As UFO sightings spike during Covid times, and more media, military, and government sources are acknowledging the reality of UFOs sharing our skies, weâre excited to see whatâs next.Â
While we donât have anti-gravitic technology that defies modern physics, we do have some high tech insights into the evolution of ChatBots and how to best use them in 2020.Â
We like to think that the marketing insights in this 3rd edition of DTC would impress even the most jaded grey đ˝
In the direct to consumer universe, we are definitely not alone -- Over 1500 DTC badasses have subscribed since our launch last week.
Today weâre covering:
đŚThe Second Invasion of the Chatbots: How to Maximally Leverage Chat in 2020
đŚOne Chatbot Strategy you Should Steal TODAY for Q4
đŚ3 Insights from the Most Useful Free Chatbot Resource
đŚGorgias Rolls Out Shark Tank for DTC Founders (apply free now)
đŚAcquiring Affiliate Content Sites and Mastering Google Shopping
đŚFacebook Sneaking Up on Zoom to Reclaim Meeting Supremacy
đŚOne Simple Amazon Hack to Maximize your Real Estate
Come for the advanced marketing insights, but read to the end for the wildest thing a Canadian politician has ever said about Alien life on earth (in a government hearing).Â
Ready to get Beamed the F*&^ Up? Read on, and letâs boldly go where few marketers have gone before. đ¸.
P.S. Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe right here.
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In 2019, Mark Zuckerberg said, âthe future is privateâ. And while he was hot on the heels of a privacy scandal đ , we couldnât agree more.
(Afterall, this newsletter exists to help your DTC marketing be leaner, faster, and more personal)
If youâre unsure whether investing in chatbots is worthwhile, check this out:Â
Takeaway: messaging platforms have 3.5 billion users -- and most marketers are totally ignoring these channels. Aka huge opportunity for you.
(Facebook could be announcing WhatsApp ads sometime this year)
Based on our research the two leaders are ManyChat and ChatFuel. But donât spend more than 5 minutes researching which one is right for you (#NoOverThink).
If you want to see a comparison, go check out ThinkTuitiveâs in-depth review and comparison here.
(Spoiler alert: they come out about even)
Our recommendation? Just pick one and go.
Text Style Animations: NHL Announces New Team
We swear that not all Canadians love hockey (Eric does). But all marketers can learn something from this newly released Instagram ad about the new expansion team, The Seattle Kraken đ.Â
Itâs funny without being cheesy and really captures the excitement around the new season, and the new team on the block from every teamâs unique personality perspective.
Bonus: This animated text style draws you in, and wonât trigger Facebookâs 20% text rule.
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Itâs time to think about Black Friday đ Steal this ChatBot growth strategy from Charley Tichenor (@Charleythedisruptor)
What it is, high-level: Run a huge-ass giveaway (Charley calls it a Million Dollar Giveaway). Could be a motorcycle, Tesla, or better yet, a whole lot of gift cards.
Most folks run a giveaway like this through email -- the chance to win is the lead-gen incentive, and the rest is carried out through email.
This strategy uses Facebook Live, a post-engagement ad campaign (for opt-ins), and chatbots (for nurturing).Â
â 3-4x ROAS spending 5 figures per week
â Opt-ins for less than $0.10 (versus $1.25 for an email via landing page)
â Open rates around 80%Â
Step 1: Run a big giveaway promotion on Facebook live. Ask your audience to tag a friend for a chance to win prizes.
Step 2: Use the comment to opt-in growth tool thatâs available via most industry-standard chatbots. Itâs just like it sounds -- users comment on a post or an ad and a chatbot automation is triggered.
Step 3: Use your Facebook live video and run a post-engagement campaign with it.
Step 4: Now that youâve built up momentum with this giveaway, engage your list on Messenger one day before Black Friday letting them know about your Black Friday promotion.
At this point, weâd be remiss if we didnât tell you about â Facebookâs 24+1 Rule â : In the first 24 hours of a user opting in to messaging, you can send as much promotional or non-promotional stuff as you want. After 24 hours are up, you can send as much non-promotional stuff as you want, and one promotional follow up. This is the 24+1 Rule.
Want to hack this rule? Try this same strategy in collaboration with influencers.
Now bring the heat with more traditional tactics...
Step 5: Depending on how long youâve been priming your list for this promotion, youâve likely already made a ton of sales. On Black Friday, go ahead and email your list (as much as you want, of course)
Step 6: Run a retargeting campaign to engagers (be sure to exclude purchasers).
Step 7: Extend this promotion from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, to Cyber Week.
Donât want to do this by yourself? Share this strategy with your media buying team.
We asked around for the best chatbot resources and the unanimous winner was the ManyChat Community FB group.
Sage advice! Here are 3 insights we pulled from the group (within 5 minutes):
A video outlining a use case for ManyChatâs user input for SMS feature reveals that 90% of SMS messages are opened within 5 minutes of receipt. Eat your heart out, email.
Members of the group suggest avoiding the temptation to create complicated flows and to keep it simple. If your customer journey starts to look like a crazy spider web, consider breaking it up so that you have blocks of simple and linear paths.
While not specific to DTC brands, everyone can benefit from some networking magic. Check out this unique business card bot flow for yourself.
Want more? Join the ManyChat community.
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Apply to Gorgias Shark Tank Style Show -- Get Matched with Investors
Our partners over at Gorgias are putting a "Shark Tank"-like show together for eCommerce brands to help scale their businesses, and theyâre looking for fast-growing companies to participate.Â
Brands will have a chance to pitch their company to investors, and will be questioned based on their pitch.Â
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It's called Vested Interest, and you can apply here. Participating brands will be chosen based how well their investment profile matches with the ones from the investors looking to invest. If you are currently looking to raise capital, then youâre a good candidate to apply!Â
Being on the show gives you an opportunity to:
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If youâd like to tune in to view the first episode on August 6th at 1:30pm EST, please register here.Â
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If you have any questions about the application, please reach out to Gorgias Partner Manager for Private Equity and Venture Capital firms, Rohan Kapoor at rohan@gorgias.com. If selected to participate, you can expect him to reach out with more details.Â
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Now that Facebook has their conference call game dialed with Messenger Rooms, theyâve unveiled the ability to take Messenger Rooms LIVE.Â
(Previously this was only possible through third party applications such as Zoom)
Why this is awesome: Remember Charleyâs chatbot strategy above? Consider whatâs possible with a live staff party announcing a million-dollar giveaway via a live Messenger Room đĄ
Facebookâs algorithms will reward you for keeping the action on their platform. Live Messenger Rooms is a way you can promote conversations on the FB platform, and youâll bring home more bacon, as a result đĽ.
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Slack is critical infrastructure for any DTC company. You can tell the health of an agency by the frequency, and depth of their conversations.Â
That being said, with Slack Culture you need to balance critical business communication with straight up trolling.Â
We love Josh Elizetxe. Heâs a friend and a client, but heâs also a high profile public figure in our space, which means heâs fair game for Slack tomfoolery.
Did someone say TEETH? đڎđ
Weâve talked to a few high profile food and beverage founders and not all of them are enamoured with DTC marketing. Manny Lubin, Co-founder of Slate Milk states
âThe food/bev industry really doesn't believe in it yet. Even the Chairman of my board who was at Unilever for a while said he 'never really thought it mattered until he joined Slateâ 'â
At scale, Manny sees an 80/20 mix for retail/dtc but as the marketing founder in a duo, heâs not afraid to push the DTC agenda. He thinks improvements to warehousing could open the doors for more DTC Food and Beverage companies.
âWith the weight of beverages we're also starting to see micro-warehouses pop up in major cities. Long term, I think that's the solution. Tons of mini warehouses all over the country and brands like GrubHub and Postmates leasing out their drivers.â
We believe in you Manny! Keep grinding on DTC and as we discussed in the cast, you NEED to turn your Shark Tank Experience into GOLD.
(Looking for your Own Shark Tank experience? Join Gorgiasâ Vested Interest and Get Matched Up with Funding)Â
Manny Lubinâs Full Interview about DTC for Food and Beverage is here
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đŚ Tweet: @andrewjfaris wins the week with a great thread about great expectations, falling short, the weakness of projections, and finding silver liningsÂ
đ¸Instagram: [Design Style] Give any video subject superpowers with this guyâs style. We love this Dragon Ball Z style animation
đPodcast: Â My First Million (yes again) Craig Clemmens from Golden Hippo Lays out the 10 things he learned spending a billion dollars.Â
đ Resources: Check out MarketingExamples.com for high quality inspiration (you can rip off) for things like upsell funnels, giveaway contests, referrals, cold emails and more.Â
đŚ Tweet: @allenthird shares some dubious results driven by a legacy agency and asks âis 1.15 ROAS on $18K spend worth this $30K agency fee.â The always brilliant @social_savannah chimes in âthis reveals the biggest problem with "big" agencies. They have too much overhead to be able to charge competitive/fair rates.â
đ§ľFB Thread: Friend of DTC, Josh Elizetxe invites all to share âShopify Apps You Canât Live Without.â The answers might surprise you!
âď¸Article: Wouldnât be a DTC without a reference to Jobs To Be Done. This blog post from JustinJackson.ca is awesome, filled with exact examples of how to talk to your customers. Never forget: âPeople want their lives to be better. They have a vision of where they want to go. But there are obstacles in their path. Customers hire products to help them move forward; to make progress towards their vision of a better life.â
đŚ Tweet: The legend @RyanDeiss description of customersâ post-covid buying habits âGraze and Hoardâ Customers are buying more lower priced items, as well as more higher priced items, but mid-tier items have fallen off a cliff.Â
đşTV Show: Have you watched Alone? This shit is nuts. 10 people get sent into wilderness, ALONE, with a couple items of their choice and cameras to film. Last one to be rescued wins. But they donât know when others are dropping out. Watch them all on Daily Motion.
đ˝Aliens Still here? Did you know Canadaâs former Minister of Defense went on the record about Aliens in 2013?Â
đ¨đŚđCanadians donât lie, keep your eyes on the sky!Â
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