Erin Sale

Thrilled to have represented Vintage Faire Mall in a live segment on Good Day Sacramento in my prior role as a Senior Manager of Marketing. Now, as a brand strategist, I have the opportunity to discuss the powerful synergy between marketing and live TV with my clients.🚀 In today's fast-paced digital world, where personalized connections are key, leveraging live TV presents an incredible opportunity to engage with your target audience both dynamically and authentically. 💼 Live television amplifies brand visibility, fosters trust, and drives meaningful interactions with viewers through a more personal connection. In this case, with the host and I as their guide, I was able to provide an experience we were offering for a holiday activation. 📈 Here are a few key takeaways: 1️⃣ Real-Time Engagement: Live TV allows for instant interaction with the audience, fostering genuine connections and feedback. 2️⃣ Authenticity: Nothing beats the authenticity of live content. It humanizes brands, making them more relatable and trustworthy. 3️⃣ Targeted Reach: By strategically aligning marketing messages with live programming, we can reach our target audience at the right time and in the right context. 4️⃣ Memorable Impact: Live TV leaves a lasting impression. It's an opportunity to tell compelling stories and leave your audience wanting more. Not to mention, provide shareable content to the platforms that you control. 5️⃣ Call To Action: Provide an actionable next step for your potential customer. For instance, "Make Your Reservation" and pre-plan your visit. Let's continue to push boundaries and redefine the future of marketing together! 💪 #Marketing #LiveTV #Innovation #brandstrategist #adagency

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The recent $1M US live shopping record is just the beginning of many to come… A few days ago, news broke out that Stormi Steele, the Canvas Beauty CEO, achieved over $1M GMV in a single live shopping session. Let there be no mistake… It’s an incredible achievement and there’s a lot to unpack here. I can already tell that a ton of DTC folks are thinking… “Who in my company can do this? Perhaps we can hire a social media person?” Can that work? I don’t know, try it out. However, I’ve seen this fail time and time again… ➡️ Creative Strategy ➡️ Social Media ➡️ TikTok Shop ➡️ Paid Social ➡️ Etc. “Let’s just hire an intern or someone who does social media.” For some, it works… But rarely. It’s time to at the very least talk about the intersection between the Creator Economy and the DTC world. That’s why creator-led brands grow quite rapidly even without paid ads. Now I’m not saying that all founders should be creators(maybe?)... But at the very least, having someone who does content creation for a living in your team is extremely beneficial. Here are some ways to do it: 1. Keep multiple creators on a retainer basis - Reach out to creators that fit within what you’re looking for and have multiple creators make a few videos a month. That will give the brand variety and enough consistency. If one doesn’t work out, you can easily replace it with another creator that is more in-line with what you’re looking for. 2. Good ol’ fashion collaborations - Instead of doing a pay-per-post type of deal(we usually find this ineffective), combine it with paid ads. You can either do whitelisting, or run it as a regular ad and do a flat + ad spend compensation structure. 3. Weekly shoots - IF your team is good at creative ideation and production, this is perfect. You can have your team come up with creative ideas, write the scripts, and cast people who fit within your ideal customer avatar. This saves on cost and time. It’s what we do and it WORKS. 4. Brand activations - Activations are incredibly effective if done right. The idea isn’t to just be in front of people… It’s to also shoot a ton of content that can be used for organic posts of paid ads. Video examples: Product reviews, interview style, showcasing products to your audience. These are just a few ways brands can capitalize on what’s going on. What are some of the other ways I’ve missed? ==================== I’m planning a series of events to help bring more brands and creators together… Our mission is to bridge the gap between the Creator Economy and the DTC space–fostering an environment for long term partnerships and collaborations. 06/27 - Private Dinner Event 06/28 - Creators x Brands Speed Dating Party Anaheim, California If you’re a BRAND or CREATOR and are interested in coming, shoot me a DM for more info. :) NOTE: I don’t run a talent agency–I’m NOT here to sell you anything.

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Fellow Sephora fans! Who else listened to Zena Arnold, CMO of Sephora US, while restocking skincare supplies lately? Treat yourself to both (key points below). 🌟 Brand and performance are interconnected. Brand is who you are, what you stand for, and why you exist. Performance is how you drive sales, conversions, and the biz. The best marketing is when they work together (plus, you won't know how to drive performance until you confirm your consumer and brand). 🌟 Omnichannel is big and getting bigger. Blurring channel lines is only the beginning. Today you can "click and collect" (buy online and pickup). Tomorrow, I can't wait for more virtual try-ons, recos, in-store VR, and more. 🌟 Understanding your consumer is everything. Get to know them in traditional ways (insights reports, brand studies). And less traditional ways (social, reviews, favorite influencers). Get out into the wild, observe and learn. Keep the customer voice at the core of all you do. 🌟 Current customers are gold. Your current customers are your best brand ambassadors. While some brands are making fancy ads to woo new guests, Sephora nurtures the current. Zena says, "Your current customers telling friends about the great experience of your product or brand is stronger than any ad you can make." 🌟 Remember what it's all for... A healthy level of stress is helpful to light a fire, especially if you haven't figured it all out YET (you will). Our loves ones (especially little ones) are the best experience and can inspire exciting, new growth. https://lnkd.in/g_4AS_JW

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Sometimes I want to control my shopping experience, sometimes I want the thrill of the discovery. Sometimes I want 15 filters to narrow my search, sometimes I want the brand to take the wheel. In Quick Study’s latest Study Guide, we explore the relationship between consumer behavior and control, and how brands can keep the balance.

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Exciting news! Path to Purchase Institute just published my latest article on Impulse Shopping. At Provoke Insights, we surveyed 1,500 individuals across the US to uncover who's most prone to impulse buying and which industries are most susceptible to impulse shopping. Our findings reveal crucial strategies for marketers. Big thanks to Melissa Conforto for her hard work on this project! #ImpulseShopping #MarketingInsights #marketresearch https://lnkd.in/e5DV3MUx

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TikTok Shop Has 500,000 US Sellers!! With this astounding number of sellers in the US alone just 8 months after launching TikTok Shop here, they are crushing it in the e-commerce world. 📈 And that's not even counting the 15 million+ global sellers on the platform, with major hubs like Indonesia. TikTok has rapidly become an e-commerce juggernaut. 💸 Of course, with such explosive growth, there are bound to be some growing pains. TikTok had to crack down hard on fraud and policy violations in the latter half of 2023 - deactivating over 1 million sketchy seller accounts and removing 37 million shady product listings. 🚫 The $400 million they invested in safety and security measures shows they're taking this seriously as a legit shopping platform and the numbers speak for themselves. ❤️ #TikTok #socialmedia #creatoreconomy

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Our influencer panel discusses influencer brand deals. Hear from the experts themselves. #influencermarketing

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Hard to fathom a market cap declining from $49 Billion to $1 Billion in 36 months, but that's what we are looking at here. This is a case study on brands who live on speed to market versus intellectual property. Peloton did it first and did it fast, and created an enormous valuation bubble. Everyone drank the Kool-aid. Beginning in 2020, the pandemic boom accelerated their growth, and over the last two years, the pandemic bust accelerated their demise. But there was always one huge problem - Peloton had little to no IP. There were no barriers to entry, which made them defenseless to the army of exercise bikes, rowing machines and fitness app competitors who seized their success. The key lesson - speed to market always runs out of speed. Brands who sustain better have a war chest of patents, intellectual property and proprietary protections.

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I interact with a lot of business owners, from small (~$500k/annually) to very large (~$80m annually). A common theme this year - almost everyone is struggling with growth. Particularly when it comes to paid advertising. We've been able to continue to grow Barbell Apparel's online revenue at ~30% YoY - and that's all planned. We could probably grow a bit faster, but we take the excess profits as dividends instead. It's low stress at this point - but that doesn't mean it's low work. I feel like we've had to be five times as skilled to achieve the same results that were easy 3 years ago. For a very long time - digital advertising was cheap enough, that you could simply buy ads and make up for any mistakes in the rest of your operation. In my estimation, those days are gone, and they aren't coming back. We actually have lower CPAs now than we have at almost any point in the last 5 years - but it was a ton of work to get there. And our marketing organzation is heavily diversified across channels (paid digital, paid influencer, ambassador, organic, owned, etc.) Everything gets tested. Everything gets optimized. That's the what it takes these days. People look at their cost of customer acquisition - and think there's something wrong with facebook, google, etc. but really - that CPA is most likely telling you there is something wrong with your business. And if that's off putting to you, it shouldn't be. If advertising is truly not cost effective anymore - then we're all screwed. But if the problem is in the business itself, that is something within your power to fix. I've audited dozens (maybe hundreds) of businesses at this point - and I almost always find the same or similar problems. Lack of optimization in: the offer, AOV, CLV, funnel strategy, creatives, etc. Once those things get fixed - things tend to fall in line when it comes to CPA, ability to scale, etc. Granted - depending on your company, some of those problems could be very difficult or long term to solve. But you have to start solving them. There's nothing wrong with paid advertising - it's working as well as it ever did. But it's not cheap enough anymore to cover up a bunch of mistakes.

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Lauren Lamb, Desiree Mejia and myself had the honor of attending our THIRD Meta Performance Marketing Summit in San Francisco this month! 🛩 We got to spend a few days nerding out with some of the most talented performance marketers in the game discussing the latest and greatest from the Meta ecosystem of products. We recapped our top learnings from the Summit to share with YOU for free! For those who attended, what were your standout learnings from the event? Let's keep the conversation going! #metaperformancemarketingsummit #metaads

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https://lnkd.in/gSNGxFQp The Spencer Stuart annual CMO Tenure Study offers compelling insights into the evolving role and stability of CMOs, particularly noting the tenure stabilization at 4.2 years for Fortune 500 CMOs. It's intriguing that B2B CMOs tend to have longer tenures compared to their B2C counterparts, with 4.5 years versus 4.0 years respectively. This difference likely reflects the distinct challenges and market dynamics each sector faces. The study also highlights the increasing trend of CMOs taking on broader responsibilities and the significant number of first-time CMOs being promoted internally, suggesting a strong emphasis on leadership development and succession planning within organizations. It is great to see that women now represent half of Fortune 500 CMOs. I believe it's important now for companies to turn their attention to improving development and support systems for diverse high-potential leaders. #CMOtenure #B2BMarketing #Leadership #WomeninMarketing

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👉 Day 11: Boosting retail velocity w/ direct mail There’s a dirty little secret about retail. And it can kill DTC brands who aren't careful. Getting onto the shelf is only half the battle. If you don’t hit your sell-through numbers, that huge investment you made into inventory to support your retail roll out (and likely still haven’t been paid for due to the extended payment terms retailers typically receive) could end up right back on your warehouse doorstep. That can cause serious cash flow problems for an otherwise healthy company. And once you’re out, it can take years to get back in...if you’re even considered again. As you scale, it’s important to meet customers where they are. And retail can be a great way to do that. But you have to go in with a strategy, and you have to support your retailers with marketing that creates demand and pull through. We heard this pain point from our many brands who expanded into retail. So we created ShopDrops. With ShopDrops, we build lookalike models of your best customers based on your first-party DTC data. Then we apply specific criteria including what stores they’re known to shop at regularly (e.g. Target, Walmart, Kroger, Whole Foods, etc.) Finally, we geo-target them based on proximity to specific locations. Need to boost velocity at your southern California Costcos? Unlike billboards or even TV, direct mail gets your offer directly into the hands of only precisely targeted prospects. Like organic food shoppers who buy meat jerky at Trader Joes. Or affluent moms of teenage daughters who like shopping for premium cosmetics from Target. Or lookalikes of your top customers who also buy premium sparkling water from their local Kroeger. Or combine with SiteMatch to target prospects who visit your site, leave without buying anything, and live close to a local retail partner. Plus retailers love seeing what you’re doing to support them – it can even help you seal the distribution deal. Don’t risk getting delisted. BTW, if you’ve got your own branded stores like the awesome Kizik NYC popup, we can help with that, too.

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There are 100 million reasons to sell on TikTok! This week, Inc. Magazine featured an article on Beachwaver Co., a Chicago-based beauty brand that reported over $100 million in annual revenue for 2023. This represents a significant year-over-year increase of approximately 30 percent, partly attributed to the brand's strategic use of TikTok. Beachwaver has cultivated a robust following of 1.2 million on our platform. The brand actively engages with its audience through videos and other content, not only on TikTok but also across other social media platforms and its website. Beachwaver has achieved high engagement levels on TikTok, having established a presence early and utilized the TikTok Shop channel since its U.S. launch last September. Today, the TikTok Shop contributes to between 30 and 40 percent of the company's total sales, according to Beachwaver. Brands, merchants and retailers come to TikTok everyday to continue to drive sales powering commerce everywhere, regardless where the transaction takes place - either on their website, their app, a brick-and-mortar store, or, of course, on TikTok. #commerce #retail #tiktok #eCommerce https://lnkd.in/eZysXYPx

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Is your D2C brand thinking about going into retail in the next 12 months? If you answered yes... you need to check out my latest podcast. Yesterday, I had the privilege of speaking with the very smart and talented Alexandra E. Vailas from DYPER. Our conversation was focused on going from D2C into retail and things you need to consider and focus on to give yourself the best chance possible to succeed. Link in the first comment!

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Kudos, Glossier, Inc. Grant Program For Black-Owned Beauty Businesses, for at least upping the ante in terms of grant size. I get really frustrated seeing the proliferation of female founder grant programs/pitch competitions with teensy weensy amounts, where we're expected to be grateful and compete for crumbs, while the VC funding banquet lavishes millions, nay, billions on white bro founders. Glossier is awarding four $50,000 grants and one former grantee $100,000 Alumni Award - at least that's not nothing. Details here: https://lnkd.in/e-miZ4yr #FundFemaleFounders #FundBlackFemaleFounders

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What are the metrics by which one should judge their retail media success? Check out our conversation with Havas Market's Molly Hop to find out!

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This is a really valid and poignant perspective.

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This is good news. The ads and film have tapped into the most important needs of consumers: inspiration, optimism, vitality, and autonomy. But this sector needs more than just pretty storytelling in ads - it needs storydoing/living (on their part) and to impart story being (where consumers are participants not just audiences). That means live experiences and showing consumers what Adidas can/will be for them IRL. #brainmanagement

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