Every business model is under threat – are you ready?

One big thing: the Direct-To-Consumer business model is under significant financial stress.

I appreciate you taking the time out to read this. 

PS — if this newsletter has at all been helpful to you, please share it with one person today who might also find value for them.

I’ll be hosting an upcoming virtual event – some of you have wanted to have a more interactive Q+A format. Let me know if you would like to be in on this. 

What’s happening? Across the world, DTC businesses have built enormous growth on the back of low-cost Facebook advertising and shipping.

Think of brands like Warby Parker, Allbirds, Casper and hundreds of thousands of others. 

What are the triggers? 

  • Facebook ad prices have tripled in the last three years
  • worsening admeasurement, 
  • impact of enhanced privacy settings on Apple devices 
  • soaring shipping costs: now grown 10x 
  • revenue contraction, 
  • shrinking margins, 
  • lifts in interest rates + underlying roaring inflation 

But it is only the start. 

  • French watchdog calls Google Analytics – illegal.
  • The EU has some of the strictest privacy legislation on the planet. It and other western countries seem intent on taking it further. 

It exposes the global shift from paid to organic advertising and #socialselling.

The Facebook of years ago is now social media organic advertising – it’s free.

To win now – content, conversations and selling more occur within the right # conversations. 

It’s important to …

  • Be seen more.
  • Be heard more. 
  • Engage more with your ideal buyers on social media platforms.

This recent report from Adolescent Contents underlines the importance of strategy. 

Your buyers want every business to tell a bigger strategic story than just your products and services. 

Adolescent Content’s recent report: “Do Not Disturb” – only 8% of Gen Z audiences believe brands understand them.

  • They buy from brands that support ethical and sustainable initiatives without overtly flaunting them in promotion efforts.
  • Most Gen Z consumers also conduct extensive background research on brands before making purchasing decisions to authenticate the advertising messages.

What does it mean? 

The key is to – authenticate your messages to be seen more and heard more – organically.

  • 92% of buyers say the American Marketing Association actively seek to see no advertising -ever.
  • Paid advertising is a broken business. 
  • Governments are maximising privacy for voters and putting a spear into the heart of the paid advertising business model.

So how do you better segment buyers in this new world?

The old way – was targeting buyers with demographics. 

The new way – is values-driven. 

David Allison – www.valuegraphics.com says …

  • “We must stop using demographic stereotypes. 
  • They are not accurate, and they cause a great deal of harm. 
  • Instead, we must use our shared human values to guide us. For better marketing and a better world.” 

What we value determines what we do”. 

As a result, “we can unleash enormous passion and power.” 

“Valuegraphics are the fundamental disruption of our time: we can now predict and influence what people will do next.”

Financial impact – 8x more.

A Valuegraphics target audience will agree with each other on all 436 metrics as much as eight times more than an audience defined by demographics. 

As a result, every dollar spent influencing behaviour will be exponentially more powerful.

What does it all mean? 

  • We are going through one of the world’s biggest communications disruptions. 
  • Values, ethics and purpose are core to growth. 
  • Social media is the place where everyone is – does your business have a strategy for #socialselling? 

How can we help?

We now live in a Social Selling economy.

Accelerate provides a subscription publishing + strategy service to 

  • lift influence and social selling 
  • that schedules and distributes 
  • the most engaging content across all top five social media platforms every day.

Increasing your share of voice and engagement – maximises influence, revenue and market dominance.  

The average results are 

  • 2x more organic posts, 
  • 144x more engagement with your future buyers, 
  • 3x faster sales cycles, 
  • 2x lift in conversions for 
  • 1/2 the price of our competitors.  
  • Delivering influence, revenue and market dominance.

All for one low monthly price includes

  • monthly strategy sessions 
  • professional content generation – video and written

Immediate results. 

If you have read this far, thank you for your attention. This means a lot. I hope this helped you even a little bit in better making sense of this topic and if it did please share it with a friend who might also benefit from it. 

Thanks for reading, 

David