📦 The Golden Buzzer

DTC 254 - The golden triangle, dormant audiences, and eCommerce apps [DTC]( 📈 [Find a Growth Agency]( 🗞️ [See Today's News]( 🧢 [DTC STORE]( Banter Wednesday, November 9, 2022 If you’re new to DTC, welcome! You’re in good company with fellow newcomers from Status Anxiety, Bellwether Coffee, B Fresh Gear, Made of Tomorrow, and Campari.🍹 In this newsletter, you’ll find: 👇 📦 The golden triangle to combat in-platform data loss 📦 A universal attribution platform that uses advanced data models to show you the true impact of your marketing spending 📦 Spooky retention by segmenting gift buyers and BOGO gamified sales 📦 An out-of-the-box, privacy-compliant solution tailored to your brand’s needs without cookies 📦 Should your brand be considering an app to skyrocket your Q4 and beyond? Read till the end to access exclusive DTC swag. 😎 👉 If a pal forwarded this to you, [subscribe,]( so you never miss out. Creative The Golden Triangle This week on All Killer No Filler, the Pilothouse team talked about measuring creatives with the golden triangle — a framework to help you optimize content based on data from your video content. The golden triangle is used to understand what’s working and what’s not in your creatives. It assists with creative decision-making (specifically video content) when little data is available within ad platforms like Meta and TikTok. The framework is not a one size fits all. Every audience is different and every product is unique. But optimizing content based on the following three metrics will be a surefire way to increase ad performance and ultimately revenue. ⏰ Avgerage watch time: Watch time measures the amount of time a viewer stays engaged with your video content before scrolling away. So, a higher average watch time is good, right? Sometimes. Sometimes your video content is so fun that people watch the entire thing but miss what you’re asking them to do. So yes, generally, a higher watch time is better, but the metric needs to be balanced with clicks and conversions to have a real impact. ⚖️ Note: Average view time (for a good piece of content) is around 6 seconds on TikTok and closer to 5 seconds on Meta! If your video watch time is on the high side, consider adding additional elements to increase interest and education about your product! For example, include: - Additional uses for your product - Proof that your product does what you say it does (testimonials or reviews) - A clean and clear call to action (CTA) - A compelling offer (discount, bundle, trial, etc.) On the flip side, if your watch time is low, it could be worth analyzing to understand why your content isn’t hitting its watch time goals. ⏲️ If your potential customers are leaving before really getting into your video creative, ask yourself: - Does the first 5-10 seconds of your video look too much like an ad? - Is the video hook overused or not relevant to trends anymore? - Have you utilized captions and audio effectively? - Is it time to think out of the box and get a little bit weird with the opening shot of the video? 🖱 Click-through rate (CTR): Think of watch time is an indication of interest in the video, and CTR as an indication of interest in the product/offer. If your viewers aren’t clicking, review your average watch time. For example, are 95% of users skipping before the first 3 seconds? If so, your hook may not be strong enough. In this case, your goal should be to add something to your creative to get and keep users engaged from the start. If your watch time is healthy (greater than 5 seconds), but you aren’t generating enough clicks, it’s time to think of ways to move the audience from the awareness stage to consideration. Here are some elements to be on the watch for: - Where in the video are your CTA's? - What is the hook? - Is there a sale, offer, or promotional deal you can offer? - Is your product well aligned with who you are targeting? - Do you have a graphic or audio CTA? Each and every one of these elements is worth testing to solve low clicks! 🤝 Conversion rate (CVR): CVR is the trump card of the triangle. If it works, it works. 🤷‍♀️ But chances are, like most people, you’re always trying to bump up your CVR. Remember that your post-click experience should not be ignored! Your post-click experience (landing pages, offers, educational content, page testing) has a massive impact once users actually click. If your average watch time and click-through rate are healthy, your objective and the clicker’s objective may be misaligned. Ask yourself: - Is the CTA just clickbait? - Is the landing page in line with the creative your user saw going into the click? - Are you targeting a conversion audience? Your triangle can be skewed in many ways (we all remember elementary school math class), but the goal is to use the golden triangle to better optimize your creatives for your intended audience. For more info on variables to change, working with new video creators, and hacks to test your creative, [listen to the full episode here!]( Sponsor Marketing Pop Quiz: What’s better than launching a new creative campaign? Answer: Knowing exactly which of those campaigns is driving the most revenue! 📈 As a marketer, knowing which creative choices to make is challenging if you have to rely on your gut and guess which ads are working. Thankfully, with [Northbeam,]( guessing is a marketing game of the past. Northbeam is a universal attribution platform that uses advanced data models to show you [the true impact of your marketing spending.]( With Northbeam, you see: - 🛰 All your channels, touchpoints, and conversions tracked in one self-service platform - 🦾 Powerful machine learning models clean, map, and analyze your ad data to identify growth opportunities - 🚀 KPIs and benchmark targets that will grow your business profitably Start getting the most out of your marketing efforts now! 👉 [Schedule a demo and see what you could achieve with Northbeam.]( Podcast 🎧 On today’s episode of the DTC pod, we’ve got retention on the brain with repeat guest Troy Petrunoff, Retention Marketing Manager at Every Man Jack. Every Man Jack is a men’s hair and body care brand focused on using naturally-derived ingredients and making sustainable choices to inspire men to take care of themselves and the world around them. ‍The takeaways 👇 🛍️ Switching to Shopify In March of this year, Every Man Jack went live on Shopify, having made the switch from Magento. Like any major change, there were hurdles and challenges to navigate, but here are a few benefits Troy and his team found after making the switch: - Easier to efficiently make changes to the site. - Ability to take advantage of powerful marketing tools such as custom gift cards and more. - More opportunity to enhance the site with the treasure trove of functionality that is the Shopify app ecosystem. ❄️ Converting the cold Every DTC brand is challenged with how to ignite their dormant audience segment. On this topic, Troy discusses how Every Man Jack used a low-barrier-to-entry marketing tactic to ~warm up~ that cold audience. “​​We were just like, ‘Okay, we've informed this audience pretty heavily that we have this new product [and] they're clearly not interested [so] let's let them know it's on Amazon because maybe that audience just trusts Amazon more or wants the 2-day shipping… so that was the thought process there. If they're not purchasing them from the [EMJ] site, maybe they're still interested, but they want Amazon, which they trust.” 💰 What Troy would do with an extra $50K: With the holidays quickly approaching (does anybody else hear those jingle bells?...), Troy’s funneling the grant elsewhere… “I would either throw it in SMS or just throw it to acquisition because… [acquisition is] a crucial thing around the holidays, especially because we're upping the frequency of our email and text sends, which, last year, we didn't see a really big impact on unsubs at that point, so it's not a huge red flag, but you do need a healthy amount of new subscribers coming in through that period.” 👉 Listen to the full episode with Troy Petrunoff [here!]( Sponsor Personalization in a Privacy-First Landscape Recent data shows: - 62% of U.S. adults feel they can’t go a day without sharing personal data online - 91% of browsers are off-limits for cookies - 96% of iPhone users have opted out of tracking So, what is an honest brand to do? 🤷🏻‍♂️ [Wunderkind]( is an out-of-the-box, privacy-compliant solution tailored to your brand’s needs without cookies. Engage customers without infringing on their privacy. 👉 [Learn more about how Wunderkind can help you drive and measure performance while respecting consumer privacy.]( Apps Why eCommerce Apps Are Your Competitive Advantage in Q4 - and Beyond As BFCM looms, there’s the typical focus on ad creative, email campaigns, and SMS strategy… but recently, a new DTC marketing channel has entered the chat: eCommerce apps. While bigger retail names like Wayfair, Sephora, and Target have had their own apps for many years, advances in technology and tighter integrations with Shopify have made it easier for DTC up-and-comers to compete on a more level playing field. Why is eCommerce app adoption accelerating, and how will apps give brands an edge in Q4 and beyond? Here’s the scoop: 1️⃣ Apps are mobile-first Fun fact: [69% of Shopify store orders]( come from mobile devices. Despite this, a lot of eCommerce websites are still built to be responsive (meaning, they adapt to the dimensions of the device they’re being browsed on) rather than catering to the mobile shopping majority. With an app, everything is built to be mobile-friendly from day one, so mobile shoppers get the best experience possible. 2️⃣ Shoppers have embraced eCommerce apps Another fun fact: [Nearly 70% of consumers]( have downloaded a retailer app. If you’re worried that your customers “won’t want to download yet another app,” you’ll want to reconsider their appetite (pun intended) for additional shopping opportunities, especially as BFCM approaches and everyone is in gift-giving mode. 3️⃣ Push notifications FTW In Q4, email inboxes will be flooded with sales subject lines, and SMS will be a promo code bloodbath. 🧛 But you know where you won’t have nearly as much competition? Push notifications. Because the majority of eCommerce stores don’t yet have their own mobile apps, your abandoned cart campaigns and holiday drop announcements are more likely to stand out as push notifications than SMS alerts. 👉 Big bonus: They cost $0! 4️⃣ It’s easier than ever to launch your own app There’s a reason the bigger retail players were first in the app arms race; it used to take a lot of money and time to design and build a custom mobile app from scratch. However, it’s 2022, and you don’t have to hire an entire dev team anymore. You can use a tech platform like Tapcart, VennApps, Mowico, Vajro, or partner with an agency. For Public Desire CEO Ateeq Akhlaq, using VennApps gave the brand flexibility on customizations and the benefit of an experienced support team that could help with the launch, freeing the Public Desire team up to focus on visuals and features. Outside the box solutions make it much easier to create an app quickly. Just make sure you pick one that’s intuitive to use and reliable (as everyone in eCommerce knows firsthand, tech is amazing until it glitches or crashes). 5️⃣ There’s no better way to create brand loyalty If you’re looking for a way to re-engage and retain your current customers, as well as any new ones that you acquire in Q4, an eCommerce app offers many advantages: - Customers can keep track of their purchases and rewards on the go - Wishlist functionality makes it easy to save favorites for later - Brands get an additional way to build community Says Grisel Paula, the CEO of Rebdolls: “Rebdolls relies a lot on our return customers. We have a huge loyal following, and they really resonate with the [Rebdolls] app; it’s right on their phone. We started doing special releases a day early on the app to incentivize people to download. People feel special because we’re giving them early access to our collections. We have an amazing conversion rate. We definitely recommend it to anybody.” Expert spotlight: Lindsay Goldman To wrap up our investigation on the rise of eCommerce apps, we got in touch with eCommerce executive [Lindsay Goldman,]( who has extensive experience leading eCommerce efforts in-house for brands BELLA+CANVAS and Princess Polly and clients like Gorjana and Bandai Namco. Thanks for talking to us, Lindsay. Could you share a few common reasons why eCommerce brands launch their own app? “Sure, here are just a few: - Nurturing loyalty/VIP customers - Push notifications (becomes a marketing play) - Faster speed performance = higher CVR (if website is not headless and dealing with slower site speeds) - Additional revenue channel” What analytics do you keep an eye on to gauge the success of an eCommerce app, and what metrics do you typically care most about? “CVR is always my number one concern. Making sure that CVR is at least on par with mobile web, but really looking to increase CVR beyond mobile web performance. Additionally, understanding how the mobile app is impacting/increasing returning visitors, repeat orders, and overall lifetime value (LTV).” You have a history of successfully optimizing apps once they’re launched. What can brands focus on to boost CVR? “We only have customers’ attention for a short time span, so with any eCommerce brand, product discovery is essential. Continuing to ask, how can we show customers the right products (based on personalization, product recommendations, targeted keywords, etc.) and as many products (with a strong UX/UI optimization) in the shortest amount of time? I’ve seen all of these enhancements drastically increase CVR: - Optimizing search results pages (based on accurate product tagging and strong UX/UI) - Optimizing sort and filtering UI, making it seamless for customers to quickly narrow down their product criteria - Utilizing a top navigation for easy category discovery - Leveraging personalized upsell” So there you have it. If you’re looking for mobile-first design, infinite customization, and a pretty killer revenue booster, an eCommerce app may be your best bet (this year or next). Quick Hits 🐤 After laying off half of its staff, [Twitter might be asking]( some employees to come back. ​​🪣 [Steal Bill Gates's '4 Buckets' time-management hack]( to regain control of your calendar. 📈 [How the U.S. midterms]( could ripple through the stock market. 🌈 [Pantone colors are disappearing]( from Adobe. ▶️ Youtube introduces [Go Live Together!]( 🧐 [3 ways to keep audiences engaged]( in a content-driven world. 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. 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Don’t forget to [rate the DTC Podcast]( on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) DTC Newsletter is written by [Rebecca Knight](, [Juliana Casale](, [Kate Gullett](, and Michael Venditti. 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 [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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