Banter

Monday, January 2, 2023

Now it’s 2023, but it’s feeling like a next week problem. 😂

Happy New Year from the entire DTC crew! Do you make New Year’s resolutions? If so, what’s made the top of the list this year? Reply to this email and let us know!  🥂

In this newsletter, you’ll find: 👇

📦 A very scrappy new year

📦 Save time and streamline your content creation in 2023

📦 Steps to get your SEO strategy up and running

📦 DTC 2022 in review – Part 2

Read till the end to access exclusive DTC swag. 😎

👉 If a pal forwarded this to you, subscribe, so you never miss out.

Meta

And a Scrappy New Year!

If you’ve been reading DTC for a while, you know we (along with the Pilothouse team) are big supporters of scrappy ads.

If you don’t have a little scrap mixed into your ad account, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be testing it now!

No need to be nitpicky about every campaign. Grab a pen and paper, snap some pics from your phone, or meme it up.

This ad, run by the Pilothouse Meta team, saw the client’s cost-per-acquisition (CPA) decrease from $35 (account average) to $11.71 – A ~300% decrease.

We’ve had a happy holiday, and now onto a scrappy new year! 🎆

Sponsor

Is Your New Year’s Resolution to Save Time?

Are you looking to save time and streamline your content creation in the new year? 👀

Pilothouse Studios has your back with $20K in free production shoots for Amazon, Shopify, or Meta creatives until January 31st 2023.

🚀 With Pilothouse Studios, you'll have access to:

• A one-stop-shop team with customized content packages that save you time and effort.
• Expert strategists who will handle the heavy lifting of creating top-notch content.
• A talented team of designers, creators, and producers ready to support your growth.
• The opportunity to focus on other important tasks while your content is being expertly handled.

Make saving time a top priority in the new year and let Pilothouse Studios help you streamline your content creation.

👉 Contact them today to learn more and schedule your free shoot. Here's to a successful and efficient new year!

SEO

😮 SE-O-M-G!

Let’s face it, SEO is complex and scary for many business owners and marketers seeking to grow their brands. Let’s make a new year’s resolution to conquer that fear with a few steps to get you started on your growth journey in 2023.

So, what is SEO anyway? If this is the first time you are hearing about it, it stands for Search Engine Optimization. SEO efforts help your website rank higher on search engine result pages by following some best practices.

Not sure where to start? We’re here to help you out:

🚶The first step is a doozy

Register your website on the Google Search Console to lay the foundation for a solid start in SEO. That page has some great resources directly from Google to help walk you through the process of setting up the search console. It’s all about having the right tools for the job.

The search console lets you dive into some pretty technical stuff, like:

• Finding and submitting your sitemap
• Creating a robots.txt file
• Learning how to utilize Google Analytics

With a little practice, you’ll get more comfortable with the terminology and utility of the search console and why it is so integral to navigating the complex Google ecosystem.

Leveraging every tool that you can without overwhelming yourself is the key here. Don’t dive into these all at once if you are just starting out. But rest assured, they’re here for you when you’re ready to take them on.

🦺 Safety first

Are you using HTTPS and SSL certificates? If not, you should get to it! If you aren’t sure, check the domain name when you load up your site. A padlock will appear in the search bar next to your domain name like so:

This has been confirmed as a ranking tool by Google so it’s worth looking into. Many domain providers like GoDaddy will often provide this service as an included or extra cost to our domain registration fee.

If you aren’t using HTTPS, make sure you’ve purchased an SSL certificate and update your domain to include the registration. You can also use Let’s Encrypt to opt for a free SSL certificate for eligible domains!

🏎️ 100-meter sprint

One often overlooked factor on all of these flashy websites is how fast the site loads in the first place. It’s pointless to have a revolutionary design when no one stays long enough to see it.

Page speed is another contributing factor to search ranking within Google, so we recommend running a few speed tests. Ahrefs provides a free tool to check your page speed called Site Audit.

All you need to do is verify your ownership of the domain and paste your domain into the link above so an audit can be conducted for your entire site. If you are using a CMS like Shopify, they will often have first-party tools to check your site speed.

🗺️ It’s an ongoing journey

The resources and steps listed here are only the beginning. There are steps that must be taken routinely so that your site is in the best position to maintain that positive relationship with search engines.

Examples of these can be updating:

• Links
• Blogs posts
• Educational resources

Send us a reply with some of the challenges and success stories you faced! We’d love to hear them and we’ll do our best to follow up with as many of you as possible as we go through the SEO journey together.

DTC

2022 in the Rearview – Part 2

Last week, we outlined 10 of the biggest things that happened in the DTC space in 2022. 👀

This week, we’re looking at another trend that’s sweeping the DTC nation – the domination of celebrity and influencer-led brands in the news.

For a deeper dive, we tapped Celebrity Packaged Goods founder Dhruv Patel for his Top Talent-Led Stories of 2022.

💅 Kardashians own all 4 of the most valuable talent-led businesses

• SKIMS alone is at a valuation of $3.2B and its revenue is projected to hit $400M at the end of the year. Oh yeah, and there’s also Kylie Cosmetics, Good American, Poosh – not to mention 818 Tequila.

🎬 Creators make their mark

Feastables (launched by YouTube phenom “MrBeast” in January) sold more than 1M bars of chocolate in its first 72 hours.

• This was the first “oh sh*t” moment where the industry was alerted to just how much star power a content creator has. There are celebrity brands in the market that have never sold 1M units of products.

💦 Prime Hydration hits the secondary market

Flavors of YouTuber Logan Paul and boxer/rapper KSI's Prime Hydration sports drink are selling out so quickly that many are only available on reseller marketplaces like Echo Sales and in black markets run by high schoolers (!) at a much higher price point.

• This has happened only in apparel before. Never in a food category. This is an important scenario unfolding.

👥 “Stranger Things” actor Noah Schnapp’s snack brand raises capital via crowdfunding

The Nutella rival raised over $400K on the investment platform Republic, signaling strong market support for celebrity brands.

• Over 400 customers gave them money to continue operating the business. This is a powerful moment for the brand that we have not seen before.

💄The TikTok-famous D’Amelio family begins its own dynasty

They have a reality TV show, famous daughters, and made millions last year from endorsement deals – sound familiar?

• The family has raised $6M this year to build their own fashion, beauty, and lifestyle brands. Look out, Kardashians.

☕ Chamberlain Coffee thrives through collaborations

Chamberlain Coffee is one of the few brands that have a golden touch.

• Everything they launch immediately sells out. And unlike many other talent-led brands, they’ve been using their IP to the fullest across multiple partnerships, including Chamberlain Coffee x Off Limits and Chamberlain Coffee x Bliss.

🔥 Drama abounds in the rapper realm

Most notably: Jay-Z breaks up with Bacardi, and Adidas breaks up with Kanye.

• There is still a power struggle that we need to acknowledge between corporations and celebrities.

💆‍♀️ Celebrity beauty and personal care brands abound

Rhode, Brad Pitt, The Outset, Travis Barker, Halsey, and Gwen Stefani have all entered the arena this year.

• Beauty was already a crowded category, but celebrities are still rolling the dice. Guess everyone wants to be Kylie.

Think we missed something important? Drop us a note!

Quick Hits

🚫 A ban on TikTok?

🐥 Check out the updated Tweet view count display.

📺 YouTube’s final Creator insider video.

💪 Google’s most helpful tips from 2022.

📸 Face ID tech for enforcement.

🗣 Chatbots might reimagine search engines.

‍

🔊 Have you heard our latest podcasts?

❤️ Rootd - Ania Wysocka: Helping a Million Users in the Age of Anxiety.

💰 Mike Fata: CPG Lessons From Scaling Hemp Hearts + A Trifecta of 9 Figure Exits!

📕 Hero Cosmetics - Ju Rhyu: Reversing the DTC Playbook and the $630MM Hero CPG Needs.

💵 EcomCFO.co - Sam Hill: Make Your Finances Anti-Fragile.

⚔️ Mini Katana's Isaac Medeiros: The Path to a Billion Monthly Views and Eight Figures in Sales.

💡 Listen to the Biggest Marketing News Stories Today.

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

DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight, Juliana Casale, and Michael Venditti. Edited by Eric Dyck.

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.