🏀 MARCH MADNESS IS UPON US! 🏀

My two favorite sports to watch are NFL and College Basketball (when March Madness arrives- we all know the rest of the season is nearly meaningless). The competitive nature of March college ball is unmatched across any sport. Any team can win, any player could become an overnight hero. Last year we even witnessed a 1 seed lose to a 16. Once again, this is more likely than a TikTok “ban” actually happening.

Here are my March Madness thoughts👇

3 Favorite Picks to Win the Title: UCONN, Houston, Tennessee

Earliest Top Seeds to Go Down: Marquette, Baylor

Double Digit Seed to Go Furthest: New Mexico

Biggest Enigma (Could Win it All or Go Down Early): Purdue

Craziest Storyline: Long Beach State University (#15 Seed) FIRED their Head Coach Dan Monson last week before their conference tournament started. LBSU then went on to win 3 straight games in 3 days to capture the conference title and seal their bid in the Big Dance. This means that LBSU is in the tournament with a Head Coach leading them who is no longer employed by the University following the season. Bizarre turn of events. Why on earth would a team fire its coach before its season’s fate is sealed? Who knows, but this story will get even crazier if they somehow upset #2 Seed Arizona on Thursday.

Now… onto the stuff that actually matters.

1. Meta’s New Advertising Game-Changer?

Product Level Video (“PLV”), also known as “Dynamic Media,” is Meta’s new shiny object. The level of excitement out of Meta behind this gives me 2023 Advantage+ Shopping Campaign (ASC) vibes. If you remember correctly, ASC basically carried Meta ads (and its stock) out of the gutter a year ago.

This MIGHT sound crazy, but:

Meta is claiming a 48% increase in conversion rates for campaigns that use PLV, rather than images.

Can PLV unlock even more for Meta ads? First, lets start with some education:

What is Product Level Video (Dynamic Media/PLV)?

It’s basically the video version of DPAs, which used to be for images only. You can now upload several videos per SKU (Meta recommends 200+ total vids uploaded) and Meta will serve these "video catalog" ads now.

The idea here is that videos will feed the algorithm even more data and signal about the product and target audience that will enable Meta’s machine learning to serve up your ads with even more relevance. Meta will also be able to choose if it will show the end user an image or video for that product of interest, based on which format is most likely to convert said user. Powerful stuff and makes sense fundamentally.

How does it work?

You upload 200+ videos (ideally) to your catalog and assign each video on the SKU level. Be sure to upload different dimensions per video to account for the variety of Meta placements like Feed vs Reels.

I’m not going to downplay it - this is a huge undertaking and requires ample creative manpower to upload all of these videos.

Examples of vids to upload:

1. PDP videos from main eCommerce website

2. UGC style/Creator videos featuring individual products

3. High fidelity videos highlighting hero products

There are a few ways of setting up the catalog to include videos, but the best way is by using your existing Catalog Feed File and just add columns for the videos you choose to upload for each SKU. You’ll include a drive link to each video asset so Meta can scan it.

How to Publish?

Once your catalog/feed file is setup, you’re ready to publish your ads:

1. Go to the Ad level. Under Creative Source select “Catalog”, then select your desired Format

   

2. Go to Advantage+ Creative & enable Dynamic Media

   

If you choose “Single Image or Video” format, the system will use automation to deliver either a video or image depending which is most likely to drive performance.

If you want to maximize video delivery, you just need to select “always show videos when available.” This feature is only available for “single image or video format,” not for carousel or collections.

We’ve started testing PLV on some accounts, not enough data yet to provide insight or draw conclusions.

My main tiff with it currently is how laborious it is to get off the ground.

This is probably the biggest innovation I’ve seen out of Meta in 2024 and something to keep an eye out for 👀

2. DTC Product Subscriptions: 10 Biggest Mistakes

Every DTC brand on planet earth wishes they had exponential, SaaS-like revenue growth.

Well, what if I told you this revenue growth chart was from a DTC brand?

I’ve overseen $200M+ in subscription revenue alone in my career. I’ve seen it all: the good, the bad, the ugly. The best subscription programs do not have any of the issues I outline below.

My Top 10 Mistakes to Avoid in Order to Scale your Subscription Program:

1. Minimal or unclear incentive for subscription vs one-time purchase

2. Non-sensical or confusing subscription model. Example: offering monthly subscription when the product lasts >1mo.

3. Unclear messaging on how long the product should last (leads to reluctance of customers to subscribe when they’re unsure of frequency). Example: 16oz shampoo bottle for males. How long would this last? I have no idea off the top of my head. If the brand told me I needed one bottle every 2 months based on my hairwash frequency, I’d know to subscribe at 2mo intervals. Without the brand TELLING me this, I’d never subscribe!

4. Challenging for subscribers to edit frequency of orders (ex: customer portal post-purchase email goes to Spam folder and nobody can find it)

5. No emphasis on winback of churned subscribers (email/SMS winback, retargeting ads on paid media, direct mail).

6. Product goes out of stock and causes significant backorder. This throws off your customers’ subscription regimens (customers will simply go subscribe to your competitor & you potentially lose them forever). I saw a brand go out of stock on a monthly subscription product for 2 months and 60% of their subscribers churned. Hard to recover from that.

7. Not checking "charge errors" order queue routinely to fix issues that are preventing orders from being re-billed. I’ve found hundreds of thousands of dollars of revenue "in queue” several times for brands by simply going into their charge errors and pushing through orders that had correctible issues.

8. Low product value:cost ratio. Your subscription needs to make financial sense. If it’s a monthly subscription, ask yourself if you’d pay $X per month to have this product delivered to you monthly.

9. No cross-selling or incentive for customers to add other subscription products. If you have multiple subscription products, be sure to cross-sell and incentivize customers to add the other subscription products to their monthly shipment. Whether it’s through tiered discounts for each additional product they add, one-time gift cards, special gifts, etc. Give reason and a little extra push for customers to expand their relationship with you.

10. Not customizing and optimizing the customer portal. The average customer logs in to their subscription portal multiple times over the course of their lifetime. Much like how shipping tracking pages were not being leveraged for free impressions for years on end, the same can be said for customer subscription portals. Ritual takes advantage of their customer portal phenomenally well.

    

    Snapshot of Ritual’s Customer Self-Serve Subscription Portal.

    They cross-sell their subscription SKUs in the customer portal and have excellent content within it! If I had to estimate, Ritual gets 1m+ free impressions per year with this method. They also make it seamless to edit your billing/shipping info or your delivery date and make it transparent when the order will be billed, shipped, and delivered. A+ work.

Take notes and make sure none of the 10 issues above are present within your brand.

3. The Long, Volatile Evolution of TikTok

TikTok, in its relatively short existence, has left an indelible mark on the digital marketing world. Much like any high growth entity, it’s characterized by tumultuous changes, a newly created economy/opportunity, and strategic shifts at a rapid pace.

Here’s my characterization of TikTok’s evolution, its impact on the direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketing space, and the future that lies ahead.

2019: TikTok influencer flood

It was common to hear of influencers growing 1m follower counts overnight. Thanks to creator-favorable algorithms, the hype for creators to build on TikTok first spread like wildfire. Everyone wanted to be famous.

2020: TikTok launches ad platform

The shiny new object. Sparked competition for Snap ad dollars thanks to the same format of content making testing seamless and provided a low barrier to entry. TikTok’s original launch revealed a primitive platform that had insane ad fatigue and crazy volatile results. But, it had now gotten the attention of loads of advertisers.

2021: The Downfall of Snap Ads

As the tide of the economy began to shift, skepticism of Snap ad dollars set in. Some brands were literally cutting Snap ad budgets to 0 with no impact on top line revenue. Mass exodus from Snap ads ensued.

2022: TikTok Ads - The Saving Grace?!

Nope. As inflation took center stage & interest rates skyrocketed, cash became expensive and focus on profitability was paramount for brands. Fresh off the heals of iOS14.5 destruction, Meta performance tanked & brands RUSHED to TikTok thinking it was their savior. Very soon after, they realized TikTok was impacted as bad (if not worse) than Meta by iOS14.5 (and the economy). Back to Meta brands went...an appreciation for Meta actually grew. This is also the year Meta shut down its affiliate marketplace.

2023: TikTok is dull until....Instagram removes the Shop tab & TikTok launches Shop

Just as TT became dull, it opportunistically added Shop just as IG removed the Shop tab. Much like in 2019 when there was a TikTok influencer flood & FOMO, now in 2023 there was a TikTok Shop MERCHANT flood & FOMO sending shockwaves through the world. Much like influencers growing from 0->1m followers over night, you were hearing brands going from 0->$1m in Shop rev ORGANICALLY through affiliates & organic posts that were going viral. TT's algorithm heavily favors brands on TikTok Shop and these overnight success stories began spreading like wildfire.

2024: TikTok Shop rules DTC conversations & "THE BAN" FUD

Here we are: TikTok Shop is the most exciting thing to talk about in e-commerce. Less overnight millionaire stories than a year ago, but nonetheless still a place where I'd build organically first over any other platform. TikTok has become THE ideal creative & influencer testing ground without needing to risk ungodly levels of ad dollars. The BAN convos are heating up (ironically in election year, right?!) and the media wants you to believe TikTok will vanish into thin air sometime soon. NOT happening! Worst case it gets passed by Senate and President, TikTok appeals for years on end, eventually may have to divest to a US company and TikTok as we know it is no different than it is today.

2024 (My Prediction 🔮): No TikTok Ban. Meta relaunches Shop tab AND Affiliate Marketplace.

TikTok ban convos lose steam and get held up somewhere along the long, nuanced road. Meta also relaunches the Shop tab and affiliate marketplace just before Q4 takes off.

TikTok has been quite the enigma over the past 5 yrs.

Will it be around in another 5?

I bet YES.

And as the saying goes --

Bad Press is Better than No Press.

Is it Really Worth Going to College?

Going to college is a popularly debated topic these days. Most vocal opinions tend to be against it.

Big fan of Nick, but I'm firmly in the other corner.

While I agree student loan debt is a REAL problem, the argument shouldn't be whether or not a college degree is valuable, it should be which school and which degree an individual chooses. And whether or not college is the right choice for each person based on their career aspirations.

Poor decision-making out of high school leads to kids going to school for all the wrong reasons: partying, winning football teams, frats/sororities, where friends are going, etc.

You get out what you put in.

Higher education forces you to get better, work hard, and think critically.

While I may not apply exact course material in everyday work 1:1, the hard skills I cultivated throughout many years of higher education (10 to be exact through college, dental school, and specialty training in Orthodontics) taught me discipline, excellence, and mental fortitude which all translate to my work today.

I also chose to go to a small state school that nobody ever heard of (shoutout Ramapo College of New Jersey) to avoid racking up debt, yet still got a solid education. Despite it not being "cool" at the time when I had my good friends all going to Ivy schools.

Love this topic and a discussion that needs to be had.

I just fear a world in which the next generation popularly chooses to avoid education and run with whatever will make them the next quick buck without ever developing real skills.

Let's normalize educating high schoolers on:

- making the right decision for them individually, for the right reasons

- the real problem of student loan debt and what a poor decision means for them in the long run

While there will be many more roads to entrepreneurship in the future, with the advent of technology and AI, I would never encourage someone to skip college and try to find their way.

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. If you aren’t prepared when opportunity arises, good “luck” !

You create your own luck. Higher education increases those chances.

What I’m Listening to 🎧

Beats of the Week: Keinemusik live @ EXIT 2023

These guys are great and on the rise. Keinemusik is a trio of Adam Port, Rampa, and &ME. Really unique style that leans into deep and afro house. They don’t play a ton in the US and haven’t gotten a chance to catch them live (as a trio). But they’re high on my list and a must see if they’re ever in a venue near you. Feel good music that you may even recognize.

Give this set a listen, you won’t regret it!

I welcome all feedback. Good, bad, everything in between.

Hit reply, and let’s hear it! 👂

📧 Share your thoughts or what you want me to cover next!