Maybe we should stop making ads with our iPhones and go back to DSLRs. Maybe Meta will look at them differently. BRING ON MORE POLISH! UGLY ADS ARE OUT!

I think the DTC space is going through another infliction period and the brands that can get through it will be well positioned. Diverse creative isn’t different ad headlines. Its concepts. It’s carousels, statics. It’s mashups, it’s funny/serious content, it’s TikTok style reply tos, its founder led, it’s everything and everything your feed shows you. Do that at scale weekly. Yes, weekly. More is better. To me this is it. I’ve explored enough brands big and small. I’ve seen what works and doesn’t. It’s the movers of creative at scale. I know it’s been said so much here, but really this is it. Your costs need to go into hiring enough creators, agencies, etc that can do this at scale and a producer and project manager who can work with the strategists/media buyers to make sure it’s being filled with what they need weekly. If your creative isn’t hitting at a 15-20% hit rate at minimum move on to new creators who can. Speed wins, period. Hiring teams that get brand and performance creatives and having the right team in place to deploy these and measure against these is what puts this machine together.

17 things that are defining the state of DTC for October 2024 from my POV. This is random sorry. 1. Brands that have pivoted to TT Shops are seeing a TON of new customers, but mostly lowest value customers. - Trend lightly 2. If you're making diverse content and trying to consistently change it up, give Meta time. Their systems seem to be a lot slower when you introduce new things. 3. You can't media buy your way to success in 2024. 4. Not every brand is a problem / solution product. Creative agencies need to understand this. Few due. 5. Most landing pages are way too confusing, too long, too wordy and don't do a good job selling. Supplement brands know it best. Follow them. 6. Meta's AI is getting better and better, 2024 has been a year of testing. Understanding how their new systems work is separating the good from the bad on the platform quickly. 7. Snapchat's DR push now is way bigger than their original push in 2017-18. Don't be afraid to test, we've got brands spending $15-20k a day here now, profitably. 8. Your creative content benchmarks need to be defined by EACH ad placement, not the entire account. Reels - higher TBS than Feeds for example. Break them out! 9. You're probably doing too many tests, turn it down. Focus on one at a time. 10. Few people really understand MTA and MMM tools, and even fewer understand Incrementality tools. 11. Your greatest lever of success is more creative. Shocking, I know. 12. Your manual bids change often, if you're suddenly left holding the bag it's not that your creative started sucking, the dynamics of the auction for the audience changed. Switch it up. 13. There is always going to be sexy tools, but you rarely need most of them. I see DTC brands spending $1m a year having 8+ tools. It's insane. Less is more! 14. You probably have way too many campaigns for your daily ad spend. 15. I'd pay more for a piece in NY Times any day over a shout out from an influencer. 16. You're probably not releasing enough products. Most brands I see are stagnant this year is because they're still pushing the same thing they did in 2021-2023 and beyond. RELEASE MORE THINGS. 17. DTC is not in as dire of a spot as many would have you believe. Most are too focused on Q1 / 2 of 2024 as the defining moments. They were small blips in an otherwise decent year. The brands that understand how big of a push AI has been for systems like Meta are finding new ways to win. It's the biggest change this industry as seen since 2021.