Tuesday, September 12

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

#1 - 🔎 Seriously — fix your search

📰 TL;DR - I’ve shared news here before of how your search may be letting you down, but this report adds some great context. Apparently, 77% of shoppers head straight to the search bar when they open an e-commerce website, and 84% said they’ve left a site because of search issues. This report estimates that US online retailers could be leaving a whopping $13.8 billion on the table over BFCM over basic search issues. This also breaks down the specific issues shoppers have with search, like not seeing relevant results, being shown out-of-stock products, and the results taking too long to load. They also don’t like when a search returns too many options.

💡 Insight - I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — the out-of-the-box search tool from your e-commerce platform of choice probably isn’t cutting it. Thankfully, this survey also looked at what solutions customers actually want. One is being able to filter search results, the way you might on a category page, such as style, color, cut, etc. Gen Z in particular likes seeing UGC in search results and are more likely to make a purchase after engaging with it. Pre-BFCM is a great time to evaluate your search and seek out apps or tools to improve it.

➡️ You can read the article here...

#2 - 💋 What we learned from Barbie and Taylor Swift

📰 TL;DR - This summer, there were two major pop culture events that had a ripple effect on e-commerce: the Barbie movie and Taylor Swift’s Eras tour. In the case of Barbie, sales of pink items in particular shot up, including for everything from cookware to sneakers. If you were paying attention, this spike was entirely predictable and not sudden — the hype started well before the movie’s release date. In the case of T. Swift, people were searching for outfits for the shows, including friendship bracelet materials. This trend moved across the country with each tour night.

💡 Insight - Okay, so if you missed out on these trends, how can you get in on it next time? The key is the ability to be nimble. In the case of Barbie, there was more lead time, but it would still be a quick turnaround. Would you be able to release a new color or pattern of your marquee item in that short time? Is your social team nimble enough to stop the presses and hop on a trend? The Taylor Swift phenomenon was even more fast-paced — would you have the ability to relocate merchandise to distribution centers based on local trends? Also, I want to mention that you do not have to participate in these trends. They may not align with your brand, your products, or your voice. But if you can jump on them, there’s profit to be made.

➡️ You can read the article here...

📣 If you want to reach our audience of 10,000+ DTC store owners, tap here 

#3 - 📸 How to work with Instagram’s algorithm

📰 TL;DR - Are you even a DTC brand if you’re not on Instagram? Here’s a basic but necessary guide to how to play nice with the app’s algorithm. It’s vital that you understand how your content reaches not just your followers, but potential new followers. Like, did you know it’s a good idea to get followers to add you to their favorites list? Or did you know how important music selection is for Reels? This also has four big tips for getting your content to rank.

💡 Insight - For some of you, this might just be a refresher. But if you’ve been posting content and wondering why it’s not getting traction, this may prove to be a very valuable read. My personal top advice if you’re struggling with Instagram is to post more. I don’t mean flood your page, I mean start trying different things. Use trending audio, try adding gifs, and use carousel posts. Carousel posts are actually one of the most engaging formats on the platform but are typically underutilized. The least engaging content is single photos, so push beyond those. Aim for variety and see what sticks.

➡️ You can read the article here...

#4 - 🛠️ Things worth checking out

⏰ STARTING IN 6 HOURS - Register Here. Join Aidaptive, Triple Whale, Hawke Media, and Fulfill.com for a conversation about innovative strategies to win BFCM.

✨ TRENDS - Read the latest roundup of DTC trends, movers, and shakers from AdAge.

🥊 SHEIN VS. TEMU - Shein has accused Temu of copying thousands of product images from them. Read here.

💥 SHEIN VS. TEMU… AGAIN - Speaking of this rather epic battle, here’s a breakdown of why they’re battling it out in court.

😎 TIKTOK - TikTok Storefront is dead, welcome to the era of TikTok Shop.

#5 - 🤔 How to win backlinks

📰 TL;DR - This piece has some advice for how to win organic backlinks. First, getting them is hard. Yeah, you can email news websites and ask for them, but that’s honestly a poor strategy that’s unlikely to work. Rather, this suggests, you need to provide some value. Instead of hoping for a link to a product, create content that generates natural backlinks because they’re worth reading or using. Think: tools, original data, tutorials.

💡 Insight - As someone who used to work in a few newsroom, I can confirm this is good advice. I used to get tons of emails from brands clearly hoping to win backlinks but not providing me anything of interest. No website is going to give you a backlink just because, especially a news site. You need to provide something worth linking to. Original data, such as insight into shopping activity, is a good one. Even better if you perform market research you’re willing to share. Tutorials are also great, whether as written copy or videos. That’s why you might see a beauty brand posting a tutorial for a particular look. Think of how that can apply to your products.

➡️ You can read the article here...