Good morning,Â
Hereâs what youâll find in todayâs DTC:
âĄSteal This Meta Q4 Checklist
10 tips to scale profitably during this critical time. Â
âď¸ Different Content Types for Ads
How to use UGC, CGC, and EGC effectively.
đ The #1 Image Generation Tool
âSearch demand is exploding for ________.Â
Youâre reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Puphut, Derf Designs, and Everyone Active. đ
đ° Why Most Growth Strategies Fail Before They Start
Across leadership teams everywhere, the conversation is the same: âWe know we need to change.â
The problem? Theyâre still operating with yesterdayâs playbook.
In a recent USA Today feature, Kyle Hitchcox, Co-Founder of Pilothouse, urged brands, retailers, and agencies to rethink not just their strategies but their teamsâ mindset.
âGrowth doesnât happen in silos anymore,â Hitchcox explained. âIt happens where strategy, brand direction, and customer acquisition through media feed each other in real time.â
That shift has driven Pilothouse to redesign how it works with clients, embedding strategy into execution, tightening feedback loops, and helping teams adapt faster to AI and market change.
It raises the question: Is your team built to adapt in real time, or are you relying on systems designed for yesterdayâs market?
đ The years to come will reward brands that embrace change, not fear it. Pilothouse is already helping them lead the way.
*Â sponsored
đ° Scale Profitably During Peak Q4 SeasonÂ
Q4 isnât just another quarter, itâs Metaâs Super Bowl.Â
Competition is fierce, ad costs spike, and every brand is fighting for consumer attention during the busiest shopping season of the year.
To win, you need more than just great offers. You need a clear game plan, and creative that cuts through the noise.
The Pilothouse Meta team shares this checklist to make sure your accounts are prepped, your creative is ready, and your campaigns can scale without costly hiccups.Â
Map out your offer calendar and finalize your promos for BFCM and other seasonal moments throughout Q4.
Dial in a mix of UGC, statics, video and sale assets that you can scale throughout peak season.
Grow retargeting lists and spend into prospecting now to help grow your retargeting audience, along with your email list.
đĄ These are also valuable audiences for building lookalikes in your ad account.
Dial in your evergreen testing structure and find your top angle and creative that can be scaled in evergreen alongside promo ads.
If relevant for your brand, consider whether you want to test running lead gen to grow your email list with messaging like âSign up for VIP access.â
The Pilothouse team recommends running purchase campaigns for this, sending users to a landing page on site with a lead form.
Confirm browser and CAPI events are all sending correctly, along with checking the accuracy and any room to improve event match quality.
Leverage owned channels to reinforce paid messaging and sync offers across Meta, Google and email.
Chances are, Meta will restrict your ad account if your primary payment fails multiple times, and Q4 is no time for downtime.
Double check your billing setup now and add a backup card to avoid disruptions in delivery!
The window between exiting Black Friday messaging and heading into holiday shipping cut-offs is tight.
âThe Pilothouse team recommends having holiday messaging planned in advance to make the transition a smooth one!
Pre-build and schedule campaigns to avoid launch-day delays. This way, your ads have already gone through Metaâs review process.
Every missed detail is money left on the table. Button this list up today, and give yourself the breathing room to focus on scaling, not scrambling, in Q4.
đ§ When To Use UGC, CGC, and EGC
In this preview of Ad-venturous on All Killer, No Filler, Aves breaks down the three pillars of modern creator content: UGC, CGC, and EGC and when to use each one in your media mix.
This episode is packed with practical, low-lift strategies that brands can implement fast.
In this episode, we explore:
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.
âDonât be lazy. Take UGC thatâs already working and add a sale overlay. It takes 5 minutes.â
Short-Form Video That Converts: Â We discuss the âspectrum brainstormâ method to create short-form content that visually demonstrates your productâs value in under five seconds.
âStart with the most boring way to show your USP, then the craziest, and land somewhere in the middle.â
Static Ads That Still Work: From text-only formats to comic-style ads, Avery shares scrappy but high-performing static ideas especially for brands with limited resources.
âA strike-through discount list or a founder letter ad can be done fast and convert well.â
đ Listen to the full episode with Aves here.
Searches for âNano Bananaâ are climbing rapidly.
Why is this happening? This new free AI image generator went viral last week, although there was no official launch or information about who was behind it.
Users on X showed off photorealistic creations and praised its ability to create a consistent character across scenes, which has been a struggle for other image generators.
Update: Itâs been since revealed that this is a new image editing tool by Google and can now be found on the Gemini app.
Discover the freshest and most innovative brands that caught our eye! We spotlight new and exciting companies redefining their industries.
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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.
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