Problem solved, right… right? 😅
In this newsletter, you’ll find: 👇
📦 Using AI voiceovers to streamline creatives
📦 How to turn your potential customers into die-hard brand loyalists
📦 Out of home isn’t out of reach for your DTC brand
📦 Masterclass: Building high-performing TikTok and Meta ads
Read till the end to access exclusive DTC swag. 😎
👉 If a pal forwarded this to you, subscribe, so you never miss out.
🎤 Mic Drop
AI tackles images, music, and copy in just a few clicks, but did you know it handles voice work too?
Voiceovers can help DTC brands add fresh new creatives to their portfolio but are often difficult to explore due to their cost and resource investment. Innovations like text-to-speech AI can navigate those obstacles entirely!
If you have a few sentences from your latest creative, pop them into this new tool and see what AI-generated voice work brings to the table.
🏃 Make it quick
The free version has a pesky character limit (lowering the total word count with each use 😭), but it’s a quick and easy alternative to other voiceover software locked behind a paywall or subscription.
AI tools are in constant development meaning results are becoming more consistent and viable with each iteration. We’re not saying AI is perfect; however, it’s possible to elevate your existing creative with limited investment and take fresh work from concept to draft to client approval quicker than ever!
🤷 Try something new
As with any experiment, it’s important to stay aligned with your brand’s vision but sometimes a helping hand is exactly what you need to push your limits and achieve your goals.
Let us know what your new voice over results are like. Are you a new fan of AI voiceovers, or does a human voice add the subtle nuance your brand needs to convey its message? 😏
Thanks to the Pilothouse creative team for being on the cutting edge and sharing this killer AI tip!
If you want to add some significant dollars to your bottom line, you've got to focus on converting the shoppers who've already shown they dig your brand.
Unpack the winning strategies to turn those potential customers into die-hard brand loyalists in this upcoming webinar on May 25th.
Join a panel of industry-leading experts who will cover:
Can't make the live session? Register now, and you'll receive a recording after the webinar.
What does the term out of home advertising (OOH) mean to you?
Maybe it’s thoughts of personal injury lawyer billboards on the highway or bus benches plastered with real estate agents’ faces.
You’re not wrong… but OOH has evolved rapidly in just the last few years, and thank goodness it has.
Squeezed by increasing ad costs (hello, Meta!), ad blockers, and targeting challenges, DTC brands have been forced to branch out from social media advertising to other awareness and acquisition channels they may have overlooked or dismissed before. 👀
And in response to more demand, there’s a much wider range of OOH options and better analytics to prove return on investment than you might think.
While the Times Square screen or full-scale train takeovers may be out of reach for most ecommerce brands, there are plenty of ways to experiment within budget by running a few small, local tests.
🧠 Three OOH options to consider
1️⃣ Billboard and display campaigns
The cost for a digital billboard starts at $1200/month — depending on the location of your ad, the complexity of the creative, and the frequency at which it’s shown.
Remember: the more memorable the tagline, the more bang you’ll get for your buck.
✨ Benefits
Digital display placements can be bought programmatically and optimized quickly, which makes them a great choice for risk-averse brands.
2️⃣ Wild posting/wheatpasting
Street-level flyers and posters are not just for album drops! Plenty of brands are getting in on the action, thanks to the “cool factor” of being part of the street scene.
According to wildposting.com, the cost in major markets like LA and NY starts at a few thousand dollars.
✨ Benefits
Foot traffic and the ability for viewers to easily scan QR codes.
3️⃣ Mobile OOH units
Did you know you can wrap a truck or trailer with your branding and take it on the road? A new crop of advertising companies allows you to tap into vehicle fleets with routes through major cities. Costs range from $300-$800 per truck per day.
✨ Benefits
High probability of head-turning, creating the impression that your products are being ordered by many people, and wider coverage of a city vs. static advertising at a fixed location.
If you're anything like us, your marketing team's channel blows UP when they crush a new creative strategy. But if you can't remember the last time you saw 🚀🤑🙌 light up across your screen, then we've got just what you need.
Join Dara Denney, in collaboration with Motion, for their epic, free masterclass event series, Make Ads That Convert.
From May 30-July 11, discover how to build a dynamic creative team, gain tactical insights for high-converting campaigns, use analytics to guide your creative strategy, and stay ahead of 2023 ad formats & trends.
Sign up today to create amazing ads that'll have your team emoji bombin' every single week.
🧪 OOH use cases
Now that we’ve shown some examples of how DTC brands are using OOH advertising, here’s how you can leverage the strategy to ensure you’re getting the most mileage out of your spend:
🛍️ If you sell products in retail stores. Use OOH ads to announce new partnerships with national chains like Target or Walmart or to drive people to a specific, local brick & mortar spot.
There’s a lot of room for creativity here. For example, beverage brand Ruby uses street-level OOH placements combined with QR codes to encourage shoppers to visit stores that carry their products and submit receipts for reimbursement through Venmo or PayPal.
🤳 If you collaborate with influencers. Feature them in OOH ads is a perfect next step. There’s a high probability they’ll share your ad with their followers (who doesn’t love snapping a pic in front of their own billboard?), and their inclusion in a campaign will likely attract more attention from passersby.
📲 If you have an ecommerce app. Embed QR codes in your OOH ads to help increase downloads in states or provinces where you offer shipping.
🤑 If you’ve got a big sale going on. OOH can net you a lot of additional eyeballs. Plus, including a unique promo code will help you track the results of your campaign.
🎄 If a major buying holiday is coming up. Ads will be much more effective when your target audience has heard of you before. OOH can give you an awareness lift so subsequent ad campaigns have more impact. Remember, OOH packs the most punch when used to reinforce other channels rather than being viewed as a replacement.
Will you use OOH this year? Have you tried OOH before and seen results? Reply to this email and let us know! 📧
🚨 Ready to 2x your SMS revenue and boost conversions by 30%? Learn how proactive, human-led sales outreach over text can help you convert more shoppers into customers. *
🔎 Google plans to disable third-party cookies for some users using the Privacy Sandbox. Starting today, users can enable the Privacy Sandbox trial through Chrome.
🔒 1Password assists businesses by providing easy access to passkeys. The new service, Passage, allows businesses to hand off their security infrastructure to ease the transition.
✏️ A new study shows that 25% of users may not use Twitter by 2024. The study also shows that many women and BIPOC users have taken a break from the social media platform.
⛔ Montana has become the first state to plan a full ban on TikTok. The ban is slated to take effect in January 2024 and will likely face legal challenges from ByteDance.
*Sponsored
🚗 The Road to 9-Figures with Cody Plofker from Jones Road Beauty (Plus Cody’s YouTube and Meta Ads Funnel Breakdown).
🤑 How Not to Grow an 8-Figure Business (Obvi Panel - C-Suite Preview).
🍫 Jess Cervellon from Feastables: What CPG Can Learn from SaaS about CX.
🍸 Ben Soffer - Spritz Society: Influencer Strategies for Alcohol Brands and Linear Commerce.
🕯️ 9-Year-Old Lily Harper from Lily Lou's Aromas Homeschools Us All.
Don’t forget to rate the DTC Podcast on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight, Juliana Casale, and Michael Venditti. Edited by Claire Beveridge and Eric Dyck.
Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.
NEED MORE DTC?
🚀 Advertise in DTC Newsletter.
💰Check out our course on Facebook and Instagram ads!
DTC 2023. All Rights Reserved.
DTC is fueled by Pilothouse company registered in Victoria, BC, Canada.