TikTok’s New Commerce Features, Advantage+ and Shopping Ads Updates, and More

Welcome to this issue of The DTC Insider newsletter. 👋

Seems like everyone in the DTC space attended Shoptalk this week. I can't believe I missed it! Feeling major FOMO right now, so sorry for taking up a few seconds of your time with these lines.

Anyway…

If you're new to our community, welcome! We'll send you weekly emails, every Wednesday, trying our best to deliver great value to your inbox.

Topics we’ll cover today:

💠 Instagram Ads is On 🔥 With These Updates

💠 TikTok’s New Commerce Features

💠 Reviving Jeans, Saving Lives, and Donating 90% of Profit

Instagram Ads is On 🔥 With These Updates

After Meta's crash - which caused multiple issues for many advertisers - there's light at the end of the tunnel.

The company has recently announced many updates for advertisers, which are relevant for DTC brands.

Let's go through them!

Ads with promo codes:

Instagram advertisers can entice potential shoppers with promo codes listed in the caption, which can then be applied in the checkout process.

That’ll provide another way to drive sales from your IG promotions, while also giving you another way to track IG sales, based on the promo code entered.

According to Meta: "Advertisers who used this feature had a 9.1% median reduction in cost per purchase in their campaigns and a 10.1% median increase in conversions."

Product Tags now on Instagram Ads:

Product tags allow people to shop via an ad and make a purchase.

In March, Meta will bring ads with product tags to Facebook Feed (currently Instagram only).

And in April, they’ll launch the global availability of ads with product tags to all businesses.

Videos can now be used in more products in Meta’s Advantage suite:

First is Advantage+ creative optimizations, which can now automatically optimize video ads for viewing on Reels or the mobile Facebook and Instagram apps with 9:16 ratio.

Advantage+ creative optimizations also helps advertisers dynamically create multiple variations of an ad so that it can personalize them to what a person responds to best.

Second, advertisers using Advantage+ catalog ads will be able to import and use creative like branded videos or customer demonstration videos, instead of just static images.

Lastly, in January, Meta launched the ability for advertisers to use Advantage+ creative with their Advantage+ catalog campaigns.

Advertisers will now be able to upload a “hero” image in the center of their catalog ad, and they’ll then use Meta’s AI to dynamically show people the best products from their catalog to drive performance.

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TikTok’s New Commerce Features

TikTok keeps adding more e-commerce features, aiming for a seamless shopping journey for both users and brands.

There are 3 main updates:

Video Shopping Ads:

Based on tests, TikTok says, Video Shopping Ads get 31.6% higher click-attributed ROAS versus non-catalog solutions.

Since March 18th, Video Shopping Ads is officially available globally, with the following key updates:

👉 Simplified onboarding: their strategic partnership with Shopify makes it easier to launch a campaign. New merchants can seamlessly integrate their catalog and data connections with TikTok, launching their first Video Shopping Ads campaign using pre-populated campaign settings and best practices, directly within Shopify.

👉 New creative formats: brands can now automatically populate their product catalog into formats like Carousel and Product Tiles.

👉 Improved discoverability ensures that Video Shopping Ads are now searchable, extending beyond the For You page.

The Shop Tab:

This offers users a convenient way to explore and shop for products.

Shop Ads Product Card format:

Merchants can now leverage the Shop Ads Product Card format within the Shop Tab, maximizing their visibility (previously only available on the For You Page).

With Shop Ads extended placements on the Shop Tab, TikTok Shop merchants can promote their products directly within the Shop Tab with just an image and details from their product catalog.

Reviving Jeans, Saving Lives, and Donating 90% of Profit

In today's episode of The DTC Insider podcast, we delve into how BOAS measures success beyond revenue and instead focuses on making a difference.

Discover how they saved their first life last year and learn about their disruptive approach to profitability by donating 90% of their profits.

We also explore their insights into growth marketing, the transition from online to physical stores, and their vision for the future of sustainable fashion.

On this episode of The DTC Insider podcast, we discussed:

👉 Rethinking success
👉 The emotional journey behind BOAS' mission
👉 Donating 90% of profits in a DTC landscape
👉 Exploring the journey of writing a book
👉 The decision to open a physical store
👉 The future of sustainable fashion

🎧 Tune in to our latest episode: https://thedtcinsider.com/c/podcast

Want to check out more podcast episodes?

Here are some of the top-listened episodes:

💎 Supplement Brand Bootstrapped $10,000 and Built It Into Sales of $30 Million in Three Years with Ronak Shah

💎 LinkedIn's "Top E-Commerce Voice" Reveals The #1 Struggle for DTC Brands with Neal Goyal

💎 Jon Loomer’s Take on the Evolution of Paid Ads and The Importance of Short-form Video with Jon Loomer

💎 How Frost Buddy Went From $0 to $30M in Under 3 Years with Brock Mammoser

💎 Give Up Your Stuff, Not Your Dream with Jules Weldon and Stacey Pierce

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