???? Driving revenue, Mo Gawdat, benchmarks & more

Hello friends,

Last night, Steve and I went to the O2 with our friend Mo Gawdat, who has hit the headlines this following his appearance on Steven Barlett’s emergency Diary Of A CEO episode, “Ex-Google Officer Finally Speaks Out On The Dangers Of AI!”

In the episode, which Steven describes as “one of the most important episodes (he has) ever recorded”, Mo, former Chief Business Officer of Google X expresses his belief that AI holds the potential to surpass human intelligence, presenting a challenge greater than climate change and how AI could totally reshape the world we live in within just a few years.

I was recently criticised by an influencer on Instagram who said by giving AI airtime, I am fuelling it more.

Although I understand that many people are currently either concerned or in denial, this?genie is well out of the bottle, the cat is out of the bag, you can’t unring a bell, the horse has bolted, the train has left the station….. It had already left before Chat GPT was unveiled last year, but as Mo explains in this episode, it is putting AI on the open web that was a major turning point for our futures.?

This is precisely the reason I talk about AI so much.?

If you have any doubts about the changes happening in the world, please listen to?Mo on Steven Bartlett.?

Anyway, back to the O2.

I’m not going to pretend I knew that much about former Pink Floyd Frontman Roger Waters and his?'This is Not A Drill' tour until last night, as of course I am way too young.?

The show is pitched as a ‘groundbreaking new rock & roll/cinematic extravaganza, a stunning indictment of the corporate dystopia in which we all struggle to survive, and a call to action to love, protect, and share our precious and precarious planet home’.

But what I loved most was seeing the passion and talent of this 79-year-old man, who can fill stadiums, play multiple instruments, put on a stunning show and generally not let age get in the way of spreading his message and having a great time.

On to today's topics:

?Four key takeaways for ecommerce brands from our presentation at Amazon HQ for Amazon’s Sustainability Accelerator.

?To (Tiktok) live or not to (Tiktok) Live - that is the question, but what is the answer.

?Partner slot: How to collect genuine reviews from your happy customers in under 10 minutes with reviews.io?

?Why I’ve invested in Spacegoods.

?Focus and the real key to driving revenue in ecommerce.

Four key takeaways for ecommerce brands from our day at Amazon HQ.

This week, we were immersed in the dynamic world of sustainability at Amazon HQ in London for Amazon's Sustainability Accelerator.?

The programme brings together a diverse group of brands committed to developing sustainable products and driving positive change, all of whom are being supported and guided by Amazon themselves both in terms of learning and education, as well as with grants, Amazon advertising credits, free office space at Amazon in London and Berlin, mentoring from Amazon leaders and scientists AND access to Amazon Launchpad.

And it’s a programme that works. Last year, Amazon’s accelerator participants, including nine companies from the UK and Ireland, raised over ￡4.5 million and achieved an average sales increases of more than 250% on and off Amazon.?

When it came to helping this cohort of brands with their D2C / Shopify channel and creative strategy, Amazon called on us.?

So Cassi and I duly headed to Amazon HQ to run through everything e-commerce, covering underlying unit economics for consumer brands, creative strategy, tech stacks, advertising channels, budget splits, and rise of Tiktok and more….

Here are our key takeaways from the day?

??The only true benchmarks against which to ‘score’ yourself are your own?

All brands are intrigued by benchmarks.?

How are their competitors doing? What are their CPAs and costs? What would be good for a brand in whatever vertical and what would be bad.?

While this is a useful exercise, as it gives you a sense of the direction you're heading in and a sense of what's good and bad, ultimately, the only benchmark you can mark yourself against is that of your own brand.?

What you need to determine is not what brand A or brand B in your vertical are achieving, but when you use everything that you have to its full potential, what actually is your brand capable of achieving, and how can you maintain and better that.?

To give an illustration, beauty brands ask us every day, what should the CPA for a beauty brand be??

Broadly and globally speaking, beauty brands, when benchmarked achieve CPAs of around ￡20 to ￡25.?

Yet we know brands with CPAs at ￡6 or ￡15, and those with them higher at ￡45. The brand with higher CPAs can still be runaway successes if their other ‘unit economics’ stack up.?

So the usefulness of a benchmark is limited. It is more useful to pull out all guns blazing and push your brand to a point where you can understand what CPA it is capable of achieving.?

And from that moment on, not to settle for anything less.?

Because efficiency at the front end of your business, at the customer acquisition point, filters through the entire business to its profit line and value.?

Right now, I know of brands in beauty running CPAs of ￡65, when they are perfectly capable of achieving far lower CPAs.

Personally, I wouldn’t be willing to settle for that because I know it would open my brand up to risk of being overtaken by competitors, plus I personally hate it when money is not deployed efficiently!?

Benchmarks are useful, but the actual 'scores' you want to score yourself against are those of your own best (brand) self.?

Once you know the best CPA for your brand, then, notwithstanding good days and bad days, you can take steps accordingly to maintain that, and remove the distraction of what your competitors are doing.

?People buy from people

At Bolt Digital, we wholeheartedly believe in the power of founder stories to captivate audiences and drive performance.?

A number of Amazon accelerator brands shared their experiences of achieving improved results by leveraging non-professional creatives, especially self-filmed videos featuring the founders themselves.?

Unsurprisingly, these authentic and personal narratives resonated deeply with their audience.?

This is equally important in PR efforts. There are limits to what can be said about a product and what mainstream media will be interested in about a product, but there are an abundance of stories, missions, and personal journeys that founders can share.?

People connect with people, and this connection has the potential to forge lasting relationships and drive brand loyalty.

By sharing the reasons behind your brand's existence and the personal journeys that have led to its creation, you'll establish a genuine connection with your audience that goes beyond the product itself.

??Tight or broad targeting - both are right

When it comes to Facebook campaigns, the question always arises: should you opt for broad targeting, leverage full automation like ASC, or adopt a tightly targeted approach to reach clearly defined audiences?

Opinions on this matter vary, with some experts in ad operations advocating for a broad targeting strategy, while others emphasise the benefits of narrow, highly targeted interests.?

I personally love ASC, and I love manual campaigns too.

And to be honest, the one I love the most in any situation is the one that delivers the best result, which is predictably inconsistent across brands!

At Bolt Digital, we believe that there is no definitive answer as to what works best and one thing you will never get from us is such a dictact. Instead, it's crucial to ride the waves of Facebook advertising and adapt accordingly.

Just like a skilled surfer adjusts their approach to catch the perfect wave, digital marketers need to be flexible in their campaign strategies.?

Or think of it as driving a car. Many people can drive a car in either manual or automatic mode. People can drive along winding country lanes and wide open motorways.?

There may be reasons and times as to why you want to drive your car in manual mode and other reasons as to why you would choose automatic mode, why you would choose the winding route and why you’d go straight to the M25.?

We caution against adopting a rigid mindset that declares one approach superior to the other. In reality, our experience across multiple brands has shown a diverse mix of successful outcomes. Some brands thrive using ASC and broad open targeting, while others achieve exceptional results through tight targeting and tailored creatives.

Some brands can even achieve success with both ASC and tightly targeted audiences and engaging creatives.

Being able to operate in both modes, to be able to switch between two and to know when to switch between the two is better than taking any advice from somebody laying down a dictat about how one is better than the other.

Before we conclude this section, I want to give a shout out to two brands in particular that really stood out to me.

Lots of brands talk about sustainability because they have replaced a plastic element of their packaging or launched a recycling scheme for their customers. All of these are valuable actions to take. But what I loved most about Amazon sustainability Incubator was the innovation within the products that were in the room. These two brands have both got innovative solution and are already making fast progress thanks to digital marketing and publicity.?

?Milky Plant. Fresh Plant Milk in 3 minutes

The Milky Plant is an easy and eco-friendly solution to the lack of clean and healthy plant-based milk in stores. You simply just need to add water and the ingredients of your choice. Existing options are filled with additives and falsely claim to be all-natural, and lacking true health benefits. Their goal is to provide delicious and nutritious plant-based milk that is homemade, ensuring complete control over ingredients and guaranteeing its quality. We also loved the founder, Michael. He has grown his brand really fast and is a highly capable operator (more on the importance of this below.)?

?We.Do.Solar. A smart solar set for your balcony socket

The company enables anyone to cut their electricity costs by installing solar panels on their balcony or fence. The panels have an easy-to-use design, with weatherproof straps, so they can easily be mounted onto balconies by non-tech-savvy users, as well as an app so users can easily track their energy generation. The company was created with the goal of providing equal access to renewable energy for everyone after recognizing the urgency of the energy crisis. A household is able to reduce its CO2 footprint by up to 600 kg and cut electricity bills by up to 25% per year by using we.are.solar.

PARTNER SHOWCASE: How to collect genuine reviews from your happy customers in under 10 minutes with reviews.io?

In an era where consumers increasingly rely on reviews to inform their purchasing decisions - with a staggering 94% citing reviews as influential in their buying journey - the importance of platforms like our partner REVIEWS.io cannot be overstated.?

And what we love about Reviews.io is that it does so much more than just reviews!?

The intuitive interface of REVIEWS.io, a Google Licensed Partner, makes it seamless for brands to gather feedback, track performance, and display genuine, engaging content across various channels.?

This versatility integrates with all major e-commerce platforms (including Shopify, Magento, BigCommerce, and more) and interfaces smoothly with other complementary technologies (ESPs, helpdesks, subscriptions) to create a comprehensive review management system.

Beyond collecting reviews, ratings, and visual content, their feature set includes "Sessions & Replays" for a clear, in-depth view of customer activity on your site.?

This tool allows businesses to identify pivotal moments such as cart abandonment or interactions with specific review widgets, offering valuable insights to craft targeted strategies to improve user experience.

Recognizing the challenges brands face with the impending removal of third-party data collection, REVIEWS.io has also launched "Surveys," a feature designed to gather zero-party data directly from their platform. This approach ensures brands can collect essential customer data in a non-intrusive manner, offering a viable solution in the evolving landscape of data privacy.

Plus, the platform's sophisticated review mining tools empower businesses to know their customers better, creating opportunities to boost brand loyalty and shape remarkable customer experiences.

Find out how REVIEWS.io can help your business grow with a product walkthrough and consultation.?https://www.reviews.io/front/lets-chat?

Incremental gain, or difference that will make the difference? Tiktok Lives...

One topic that's been causing quite a buzz in our community is the rise of Tiktok and its accompanying Tiktok Live.

What do we think of it / should brands do it and most importantly, will it be the miracle cure that will lead to overnight success??

We often describe tactics and actions taken by brands as being in the world of ‘incremental gains’, or in the world of being ‘the difference that will make the difference’.?

So which camp do we place Tiktok Live in??

Live streaming and live shopping will (possibly) change the game, and there's no denying its dynamism and potential.?

It's crafting a whole new digital shopping experience that's captivating younger generations with its real-time engagement and instant gratification opportunities.

Live shopping's projections are nothing short of staggering - with expectations of sales tripling to a whopping $1.2 trillion by 2025 globally and potentially boosting the US e-commerce profit to $35 billion in 2024 alone.?

But whilst brands everywhere know Tiktok ‘Live’ is a thing that could lead to increased sales and enriched shopping experiences, not so many are actively dedicating resources to it.?

This is despite the fact that 67% of Tiktok users even claim TikTok inspires them to shop when they had no initial intention of buying anything at all.

I’ve been livestreaming on Tiktok with Biz Kids each week and it is without doubt the live element and the real-time activity of my Tiktok activity that resulted in the most parents and children finding Biz Kids, alongside the importance of daily posts. So I’m a fan.

Live's consistently provides us with a significant boost and sees up to 2000 people discover Biz Kids.

But when it comes to ecommerce, here’s what we advise brands on Tiktok live.?

? TikTok Lives DO significantly increase views and followers.?

Walmart's live shopping event earned seven times more views than expected, and their TikTok following grew by 25%. Even smaller brands have experienced substantial success on TikTok, with fashion business owner, Sumayah Saadi achieving remarkable growth in her business, starting from generating ￡500 in just 30 minutes to being able to generate ￡50,000 in a span of 2 hours. Don’t be afraid to ask for likes as it will equally help to promote your live.?

??Tiktok Lives DO NOT equal overnight success

At D2C Live, Benefit Cosmetics shared their experiences of investing in live shopping and the results (in terms of sales) could have been described as disappointing - if you were expecting to double your revenue overnight that is. Of course, Benefit Cosmetics, being such shrewd operators, recognised that in fact this channel is like most other things in life. It takes time to get good at it, the results improve with consistency and audiences have to learn to expect you to go live. Brands who have had the best success with their lives went live every day for at least an hour, if not two hours. It's also important to constantly be engaging with the audience. Do promotions and use the giveaway tool. By doing flash sales early on, or at the 1 hour mark, it keeps viewers engaged by creating a sense of urgency, facilitating spontaneous purchases.?

??TikToks Lives DO appeal to younger audiences

Over half of TikTok's user base belongs to Gen Z and millennials, and research reveals that 40% of this demographic have made at least one purchase while watching a social media livestream. With Gen Z's purchasing power currently estimated at $360 billion, this market represents a significant opportunity for brands. The presenter is also a crucial element for a great live. By being able to have a chat and talk about common interests with your audience, it keeps them engaged. Another element which works well for brands is to look like your target audience. Are you selling to men or women? And are they Gen Z or Millennial? The most experienced brands feature multiple presenters, ie in fashion, they will have presents of different sizes to showcase what items look like.

??Tiktok Lives DO NOT always equal purchases?

TikTok attracts users who often seeking funny and entertaining content, with 78% of its user base falling into this category. People's time on the app could be more aligned to relaxing in front of the television than browsing a catalogue for something to buy. So bear in mind, it is the regularity of going live that will build an engaged audience who then buy from you.?

? Tiktok Lives DO give you real-time audience connection.?

The real-time audience connection facilitated by TikTok Live Shopping is a valuable asset for brands. By engaging with their followers in real-time, brands can build relationships and establish trust. During live streams, they can share dynamic links to products and services and even provide demonstrations, further enhancing their credibility and increasing the chances of making sales. I can 100% vouch for this from my own experience with Biz Kids.?

?Tiktok shops DO NOT have yet have the best reputation.

Although making purchases within the TikTok app is a convenient process, many users still feel uneasy about shopping in this manner, most likely caused by media attention surrounding Tiktok's data collection and reflected in reviews on Tiktok shops Trustpilot page. That said, I have never known any other social platform give as much support to brands, individual users and agencies in order to find out what help people need and prove themselves as reliable platform partner. I have even spoken to Meta about this and how much more support from Tiktok than is from Facebook. I am certain Tiktok will continue to progress and grow the reputation of Tiktok shop.

So, incremental gain, or difference that will make the difference?

Our conclusion is that TikTok Live Shopping presents brands with a powerful avenue for engaging with consumers, driving sales, and enhancing their overall marketing strategy. The platform's ability to reach larger audiences, increase views and followers, facilitate real-time audience connections, tap into a younger consumer market, and provide a vibrant e-commerce environment make it a compelling choice for brands looking to expand their digital presence.

BUT - it takes time and resources.?You need people to present.?If we all had all the time in the world, I'm sure we could all crush it. Some brands are live for many hours, and therefore it’s not as easy during a busy working day.?

For now, we’re placing Tiktok Lives in the world of incremental gains, it's worth focus and steady progress, but don't enter into it with unrealistic expectations of it being an overnight silver bullet.?

??Why I invested in Spacegoods??

If you were at D2C Live, you will have seen Spacegoods take to the stage to pitch to our audience. And I wanted to let you know that I have now personally invested in Spacegoods.

And why?

One key principle I believe gives brands the extra strenght they need is being lead by individuals who can really execute - the self-taught, math-savvy go-getters who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty. These are the people who demonstrate agility, resourcefulness, and the ability to navigate multiple areas of the complexity that is an ecommerce business with at least a degree of ease.?

They are what I call 'performance marketing types', but their skills extend far beyond the realm of performance marketing.

John Bailey of Revive Collagen, Matt Kelly of Spacegoods, the founders at Triple Whale, the ecommerce analytics platform I also invested in, perfectly embody this archetype.

And they are pretty rare people.?These individuals are autodidacts, incredibly intelligent and on top of that, will teach themselves everything there is to know about whatever it is they need to know.?

Their presence at the helm of an ecommerce business basically protects that business, as much as is possible, from all the things that drag other ecommerce businesses or teams down, such as carrying too much overhead, over reliance of expensive agencies, inability to create and publish assets at pace… the list goes on.?

Many traditional retail brands can extract numerous valuable lessons from these rare but capable individuals.?

Take John Bailey as an example; an incredible operator leading a highly successful brand, Revive Collagen, with a lean but highly effective team of four.?Four! I know brands that struggle to do what Revive Collagen have done with a team of 30 or more...

And then there’s Matt Kelly from Spacegoods, a highly competent performance marketer and brand creator and of course, the capability he has to create brands (leanly) and creative assets (differently) is obvious to all who even cast their eye on Spacegoods.?

Ecommerce is not easy. And to give a brand the best chance of success, it helps to have at its helm individuals who embrace agility, foster self-learning, and focus on execution. This is precisely why I decided to invest in Spacegoods.?

If you are interested in investing in Spacegoods, please hit reply to this email and we’ll connect you with the right people.?

??Maintain Focus: The Key To Driving Revenue In A Distracted Market...?

Earlier, we talked about the world of incremental gains and the difference that will make the difference.

For many brands, the difference that will make the difference is actually focus.

In an ever-evolving digital world, the distractions can be many, but our advice to brands remains the same - maintain your focus and consistency on core activities that drive revenue BEFORE you brand into additional activities.

The power of advertising on platforms like Facebook and Google should never be underestimated. These channels are still the channel through which most of our client's media spend is delivered and the channels that drive the most results, financially. This base level of activity is paramount alongside the additional revenue driving activities we deploy.?

A scroll stopping captivating creative can make a significant difference in customer engagement, reducing CPAs and subsequent sales.?

Next on your focus list should be email marketing, a tried and true method that continues to deliver excellent results.?

Believe it or not, even in a down market, simple actions like reinvigorating your email marketing can help you pick up the pace. The goal is to avoid being sidetracked by what everyone else is doing and concentrate instead on revenue-driving activities that have proven effective.

Only once you've mastered these primary revenue-driving activities should you consider exploring additional strategies.

All too often, brands panic and get distracted, when the answer often lies in perfecting the basics.?

Sometimes, as I've often found myself saying, the old-fashioned way is the best way.?

Staying focused, mastering the basics, and sticking to proven strategies may seem like a simplistic approach. However, it's an approach that continues to yield success in the dynamic landscape of e-commerce.

This approach is your engine room. Don’t add on bells and whistles until the engine room is sorted. And that, in our experience, is the key to sustained revenue growth.

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.

??Why does the government want more people to start businesses??

With each week, the kids who join Biz Kids live are getting savvier and savvier.

Listen to Sophia (below) debating why the government wants more people to start more businesses, and how if everyone was running a business, there would be nobody to do the actual work!?

It's always so fascinating to hear the Biz Kids perspectives and witness their wisdom in action! These kids are only 7 - 12 years old and already have such an impressive understanding of the world.?

I can't tell you how lovely it is to see the kids engaging with Biz Kids and thinking about the different ways the world works.?

I think the Biz Kids have got it nailed. What would you add?!

Join the discussion on?Tiktok.?

That's it for this week!?

Thank you for reading :)?

To help continue to build the D2C Live community, please forward this email on to someone you think might like it. Or if easier,?share this link.

We'll be back next Thursday with more growth strategies and insights for ecom and tech brands.

See you next week,

Tash?