The Invisible Split Test

Hey there Smarty 👋

Are you geared up to catch the latest and greatest in quick shorts?

And just a quick heads-up! If you stumbled upon us through a friend, make sure to subscribe here! That way, you’ll never miss out on the trending shorts.

🕵️‍♂️ The Invisible Split Test: When Your Creator Network Teaches You Positioning

It started like most affiliate pushes—product sent, briefs written, guidelines included.

We gave 12 creators the same inputs. Product. CTA. Links. But when the content started rolling in, something unexpected happened:

They didn’t follow the script. They followed their instinct.

• One called our product “a meal-prep lifesaver.”
• Another described it as “a luxury supplement.”
• A third led with “finally, something that doesn’t taste like cardboard.”

Same SKU. Twelve different stories. And while marketing-me wanted consistency, operator-me started paying attention.

Because one of those angles drove 6x more Amazon add-to-carts than the rest.

The Test You Didn’t Intend Might Be the One That Works

We didn’t realize it at the time, but we were running the most honest positioning test we’d ever launched.

No copy teams. No dropdown variants. Just creators framing the product as they saw it, and their audiences reacting in real time.

We looked past views and clicks. We watched the session behavior:

• Who drove longer page visits?
• Which viewers actually added to the cart?
• Which storylines sent bounce-proof traffic?

Once we saw it, we couldn’t unsee it.

Positioning was being co-written by our affiliates, and the traffic proved them right.

From Brand Voice to Behavior Mapping

We used to think of creators as distributors. Now we use them for discovery. Every campaign is now dual-purpose:

1. Drive performance
2. Surface positioning we wouldn’t have thought of in the war room

We borrow their language, run it in paid, rework our PDPs, and even rename bundles based on what stuck in the comments.

Amazon’s not broken. But your mix might be.

With Levanta, we don’t just scale performance-based creators—we listen to them. Then we track which storylines bring high-quality traffic that Amazon’s algorithm actually lifts. Get your free Levanta Projection here.

We still test headlines.

But now we let 50 creators run the test for us—with real people, real clicks, and stories no brand strategist could’ve guessed. And we’re better for it.

Together with Drivepoint

📈 Free: 3 Advanced Forecasting Templates Built by Drivepoint for DTC or Retail Brands—trusted by True Classic, Oats Overnight, and Curology!

Scaling across DTC, retail, or wholesale? Stop guessing—start forecasting with confidence.

Drivepoint, the strategic finance platform behind True Classic, Oats Overnight, and Curology, is giving you free Excel forecasting templates to help omnichannel brands scale smarter. 

Track ad spend, prevent stockouts, manage COGS, and forecast revenue—all in one place.

These plug-and-play Excel templates give you a pro-level jumpstart. When you’re ready for automated data syncing, AI insights, real-time scenario modeling, and hyper-accurate forecasting, Drivepoint is your go-to platform.

📊 Download your free forecasting templates now!

📊 Google Ads CPC Inflation Is Real – But How Bad Is It?
Insights from SEL

Advertisers often assume that CPCs on Google are rising steadily, but the actual rate of inflation depends on where you look. By comparing data from Google, WordStream, and real ad accounts, the truth becomes clearer—and more urgent for budget-conscious marketers.

The Breakdown:

1. Google’s Own Data Shows Modest Growth - According to Alphabet’s annual reports, CPCs grew only 2.33% per year between 2019–2024, suggesting manageable inflation. But these figures reflect global averages across platforms, which likely mask country-specific and industry-level spikes.

2. WordStream Benchmarks Suggest Faster Inflation - WordStream data shows a 4%+ CAGR across most industries, with categories like Apparel/Fashion seeing a CPC CAGR of 5.18%. That means over half of the industries now face CPC inflation that outpaces the US consumer price index.

3. Real Ad Account Data Tells a Sharper Story - Agency-managed accounts reveal an average 11.75% CPC increase over 5+ years, with sectors like eCommerce showing a CPC CAGR of 4.68%, indicating that real-world advertiser costs often rise faster than industry benchmarks suggest.

4. Rising CPCs Can Crush ROI If Left Unchecked - Without corresponding improvements in conversion rates or price increases, higher CPCs directly shrink profit margins. If you’re spending more for fewer clicks and static returns, your ads become less sustainable over time.

If your CPC growth outpaces industry averages or CPI, you're at risk of diminishing returns. Auditing and adjusting strategy now, before it snowballs, is key to long-term growth, budget control, and campaign profitability.

🚀 Quick Hits

📈 What if scaling meant fewer surprises for your media and ops teams? Drivepoint’s Excel forecasting pack—used by DTC leaders—helps performance teams sync planning across ROAS, spend, COGS, and inventory. Built by finance pros, free for you. Download your free forecasting templates now!

📽️ YouTube reports virtual influencers like Code Miko and Neuro-Sama drove 15B views in 2023, signaling their growing role in content, marketing, and engagement as AI-powered creators become more mainstream.

🎫 YouTube hit 12% of U.S. streaming watch time in March, per Nielsen’s “The Gauge” report, making it the top CTV platform, ahead of Netflix, Disney+, and others.

🛍️ U.S. search ad revenue hit $102.9 billion in 2024, up $14.1 billion YoY, driven by strong returns despite rising complexity. Search held 39.8% of total digital ad market share.

✍🏼 43% of millennials now shop mostly in-store, nearly double from 2022. However, 55% now use buy now, pay later services, up from 40% in 2022, showing shifting online payment preferences.

🛒 83% of shoppers plan to cut spending due to rising tariffs, with 61% reducing restaurant visits first. Despite the shift, 28% still say they'll remain loyal to preferred brands.

That’s a wrap for today! Tell us your thoughts about today's content as we line up more Shorts! And don’t hesitate to share this with someone who’d adore it. 🥰