Building DTC brands to 8 and 9 figures | Founder of Soar With Us & For You Advertising | CMO of JAQ Group

The rules of DTC growth changed in 2025. In 2026, they're set to change again.

The playbook that got you to £10-30M - broad Meta campaigns, a handful of hero SKUs, one creative style across every touchpoint, is now actively working against you. 

Algorithms reward creative diversity. Attention spans demand psychological precision. 
And TikTok Shop has emerged as a genuine high-volume demand creation channel, not just another place to run ads.

The brands winning today are producing high volumes of distinctly different assets across every awareness stage (problem, solution, product), each built on messaging frameworks that actually drive people to buy. 

Not more creative. Better creative, deployed smarter.

I've spent 7 years in this problem space. My agencies have generated £600M+ in revenue across 250+ DTC brands. 

More importantly, we've built systems that compound, so you're not starting from scratch every creative cycle. Data from 70+ brands and over 4,000+ ads per month. 

A few recent wins we've delivered for our clients:
→ Ekster: 40% increase in profit, 75% YoY growth
→ Spacegoods: New customer orders up 86%, NCPA down 33%
→ AKT London: Tripled new customers and cut CPA by 59% in 6 months
→ Nutrition Geeks: 2,200% growth in 12 months

What makes us different: we build context databases that capture your brand DNA, winning angles, and performance learnings across every campaign. 

When the algorithm shifts or a creative fatigues, we're already three steps ahead, not scrambling to figure out what worked.

If you're a CMO or founder at an 8-figure brand feeling the scaling friction, happy to talk through what's working right now. Connect here or email olly@soarwithus.co

Olly Hudson

We’ve packaged what’s working, what’s dead, and what’s next for 2026 into one resource:

🚨 THE 2026 D2C PLAYBOOK: The New Rules of Meta, TikTok, AI & Performance Creative

2026 is the reset year.

If your ads aren’t built for algorithmic feeds and personalised signals, you won’t scale.

Every platform is now fully personalised.
You’re not competing in interest groups anymore 
You’re competing inside each user’s unique feed.
And at the same time…
People crave connection more than ever.
They want emotion and authenticity, not just AI-fed precision.

So what wins in 2026?

Brands that blend machine logic with human insight.

That means:
- Creative systems built to match micro-behaviours
- Messaging that adapts in real time
- Ads that feel made for one, but scale to millions

This is your roadmap to profitable, personalised growth across Meta, TikTok, Google, and AI workflows.

- What’s working
- What’s out
- What’s next

Get the playbook here and build for what's coming: https://lnkd.in/ePapZ29e

If you're a DTC brand looking at 2026 resource/planning, get in contact with us here: https://lnkd.in/eVb3BKbs

The Creative-Led Paid Acquisition Partner Behind £600M+ in DTC Revenue | Meta & TikTok for 8-9 Figure Brands.

Back by popular demand, we're reopening the vault. Get access to our most requested resource: the top-performing brand funnel breakdowns of 2025.

Not just their ads. The full stack:

Paid strategy > Organic > Landing pages > Google ads > Email > Offers

Everything.

Easily the most ripped asset we’ve ever put out.

So we’ve packaged them properly. One folder.

Here’s who’s inside:

– Rhode
– Meshki
– LOOP Earplugs
– Alo Yoga
– IM8
– Refy
– BREZ
– Wonderskin

Use this to cut out weeks of guesswork or get your next winning concept straight from their playbook.

Grab the folder here: https://lnkd.in/exiK3_XK

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BFCM Guide

This is just one page from our 127-page ultimate guide to BFCM. 

If you’d like 126 more pages of ecom gold, join 500+ brands and check this out: https://bit.ly/3RlTHZ4


Plug 1

Newsletter Tease

Ps. Head here if you want to be the first to receive our 2024 ads blueprint this week: https://bit.ly/3YR6HaD


12/03

5 more critical errors to fix: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/olly-hudson_use-data-to-fix-your-brands-creatives-and-activity-7168154221719056384-Yn5A?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

13/03

Motion plug

We recommend Motion because it simplifies comprehensive insights.

• Eliminates the guesswork
• Brings quick clarity to your ads process
• Converts your ad data into digestible reports
• Keeps your teams aligned toward a common goal

Get 10% off your first 3 months using our code: SWU10
https://motionapp.com/

Kind Patches are running 3,000+ live ads right now. And not a single one is relying on a hero SKU or one-size-fits-all message.

We just broke down the funnel of one of the most deliberately segmented brands we’ve seen.

→ Every SKU positioned around a pain point
→ Every angle tailored to a specific outcome
→ Every ad mapped to a unique persona

This is persona-led growth, done properly.

Not “here’s our sleep patch” → but “here’s how you solve Sunday night scaries without melatonin.”

We’ve broken down the ads of 10 of their personas

- For those who want better skin and hair
- For those who want less stress
- For those who want better sleep
- For those who want more energy
- For those who want more focus
- For those who want support with weight goals
- For women who want hormone support
- For those who want better intimacy
- For those who travel often
- For men who want to take it to the next level

The breadth of products and persona variations feeds Meta’s Andromeda system with high-volume, diverse signals, improving delivery efficiency and incremental reach.

Want to see our breakdown?
Like this post
Comment “persona” and I’ll DM you.

We’ve scaled to 80+ people, 250+ brands, and £500M+ in tracked revenue.

And everyone in our leadership team is under 30.

Talent and energy got us here.

Structure is what’ll get us further.

We’ve made every classic mistake you’d expect from a young team building fast:

– Hired too late
– Invested in the wrong things
– Moved without the right operational muscle

At some point, you hit a ceiling. You can only build what you know.

We’ve always been good at doing - making ads, shipping strategy, driving performance.

But building a business that lasts is a different game.

That’s why this quarter we brought in Rachel McDonald (ex-Dentsu) to help sharpen our strategy, how we operate, scale and continue to lead the market into 2026.

She’s led global teams. She’s been in the rooms we’re aiming for.

Now she’s in ours.

Because if you want to build a long-term agency with real staying power, you need to balance hunger with experience.

Young teams are underrated.

But young teams with the right support? That’s where things get dangerous (in the best way).

In 2025, TikTok Shop grew 180% YoY, converted at up to 12%, and produced $2.7M LIVE days. In 2026, it’ll feel crowded. This is the playbook most DTC brands will wish they had before that shift.

TikTok Shop is converting at 8–12%, while most DTC sites are still stuck at 2–4%.

That gap is the opportunity and it won’t last forever.

If you’re doing £5M+ in e-commerce and TikTok Shop isn’t on your roadmap yet, you’re probably underestimating what’s happening.

TikTok Shop isn’t a “new channel” anymore. It’s a different operating system for commerce.

It rewards speed, structure, creative volume, and momentum.

The brands winning aren’t chasing one-off spikes, they’re building repeatable systems across affiliates, LIVE, offers, and content that compound daily.

This is a start-to-finish guide designed to help established brands launch TikTok Shop the right way, with the infrastructure, strategy, and execution required to scale without chaos.

Inside the guide, we break down:

- How to build a TikTok Shop foundation designed to scale (not collapse under demand)
- The technical setup and LIVE structures top brands use to keep viewers engaged and buying
- How to select hero products and offers that drive consistent GMV
- The affiliate ecosystem playbook: recruiting, incentivising, and sustaining creator output
- How to use LIVE coupons and flash deals without eroding brand value
- What high-performing TikTok Shop content has in common (hooks, structure, proof, CTAs)
- The host framework for training on-camera talent that can actually sell
- The metrics that matter during LIVE — and how to react when performance dips
- How to turn TikTok Shop into a creative engine for wider paid and organic growth

It’s a practical, plug-and-play blueprint for building a TikTok Shop system that drives consistent revenue and scales with control.

If you’re responsible for growth, creative, or e-commerce performance, this guide is your reference point.

Want it?
Like this post
Comment "tiktok 2026" and I'll send it over.
Make sure we're connected so I can DM you

I received this message from a client saying it’s the best experience they’ve had with an agency in 8+ years of eCom.

We’ve doubled the team this year. Launched new processes. Taken on some of the most ambitious brands we’ve ever worked with.

But through all of that, the thing I’m proudest of? The feeling our team creates for the people we work with.

The trust, reliability, and care that sits underneath it all.

And this note from a client, saying it’s the best experience they’ve had with an agency in 8+ years, says more than I ever could in a pitch.

Massive shoutout to Martyna, Kit and the wider team for the hard work and dedication you bring to our clients every day.

The kind of partnership that gets noticed (and recommended) without ever having to ask.

If I had to sum up how we’ve scaled Soar:

Build it properly. Treat people well. Let the work speak.

Turns out… it’s working.

Here’s to the next chapter.

Next month marks 7 years since we started Soar With Us from a spare bedroom at uni.

Today, we’re a 60+ team, managing 8–9 figure brands, and became Meta’s #1 DTC agency in the UK.

But here are 7 things we did to build in 7 years.

(I probably shouldn’t be posting this. Most agencies would gate-keep it)

1️⃣ Invest in marketing
You don’t have a sales problem, you have a marketing problem.
80% of our pipeline is inbound.
We built a weekly content engine designed to give away the strategy and sell the implementation.

What that looked like in practice:
- 1x podcast/week (D2C Diaries) – brands came in pre-sold, they’d already listened to 10+ hours of us.
- 1x lead magnet/week – frameworks, audits, templates
- Newsletter – built on HubSpot, personalised follow-ups based on downloads
- Founders post 5x/week – LinkedIn + X 
- Events & masterclasses – offline to online flywheel


2️⃣ Proprietary process + unique IP = scale leverage
- Agencies commoditise when they only sell hours. We scaled by building our core IP: Growth Compass, 360 Feedback System, creative frameworks.
- Our audit decks don’t just point out problems, they score, rank, and prioritise fixes using our frameworks
- Every new client runs through our Growth Compass scoring to benchmark performance gaps and build roadmaps


3️⃣ Founder-led organic content
We closed a £35M brand in 30 minutes as they’d already listened to 50 hours of us.
We turned our founders into a content-led growth engine and it changed everything.


4️⃣ Creative + paid = one system
- Merged creative + growth into one unified team by acquiring Hambi Media in 2024.
- Used frameworks to break down customer journeys and optimise every stage.
- Focused creative testing on incrementality, not just ROAS.


5️⃣ Internal culture = growth leverage
You don’t scale by adding clients. You scale by retaining great people and giving them progression and clarity.
I’d rather lose a client than a top team member.
- Every employee has career framework + KPIs tied to business impact.
- Internal culture pillar reviews, “kind candour” feedback loops.


6️⃣ Operational Excellence → margin + moat
We waited too long to bring in experience. A good ops head is a 6-figure unlock.
👉 Build ops early. Don’t wait until you’re 50 heads in.


7️⃣ Aggressive brand positioning + acquisition strategy
We positioned ourselves as the #1 performance creative agency early and backed it with proof.
- Aggressively pursued press, awards, and partnerships (Triple Whale agency of the year).
- Merged multiple agencies under one group to cover TikTok, Meta, and Creative.


It’s also worth saying, we’ve made every mistake you can make.

But we stayed obsessed with one thing: becoming the best growth partner in DTC.

If you’d like to work with us in 2026 as your Creative-Led Paid Acquisition Partner, get in touch here: https://lnkd.in/ew-b7dhN

Soar With Us

Hambi Media

Creative strategy is the most misunderstood (and most impactful) role in a DTC growth team. 

But most brands are hiring them for the first time with no idea of what “great” even looks like.

And the few A-players in the market? Already locked in or demanding salaries that don’t make sense for most teams.

If we could solve one constraint that would unlock growth in our agency, it’s the supply of creative strategists.

So instead of trying to hire them, we built them.

Over the last 12 months, we’ve refined an internal system to turn high-curiosity, high-potential operators into world-class creative strategists.

Now, we’re opening it up - The Creative Strategist Incubator

The 9-month pathway we’ve built from zero to strategist (and why Meta is backing us).

This is the MBA for Creative Strategy.

We’ve broken down the details of what this is in our newest episode and how you can apply.

Episode dropping at 5 pm. 🚀

If you're stuck on how to diversify creative… start here.

We built a creative hierarchy to maximise Entity ID diversity and in doing so, we unlocked:
- Scalable reach
- Lower CPMs
- Net-new audiences

All without increasing budget.

Think of the testing hierarchy as a pyramid.

At the base are the big creative swings, at the top, the small refinements.

When you’re launching:
→ Launch brand new concepts from scratch.
→ Test messaging within those fresh ads, don’t just swap copy into old visuals.
The goal: identify the message, persona, format combo that resonates most.
It keeps learnings clean and avoids grouping penalties.
(Even if variations get grouped under the same Entity ID, a winner will emerge).

When you’re optimising:
Got a winner? Remix it.
→ Change the format or the vehicle
→ Update the hook so it looks instantly different
→ Translate the story to a new style (e.g. founder VSL → third-person VO)

Here’s the hierarchy we use inside every high-growth account:

1. Format
Static / UGC / High-Production
→ Use when you're plateauing or need fresh signals.

2. Vehicle
Founder story / Green-screen / Testimonial / Listicle / Product demo
→ Use to scale a proven message across new personas.

3. Persona
Gen Z female → 40+ mum / Creator → Founder
→ Use to expand TAM or unlock overlooked pockets.

4. Hook
Zoomed-in face / Problem-statement / Unboxing / B-roll
→ Use to ensure Meta sees your ad as net-new.

5. Messaging
Script tweaks / CTA variants
→ Use once a concept is already converting.

If your creative system isn’t built around this hierarchy, you won’t scale in 2026.

We’re entering a new era of ecom.

Google, Shopify, Walmart, Etsy, Wayfair, and over 20 others have just dropped UCP: a universal standard that lets any AI agent buy from any retailer in real-time.

It’s now live in Gemini + Google's AI Mode.

Here’s why it matters for DTC 👇

The “Universal Commerce Protocol” (UCP) revolutionises the shopping experience.

Think of it as an open-source checkout layer for the AI era, one that any brand can integrate with, and any AI agent can transact through.

Why it matters:
→ It removes friction from discovery to checkout
→ You stay the merchant of record
→ Customers can buy directly inside AI interfaces (Gemini, Search, ChatGPT, Copilot)
→ Built-in support for Shop Pay, Google Pay, more coming
→ It’s composable: plug in your product catalogue, offers, checkout flow + discounts
→ It’s open-source and backed by Google

The goal? To create one shared language for agentic commerce so agents, brands and wallets can speak to each other instantly.

Just like HTTP did for websites.

Most DTC brands won’t clock this yet. But AI discovery is going to be a commerce channel, not just a research tool.

This changes how products are surfaced, selected, and sold.

It’s the end of the linear funnel. And the start of contextual, agent-led buying.

If you’re a scaling DTC brand:
→ Get your products into the Merchant Centre
→ Integrate the UCP spec (works with any backend)
→ Enable agentic checkout across Google + others

AI agents aren’t a threat. They’re the next growth opportunity.

IM8 Health went from $0 to a $120M run rate in 11 months. Now they're targeting $300M by the end of 2026.

We’ve been pointing to IM8 as best in class for months.

One of the cleanest funnel builds I’ve seen: long-form site, deep education, premium price justified at every stage. 

All engineered by Danny Yeung.

Built with:
- David Beckham as co-founder
- A product that replaces 16 supplements with one drink
- A scientific board from NASA, UFC & Mayo Clinic
- NSF certification + clinical trials from day one

Catch the full episode here, it’s stacked with insights: https://lnkd.in/e85t_ASx

IM8 Health

Investor I CEO I Entrepreneur I Advisor I Astronaut

We break down the creative strategy and funnel plays that drove $40M in Meta spend and 6,000+ ads during BFCM 2025.

If you’re serious about scaling in 2026, this is the episode to start your year with.

Here’s what we cover 👇

Q5 strategy: The most important “quarter” that isn’t a quarter.

Most brands waste this window with hype-led messaging or default evergreen creative.

The sharpest brands? They layer seasonal context into a funnel-led framework and it scales:
✅ 50% to TOF problem-aware “reset” creative
✅ 20–30% to MOF trust-builders + objection handling
✅ Hook variation built to extend shelf-life past Q5
✅ BOF = urgency + relevance, not just discounts
This is how you capitalise on low CPMs, high intent, and minimal competition from the big enterprise players.

Black Friday learnings
We spent $40M on Meta in November (+185% YoY) and shipped 6,000+ ads.

Our top takeaways:
- Start earlier than you think
- Don’t change your offer mid-flight
- Demand gen > discount panic
- Simple > clever (especially for older demos)

Creative strategy in 2026
You’ll either win with:
- Ultra-authentic, native content
- Highly stylised, scripted storytelling
Middle of the road = forgettable.

We also break down:
- Our approach to creative iteration vs net-new
- How to stretch performance from your best hooks
- The key human desires your content needs to hit
- Why volume still matters… but where it comes from matters more

Biggest risks for brands right now
- Poor offer architecture
- Weak mid-funnel
- Not adapting messaging to intent
- Lack of urgency across the team
- Process changes without buy-in

What’s coming in 2026
- M&A activity will ramp up
- Meta spend will keep growing, but TikTok Shop, YouTube, and AppLovin will become serious plays
- Brands will need a deeper bench of channel-ready creative
- “Creative similarity” will punish lazy iterations
- Great products with true retention will win. Everything else gets exposed.

This episode will give you the blueprint to hit the ground running in January and compound into your biggest year yet.

Catch up now: https://lnkd.in/eCja7Gu7

85 people in the room. Talented people. And a voice in my head asking what I'm doing up here.

I thought imposter syndrome would disappear with progress.

More clients. Bigger wins. A growing team. Surely at some point you just... feel like you belong?

But it didn't disappear. It just changed shape.

Now it shows up in different moments. When I'm presenting a new strategy to the team. When someone asks a question I don't have the answer to. When I look around the room and realise how genuinely good the people around me are.

You think you'll feel "ready" at a certain level. But you don't. You just get better at showing up anyway.

Here's what I've come to understand: imposter syndrome doesn't leave. And maybe it shouldn't.

Because the moment you stop feeling it is probably the moment you've stopped growing.

If I'm expecting everyone else to improve with the business, it's non-negotiable that I'm on the same growth trajectory. Not standing still. Not coasting on what got us here.

The voice in my head that asks "what am I doing up here?" isn't the enemy. It's a reminder to stay accountable. To keep the standard high. To not let comfort replace curiosity.

The shift for me came when I stopped trying to get rid of it. Instead, I started using it as fuel.

Being clear, not perfect. Owning what I don't know. Backing the people who do know. Learning faster than the business is scaling.

Because leadership isn't about having every answer. It's about creating belief and showing up when it counts.

Some days the voice is louder than others. But I show up anyway. Not because I've figured it all out. Because the team deserves a leader who's growing as fast as they are.

P.S. Do you still feel it? Or have you found a way to make peace with the voice that questions if you belong?

You'll lose over $90K this year to avoidable fundraising admin, here's how to stop it.

Most founders are still tracking investors in spreadsheets and scrambling to build data rooms the night before calls.

If you're a 100-person company, you're bleeding up to 1,848 hours per year ($92,400 annually) on admin overhead that could be automated.

I switched to an AI-powered fundraising workspace that changed everything: pitch deck, investor CRM, outreach sequences, and data room, all in one place using Notion.

The results:
→ Admin time dropped 80%
→ Pitch iterations 3× faster
→ My calendar freed up for actual investor conversations

The AI Founder's Kit I'm using includes everything you need to go from idea to funded:

- $300 Supabase credit for backend
- $60 in Vercel credits to ship your frontend
- 1 Year Framer launch
- Up to 6 months of Notion Business with AI
- 2,000+ vetted early-stage VCs, incubators, accelerators
- 50 pitch decks from YC, a16z, Sequoia-backed startups
- Tactical fundraising guides from operators

This isn't about working faster, it's about pitching sharper and closing smarter.

👉 Comment NOTION and I'll send you the free toolkit

Personas are the real unit of scale on Meta now.

Meta doesn’t need you to define audiences anymore, creative does that work now.

In this episode, we break down what’s actually driving scale on Meta in 2026: persona-led creative, smarter systems, and AI used as a multiplier, not a shortcut. 

We cover why accounts hit incremental reach ceilings, why one persona always steals spend, and how the best brands are structuring creative and campaigns to scale without burning budget.

If performance looks fine but growth has stalled, this episode will help you reframe the problem

🎧 Full episode out now: https://lnkd.in/encyKp78

Here’s 5 scaling challenges we see in every £30K–£1M/month agency:

- Margin collapse
- Sales team friction
- Delivery bottlenecks
- Founder burnout
- No true peer group

I’m co-hosting an in-person mastermind this March with Jordan Platten that solves all of these in 3 days.

Agency Accession is for agency owners making £30K–£1M+ per month who want to scale profitably without breaking the business in the process.

It’s 3 days of honest conversations, deep dives, and decision-making, with operators who’ve actually scaled past £100K/mo and had to rebuild the systems they broke along the way.

The focus is simple:
→ Profit
→ Client results
→ Happiness

Think founder dinners + fire strategy + clarity you don’t get from group chats.

When: 23–25 March
Where: London, UK (outskirts)
Who: Agency owners doing £30K–£1M+ p/m
Format: Evening kick-off, seminar-style talks, and implementation workshops

Common challenges we’ll break down:
- Hiring sales teams without losing margin
- Systemising delivery without bottlenecking
- Creating predictable acquisition
- Delegating ops while scaling volume
- Embedding AI (the right way)
- Finding a real peer group that’s on your level

This is built for founders who want to scale with leverage, not stress.

Operators who want to simplify, not stack more onto their plate.

If you want to be in the room (or have questions) head here for more details: https://lnkd.in/exKbmhnB

Helping Agencies Around The World Scale

Most DTC brands are hiring creative strategists with no benchmark for what “great” actually looks like.

It’s usually the first time they’ve ever made the hire.

And without reps, they end up either overpaying… or onboarding someone who takes 6 months to add value.

We hire this role over and over, which gives us reference points, systems, and a real understanding of what works.

That’s why we stopped relying on the market to provide talent.

We built a system to create it internally and to cut the time to value down from months to weeks.

If you can’t afford a £90K+ A-player with 5 years of reps, your only option is to build them, fast.

That's why we've created the UK's first creative strategy MBA, more details on this here: https://lnkd.in/e-rJdsBi

You can apply here: https://lnkd.in/eXXfmmMs

Meta changed how it decides which brands deserve scale, and engagement is no longer the deciding factor.

For DTC brands, GEM + UTIS explain why ads that get views no longer scale, and what kind of creative now does.

That changes the practical playbook for DTC brands in two big ways:

1. You’re no longer “feeding the algo” with ad volume. You’re feeding it with signal shape.

2. Organic is no longer a “nice to have.” It’s now part of the ranking surface area for paid.

Here’s what Meta is doing consistently across ads, organic, and Reels:

They’re moving from “What keeps people watching?” to “What genuinely matches what this person cares about?”

That’s the throughline.

Meta has publicly admitted something important: old engagement-based systems were flawed.

Interest-matching precision sat at 48.3% - near random.

So they built UTIS: the User True Interest Survey.

How UTIS works:
- Users are asked directly: “How well does this video match your interests?”
- Thousands of responses are collected daily
- A perception layer is trained on top of existing ranking models

The results:
- Precision improved from 48.3% → 63.2%
- Niche, high-quality content surfaced more often
- Generic viral content was actively demoted
- +5.2% total engagement
- +5.4% high-interest ratings
- –6.84% low-interest ratings

The key insight: interest isn’t just topic. It includes audio, mood, style, motivation, and production quality.

This philosophy directly mirrors what GEM is doing for ads.

GEM is not “a better targeting engine.” It’s a storyline interpreter.

It looks at:
- Sequence behaviour (months → weeks → days)
- Cross-platform actions (IG, FB, Reels, WhatsApp)
- Web behaviour
- Organic and paid interactions
- Creative attributes (format, style, persona, context)

Then it asks: “Does this brand’s creative consistently align with what this person actually cares about?”

That’s why Meta keeps repeating: “Rank both organic content and ads.”

Organic is no longer distribution. Organic is training data.

Meta doesn’t just want more ads.

It wants:
- More distinct interpretations of who your product is for
- More signals of relevance depth
- More evidence of niche alignment

This is why creative is the targeting. And why generic viral content is now actively punished.

UTIS demotes:
- Trend-jacking
- Broad, relatable humour
- “Everyone will like this” hooks
- Empty watch-time bait

GEM rewards:
- Narrow language
- Specific use cases
- Clear persona intent
- Context-rich demonstrations
- Consistent organic + paid storytelling

So when DTC teams ask: “Why are our Reels getting views but ads aren’t converting?”

The answer increasingly is: you trained Meta to think your brand is for everyone, so it’s for no one.

I've published an article breaking this down in more detail: https://lnkd.in/ezy75VeE

Most brands are already planning 2026. Very few are planning Q5 properly.

In the latest episode of D2C Diaries, Loukas Hambi & I break down why the period between Christmas and the first full week of January is the most misunderstood (and most valuable) window in e-commerce, and why how you use it will shape your entire year.

We cover:
 – What we saw spending nearly $40M on Meta in November 
 – Why simple offers still outperform complexity at scale
 – The demand and mindset shift that happens almost immediately after Christmas
 – The short “flash in the pan” motivation window brands either capitalise on… or miss
 – And the biggest changes we expect in e-commerce in 2026
- Plus our 2025 awards & predictions for 2026 👀

If you execute Q5 properly, you don’t just win January - you set momentum for the rest of the year.

Full episode live now 🎧 https://lnkd.in/epNwpMV8

Genuinely one of the things I’m most proud of at Soar: our AI research process.

Very few agencies go this deep but time and time again, it’s the part clients are most impressed by.

We dig into friction points, buyer psychology, emotional nuance, and unseen drop-offs across the entire journey.

Because before we scale anything, we want to know what’s blocking scale.

What’s inside our AI research doc (and why clients rate it):

– Conversion blockers that don’t show up in GA
– Emotional insights to shape messaging, UX, and offers
– New persona unlocks based on real behavioural signals
– Practical fixes that get implemented immediately

✅ One client used it to fix hidden site issues and even rolled out a new feature to catch customers entering the wrong discount codes at checkout.

It’s not just research. It’s one of the clearest reasons high-growth brands choose to work with us.

Helping DTC Brands Drive Predictable, Profitable Growth 📧 | Over $115M in Email Revenue For Clients | DM me ‘EMAIL’ to chat

Building Kensington Media House: a leading Retention Marketing Agency for DTC brands.

→ Top Klaviyo & Omnisend partner
→ Over $300M generated for clients
→ Worked with over 130 brands since we launched

If you want to learn more about how we can do this for your DTC store, book an introductory meeting with myself below where I'll share exactly how we produce the results that we do whilst building out a roadmap custom to your business on how you can do exactly the same:

https://calendly.com/d/yxt-prp-tgw

We are also always hiring and looking for best-in-class talent. Check out our open roles and how to apply here: https://www.kensingtonmediahouse.com/careers

Or, connect with us on YouTube!
https://youtube.com/@kensingtonmediahouse

Conor Sunderland

We just doubled a campaign's revenue with one simple trick.
Here's what we did:

We noticed "Toddler Tantrums" was crushing it as an email angle for this client.

So we built a quick landing page in Gem Pages with the exact same messaging.

The results?
→ Previous emails: $5.8k and $6.2k
→ Same angle with congruent landing page: $10,988

That's nearly 2x the revenue.

Why does this work so well?

Because congruence = conversions.

When someone clicks an email about toddler tantrums and lands on a page talking about the same problem, there's zero friction.

They're already sold on the angle. The landing page just needs to close them.

Most brands sleep on this but it's genuinely free money sitting on the table.

Test it with your next winning email angle and watch what happens.

What's your best performing email angle right now?

#DTC #emailmarketing #ecommerce

ALWAYS HIRING: Check My About Section | Helping DTC Brands Drive Predictable, Profitable Growth 📧 | Over $300M in Email Revenue For Clients | DM me ‘EMAIL’ to chat

Unpopular opinion: Seasonal campaigns still crush.

I know what you're thinking.

"Everyone does them, they must be played out by now."

Wrong.

People do them BECAUSE they work.

Take Dry January for example.

We run this campaign for clients every year and it performs regardless of industry.

The screenshots show two Dry January campaigns we sent recently.

Both absolutely printed money.

Why do seasonal campaigns work so well?

Because your customers are already thinking about them.

The cultural moment is doing half the marketing work for you.

You're just connecting your product to something already on their mind.

Don't overthink it. Don't try to be too clever and avoid them because "everyone else is doing it."

Everyone else is doing it because it drives revenue.

Jump on the next seasonal moment and ride the wave.

#DTC #emailmarketing #ecommerce

Quick redesign for one of Ireland’s best-known brands - O'Neills Irish International Sports Co. Ltd.

Here's what we changed:

- Added CTA button directly to hero image
- Moved main CTA below product showcase (not above it)
- Made that CTA bigger + full width for better clicks
- Added Trustpilot reviews at bottom for social proof

Small tweaks, big results. Sometimes it's not about reinventing the wheel, just putting it in the right place.

#DTC #emailmarketing #ecommerce

Our AI tech stack will 5x our team's output in 2026
(And most agencies are still using ChatGPT like it's 2023)

While everyone's arguing about whether AI will replace marketers, we've been building an unfair advantage.

These five tools are turning our team of 20 into a team that operates like 100.
Here's what's actually working:

- Claude for copywriting

By far the best LLM for email copy right now.

We train Claude projects on each client's brand voice, past winners and tone guidelines. The output is scary good.

It writes like a human who actually understands persuasion. Not some robot regurgitating features.

- Google Gemini for ad analysis

This is the secret weapon nobody's talking about.

Gemini can analyze video ads and break down everything. Copy, scene selection, narrative flow, setting, who the creator is. It's the best LLM for this specific use case.

We feed it competitor ads and it reverse engineers what's working. Game changer.

- Nano Banana for static ads

We're cranking out winning static ads for ecom brands in one prompt.

What used to take our designers hours now takes minutes.

Video functionality is coming soon too. Follow me for updates on that.

- Midjourney for UGC content

AI-generated UGC videos are getting really good now.

We're not at 100% yet, but we're close enough that it's worth testing. The cost savings are insane compared to traditional UGC creators.

- KMH Email Marketing Strategist (our custom GPT)

This is our secret sauce.

We trained a custom GPT on all our internal SOPs, past campaign winners and strategy frameworks. It writes banger emails AND helps with strategy and data reporting.

It thinks like our best strategists, but it never sleeps.

The result?

We're producing more winning content in less time than ever before. Our clients are seeing better results and we're not burning out our team.

AI isn't replacing marketers.

It's separating the ones who adapt from the ones who don't.

What AI tools are you using that actually move the needle? Drop them in the comments.

P.S. Want access to our KMH Email Strategist custom GPT? Comment 'STRATEGIST' below and I'll send it over.

#DTC #emailmarketing #ecommerce

We made £16,000 from one email by removing the hero image.

Let me explain:

Most e-commerce brands think every email needs a massive designed header, tons of graphics, and a polished layout.

But there's a format that often outperforms: Branded plain text.

It's not a boring text-only email. It's a clean layout with your logo, some product images, social proof... but no big flashy header graphic.

Why does this crush?

Because it doesn't look like an ad. It looks like a real email from a real person.

People actually read it instead of scanning and closing.

Last month we ran a test for a client:

↳ Designed email with hero image: £7,494 in revenue

↳ Branded plain text (same offer, same list): £16,000

More than double the revenue from the exact same audience.

The lesson? Sometimes stripping back your design is exactly what converts.

Your emails don't need to look like a Vogue spread. They need to get read and drive clicks.

We use this format constantly for our clients and it prints money.

Worth testing for your brand? Absolutely.

---

P.S. Want to see examples of high-converting branded plain text emails we've built?

Comment 'PLAINTEXT' and I'll send them over

#emailmarketing #ecommerce #DTC

PSA: You need to re-send your winning emails way more often
↳ Here's proof it works.

We took an old winner that did $31k during a sale period for one of our clients.

Removed the discount offer completely and re-sent it months later.

Result? $21k in revenue.

For context, regular campaigns for this product usually do $8-12k.

Why does this work so well?

Your list is constantly changing. New subscribers join every week who never saw that original email. Your engaged segments shift. People who ignored it the first time might be ready to buy now.

Winners are winners for a reason.

If an email crushed it once, the angle, copy, and offer clearly resonated with your audience.

Don't just archive it and move on.

Here's what we do:
- Track top-performing campaigns every month
- Build a swipe file of winners
- Re-send them 60-90 days later (sometimes sooner for fast-growing lists)
- Adjust the offer or subject line slightly if needed

This strategy alone adds thousands in revenue per month for our clients without creating new content.

Stop leaving money on the table.

Your best emails deserve a second (and third) life.

What's the best-performing email you've ever sent? Have you re-sent it?

#DTC #emailmarketing #ecommerce

This women's supplement brand just hit $10M/month in revenue
↳ Zero VC funding. Zero external capital.

While Grüns raised tens of millions and Athletic Greens burned through funding rounds, Primal Queen scaled past them all by being forced to stay profitable from day one.

The brand? Primal Queen.

They sell organ-based supplements (beef organs, colostrum) targeting hormone health and energy for women whose doctors keep dismissing their symptoms.

Here's how they crushed it:

- TikTok Shop domination
Massive affiliate network pumping out viral creator content every single month. These videos don't just stay on TikTok though.

- Meta ads at scale
Over 1,300 active ads on their brand page alone. Add in third-party whitelisting and you're looking at 2,000+ ads running simultaneously.

They repurpose those viral TikToks straight into Meta for insane reach.

But their Meta-native ads? Absolute masterpieces.

Real pain points women actually face:
- Doctors pushing antidepressants instead of solutions
- Birth control as a bandaid
- Being told to "just live with it"

The hook? No product drop for at least 15 seconds. They build the emotional struggle first with actors or creators, then reveal the solution.

One killer landing page

- Everything funnels to a single, brutally optimized page:
- Hero section hitting those frustrations hard
- Classic problem-agitate-solution framework
- Founder story (her failed fixes before discovering ancestral nutrition)
- Mountains of social proof
- Urgency and scarcity throughout
- Smart fear positioning around conventional "solutions"

The offer that converts

Three-month auto-ship bundle (buy two, get one free style) stacked with freebies. Mystery gifts, pill cases, ebooks. Makes the value feel massive while locking people into subscriptions via Loop.

Loop themselves did a thread showing Primal Queen went from $2M to $30M run rate in 18 months. Now they're past $10M MRR.

The lesson?

Study brands forced to be profitable, not the ones burning investor cash.

Primal Queen is the real DTC playbook right now.

What do you think? Underrated or overhyped?

#DTC #emailmarketing #ecommerce

Primal Queen Brand Breakdown

We tested a "Lucky Bag" offer for a client last month
↳ Had to cancel the sale early because everything sold out.

Here's what we did:

Customers got a random mix of products at a discount. Mystery products, random selection.

It opens a loop in people's minds. They HAVE to know what's inside.

We sent 3 emails over two days.

Total revenue: $113,800+

The sale was supposed to run for the full two days.

We had to cancel day two because they sold out in under 24 hours.

Why does this work?

Mystery offers tap into curiosity in a way standard discounts simply can't.

It's the same psychology behind:
- Loot boxes in games
- Mystery flavors
- Grab bags at events
- Unboxing content

People are hardwired to want to solve the mystery.

For DTC brands, this is perfect for:
- Moving excess inventory
- Testing new products with your audience
- Creating urgency (limited quantity by nature)
- Driving impulse purchases

The key is making the perceived value way higher than the price point.

If you're sitting on inventory you need to move or want to create serious buzz around a sale, test a mystery offer.

It works insanely well.

Have you tried mystery or lucky bag offers? What happened?

We've used this copywriting framework to generate $300M+ for clients
(And I've never seen anyone talk about it)

Most email marketers think good copy is about clever headlines and witty puns.

They're wrong.

Great copy triggers specific psychological principles that make people want to buy.

Robert Cialdini laid out 6 core weapons in his book Influence, and we've been weaponizing them in email marketing for years.

Here's how we use each one:

1. Reciprocity

Stop sending sales emails every damn day.

Your list will hate you for it.

We follow a 4:1 ratio. Four content-heavy campaigns, one direct sales push.

Content ideas that actually work:
→ Industry myth-busting
→ Press features
→ UGC compilation
→ Product deep dives
→ "Which product is right for you" quizzes

When we do sell, we rotate offers based on segments. Buyers get different deals than leads.

Test these: % off, $ amount off, bundles, free gifts, free shipping.

2. Commitment & Consistency

Segment properly or die trying.

Buyers need different messaging than leads. Simple as that.

If they've purchased before, remind them how good it felt. If they haven't, focus on getting them to try.

3. Social Proof

Raw testimonials crush polished ones every time.

The messier and more authentic, the better.

We plaster customer reviews throughout every template. TrustPilot scores, influencer endorsements, real customer stories.

4. Authority

"As seen in" blocks should be fixtures in your templates.

Press logos, professional endorsements, expert recommendations.

Authority transfers credibility instantly.

5. Liking

Here's a secret: Use a character to send your emails.

We create fictional brand voices (always female, seems to perform better) and it changes everything.

Emails write themselves. Customers reply like they're talking to a real person. 

Your deliverability improves because of engagement.

It's wild watching customers politely respond to "Emma" when she doesn't exist.

6. Scarcity

Only use real scarcity. Never fake it.

Countdown timers for actual deadlines. Stock alerts for genuine inventory issues.

This principle is nuclear, so use it wisely.

Lie once and your credibility is torched forever.

The lesson?

Stop writing clever copy and start writing persuasive copy.

These six principles have been battle-tested for decades.

Use them right and you'll print money.

What's the biggest copywriting mistake you see brands making?

#DTC #emailmarketing #ecommerce

This footwear brand is quietly outgrowing Allbirds and Hoka
↳ And you've probably never heard of them.

Hike Footwear makes barefoot-style shoes targeting foot pain, bunions, plantar fasciitis, and chronic issues most brands ignore.

They're bootstrapped, pulling 1.5M+ monthly site visits, and scaling profitably.

Here's their playbook:

- Meta ads at scale

Hundreds of active ads, but the real genius is how they hack Facebook's algorithm for hyper-niche pockets.

They're basically running 10+ mini-brands simultaneously:

- Medical workers on their feet for 12-hour shifts
- Older folks with chronic back pain
- Athletes in recovery
- Rheumatoid arthritis sufferers
- Anyone with brutal foot agony

The messaging gets ultra-specific too. Dark pain points like "Doctors said surgery, try this instead" or "Survive 12-hour shifts without agony."

Most brands are terrified of niching this hard. They think Meta can't find enough people.

Hike proves the opposite. Dial your messaging personally and volume explodes.

- Custom advertorial pages

When an angle wins for a demographic, they hit them with a tailored landing page mirroring that exact pain and solution.

No generic one-size-fits-all pages. Conversion-optimized for each pocket.

- One-click upsells

Insoles, bundles, add-ons at checkout boosting AOV by at least 10%. That extra margin lets them push higher CPAs on Meta while staying wildly profitable.

10% AOV lift? Absolute game-changer for ad spend efficiency.

- Elite email flows

Their welcome series uses storytelling to build trust fast. Abandoned cart sequences with urgency and strategic discounts. Post-purchase upsells combined with real value.

They send at least 4 emails weekly focused on pain-relief tips like "Hike hacks for arthritis." Educational, not pushy. Turns buyers into repeat customers.

Email marketing is how Hike preserves long-term profitability. They've built a massive CRM to launch new offers to without relying purely on cold traffic.

The takeaway?

Go narrow on your messaging. Build funnels per demographic. Stack upsells. 

Nail your email game.

That's how bootstrapped brands win.

Want a full guide on how 9-figure DTC brands like Hike build bulletproof email systems? Comment 'HIKE' and I'll send you our 75-page breakdown.

#DTC #emailmarketing #ecommerce

Hike Footwear Brand Breakdown

Getting too clever with your sales can lose you money.
Here's what happened:

A client wanted us to test a long educational email during one of their sales.

They thought it would build more trust and drive better conversions.

I wasn't convinced but we agreed to A/B test it.

The results?

The straight sale email did 4X the revenue of the educational version.

Not 10% better. Not 50% better.

Four times better.

The lesson?

When you're running a sale, people want to know about the sale.

Don't bury your offer in education. Don't make them work for it.

Just tell them what you're selling and why they should buy it now.

Offers ultimately convince people during promotional periods.

Save the education for your regular campaigns when you're building the 
relationship.

But when it's time to sell? Sell.

#DTC #emailmarketing #ecommerce

Your emails aren't broken. Your reputation is.

Here's what I mean:

I audited a brand last week doing £280k/month. Their campaigns were getting 18% open rates when they should be hitting 45%+.

The founder kept asking about the email copy, the design, the subject lines.

None of that mattered.

Gmail and Yahoo had already decided these emails weren't worth showing to people.

Here's how deliverability actually works:

Inbox providers track your sending reputation. If you've had poor open rates and weak engagement historically, they remember. You get labeled as low priority.

Your emails go to promotions. Or spam. Your open rates stay terrible. The cycle continues.

But if you have strong engagement? You get the primary inbox. Better placement. Better results.

The fix is simple (but takes discipline):

Stop mailing your entire list right now.

Send exclusively to your 7-day engaged segment for the next 2-4 weeks. Let inbox providers see that people actually want your emails.

Your open rates will jump to 55-60%+.

Then slowly expand. Mail 14-day engaged. Then 30-day. Keep watching your metrics.

Your goal is to hit 180-day engaged with 40%+ open rates across the board.

We've used this process to rescue dozens of accounts with terrible deliverability. It works every single time.

Bad deliverability isn't a content problem. It's a reputation problem.

Fix the reputation and everything else fixes itself.

---

P.S. Want our full deliverability repair guide that shows exactly how to rebuild your sender reputation?

Comment 'DELIVERABILITY' and I'll send it over

#emailmarketing #DTC #deliverability

If you're gearing up for Black Friday, do this one thing first:

Clean your list. Aggressively.

I'm serious. BFCM is the perfect opportunity to suppress profiles that are either:

a) Not going to get emailed during this period anyway

b) Haven't engaged with a single email in months

Too many brands are scared to suppress people. They think a bigger list = more revenue.

Wrong.

A bloated list with dead profiles kills your deliverability, tanks your open rates, and costs you money every single month in ESP fees.

During BFCM when you're sending high volume, this gets even worse.

Use the segment definition in the image below as a starting point for who to suppress.

If someone hasn't opened an email in 180+ days and you're not planning to win them back during BFCM, why are you paying to keep them on your list?

Cut them loose.

Your deliverability will improve. Your open rates will jump. Your ESP bill will drop.

And you'll make more money from the people who actually want to hear from you.

Do the list clean now before BFCM hits. You'll thank me later.

#BFCM #emailmarketing #DTC

This segment is a hidden profit center most brands ignore.
Here's the truth about customer lifetime value:

60%+ of your LTV comes in the first 90 days after someone's first purchase.

Yet most brands treat these customers the same as everyone else on their list.

Big mistake.

Start doing this instead:
→ Create a segment of customers who placed their first order in the last 90 days
→ Send targeted emails specifically to this group
→ Track the results separately

Why does this work?

Because these customers are still attentive. They're still excited about your brand.

Pushing up their LTV while they actually care is the easiest revenue win email can give you.

And it's not just revenue. It's profit.

These customers already converted once. The CAC is paid. Everything from here is margin.

If you're not segmenting and targeting your 0-90 day customers differently, you're leaving serious money on the table.

Try it for one month and let me know what happens.

#DTC #emailmarketing #ecommerce

This email alone is usually good for an extra £10k+ in revenue.

Here's the play:

Whenever we run a sale that's been going for a few days, we always plan to "extend" it at the last minute.

The setup is simple. End the sale. Let a few hours pass.

Then send this email saying you had a conversation with the warehouse team and they've agreed to extend the offer for another 24-48 hours.

People who were on the fence suddenly have urgency again. FOMO kicks in hard.

The conversion rate on these emails is insane because you're catching people who genuinely wanted to buy but needed that final push.

We've used this for clients during BFCM, product launches, and seasonal sales. Works every single time.

The key is making it feel authentic. Don't overuse it or people will catch on.

But done right? It's a money printer.

Save this one for your next promotion and watch what happens.

#emailmarketing #ecommerce #copywriting

We re-use this winning angle every January without fail
↳ And it crushes every single time.

The angle? Habit Stacking

We position our client's products alongside habits people already have.

For example:
"Add this to your morning coffee routine"
"Stack this with your daily walk"
"Make this part of your skincare ritual"

It works because you're not asking people to create entirely new behaviors. 

You're just adding one small thing to what they're already doing.

The psychology is powerful. New habits are hard. Piggybacking on existing ones? Easy.

Results from our latest campaign using this angle:

$12,018 in revenue from one email

For context, $8k per campaign is solid performance for this client.

This angle consistently outperforms by 30-50%.

Why January specifically?

Everyone's thinking about habits. New year, new routines, fresh starts. It's the perfect storm for habit stacking messaging.

But honestly, this angle works year-round. We just lean into it harder in Q1.
If you're looking for a fresh campaign idea that doesn't require reinventing the wheel, try habit stacking.

Find the existing routines your customers have and show them how your product fits seamlessly into those moments.

What winning angles do you re-use consistently? Let me know below.

#DTC #emailmarketing #ecommerce

Just redesigned a Vivobarefoot sale email

Here's what we changed:

- Shorter, bigger headline screaming "UP TO 40% OFF"
- Added CTA button directly to hero image
- Bigger CTA at email bottom for maximum impact
- Trustpilot reviews block to seal the deal

Sometimes you need to SHOUT about your sale.

#DTC #emailmarketing #ecommerce

Stop running "20% off" sales and try this instead
↳ We just did $125k in 4 days with one simple tweak.

For a client's January sale, instead of the standard discount, we ran: Buy 2, Get 1 Free

Ran it January 1st through 4th. Four days total.

The results:

Email 1: $42,463
Email 2: $42,025
Email 3: $37,963
Email 4: $52,140
Email 5: $30,744

Total: $125,764 in four days.

Side note: This brand runs 12-hour click attribution (the strictest setting possible), so real revenue was likely way higher.

Why did this work so well?

The math feels different to customers. It's more exciting than seeing another percentage off. And it moves inventory FAST.

People love the perception of getting something free, even though the discount value is similar to 33% off.

The psychology just hits different.

If you're planning a January sale to kickstart momentum, don't default to your usual discount structure.

Test something fresh:
- Buy X, Get Y Free
- Mystery bundles
- Tiered gifts with purchase
- Lucky bag offers

Novelty drives action. Your list is tired of seeing the same 20% off.

Give them something that makes them stop scrolling.

What's the most creative sale offer you've run? Drop it in the comments.

#DTC #emailmarketing #ecommerce

Running out of email campaign ideas?

Here's how I solve this for our clients every single week:

Most brands I talk to hit a wall with email ideation. They send the same tired campaigns on repeat, their list gets bored, and revenue tanks.

But here's the thing: the best ideas already exist. You just need to know where to look.

1. Competitor Analysis

Sign up to your competitors' lists. Steal their best concepts (not their copy). Use owletter.com to track what they're sending without destroying your inbox.

2. Email Databases

Milled.com and reallygoodemails.com are absolute gold mines. I can scroll for 20 minutes and come away with campaign ideas for the next month.

3. AI (but you need good prompts)

ChatGPT can generate endless ideas if you prompt it correctly. Most people just ask "give me 10 email ideas" and wonder why they get garbage.

You need to feed it your brand info, your USPs, your audience. Then it actually works.

4. Content Repurposing

Got blog content sitting there for SEO? Turn those into email campaigns. Dead simple and your copywriting is already done.

We produce 1700+ email campaigns per month for clients using these exact methods.

The brands that scale their email channel aren't the ones with the most creative team. They're the ones with the best systems for finding ideas.

Stop overthinking it. Start systematizing it.

---

P.S. Want the full SOP we use internally to never run out of campaign ideas?

Comment 'IDEAS' below and I'll send it over (no opt-in needed)

#DTC #emailmarketing #ecommerce

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The Battle

Olly Hudson

Conor Sunderland

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The Battle

Olly Hudson

Conor Sunderland

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Olly Hudson's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreOlly Hudson's LinkedIn Performance