“I would definitely recommend starting small with your product line. You can always add but you can’t always take away.” @jazyfent #DTCPOD“You don't need 30 different products. It's so much more than that. You only need a few that customers use very consistently.” @jazyfent #DTCPOD“The main thing is just listening to our customers, who already love your products and asking them what they want to see next.” @jazyfent #DTCPOD“As long as you're communicating your rebranding process, your customers are going to continue to buy from you.” @jazyfent #DTCPOD“if you are looking to rebrand or change a name, make sure that your logistics and business is still running well throughout the process.” @jazyfent #DTCPODWe Speak About:[00:50] About Jaz and Yellow Beauty[02:00] Yellow Beauty’s product line[07:50] Getting market insight[10:55] Investing in marketing for Yellow Beauty[11:55] Jaz’s experience launching her product line and initial problems[18:00] Yellow Beauty’s rebranding[21:00] Lessons learned from being a founder[23:35] Pivoting your brand[26:55] What’s next for Yellow BeautyProduct lines don’t have to be large to be successful. Jaz Fenton, CEO and co-founder of Yellow Beauty, joins the POD to talk about the curation of meaningful products and her experiences with rebranding. Yellow Beauty has been in business for almost five years with only four products, but they are strong and successful with customers. Making sure that a product would hit and resonate with customers was crucial due to Yellow Beauty’s lack of access to capital. They don’t do multiple versions of the same product with small variations because of the added saturation. Listening to customers has been important in Yellow Beauty’s success in expanding their product line and improving their existing products. Rebranding your company is not something to be afraid of.Yellow Beauty decided to rebrand to broaden its horizons beyond turmeric. One of the biggest challenges of being a founder is the drastic ups and downs while working on your company and product.There are so many people and other founders willing to help and offer advice to new businesses.It is tough and scary to change the name and messaging of your business, but communicating that process to customers is essential to rebranding successfully. Staying on top of logistics and business operations throughout the rebranding process is also essential. Stay tuned as Jaz shares her experience launching a small, but strong skincare product line based on turmeric as well as her rebranding story to expand her company’s horizons. If you’d like to learn more about Trend and our influencer marketing platform for influencers and brands visit trend.io. You can also follow us for tips on growing your following and running successful campaigns on Instagram and LinkedIn.Mentioned Links:Follow Jaz on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jazyfentYellow Beauty’s website: https://yellowbeauty.com/Yellow Beauty on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yellowbeauty

We’re changing things up this week with an introduction to the DTC POD’s new DTCers community - an invite-only community for DTC and eCommerce founders, marketers, and more.Most of the Trend team (the operators of the DTC POD) is based out of Austin. Last week’s snowstorm in Texas left most of the team without power (so no podcasts).So we figured this would be the perfect time to jump back into the podcast fresh and make two big announcements.First, our DTCers community is officially live! You can apply to join at trend.io/podcast.We’re talking marketing, product, growth, DTC news, fireside chats with founders, and more! You can even ask for help or promote your brand.That leads us to our second big announcement, a whole page dedicated to the DTC POD. Check it out at trend.io.You can listen to past episodes, apply to join our Discord community, and even apply to be a guest on the DTC POD.If you’d like to learn more about Trend and our influencer marketing platform for influencers and brands visit trend.io. You can also follow us for tips on growing your following and running successful campaigns on Instagram and LinkedIn.Mentioned Links:Apply to join the DTCers community: https://airtable.com/shrH1QfmUSvjEFYHRDTC POD on Trend.io: https://trend.io/podcast

“Design is so core to telling your story, and that's really what building a great brand is all about.” @LukasThoms #DTCPOD“There's no longer going to be a single channel business. Everyone is multi-channel, everything is multi-channel, and increasingly everything is more experimental.” @LukasThoms #DTCPOD“As it becomes easier and easier to create products or offer classes or sell content, the relationship that you build with your customer is going to be the biggest key.” @LukasThoms #DTCPOD“If you can tell a great story through a website, Tiktok, or an Instagram post, you're going to get someone's attention.” @LukasThoms #DTCPOD“The more ways that you leverage your brand, the stronger your relationships are and the depth of the relationships that you build.” @LukasThoms #DTCPODWe Speak About:[01:10] About Lukas and Squarespace[03:45] Squarespace’s emphasis on design for brand building[06:25] Breaking down the pandemic’s impact on eCommerce for today and tomorrow[11:55] Squarespace’s role in empowering SMBs[14:35] The importance of storytelling in business[15:45] Utilizing new platforms to help monetize your audience[17:20] Lukas’ view on the future of commerce[21:35] What the best entrepreneurs do to grow[23:35] Three non-negotiables for eCommerceTelling a story is core to creating a brand and developing strong relationships with consumers. Lukas Thoms, a Group Product Manager at Squarespace, joins the POD to talk about the importance of design in eCommerce and how Squarespace helps enable and empower that. Lukas has been in eCommerce for almost a decade, now focusing on building tools for small businesses for selling online. Design is at the center of everything Squarespace does and it's their biggest differentiator. Design is core to storytelling. For eCommerce, telling the story of your business and product is the most important thing you can do.With the pandemic, eCommerce has grown tremendously. This has forced businesses to experiment with different channels of selling.  Creating a strong customer relationship is important to building a strong brand. Small businesses that create relationships with their customers can use those relationships to fuel multi-modal growth.Where does Squarespace come in?Well they help brands showcase their strong, compelling story and unique product to customers. Once you’ve created your audience, you can also work to sell on other channels. This is a great way to create multi-channel growth.The more ways you can leverage your brand, the stronger relationships you can build with customers.Stay tuned as Lukas shares how to tell your brand story better, how to leverage your customer’s attention, and the future of eCommerce in response to the pandemic and social media. If you’d like to learn more about Trend and our influencer marketing platform for influencers and brands visit trend.io. You can also follow us for tips on growing your following and running successful campaigns on Instagram and LinkedIn.Mentioned Links:Squarespace’s website: https://www.squarespace.com/Squarespace on Twitter: https://twitter.com/squarespaceSquarespace on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/squarespace/Follow Lukas on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lukasthoms  

This isn’t your ordinary chicken nuggetWe’re covering one of the hottest brands in DTC - NUGGS, a plant-based chicken brand. NUGGS was founded by Ben Pasternak, who started as a young, but successful iPhone app creator before starting NUGGS. NUGGS is targeting millennials and Gen Z people, using irreverent, witty, unapologetically tech-forward branding. NUGGS are continuously being updated, like software, by food scientists and engineers. NUGGS uniquely describe themselves as the “Tesla of Chicken,” creating a brand identity that has never been seen before. Their website furthers this unique identity, having only 3 options of nuggets to purchase: $34.99, $44.99, and $10,000. NUGGS also has a beta testing, monthly subscription-based system, offering more unique ways to purchase their product. Be like NUGGS - focus on creating strong messaging towards your specific target marketNUGGS tries to treat their customers as actual people, rather than data points. They understand their specific market is trendy vegans/vegetarians and rich suburban moms and focuses on them.They definitely don’t market towards everyone and it helps create strong brand loyalty.NUGGS is big on multiple social media platforms which helps them spread their message to their specific target.Stay tuned as Jay breaks down NUGGS’ positioning, go to market strategy, unique audience approach.If you’d like to learn more about Trend and our influencer marketing platform for influencers and brands visit trend.io. You can also follow us for tips on growing your following and running successful campaigns on Instagram and LinkedIn.Mentioned Links:NUGGS website: https://eatnuggs.com/Simulate website: https://simulate.com/NUGGS on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nuggs/Medium Article: https://medium.com/the-anatomy-of-marketing/what-a-vegan-chicken-nugget-brand-can-teach-marketers-e75aa72d226Marketing Teardown Powerpoint: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1JK8dJQ4bz-X4WjLZ5o2vTG7hFUrSO_UlCitMbgg0txs/edit#slide=id.g8d807f2199_0_437GFI Article: https://www.gfi.org/wenger-manufacturing-brian-plattnerGravity Junction Article: https://gravityjunction.com/marketing-golden-nuggets/

“My aha moment was when there was a middleman who was not really providing value. So we thought if we could find a way to go directly to the consumer, then we have a business.” @OscarAdelman #DTCPOD“I think we have the idea that if we're doing well now, we're really going to be able to crush it on the other side of this.” @OscarAdelman #DTCPOD“What sets you apart is the relationship that you build with the customer. And while we can't have the customer here in our office like the dentist does, we have to still find a way to build a relationship with them.” @OscarAdelman #DTCPODThat type of attention and type of care, it costs more, but the return on investment is high. ” @OscarAdelman #DTCPOD“One of my classes at NYU really focused on making us talk to customers. In that class, we had to go out and talk to strangers in Washington Sqaure Park to collect feedback. It wasn’t easy but it trained me well.” @OscarAdelman #DTCPODWe Speak About:[00:47] About Oscar and what led to starting Remi[03:35] Introduction to Remi Nightguard [05:23] Oscar’s launch strategy during pandemic[08:19] Validating your product and getting it to customers[10:49] How Oscar settled on the pricing structure for product[13:54] Remi’s messaging vs drugstores[17:19] Oscar’s outlook on customer experience[19:25] Creating value with subscription service pricing[26:18] Oscar’s use of testing to improve the business[27:50] Oscar’s strategy in scaling the business to create high retention[31:01] What’s next for RemiTo launch a brand in the middle of a pandemic, you have to execute strongly. Oscar Adelman, Founder and CEO of Remi, joins the POD to talk about how he successfully launched a business during the pandemic, focusing on customer experience. Oscar started Remi, a custom night guard, after being a teeth grinder for years, spending thousands of dollars on night guards from dentists. He wanted to find a middle ground between the expensive night guards from the dentist and cheap drug store alternatives. Just when he was ready to launch everything, the pandemic happened.Oscar actually sees launching during the pandemic with a positive spin. He says that successfully launching during the pandemic means that they should be able to succeed outside of it. Part of that success is driven by making a strong effort to get outside and talk to customers. Creating a strong customer experience and relationship is important to building a strong brand. Building the best customer experience was an important task for Oscar and his business. Having the right message to position your product against competitors is an important part of building a successful brand. Establishing a strong relationship with the customer creates a strong return on investment through their loyalty. Stay tuned as Oscar shares how important it is to develop relationships, how to create repeat customers, and how to successfully grow your business (even in a pandemic). If you’d like to learn more about Trend and our influencer marketing platform for influencers and brands visit trend.io. You can also follow us for tips on growing your following and running successful campaigns on Instagram and LinkedIn.Mentioned Links:Remi’s website: https://shopremi.com/Oscar’s website: http://www.oscaradelman.com/Follow Oscar on Twitter: https://twitter.com/oscaradelmanRemi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Remi_TribeRemi on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/RemiTribe/

“Paid advertising should be complementary to organic efforts instead of being the main driver.” @jadesai94 #DTCPOD“If you’re able to acquire customers for  50% less, you can put that money back into your brand to grow your product line, do more research, or use it to support your community.” @jadesai94 #DTCPOD“You should work on decreasing customer acquisition cost and increasing AOV.” @ramongberrios #DTCPOD“Feedback that you get for your product is so critical that if you're acquiring customers that aren’t going to use your product, you could be harming future growth” @ramongberrios #DTCPOD“Great storytelling can lead to recommendations even from people who aren’t users of your product.” @jadesai94 #DTCPODWe Speak About:[01:00] The switch from paid acquisition to organic[01:35] How creators are building brands with their audiences[02:35] Who is performance marketing for?[03:15] Thinking about CAC differently[04:05] What can do you outside of dropping CAC to maximize organic growth[05:10] Understanding your acquisition[06:05] How organic growth fuels AOV[06:30] How to acquire customers organically[08:00] Building in public and its relation to organic growth[09:35] Effective storytelling and audience growth[12:05] Tips for finding more of your audience[13:00] Building your audience in the best way for your brand and yourselfOrganic acquisition is the best way to create sustainable growthJay and Ramon discuss organic acquisition on this episode of the DTC POD.Traditionally, brands have used paid marketing (or performance marketing) to acquire customers. With performance marketing, the brand’s goal is to acquire as many customers as possible at the lowest cost possible.Now we’re starting to see brands shift to creating their own tribe and working harder to create organic growth.Organic growth has great benefits for eCommerce brands. Organic customers generally have higher AOV over time, are more likely to repurchase, and are more likely to refer your brand.To build an organic channel for growth, you’re going to have to be an effective storyteller and work on building your brand.Stay tuned as we discuss strategies to acquire customers organically, how to think about customer acquisition, and how to tell an effective storyIf you’d like to learn more about Trend and our influencer marketing platform for influencers and brands visit trend.io. You can also follow us for tips on growing your following and running successful campaigns on Instagram and LinkedIn.Mentioned Links:Zillion Beers podcast: https://trend.io/blog/podcast-zillion-beers-mike-bloomberg

“When I think about go-to-market strategy, there are two ways of doing it. Top-down where you get as many eyeballs on your brand as possible or bottoms up where you try to turn early adopters into loyalists.” @AmandaMGoetz #DTCPOD“I believe in brand marketing where you create a community first that understands you and is a part of your brand.” @AmandaMGoetz #DTCPOD“I like thinking about my influencer strategy with the micro-influencers mostly, and then plugging in a few strategic macros that we create a longer-term relationship with.” @AmandaMGoetz #DTCPOD“One trend that I am really, really interested in right now is the fact that some of these major creators are now becoming investors and getting into the investor game.” @AmandaMGoetz #DTCPOD“As a founder of an early-stage company you have to remember that you’re on day one when comparing yourself to competitors that might already be doing this for a few years.” @AmandaMGoetz #DTCPODWe Speak About:[01:00] About Amanda and her experience[03:15] Why Amanda started House of Wise[05:20] Amanda’s thoughts on go-to-market strategies[06:35] The importance of brand marketing when building[10:15] How Amanda thinks about influencer marketing for SMBs[13:45] Is influencer marketing still effective for growing brands?[16:25] Fitting influencer marketing into your marketing mix for SMBs[19:25] Amanda’s strategy for influencer marketing for early-stage brands[24:10] How Amanda approaches influencer pitches[27:50] What matters to Amanda when selecting influencers[31:15] Pitfalls to avoid for early-stage brands doing influencer marketing Influencer marketing for early-stage brands works. Here’s the playbookAmanda Goetz, CMO of Teal and Founder of House of Wise, joins the POD to talk about how SMBs can successfully do influencer marketing.Customer acquisition today is more about building an audience than just running paid advertising campaigns.That’s where influencer marketing comes. Working with the right influencers can help you build your audience and keep your brand top of mind which is key in the early stages.When you’re building your brand, you want to turn early adopters into brand loyalists.Doing this means talking to early adopters and creating strong relationships that keeps them loyal to your brand.The way you turn early adopters into loyalists is the same approach you should take with influencersStrong relationships shouldn’t only be with customers. They should be with influencers too.To get the most out of influencer marketing, you also need to create strong relationships with creators.That means getting them excited about your brand and getting them to buy into your mission, vision, and most importantly, the product itself.Stay tuned as Amanda shares how SMBs can correctly use influencer marketing to grow, how to select creators, and some of the pitfalls you should avoid in influencer marketing.If you’d like to learn more about Trend and our influencer marketing platform for influencers and brands visit trend.io. You can also follow us for tips on growing your following and running successful campaigns on Instagram and LinkedIn.Mentioned Links:House of Wise’s website:https://houseofwise.co/Follow Amanda on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AmandaMGoetzHouse of Wise on Twitter: https://twitter.com/house__of__wiseHouse of Wise on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/house__of__wise/

“If your target audience is experiencing ad fatigue, they aren’t going to be responding well to your ads.” @jadesai94 #DTCPOD“Ad fatigue can cause your conversions to go down and your costs to go up.” @jadesai94 #DTCPOD“AdEspresso reversed an image and saw a 10% decrease in CPC.” @jadesai94 #DTCPOD“Make sure that your ad campaigns are not creating an overwhelming experience if a customer is also receiving emails post-purchase.” @jadesai94 #DTCPOD“If you need to create new content, consider using a service like Trend that allows you to create content for $100 per piece of content.” @jadesai94 #DTCPODWe Speak About:[00:25] What is ad fatigue?[00:50] Effects of ad fatigue[01:20] Importance of ad frequency[02:25] Checking ad rotations[03:25] Refreshing your ad creative[05:35] Adjusting your targeting[06:05] When to not hit customers with ads[06:35] The best way to combat ad fatigueSeeing CPC rise on your ads? It might be because of ad fatigueIn this episode of the DTC POD, we’re discussing the effects of ad fatigue.Ad fatigue happens when your target audience has seen your ads one too many times and they stop responding as well to your ad placement.This can drive up your ad spend and reduce your conversions at the same time.In order to combat ad fatigue, you need to stay sharp on your ads. That means keeping watch of rising costs and lower conversions.When ad fatigue starts to happen, you want to start mixing up your ads and frequency to avoid wasting dollars.Stay tuned as we cover ways to combat ad fatigue, the most effective way to refresh your ads, and offer some tips and tricks to keep your ads fresh.If you’d like to learn more about Trend and our influencer marketing platform for influencers and brands visit trend.io. You can also follow us for tips on growing your following and running successful campaigns on Instagram and LinkedIn.Mentioned Links:Facebook ad library: https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/Trend’s blog post on ad fatigue: https://trend.io/blog/ad-fatigue

“The bridal industry is mostly set up for brick and mortar and wholesale. Because we don’t have a store, we're able to pass savings directly to the customer and keep healthy margins.” @graceleew #DTCPOD“I love creative, I love visuals. I love copy. And so I think just being able to do all of that myself really helped. I didn't have to hire anyone in the early days.” @graceleew #DTCPOD“In the early days, we only used Instagram and I did that very intentionally. I had a limited budget and I knew that our target customer is very comfortable buying off her phone.” @graceleew #DTCPOD“Really understand who your customer is and understand how you believe she shops and then stay really targeted to that platform in the early days.” @graceleew #DTCPOD“Word of mouth is so huge in bridal. It’s most people’s first time planning a wedding and they really turn within their network for advice on vendors.” @graceleew #DTCPODWe Speak About:[01:10] Background on Birdy Grey and how Grace started her business[02:20] How Birdy Grey got its start and how DTC helped them get competitive pricing[03:30] How Birdy Grey has simplified the bridesmaid dress decision-making process[05:45] How the customer feedback loop informs Birdy Grey’s dress color selection[08:05] How Birdy Grey leverages IG polls and data to inform product development[09:20] Grace talks about how important color selections are in the bridal industry[10:45] How Birdy Grey has streamlined their website for better UX[11:35] How Birdy Grey creates an “in-store” experience in a digital space[13:35] How Birdy Grey creates fun, out of boutique experience for bridal parties[14:35] What Grace did to get her business started and raise capital[16:10] Grace talks about the importance of their virtual Bridal Studio [17:30] Grace breaks down Bridy Grey’s IG growth strategy[20:10] What channels are in Birdy Grey’s media mix and how they are leveraging them [21:35] Grace talks about how key a role “word of mouth” plays in the bridal industry[22:45] Grace explains the importance of investing in customer retention programs[24:40] Grace shares what things made the most positive impact for Birdy Grey early on[28:25] What Grace hopes the team at Birdy Grey and the bridal industry will see in 2021To disrupt an existing product category sometimes less is moreGrace Lee, founder & CEO of Birdy Grey, joins the POD to talk about how to leverage the customer feedback loop to streamline strategy and create a digitally native DTC business.  Birdy Grey simplifies a bridal party’s search for bridesmaids dresses by offering curated dresses in a range of trendy colors at an affordable price point in a DTC channel. Enter Grace who, after being a bridesmaid six times, saw a need to reimagine how bridal parties were approaching the search for the perfect bridesmaid dress. Prior to creating Birdy Grey, Grace began her career focusing on social media and digital content for a few different fashion and cosmetics brands. Armed with an abundance of industry knowledge and the desire to learn more about the bridal industry, Grace bootstrapped Birdy Grey in 2017 and made $2 million in revenue within their first year. After bringing on her co-founder and best friend, Monica Ashauer, and establishing a core team at Birdy Grey, the team built a social media machine that powered an endless customer feedback loop that informed important strategy and decisions for the business.Building a better alternative in DTC also requires you to listen to intensely listen to your customersOnce establishing how important color selection and customer experience are, Grace and the team at Birdy Grey skyrocketed into popularity becoming a go-to choice for bridal parties everywhere. With an affordable price point for a range of dress options exclusively being sold at $99, brides saw a quick and seamless solution for their bridal parties that also fit in with the color palette they envisioned for their big day.  While the bridal industry has encountered numerous struggles during the COVID-19 pandemic, Grace and the team at Birdy Grey have taken the time to dig deeper into what their target market is looking for.With informed data points and customer feedback from social channels, the team has created an “in-store” experience for their customers at home. You won’t want to miss how Grace leveraged social channels to craft Birdy Grey’s visually stunning and seamless website. In turn, making Birdy Grey a go-to brand for many bridal parties in an industry that is powered by word of mouth marketing. If you’d like to learn more about Trend and our influencer marketing platform for influencers and brands visit trend.io. You can also follow us for tips on growing your following and running successful campaigns on Instagram and LinkedIn.Mentioned Links:Birdy Grey’s website: https://www.birdygrey.com/Birdy Grey’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/birdygrey/Grace’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/graceleew/

“By blending the line between media and commerce, you can lower customer acquisition cost and increase lifetime value.” @jadesai94 #DTCPOD“There are five different way that you can use to launch your direct to consumer brand according to Web Smith’s concept of linear commerce.” @jadesai94 #DTCPOD“You should focus heavily on acquiring your audience.” @jadesai94 #DTCPOD“Launching with either a PR strategy or a go-to-market strategy with a well-received media push are usually the more predictable paths that are taken by venture back DTC brands.” @jadesai94 #DTCPOD“When you're creating content, you want to be providing value.” @jadesai94 #DTCPODWe Speak About:[00:45] What is linear commerce?[01:15] Different types of launches on the linear commerce line[03:35] How VC-backed eCommerce companies typically grow[03:50] Creating sustainable growth for eCommerce[04:20] Building your tribe[04:40] An example of using content to grow an audience[05:05] Benefits of building your audience firstThe line between media and commerce are blending, and it’s a big win for DTC brands that get it rightLinear commerce - it’s a term coined by Mizzen+Main founder Web Smith that identifies the different ways a DTC brand can launch.According to Smith, there are five different ways a direct-to-consumer brand can launch. On one side of the line, you have a brand that acquires most of its customers through paid efforts. On the other side, you have a media company that may eventually launch a product years later.As eCommerce and brand launches continue to evolve, the line between media and commerce is blending.The brands that now launch with an established audience can acquire customers for less and have higher lifetime value.By leaning into audience growth first, you can build a more sustainable business.Stay tuned as we discuss the five different versions of DTC launch strategies, what is the best strategy you can take for your brand, and some ideas to build your audience first.If you’d like to learn more about Trend and our influencer marketing platform for influencers and brands visit trend.io. You can also follow us for tips on growing your following and running successful campaigns on Instagram and LinkedIn.Mentioned Links:Web Smith’s 2PM: https://2pml.com/More on linear commerce: https://2pml.com/2019/04/22/on-linear-commerce/