There’s no bigger ‘what if’ than the non-existence of iOS14.5 🥲
If you’re new to DTC, welcome! You’re in good company with fellow newcomers from Goodrays, Napster, Earthbath, Justo’s, and Stryve. 😋
In this newsletter you’ll find: 👇
📦 A Google Ads tip to save you time
📦 Know where *your* audience is watching, reading, listening, and scrolling with Attest
📦 Trends that can inform your brand voice
📦 Retarget users on paid social like it’s 2018 with Black Crow AI
📦 The changing landscape: $100 Million+ in Vancouver-based DTC Sales – Duer, Tru Earth, Blume, Monos, and Black Crow AI
Read till the end to access exclusive DTC swag. 😎
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Do you spend too much time in your Google Ads account making monotonous changes to your campaigns’ ad copy, extensions, keywords, audiences, etc.?
While crucial to almost any successful Google Ads strategy, these things can be done much faster and more efficiently. The Pilothouse Google team suggests using Google Ads Editor.
What the heck is “Google Ads Editor,” anyway?
Google Ads Editor is a spreadsheet-based software that allows you to manage your Google Ads account offline. Its most commonly used to make bulk updates more efficient across multiple accounts and campaigns—especially when it comes to a copy and pasting standpoint.
Why should I use Google Ads Editor? 🤔
The setup:
Click here to navigate to the Google Ads Editor, then hit the download button.
After you’ve downloaded the software, you need to add your account.
Not sure how to keep scaling your Google ads efficiently? Reach out to the Pilothouse Google team. They’ve got you covered. ✌️
Netflix and social media are trending down. 📉 Podcasts and print are trending up. 📈
Do you know where *your* audience is watching, reading, listening, and scrolling? You should – unless you want to see your advertising dollars go to waste.
Be informed with your media planning. Get the data on the latest trends with the U.S. Media Consumption Tracker .
You’ll get valuable insights to drive your advertising spend, like:
And much more!
👉 Don’t invest in a dying channel. Check out Attest's full U.S. Media Consumption Trends for Q1.
Say it with us now, “braaaaand voiiiiice.”
Your voice is what defines your brand. It gives you a unique personality. It builds brand awareness, allows you to stand out from competitors, and helps consumers relate to and remember you.
Without a unique brand voice, you’re just another fish in the sea, another ad in the feed, another box in the aisle…
You get the point. 🤷
Whether you’ve spent dozens of coffee-fueled hours brainstorming your perfect brand voice on a whiteboard, or you literally haven’t thought twice about it…
Keeping a pulse on trends in the consumer landscape can help you shift your voice in a direction that customers will resonate with.
Now, we’re not saying to throw out your tried-and-true identity to jump on the bandwagon (errrr brand-wagon?😉), but small adjustments to your brand voice as markets shift will help your brand remain relevant and connected.
Cuz whether we like or not, the times, they are a-changin'.
💡 But first! Quick tips for finding your brand voice:
If you fall into the “wait, I need a brand voice? 😬” category, here are some quick tips for getting started:
Ultimately, nailing your brand voice involves thought, research, and trial and error, but hey, you gotta start somewhere right?
4 consumer trends to help drive your brand voice in 2022:
1️⃣ Humor
According to the 2022 US Consumer Trend Report by Attest, 57% of all consumers want marketing to amuse and entertain them, which is wayyy up from a measly 4% last year.
Surprisingly (no offense or anything), this desire for brands to be funny was highest among older demographics (66%).
We’re guessing people are tired of talking about politics, the pandemic, rising gas prices… and are just ready for a good ol’ fashioned belly laugh.
So, we say give the people what they want! Now is a great time to test a little humor, irreverence, or cheekiness in your marketing. 🤣
While there are hundreds of great examples, one brand that comes to mind when we think “funny” is Tushy. Say what you will about potty humor, but this bidet brand has it down.
2️⃣ Motivation, education, and inspiration
According to the same Attest survey:
So, is there an opportunity to adjust your brand voice to better educate, inspire, or motivate your audience? We bet there is.
One sector of the market that can really lean into this specific trend is health, fitness, or nutrition companies, considering 47% of Americans say they’re trying to improve their fitness or lose weight this year (51% for Gen Z). 💪
A company that nails the educational and thought-provoking brand voice is Seed Probiotics.
Pretty much their entire Instagram account is dedicated to educating customers on everything from the microbiome to planetary science (you’ll rarely see a “salesy post” from them here).
3️⃣ Relatability
Consumers (especially millennials and Gen Z) want more from brands than the standard marketing tactics, long-form dramatic sales letters, and basic coupon codes.
Now more than ever, people want brands to break through the “fourth wall” and talk to them like a fellow human, not just another customer.
Infusing a sense of humanity, relatability, and friendliness in your voice will go a long way in helping your audience feel connected to you as a brand. Relatability also builds trust—a vital factor in the buying process. 🙏🏻
Oatly is one brand that’s got the whole relatable thing down. Essentially all of their copy is written like they’re talking to a friend, which just makes them super darn likable.
4️⃣ Social, environmental, and political issues
Another consumer shift to be aware of is the growing desire for brands to take a stand on current events and issues.
This makes sense considering the global craziness of the past few years (Covid, riots, global conflicts, inflation, should we go on?...). 😟
Hot-button topics that consumers want brands to address include:
However, it should be noted that how much you lean into this trend highly depends on your brand, your mission, and your audience.
The desire for brands to take a stand on issues is much higher among younger populations like Gen Z. If your audience is primarily in this demographic, you may be able to connect with them on a deeper level by adjusting your brand voice to be more empathetic and aware of current events and issues. 🌍
On the flip side, 24% of consumers wanted brands to stay out of politics and social issues… So it’s helpful to know where your audience stands on this topic.
Additionally, consider the point above about humor. Will you help your audience forget the perils of reality with a few laughs? Or will you take more of a social responsibility approach, tackling the issues head-on?
Or, hey, novel idea: can you do both? 🤔
Dove is a brand that consistently infuses a sense of empathy into their brand voice and takes a stand on issues that matter to their audience, such as gender equality, women’s rights, racism, and body positivity.
The takeaways:
📣 Your brand voice is key to standing out and connecting with consumers.
💭 While you should always remain true to the brand, staying on top of consumer trends can help you adjust your brand voice to stay relevant.
4️⃣ Consumer trends to drive your brand voice in 2022:
iOS14.5 🙄
We know. You know. Your mom's mom knows.
The infamous Apple update left DTC brands struggling to find and market to the right audiences. Bearaby, an award-winning weighted blanket DTC brand, was one of them…
When Bearaby was faced with crazy ad costs and lower conversions, they installed Black Crow AI's plug-and-play platform into their website to help them utilize their first-party data to create high-value audiences for retargeting and prospecting. 🎯
The results?
Bearaby increased its ROAS by 120% and generated 100% more conversions!
We love a success story 🥲
Black Crow AI helps DTC brands unlock the power of their first-party data to supercharge their performance marketing:
⏰ Don't just sit around and wait for the right customer – click here and find em!
With restrictions lifted and consumers hitting the streets again, we've recently seen some BIG shifts in the marketing world.
One of those shifts included the DTC team being able to host our very first DTC Real Live Meetup!
We were lucky enough to chat with some incredible panelists that provided very actionable advice to help your brand navigate the changes in the industry.
We've realized that we can't discuss massive shifts without mentioning – the impossible to pin down – Facebook.
With Facebook's push for broad audiences and their chokehold on marketers, we asked our panelists how they spend with confidence on a channel that isn't built for their success.
But first? The comeback of the season – the resurrection of Brick and Mortar. Yes, what's old is new but is your brand prepared for the shift back? The leaders at Duer, Black Crow AI, Monos, Tru Earth, and Blume have some insights to prepare you for the future… or the past…
🏬 Brick and mortar vs. dot com
We think it’s safe to say that we all knew that the eCommerce wave we were riding had to level out at some point… With the pandemic winding down, we can expect a massive shift from online to in-person shopping.
Even with the expected shift, the panelists are sticking to an omnichannel strategy as it’s predicted that the move to brick and mortar will be very product dependent.
But for your in-store products… how will you collect conversion data from your online ads to in-person sales? 💸
1️⃣ Enter geotargeting: The idea is simple: blast your ad spend on FB ads geotagged specifically to a single location.
Let it sit for two weeks and measure the conversions on your physical stores in the vicinity of the geotagged ad.
Then focus spend on a separate location to measure the difference in B&M conversions.
2️⃣ In-store brand surveys: With people returning in-store, be sure your customer's voice is leveraged. Utilizing in-store questionnaires and taglines like “Which brands are you familiar with?” or “How did you hear about us?” can inform a new understanding of where your brand lands in consumer recognition, advertising, and other off-site factors.
3️⃣ Google surveys: Pay for X amount of respondents, then collect and analyze the lift.
It’s exciting that customers are looking to return to stores. Take this as an opportunity to get to know your customer and analyze how your omnichannel strategy can re-integrate Brick and Mortar.
🤔 Broad audience: good or bad
We hate to break it to you, but Facebook does not have your best interests in mind. They want your brand to be as close to drowning as possible but just above water that you can keep spending.
Both Facebook and your brand have their personal goals and optimizations:
Unfortunately, Facebook and your brand’s optimizations are at odds, and as a brand, you need to keep your own interests at heart. 💖
Facebook’s “broad audiences” is getting your brand to pay for the impressions they can't sell.
🤷♂️ “What do I do?”
The fine-grained approach: This doesn't mean you should spend less, but focus your dollars on people with a high transactional value.
Allocate spend budgets on those with high future value or look-alike audiences based on HFV and bid according to your findings.
You’ll find that the efficiency gains are huge!
Leaders at Duer, Black Crow AI, Monos, Tru Earth, and Blume are ready to tell you their hottest takes for nailing down your future in the DTC marketing space at the Live DTC Podcast!
💬 Meta – Announcing new products to make business messaging easier.
🔗 Google – Don't get hung up about "Toxic Links".
👊 Y Combinator to portfolio founders: 'Plan for the worst.'
🛍 Snapchat reveals integration with eBay.
🧐 Shoppable ads keep coming–but do viewers want them?
🔊 HAVE YOU HEARD OUR LATEST PODCASTS?
🌎 $100 Million+ in Vancouver-based DTC Sales: Duer, Tru Earth, Blume, Monos and Black Crow AI [Live Panel].
🤑 Growing Your Shopify Store From $5 to $30M with Richpanel.
📈 5x Your Revenue with a Facebook Group, 40 New Creatives a Week, and an App with Ash Melwani from Obvi Collagen.
💬 SMS is No Longer Optional with Sophie Baer, Win Brand Group’s Retention Director (and Automation Overlord).
🧀 Perry Belcher on Ecom Tripwires, Premiums, and Making Sure the Cheese is Worth the Squeeze.
Don’t forget to rate the DTC Podcast on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight, Kelsey Hess, and Jordan Gillis. Edited by Claire Beveridge and Eric Dyck.
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