Thursday, September 7

🗣 Agency owners only, book a time to learn about my new project here

#1 - 💥 Is your tech stack chaotic?

📰 TL;DR - E-commerce software startup Shop Circle has just raised an impressive $120 million. The company works with Shopify merchants to provide a streamlined tech stack, with owned apps that tackle design, inventory management, and all that good stuff. This comes along with what has been a general boom in e-commerce solutions. And I’m not just talking platforms, like Shopify rivals. There’s an entire industry out there aimed at making life easier for brands already on their platform of choice. There’s also a boom in e-commerce stores in general. From the article: “While 500,000 businesses sold on Shopify in 2017, that number has jumped to the multi-millions in 2023, though Shopify declined to share exact numbers.”

💡 Insight - If we took a peek at your Shopify backend, I’m guessing it’s a somewhat chaotic mashup of apps that may or may not speak to each other. The great thing about something like Shopify is that you can build a custom ecosystem of apps — the downside is it can get overwhelming. I’m not advocating for Shop Circle itself as I haven’t tried it, but there definitely has been a rise in services like this that streamline being a Shopify merchant. And for big brands that don’t want to worry so much about the little stuff, I can see why these solutions are very welcome.

➡️ You can read the article here...

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

Tapping into the power of social media Micro-Influencers and a platform called Stack Influence that automates influencer collaborations at scale (hundreds of promotions a month), Amazon brands like Unilever, Magic Spoon, and Blueland have been able to grow their monthly revenue by 5X, decrease their ad costs using a war chest of influencer UGC, and build an army of affiliate marketers to consistently drive new customers.

➡️ Get Started Here

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#3 - 🌳 DTC is going IRL for ads

📰 TL;DR - The internet has been the traditional place for DTC brands to place ads, but they’re increasingly looking out their windows and into the real world. Known as out-of-home ads, outdoor advertising is starting to play a bigger role for DTC brands, according to this piece. Think: billboards. Anecdotally, brands told AdAge they’re putting more spending into OOH ads this year, including many who are doing it for the first time. Some of the brands mentioned here include Knix, Athena Club, Omnilux, Maëlys and Recess.

💡 Insight - So the big question is, why? Well, two major reasons. First has been the rising costs of customer acquisition through digital ads along with data concerns. OOH ads break through that. The other reason is a trend unto itself — the rise of DTC brands entering retail spaces. We’ve seen a ton of DTC brands sign deals over the last year or so with Walmart, Target, Sephora, and others. With their products in the real world now, they want their ads to be there too. It’s not for everyone, though. A large-scale OOH campaign is going to cost a lot, so it’s definitely not a rookie move.

➡️ You can read the article here...

#4 - 🛠️ Things worth checking out

😎 GEN Z - In case you need more proof that Gen Z bases their shopping decisions on social media, check out this report.

🎄 HOLIDAY MARKETING - Here’s a guide for organic and paid sales strategies for the upcoming holiday shopping season.

🤖 AI - Read about how fashion brand Boohoo is using AI to provide targeted offers to shoppers.

👀 WIKI - Here’s something I don’t see talked about much — how to update your Wikipedia page without getting in trouble with the editors.

🛍️ TOKENS - The latest Shopify Masters episode dives into what you need to know about token-gated commerce. Listen here.

#5 - 🩺 Figs is launching a stethoscope

📰 TL;DR - Trendy DTC scrubs brand Figs is expanding its offerings with a rather fancy stethoscope. The digital device is being made in partnership with Eko Health and, like the scrubs, will come in unique colors and feature inspirational quotes. It’s not exactly cheap — it’s on the website for $450 USD each. But as a daily-use item with some major upgrades over a basic model, I can see this selling. The colors are also professional but fun, again, like the scrubs.

💡 Insight - Figs is a brand that I think is making very smart moves. Their marquee offering, the scrubs, offers a way to add some personality and pride into what is usually just a uniform. They also clearly identified a large potential customer base and did the work to understand their needs. This new offering expands on that and adds some excitement to what’s normally a pretty boring tool of the trade. I’ve already seen some chatter on social from healthcare professionals who are excited about the new launch.

➡️ You can read the article here...