🤓 Mandy Thompson 🏳️‍🌈

Prospecting is hard. True for B2B, true for DTC. Follow a sales rep's day from start to end. It's bloody hard work. They've got to cold call, grab attention, follow up incessantly, gain trust, and build relationship with strangers That's just so they 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵. Conversion comes later. Sales takes money, people, and 𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲. But when it comes to DTC advertisers, 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘄 and 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗿𝘂𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵. Almost every ad account I audit, I see the same thing. A retargeting campaign that's never been turned off and a bunch of prospecting campaigns that could never scale. DTC marketers run ads with the patience of a day-trader. And 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 available every day. That's because ad algorithms are great at sniping when it comes to retargeting your engaged users, but 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲-𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲. 𝗕𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘀, and treat your ads like a sales pitch. A good ad campaign grabs attention, piques curiosity, 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 to elicit a direct response.

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PSA: Turn off your standard welcome offer popups during BFCM. No one wants to sign up for email to get an offer lower than what you already have on the site. Conversion rate *should* be higher during this time. Worry about getting the sale (and their marketing opt-in) at checkout. BONUS: If you’re a Klaviyo user, you can now schedule sign up forms to turn on/off on the days and times you want ✅

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If you've been told, "You can't get better than 1:1 ROAS in Meta," you're being lied to. Here's the mistake we see too many DTC brands (or agencies working with brands) make: ➝ Running highest volume awareness campaigns to boost metrics ➝ Not getting efficient conversions and direct business impact ➝ Blaming the "algorithm" and not running enough creative We refuse to make that mistake — you need a fundamentally different process for fundamentally different results. Here's how we operate at Kynship: 1. Using financial forecasting to set benchmarks If you don't know first order profitability (based on unit economics), how can you expect to run profitable ads? This is where most agencies mess up, not digging into your numbers and creating an accurate forecast based on profitable CPA targets. 2. Collect and source as much creative as possible Anything you have in Google Drives, Dropbox folders, ad accounts, etc. is creative leverage. In most cases, we also supplement existing creative with influencer seeding to generate a large volume of native, organic content to be leveraged in ads. 3. Leverage high volume against cost controls Remember our forecasting and profitable CPA targets? We're setting those as benchmarks in your Meta ads, then pushing as much creative as we can to unlock potential winners. By using cost controls, anything Meta spends against will be profitable, meeting your target ROAS (whether it's 1:1, 2:1, 3:1, etc.). Any questions about our performance marketing approach? Let me know 🤝 

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💼 Client Hunting with Yelp: A Hidden Gem for Freelancers and Agencies! Are you struggling to find quality clients for your services? Here's a pro tip: Yelp isn’t just for foodies—it’s a goldmine for business connections! 🚀 Here’s how you can use Yelp.com to grow your client base: 1️⃣ Niche Down: Yelp has detailed categories for local businesses. Search for small to medium-sized businesses in your niche (e.g., beauty salons, law firms, or pet shops). 2️⃣ Spot the Gaps: Look for businesses with incomplete profiles, low reviews, or outdated details. These businesses are often in dire need of SEO, marketing, or content writing services. 3️⃣ Make Contact: Approach them professionally! Send an email or message with a personalized pitch. Highlight how you can help improve their online presence and attract more customers. 4️⃣ Leverage Reviews: Analyze their Yelp reviews to identify their pain points (e.g., customer complaints about service or visibility) and use that in your pitch. Why Yelp Works: It gives you access to real, local businesses actively looking to improve their performance. It’s direct, efficient, and personalized! 📌 Your move: Start exploring Yelp today and connect with businesses in need of your expertise. 💬 What’s your go-to platform for client hunting? Share your insights below! 👇 #ClientHunting #YelpTips #Freelancers #SEOServices #DigitalMarketing #RemoteJobs #FreelancingTips #BusinessGrowth #Remote #WorkFromHome #DigitalMarketingTips #LocalSEO #Networking #MarketingStrategy #OnlineMarketing #FreelancerLife #B2BMarketing #YelpMarketing #SEOExpert #ClientAcquisition #SocialMediaMarketing #SmallBusinessMarketing #LeadGeneration

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Most DTC businesses think conversion is the biggest problem. Spoiler alert: It’s not. The real battle lies in retention—and here’s the kicker: it’s entirely fixable with a simple welcome email sequence. Good old email marketing does more than just fill inboxes. It nurtures leads, builds trust, and turns one-time buyers into loyal, repeat customers. Here’s how it works: 1️⃣ For those who haven’t bought yet, emails warm them up, prepping them for higher-ticket offers. 2️⃣ For those who already have, emails upsell and cross-sell, boosting your Average Order Value (AOV). This is especially powerful for e-commerce brands where retention is the name of the game. So, the question is: are you still leaving your customer relationships (and revenue) to chance? Or is it time to let email marketing do the heavy lifting? Retention isn’t rocket science—it’s strategic communication. Let your emails do the talking.

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CRO tip of the day. It is fine to use drag and drop editors to prototype and get things out fast. But once you find something that works, build it natively. You will likely gain a slight lift in conversion rate due to page speed load time--and being able to attain pixel perfect design (vs. clunky looking). #cro #ecommerce #conversionrateoptimization

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Industry thought leader David Angotti once mentioned it’s hard for some comp to know if they are choosing the right SEO agency because they don’t know what to ask them or how to properly audit their performance ( hope I didn’t butcher that too badly). While social media and WordPress and HubSpot have made marketing tools incredibly accessible to businesses, it’s not obvious how to use them to reach goals or trust agency partners to do it for you. This is why, since 2011, when I helped launch a marketing software suite, I have always made education a part of my services and communication with clients. Teaching builds trust and transparency. It also helps me use one of my gifts without having to be in a classroom because I actually don’t like kids. 😂 If there is a marketing / branding / strategy topic you’d like me to do a whiteboard video on, please let me know! I’ll post it to VendorVibes ! 🙌

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Most DTC brands will: - Send generic emails - Ignore customer behavior - Miss out on personalization - Lose engagement - See declining sales Most DTC brands will not adapt. They will stay outdated. So many brands are missing opportunities. They feel STUCK. → My message to you: Please STOP ignoring personalization. Email marketing is evolving. There’s never been a better time to personalize YOUR emails. Here's how: - Set up behavior-triggered automations  → follow up based on actions - Build detailed customer personas  → segment your audience effectively - Use dynamic content  → personalize emails to each recipient - Optimize content and timing  → send relevant, localized messages - Add interactive and personalized imagery  → connect emotionally - Communicate directly from real people  → humanize your brand - Collect and use customer data  → create highly tailored content Personalization is your key to success. Don't just send generic emails. → Make your emails matter. → Make your customers feel special. Personalization is the BEST strategy you can adopt. It will boost engagement and drive sales. → Start personalizing your emails today.

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We cut 29/30 days from our onboarding process…kind of by accident. Any DTC brand will benefit, but health brands most of all. For the first 7 years, we did the standard “Free Account Audit” that every PPC/SEO agency relies on. Here’s why: - It takes an entry-level employee a few minutes to find a handful of problems. - Then a partner hops on a Zoom call, and says something like, “It looks like the last person in this account wasn’t setting you up for success.” - The brand owners tell themselves, “We trust this guy. As long as he’s on our account, we’re set.” - So they sign — and get handed to an account manager. These are great for marketing agencies… But not so much for the brands. Audits don’t give you a timeline or any real expectations. And the truth is… It only takes 5-10 hours to solve the issues we find in an audit. All the strategy work (including competitor and customer research) happens during the 30-day “Onboarding and Discovery” phase. ____ So a few months ago, we stopped “Free Audits” and started doing “90-Day Marketing Plans” instead. It’s a little risky because we’re paying the Account Manager to build the strategy before the brand commits. But the brands love it because they know: - Exactly what we’re going to do for them - Who’s actually working on the account - And how long it’s all going to take So our signup rate has more than doubled. ____ This all happened a few months ago. (When we decided to focus on health brands.) And that’s why 29 days disappeared. - We already have health, wellness, and fitness clients. And our team is 100% health, wellness, and fitness customers. So we already know the competitors. We are the customer research. - And now the 90-day strategy is set before we start. We spend day 1 fixing the technical issues. And then we’re off and running on day 2. It was an unexpected win for all involved. And a great confirmation that we made the right call on our focus and our strategy.

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Below, Patrick Spychalski at The Kiln - a Clay Agency discussed different intent data tools on the market including Common Room, RB2B, and Clay - and he showed how to use it. But... Not once did he mention to go beyond the intent data and gather account insights to get the account story. The approach below will have sales and marketing teams reacting to the data in he same way! it's going to lead to an even greater ignore era. As Mark Kosoglow mentioned on his Operator website: Everyone has access to the same data, the same signals, the same vendors and is using the same products to automate the same playbooks. Millions of sales reps just got notified about that new VP of Sales or new round of  funding, and they all sent the same automated, AI-generated email. #Intent data is no longer a competitive advantage and in many cases, it's a disadvantage. It's stopping #GTM teams from making meaningful connections with buyers.

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Helping a hair/scalp wellness brand run influencer outbound to get affiliates to sign up for IG and TTS..... that reply rate is crazy! I outlined the whole entire process, including tools, tech, and strategy in the comments. You probably want to see this if you're a DTC brand owner.

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What to do when your client rebrands without testing if the new brand performs better 🤔 Google has actually done a lot of research on what affects conversion rates, and they found that the two main factors are trust and prototypicality. Trust gets shattered when something feels alien, like a sudden rebrand. And prototypicality - which is to stick to common patterns that people are used to - is often broken when a rebrand is trying to be clever and pattern-breaking and unique. So, all you need to do is highlight a clear before and after in the performance, cite Google's research about and prototypicality that I mentioned, and propose a simple A/B test.Take a small audience segment and directly test the new branding vs. the old branding. Of course, ideally you would do this before you rolled out the complete rebrand, but, such is life, sometimes you don't have the luxury to do that. Anyway, once you have your data, head over to your client and tell them something along the lines of: - Hey Mr. Client, here's what the data is telling us - This is what your customers prefer - And what this suggests is that the rebrand might need a little tweaking - But ultimately, you're the captain of the ship, and this is your business, your decision to make, and I will support you one way or another

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User intent this, user intent that...  We talk about it, but we don't understand it.  We need to break it down! 🧠 User intent is what all SEO marketers pursue.   Why?   If you know your user's intent, you can give them what they want. (Not so surprisingly, 99% of businesses reported an increase in sales after implementing intent data. ~InboxInsight) Here's how you can simplify your user intent guesswork as a business owner. It splits into 5 categories: 📚 Informational Intent: Want to know about it.  e.g. What is fasting?  🔎 Commercial Intent: Considering a purchase or options.   e.g. What are the best fasting apps?   💰 Transactional Intent: Want to purchase.  e.g. Subscription fasting tracker app.  🌐 Navigational Intent: Want to go to a specific website/page/app.  e.g. Intermittent Fasting app  📍 Local Intent: Looking for local services.  e.g. Fasting nutritionist near me Now, how much should you invest on each of these?  It depends on what stage your company is at. 💡 e.g. A new business with zero content online, etc. should prioritize on transactional intent and get some content online to show their credibility. You need money, and fast! Then you can build on the rest. Question: Do you think it's easy for a prospect to find YOU? Cheers!✌ #business #userintent #seo #founders

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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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🚀 In just 90 days, I've driven 200,000 clicks on a single account—and I'm on track to double that in the next 90 days! 📈 Here are the results so far: 🔥 10M Impressions 🔥 1M Engagements 🔥 200K Clicks Want to know exactly how to scale Pinterest like a PRO? I'm sharing a 7-part detailed blueprint that breaks down my strategy step by step. Curious? Drop a "YES" in the comments, and I'll share the details with you directly. Ready to take your Pinterest game to the next level? Let's connect! 👇 #DigitalMarketing #PinterestStrategy #GrowthHacking #SEO #MarketingTips #ContentStrategy #SocialMediaMarketing

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The biggest mistake DTC brands make? Setting up random cross-sells just because "everyone does it." Don't guess what products work well together. Your customers are already showing you. Most brands set up random product recommendations without looking at the data. But your Shopify analytics already tell you exactly what products customers buy together. Here's what 99% of brands are missing: The Power of Natural Product Pairings Your customers are already creating perfect cross-sell combinations - you just need to pay attention. How to find these hidden opportunities: 1. Check Your Shopify Analytics - Look at "Frequently Bought Together" data - Analyze recent order patterns - Focus on your top sellers first 2. Use AI for Deeper Analysis - Export your order data - Let AI identify purchase patterns - Spot combinations you might have missed 3. Implementation Strategy - Start with your highest-volume products - Test these natural pairings as cross-sells 4. Monitor performance closely This matters because... - Lower CAC through increased AOV - Higher conversion rates on cross-sells - Better user experience with relevant recommendations The biggest mistake? Setting up random cross-sells just because "everyone does it." Let the data guide your strategy instead. What's been your experience with cross-sell optimization? Share below 👇 P.S. Remember, this isn't about adding more cross-sells. It's about adding the RIGHT ones.

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The two primary metrics to pay attention to in your online business: ☝️ Conversion rate ✌️ ROAS (return on ad spend) Conversion rate will tell you what percent of shoppers who land on your brand or product page end up purchasing, giving you an idea of how strong your product content, assets and messaging is. (Ask your retailers how it compares to the rest in your category). ROAS only reflects a segment of your marketing strategy—paid advertising. But it should also help you understand if the investments you’re making—that are dipping into your standard margin—are working for you. Don’t just participate in things a partner recommends without making sure they are working for you both. Full disclaimer: Not every retailer will give you these. But for the accounts that will share them, get them. For those you aren’t sure about, ask. Even if it’s not perfect, use what you can get as a sample of how effective your overall online business is

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With rare exceptions, small resource-constrained startups can and should do their own SEO work. SEO work done with a US-based agency that pays competitive salaries will usually cost around $10k per month, with outliers on that continuum's less and more expensive end. While a well-capitalized startup can afford $120k per year, should it spend that amount on a single channel that might not pay off soon? Many don't advise this, but I strongly believe that someone with minimal experience can do a lot of basic SEO when there is a low risk of breaking anything. Instead of bringing on SEO early on, here are the SEO decisions that founders can make comfortably without concerns about long-term harm. ✅ Domain name ✅ Basic CMS ✅ Folder structure ✅Content strategy ✅Keywords In short, if the decisions are two-way and can be reversed without painful repercussions, you skip the SEO agency. Choosing WordPress as a CMS vs. Wix might be an annoying decision to reverse, but it is reversible. Signing a five-year contract for a custom CMS is, for all intents and purposes, irreversible for a startup that thinks in months, not years. When should you hire external help? Most people can probably file their taxes, especially if they only have a W-2 job and have limited complex deductions. Hiring someone to do what they could probably do themselves becomes a luxury they can afford because their time is better spent doing something else. The same could apply to SEO. The founders or early employees could continue doing Google or Reddit searches or asking their friends for advice as they make their simple SEO decisions, but should they continue doing so? When their time is better spent doing things they have more expertise and are higher leverage for the business, they should explore having an outsider help. Yes, relying on the outsider will be more expensive, but saving money is not a business KPI but an investment in business growth. It’s not just a financial calculation, either. If you will enjoy paying someone else to do your work for you and can afford it without a second thought, do so. However, if that investment decision comes at the expense of another resource, you can’t necessarily afford it. In complex scenarios, ALWAYS seek help because the cost of it going wrong is not worth the savings. On multiple occasions, I have seen startups think they saved money upfront, only to spend a lot more to fix their mistakes. The more complex scenarios are just like filing complex taxes based on information learned from Google. That would not be a great idea unless you are a fan of costly mistakes. Much information is free, but interpreting that information for a complex scenario takes experience and a domain expert. The real challenge is knowing when to ask for help and when it’s overkill.

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Yo fam, check this out. Amazon be trippin' and bootin' accounts after just 3 months. WTH? 😱 So what the French toast is going on? 🥞 Peeps be grindin' hard to set up a solid Amazon biz. Optimizin' listings, hustlin' reviews, even payin' for PPC. Then BAM! 💥 Account gone. Just like that. Now I ain't no expert, but here's the tea. 🍵 Seems there's a few things that can get a brotha banned: - Sellin' bootleg or used stuff as new. That's a no-no accordin' to Big Jeff's rules. - Fake reviews. I know, I know. We all game the system a lil'. But sometimes those "incentivized" reviews look sus to the AI patrol. 👮‍♂️ - Straight up scams. Some lil hustlers out there takin' money and never shippin' product. Not cool playas. - Multiple accounts for the same biz. Amazon don't play that. And here's the real kicker: 🦵 When you use third-party sellers, their screw ups can get YOUR account popped. Even if you legit! So what's an entrepreneur to do in 2024? 🤷‍♂️ - Vet your suppliers extra careful before sellin' their stuff. - Follow Amazon's guidelines to a T. - Don't risk shady tactics just to rank or make a quick buck. - Diversify yo biz! Don't rely just on Big A. So listen up people. Tighten up your game. Follow the rules. And stop trying to cheat the system. You feel me? Aight, imma head out. Lates! ✌️ One love, P.S. JK it's ya sis, girl, NAJMA! Stay hustling, just keep it 💯 #AmazonSuspensions #SellerDrama #EcommerceStruggles #OnlineBizIssues #MarketplaceMayhem #SellerNightmare #DigitalHiccups #EcommerceChaos #SellerWoes

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