Aaron Orendorff, VP of Marketing at the Common Thread Collective, just put out an epic blog post tracking the data on the DTC space as COVID-19 has progressed. One of the ideas in that blog post was that eCommerce brands could essentially make themselves “essential”.
On today's episode of Agency Ahead, you'll get to hear about some of those insights.
Here are the highlights:
Here are the insights:
Recommendations for eCommerce clients
Aaron says it's all about figuring out what you offer, and the right messaging around that.
One creative method he's seen is offering what he calls discounts that aren't discounts.
Other examples he uses are deferred payments, ways to bundle savings, and free shipping offers.
He says he doesn't want to sound negative when he talks about profit, but, "one thing I always fall back to is these are real people with real businesses supporting other real human beings with their income. At the larger, macro-scale, it's good for the economy for businesses to be profitable."
A dive into the data
In May, retail sales have started to go back up in-store, a little bit. For a moment it even looked like things were going back to normal, to the point where Aaron was trying to figure out how they'd use all these creative assets Common Thread Collective had built around the crisis.
Yet the second wave is starting to hit.
"It's scary to see the renewed piece, particularly in the United States, in states that did not respond well when quarantine was called for."CPC is one metric they're watching. The cost from the initial big dip has been going up but is still below the pre-quarantine baseline.
Based on the data he expects to see a second eCommerce wave.
I very much expect now is the time for eCommerce brands to be anticipating that and looking for those opportunities that surround new customer acquisition, as costs go down, and driving new visitors to at least get their contact information.
New customers are the lifeblood of growth, and if we can use these lower [ad] costs to acquire email addresses and phone numbers, email and SMS, then we head into the normal state, especially fall and the holiday season, having that owned audience, which is massive in the long run."
On messaging the moment
Gym owners, musicians, anybody in the food industry or hospitality – pair with them in meaningful ways that connect your brand for yes, goodwill, and to the narrative that you're already a part of, people and groups you're already invested in."
He says if you do that, you can just double down and go into the investment, and do all the things that profitable businesses have to do.
On making yourself essential
Aaron says making yourself essential is a lot like the traditional marketing idea of social proof.
He says he went on a three-year tear of trying to get his name out.
He points out how brands have done this recently to power through the crisis.
Igloo partnered with VW, Disney, Spongebob, Star Wars for 5/4, Guy Fieri, and even The Grateful Dead.
But people are buying coolers because they love the nostalgia. They also love some of the social causes Igloo has attached itself too, like setting up a 100% profit-share with the CDC.
In short, it's about connecting yourself, in a meaningful way, to emotions, people, and brands that people do find to be essential, even now.
On the value of product reviews
Garrett took a moment to tell Aaron about Traject SKU, which allows eCommerce brands to collect and monitor their product reviews.
Aaron seemed to approve, noting that product reviews are "massive" in the eCommerce field.
He says that nearly all the successful campaigns run by the Common Thread Collective involve getting user-generated content.
What’s your right now cause?
Aaron's go-to was the Southern Poverty Law Center, even before Black Lives Matter made its way back into the national consciousness.
Connect with Aaron Orendorff
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