The Weekly Sharpener #123

👋 Hey fam!  

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

Add Creative is back! 3-month hiatus but we are back with amazing episodes coming to you and this one is an amazing note to start back on. We dive head first into the world of DTC finance with the CEO of Finaloop. Learn the do/don'ts of the process and leave in a better position than you could imagine.

Next, we break down an amazing thread about customer psychology and how you aren't testing nearly enough to uncover what matters to every customer you might have. 

There's more but you just have to keep scrolling to find it! 

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

Cheers,

Chase

Starting using Pencil to Create winning ads 10x faster with AI. 

Special Tip: 

3 ad creatives you should be running 👇

UGC Review Video

• UGC Review Video

• Review Image

• USP Call-out GIF All essential for well-rounded DTC a

All essential for a well-rounded DTC ad account

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.

(Brownie points if you can name this movie 👇)

🎙Add Creative

 Spotify 🎧  

Come and hang with the CEO of Finaloop and learn about DTC finance and what you should be thinking about. It's a masterclass in thoughtfulness and rigor. 

Content That Matters 🐐

Why it matters: People have biases. You do. I do. It's not something that's new.

But HOW much bias do we have? 

What does it mean for our day-to-day lives? And how do the ads we create fit into the lives of these biases?

One truth that comes from this 👇

Testing is necessary. Here he does again, right? 

That isn't about Pencil per se, more predicated on the AD STACK (in case you missed the write-up) we've discussed many times, which can come from anywhere. 

You need ways to cut through the bias groupings that will inevitably stop customers in their tracks. 

Sarah breaks down so much here.

Let's talk about the core points you should take away and how to action it. 

1) 95% of our brain’s decision-making power comes from the subconscious. The eyes take in info, the subconscious decides if it’s important. Think about this for a second - you are at a massive disadvantage if you don't consider this and how you create relates to the subconscious. 

2) When visuals & copy aren't in sync with the unique customer's need, the subconscious sends an immediate signal to the conscious to move on.

How often do you write a cheeky line of copy that isn't 100% aligned with your ad creative? That has consequences.

Have you wondered why the ad didn't convert? 

3) Every action a person takes in life or digitally whether it's eating their lunch to purchasing a liquid death merch comes from wanting to satisfy DEEP emotional needs.

What does this mean for you or the brands you are working with? 

• Don't forget that your customers are people and have lives. YOU NEED TO FIT INTO THEIR LIVES.

• You have more angles available to you than you can reasonably test in one sprint. Find the ones that work and double down while also allocating test budgets for new ways to communicate value to customers you haven't extracted yet.

• Note with the point above - these secondary angles could be the thing that helps you with retention/resurrection as well. Remember each customers needs/wants change over the course of their life with you.

• Don't wait to plan creative testing strategy - the longer you wait the harder it will be to change your process.

• Make sure just like your ads need to be in sync - the landing pages are as well. Anything can spook a customer when you're trying to extract money from them.

Also Follow Sarah - she's a walking value 💣

We're doing an event with her and Kno Commerce...

Billion Dollar Creative Strategy 💰

Sign up here.

Our Sponsor

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They use local large delivery trucks to display your brand’s advertisement. What we've been loving seeing is how well this can pair in important geo's with paid marketing efforts on paid social.

Street-level exposure that isn't static has immense brand recall and with the breakdown we just did - doesn't this seem important?

Check them out here or hop on a call with their CEO, Joe directly (he's the best). 

Blew Our Minds 🤯

One of the most inventive pieces of marketing I've seen in a while from a SaaS company that services creatives.

Let me know what you think! 

Expert Strategy + Learnings

Some amazing learnings from thought leaders in DTC. 

Carl's CRO Tips 🙌

We visually showcased categories such as the " best sellers/ items on sale / new arrivals to allow users to navigate faster through the menu while also increasing traffic to those categories

For more 🔥 follow Carl Weische from Accelerated.

Rahul's Paid Media Learnings 🤘

Quick creative tip 

Go to Amazon and find a competitor

Look at their bad reviews (1-2 🌟's)

Now create new ads showing how your product addresses its pain point based on their experience with your competitor's product.

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. 

Our Preferred Tech Partners 👏

• Foreplay - spy on your competitors ads + save what you like

• soona - studio level assets in days and without the heavy cost. Yes, please. (Use Pencil39 for a free first photo)

• Motion - you want insights on your ads - make it fast/easy/actionable.

• Otis - ad buying/management automation(there's a present inside waiting for you)

• Triple Whale - attribution - need I say more

• Air - keeping all of your assets organized is a pain. Air makes it delightful.

• Creative OS - if you love making ads on Figma, you'll love this

Fav Newsie's

• Nice Ads 

• Acquire Weekly

• Your Content Should Sell

• The Performers

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