DTC921: Meta Value Rules, Crown Affair, and Thank You Page Optimization

Good morning,

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

⚒️ Setting Up Meta Value Rules
Optimize bids for different audience segments.

🚀 Crown Affair’s Growth Strategy
Scaling smart and embracing community.

🧠 Tap Into Hidden Opportunities
Turn your thank you page into a conversion machine.

You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Good Night Owl, Nak’d Dog, and Spellbound Wigs. 👋

💪 You + Over 25 DTC Titans = A Level-Up Like Never Before. Get Your Free Ticket To The Operators Masterclass

The biggest brands in ecommerce are coming together to help you smash Q4, grow your acquisition channels, and launch into next year. 🚀

👉 On October 29th, this live online masterclass gives you a step-by-step guide to channel growth, guided by 25+ top DTC executives.

🏆 Get winning strategy moves from all-star heavyweights like:

• Sean Frank, Ridge
• Cody Plofker, Jones Road
• Miranda Akins, Cuddle Clones
• Connor Rolain, HexClad
• Bryan Cano, True Classic
• And way too many more!

This is a FREE event by operators, for operators (literally).

Get first access to the event, the step-by-step playbook, weekly BTS breakdowns, plus, spend $5k and you’ll get $5k in ad credits (only 100 activation codes are available).

🎟️ Tickets are limited, so don’t delay.

💰 Do You Have Access To Meta’s Value Rules?

Meta’s latest update gives advertisers a powerful new lever to improve efficiency: Value Rules.

Rolled out across ad accounts in August, Value Rules let you adjust bids based on the true value of different customer segments so you can spend more where returns are strongest and less where they aren’t.

For example, if men aged 25-34 have the highest LTV for your brand, then you should bid higher on that audience and lower on a low LTV audience.

When you set up a value rule, it doesn’t automatically apply to all campaigns within the account. They’re applied at the ad set level, so you can decide when you want to use them. They’re also only available on highest volume campaigns.

If Value Rules live in your account, the Pilothouse team recommends testing them to better align Meta bidding with real business performance.

Here’s how to set up a value rule:

• Navigate to the settings page (shown below) and click on Value Rules.

• Click Create Rule Set

• Click the criteria dropdown and choose which criteria you want to bid differently on. For this example, we’ll use age.

• Adjust the variable and how much you want to change the bid by.

Here we added ages 25-54 and are increasing the bid by 50%.

Meta’s recommendation is 50% for the highest impact, but you can always start between 15-20% as a starting point. Then click Next.

• Give your rule a name and click Create.

Then to apply the rule to an ad set, the Pilothouse team recommends using a new campaign to not disrupt learnings of existing ones.

At the ad set level, under Conversion, click on Value rules > apply a rule set > select the rule that you’d like to use.

If this newer feature is available in your account, give it a try and tap into higher-value audiences on Facebook and IG!

💥 25+ DTC Giants Are Breaking Down The Secrets To Channel Expansion In This Playbook

Discover exactly how brands like Ridge, HexClad, Simple Modern, Jones Road Beauty, and more grow across new channels. 🚀

Learn directly from top DTC leaders who’ve gone from 7, to 8, to 9-figures.

Get:

• ✅ Ad platform checklists
• 📈 Best-performing creatives
• 💲 Budget allocation by stage
• 👋 Account setup guidance
• 🎯 Quick-hitting tips + tactics

If you’ve ever struggled with:

• 💰 How to diversify customer acquisition?
• 🤔 Where should you scale next and how much?
• 📊 What your ideal marketing mix should be?

They’re answering all those questions and more, step-by-step and stage-by-stage.

Test Outside Your Brand Comfort Zone

🎃 Halloween is the perfect time to experiment with less traditional creative, whether it’s spooky graphics, playful copy, or even memes.

Even if it strays from your usual brand colors or guidelines, it’s just one day a year and a great chance to connect with customers in a relatable way!

🎧 Ad Library Teardown: Crown Affair’s Ritual-Driven Growth Strategy

In this special episode of AKNF, Aves from Pilothouse and host of Ad-venturous shares how Crown Affair, a ritual-based haircare brand, is scaling fast and on pace to make $30M.

Eric and Aves break down the brand’s ad strategy and creative execution by walking through its clean, minimal site, Meta Ads Library, and Instagram feed.

In this episode, you’ll find:

• Crown Affair’s Intentional Messaging: How using words like ‘ritual’ primes customers to form a habit and repeat purchases.
  
• Ad Diversity: The brand uses a healthy mix of CGC and branded content that uses the Allure beauty badge to convey authority in the space.
  
• Retail Advantage: Unlike early DTC brands that shunned retail, Crown Affair runs retail-focused Sephora ads alongside DTC.
  
• Smart IG Strategy: The brand showcases aesthetic product pictures, but also includes shots of other lifestyle rituals, like a healthy breakfast plate, to reach new audiences.

👉 Listen to the full episode with Aves here.

🔥 Don’t miss the most ridiculously stacked event of the year! Join a masterclass led by 25+ industry titans, up to $5k in ad credits, and more on October 29. Get access to this free event here.*

Your thank-you page is leaving money on the table.

Ecommerce expert Amin shares how most brands treat this page as an afterthought, slap a “Thanks for your order!” message, and move on.

But top-performing brands know how to unlock value and treat it as a profit center.

Here’s the winning structure:

1. Provide Reassurance: Reduce refunds with the line “Here’s what happens next…” to manage expectations.
2. Instant Upsell: Leverage the post-purchase dopamine high with a one-click digital offer.
3. Community Hook: Invite customers into a private group to boost retention.
4. Referral Offer: Ask them to refer your business to a friend for low-cost acquisition.

Want to see the full post? Click here

Discover the freshest and most innovative brands that caught our eye! We spotlight new and exciting companies redefining their industries.

• 🤕 Magic Molecule: An all-over healing solution for cuts, zits, burns, and dry skin.
• 🩸 Aunt Flo: Female-owned brand that sells comfortable and sustainable period underwear.
• 💚 Freon Collective: Low-waste lifestyle brand offering reusable alternatives to disposable products.

📥 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?

• 🏆 TWBERP 54: Win Black Friday (and Keep Your Rep Intact)
• 🧠 The Future of Unified Commerce with Shopify’s Head of Retail
• 🏌️ AKNF 548: Strategic Levers to Build Meta Momentum in Q4
• 📐 Ad-venturous 22: The Try-Angle Method for Smarter Brands
• 👚 TWBERP 53: Examining Urban Outfitters’ Email Machine
• 🚀 Highland’s $10M Playbook and CAC Payback

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.