Friday, October 13

#1 - 🤔 Would you let customers barter?

📰 TL;DR - A new startup is developing software that would let Shopify merchants barter with their customers. Called ergo (no caps), its a plugin that puts a button on a product page that says “make an offer with ergo.” Then shoppers can click and make an offer of how much they’d like to pay for a product, along with some other information, including how long they’re willing to wait for delivery. Then the merchant gets to either accept or deny the offer. So it’s not really a back-and-forth, but is pretty novel! ergo is very much in its early stages, but clearly already attracting some buzz.

💡 Insight - My first thought is a brand that purely uses this kind of bartering system would be fascinating. Overall I think this could be useful if you have excess inventory and adds a bit of fun and a sense of control for customers. I imagine there’d be a great sense of satisfaction to feel like you orchestrated a great deal. It also reminds me of a similar app that lets customers make a bid for a particular discount. Looks like haggling may become a trend!

➡️ You can read the article here...

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#3 - 📚 A landing page study sheet

📰 TL;DR - This X thread comes from “DTC Guy” Nik Sharma and 10 (plus two bonus) examples of great landing pages. He points out a few key components of each and why they work. For example, catchy headlines and social proof are all over these. I know readers really liked the “landing pages 101” link a little while ago, so here’s some inspiration to go along with it. I’ll also note that this ends with a plug for one of Nik’s decks, but it’s free with an email, so may be worth your time.

💡 Insight - I think it’s one thing to talk about landing pages in theory, and another to see them in action. You can read guides all you want, but you need to actually look at them and click around to get a sense of what works and what doesn't. These are all great examples, but also pretty varied. As always, my advice with landing pages is to experiment and A/B test your little heart out.

➡️ You can read the thread here...

#4 - 🛠️ Things worth checking out

🛍️ AMAZON - The final numbers are in and Prime Big Deal Days was Amazon’s second-best-ever promotion. Read here.

📦 AMAZON, AGAIN - With its move to expand its logistics services, Amazon could be seeing a $100 billion gain. Read here.

🇺🇸 USA! - Did Silicon Valley drop the ball on DTC? Read here.

🤖 EBAY - Read about how eBay’s first chief AI officer is staging a “paradigm shift.”

😎 INFLUENCERS - Here’s a roundup of the latest creator and influencer trends.

#5 - 🥸 How to get actual UGC

📰 TL;DR - Another great tweet for you, this time with some tips about UGC. But like, actual user-generated content, not UGC-style ads. That means getting genuine feedback and reactions from customers and flipping them into content for social or elsewhere. Ash Vinmelwani is the co-founder of Obvi, and he recommends reaching out to your best customers and recording an interview. Or, find a way to incentivize customers to send you videos by running a competition. I’ll also add that social listening goes a long way.

💡 Insight - I really like that Ash is calling out that most of what gets called “UGC” on DTC Twitter isn’t truly UGC. It’s actors or small influencers being paid to create content that looks like UGC. And there’s nothing wrong with that! Creating content like this still does well with audiences and is very trendy right now. It also allows you to have that UGC feel while still being able to control the message and properly display products. However, I think authentic UGC is incredibly powerful, it just takes a little more effort to get something usable. But it’s worth it!

➡️ You can read the tweet here...