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:
💠 This Shopify Feature Is a Goldmine (Yet Nobody’s Using It)
💠 New Meta Ads Playbook
💠 Redefining Anti-Aging with Technology

Tired of spending hours digging through Shopify reports or spreadsheets to find actionable data?

Well...no more.

Shopify’s Sidekick just became your secret weapon.
Think ChatGPT, but plugged into your store. 

I tested it with a client, and I was blown away.

If you'd rather watch me show you how it works, you can do that here.

First, I started with some basic questions:
⤷ “What’s our revenue over the last 12 months?” → boom, chart + full breakdown.
⤷ “Best-selling products?” → easy.

Then, I got creative:
⤷ “What’s our 3-month LTV?”
⤷ “What’s the average time between 1st and 2nd order?”
⤷ “What products are often bought with the best-sellers?”
⤷ “What % of orders came from subscribers in the last 90 days?” 

Yes, it answered all of that.
(Though I needed to rephrase one of them to get an answer.)

Even cooler? 

I asked Sidekick for a 7-day performance report.

It gave me trends + insights + action steps. 

You can even ask it:
“Why are sales dropping?”
“What’s the biggest bottleneck?”
“Which products are underperforming?” 

It’s wild how much “hidden” data Sidekick can dig up for you.

If you need help making sense of the data + a custom 90-day plan to grow (or get out of a plateau), you know where to find us. 😉

(Actually, just in case you don't, you can do it here 😆)

Last week, during Meta Performance Summit, the company presented huge updates.

I'll cut to the chase:

If you’re still obsessing over
Last-click ROAS...
Attribution hacks...
Or lazy ASC campaigns… 

You’re officially behind.

At last week’s Meta Performance Summit, the message was loud and clear:
⤷ ROAS is dead.
⤷ Profit, incrementality, and signal quality are the new gods. 

Here’s a recap of the top updates you should know:

📉 1. Meta vs ROAS: The Era of Proxy Metrics Is Over

The days of being rewarded for vanity metrics are gone.

Meta is pivoting hard toward incremental lift and profit-based outcomes.

Why?
⤷ Meta inventory is limited
⤷ Advertiser demand keeps rising
⤷ Growth has slowed in NA + Europe
⤷ CPMs are up, but conversions? Not so much

Meta’s fix?

A full-stack overhaul: VBO (Value-Based Optimization), incremental delivery, clean data, and AI-powered attribution.

You’re no longer optimizing for what’s trackable.
You’re optimizing for what actually moves the business.

🎯 2. Creative = Targeting Now 

Meta said it. We’ve seen it too:

"The best targeting strategy in 2025 is diversified, signal-rich creative."

(It's not necessarily about an ad volume game, though.)

Here’s how smart brands are using it:
⤷ Partnership Ads = Lower CAC (up to -19%)
⤷ Creator UGC = Authenticity + Reach + Performance
⤷ Custom conversion events → Better signals → Smarter delivery
⤷ Reels = Still Meta’s MVP (50% of IG time, 90% watched with sound on)

Your new targeting strategy isn’t a lookalike audience.

It’s a modular Reel, delivered by a trusted voice, optimized for outcome.

⚙️ 3. The New Meta Stack Is All About Profit

Let’s make it plain:
⤷ VBO now lets you bid for gross profit, not just purchases
⤷ Incremental delivery finds net-new buyers, not just retargets
⤷ AI agents are coming… and they’ll convert for you inside the ad
⤷ LTVision + Opportunity Score = your new operator dashboards
⤷ Lift studies are table stakes (if you’re spending $500+/day, push for one)

The machine is smarter. But only if you feed it smarter inputs. 

If you’re still running last-click playbooks in a value-based system...
You're not just leaving money on the table...
You're playing the wrong game entirely. 

Want the deep dive? Charley’s breakdown is worth your next coffee break.

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

Would you spend 8 years building a product before launch? 

David Bean did.
And it paid off. 

On this week’s episode of The DTC Insider podcast, Brian Roisentul sat down with David Bean, the founder of NIRA, the brand bringing pro-grade laser skincare into people’s homes, without the clinic, without the fluff.

Check it out. 👇

We discussed: 

👉 The journey from engineering to developing skincare technology
👉 Making professional laser treatments accessible for at-home use
👉 The challenges and time investment behind Nira’s eight-year development
👉 Building consumer trust in a competitive skincare market
👉 The role of AI in enhancing skincare effectiveness
👉 Overcoming skepticism from industry experts during the early stages
👉 Using a 90-day money-back guarantee to establish credibility
👉 Enhancing customer engagement through gamification
👉 The importance of clinical validation for product effectiveness
👉 Expanding into future innovations like laser hair removal and acne treatments 

Tune in:

📺 YouTube
🎧 Spotify
🎙️ Apple
🌐 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

📰 Trump likely will delay TikTok ban again
📰 TikTok Updates Smart+
📰 Google Tests AI Versions of High-Profile Influencers

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