DTC POD: How The Best Brands Are Built

“In consumer commerce, you always have to be chasing your next customer.” @jjeremycai #DTCPOD “Even with the introduction of direct to consumer, the product quality and the product price points haven’t really changed much for consumers.” @jjeremycai #DTCPOD “The challenge with DTC is that once you saturate your core market, you see a big jump in customer acquisition.” @jjeremycai #DTCPOD “Sometime...

“Campaign guidelines mean setting the right expectations and setting yourself up for success.” @jhcjr_ #DTCPOD “Let the creator craft the message to their audience themselves.” @jhcjr_  #DTCPOD “You need content for your business to stay relevant.” @jhcjr_  #DTCPOD “Let your creator know what the campaign should and shouldn’t do.” @jhcjr_  #DTCPOD “Working with creators is great for going after tr...

“Micro-influencers have a deeper connection with their followers.” @jhcjr_ #DTCPOD “Content that is produced on social channels by creators tends to be more authentic.” @jhcjr_  #DTCPOD “Make sure the expectations to the creator are clear and concise.” @jhcjr_  #DTCPOD “Focus on the content that your creator has produced in the past.” @jhcjr_  #DTCPOD “Find creators that have an audience that is p...

“There’s too much of an opportunity cost to not know how well your content is doing.” @ramongberrios #DTCPOD “As soon as you see content perform, you immediately want to know how to make it better.” @ramongberrios #DTCPOD “Producing more content means you can stay top of mind.” @jadesai94 #DTCPOD “The faster you can test, the more data you can test, and the better decisions you can make.” @ramongb...

“49% of consumers are already signed up to receive text message marketing from brands.” @Yotpo #DTCPOD “The average person spends over four hours a day on their mobile device.” @Yotpo #DTCPOD “Consumers check their phone over 150 times a day.” @Yotpo #DTCPOD “Customers are deciding which channel they like to engage with more.” @Yotpo #DTCPOD “Consumers are actively interested in signing up for tex...

“In-house content loses a little bit of its authenticity when you’re the one that’s being the creative director. You might know what you’re audience is looking for, but you may not be as highly tuned in as you think you are.” #DTCPOD “You don’t want to be making content using the same mug (if it’s a drink), the same kitchen, and the same person over and over.” #DTCPOD “If you really like a content...

In this episode, Jay is joined by Farhaj Mayan, Co-Founder and CEO at Kanna. Kanna is a people operations system for cannabis farms and dispensaries that helps manage staff and compliance, and offers these businesses vetted independent contractors available for hire. Farhaj kicks the podcast off with a little history of Kanna. Later in the episode, we discuss the rise of marketplaces (since Trend...

In this episode, Jay is joined by Brad Redding, Co-Founder of Elevar. Elevar is a platform that helps eCommerce brands better understand their marketing analytics through automation. In this podcast, Brad walks us through some common errors in Google Tag Manager for eCommerce brands and what are the most important events to track for. He also discusses events that can help move the needle for bran...

In this episode, Jay and Jamie are joined by Joe Christensen, Founder & CEO of MCTco. MCTco. is a protein keto bar snack company. Joe is here to share his experience of starting MCTco. Joe breaks down how he came up with the idea for MCTco.’s bars, what he had to learn to get started in the industry, and how he has had to reposition the brand. We also spoke with Joe about the biggest challenges he...

In this episode, Jay is joined by Chris Moe, COO and Co-Founder of Cartograph. Cartograph is an eCommerce focused agency that helps organic and natural CPG brands sell their products on Amazon. Chris joins us on the podcast to discuss how to sell better on Amazon. He walks us through how most of the value on Amazon is created upstream and what exactly is meant by that. We also discuss what you nee...

In this episode, Jay and Ramon are joined by Clark Nowlin, Founder of Golden Ratio. Golden Ratio is a coffee brand that sells gold coffee.  On his launch day, Clark was able to generate over 10k in sales. During the podcast, Clark discusses how he was able to generate over 10k in sales on his launch, how much of it came from friends and family, and what sources he leaned into to generate revenue....

In this episode, Jay is joined by Nicolas Derico, Director of Marketing at Wayflyer. Wayflyer is a company that offers revenue-based financing for eCommerce brands. In this podcast, Nicolas discusses when is the right time for brands to seek out funding, along with the requirements they should meet. Nicolas also discusses what brands should use their funding as a means to grow their business. Fina...

In this episode, Jay is joined by Celeste Markey, Founder & CEO of Careste. Careste is a new American luxury brand offering on-demand couture. In this podcast, Celeste shares learnings from her extensive experience in the fashion industry along with her inspiration for on-demand fashion. Celeste discusses why Careste has taken this unique approach along with some of the benefits and challenges of...

In this episode, Jay and Ramon are joined by Emmett Shine, Co-Founder and Executive Creative Director at Pattern Brands. Pattern (previously Gin Lane) creates purposeful brands that inspire you to learn, experiment, and enjoy. Before Pattern, Emmett has worked with big brands such as Sweetgreen, Bonobos, Everlane, Harrys, Smile Direct Club, Shake Shack, Quip, hims and more. In this podcast, Emmett...

In this episode, Jay and Ramon are joined by Salim Najjar, Co-Founder of SOUND. SOUND is a beverage brand that sells tea-based sparkling beverages. Salim is here to share his and his Co-Founder’s experience of starting SOUND. Salim breaks down where the idea for SOUND came from, how they were able to crack retail, and how they are shifting to DTC during the pandemic. In addition to covering the su...

In this episode, Jay and Ramon are joined by Robby Switzer and Nathan Otwell from SHOPANOVA. SHOPANOVA is an agency that helps online stores get massive eCommerce growth. They specialize in paid media, specifically Facebook and Instagram ads. Facebook and Instagram ads are a popular growth channel for eCommerce businesses. The wide audience on these platforms allows new brands to reach a ton of co...

In this episode, Jay discusses how you can use user-generated content to help provide social proof and grow your brand. We’ve said it over and over on Trend (and so have others!), social proof is king! What better way to show social proof than through user-generated content.  If you have paid for creating user-generated content, or just have a big library of, you may be wondering how you can lever...

In this episode, Jay is joined by guest Michael Cole, VP of Marketing at Everflow. Everflow is a partner marketing platform that helps businesses track results from partnerships through clickless tracking and offers real-time analytics. Businesses doing influencer marketing are receiving a 6x ROI. Ever heard that before? Many businesses have, and haven’t found quite the success they expected when...

In this episode, Jay and Ramon are joined by guest Evan Rallis, Marketing Product Manager at MarketerHire. MarketerHire is a premium marketer network that helps connect expert freelance marketers with businesses quickly and seamlessly. Finding success in marketing, especially ad campaigns can be a daunting task for eCommerce brands. As a result, some brands are turning to freelance marketers who a...

In this episode, Ramon discusses how to grow as a creator, along with some of the challenges you may face. In the old days, creators only had a few digital outlets to share their content. Now, there are dozens of ways to grow a creator’s brand. From videos on YouTube, to Instagram, to podcasts, to blogs, to maybe even selling your own product line online, options for creators today are endless. Bu...

In this episode, Jay discusses how influencers are starting to gain more power over monetizing their content. In the early days of influencers, creators were left to fend for themselves to monetize their content.  Social platforms ran ads but none of that money went to creators. So influencers had to sell themselves to brands, or create their way to monetize using tools like Patreon, their own mer...

In this episode, Jay discusses what you can do if you need to create more content. If you need to scale your content production or don’t have enough content right now, we have some suggestions on where you can get it. With so many platforms for brands to be active on, it can be a huge challenge to produce the content you need to be effective on each channel. Plus, once you start producing engaging...

In this episode, Jay and Ramon are joined by guest Arnold Ma, CEO and Founder of Qumin. Quim is a people and experience business focused on China. With Qumin’s experience in ecommerce and marketing in China, Jay and Ramon join forces with Arnold to discuss why marketing in China is so different than the approach brands take in the US. eCommerce and influencer marketing has developed very different...

In this episode, Jay discusses Facebook’s newest feature, Facebook Shops, and how it will impact eCommerce and influencer marketing. Facebook has been slowly creeping into the eCommerce world with features like Marketplace and Instagram Shopping. Now they are launching arguably their biggest step into the eCommerce universe, Shops. It comes at a time when small businesses are reeling due to the CO...

In this episode, Ramon discusses how brands can still grow without ads, and why it’s important to be not fully reliant on them. Social ads have become a powerful tool to grow brands. For many brands, adding a Facebook pixel and creating retargeting campaigns is the next step after building your website. While this can be an effective way to grow your brand, it’s expensive and puts your business at...