DTC826: Google's Smart Bidding Exploration Tool

Good morning,

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

🔍 Google Ads’ Biggest Update in 10 Years
Introducing Smart Bidding Exploration.

✍️ Transform Your Writing
Copywriting tips for Father’s Day campaigns.

📦 Daily Tariff Update
The latest breaking news.

🥲 Failing Landing Page?
Ask yourself these 3 questions.

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You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Chico's, Kao, and Verijet. 👋

👀 Want A Sneak Peek Into The Success of These 11 Big-Name Brands? Get Inspired By Their Winning Moves

📈 Want to learn how DKNY overcame an underperforming welcome email?

✉️ Or how Beekman 1802 achieved 74% YoY growth in email revenue?

Download “Behind the Brands,” a free Klaviyo marketing guide, to learn how 11 big-name brands turned challenges into growth. 🚀

They cover data-proven tactics and strategies to inspire your marketing as you move into the future, including:

• 🖊️ Sign-up form optimization
• 🤖 Data and tech stack consolidation
• 🧑‍💻 Seamless omnichannel marketing across multiple sales channels
• ➡️ And much, much more

Steal the strategy of industry leaders, and discover how Klaviyo helps them get ahead. Let their success guide your brand to new heights.

Dive in, get inspired, and get growing. 💥

🔍 Google Ads’ Biggest Update In A Decade

Google Ads has made its biggest update in over a decade by introducing Smart Bidding Exploration.

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How Smart Bidding Exploration works:

This feature uses AI to discover and target a wider set of search queries.

Advertisers can now bid on less obvious but still potentially high-value queries to capture more qualified leads.

When experimenting with this feature, Google suggests that advertisers use broad targeting options and adjust ROAS targets so you can test new queries that wouldn’t have met stricter performance goals.

Early results are promising. Google shares that ad campaigns using SBE see an 18% increase in unique search query categories with conversions and a 19% increase in conversions.

👉 Pilothouse shares that this could be a good test for advertisers who are currently adjusting their tROAS constraints and trying to reconcile whether they prefer lower volume with higher efficiency or higher volume with lower efficiency.

Pilothouse’s Google Head Dougie explains:

“Depending on the search queries it hones in on, it might tell advertisers more about what the search behavior leading up to purchase looks like which could in theory then be further developed with intentional content/funnels.”

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The takeaway?

Smart Bidding Exploration is worth testing, but it works best for ad accounts with a substantial amount of conversion data, as broad matching and algorithmic bidding rely on this information to optimize performance.

✨ Huda Beauty, Daily Harvest and POPFLEX All Have This In Common. Ready For A Dose Of Inspiration?

👉 Klaviyo’s free marketing guide, “Behind the Brands,” gives you the playbook of 11 brands, breaking down exactly what works and why. 💯

Dig into proven use cases and find out how big-name brands are leveraging Klaviyo to build the long-lasting, valuable customer relationships you’re after. 🤝

Explore the guide to discover:

• ➡️ Challenges and opportunities even established brands encounter (and learn from their experience)
• ➡️ How marketers are thinking about tech stack consolidation
• ➡️ Actual growth statistics achieved by featured brands

Ready to reach the next level? 🌟

Get inspired.

📦 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.

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May 29, 2025 update:

• U.S. Court Blocks Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ Tariffs
  • The U.S. court has invalidated all tariff orders given by Trump since January, citing that he overstepped by using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act as a justification.
  • This applies to all the sweeping import duties announced on April 2nd for countries such as China and the EU, along with separate duties on Canada, Mexico, and China.
  • However, tariffs on automobiles, steel, and aluminum will remain unaffected since they fall under a different law.
  • The Trump administration responded by stating that they would appeal.
  • If the case does go through the appeals process and all courts uphold the ruling, businesses that had to pay tariffs will receive refunds on the amounts paid, along with interest.

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

🎧 Your Bad Ad Copy Is Killing The Vibe In Here

Avery jumping in here! 👋

On this week's episode of Ad-venturous, we're talking about good ad copy.

It seems our gut reaction to shortening attention spans and the takeover of short-form video has been to let ad copy slip to the wayside.

But, the thing is... good ad copy sets the stage for the entirety of your brand experience.

Good ad copy is magical. It can stop someone in their tracks. Good ad copy might even tug at the corner of your lip a little (in my experience, it takes excellent ad copy to actually make someone crack a smile).

Good ad copy is what separates the sketchy internet product from the trending, viral hit that everyone needs.

And good ad copy is a rarity today, like a cool restaurant with an affordable drink menu and welcoming atmosphere.

So don't make your ad copy an afterthought if you are serious about your brand!

But luckily for you, good ad copy is not beyond you or your capabilities as an advertiser.

It all starts with 3 very simple ingredients:

It’s human, emotional, and truthful.

Give this episode a listen if you want to write ad copy that builds a connection.

Whether that connection is through humor, nostalgia, desire, or anger, good ad copy is going to solicit a reaction.

Which is all we can dream of as advertisers.

We'll be diving into the life and work of one of the greatest copywriters of all time, David Abbott, and his process around writing great copy that's still relevant today.

🌐 IN THE SOCIAL SPHERE

Is your landing page underperforming?

Ask yourself these three questions to diagnose the issue. 👇

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⚡ QUICK HITS

💻 Ever wonder about top brands’ strategies? Klaviyo’s latest guide features 11 brands, including DKNY and Daily Harvest, and their SMS sending strategy, tech consolidation, omnichannel experiences, and much more. Get your free copy. *

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📅 EVENTS

Shopware Community Day 2025 - This one-day ecommerce conference aims to illuminate the future of digital commerce and shape its next 25 years through collaboration and shared knowledge.

🗓️ June 4, 📍 Cologne, Germany 💰 Register To Attend

AI and Big Data Expo - A showcase of AI and big data advancements across enterprise, consumer, and innovation applications with keynotes, demos, and panels.

🗓️ June 4-5, 📍 Santa Clara, CA 💰 $699

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📰 NEWS

• U.S. trade court blocks Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
• The New York Times signs first ever AI licensing deal with Amazon.
• Sephora reveals ‘We Belong to Something Beautiful’ Pride campaign starring Lady Gaga.

📥 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.

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Have you heard our latest podcasts?

• 🤔 TWBERP 35: Which Ad Beliefs Still Hold Up?
• 🍫 IQBAR’s CPG Playbook: Product Market Fit to Omnichannel Scale
• 🚀 AKNF 510: Segmenting YouTube Campaigns for Scalable Growth
• 🍭 Ad-venturous 3: Chupa Chups + Salvador Dali = Your Brand???
• 🍳 TWBERP 34: Inside Cookware Brand Hestan’s Retention Strategy
• 🫖 How Art of Tea Scaled Through Story and Quality

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Don’t forget to rate the DTC Podcast on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

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DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight and Frances Du. Edited by Eric Dyck.

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Please note that items in this newsletter marked with * contain sponsored content.