Embracing the Shift: Meta's In-App Purchases and Its Implications for Ecommerce Marketers

The world of ecommerce is constantly evolving, and the latest changes come from Meta — the social media giant will soon make it mandatory that brands use Meta’s checkout method on Shops. Previously, you could use Shops but handle the checkout/shopping pieces through Shopify or another third party site. Now, you'll have to opt-in to Meta's checkout process, or you won't be able to use Shops at all. The change goes into effect April 24, 2024

Meta's recent decision to discontinue offsite checkout in Facebook and Instagram Shops and make in-app purchases mandatory is set to transform the way customers shop online. In this blog post, we will discuss how Meta's move to discontinue support for off site checkout will impact businesses and the implications it holds for ecommerce marketers.

Here are the key highlights:

• This shift requires businesses to utilize Meta's checkout process within the app, eliminating the option to redirect customers to external websites for transactions.
• Meta will also not allow companies to include a tag price on the post if it is not connected to the in-app checkout in Meta.
• The convenience of Meta's in-app purchases holds significant appeal for customers who value a seamless and efficient shopping process. By reducing the barriers associated with traditional online transactions, such as manually inputting personal information to complete a purchase.
• With the streamlined checkout process, businesses can expect reduced cart abandonment rates, as customers can complete purchases with just a few taps. This increased convenience has the potential to drive higher conversion rates and boost overall sales.
• This feature aligns with Meta's vision of creating a connected platform where users can effortlessly find inspiration and shop for the products they desire (it also allows Meta to capture more user data).

As Meta continues to revolutionize the ecommerce landscape with its mandatory in-app purchases, marketers must remain informed and adapt their strategies accordingly. Here are some key considerations:

• Update Your Marketing Strategy: With the mandatory in-app purchases, it's essential to update your marketing strategy to focus on optimizing the shopping experience within the app. Explore the features and tools provided by Meta to effectively showcase your products and engage with your target audience.
• Leverage Virtual Connections: Take advantage of the virtual aspects of Meta's platform. Consider offering virtual experiences that best replicate the benefits of in-person shopping, such as personalized recommendations or virtual try-ons. By providing a unique and immersive experience, you can captivate customers and drive their interest in your products.
• Analyze Customer Insights: Understand your target audience by analyzing user demographics, interests, and purchasing patterns. Use these insights to tailor your marketing efforts within Meta's ecosystem, creating personalized and relevant content that resonates with your potential customers.

While concerns about loss of on-site website data are real, marketers also must embrace this new framework and adjust their marketing strategies accordingly, businesses can take advantage of streamlined transactions and increased exposure to potential customers.

It's important to acknowledge that this transition may present some challenges. However, with careful planning and a positive mindset, ecommerce businesses can adapt and thrive.

As always, we're here to help. Shoot an email to David Berry at david@dbdynamo.com to learn more.

Reach Your Online Potential with a Digital Advertising Audit

Are you tired of feeling like your online efforts are falling short?

Do you struggle to reach your target audience and generate leads or sales? It's time to take your online presence to the next level with a digital advertising audit.

We understand that you have goals beyond just improving your bottom line. Maybe you're looking to increase brand awareness, connect with your audience, or make a positive impact in your industry.

Whatever your motivations may be, we're here to help you achieve them.

We believe that your online presence should be a reflection of your unique brand and vision. That's why we take the time to get to know your business and understand your goals. We don't believe in a one-size-fits-all approach, so we'll tailor our recommendations to fit your specific needs.

Don't let your online presence fall short of your potential. Take the first step towards online success with a digital advertising audit.

Fill out this form today to learn more and get started.

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1. Define objectives: Before we begin the audit, we clearly define objectives. What is our client hoping to achieve with their digital advertising? Are they looking to increase website traffic, generate more leads, or improve ROI? Having a clear set of objectives helps focus the audit and ensure that we are measuring the right metrics.

2. Gather data: We collect all the relevant data from their website, email, and social and digital ad channels. This should include metrics such as website traffic, click-through rates, conversion rates, engagement rates, and cost-per-acquisition. We use tools like Google Analytics, social media analytics, and email marketing software to gather this data.

3. Evaluate website: We start by evaluating the website, checking for any technical issues that may be impacting SEO or user experience. We also look for broken links, slow loading times, or any other issues that may be negatively impacting the website's performance.

4. Evaluate email marketing: Review email marketing campaigns to determine if they are achieving the client's goals. Evaluate open and click-through rates, as well as conversion rates. Make sure that their email campaigns are optimized for mobile devices and that they are using best practices to avoid ending up in spam folders.

5. Evaluate social media channels: Evaluate social media channels to determine if they are reaching the target audience(s) and generating engagement. Look for opportunities to improve content and engagement strategies. Determine which social media channels are providing the most ROI.

6. Evaluate digital advertising campaigns: Evaluate digital advertising campaigns to determine if they are delivering results. Look at cost-per-click, cost-per-acquisition, and return on ad spend. Identify any areas for optimization, such as targeting or creative.

7. Identify strengths and weaknesses: After evaluating each channel, identify the strengths and weaknesses of the digital advertising strategy. Determine what is working well and what needs improvement.

8. Develop an action plan: Based on our findings, we develop an action plan to improve the client's digital advertising strategy. We prioritize the changes that will have the biggest impact on their objectives. Set measurable goals and track progress over time.

9. Implement action plan: Implement the changes identified in our action plan. Monitor progress and make adjustments as needed.

10. Review and refine: Conduct regular reviews of the digital advertising strategy to ensure that we are staying on track and achieving the client's objectives. Refine the strategy as needed to keep pace with changes in the market and new opportunities.

How did they get on track? keep reading.

For this client, who has both wholesale and DTC businesses, we conducted an audit of Google Analytics and Amazon, Google, Meta and Pinterest Ads. Here are five (of many) key findings that made it possible.

1. A mismatch between the top age demo of site visitors vs. the top age demo of purchasers. As it turns out, their top-traffic drivers were an older age demo, but their top shoppers were a bit younger. Moving forward, they will test different ads/products to the older age demo, and expand their efforts on the top shoppers demo.

2. A good ad strategy but with a budget spread too thin. The strategy is solid, but the execution attempted to do too much with too little. Now, they'll be consolidating ad dollars into their most profitable campaigns, and expand once there is sufficient budget to do so.

3. Returning visitors spend 5X that of new visitors. This isn't unusual, but the brand was leaving money on the table with this group. Moving forward, they'll be increasing retargeting spend to capture more of these users, and they will utilize more email triggers/automation to provide them more specific, ongoing support, as well.

4. Web traffic volume is up, but quality is down. The good news is that site traffic is growing, but pages per session and session duration dropped. So, they'll be working on refining their target audiences (as mentioned above), but also improving content and navigation on high-traffic pages where traffic is being lost.

5. A minimal (but mighty) share of traffic coming from referrals. Referral traffic outperformed most other traffic sources in a number of key metrics, but it's largely been an untapped reservoir. Now, they'll be growing those initiatives.

if you’re ready to start winning and stop guessing, fill out the form below.

Goodbye to the Golden Era of 'Performance Marketing'

2013 to 2018 was the golden era of 'performance marketing.'

▪ 'Facebook Ads' was a business strategy
▪ We could target anything and track everything
▪ Ads were affordable
▪ You could scale by spending more, often on one channel

If you're still operating that way, you're officially 'the old guy at the club.'

If 2013 to 2018 was the Renaissance, then we're now firmly in our 'Age of Enlightenment.'I've spent my entire career doing this, and I'm convinced advertising has gotten both simpler and more challenging.

Because simple isn't easy. Simple means:
▪ Knowing your customer like you know your best friend.
▪ Articulating your WHY — not your WHAT — in one sentence.
▪ Creating volumes of content that reinforces that WHY, in the tone and nuance you would with a friend who shares the same interest.
▪ Advertising/distributing on the channels where your people get the most value.
▪ Using data in your tool belt, but remembering that data is NOT the tool belt.

And the last thing that 'simple' means? Patience.

Do the above well. Do it consistently. If there are opportunities to pivot, follow them.

The brands we love aren't losing sleep over the one half-baked creative asset that got a 0.1% better CTR than the next one. They're focused on doing the important things well.

That's it. That's advertising in the 'post-performance' era.

Why So Many Ecommerce Brands Are Going to 'Fail' Quickly

A significant number of #ecommerce brands are going to 'fail' pretty quickly, and the evidence is right in front of their faces.

Let's do some back napkin math.

◾ The average CTR on a social ad is roughly 1%.
◾ The CPM for a conversion-focused campaign is roughly $20.
◾ The average conversion rate for a Shopify store is 1.4% (yuck). But, let's give them a better website and decent path to purchase, and bump them up to 4.0%.

Now, assume that they plan to spend $10,000 on a social ads campaign. That means they can expect —

◾ Roughly 500,000 impressions, and —
◾ Roughly 5,000 clicks on their ads.
◾ At a 1.4% conversion rate, that's 70 purchases. At 4.0%, that's 200 purchases.

Next, let's imagine that we have an average shopping cart size of $50. It's low, but it's also relatively common. That means they can expect —

◾ Roughly $3,500 in revenue at a 1.4% conversion rate, or $10,000 at 4.0%.
◾ They lose $6,500 in the first scenario, and they break even in the second scenario. This doesn't include the cost of the team or agency, the design of the ads, etc., so when it's all said and done, they've lost money there too.

Yikes. That looks a lot like failure.

However — there are several big 'buts' (terrible pun, you're welcome) to the above. Watch the video for a couple of them, then leave your thoughts! 👇👇👇

How Art & Commerce Intersect to Grow ROI

By David Berry: When a client asks what the ROI is of *insert ad channel here*, what they’re really asking is "which magic button can I press to get results?"

What I don't hear enough of — especially from tech-obsessed digital marketers — is:

• What is the ROI of world-class design and production?

• What's the ROI of consistent, audience-obsessed content?

• What's the ROI of focusing on user experience?

• What's the ROI of cold-calling your customers to get feedback on product quality?

• What's the ROI of an integrated media mix vs. one that asks every channel to deliver a purchase with no regard for wtf a user actually does on the channel?

Great ads aren't enough. Great tech and targeting isn't enough. You need both. You need art and commerce to shake hands.

I understand why digital marketers love attribution and an easy-to-digest ROI measure. It satisfies the rational part of our brain that wants to solve for the relationship between outputs and outcomes.

The problem is that attribution data is as reliable as what it can track. And for better or worse, there's a lot it can't track.

• 91% of people who buy your product saw your ads but didn't click on them

• 80% of consumers now bounce between devices when shopping

• 40% of online purchases involve multiple devices

These numbers vary depending on who you survey, but what it shows is just as important as what it doesn't. You also need visibility into —

• The impact of your creative

• Aided and unaided recall

• Your competitive landscape

• How and where your customers talk about you

• Etc.

Attribution isn't enough. You need hard data for context, but you need instinct and intuition to make it useful.

Commerce is technical, but it's an art form too. It's a big part of the reason we tout DB Dynamo as the place where art and commerce shake hands.

There’s no shortage of brands getting it right, and no amount of attribution data makes that any clearer than simply looking at what they’re doing with a critical eye. And we’ll give some credit to the fine folks at DTC Newsletter for their insights into the brand — Magic Spoon Cereal — some of which we’ll share here.

Let’s give a quick look at two things, in particular, of what is setting them apart — not because of doing all of the technical things right, but for nailing the user experience and customer obsession that comes with it.

UGC & Social Proof Content

“This is a unique take on social proof that not enough brands are utilizing. Magic Spoon created enough room so you can read the first paragraph of this Forbes article without feeling overwhelmed. If you’ve ever been featured in a major publication, try this format yourself!” (DTC Newsletter)

“We’re HUGE fans of this ad. The copy, creative, and headline are all spot on. The milk or cereal first debate is something we’ve all had a heated conversation around. The four squares and eye-catching colors make this a scroll stopper, too. They could take it a step further by running a poll with this ad and creating custom landing pages for each answer. Each landing page could include copy that reads "We’re so glad you chose this route – we’re on your side. 😎"” (DTC Newsletter)

Email Marketing

Starting with pop-ups. “Magic Spoon leads off with a contest angle rather than a discount in their pop-up. This route can help prevent the expectation of discounting early on, which is something Magic Spoon likes to avoid. The opt-in rate will potentially be higher than a discount offer, but conversion rates can be lower depending on the backend follow-up flow. The design and copy are perfect. Notice "Like our cereal, our emails contain no junk. A simple, but an impactful line of copy.” (DTC Newsletter)

But then what? Now you’re in the email queue to get onboarded. And where most (or too many) brands go right for the jugular by requesting a sale, Magic Spoon gets clients with some smooth seduction by telling them who they are in an appealing but without being aggressive. Have a look.

There’s more where that came from, but for now, are you catching our drift? Magic Spoon is doing commerce. They’re targeting ads with sophistication, they’re setting up their email automations by having something to say instead of just selling. And they’re selling more because of it.

Not just art. Not just commerce. Both.

-DB

3 Facebook Ad Fixes that Work in a Post-iOS 14 World

Back in March, we shared a blog post about the anticipated changes impacting advertisers because of iOS 14. Many advertisers panicked. We didn’t. Instead, we pointed to some foundational truths that we know about advertising —

“Customers don’t give a shit about data. They want good products that A) Solve a problem, B) Make them feel good, or C) Both. And more importantly —

Customers do a lot of really important things that advertisers can’t track. They text their friends. They FaceTime each other. They order multiple items in different color schemes, try them at home, then send back the ones they don’t want. They see someone else wearing it or using it. They discover a YouTuber wearing it during a how-to tutorial. And advertisers can’t track any of those things.

The obsession with measuring and tracking everything is not only based on an incomplete picture, but it gives advertisers a false sense of control while emboldening them to make bad decisions.”

— DB Dynamo, March 2021

We stand by that.

But at a technical level — with your hands on the dials, optimizing your campaigns — you’ve undoubtedly seen things change, including the surprising development of Facebook underreporting the number of conversions it’s driving.

Based on what we’ve seen, here are three tactics we’ve been using that have worked for the betterment of our clients’ performance.

1. Broader Audiences: From our Nicole Williams — “In order for FB's algorithm to work (or work again in a post-iOS 14 world), it needs the broadest audiences possible - i.e. a very large pool size in order for the system to crawl all of the data available to it.

   Why? Because so much data was lost with the update (96 percent of Apple users opted out of tracking).

   And this means that modeled (lookalike) and retargeting audiences have become less effective because they’re relying on outdated data. So, best practice (as we’ve observed it now) is to broaden where possible, then refine as you go. ‘Broadening’ applies to affinity/persona driven audiences where the goal is to expand audience pools; apply these filters as you see fit.

   In a literal sense, a broadened audience would consist just of target demographics - no affinity/interest/psychographic targeting or other layers. Just age, geography, and gender.

   • For example, this means you would create one audience to run alongside an existing one — always test for yourself first! — with the following bare (hypothetical) targeting parameters:

   • Ages 45+; U.S.; Men

   • Restating the initial rationale: Because of the privacy settings [from the iOS update], Facebook believes this new stripped-down structure to be effective in allowing the AI to make deductions on its own, of who a user is that is most likely to convert [within this audience].

   • Takeaway: The broader the audience the better.

2. Optimize for Link Clicks: Sophisticated FB advertisers of yesteryear would scoff at optimizing a web traffic campaign for link clicks vs. landing page views. After all, landing page views track whether a users actually arrived on the landing page; link clicks only assured us they clicked on the ad.

   So why the change? Because 96 percent of users have opted out of tracking, which means even if they arrived on the landing page, you won’t know it most of the time. What you do have visibility to is whether or not they intended to reach that page, and that’s where optimizing for link clicks has seen new life.

   It’s not perfect, but in every case we’ve tested it side-by-side with a landing page views campaign since the iOS 14 rollout, link clicks won.

3. Reimagining the Marketing Mix: While FB’s visibility into user behavior got murkier, its ads got more expensive too. In fact, “some advertisers are reporting CPMs are rising on Facebook iOS traffic…Playbook Media’s clients saw CPMs grow over 100% in the quarter compared to the same period last year, for instance.”

   We’ve seen it too. And what we’ve been preaching for a while is now being acted on — diversifying your media mix. FB ads can’t build a business in isolation anymore. We’ve tested using FB as a traffic-driving channel instead of optimizing for purchase, and we’re letting Google, for instance, pick up the slack by driving most of the conversions. But it’s clear they’re working synergistically. We’ve also tested TikTok ads for top and low funnel, and we’ve found success on YouTube at various levels of the media mix too, which now looks like a more cost-conscious option given how expensive FB has become.

Look to the far right of the graph — right around the time the iOS 14 updates really hit prime gear. With the exclusion of brand awareness objectives, all ad costs approached their highest levels for the year around April 2021.

What’s working for you? Let us know in the comments.

-DB

Three Surging Digital Trends in the Wellness Industry

It didn’t take long after the onset of COVID to see that even while many economic sectors were collapsing on-site, there were several for which a stay-at-home mandate would be a boon. One such category was — and still is — wellness.

Anecdotally, our newsfeeds are flooded with #selfcare, and Instagram boasts more than 50 million usages of that hashtag alone; 49 million have used #wellness.

And while the wellness space can feel a bit nebulous in terms of what it includes or doesn’t include, it’s hard to ignore the data that supports its growth.

In April 2020, Bloomberg released findings that showed “Companies selling food, medical care items and wellness items like supplements, vitamins and CBD have seen a 21.6% boost since the lockdown began, according to a recent study conducted by Yotpo, an eCommerce Marketing Platform, who polled 2,000 consumers between the ages of 14-73 about how their shopping habits have changed during the pandemic.”

Later last year, eMarketer issued revised projections that showed a $19.22 billion increase in sales in the wellness space, with another $39.56 billion projected to flow in through 2025.

So what’s driving the demand and shaping its growth? It’s our devices (mobile, tablet and desktop).

And while we as an agency are focused on e-commerce sales, we’d be disingenuous to ignore the following, because it has implications for our clients too (and read to the end to get our key takeaways for e-commerce brands) — 

1. A surge in tele-health options for physical and mental care.

“According to the American Psychological Association, the number of mental health-related self-applications is currently between 10,000 and 20,000. This increase in number has been a cause of worry for most psychologists. However, it was observed that mobile mental health support is encouraging individuals to seek professional help instead of replacing it.”

Such a trend has eased the barriers to care that may have previously kept some on the outside looking in. And while it’s conjecture on our part, it reasons to believe that the easing of access to virtual mental health treatments has brought along physical products — and experiences too.

2. A surge in wellness tourism.

The wellness tourism market is projected to reach $919 billion by 2022 with leading brands like Equinox launching getaway concepts and collaborations promoted through digital. We often think of e-commerce in terms of physical products, but digital has long been the gateway to the physical world too. The Global Wellness Institute reports that “wellness tourism is the powerful intersection of two large and growing industries: the $2.6 trillion tourism industry and the $4.2 trillion wellness industry.”

As you can see above, different states and countries have even become destinations for specific niches within the broader category, with everything from meditation and yoga to hot springs, hiking and rainforest spa retreats.

Emerging brands have found opportunity by connecting their customers’ previously adjacent interests into one. Club Med was an innovator in this space as far back as 1950, and while they were the Kleenex brand of the space for decades, this novelty has only recently become mainstream.

For established brands, they get customers to push the ‘book’ button by making the traditional hotel stay more ‘sticky’ with wellness offerings.

Case in point — Westin Hotels partnered with fitness-tech brand Peloton, Fairmont with Reebok and Technogym. Hyatt acquired boutique fitness and wellness brand Exhale. There are others.

Most of the fitness brands that hotels are partnering with have a heavy digital connection and extension baked-in. Instead of monetization through digital-only offerings, these collaborations instead create a fervent hybrid community.

It draws non-hotel brand loyalists into specific hotel brands, and allows wellness brands to maintain loyalty by placing products and experiences in places where their customers normally would go without them.

3. Food and supplementation — and personalization.

Nutritional supplements — protein powders, amino acids, pre-workouts, etc. — are widening their appeal and always seem ubiquitous in our social media feeds. The major brands long ago penetrated big box retail and convenience stores from Walmart and Target to CVS and Walgreens, which was a bold step out of the hardcore fitness shelves of GNC and The Vitamin Shoppe.

But that’s old news now.

The new(er) news is that protein powder makers are developing products targeting women and vegan exercisers specifically, for instance, instead of the traditional body-building market of yesteryear. Niche is now mainstream with the assumption of many — right or wrong — that if it’s for everyone, it can’t be for me.

No emerging brand has perhaps captured that idea more intentionally than Gainful.

They’re a DTC e-commerce brand that puts its shoppers through a comprehensive personal assessment quiz to not only learn their current stats — height, weight, fitness level — but also their health goals and lifestyle.

The output of this experience is, at a minimum, the perception of a perfect fit. And while much of the general consumer public is still unclear on what proper supplementation even looks like, Gainful tackles it head-on, and even boasts a team of nutritional and exercise scientists.

So what?

We’ll try to summarize our key takeaways for you, our e-commerce friends, as succinctly as possible.

1. Take your wellness product/experience to mobile. This doesn’t mean putting a bunch of content on your website; you should’ve done that 10 years ago. Instead, use mobile as a means to do what your customers need most. The surge in tele-health is having implications for wellness brands too. Peloton showed there was an appetite for it in a non-medical environment. Get specific in understanding — or even surveying — your customers to learn how you can meet them on mobile. Virtual experiences, chats with a professional, classes, coaching, etc. are just the tip of the iceberg.

2. Look at collaborations/partnerships that add customer value and expose you to new audiences. If you know your brand and its customers intimately, an exercise in auditing other brands might be both straightforward and revealing. But don’t collaborate for collaboration’s sake. Be specific in finding an opportunity to create an experience or a product that neither partner can offer on its own, then dive in.

3. Personalization, personalization, personalization. We talked about this at length on our last blog for the skincare industry, but personalization wins when it’s done right. Users aren’t going backward on this, either. The brands that meet their individual needs and can do it satisfactorily through automation or quizzes are not only gaining a leg-up on competitors, but they’re doing it efficiently and getting obsessive loyalty in return.

Tips of your own? Leave them here. And as always, thanks for reading.

-DB

E-Commerce Trends in the Skincare Industry

The skincare category will reach $200 billion in sales in five years. Between 2018 and 2026, the global skincare market is projected to grow by more than 50 percent. Skincare is the top-selling category on all of Amazon.

Okay, I’m not here to regale you with a bunch of fast facts that you could Google. But as an e-commerce agency with several clients in the skincare vertical, we care a lot about this space. And we like to think we know quite a bit about it, as well. For more than three years, we’ve managed digital strategy, influencer strategy, creative strategy, paid media strategy and execution, from social to programmatic to Amazon.

One client has had 4X returns for three years, and another just saw 26X returns on Amazon Prime Day.

Okay, enough humble bragging. As the skincare category expands, competition does too. There are a ton of players, and the L’Oreals, Sephoras and Cliniques of the world are sharpening their knives for a fight. Which goes to say that if you’re going to really compete in this space, and really make a name, you’ve got to be prepared for a fight. And you’ve got to prepare to do even the little things well.

What those things are, in detail, is a conversation for another day. But I’ll summarize it this way — if you are not customer obsessed, someone else will be. If you do not blow your customers away with personalized experiences, someone else will.

Here are some more stats on the skincare space that provide a lens into what you should look out for.

• Augmented and virtual reality are putting products on faces — without leaving home.

• Subscription services will grow an 72 percent before 2023.

• Clean beauty is growing 5X as fast for brands that are free of parabens and are all-natural.

• 60 percent of women would be willing to spend on new brands if they offered natural products.

• Real influencers, when leveraged properly, can return 11X on the investment.

• Brand collaborations are hot, and can be 30X cheaper than digital advertising alone.

• Personalization is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s becoming a mandatory. Eight out of 10 surveyed consumers say they have purchased personalized skin care.

If I could summarize all of that into one sentence, it would be this —

Skincare customers want clean, natural products behind an authentic story with a brand that’s impossibly easy to engage.

That’s an oversimplification, but that doesn’t make it less true. But the ‘why’ is just as important. Augmented reality, for instance, was growing in popularity but became a game-changer when, during COVID, the physical story literally wasn’t an option. AR lets customers put products on bodies from their phone. Sometimes they can’t even do that in the store.

And it’s desirable because it’s easy, it’s accessible. It greases the skids on an e-commerce transaction because you’re enabling trial right there on your site. If they’re that far, there aren’t many objections left.

Let’s talk about why clean beauty is important. Chemicals are starting to scare the shit out of people. As this information becomes easier to find, customers are growing apprehensive of having weird goo on their skin. Clean products create trust and confidence too. And they’ve proven they’ll open their checkbooks a bit wider if you can deliver it.

And of course, personalization. There are a lot of ways to do this, and not all of them are truly personal; they just feel personal, like you’ve thought of everything and you actually care.

Jebbit is a quiz tool that we love. They deliver interactive experiences that let a user enter their own information with specifics on their skin, and based on how you code the quiz, it will drive site visitors to the categories or products that are best suited to their skin condition or skin type.

Customers love it. But so do the brands because now they have a wealth of first-party data that they can use to — you guessed it — send personalized content. And not just personalized product recommendations, but need-specific videos and tutorials, tips and pointers, stuff like that.

The more you know about your different categories of customers, the more you can delight them with.

There are a few other trends we’re monitoring, as well. Be sure to check out our podcast, The Marketing Moment, where we’ll talk about a few of them on next week’s episode (due out July 20).

Some of the things we’ll discuss are differences in usage behavior by generation; Gen Z and Millennials want all-natural (and maybe sustainability/a social cause) as we mentioned. Baby boomers want age-refining. How has this changed over time, and how will it change over time?

One key difference that is emerging between Gen Z and millennials is the decreasing interest in cosmetics among the younger demos. And among those still buying cosmetics, the motivations have changed; cosmetics are now more a form of expression versus an attempt to model a normalized standard of beauty.

Another trend is beauty products reflecting diets. We’re seeing a huge increase in beauty products being marketed as vegan and gluten-free with mainstream brands highlighting this in adverts, as well.

What does it all mean? Tune into our podcast next week, and continue to refresh this blog, as well. We’ll be talking about skincare quite a bit.

-DB

Post-Covid Consumer Spending Trends Affecting E-Commerce in 2021

The emergence of e-commerce since the onset of Covid-19 is no longer news. Even last summer, TechCrunch offered data that showed the pandemic had accelerated the shift to e-commerce by a full five years.

We won’t be so bold as to proclaim Covid as a thing of the past. But much of the country has emerged into something looking like ‘normal’ thanks to the vaccine rollout over the past several months. And with it as a sense of what Covid has changed for digital in general, but e-commerce specifically.

Let’s talk consumer spending first, to see where it was and where it is.

Last year, department store sales declined by over 60% for the full year. Meanwhile, e-commerce grew by nearly 20%. And groceries, alcohol and home improvement materials sales accelerated by 12%, 16% and 14%, respectively.

That was last year. Let’s look at the past five months in 2021 and the data that shows a trend in a “post-Covid” world —

• No category has grown more than clothing, shoes and accessories, up 81%, followed by sporting goods/hobby/musical instrument and book stores at 55%. Retail hasn’t bounced back as hard, though — just a 23% rebound.

• Amazon leapfrogged a number of players to firmly entrench itself as the number three digital ad platform behind Google and Facebook. Not a surprise that the number one e-commerce site on earth did well.

• A surge in home buying has led to the growth of builder-based brands, and opportunities for home furnishing brands. Maybe it’s not the mass urban exodus of the 1950s, but Covid has pushed home buyers into more open spaces, and has pushed others into the purchase of second homes to retreat to. And the gasoline on that fire has undoubtedly been historically low interest rates. That has led to a surge in opportunities for brands that specialize in both home furnishing and home building/remodeling (but also a shortage in lumber).

• Used car demand is at an all-time high as automakers have struggled with production thanks to a worldwide shortage of semiconductors. It has forced them to idle plants and made it difficult for dealers to keep their lots stocked. As a result, drivers are switching to used, and the average used car value has gone up 17 percent in the past year. (Hello, Carvana).

Let’s summarize this simply — stores were closed. People wanted to booze and order takeout. They wanted to hit the open road, and they wanted to fix that ugly ass garden they’d been avoiding for two years, but started staring at daily. And to meet those needs, they ordered stuff — even used cars — online. Boom.

And now let’s summarize where we’re headed, hopefully just as simply.

People are tired of being cooped up inside. They want to pick up the volleyball or the golf clubs, kickstart some new habits and buy some clothes and accessories that make them look good and feel good as they go back in public.

• But, they’ve gotten comfortable with doing more of that shopping online than they otherwise would have. The timeline has been accelerated.

• Emarketer says US digital ad spending is growing 25.5% this year. Total media spend will grow 18% and even traditional TV will bounce back by 5% — but digital is still outpacing it by 5X. Marketers are going where consumers are spending. And as we showed before, that is online.

• TV and OOH will bounce back after sharp declines last year but, and I don’t mean to sound dramatic, but...they’ll never be back to where they were. Connected TV is pushing out linear TV. I do expect OOH to fare better than most ‘traditional’ media as we go forward.

But for as good as this is on paper for digital marketers, it’s also creating a logjam on the top channels. Facebook and Google are expensive.

Somewhere in there is a causal relationship to what’s happening on Amazon. They’re seeing an unprecedented shift in ad spend from both post-pandemic consumer behavior, paired with the hit Facebook ads are taking with the iOS14 update in the last few months. As a result, Amazon is seeing the fastest growth in digital ad revenue this year among the big players.

But it’s not just digital or traditional. It’s about the evolution of both.

In fact, with businesses opening back up, vaccine rollouts, and mask mandates getting lifted, fewer people are spending all of their time on digital. This opens up the market for other marketing tactics, like OOH advertising, particularly as the interest in outdoor events surges.

So where does that leave you, the e-commerce brand? Glad you asked.

1. Double-down on the quality of your e-commerce offering: The demand for e-commerce brands or e-commerce transactions has never been greater. But it’s not enough to just offer things for sale online. You’ve got to meet customer needs and obsess over the quality of that experience. This blog from our archives should help.

2. Find the opportunities that others are missing: I’m spitballing here, but as people move to the ‘burbs, there are opportunities to push landscaping and home maintenance services online. Create home remodeling kits with checklists for all of the items you need to re-do a bathroom, for instance. In the used car market, do hyper-local ad campaigns and take your sales team into neighborhoods to transact without stepping foot into a dealership. And if you’re an advertiser, buy-up effective but discounted ad opportunities — if your customer is still there, then it’s basically just on sale.

3. Embrace Amazon with one eye open: No brand is excited to join Amazon and give up a chunk of their customer data. But your competitors are taking your market share on that channel if you’re sitting out. Consider ways to acquire new customers there, then figure out ways to get them to your site — or stores — for subsequent transactions.

4. Move quickly: Opportunities don’t wait, and they’re not always there for a long time either. But if you overanalyze and overthink, someone else will have beaten you to the punch. Know your customer. Know your product. And act with confidence.

Tips of your own? We’d love to hear them. Leave a comment.

Sources:

• https://econsultancy.com/stats-roundup-coronavirus-impact-on-marketing-advertising/

• https://www.npd.com/wps/portal/npd/us/news/data-driven-insights-for-forward-looking-businesses/

• https://www.thebalance.com/consumer-spending-trends-and-current-statistics-3305916 

5 Critical Checkpoints Before Building a Media Plan

To create a can’t miss media plan for a truly competitive e-commerce brand, you first need to understand the digital media landscape you’re currently living in.

In 2020, Google's share of the U.S. digital ad market was 28.9%; Facebook's was 25.2%, according to eMarketer. That mirrors anecdotal conversations we’ve had with prospects and clients in the past year. By and large, Google and Facebook dominate the marketplace because of name recognition and ubiquity.

But they’re no longer the best value in town. And for emerging advertisers who’ve treated them as a two-trick pony, they’ve likely seen diminishing returns, rising costs or both.

There’s a reason for it.

According to AdAge, “Facebook ad prices have historically risen roughly 30% year-over-year before the COVID-19 pandemic, so the fact that we're seeing a 30% rebound this year—still in the midst of social distancing and vaccination—means that pricing will likely remain very high for the rest of 2021.”

Semantics aside, it has become a fool’s errand to rely exclusively on one or two channels. For one, it lulls you into thinking you are powerful enough to optimize your way to the promised land. But the more critical point is the premise of this post — Internet users spend their time in far more places than the properties owned by Google and Facebook.

If your media plan is delivering ‘meh’ performance (and you’re still reading at this point), these tips will help:

One, Focus on a Goal: It may seem like a no-brainer, but an effective media mix has allocations for awareness, education/engagement, and conversion. Yes, we’re all in it for sales, but optimizing campaigns for the bottom of the funnel is akin to breathing through a straw. In this case, these campaigns are highly competitive, expensive, and often times ignore the critical brand-building work that real brands know is a mandatory to rise above the crowded field of competitors.

If you’re an emerging brand, for example, do the work that is necessary to generate awareness and engagement. In this case, it means a rock-solid brand message, first and foremost, with a clear eye on the mindset of the buyer you plan to speak to. If you've got a strong volume of interested buyers, you’re in prime position to pour dollars into conversion-driven campaigns.

Two, Pinpoint Your Customer: An angel loses its wings every time the question ‘who is your ideal target?’ is asked, and the answer given is ‘everyone.’ Develop a customer avatar. If you’ve not done that, make up a person or more than one person who you know is the exact fit for your product, and color them in. Give them a name, an age, a place of residence, a job, interests and behaviors, demographic info (do they have kids?), and pain points they’re looking to solve.

Look at your sales data in Google Analytics or, ideally, your CRM tool. What shows up?

You should know this person intimately, and if you don’t, start reaching out to some customers individually and offer them an incentive for a conversation.

You’ll be blown away by how much you can learn about them, and what motivates them to buy your product. But most importantly, as it relates to a media plan — it’ll reveal where they spend their time on (and off) line.

Three, Explore the Places Your Customer Spends Time On & Offline: Follow this customer avatar on a real or hypothetical journey based on the data you have and research you conduct. Are they active on Reddit or are they passive Instagram swipers; are they on industry publications, local news sites or are they active on blogs and podcasts. Are they on the go, or are they in front of a desk. Do they play video games?

Dig in to the brands that are adjacent to yours — what’s unique about them? How do they advertise to the same type of customer? Subscribe to their emails, visit their website, look at their ad content (Facebook Ads Library, SEM Rush, etc.) The tools are available for you to do this work quickly and at a minimal cost — sometimes free.

Four, Understand How Each Channel Works: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and a few others are generally seen as discovery channels, good for quick engagements and interactions with users who aren’t looking to buy, but who are looking to be delighted or entertained.

YouTube or Google users, or news site visitors, on the flip side, are often in an engagement/education or purchase mindset. They’re looking for something. They’ve gone to a specific source often with specific intent.

Context is important. On many social channels, you’re in the business of stopping thumbs, and you likely have three seconds or less to pull it off. On search-based channels, you can be a bit more intentional with a captive audience.

But you need to understand how your customer interacts with the media they consume.

Here are some quick facts — the average Facebook user spends 33 minutes a day on-site; 28 on Snapchat, 42 on YouTube. Twitch? A staggering 95 minutes per day. (Statista, influencermarketinghub). Not all channels are created equal. And if you’re selling something that appears to gamers, the above stats alone would present an obvious opportunity — not on Facebook or Snapchat, but on Twitch.

Five, Understand the Cost Structure: Awareness-focused ads tend to be less-expensive for an obvious reason — there’s lower buying intent. Purchase-focused ads tend to cost more. But where there’s competition, those costs can be even greater. Even five years ago, Facebook was still a good value for purchase-focused campaigns.

For many brands it’s not anymore. A smart programmatic campaign is a no-brainer for brand awareness, with some of the lowest CPMs in all of advertising. For an engagement/education campaign, you might find better value on Reddit than Snapchat (depending on your user) because its users are actually engaged and there’s less competition for them.

Do your homework; there’s a wealth of publicly available information on average ad costs across different channels that will reveal how to use these channels.

Increasingly, Facebook (for example) is becoming a better value for awareness and engagement than for conversions. So in theory, you could use Facebook to build awareness, and optimize for purchase on other channels where you know your customers go — but at a lower cost to you.

Questions? Send us an email at hello@dbpadv.com.

-DB

6 Tips for Customer Nurture & Loyalty Done Right

One of the anecdotes I use to explain customer loyalty is the marriage proposal. I use this all the time in my class (I’m an adjunct professor at the University of Miami).

Imagine that prior to meeting my wife, instead of asking her on a first date, I saw her on a dating app and immediately asked her to marry me.

Instead of asking her to meet for dinner or drinks, getting to know her, sharing what I have to offer, or even going on a few dates, I just said ‘Marry me. Right now. You have no reason to, but do it anyway.’

I always get a laugh when I share that example — because it’s outrageous. Unless you’re drunk at a hotel in Vegas, it’s not happening. Yet, it’s exactly what marketers are attempting to do on a near daily basis. And they act surprised when they don’t convert new or repeat customers.

Of course, marketers aren’t doing it on purpose. They might even have a great product or service. But the extent of some of their efforts to nurture prospects and earn customer loyalty is half-baked or missing altogether.

But we didn’t ask you here to give you a problem. Read on for some examples of customer nurture and loyalty done right.

1. No one gives a damn about your lead form: We have conversations with clients about this all the time. “We don’t want them to go to Amazon, we want them to buy from us, so we should ask for their email address and phone number, and blood type, and…” Yeah, sure thing. You want someone’s information? Give them value. If it’s an e-commerce business, a purchase incentive is always an obvious one for a first-timer. Or a free gift with purchase. If it’s an item or service with a longer lead time, help them pre-solve their problems. Give them rich content, video tutorials, downloadable step-by-step guides, etc. Give them so much valuable information that they’re practically salivating to fill out your lead form. Give real value.

Salesforce has a great, well-known product and a great reason to fill out their lead form

2. Use their data data responsibly: Let’s say I bought a men’s t-shirt from an e-commerce brand that sells mens and women’s apparel. I don’t want email promotions for women’s clothing because I already showed I’m buying men’s clothing. That’s an easy one. But let’s say I filled out a lead form to learn about a complicated piece of software to automate processes for my business. That shouldn’t be an invitation to sell me right away. It should be an opportunity to give me rich content that answers common objections, shares case studies, or explains how to use it if I sign up for a free trial. Show me you understand your customers and that you’re able to deliver experiences that prove it. The more granular you can get with niche purchasing behaviors and interests, the better. Personalization matters.

3. Make it impossibly easy to reach you: We talked about this on a previous blog; “no one wants to call a 1-800 number. No one wants to email a service account and wait a week for a stranger to reply. They want instant access through chat features or bots, DMs or call services that save your spot in line, then call you. They want easy returns and they don’t want to have to wait for their purchase to be credited either.” Make everything easy. It’s easy to hate on Amazon, but everything I just mentioned, they’ve mastered. You can jump on live chat with a real person in one or two minutes. You can get digital shipping labels for returns, and sometimes they don’t even bother with having you return the item. They have exhaustive FAQs. There is rarely a question you can’t get answered or a problem you can’t get resolved in under 5 minutes with them.

You know why Amazon is kicking everyone’s ass? Because they do things customers like.

4. Help them use your product: Most day-to-day customer purchases are need-based. They solve a problem. But the purchase is only part of solving that problem. I’ll give you an embarrassing personal example — I broke the handle on my toilet the other day. I flushed it and the plastic handle broke in half. I bought a new one and, much to my dismay, installing it wasn’t as easy as it looked. You know what would’ve been a great help? A tutorial video, either sent to me through email, or via a QR code on the product itself. How-to videos are incredibly important. Many skincare brands are great at this, particularly since so many people feel insecure and unsure if they’re doing it right. Don’t allow them to feel that way if you can do something about it.

5. Never stop giving value: A client of ours is Flomentum, the leading men’s prostate health supplement. In news that won’t surprise you, even eager customers can get bored of just talking about the prostate. So we’ve worked with the brand to develop content for email and social channels that speaks to the whole man — heart health, nutrition, family, and of course, tips on their golf game. The more intimately you connect with your customer, the more likely they are to find reasons to stick around. And sometimes, a quality story is crucial for differentiation and 'a reason to believe.’ Luckily for our client, the true story is they have the highest-grade saw palmetto you can buy. Check out this video.

6. Do what others won’t: Include personalized notes in your shipping packages. Call a customer and thank them for their business. Give them early access to new product launches, or exclusive content. Ask them for their opinion or to join a focus group about new product ideas. Anyone can do these things, and most of them don’t cost a dime. But few will actually do the work. Be one of them.

Of course, this list isn’t meant to be exhaustive. Hell, I haven’t even talked about customer loyalty incentive programs. But it should serve as inspiration and a jumping off point. What do you think?

-DB

It’s the End of Advertising as We Know It*

It’s the end of advertising as we know it!

*At least, that’s what digital ad dorks and tech nerds will have you believe. Apple’s iOS14 update set off a cascade of moves throughout the industry a few months back; the iPhone makers announced they would begin to prohibit certain data collection and sharing unless users explicitly opted-in. And since 45 percent of mobile devices in the U.S. operate on iOS, the implications were wide-reaching.

GDPR foretold this whole data privacy movement in 2018. The move set off a cascade of movement by Facebook and Google — the two biggest digital ad players in the world — to account for it.

Now, Google is phasing out third-party cookies entirely over the next two years. Facebook cut its attribution window from 28 days to 7. Safari and FireFox are already blocking third-party cookies. That’s just some of it. (Side note: First-party data was always more important, still is, and is largely unaffected).

A quick scrub of your social channels would have you thinking the world is collapsing in on itself. Exhibit A:

No, the digital ad world is not collapsing on itself. But this fruitless obsession with attribution and ‘measuring everything’ is maybe — hopefully — collapsing on itself.

Attribution is valuable, like a screwdriver in your tool box. But it’s a tool; it’s not the tool box.

Somehow, though, after digital advertisers got high on all of the widgets and proclamations of ‘he with the most data wins!’, advertisers forgot what advertising is about in the first place. Stories. Connections. Ideas. Solutions.

There isn’t a human being alive who bought a thing because a cubicle-bound ‘digital wizard’ showed them the most common purchase path involved four clicks on three sites over the course of two weeks.

The reasons are obvious.

1. Customers don’t give a shit about data. They want good products that A) Solve a problem, B) Make them feel good, or C) Both. And more importantly —

2. Customers do a lot of really important things that advertisers can’t track. They text their friends. They FaceTime each other. They order multiple items in different color schemes, try them at home, then send back the ones they don’t want. They see someone else wearing it or using it. They discover a YouTuber wearing it during a how-to tutorial. And advertisers can’t track any of those things.

The obsession with measuring and tracking everything is not only based on an incomplete picture, but it gives advertisers a false sense of control while emboldening them to make bad decisions.

Lead gen campaigns are cautionary examples of this, and the automotive world (and much of the B2B world) are guilty of it. C-suites that incentivize high lead volumes and low lead costs, at all costs, are ignoring the most critical question of all — who the hell is actually buying?

So much of what causes someone to click on an ad or fill out a lead form has nothing to do with the ad or lead form itself, and much more to do with real world experiences, content consumption, word of mouth or peer endorsement, etc.

The best advertisers have been, and will continue to be, those who understand what motivates their customers. Your data infatuation will never favor good, consistent content marketing, but over time, it’ll outperform just about everything else in your arsenal.

Look at the decor in your home. Look at what’s parked in your driveway. Look at your closet. How many of those purchases had anything to do with clicks, and how many had something to do with appeal, design or the ability to solve a problem?

Attribution is helpful. But good products with good stories are what great brands — and not fly-by-night pretenders — are built on. No amount of data is a substitute for it.

-David

Start a Killer Media Plan With a 5-Step Customer Journey Map

For all of the complex innovations, new channels and tech stacks in advertising, the industry’s reason for being isn’t that complicated.

It’s this — have a great product/experience with a clear value proposition, then go find your customers and delight them with the news.

I don’t care how many obnoxious buzzwords you can pack into a self-indulgent LinkedIn post; if you can’t do the above, then your proprietary tech whatever isn’t worth a damn.

Despite that simplicity, too many brands/marketers never bother to understand, at an intimate level, where their consumers spend their time, how they spend their time, and what they want from that time spent.

Hello, Customer Journey Map.

A Customer Journey Map takes all of those questions and turns them into a comprehensive understanding of how customers experience their brand. It’s critical. Here are some important questions to start with when building a Customer Journey Map for your brand:

• How does someone come to discover and know your brand the way you know your brand?

• Where are the places that they learn what they need to know to purchase?

• What’s involved in the actual purchase experience both on and off-line?

• After they purchase, how do they maintain a strong relationship with your brand and/or become loyal and buy more?

These questions will take you down a lot of rabbit’s holes. But in our experience, they generally lend themselves to five categories that belong in your Customer Journey Map:

• Discovery. Users don’t ‘discover’ brands out of thin air; they discover them when brands are smart about where and who they talk to. Social channels/groups where their customers are, gaming sites where their customers play, product samplings at places their customers go, etc. In short, go where they are and be present. In a general sense, users discover brands in awareness ads (banners, social), blogs, and content in the digital world. And outdoor signage, pop-ups, events, sponsorships, etc. in the physical world.

Want to talk about getting discovered? In the physical realm, few brands are doing it better than Oatly.

• Consideration. Okay, so you’ve got their attention. Now what? Users get closer to you here through product pages or landing pages, lead forms, white papers, etc. Zoom sessions or (eventually) face-to-face meetings. If your lead is getting ‘warmer,’ so to speak, that means they’re asking peers (and influencers — the real ones, not the Instagram models) about you or looking at ratings/reviews too.

  And keep in mind that consideration is also a function of share-ability. You’d be amazed at how many sales get made on WhatsApp, Slack, G-Chat, or on-site chat features. So, yeah, embed yourself there too.

  Be omnipotent (err, close to it). And think about what really gets people to consider you — can you offer a free trial? An incentive? A side-by-side comparison? A money-back guarantee? Or how about the use of Augmented Reality to try items on from a smart phone…

Warby Parker built a massively successful business on the back of the consideration phase of their business model.

• Acquisition. This is the holy grail for most marketers (though loyalty is better). The transaction. They money exchanging hands. But it’s not as simple as watching the register ring.

  Again, place messages in the context of where the user is shopping. Chances are, they’re in your store on or offline. Repeat messaging to people who’ve clicked on ads with intentional calls to action are the most common pathway to purchase. But remember — you know your customers are on multiple channels. Don’t go all in one channel just because you like the attribution data (your customer doesn’t care about your attribution).

  Also, is checkout easy? Do you make it easy to add other items to the online cart, and can customers see shipping and savings costs before they have to enter their credit card information? And what happens when they land on the thank you page?

  But that just scratches the surface. If you’re selling online, you probably can’t offer two day shipping like Amazon can. That doesn’t mean you can’t delight the customer while they’re waiting — give them shipping updates. Invitations to join the community of buyers they’re joining. Send them videos on how to use or style the product, or tutorials on how to get the most value out of it. Build anticipation! And what about when they open the package? The sneaker biz has nailed this — unexpected packaging and boxes with special gifts and surprise notes inside. Cards with detailed information on where to leave reviews, or hashtags to use to share the experience. Everything is an opportunity to enrich the shopping experience. And this doesn’t even begin to touch retail. Ask yourself how you can delight a customer at every point in the process. Then get to work.

Look at these custom collaboration shoes between hip hop artist, Raekwon, and shoe brand, Diadora. The shoes come in purple sleeves. One says ‘Side A,’ the other says ‘Side B,’ a nod to the musical releases of the shoe’s heritage in the year 1995.

• Service: Much as we’d like every purchase to go smoothly, the reality is there are a multitude of reasons that they don’t. Whether a product doesn’t fit right or it’s defective or the customer just needs help, there’s an entire ecosystem that must be constructed to deliver service to customers in need.

  But no one wants to call a 1-800 number. No one wants to email a service account and wait a week for a stranger to reply. They want instant access through chat features or bots, DMs or call services that save your spot in line, then call you. They want easy returns and they don’t want to have to wait for their purchase to be credited either.

  Touch points along the way include a strong FAQ section on the website, terms & conditions, digital return labels and return confirmations, and more. As a bonus, utilize YouTube for tutorial videos too.

Boom. Instant access through a chat feature — and a successfully expedited return and new purchase.

• Loyalty: We talked about the glory of acquiring a new customer. But the real glory (and cost savings, and lifetime value) is in keeping one. Continue to deliver content that showcases product usage and styling ideas. Give your best customers access to early releases or new product drops. Encourage them to rate/review you! Ask for their feedback, then listen to it. Delight them once in a while with things that show your appreciation. Go out of your way for them; offer incentives, or notify them when their favorite items are back in stock, or are coming out in new styles. Invite and engage them in communities of their peers, and hand the keys to them — in the case of Mini Cooper, literally, where drivers have coordinated their own road rallies all across the country. Mini could’ve found a way to shut it down on legal terms. Instead? They embraced it and joined the fun.

Putting each of these steps together makes for a truly comprehensive customer journey map. And doing so makes it easier to put together a media plan that really speaks to the customer you want, and not just a catch-all because everyone else is doing it.

Go where your customers are. Put messages in those places. And then, delight them like it’s your job. It is.

-DB

Running Facebook Ads Isn't a Business Strategy

Running Facebook Ads isn’t a business strategy. And it’s definitely not a marketing strategy. Facebook ads are a tactic.

Said another way, they’re gasoline on a fire. Whether it’s a well-managed bonfire that provides warmth and toasty marshmallows or sets a neighborhood ablaze — that’s a different question.

Before you can expect to rain down cash through Facebook ads — or any ads — you need a brand. No, not a logo or good photography. A rock-solid brand.

It’s the baseline of any successful, sustainable consumer-facing business strategy.

And brand building is intensive work. Brands have voices, language and their own culture. They cultivate raving endorsements, shared experiences and more. All of which takes time and consistency.

Facebook ads are not a substitute for brand building — they are a vehicle to it.

As I tell a lot of prospects and clients, brand building is a lot like trying to get married. Being a great catch isn’t enough; you can’t walk up to a stranger at the bar, propose marriage, then be disappointed when the answer is ‘no.’

But that’s what some brands expect their customers to do. And then act surprised when they’re not buying.

Developing a brand and a business strategy requires you to know exactly who you are, and having the patience (and yes, the finances) for it to pay off.

And to not be reliant on a single tactic because your 22-year-old nephew regurgitated a ClickFunnel course and told you otherwise.

In our humble opinion, here are five steps to figuring out a real marketing strategy:

• A unique value proposition — who are you? If you can’t answer it in a sentence, your work isn’t done.

• Proof in creative — an eye-catching creative foundation with a clear, compelling narrative about the above.

• Clear, measurable goals — what is the business goal, how long should it take, and when will you know you’ve hit the mark?

• Customer journey — if you do this part well, your reliance on Facebook ads will start to feel silly. Learn who they are inside and out. What do they do, where do they do it — get microscopic in detail. The revelations will surprise you.

• Media/content plan — a successfully executed customer journey tells you exactly where to put your message (wherever your customers are). Yeah, Facebook is perhaps the best known. But Twitch, or podcasts, or Snapchat or TikTok or influencers etc. might be better fits, and they might be priced better too (and ideally suited toward different goals). There are PR placements, seasonal opportunities, apps and message boards, organizations, support groups, Clubhouse rooms, in-person events (eventually), and more that don’t require ad dollars, but they do require elbow grease. 

And before the ‘yeah, but what abouts’ begin, we readily acknowledge there’s still a lot missing here. The point is Facebook ads are not a magic faucet that turns on and starts pouring out revenue.

That’s why channel metrics like ROI/ROAS are dangerous — they get you high on the value of a single sale, without real context, and tempt you to deprioritize the harder work of brand building. Yeah, if a new customer purchases through an ad, that feels good and our logical brain likes it because we can measure it.

But customers don’t care about your Cost Of Acquisition (COA). They care about great products and experiences.

Apple is one of the most iconic brands of our lifetime. They’re not focusing on growing their ROAS by 10 percent — they’re focusing on making every living human crave an iPhone or an Apple Watch. They’re decades into powerful brand building that gets people to wrap around store fronts for a new product drop.

That’s the difference between sales generation and demand generation.

Yeah, Facebook ads might sell you some products. But a consistent, comprehensive marketing strategy from a solid, established brand will beat those efforts every time — if you take the time.

-DB 

HOW TO: Make Phone-First Content That Sells More S*#t

eMarketer research shows that 75 percent of video in the world is being viewed on mobile devices. And that the average person spends three hours a day on their phone, checking their devices up to 80x a day.

Most ecommerce advertisers know that either literally or anecdotally. But far fewer are putting out creative that shows they actually ‘get it.’

And by ‘it,’ we mean this — your customer’s brain moves faster than their thumbs. They are not a captive audience. And in most instances, their brain knows almost instantly if it understands or cares about what it sees — the Cognition Neuroscience Research Project shows that the human brain needsless than 0.5 secondsto engage with mobile ads and trigger a reaction.

So, no, you don’t have a :15 or :30 spot to get their attention. You have 0.5 a second to see if they’ll even bother.

Check it out, kids — the blue line is how TV commercials have historically buried their call to action. But the orange line is what’s real now. On mobile, people don’t stick around to see the main message.

Too many advertisers still think like they did 10 years ago, when you had a captive audience for 30 seconds and you could bury the punch line or call to action at the end of the spot. From the graphic above, you can see that if you’re still following that creative approach, your main message is hanging out in outer space. On mobile, your customers may never hear it.

Remember, people watch for 0.5 second before they stay or go. So, the important part of your message needs to be front and center — faster.

Today, getting someone’s attention is more important than keeping it. Because you should count on not keeping it. All of which begs the question — what actually works? Here are three of the most important things to keep in mind (we’ve got more, though, so keep reading).

1. Get to the point. As we said, all pertinent information needs to be there as early as possible, preferably in the first frame.

2. Sound off. Build for sound off, delight with the sound on. In other words, make sure users can read the important parts if they watch with the sounds off.

3. Frame it vertically. There are exceptions, but using simple math, vertical video can be superior to square or horizontal video because it just takes up more of the screen.

Look below for a case in point.

Those three tips get you in the door, but none guarantee you’ve made something actually worth looking at our clicking on — just that it’s suitable for a mobile device. To really step things up, to make ads people click on and buy more s*#t from, it involves a mix of art and science.

Let’s first assume you have something people want to buy. Then what? Consider these tips:

1. Test with different formats and styles. It’s what people don’t normally see that gets the attention. Once upon a time, that meant a well-lit overhead shot of a plate of food, or an outfit laid out on shiplap or whatever. Now it’s playing with speed — faster to build anticipation, slower to draw in focus. Or playing with duration. See if you can tell the story in 15 seconds, 9 seconds, or 6 seconds. Or playing with 3D — make your product come to life. Play with it.

2. Show, don’t sell. The customer knows you have something to sell. What they may not know is what your product or service is, or how it’s different, in literal terms. They may not know the features or benefits or applications or how the look and feel. And sometimes, they just want to see it in action. So show them.

3. Use hype. A lot of products/services are boring, but that doesn’t lock you in to boring content. People love hype and anticipation. So give them behind the scenes content, or ‘the making of’ videos. Give them a countdown to new product launches or a preview of what’s to come. Get your influencers involved. Hype is contagious, and what’s contagious goes viral.

4. Play with native functionality. You have a lot at your disposal. Swipe up (on ads, or if you have 10K+ follower on Instagram). Emojis. Countdowns. Rapid movement that makes you hit ‘pause’ so you can interact with the content or play with it. Split screens.

Stories, in particular, are a great place to showcase creative that works, or at least provide inspiration for ideas that might work in-feed or elsewhere. Watch the video below to see what we’re talking about.

In short, if you’re not having fun creating your content, there’s a snowball’s chance in hell that would-be customers are going to have fun watching it.

People who pay attention engage. People who engage click around. People who click around get interested. And people who get interested often find a way to buy.

-DB

How Today's Ecommerce Agency Works

Corporate burnout. 70-hour work weeks to ideate and launch the next big ad [after 10 rounds of revisions-by-committee]. Availability to clients 24/7 to justify worth. And big, bulky, all-you-can-eat retainer fees that funded a TV-driven media landscape and an insatiable appetite for creative awards and client-funded parties.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the advertising agency of your [and Don Draper’s] not-so-distant memories.

Yes, some of those qualities [and agencies] are still here. But if Jon Hamm’s character walked into an agency today [a Zoom meeting?], he’d be baffled. And severely overdressed.

Industry research shows that clients are increasingly leaning on ecommerce agencies for streamlined partnerships. This can reasonably be pointed to a shift in where ‘media’ is: Digital surpassed traditional in late 2018, and is nearing a 2-to-1 investment gulf between itself and traditional. (eMarketer)

Agility is now as valuable as ever, and the traditional model that’s quickly becoming a relic isn’t built to the demands of digital.

But clients are demanding it. One of these expectations includes *gasp* partnering with the other agencies your client outsources work to. Studies show clients would prefer 35 percent more flexible/nimble working models, paired with 14 percent stronger data capabilities from their existing agency partners.

Invariably, that means where one agency once handled everything, there are now a multitude of partners working toward the betterment of the business, the proverbial well-heeled cooks in the kitchen (as an ecommerce agency, we know that world well).

And how does this all connect?

Agencies are taking a page from consulting firms

The identity of traditional agency/client relationships has evolved into consulting partnerships, with agencies serving as marketing industry experts, overall, but honing in on specific specialties (for instance, DB + Partners is an agency that specializes in ecommerce).

And, based on consumption alone, digital in the anatomy of ecommerce has become more of a hub than a spoke.

With all of this said, we still need other spokes to work together to thrive.

This is all paired with the fact that as the ad industry is evolving, data have, in many instances, replaced creative as the heart of the industry [whether that’s right or wrong is another convo entirely]. While this may be a tough pill to swallow for some, digital plays a key role in playing gatekeeper to the analytical tools that use data to paint an accurate depiction of user behavior, finding actionable insights, and telling a user story.

And from this story, agencies can deliver a strategic plan to contribute to a clients’ bottom line based on nuanced, powerful data.

Agencies that are able to adapt with this in mind are the ones who will be able to succeed and set themselves apart. Not all have to be masters of that data, but they have to understand it. We’ve entered a time where not only does an agency need to provide the right messaging, it needs the right avenues to deliver that message and measure performance. Otherwise, that creative message has a directionless road to walk on.  

Creating value beyond data

Agencies that are able to leverage existing metrics to proactively strategize ultimately deliver more value. But what about beyond the data?

For clients with smaller in-house marketing teams (and therefore the reason you were brought on), there is likely to be a majority of the team that doesn’t speak fluent digital. It’s up to agencies to serve as educators, given that marketing itself covers a broad range of tactics.

In the example of digital, agencies offering this service need to be able to bridge the gap and serve not only as problem solvers or creatives - but as educators. Providing value outside of showing up to ideate a campaign, ultimately helps build the equity that comes as a result of fostering the partnership. 

According to eMarketer principal analyst Jillian Ryan, “Transparency and control were major concerns for brands looking to streamline the agency relationship.”

So the secret sauce to an evolved client services partnership?

Assist the client in feeling like they are in control of their business, while trusting a subject matter expert.

Leverage data, be transparent, and endlessly coach your client in order to build a strong collaborative partnership for all parties to succeed.

To learn more on ecommerce strategies from our in-house subject matter experts (see what we did there?), click below.

Schedule time with us — book your time below

5 Holiday Marketing Campaigns to Remember — And Inspire

By: Jennifer Gavens: From jingling Hershey Misses to a melting snowman eating a bowl of Campbell's soup to Santa fainting at the sight of M&Ms, our holiday seasons have been filled with heart-felt, eye-catching and memorable marketing campaigns that we’ve remembered all our lives. With the 2020 holiday season fast approaching, we are eagerly anticipating the new stories our favorite brands will bring to life on screen through skilled marketing campaigns. 

While we wait for the new holiday ads to arrive, let’s take a look at seasons past and share our favorite holidays campaigns we’ve experienced over the past 5 years. 

The Red Cup - Starbucks

How do you know the holiday season is approaching? Is it the change in weather, or music on the radio? For coffee addicts, it’s a simple change in their daily coffee cup. For years, Starbucks has welcomed and celebrated the season with new cup designs that bring the holiday cheer to every cup of coffee. 

Starbucks releases the highly anticipated yearly designs through traditional and digital ads like any other holiday campaign. But what makes them stand out is how they create free marketing for the brand just by being cups. Once the design is released, there is a frenzy for consumers (and celebrities too!) to head to Starbucks to get the newest design and share it with all their friends/followers. Throughout the holiday season, every digital media platform is filled with pictures of Starbucks holiday cups - without the brand spending too much money on marketing. Imagine what your brand could do with a simple packing change — and quite literally packaging it up as an event in and of itself.

The Surprise - Apple

Break out the tissues because Apple’s 2019 ad, The Surprise, got us all in our feelings. Following the story of a family coming together for their first holiday season since their wife/mother/grandmother passed, we see the parents constantly handing their kids the iPad so that they stay out of trouble. While watching, we initially get the impression that the iPad is only being used as a tool of distraction. However, we soon discover that the daughters have been collaborating the whole time to create a scrapbook on the iPad highlighting fond memories of their grandmother. And if watching their grandpa cry isn’t enough, the background music throughout is the theme song from Disney’s movie “Up,” a beautiful story about a man who lost the love of his life which is very similar to the story Apple is telling. 

What’s most impressive about the ad is that even though “iPad” is said many times throughout the video, not once does it discuss the features or technology. The story itself, with limited dialogue, is able to convey that Apple devices are not just used for everyday tasks, but have the ability to invoke creativity and moments of love. Through an emotional connection, Apple is able to position themselves in a unique way that technology companies have never been able to before. Instead of selling tech, they are selling moments — and that is why they succeed. 

The Gift That Other Gifts Can’t Handle - Dollar Shave Club

How do brands stand out during the holiday season? Well, if you’re Dollar Shave Club, you make funny video shorts that humanize basic “run-of-the-mill” holiday presents that are unable to handle the greatness of the competing gift sets. Very often brands feel the need to go big with their holiday campaigns. But sometimes, going simple with a touch of humor is all you need. 

These short videos, that were seen on social media platforms, connected with consumers by showcasing a relatable cheesy holiday gift (like ugly sweaters or a pair of socks) and how the Dollar Shave Club holiday gift sets were a much better gifting option. So good, in fact, that the standard holiday gifts couldn’t deal with it. What made it even more successful, was that they were able to take razors and shaving cream (not the most exciting gifts) and make them desirable. Funny ads may be hard to pull off, but when they are done right, they instantly become viral content shared by many. 

Everybody Needs Somebody To Love - Amazon Prime

It’s common for brands to use holiday ‘magic’ as a key point within their holiday messaging to connect with consumers. Amazon and its Prime service, known for having a large variety of products with fast shipping, took on this messaging in its recent holiday campaign. In the full ad, we can see various people coming together while singing along with Amazon boxes (good luck trying to get the song out of your head!). 

Similar to Apple, Amazon’s campaign does not specifically discuss which products they offer or any special discounts. They are solely focusing on their brand and how Amazon packages bring people together even if they are far apart. They considered every stage of the consumer’s journey with the brand and touch on the moment that is most relevant to the holiday season. What’s also engaging with this campaign is that from the initial full video, they created shorter snippets posted on various marketing platforms that went further into each character’s story. This allowed consumers to form an emotional connection with the messaging, develop a sense of relatability with the brand and overall a feeling of trust that Amazon will get your packages there on time for the holidays.

Together’s the Joy - Target

When you’re a box store like Target that sells practically everything, how do you funnel hundreds of products, discounts, online shopping and of course a heart-felt message into one holiday campaign? In 2017, Target did just that with their “Together’s the Joy” campaign. 

Through a series of 10 spots, the campaign told the story of two kids enlisting the help of toys to fix up a home for a family. Each spot highlighted different toys, electronics and home goods while also featuring discounts and a push for online ordering/in-store pick up. But Target didn’t stop there. They also brought the story to life by creating displays and signage throughout their stores featuring the toys from the spots to guide shoppers to the “Wondershop.”

Overall, the campaign expanded to every realm of the marketing world including traditional, digital and guerilla marketing tactics, all the way to in-store. The success was that consumers were invested in the story while also gaining knowledge of the merchandise and shopping experiences Target offered. Plus, on top of it all, there was the overarching message about helping those in need during the holiday season. It was a well rounded campaign that checked off all the holiday marketing requirement boxes. 

Have your own favorite holiday campaign we didn’t mention? Drop it in the comments below.

5 Tips for Growing a Subscription-Based Business

A subscription-based business has its own extraordinary advantages and disadvantages. But now more than ever, subscription models are as valuable as they’ve ever been: “While S&P 500 sales in Q1 2020 contracted at a -1.9% annual rate, subscription-based revenue continued to thrive, growing at 9.5% in the same quarter, according to Zuora Chief Data Scientist, Carl Gold.”

Of course, subscription business models are based on the idea of selling a product or service to receive monthly or yearly recurring subscription revenue. Of course, it’s good work if you can get it, but securing customers isn't all that matters — it’s about delivering consistent, ongoing value.

Here are five methodologies for achieving growth in a subscription-based business:

1. Gain understanding. 

The greatest misstep subscription-based business advertisers make is not doing enough ongoing research. While a good idea is worth its weigh in gold, missing the mark by skimping on research of your target market and competing brands will leave you hamstrung.

Specifically, you’re looking for their user characteristics and behaviors that will help you achieve the best outcomes. And testing the models of competitors or of brands in different verticals who’ve made waves of their own.

For starters, make sure Google Analytics is properly installed on your website. It will provide you with countless valuable insights into your subscribers, website visitors, and more; demographics, age, behaviors, those kinds of things. But the real magic comes from Google Tag Manager, where numerous pixels can be installed to track hyper-specific details, such as purchasing behavior, lifetime value, site visitors and more.

When you have gathered this important information, you'll discover what will improve your site — by understanding what motivates your audience (both with your brand, and in general). Sending surveys, requesting reviews, or simply reading the comments and messages you receive on social media are other great ways to learn about your subscribers, as well.

2. Customer retention is key.

Client retention is key in a subscription-based business. Therefore, it is critical to ensure a great customer experience once the subscription has been initiated. Continuous automated follow ups (how-to demos, incentives, news, updates, etc.) and great customer service are two key components of keeping your customers cheerful.

Some businesses fall into the trap of operating a reactive customer strategy. Instead, try a proactive approach. As you receive more feedback through client reviews, surveys, and analytics, try anticipating the needs of customers by utilizing their feedback. This will improve user experience and ultimately create the client retention you need to be successful. To keep a customer, listening, innovating, testing and offering exclusive early access to new trials is a meaningful way to keep them on the hook — and always wondering what they’ll get next.

On top of being proactive, create a personal relationship with subscribers and nurture the relationship moving forward. You can do this through emails, SMS messages, social media channels and more. This will ultimately create a relationship with your followers and provide you the opportunity to share more about your business and obtain new subscribers. In contrast, SMS or text messages works best for significant, time-sensitive, and noteworthy messages. Sending messages that fit these standards can assist you in keeping your clients informed and thus creating customer retention.

Graphic credit: https://www.incredo.co/

3. Utilize social channels with intention.

Let’s face it. It’s not enough to post and pray. Some channels aren’t great at broadcasting to lots of people, but they are great at generating rich, meaningful one-to-one interactions (Twitter comes to mind). Instagram provides that, but it also offers great organic reach, DM capabilities, Instagram shopping and more. TikTok is no longer an emerging player, either — it’s a bonafide monster, especially with Gen Z, and is a great creative outlet for brand with a point of view.

Social media is where we spend our lives, and it allows brands and businesses to showcase what they are all about while building a loyal community. It helps by increasing brand awareness, humanizing your brand, establishing yourself as a leader in your industry, and taking advantage of one-to-one interaction opportunities.

4. Add additional offerings, including upsells/premiums.

Like standalone products, subscription-based products aren’t one-size fits all. And similarly, fatigue can set in if repetition doesn’t come with rewards or variety. That’s where upsells or premiums come in. Loyal customers are loyal for a reason — they’ve bought into your brand story, quality, narrative, service, or all of those together. A great vehicle for growing lifetime value of these types of customers is to give them more to sink their teeth into. That could mean packing in more value at a higher price point, introducing premium-level subscription tiers, or incentivizing upsells to grow average shopping cart size as well.

5. Build a referral program.

92% of consumers trust referrals from people they know. Let that sink in. Despite countless positive statistics about referral marketing, many businesses do not have a program in place in conjunction with their other marketing channels. Yes, they can be labor intensive, but the payoff is worth it; in fact, they often become the fertile soil where influencer relationships are grown, as well. For example, when customers refer someone new, that customer may earn a reward or free month within their subscription. Or exclusive access to a new product before the public, or free add-ons. It’s up to you — but make sure the value is real and tangible. For this reason, referral marketing can be great for selling subscriptions. Word of mouth is important for subscription businesses and leveraging the people who know you and your business best is an important growth strategy.

Got any tips of your own? Drop them in the comments.