📦 - Anatomy of Apparel Success

Custom Meta Metrics, 5X Your Ad Performance, Building an Apparel Brand, Navigate Growth Flawlessly, Mascot Mayhem Wednesday, September 20, 2023 We’re having so much fun playing around with AI that we wanted to bring you along for the ride! At the end of this newsletter, you’ll find DTC’s Mascot Mayhem. Checkout the mascot we had AI make and vote for which one you want to see next. 🤖 In this newsletter, you’ll find: - 📦 Custom Meta metrics you need to see - 📦 Build an apparel brand in 2023 - 📦 All in or ad-free? Let’s dive in: 👇 Q4 PREP 🤔 Are You Using Meta Custom Metrics? If you aren’t already using custom metrics, the [Pilothouse Meta team]( tells us they’re all the rage to gauge your ad performance. Custom metrics provide media buyers with tons of flexibility as they dig into their data. The team uses custom metrics to calculate thumbstop rate, link click to page view rate, AOV, metrics for Shop, and more! Interested? We thought so! Custom metrics are simple to implement: 👇 1️⃣ Create a new report or open an existing one. 2️⃣ Open the customize tab on the right > Select metrics 3️⃣ Click the “+ Create” button 4️⃣ Pop in a formula for a metric you’d like to measure! Now that you’re all set, make sure to share access to everyone in the business. 💪 Looking for some examples and a complete walkthrough on the process like what you see below for Shop CVR? [Check out our guide here.]( UGC 📈 5X your ad performance with these 5 UGC strategies.* Just in time for your Holiday ramp, [This guide]( on UGC was created by our friends over at minisocial, providing you with strategies to ensure you get the best results using UGC this holiday season. DTC brands use these exact tips to get the following results: - Plant People has ads performing in the top 1% - Corkcicle saw a 92% increase in engagement Unlocking UGC has been shown to do the following things to a brand: 👇 - 73% increase in click-through for emails - Create a loyal and engaged audience - 5x's your ad performance across social - Retargeting performs 161% better with UGC Want these amazing results? [Take a look at minisocial's free guide to see HOW.]( These top five strategies come with examples, data (you know we love data), and even Pro Tips you can use immediately. [Download your free guide.]( 📝 DTC PODCAST Jacob Rokeach, Fractional CMO, on How to Build an Apparel Brand in 2023 🎧 Today’s podcast is with Jacob Rokeach, Fractional CMO and Apparel Growth expert, who was personally recommended for the pod by Feastables Joseph Siegal. The full podcast plays out like a masterclass for current and prospective apparel brands, covering everything from choosing your niche, building your brand, managing your inventory, and achieving omnichannel growth in small steps. Make sure you bookmark it to listen to it, but… THE MOST INTERESTING PART: Was when I asked Jacob, “If you were building an apparel brand in 2023, what would you do?” And the high-level categories were: 👇 1️⃣ Long-term brand building over quick growth 2️⃣ Meta ads account structure 3️⃣ Crafting a compelling brand story 4️⃣ Customer retention strategies 5️⃣ Multi-channel approach for cohesive branding To go in-depth, you’ll have to tune in for all the details. 👉 Listen to the full episode with Jacob Rokeach [here]( or check out [our full write-up.]( 3PL MANAGEMENT 📦 How To Navigate High Growth & Unprecedented Demand Flawlessly* TUSHY, known for making bidets affordable and easy to install, reached a critical turning point with their 3PL (third-party logistics) continually missing the mark. So, TUSHY reached out to Shipfusion, and the results were incredible: - Flawless fulfillment of 10,000+ daily international orders. - Stellar customer service through their in-warehouse Account Manager. - An intuitive platform that effortlessly synced with TUSHY's systems, simplifying order processing and billing. - Real-time inventory data, delivering essential insights right when they matter most. Your fulfillment solution can make or break your customer experience. [Check out TUSHY's success story to see how Shipfusion can help.]( META 🤳 Is One Of Your Favorite Ad-Free Platforms Going All In on Ads? Meta [denied a Financial Times report]( suggesting they might introduce ads on WhatsApp. Despite speculations of monetizing WhatsApp's 2 billion daily users, Meta has been focusing on WhatsApp Business for revenue. This service for merchants has 200 million monthly users. In a previous year's Q3 earnings call, Zuckerberg revealed the "click-to-WhatsApp" ads generated $1.5 billion with 80% YoY growth. Additionally, WhatsApp is introducing peer-to-peer and merchant payments in several countries and is exploring new payment integrations. Analysts believe Meta is progressing towards monetizing its vast WhatsApp user base. Will there or won’t there be WhatsApp ads — Only time will tell. 👀 IN THE SOCIAL SPHERE At least we know the release of iOS17 is bringing at least one good thing for marketers! Want to know more about using this feature for your brand? [Click here to read](. The full PDF list of features in iOS 17 is available to [download here.]( ⚡ Quick Hits 💸 [Returns shouldn't lose you money.]( Aviator Nation retains revenue on over 50% of their returns, plus drives $10 in upsells every time a return happens.[See how here.]( * ✖️ [Lower-priced tiers of X Premium could be rolling out]( in the future. Leadership emphasizes the need for paywalling access to the platform in the fight against bot accounts and for verification. 🚀 [Get a Q4 influencer boost without the busy work?]( The team at SARAL will build you an in-house influencer program on autopilot. [Here's how](. Interested?[Book a qualification call.]( * 📺 [YouTube adds a Clips tab to Studio.]( Creators can review their most clipped content to build a library of engaging short-form videos and prioritize the content that connects with their audience. 🤖 [Google’s Bard can integrate with Gmail, Docs, and Drive]( to easily retrieve information from your files. Google assures users that sensitive information is kept from Bard’s public language model. MASCOT MAYHEM We’re constantly playing around with AI and wanted to bring you along on our Midjourney fun! We’re starting off the Mascot Mayhem series with our very own DTC box mascot. Pretty cool right? 👀 What mascot inspired image should we make next? 👇 - [A year 3000 futuristic version of Mickey Mouse in space]( - [The Michelin Man but he’s made entirely of tires driving off into the sunset]( - [Mr. Peanut waltzing with the green M&M]( Want to submit your own prompt for Mascot Mayhem? Reply to this email! 👀 Banter Reverse psychology — It works. 😆 Have you heard our latest podcasts? - 💪 [AKNF 338](: Jogo's Retention Bootcamp - The First and Second Purchase Ecosystem (Part 3) - 😍 [Amanda Elam]( - Bloomreach: Personalized Customer Experiences on Every Channel - 💰 [Sean Frank]( - Ridge Wallet: How to be Hermes - 🎉 [AKNF 336](: Q4 Offer Testing Eleganza Extravaganza - 👀 [Charlie Grinnell]( - Right Metric: Deep Marketing Insights - 🌴 [AKNF 334](: The Ultimate Guide to Amazon Images 🤑 [Kevin Liu]( - Simplifying E-Commerce Sales Tax with Numeral Don’t forget to [rate the DTC Podcast]( on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) Got an awesome DTC brand story to tell? Calling all brand-side founders and team leaders! Fancy joining us on the DTC Podcast as a guest? [Tap the link to toss in your application](. DTC Newsletter is written by [Rebecca Knight](, [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! Please note that items in this newsletter marked with an * contain sponsored content. [Direct To Consumer]( Pilothouse, 1011 Government St., V8W 1X6, Victoria, BC V8W 1X6, Canada [Advertise with DTC]( | [Work With Pilothouse]( [Preferences]( | [Unsubscribe](