DTC859: Emojis in Ad Creatives, CRO Tactics, and David Protein’s New Launch

Good morning, 

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

😃 Emojis = More Conversions
Boost ad clicks and brand trust.

🚀 Email CRO = Hidden Retention Win
Unlock better performance through CRO tactics.

🚨 Daily Tariff Update
The latest trade deal. 

🐟 David Protein’s Unexpected LaunchTakes the internet by surprise. 

You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Personal Wine, Drink Jove, and Fujitsu. 👋

🤔 Be Honest, Do You Want to Spend the Next 5 Months Building Your In-House Team… or Scaling?

Because building in-house looks like this: 👇
Hiring. Onboarding. Managing. Hoping it all clicks before your next big push.

Most brands that join DTC are chasing the same two things: scale and efficiency. 

Pilothouse helps you do both, instantly.

You get a full omnichannel growth team—media buyers, creatives, and strategists—already moving.

We’re currently working with 125+ brands across paid social, search, email, Amazon, and more and have generated over $750M in partner revenue.

Recently, we ran a 24-account Amazon A/B test that showed an average conversion increase of 23%. Insights our partners didn’t have to lift a finger to benefit from.

If you’re looking for a team that’s already learning across accounts to bring you the most up-to-date information, scale tactics, and testing strategies… 👇

😃 Why You Need To Test Emojis In Your Next Campaign

Adding emojis to your ad creative can be a simple and effective way to boost engagement and make your brand feel more relatable. 

More benefits of using emojis in ads: 

1️⃣ Emojis are an easy way to distill complex ideas into bite-sized, visual content that’s easy to process.

2️⃣ It’s a scrappy tactic that helps campaigns get up and running fast—no meme-hunting required.

3️⃣ They’re also a smart way to freshen up seasonal campaigns. 

• 🏈 Footballs for Super Bowl ads
• ❤️ Hearts for Valentine’s Day
• 👻 Ghosts for Halloween

4️⃣ And an easy way to show off your product's flavor or color scheme.

It’s surprisingly effective and backed by real numbers.

The Pilothouse team has found that emoji creative works great in evergreen ads. And performs well during promo periods and with product launches. 

The example below has been working for CPAP.com has had a 48% higher click attributed ROAS compared to the account average.

Before you write this off as just another growth hack, here’s one more tip:

Use emojis your audience would actually use.

It’s not just about adding any emoji. Use ones that add visual interest, but also feel relevant. 

Think about how your customer would describe your product or its benefits in a text to a friend and pull emoji inspiration from there.

The takeaway? 

Emojis are an easy way to simplify messaging and boost likeability. 

Seasonal emojis keep ads feeling fresh and can lift CTR and lower CPC. 

But at the end of the day, relevance matters. Choose emojis that appeal to your target audience. 

Give it a try. Set up an A/B test with and without emojis in your next campaign and see what kind of lift you get!

👀 Psst… Missing This Post-Purchase Step Means You’re Leaving Money On The Table

➡️ Most brands obsess over optimizing the path to purchase—then stop at the thank-you page. That’s a mistake.

If you’re not monetizing your post-purchase flow, you’re leaving easy money on the table. 💸

👉 Rokt Thanks by AfterSell changes that.

Here’s how it works:

• After checkout, show AI-personalized, premium offers from blue-chip brands like Disney+, HelloFresh, and Venmo.
• Earn pure profit with a $0.30–$0.60 lift per order.
• No code. No disruption. No cost.

📈 And the numbers speak for themselves:

• $30K–$60K in pure profit per 100K orders
• 16% engagement rate (7x better than traditional ads)
• A new revenue stream that doesn’t touch your checkout

Trusted by True Classic, Jones Road Beauty, Portland Leather Goods, Groove Life, and more.

🏆 It’s an easy win—and it’s completely free to try. 

📦 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. 

July 16, 2025 update:

• U.S. and Indonesia Reach A Trade Deal
  
  • The U.S. struck a trade deal with Indonesia, setting a 19% tariff on Indonesian imports (down from a proposed 32%) in exchange for tariff removal on U.S. exports.
    

• EU Visits D.C. Amid 30% Tariff Threat
  
  • EU Trade Chief Maroš Šefčovič is meeting U.S. officials in Washington to address Trump’s threatened 30% tariffs on EU goods, scheduled for August 1.
    
  • The EU has prepared ~€72 billion in retaliatory measures if talks fail.
    

• Russia Ultimatum: 100% Secondary Tariffs Remain Rhetorical
  
  • Trump’s threat of 100% tariffs on countries trading with Russia if Ukraine peace isn’t reached within 50 days has been dismissed by Russian officials.
    
  • The Kremlin labeled the threat ineffectual, and markets barely reacted.

🎧 Why CRO Is Really a Retention Channel in Disguise

In this episode of TWBERP (The World’s Best Email Retention Podcast), Jordan Gordon from Pilothouse is joined by CRO expert Evan to break down how optimizing your site experience is key to unlocking better email performance, higher AOVs, and scalable retention.

They cover how retention marketers should think about landing pages, buyer segmentation, bundling, and how to align paid and owned strategies for margin not just revenue.

In this episode, we dive into:

• Why everything is CRO: How every customer interaction should be optimized for conversion, AOV, or lifetime value—not just first purchase.

"You could have the best email in the world, but if it leads to a broken site experience, you're dead in the water."

• Treat emails like landing pages: Why you should think of email flows as micro landing pages.
  
• Unlocking AOV:  How tools like Klaviyo + Rebuy can dynamically upsell based on cart size, purchase history, or spend thresholds.

"A buyer looking at a $60 product doesn’t want to be upsold on a $1,500 item."

• Retention-first brands win on profit: Repeat buyers account for up to this percentage of revenue at scale.
  
• Segmenting buyers vs prospects is key! Why sending repeat buyers to the same pages as first-timers is a bad idea.

‍"Retention traffic is like Amazon traffic—credit card in hand. Treat them differently."

👉 Listen to the full episode with Jordan here.

💸 How much revenue are you missing from shoppers who slip through tracking gaps? TRX, an emerging fitness brand, boosted their revenue by $21K with Instant within the first 30 days. See how they did it here. *

David Protein, a brand known for their protein bars are quickly evolving their product offerings. 

The latest addition? Cod.

The cheeky copy on their site reads: “Slightly more protein per calorie than a David bar. We're committed to high protein, so we're selling it.”

What do you think of this unexpected launch?

📥 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?

• 🌱 Three Ships System for Trust-Driven Brand Growth 
• 🧠 AKNF 524: The Retention Blueprint for 4 Customer Cohort Types 
• 🫐 Ad-venturous 10: A Little Lad That Loves Berries and Cream?
• ❌ TWBERP 41: List Growth, Spam Flags, and What Actually Works
• 🚴 Re-acquisition Story: Revel Bikes Founder Buys Back Brand 
• 💡 AKNF 522: How To Strategically Win a 4 Day Prime on Amazon

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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