Happy Sunday!
Everyone I talked to this past week said they feel like they got hit by a bus (metaphorically… hopefully) with work, so I hope if that was you too, you took some time this weekend to relax and reset yourself.
Next Sunday, I'm going to have a new DTC Brand Launch deck available. If there's one thing you want to make sure is addressed in that deck, reply to this email with what it is. (PS, I get all your responses and love reading them) 😊
For today's email, I wanted to do exactly what the subject line says: give you 5 things that I find people often overlook that can make a big difference for your business, I know they have for mine!
So, here are 5 things that I always love to do which are not only forgotten or overlooked but will also make you better than your competition:
1. Respond to every comment on your Facebook & Instagram ads
You'd be shocked how many times comments go unanswered, which leads to more customers with the same unanswered questions, or even worse, insights for you on how to make your homepage, product page, or landing page better.
When spending 7-figure/month budgets on paid social, responding to ad comments from the page that is advertising can reduce your acquisition cost by about 20% on avg, sometimes more.
In addition, you'll find that if you have common questions being asked in your comments, you can use those insights to tweak your ad copy, website copy, etc. to make things more obvious. A portfolio company of mine this week told me they always get asked if their products are TSA-friendly, and my response was to put that in the ad copy and the website. The conversion rate went up.
2. Make your ad unit aesthetically pleasing
This doesn't mean that you need to go all out with designers on your ad, though it should be "Thumb Stopping Content". This means, (on mobile) make the way your ad copy fits on one or two lines look good. Either just use one line, or use 2 full lines, don't just do one line with one word on the second line.
Do the same with the ad copy above the image/video. You shouldn't have to click "See More" to get the punch line of the ad.
3. Run your website and creative by someone who's not drinking the Kool-Aid
If you follow me on Twitter, you've probably seen me say "If your ad is too complicated for a drunk person to understand it, you need to fix it." It's true.
But if you don't want to drink, then show it to someone who's not looking at your brand on a day-to-day basis. Mom, Grandma, sisters, etc. If they can't figure out exactly why they should spend the money, then no one will.
4. Don't look at isolated performance on marketing channels, look at your holistic numbers
When you add a channel like Quantcast (programmatic display) or LiveIntent (programmatic display inside newsletters), you can't just look at the view-through CPA, nor can you look at just the click-through CPA, you have to think about it as a larger marketing strategy and look at your CPA as total customers/total spend across Facebook, Google, Quantcast, etc.
In most cases, you'll realize your macro CPA drops while you're able to get more customers, but just looking at an isolated one will either make you happy or angry. Look at the macro.
5. Focus on the WHY, not the WHAT
When you are buying a Rolls Royce, you're not buying it because it gets you from A to B on wheels, you're buying it for the comfort, the luxury, the brand equity, and status that a Rolls Royce gives you.
In a similar fashion, when someone is browsing (and that too on a social platform, not a shopping marketplace), it's incredibly important to focus on selling the reason they want this product in their life.
It's not just "flavored water," it's a great way to stay on your diet with fruit-infused goodness that has no sugar, sweeteners, or anything artificial.
It's not just an "emergency preparedness kit," it's a way to ensure your family is safe when a disaster strikes without warning, leaving no time for you to prepare.
The easiest place to figure out your WHY is your ad comments from past customers, inbound customer DMs, customer service emails, or just random tweets like this. Or, if you don't have any of that, think about how you'd explain why someone should buy it to a friend... focus on outcomes, not value props!
Now, on to some fun stuff...
Software/App of the Week:
Gorgias — Customer Service made easy
After drinking matcha with Liz Eswein a few months ago and watching her answer customer service tickets with full responses on her phone with a few taps, I was convinced that Gorgias is going to change the way merchants deal with customer service.
Gorgias really does make it a few taps to respond to tickets, which means spending less time writing out full responses, looking for a customer's order, etc. It's all done on one screen with an emphasis on speed. If you haven't tried it out, at least check out their website.
Try it out here: Gorgias
Brand of the Week:
Eight Sleep — The Tesla of Mattresses
Over the last 2 years, I've been using an Eight Sleep mattress and Pod Pro. I put an emphasis on sleeping better because I realized: if I get less than 8 hours, I work slow; if I sleep 8 hours, I work well; If I sleep 9 hours I can be twice as efficient with my work.
The bed helps get you into deep sleep/REM, and wakes you without an alarm, allowing your body full restorative rest. You also get full sleeping statistics in your app, which allows you to understand how things like alcohol, heavy foods, or sickness affect your sleep and how to combat it.
If you get the Pod Pro Cover (highly recommend) and think about it as a 1-year investment, it's $4.30 per day. Would you rather spend $5 on a latte because you got poor sleep or $4.30 to get incredible sleep, proper muscle/brain recovery, and wake up feeling like you can take over the world?
Matteo and Alexandra, the founders, have offered my newsletter a 10% discount with code SHARMA10 at checkout!
Take a look here: Eight Sleep
On that note of sleep, I hope you get a full 9 hours of sleep tonight and have an incredible upcoming week! You can always reply here with your favorite emoji, what you had for dinner last night, or just to say hi!