Jacob Dubois

A potential partner asked me how Weedmaps was doing traffic wise today. So I decided to check on Ahrefs to see how things are directionally looking. Here is the forecast: It's not good with a high chance of just build your own dispensary website experience with an indexable menu, strong local content, quality backlinks and amazing UX to rank for Dispensary, Dispensary Near Me and Dispensary + City Name among other keywords. Own your traffic and jump off the sinking ship.

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Too many 7-9 figure DTC brands becomes victims of ‘black magic’ forecasting. Most of the time It’s at no fault of their own. Black magic forecasting is when either brand or agency are pulling numbers out of nowhere. They give out projections based on: - Complete BS - What sounds sexy to close the client - What sounds sexy to please the company That said - I’m not anti-benchmarks. It’s helpful to know them. However, when we talk about project planning outside the advertising world: In real estate In doing a home build In construction management The emphasis is on making decisions based on solid and realistic numbers. Not fake fairy tail ones that sound really awesome. If the real projections aren’t hitting certain standards: - Cost - ROI - Profitability Then the project doesn’t go through. No way. And it should be the same in advertising. If the financial benchmarks that we care about: - ROAS - CAC - Gross Margin Aren’t hitting our benchmarks, there’s no reason the project should commence.

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Check out our recent case study for a Shopify website We teamed up with Pinkergreen (who assisted w/ UX & design) Outcomes from work? Conversion rate up ⬆️ 60% Avg order value ⬆️ 7% Upsell value (within 45 days) $8100 SEO up ⬆️ Bounce rate ⬇️ Check out the full case study below with more info on process & outcomes

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I think more DTC brands should be taking notes on Death Wish Coffee. There are a few things that stand out to me (that most DTC brands aren't doing): 1. Obsession with the product and the "look." 2. A truly stacked subscription offer. 3. Site copy that makes you look twice. Here, I break down why these three tactics from Death Wish Coffee Company should be on every DTC brand's radar:

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I've talked to 100+ DTC brands about UGC campaigns and collecting the best content. Nobody debates that UGC converts like crazy. But marketers always have one question: "What's the best way to obtain usage rights?" Surprisingly, the answer isn't always cash. Let me explain. Most brands that come to Refunnel expect to pay influencers in cash or with Visa gift cards. This is method #1 for obtaining usage rights on our platform. But the best creators are also customers of the brand, leading to method #2: Store credit. From my experience, the best UGC comes from true fans of your brand. Real customers who love your product and want to talk about it, regardless of payment. For these folks, store credit is often their preferred form of pay. They can use it to buy more of their favorite products or try new ones. It's a win-win for both parties. But what if you’re working with a tight budget or want to explore other options? This brings us to method #3: Asking for free permissions. Surprisingly, ~80% of creators are willing to give brands usage rights for free. Does that mean you should always ask for free rights? No... I believe in giving back to your community and offering something in return (like store credit) to build strong relationships and keep creators coming back. But it is a lever you can pull if you have a limited budget. So there you have it, the 3 ways to obtain usage rights for UGC:  ➝ Visa gift cards  ➝ Store credit  ➝ Free permissions Drop me a follow for more tips and tricks to make the most out of your UGC campaigns.

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We’ve generated just over $6M in profits for DTC brands without "selling" in emails. You’re one hard-sell email away from losing your subscribers for good. There's a commonly accepted idea that unsubscribe rates are tied to sending frequency when they’re more so related to the quality of your campaigns… Seriously, the worst thing you can do is send promo-after-promo-after-promo. People get tired, and the only ones who stick around are conditioned to care about the deals and not the brand. You’ve probably heard this at least once: The best salespeople don’t sell—they diagnose. They listen, they understand the needs, and then they *prescribe* the right solution. And your email strategy should be no different. - Your segments are there to diagnose—sorting your audience by behavior, preferences, and needs. The email itself is there to *prescribe* the right next step, not to hit them with another sales pitch. - The emails that work best focus on *one concept and one focal point*. They speak to exactly what that segment needs at that moment. Whether it’s a reminder of a product benefit, a new feature that aligns with their interest, or a simple nudge to complete a purchase, each email must be precise. - Your subscribers are already (kinda) sold on your product—they’re on your list for a reason. Now, they need the right recommendation, at the right time, and the right CTA to be nudged into. The best email strategy isn’t about selling harder—it’s about understanding deeper and prescribing smarter. Emails that *don’t sell* but *guide* are the ones that convert best. We’ve seen too many brands try to sell in every email and watch performance tank. But also seen emails that diagnose through segmentation and prescribe the perfect next step to generate millions in revenue.

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How do you increase your store revenue, AOV, and CR quickly? Find an offer that works. And don't stop testing new ones. Offer testing is an underrated DTC strategy. Most brands stuck with the same offer month after month, year after year. Same Black Friday deals, same Welcome offer, same Cart abandonment offer. Nor there's any logic to the process. Most copy their competition. Or reverse engineer their margin. With Q3 starting, you need to start testing offers for Q4. Without a tested offer, you are leaving a lot to chance. Here's how we offer testing - --> Create 4-5 unique offers - Percentage discounts: 10%, 20%, etc. - Dollar amount discounts: $5 off, $10 off - Tiered Offers: $10 Off $100, $15 Off 150, etc. - Value-added offers: Buy one, get one free; free gift with purchase - Shipping offers: Free shipping, discounted expedited shipping - Loyalty offers: Points, VIP early access to new products Create at least 4-5 offers to start with. --> Run email campaigns or on-site pop-ups to test offers You need quick data to test offers, so it's best to run it as a campaign or on-site pop-up. The goal is to collect data over 3-4 days for each offer. Run small targeted campaigns to test different offers. --> Monitor key metrics An offer will have an impact over - Direct metrics -  - Conversion rate - Average order value Indirect metrics -  - Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC) - Store Revenue - Customer lifetime value Focus on direct metrics for testing the metrics. --> Dump non-performing one. For every good offer, you will have 2 bad offers. Keep on separating good from bad. Don't run bad offers again. Instead, try to find variations of good offers. The goal is to get 3-4 good offers, which you can rotate all through the year. Don't wait till Q4 to test your offer. #dtc #ecommerce

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Stop pretending to know why companies fail. Here’s the truth about those opinion pieces you read: I’ve seen well-known e-commerce writers, executives, and VPs explain why something is happening at another company. They say things like: - X company stalled because they focused on D2C and resisted omnichannel. - Y company lost 20% of their business because they chose digital marketing over direct mail. Then, they suggest avoiding these pitfalls by following their playbook. The reality is they have no idea. They don’t know the whole story, the data, the key decisions, or the financials. Even when they use popular data sources, that third-party data could be wrong. In my experience, it’s often more wrong than right. It’s not even accurate on a directional basis. To examine anything, you need context. If you’re acting like a journalist, research and find enough context to validate your assertion properly. One data point is just one data point. Stop making assertions from a single data point, especially when it’s not your own!

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[Case Study]: How We Helped a 7-Figure Brand Increase ROAS by 40% in 3 Months 📈 Real results speak louder than promises. Here’s a story from one of our 7-figure clients: This Shopify brand came to us with a problem – They were spending heavily on ads but barely breaking even on their ROAS. We did a deep dive into their account and quickly identified key issues: Their ad targeting was too limited, they were limiting the mass market appeal of their products. Their creatives hadn’t been refreshed in months, leading to ad fatigue. Their funnel was leaky, with high cart abandonment and low email engagement. So what did we do? First, we revamped their audience segmentation, focusing on stacked lookalike audiences and broad age groups based on high-value customers. Then, we tested a range of new ad creatives and formats, using data to drive decisions. Finally, we implemented new abandoned cart flows that returned cart abandoners to complete their purchases. The result? Within just 3 months, we improved their ROAS by 40%. This allowed them to reinvest and scale even further. If you’re a Shopify brand struggling with your ROAS, it might be time for a fresh approach. Drop a comment or DM me to chat about how we can help your brand scale with profitable ads. #casestudy #shopify #facebookads #googleads #ecommercegrowth #ROAS

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Ecom stores that scale past 6-7 fig days aren't built on ONE big decision or "magic secret" They’re the by-product of 1000+ micro-optimizations across the entire customer journey that compound into exponential growth Here’s 7 that’ll deliver the biggest and fastest impact: #1 Customers asking, "Is this legit?" will kill your ROAS and CPA faster than any bad creative. You need to maximise social proof at every touchpoint: → Build Testimonial Library → Inject Testimonials into your ads, landing pages, PDP, emails, EVERYWHERE #2 Enhance Positioning by Nailing the 4 Pillars of Your Acquisition Product → Authority Figures: Trust drives action → UMP: Justifies why nothing else works → UMS: Positions your solution as inevitable → UM: Creates differentiation and intrigue #3 Most visitors never scroll and thus only see the top of your page and your product images. Optimise your product image carousel with these images for increased conversions: → Benefits → Social proof → Before & After → How to use → What's inside → Features #4 Most brands have typical “30 day money back guarantee”. Make your guarantee 10x better in 2 simple steps: → Transform standard guarantee into “See noticeable results in 3 days or your money back” → Remove obstacles by offering perks like free return shipping or exchanges #5 Optimise these 3 basic email flows to stop leaving money and LTV on the table: → Abandoned cart tailored to urgency → Post purchase cross-sell & upsell with discounts → 30, 60, and 90 days customer win back #6 Post purchase is your hottest moment to upsell. The extra revenue isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a growth multiplier: → One-click upsells → Personalized upsells → Thank-you page offers: Instead of a “thanks for your purchase,” pitch another irresistible offer #7 Fuel your growth with a steady stream of banger creatives + funnels If you’re running a 7-9 figure DTC brand looking to break through ad spend ceilings on Meta and scale FAST Book the call below to work with our team: https://lnkd.in/gF8dQQNi

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Pop Quiz: Which email A-B test variant drove more DTC eCommerce conversions? Hit 👍 for A - BOGO50 Hit ❤️ for B - 25% OFF There are a lot of options for what you can A-B test in your emails: → Frequency & cadence → Call to Actions (CTA) → Promotional Offers → Send Day of Week → Personalization → Segmentation → Subject Lines → Email Content → Email Layout → Send Time → Headers → Footers You should always let your data and goals drive that prioritization but I think offer testing is something that tends to not get tested enough. In some cases, is discounting even helping or hurting your brand in the long run? There's only one way to find out. Test it. So let me know with your vote and comments. Who do you think was the winner of this test?

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I have audited 5 multiple 8 & 9 figure DTC brands in the past month and this is the most common problem I’ve found hands down. Lack of understanding of the core KPIs that will actually drive their growth. There are still so many brands that blindly follow ROAS as a primary KPI and expect growth. The worst part is when I ask them how they set their target ROAS and they can’t even give me a straight answer. ROAS simply put is only the short term impact of your advertising dollars on consumers who are currently in-market to buy. If you want to focus on growth you need to identify valuable cohorts of customers with the highest raw 60 or 90 day total contribution margin. Depending on the purchasing frequency then you might need to look at a longer period of time. I would also recommend adding in a small buffer on this number to account for variance. If you don’t know what contribution margin is it’s just your LTV with all COGs and variable costs deducted. These are the customers that will produce the most profitable cash flow for your business. Why is this KPI so important? It allows you to look beyond ROAS and understand the true value of your customers so that you can make more strategic decisions in order to acquire & retain them. ROAS only tells you the value of a transaction and the impact of your ad dollars on immediate cash flow. This is a flawed way to look at your numbers if you’re trying to grow. Don’t be this type of brand.

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2 days ago, I showed a guy Particl. This guy is head of growth for a pretty sizeable DTC brand, and they're gearing up for the usual BFCM chaos: • Throw a sale • Send 7 emails • Hope for the best I asked him if they had a real strategy, and he gave me that look. You know the one: “We're just here with the discounts...” So I pulled up Particl and showed him – no 'similar' website traffic fluff, just actual sales numbers from brands like his. I then showed him their 2024 BFCM Report, and he darn near lost his head. • “This is real-time data?” • "We can see our competitors' sales volume and best-selling colors?" Yep. Welcome to 2024. This Black Friday is still projected to be bigger than ever. And the brands poised to crush it? They’re using Particl: • Skims • Hexclad • Chubbies • Gymshark • Fashion Nova (Should I keep going?) No guessing. No “fingers crossed” marketing. Just data-driven facts. If you’re serious about making this BFCM your best one yet, stop throwing darts in the dark and get the report. (Link in first comment) Get it. Use it. Win Black Friday. Full disclosure: Yes, this post is sponsored by Particl. But after a few weeks of using their platform, I'd have no problem telling you if it didn’t live up to the hype. Spoiler: It does.

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Why scaling Google Ads without knowing your contribution margin is a recipe for disaster. We helped an outdoor furniture brand go from overspending to optimizing by forecasting based on their real contribution margin. Here’s how we saved them tens of thousands.👇 Most DTC brands look at their total revenue, but here’s the thing… Revenue doesn’t equal profit. To scale profitably, you need to know your contribution margin – how much money is left after covering variable costs like production, shipping, ad spend, your agency fees, and CC fees. Here’s how you forecast Google Ads spend using contribution margin: Calculate Contribution Margin (CM): Revenue – Variable Costs = Contribution Margin. Example: If you sell a product for $97.99 and your variable costs are $52.00, your CM is $46. Determine Your Ad Budget Based on CM: Once you know your CM, you can calculate how much you’re willing to spend to acquire a customer and remain profitable. Optimize Ad Spend: Track how well your campaigns are performing against these margins. If you’re overspending on CPAs, it’s time to adjust bids or pause underperforming ads. Build your ad strategy around contribution margin, not just total revenue or ROAS. It’s the only way to grow while staying profitable. Need help building a forecasting model? I’ve done this for dozens of DTC brands. Let’s connect and chat about scaling profitably.

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Snag grew their DTC from $0 - Over $30m+ in 3 years. Here’s how they did it: ➤ Problem-Focused Conception While out shopping, Brie realized her tights were slipping down. Growing frustrated, she asked some friends of hers if they experienced something similar. Turns out every single one of her friends had the same issue. This was natural fuel for her to look into things further. ➤ Data = Unfair Advantage Brie didn't have a background in marketing. Instead, her data-oriented mind gave her an advantage by looking at things a little differently. She ran a Google Survey of 3000 women to find out who else struggled to find a pair of tights that fit. The answer? 90% of 3000 people. Bingo. Opportunity validated. The data also showed how: → The market was commoditized → Men made most of the product purchases (Crazy right?) → Most women accepted poor fitting tights as the norm This inspired her to really look into solving this problem, and her search for suppliers began. ➤ Knew the numbers Before launch, Brie’s focus to really get a grip on her numbers really paid off. Since the sales were through DTC, she knew she needed: → 25% of revenue back into marketing → First-order profit → Small seed round to fund initial stock order Armed with the validation from the survey and some strong number-crunching, Snag launched. They cleared £300k/mo in under a year. The emphasis of being profitable from the first order was key to allow her to scale forward and further invest in marketing. ➤ Applied Zero-Party Data & Customer Service This is where Brie’s data-oriented approach really shone a light on how Snag scaled rapidly. The pandemic caused havoc for many brands, including Snag. Over 60% of the business disappeared overnight, and they went into negative. They had Facebook debt that had to be paid. Fast. Or Snag would die. That’s when Brie turned to her customers for answers. Her customers suggested a brilliant offer: 2 tights for the price of one, but the second pair gets sent in 6 months. The offer worked - Snag survived. And eventually thrived. This was a genius idea to help relate to her customers. ➤  Applied the ‘3-Piece’ DTC Law Finally, Brie understood the fundamental law of DTC. → Commitment to customer service → Great product experience → Solve a big problem Since all 3 were checked, the rest was down to semantics, unit economics, and following marketing fundamentals. ➤  Final Thoughts As a data analyst, Brie’s final words of advice were super impactful and really hit home. Yes, data is important, but it’s even more important that each data point is an actual human being, not just a number on a spreadsheet. Combining the importance of data with the understanding that each data point is a human is a brilliant formula for growth. What else would you add?

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I’ve used UGC to build multiple 7-figure brands. But… 1. There’s no one formula that works for every brand. It depends on the product, the niche, and more. 2. The only way to figure out what works for your brand is to try a ton of stuff, cut out the 95% that doesn’t work, and iterate on the 5% that does. Keep your quality high, but get your volume up. Then keep going until the results start pouring in. That’s the only way to win. P.S. My UGC marketplace helps you find proven creators and get persuasive content made for affordable prices. Hit the “visit my website” button to check it out.

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💰 Hey DTC founders—want to 3X your revenue from email campaigns? Here’s a 7-point checklist to drive in more revenue for your brand (and keep reading for a bonus tip). 🎯 - Deliverability First things first - make sure your emails land in the primary inbox, not spam or promotions. If customers don’t see your emails, they can’t buy! 🎯 - Consistency Train your audience to expect your messages and recognize your brand to build trust. Send at least 1 email weekly and on time. 🎯 - Frequency More emails = more revenue. So if you’re seeing good engagement, try sending 2 emails weekly. Just make sure you provide real value! 🎯 - Content Speaking of value, focus on nurturing your audience with helpful, engaging content. In most cases, we at Email Composed aim for 70% nurture and 30% sales-focused emails. 🎯 - Timing Send emails when subscribers are most likely to open them. Klaviyo’s Smart Send Time is awesome for this! 🎯- Copywriting When it comes to copy, short and sweet is the name of the game. Your audience prefers concise, engaging content—especially on mobile. And for the bonus tip, segment your audience, always! Segmentation is important for so many reasons, including targeting specific customer interests... Because let’s face it, generic emails resonate with no one. And lastly, always review your past campaigns, learn what worked, and do more of it. Ready to transform your email strategy and boost revenue? DM me to see how my team can help! Here's a look at the results we got when implementing these tips on a new client. 👇

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There isn't a "Select Quantity" dropdown to be found. I missed yesterday's post, but week I'm doing a daily tip to highlight what the top 10 highest-performing DTC brands on Buyist are doing. These are the brands with the highest volume of orders from June 1 through July 15 on Buyist. Today: none of these 10 brands show a product with a "Select Quantity" dropdown, hoping that alone will result in a higher AOV. Yet 9/10 still offer the visitor a choice. For example: "Buy 1" or "Buy 2 Get 1 Free" selection boxes "Buy 1", "Buy 5", "Buy 10" (each with increasing discounts, each a separate button) "Buy 1" or "Buy 1 Get 1 50% Off" selection boxes These DTC brands average 10.6% conversion rates and ALL have used our A/B testing features. I don't think it's a coincidence they ALL offer a choice beyond a Select Quantity dropdown box.

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