David Manela

AdAttributionKit: Unpacking Apple’s new ad attribution framework AAK unifies Apple’s various advertising attribution frameworks under a single umbrella product name and extends SKAdNetwork in meaningful ways, including with support for re-engagement and alternative app marketplaces. These are substantive improvements. But impediments to adoption remain: IP-based attribution is still widely viewed as a suitable alternative to Apple’s native iOS attribution framework, meaning that platform tools like Conversion APIs will take adoption priority.

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What if you could get 400 regular buyers to weigh in on best practices for direct-to-consumer (DTC) subscription? Subscription products are the holy grail for consumer and DTC brands, but what do we actually do and want as buyers? As someone who runs and works with consumer brands, I wanted to get some real insights here, so I ran a survey with SurveyMonkey. Here’s what I found from 400+ responses: Finding 1: 80% of respondents subscribe to less than 3 products. Insight for brands: It’s unlikely your new brand is going to find a ton of subscription traction, so don’t build the model and assumptions around that. Finding 2: Pet food has the highest likelihood for subscription, while beauty, skincare, health and wellness supplements aren’t as high as you would think. Finding 3: Two major concerns people have when subscribing is not knowing how long a product will last them, as well as the cancellation process and terms. Insight for brands: at the point of subscription, give insight around product usage, typical duration, as well as crystal clear information on ease of cancellation. We as buyers have all experienced subscription experiences that are impossible to cancel, and that’s a hesitation we bring when evaluating any new subscription. Finding 4: 82% of buyers have subscribed, knowing full well they’ll cancel, just to get the discount. Insight for brands: heavily discounting to incentivize subscriptions may be hurting you. This data not only helps me as I build my own brands but working with teams, we now don’t have to debate how to structure these kinds of user experiences — sometimes all you have to do is ask! Success isn’t just about finding answers; it’s about being caring enough, and daring enough, to ask the right questions #DareToAsk. A ton more insights here. Check out the full survey, and let me know in the comments what questions you want to see data and findings on: https://lnkd.in/egGvRJse  #surveymonkey #ad #daretoask

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The VP of Marketing for a $1B accessories retailer told me he wants to upgrade their tech stack this year. Here are the 5 tools he’s thinking about: //1 Identity Resolution tech “We’re missing a lot of revenue by not having anonymous visitor tracking.” He feels identity res is key to: - Personalize their email marketing - To boost opt-in rates, increase retention, and support loyalty - And streamline their strategy with a “work smarter, not harder” approach “Right now, we do four billion email sends a year. It’s out of control,” he says. “I feel like the brands that get smarter around that are going to win, without a doubt.” //2 Loyalty platform One piece of tech that isn’t going anywhere: his loyalty program vendor. He loves how they: - Provide attentive, hands-on support - Have a real impact on their business growth - Make it easy to leverage all their loyalty and review features - Understand his customers and review needs better than other platforms //3 E-commerce platform He's also happy with their e-commerce platform. He loves: - Its relative cost - How easy it is to use - The savings it offers apparel brands like his The only downside that’s got him considering alternatives… … Is its integration issues. It frequently struggles to communicate with other systems, making it a challenge for multi-brand retailers like his. //4 ESP He loves their ESP provider. Plus, moving to another right now would be impossible since it handles all 3rd-party provider comms, email campaigns, and transactional emails. But he’s not 100% sold on them… He feels that: - The platform hasn’t improved in the last 3 years - He’s paying a lot but only needs a few of their features - He wants one platform to manage both SMS and email Still, this provider ranks as a strong contender due to their excellent customer service. //5 SMS In 2024, he wants to use SMS to: - Focus on personalizing loyalty, back-in-stock, and wishlist notifications - To make his business genuinely interesting and compelling for their customers But his current SMS is a nightmare. He shares: - Their service attitude is terrible - They inflate in-platform metrics 20x more than what gets done - They missed tracking activity for 6 months and showed no remorse Plus, “they’re the most expensive provider for a service that’s essentially a basic text message,” he shared. “Definitely not worth the $22k a month we pay.” __ MarTech Vendors - This VP’s looking to restructure his tech stack in a major way this year. But his larger goals are to increase revenue and boost lifetime customer value. Show how your tech could streamline his stack and achieve those larger goals… … And you’ve got a solid chance at winning his next RFP.

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If you were offered a loan at 23% interest with daily repayment terms, would you take it? I did. In the early years of building Tease, we did our first $500k in revenue with a $1k secured visa. Sound impressive? It was actually a logistical nightmare. Juggling payments, inventory, and everything else that comes with trying to get a business off the ground with limited cash flow held our growth back substantially. Because no other banks would lend to me at that time, I took that 12 month, 23% loan as a calculated risk. After all, as any CPG brand founder can attest to, you absolutely need to spend money to make money if you want to grow. Thousands in interest later, I paid it back months ahead of schedule once it served its purpose feeling so much relief. I knew for my business, I didn't want to raise $ from VC's and angels or dilute equity. If I wanted to keep bootstrapping my way up and retain 100% ownership, I'd have to get more savvy about taking on future debt. Then just a few months afterward, and having built better relationships with traditional banks, I took out a 6 figure loan with better terms that allowed me save 10% on our product costs, and make our business incredibly profitable that year 👀 In this interview with Beauty Independent, I uncover some of my top considerations for any Founder who is considering taking out loans - especially in todays economic climate. There are so many great takeaways from other founders in the CPG space too, well worth the read. I love when publications take a moment to spark conversation about the under the hood, financial realities and risks independently owned businesses are making every single day. It's not glamorous, but it's the arena we are in, the weight we carry, and the heavy decisions we consider all in the name of continuing to keep our dream and vision alive.

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I sat down with Cherene Aubert and asked her to share her complete playbook for offer testing in DTC brands. Here are 5 game-changing tactics most DTC brands completely miss: 1. You think your marketing is driving demand In reality, your offer could be the biggest driver. At Bobbie (infant formula brand), Cherene discovered: ↳ Turning off ads didn't slow demand ↳ Removing the welcome offer cut demand by more than half "The advertising wasn't driving the demand... It was the offer." 2. You force subscriptions on new customers Instead, focus on low-barrier introductory offers. Bobbie's approach: ↳ Offered a small "starter bundle" for first-time customers ↳ Didn't force subscriptions despite being subscription-focused "Every business has a different offer or introductory offer that is unique to them." 3. You prioritize business goals over customer needs Align your offers with how customers actually make purchases. Cherene's advice: ↳ Conduct customer research (surveys, focus groups) ↳ Think about your own buying behavior "You have to think about what the customer ACTUALLY wants." 4. You rely solely on discounts Consider alternative offers that don't cut into margins. Examples: ↳ Free merchandise ↳ Product samples ↳ Slow-moving inventory "Having a big discount can cut into your margins a lot more than having, say, a piece of merch." 5. You expect instant results Offer testing is a long-term strategy that requires commitment. At Bobbie: ↳ Spent 6 months on offer testing ↳ Had weekly cross-functional team meetings ↳ Tested new offers every 2-4 weeks "We made it a priority. We said we're going to make testing a priority for the business." - - - TL;DR 1. Effective offer testing can dramatically improve customer acquisition and reduce CAC. 2. Focus on customer-centric, low-barrier introductory offers. 3. Prioritize testing, involve cross-functional teams, and be patient. 4. Finding the right offer takes time. 5. Start by creating a prioritized list of offer ideas and systematically test them using the ICE framework (Impact, Confidence, Ease). Watch the full episode here:  https://lnkd.in/eXjpsYfX

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Imagine you’re meeting a VC today and pitching your company. Now, also imagine the VC goes home tonight and tells his or her spouse about the meeting with you. How do you think the VC would (or should) describe your product to the spouse? Remember, this is for someone who doesn’t have any context, and probably doesn’t have time to listen the whole story. If you can think of a story version that's plain and simple -- how you want the VC to describe your product to the spouse -- perhaps that version should be your pitch in the first place?

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⚠️ Real post warning ⚠️ Aisle is updating our pricing model *gasp* Over the next 30 days, we'll be transitioning from per signup ➡️ per redemption. Our mission, vision and values are centered around making sure every brand, pre-seed to public, win in retail. This pricing change allows to ✨ live our values ✨ 1️⃣ It aligns our pricing <> company values <> creation of brand value (we only get that bag when you get that bag) 2️⃣ We are in the early aisles of this in-store engagement space. We need our brand partners to innovate for us - testing new channels, new flows, etc. Now brands won't be penalized / charged for innovating. 3️⃣ It'll actually make your aisle flows even more cost efficient allowing a brand budget to go even further (heck - we are giving cash back to both brands and users now huh?!?!) Current brand? Your brand strategist will be reaching out over the next week to let you know! Not a brand yet? Let's chat! https://gotoaisle.com/ xoxo tiffin

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Have you noticed more public company execs going “direct” with their communications? It’s all about building trust and credibility in formats people actually care about. Shopify's President Harley Finkelstein jumped on Stakeholder Labs’ After Earnings (from Morning Brew ☕️) show to break down the SHOP earnings for investors. Harley’s approach is a great example of how executive communications and branding is evolving. He makes himself accessible through social channels, shows genuine enthusiasm, and brings his passion for Shopify to the forefront. It’s an effective way to build trust for investors and customers alike. All while seeing realtime data on engagement via social channels. Loved this conversation (linked below). If you’re curious about how modern leaders are talking to investors, give it a listen. Full episode: https://776.vc/4dEPyam

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Here’s an obvious case for Meta to consider acquiring Shopify. But first, a bit of context. Shopify’s recent quarterly report revealed the company’s outstanding success in executing its business strategy (see Rick Watson's recent post: https://lnkd.in/ew_8HXYF). By all measures, Shopify’s high valuation might not make it an easy candidate for acquisition. Additionally, the company is led by a vibrant founder and an ambitious management team focused on driving aggressive goals. Meta, on the other hand, is thriving and not necessarily in need of new revenue streams. So, why would Meta be interested in buying Shopify, or why would Shopify consider merging with Meta? The answer is simple: like in ancient Rome, the barbarians are at the gate. Their names are Pinduoduo, Shein, Temu, TikTok, and potentially others we may not yet know. For example, TikTok has rapidly evolved from a social media platform centered on short-form videos into a significant player in e-commerce. Here are key components of TikTok’s e-commerce strategy: - TikTok Shop: Launched in September 2023, TikTok Shop allows users to discover and purchase products directly within the app. It enables businesses and creators to showcase products via videos and live streams, facilitating in-app purchases without redirecting users to external sites. - Live Shopping Events: TikTok uses live streaming to host shopping events, where creators and brands present products in real-time. This approach fosters immediate user engagement and drives impulse purchases. - Creator Partnerships: Collaborating with influencers is central to TikTok's strategy. These partnerships allow authentic product promotions by leveraging creators' established trust with their audiences to boost sales. - Algorithm-Driven Product Discovery: TikTok’s powerful algorithm promotes personalized content, enhancing product discovery and ensuring relevant products reach potential customers. - Integration with E-Commerce Platforms: TikTok has partnered with platforms like Shopify, enabling merchants to sell products directly through TikTok. Bottom line, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see how Meta could combine Shopify’s technology and its base of millions of online brands with Meta’s content ecosystem and billions of social users. This integration would blend social media and e-commerce, positioning Meta as a dominant force in the emerging social-commerce landscape.

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How do you do messaging for multiple ICPs? What do you do when one of these scenarios applies? · Expanding from one ICP to two (or more) · Needing to talk to several ICPs at once · Messaging when you're a multi-product company · Writing home page copy for multiple audiences Anthony Pierri 🎸and I are gonna talk about it for 60mis, and discuss what makes sense when. We'll share our overall thinking about the matter, but will mostly focus on audience Q&A. Come join us next Wed (June 12) to discuss this topic. Bring your questions. Free event. Registration link in the comments.

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Headless is dead ☠️ At least for 99.9999% of merchants. I know this topic has been beat to death, but it’s still relevant. Especially now since we’re seeing the byproduct of many brands adopting a headless architecture over the past few years. - 60% of our pipeline are large/enterprise brands who are moving from a custom headless environment to Shopify native. - 80%+ of recent launches and current projects are large merchants who are coming from a headless custom stack. We used to put a GMV indicator to judge if headless was the right approach. But the large merchants are the ones moving towards Shopify native…. Why? - TCO and tech stack costs are dramatically lower on Shopify. - Easier content updates without needing a dev or waiting 2 hours for build time to preview. - Faster feature deployment - Leverge the app ecosystem without the need for custom integrations. - System integrations operate the same way. - Take advantage of Shopify’s product enhancements. Headless doesn’t solve complex back office needs. Yet many merchants still seem to think they do. It’s a Frontend solution for very complex content needs. Unless you’re Nike, you probably don’t need to push content to 50 different places. #ecommerce #headless #shopify

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Insane. Let’s talk about Rhode ❤️. I've never seen growth like this at this scale. ❤️ July, Rhode was #1 in skincare at $42M in US EMV. Rhode almost TRIPLED the second best brand. #2 brand = $17M EMV. ❤️ 2024, Rhode was #1 in GLOBAL skincare up 435% YoY (❗). $260M in total EMV. It is nuts 🥜. ---- Take a look at these numbers (2024 global): 📈 15.5k Creators, +188% YoY 📈 67.4k Posts, +262% 📈 176M Engagements, +462% 📈 2.8 BILLION Impressions, +356% HIGHLIGHTS ✅ FANTASTIC retention: 172% annualized retention. The same group of Influencers that talked about them last year, ~tripled their contribution this year from $67M->$181M in EMV. 35 of Rhode’s top 50 EMV-driving creators posted about the brand during the prior 12 months ✅ Rhode’s EMV breakdown during this time is evenly distributed across follower tiers: 31% by Micro, 22% Midtier, 25% Established, 22% Powerhouse **We love to see this! Brands with top-heavy EMV breakdowns don’t typically see sustained growth. ✅ ORGANIC love: Notably, only 1% of Rhode’s EMV total during this time was sponsored. It’s clear that people genuinely love this brand’s products—and love to organically post about them. --- 🔢 Top 3 Creators 2024 1️⃣ Mary Chau: $3M EMV, +59%, 123 posts 2️⃣ Caroline Granger: $1.9M EMV, +1.2k%, 148 posts 3️⃣ Matilda Djerf: $1.8M EMV, +9%, 33 posts 📸 Top Channels: 📸 Instagram: $167.6M EMV, +352% YoY 📸 TikTok: $86.4M EMV, +815%❗❗❗ 📸 YouTube: $5.1M EMV, +255% Those Tiktok numbers are insane. Both the growth and volume. --- 🏆 Notable Activation: While the brand’s Peptide Lip Treatment is a fan favorite, Rhode launched its Pocket Blush line in June, which quickly caused a frenzy online, and in the streets of NYC—where the brand hosted a “pocket-sized pop-up.” Creators and consumers rushed to get their hands on these mini blushes to do color swatches, first impressions, and wear tests. #RhodeBlush ranked among the brand’s top 10 hashtags in both June and July, driving a total $8.4M EMV across 1.7k posts from 872 creators. ---- The LA-based skincare brand founded by Hailey Bieber in 2022 is certainly on the Rhode* to world domination 😉. Nice work to everyone involved!!

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Meta's introduction of incrementality-based optimization, revealed at Performance Marketing Week in June and officially introduced last week, is strategically shrewd: - Meta has natively facilitated lift studies for years, so it knows that its platform is incrementally accretive; - Meta is the singularly largest publisher for most eCom advertisers, and its contribution is likely being undervalued by psuedo-deterministic measurement solutions; - Meta would prefer to reduce its dependency on direct data transfer, even through server-to-server mechanisms, and it has slowly been increasing its reliance on aggregated attribution data from 3P measurement tools (see: AEM changes last year). Optimizing for incrementality will simply increase platform CPMs while shifting more budget allocation into Advantage+.

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We audit A LOT of brands Klaviyo accounts. And there's ONE mistake we see all the time: Improper Segmentation. Here’s the scoop: - Smaller lists: Often suffer from over-segmentation. - Larger lists: Tend to under-segment. And sometimes, the biggest issue? Not sending email campaigns at all. So what's the key? Find your active segments and use them as a foundation to either broaden or refine your approach. It can take time to see how your segmentation strategy is performing, so be patient and stay the course. Pay attention, send consistent email campaigns, and patterns will emerge.

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Back in 1997, The New York Times highlighted a “Roundtable in Multimedia” attended by senior media executives. They lamented that apart from a few exceptions like pornography websites and Amazon, no one had cracked the code for a viable 'interactive' media business model. Fast forward to 2024, and Fable has launched Showrunner, a revolutionary platform known as the “Netflix of AI" , which allows users to create their own TV shows with just a few prompts. 📺✨ The way we create and consume content has evolved dramatically. But what does "interactive media" really mean today? We break it down, exploring how it intersects with massive shifts in technology, culture, and new media. And how with a growing "Swipe before Type" generation, there is now an ingrained expectation of interactivity in all digital experiences. We dive into the future of interactive media and gaming and see where we're headed next! Link in comments. #InteractiveMedia #Gaming #AI #TechRevolution #ContentCreation #NewMedia

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I like the perspective on spammers not advertising. It's a unique take that sheds light on how things work. #interestinginsight In summary, if you have unique data on relevant statistics that could be potentially interesting for your target audience, you could employ the method Gael and Mark are discussing. If you currently do not have this data, you may want to consider using this method at a later time and begin collecting unique data that would be of interest.

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A lot of start-ups fail because they don’t understand product market fit. If you too are on the prenatal stage of figuring your business out, don’t miss this PMF concept. Sarah Jenkins recently interviewed Alex Burke, a product expert from Amazon, Airbnb, and Shopify, who shared insights on PMF’s three pillars: demand, satisfaction, and scalability. Many companies excel at demand and satisfaction—customers love and use their product—but struggle with scalability, ultimately leading to failure. Brands like Juicero and Fab had demand but couldn’t scale and didn’t survive. PMF evolves through four stages: → Stage 1 Your early customers are often personal connections. Red flags here include customers not missing your product if it disappeared or inconsistent core features. The focus is on truly understanding your target market. → Stage 2 At this point, the product should drive growth, not your sales team. A churn rate above 20% or stagnant growth signals trouble. → Stage 3 (solid PMF)  If you have a significant number of customers, strong net revenue retention, and low churn rates, it indicates that your growth is on track. However, if your net revenue retention declines significantly, it may suggest retention issues that could hinder your ability to scale effectively. → Stage 4  If you have a substantial customer base, a strong sales conversion rate, and your earnings exceed your expenses, you’ve likely discovered a solid product-market fit. At every stage, remember the "4P" framework: Persona, Problem, Promise, Product. The key is continuous evolution—PMF is not static, and you need to keep fine-tuning as you scale. Anything you’d add? #ProductMarketFit #StartupSuccess #BusinessGrowth

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Stop keyword-stuffing your luxury skincare listings on Amazon. I just watched a $200 serum brand kill their reputation doing this... Their original listing: "Advanced bio-peptide renewal serum with patented cellular regeneration" Their "optimized" listing: "Anti aging face serum wrinkle cream for women men fine lines dark spots" The results? ✅ More traffic ❌ Wrong customers ❌ Angry reviews ❌ Brand damage ❌ Price perception destroyed Meanwhile, La Mer barely mentions "anti-aging" in their listings. Augustinus Bader doesn't stuff their titles. Tata Harper stays true to their voice. One of my luxury clients reversed their "optimization." Results after 60 days: • 40% fewer returns • 2.3x higher repeat purchase • +127% average cart value Premium skincare brands: 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗹𝘂𝘅𝘂𝗿𝘆 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲. What's your experience with this? #luxurybeauty #skincare #beautybrands

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