Forrest Wright

FB doesn't show you the most important metrics You have to set them up yourself Create these custom metrics: Hook Rate = 3-Second Video Plays / Impressions Hold Rate = PlayThrus / Impressions Aim for these KPI to create winners: Hook Rate >30% Hold Rate >10%

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The proof is in the pudding. If you're a DTC business owner spending less than $10M/year on ads. I have the perfect system to scale your ad spend and lower you CPR.

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In the world of modern business, standing out is the name of the game. One killer way to make your brand unforgettable? Branded merchandise. Whether you're a scrappy startup building your name or a seasoned player deepening customer loyalty, personalized merch is your ticket to the big leagues. Here’s why you should be all in on branded merch: Unique Brand Identity: Branded merchandise lets you craft a unique brand identity that blows the competition out of the water. Slap your logo, colors, and messaging on anything from apparel to accessories, and you’ll boost brand recognition while leaving a memorable mark on your audience. Increased Brand Visibility: Think of merch as your own mobile billboard. When folks use or wear your branded merch out in the world, they’re basically your brand ambassadors, spreading the word and pulling in potential customers like a magnet. Enhanced Customer Engagement: Giving out branded merchandise creates a personal connection with your customers. A thoughtful, personalized gift makes them feel valued and appreciated, turning them into loyal repeat customers faster than you can say “branded mug.” Cost-Effective Marketing: Compared to traditional advertising, branded merchandise is a bang-for-your-buck way to promote your brand. Hand out promo products at events or toss them into customer orders, and the long-term brand exposure more than pays off the initial cost. Brand Loyalty and Advocacy: Branded merch builds brand loyalty. When customers feel that warm fuzzy connection to your brand, they’re more likely to become your biggest cheerleaders, recommending your products or services to everyone they know. Versatile Branding Opportunities: The sky’s the limit with branded merchandise. From unique product designs to creative packaging, you can tailor your merch to reflect your brand’s quirky personality and core values. Memorable Brand Experiences: Branded merchandise isn’t just stuff - it’s a way to create memorable brand experiences. Whether it’s a special gift or a fun promotional campaign, these moments stick with customers and deepen their loyalty. Branded merchandise is a powerhouse for elevating your brand and standing out from the crowd. Invest in personalized products that scream your brand's story and values, and you'll forge meaningful connections, boost visibility, and drive serious business growth. #Branding #BrandedMerchandise #MarketingStrategy #BrandAwareness #BusinessGrowth #BrandedMerch

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Myth: Building a scalable DTC growth engine is a one-time thing. Reality: It's a continuous process. I have been working in marketing for over 18 years. Here's why DTC growth never stops: Market shifts → What works today flops tomorrow. Customers evolve → Gotta adapt or get left behind. Data keeps flowing → Gotta keep learning and refining. Here's how to win the DTC marathon: Invest in CRM → Know your customers, personalize your marketing. Focus on customer lifetime value → Loyal customers are gold. A/B testing → Test different things, see what works best. Stay agile → Be ready to change course based on data. Optimize, adapt, win. DTC growth is a journey. Now, tell me: What do you prefer: myth or reality?

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Want to know the #1 most underrated email flow that DTC brands typically ignore? I’m talking about the birthday flow. The revenue generated by the birthday flow is significantly lower compared to your abandoned cart or welcome flows. But it’s one of the most personal emails you’ll ever send your audience. Imagine if your favorite brand sent you a happy birthday email with an exclusive discount or freebie from their store. Brands rarely get this personal with their email content, so it’s an opportunity to stand out. And the more personal your emails, the better they convert. Birthday discounts should typically be generous, considering it’s their special day - so be as generous as you can, considering margins. Since each recipient only triggers this flow once per year, this discount won’t be a massive strain on your bottom line. Acquire their date of birth through one of the follow up emails in your post-purchase flow to get started. Still unsure how to properly utilize the birthday flow? Send me a connection request & I’ll answer any of your questions.

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Election years suck for DTC / E-commerce brands... As an advertiser, we end up paying way more for ads (Pay More & Get Less) Why is that? Well... Those campaign dollars go straight to political advertising, making the CPM (cost per 1000 impressions) go through the roof. More advertising dollars means the price goes up. As we go into the next few months, it’s more important than ever before to spend your ad budget wisely. Track your trailing 7-day MER / ROAS & Blended CAC Implement a 3rd party attribution tracking tool like Triple Whale Focus on building your email list with a solid front end offer It doesn’t matter what side of the political spectrum you are on, elections years suck if you're an advertiser.

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$100M Leads by Alex Hormozi has a formula to guarantee profitable return on paid advertising…. The difference between Alex’s formula and most business owners is he looks at Lifetime Gross Profit (LTGP) instead of single ticket profit. What is yours LTGP : CAC ratio?

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I’ve done 8 Retention Audits for DTC brands last week. Here’s the 3 top mistakes we find in the following 3 sections: → Email Foundations → Branding & Value → Data & Distribution Let’s break them down. 1) Email Foundations Email foundations are what you likely see plastered all over social media. The great looking Klaviyo dashboard, good-looking metrics etc. But this is surface-level for those who truly understand retention. The most common errors we find here are: → Bad email triggers. People enter numerous email journeys simultaneously → Missing half of the post-purchase journey when it comes to automations → Emerging deliverability issues (The brand owner was not aware each time) → Thinking their click-rates are doing well (since last week, it’s mostly bots) → Using a very offer-driven strategy that has adverse long-term consequences Aside from the right metrics that indicate success, the main lens we look at this through is: “What does a 5 Star customer experience look like for this product category?” When we frame the question this way, we look beyond metrics. 2) Branding & Value This part focuses on ‘what’ you are sending in your email content. The biggest mistakes we see here are: → Lack of focus on email anatomy and design (Yes, it’s important) → Solely offer-driven content with no regard for the wider issue → Emails don’t match the branding. Incredible website, sub-par emails → Little to no education on product usage and how-to’s → Little content on the wider problem at hand If all you do is sell the solution, you’re not clearing enough grey-matter in your customers’ mind. You know your product better than anyone else. And if all you do is shill the product, people still lack information on the problem itself. 3) Data & Distribution Retention has evolved far, far beyond the action of sending out emails. Now, here’s where the issues come in: → There is no insight distribution. Ad teams and email teams are siloed in their own corners → There are no key qualitative questions being asked at core parts of the customer journey → There is no way to actually process the data being collected → There is little to no big-picture thinking on how to use the email channel for other objectives → Guided acquisition through retention is not occurring at all Picture this - Your email team has access to your entire customer base. Every email that’s sent out gives you data on how your already-paying customers and prospects respond to your messaging. Some of that messaging is going to do extremely well. You already have the answers in your retention channel. But if everyone is working in a siloed manner - you will suffer from a disjointed team. What else would you add when it comes to brands being blind on what’s holding back their DTC growth?

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15 extremely profitable (and unsexy) niches to sell on Amazon: This is how I'll break down the data: Niche name - monthly revenue - number of brands 1. Studio Recording Equipment - $8,645,459 - 2362 brands 2. Mattress Protectors - $7,704,873 - 371 brands 3. Poultry Care - $6,424,396 - 1345 brands 4. Mops & Bucket Sets - $5,714,118 - 46 brands 5. Cyanoacrylate Adhesives - $5,638,875 - 402 brands 6. Thermometers - $5,293,169 - 280 brands 7. Dust Mops - $4,537,680 - 204 brands 8. Surveillance Systems - $3,975,791 - 29 brands 9. Tile Epoxy Adhesives - $3,771,460 - 221 brands 10. Fish Finders & Depth Finders - $3,455,766 - 318 brands 11. Wood Screws - $3,121,161 - 393 brands 12. Industrial Lubricants - $2,456,901 - 313 brands 13. Pegboard Hooks - $2,433,128 - 361 brands 14. Handheld Pool Vacuums - $2,427,423 - 70 brands 15. Fire Pit Covers - $2,076,369 - 169 brands These niches present thousands of opportunities to resell brand name products for a profit. Data was gathered with SmartScout. __ Enjoy this? ♻️ Repost it to your network and follow me Corey Ganim for more.

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The FCC's cracking down on lead generation. No more submitting a form and having your info sold to 20 companies without your knowledge. That's out. Consent is in. Big players like Rocket and loanDepot might come out on top. Smaller players? They might struggle to get noticed. Lead sources are drying up. The solution? Generate your own first-party leads. Here's step one: Traffic sources. Get plugged into as many targeted traffic sources as you can. Find the right audience, hit them with the right message at the right time. It's a testing game, and it takes time. Don't expect overnight success. Give it a few months to see real results. Where to start? Look at where your competitors are. If their logos are on a site, why aren't you there? Google, social media, email marketing, offline campaigns - they're all fair game. But remember: Traffic alone isn't enough. You need the right experience on the receiving end to convert that traffic into leads. Identify your sources, start driving traffic to your own branded lead gen pages. That's step one in taking control of your lead generation future. #mortgage #insurance #leads #leadgeneration #FCC #TCPA #digitalmarketing #branding #rebeliQ

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Do you know the difference between LEGACY & MODERN affiliate? Spent Weds-Fri of this past week at ecom sweety® learning from the best 🤠🤠 Jean Dees ☃️ is the OG of affiliate marketing & recently started working at Social Snowball ☃️(turns out all y’all brands need it). Basically LEGACY AFFILIATE is links from publications (traditional PR/affiliate structure, typically more expensive). Then, MODERN AFFILIATE is anyone & everyone who buys/promotes your product. Awesome thing about affiliate marketing is that everyone can influence — WOM marketing at its finest! 👏🏻 (which we loveee) What products are you an affiliate of?? Personally I need an TONY BIANCO referral code!

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“How much will it really cost to get this off the ground? Show me a model.” This is what a brand doing $12mm in revenue (mostly outside of Shopify) asked me about their acquisition channel. Here’s what’s going on: •Most revenue is on Amazon •Shopify funnel doesn’t convert •Getting new customers outside of Google is hard •Creating demand is too expensive Combine all of that together = no predictable growth engine. Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you’re glass half full or not), this is not a unique problem. So we built a model answering one core question: how much money do I need to invest in an acquisition system for it to be profitable 6-12 months from now? I outlined 3 scenarios and the most realistic model takes 8 months to start generating a profit and 12 months to breakeven on their investment. Total investment: $25-$30k After breakeven, the company will be generating $10k+ per month in net profit. Not life changing numbers but in the right direction of controlling the growth of a business with the ability to scale on demand. If you could invest $25-30k to create a growth system that generates $10k/month in profit after 12 months, do you think this is the right investment? What questions would you have? _____________________________ ♻️ Sharing is caring - will appreciate a repost, so more people can scale businesses faster. And follow Nehal Kazim for more content like this!

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Mistake 99% new DTC founders make: Investing in paid social without data. Ask: - Does my content have verified success? - Have I conducted comprehensive customer research? - Is my content strategy solid? One 'no' = not time for paid social. Start at ground zero.

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Another success story rooted in full-funnel marketing + HIPAA-compliant tech. I’m telling ya, this stuff really works. We helped a huge MSO (100+ locations & 12 individual brands) bring in tons of new patients, lower advertising costs, and build the right HIPAA-compliant data system. The strategy? 🖥️ Landing Pages for a Better Patient Experience: We created a flexible landing page strategy with personalized pages for each location – making it easy for potential patients to take action. 📲 Paid Media to Meet Capacity Goals: We layered on an optimized Google Ads strategy for all locations to control spending and drive new patients. We also created tailored content for PMAX campaigns, boosting brand awareness and increasing traffic. ⚕️ HIPAA-Compliant Data System: We integrated their HIPAA-compliant online booking and call tracking tech into custom dashboards. This gave them clear insights into patient interactions, improved lead quality, and boosted patient referrals. Results? ⭐ 189% increase in the number of booked appointments ⭐ 39% increase in CVR (conversion rate) ⭐ 36% decrease in CPA (cost-per-acquisition) It’s crucial to keep layering on and testing different strategies/channels, optimizing, and understanding marketing attribution with the right data and technology. Mix it all together and you get a recipe for growth!

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This one hire can be rocks or diamonds for your business: Especially for DTC brands doing $1m - $10m per year... It's Marketing Managers. I've worked with 100's of brands. Ranging from $10k p/m to $1.5m p/m. And have seen time and time again new Marketing Managers come into a business and completely turn the ship around. These transformations can be tied to the exact month they started! On the other hand... I've seen new managers be absolute wrecking balls. ~ Destroying internal team dynamics ~ Pivoting strategies on a whim ~ Using old & outdated techniques Founders building out a marketing team need to hire carefully for this position. Especially if you want that person to spearhead your marketing department. __________________________ P.s Tag and show some love to a great marketing manager you know below.

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My agency has generated over $110M in email revenue for DTC brands. But here’s the uncomfortable truth. Most DTC brands send generic emails. And then wonder why their email revenue is stuck. Here's the fundamental reason why generic emails don’t work: 👉 They alienate most of your audience Which leads to… ⛔ Weak engagement ⛔ Poor conversion rates, and ⛔ Underperforming email revenue. Seth Godin says: "When you speak to everyone, you're speaking to no one." Ok? That's the harsh truth. So what’s the true switch for turning around performance? Personalized emails. They… ✅ Boost engagement rates. ✅ Build loyalty, and ✅ Drive more conversions. When you speak to your audience’s specific wants, needs, and interests, each message becomes more valuable. This approach gets more attention, drives higher engagement, and makes each customer worth more. Here’s how great DTC brands use personalized emails: - Segment by purchase history, need, and behavior. Group your customers based on what they’ve bought, what they need, and how they act. - Craft messages for specific customer types. Create emails for different customer groups based on what you already know about them. - Create meaningful connections. When you speak directly to your audiences' specific needs and interests, you make them feel valued and understood. This helps forge stronger relationships, which improves loyalty and engagement. 💡 Takeway: Every DTC brand in 2024 (and beyond) should prioritize personalized emails over generic ones. Stop focusing on speed and start focusing on quality. It's hard to grow email revenue with a generic approach. Spend more time personalizing your emails—the ROI is much better there. Focus on specific customer types for better outcomes. This will help you engage more with your customers, build trust, and increase your sales. What am I missing? Tell me in the comments.

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Lead gen or getting clients in simple words requires an input. You gotta leverage your time or invest more money to get attention And use backend systems to turn that attention into paying customers. If there's no input, you'll hear crickets

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"Here's a hot take" "The #1 mistake I see people make with X is Y" "Are you making this common mistake with X?" "How to X" "X Early Warning Signs" Hooks 🪝: Arguably more important than content because if you don't scroll stop, your valuable insights go unnoticed. This is true for video ads This is true for LinkedIn Posts This is true any post in general The top .1% of advertisers test 11x more creative than the average - and often it's the same ad but trialed with different hooks. So if your ads aren't working, don't through the baby out with the bathwater, try a different hook (or 5).

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We audited an account spending $7+ million / year and only running shopping campaigns this month. The crazy part? It wasn't that they were only running standard shopping campaigns. That is right, they had no PMax anywhere in the ad account. The interesting part was someone removed negative keywords from the ad account last year and they never got replaced. The team wanted to know why performance was down year over year, this was one of the major issues we saw. Sometimes the most basic stuff is why performance is down year over year. I know we can talk about competitors, macro environment and everything else in between. Sometimes you just need to do a proper account audit to make sure everything is tightened up in your ad accounts. Summer is almost here and this is the best time to do an audit across your ad accounts and shopping feed for Autumn and Q4. Always glad when brands and agencies reach out for a one of audit. A few pair of eyes can help turn things around.

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