Rob Palumbo

Most DTC brands are way too conservative with email sends. Juicing frequency has worked at every brand we've owned. I recommend going up to ~7x per week right away. It's easy to verify with a holdout too. If you don't believe me, open your mom's email account. It will be ~30 - 100+ promotional emails per day. None of your customers will notice or care that you send 7x per week instead of 3x. Just one warning, make sure your suppression logic is configured correctly per email provider! I'd also implement plain texts at least ~2x per month, and ensure you occasionally add something like "reply with your favorite gift card for a chance to win X" to improve deliverability. Enjoy.

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Here’s the thing. Place is one of the 7 Ps of marketing, but very rarely does the conversation go very deep on the working mechanics of what that actually means. Product marketers and brand marketers at the enterprise level have never really had to get in the weeds of looking at granular channel data like performance marketers have with regards to tracking and measuring campaign success. That’s what the analysts are for, right? Wrong. Even analysts I’ve met and worked with have never built a website and digital UX/CX from scratch to truly understand all the working parts of what makes consumers convert. Outside of pulling tagged audience segments from a CRM like Salesforce they don’t have the technical backend aptitude for getting the platforms to talk to each other or the number of steps it takes to set up a paid social campaign. This is often left to specialists. It’s really hard to lead strategy if you never been on the frontlines working with the IT team to I could list all the channels and tactics, but I’d run out of characters for the post. My point is T-Shaped marketers will and need to be the future CMO. This doesn’t mean the CMO has to do all the work, but they have to have had hands on keyboard learning by doing practice executing in ALL these areas to make better judgement calls and defend their position vs delivering spin/hype. They need to be able to speak multiple languages within the marketing org. Not just a few. The buck has to stop at the CMO level where they can no longer blame their direct reports. You can’t be reactive and yell at your team for not giving proper guidance and then pretend everything is ok in the Monday morning standup, ELT, or board meetings. That is a recipe for disaster in a kitchen where the house is built in sand.

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Alex Greifeld has been working in eCommerce for more than 10 years in roles ranging from operations to performance marketing. Her experience spans bootstrapped indie brands, private equity-owned brands and publicly traded global brands. Alex writes a blog and newsletter named No Best Practices. She publishes content that helps DTC brands run marketing campaigns that actually improve the bottom line. There are a lot of gurus and growth hacks in the marketing world, but smart brands know that there are No Best Practices. We talk about: What ties all of the marketing together Her "WHY" The Start of Online Marketing THE DATA What skills new folks should learn Where the Magic Happens The Future of DTC TikTok and the effect on eCom AND SO MUCH MORE! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Resources: "Success After iOS14" Monthly Webinar: https://bit.ly/3PbHRwS Shape of Disrupt to Come Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3L4angN Follow Me: Twitter: https://bit.ly/3wb9IWR Instagram: https://bit.ly/3lh8m6F TikTok: https://bit.ly/3N1HSli Pinterest: https://bit.ly/3sOB6b5 Facebook Group: https://bit.ly/3ytD58g Subscribe: Video: https://bit.ly/37DQQGs iTunes: https://apple.co/3Fxrpml Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3M2hlEn Probably the greatest joy I get from teaching, and passing down the lessons I’ve learned over hundreds of millions of dollars in spend & over 1 billion in revenue driven, is the success and joy I see from my students If you’re ready to make 2022 your best year ever If you’re sick of wasting money listening to people reselling the same information over and over again If you don’t want to waste another year of your business life My 'Master Facebook Ads" Masterclass is perfect for you... and its free Learn more @ https://lnkd.in/gNq_3m7E This isn’t just how to run Facebook ads This is how to properly align the single greatest intent creation device in the history of mankind with fundamental business skills This is how you go from unsure and lack of confidence, to having to hire people and having your life changed There’s a reason why everybody charging a couple hundred bucks a month for the slack channel, or a couple hundred bucks for their gum road course all sound the same… It’s because they’re teaching what they’ve learned You can learn from the student, or choose to finally learn from their teacher's teacher I’m here to help you start that right now Take control of your 2022 today!

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I've seen so many Shopify themed posts on LinkedIn recently. "Shopify or bust" posts need a bit more meat on the bones comparing product roadmaps between competing platforms. Oversimplification doesn't serve an audience well. Shopify has its place...as do Mach vendors and evolving monoliths like Adobe Commerce, et al. Imo...agnoticism re: platform evaluation is a prerequisite to making a well considered decision with major consequences for a merchant.

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EXPERIMENTATION RED FLAGS: # 7 → Budget Marketing executives are in a Catch-22 -Your budget is shrinking -You need budget to hire talent -You need talent to run experiments -You need experiments to grow & hit goals All the while you are feeling the pressure from your: CEO, board, competitors How do you get out of this vicious circle? How do you balance ROI with your constraints? Let’s be real… there is no perfect solution But… (there is always a but) After 10+ years in experimentation: Here are 4 ways you can tackle budget constraints  (with their respective +/-) ~~~ Freelancers/Contractors +/ Light on the budget but that’s about it -/ You end up fighting against questionable expertise & reliability -/ They lack scope and depth to push through experimentation internally -/ You still need manage and oversee 4-5 freelancers   Budget: ★★☆☆☆ Time: ★★★★☆ Friction: ★★★★☆ = more trouble than it’s worth and you end up right back where you started ~~~ Agencies (all-in-one) +/ Delegate management +/- Established processes and deliverables -/ Variable pricing based on hours, experiments, seniority, departments, etc.    -/ Long-term commitments and contracts  -/ Junior talent and/or lack of expertise Budget: ★★★★☆ Time: ★★★☆☆ Friction: ★★★☆☆ = often times experimentation is just another line item on their hefty invoice ~~~ Employees +/ Internal alignment on goals and targets +/ Full oversight & possible internal champions  -/ Hits your budget the hardest -/ Long and often complicated hiring process  -/ Limited exposure across industries and trends Budget: ★★★★★ Time: ★★☆☆☆ Friction: ★☆☆☆☆ = your ideal solution long-term but it doesn’t really help your budget constraints today ~~~ This was my internal competitor analysis back in 2014 Guess what? It’s still true TODAY! It’s also the reason I created revise.agency and how we solve most of these challenges ~~~ Revise +/ Expertise across the board. +/ Fully established frameworks, processes and deliverables +/ Top-tier talent from strategy through execution and analysis +/ Fixed fee. No long-term contracts. Cancel anytime +/ Experience across different verticals, industries and experimentation maturity levels -/ Still not the most economical option but up to 80% cheaper than employees -/ We are picky about who we work with. If we see a lot of red flags, we’ll politely pass -/ We are full-service but small in terms of team members, which limits availability for new clients Budget: ★★★☆☆ Time: ★☆☆☆☆ Friction: ★★☆☆☆ = makes it the most obvious choice, doesn’t it? Like I said above… no solution is perfect. Feels a bit icky to toot my own horn but we do damn fine work. (if I can say so myself) So if you are between a rock and a hard place Trying to balance your budget vs. ROI vs. goals vs. targets These are your realistic options. The decision is up to you. — — — Experimentation red flag # 8 coming next week → #experimentation #abtesting #CRO #b2bmarketing #saas

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Temu spent $46 million on social advertising during Q1 2024. Is that why your CPMs are so high? DTC advertising is a tricky game right now. If your brand is seeing particularly high CPMs, could a disruptor like Temu, who’s spending huge budget on advertising, be the reason? Let’s break down the numbers first. According to Digiday, Temu’s ad expenditure has “surged by a whopping 1,000% year over year from January to November 2023.” 76% of that ad spend went to social media. Most recently, MediaRadar, Inc. found that out of the $46 million Temu spent on social advertising from January to March 2024, Facebook captured 98% of the ads. Look, these are massive numbers. And even if Temu has been the target of a lot of online memes, one thing’s for sure, most everyone you know has heard of Temu. Their aggressive advertising has scored them a TON of brand awareness. Does that mean your brand needs to outspend Temu to reach YOUR customers? Not quite. Here’s a great quote from the article: “I think most advertising pricing concerns related to Temu are overblown,” said independent analyst and investor Eric Seufert . “Temu is spending an unprecedented amount of money on app install advertising on Meta and other social platforms, but its ads are likely competing at the long tail of impressions (i.e. not targeting the highest-value users)." Regardless, this is a clear signal to diversify your advertising channels if you aren’t already, and really hone in on who you’re targeting with what content. The need to do both will only grow as costs go up and DTC advertising becomes even more competitive. In-depth User Research is also an invaluable asset you should be leveraging (if you aren’t sure how you can be, shoot me a DM). With strong targeting, diversification, and a continuous effort to know your customers, you can confidently weather a volatile ad platform, and still find and engage your audience even if they’re “shopping like a billionaire.” What do you think? Is Temu actually causing CPMs to rise? https://lnkd.in/gkn4cFKt #ecommerce #dtc #advertising

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Actual Shopify revenue lift for an eCommerce Apparel client. Huge shift after taking over the account (arrow). This is NEW CUSTOMER acquisition. - 24% increase in new customer traffic - 2X email acquisition (most valuable channel tied to revenue) - 40% increase in ATC, 93% decrease in cost per ATC - 24% increase in Shopify total sales - YTD Record revenue day (twice)

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Advertising has become increasingly competitive and costly for CPG brands. ​ But the solution isn't simply to throw more money at the problem or hop on the latest trending platform. ​  The real key is to rethink your entire performance advertising strategy. ​ Too many DTC brands treat their ads as an afterthought, hastily slapping together generic creative and hoping it sticks.  ​ But in today's cluttered digital space, that approach is a surefire way to get lost in the noise.  ​ Your ads need to be laser-focused, data-driven, and designed to speak directly to your target audience. ​ Start by conducting a deep dive into your customer personas. ​ Who are they, what motivates them, and where do they spend their time online?  ​ Armed with those insights, you can craft hyper-targeted ad copy and visuals that grab their attention and compel them to act. ​ Don't be afraid to experiment, either.  ​ Test different messaging, offers, and placements to see what resonates best.  ​ And track your analytics religiously to continuously optimize your campaigns for maximum impact. ​ Performance advertising isn't a one-and-done proposition.  ​ It's an ongoing process of testing, learning, and refining.  ​ But get it right, and you'll unlock a powerful engine for driving sales and growth for your CPG brand.

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Important Read Below.

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Some solid advice here!

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💸💸 Privacy Sandbox Buyer Report 💸💸 Over the last few months, we've collected significant data about how different buying platforms are spending using Protected Audience API. This gives some insights about what those companies’ plans might be. We looked at all DSPs that had some scale of ad spend on Protected Audiences to see how their spending compared to their normal spending on our inventory. As a reminder, since cookies are only deprecated at 1%, most (but not all) PA API spending is concentrated in that 1%. The DSPs spending around 1% (most of them) are the ones testing at a normal scale for their business. They want to understand how to use the technology and how to use it at scale so they're ready for the full deprecation of 3PC. Those labeled "Testing the Waters" are spending at much lower scale than their normal spend. It's not surprising that these are the largest. These DSPs don't need to spend at high scale to get the data to make sure things are working and be ready to scale up in the future. Amazon, in particular, has been a fairly late entrant to spending on PA - we didn't see any spend until March. Their spend has been relatively low, but that might be enough for them to get the data they need to scale this quickly in the future. An interesting observation is that Google's DV360 (mostly large advertisers) is spending at a low scale compared to Google Adwords (mostly small advertisers). Getting large advertisers to spend on PA API is much more complex, so this makes sense. The most interesting part of this dataset is those who are "paradigm shifters." Clearly, AdRoll and Audigent view Privacy Sandbox as a way to shift their business models and grow quickly in this new space. Times of great disruption can be times of great innovation! In order for anyone to buy media through PA API, they have to build technology called a Component Buyer - the PA equivalent of being a DSP. To our knowledge, Audigent doesn't currently operate a DSP, so they've built Component Buyer tech to leapfrog into this new space. There is an equivalent technology for SSPs called a Component Seller. Even though we don't operate an SSP, we've also built that technology ourselves as a way to innovate and create new services for our publisher and advertiser customers. As always, there are lots of caveats with this data! Since PA is so nascent, we don't have DSP-level data across all of our partners, but what we do have is representative. We are large and have a lot of data, but we're not the entire internet, so the story may be different for others. 

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James Hercher, I agree with a few of your points, disagree on some, and you missed the headline: 1. MMM on its own is loaded with flaws and bias and cannot be trusted for high stakes decisions –> Agree! MMM must be calibrated with continual and rigorous incrementality testing.   2. MTA, deterministic user-level cross platform attribution is impossible and a terrible basis for high stakes decisions –> Agree! 3. Experimentation is expensive. It doesn’t have to be, and the value should far outweigh the investment.    4. Observational Causal Inference, “everyone's just making this up.” Not everyone! OCI is real and has been accepted in the causal inference field, including health/clinical studies. Very hard to do, but there are a few us driving innovation and getting to exactly this goal of making it useful in marketing analytics.  The headline you missed: Trusted measurement today must be lined up to systematic experimentation and rigorously executed to inform reliable incrementality reads into the measurement and optimization workflow. In case you missed it: https://lnkd.in/eZDrMTWX

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DTC brand founders - If you're operating with a single ad spend x MER goal for the month you're making a HUGE mistake.. Because there is more than one ad spend x MER pair that will drive the same bottom line profit dollars. In fact, there are an infinite number of ad spend x MER pairs that will drive the same bottom line profit dollars. So instead of setting a single ad spend x MER goal each month, you should build a sensitivity analysis table of different ad spend x MER scenarios that ladder up to your net profit dollars goal for the month. If you don’t know how to do this, you need a Fractional CFO who understands eCommerce. Consider sending me a DM if you want to learn more. My firm Free to Grow CFO and I can help.

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We’ve seen a lot of value in leveraging Shopify for CPG brands, even when they're not ready to sell online yet. One reason we’ve turned to Shopify is its ability to manage and showcase products seamlessly. Even if a brand isn’t selling online, the platform makes it easy to organize product data, highlight content, and provide relevant product information. We’ve also tapped into Shopify’s rich ecosystem to create deeper customer engagement. For example, features like: ➫ Smart product discovery (Rebuy Engine) ➫ Integrated loyalty programs and customer reviews (Okendo) ➫ Customer service (Gorgias) ➫ Interactive user-generated content (Tolstoy) These platforms are simple to implement and provide functionality that would be much harder to manage outside of Shopify. These tools help strengthen the brand-customer relationship and deliver value beyond just a digital presence. Many brands we’ve worked with have plans to go direct-to-consumer at some point. Shopify makes that transition smooth, allowing brands to turn on e-commerce features without needing a major redesign. It’s a great way to future-proof the site, offering flexibility as strategies evolve. Even for brands not focused on e-commerce, we’ve found that integrations like Amazon Buy with Prime, Destini (a subsidiary of SPINS) store locator, and Brij can help facilitate sales through other channels. The website becomes the core hub for product discovery and education, making it easier for customers to find where to buy the product in-store or through third-party platforms. Competitively, even when a brand doesn’t sell online, their competitors may. In 2024, it’s critical to create a site that feels like a DTC experience to stay on par, and Shopify makes that easier to execute. We’ve also helped brands experiment with DTC with strategic offerings—things like gift sets or exclusive products. It’s a great way to get started, create a reason for customers to shop DTC, and shape a strategy for the future. + Video showcases some #CPG brands we've worked with at Barrel and built on Shopify—some DTC, some not!

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“How would you make the case for prioritizing ASO at an industry-leading company that hasn’t focused on their app historically?” I received this question yesterday during a webinar we hosted with AppsFlyer. The answer is simple: you have to consider you App Store Listing as a landing page. Everyone that wants to download your app has to come through the app stores to download your app. If you spend 💸💸💸 on ads, you have to make sure that your App Store listing appeals to users and conveys the right message. It’s absolutely vital to optimize this step in the user’s journey. And the best part - you can start with ASO with a small budget and small team. ✅ start by researching competitors and top apps to understand app store best practices ✅ dig into your app store data to understand user intent and preferences ✅ use the app store’s native A/B testing tools to gather data on the impact of creative optimization

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Shameless plug. So excited to see the increases in click-through rate (CTR) on our Email Optimization Shop by Jeanne Jennings newsletter! Averaging over 5.5% for the last month, with last week's edition garnering a 5.7% CTR! (For those not in the industry, a 3.0% CTR is considered to be very good) We strive to provide practical advice on #emailmarketing strategy, tactics, and more -- to help our readers make their email marketing programs more effective and more profitable. If you're looking for a quick way to keep up on the latest in #emailmarketing, please check us out (link to subscribe in the comments). Special thanks to our newsletter editor Janet Roberts!

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What if you could cut your e-commerce marketing costs by 70% without sacrificing quality? Hiring a full-time e-commerce team in the US with core roles like designers, brand managers, PPC managers, web developers, and other roles as shown in the image below with at least 3+ years of experience could cost over $100k/year per role on average. But there’s a smarter way that is more cost-effective. Last week, my team crunched the numbers: Our e-commerce talent pool in Nigeria, with the same level of experience, working full-time in the US time zone, would only cost a fraction of that, about $30k/year per role, on average. That’s a massive 68.48% savings. Tech giants like Meta, Google, and Apple are already tapping into top talent from Nigeria. They’re scaling while cutting costs remarkably. I applied this exact strategy through Talent Hackers in my first business D1 Brands, we kept our team lean while our competitors suffered from bloat. Now, I’m using it again to drive my second venture. Don’t overlook offshore talent. You can scale without overspending—it’s about spotting the right talent for the right price. The most successful businesses today stayed frugal with limited resources.

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After working with $3.5B ARR brands, here's the truth: Noobs and experts tackle CRO very differently. Here are some key contrasts: 1. Beginner: "Let's change the button color to boost conversions." Expert: "What user behavior data supports this change?" 2. Beginner: "More pop-ups will capture more leads." Expert: "How can we add value without disrupting the user experience?" 3. Beginner: "Our conversion rate is low. We need a complete redesign." Expert: "Let's analyze the data to identify specific pain points first." 4. Beginner: "Mobile optimization isn't crucial for our B2B audience." Expert: "Let's ensure a seamless experience across all devices and contexts." 5. Beginner: "Our test didn't work. CRO doesn't work for our business." Expert: "What insights can we gain from this test to inform our next hypothesis?" The key takeaway? Expert CRO is about asking the right questions, not jumping to quick fixes. It's about: - Testing methodically - Understanding user behavior - Continuously improving based on data Where do you fall on this spectrum? Are you taking a beginner or expert approach to CRO? Share your thoughts below! 👇 - - - Want more expert CRO insights? I've compiled our top 446-point CRO checklist to increase conversion fast based on 2,500 A/B tests 1. Like and repost this post 2. Comment "CRO TIPS" and I'll DM you the full list. (Follow me first)

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Perplexity is finally entering the real Search Engine game. Given that it has pioneered fundamental changes in search behavior and positioned itself as an answer engine, Perplexity can for sure charge a bit of premium for ads. Personally, I find it to be very good. As per this report, the CPMs are around $50 which is like 15-20X more that your average Google pricing. The justification as per Perplexity is the following: 'More than 8 in 10 Perplexity users have an undergraduate degree, while 3 in 10 are in a “senior leadership position” and 65% are in “high-income white-collar professions,” such as medicine, law and software engineering.' I guess Perplexity is making the case with advertisers as the solution that caters to the smartest and the most affluent of answer seekers. As of now, it actually does. But $50 for that? May be a bit too much for most but not for all. As a CMO, I would gladly put that money down if I am reaching out HNIs or those who are doing deep research for a particular answer like 'How does unrealized capital gains affect me?'. Given that Perplexity's answers are essentially nested, that means, I can drive highly contextual ads based on the exact depth of where user's answer-nest is at. The deeper the depth, the closer I am paying attention or about to act. This aside, I am glad that search is getting a much needed makeover. For Google search ads beyond the first page is as good as burning money. #CMO #AdTech #MarTech #Search #Perplexity #Google

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