Thread by @rezakhadjavi

1/ Last month, @web and I did a webinar on the importance of Retention, Brand Equity & Storytelling and why these are now critical pieces of the DTC growth strategy.

Here’s what we covered 👇

(Grab the PDF of these slides: hubs.ly/H0kKZCb0)

2/ The DTC boom of the last decade was made possible in large part by the advent of paid media channels like Facebook and Google.

Marketers were able to reach audiences with a level of granularity and scale never before seen in the history of advertising.

3/ Those who were early to adopt these new channels took advantage of cheap acquisition costs before others caught on.

4/ But as with everything else that starts to work, other smart people took notice and joined the party.

5/ Once VC dollars started to pour in, it became a real frenzy. Supply and demand principles kicked in driving CAC *way* up for all advertisers.

6/ @DanielGulati put it nicely when he said: CAC is the new rent and Google & Facebook are the new landlords.

The DTC model was supposed to improve margins by cutting out the retailer, but eventually advertising costs just took its place.

inc.com/magazine/20180…

7/ Retention has always been important, but DTC brands who don’t have strong repeat purchase and LTV metrics are going to have a very tough time surviving, let alone scaling in this environment.

8/ As a reminder, a slight increase in retention really moves the needle on growth 📈

9/ Marketers used to obsess about driving traffic down the funnel to conversion, but now they are equally obsessed about turning those conversions into lifelong customers.

Great post by @ahhensel on the topic

https://twitter.com/ahhensel/status/1171781755898073090

10/ Retention “tactics” can work… But ultimately customers buy repeatedly from brands they love.

In other words, building Brand Equity needs to be a core part of your retention strategy.

11/ Lululemon is a great example. It would not be a stretch to call their audience a “cult-like” following. The best brands tend to have this in common.

12/ Years later, Outdoor Voices is giving them a run for their money. You can see a similar enthusiasm brewing with OV's customers.

Really great breakdown of their strategy by @kdlafrance

https://twitter.com/kdlafrance/status/1155926960540794881?s=20

13/ There’s a lot that goes into building a beloved brand, but all great brands seem to have mastered the art of storytelling.

@away also crushes this, @stephkorey is quoted as saying “Storytelling is a central part of our marketing.”

inc.com/magazine/20170…

14/ This is why we're seeing a convergence of media and commerce.

If you’ve not read @web’s thoughts on Linear Commerce, I recommend stopping here and doing that: 2pml.com/2019/04/22/on-…

Also, if you’re in DTC and haven’t already bought an Executive Membership of @2PMinc… 🤦‍♂️

15/ Paid marketing is most certainly not going anywhere. But as we shift towards a “brand-first” strategy focused on nurturing long-term retention, our approach to paid marketing must evolve.

16/ When CAC was cheap, brands were able to maintain healthy profit margins as they acquired new customers with paid marketing.

17/ Naturally, this resulted in a frenzy to scale top of funnel campaigns to acquire net new customers as rapidly as possible.

18/ Mid-funnel audiences were then bombarded with repetitive “BUY NOW” retargeting campaigns to squeeze out as many conversions as possible.

Often at the cost of an incredibly unpleasant customer experience.

19/ As we’ve explored earlier, healthy customer retention metrics are now critical for scalable growth.

To achieve this, brands must obsess about creating delightful experiences across every touchpoint.

Overly aggressive DR tactics aren’t going to cut it any more.

20/ When done right, the part of the funnel where paid marketing was typically the most annoying (e.g. retargeting) is actually where the biggest opportunity lies for creating memorable experiences with customers throughout their journey with a brand.

21/ We’ve been referring to this as Customer Journey Retargeting: a storytelling approach to retargeting designed to drive sales but also nurture and educate audiences along the way.

@rhone, @away and @Mejuri are some examples of brands doing this well 👌

22/ Let’s look at this more closely with some examples from @rhone.

Not everyone who visits a brands website is in the same stage of their buying journey. Rhone’s retargeting journey serves ad experiences that are relevant and educational to each segment.

23/ In this example, Sharon stumbles onto Rhone’s site and is not a potential customer herself. But in her retargeting journey she learns that Rhone is all about outfitting the modern man with premium activewear.

She shares it with her partner who immediately falls in love.

24/ Aspiring Andrew wants to be more active in his life.

In his retargeting journey, he is motivated by Rhone’s mission towards the pursuit of progress and subscribes to their newsletter: The Pursuit.

Months later, he is in the best shape of his life rocking his Rhone gear.

25/ Purchase Pete is in the market for a dress shirt that’ll keep up with his busy lifestyle.

In his retargeting journey, he sees glowing reviews from other happy customers and learns the nuances of Rhone’s fabric and technology.

He’s sold and snags himself a Commuter Shirt.

26/ Community Connor recently bought his first product from Rhone and he loves it.

His post-purchase retargeting journey teaches him about Rhone Rewards and the community around the brand. He signs up and proudly joins the #foreverforward movement.

27/ While these retargeting journeys drove great returns for Rhone, they also did much more than that in the process.

28/ By combining direct-response and educational content in their retargeting journey, Rhone was able to successfully bridge the gap between performance and brand. Two forces that are often at odds with one another.

29/ @web and I were considering doing a round 2 of the webinar, if you’d be interested in that let us know!

And if you want the PDF of these slides, grab em here: hubs.ly/H0kKZCb0