Are you asking your customers to learn too much?

Building a brand outside the London bubble?

On October 8th, we are bringing our flagship Connect summit back to Manchester. If you've been to a DTC Live event before, you know this isn’t a day of boring corporate pitches. It’s a high-energy, unfiltered day dedicated to real growth.

We're putting the region's fastest-growing eCommerce founders on stage to share the honest strategies behind their growth. Our recent stages have featured leaders from trailblazing brands like Represent, Elle Sera, Grenade and Full Power Cacao.

Here is exactly what you can expect in the room:

• Unfiltered strategy: Tactical, actionable strategy tips for retention, acquisition, and scaling your ops.
• Ultimate resource hub: Meet the tech partners, agencies, and fulfilment experts who can unblock your current growth hurdles.
• Networking: Grab a pint and strategise with operators who actually understand the beautiful chaos of scaling a brand.

Tickets for our Manchester conferences always move incredibly fast. Register now to finalise your seat!

How to market a concept your customers don't understand yet

In our latest podcast episode, we sat down with Natalie James, founder of helloSKIN, to discuss the reality of launching a product when your category doesn't even exist yet.

The beauty industry has a massive single-use waste problem. Consumers want sustainable options, but the data shows a harsh truth: buyers will rarely sacrifice premium performance just to be eco-friendly.

So, instead of just making recyclable packaging, helloSKIN made the product itself disappear. They launched premium skincare masks that deliver intense hydration and then completely dissolve in boiling water once used.

It is a brilliant differentiator, but a total marketing nightmare. There is zero search volume because nobody is Googling "dissolvable eye masks."

"We had to educate the customer before we could ever sell to them,"Natalie explained on the podcast. "If you tell someone a mask just dissolves into nothing, they don't believe you. They think it's a gimmick."

If you are trying to introduce a new behaviour or a wild concept to your audience, here is how you can borrow helloSKIN's playbook to educate your market and drive conversions:

1. Prove the magic in the first 3 seconds

When your product does something that sounds unbelievable, text-based marketing will fail you. If your product breaks the rules of its category, you have to prove it visually before the user can scroll past.

helloSKIN’s top-of-funnel marketing doesn't rely on long copy; it relies on the visual "magic trick" of dropping the mask into hot water and watching it vanish on video.

Don't tell your customers how your innovation works, show them instantly.

2. Anchor your radical idea to a familiar desire

If you ask a customer to learn a new behaviour and care about a completely new benefit at the same time, they will usually just bounce. It’s too much mental friction.

When introducing a wild innovation, always anchor it to a deeply familiar problem. helloSKIN led with: "Here is the premium hydration you already love, without the guilt of throwing it in the bin."

If your product is highly unusual, make sure the core benefit is something the customer is already desperately looking for.

3. Lead with performance, close with mission

Sustainability or unique tech will get a customer's attention, but the actual performance is what secures the second purchase.

If your new concept doesn't actually work better than the traditional alternative, the gimmick wears off fast. helloSKIN relentlessly formulated for sensitive, dry skin, proving that zero-waste doesn't mean compromising on luxury.

As Natalie put it:

"Sustainability is our moat, but performance is our engine. If it doesn't leave your skin feeling incredible, the dissolving part doesn't actually matter."

The Takeaway

The next time you are launching a complex new product, ask yourself: Are we showing the proof immediately? Are we tying it to a familiar problem? And does the product actually over-deliver on the basics?

Watch the full episode.

Podcast: How Kinvara Skincare Mastered Live Shopping

Are your social followers actually buying?

In our latest partner episode, we sat down with live commerce platform Sprii and natural beauty brand Kinvara Skincare to break down the exact playbook Kinvara used to turn passive scrollers into highly engaged, repeat buyers through Live Shopping.

If you are tired of battling rising CPAs and want a proven way to inject urgency and community into your sales, steal their strategy today.

Add to your queue on Spotify.

In Other News…

Ecommpay Launches Self-Serve Checkout for SMEs: Ecommpay has rolled out a new self-service payment gateway specifically designed to help smaller UK businesses integrate Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Open Banking without needing an enterprise-level IT team.

What this means for you: Clunky checkouts are the number one cause of cart abandonment. If you have been delaying upgrading your payment stack due to technical complexity, this removes the barrier.

Legacy Brands are Aggressively Targeting Female Shoppers: Massive heritage brands like Levi's, Columbia, and The North Face have announced they are heavily pivoting their future growth strategies and their massive marketing budgets toward female consumers.

What this means for you: If you sell women's apparel or outdoor gear, your paid acquisition is about to get much more expensive as these giants flood the market. Double down on organic loyalty, hyper-specific niche marketing, and personalised retention now.