Friday, December 1

🗣 Want to promote your brand to 12,000 DTC businesses? Start here…

🚨 In today’s newsletter 🚨

• An email sequence to try

• Another returns survey

• How one brand succeeded without VC funding

Let’s get into it👇

#1 - 📧 An email sequence playbook

📰 TL;DR - So you’ve got a list of fresh emails from a pop-up on your website — now what? This post from X from Guille Hero has a five-step guide for a sequence of emails for new signups. It starts with introductions, including mentioning whatever attracted a sign-up in the first place. Then you introduce the brand and what makes you worth their time before mentioning product. Then you hit them with social proof before finishing it all out with a killer offer.

💡 Insight - What’s important here is that you have a plan. Don’t just shoot out one email then continue with regular sends. Have a sequence that really draws in new customers. As well, I want to mention that Guille got this from the latest episode of Limited Supply, a great DTC podcast that is linked in the post.

➡️ You can read the post here...

#2 - 🤔 Shopify wants to modernize B2B

📰 TL;DR - This piece from Shopify is basically a pitch to get you into DTC. For example, “Ecommerce B2B sales alone are worth an estimated $7.7 trillion globally.” As well, “That’s more than double the size of DTC, and that number is expected to grow by 18% annually until 2030. By 2025, 80% of all B2B sales are expected to occur online.” Shopify’s new growth opportunity appears to be applying their tools to B2B businesses and encouraging DTC brands to open B2B channels.

💡 Insight - This is pretty compelling even though it’s a sales pitch. What I want to add is that if you’re in DTC, you already have a leg up getting into B2B. The current trend is that B2B is looking more like DTC — same interfaces, same customer service standards, same brand experiences. If you’re a DTC pro, it would not be a difficult pivot.

➡️ You can read the article here...

📣 Want to promote your brand to 12,000 DTC businesses? Start here… 

#3 - 📦 Free returns are favored — again

📰 TL;DR - Once again we have another survey about returns showing that free and easy returns are the gold standard. According to this, 64% of people said they have chosen one brand over another due to a better returns policy. As well, the biggest returners also tend to be your best customers — people make more returns to brands they buy from the most. Also, 62% said they decided not to repurchase from a brand because they had to pay for shipping and 44% said they care most about free shipping when making a return. More stats in the link.

💡 Insight - What stands out to me most here is the data about your best customers also making the most returns. They says to me that having a good return policy is a loyalty mechanic. H&M has a policy in the US that loyalty members get to skip return fees, and I’ve always wondered why I haven’t seen many other brands doing that, too. And, again, if you afford free returns, that will win you loyalty and conversions.

➡️ You can read the article here...

#4 - 🛠️ Things worth checking out

📺 WALMART - Walmart has created a shoppable rom-com for the holidays.

🌳 GREENWASHING - Most consumers agree that brands are engaging in “greenwashing.”

💃🏽 TIKTOK - TikTok is applying for a permit to allow TikTok Shop again in Indonesia.

👤 PERSONAS - Here’s a guide to building customer personas.

🔎 SEO - Read about how topic authority impacts SEO.

#5 - 💵 How this brand succeeded without VC funding

📰 TL;DR - This piece is a profile of Vuori, a DTC athleisure brand that has grown to $4 billion — all while struggling to get VC funding. They started trying to attract investment during the peak DTC days that saw brands like Allbirds and Glossier get huge. But, they were told they weren’t disruptive or innovative enough. So, they went it alone and focussed in profitability. And it worked! Funding did eventually come in a big way, but not until they had built a great foundation.

💡 Insight - This is a great, in-depth read you will definitely find inspirational. I think there’s a line of thought that DTC brands need the hype of VC funding to make it big, but that’s not always true. Funding comes with strings and scrutiny, but it comes with a bit less of that if you’ve already built a profitable company. Don’t wait for funding to achieve your goals.

➡️ You can read the article here...