The answer: it ain’t easy…
Good morning,
Walmart made headlines a few months ago when they were gunning for a piece of the ecommerce marketplace pie. Bezos wasn’t shaking in his boots quite yet, but Walmart’s newest brand to be acquired shows they’re not slowing down.
The proposed acquisition of TV brand Vizio and its SmartCast Operating System would give Walmart a strategic expansion into premium in-home video advertising.
Despite Walmart Connect's (Walmart’s in-house advertising platform) growth, with a 22% revenue increase in Q4 and a 30% full-year increase, Walmart's global ad business still trails behind Amazon's ad sales.
Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC:
You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Welly, Canned Wine Co, Calendar Club, and Slick Hair Company. 👋
💥 2024 is already proving to be a wild year. Are you confident that you have the absolute best team around you and your brand?
If you feel that:
We should chat… 👇
Pilothouse (DTC’s sister company) has a few spots open and are looking for 3 brands to sink their teeth into. They’re hungry problem solvers, ROAS generators, and partners in your growth, right down to your bottom line.
🤔 Sound interesting?
Chat with someone on the team now - no obligation. Pilothouse makes money when you do.
Remember Coinbase’s iconic Super Bowl ad from 2022? Their colorful QR code bouncing around the screen garnered tons of attention both during the show and online.
You may not have seen Coinbase in this year’s Super Bowl, but they’re about to be seen by millions of shoppers. 🥁🥁🥁
That’s right, Coinbase is the winner of Liquid Death’s advertising bid.
The auction for advertising space on Liquid Death's packaging saw bids quickly rise to hundreds of thousands of dollars, ultimately won by Coinbase with a $500,114 bid. This bid ranks as the ninth-highest sum ever paid for an eBay item.
With all said and done, Coinbase will pay roughly $1 per unit to advertise on the half a million Liquid Death cases.
What will Coinbase do with their strategic business move and creative freedom? We’ll have to wait and see. 👀
In this episode of the pod, we catch up with Taylor Fraser, the VP of Marketing behind the innovative sock brand Outway.
Taylor shares his biggest learning from 2023 is the power of simplification and returning to fundamentals in business.
We discuss how Outway navigated the challenges of rapid growth in a post-pandemic landscape, the importance of cutting back on complexity, and the strategic decision to focus on what truly drives sales.
In this podcast, we cover:
Taylor explains: “It’s a good play for us to be on Amazon and offer more Amazon-friendly items like 10 or 12 packs of our flagship Outway products. There is a 7 figure business in just that channel itself so we are harvesting demand that already exists.”
👉 You can listen to the full episode with Taylor here.
Getting locked into year-long unsuccessful vendor contracts can take a toll on your budget and patience.
Our tip to avoid this? 👀 Choosing tools like Black Crow who prove value upfront with a 30 day free trial so you can determine the ROI for your brand before you spend a dime. After that, the only commitment is a monthly contract.
They integrate seamlessly with your Shopify ecosystem (no development work required) and activate predictive intelligence across your digital channels: 👇
Black Crow AI is so confident you’ll see ROI that they’re offering a $100 gift card to Shopify brands earning $2M+ annually just for meeting with their team.
You know those ads that seem to pop up everywhere you look? On benches at the park, towering over highways, even plastered on the side of your bus?
That's called out-of-home (OOH) marketing.
Unlike promotions on our screens, OOH marketing lives in the real world, blending seamlessly into our daily lives. These ads can employ some truly bold and creative tactics - think wacky billboards or artsy bus stop posters - designed to catch our eye as we're out and about.
And they work!
By inserting themselves into our daily routines, they spark conversations and engagement in a way digital media just can’t.
Amid skyrocketing digital ad costs, the OOH advertising market is projected to grow to over $40.1 billion in 2024.
For DTC brands especially, OOH represents a unique opportunity to drive brand awareness and purchasing influence beyond existing digital channels.
But not any old billboard will work. You need to get creative. 🎨
Here are four killer strategies to elevate your OOH marketing campaigns.
Have you stepped into the world of OOH advertising yet?
🔥 Yes, and it’s crushing!
👀 We’re dipping our toes in…
👎 Nope, doesn’t work for me.
💲 Imagine AI could tell you exactly how to structure your marketing budget: Q4 success means spending wisely all year. Learn the best place to spend each marketing dollar with Keen’s predictive model. Get smart about your spend strategy with Keen. *
🚀 Shopify sales skyrocket 10–15%+ with upsells. Yeah, seriously! And you can add upsells in minutes with OneClickUpsell. So don’t lose another dollar in free revenue — try OneClickUpsell today *
DTC Newsletter + Podcast reaches a highly qualified audience of Shopify merchants, eCommerce founders, and digital marketers. Talk to our team to learn more.
Are you getting a lot of organic searches for ‘your brand + discount’? Use this to your advantage by creating a dedicated landing page so you capture that traffic.
These high intent searches mean these customers are looking to buy, they just need a lil’ nudge in the right direction.
Have you heard our latest podcasts?
Don’t forget to rate the DTC Podcast on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight, Randy Ginsburg, and Frances Du. Edited by Eric Dyck.
Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.
NEED MORE DTC?
🚀 Advertise in DTC Newsletter.
Please note that items in this newsletter marked with * contain sponsored content.
DTC 2024. All Rights Reserved.
DTC is fueled by Pilothouse company registered in Victoria, BC, Canada.