📦 - What Does Google Recommend?

DTC 621 - GSC Recommendations Feature, Amazon Bids, and Shopify Checkout Extensibility Deadline   Monday, August 12, 2024 Good morning, Shopify shares soared 17% last week after Q2 earnings exceeded expectations. Revenue during this period climbed 21% to reach $2 billion. The biggest revenue driver? Its subscription solutions revenue. Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC: 💰 Why Amazon sellers should only use dynamic down bids to get the most out of your ad budget. 🔍 Google Search Console launched a Recommendations feature to improve your website performance. Here’s how to find it. ❣️ Monos' Mike Wu on scaling customer service with AI. 🔥 And…has your Shopify store moved from checkout.liquid to Checkout Extensibility? Below are all the deadlines you need to know. You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: [Kencor Health](, [Cupcake Central](, and [Zipasleep](. 👋   AMAZON INSIGHTS 💰 Why You Shouldn’t Use Up and Down Bids The [Pilothouse Amazon team]( shared a secret with us. 👀 They almost exclusively use Dynamic Down Only as the bidding option on client campaigns, but why? First, here's a refresher on the types of dynamic bids available on Amazon. Dynamic Bids - Up and Down Bids: When selecting dynamic bids - up and down, Amazon will raise or lower bids based on the likelihood of the potential click converting to a sale. 👉 This means increasing bids in real-time to help win impressions that may be more likely to convert to a sale, such as when an ad appears for a highly relevant shopping query. Conversely, Amazon will reduce bids for impressions less likely to convert to a sale, focusing spend on quality clicks and helping reduce spend on less impactful placements. Dynamic Bids - Down Only: When choosing the dynamic bids - down only strategy, Amazon will reduce bids for clicks that may be less likely to convert to a sale. 👉 If it is considered that an ad may be less likely to convert to a sale, Amazon might lower the bid for that auction. This could happen, for example, on a less relevant search query or on a placement that doesn't perform well. What does this mean? Down Only bids give Pilothouse more control over how much a keyword will spend, allowing for more effective control of efficiency. Pilothouse then utilizes existing data and placement modifiers to control where they actually want to spend more (e.g., Top of Search or Rest of Search). Due to their highly segmented approach to advertising and specific efficiency targets for each campaign based on the value it drives for the brand, having this level of control allows them to consistently hit efficiency targets and drive profitable growth for their brands. Why not use Fixed Bids then? While fixed bids would provide ultimate control, Pilothouse does not want to completely cut out all Amazon control, and still leverages their insights on the audience. By using down only, they allow some of Amazon's optimization to occur without risking any efficiency loss. That said, there is a time and a place for everything, including Up & Down Bids. When running accounts with very limited reach (e.g., new to Amazon brands with no branded traffic), Up & Down bids can allow for faster data collection. Since they make it easier to win the auction (by increasing bids), this can increase reach and be helpful for getting campaigns started, interpreting the data, and then adjusting accordingly. Additionally, if a brand wants to be aggressive and completely own Top of Search Impression Share for a keyword, a TOS placement modifier combined with Up & Down Bids can do that quite effectively, albeit at the sacrifice of efficiency. Up & Down bids are also a more hands-off approach, giving Amazon more control. So, if more flexible efficiency targets are acceptable and there isn't time to manage a more robust campaign suite, Up & Down could be a good fit. However, caution is advised because Amazon is directly incentivized to spend more of the advertising budget. Therefore, always keep an eye on campaigns and use Budgets as Stop Losses to prevent drastic overspending. Overall, sticking to Down Only is generally the best tactic. Though it may require more active management, it will produce the best (and most efficient) results.   INFLUENCER PARTNERSHIPS 🤔 Do You Know How Brands like Athletic Greens, Obvi, and Olipop are Crushing? They’ve cracked the code: [long-term influencer partnerships](. Here’s their playbook: 1️⃣ Offer free products to influencers 2️⃣ Collab only with the ones that LOVE your products 3️⃣ Make them long-term partners Sound like a lot of work? Not with [SARAL](. The all-in-one platform lets you find the right influencers, reach out to them, and keep every conversation organized. You can set up tiered commissions to keep your influencers engaged and loyal and measure everything from sales to ROAS. Plus, with SARAL, create unique, leak-proof discount links. 🤯 No need for 5 different tools. Just one. Simple. Easy. Full stack. [Try SARAL Free for 7 Days]( *Sponsored   PLATFORM UPDATE 🤩 Google Search Console’s New Recommendations Feature Google has launched Recommendations for some users on Search Console. This new tool will provide websites with optimization opportunities and actionable next steps so site owners can improve their presence in search. This will help brand owners understand how to improve their website performance based on Google’s criteria. What’s great about this? All these recommendations will be based on your site’s data and actionable. While this information has always been available on GSC, this new layout makes it more accessible. Recommendations will be updated over time and can change, so this is something you will want to keep an eye out for. Types of recommendations Google will make can include: - Issues (something that can be fixed, e.g. your site speed) - Opportunities (ways to improve your site traffic) - Configuration (updating you on new tools or x to make your reporting easier) Here’s how to find it: Head on over to the Overview tab (if you aren’t there already) You should see something like this: [Google Search Console’s new Recommendations feature] (This is an experimental feature, so it may only appear for some accounts.) This is great news for site owners or agencies who want to optimize their clients' websites even further as we head into the busy Q4 season. 🚀 Google will roll out this feature to all accounts in the upcoming months.   PODCAST ❣️ Monos' Mike Wu on Scaling Customer Service with AI This week on the DTC Podcast, we chat with Mike Wu, the Director of Ecommerce at Monos, a leading luggage brand, about how they [revolutionized their customer service with Zowie, an AI-driven CX platform](. Mike shares fascinating insights into their journey and how Zowie has made a massive difference for Monos. In this episode, you’ll hear: 👇 - How Mike and the Monos team handled THOUSANDS of backlogged tickets before finding the right solution - Choosing which platform is best suited for your brand, its needs, and your budget - How Zowie’s AI is automating responses to common Monos customer inquiries, freeing up time for the support team to focus on more meaningful customer interactions - How AI is allowing Monos to scale without additional hires while maintaining high customer satisfaction and NPS - Balancing automation and human touch, ensuring the AI enhances, rather than replaces, personal interactions To hear more about how Monos is crushing their tickets with Zowie’s collaborative approach and what AI interactions are on the roadmap for Monos shoppers, you can: [Listen to the full episode here](. 🎧 OR [Continue reading here](. 📖   💸 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS - AI chip startup Groq [raises $640 million in funding and is now valued at $2.8 billion](. - L’Oréal [acquires a 10% stake in dermatology company Galderma](. - Kellanova stock [surges after news of potential Mars buyout](.   🌐 IN THE SOCIAL SPHERE Shopify is deprecating checkout.liquid tomorrow, August 13th. What does this mean? If you haven’t moved to Checkout Extensibility yet, it’s time to upgrade your Shipping, Information, and Payment Pages or risk your business being impacted. [More info on this change here](. Can't view the image? [Click here](   ⚡ QUICK HITS 😣 How many final versions did your latest asset go through? That’s what we thought. Meet Paige by Air, a new suite of AI features that will revolutionize how you store, share and collect your brand's visual assets. [Join their design program here](. * 🔓 Unlock this channel and drive 4-6X Incremental ROAS. Hundreds of DTC brands including Caraway and Marley Spoon are using direct mail marketing with Poplar. [Try Poplar with zero commitment](. *   📰 NEWS - Amazon [strikes a deal with TikTok to sell products directly on the app](. - Reddit’s Ad business [grew 41% last quarter, totaling $253.1 million](. - Poppi [spent over $43 million in advertising this year so far, surpassing Gatorade and Dr. Pepper](. - Google and Meta [struck a secret deal to target teens on YouTube with Instagram ads](.   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](