Thursday, 9 May

🗣 Running a B2B and want to reach 33,441 DTC Brands? Start here

Ask Ibrahim: If you need advice for your business, ask our DTC expert here

WHAT’S HOT ON SOCIAL MEDIA

We totally agree with Ash here!

DTC business is extremely hard, and you don’t wanna start your ground by spending sh*t loads of money, only to realise that your bottom line is nothing but a big number in red 📉

Unless you’re VC funded, you probably have a limited budget, and you want to make the most of it by giving your brand enough time (runway) by allocating it efficiently 🤌

When it comes to Marketing, we would 100% recommend starting with product seeding (sending product to influencers as a barter), and you can use SARAL to seed products at scale 🚀

If you’re unsure about what product seeding is, it’s essential sending your product(s) to these influencers for free, and in exchange, they create content, and some of them agree to post as well, giving you visibility. It’s a barter system 🔁

A really good thing about starting your ground off with this is, you get a lot of UGC that you can later use it in your ads ⛼

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CONVERSION RATE OPTIMIZATION
Site Speed is a Crucial Metric for Every E-commerce Business Owner 

In today's post, we're diving into a crucial aspect of your e-commerce site's health and performance: site speed. Understanding how quickly your site loads is vital, not just for keeping your customers happy but also for maintaining a good standing with search engines like Google.

Why Site Speed Matters

• First Impressions Count: The initial loading time of your site forms the first impression of your business. Slow sites test users’ patience and can lead to high bounce rates.

• Conversion Rates: Studies have shown that a delay of even a second can cause a significant drop in conversions. A fast-loading site helps maintain user interest and increases the likelihood of converting visits into sales.

• SEO Benefits: Search engines like Google consider site speed in their ranking algorithms. Faster sites are more likely to rank higher in search results, increasing your site’s visibility and organic traffic.

• Enhanced User Experience: A smooth, fast-loading website provides a better user experience. This not only retains customers but also boosts word-of-mouth recommendations and customer loyalty.

Tools for Measuring Site Speed: To get started, here are a couple of tools that can help you check your site speed easily:

• Google PageSpeed Insights: This tool analyzes your webpage and suggests how to make it faster. It provides a score for both mobile and desktop versions of your site and offers insights into what might be causing delays. Google PageSpeed Insights

• GTMetrix: Another excellent tool that provides insights into how well your site loads and provides actionable recommendations on optimization. GTMetrix

Key Metrics Explained:

• Loading Performance Metrics:

  1. First Contentful Paint: Measures the time it takes for the first text or image to load. Quick FCP improves user perception of site speed.

  2. Speed Index: Shows how quickly the contents of a page are visibly populated; a lower index is better.

  3. Largest Contentful Paint: Tracks the time to render the largest content element visible within the viewport, a critical metric for understanding user experience during the load.

• Interactivity Metric:

4. Total Blocking Time: Quantifies the time during which the page is unresponsive to user input while loading. Lower times mean a more responsive page.

• Visual Stability Metric:

5. Cumulative Layout Shift: Measures the stability of content by quantifying unexpected layout shifts during the viewing experience. Stability is crucial for a good user experience.

Next Steps: To improve your site's performance, start by using the tools mentioned to analyze these key metrics. Identify specific areas where your site falls short and consult with a web development specialist to implement changes. Regular monitoring and tweaking can lead to improved user experience and potentially higher search rankings and conversions.

IBRAHIM’S NUGGETS

Hi, there!

Yesterday, I did a 8-page deep dive on Amazon 101 yesterday. If you haven’t read it yet, you can read it here.

Moving forward, one of the series I’d like to start is, breaking down an ad—may be once a week!

Alright, let’s get into it..

What I like about it

1. Clear Information Layout: The ad effectively uses a structured format to present key product information (protein content, vitamins and minerals, calorie content, etc.), which makes it easy for viewers to understand the product's nutritional value quickly

   • Clarity is king in all things marketing → this ad doesn’t make it hard to understand what they are selling or why it benefits the end user

2. Strong Value Proposition: Highlighting the cost per meal ($1.68) emphasizes affordability and value, which is appealing in the context of budget-conscious meal planning

   • With the price per day being pushed, the customer benchmarks against other things they are spending on a daily basis. With contrast to that, investing <$2 a day to help them get healthier. This price anchoring makes it seem like a no-brainer offer

3. Product Display: The inclusion of the Huel bottle alongside the visuals of raw ingredients (suggesting natural composition) helps convey the product's ingredients/benefits

   • You want people to see what they are buying and how it might be associated with the benefits that you are selling

What could be better

1. Overstated Health Claims: The headline — 173 health benefits — might come across as exaggerated without specific examples or explanations, which could potentially undermine trust among more skeptical consumers

2. Visual Complexity: While the design is clean, the amount of text and lack of engaging imagery might not capture attention as effectively in a fast-scrolling social media environment

3. Lack of Emotional Appeal: The ad is very functional and lacks an emotional connection that might be achieved through lifestyle imagery or customer testimonials, which could humanize the brand and illustrate the product in use

What to do

1. Simplify and Specify: Clarify the "173 health benefits" claim with more specific information or reduce the focus on this, which can be a potentially overwhelming statistic

   • This feels like something people would do because it feels far-fetched. Make it feel believable.

2. Enhance Visual Impact: Introduce vibrant, eye-catching imagery or lifestyle photos that show the product in use, which can make the ad more relatable and appealing

3. Incorporate Social Proof: Adding customer testimonials or user-generated content could help build trust and provide real-world validation of the product's benefits

   • How many satisfied customers are there? Tell us! Make us believe in the 173 benefits.

These are my takes, and sometimes, what I think might work, does not work, and vice-versa. But generating creatives is a process of iterations.

You create variations, you keep testing, and you keep iterating.

Alright folks, that’s it for today.

Tomorrow, I’ll be answering some questions for our Q&As Friday issue, so if you have any question, this is your last chance — ask here.

Keep hustling!

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IN THE NEWS

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TikTok is set to expand its eCommerce shop tenfold

North America B2B E-commerce Market Industry Analysis by 2032

Have any questions that you need help with?

Ask here - and look out for Fridays Issue where Ibrahim will answer them.