Monday, June 26

Today's DTC news, tips, & tools you need to know

👀 Canadian government targets Shopify merchants

📰 TL;DR - The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has set its sites on Canadian Shopify merchants. The agency is asking Shopify for the tax records of more than 121,000 merchants from the last six years. Shopify’s CEO, Tobi Lutke, is calling the move an “overreach” and plans to fight it. The CRA has previously pulled a similar move with Paypal and eBay.

💡 Insight - Shopify wants to fight, but it’s not clear if they’ll win. I’m guessing the CRA has at some point flagged online sellers as a group that’s more likely to dodge filing their taxes properly. So take this as a reminder: learn the tax rules for your business and follow from to a T.

💣 Shein’s influencer trip backfires

📰 TL;DR - In ongoing efforts to clean up its images, Shein invited a bunch of Western influencers to Guangzhou, China to tour a facility. The facility was, of course, pristine. One influencer in particular posted about how the trip defied expectations and was filled with glowing praise. Actually, all the influencers on the trip had eerily similar posts. But they’re being called out for dismissing Shein’s history of poor working conditions.

💡 Insight - The lesson here is that Gen Z in particular is too savvy for this kind of stunt. Bringing influencers that already work with Shein to a single facility obviously created as a PR stunt isn’t going to impress anyone. And it was pretty naive of Shein to think this would work.

💌 10 email marketing tips

📰 TL;DR - Here’s a helpful piece with 10 tips for email marketing. This isn’t e-comm specific but is still full of great advice. For example, the first section focuses on subject lines, which are critical. The key is to use actionable language, use personalization when possible, and aim for catchiness. It also gets into how to write the body with some useful tips.

💡 Insight - I don’t know about you, but I can’t get enough advice when it comes to email marketing. It really is a combination of smart writing and smart marketing skills, and really perfecting the art of an email send takes practice. There’s a reason some people make it their entire specialty! But the other nice thing about email is they’re sent frequently, so you have ample opportunity to get your strategy just right. Take every send as an opportunity to improve.

🎥 Is it time to try YouTube ads?

📰 TL;DR - This guide goes over how to use Google Ads on YouTube. The first question though is why choose YouTube? Well, 89% of people in one report said watching a video convinced them to buy a product or service. YouTube is also the second-most visited website, and basically the second-most popular search engine. It’s huge! It also has some very premium offerings, like non-skippable ads, that you just don’t get on other platforms. This also includes some tips for creating an ad that converts.

💡 Insight - There’s no doubt that YouTube presents a huge opportunity for advertising, and I do feel like I see a ton of DTC brands on there. The downside however is that exposure doesn’t come cheap. Before going down this route, it may be smart to test some concepts on a cheaper platform to play on, like Instagram or TikTok.

🛠️ Things worth checking out

🔥 DEMAND - Discover how 50+ busy B2B CEOs dominate LinkedIn in just 1.5 hours/month with this demand generation service. Visit Demandii here.

📈 AMAZON - Amazon is on track to become the biggest retailer in the US in 2024. Read more here.

✨ OMNICHANNEL - What are the elements of a good omnichannel experience? Find out here.

🤖 GOOGLE AI - Read here about how Google’s AI search could impact e-commerce.

Did you learn something new from today's newsletter?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

If you want to reach our audience, fill out this short partnerships form.

Disclosure: Some things in this newsletter may be a sponsored post or Growth Daily LLC may be getting a small commission if you sign up / fill out their form or Growth Daily LLC might own a percent of the business. In particular, but not always, those sponsored or commissioned or owned posts or might have an * in it the subject headline. ThurModnursFridaThu