📦 - Once Upon A Time There Was a Brand...

Reusing Your BFCM Meta Ads, Branded Payments, Immersive Storytelling, Boosting AOV, A DTC Breakup Monday, October 30, 2023 In this newsletter, you’ll find: - 📦 Q4 is busy… Use old ads you already know have proven results - 📦 The old way of product launches is so last year, start crafting your immersive storytelling narratives - 📦 The breakup of Unilever and an OG DTC darling Let’s dive in: 👇 BRANDED PAYMENTS 🖼️ Picture this: You're dreaming of an RH Cloud Couch. All your friends are buying dupes, but … brand, baby. You want the real thing. * Only problem: the real thing is even more expensive than you thought. Lucky for you, RH offers a credit card and membership program that 1) drops the price by 20% and 2) makes it easier to not drain your bank account on a single piece of furniture. They removed every objection. So, you pull the trigger. So, question for you: if this is at all relatable, how many people are doing this on your site, with your brand? The solution: Do what RH does and give your customers a line of credit. [Tandym]( is the branded payment provider for modern brands, letting your customers open a branded payment method—credit or debit—in just a few clicks. Your customers get: Accelerated rewards and additional credit. ✅ Your brand gets: Reduced processing fees, higher average order values, and higher purchase frequency. ✅ It’s a win-win. [Try Tandym Today]( Q4 ♻️ Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Your BFCM Meta Ads Q4 is busy. You feel it, we feel it. Everyone with a DTC brand is prepping and planning for the hectic season ahead. But that doesn’t mean there’s no time to review your campaigns from last year. 👀 The [Pilothouse Meta team]( has been looking at top ads from Black Friday 2022 to see what can be reused for this year’s campaigns. These are the main types of top-performing ads you want to look for: - Top ads with general sale messaging - Top ads with broad Black Friday messaging (no promo mentioned) - Top ads with the same promo that’s being used this year (if applicable) Generally, you’ll want to look at ads with a decent amount of spend behind them (think hundreds or thousands) to quantify results and make sure you're turning on an ad that has a good chance of driving continued success. Here’s some metrics to look for when selecting: ROAS, engagement (both comments and reactions), total spend vs. total revenue. Here is some data for two ads that the team is planning on bringing back this year: 🎁 Broad Black Friday messaging: - Spend: $102.9k - Revenue: $377.2k - ROAS: 2.98 - Comments: 290 - Post Reactions: 1,411 🎉 General sale messaging: - Spend: $42.1k - Revenue: $134k - ROAS: 3.18 - Comments: 85 - Post Reactions: 5,217 Once you’ve identified previous year's winners that fit in the categories above, here’s how the Pilothouse Meta team suggests bringing them back into the fold: 1️⃣ Turn on legacy campaigns: These are baked with learnings, and bringing back old campaigns can sometimes be effective (this varies by account and campaign, so it is worth testing). 2️⃣ Use post IDs to move last year's ads into new campaigns: This preserves social proof and allows the team to bring these ads into new campaigns and current top audiences. For more on pulling post IDs, [click here](. The [Pilothouse Meta team]( is all in on maximizing Q4 success. Steal this tip to make sure your brand is too. OPTIMIZATION 🤝 Enhance Your Brand And Create A Lasting Impression* Q: How do you enhance your brand, increase customer loyalty, AND create lasting connections? A: By incorporating sustainability initiatives directly into your loyalty programs. 🌳 Face the Future experienced a significant boost in AOV, overall spending, and purchase frequency among their most loyal customers after seamlessly integrating sustainable actions [with just one click at checkout.]( ⬇️🌿 - 130% higher AOV for loyalty members than non-loyalty members - 200% increase in the number of purchases per customer - 3X more spend than non-loyalty members [The numbers don't lie.]( When you invite your customers to participate in your sustainability journey through clear communication and shared values, you cultivate a higher CLTV. [Read The Full Story]( M&A 💔 The Breakup of Unilever and Dollar Shave Club Unilever is selling Dollar Shave Club to private equity firm Nexus Capital Management, whilst retaining a 35% minority shareholding. Way back in 2016, Unilever acquired Dollar Shave Club in 2016 approx. $1 billion, with the goal of tapping into the DTC subscription space. Dollar Shave Club’s diversification of product line and expansion into traditional retail presented a unique scenario where Unilever made the decision that Dollar Shave Club was no longer a core strategic growth area and relinquished control. [Click to read more about the recent acquisition](. NARRATIVE 📚 The Role of Immersive Storytelling in DTC Product Launches With so many competitors in the DTC space, it’s getting tougher and tougher to carve out a unique identity that makes your brand stand out from the masses. The old ‘put out a general announcement and people will buy’ no longer makes the cut. 🙅 In 2023, customers want more than just general brand information — they want a deep connection and to feel like they know you. ❣️ But how do you do that? Immersive storytelling! Immersive storytelling weaves your products into elaborate tales, helping elevate the old way of standard launches into unforgettable, multi-platform experiences. 📖 Crafting the story Immersive storytelling creates a community around your product or brand and offers multiple consumer touchpoints. The narrative is carefully designed to enhance consumer interactions, deepen the relationship, and strengthen engagement with potential shoppers. 🛍️ Immersive storytelling represents a significant evolution from traditional linear narratives that have dominated the DTC social media scene for years. For example, linear narratives might look a little like this: - Brand makes product - Brand posts only still images of product on one social media site But immersive storytelling might look a little like this: - Brand makes a product - Brand uses a mix of still and video content that they crosspost on multiple social sites to maximize engagement. - Brand creates a behind-the-scenes ‘warehouse style’ video - Brand runs local pop-ups for in-person experiences, - Brand shares a founders angle video - Brand showcases social proof through user-generated content. Seems like there’s a clear winner in terms of brand impressions these days, right? 🤷 [Click here to learn the benefits of immersive storytelling and how your brand could put it into action](. SPONSOR DTC 📥 Promote your product to 160,000 digital marketing professionals DTC Newsletter + Podcast reaches a highly qualified audience of Shopify merchants, eCommerce founders, and digital marketers. [Talk to our team to learn more](. ⚡ QUICK HITS 🚨 [Last chance for 100's of high-quality micro-influencers posts for less than $6k.]( Get influencers talking about your business before BF/CM. Submit your brief and let minisocial do the rest. [It's that easy!](* 🔎 [Google updates the “About this image” tool]( to display a file’s origins, metadata, and additional context like news descriptions and fact-checking sites. ✖️ [After one year under new leadership](, X users are spending about 32 minutes per day on the app. Other notable insights include an average of 1.5 million sign-ups each day. 🍎 [Tune into Apple’s Scary Fast event on Halloween at 8:00pm EST](. Teaser’s allude to the announcement of new chips or hardware in the coming months. 🎵 [TikTok released a small business starter guide]( to help brands establish a strong presence on its platform. The guide instructs brand owners on how to set up an ads manager and use a TikTok Pixel. 👀 BANTER 2023 Budget Final, Final, Final (last one we swear!!). Have you heard our latest podcasts? - 🌧️ [Owning the Weather and Scaling Through Nine Figures]( - Vessi's Tony Yu and Mikaella Go - 🚗 [AKNF 346](: Maximize Your Road to Q4 - 💋 [Form, Function, and Fragrance](: Cosmetic Industry Vet Sherry Jharwar on her Beautiful Journey in DTC - 👀 [AKNF 344](: Is Amazon Anti-Consumer? - 💤 [Pillows, Sleep, and the Journey of a DTC Founder]( - Larissa Hildebrandt and Henrie.com - 🚀 [AKNF Archive](: Rux Rockets to Meta Ads ROAS with the Pilot Test 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. Please note that items in this newsletter marked with * contain sponsored content. [Direct To Consumer]( Pilothouse, 1011 Government St., Victoria, BC V8W 1X6, Canada [Advertise with DTC]( | [Work With Pilothouse]( [Preferences]( | [Unsubscribe](