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Welcome to the first edition of my newly relaunched newsletter and to all of the newest subscribers!

Many of you may have subscribed in the fall last year to the old “Principles of Marketing” email list that I had launched in September, and after taking some time off, I wanted to get back to consistently sending out at least two newsletters a week.

This newsletter will focus on everything related to e-commerce, including branded direct response marketing/copy, media buying, and other business topics that I will explore in connection with my own brand’s growth (such as influencer marketing, PR, etc.).

Before kicking things off, I want to make sure everyone who’s receiving this email has a copy of the playbook that I mentioned in my post on X yesterday since some of you mentioned not receiving the welcome email:

Download your copy of the Hidden Tempo playbook here.

And remember, if you post your thoughts about the playbook and what you learned on X and tag me (@pmktg00), then I’ll send you a swipe file of my favorite branded direct response ads that you can use as inspiration for your own business or clients.

For today’s edition, I had three random thoughts that I’d like to share:

Concept #1: Email and SMS marketing doesn’t add incremental revenue to your business. It only allows you to reach your maximum retention potential.

Generally, the percentage of customers you retain and turn into repeat buyers is limited based on your product category, your line of SKUs, and brand positioning.

This has nothing to do with optimizing flows, campaign strategy, and split testing subject lines.

Optimizing your email and SMS marketing is essential, but it only allows you to realize the maximum potential of your retention capabilities.

Concept #2: The best way to succeed is to study what’s working and create a database of profitable ads and new concepts.

The volume of ad creatives you produce and test is positively correlated with your revenue.

It’s critical to constantly analyze and refine your advertising strategies based on the data and insights gathered from your database.

I recommend using a tool like Foreplay.

If you’ve read the media buying guide in my playbook, then you know which metrics to pay attention to and how to use them to make decisions about campaigns.

But creative strategy is a key element that affects those metrics, and it’s something I’ll be covering in more detail in future newsletters. In the meantime, check out this resource from Motion that can help you learn the art and science of creative strategy.

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Concept #3: First mover advantage is everything.

This concept applies to everything in life, but it’s absolutely critical in e-commerce and digital marketing in general.

If you were among the early adopters who jumped on platforms like:

Google AdWords in 2004

Facebook (Meta) ads in 2012

Instagram in 2013

TikTok in 2018,

(or even invested in Bitcoin in 2013…),

then you likely played the game on easy mode.

Any business built on these platforms during these specific time frames had a higher likelihood of driving multiple eight and even nine figures of revenue.

Examples:

Zynga and mattress brands on Facebook in 2012

Frank Body, SkinnyMe Tea, and Bondi Sands on Instagram in 2013

What’s interesting is that within each of these platforms, pockets of opportunity open up every 12 to 18 months.

Examples:

Instagram stories had lower CPMs and more reach in 2017.

Many Instagram accounts grew massively in 2020 and 2021 by posting the Reels, a new feature at the time.

And of course, many brands like Guru Nanda have grown rapidly since starting to use TikTok Shop last year.

The good news is that even if you missed the boat on all of these, there’s always the next opportunity.

Always keep an eye out for what's next, and when you find something new, don't hesitate to go all in.

That’s all I’ve got for today. I’m aiming to send at least two to three emails per week, so you’ll be hearing from me soon.

And as always, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to reply back (I always read every response).

Talk soon,

Sharad (@pmktg00)

P.S. If you own or operate an e-commerce brand generating at least $1,000,000 in annual revenue, feel free to book a call with me to discuss how we can improve your ad creative or email/SMS marketing strategy.

To further enhance your e-commerce and marketing skills, you may be interested in signing up for one of the options below:

1. If you’d like to learn the marketing strategies we use at Hidden Tempo to work with prominent clients and drive results for them, check out the AI Powered Marketer.

2. If you’d like to learn how to write high converting advertorials, check this out.