Good morning,
Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC:
🚀 Scaling to $1B Without Ads
We look at Simple Modern’s playbook.
💑 Turn Community Into Growth
How Mira built a powerful ambassador network.
🚨 Daily Tariff Update
Costs for consumers are going up.
⏹️ Crop Your Ad Creatives
Less blank space = better performance.
You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Infios, Sailing Whitsundays, and Homechef. 👋
👋 Hey, Justin From DTC Partnerships Here
If you’re a SaaS founder or marketer looking to connect with ecommerce decision-makers, this is a message for you. 👇
DTC’s community of 150K+ engaged ecommerce founders, marketers, and decision-makers are actively searching for tools to drive growth.
Especially now as they plan for the most important time of year.
As SaaS leaders, you know it’s crucial to reach the right people at the right time. That’s where our paid advertising opportunities come in.
Connect your brand with our engaged community through our newsletter, podcast and social channels.
This August, we’re offering limited-time discounts on our advertising solution. 👀 Making this the perfect time to put your solution in front of them!
Curious to learn more? Reach out to me by clicking here! 👈
💰 How Simple Modern Scaled on Amazon and Entered Retail
Most billion-dollar brands pour huge budgets into paid ads.
But Simple Modern took a different route and won big.
If you’re relying solely on ads to grow, this strategy shows how organic, retail leverage, and viral moments can get you further with less spend.
Here’s how they scaled into a billion-dollar brand:
1️⃣ They cracked the Amazon search code
From day one, Simple Modern focused on winning organic rankings instead of outspending competitors.
Their secret? SKU variety.
Some water bottle products offered over 45 color options, boosting conversion rates because shoppers were more likely to find their personal color preference.
Higher conversions meant better search placement, and Amazon rewarded them with prime visibility. 📈
👉 More relevant options = more conversions = better rankings.
‼️ Action step: Audit your top SKUs today and identify if there are any potential opportunities to expand color/size variations for your top sellers.
2️⃣ They used retail as a growth multiplier
Once Simple Modern dominated Amazon, they approached Target armed with data.
They showed they were the #1 seller in a category Target was losing to Amazon, and they knew exactly which SKUs would move in-store.
With proof in hand, Target said yes.
👉 When pitching retail, lead with undeniable sales data.
3️⃣ They turned TikTok virality into sales
A single viral TikTok doubled their Amazon sales and created a “halo effect” across channels.
TikTok drove brand awareness, and both Amazon and their DTC store saw the lift.
Co-founder Bryan Porter shares content about new drops or seasonal products consistently perform best.
👉 Social buzz fuels marketplace sales. Make sure your content plan supports both.
4. They spent small, but smart, on ads
While most brands spend 15–20% of revenue on paid ads, Simple Modern spends just 5%. They honed in on:
👉 Paid ads work best when they fill ranking gaps, not when they’re your only growth lever.
The takeaway?
You don’t need an aggressive ad budget to scale.
Simple Modern’s billion-dollar growth came from optimizing for high-converting organic search, leveraging viral content to drive multi-channel sales and using data as their strongest sales pitch in retail.
Be discoverable, be shareable, and back it all up with numbers.
✍️ Ready To Simplify Things? Create, Send, And Track UGC Agreements In Minutes
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* 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.
August 12, 2025 update:
🎧 Why Community Should Precede Paid: Mira’s Femtech Playbook
In this DTC podcast episode, Katherine Sakovich, CMO at Mira, shares how Mira scaled into a multi‑product hormonal health platform via community-led, educative marketing.
She discusses positioning tactics, messaging for sensitive journeys, product‑marketing integration, and the evolving role of AI.
In this episode, we dive into:
"We created a group that answers questions to each other and recommends products. They’ve become our brand ambassadors."
"What our consumers wanted directly influenced what products we developed next, like adding hormone tests for ovarian reserve."
"Not only do these webinars with health experts provide value, but we were able to repurpose them into evergreen funnel assets."
"AI handles about 40% of our customer support tickets, and it gets better reviews than human agents. Customers appreciate the quick responses and accuracy."
👉 Listen to the full episode with Katherine here.
🔎 Can your customers find your brand using AI? Get these tools to help your brand win in the era of AI-powered shopping. Find everything you need—from discovery to conversion. Get the toolkit. *
* sponsored
[Screenshot via @binghott / X]
Here’s an easy way to improve your ad performance: Crop your image so it fills the frame.
Less dead space. Bigger, clearer text.
Every pixel matters, so don’t waste them!
Test tighter crops on your top statics.
Can't view the image? Click here
🧇 August 24: Knife Day, Kiss and Makeup Day, Waffle Day
👕 August 25: Secondhand Wardrobe Day, Banana Split Day
🧻 August 26: National Dog Day, Toilet Paper Day, Cherry Popsicle Day
🦀 August 27: Crab Soup Day, Just Because Day
🍷 August 28: Red Wine Day, Bow Tie Day, Power Rangers Day
🍋 August 29: Lemon Juice Day, More Herbs Less Salt Day
💜 August 30: National Beach Day, Slinky Day, Wear It Purple Day, Toasted Marshmallow Day
📥 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.
Please note that items in this newsletter marked with * contain sponsored content.
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