📦 - Brand With A Plan

DTC 301 - Instant vs. Collections pages, Brand Strategy, and the prompt library [DTC]( Banter Monday, February 27, 2023 We know they say money doesn’t solve all your problems… But with a cool billion, it could probably solve quite a few. 🤷‍♀️ In this newsletter, you’ll find: 👇 📦 Instant vs. Collections pages for TikTok shoppers 📦 Nailing your product strategy with SKU-level data from over 70,000+ online stores 📦 Do you have your marketing strategy on lock? 📦 Customer relationships, seamless customer journeys and leveraging tech and data 📦 The curated library of ChatGPT prompts Read till the end to access exclusive DTC swag. 😎 👉 If a pal forwarded this to you, [subscribe,]( so you never miss out. TikTok Raise That AOV to The Roof! Not sure what to test to boost your average order value (AOV)? The team at Pilothouse says Collections vs. Instant Pages. But first! Here’s why we think you should use Instant Pages in your campaigns: - Quick loading. Great for audiences with a low attention span. - Completely customizable. TikTok offers templates available, or you can make your own layout from scratch. - Easy to build. No web dev experience required. Set up is simple and can be done in less than 30 minutes. - Able to add coupon codes. You can also offer information and strikethrough pricing to Instant Pages. - Direct audience to product display pages (PDP). Add a select group of products with buttons to direct users to PDPs or carts (great for brands with 100s of products and consumers who might have analysis paralysis!). The team recently split-tested Instant Pages vs. Collections with a jewelry brand and saw AOV increase by 34% compared to their Collections counterpart! As always, we recommend testing and seeing what performs best for your account, but ultimately you should be digging into why shoppers are responding. Here’s why the team thinks Instant Pages are crushing: 💬 The messaging Users who click through to the page are greeted with "TikTok exclusive sale," which creates urgency and prompts shoppers to make a purchase now since this page appears as hidden or secret. 📸 UGC and benefits Clickers instantly see a quadrant at the top of the page with user-generated content. The content serves as a form of social proof while also showing the range of products! Next, shoppers can easily see (in the benefits summary) what they benefit from making their purchase now and some highlights of the brand's values. This includes: - Free shipping - Returns - Lifetime color warranty - Women-founded - Sustainable The page was also specifically curated with the five top-selling SKUs and directs users to respective PDPs to give more info. 💰 Pricing Everyone loves a good deal! The Instant Page has two coupons promoting a 30% off discount with a clear call-to-action to redeem the offer. The page also has strikethrough pricing showing both original and 30% off. Want to make your prices stand out even more? Try making your sale price in red font! ✨ TL;DR? If your brand hasn’t tried switching up your pages for TikTok shoppers, give Instant Pages a try! They’re quick loading, customizable, easy to build, integrate coupons and promotions, and crushing accounts for the [Pilothouse TikTok team.]( Sponsor Do you have the data you need to nail your product strategy? Three of the scariest things: - When you realize your zippers been down and it's 4 P.M - When it says "package delivered," but there's nothing at your doorstep - Launching a new product and it doesn't sell Though we can empathize with the first two, Particl was built to help DTC brands solve the third. ✅ With SKU-level data from over 70,000+ online stores, Particl gives you the data you need to: - Confidently launch products that maximize profits - Discover missing opportunities in product lineups - Be the first to know about the fastest-growing trends - Gain an in-depth understanding of competitors - Crush revenue goals by utilizing pricing and discount trends Join over 100 brands, including Chubbies, Rhone, True Religion, Kizik, Kitsch, Cuts, and Bohme, who have used Particl to nail their product strategy and stop leaving money on the table. 💸 👉 [Click to see SKU-level data from brands in your industry.]( Strategy A Brand With a Plan 🦸‍♀️ Unlimited potential Businesses of all sizes struggle with developing an effective marketing strategy that utilizes their creativity and budget responsibly. If you’ve ever pulled up your calendar and felt overwhelmed by all of those empty days, you know what we’re talking about. So what exactly is an effective marketing strategy? It’s the path your business should follow to successfully market your products and services to a contemporary audience. While that seems like a massive hurdle for anyone new to this whole marketing thing, we’ve got your back. 💪 Marketing strategies are different from what’s called a “marketing funnel.” The terms are often mixed up because they both intend to improve conversions through a step-by-step plan. - Marketing Funnel: addresses consumer interaction - Marketing Strategy: addresses brand awareness 📝 The low-down on the how-to The first thing to do is identify your product-market fit. Ask yourself, “What problem does my product currently solve?” With that answer, you can identify who your product is for. Guess what? You’ve already passed step two because you now have a target audience! 🙌 We know your idea is amazing, and it'll change the world in one way or another, but there’s likely a product out there that solves the same problem similarly. So research your competitors and identify what they do well. This is called competitor analysis. Its goal is to identify opportunities your business can leverage to stand out from the crowd. The product-market fit and competitor analysis need to be revisited multiple times throughout the year to ensure that your business is still marketing to the right people and keeping up with the innovations made by your competitors. 🏀 Get the ball rollin’ Now that you’ve got the fundamentals out of the way, let’s create a plan of action. 🧐 Start by developing a sleek and simple look for your business. If you already have a website, try out some updated designs and keep it fresh! The easiest way to do this is with website templates provided by any CMS (think Squarespace or Shopify). Put yourself in visitors’ shoes. Would you want to buy a product from your site? Would you trust this website? You need to answer “yes” to these questions before you go any further. Once you have an online presence: - Start building relationships with online communities - Use hashtags to find and follow creators on TikTok - Get involved in the comment section on Reddit - Join a community Discord - Build a Facebook Business Page Each of these options introduces your brand to passionate and experienced people who are likely willing to provide some advice relevant to the field you’re interested in. Sponsor Where else can DTC experts speak to you in your pyjamas? 🚨 Something incredible is just around the corner for evolving DTC brands! 🚨 With world-leading digital commerce experts from Google Cloud, Bloomreach, Antavo and a keynote from Mark King, CEO of Taco Bell. [The Commerce Experience Summit]( is the must-attend FREE digital summit. Master how to build long-lasting customer relationships, create seamless customer journeys and leverage data and technology for maximum conversions. Don't miss Mark's keynote: Staying Ahead in an Uncertain World 👇 - Lessons learned during Covid-19 - How to navigate unprecedented times - Expert insights on building and retaining customer loyalty 👉 [Register now to learn from the world's leading digital commerce experts!]( Strategy – Part 2 A Brand With a Plan 🤗 Group hug It's also important to not only provide advice but to ask for help. Communities are a two-way street. Asking for help is the best way to build trust among those around you. These interactions will gradually build organic traffic. You should prioritize organic traffic over paid ad strategies when you first start out. Organic traffic can be slower to develop but is far more predictable than dumping your budget into Meta or Google Ads when no one knows who you are yet. More than money 🤔 People will come to your business because they feel like your content will add value to their lives. Whether that value comes from your product or service, blog, newsletter, social posts, or email campaigns, something always needs to reward your audience’s time and attention. This will grow your organic traffic to the point where you can reasonably invest in a paid strategy with some high-quality UGC in your back pocket for that sweet social proof every customer looks for. 🤷‍♀️ Why are you doing all of this anyway? So many wins this year will start with a carefully thought-out marketing strategy. Just think of how empowered, efficient, and organized your team will feel approaching every task knowing that each milestone will help your business… - Reach new customers - Increase sales - Build brand awareness - Identify customer needs and preferences - Measure the success of marketing campaigns Take note of those last two points as they help inform future revisions to your marketing strategy. Your customers' needs and demographics will always be changing, so it's important to understand how and where your business fits into their lives on a regular basis. 🤝 A helping hand Shopify has a well-thought-out [marketing template]( you can download and fill out to break down your marketing strategy right down to every month! Make a copy of this template, and update it throughout the year as you see fit. How did you approach finding a direction for your business when the possibilities were endless? It’s no small feat, but with the right inspo and resources, any brand can make amazing things happen in 2023 with a vision and a plan to get there. 💪 Tool Spotlight Everyone knows about ChatGPT, but do you know there’s a multitude of Chrome extensions being built to maximize its uses? Here’s our recent favorite: [Chat GPT Prompt Genius.]( The tool allows you to discover, share, and import the best prompts used in ChatGPT. Pretty dang cool if you ask us! Quick Hits 📸 [Snapchat]( updates their Sounds feature. 📈 [RivalIQ]( publishes a Social Media Industry Report. 🤖 [Microsoft]( expands AI to Skype, Edge, and Bing. 🚗 [Uber]( ’s app redesign. 🎧 [Spotify]( releases an AI music tool called DJ. 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!]( Referal program is subject to [DTC Terms & Conditions.]( 🔊 Have you heard our latest podcasts? 🚀 [BattlBox]( John Roman - The Subscription with the ~$1000 LTV and the Netflix Rocket Ship. 👟 [Kuru Footwear’s]( Turnaround Playbook: Sean McGinnis On The CRO Tactics That Doubled Revenue (C-Suite Mentor Preview). 🧑‍🦲 [iRestore]( Hair Growth System: Kevin Chen - The True Impact of Costco. ⚔️ [Mini Katana](: Karly McFarland on $100M in Email Sales and Why She Sold Her Agency and Turned to the Brand Side (C-Suite Mentor Preview). 🤑 [The Oodie]( - Davie Fogarty: Lessons From a Fast $400M. 💡 Listen to the [Biggest Marketing News]( Stories Today. Don’t forget to [rate the DTC Podcast]( on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) DTC Newsletter is written by [Rebecca Knight]( 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! 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. We have developed a Privacy Policy to inform you of our policies regarding collecting, using, and disclosing information we receive from our Website users. Federal Filing operates the Website. Our Privacy Policy, along with our Terms & Conditions, governs your use of this site. 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