product for them. - Think about what data you want to collect (even if it’s not driving the results of the quiz) to give you the best customer insights possible. Then use that data to personalize your post-quiz messaging. - Follow up via email with their quiz results and product recommendations. - If someone doesn’t buy, segment them and send them content accordingly. For example, if someone answers a quiz question that they’re “new to makeup,” their follow-up flows will include more standard education. 👌 Facebook ad campaigns, simplified Jones Road runs a super-simplified Facebook ad campaign structure: - 1 main broad (most of the budget) - 1 retargeting - 1 creative testing “Broad is what I’ve found works best for us…but there’s no right or wrong. I think a general principle is to keep it consolidated and keep it simple, but that also doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use interests or look-alikes if they work for you.” And here’s another cool insight from Cody… He’s found that the creative that works on Facebook doesn’t necessarily work on TikTok, but creative that does well on TikTok usually crushes it on Facebook. 💥 “If I see a Tik Tok watermark on [Instagram or Facebook], I’m stopping to see what that is.” 💰 What Cody would do with an extra $50K One word: YouTube. “I would spend $20K on a video agency, getting creative made for YouTube, and then I would spend $30K getting ads behind it. We haven’t launched on YouTube, and I know that creative is the most important thing, so I’m going to invest there.” 👉 Listen to the full convo with Cody [here!]( Sponsor Breaking news: Your influencer marketing program is broken! 😳 From fake followings (we see you, bots) to consumers fatigued with repetitive posts, chances are your influencer strategy could benefit from a rethink. Here's the good news: [impact.com]( compiled the [top six mistakes]( marketers make when building an influencer program and spun up the definitive guide to getting your results on track. Read it to learn: - How you can reward influencers based on performance - Why it's essential to build long-term relationships with influencers - How to stop getting caught up in vanity metrics Trust us. Once you get a handle on these missteps, your influencer program won't just be fixed—it'll be epic. 🤘 👉 [Find out how you can solve the biggest influencer marketing mistakes here.]( YouTube You want to run YouTube ads but don’t have the budget for video production? When you look at the YouTube Ads [leaderboard](, the videos that make it to the top are from companies like Apple and Amazon with deep pockets to fund high-production video projects. Your DTC company might not have the funds for that (yet). 😉 Here are five cost-effective ways you can create killer YouTube content: 📸 Photography Photography has a lower price tag, and chances are you already have a library of images to showcase your product. Static images paired with text, engaging music, and eye-catching transitions can create a polished video that will perform. Check out this [example]( that uses large text on the screen with rapid cuts and images. 👀 Reach out to your customers for user-generated content (UGC) This type of content is great for social proof and explaining the selling points of your product. Contact an existing customer list and offer an incentive such as a discount code, gift card, or product in exchange for a video. Here’s an [example]( with a 3.2 ROAS. 🎨 DIY DIY your YouTube ad creative using affordable online video editing software like Canva, Animoto, or Powtoon. These tools allow you to easily create videos that look like you paid serious cash. Check out this [example]( made with Animoto. 👔 Get the founder in front of the camera YouTube audiences love a good founder's story. Consumers are more likely to buy when they feel connected to the brand in some way and can put a face to the company they are supporting. Set your phone up to film in 4k, press record, and tell your audience who you are and what started it all. Want to know how to turn this footage into polished ad content that connects with your audience? Check out an [example]( here. ♻️ Repurpose Repurpose what you have to test new angles. If you have one video from that one product launch that is outdated or has been used and no longer performs, revamp it! Make it feel like a new video by changing up the clips, adding stock video or images, and then adding voiceover or music. This [example]( uses an old product video combined with a new voiceover, copy, and images. 🚨 Want to be up and running on YouTube ads but don’t know where to start? Reach out to the [Pilothouse Google]( team. Quick Hits ✏️ Stop grinding out creative! Connect your store and ad account to generate AI ad ideas that 2x ROAS with [Pencil](. * 💰 [Streaming apps]( are turning to ad-supported models. 🛍 [Twitter]( tests Shops feature. 🏷 [Instagram]( launches updated creator tags to provide more credit for content contributors. 🤯 Russia plans to limit [Instagram]( and could label Meta an extremist group. ❓ [YouTube]( answers common questions about its recommendation algorithms to help improve channel performance. *Sponsored SHARE DTC NEWSLETTER Looking to upgrade your WFH lifestyle? 👊 Want to level up the marketing skills of your teammates and employees? Just grab your referral link below and you’ll earn points toward cool gear for every new subscriber you bring to the DTC fam. Here’s your unique referral link: [( [Share via facebook]( [Share via twitter]( [Share via whatsapp]( [Share via email](mailto:?subject=Check%20this%20out&body=%F0%9F%94%A5%20Signed%20up%20to%20this%20newsletter%20a%20couple%20of%20weeks%20ago%20and%20it's%20amazing%20for%20DTC%20marketers%20like%20you!+https%3A%2F%2Fsparklp.co%2F47c676d0%2F%3Futm_source%3Demail) [See how many referrals you have!]( 🔊 Have you heard our latest podcasts? 💄The Fast Road to 8 Figures with [Jones Road Beauty's]( Cody Plofker. ❣️ Molly Garraway on Growing a CX Team to 100, and Then Starting from Scratch with [LoveSeen](. 👟 Restructuring Google Ads for Customer Avatars with Sean McGinnis from [Kuru Footwear](. 🐶 40% Repeat Purchase Rate (Without Email) and True Meaning of Product-Market Fit with James Petrellis from [Mighty Munch](. Don’t forget to [rate the DTC Podcast]( on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) DTC Newsletter is written by Eric Dyck and Rebecca Knight. Edited by [Claire Beveridge]( and Eric Dyck. 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