Ep 558: Creative Strategy in the Andromeda Era: What Actually Works on Meta Now
Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signupIn this episode, we sit down with Aves, Creative Lead & Partnerships at Pilothouse Digital, to unpack how DTC brands must rethink their creative strategy in the age of Meta’s Andromeda algorithm.For performance marketers and DTC founders scaling from $5–20M+.Tactical Takeaways:Why the “one winner ad” model no longer works in Meta’s current landscapeHow to identify customer motivations (not just demographics) and map them to creativeA practical framework for testing hooks: swap visuals first, not just voiceovers or copyHow to build a full creative range — from low-effort UGC to high-budget studio work — for each personaWhat creative audits should look like heading into Q4 and how to avoid “noise” in your ad accountWho this is for: DTC brand founders, heads of creative, performance marketersWhat to steal:Steal the “motivation-based segmentation” mindset in your ad strategySteal the 3–5 second visual hook test framework (visual first, audio later)Steal the creative range checklist (iPhone shot → studio shot) to audit your account this weekTimestamps00:00 Understanding Motivations and Creative Diversity02:00 How Meta’s Andromeda Update Changed Creative Strategy05:00 Building a Full Creative Range from UGC to Studio Content07:00 Why Niching Down Helps You Scale Up09:00 Moving Beyond “Winner” Ads and Budget Distribution11:00 How to Research Audiences Using Reddit and Reviews13:00 Avery’s Hook Testing Framework and Meta Insights17:00 Common Creative Mistakes and Noise in Ad Accounts19:00 How to Audit Creative Diversity for Q4 Success21:00 Creative Audits, Partnerships, and Avery’s Process23:00 Lessons from Hosting the Ad-Venturous PodcastHashtags#DTCpodcast #AdVenturous #CreativeStrategy #MetaAds #AndromedaEra #PerformanceMarketing #AdCreative #Pilothouse #EcommerceGrowth #DigitalMarketing #CreativeTesting #AdOptimization #MarketingStrategy #UGC #AgencyLife Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signupAdvertise on DTC - https://dtcnews.link/advertiseWork with Pilothouse - https://www.pilothouse.co/?utm_source=AKNF558Follow us on Instagram & Twitter - @dtcnewsletterWatch this interview on YouTube - https://dtcnews.link/video
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Bonus: How &Collar Uses Intelligems to Drive Growth with Pricing, Persona & Shipping Tests
Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signupIn this episode of the DTC Podcast, we talk with Ben Perkins, founder of &Collar — a men’s performance dress shirt brand that’s scaling smart by rigorously testing what works. Ben breaks down how they use Intelligems to uncover pricing and shipping threshold wins, and how they’re segmenting customers to align messaging and creative for maximum return.What you’ll learn in this episode:How a 4-way price test on a single SKU using Intelligems led to an extra $1.99/unit without conversion lossThe impact of testing free shipping thresholds ($75, $125, etc.) on AOV vs. conversionHow to define and target “recurring & required” customer personas for profitable acquisitionWhy your core SKU may deserve more focus (50% of &Collar’s sales are still from their white dress shirt)How to evaluate agency and team performance with contribution margin logicIf you’ve ever relied on intuition or competitors when setting prices or shipping offers, this episode will challenge you to test with precision — and scale what works.Timestamps00:00 – Price testing with Intelligems on &Collar’s best-selling dress shirts03:00 – Founding story and early years of &Collar’s growth journey06:00 – Post-pandemic market shifts and targeting “recurring & required” buyers09:00 – SKU expansion challenges and focusing on the white shirt advantage12:00 – Persona-based creative strategy and micro-segmentation for growth15:00 – Discovering the $49.99 price sweet spot through A/B testing18:00 – Testing free-shipping thresholds and increasing conversion rates21:00 – Focusing on new customer acquisition and top-of-funnel strategy24:00 – Always be testing: CRO roadmap and platform optimization27:00 – Tracking profitability per visitor, product, and employee30:00 – Long-term vision for &Collar and the road to a potential exitHashtags:#DTCpodcast #Intelligems #AndCollar #PricingStrategy #ABTesting #EcommerceGrowth #DTCbrands #ConversionRateOptimization #ShopifyBrands #EmailMarketing #CustomerAcquisition #BusinessStrategy #Profitability #Ecommerce Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signupAdvertise on DTC - https://dtcnews.link/advertiseWork with Pilothouse - https://dtcnews.link/pilothouseFollow us on Instagram & Twitter - @dtcnewsletterWatch this interview on YouTube - https://dtcnews.link/video
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Ep 557: Why People Buy: CPG & DTC Brand Growth with Seth Waite
Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signupWelcome to the DTC Podcast. Today, we’re joined by Seth Waite, Founder and Buyer Psychologist at Schaefer, where he helps CPG and food and beverage brands unlock growth by digging into the real reasons people buy.In this episode, we cover:Why knowing your customer via demographics isn't enough - the shift to behaviors, motivations, and jobs-to-be-done.How to build a "Why People Buy Pyramid" for your brand and map messaging across basic needs, emotional values, personal growth, and community.How to recognize true product-market fit in a DTC/CPG context (hint: when the only thing stopping you from selling more is budget).Why targeting the small obsessed segment matters (the "kingpin strategy") and how that unlocks long-term scale and profitable growth.Practical tips for talking to customers today - simple interviews, replacement questions, and how to turn qualitative insights into segmentation and messaging.Best moments you'll want to scan for:• "Demographics are interesting ... but they're not always insightful."• "What you should be telling is the customer's story - these are the occasions you'll have with our product."• "If the only reason why you're not selling more is money ... you've got product-market-fit."• The breakdown of the Why People Buy Pyramid and how it applies to food and beverage brands.• How brands like Oreo and Liquid Death illustrate layering of needs, emotional values, and community.Whether you're launching a new DTC food brand, scaling a snack or beverage line, or trying to sharpen your segmentation and messaging, you'll walk away with concrete frameworks and a clearer path to growth.00:00 - Introduction: Why People Buy01:20 - From Sam's Club to Walmart: Studying Real Buyer Behavior05:12 - Motivations vs. Demographics12:15 - Oreo: How to Own a Category18:03 - Brand Psychology, Packaging, and Subconscious Triggers26:06 - What Product-Market Fit Actually Looks Like32:28 - Tell Their Story, Not Yours39:13 - How to Actually Get Insight (Without a $150K Research Budget)#ConsumerPsychology #WhyPeopleBuy #CPGMarketing #BrandStrategy #ProductMarketFit #CustomerInsights #BehavioralScience #MarketingPsychology #FoodAndBeverage #DTCMarketing #MotivationBasedMarketing #EmotionalBranding #DataDrivenMarketing #OreoCaseStudy #LiquidDeathMarketing #FishwifeBrand #CustomerResearch #FounderStrategy #MarketingPodcast #DTCPodcastSubscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signupAdvertise on DTC - https://dtcnews.link/advertiseWork with Pilothouse - https://dtcnews.link/pilothouseFollow us on Instagram & Twitter - @dtcnewsletterWatch this interview on YouTube - https://dtcnews.link/video
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Ep 556: Fix These YouTube Targeting Mistakes to Stop Wasting Money Building Top of Funnel Awareness
Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signupIn this episode of the DTC Podcast, host Eric Dyck sits down with Dougie, Head of the Google team at Pilothouse, to unpack how DTC brands can and should use YouTube advertising more strategically — especially when trying to build awareness and capture new demand before peak periods such as BFCM.Key moments & actionable insightsWhy YouTube upper‑funnel campaigns often fail: mis‑targeted audiences, automated overrides, and device‑versus‑user mismatch.How to set up placement, topic and keyword exclusions to avoid low‑quality traffic (e.g., gaming, ASMR, children’s content).The importance of checking the actual served demographics in your audience reporting and comparing to your true converter demographics.How optimising for new customer conversions (instead of all conversions) can yield significant gains (e.g., +50% new customers, +15% share of new customers via Google).Why narrow geo‑targeting for awareness campaigns can improve measurability of incremental lift.Why brand‑lift studies may not be the most reliable metric and what alternatives to use (brand search lift, remarketing behaviour, time‑on‑site post‑click).Distinguishing between YouTube for pure awareness vs YouTube driving demand capture, and how budgets and measurement should differ accordingly.Whether you’re a performance marketer at a growing DTC brand, or scaling marketing budgets and looking to break through awareness ceilings, this episode gives you tactical controls, audit steps and measurement frameworks to make your YouTube spend work harder.Timestamps00:00 – Why most advertisers are targeting the wrong audiences02:10 – How misaligned content (like kids’ or gaming videos) wastes budget05:00 – The sneaky Demand Gen setting sabotaging your audience08:00 – How to force Google to find new customers only11:40 – Using Audience Insights to audit your actual converters14:00 – The evolution of YouTube as a top-of-funnel growth channel17:00 – Why Brand Lift studies can’t be trusted and what to measure instead18:40 – Narrower geo-targeting for better awareness results20:00 – Step-by-step audit to fix your top-of-funnel YouTube campaignsHashtags#YouTubeAds #GoogleAds #YouTubeMarketing #PerformanceMarketing #DTC #Pilothouse #MarketingPodcast #AdStrategy #DemandGen #DigitalAdvertising Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signupAdvertise on DTC - https://dtcnews.link/advertiseWork with Pilothouse - https://www.pilothouse.co/?utm_source=AKNF556Follow us on Instagram & Twitter - @dtcnewsletterWatch this interview on YouTube - https://dtcnews.link/video
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Bonus: How to Prove What’s Actually Working in Your Ad Spend — The Incrementality Mentality with Stella's Brenden Delarua
Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signupHello and welcome to the DTC Podcast. Today’s guest is Brenden Delarua, co‑founder of Stella, the measurement SaaS helping DTC brands convert media spend into real business growth through incrementality testing and media‑mix modelling (at a much lower price than a lot of other platforms).https://stellaheystella.comFollow Brenden on TikTok Why this matters for DTC marketers & media buyers:You’re under pressure to justify ad spend with profit, but your on‑platform ROAS doesn’t tell the full story.Brenden walks us through how to build and run incremental testing (hold‑out studies) + media‑mix models so you allocate budget to channels that drive real growth.We also dig into his view on channel incrementality: why CTV/YouTube often win, why branded search and retargeting may be traps, and how creative diversity and scaling methodology matter.Key moments in this episode:Why Brenden built Stella (the anxiety of hitting ROAS goals but not seeing P&L growth.)How to set up hold‑out incrementality studies: picking regions, measuring revenue lift, ignoring on‑platform vanity metrics.The “Always On Incrementality” concept: daily causal analysis across campaigns.Creative diversity review: three‑word heuristic to test if your ads are too similar.Campaign structure advice for Meta: testing vs scaling in two campaigns.Hot take on measurement: many brands over‑complicate it (and overpay) without actionable clarity.Future of media buying & AI: creative + measurement convergence.If you’re a DTC brand owner, media buyer or marketing leader trying to squeeze more profit from your ad dollars, this conversation will give you a grounded, tactical framework to start measuring and scaling smarter.Timestamps00:00 – Why ROAS doesn’t mean ROI and the rise of incrementality02:00 – How Stella helps DTC brands test true ad impact06:00 – The myth of high ROAS campaigns and what’s really incremental10:00 – Always-on incrementality and Stella’s AI dashboard14:00 – Media mix modeling and improving accuracy for marketers18:00 – Pricing transparency and making incrementality affordable22:00 – Which ad platforms are actually incremental26:00 – Why most marketers overcomplicate incrementality27:00 – Brenden’s TikTok growth and its impact on Stella30:00 – Meta’s Andromeda update and how creative drives results36:00 – The future of AI and media buyingHashtags#dtcpodcast #incrementality #mediabuying #marketingstrategy #adspend #stella #digitalmarketing #ecommercegrowth #brandstrategy #advertisinganalytics #d2cbrands #metaads #googleads #tiktokmarketing #marketingmeasurement #roas #growthmarketingSubscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signupAdvertise on DTC - https://dtcnews.link/advertiseWork with Pilothouse - https://dtcnews.link/pilothouseFollow us on Instagram & Twitter - @dtcnewsletterWatch this interview on YouTube - https://dtcnews.link/video
Weekly discussions between disruptive direct to consumer ecommerce brands and our amazing team about marketing, funnels, and everything scaling related. Subscribe to our newsletter for highlights and step by step tactical insights 👉🏻 📦 directtoconsumer.co
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