2022 PLANNING - What the best DTC brands are focusing on next year

⬆️ David Gaylord: Co-founder and CEO at Bushbalm. A daily skincare and ingrown hair prevention brand.

In 2022 we're going to be doubling down on upsells.

We took this for granted for many years as we thought our AOV was strong. Recently we started testing new offers and the lift has been incredible on specific items.

The additional value is that you can run these offers without jeopardizing onsite pricing. As our product line grew, upsells and cross sells became a key part of the funnel.

You simply can't run one ad selling everything in your store. It's too complicated for the consumer. You need to sell more complimentary items later in the funnel when they trust and understand your brand.

That's where you get your AOV up and give the customer what they truly want.

🙋‍♂️ Troy Petrunoff: Retention Marketing Manager at Every Man Jack. High quality, naturally-derived, and responsibly-made personal care products.

Conversational SMS

We started experimenting with conversational SMS towards the end of the year in two ways.

First, in our evergreen welcome flow where we asked if the user prefers using body wash or body bars.

Second, in our Holiday welcome flow where we asked if they were shopping for themselves, for gifts, or for both.

The engagement was higher than expected, and really gave us useful data that we could use for segmentation and to serve them more relevant content.

We'll definitely be doing more here in 2022.

🥤 Eli Weiss & Steven Vigilante: Director of Customer Experience and New Business Development at Olipop. The delicious, refreshing soda you love with digestive health benefits you need.

Number 1: Investing in CX has continuously proven to be a huge one for us. Our NPS on customer support is in the 90s and is a huge revenue driver for us as an org.

We'll keep investing in elevating the customer experience.

Number 2: Segmentation on communication has worked really well really well to help keep down unsubscribe rates but also massively shift the dial on revenue via email and SMS.

The goal for '22 is to get the right message to the right person at the right time.

Number 3: Taking the time to find talent & influencer partners that truly are fans of the brand.

Then leveraging internal resources to build meaningful relationships and marketing campaigns with both the talent and the team around them.

🥾 Eric Girouard: Founder & CEO of Brunt Workwear. Premium work boots for a better price by selling directly to you online – no BS.

There is only one reason we were able to achieve the incredible growth we saw in 2021, and it all comes down to team.

Each new member of the team scaled us up in an area that was bursting at the seams before their arrival, and we wouldn't have been able to sustain without them.

🛀 Matt Mullenax: Co-founder & CEO at Huron. Clean, science-backed grooming products that work.

What we're doubling down on: Amazon.

Over the past 18 months, Amazon bolstered its prominence as the most reliable retailer in terms of shipping timeframes.

What used to be a dismissed platform for fear of brand dilution is now a prominent part of the brand/product discovery cycle.

Our Amazon business has grown exponentially without much of a concerted effort on our end (and that's been a miss on my end).

We course corrected and started to really hone-in on the channel about six months ago and we're seeing an immediate impact.

I believe that success of the channel is predicated around product quality and pricing.

It's the most brutally objective channel: Customers like the product, or they don't.

And they're not shy to let you know. Brands that invest in product quality will win (so long as price points are within reason).

And brands that don't might find themselves battling the Amazon review machine to gain traction.

🚀 Pilothouse team: Facebook

Specifically for 2022 Black Friday/Cyber Monday, the FB team is planning to double down on:

1. Early access lead gen through October and early November (plus, crank up retargeting during the actual sale).

2. On the creative side, more shots of warehouses, boxes, and things being shipped. This crushed for Pilothouse!

3. More TOF efforts like YouTube and TikTok leading up to the sale.

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