Back
Content

Good morning,
Hereâs what youâll find in todayâs DTC:
Youâre reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Rocket Shippers, DALTON Cosmetics, and Superfans. đ

âđŞ Do More With Less With These 10 Tested AI Workflows.
đ A fitness brand uncovered $100K in affiliate fraud. A flannel company boosted Meta ROAS by 169%. A luggage brand discovered PR was quietly driving 20% of purchasesâinvisible to last-click attribution.
đ No new headcount. Just Moby AI Agents.
đŻ Triple Whale's free cheat sheet breaks down 10 plug-and-play strategies from brands like LSKD, Dixxon Flannel Company, Travelpro, and Ekster. Each play includes the specific agent, the problem it solves, and how to execute it today.
Discover how top teams:
⥠Moby Agents are pre-trained on ecommerce data and plugged directly into your store. No exporting. No prompt engineering. Just answers.
*Â sponsored
âđ° Instagram Just Changed The Rules (Hereâs How To Improve Your Reach)
If your Instagram engagement is declining, itâs not your imagination.
IG quietly changed its algorithm and now replays are now a top engagement signal. Not saves. Not shares. Not comments.
Why? Because those metrics are easy to game.
Replays signal real interest and longer time on the platform which is exactly what Instagram wants.
Content that gets rewatched is now more likely to:
What This Means for Ecommerce Brands
To grow organic reach, you need rewatchable content that feeds the algorithm what it wants.
Here are some creative ways brands can create rewatchable Reels:
1ď¸âŁ Use 7-Second Loop Videos
Short loops outperform traditional Reels because they naturally replay.
Why they work:
Instagram shared these real-world test results:
Traditional Reels:
7-second Loop Reels:
Thatâs 30x faster organic growth from a simple format shift!
2ď¸âŁ Use Pattern Interrupts to Stop the Scroll
Your brain is wired to notice when things feel off. One brandâs viral Reel hit 70M views just by adding a subtle cracked-screen effect.

Why it worked:
Pattern interrupts break the expectation of polished content and force attention.
đ Test visual glitches, unexpected framing, and intentional imperfections so users do a double-take.
The takeaway?
Instagram is rewarding rewatched content. So audit your last Reels and focus on upping your replay rate.
Feed the algorithm what it wants now and let organic reach compound into Q1.

âđ Holiday Shopping Just Got an Upgrade. Your Personal AI Gift Expert Awaits
The Napster Holiday Gift Guide just launched, and it transforms traditional online shopping into a brand-new conversational experience. â¨
Here's how it works:
đ The future of gift shopping is here, powered by Napster Spaces.
*Â sponsored

âđ§ How Kulfi Beauty Grew From a $5K Launch to 720 Sephora Stores with Zero Paid Ads
Priyanka Ganjoo, founder of Kulfi Beauty, stops by the DTC Podcast and shares why she was motivated to start a beauty brand for the South Asian market.
She started off working on the corporate side of beauty at EstĂŠe Lauder and soon realized she wanted to create a brand that was inclusive, joyful, and celebrated her Indian heritage.
Today Kulfiâs products are selling at a remarkable rate.
A Kajal eyeliner sells every five minutes and Kulfi Beauty are now in 720 Sephora stores across North America.
Weâll dive into:
đ§ Click here to listen on Spotify.
When the holiday rush is over, one of the most overlooked retention levers is your returns experience.
Jimmy Kim shares how customers that have a great return experience are more likely to buy again.
Replace cold transactional refund emails with empathetic messaging that keeps the relationship intact.
Follow up with an email that guides customers to a product that might be a better fit.
âđ¤ McDonaldâs AI-Generated Holiday Ad Receives Major Backlash
McDonaldâs Netherlands is facing backlash over its holiday ad, and itâs a clear warning sign for brands leaning too hard into AI.
The 45-second, fully AI-generated spot uses chaotic, stress-filled holiday scenarios to position McDonaldâs as a âsafe haven.â
But viewers described the ad as eerie, confusing, and emotionally hollow, with many calling it another example of low-effort âAI slop.â
âđĽ 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.
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.
