#61 The Least Boring Weekly Newsletter

February 09, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 14 minutes

Good Morning readers!🌞

It's love month, which means it's time to celebrate Valentine's Day and reflect on the value of love in our lives.❤ 

It's almost time for the Super Bowl. There's the game, and then there's the halftime show.🏈 But there are also the ads to consider! This year's advertising selection is something exceptional, featuring a slew of athletic giants and Hollywood's finest and brightest.

Companies have gone all-out, reportedly spending at least $6.5 million for a 30-second ad, everything from Austin Powers to Zeus, Guy Fieri to Lindsay Lohan.💰 

Since there are so many ads, maybe kinda club them?

Almund's newsletter will let you in on all kinds of tips for D2C brands and much much more. 

Alright, so let's get right to it! 

This newsletter is going to dive into :

🌏  D2C and cross border eCommerce expands in 2021, driven by millennials

👌 Designing RTM Campaigns As A D2C Brand

🙎 BRAND of the week - KraveBeauty

📜 Top reads for this week

👩🏻‍💼 Plenty of jobs awaiting you!

So, scroll down already to THE VERY END & read up on what's yet to come your way!

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WHAT’S COOKING, HUH?

Data shows that year-over-year (YOY) internet purchases climbed by +17 percent as behavioral adjustments created in reaction to the Covid-19 outbreak remained entrenched throughout 2021.

This growth was fueled by a global gain of +114 percent in D2C luxury sales 🚘 , with lower sales increases observed in multi-brand shops and single-brand and specialty stores. Millennials continue to be the driving force behind growing D2C and cross-border buying rates. 

Domestic eCommerce sales of luxury goods, sporting goods, cosmetics, fragrance💄 , and skincare had the most growth across all age groups. 

Looking ahead to 2022, consumer confidence continues high, with more than half of respondents (53%) anticipating no change in their online shopping habits over the following year. 

According to generation, 23% of Millennials and 20% of Gen Z anticipate an increase in their online buying. Gen Zs and millennials are casually taking over the online purchasing era! And all we can do now is take advantage of it and make our brand more focused in this manner! (Have you picked up on this already?) 🤔 

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Designing RTM Campaigns As A DTC Brand

Getting deals and discounts from every brand possible during Christmas, receiving a coupon code in your mailbox from a brand you’re subscribed to during Valentine's Week, or getting a free trial to a number of software during the week leading to Black Friday—we’re sure you’re used to it all by now. These campaigns are a part of a strategy that every DTC brand applies to keep their customers reeled in; it’s known as Real-Time Marketing, a.k.a. RTM.

If you’re running a DTC business and wish to integrate campaigns for special days throughout the year into your marketing strategy, we’d say go right ahead! There are numerous benefits in doing so. Let us walk you through some:

1.  Attract New Customers

If you succeed in running a great campaign on a special day, you are bound to have attracted new customers to your business. With an attractive discount active on your DTC business’ website, people are going to want to give your products or services a try to test them out. Or who knows, they might even convert!  

2. Help Keep Your Audience Reeled In

While acquiring new customers is important, learning more about your customers and making sure to retain them is equally essential. With these discounts and deals on special days throughout the year, you can make their holidays more enjoyable, fun, and exciting. 

And if you keep up with great campaign ideas, maybe their holidays will be all about your DTC business!

3. Gives You A Chance To Be Creative

Not every campaign can be the same! While running a huge sale or an attractive discount on your product is a great way to make your customers happy, adding a touch of creativity can keep them on their toes and entertained, especially during the holiday season. 

Try out different platforms, new methods of hosting giveaways, more creative and fun ways of announcing your deals, etc. 

4. Discover New Platforms

Since RTM campaigns are quick and short-term marketing strategies, it is a great opportunity for you to try a new platform to run this campaign. It gives you exposure to a different audience and allows you to market your products with a twist.

5. Introduce New Products

RTM campaigns for holidays are a great way to introduce a new line of products, new merchandise, or a limited edition product. With the special festive fever setting in, most people would flock towards this new launch from your DTC business to try them out. 

6. Higher Website Traffic

While RTM campaigns seem far away from website SEO, they do indeed affect the latter. Including a link to your website on an RTM campaign would eventually increase website traffic, leading to better performance of brand SEO. Additionally, high-ranking RTM campaigns on search results can also improve website traffic!

The benefits just keep going…

So would you like to jump in on the fun and run a killer RTM campaign for your DTC business? Well, before you do that, let us give you a simple cheat sheet. 

🕛 Be on-time

Being on time is the essence of an RTM campaign. If the holiday is over or the festive season has passed, you might as well give up on your campaign. Ensure you pre-plan every aspect of the campaign you’re going to run to ensure you don’t leave anything to the last minute. 

🤝🏻 Create a brand connect

Your campaign shouldn’t be a way to simply market your products by slapping a discount tag on them. Your RTM campaign should be designed to connect back to your brand, create meaningful relationships with your customers, and allow them to experience your DTC business to the fullest. 

❗ Think Creatively But Appropriately

Creativity when designing your RTM campaign is extremely important but not at the expense of confusing your audience or hurting someone’s sentiments. When working on a campaign for a special day, ensure you use neutral language to avoid hurting anyone’s sentiments. Moreover, if you are running a campaign centered around a certain festival, it is ideal that your campaign and message make it clear. 

📱 Use Graphics

No one wants to see a boring ad. Play around with graphics to create appealing, eye-catching creatives and videos to grasp your audience’s attention immediately. 

🖱️ Create Actionable Content

A simple ad with a powerful CTA is a lot more effective than an over-the-top advertisement which leaves the audience confused. Make sure your creatives are followed by a clear and compelling CTA so that your viewers know just what they need to do once you have their attention. 

📊 Track Extensively, Duh!

We don’t need to remind you about this, you know we’re bananas about data here!

Running RTM campaigns for special occasions throughout the year as a DTC business is as challenging as it is rewarding. Making your customers happy should be your #1 priority and without a doubt, these strategies can make it happen!

Btw, something big is coming up that's exciting enough to coax all the brands out there to run their campaigns. Any ideas? 

Stay tuned for the next edition where we cover some of the best real-time 

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BRAND OF THE WEEK is…

KraveBeauty Launches $1 Million Fund💲, Press Reset Ventures, to Invest in the Next Generation of Sustainable & Inclusive Beauty 😍✨

With the establishment of a $1 million venture studio Press Reset Ventures, entrepreneur Liah Yoo and the team a D2C beauty business KraveBeauty are upending industry norms. The fund's mission is to invest in and mentor the next generation of sustainable beauty technologies.🤩

Yoo and her team's success is being used by Press Reset Ventures to encourage a new generation of entrepreneurs. (Amazing✨)  With the venture capital market pressing entrepreneurs to grow at any costs, Press Reset Ventures wants to be a long-term partner in ensuring that their portfolio firms grow deliberately.💪

The beauty market has been distinguished by massive capital inflows, with an average hold length of 3 to 5 years for beauty and personal care investments vs 10 to 15 years for traditional venture capital investments.

Liah Yoo, a beauty influencer, founded KraveBeauty in 2017 to change people's perceptions of skincare.

KraveBeauty is disrupting a saturated beauty market by encouraging overconsumption and obsessive marketing of products. You started the business with $50,000 of her own money and grew it by 250 percent year over year. (Woah😮) 

 With only four goods, the company encourages customers to consider how they use them and how they affect themselves and the environment.🌎

"Mindful growth and founder autonomy have been foundational to KraveBeauty's success", said Yoo, "I've seen many peer founders devote efforts to please investors rather than serving their key stakeholders—customers, employees, and the environment. Press Reset Ventures strives to reimagine what a successful exit looks like that benefits the stakeholders rather than shareholders." 

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TOP READS FOR THIS WEEK

💇 Oddity launches personalized skin and hair care brand, SpoiledChild

💻 Nike, Amazon reportedly considering Peloton acquisition

💰 Cart.com Company Raises $240 Million in Funding

🎽 Grace Beverley raises $5.7M to expand sustainable activewear label Tala.

📰 The New York Times buys Wordle

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In need of a  job? We’ve got plenty awaiting you!

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CHOOSE SUCCESS below and have a great week! ‘Get that D2C business runnin’.