How Latico Leathers Is Using Creative Content to Respond to Data Privacy Changes
If marketers wear many hats, then Ben Schreiber carries a lot of weight on his shoulders. He’s both the head of growth at Latico Leathers and the co-founder of digital marketing agency Brand Caffeine, which he runs alongside his sister, Liv Schreiber.
Ben sure knows how to build a brand. He’s increased Latico Leathers’ revenue by 2,170 percent in just two years thanks to a healthy 3.5x return on ad spend (ROAS) and 53 percent email-attributed revenue.
Now with Apple’s recent iOS 14.5 changes and the impending third-party cookie phase-out with Google, Ben acknowledges that sustaining this level of growth will be challenging for both himself and his fellow marketers.
But even though times are changing in the digital marketing and advertising space, Ben is adamant that brands can still prosper if they adapt. For Latico Leathers and Brand Caffeine’s clientele, this means that three core components will be key to their success.
How Customer-First Data collection can span the entire customer journey
As third-party data become harder to attain, marketers will increasingly rely on collecting Customer-First Data, to better understand and communicate with their customers.
Customer-First Data include both zero-party data (information that someone gives to you, like their email address or phone number) and first-party data (information observed by a brand about someone on their owned properties).
For this reason, Ben plans to invest his time into building out Latico Leathers’ email marketing list in Klaviyo.
Ben said he’s focusing on collecting Customer-First Data earlier in the customer journey. To do this, he’s using lead generation ads to capture shoppers’ email addresses with incentives such as a discount off a first purchase or an entry into a giveaway.
But the Customer-First Data collection doesn’t stop there. Once someone lands on Latico’s website, Ben has several areas where he can capture their email address. He also collects information on their interests and preferences, which he uses to create subscriber segments and personalize marketing automations in Klaviyo through an Octane AI style quiz.
Put your marketing to the test
Now that many brands expect to receive less qualified traffic to their websites because of what’s happening with data privacy, conversion rate optimization will be a priority in order to turn site visitors into paying customers. And that’s exactly what Ben is setting his sights on for Latico Leathers.
But how do you know the best way to communicate with your audience? And how can you gain insights about what types of content they’re engaging with even as attribution becomes harder to track on third-party platforms?
Ben suggests that marketers ramp up their A/B testing efforts to get a better understanding of what resonates with site visitors—whether it’s the copy on a sign up form or the subject line of an email, for example. Then, implement the winning solutions to improve customer experience and your conversation rate.
He added that A/B testing in conjunction with testing creative components, like your messaging, in your ads is the most effective way to improve your digital marketing strategy.
The power of repurposing content
Ben emphasized that brands will also have to rely on exceptional creative now that ads will become less personalized. But actually creating remarkable content isn’t always as easy as it sounds, especially for brand owners who only have so many hours in the day to experiment.
This is why Ben recommends thinking about how you can repurpose high-performing organic content, such as blog and social media posts, and use it in paid acquisition and email marketing programs.
For example, having a blog improves Latico Leathers’ organic ranking on Google through search engine optimization (SEO) and also enables Ben to provide more value to consumers across social and email.
Though he acknowledges brand owners might not have time to create all the components of a comprehensive content strategy, Ben suggests working with influencers or content creators who can generate multiple videos and photos for each campaign.
Ben noted that many of the brands he works with through his agency, Brand Caffeine, are reallocating budgets to focus on content creation and TikTok advertising campaigns, putting a larger emphasis on viral short-form video content, authenticity, and cultural impact.
Part of the success that they see on these channels is from rapidly testing high-quality user-generated content (UGC) or following the framework of other top-performing social content.
Ben noted that, if you do want to try creating this type of content, you don’t need expensive video equipment or fancy editing software to create high-value assets. In fact, oftentimes, the more “raw” these posts are, the better.
Not to mention, as paid social media become less reliable, he predicts many marketers will put more focus on growing their organic social media following and explore driving quality site traffic through other channels.
Why it’s more important than ever to focus on brand storytelling
Nailing down your brand story can sometimes feel like an abstract concept. But to Ben, it’s the key to building a successful business that can outlast any curveballs that come its way.
This is why crafting the brand story and using it throughout the customer journey, such as in a welcome series, is foundational to Latico Leathers’ marketing strategy.
Ben said that while this may seem like a small part of their overall strategy, these details help differentiate the brand and set Latico Leathers’ leather accessories apart from other competitors, which will become an increasingly essential approach for customer acquisition.
Ben also emphasized that, although this time is going to be challenging for many marketers, it may present an opportunity to restrategize and concentrate on the core components of your brand.
Identify what makes your brand unique
As marketers consider how to prepare for an uncertain future with paid advertising and third-party data, Ben advocates that creating a resilient brand is all about differentiating your business from competitors and communicating your unique value with current and potential customers.
Find out more about the data privacy changes and what it means to be customer-first