ChatGPT Enters the Shopping Game

Welcome to this issue of The DTC Insider newsletter. 👋

We strive to deliver the latest growth marketing news and trends in the DTC space straight to your inbox every Wednesday.

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Let's dive in!

Topics we'll cover today:
💠 Pause Your High-ROAS Meta Ad Campaign
💠 ChatGPT Enters the Shopping Game
💠 Beyond UGC: Driving Growth with Professional Generated Content

Pause Your High-ROAS Meta Ad Campaign

You should pause this "high ROAS" Meta ad campaign.

(No, I didn't lose it...YET! 😅)

Meta recently rolled out something called Incremental Attribution. 

And many advertisers aren't sure how to use it.

𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳𝗳, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘁? 

You can now see whether your campaigns are yielding incremental results.

In other words:

Are your Meta ads actually responsible for the purchases they claim to generate?

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹?

Even if you're not optimizing with this setting yet, you can still uncover really interesting insights. 

How?

At the Ads Manager, click on the Columns dropdown and you'll see the "Compare attribution settings" option at the bottom.

Once you click there, you'll see the following:

Check the "Incremental Attribution" field and choose "All conversions" for now. 

The result?

You'll now see the purchases with your current attribution setting (most likely, 7-day click & 1-day view) right next to the incremental purchases Meta considers.

That means, again, that they wouldn't have happened without this ad campaign.

In the above example, you see in the 2nd row that there are 329 purchases with the 7DC-1DV attribution, but only 87 were incremental (27%).

This campaign focuses on remarketing people at the bottom of the funnel (ie. abandoned carts), so it makes sense that the incrementality is low. 

So, the "real" ROAS would be 6.38, instead of 25.82.

Is it bad if I see a big discrepancy between both attributions?

I don't think so.

 You WILL see fewer conversions using this attribution setting.

In some campaigns, let's say the ones in which you target broad audiences, will likely be more incremental, but others will be less.

And that's fine.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻?

Multiple reasons. Some are more obvious than others. 

One could be that the campaign is targeting previous customers, or even people who recently abandoned their cart, like in the above example.

 And let's say they were already impacted by your email marketing.

 Thus, they were likely going to convert without needing your Meta ads.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀? 

If you're running a bottom-of-the-funnel campaign with a 10X+ ROAS and this gives you a super low incrementality score (incremental purchases/total purchases).

I'd suggest turning it off and allocating that budget toward a more incremental campaign.

With many differences, compare it with Google's branded ad campaigns...they typically get a super high ROAS, but they don't generate incremental purchases.

Now, if it's not an "extreme" situation and you're not sure how to act on it, try to find your own "incrementality measure" across ad accounts (if you manage multiple) and campaigns.

If most of your campaigns targeting broad audiences have a 12% incrementality score, then that could be your baseline.

Makes sense?

Have any questions or comments? Reply to this email. 

--
If you own or work for a DTC brand and don't know how to scale your Meta ads profitably, feel free to book a call with me, and I'll see how we can help you.

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ChatGPT Enters the Shopping Game

We've recently announced that this was coming, but that was fast!

A new era of e-commerce is starting. Why?

𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳𝗳, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴?

ChatGPT is releasing a new feature in which we'll be able to
⤷ Discover brands
⤷ Compare prices
⤷ And buy on the website, FOR NOW

I'm sure we'll be able to buy within that platform very soon.

𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀?

Yes, but not always. Let me explain.

What's the LINEAR AND SIMPLIFIED purchase path?
⤷ Find you on Google or on social
⤷ Do some research
⤷ Visit your web
⤷ Buy

That was most of us (again, simplifying the user journey).

Until now.

Idk about you, but I find myself using Google less and less.

And more ChatGPT.

So, the above purchase path will soon change for:
⤷ Find you on ChatGPT
⤷ Choose deal
⤷ Buy

Your website is not in the purchase path anymore. 😱

Most people will stop here and paint a doomsday scenario.

However, that's not the full story.

Why?

People who discover products on social media and other channels outside search engines will likely keep doing that.

In fact, based on a recent stat my friend Jeremiah Prummer at KnoCommerce released, 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 8% 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵.

Meaning that the immediate impact of all this won't be that big.

Of course, that's expected to change in the future.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀?

How to appear on ChatGPT when someone's looking for something you offer.

Before, it was kind of optional...now it's not.

--
Follow me on LinkedIn for more growth marketing content in the e-commerce space.

Beyond UGC: Driving Growth with Professional Generated Content

This brand leverages social live streams differently.

What do they do?

They sell fertility products.

Which means... it’s not just about driving conversions. It’s about 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 in a space that’s deeply personal.

Here’s the twist:

Instead of generic influencers, they bring in fertility doctors.

Yes! Real professionals answering questions, live.

(You can imagine the trust that builds.)

The result?
⤷ More credibility
⤷ More engagement
⤷ More educated customers

Want the full breakdown?

Check out the latest episode of The DTC Insider podcast.

Brian Roisentul sat down with Samantha Diamond, co-founder of Bird&Be, and unpacked it all.

Tune in 👇

 We discussed:

👉 From Beauty to Fertility: Samantha Diamond’s Career Pivot and Purpose
👉 Identifying and Filling Gaps in Fertility Education and Customer Experience
👉 Communicating with Sensitivity in a Deeply Personal Health Space
👉 The Role of Professional Guidance in Building Product Credibility and Trust
👉 Using Social Media to Educate, Support, and Build a Fertility-Focused Community
👉 Backing Products with Clinical Studies: A Non-Negotiable for Trust
👉 Marketing for Non-Impulse Products: Lessons from the Fertility Space
👉 Harnessing Customer Testimonials as a Source of Insight and Motivation
👉 Guiding Customers Through Personalized Quizzes and Educational Tools
👉 Iterating Through Feedback: The Continuous Development Behind Bird and Bee’s Products

Tune in:

📺 YouTube
🎧 Apple
🎙️ Spotify
🌐 Website

More episodes our listeners love:

💎 How BRĒZ is Disrupting the Beverage Industry with Aaron Nosbisch
💎 Bootstrapping a $100M E-Commerce Empire with Bear Handlon
💎 The Secret Sauce Behind BattlBox's Success with John Roman
💎 IQBAR’s Journey to 10,000 Locations And $50 Million with Will Nitze
💎 Supplement Brand Bootstrapped $10,000 and Built It Into Sales of $30 Million in Three Years with Ronak Shah

Also Happening in the DTC Space

📰 Benchmark Report: What’s the True Value of Your Loyalty Program?
📰 Meta’s Threads ads arrive fast, but advertisers move at their own pace
📰 Google Now Allows Top Ads To Appear At Bottom Of Search Results

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