Eli Schwartz

Here’s the reason why you don’t want to have all your eggs in one basket when it comes to scaling your revenue to multi 6-figures with ads

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Does UGC content matter to customers? It does, here’s a stat to prove it: ~60% of consumers think UGC is the most authentic way brands can market themselves. Still, many brands struggle to harness the full potential of UGC in their marketing strategies. Too often, UGC gets lost in the vast sea of social media content. But fear not – your brand's UGC can stand out and deliver maximum ROI. How? 🤔 Here’s my 'secret sauce': 1) 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐔𝐆𝐂 🤐 As a brand, your goal must be to stay authentic always. So, hiring an actor to shoot UGC is a big NO. Be real, Be authentic 2) 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 🗣 When shooting a UGC, you shouldn’t bind your customer to a particular script (just little direction is OKI). Instead, give them the freedom to speak from their heart. When they do: — They bring real emotions  — They bring authentic views — Content feels raw and real Also, META Algo loves real UGC content and rewards them with improved KPIs (Higher CTR, Higher ER)    3) 𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐢-𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 📽 Stop making the UGC content like a movie. Let there be a simple setup. Because when you make it too professional, people somehow feel disconnected from it 4) 𝐑𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 🍭 If you’re asking for a customer to make a UGC, then they should be awarded and recognized on social media I believe UGC is a powerful tool for brands. They can leverage it and get maximum ROI. Any doubts ? Just leave a comment, I’d be happy to help. #marketing #UGC #branding

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How did we help nearly triple installs for a Shopify app client in 1 year? First you have to have the proper foundation for growth. When we started in early 23'; our focus was on brand and defining our acquisition strategy. These are time consuming processes & don't always = immediate growth. We also realized that we were missing some depth in the way of onboarding flows to help with TTV (time to value); so we got setup with ActiveCampaign & built out the API to sync with a variety of feature / time based actions that timed with emails. This is also built out by plan type (we have 3). Once we had some of these elements in place; we looked at acquisition strategies. - SEO for Shopify apps is $$ as you the app listing page is where the transactions occur; so even though driving traffic to webpage is important; conversion rate can be less than ideal; so we employed a tactic of reaching to blogs / publications that were doing lists & aggregating info on our sector; and building relationships with them to list our site via affiliate program / backlink to our app store. So instead of spending $$$ on SEO we focused on relationships & being where the searches were already occurring. - Dialing in our paid strategy. We initially started with Google, Shopify App Store, Meta, LinkedIn & Reddit for paid channels. We were spending about 45% of our budget in App Store; with rest spread b/t other channels. LinkedIn was honestly a bust; just too expensive for a <$100 a month SaaS tool & many of our ICP (ecomm biz owners) did not seem to be as active on the platform as we hoped. After spending 2 quarters analyzing CAC, CAC payback period, & trial to conversion rate; we realized that Google wasn't as attractive as a channel as it looked on paper. It also took finding a 3rd party tool App Store Analytics to help tease this out as we weren't initially able to follow source data all the way through install given Shopify App store guardrails. With Google; were getting a lot of installs / clicks; but those customers weren't sticking around & many weren't even converting to paid. So we dialed back our Google spend & reinvested that in hiring a more focused Shopify ad expert (Omer Linhard) & really focusing our efforts on that area. We were able to reduce our CPI (cost per install) by 40-50% & slowly scale spend up to closer to 75% of our ad budget. We ran cold layers on Reddit & Meta; but attribution wasn't ideal; so we paused Meta & left Reddit on as a retargeting layer. - We started a partner program. This now basically runs itself on <$250 a month. We have an outbound campaign setup, a link on our website & we have a Slack channel. We net b/t 10-15 new clients per month through this channel at essentially a $0 CAC. We pay the affiliates 20% of the contract value for 1st 12 months; & we're finding that the affiliates are sharing it amongst themselves; so we're adding b/t 5-10 new affiliates each month. Currently this is generating almost 3K in MRR.

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A healthy content engine is the lifeblood of DTC businesses. 5 years ago? Sure, you could get away without it. But today? You’ll lose without it. The content market today is highly sophisticated. The best performing content directly correlates with the quality of talent, effort behind copywriting, editing, etc. So if you want to create content that actually produces results, Then you need to be on an entirely different level with how you’re approaching content production in the first place. Let’s say that the majority of your audience are Gen Z who spend the majority of their time on IG Reels and TikTok. To market to them effectively, you need to create content that’s native to the platform. And to do THAT effectively, you need the right people behind it: - Content Creators - Video Editors - Social Media Strategists  - Copywriters - Influencer Marketers Yes, it requires a lot to be put together to create a healthy, profitable content engine. If you truly wanted, you could hire them full time - but you’re looking at costs of upwards of a half a million a year at least. But if you hire all of them on a fractional basis? We’re talking about less than $5k a month total. It's almost 2025. It's time to start investing in a content engine, and doing it the right way.

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Agencies shouldn't have advertised minimums. Yet...many do. I hear the following from agencies, often. "If they don't have $X per month, we don't want to chat with them" A better reframe is "most of our clients spend $X per month with us" The reason I think it's worth it to explore, most of the time, is because I see budgets balloon every single day. In 2024 alone, I've seen the following. - Brand came to me with a budget of $20k/mo. Ended up signing a retainer for close to $100k/mo. - Brand came to me with a budget of $7k/mo. Ended up signing a retainer for $15k/mo. - Brand came to me with a budget of $10k/mo. Ended up signing a retainer for $30k/mo. - Brand came to me with a (project) budget of $50k. Ended up with a budget of $200k. Agencies who want to grow, should explore. They have to. You'll potentially waste some time. But, you'll potentially find some great clients. When agencies tell me they have minimums, I joke, that brands don't always walk around with a sign on their forehead with their budget on it. To get to the big budgets, you have to be willing to talk about the small stuff, sometimes. If you do, and you think long term v short, over time, you'll be really really really really really glad you did.

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Great call this am with Fiverr executive team… Main Takes: 1. Lots of confidence on product roadmap to drive growth. Kickstarter and Seller Plus have seen nice uptake. Confidence to further drive SELLER SERVICE take rate (not marketplace take rate). These are seller tools. Also, Dynamic Matching, Pro Catalogs, and Hourly Jobs leading to bigger projects. 2. Ai narrative moving further into the background as they have shown their ability grow and drive margins. Outperforming staffing hiring data by nearly 25%. —-> Ai Benefit: Ai actually allowed Fiverr to move into new formats like Project Briefs and Dynamic Matching with low overhead relative to what would have been required. 3. AutoDS acquisition showing good start. 100% subscription. 4. With $600+ cash and re-affirmed their pace towards $300m FCF over next 36 months (cumulative) it is giving them lots of optionality to build and buy, while giving some back to shareholders via buybacks. 5. Stability in Sept and Oct “not a trend” but they tend to guide conservatively and guide suggests double digit growth exiting 2024. 6. LTV / CAC on new cohorts outperforming even 2021 cohorts. 7. Positioned to play offense when SMB turns positive. There’s more but that’s some…

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Shopify isn't going all in with marketing the SHOP app, instead, they're going slow and figuring out the product-market fit. They don’t need to rush because they have millions of merchants directly connected to the SHOP app through Shopify integration. It would take years for anyone else to build something similar. I think this is going to be massive in a few years. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. . . . . . #Ecommerce #Shopify #SHOPApp #D2C #DigitalMarketing #StartupFounders #ShopifyMerchants #RetailInnovation #DirectToConsumer #IndianStartups #OnlineRetail

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A very good model for impact and compensation in data jobs.

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How do you *really* know if podcast ads are bringing in net new customers? Sure, pixel attribution can capture 70% more podcast-attributed conversions.... But how many of those are truly incremental? Well, Podscale® partnered with Podscribe to find out... "For the large brands we work with, understanding the net-new impact of podcast ads has always been a challenge—especially when they’re spending big on other channels, too." - Natalie Kovac, CEO Podscale® Using Podscribe’s “always-on” incrementality testing, Podscale® was able to finally measure which podcast ad conversions were incremental. Meaning... They wouldn’t have converted without hearing the podcast ad. The Findings? INSANE!  ➡ 58% of conversions driven by podcast ads were incremental, meaning these customers were genuinely net new.  ➡ Up to 2.56x Incremental ROAS, securing over two and a half times return for every dollar spent on ads from net-new customers. ➡ Podcast ads drove a massive +$3.9 million in incremental revenue for some of the fastest-growing DTC brands. Want to see the full story? Check out the case study to learn how Podscale® and Podscribe made it happen → https://lnkd.in/g8_cp4v4 #podcastadvertising #incrementality #dtc #podscribe

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Hi LinkedIn friends, it’s Andy, author of Make Each Click Count and host of the Make Each Click Count Podcast. 📣 Google’s anti-trust lawsuits are heating up, and the outcomes could bring significant changes to digital advertising. For those of us running campaigns, it’s essential to stay ahead of the curve. In my latest video, I share insights into: ✔ The lawsuits’ focus on Google’s dominance in ad tech and search. ✔ Possible outcomes like platform separation or increased competition. ✔ Practical strategies to future-proof your advertising, like diversifying across platforms and leveraging first-party data. If Google’s ad tech evolves, so must we! Let’s adapt, prepare, and succeed in any landscape. 🎥 Watch the full video here:https://lnkd.in/gdm3V4FD 📩 Have questions about your advertising strategy? Let’s chat in the comments or connect directly. #DigitalAdvertising #EcommerceMarketing #MakeEachClickCount

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The forecasts you’re creating won’t scale your DTC brand to the new heights you think they will… Without the right actions to follow them up. Too often I see DTC brands  👉 Create forecasts of their desired future state,  👉 Distribute it across the management team,  👉 Then sit back and assume the numbers are just going to "happen."      A forecast is a planning tool that gives managers visibility into the ACTIONS their team must take to create the forecast.    Forecasts become reality in one of two ways  1️⃣ Luck - I don't recommend building a business upon this method  2️⃣ PEOPLE planning and executing activities that drive and create the numbers contained within the forecast.    DTC brand founders, my call to action for you is this -    The next time you create a forecast, sit down with your management team and make a list of the activities that PEOPLE in your company will take to CREATE the forecast in reality.    This simple framework will propel your brand's scale forward like never before. -- Did you find this post helpful? If so, consider resharing it and giving me Jon Blair a follow.

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When a DTC founder comes to me saying their ads aren’t performing, & I always see one mistake they are making. And that is - They are not going bold enough with their ad messaging. You see, there are literally 100s of brands, selling similar products, with similar offers in the market. Then how can one expect to get a good scale while keeping their overall messaging boring? I know you love your brand image and you cannot sacrifice it. But to get ahead in this fierce market, you need to go bold! By going bold, I mean to say, sell hard through your messaging. Instead of saying, “Get Healthy & Glowing Skin.” Say “Decrease dark spots and pimples in less than 14 days!” In other words, "ya to bech lo, ya to brand bana lo!" Found this useful? Share it with your fellow DTC founders!

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2 BIG Opportunities for Ecom Brands -- Have you ever strolled around a Shopify analytics page for fun? If you own your own brand, then I'm sure you have. And while you were doing that, you definitely came across 2 metrics that are absolutely crucial to your brand's success. What are they? AOV and CVR. AOV = Average order value CVR = Website conversion rate Your goal is to make both of these as high as possible. And these are big levers to pull because they are multiplicative. What I mean is that when your AOV goes up, EVERYTHING rises, your entire # of orders is multiplied by a bigger number, meaning more sales. And when your CVR increases, EVERYTHING goes up as a result, for obvious reasons. That's why they are so important. Now, beginning with AOV, what are some things you can do to boost it? Right now, we're playing around with a bunch of post purchase funnels using an app called AfterSell with one of my clients. This allows you to create one-click upsell offers as soon as someone completes their purchase. And you can form an entire post-purchase sales page around it. We're also adding a bunch of checkout and cart additions. This includes upsells/cross-sell options on the cart page... As well as different trust badges and testimonials sprinkled throughout to hopefully get people to add more items to their order. But the real sauce here is in the post purchase funnels. We're looking to take their AOV from $60 to $65-70, and if we can do that it would be a massive jump for their brand's success. Now, let's talk about CVR (your website's conversion rate.) This simply comes down to basic CRO practice, which stands for conversion rate optimization. Below I'll give you some bullet points of things you can test on your site to boost the conversion rate: - Run your site copy (all of it) through hemingwayapp(.)com and get it down to a 3rd or 4th grade reading level - Use more lifestyle photos or photos of your products being used rather than a plain product photo - Sprinkle more social proof throughout your website experience If you try any of this out, let me know. Hope you found this valuable. If you want content like this in your email inbox 5x/week for FREE, join my email list asap - adamsfreestuff.carrd.co

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I helped my DTC client save over TWO MILLION dollars in one year while keeping them on a growth trajectory. Here’s how: 1️⃣ Dug into performance data → I used this to identify and prioritize quick wins and long-term opportunities 2️⃣ Looked holistically at the customer journey → I closed a big gap in awareness and worked with the team to roll out creative and messaging that spoke to key audience segments at each step of the journey. 3️⃣ Optimized the marketing channel mix → I made strategic adjustments to channels and budget allocations to maximize every dollar spent. 4️⃣ Streamlined vendors and tools → I renegotiated contracts and brought in better-fit solutions where needed, reducing costs and increasing value. Wondering how that added up to over $2MM annually? → Reduced ad spend due to improved efficiency = $175k/month → Vendor mix and contract renegotiations = $7k/month → Make-good credit from attribution platform error = $20k → Founders sleeping at night because they knew that marketing was buttoned-up = Priceless (That’s nearly 40x ROI on my fees - 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 factoring in incremental growth.) Ready to unlock results like these? Let’s chat - DM me to start the conversation.

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So much of the marketing advice on LinkedIn is about short-term conversions. People are telling you to focus on tactics for that quick sell and "fast revenue". I don't blame you, its hard to do anything else when you have shareholders breathing down your neck for that fast revenue. But-what are you giving up in return? Recurring revenue and long-term profitability. Like Sam's experience, we find when we focus on LTV, the companies we work with become more profitable in the long term. Why? Because they offer an exceptional user experience, its less spend, and overall generates more profit. I find this to be true in both the B2B, B2C, and DTC space (yes, with over 22 years of experience, we've worked in all three spaces and yes, what works in DTC can translate to B2B when you focus on the customer experience).

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