👋 Hello great people of the D2C Community! This is your host Berkay writing.
Today, we’re going to discover everything relevant to DTC growth in 2024!
And, there's noone better than Jake Madoff , the Head of Growth Marketing at Everytable, to help us with that! Jake's no stranger to the hustle, starting back in 2014 with Trade Made, an app that traded more than goods—it traded wisdom on the pivotal role of growth marketing in scaling a business.
Fast forward to today, and Jake's steering Everytable 's growth ship, a brand making affordable and healthy food a mission. Think grab-and-go meals that nail convenience, affordability, and healthiness. What's Jake's secret sauce, you ask? Well, we're diving into the nitty-gritty—Google tricks, social media magic, A/B testing wonders, and more . Join us as we uncover the strategies behind Everytable's rise, decoding the day-to-day marketing tactics that can fuel success in the ever-evolving landscape of 2024.
And hey, if you're looking for ways to grow your DTC business, also check out our collab growth guideline here !
📷 The ad creative for DTC First off, visual ad creatives!
A/B testing is super important Jake says conducting A/B testing is possibly the best thing you can do.
But, it’s important to remember that A/B testing is not a one-time process but an ongoing one. It requires testing different variations of the ad creative and analyzing the results to determine which one resonates better with the target audience.
Furthermore, Jake believes that A/B testing with ad creative is crucial because it helps businesses save money and time. By investing in this method, companies can avoid spending money on ineffective ad campaigns and focus on the ones that generate the most leads and conversions. Additionally, A/B testing can help companies to reduce the time it takes to find the most effective ad creative, which can save time and resources in the long run.
How does Everytable do it? For Everytable, Jake says they focus on two main categories of creatives to resonate with diverse audiences.
The first category features close-up macro shots of food, emphasizing the quality that Everytable offers. Jake says, these visuals effectively communicate the food's excellence, allowing users to grasp its quality visually. Accompanying these shots are headlines, overlays, and various value propositions to enhance the overall message.
One of their ads on Meta Everytable uses a second style in their ads – comparison ads. In these ads, they compare themselves to other places like Trader Joe's, Chipotle, or just regular grocery shopping. It's like they're saying, "Hey, look at us compared to these other options." The goal is to teach people why Everytable might be a better choice for them. By breaking down the reasons why they're a good pick, these comparisons help people understand the value they offer.
Comparison ads Jake mentions that right now, they're working with content creators to make these ads. The content creators follow certain guidelines to make sure the ads fit with Everytable's style. They also use images in their ads, sticking to the same comparison idea and using close-up shots to keep everything looking consistent. It's all part of their plan to get the message across in a clear and cohesive way.
Adding price tags to your creatives Jake is talking about how Everytable does something different and effective in their ads. Usually, companies wait until after you click on an ad to tell you the price, but Everytable does the opposite.
They actually show the price in their ads, making affordability a big part of their message. Instead of keeping it a secret, they want you to know exactly how much their food costs. This isn't the usual way companies do things, but Everytable believes in being open about prices.
Do you add prie tags to your creatives? If you want to see this for yourself, Jake suggests checking out Everytable's ads on Facebook. You'll notice that they don't hide the prices – they want you to see that their food is affordable. It's all part of their commitment to being transparent and making sure people know they offer good value.
Here is their Meta Library!
🏄 The Google game Jake gives an overview of where Everytable is putting their ads online. They're on Google, YouTube, Meta (mostly Facebook), and TikTok. When it comes to the number of ads, Google is at the top, followed closely by Meta, and then TikTok.
Everytable’s Google Strategy Now, let's talk strategy. Jake highlights that Everytable is really focusing on performance marketing. That means they're putting a lot of effort into ads that directly lead to action, like clicking or buying. Specifically, they're spending a good amount on YouTube, especially with a format called Performance Max. They're also using a smart technique called retargeting on YouTube to reach people who have shown interest before.
Interestingly, Jake mentions that, right now, Everytable isn't running ads on YouTube just to create awareness or attract new customers. Instead, they're being very specific and targeted in their approach, aiming for concrete results on different platforms. It's all about getting the most out of their advertising efforts.
But one problem with Google, Jake says, with their budget distribution!
Google doesn’t distribute budget successfully! When it comes to Google, where they're focused on getting people to buy online or pick up in-store, Jake follows a unique approach. Unlike platforms like Meta (probably Facebook) where one campaign can have many different ads and budgets, Google needs a more detailed plan.
Jake explains that for each theme or topic they find through research (like different keywords), he sets up separate campaigns on Google, each with just one ad group. This meticulous structure gives them more control over how they spend their budget and lets them fine-tune how much they bid for each keyword.
Here's a pro tip from Jake: Google has an internal keyword tool that, when used with the help of a Google representative, is more powerful than external tools like SEMrush or Google Keyword Planner. It not only gives them a wide range of keywords but also uses AI to categorize them, making their keyword ideas even more detailed.
Performance Max Campaigns Apart from the campaign structure and keywords, Jake points out the success they've had with Google's Performance Max campaign type. This campaign type is great because it sticks closely to bid strategies, and Jake says it's been really effective in helping Everytable achieve its advertising goals on Google.
Demand Gen Campaigns Jake dives into Everytable's experience with Demand Gen, a new campaign type by Google. Even though it's still in beta, Everytable has given it a shot. Demand Gen covers both Discovery and YouTube, and it's Google's way of competing with paid social campaigns.
Now, here's Jake's take on it. He's a bit cautious because, in his opinion, Demand Gen might not be fully ready for efficient conversions.
“It's good at getting a lot of views, but when it comes to cost-effective conversions (meaning getting people to actually buy something), it falls a bit short.”
The new Demand Gen campaigns
He suggests that if your main goal is to get a ton of views in a big campaign, then Demand Gen might be a good fit. But if you're more concerned about getting the most bang for your buck in terms of actual purchases, Jake isn't currently recommending using Demand Gen because it's still in its early stages of development.
🎥 Social ads Another key aspect of growth for DTC businesses is social media ads. Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter offer highly targeted advertising options that can help DTC businesses reach their ideal audience.
By using data such as demographics, interests, and behaviors, businesses can create ads that speak directly to their target customers.
Check out more on data-driven personalization !
Social media ads can also be used to retarget customers who have already interacted with the brand, such as those who have visited the website or added items to their cart but did not complete a purchase.
Retargeting ads can help keep the brand top of mind and encourage customers to come back and make a purchase.
In addition to traditional social media ads, influencer marketing has become a popular strategy for DTC businesses. By partnering with influencers who have a large following and align with the brand's values, businesses can reach a wider audience and build trust with potential customers.
Everytable’s social ads game Broad and lookalike audiences on Meta They've put quite a bit of money into these campaigns, hitting a couple of hundred dollars per day.
But when Jake compares it to other channels like Search and Performance Max, he sees the Meta campaigns as not performing as well.
Now, here's the interesting part. Jake talks about a recent change in strategy on Meta that worked for Everytable.
“They found success with two types of assets: broad and stacked local.”
The stacked local approach is a bit different because it combines different audiences into one asset. Normally, people keep audiences separate based on things like customer lists or social engagement. But Everytable has found success by "stacking" these audiences, and Jake thinks it's because Meta's algorithm can look at multiple lists and figure out better targeting patterns.
Jake also stresses the importance of keeping things fresh. He says how often you change up your ads depends on your budget. If you've got a big budget, he recommends refreshing more often, maybe every few weeks. But if your budget is smaller, you might be okay with a longer creative refresh cycle, like every 3 to 4 weeks. This careful approach aligns with Everytable's advertising strategy, taking into account the specific demands and changes on the Meta platform.
How does Meta differentiate between ads? Jake delves into a recent development from Meta that caught Everytable's attention—an article discussing how Meta's auction algorithm perceives different ads. A Meta representative presented this information in a deck, shedding light on what constitutes a net new creative in the auction algorithm.
Jake highlights Meta's sophistication in recognizing similar assets.
“If, for instance, two images showcase people wearing shoes with similar crops, Meta might interpret them as the same asset.”
To overcome this, Jake recommends strategies like adding a headline overlay, changing the perspective, or altering the background setting to register as a new asset.
In response to Meta's nuanced algorithm, Everytable has implemented two key strategies.
The first involves stacking audiences, combining different lists into a single asset for improved targeting. The second strategy emphasizes the importance of high-velocity creative testing, emphasizing frequent adjustments and potentially incorporating overlays or alterations to ensure the algorithm identifies ads as distinct and new.
Lookalike audiences Jake gives us the inside scoop on Everytable's strategy for creating look-alike audiences on Facebook, and it's pretty strategic. He breaks it down into four main categories within a stacked context.
Broad 10% lookalike on visitors: This means that he targets people who have visited his website, and then creates a lookalike audience based on their interests and behavior. This allows him to reach a broader audience that is likely to be interested in his product or service. Lookalike on social media followers: This means that he targets people who are similar to his existing social media followers. By doing this, he can reach people who are more likely to engage with his content and become followers themselves. High-value customer list. This means that he targets people who have already purchased from him or have shown a high level of interest in his product or service. By targeting this audience, he can increase his chances of making repeat sales and building a loyal customer base.
Jake points out the genius of stacking these audiences. It creates a mix of social followers, general site visitors, and high-value purchasers.
This mix gives Facebook a variety of signals, helping the platform identify patterns among these different user categories. The result? Precise targeting, using pixel signals and data from social platforms to effectively reach a broader audience. It's a smart and nuanced approach to audience building on Facebook.
📱 TikTok Tiktok works better with one large interest group Jake points out key differences in targeting strategies,
“emphasizing that TikTok works better with one large interest group, unlike the layered interest options available on Meta.”
Now, here's an interesting bit. Jake mentions that while Meta might struggle with a cost cap bid strategy, TikTok shines in this department. He suggests using a cost cap on TikTok for efficient budget spending.
And pay attention to the safe zone for overlays – Jake advises adjusting it differently on TikTok compared to Meta, taking into account the platform-specific quirks in creative considerations.
When it comes to ad creative fatigue on TikTok, Jake has a neat trick up his sleeve. He recommends a staggered publishing approach. Launch multiple pieces of creative on different dates to keep a consistent flow of new content every week. This not only fights creative fatigue but also allows for ongoing optimization based on performance data.
Here's another gem: Jake shares a strategy for boosting organic TikTok posts as spark ads. Periodically boosting these organic posts can boost circulation and brand visibility, giving your growth on the platform a little push. Jake suggests gradually reducing the frequency of boosting as organic traction increases, recognizing the challenges of organic growth without influencer partnerships. Smart moves for TikTok success!
👥 Community In the current direct-to-consumer (DTC) landscape, building a community is crucial for success. With the rise of social media and e-commerce, consumers are no longer just looking for products to purchase, they are also seeking a connection with the brands they choose to support.
Building a community can take many forms, from social media groups and forums to events and collaborations with other brands. The key is to create a space where customers can connect with each other and with the brand in a meaningful way. This can involve sharing information, providing support and advice, and even co-creating products or content.
However, building a community takes time and effort. Brands need to be authentic and transparent in their interactions with customers, and they need to be willing to listen and respond to feedback. It also requires a commitment to ongoing engagement and nurturing of the community, which can be a challenge for some brands.
The community engagement at Everytable Jake told us Everytable's game plan for community engagement, with a major focus on paid acquisition as their top channel for getting users on board. Even though they acquire users through paid methods, they put a premium on keeping those users engaged, and they've got a whole content and community team to make it happen.
This team is all about staying in the loop and interacting with users in the comments on ads, and they keep the conversation going with their creator network. Jake points out that Meta likes higher quality, and the team's attention to comments and creative quality helps some ads last longer. Here's a nugget: They kick off ads as an engagement objective first, racking up likes and engagements before switching it up to a prospecting campaign.
Everytable has built a solid community of creators through an application process. They team up with skilled influencers and creators who, following general creative guidelines, play a big role in shaping the brand's content strategy. Jake gives a shoutout to these creators, recognizing how they add diversity to the brand's content.
Here's a cool tool in Everytable's arsenal: Submagic .
It's a handy tool for closed captioning in user-generated content (UGC). This AI-powered tool jazzes up closed captioning by highlighting spoken words and throwing in smart emoji associations, making the UGC look even more native and adding an extra punch to the brand's creative efforts.
🤝 The DTC retention game Acquiring new customers is an essential aspect of any business. However, just getting new customers is not enough to guarantee long-term success. Customer retention is equally important. It is the process of keeping your customers engaged and satisfied with your products or services, ensuring they return for more business.
Retaining customers is crucial because it costs much more to acquire new customers than to retain existing ones. Not only do you need to spend more resources on marketing and advertising to attract new customers, but also your existing customers are more likely to spend more money and refer their friends and family to your business.
Everytable’s approach Everytable adopts a two-pronged approach – continuous improvements to the website tool and dedicated campaigns targeting past purchasers.
First up, they're giving their website tool a facelift to enhance the user experience, with a laser focus on improving the add-to-cart conversion rate and the conversion from cart to purchase. Jake sees this as a big opportunity to optimize the top-of-funnel conversion rate.
Now, on the retention side, Everytable is running targeted campaigns aimed at past purchasers. These campaigns kick in when new meals or special offerings, like the Thanksgiving meal, are launched. The trick? By offering exclusive access to these new items, Everytable aims to keep past purchasers in the loop and interested, creating a sense of exclusivity and loyalty.
This retention strategy makes sure that existing customers feel special and get rewarded for their loyalty by being among the first to access new products. Jake points out how successful this strategy has been in keeping customers engaged and loyal to Everytable's evolving menu. It's a smart play in the game of customer retention!
✉️ Email marketing Jake sheds light on Everytable's approach to customer retention through email marketing, stressing the importance of providing valuable content rather than bombarding subscribers with promotional messages. He observes the abundance of newsletters in the digital landscape and suggests that brands can stand out and boost retention by delivering educational content in their emails.
For Everytable, this means crafting emails that dive into the philosophy of ingredients, offering informative and educational material to their subscribers. Jake emphasizes the significance of satisfying the curiosity of individuals interested in healthy food. Rather than just pushing discounts and promotions, Everytable aims to captivate its audience with emails that tell educational stories about ingredients and the brand's philosophy.
While Jake isn't directly responsible for email marketing, he mentions the presence of a dedicated retention email marketing specialist who conducts A/B testing. This testing includes playing around with subject lines to optimize open rates. While he might not have all the nitty-gritty details of A/B test results, the focus on testing and refinement aligns with Everytable's commitment to continually improving their email marketing strategies for customer retention. It's all about keeping the audience engaged and interested with meaningful content.
📚🎧 Some Resources Jake recommends some podcast and newsletters for keeping up with the industry.
D2CVille’s podcast 😅 Perpetual Traffic Ad Age
Besides those, Jake highlights that a significant source of information comes directly from representatives at Google and Meta. He emphasizes the value of presentations by these reps, often receiving advanced insights into new products before they are widely covered in articles or podcasts. This insider knowledge from platform representatives proves crucial for staying updated on the latest developments and strategies in the dynamic digital marketing landscape.
👀 The future of growth marketing Integrating AI Jake looks ahead to the future and predicts advancements in incorporating AI into the ad creation process. Right now, platforms provide AI-generated text suggestions, but Jake notes that they still have some way to go when it comes to creating image-based creative through AI. Even the AI-generated ad copy suggestions need some manual editing to truly hit the mark.
Fast forward to 2024, and Jake is hopeful about significant improvements in AI capabilities. He envisions smarter suggestions and more polished, tailor-made AI-generated ad copy. This development is pretty exciting, especially because it could significantly speed up and streamline the process of creating effective ad copy. The idea is to make AI a more powerful and intuitive tool in the ad creation toolbox.
Multitouch marketing Jake underlines the crucial role of multitouch marketing strategies for brands in today's landscape. He points out that relying solely on a single platform, a more viable strategy in 2016 or 2017, is no longer sufficient. Multitouch marketing is all about spreading your efforts across various platforms, including Meta, search engines, YouTube, and TikTok.
For larger brands, Jake recommends having a presence on the main platforms and allocating a minimum budget across search, YouTube, and TikTok. This approach not only contributes to a halo effect, where the impact of marketing extends beyond individual platforms, but also amps up overall brand awareness, potentially increasing brand-related search volume. The idea is to cast a wider net and create a more holistic presence in the diverse digital landscape.
Attribution measurement Jake highlights the critical focus on measurement attribution for brands, acknowledging progress in the field while anticipating more robust solutions for privacy and cookie challenges. He mentions Meta's upcoming click-based attribution setting, offering increased flexibility. Jake emphasizes the importance of finding suitable attribution tools, citing examples like Triple W for ecommerce and HubSpot for lead generation. In a nutshell, he underscores the lasting significance of attribution tools and the enduring role of content in marketing.
Community Building While technical aspects and strategies remain crucial, it’s for sure that community building will be a key player in the evolving business landscape. Economic challenges like inflation and increased living costs might tighten consumers' budgets, but being part of a community establishes a strong bond with a brand, making consumers more likely to remain invested and loyal.
So invest in community-building efforts, aiming to create a sense of belonging among their audience. Strategies, like newsletters and emails, discussed in this guideline, contribute to this effort by providing a platform for shared values and connections.
Personal branding Prioritize continual investment in your social media presence, trust the process, be consistent, and commit for the long-term. This involves regularly sharing content, maintaining a consistent message, and actively engaging with the audience.
Even if immediate returns may not be apparent, keep being active on social media!
Also, try to invest in your personal social media. Because associating a brand with a credible person, particularly for smaller brands, cannot be overlooked!
Ultimately, you need to combine community building, consistent social media efforts, and personal branding. Those are the future!
If you've reached to this point, well, thank you! Hope you found some nuggests of wisdom that will also be beneficial for your business!
Now, we think you should also check out newsletter and other stories where you can find more about how to grow your DTC business in 2024!
And also check Jake 's website for more of his work.
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