Welcome to this issue of The DTC Insider newsletter. 👋
We’re about a month out from BFCM, the time when inboxes turn chaotic, ad costs spike, and everyone fights for attention.
Curious to see how DTC brands are approaching BFCM this year.👇
How early are you kicking off your BFCM strategy this year?
Oh, one more thing!
Starting this week, I’m adding something new to these newsletters:
Insider’s Bite: a bite-sized question, every Thursday, designed to make you pause and think differently about your brand.
No long reads, no tactics.
Just one question that takes 10 seconds to read…and might shift how you see your growth.
Keep an eye out for the first one dropping tomorrow. 👀
Now, let's dive in!
Topics we'll cover today:
💠 You Need to Kill What's Working
💠 3 BFCM Dynamics to Test This Year
💠 How to Unlock Growth by Finding “Empty Buckets”
You Need to Kill What's Working
The other day, I was listening to Curtis Matsko, founder of Portland Leather Goods on the ASOM pod.
He said something that stuck with me:
“To grow to the next level, you need to kill what worked until that moment.”
And he’s right.
In fact, he did it multiple times. First, when he stopped relying on trade shows, then when he left Etsy even though it was printing money, and again when he transitioned fully into Shopify.
Each time, what was once the growth engine became the bottleneck. That’s the part most people don’t talk about.
Because going from 0 to 1 is pure momentum. You don’t need a playbook or fancy strategy. You just need brute force and belief.
But going from 1 to 10? That’s different. Now, the same scrappy moves that got you here start holding you back.
It’s like building a tower out of kids’ blocks. You can keep stacking higher for a while, but eventually, it’s going to fall...not because you stopped growing, but because the foundation wasn’t built for that height.
And the same thing happens with brands. If your internal systems, offers, and decision-making don’t evolve, growth stalls, even when top-line revenue looks “fine”.
So if you’re thinking: “I’m good with the way things are right now”. That’s totally valid. But know that won’t stay true forever.
Why?
Because the game keeps changing...
→ Competitors get sharper.
→ Platforms roll out new rules overnight.
→ Consumer behavior evolves faster than ever.
And if you don’t adapt, the same structure that once helped you scale, becomes the thing that caps your growth.
That’s exactly why I’ve been helping brands build systems, not more tactics. Ones that evolve with the business instead of against it.
If you’re at that point where the old playbook stopped working…this is for you 👇
👉 Join the Early Access Waitlist for the Revenue Efficiency Engine™
→ 5 DTC brands
→ 30 days
→ One goal: uncover and recover hidden profit
Click here to apply for the early access waitlist.
Applications close Oct 31.
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3 BFCM Dynamics to Test This Year
It’s officially that time of year when everyone starts shouting about BFCM “hacks”.
But truth is, most of what you’ll see out there is just recycled playbooks from previous years. And with customer behavior shifting (again), those won’t cut it anymore.
Here are 3 strategies I’ve seen working lately with 7-8 figure brands...not as random tactics, but as dynamics that build real momentum before, during, and after BFCM.
1️⃣ Tiered Offers that Reward Speed and Loyalty
Instead of dropping your biggest discount from day one, build progression into your offers.
Example:
Week 1 (Early Access) → 15% off for subscribers or VIPs
Week 2 (Main Sale) → 20% off storewide
Final 48h (Last Call) → Free gift or bundle incentive
Why it works: it taps into urgency + belonging.
You give early access to your best customers, create social proof momentum, and reward those who take action fast.
2️⃣ Use Lead Gen to Build Hype (Not Just a List)
Instead of launching your BFCM campaign to your audience, build it with them.
Run a pre-sale waitlist or giveaway campaign 2–3 weeks before your sale.
Example ideas:
→ “Win your entire cart” contest
→ “VIP early access” with exclusive perks (first dibs, free upgrade, etc.)
This does 3 things at once:
Builds anticipation (especially on email/SMS)
Boosts engagement algorithms on ads
Gives you new data to segment and personalize your actual BFCM offers later
3️⃣ Don’t Forget Existing Customers
The biggest BFCM mistake? Treating loyal customers like strangers.
Here’s what’s working now:
→ Private VIP sales a few days early (even 24h is enough)
→ “Thank You” upgrades: instead of discounts, offer free shipping or bonus gifts
→ Post-BFCM “Reactivation” emails: with limited-time bundles (“In case you missed out”)
This builds emotional equity, not just AOV.
Because loyalty doesn’t come from discounts, it comes from feeling seen.
If you get this right, BFCM becomes more than a weekend spike.
It becomes a customer-acquisition and retention flywheel for Q1.
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Follow me on LinkedIn for more growth marketing content in the e-commerce space.
How to Unlock Growth by Finding “Empty Buckets”
Kodak wasn’t in the film business.
They were in the memory preservation business.
They just didn’t see it.
And that blind spot cost them everything.
Because when your definition of what you do is too narrow, you stop evolving, even when the world around you changes.
In this week’s episode of The DTC Insider, I share how to spot the “empty buckets” in your business, those underused areas that can unlock your next level of growth.
(Hint: it's not a Meta ads hack.)
Check it out 👇
We discussed:
👉 Why 7–8 figure brands hit plateaus and struggle to scale
👉 The Kodak story and what it teaches about perspective
👉 The “four-quadrant” ad matrix: polished vs. lo-fi, image vs. video
👉 How to identify creative gaps in your ad account
👉 Thinking beyond tactics: the importance of zooming out
👉 Rethinking “customer acquisition” as more than Meta ads
👉 Building layered growth systems with clear goals and actions
👉 Expanding buckets: acquisition, customers, subscribers, affiliates
👉 Spotting empty buckets to uncover new growth opportunities
👉 How strategic structure compounds into recurring growth
More episodes our listeners love:
💎 From Garage to $400 Million: The Portland Leather Goods Story with Curtis Matsko
💎 How Black Rifle Coffee Hit $400M with Donny Jensen
💎 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
Also Happening in the DTC Space
📰 Insights from 100 conversations with ChatGPT Agent mode
📰 Filter out bot traffic in your sessions related reports
📰 TikTok Mandates AI Tool GMV Max for Shop, Sparks Merchant Backlash on Links
What did you think of today's newsletter?
If you found this interesting, please leave us a review. It’d mean the world to me.
About The Writer
Brian Roisentul is the founder & CEO of BSR Digital, a growth marketing agency he started in 2013 to help e-commerce brands unlock hidden revenue by identifying misalignments between their marketing and customer behavior. He is also the host of The DTC Insider podcast, where he interviews thought leaders, founders, and directors in the e-commerce space.
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