This episode provides a clear roadmap for DTC brands looking to test Connected TV (CTV) advertising, demonstrating how Carve Designs successfully deployed a 60-day, $20K/month test. It highlights the importance of identifying "halo effects" like direct traffic and search lifts, beyond direct conversions, to measure true channel impact. Ecommerce operators will learn practical strategies for structuring new channel tests, measuring incrementality for channels like direct mail, and knowing when to scale or cut underperforming channels.
Carve Designs gave connected TV 60 days at a $20K monthly minimum before deciding it worked, which is about as clean a test as a DTC brand runs on a new channel. The lift showed up first in direct traffic and search, and conversion rates rose across channels for customers who had seen the ads.Hannah Fleming runs performance marketing at Carve Designs, the coastal apparel brand that grew out of swim. She joins Eric Dyck and Jesse Math of Keen Decision Systems to walk through the bets that take months to pay back: direct mail, connected TV, TikTok and whitelisted ads, plus the Pinterest test that never worked. You walk away knowing how to size a first test, where to look for the halo, and how long to wait before you cut a channel.Get the DTC Newsletter: https://directtoconsumer.coWHAT YOU WILL SOLVEYour direct mail gets credit for every buyer on the mailing list. Jesse's question is how many of them would have bought anyway. Carve answers it with holdout panels, including tests that also suppress email and paid social for the held-out group.You can't tell whether to mail more. Carve tracks contribution per piece, tests catalog count, page count and size, and reweights audiences between 0 to 12 month and 13 to 24 month buyers.Your average ROI says spend more. Jesse's example: a $2 return on $1 million tells you nothing about the next dollar, because the first dollars into a channel return more than the last ones.Your other channels swing around the catalog drop. Carve plans spend in every other channel around catalog in-home dates.You don't know what a first connected TV test costs. Carve ran 60 days at a $20K monthly minimum, with a fixed window, set objectives and targets, and landed on target or slightly ahead of it.You can't find where connected TV sal