Monday, December 25

🗣 Want to get in front 14,000 DTC Brands? Start here…

🚨 In today’s newsletter 🚨

• How Tiktok is pushing on social commerce

• How QR codes are changing the retail shopping experience

• Why brands should prioritize bottom of funnel keywords in SEO

Let’s get into it👇

#1 - 🕺 Tiktok is moving the needle on social commerce

📰 TL;DR - TikTok is making serious moves in social commerce, projected to account for over $100 billion in US social commerce sales by 2025. While other platforms step back, TikTok leans in with its new TikTok Shop and investments in logistics. Early successes come in categories like personal care and beauty. Still, TikTok faces hurdles like counterfeit products and over-reliance on Chinese merchants.

As alternatives, platforms like Pinterest and Snap focus on shoppable ads over direct sales. TikTok's popularity with younger buyers gives it chances to advance social commerce. But can it truly contend with the Amazons of the world? TikTok draws eyes to latest viral offerings yet unlikely becomes a staple for household basics.

💡 Insight - I know TikTok is aggressively pushing into social commerce, but that doesn’t mean brands should put all their eggs in one basket. TikTok's approach of building its own infrastructure poses risks if counterfeit sellers proliferate or consumers don't take to the current product mix.

While the platform's young demographic offers potential, smart brands should also pursue partnerships with major retailers to capture shoppers during product discovery as Pinterest and Snap have done. No one can predict the future, so flexible commerce strategies allow adjustment as market signals develop.

➡️ You can read the article here...

 #2 - 🔥 How sending free products to Micro-Influencers has helped brands 5X revenue in 2 months

By tapping into micro-influencers on social media and using a platform called Stack Influence to automate and scale campaigns, major brands like Unilever, Magic Spoon, and Blueland have grown Amazon revenue 5X. Stack Influence enables brands to run hundreds of nano- and micro-influencer promotions per month, decreasing ad costs through user-generated content and building an army of affiliates to drive consistent customer growth. The combination of micro-influencer authenticity and aggregated reach is cutting through noise to boost awareness and sales with relevant niche audiences in a cost-effective way.

➡️ Get Started Here

#3 - 📱 4 ways QR codes are changing the retail shopping experience

📰 TL;DR - QR codes are changing the retail game. They bridge in-store and online shopping by letting people easily order out-of-stock items. Special deals become instantly accessible too. Plus, every scan gives retailers valuable intel about customer preferences. QR codes even boost brand transparency - ethical shoppers appreciate learning about sustainability efforts in-store.

Basically, QR codes help retailers build trust and loyalty by meeting shopper expectations. They're shaping the next era of retail through meaningful consumer connections with each scan. Much like barcodes did decades ago, QR codes are transforming the shopping experience.

💡 Insight - Every QR code scan is an opportunity for retailers to blend physical and digital commerce. As adoption of 2D barcodes like QR codes skyrockets, ecommerce-style convenience and personalization will define even in-store shopping.

Savvy retailers should creatively deploy QR codes now to bridge online and offline purchasing through an endless aisle, gain insights via consumer analytics, provide personalized promotions, and even build brand trust through transparency. The future of retail will happen one scan at a time. QR codes allow brick-and-mortar stores to digitally engage and satisfy consumers, right in the aisle. Be proactive in using them to unlock the next era of omnichannel retail.

➡️ You can read the article here...

📣 Want to get in front of 14,000 DTC Brands? Start here… 

#4 - 🛠️ Things worth checking out

😎 AI - How AI is positively changing online shopping

🛠️ TOOLS - Ten Shopify SEO tools you should using if you’re serious

🎨 PREDICTION - Global ecommerce revenue growth to increase at $6.34 trillion by 2027

💵 PAYMENT- A study found 6 in 10 subscription merchants use ‘buy buttons’ to boost conversions

📈 STOCKS - Shopify’s stock doubled in 2023: next year could be better

#5 - 🎯 Why brands should prioritize bottom of funnel keywords in SEO

📰 TL;DR - Search engine optimization is often depicted as a marketing funnel, but should brands spread their SEO content evenly across top to bottom funnel keywords? This article makes the case that finite SEO budgets are better spent prioritizing high-converting bottom funnel keywords. For example, analysis of 60+ content pieces showed bottom funnel articles converted 25x more than top funnel ones.

Specifically, bottom funnel posts saw a 4.78% conversion rate versus just 0.19% for informational pieces. After accounting for traffic differences, 20 bottom funnel articles generated over 3 times the conversions of 40 top funnel articles. So brands maximizing ROI should aggressively target transactional keywords like product category and comparison searches. While less obvious, "jobs to be done" queries indicating a problem your product solves also see high conversion rates.

💡 Insight - with AI tools producing content at scale, it can be tempting to spread your SEO resources thin across informational, comparative, and transactional keywords. But the data doesn't lie - transactional, bottom-of-funnel keywords convert buyers at exponentially higher rates. Rather than playing a fruitless top-of-funnel keyword lottery, laser focus your SEO on the comparison and jobs-to-be-done queries where searchers demonstrate buying intent.

Devote your budget to crafting dedicated, conversion-centric landing pages around these terms. Supplement with a link building initiative targeting influencers also ranking for these niches. The conversions and ROI may surprise you - and save untold content production and distribution efforts otherwise squandered casting wide nets for low-intent queries.

➡️ You can read the article here...