DTC Podcast

DTC Newsletter and Podcast
  • 4.5 (36)
  • MARKETING
  • UPDATED DAILY

Weekly discussions between disruptive direct to consumer ecommerce brands and our amazing team about marketing, funnels, and everything scaling related. Subscribe to our newsletter for highlights and step by step tactical insights 👉🏻 📦 directtoconsumer.co

  1. Ep 603: Why Most DTC Brands Fail on YouTube (And How to Fix It in 60 Days)

    2D AGO

    Ep 603: Why Most DTC Brands Fail on YouTube (And How to Fix It in 60 Days)

    Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signup Most brands test YouTube, don’t see conversions, and shut it off. The problem isn’t the channel. It’s how they’re measuring it. Dougie from Pilothouse breaks down how YouTube actually drives growth for DTC brands, and why cost per brand search is one of the most useful signals to track early. For DTC founders and growth marketers spending $50K+/month and looking for a channel beyond Meta. What we get into: Why conversions lag on YouTube The 4-week window to judge early performance How cost per brand search shows real intent Budget levels needed to generate signal Targeting mistakes that kill campaigns Who this is for: Brands hitting a ceiling on Meta and testing new acquisition channels What to steal: Track brand search before and after launching YouTube Use cost per brand search to judge efficiency Run geo tests to validate lift Timestamps 0:00 YouTube as awareness vs conversion channel 2:00 Why DTC brands fail testing YouTube 4:00 Creative and audience readiness for YouTube 6:00 Why YouTube attribution is broken 8:00 Cost per brand search as key metric 10:00 YouTube campaign setup basics 12:00 Targeting mistakes and audience signals 14:00 Excluding existing customers properly 16:00 Setting expectations and measuring success 18:00 Budget requirements and testing timelines 20:00 Fixing struggling YouTube accounts 22:00 Low quality placements and wasted spend 24:00 Creative strategy and frequency on YouTube 26:00 The first 5 seconds rule for ads Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signup Advertise on DTC - https://dtcnews.link/advertise Work with Pilothouse - https://www.pilothouse.co/?utm_source=AKNF603 Follow us on Instagram & Twitter - @dtcnewsletter Watch this interview on YouTube - https://dtcnews.link/video

    29 min
  2. Bonus: How to Scale Amazon in 2026 – 3 Data Plays DTC Brands Are Still Missing

    4D AGO

    Bonus: How to Scale Amazon in 2026 – 3 Data Plays DTC Brands Are Still Missing

    Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signup Bradley Sutton from Helium 10 joins the pod to break down how serious brands should be thinking about Amazon now: not as a backup channel, but as a core retail growth engine. We get into where Amazon fits in an omni-channel stack, how PPC has gotten way more complex, why Walmart and TikTok Shop matter more than most brands admit, and where sellers can actually use AI for efficiency. Sign Up for Helium 10: https://www.helium10.com/?utm_source=DTC&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_campaign=homepage In this episode, we cover: Why Amazon has shifted from “nice to have” to a core acquisition and retention channelHow top sellers use PPC automation, dayparting, and keyword harvesting to manage spend without blowing budgetWhat Helium 10 actually helps with, from product research and listing optimization to competitive intel and campaign managementWhy TikTok Shop and Walmart aren’t side quests anymoreHow to think about Rufus, AI shopping tools, and what actually matters right now If you’re a DTC founder or an ecommerce operator scaling across Amazon, Walmart, and TikTok Shop and you want cleaner CAC, better retail media performance, and fewer wasted ad dollars, this episode is a must listen. Helium 10 is a platform that brings research, operations, Amazon advertising, and performance insights together so you can scale faster across marketplaces. Timestamps 00:00 Amazon beyond a traffic source 02:00 Amazon as a core growth channel 03:30 Multi-channel fulfillment and expansion 06:30 Why Amazon ads are now critical 08:00 Organic vs paid growth on Amazon 12:00 Product research and competitor analysis 15:00 Validating demand before launching 19:00 Amazon vs TikTok vs Walmart strategy 23:00 AI impact on Amazon shopping behavior 28:00 Branded keyword bidding strategy 32:00 Automation and dayparting for ads 36:00 Biggest mistakes Amazon advertisers make Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signup Advertise on DTC - https://dtcnews.link/advertise Work with Pilothouse - https://dtcnews.link/pilothouse Follow us on Instagram & Twitter - @dtcnewsletter Watch this interview on YouTube - https://dtcnews.link/video

    39 min
  3. Ep 602: How Bobbie Won 91% of the Conversation With 4% Market Share | Building the Brand

    6D AGO

    Ep 602: How Bobbie Won 91% of the Conversation With 4% Market Share | Building the Brand

    Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signup Kim Chappell is Chief Brand Officer at Bobbie, the mom-founded infant formula brand that’s crossed $100M in revenue and is trying to change how formula gets talked about in America. In this episode, she breaks down how Bobbie built a brand parents are proud to buy in a category that used to be driven by guilt, and why trust beats sheer creative volume when the old Meta scale-button playbook stops working. For DTC founders, CMOs, and performance marketers scaling a trust-heavy product in a crowded category. Inside the episode: Why Bobbie treated infant formula as a culture problem, not just a product problem How the team thinks about brand vs performance now that the old Meta-only growth playbook has weakened What “learn more” looks like when your customer journey is messy, delayed, and omnichannel How Bobbie chooses the few advocacy lanes it can credibly own, then actually follows through Why the Cardi B partnership worked, and how it turned celebrity into conversation share, trust, and policy momentum Who this is for: Operators building in regulated, trust-sensitive, or education-heavy categories where brand has to do real work before performance can convert. What to steal: Put performance, organic, creator, and lifecycle under one brand story Treat education as part of conversion, not a nice-to-have Pick fewer cultural or political lanes, but show up with receipts when you enter them Timestamps 00:00 Performance marketing has changed 03:00 Building Bobbie from scratch 06:00 Removing the stigma around formula 08:00 Why Bobbie understood the customer 10:00 Transparency as brand strategy 12:00 Brand vs performance 15:00 The omnichannel customer journey 18:00 Choosing the right advocacy lanes 21:00 Community-led brand action 23:00 Building awareness in a small market 26:00 How the Cardi B partnership happened 29:00 Measuring the campaign’s impact Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signup Advertise on DTC - https://dtcnews.link/advertise Work with Pilothouse - https://dtcnews.link/pilothouse Follow us on Instagram & Twitter - @dtcnewsletter Watch this interview on YouTube - https://dtcnews.link/video

    37 min
  4. Ep 601: 25% of Your List Drives 75% of Revenue. The Dangers of AI Email Segmentation

    APR 10

    Ep 601: 25% of Your List Drives 75% of Revenue. The Dangers of AI Email Segmentation

    Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signup Jordan Gordon from Pilothouse comes back to the DTC Podcast with a sharp warning for brands buying into AI-powered customer segmentation. The promise sounds good: send to the “best” people, cut waste, let the machine find hidden revenue. The problem is what happens after that. Jordan breaks down why over-segmentation can shrink your active list, cut click volume, hurt inbox placement, and quietly bleed revenue over time. For DTC founders, retention leads, and CRM operators trying to grow email revenue without slowly choking list health. In this episode, Jordan gets into: Why inbox placement still sits upstream of almost every retention result How “smart” segmentation can reduce sends so much that your list starts decaying The real risk of AI tools unsuppressing bad or low-quality addresses Why cleaner funnels usually beat clever segmentation The 15 lifecycle touchpoints most brands should actually be auditing across site, pop-up, landing pages, and email Who this is for: DTC operators, lifecycle marketers, Klaviyo teams, retention agencies, and founders trying to scale email without tanking deliverability. What to steal: Audit whether your segmentation strategy is growing revenue or just shrinking mail volume Map your top lifecycle touchpoints and check them for message, persona, and offer consistency Prioritize tools that increase high-intent capture and safe inbox placement instead of just “optimizing” who gets excluded Timestamps 00:00 AI segmentation buyer beware 02:20 Inbox placement vs message quality 04:40 Why sending less can shrink revenue 08:05 When AI unsuppresses bad addresses 10:55 Has anyone cracked AI segmentation 13:10 One clean funnel beats micro-segmentation 15:35 The 15 lifecycle touchpoints to audit 17:45 Persona mismatch kills conversion 19:55 If everybody owns it, nobody owns it Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signup Advertise on DTC - https://dtcnews.link/advertise Work with Pilothouse - https://www.pilothouse.co/?utm_source=AKNF601 Follow us on Instagram & Twitter - @dtcnewsletter Watch this interview on YouTube - https://dtcnews.link/video

    21 min
  5. Ep 600: How Acid Buddy Got 1,000+ Orders in Its First 6 Weeks, Creating a New Category Behind the Bar

    APR 6

    Ep 600: How Acid Buddy Got 1,000+ Orders in Its First 6 Weeks, Creating a New Category Behind the Bar

    Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signup http://cocktailbuddies.com Tao, founder of Acid Buddy, joined the show to talk about a product that feels early, unusual, and potentially huge: flavored acids. After years working in bars and consulting, he kept running into the same issue. Citrus was inconsistent, messy, expensive, and limiting. So instead of treating acid like a background ingredient, he turned it into the product itself. That’s the bet behind Acid Buddy, and early traction suggests the market is paying attention: 1,000+ orders in the first 6 weeks, with customers in more than 75 countries. For DTC founders creating new categories, and beverage operators who want more consistency, speed, and flexibility behind the bar. In this episode, we get into: Why Tao believes flavored acids could become a real new category in beverages How Acid Buddy gives bars another place to build flavor, outside the usual syrup-heavy approach Why the product works for cocktails, mocktails, coffee, tea, and other drinks How this can help with half-sweet and skinny-style drinks that still feel balanced What the first 6 weeks looked like, including 1,000+ orders and strong pull without paid ads Who this is for: DTC founders, beverage brands, bar owners, operators, and anyone interested in category creation inside food and drink. What to steal: Build around a problem professionals already deal with every day Make the use case obvious fast, especially when the category is new Let early traction validate the story, then widen the market Timestamps 00:00 Why Acid Buddy exists 02:10 Solving consistency behind the bar 04:12 Turning flavored acid into a product 06:14 Why the cocktail market is huge 08:24 What makes Acid Buddy different 10:31 Mocktails, coffee, and drink less better 13:08 The bar lime hygiene problem 15:18 1,000 orders in the first six weeks 18:03 The content and ambassador strategy 21:12 Why TikTok Shop could be big 23:35 Tao’s Netflix and Drink Masters story 28:42 The Cocktail Buddy long-term vision Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signup Advertise on DTC - https://dtcnews.link/advertise Work with Pilothouse - https://dtcnews.link/pilothouse Follow us on Instagram & Twitter - @dtcnewsletter Watch this interview on YouTube - https://dtcnews.link/video

    32 min
  6. Ep 599: 3 Claude AI Workflows DTC Marketers Can Use to Save Hours Every Week

    APR 3

    Ep 599: 3 Claude AI Workflows DTC Marketers Can Use to Save Hours Every Week

    To Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signup Braydon Germain from Pilot House is back on AKNF to break down how AI is changing the actual day-to-day of marketing work. This episode isn’t about shiny demos or abstract AI hype. It’s about using Claude like a real coworker: building skills, breaking work into micro-tasks, automating repeatable steps, and keeping human taste where it matters. For DTC founders, agency operators, media buyers, and creative strategists trying to turn AI from a novelty into a real workflow. In this episode, Eric and Braden get into: How Claude shifts from “chat tool” to “coworker” why the best AI workflows start by breaking work into smaller repeatable tasks How teams can build shared skills for more consistent copy across channels Where auto-research and always-on optimization could actually change how marketers work Why human judgment still matters most in taste, positioning, and creative direction Who this is for: Marketers and operators who already use AI a little, but know they’re still nowhere near the ceiling. What to steal: Break one recurring workflow into micro-tasks before trying to automate all of it Build shared AI skills around tone of voice, reference examples, and approval standards Keep AI on structure and repetition, keep humans on taste and final judgment Timestamps 00:00 Claude as a real coworker 02:21 Why most people use AI too simply 04:22 Breaking ad work into micro tasks 06:26 Standardizing copy across client accounts 08:01 Building Claude skills with Skill Builder 10:06 Auto research and KPI-based optimization 12:08 Always-on execution with AI agents 14:15 Best Claude skill libraries on GitHub Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signup Advertise on DTC - https://dtcnews.link/advertise Work with Pilothouse - https://www.pilothouse.co/?utm_source=AKNF599 Follow us on Instagram & Twitter - @dtcnewsletter Watch this interview on YouTube - https://dtcnews.link/video

    16 min
  7. Ep 598: 5 Content Pipes That Scale DTC Growth Beyond Meta Ads | Cherene Aubert

    MAR 30

    Ep 598: 5 Content Pipes That Scale DTC Growth Beyond Meta Ads | Cherene Aubert

    Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signup Cherene Aubert, founder of growthcapital.co and former growth leader at ILIA and Bobbie, breaks down why so many DTC brands hit a wall after early traction. The problem usually is not media buying. It’s weak creative systems, lazy offer strategy, and too much faith in Meta to do the marketing for you. For DTC founders and growth leads moving from scrappy traction to real scale, this episode is a blueprint for building a creative engine instead of leaning harder on Meta. We cover: Why Cherene is bearish on Meta dependency even though it still drives scaleThe 5 content pipes modern brands need to keep creative fresh and performance stableWhy most popup offers and funnel journeys are paint-by-numbersWhen TikTok ads and TikTok Shop can beat Meta for Gen Z brandsHow Cherene’s AI agent, OpenClaw, is automating reporting, analysis, and presentations Timestamps: 00:00 Why Growth Marketing Is Breaking 01:19 Cherene’s Shift From Operator to Consultant 05:12 When Testing Stops Driving Growth 07:35 Why Cherene Is Bearish on Meta 09:23 From One Funnel to Content Pipes 12:33 The Real Lever Offer and Customer Journey 19:32 Organic Content vs Paid Advantage 27:01 What AI Actually Helps With and What It Does Not Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signup Advertise on DTC - https://dtcnews.link/advertise Work with Pilothouse - https://dtcnews.link/pilothouse Follow us on Instagram & Twitter - @dtcnewsletter

    41 min
  8. Ep 597: How Jon Bond Built a $90M Agency with 27% Margins (and the “Tip of the Spear” Playbook)

    MAR 27

    Ep 597: How Jon Bond Built a $90M Agency with 27% Margins (and the “Tip of the Spear” Playbook)

    Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signup JoinAgency.co Jon Bond has been in the agency game since the 1980s. He co-built Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners (K/B/B) from “two guys in New York” into one of the most talked-about independent agencies in the U.S., with peak scale hitting $90M revenue and 27% margins, and over $1B in billings (per the episode). In this conversation, Jon breaks down what actually drives agency growth when you’re past the scrappy phase and trying to scale without turning into a “we do everything” shop. Role-based hook: For agency founders scaling from $5–20M who want clearer positioning, better margins, and a path to bigger clients without chaos. What we get into: The “tip of the spear” framework: why clients don’t hire you for everything you can do, they hire you for the one thing you’re known for (then expand scope after trust is built)How they moved from low single-digit profit to 27% margins with discipline, forecasts, and real consequences (without killing culture)Culture as an actual growth lever: why “acceptance” made the agency sticky and hard to replicateWord of mouth at scale: the difference between “what you want people to say” and “what makes people talk”Building marketing assets that regenerate (vs renting attention that dies the second you stop paying) Who this is for: Agency owners and operators who feel stuck in “full-service mush,” want to land bigger clients, and want a smarter way to expand scope without blowing up delivery. What to steal: A simple positioning test: can you name the 1–2 things you do better than anyone, in one sentence, without listing services?A profitability rule that forces clarity: “If we invest X, what revenue shows up by month Y, and what gets cut if it doesn’t?”A growth path that doesn’t whiplash your team: expand one step away from your current strength, ideally funded by the client Timestamps 00:00 Agency Confidential preview 03:00 Jon Bond on starting young 06:00 Faking it till you make it 08:00 Making the agency feel hot 12:00 Culture built the agency 17:00 Word of mouth that scales 22:00 Growing with real margins 27:00 Hiring people built for change 30:00 Make your agency the top client 33:00 The near future advantage 37:00 Find your tip of the spear 39:00 Why agencies still win Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signup Advertise on DTC - https://dtcnews.link/advertise Work with Pilothouse - https://www.pilothouse.co/?utm_source=AKNF597 Follow us on Instagram & Twitter - @dtcnewsletter Watch this interview on YouTube - https://dtcnews.link/video

    43 min
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4.5
out of 5
36 Ratings

About

Weekly discussions between disruptive direct to consumer ecommerce brands and our amazing team about marketing, funnels, and everything scaling related. Subscribe to our newsletter for highlights and step by step tactical insights 👉🏻 📦 directtoconsumer.co

Information

  • Creator
    DTC Newsletter and Podcast
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    726
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 352487
  • Show Website
    DTC Podcast

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