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- The Weekly Sharpener #92
The Weekly Sharpener #92
You don't have to be afraid of trying to grow during BFCM 🤘
Chase Mohseni
September 18th, 2022
👋 Hey fam!
I'm really excited to share this 💪 Sunday roundup with you!
On this week's episode of Add Creative Ron Shah (CEO @ Obvi) joins us for a special chat about BFCM and your cashflow planning. Why should this matter to us? Because to run the tests you need to run, you need a few stacks of 💰!
He shares how he believes cash flow should be the last thing on your mind in Q4 and should really be a consideration in Q1 so that you can focus on delivering an exceptional experience to your customers from ad -> product delivery.
We also dig into how you can actually do this and the stack of metrics you need to be monitoring to have an accurate pulse on the health of your business. The man delivers value!
We also share some audience demographics and how it might affect your advertising choices in Q4 (hint hint - Gen Z doesn't have lots of money yet and others use social more than them😛)
Also, a reminder that you can be creative in your email + SMS so your existing customers have some incentives to increase that LTV.
This one is packed with the good stuff so let us know what you think!
Cheers,
Chase
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Apple Podcast 🍎 II Spotify 🎧
A sneak peek from Episode 20 👀
I think even outside of the pillars, I think the biggest umbrella is, is the level of uncertainty we're going into. Right. I keep talking about this (we are) post inflation, pre-recession post pandemic and post iOS.
We are in the toughest time of building and trying to neutralize our business, right? And so this will be the first black Friday that has to takeon all of those four kind of, you know, um, comets that have beenthrown here.
And so, um, I think the biggest umbrella here is, is you have to be able to make, be so nimble with your business where if scale is possible, you're able to kind of double down and take it.
If it's not though. You should not be in a place where black Friday, cyber Monday crumbles your business too. Um, and so I think the, the overarching kind of, uh, theme in between is how do we manage cycling cash flow, inventory, manage any expenses that are coming up. And I think the biggest pillar for me is, is kind of cash flow cycling to where I'm not worrying about black Friday, cyber Monday till end of Q4.
So that I can focus on the actual tactical pieces to make black Friday cyber Monday
go well, instead of the fear that all founders have to be led by sometimes by saying, I gotta do this, right, I gotta get this done. What if this happens? What if this doesn't happen?
If you enjoy the episode, please rate us 5⭐️'s & share!
Content That Matters 🐐
This report on audiences on the top social platforms is a must-read.
Why it matters: What is the age demo of your core + adjacent customer? Going into your planning for the holidays - understanding how your core demo is using the channels you choose to advertise on is paramount!
The craziest stat for US-based users is Baby Boomers + Gen X use social media platforms more than millennials + Gen Z.
The big question - if you sell to Baby Boomers + Gen X - but are focused on capturing the demand of millennials + Gen Z - it might be time to recalibrate your creative tests through the rest of 2022.
Or at least test a creative that might deliver for different age demos. Why? You might be asking — share of wallet! You can drive higher AOV's and quicker payback periods.
Also don't forget, IG is still the top dog in terms of usage so make sure you are delivering value there!
Thread of the Week 🧵
Most SMS marketing is SO boring (don’t @ me), but it doesn’t have to be.
Here’s 4 non-traditional text campaigns that got even this cynical old retention marketer to engage recently 🤳
— Mandi Moshay (@MandiMoshay)
Sep 15, 2022
Why it matters: BFCM is coming up - we keep saying it but your customer experience needs to be dialed in.
With that said, we talk about ad creative and CRO so much we forget how important creativity is in getting a few different types of customers to convert using email + SMS:
Fell out of your funnel -while browsing
Add to cart but ✌️
Just purchased so they are warm for repeat.
An old customer in need of resurrection
My favorite tip here: Use a password delivered via SMS to grant access to a new Pumpkin Spice flavor.
From the looks of the landing page, this campaign was used to grow the SMS list as well. Exclusive early access gives SMS contacts a VIP treatment that is sure to drive retention.
See the examples below 👇
Expert Strategy + Learnings
Some amazing learnings from thought leaders in DTC.
Carl's CRO Tips 🙌
Used AIDA principle to show important conversion elements above the fold: 1. Showing image icons of product 2. Adding different weights to text to allow users to perceive written information easier 3. Adding sticky ATC to boost Conversion Rate
For more 🔥 follow Carl Weische from Accelerated.
Rahul's Paid Media Learnings 🤘
Is retargeting worth it? These are three observations I've made across directly millions of dollars worth of media spend. 👇
TOF campaigns already do retargeting ✅
Test out your retargeting campaigns on a 7DC window ✅
Test catalog campaigns or upsell/downsell offers ✅
Follow Rahul here for more 🧠
Creative Cuts ⚔️ - ICYMI
Want to learn about WHY the creative you love works and how you can leverage it 👇
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