📦 SMS Brings So Much Sauce

DTC 176 - Why SMS is no longer an optional strategy [DTC]( Banter Wednesday, May 11, 2022 How’s that post iOS targeting working for you? We don’t own a vet clinic or a cat… 😹 P.S. Make sure to stick around until the end to see our new referral program 🔥 If you’re new to DTC, welcome! You’re in good company with fellow newcomers from Boxed Water, GolfOnline, Henry Rose, Panera Bread, and Trifecta Nutrition. 🥦 In this newsletter, you’ll find: 👇 📦 Why SMS is no longer optional with Sophie Baer, Win Brand Group’s Retention Director 📦 Tech stacks are NOT one size fits all with Bluecore ​​📦 A screen recording tip to save you money 📦 Capturing email addresses to turn subscribers into customers Read till the end to access exclusive DTC swag. 😎 👉 If a pal forwarded this to you, [subscribe,]( so you never miss out. Podcast 🎧 This episode of the DTC pod was #winning with Director of Retention at [Win Brands Group,]( Sophie Baer. Win is a shared services platform that specializes in buying and building category-defining brands like QALO, Homesick, Gravity, and Love Your Melon. Every brand that joins Win becomes part of a ready-made community and instantly benefits from decades of expertise and pooled resources, shared operational costs, and economies of scale. ⚖️ Tune in to the pod to learn what automations you need for retention, how to drive more second purchases, and why you NEED an SMS program today. ‍The Takeaways 👇 📱 Don’t fall victim to SMS FOMO: “Trust me, SMS is where you need to be. If you don’t have an SMS program now, today is the day…it’s an incredible channel to unlock growth.” Sophie’s top tips for maximizing your SMS success: - Make it valuable. Give early access to sales, products, or exclusive offers. - Make it fun and personable. Ask customers to share photos or their favorite movie. - Treat the channel with respect. You’re in a personal space–in someone’s texts, right next to a convo with their mom. “[SMS is] not always about sales. It’s an opportunity to have a conversation with your customers and not push the product, and that’s ultimately going to build your brand loyalty and engagement.” 🤖 Automations and ruthless list hygiene: Sophie is a self-proclaimed Automation Overlord™️ and believes automations should come before campaigns. “If [the customer] is in an automation, that’s where they [belong]. Don’t necessarily send them a campaign… [because] nine times out of ten, you’ve already honed those flows, so that’s where [the customer is] supposed to be.” However, they make exceptions for one-off campaigns during big sales like Black Friday or significant product launches… but they’re rare. And if customers don’t engage with those flows or campaigns, Sophie takes a “super ruthless” approach to list hygiene. 💪 “I used to work at an ESP company…I have a very clear understanding that you only message people that are actually engaging with your brand, and you’re not going to make money from people that don’t want to hear from you. It’s as simple as that.” 💰 What Sophie would do with an extra $50K: She would devote part of the funds to research and product development to help her brands build out a larger assortment of products. The rest would go to tech tools to help them better follow and guide the customer journey. 👉 Listen to the full episode with Sophie [here!]( Sponsor Hit a home run with your retail martech stack Tech stacks aren’t baseball hats... One size does not fit all, especially for retailers. But how do you find the right tech stack for your retail biz? Which features are the most important? And how do you know if you’re getting what you pay for? [Download The Retail Marketing Tech Stack Guide]( to learn everything you need to know about finding a winning tech stack for your business, plus: - How to evaluate the performance of your tech stack - 4 technology must-haves for a best-of-breed stack - 5 characteristics of the retail martech stack of the future Retail is on the cusp of a tech innovation race, and companies that invest in agile technology now will be will be covering all their bases — and leaving their competition in the dust. 🏃‍♂️💨 👉 Don’t wait until it’s too late – [learn what tech you need today to succeed tomorrow.]( Tip Ensure your vision with the built-in "Record Screen/Audio" feature for your content descriptions. We have the most effective and efficient way to pass on content descriptions so your designers/content team can create a product that is exactly what you envisioned. Using screen recording + voiceover, you achieve a much more effective and efficient description/editorial process than just typing all those pesky revisions and descriptions out for your design/content team. Applications like Vidyard and Loom aren't your best options (we won't be receiving their ad sponsorship)—those apps require a paying membership to record those long videos, plus the recording quality is so low that the text on your screen will be unreadable. We suggest utilizing the screen recording functions on your Mac and PC. Mac keyboard shortcut: CMD + Shift + 5 PC keyboard shortcut: OPT + G It's as simple as adjusting your video settings and playing with your input/output audio until it simultaneously captures both. Then the resolution is only limited to the resolution of the screen you're recording on—without the third-party membership fees! Be kind to those fingies. They're tired from typing out all those descriptions and revisions. Just record that radio-worthy voice of yours and save time while doing it! Thanks to our friends at [Pilothouse]( for all the hot tips 🔥 Be sure to reply to this email with some efficiency tools you use to cut down on effort. Email Filling your funnel and collecting email addresses This just in: [96% of consumers]( who visit a website aren’t ready to buy. But just because they aren’t ready to buy from your brand doesn’t mean they don’t ever want to hear from you again. 👀 Capturing visitors email addresses is a fantastic way to convert subscribers into loyal customers. If you’re ready to build your list, you should be doing the below: 👇 1️⃣ Drawing attention to your opt-in form 2️⃣ Sweetening the deal with an incentive 3️⃣ Thinking outside of the website box (leveraging alternate touchpoints) For examples of DTC brands doing this well, and more information on how to implement it into your strategy, check out the [full post here!]( Quick Hits 🗺 [Facebook’s]( removing a range of location tracking tools as data regulations continue to evolve. 👩‍💻 [Google’s]( cloud group forms Web3 team to capitalize on booming popularity of crypto. 🎶 [Spotify]( will shut down its radio-like listening app Stations on May 16th. 🏷 [Google]( spring cleaning: some sitemap extension tags are going away. ✅ [Meta]( shares new ‘Culture Codes’ to help advertisers improve the performance of their promotions. SHARE DTC NEWSLETTER 🔥 NEW REFERRAL PROGRAM HAS OFFICIALLY DROPPED 🔥 👊 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? 💬 SMS is No Longer Optional with Sophie Baer, [Win Brand Group’s]( Retention Director (and Automation Overlord). 🧀 [Perry Belcher]( on Ecom Tripwires, Premiums, and Making Sure the Cheese is Worth the Squeeze. 🎯 Ecommerce SEO in Three Simple Steps with Kevin Miller from [Gr0](. 🍑 Building a 7-Figure Business in Sub-Two Years with [Peachy Shapewear's]( Corey Nicholson. Don’t forget to [rate the DTC Podcast]( on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) DTC Newsletter is written by [Rebecca Knight](, [Jordan Gillis](, [Ashley R. Cummings](, and [Kelsey Hess](. Edited by [Claire Beveridge]( and Eric Dyck. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. NEED MORE DTC? 🚀 [Advertise]( in DTC Newsletter. 💰Check out our course on [Facebook and Instagram]( ads! 📥 Work for The DTC Newsletter: Send an email to Rebecca, rebecca@directtoconsumer.co, if you’re interested in writing for us! Rate Us [Fueled by Pilothouse] [Share]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [LinkedIn]( [Advertise with DTC]( | [Work With Pilothouse]( At Direct to Consumer, we are strongly committed to protecting your privacy and providing a safe & high-quality online experience for all visitors. We understand that you care about how the information you provide to us is used and shared. 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