The Weekly Sharpener #117

👋 Hey fam!

I'm really excited to share this 👊 Tuesday roundup with you!

It's time to talk about technology - yes that dreaded word, but it helps CVR, AOV, LTV, OpEx etc so don't stop reading.

We are going to share the 6 platforms that will change the way you do business and extract value from your creative ideation, creation, testing, and iterating.

Next, we will understand what biases prospects enter your funnel with and what to do to alleviate them.

Finally, we get some expert learnings about how to get your customers to have more confidence in purchasing.

There's a lot to consume here so take your time and let the amazing content wash over you. 😜

I hope you're thriving, your ads are scaling, and your LTV is going up and to the right!

Cheers,

Chase

Check out Pencil if you're ready to Create winning ads 10x faster with AI. (🤫 - we just launched amazing new pricing + packages!)

Special Tip:

If you aren't creating at least 2 variations per ad creative what are you doing?

Courtesy of Fraser Cottrell

Partner with us 🤝

Marketing agencies, freelance creatives, e-comm experts…want access to our generous revenue share and co-marketing opportunities? Become a Pencil Partner today! You can learn more here.

Content That Matters 🐐

This is the definitive creative stack all DTC brands should be using in 2023...

What is a creative stack, you might be asking?

The Pencil-Webster dictionary defines it as:

It is the apps you should be using to have the most beautiful, efficient, and scaled ad creation, testing, and analysis system.

Why does this matter?

In 2023, brands are facing major challenges in terms of economic headwinds + changing platform costs. That means you need to be equipped with the best tools possible to power your brand.

On the advertising side that means knowing what's working, how to make more of it, creating it, and measuring it.

This leads us to the mighty creative ad 👇

1. Foreplay - Ad Inspiration

• You can spy on other brands ads + save the ones you like to share with your team. The speed at which you learn about other brands is insane.

2. Air - Asset Management

• Dropbox isn't great and you need something that is built for creative teams. The search for assets function is magical and the pricing is incredibly competitive.

3. Pencil - Ad Creation

• Create winning ads 10x faster with AI. We have our own tagline in our own newsletter. But really, why would you not want winning ads faster?

4. Triple Whale - Ad Attribution

• This is our go-to attribution software

• the dashboard alone gives you such an easily digestible view of where your business stands you can go and deep dive anywhere.

5. Motion - Creative Insights

• Want to know WHY your ads are working? Motion does a nice job of allowing you to understand what elements are working so you can double down or try something new.

6. Otis - Ad Buying Automation

• Want to stop having nightmares about what your ads are doing while you sleep or are out to brunch? This software makes it incredibly simple to manage your accounts.

• They've added a very slick ad-buying automation tool that will help you get back time and make more data-driven decisions.

Why it matters: Operating Expenses like human capital are a killer - what if you could make yourself or your team more creative, effective, and empowered while giving them time back.

Technology can do that and not take a massive chunk out of your business wallet. Check out a couple of these at least!

Thread of the week 🤌

Why it matters: This aligns with what I've always said - each person you are trying to interact with and selling is living a unique experience. They come in with bias that you can't control.

Chase's #1 bias is about ambiguity. So get all of that information out of the way so there are no questions when your customer is thinking about whether to purchase or not.

• Price

• Offer

• Benefits

• Features

• Advantages

With this in hand, the customer is simply making a decision about whether this is really needed at this time.

Using this in Ads, LP's, etc will allow you to then measure the incremental lift of breaking these biases out to see which ones move the needle or if a more narrative approach drives up CVR, AOV, and LTV.

Expert Strategy + Learnings

Some amazing learnings from thought leaders in DTC.

Carl's CRO Tips 🙌

Relieve or correct customer conversion anxiety by adding:

Specificity: Understand the source of objections and handle them

Proximity: Place these answers close to conversion steps (e.g. CTA)

Intensity: Address the substance and perception of the concerns (e.g. Framing)

For more 🔥 follow Carl Weische from Accelerated.

Rahul's Paid Media Learnings 🤘

Across the board, we've found the best ads feature our current customers Request customers to record content for you. We use Testimonial.

Ask your customers the following Q's:

• What about this product would you recommend to a friend?

• How did this product help you?

Follow Rahul and reach out to Reach Digital to work with him 🧠

From our Library 📚

Join the ✏️ community

Sign up to learn and meet 200+ other great founders & operators across DTC.

Curious about what we're building? 🧱

Check out our roadmap and upvote what you think is important! If we have missed anything, you can add your suggestions as well.

YouTube Channel 📺

Check out our library of amazing video content on creative, ads, and ecomm operating.

Fav Newsie's

• Nice Ads 

• Your Content Should Sell

• The Performers

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