Joshua Chin 6:01
Lauren, talk to me about the the recent changes. Now, iOS 15. As of this recording, it’s been out for almost two months now, about one and a half months, and I was 14.5 has been out for way longer than that. I’ve been told and definitely not in in the paid performance space, I’ve been told that creatives and specifically high volume rapid testing creatives is going to be incredibly important moving into the post, iOS 15 and iOS world. Is that true? And what’s your What are you? What’s your take on that?
Lauren Schwartz 6:42
Yeah, I mean, it’s, you know, the way the landscape of Facebook has definitely changed. Ever since all the iOS update. I think before, you know, it was very much, you know, even when I was working at the agency was very much like, okay, like media buyers have to be really good at our buying, you have to figure out the audiences. But really, like, it was always something that creative is what you see first and creative is what grabs your attention. And so I think the biggest thing, and I think more marketers now are realizing that creative is so important. Because really, like, if you’re not grabbing their attention, if you’re not getting them to engage with what you’re doing, then like really, you’re going to lose like you’re going to lose them. So I think like with all of the updates, it just really made it that much more clear that people need to really start focusing on their creative and not necessarily just throwing everything in there and like hoping that it works, but really being strategic about the way that they’re planning their creative way. They’re talking about their brand, the way that they’re basically doing everything, you know, from top of the funnel to bottom of the funnel, like there really has to be a strategy when it comes to creative and making sure that you’re testing in a very thoughtful way I think is what is making, you know, the new iOS update. So important, especially for creatives is that you just you have to make sure that you’re testing everything in a very thoughtful manner because it there is a strategy to it, and you have to make sure that your creatives are going to work.
Joshua Chin 8:10
Let me hear your approach from the point of view of, let’s say three categories of DTC brands, those that are are kind of figuring out product market fit. Those are below I would say below say 500 to 800 grand a year. Those are above five 800 grand a year to five mil the I suppose startups and the scale ups, five mil and beyond. Is that is that segmentation accurate and appropriate. But what I’m trying to get to is what kind of approaches and what kind of a thought process or philosophy Are you are you taking with each of these segments?
Lauren Schwartz 8:57
Yeah, so I think for you know, for the ones that are on the much smaller scale, um, you know, there’s a lot of times that I have clients that come to me and they don’t have a huge ad budget, they just got their product out there. Like it’s still very new, they don’t really have a great organic reach. And I usually tell a lot of those those potential clients like I think you need to build your organic first you need to make sure that you’re starting to build an audience before you even start doing anything with paid social because really, if like you don’t have a good organic reach, then you really have nothing to sell your product for like you don’t know who your audiences are, you don’t know who you’re really targeting. And really you’re gonna you’re gonna burn money on Facebook because it’s just, you don’t have enough. You don’t have enough information to I think really make your brand super successful and I feel like you’re going to spend so much time and money testing that really you’re going to burn up your ad budget really fast. So I always try to get those kind of smaller scale clients like build your organic, make sure that everything’s working, like try to get that following and then start testing with created or with Facebook. And then as you kind of move into things like obviously, kind of the middle grade clients, they already have a pretty good organic they’re already building, you know, they’ve already tested some ads, I think the biggest thing for them is just really trying to pinpoint who their particular audiences who they’re trying to sell to. And really just nail that down and make it make it impactful. You know, obviously, like, you want to chart you want to get a higher ABV, you want to have long lasting customers, you want to get people coming back. Because really like those people that are going to keep coming back, we’re going to start talking about your product, they’re going to start sharing it with friends, which then is going to make it more beneficial for those people who are you’re trying to prospect because there is more, you know, the reviews and everything. So with them, it’s more just like making sure you’re continuing to stay where you are like continuing to try and find new audiences, testing new audiences. And then the clients that want to scale I think for them, it’s really again, like, they already know who their audiences but now they need to probably find more audiences and they need to find new potential people. So it’s taking the learnings that we’ve had that we’ve done in the past and really trying to figure out how do we reposition ourselves to become that kind of new shiny brand for these people that need to scale? And so it’s like very, like, there’s so many different ways of kind of thinking about it. And there’s so there’s so much that goes into it that I think it’s just there’s a lot of data that’s out there that you really have to pay attention to. And I think once you understand your data and kind of where you’re at, you can start to figure out new audiences, new angles, new, you know, ways to test and like really scale your brand.
Joshua Chin 11:58
Lauren let’s, let’s take a step back with what you suggested. That’s, that’s really unique. Taking the organic route first before spending anything on anything on ads, especially when you have a small budget to begin with. What is the best approach to to earn organic creatives and organic reach and in general, knowing that Facebook’s organic reach and Instagrams Ganic reach isn’t necessarily the best for b2c brands or any brands for them?
Lauren Schwartz 12:33
Yeah, I mean, I think like just with the rise of video and TikTok, and just all these other platforms, like I really think that you know, and again, this is just my opinion, but I think that a lot of brands, they, you know, like they’ve been on Facebook, they’ve been on Instagram, but there’s just different ways of kind of talking to your audience on all these different platforms and making sure that you’re just being very needed and very authentic to the people that you’re talking to, I think is a way to kind of like get your your brand out there and really start to like grow your brand, especially on TikTok, I think I mean, TikTok is growing, and there’s more and more people that are coming on to it, but you’re gonna be found faster on TikTok than you are on Instagram and Facebook. And so I definitely think like even with an organic kind of search, like definitely get your brand onto TikTok because I think that it’s something that could be super beneficial for smaller brands because you don’t need a huge budget to be on it. You can make all these you know, great content, you know, pieces, and you’re going to get found a lot faster. And it’s just an easier way to get noticed as opposed to like, going on Instagram and Facebook where it is a lot harder to be found.
Joshua Chin 13:51
Makes sense? One of my fav my, one of my my team’s favorite type of creatives for for the email channel is actually UGC. Yep, face on it stuff of people using products, anything that’s UGC performs incredibly well as an email. And I know that that’s, that’s true with paid channels as well. Um, if you just share a little bit about why that’s the case, and maybe some of the examples you’ve seen done. Well,
Lauren Schwartz 14:26
yeah, um, I think, you know, again, UGC, is just, there’s so many ways to go about it. And I think the reason why user generated content does so well is because because it looks native to the platform. There’s so many great content creators out there micro influencers that really know how to shoot this sort of content. And so I think the reason why it just does so well is because it’s so you can engage with it so much. And it’s so interesting to watch. I mean, you know, you can go on reels on IG or stories and I mean, people just get lost in those, like, they’ll just scroll through those for hours. And, you know, it’s the same thing with tick tock like people will be on tick tock for hours, they don’t necessarily need to be doing anything, but they’ll just sit there and get lost in it. And so, I think, because it just looks so native to the feed, and it just looks authentic and organic. It just looks like someone sharing a, you know, a story with their friends. I think that’s why it does so well, you know, you can, you can definitely tell the higher paid content creators, or you can tell like hi produced UGC. And yes, that does do well, but I think the ones were just looks very native and organic always do so much better. Because, again, it looks like it’s just in your feed. And it looks like you’re just scrolling through and someone’s telling you about our product. So I think that’s why user generated content does the well.
Joshua Chin 15:53
Lauren, just latching on that I know that lots of brands are kind of caught up with the quality of creators and how pretty looks and how grand looks. But kind of paying attention to the 80/20 rule, the Pareto principle, I understand that, from from observation that the first 10%, or the first couple of seconds of a video, or what you would call the hook is way more important than the entire video itself. Is that true? And can you speak to that a little bit more?
Lauren Schwartz 16:31
Yeah, I mean, I definitely think the hook is what’s obviously going to grab people as they scroll through the feed. So as you’re scrolling through the feed, I think the best thing to do is like if someone if something pops out to you, or if there’s large text, or if someone you know, swipes and does something like you’re going to stop and be like, Oh, what is this, and I do think that the first three seconds are super important. But I also think that like, you have to make sure you’re rounding out your ad as well. So that, yes, you want to grab their attention, but you also want to get them to purchase too. So like there are a lot of people that talk about the first three seconds, the first three seconds, and you have to get them to, you know, to hook you in. But I do also believe that you have to make sure that your ad is still informational enough and still can engage enough where people will want to watch the whole thing. I mean, ultimately, you want to have someone watch more than three seconds, you know, like, yeah, I can get you to the site, and I can get you to click but like, I still want to tell you about this product, I want to tell you about the features and benefits. So I always say like, yes, the hook is important, but what it’s also but what happens after the hook, you know, like how do I get them to stay? And how do I get them to, you know, want to engage with my my brand even more and just me like I personally like to go more than three seconds. Like, if I can get someone to watch my ad for five seconds, then like, I’ve crushed my ads, like I’ve done a really good job because yeah, I got them past the hook. And I got them to watch much longer. So they’ve already engaged with my ad much longer than, you know, first three seconds or first second and then clicking. So yeah, I do believe that it is important. But I also believe that you should pay attention to the whole ad and what happens after those three seconds.
Joshua Chin 18:17
Makes sense? And can you talk a little bit about success and kind of the metrics? And you mentioned that if someone watches beyond that first three seconds, that’s that’s a great, great success. What What kind of leading indicators are just indicators that you that you look at for to determine if an ad is successful. If a if a creative is working or not. In my mind, I’m just thinking our revenue is the number one. But often when when it comes down to revenue, it’s a little bit too late, especially if it’s like top of funnel. Yeah, we’re looking at revenue. By the time revenue comes, it’s way too much that has been spent. So what is that kind of the thought process behind the metrics?
Lauren Schwartz 19:07
Yeah, so again, I do feel like obviously, the first three seconds is super important. Making sure that you know, you’re getting people again longer than the first three seconds. So usually what I kind of look at is the click through rate, I look through the impressions and like the video, the video, watch time, what’s the average video watch time? What are the website purchases? Like? Obviously, like our job is to get people to click obviously on the ad, but then we also have to get them to convert and so there’s a lot of times when you know you’ll get someone to the landing page, but then nothing will happen. And then at that point, you’re like Okay, was it the ad? Is it the home or is it the landing page? Like what what misstep happened in between them clicking to not purchasing like is it the checkout process so I think there’s just a lot of things that go into figuring out like how everything works. But truthfully, like, my biggest thing is always looking at the click through rate. And then looking at the average watch time, and the impressions and how, like everything kind of goes together because really that’s going to show me like, how much are they engaging with my ad. And if I can get them engaged longer than the three seconds then like, again, like I’ve done my job, like I’ve gotten them to a point where like, they’re, they’re interested enough to probably purchase after clicking through and going to the website.
Joshua Chin 20:35
Perfect. Lauren quickfire questions. favorite books that you’re reading right now? Or they’ve recently looked at?
Lauren Schwartz 20:45
Honestly, I’m actually rereading the Harry Potter books right now.
Joshua Chin 20:49
Very nice. Nice.
Lauren Schwartz 20:50
I like I don’t know, like, for some reason, I got my daughter, you know, she’s eight, and she wanted to start watching them in the app. So I started rereading those again, I forgot how good they are.
Joshua Chin 21:02
Good storytelling, really, really high quality storytelling. Yeah, agreed. favorite podcasts? Except for eCommerce Profits Podcast.
Lauren Schwartz 21:18
Um, oh, man. I feel like I have so many. Um, shoot I honestly can’t anyone. I’ll be honest. Like, I listened to a lot of different ones. I listened to like, yeah, I listened to a lot of them. There’s one that I do listen to the most. And it’s called Gold Digger. But they Yeah, I honestly have too many to name.
Joshua Chin 21:47
So it definitely is. The best advice that you have been given?
Lauren Schwartz 21:54
Oh, that’s a good question, too. Um, I, you know, it’s funny, I think, as I’ve kind of been going through this, like, the last 15 years, like, I have a friend who she, she’s just one of my really good friends. And honestly, she just tells me all the time, like, keep her head down, do a good job, be a good person, and, you know, good things will happen. And truthfully, like, it sounds so cliche and dumb, but like it’s really true. Like, I feel like hard work. And you know, just being a kind person and very transparent I think is what has really helped me get to where I am. So I do take that. You know, very I do take that to heart like I really do try to be be that that person.
Joshua Chin 22:42
I agree. I agree. Um, favorite tools. Were tools or activity tools or any thing that makes your life better.
Lauren Schwartz 22:54
Yeah, Asana is definitely my biggest I love Asana, Slack. Um Superhuman, which is like the best email platform I love. Yeah, I love when my thing is cleared out. I’m like, Oh my God. That’s zero. Yeah,
Joshua Chin 23:12
I got a weekly streak of two awesome, Lauren brands that you are a person you’re personally a fan of your customer or just that you like.
Lauren Schwartz 23:28
Yeah, I mean, again, like I now that we’ve been out I work at home all the time. Definitely like, yoga pants. Brands are really good. Yeah. Yeah, definitely sound like a fan of like athleisure wear. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, so anything like athletes were actually used to work. FEAT was one of my clients and they honestly make the best sweatshirts and joggers. I think I’ve ever worn in my whole life. Like I love them. They’re so comfortable.
Joshua Chin 24:00
What how do you how do you spell it? FI
Lauren Schwartz 24:02
FEAT
Joshua Chin 24:09
Its Featclothing.com. Guys, go check them out. Gotta first see, DT o the F just stuff for women and men. So definitely go check them out.
Lauren Schwartz 24:25
Yeah, they’re seriously they’re so comfortable. They’re like the most comfortable and close.
Joshua Chin 24:31
I’ve been I’ve been on hunt for just confort all like all the time. Because that’s that’s my number one thing. I don’t care. I look as long as it’s comfortable. And yeah, decent enough looking. Exactly. Yeah, even when I’m outside. Lauren what’s the best way for people connect with you and contact you if you’re interested to find out more about what you do and potentially work with you if you have the capacity to take on clients.
Lauren Schwartz 25:01
Yeah, um, again, my, my web address is Theloft325.com. Instagram is @theloft325. Anything with that handle you you can find me and I’m always open to answering any questions in my DMs. I love when people ask me questions, so yeah, what I’m
Joshua Chin 25:21
Awesome guys, don’t don’t go knocking Lauren store at this point in time she is packed to the brim. So get on a waiting list definitely definitely shoot her text but don’t expect to get on the client roster immediately. Lauren, I forgot to ask you this, but 325. What does that mean?
Lauren Schwartz 25:42
Yeah, so I actually The Loft 325 came from when I lived in Orange. Um, my husband and I, we lived in a small back house in Orange. It was literally like a loft. It was like less than 800 square feet and the address was three to five. So that was kind of where like the business started. And it just kind of stuck with me and just kept it for the whole time. Nice.
Joshua Chin 26:05
I love that story. Lauren, thank you so much for being on the show. It’s been fun.
Lauren Schwartz 26:13
Yeah, thanks so much, Josh. It was great.
Outro 26:20
Thanks for listening to the eCommerce Profits Podcast. We’ll see you again next time and be sure to click Subscribe to get notified of future episodes.
