📦 - Unlocking Referrals ⚡

DTC 504 - Temu’s Referral Program, February Slumps, and Brand Building Thursday, February 29, 2024 People with glass advertising shouldn’t throw stones… 😂 Good morning, And happy birthday leaplings! 🎉 A Leap Day comes around only once every four years, so make the most of this added time. With 366 days in the calendar, it means you get one more day to reach your Q1 goals. Spend it wisely. 👀 We’ll admit this hasn’t been the easiest month for a lot of SMBs, so make sure to keep scrolling — We’ll be sharing some tips on how to get you out of the February slump so you can start off strong for March. Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC: - Are you feeling the February slump? You aren’t alone. - How Temu leveraged their referral program to grow its customer base so quickly. - And how to build a brand that inspires customer loyalty. You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Nestle, SmartGrass and Whitewater Brewing Co. 👋 CUSTOMER DATA 🏆 Winning DTC Brands Are Using Data To Grow Revenue and Deliver 5-Star Customer Experiences... Here's How: You own the relationship between your brand and your customers. You’re in charge of delivering [outstanding customer experiences that drive results and revenue](. Customers expect easy, delightful, and individually tailored experiences at every touchpoint. Are you doing enough? Are you using your data in a way that actually delivers? If you’re not sure, or your first-party data is sitting in a spreadsheet or CRM somewhere collecting dust, we’re pretty sure the answer is: you could be doing more. Use [this guide]( to learn from brands like Dagne Dover, Andie Swim, and AriZona Beverage Co., who are tapping into their customer data to confidently deliver experiences their customers crave. Or better yet, [steal the ideas and make them your own](! You’re in the driver's seat — If you don’t know where you’re going you’re wasting fuel. [Download Your Map To Success]( *Sponsored TOUGH Q1 📉 Feeling The February Slump? If you’re looking at your February revenue goals and seeing less-than-impressive numbers, you are not the only one. 😞 [David Herrmann]( from Herrmann Digital admits “February has been the hardest month in DTC I’ve experienced in quite some time.” And many other SMBs are echoing his thoughts. The [Pilothouse team]( shares that while some clients in the paid media space have kept spending consistent, year-over-year growth is down for most. But media buyers remain optimistic. Truth is if you’re at flat growth and keeping things consistent in ecosystems ROAS, you’re in a better spot than most. Taylor Cain, Pilothouse’s Social Technical Director shares these insights: “Between the patterns we've seen and what we've heard in our network, the trend seems to be that e-commerce is more aligned with pre-pandemic years - steady growth overall but with a greater need for a cohesive strategy with a strong foundation of elements like conversion rate optimization, product strategy, and creative testing methodology.” This isn’t the first time we’ve seen negative growth like these numbers. And it probably won't be the last. There are steps to help with the flat growth, but it takes a birds-eye view and long-term investment to combat. Now more than ever long-term and big-picture vision and strategy have never been more important. Here’s how [Pilothouse]( is combating these changes: ✅ Take an omnichannel approach: Rather than relying on a single channel for growth, utilizing multiple platforms, paid and organic, to see what moves the needle. ✅ Invest in customer retention and post-click: It costs less to retain a customer than acquire a new one, so shifting our attention to how we can keep existing customers happy and offering value. ✅ Create padding regarding audiences: Spend more in top of top-of-funnel (TOF) campaigns for a bigger YOY in Q4. Have you been feeling the February slump? Reply to this email and let us know! MICRO-INFLUENCERS 🤝 Partner With Highly Curated Creators Without The Hassle [minisocial](, the OG UGC platform that launched in 2018 - has spent years curating their group of high-quality micro influencers that can are hand selected for your brand by their expert team. With minisocial getting a project spun up is easy: 1️⃣ Submit your brief 2️⃣ Approve your creators 3️⃣ Send out your products 4️⃣ Watch as posts go live and you get to download your new, fully-licensed content! And that's it! [minisocial handles all the nitty gritty]( so you can spend more time on your to do list and less time going back and forth with creators. See why hundreds of brands trust minisocial with their micro influencer & UGC activations. [Click Here to Launch Your First Campaign!]( *Sponsored GROWTH HACKING 🚀 Deep Dive Into Temu’s Referral Program During the Super Bowl, [Temu]( made an aggressive advertising move by running six $7 million dollar ads and spending $10 million on giveaways. Having an enormous ad budget has definitely helped Temu grow into an ecommerce behemoth, but what we’ll discuss today is how Temu can convert those one-time buyers into repeat customers. The secret? 👀 Referrals. Lots of them. Their referral program is a force to be reckoned with and allows Temu to rapidly grow their audience. [92% of customers are more likely to trust referrals from family, friends, and their favorite influencers](, and Temu relies on this information to build out its customer database. How Temu’s referral program works: - Existing users can share a unique link to family and friends via social media or messaging apps like WhatsApp. - When someone signs up using the shared link, creates an account, and makes their first purchase, both parties are rewarded with a shopping credit. 💰 - This amount is automatically credited to your Temu account and can be used for another purchase within a set time frame. Customers who refer others are generously rewarded with shopping credits. And Temu influencers can earn up to [a mind boggling $100,000 per month]( which encourages them to promote the megastore heavily online. Why this works so well: - This is an attractive offer since most products sold on the Temu site already have low prices and getting a referral credit only adds to the cost savings effect. - By building a strong referral program, it prompts more app downloads so it’s no surprise they are the number one downloaded app in the U.S. and Canada. Takeaways for SMBs: - Running a referral program is a great way to turn customers into advocates for your brand and keep your customer acquisition cost (CAC) low. - Buyers are more likely to trust a brand when it’s recommended by a friend or family member - By offering a discount for every referral, customers feel like they are ‘saving’ money on their next purchase. Have you tried running a referral program for your ecommerce store? 🌐 IN THE SOCIAL SPHERE To build a successful brand, always put your customer’s needs first so they stay loyal. Can't view the image? [Click here]( 🧰 THE TOOLKIT 🙅 You don't need a hundred support agents to run a 7-figure DTC brand. Use AI to cut your support costs in half, [join 2000+ brands using Richpanel’s AI helpdesk.]( * 🚀 Are you a small business that can’t seem to crack Meta? Cornea Care saw a 97% ROAS increase with Pilothouse’s new Launchpad Program. [Get connected](. * 📰 NEWS - Google Ads will now show you [which sites your ads are running on in their Performance Max Placement Report](. - Buy now pay later service provider [Klarna is in talks for a 20 billion IPO](. - Amazon aggregator Thrasio [files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection](. - Threads is growing faster than X with [triple the amount of daily downloads on iOS.]( 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](. Have you heard our latest podcasts? - 👚 Oren John on Launching a [Premium Niche Fashion Brand]( - 💰 [AKNF 381:]( The Ultimate CRO Framework for Media Buyers - 🧦 Streamlining Success – Outway's Taylor Fraser on [Simplifying to Scale Ecommerce]( - 👀 [AKNF 379:]( TikTok Shop Affiliates: The Time Is Now - 🔗 Ezra Firestone on [Proactive SEO and Brand Acquisitions]( - 📈 [AKNF 377:]( Spilling our Performance Max Google Ad Secrets Don’t forget to [rate the DTC Podcast]( on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) DTC Newsletter is written by [Rebecca Knight]( and [Frances Du](. Edited by [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]( [Unsubscribe](