Happy Sunday!
It's become very clear from the replies I get that this email usually involves a ritual to get cozy and read through the email. All I can say is - thank you! It means the world that you even take the time out of your Sunday evening or Monday morning to read through what I write about.
A couple of important updates before I get into today's email, which is all about creators.
First update – we got SO many inbound requests for pitches. I am getting through them slowly, but if you don't get a pitch yet, please know it's coming. We also had to put the waitlist deposit back on HOOX because our team got so booked up (and we had our first Fortune 100 brand get a page!).
Second update - it was my birthday this past week. Thank you to everyone for all the love on social media. I think my Twitter account saw 1.4M impressions + engagements over a 24-hour period. I appreciate you all and can't wait to see what we all do in the next year!
So tomorrow is July 4th, and you're probably just chilling or you're yearning to get back to grilling some BBQ, so I'm not going to make today's email insanely long. But, it is Sunday evening, so let's go through the checklist. Please ensure you are sitting back, relaxed, you've got a beverage in your hand (maybe an Onda or Cann), and you're ready to dive into all things creator.
This past week in Los Angeles, I hosted a dinner with some awesome founders + marketers from brands like Ridge Wallet, Hex Clad, Solawave, Bite Toothpaste, Olipop, 100 Thieves, Liquid IV, and more. First off, lots of the things that everyone is experiencing are quite true - it's getting much harder to acquire customers, and just running a playbook with ads isn't enough today.
One thing I realized spending more time with LA CPG folks is they emphasize content a lot more, especially content that lives in the middle of the funnel, or between when someone is aware of the brand and someone is ready to make a purchase.
It's never even a question of, are we doing enough on paid to handle that middle space. The thought is simply, "We need to be creating a lot more content to get people excited to try us." It's a different way of thinking than how most venture-backed brands think about growing — it's a very creator-focused way of thinking (see contextual tweet here).
In LA, I also spent more time with Danny Duncan, one of the largest YouTubers in the US, making well over 8-figures in revenue through his DTC + wholesale channels with merch.
As I keep talking with more founders, creators, and massive creators (influencers, YouTubers, celebrities), it becomes more clear that the brands who think like creators are going to win in the long run.
On Friday morning, I got coffee with JT Barnett, and we were discussing a CPG brand that I just purchased and how to grow it. This is what we are going to do:
We are going to mainly grow awareness for the brand with smart organic content across Twitter, TikTok, and Reels. To do this, we are going to hire JT to recruit a content creator (like the girl you see behind Olipop's TikTok content) to produce content that pushes the brand story and education behind the problem it solves.
The goal is that not only will this solve for a smart and tactical top-of-funnel awareness, but we'll also be able to fill the void in the consideration phase with content — when someone is aware of the brand/product and when someone is excited and ready to give it a try or make a purchase.
When something does well organically, we're going to put paid dollars behind that. Everything will be focused on telling stories to different personas, showing how we will solve different problems for different people.
For example, with Hint, we sold one main product — flavored water. But we had a handful of different customer types that would buy. We'll do the same thing here, and take advantage of platforms that still favor organic reach and engagement.
On top of that, we'll use tools like Northbeam and HOOX landing pages to ensure that we are always navigating our marketing with the best data and giving ourselves the best possible at-bat with optimized landing pages.
So why am I listing out how I plan to grow this? Well, the punchline of today's email is:
Be more like LA brand founders — focus on creating good content. Know that the keys to you doing more is in your hands, and it's up to how much more content you want to create for your audience or to find new audiences of customers. Be anal about understanding the analytics behind what's working, and what's not working. Don't just rely on paid traffic to build your business — it may have worked in the years past, but today you should really look at paid media as a form of expanding what is already working.
PS — JT is launching a content hub with 5 hours full of TikTok education for brands. It'll include getting familiar with TikTok, all the way to how he thinks brands should be sourcing creators, creating content, etc. By the end, you'll be independently able to create TikTok videos quickly, know what to create, how to read analytics, and how to work with creators. It's not live yet, but I asked JT to create a Google Form for early sign-ups, which you can fill out — sign up here. And if you can't afford the course, that's fine too! I highly recommend you follow his content, go into the comments of his videos (they're all creators looking to work with brands), and see what his clients do on the platform.
Hopefully, this was helpful... now on to some fun stuff before we go back to the July 4th grills...
Vendor of the Week:
#paid — The most efficient platform to build and launch a TikTok campaign for your brand
Ok, so this newsletter talked a lot about scaling your organic TikTok presence. One thing I learned this past week from Steven at Olipop that works really well, is getting other creators on the platform to create content with Olipop. For example, recently the whole trend of balsamic vinaigrette and sparkling water went viral for a "healthy Coke". Immediately, Steven reached out and got Olipop Vintage Cola (top 5 drinks in a can) to her to create content.
With another portfolio company of mine, we have low COGs and low shipping costs, so we sent products to 100 TikTok creators. Whatever did well (let's say 20% of those), we boosted that content and it crushed for conversion. Cody Plofker, CMO at Jones Road Beauty, does this a lot with his customers who create content on TikTok.
Today, #paid now has direct integration with TikTok, so you can:
- Create the campaign, choose the creators, and send the product
- Look at the analytics of each post (they have better measurement tools, as a benefit of their TikTok integration)
- Instantly turn these creator's posts into ads (again, because of their TikTok integration)
So just within the #paid platform itself, you can run TikTok, start to finish, the way it should be run, with whitelisted creator content.
If you want to see how easy it can be to get this live for your brand, click this link and fill out the form. Someone at #paid will reach out to you and give you the full rundown.
Myself, my clients, my portfolio companies, and Fortune 500 brands use #paid. Click this link, fill out the form, and join us!
Jobs of the Week:
Clevr Blends — Head of DTC Growth
BALLS — Growth Marketing Lead
Rythm — Director of Growth Marketing
If you're looking to hire someone, submit your job description at this link to have your job featured, or check out MarketerHire to instantly hire!
Question of the Week:
What's the best birthday gift for someone who has everything they could already want, materially?
Brand of the Week:
Yellow Beauty — The turmeric-infused beauty products you NEED on your bathroom shelf
Not only am I obsessed with the website, the visual identity of the brand, the packaging design, the photography, and the use of videos, but the products are INCREDIBLE.
I have been using this for the last couple of weeks, and my skin is glowing. Whether you have a skincare routine or you don't, I highly recommend adding a few products from Yellow Beauty into your routine.
It was founded by a couple in Canada and they make and fulfill everything themselves, which makes the products even more special. Find something you need, and pick it up from here.
That's all for this week
I know this newsletter was a lot shorter than usual, but I hope it was still helpful or got you to think about creating content as more leverage for your brand.
Personally, I had the best birthday week in Los Angeles (even though my license expired and I couldn't drive). Not only did I get to meet with so many amazing people, but I also got to crash the Feat Clothing opening party (check it out here).
If you're drinking alcohol, make sure you hydrate extra tonight and tomorrow. Get those 9 hours of sleep, stay healthy, stay hydrated, get a sweat in, and enjoy the day off tomorrow!
Thank you!! 😊
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