Read on Twitter
THREAD: 8 things we learned in 2020 as ex-DTC brand operators building our new DTC publication & marketplace @fascination_the ⇣ ⇣ Read on ⇣ ⇣
1. The c. 2015 DTC growth playbook will no longer work in 2021. Period. Driving aggressive acquisition without an organic community or source of traffic is no longer economically viable. So we must adapt our strategy, just as today’s brands have had to.
2. Today’s brands aren’t (solely) relying on performance media to make their name, and that’s a good thing. But they need help telling their brand story, and highlighting what makes their product unique / amazing. That’s where we come in.
3. Truly believe @web notion of Linear Commerce is the way forward for sustainable digital brands, but goddamn fast-tracking it is very hard. (Scaling loyal audience + onboarding brands + dialing in product / mkt fit). Who wants to help?!
4. The behind-the-scenes technology powering Linear Commerce is exploding (Ally, @goConvictional, @coopcommerce , Bonsai, etc), is ripe for VC cash infusion, and “curated marketplaces” like @fascination_the are becoming a competitive playground
5. Creating compelling, new content day-after-day is stupid hard. Luckily, I love doing it myself, and as a team we’re making it a core focus for ’21. Mad respect to @TheHustle, @theskimm, @MorningBrew, @SidekickMB, @girlsnightinHQ @2PMinc, @kaleighf etc. for setting the bar high
6. The most successful curated marketplaces to emerge from the pack will be those who can deeply empathize with the needs of brand founders, inherently understand the levers to grow and monetize traffic, and create a better experience for consumers all around
7. It’s crazy that I find myself discovering new brands daily that I’ve never heard of, when I’m what @tferriss considers the “tip of the spear” in the DTC space. If I’ve never heard of them, surely most of middle America hasn’t. That’s one of the main challenges we help solve.
8a. For Linear Commerce to become truly mainstream, the current affiliate-based publishers will need to consider evolving their stack to embrace a more Shopify-centric ecosystem: a) to follow the brands and b) most of the best commerce tools integrate with @Shopify natively
8b. “Affiliate” is still very much a dirty word for many e-comm vendors. Since launch, we’ve fought many uphill battles with ESPs, networks, and vendors trying to explain what makes us different than their misconceived notion of “affiliate.” So, there’s still work to be done
Psst - If you enjoyed this thread, follow me or RT your favorite quote above. Trying to make my voice heard in ’21 