Issue 075: 9 Levers to Lower 📉 Your Returns 📦🚚

Wow.

How’d we all do?

Everyone still with us?

Anyone get lost along the way?

Don’t forget your brothers and sisters in arms, folks! No merchant left behind! BFCM may be over, but but that’s pre-game for December, if the experts are to be believed. 🤨 

So, strap in. We’re officially on the “END IT STRONG” train.

🚂💪💪

| TWEET O’ THE WEEK

Greetings, Retention Virtuosos!

Imagine you're setting out on a road trip with no map, no GPS, and no SiriusXM radio reception.

I did this in the summer of 2020, heading from Zion National Park to the Grand Canyon. I ended up stranded on a sunny desert dirt road when I should have been fielding customer complaints about their chicken nugget orders.

A whole lifetime ago and a long story.

0/10 would not recommend.

In a similar vein, a customer journey without clear touchpoints can lead to confusion, dissatisfaction, and, ultimately, customer churn.

This week, I’m here to give you the roadmap to navigate the customer journey and optimize those critical touchpoints to increase your retention.

• The Journey Mapping Detour: Understanding Key Touchpoints

• Smoothing the Bumps: Optimizing Customer Touchpoints

• The Long Haul: How Effective Touchpoints Elevate Retention Rates

We’ve got loads to talk about.

The Journey Mapping Detour: Understanding Key Touchpoints

Navigating the customer journey isn't a one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, it's a meticulously tailored path designed to enrich each customer's experience with your brand.

And within this journey, the 'touchpoints' are pivotal.

Read the rest… 👉️ 

 YOUTUBE UNIVERSITY

The BEST HACKS to Build DTC Brand Awareness [Showrooms are a Scam]

| TOGETHER WITH INSENSE

Stop manually searching and chasing influencers in DMs

Are you tired of wasting time contacting influencers who don’t respond to your DMs?

Listen up: There’s a simple way to grow your brand awareness with nano and micro-influencers while sourcing high-performing content, for organic + paid social, within 10 days from responsive creators.

Enter Insense

• Creators apply to you: responsive creators apply to your campaigns in minutes

• Delivered in 10 days: receive high-performing UGC for organic + paid social

• Simplified admin work: automated influencer agreements, payments, and digital content usage rights

• Money-back guarantee: if an influencer ghosts

• Repeat + long-term collabs: build relationships with influencers and UGC creators

Join major DTC marketing teams like Obvi, GoPure, and Ivy Beauty using Insense.

Book a free 1-2-1 strategy call by Dec 8 and get $200 for your first UGC campaign.

| QUICK HITS

• @JeremiahPrummer: When I owned a brand my best Black Friday was $1,400. I can't tell you how impressed I am with you all.

• @SeanEcom: Real ecom hot take: Your December should be bigger than your November. BFCM is great, but its kickoff. SCALE IN DECEMBER. This weekend is 10% of the season.

• @binghott: The worst part about BFCM by far is always how our non-marketer/ecom friends and family don't understand what this week is like for us.

• danavirsarria: Last year, I lost money during Black Friday. This year, I was profitable. Small list. Same 5 scents. 20-40% off discounts. Lost a lot of time in 2023 fixing my product and slow testing, but now that I've nailed it, I'm very excited for next year when I have 12 months to scale.

• @zachmstuck: Here is where my 3 brands are sitting today vs yesterday… [Screenshot]

| HERE FOR THE MEMES

| AND IN OTHER NEWS…

• CNBC: Black Friday shoppers spent a record $9.8 billion in U.S. online sales, up 7.5% from last year

• The Drum: How OpenAI's five days of chaos sparked fresh debate about the future of AI

• PYMNTS: Amazon Puts Alexa in the Driver’s Seat, Walmart Revs Up Package Delivery

• Inc: Why Some Black Friday Deals Could Hurt Your Brand

• Financial Review: Black Friday sales sizzle, set to be bigger than Christmas

| GET LINKED

I almost went out of business. Here we are four years later! #coffeetime

| THE OUTRO

Don’t forget, folks… no matter how you did this BFCM, you’re all winners to us.

🫶 Until next time!

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