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In the quest for expansion, many ecommerce brands naturally turn to diversification whether through exploring new sales channels or spreading their ad spend across various platforms. While diversification can offer access to new audiences and growth opportunities, it also introduces the potential for inefficiencies that can negatively impact profitability. This white paper will explore how over-diversification can complicate results and reduce overall effectiveness, offering insights into how brands can balance growth with efficiency to achieve sustainable success.

The Pitfalls of Channel Diversification: The Amazon and .com Conundrum

A common approach for ecommerce brands is to diversify sales channels by expanding into Amazon, online retailers, and wholesale, while continuing to invest heavily in Meta ads for their own .com stores. On the surface, this seems like a logical move to increase reach and capture a broader customer base. However, this strategy carries the risk of siloing your channels, which can create inefficiencies and reduce profitability.

The Silo Effect: Cannibalising Your Own Revenue

Amazon and your .com store often cater to the same audience, yet many brands fail to integrate their strategies across these platforms. A significant portion of Meta ad spend is directed solely at promoting the .com store, while the Amazon marketplace receives little to no direct support. As a result, while sales on Amazon may increase, the revenue generated from your .com store may start to decline, as customers gravitate towards the convenience of purchasing from Amazon.

This raises a crucial question for ecommerce brands: “Is the incremental lift from Amazon worth the potential loss in .com sales?” To answer this, brands need to carefully evaluate whether the additional sales generated through Amazon justify the reduction in .com revenue.

Measuring Incremental Lift

When diversifying distribution channels, it’s essential to consider the overall impact on revenue realisation. Many brands fail to measure the incremental lift that paid media provides across all platforms, including Amazon, .com, and other retailers. Without this data, brands may be unknowingly allocating budget inefficiently, supporting channels that don’t provide enough return to justify the loss in another area.

Actionable Solution:

• Measure and Analyse: Implement systems that allow you to track and measure the impact of paid media on all sales channels. Analyse how increased investment in Amazon or other retailers affects your .com performance.
• Cross-Channel Strategy: Rather than siloing sales channels, consider an integrated approach that aligns your ad spend with the total customer journey, from discovery to purchase across all platforms.

Diversification of Ad Spend: Balancing Risk and Reward

Many brands fall into the trap of believing that spreading their ad spend across multiple platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat, or TV is essential for future-proofing their business. While diversification can open doors to new audiences, it can also dilute your overall advertising
effectiveness, particularly if it draws resources away from high performing channels like Meta and Google.

The Efficiency Trade-Off

For example, let’s say in 2023 you allocate 80% of your ad spend to Meta and 20% to Google, where you consistently see the highest return on investment (ROI). In 2024, you decide to diversify, moving 30% of your budget to TikTok, Snapchat, and TV. While these platforms may
offer growth opportunities, the return on investment is typically lower, and shifting funds away from your most effective channels can negatively impact overall efficiency.

Many brands learn the hard way that channels like TikTok or Snapchat, while valuable for building awareness, don’t perform as well in driving direct, measurable sales. Therefore, while it’s important to explore new avenues, it’s equally critical to maintain the efficiency of your existing high-impact channels.

Actionable Solution:

• Prioritise High-Impact Channels: Focus the majority of your ad spend on channels that deliver the highest return on investment. Consider smaller, controlled tests on emerging platforms, but avoid large shifts that could compromise overall efficiency.
• Track Ad Spend Performance: Use data-driven insights to track the performance of each channel and reallocate spend dynamically, ensuring that your budget is always working towards maximum efficiency.

Navigating Rising CPMs on Meta: A Path to Scalable Growth

As Cost per Thousand Impressions (CPM) rises across platforms like Meta, scaling efficiently becomes more difficult. Brands that fail to implement cost controls or carefully manage their budgets risk spending more for diminishing returns. However, there are ways to make incremental ad spend more efficient and avoid the common pitfalls of scaling.

Strategies for Efficient Scaling:

1. Set Cost Controls: Implement clear cost controls based on your performance metrics. By establishing bid caps and target cost-per-acquisition (CPA) limits, you can prevent overspending as you scale.

2. Increase Budget Strategically: Only increase your ad spend when your campaigns are performing at or above your target metrics. Avoid throwing money at underperforming campaigns in the hope that more spend will improve results.

3. Expand Creative Testing: Constantly test and iterate on your creative assets to keep ad performance high. This can help combat ad fatigue and ensure that your audience remains engaged over time.

4. Test Relentlessly: Introduce variables in your ad campaigns new formats, copy, visuals, and CTAs to improve performance. Brands like Loop have run over 5,000 live ads in their Meta accounts to stay competitive and maintain efficiency.

5. Develop a Creative Machine: Build a system that allows for rapid production and testing of new ad creatives. This will help you quickly identify what works and scale those successful creatives more efficiently.

Actionable Solution:

• Creative Testing Framework: Develop a structured framework for creative testing that allows you to continually refresh your ads. By consistently testing new ideas, you can stay ahead of creative fatigue and ensure that your ad spend remains efficient.
• Incremental Spend: As you increase your ad spend, focus on making small, data-driven adjustments rather than large, sweeping changes. This helps you maintain efficiency while scaling.

Conclusion: Efficiency First, Diversification Second

While diversification is often viewed as a critical component of growth, over-diversification can introduce inefficiencies and complicate your results. The key to long-term, sustainable growth lies in balancing new opportunities with proven, high-performing strategies. Brands should
focus on maximising efficiency in their core channels before expanding into new platforms or sales channels.

By following the principles outlined in this paper measuring the impact of diversification, prioritising high-return channels, and managing rising CPMs on Meta ecommerce brands can scale efficiently without compromising their bottom line.

If you’re looking for tailored advice on refining your ad strategy or scaling efficiently, our team of experts is ready to help. We specialise in developing data-driven strategies that maximise growth while preserving profitability. Get in touch to learn more.

 

Scaling Meta (Facebook and Instagram) campaigns is a key objective for many marketers, but doing so without a solid understanding of how Meta’s spending tiers impact your Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) can lead to inefficiency. Meta does not distribute your budget evenly but rather allocates it across different audience segments, known as spending tiers or tranches. As your spending increases, Meta shifts your budget into higher, less efficient tiers, driving up your average CAC.

This white paper will explore how Meta’s spending tiers work, how they affect your CAC, and how you can optimise your campaigns to maintain efficiency as you scale.

How Spending Tiers Work

Meta’s ad platform divides audiences into segments or spending tranches based on how likely they are to convert. Your ad budget is progressively allocated across these tranches:

• Lower tranches consist of your most responsive and cost-effective audiences. These users are the easiest to convert, resulting in a lower CAC.
• As your spend increases, Meta moves into higher tranches, targeting less efficient audiences. These users are harder to convert, leading to higher acquisition costs.

As a result, spend and efficiency have an inverse relationship. The more you spend, the more of your budget gets allocated to higher-cost, less responsive audience segments, which increases your overall CAC.

Example of Spending Tiers in Action

To illustrate the effect of spending tiers, let’s take a scenario where your campaign budget is set at £10,000 per day:

• The first £5,000 of your budget might yield a CAC of £50, as it targets the most responsive, low-cost audience segments.
• The next £3,000 could push your CAC to £60 as your ads reach higher tranches with slightly less responsive users.
• The final £2,000 may push your CAC to £70 or higher, as this budget is spent on the least efficient and most expensive audiences to convert.

As you scale your spending, the budget shifts into more expensive audience tranches, which leads to diminishing returns on your investment and a rising CAC.

Reducing Spend to Improve Efficiency

One way to optimise your CAC and maintain efficiency is by reducing your budget to stay within the most cost-effective tranches. For example:

• If you reduce your spend from £10,000 to £7,000, you may keep your CAC in the £50 to £55 range. This prevents your budget from being allocated to the higher-cost audience segments, preserving efficiency and ensuring you only target users who are more likely to convert at a lower cost.

Key Takeaways

• Meta allocates your ad spend across tiers of audiences, with lower tiers being more responsive and cost-effective, while higher tiers are less efficient and more expensive to convert.
• As your total spend increases, Meta moves your budget into these higher-cost tranches, causing your CAC to rise.
• To optimise efficiency, monitor and adjust your budget to keep your spend within the lower, more efficient tiers.

By understanding how Meta’s spending tiers impact your campaigns, you can make more informed decisions about scaling while maintaining a healthy CAC and maximising your return on investment.

If you’d like to explore strategies for adjusting your budget to optimise efficiency or need help fine-tuning your Meta campaigns, don’t hesitate to reach out.

In the fast-paced world of ecommerce, businesses are constantly under pressure to grow, scale, and outperform their competition. While much of the focus is on rapid customer acquisition and encouraging repeat sales, one critical element of financial sustainability often gets overlooked: first order profitability.

First order profitability refers to a business’s ability to generate profit from a customer’s very first purchase. Achieving this milestone provides immediate cash flow, reduces reliance on future purchases, and creates a strong foundation for sustainable growth. This white paper explores the importance of first order profitability in the broader context of ecommerce and offers practical strategies to achieve it.

Why First Order Profitability Matters

First order profitability is the cornerstone of a resilient, scalable business model. Many ecommerce brands operate under the assumption that long-term success relies on acquiring customers at any cost, with profits materialising over time through repeat purchases. However, this approach presents several risks:

1. Uncertainty of Future Sales: There is no guarantee that a customer will return to make a second or third purchase. Focusing solely on lifetime value (LTV) without ensuring profitability from the outset puts businesses in a vulnerable position, particularly if customers fail to return.

2. Improved Cash Flow: Achieving first order profitability creates a healthier cash flow cycle, allowing businesses to reinvest more quickly into marketing and growth initiatives without relying on external funding or loans.

3. Reduced Risk: Businesses that generate profit from a customer’s first purchase are more protected from market fluctuations, changes in consumer behaviour, or economic downturns. This reduces the need for exceptionally high customer retention rates and gives companies more financial breathing room.

By ensuring that each new customer’s first purchase is profitable, ecommerce businesses strengthen their ability to scale efficiently and sustainably.

Key Strategies for Achieving First Order Profitability

Achieving first order profitability requires a well-thought-out approach, balancing customer acquisition costs (CAC), product margins, operational efficiency, and pricing strategies. Below are several actionable strategies that businesses can adopt to unlock first order profitability.

1. Set the Right Acquisition Costs

One of the most crucial factors in first order profitability is customer acquisition cost (CAC). Many brands overspend on advertising channels such as Meta (formerly Facebook) or Google Ads, driving up their CAC beyond sustainable levels. Without careful management, acquisition costs can easily outstrip the value of a customer’s first order.

Actionable Solution:

• Implement cost controls: Set bid caps within your ad campaigns to ensure you’re not overspending. This will help to maintain alignment between your marketing spend and your target CAC.
• Only scale when profitable: Ensure you are hitting your profitable CAC targets consistently before scaling ad budgets. Scaling too early can lead to higher acquisition costs and diminishing returns.

2. Focus on High-Margin Products

Profit margins are central to first order profitability. High-margin products allow businesses to cover acquisition costs while still generating a profit, even on the first transaction.

Actionable Solution:

• Promote high-margin SKUs: Direct your marketing efforts towards products that offer the highest margins. These products are more likely to deliver first order profitability, even after factoring in acquisition costs.
• Evaluate product lines: Regularly assess your product range to identify items that provide both high profit margins and customer demand. Consider bundling lower-margin products with higher-margin offerings.

3. Leverage Bundles and Upsells

Increasing the average order value (AOV) is an effective way to improve first order profitability. Bundling products or encouraging upsells can significantly raise the total value of each transaction, helping to cover acquisition costs.

Actionable Solution:

• Offer product bundles: Combine complementary products into bundles, offering a small discount to encourage customers to purchase more in one transaction. This not only increases AOV but can also enhance customer satisfaction by offering a complete solution.
• Encourage upsells and cross-sells: Use checkout prompts or recommendation tools to suggest additional or higher-value items, boosting the overall order size.

4. Optimise Shipping and Fulfilment Costs

Shipping and fulfilment can eat into your profit margins, particularly if you offer free or discounted shipping. Optimising these costs or incorporating them into your pricing strategy can help preserve profitability.

Actionable Solution:

• Introduce a free shipping threshold: Encourage customers to spend more by offering free shipping on orders over a certain value. This not only increases AOV but also helps offset shipping costs.
• Negotiate better rates: Work with fulfilment partners to secure more competitive shipping rates, or streamline your logistics to reduce operational inefficiencies.

5. Develop Efficient Creative Testing

Paid advertising plays a vital role in driving traffic, but over time, creative fatigue can cause ad costs to rise and returns to diminish. Continuous testing and optimisation of ad creatives help keep acquisition costs under control, improving first order profitability.

Actionable Solution:

• Establish a testing framework: Set up a structured process for testing new ad formats, visuals, and copy. By rotating creatives and optimising for performance, you can maintain a strong return on ad spend (ROAS) and reduce acquisition costs.

6. Diversify Acquisition Channels

Relying heavily on one acquisition channel, especially paid advertising, can limit your ability to achieve profitability. Expanding into other, lower-cost channels such as email marketing, affiliate marketing, or organic search can reduce CAC while improving overall profitability.

Actionable Solution:

• Invest in email marketing: Build email campaigns to nurture leads and re-engage past visitors. Email marketing offers a high return on investment (ROI) and can complement your paid acquisition efforts.
• Focus on SEO: Invest in search engine optimisation (SEO) to drive organic traffic. Ranking well in search results can reduce your dependency on paid ads, helping to keep CAC in check and boost profitability.

Monitor and Adjust Pricing Strategy

Your pricing strategy is a key factor in determining whether you achieve first order profitability. If your current pricing model doesn’t cover acquisition and fulfilment costs, it may be time to make adjustments.

Actionable Solution:

• Review pricing regularly: Ensure your product prices reflect the costs of customer acquisition, fulfilment, and other operational expenses. Periodic reviews can help you identify where small price increases may be necessary.
• Test price increases: Consider experimenting with minor price adjustments to determine whether your customers are willing to pay more. Often, small price increases won’t significantly affect conversion rates but can have a substantial impact on profitability.

Conclusion: A Framework for Sustainable Growth

In a competitive ecommerce environment, where customer acquisition costs are rising, first order profitability offers a path to sustainable, long-term growth. By focusing on controlling acquisition costs, promoting high-margin products, and optimising every step of the customer journey from pricing to fulfilment businesses can unlock profitability from day one.

Brands that master first order profitability will be in a stronger position to scale, with every new customer contributing positively to their bottom line. Implementing the strategies outlined in this paper can transform your business model from one reliant on repeat purchases for profit to one built on a solid, profitable foundation from the very first sale.

If you’re interested in optimising your ecommerce strategy to unlock first order profitability, our team is here to help. We specialise in maximising advertising efficiency, improving product margins, and driving sustainable growth. Get in touch to learn more.

 

Incrementality has become a marketing buzzword, but truly understanding it can be the difference between effective campaigns and wasted ad spend. It’s not just about measuring what your ads achieve it’s about understanding what wouldn’t have happened if your ads didn’t exist. In this white paper, we will delve into the concept of incrementality, its importance in optimising your ad spend, and how you can accurately measure it to fuel sustainable growth.

What Is Incrementality?

Incrementality refers to the incremental impact of your marketing efforts that is, the additional conversions, sales, or actions that occur as a direct result of your ads. It helps you identify the true value of your campaigns by excluding actions that would have happened organically or without any influence from your advertising.

Understanding incrementality is crucial for making informed decisions about your media spend. While knowing that a campaign drove conversions is useful, it’s even more important to determine whether those conversions were truly influenced by your ads or if they would have occurred without them.

Why Incrementality Matters

Many marketers rely on traditional metrics like ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) and CPA (Cost Per Acquisition), but these can give an incomplete picture. Conventional attribution models may overestimate the effectiveness of campaigns by assigning credit to ads that didn’t necessarily drive consumer decisions.

Here’s why incrementality matters:

• Accurate ROI Measurement: Incrementality shows the actual return on your ad spend by highlighting which conversions wouldn’t have occurred without your ads.
• Optimised Budget Allocation: By identifying campaigns that drive true incremental results, you can direct your budget more efficiently and reduce wasted ad spend.
• Informed Strategy: Incrementality testing offers insights into the real drivers of your campaign’s success, allowing you to focus on effective strategies and eliminate those that don’t deliver incremental value.

The Nuances of Measuring Incrementality

Measuring incrementality is complex and comes with several nuances that influence how you interpret your data and refine your campaigns.

1. Control Groups

To measure incrementality accurately, you must compare the performance of an audience exposed to your ads with that of a control group that isn’t exposed. This is the foundation of incrementality testing, also known as holdout testing. By withholding ads from a subset of your audience, you can better assess the real impact your campaigns have on conversions.

Example: If 5% of your target audience is held out from seeing your ads and their conversion rate matches that of the group exposed to your ads, it suggests your ads aren’t driving incremental conversions. However, if the exposed group converts at a higher rate, your ads are providing real value.

2. Incrementality vs. Attribution

Traditional attribution models give credit to ads based on the customer’s interactions, but they don’t always tell the full story. Incrementality focuses on causality whether the ad caused the conversion. It’s possible for an ad to appear in the customer journey without actually influencing their decision.

Attribution Caveat: A customer may click on an ad but already intended to make a purchase. Traditional attribution would credit the ad, but an incrementality test could reveal that the sale would have occurred regardless of the ad.

3. Types of Incrementality

There are several types of incrementality you can measure, depending on your objectives:

• Sales Incrementality: The number of additional sales driven by your ads.
• Conversion Rate Incrementality: How much your conversion rate increases due to your ads.
• Revenue Incrementality: The additional revenue your campaigns generate this may differ from sales incrementality if, for instance, the average order value is lower than expected.

Each of these metrics offers different insights. A campaign might boost sales incrementality, but if those sales come with a lower average order value, your revenue incrementality may not be as impressive.

4. Ad Frequency and Saturation

Ad frequency is another crucial factor in incrementality. While more exposure can lead to increased conversions, there’s a point where additional impressions stop driving incremental results and can even have a negative impact by causing ad fatigue.

Example: You might find that showing an ad three times to a customer drives incremental value, but beyond that, the effect plateaus, and further impressions deliver diminishing returns.

Best Practices for Implementing Incrementality Testing

Although incrementality testing can seem complex, following best practices will help ensure your campaigns are accurately measured and optimised:

1. Set Clear Objectives: Define what type of incrementality you’re measuring be it sales, conversions, or revenue and establish clear benchmarks before starting.

2. Create Effective Control Groups: Randomly select a portion of your audience to serve as a control group that does not see your ads. This allows for an accurate comparison of their behaviour with the exposed group.

3. Track and Compare: Gather data on both groups’ behaviour and compare the results to measure the incremental impact of your ads.

4. Scale Incremental Campaigns: Once you identify which campaigns are delivering true incremental results, allocate more budget to those strategies and scale them effectively.

5. Continuous Review and Adaptation: Incrementality testing isn’t a one-off process. Consumer behaviour, market trends, and competitive environments change over time. Regularly review and adapt your strategies based on fresh test results.

Conclusion

Understanding the nuances of incrementality is essential for improving your marketing strategy and optimising your ad spend. It’s not just about driving conversions it’s about identifying the real incremental value your ads bring to your business. By implementing incrementality testing, you can ensure that your campaigns not only generate more conversions but also deliver a higher return on every pound spent.

If you need assistance setting up incrementality tests or refining your marketing strategy to improve effectiveness, our team is here to help. Get in touch, and we’ll work with you to unlock the full potential of your marketing efforts.

 

A common question from advertisers is, “Why isn’t Meta pushing more spend to ads with ahigher ROAS?” The answer lies in Meta’s focus on estimated action rates and how itsalgorithm prioritises user experience over isolated ad performance. In this white paper, we’llunpack how Meta’s system works and explain why high ROAS doesn’t always guarantee more ad spend.

Understanding Estimated Action Rates: The Core of Meta’s Auction System

Every time you publish an ad on Meta, the platform runs an ad auction. At the heart of this process is a prediction model that calculates your ad’s estimated action rate (EAR). This metric is essentially a prediction of how likely your target audience is to take the desired action, whether that’s a purchase, sign-up, or click-through.

Meta’s prediction system looks at the following factors to calculate your EAR:

• Bid (Budget): How much you are willing to spend per action.
• Creative: The quality and engagement potential of your ad’s visuals and copy.
• URL Destination: The relevance and quality of your landing page.

These elements are evaluated together, allowing Meta to forecast how your ad will perform against others competing for the same impression. The stronger your estimated action rate, the more Meta’s system will favour your ad in auctions and allocate higher spend to it. This explains why certain ads receive more budget even if they don’t deliver the highest Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).

Why Meta Prioritises Estimated Action Rates Over ROAS

Meta’s primary objective is user experience, which means the platform prioritises showing ads that align with user interests and are likely to drive engagement. This explains why ads with the highest EAR—not necessarily the highest ROAS—receive the lion’s share of spend.

How does this impact your account?

• The ads that drive the most spend are often those with a strong estimated action rate, even if they don’t produce the highest ROAS.
• Meta is designed as a volume/awareness tool, meaning the ads that can handle large amounts of traffic and spend will be prioritised.

This often leads to confusion for advertisers, as the ads with high ROAS typically represent efficient, low-spend campaigns. However, Meta’s system is volume-based; it pushes budget to ads that are scalable and can generate the most activity.

Why Higher ROAS Doesn’t Always Lead to More Spend

It’s important to understand that high ROAS ads are not necessarily the best performing from Meta’s perspective. The system is optimised for delivering large-scale reach, engagement, and volume of sales, rather than focusing purely on efficiency. Ads with high ROAS may be performing well, but they are not able to handle high spend. If they could, Meta’s system would allocate more budget to them.

Key points to consider:

• ROAS vs. Volume: Meta’s platform pushes spend toward ads that can scale with increased volume at the best possible efficiency. Ads with lower spend but higher ROAS might not be capable of handling larger budgets.
• Ad Prioritisation: Meta will continue to prioritise ads that drive higher engagement and volume, even if these ads deliver a lower ROAS compared to your more efficient ads.

The Consequences of Turning Off High-Spend Ads

One of the most common mistakes advertisers make is turning off the highest-spend ads in their Meta account in pursuit of higher ROAS ads. However, turning off high-spend ads triggers Meta to shift the budget to the next best-performing set of ads—ads that inherently have lower estimated action rates. This can lead to:

• A drop in efficiency, as the system reallocates budget to ads that aren’t as capable of generating volume.
• Reduced scalability, as the remaining ads struggle to handle the increased spend, ultimately decreasing performance across the account.

Meta’s machine-learning system optimises based on the potential for engagement and conversions. If lower-spend ads had the potential to scale effectively, Meta would already be pushing more budget toward them. By turning off high-spend ads, you disrupt the balance Meta has optimised for, leading to immediate drops in performance.

Key Takeaways

1. Estimated Action Rate is Key: Meta’s auction system relies on predicted user behaviour, not just ROAS. Ads with the highest EAR receive the most budget because they are expected to generate the most engagement.
2. Meta is a Volume/Awareness Tool: Meta’s platform is built to prioritise ads that can scale with volume. The ads driving the most spend are doing so because they can handle high volumes of traffic at the best efficiency possible—not necessarily because they have the highest ROAS.
3. Don’t Turn Off High-Spend Ads: Turning off your highest-spend ads disrupts Meta’s optimised budget allocation and pushes spend toward ads with lower estimated action rates, leading to a decline in overall efficiency.

Conclusion

Meta’s platform is optimised to prioritise volume and engagement, which means the ads receiving the most spend are the ones that the system predicts can handle it—regardless of ROAS. The goal is to drive conversions and engagement at scale, not simply maximise ROAS. By understanding and leveraging Meta’s estimated action rate system, you can maintain consistent, scalable performance across your ad campaigns. If you need help optimising your Meta campaigns for scalable growth, reach out to us today. We’re here to ensure you’re making the most of Meta’s system to drive both volume and
profitability.

Building a strong, community-driven social media presence is more important than ever. With increasing competition and ever-changing algorithms, it’s crucial to stand out from the crowd and strive for authentic connections with your target audience.

Picture this: a new potential customer wants to find out more about your brand, and they head over to Instagram to see if you’ll bring the quality, value and trust they’re looking for. Will they find a curated brand feel and strong first impression that meets their expectations?

If you’re a beginner to all things Instagram, or you’re looking for ways to leverage your platforms to grow brand awareness and engagement, you’re in the right place. We’ve put together 4 key ways to grow your social media presence- whether you opt for Instagram or want to make waves on TikTok.

1. Optimise your feed for a strong first impression

To build that all-important follower count, your feed’s first impression needs to deliver. It’s like your digital storefront – and a visually cohesive and appealing feed is the key to attracting new followers and keep current followers coming back for more.

Use a consistent colour palette and theme throughout your post cover photos and video thumbnails that effectively reflects your brand’s identity, and bear this in mind when planning future content. Your feed should communicate your aesthetic in seconds – and intrigue visitors and potential followers to explore your content.

Mix things up with font placement and high-quality imagery- you can utilise a feed planner like Later to visualise what your posts will look like when they each go live.

Finally, make sure your bio quickly communicates who you are – and what your values are. Give potential followers what they want to hear – what will your brand and social media content offer them? Inspiration, feel good, fitness advice? Keep it short and punchy, sticking to a consistent brand voice.

1. Use Stories to level up your engagement

Instagram Stories were created for accounts to engage with their followers on an easy, regular basis – and in a more casual style than permanent posts. Stories remain on your feed for 24 hours – and you can keep them permanent by adding them to your categorised profile Highlights, which can each display your brand’s key themes and products.

Stories are a great way to keep your brand at the top of your audience’s mind, and build engagement with the plethora of interactivity features they offer. With every tap, your engagement factor increases, from quick polls to question boxes and quizzes.

1. Maximise your reach with Reels

Instagram responded to the every-growing popularity and impact of TikTok by creating Reels for video content – and they’ve ever since provided a great way for accounts to go viral and attain high reach levels. They were designed to maximise your content’s discoverability via the Instagram algorithm- while potential followers scroll through their Reels feed, they might just encounter your brand- so make it count!

• Jump on trending sounds, challenges and styles, where appropriate, to relate to the Instagram user’s expectations and content intake, and stay ‘relatable’ and ‘on trend’.
• Share value and inspiration to prompt a ‘follow for more’. This could be key tips, how-tos or inspirational messages.
• Impress potential followers with high-quality, visually appealing product showcasing – lead with the brand aesthetic and promote the lifestyle behind your brand, to relate to potential new followers.

1. Put time in active community building

Nowadays, community is the word when it comes to Instagram success. Engaging with your audience not only boosts your algorithm ranking, but also forges valuable connections with potential purchasers. It’s important to devote time to regular account engagement, to keep your Instagram space a two-way street, and give back to your followers.

Make sure the following bases are covered:

• Respond to comments and DMs- they go a long way and grant a more personalised feel behind your brand.
• Reshare tagged content to Stories of customers engaging with/using your products to deepen ties with individuals.
• Engage with other accounts in your industry and community, or even followers that mention you in their content, by commenting on posts – this increases your visibility and cleverly crafted responses or comments to relevant trending content might just elevate your brand’s esteem within the community.
• Consider hosting a giveaway for a lucky winner- this also encourages engagement as contest posts often require followers to like, comment, share and/or tag friends to enter.

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And that’s a wrap!

All in all, a successful Instagram requires consistency, creativity and active engagement to stand out amongst the competition. It’s good to experiment and try new styles to see what most engages your community, and refer back to the metrics to replicate highly-engaged content.

And if you need another pair of hands to elevate your brand’s social media presence, you’re in the right place! Get in touch to find out how we can take your brand’s reach and engagement to a new level.

Don’t Ghost Your Customers: Why Email Marketing is a Must

In today’s fast-paced digital world, it’s easy to get caught up in the latest marketing trends. But while everyone’s busy chasing the next big thing, email marketing remains one of the most effective ways to connect with your audience. Why? Because it’s personal, direct, and incredibly powerful at building relationships that last.

Keep Them Coming Back: The Power of Retention

Customer retention is what separates good brands from great ones. Sure, attracting new customers is important, but keeping them around? That’s where the real value lies. Email marketing helps you do just that. By staying in touch and offering value, you remind your customers why they chose you in the first place, turning one-time buyers into loyal fans.

Tips for a Winning Strategy

So, how do you make sure your emails hit the mark? Here’s what you need to know:

1. Subject Lines That Scream, “Open Me!”
   Your subject line is your first (and maybe only) chance to grab attention. Keep it short, sweet, and to the point. Personalise it when you can. Something as simple as using the recipient’s name can make a big difference.
2. Stay True to Your Brand
   Your emails should sound like you. Whether your brand is fun and quirky or serious and professional, your tone of voice (TOV) needs to be consistent. This builds trust and makes your emails instantly recognisable.
3. Scroll-Worthy Content from the Start
   People are busy, so don’t make them work to get through your emails. Start with a strong hook, use short paragraphs, and break up the text with headers and images. The easier it is to read, the more likely it is they’ll stick with you to the end.

Conclusion

Email marketing isn’t just about pushing products. It’s about building relationships. By focusing on retention, crafting engaging subject lines, and keeping your tone of voice consistent, you’ll not only keep your customers coming back but also turn them into brand advocates. In a crowded digital world, that’s something you can’t afford to miss.

Want to make email marketing work for your brand? Contact us now, and discover how we can help you craft emails that engage and convert.

Want to create high-quality scroll-stopping UGC for your brand- but you’re not experienced in the content creation side? We’ve got you.

There’s a growing network of UGC creators out there that can help you to craft the standout video content you’re looking for – whether it’s a product demo, testimonial or organic-style ad.

We’ve put together this handy guide splitting down the process into 3 key areas:

1. The search
2. The storyboarding
3. The editing

Once you’ve mastered each stage, you will have created a streamlined system to put together great UGC with great creators. This is how our team collaborate with experienced creators to craft bespoke videos that hook the audience in – and keep them watching with relatable, engaging editing.

Our process involves briefing and receiving filmed raw content from creators – as opposed to fully edited videos. By requesting raw content (rather than edited) from your chosen creators, you’ll unlock the freedom to create variations of top performers, and complete editing according to your vision – but be mindful that some creators may charge higher for the freedom this grants you.

If you would prefer for creators to complete the full editing for you – disregard the third and final stage here! They’ll have it covered.

Without further ado – let’s go through each key stage of the process, and get you started on creating scroll-stopping content.

1. The search

There are a multitude of places and platforms to find the perfect creator for your brand, that best connects with your audience and delivers authentic content that they can trust.

We can split this down into active and passive searches, depending on how quickly you require your creator(s):

Active searches – Actively searching for the best fit across social media and freelance platforms such as: Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Fiverr and Upwork. Utilise specific keywords for your searches on these platforms to find the right fit: eg “UK UGC creators”, “mum UGC creators”, “fitness UGC creators”.

Passive searches – Sending out callouts on Twitter, Fiverr and Upwork (also called a request), detailing a brief outline of the content you’d like creating, and any requirements the creator must meet. Creators can then respond to your callout if they think they’d be a good fit. Ensure to use hashtags on Twitter for higher reach in the UGC creator community (eg #ugc #ugccreator #contentcreator etc).

Once you’ve found a creator that might be a good fit, it’s time to go through their portfolio of previous work. Ensure they have plenty of examples showcased and the level of experience you required, and look out for the following (depending on the type of content you require):

• High quality footage – great lighting, clean and minimalistic backgrounds, crisp sound
• Great camera presence- do they deliver voiceovers/direct-to-camera testimonials naturally and authentically? Do they use a natural tone and facial expressions? Do they engagingly deliver the messaging with enthusiasm and good pacing?
• Outlined rates and packages – it is always worth reaching out to creators regardless as they may cater to custom rates if you provide sufficient details.
• Evidence of creativity and marketing strategy knowledge

Employ your best judgement at this stage to analyse potential – even if a creator has a limited portfolio, their Instagram/TikTok may demonstrate sufficient evidence of quality and experience.

The next stage is to reach out and let your chosen creator know of your opportunity and offered compensation. Outline your exact requirements (the length of the desired video/script, the number of B-roll clips you require and an idea of what the video will entail- the angle, location and style). Be prepared to negotiate and to be flexible if needed!

Once both parties reach an agreement and are ready to proceed, it’s time to prepare the brief the creator will use to film all content required.

1. The storyboarding

The best practice at this stage is to use a storyboarded brief, which verbally outlines to the creator exactly what the finished video will look like. This allows you to effectively manage expectations and give sufficient guidance, to obtain the exact footage and style you’re looking for, and will allow yourself and the creator to see when the brief has been fully met.

The storyboard may involve a script for the creator to use for a voiceover or direct-to-camera testimonial, and alongside each line the piece or set of B-roll that will be shown when the line is delivered. It is important to bear in mind the engagement factor – the same clip should be shown for only a few seconds, so how often should clip styles and angles change to create an engaging video? One clip may not be enough for a longer script line, for example.

Ensure to include plenty of visual guidance to assist the creator and help them understand what you’re looking for. This may be specific clips you’d like replicating, that you’ve seen on another brand’s video, or an example of a full video with the same angle that the creator can use as inspiration.

Ensure also to include all technical requirements, to ensure you receive the best possible quality – eg minimum lengths for B-roll clips, notes on lighting, sound and camera quality, and encourage clips to proofed before they are sent across to you, to ensure the full brief has been met.

Then you can set a feasible deadline with the creator to film all content, and give them the opportunity to ask any questions/clarify sections on the brief. If you need to send your product out for filming, make sure you bear shipping in mind with delivery timespans.

1. The editing

Once the creator has sent all content back to you and has met the brief, let the editing commence! There are a few key pointers to bear in mind at this stage, to craft the best quality, engaging video possible:

• The visuals should maintain an engaging pace, utilising cuts/zoom ins/angle changes every few seconds to keep the audience engaged throughout.
• Lead with the hook – ensure the first few seconds contain a strong visual and/or verbal hook to stop your audience’s scroll and engage them from the outset. Meet their pain point, drive their curiosity, present yourself as relatable to them- to keep them sticking around for more.
• Finish off with a CTA – make sure your testimonial and/or captions encourage the audience to click through to your site – you may want to make this obvious and build hype, especially for a promotion, or you may want to keep it subtle to distance yourself from giving an ‘ad-like’ feel.

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And that’s a wrap! We hope this guide aids you in your UGC creation process- it’s an ever-growing world full of creative talent, you’ve just got to put in the time to find the best fits, and with careful briefing and editing work, your UGC will then do the work for you.

Need help in getting this process started – or need an extra pair of hands in setting up an efficient UGC content creation delivery system? We’re here to help. Get in touch with our team to find out more.

 

Digital marketing evolves, and it evolves quickly- which is why it is crucial to stay ahead of the game by exploring every means of connection with your audience. SMS marketing is often overlooked as a marketing channel, with the return on your efforts underestimated. Keep reading to find out more about SMS marketing and why it should not be overlooked…

We are surrounded by generations who spend very little time away from their smartphones, which is why targeting customers where you know they will see it is both simple and effective. SMS marketing subscribers are engaged potential or repeat customers. Your messaging needs to be quick, powerful and impactful in order to get this mix of subscribers back on your site.

 

The advantages of SMS marketing are endless, with great platforms like SMSBump making it incredibly easy and accessible. These include:

 

Higher ROI (return on investment)

One of the most notable benefits of SMS marketing is its potential to deliver a higher ROI. Due to the accessibility and common/frequent use of SMS, campaigns tend to have exceptionally high open and click-through rates, naturally resulting in more actions being taken.

 

Easy setup and automation

SMS marketing doesn’t require elaborate design work or complex campaign setups. With platforms like SMSBump, campaigns can be set up very easily, and the same goes for automated sends. These are triggered by specific customer actions e.g. abandoning cart. All you need is powerful short-form copy to capture your audience’s attention and drive them to take action.

 

Increases customer retention

Inevitably, the cost of retaining customers is lower than investing in new ones. So having an SMS marketing strategy that explores retention marketing is crucial. Naturally, it makes sense to keep your SMS subscribers engaged to ensure that they remain interested and loyal to your brand- let them know of any new product launches and send over exclusive discounts to incentivise them to purchase, either for the first time or as a rewarded loyal customer.

 

How do you get started with SMS marketing?

 

1 – Firstly, to begin your SMS journey you need to prepare subscriber capture methods. Implement strategies such as website popups prompting visitors to sign up for SMS alerts. Drive them to do so by incentivising them with exclusive discounts such as 10% or 15% off their next purchase. This initial step is crucial for building your SMS subscriber list with engaged customers.

2 – While you are getting to know the basics and furthering your knowledge of SMS it is important to update your compliance to ensure that your terms of service and privacy policy include SMS. With the goal of being as transparent as possible with your customers,  you need to include things like a description of the service, clear opt-out instructions and a link to your Privacy Policy. A full list and more information can usually be found with the help of your chosen SMS platform. 

3 – In order to streamline your marketing efforts you’re going to want to integrate your SMS marketing with your existing email marketing provider. This integration allows you to sync subscribers and subscriber data, creating a unified approach to reaching your audience for omnichannel retention marketing. You can also encourage your existing email subscribers to sign up for SMS to access ‘more exclusive deals’.

4 – Once you’re all set up, you can kickstart your SMS marketing strategy with automated flows. Automated flows are triggered by specific subscriber actions or events. You can start with things such as a welcome flow for new subscribers, abandoned cart reminders to recover potential sales, or post-purchase flows that upsell their next purchase. Winback flows can also be implemented for subscribers who abandon their browsing session or don’t return to purchase for more than 45 days. You can offer attractive discounts to low engagers in order to rekindle their interest. 

5 – As your subscriber list grows, it’s time to start thinking about campaigns. Preparation is key, so create a content calendar with a regular schedule, aiming for at least 2-3 campaigns per month to begin with. Segment your audience based on various factors, such as their purchase history or browsing behaviour. This segmentation enables you to tailor your messages and create targeted content for different groups of subscribers. This allows you to appeal to a wider range of customers and keep them engaged accordingly.

 

And there you have it, the key to getting started with SMS marketing! 🚀

If you want to find out more about adding SMS to your marketing strategy, or how we can help you elevate your marketing strategy as a whole- get in touch today.

Now more than ever, we know the importance of UGC (user-generated content) in elevating brand memorability and trust. In other words, you can’t sleep on good-quality UGC to make your brand stand out in the market and get your customers talking. UGC has experienced spectacular growth over the last few years, with brands harnessing the power to build brand trust with relatable, personal content.

In this article, we’re going through how you can get started on your UGC journey, and where to source the creators and customers at the centre of this content.

 

But first of all, what is UGC?

User-generated content is content created for your brand and product(s) by either consumers or content creators, and published to social media. This most commonly involves video creation, featuring a relatable face talking about the impact, benefits and features of the product, often making it personal to their own experience and how it’s solved a particular problem.

It can range from simple ‘how-to’ educational videos to fast-paced creative storyboarding, depending on your vision and the creators you use.

 

And how can you source the people who create UGC for your brand?

There are many different avenues to choose from when sourcing UGC, depending on the size of your brand and the investment you’re willing to make here. Let’s go through your principal options:

 

1. Freelance UGC creators

With the rise of UGC comes an new-found industry network of experienced content creators clued-up on how to create scroll-stopping, memorable UGC. You can reach them on talent platforms like Fiverr and Upwork, by writing a callout brief of your desired content/ creator and finding your best fit. Make sure you request and check their portfolio to ensure they’ve got what it takes to create high-quality content for your brand.

In your brief, make sure you clarify what you’d like to see- what B-roll should they film? Do they include a testimonial talking about the featured product, and if so, what should they mention, what angle should they focus on, and should they speak directly to camera or provide a voiceover?

It’s important to visualise what you’d like to see, and get that down in words as clearly as possible, so that your creators can easily understand exactly what you’re looking for.

Provide them with as much helpful information as possible, including your website, product page and any brand guidelines to guide them in the right direction.

 

💡 Need help sourcing the right creators- or want a streamlined, easy way to outsource this process? We’re here to help. Our UGC service does just that- working with you to source and create high-quality UGC for your brand. Get in touch and find out more – and get your UGC strategy elevated in time for Q4.

 

2.Paid partnerships with influencers/creators

If you wish to delve into influencer marketing and find more recognisable faces in your niche, why not look into paid partnerships? You’d pay the influencer to promote your brand/product in sponsored social media content, from Instagram Reels/TikToks to posts and stories. By investing in your brand promoters, you’re increasing your brand’s credibility and bringing it to the attention of thousands of their followers. 

Perhaps start with micro influencers (between 10k to 100k followers) or even nano influencers (between 1k-10k followers) if you’re just getting started.

 

3.Gifted products in exchange for content

A more informal way to secure memorable content from influencers, without the big-time investment, is gifting products in exchange for social media endorsements. This could be a shoutout/mention on their story, or a lifestyle reel featuring the product and the benefits it brings.

While risking the potentiality that the influencer doesn’t end up endorsing the product you gift them (as there is no contract or monetary agreement here), it is a much more economical way to work with micro/nano influencers and build awareness via follower bases and niches you wish to tap into. 

 

4. Brand ambassadors

You can also work with loyal ambassadors for regular brand endorsements (thought this is on a more contractual basis). These ambassadors fit the criteria of your target consumer, and help you communicate your brand values and product USPs on socials. 

They become a face of your brand, and you can rely on them for a high-quality content stream- via both posting to their page and sending you content for you to use on your own social media account.

 

5.Customer feedback

The easiest way for you to obtain social proof (ie clear recommendations and endorsements of a product), which is a simple form of UGC, is via customer feedback. You can ask your customers or social media followers to share their thoughts and experiences on their story/posts, tagging you in their shoutouts for a possible feature on your page. 

It’s a win-win for you both, and an economical way for your brand to build trust via authentic customer feedback and experiences.

 

🚀 Need help building your social proof and want to delve into the ever-growing world of UGC? We’ve got you covered. Get in touch with our expert team now and find out how we can help your brand grow in trust and market presence.