DTC845: Refy’s Broadcast Channel, Customer Retention, and SMS IOS 26 Update

Good morning, 

Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC:

♥️ Refy’s IG Playbook
How their broadcast channel drives major engagement. 

💰 Stop Losing Customers
Learn how to drive repeat purchases. 

📦 Daily Tariff Update
The EU prepares retaliatory tariffs. 

📱 iOS Update Impact
What it means for your SMS campaigns.

You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: CoVest, Sunrise Beverages, and Frolic & Forge. 👋

🤔 Your Competitors Are Posting These Results. Why Aren’t You?

+48% revenue in 6 months ✅
-22% CPA with +33% Google conversions ✅
+200% Meta revenue, +48% new customer ROAS ✅

(All real. All from Pilothouse clients. All recent.)

If you're still:

• Stuck in strategy limbo
• Watching performance dip
• Burning through budget with no real growth...

It's time to ask: Why not you?

We’ve got a few spots open for brands serious about scaling in Q3, Q4, and beyond. 

If that’s you—let’s talk.

💡 How Refy Builds Community and Unlocks Insights 

Are you using IG’s Broadcast feature to its fullest potential?

Refy Beauty excels at creating an online community using Instagram’s broadcast feature.

The tool enables the brand to create a group chat with loyal customers, boosting it to over 16.2K members who are highly engaged and eager to support the brand.

How does Refy keep the group chat convo going? 

Here are a few tactics they use to create a thriving Broadcast channel:

1️⃣ The brand posts regularly: Refy is consistent about messaging the group chat, but only when they have something of value to share. 

👉 Regular updates also keep the brand at the top of users’ DM inboxes. 

2️⃣ Community building content strategy: Rather than only messaging about upcoming sales, Refy primarily focuses on community building.

Content ideas include posting beautiful inspo images, information about IRL events, and celebrating the brand’s key milestones (e.g. product anniversaries). 

Unlike other brands like Tarte, which prioritize taking mega-influencers on expensive brand trips, Refy focuses more on surprising smaller creators with gifts and experiences. 

3️⃣ Use a variety of content. Members receive texts, images, and even voice memos from Refy’s marketing team, so the conversation feels casual, and members view the brand as a close friend with a juicy tidbit. 

👉 They cater to a wide range of communication preferences, making the chat feel inclusive. 

4️⃣ Empowers customers: Refy makes it clear that its members have a genuine say in how the business is run. 

The brand frequently asks members about their thoughts on new products and what they would like to see in the future. 

This is an invaluable data point for the brand and helps drive further discussion. 

Recently, Refy also let its members help them decide the gift with purchase for their summer sale. 

💡 Also a great way of indirectly plugging an upcoming sale!

The takeaway?

For Refy, community comes first. 

By investing time into their Broadcast channel, they’ve been able to build an exclusive community that is willing to participate and accelerate awareness and conversions. 

How does your brand build community online? Reply back for a chance to get featured in the newsletter!

⚙️ Are You Growing Your Business Or Just Feeding The Meta Machine?

😬 You're trapped in a bidding war, fighting over the same shrinking pool of customers already ready to buy, burning through your budget to stand out.

🤔 But what if, instead of trying to capture existing demand, you could create new demand?

Smart DTC brands are building Owned Influencer Communities – networks of creators who genuinely love their products and consistently talk about them– ongoing relationships that compound over time. 📈

The result: ➡️ Predictable influence that reduces dependency on Meta ads while expanding your market.

🔥 You're not bidding against competitors anymore. You're creating demand they can't touch.

👏  Brands like Gruns, Obvi, Branch, and Solawave are already using SARAL to build influencer communities that generate predictable ROI while their competitors burn cash on Meta.

Ready to break free?

📦 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. 

June 24, 2025 update:

The EU Prepares Retaliatory Tariffs

• The EU warns that it will retaliate if Trump's 10% baseline tariff remains.
• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz shares, "We're ready to use a variety of options if there is no deal. We can and we will defend our interests."
• This includes introducing levies on US technology companies and limiting access to public procurement contracts for American businesses.
• Trump threatens to impose a 50% "reciprocal" tariff on the EU if there is no trade agreement by July 9.

🎧 How To Keep Your Customers Long Term 

In this episode of TWBERP Jordan Gordon from Pilothouse’s email and retention team shares how brands can stop losing customers and build long‑term value through three core retention pillars: product, support, and promotion. 

Learn how small, inexpensive tactics—like in‑box QR codes, targeted drip flows, rule‑book bots, and booster‑pack coupons—can drive repeat purchases and customer loyalty.

In this episode, we dive into:

• Promotion as Catalyst: Jordan shares that coupons are important but coupons shouldn't be relied on for retention alone. 

“Retention isn’t driven by discounting—it’s driven by whoever builds the most seamless, supportive, entertaining post‑purchase experience.”

• Sending Targeted Messages: Collect zero‑party data at signup to trigger targeted onboarding flows.
  
  
• Adding Packaging Enhancements: Displaying bounce-back coupons, playlists via QR code, and missing-part boosters to enhance product usage.
  
  
• Ways To Improve Customer Support: Reduce retention friction with an SEO optimized FAQ page and chatbots to answer questions immediately.
  
  “Customer support is a massive part of customer retention. When someone Googles and lands on Reddit, that is a retention experience.”
  

👉 Listen to the full episode with Jordan here.

If your brand relies on SMS, here's an important update you need to be aware of. 

Apple's new IOS update (IOS 26) will send texts to another folder if the recipient doesn't have the number saved. 

What this means: Brands sending out promotional texts will receive less visibility once the update is released in August. 

‍What to do next: Pilothouse suggests sending SMS subscribers a plain-text email to add your brand as a contact so you don't miss out on exciting and exclusive text offers.

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⚡ Browsers don’t pay the bills. Buyers do. DotDigital's checklist gives you the steps you need to turn browsers into loyal buyers, including personalization insights, segmentation secrets, and data clarity. Get your checklist now. *

📥 Got a B2B Biz? 

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Have you heard our latest podcasts?

• 🚴 Bookstrapping Revel Bikes from Innovation to Acquisition 
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• 🧓 Ad-venturous 6: All About Baby Boomers 
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• 🍘 How Back To Nature Repositioned Away From ‘Plant-Based’
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DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight and Frances Du. Edited by Eric Dyck.

Please note that items in this newsletter marked with * contain sponsored content.