
DTC POD: How The Best Brands Are Built
DTC POD is a podcast about all things direct to consumer. We cover everything for starting, growing, and optimizing eCommerce stores and DTC (or D2C) brands.
We talk with founders, marketers, platforms, creators and marketing & growth agencies to cover topics like brand building, social media, influencer marketing, website conversion, paid media, Facebook ads, consumer trends, email marketing, and more.
If you're interested in the stories behind your favorite consumer brands, this podcast is for you.
Latest episodes

Sep 3, 2020 • 32min
How to sell better on Amazon and optimize your product listing (with Chris Moe from Cartograph)
In this episode, Jay is joined by Chris Moe, COO and Co-Founder of Cartograph.Cartograph is an eCommerce focused agency that helps organic and natural CPG brands sell their products on Amazon.Chris joins us on the podcast to discuss how to sell better on Amazon. He walks us through how most of the value on Amazon is created upstream and what exactly is meant by that.We also discuss what you need to have in place before you sell on Amazon, why you need to sell on Amazon, and what product offerings work best on Amazon.Chris also talks about why there shouldn’t be much concern about Amazon cannibalizing your sales and what metrics signal success on Amazon.To learn more about Cartograph, visit: https://www.gocartograph.com/If you’d like to learn more about Trend and our influencer marketing platform for users and brands visit trend.io. You can also follow us for tips on growing your following and running successful campaigns on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

Aug 26, 2020 • 29min
Founder Stories: Breaking Down Golden Ratio's $10k in Sales on Launch with Founder Clark Nowlin
In this episode, Jay and Ramon are joined by Clark Nowlin, Founder of Golden Ratio.Golden Ratio is a coffee brand that sells gold coffee. On his launch day, Clark was able to generate over 10k in sales.During the podcast, Clark discusses how he was able to generate over 10k in sales on his launch, how much of it came from friends and family, and what sources he leaned into to generate revenue.Clark also talks about his founder story. He takes us through his path to starting a CPG brand and where the idea from gold coffee came from.In the podcast, you will also hear the importance of mentors for Clark as a first-time CPG founder.To learn more about Golden Ratio, visit: https://drinkgoldenratio.com/ (Bonus: Enter the code “Trend” at checkout for a little discount!).If you’d like to learn more about Trend and our influencer marketing platform for users and brands visit trend.io. You can also follow us for tips on growing your following and running successful campaigns on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

Aug 20, 2020 • 27min
eCommerce Funding and Growth Strategy (with Wayflyer)
In this episode, Jay is joined by Nicolas Derico, Director of Marketing at Wayflyer.Wayflyer is a company that offers revenue-based financing for eCommerce brands.In this podcast, Nicolas discusses when is the right time for brands to seek out funding, along with the requirements they should meet.Nicolas also discusses what brands should use their funding as a means to grow their business.Finally, we will also dive into some specific marketing strategies that Nicolas believes are crucial for businesses at any stage to use in order to keep growth steady.wTo learn more about Wayflyer, visit: https://www.wayflyer.com/If you’d like to learn more about Trend and our influencer marketing platform for users and brands visit trend.io. You can also follow us for tips on growing your following and running successful campaigns on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

Aug 13, 2020 • 22min
Founder Stories: Careste, American Luxury On-Demand Fashion (with Celeste Markey)
In this episode, Jay is joined by Celeste Markey, Founder & CEO of Careste.Careste is a new American luxury brand offering on-demand couture.In this podcast, Celeste shares learnings from her extensive experience in the fashion industry along with her inspiration for on-demand fashion.Celeste discusses why Careste has taken this unique approach along with some of the benefits and challenges of going on-demand.We also cover what came first, the product or the brand, some recommendations for founders, and what’s next for Careste.To learn more about Careste, visit: https://careste.com/If you’d like to learn more about Trend and our influencer marketing platform for users and brands visit trend.io. You can also follow us for tips on growing your following and running successful campaigns on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

Aug 6, 2020 • 34min
Founder Stories: Emmett Shine, Co-Founder of Pattern Brands
In this episode, Jay and Ramon are joined by Emmett Shine, Co-Founder and Executive Creative Director at Pattern Brands.Pattern (previously Gin Lane) creates purposeful brands that inspire you to learn, experiment, and enjoy.Before Pattern, Emmett has worked with big brands such as Sweetgreen, Bonobos, Everlane, Harrys, Smile Direct Club, Shake Shack, Quip, hims and more.In this podcast, Emmett sits down with us to share about what influenced him to create Pattern, his thoughts about building a brand, and how to build better relationships with customers.Emmett also dives deep into relationship design and why it’s a strategy that he and his team lean into.Additionally, we also hear about what Emmett envisions for the future of Pattern.To learn more about Pattern, visit: https://patternbrands.com/about-usTo see Pattern’s brands, visit: https://patternbrands.com/our-brandsIf you’d like to learn more about Trend and our influencer marketing platform for users and brands visit trend.io. You can also follow us for tips on growing your following and running successful campaigns on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

Jul 30, 2020 • 28min
Founder Stories: SOUND Tea-Based Sparkling Beverages (with Salim Najjar)
In this episode, Jay and Ramon are joined by Salim Najjar, Co-Founder of SOUND.SOUND is a beverage brand that sells tea-based sparkling beverages.Salim is here to share his and his Co-Founder’s experience of starting SOUND.Salim breaks down where the idea for SOUND came from, how they were able to crack retail, and how they are shifting to DTC during the pandemic.In addition to covering the success story of SOUND, Salim also covers some of the challenges he’s faced and offers recommendations for founders to overcome challenges.He provides insight on how others can break into retail, what goes into building a brand, and what’s next for SOUND!To learn more about SOUND, visit: https://drinksound.com/If you’d like to learn more about Trend and our influencer marketing platform for users and brands visit trend.io. You can also follow us for tips on growing your following and running successful campaigns on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

Jul 23, 2020 • 41min
Facebook Ads Optimization and Scale (with SHOPANOVA)
In this episode, Jay and Ramon are joined by Robby Switzer and Nathan Otwell from SHOPANOVA.SHOPANOVA is an agency that helps online stores get massive eCommerce growth. They specialize in paid media, specifically Facebook and Instagram ads.Facebook and Instagram ads are a popular growth channel for eCommerce businesses.The wide audience on these platforms allows new brands to reach a ton of consumers with a smaller advertising budget.But running Facebook ads does not always guarantee success.There is a learning curve to running ads and, if you’re not careful, you could end up spending thousands of dollars with no return.So how can you position yourself for the best return on ad spend (ROAS) possible? SHOPANOVA has some suggestions.We’ll discuss what’s the most important metric you should be measuring in ad campaigns, according to the experts.We’ll also talk about when you should run ads, how long you should wait before killing campaigns, and the importance of collecting data through Facebook’s pixel. To learn more about SHOPANOVA, visit: https://shopanova.com or https://shopanova-and-me.comIf you’d like to learn more about Trend and our influencer marketing platform for users and brands visit trend.io. You can also follow us for tips on growing your following and running successful campaigns on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

Jul 16, 2020 • 12min
How to Use User-Generated Content (UGC) to Get More Revenue And Higher Average Orders
In this episode, Jay discusses how you can use user-generated content to help provide social proof and grow your brand.We’ve said it over and over on Trend (and so have others!), social proof is king!What better way to show social proof than through user-generated content. If you have paid for creating user-generated content, or just have a big library of, you may be wondering how you can leverage this powerful content even more to grow your brand.We’ll discuss 8 channels you can use user-generated content on to amplify your message and convince consumers.We’ll also talk about different strategies you can use on these 8 channels to maximize average ticket price and sway buyers into an upsell. If you’d like to learn more about Trend and our influencer marketing platform for users and brands visit trend.io. You can also follow us for tips on growing your following and running successful campaigns on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

Jul 8, 2020 • 38min
Tracking Influencer And Affiliate Marketing (with Michael Cole from Everflow)
In this episode, Jay is joined by guest Michael Cole, VP of Marketing at Everflow.Everflow is a partner marketing platform that helps businesses track results from partnerships through clickless tracking and offers real-time analytics.Businesses doing influencer marketing are receiving a 6x ROI.Ever heard that before?Many businesses have, and haven’t found quite the success they expected when trying influencer and affiliate marketing on their own.One of the biggest reasons why is because of failed attribution.Although influencer and affiliate marketing can help thrust your brand into the spotlight, having good tracking can help ensure a successful campaign.We’ll discuss why influencer and affiliate marketing should be a part of your marketing spend.We’ll also talk about how to properly attribute influencer and affiliate marketing, and how you can do it on your own. To learn more about Michael’s company, Everflow, visit: https://www.everflow.io/If you’d like to learn more about Trend and our influencer marketing platform for users and brands visit trend.io. You can also follow us for tips on growing your following and running successful campaigns on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

Jul 2, 2020 • 26min
MarketerHire's Suggestions For Finding the Right Person to Run Paid Social
In this episode, Jay and Ramon are joined by guest Evan Rallis, Marketing Product Manager at MarketerHire.MarketerHire is a premium marketer network that helps connect expert freelance marketers with businesses quickly and seamlessly.Finding success in marketing, especially ad campaigns can be a daunting task for eCommerce brands.As a result, some brands are turning to freelance marketers who are experts in paid social to help make their ads overperform, scale, and generate a ton of revenue for their business.But what type of person should you use to run your ads?Should it be in-house, should it be a freelancer, should it be an agency or should you hire someone fulltime? Also, should the person in charge of ads change depending on the stage of your business?We’ll discuss who would be the best person to run your ads depending on which stage of the business you are in.We’ll also go in-depth on how you can get your ads to perform better and what you can do to scale ads and revenue with a small budget. To learn more about Evan’s company, MarketerHire, visit: https://marketerhire.com/If you’d like to learn more about Trend and our influencer marketing platform for users and brands visit trend.io. You can also follow us for tips on growing your following and running successful campaigns on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
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