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Good morning,
Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC:
📅 May Sales Triggers
Q2 micro-holidays you can’t miss.
⚒️ Ad Performance Lagging?
Tips on how to diagnose your Meta account.
📦 Daily Tariff Update
The latest breaking news.
😳 ChatGPT’s Identity Crisis?
Why users want less “nice,” more real.
You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Nurture Life, BKV Energy, and Frankie Roberts. 👋
🛍️ Selling On Walmart Marketplace Is One Of 2025’s Smartest Investments
For ecommerce brands looking to diversify their sales and expand their footprint, there’s no better time to join Walmart Marketplace. 🛒
Right now, Walmart’s New-Seller Savings event is offering new sellers up to $75K in incentives, which includes up to 75% off base referral fees and generous credits toward advertising and fulfillment.* 💸
🌟 Walmart is one of the world's most recognizable brands with over 255 million customers and members shopping at Walmart online and in-store around the world each week.
New-Seller Savings runs from sign up to January 31, 2026, so don’t wait—the faster you start, the more opportunity you’ll have to save. 💲
Take advantage of this unprecedented offer and the endless opportunities on Walmart.com
*Offer subject to eligibility criteria, promotional savings will vary by seller. See full terms and conditions for offer details.
* sponsored
📅 May Micro-Holidays Matter
Micro holidays throughout the year are more important than you think in the DTC space.
Pilothouse shares that latching a promo onto a micro holiday can help boost sales during a lower sales season.
Even if the sales are smaller and drive incremental revenue, it's also an opportunity to build YoY growth and collect data for great sales goals during peak seasons.
Look at micro holidays as planting seeds and watching a great tree grow.
Use these opportunities to:
1️⃣ Split Testing Promo Styles
Take a micro holiday to split test offer styles to see which ones convert the best for your brand and audience.
Try different promo styles like BOGOs (buy one get one), free shipping thresholds, tiered offers, percentage levels off, dollar vs percentage off, or free gift with purchase.
Though the results of these split tests might be smaller, you can take the top converting offer and replicate your findings for peak BFCM promos.
👉 Last year, Pilothouse saw a 500% increase in YoY growth in sales in Q4 with clients who split-test promos throughout the year.
2️⃣ Speed Up Creative Learning
Micro holidays are also an opportunity to plant a Trojan horse for future promos, because of the 3-day learning period Meta ads go through and the lack of data gathered in a small period of a promo time, pushing a higher budget behind creatives can be tricky.
This is why we make sure to mix in broad promo messaging creatives.
Using terms like “limited time off” or “This is it.” “Sale on now.” So that each time we have a promo in the year, we turn the broad message sales ad creative back on, allowing them to gain momentum and learnings.
These ads tend to pick up speed faster and allow us to be comfortable pushing higher budgets behind them when the sales period comes.
No more waiting 3 days. These creatives also tend to be the top performing during Q4, time and time again.
There are quite a few in May, and if you blink, you might miss them.
Mother’s Day and Memorial Day are the most well-known and usually have brand promos attached to the days.
Even if your product is not patriotic or a mother-centric brand, there is still an opportunity to have holiday promotions that give businesses a great chance to drive sales, strengthen their brand presence, and connect with customers at a time when spending is typically on the rise.
Here are a few micro holiday ideas to get you started:
🎉 May 5: Cinco de Mayo
💐 May 11: Mother’s Day
🚘 May 16: NASCAR Day
🎖️ May 17: Armed Forces Day
🇺🇲 May 26: Memorial Day
Want to see more micro-holidays? Make sure to scroll to the bottom of every newsletter we send out on Wednesdays for more!
⛱️ Millions Shop on Walmart.com to Stock Up for Summer Fun
Just ask NexGrill, an outdoor cooking and heating brand that joined Walmart Marketplace in 2022. With access to millions of customers, zero monthly fees, and powerful ecommerce tools, they grew from a small startup to a global brand in just two years. 📈
Today, they’re a Pro Seller with nearly triple the SKUs and a 200% YOY revenue increase. 💥
Now’s your chance to follow their lead, and as a new seller you’re eligible to save up to $75,000 in New-Seller Savings, Walmart’s incentive program going on now.
It’s their biggest offer ever and includes:
*Offer subject to eligibility criteria, promotional savings will vary by seller. See full terms and conditions for offer details.
* sponsored
📦 Your Daily Tariff Check-In
Whether it’s a minor tweak or a major shift, we’ll keep you posted on the latest tariff changes—so you’re always in the know.
May 2, 2025 update:
💡 Has Your Meta Performance Slowed?
If performance has slowed down in your Meta account, it’s important to pinpoint what’s causing slower performance.
Without digging deeper into the data, you might end up spinning your wheels and making moves that won’t actually move the needle and re-stabilize your account.
The Pilothouse Meta team recommends starting with these steps to determine where to focus your efforts:
1️⃣ Preclick Meta metric review:
Look at your CPMs, link CPC and CTR, and how they’re trending for the last 7, 14, and 30 days compared to the previous period and year.
In the screenshot below, front-end metrics are looking healthier than in the previous period and at a higher scale.
2️⃣ Post-click Meta metric review:
Dig into your cost per landing page view, add to cart, initiate checkout, and purchase.
You’ll also want to look at CVR, ROAS, and AOV for trends there. Same as above, review for the last 7, 14, and 30 days.
In the screenshot below, CVR is the main weak point in the account with a slight decrease compared to the previous period, signalling there might be an opportunity to look at user experience and post-click more.
3️⃣ Shopify Review:
Look at your overall store performance for changes in sessions, CVR, and AOV.
Is your CVR lower because you’re driving net new traffic that’s converting at a lower rate?
That might not be a terrible thing. Alternatively, CVR could be dropping from weaker quality traffic or a disconnect between what’s being advertised and where users are landing.
The Pilothouse team recommends reviewing these standard Shopify reports to get more insights:
4️⃣ GA4 Review:
Dive into your GA4 account to look at user behavior, engagement metrics, and conversion data more.
Session duration and engagement rate can help determine traffic quality and intent.
Get data from these reports to make decisions:
If you're still feeling stuck after reviewing, reach out and get your account back on track!
⚡ QUICK HITS
👏 This year’s New-Seller Savings is happening now and bigger than ever. New sellers can get up to $75K in incentives, including up to 75% off on base referral fees*. (See full T&C for offer details.) Check out all the savings here. *
📰 NEWS
💸 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
🌐 IN THE SOCIAL SPHERE
There’s been a growing number of users who claim that ChatGPT’s nice people-pleasing personality is making it difficult to get replies that challenge their assumptions.
Sam Altman agrees and promises changes are coming. He also hints that they are working at multiple personality options.
📅 EVENTS
Social Media Week - A premier event for marketers, creators, and media professionals exploring the future of digital communication. The 2025 edition highlights innovation in social strategy, storytelling, community building, and creator partnerships, offering valuable insights from top industry leaders.
📅 May 12-14, 📍 New York, NY 💰 $1,299
Retail Fest Australia - An immersive three-day conference designed for everyone from the biggest brands to emerging ecommerce startups. The event focuses on education, fun, and community, bringing together top retailers and solution providers to explore the latest trends and strategies in the retail industry.
📅 May 28-30, 📍 Queensland, Australia 💰 695 AUD
📥 Got a B2B Biz?
Join dozens of B2B companies finding demand-gen success through our niche community of 150k brand leaders and founders this year. Talk to our team to learn more.
Have you heard our latest podcasts?
Don’t forget to rate the DTC Podcast on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight and Frances Du. Edited by Eric Dyck.
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