📦 - No Brakes on the Hype Train

Hype A Seasonal Product, Push Notifications are Free Dollars, Keep It Simple, Influencer Superpowers, and Another TikTok Ban Friday, August 18, 2023 Got an awesome DTC brand story to tell? Calling all brand-side founders and team leaders! Fancy joining us on the DTC Podcast as a guest? [Tap the link to toss in your application](. 🎧 In this newsletter, you’ll find: - [Building hype year-round]( - [Why black backgrounds are your best friend]( - [New York City bans TikTok on city-issued devices]( Let’s dive in: 👇 1. Generate hype for seasonal products all year long Make the most of your seasonal selection all year round with these six supercharged marketing strategies. Generate excitement around your product so it drops with a bang! Create “selling seasons,” release seasonal content, and focus on low-cost marketing to maximize sales when the time is right. For more off-season strategies, check out our [write-up](. 2. Push notifications are free dollars for BÉIS. * A shopping app is a chance to diversify, scale, and boost customer loyalty. Brands like BÉIS have 'seen around 12% growth in terms of the revenue that's coming from those push notifications that are free'. That quote is from Julie Chalker, BEIS VP of Digital and Ecommerce. BEIS uses its mobile app as a seamlessly integrated communication channel for its customers. Ensuring they are always top of mind. After all, Tapcart is designed to be an extension of your Shopify store. Meaning your new app is a super low lift. BÉIS plans on using BFCM to create offers exclusive to app customers. [Explore their case study to see where you could benefit from a mobile app.]( 3. Keep your creatives simple with black backgrounds Hey you, yes you! We’re letting you in on a little secret… Take your top product SKUs and stick them on a black background, one batch with copy and one batch without copy. Next? Pop those creatives into your Meta account a month before Black Friday. If you’re keen to see the results and want to know the ‘why’ behind a month before, [click here](. 4. Building a "direct-to-creator" influencer program is a superpower.* Many brands new to the influencer game get a few things wrong. They chase shortcuts and try to hire influencers to post. Unfortunately, this won't help you build a long-term revenue channel for your brand. Brands such as Lululemon, Sephora, and Gymshark have built [direct-to-creator influencer programs]( with amazing outcomes. Stop being limited by middlemen and start taking ownership of your relationships with creators. Using tools like [SARAL]( help with automations to find and manage influencers. [Claim your free trial]( or [book a demo today](! 5. New York City has banned TikTok from city-owned devices effective immediately. New York has instructed its agencies to uninstall the app within 30 days. This decision follows a review by the NYC Cyber Command that identified TikTok as a security threat to the city's digital framework. City employees are now prohibited from downloading, using, or accessing the TikTok platform in any way. The spokesperson for New York City Hall emphasized the importance of using social media platforms securely while connecting with citizens but this decision by New York City adds to a series of measures taken by various US states to restrict TikTok's presence on government-owned devices. [Click here]( to read the full story. ⚡ Quick Hits 💸 [Avoid lost sales this holiday season]( with automated UI testing and alerts for Shopify outages. Top brands trust Uptime to save money and retain customers. [DTC readers can get 25% off for a limited time](. * 📸 [Instagram is testing Multi-Advertiser Ads in the Reels feed](. Up to four advertisers can be placed within the same Reels in an effort to maximize visibility. ✖️ [X will sort posts by Like count instead of chronological order](. This change will mainly affect users that are not logged in to the platform. 🔎 [Google implements AI to automatically summarize articles](. Key points in long form content are able to be extracted and linked so that users can jump directly to relevant content. ✅ [Additional ID verification documents can be submitted to X]( to combat verification concerns. Documents can include a selfie and government-issued ID to verify your identity on the platform. 👀 Banter There are easier ways! 😬 *Sponsored Have you heard our latest podcasts? 💥 [Ned Samuelson]( - Criteo: Critical Q4 Tips 🐶 [Jordan Karcher]( - Grounds and Hounds Co.: Spilling the Coffee Beans on Product-Centric 8-Figure Growth 🤖 [Ben Kruger](: Opening Pandora's Search Box: Google vs AI 🏗️ [AKNF 329]( - Jogo's Retention Bootcamp: The Pristine Data Framework (Part 1 of 3) 🤖 [Shauli Mizrahi - REP](: Unveiling the Future of E-Commerce with AI-Powered Concierges 😁 [Jessica Donati and Rhaelyn Gillespie - Mintier](: Disrupting the Oral Health Space Don’t forget to [rate the DTC Podcast]( on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) DTC Newsletter is written by [Rebecca Knight](, [Kelsey Hess](, and [Michael Venditti](. Edited by [Claire Beveridge]( and Eric Dyck. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. NEED MORE DTC? 🚀 [Advertise]( in DTC Newsletter. 💰 Check out our course on [Facebook and Instagram]( ads! [Direct To Consumer]( Pilothouse, 1011 Government St., V8W 1X6, Victoria, BC V8W 1X6, Canada [Advertise with DTC]( | [Work With Pilothouse]( [Preferences]( | [Unsubscribe](