📦 - High Fees But High Returns 📈

DTC 620 - Gucci Emails, Selling on Amazon, and Discount Tracking   Friday, August 9, 2024 Good morning, ICYMI Meta decided to remove detailed targeting exclusions from ad campaigns after discovering… ads actually perform better without these exclusions. 😅 Read the full story in our news section! Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC: ☀️ We analyze Gucci’s recent email campaigns and what makes their templates so great. 💰 Why you shouldn’t sleep on selling on Amazon if your brand wants great returns. ⚡ And…here’s a trick to get more customers to convert on your site. You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: [G Street Fabrics](, [East Fork Pottery](, and [Luscombe](. 👋   AI 🤖 What’s AI’s Role In Ecommerce? Is AI getting smarter? Absolutely. Can it do some things really well? 1000%! Does it have the human element needed to connect with your audience? Not alone. The question then becomes: How can you implement AI into a process that still very much needs that human touch? [In Eko’s latest guide, learn how to strike the ideal balance between your unique human insight and AI to build a captivating online shopping experience](. From refining data analysis and streamlining production workflows to enhancing product galleries and crafting compelling copy, Eko will show you how to use AI as your assistant. Learn your role and AI’s role to strike the perfect balance of human intuition and tech. Plus, read [the three things you can start doing with AI tomorrow](. 👀 [Read Here]( *Sponsored   EMAIL DESIGN 🤩 Analyzing Gucci’s Email Templates If you want to improve your email designs, look at what the industry leaders are doing in your niche for inspiration. For those in the luxury fashion space, designer apparel brand Gucci sends out stunning and minimal mailers that we’re betting convert very well. Just because you have a strong brand doesn’t mean you don’t need to put effort into your emails. Here are two examples of Gucci’s recent mailers: Let’s analyze what makes these emails so great: 👇 1️⃣ Strong hero image: Let imagery do the marketing. Strong lifestyle and model imagery are eye-catching and do a great job of ‘selling’ the product. Gucci leverages these in their email sends to transport their audience to an exotic location and provide styling inspiration. 2️⃣ Minimal copy: A heading and a few sentences of copy are effective for email. Save your lengthy copy for your website and blog posts. Gucci's email copy is very succinct, which goes well with its positioning as a luxury and elegant brand. 3️⃣ Full-width CTA buttons: As subscribers scroll down, a simple hyperlink takes users to Gucci’s PDP pages. The full-width button also makes it very mobile-friendly for older users. ❗ Email tip: Watch out for how emails appear in dark mode. Some users prefer to view mailers this way, but it can also affect how background colors appear on the screen. Instead of a pitch black color, it can be an off-black, so make sure that doesn’t render your dark grey text invisible! The takeaway? Research industry leaders in your niche to get some ideas for your email template. Strike a balance between aesthetics and performance. Keep your email templates simple, so it’s easy to edit and scale your sends during high-intent shopping periods. Consider your audience's preferences, such as viewing emails on mobile and using dark mode over light, to inform your email design choices.   GROWTH 👀 Revenue? Up. ROAS? Up. Conversion Rate? Up. AOV? Up. A wellness brand joined Pilothouse’s brand accelerator, Pilot Program, [dreaming of growth](… 💭📈 The team strategized using their time-tested and data-backed tactics, took over the brand’s campaigns, rebuilt their creative approach, and geared up to see the brand crush its goals. And crush they did… An 80% increase in ad spend, coupled with a ROAS and AOV improvement, yielded a 155% increase in revenue! 🔥 Q4 is just around the corner, and [Pilot Program has limited slots remaining]( for brands looking to achieve results like these. Will one of those slots be yours? 👇 [Book your free call with the partnerships team today](.   AMAZON INSIGHTS 💰 Why You Should Spend Your Marketing Dollars on Amazon Where should your next marketing dollar be spent, and why is it Amazon? The golden question for any omnichannel DTC brand is: Where should your next marketing dollar go to get the best return? Every digital platform has its perks. Directing customers to your DTC site lets you capture that critical email address for future marketing. Plus, Amazon charges a hefty 15% referral fee on every sale! 😡 So why on earth would you spend your precious marketing dollars there? Here’s why: Amazon has insane purchase intent and conversion rates. For an established brand in the CPG space, advertising at the top of a relevant, high-volume keyword can net a 15-25% conversion rate! That’s not a typo. Across multiple CPG brands, about 1 in 5 shoppers typically convert on prospecting campaigns. However, CPCs to land those top of search positions on those keywords often exceed $3-5 at a minimum. 😳 For many CPG brands, prospecting on Amazon Sponsored Ads will net the best new customer ROAS of any channel – and typically by enough margin to overcome the loss of customer email + referral fee – especially when pushing them to subscribe and save. But what about non-CPG brands or higher-ticket items? Higher-priced products usually have a lower CVR, but even $60-80+ items can see a 15-20% CVR if competitively priced. Products less likely to be repeat purchases often have lower click costs. Still, acquiring new customers via DTC seems better since you can remarket to them, right? True, from a risk mitigation standpoint. But 👏 don’t 👏 sleep 👏 on 👏 Amazon 👏 organic. Ranking high for your prospecting terms on Amazon can lead to significant returns without additional spending. In some niches, brands even take heavy losses to gain that precious ranking: [How Zulay Kitchen lost $327K](. In dozens of audits [Pilothouse]( completed of brands’ Amazon advertising suites, we’ve rarely seen a brand whose next marketing dollar wouldn’t be best spent on Amazon prospecting. Yet many brands continue to drive their Amazon ad dollars towards over efficiency via automation and ignore the incredible growth potential of the platform. Through appropriate segmentation and targeting, Amazon’s Sponsored Ads should be your most efficient new customer acquisition channel.   🌐 IN THE SOCIAL SPHERE Trying to gain more conversions with a discount? Don’t forget to show it front and center during the online shopping experience so customers feel compelled to buy and click the order button! Can't view the image? [Click here](   📰 NEWS - ICYMI Meta [removes detailed targeting exclusions in ad campaigns](. - OpenAI’s mobile chatbot [experienced its highest revenue month in July with $28 million](. - KITH [celebrates its 85th anniversary with Marvel themed ASICS ‘Super Villains' collection](.   SPONSOR DTC 📥 Got a B2B Biz? Join dozens of B2B companies finding demand-gen success through our niche community of 160k brand leaders and founders this year. [Talk to our team to learn more](.   Have you heard our latest podcasts? - 🔪 Brandon Horoho on [Scaling Montana Knife Company with VIPs]( - ⭐ [AKNF 427:]( How to Structure Your Google Ads Campaigns - 🥟 Jen Liao on [How MìLà Became a Nationwide Frozen Food Brand]( - ✉️ [AKNF 425:]( How To Fix Email Automation and Improve Retention - 🍺 Duncan Frew on [the Whisky Business and Return of The Rascal]( - ⚡ [AKNF 423:]( Optimize Post-Click Experience With Landing Pages Don’t forget to [rate the DTC Podcast]( on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) DTC Newsletter is written by [Rebecca Knight]( and [Frances Du](. Edited by [Eric Dyck](. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. Please note that items in this newsletter marked with * contain sponsored content. [Direct To Consumer]( Pilothouse, 1011 Government St., Victoria, BC V8W 1X6, Canada [Advertise with DTC]( | [Work With Pilothouse]( [Unsubscribe](