DTC886: Swipe To Reveal Carousels, Labour Day Checklist, and Reworking Old Creatives

Good morning, 

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

🔥 Improve IG Engagement
Using this ‘swipe-to-reveal’ carousel tactic. 

💪 Crush Your Q3 Promotions!
Steal this Labor Day checklist.

💡 Influencer Marketing Mistakes
And how to turn it into a predictable growth engine. 

🚨 Daily Tariff Update
China responds to U.S.’s 50% on India

💡 Rework Your Old Ads
Easy way to lift ad performance. 

You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: cinder + salt, England Golf, and Big Dot of Happiness. 👋

🔥 Caudalie’s IG Engagement Trick: Swipe To Reveal Carousels

Last year, we talked about how DTC brands were using pixelated photos on Instagram to tease upcoming product launches.

Now that trend has evolved. 

Brands are leveraging “swipe to reveal” carousels, a format that builds curiosity slide by slide, to keep followers engaged longer.

Example: Caudalie’s Lip Balm Launch

‍Caudalie recently used this tactic to debut a new lip balm. 

This is how they did it: 

• Slide 1: At the bottom of the image they included simple instructions: “Hold down on the dots and slide to reveal our latest launch.” This text prompt guides followers on what to do next if they’ve never seen this format before.
  
• Slides 2–7: Create progressively clearer images of the product.
  
• Slide 8: Revealed a high-res shot of their new product.
  

Why this tactic works: 

• Uses curiosity as a hook: Withholding the final reveal entices users to keep swiping until the very end and helps with engagement.
  
• Reward loop: The payoff at the end gives followers a nice dopamine rush.
  
• Algorithm advantage: Instagram favors carousels because they keep people on the platform longer. If a user doesn’t swipe the first time, IG often resurfaces the post starting from the next slide which can help with reach.
  

The takeaway? 

Caudalie is already seeing great engagement numbers with this post. Swipe-to-reveal carousels can add intrigue, prime customers for your launch, and boost post visibility.

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📦 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 22, 2025 update:

• China Signals Strategic Support for India Amid Tariff Disputes
  
  • China's ambassador to India Xu Fehong shares that Beijing "firmly opposes" the U.S. steep tariff on India for its oil procurement from Russia.
    
  • Xu compares the U.S. to a "bully" who is using tariffs as a "bargaining chip" to demand "exorbitant prices" from other nations and calls for greater co-operation between India and China.
    
  • India's 50% tariff rate is set to kick in on August 27th. 
    

Keep in mind: These details are current as of writing but could change before this reaches your inbox.

🎧 Labor Day Creative Wins to Carry into Q4

In this episode of Ad-venturous, Aves shares a comprehensive Labor Day checklist designed to help brands crush their Q3 promotions and set the tone for a confident Q4.

From smart use of UGC to building frictionless landing pages, this episode is packed with practical, low-lift strategies that brands can implement fast.

In this episode, we explore:

Why Labor Day Sets the Tone for Q4: Aves explains why brands that hit targets in Labor Day promos enter Q4 with more budget, flexibility, and confidence.

“If you exceed targets on Labor Day, Q4 becomes easy breezy. If you miss, panic starts to creep in.”

Using UGC, CGC, and EGC Effectively: The differences and ideal use cases for user, creator, and employee-generated content, and why each plays a role in sale campaigns.

“Don’t be lazy. Take UGC that’s already working and add a sale overlay. It takes 5 minutes.”

Short-Form Video That Converts: We discuss the “spectrum brainstorm” method to create short-form content that visually demonstrates your product’s value in under five seconds.

“Start with the most boring way to show your USP, then the craziest, and land somewhere in the middle.”

Landing Pages That Patch the Leaky Bucket: Avery emphasizes the importance of post-click experience, urging brands to avoid sending sale traffic to generic pages.

“Collection pages are a mistake. You need focused landing pages with product, content, and copy aligned to the offer.”

👉 Listen to the full episode with Aves here.

🎧 The Math Behind Influence and Why Most Influencer Marketing Fails with Yash Chavan from SARAL

In this episode of the DTC Podcast, Yash Chavan, founder and CEO of SARAL, lays out a math-driven strategy to help brands turn influencer marketing from a random experiment into a predictable growth engine.

He breaks down how to build brand awareness through a tiered system of seeding, ambassador programs, and strategic partnerships and explains why influencers should be treated as a flywheel, not a one-off tactic.

In this episode, we explore:

How to Engineer Brand Awareness with Math: Yash explains how consistent influencer visibility builds brand mindshare.

“You just need 100 active ambassadors posting at least once a month. That gives you three posts a day. Brand awareness, engineered.”

Why Traditional Influencer Marketing Fails: He breaks down why “spray and pray” seeding doesn’t work and how most brands give up too early.

The ‘Pyramid of Influence’ Framework: Yash dives into a 3-layer model that drives influence in the market. 

What to Actually Track: He emphasizes that ROI shows up beyond affiliate codes.

“Track direct traffic, brand search, and ad CTRs. That’s where the impact shows up.”

AI’s Role in Influencer Marketing: Yash explains how Saral’s tools help automate influencer discovery and messaging, but stresses that the core of influence is still human-to-human.

👉 Listen to the full episode with Yash here.

[Screenshot via @ollywhudson / X]

Are your ads no longer hitting the same way?

Olly Hudson shares how rebuilding an old ad is a great way to drive performance.

While the ad performed well last year, it was starting to lose steam. Trying a new angle and pairing it with a strong UGC gives it a big lift. 📈

The lesson here? Great creative isn’t always new. 

Reposition your ads so they resonate with why people buy today.

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📥 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?

• ✅ How Obvi Fixed Meta Pixel Poisoning & Recovered Performance 
• 🪄 AKNF 534: Google’s 90% “New Customer” Illusion
• ☠️ Ad-venturous 15: 6 Meta Ad Mistakes that Kill Scaling 
• 😎 TWBERP 46: The Only Browse Abandon Email You’ll Ever Need
• 💗 Mira’s Femtech Playbook: Why Community Should Precede Paid 
• 🧠 AKNF 532: What Smart Amazon Brands Do Differently 

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.