Onboarding that Kills Trust
đŹ Why Most Onboarding Flows Feel Like Cheap Funnels in Disguise, Metaâs New Ad Arsenal for Creators and Brands, and more!
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In this newsletter, youâll find:
đŹ Why Most Onboarding Flows Feel Like Cheap Funnels in Disguise
đŻ Metaâs New Ad Arsenal for Creators and Brands
đŸ Tweet of the Day
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đŹ Why Most Onboarding Flows Feel Like Cheap Funnels in Disguise
You closed the sale. But the emotional sale, the one that cements belief and drives retention, hasnât even started.
Most DTC onboarding flows feel like leftovers from a lead-gen playbook:
âThank you for your order.â
âHereâs your tracking link.â
âWant 10% off your next one?â
Thatâs not onboarding. Thatâs a re-skinned conversion funnel. And itâs where most brands quietly lose the trust they just earned.
1. Transactional Onboarding Creates Emotional Regression
Right after purchase, the customer is in an elevated state: belief, optimism, momentum.
But if what follows is cold, clunky, or generic, the brain interprets it as a misfire, like a âbrand bait-and-switch.â
The emotional drop is subtle, but measurable. And once it happens, the repeat rate tanks.
2. Funnel vs Belief: A Diagnostic to Test Your Own Flow
If your onboarding includes 3+ of theseâŠ
Youâre running a funnel, not a belief-builder:
A plain-text âorder confirmedâ email with zero emotion
A hero image that doesnât match your ads
A âYou might also likeâ pitch before the product has arrived
No product story, no founder voice, no identity anchoring
A discount offered before the experience is felt
Great brands remove friction without killing feeling. They build emotional progression.
3. A Story-Driven Onboarding Arc (Real Framework)
One DTC wellness brand replaced its standard tracking email with a âWhat happens in your body nextâ video sequence.
Repeat engagement rose 37% in 10 days. No discounts needed.
4. Own the Emotional Tone, Not Just the Timing
Creative teams check for consistency. CRM teams check timing. But who checks if the tone actually sustains the customerâs emotional state?
Thatâs where tools like Neurons come in, simulating whether your visuals, copy, and layout match the psychological expectation set by your ads. You can book a free demo here to see it in action.
Itâs not about matching design. Itâs about matching feelings.
5. Who Owns Onboarding in a Scaling Brand?
Most onboarding defaults to marketing or CX, but thatâs a miss. In retention-first orgs, itâs co-owned by creative, retention, and product, and measured by more than just churn. Think post-purchase NPS velocity, email reply sentiment, days to second usage or order, and emotional tone in customer feedback.
Onboarding isnât a department, itâs a critical transition moment. Treat it like a shared responsibility, not an afterthought.
Conclusion: You earned the sale through belief, not by tricking a funnel. If the post-purchase flow doesnât feel like a deeper emotional payoff, youâre undoing the trust your ad created. Fix the tone, own the sequence, and escalate the relationship. Because the best onboarding doesnât resell, it deepens conviction.
đŻ Metaâs New Ad Arsenal for Creators and Brands
At IAB NewFronts 2025, Meta unveiled a powerful set of tools to help brands reach Gen Z and millennial audiences across Instagram, Facebook, and Threads, with smarter ad placement, AI-powered trend tools, and creator-first campaigns.
The Breakdown
1. Viral Reels and Threads Ads Go Prime Time - Meta is testing Reels Trending Ads that follow top-performing creator content. Threads will now support in-feed video ads in 16:9 and 1:1 formats. On Facebook, AI-powered Video Expansion auto-adjusts creatives for a more immersive look.
2. Real-Time Trends and Creator Discovery - Metaâs Trends in Creator Marketplace uses AI to surface trending content like âfestival vibes,â helping brands create culturally relevant ads. Instagramâs Creator Marketplace Discovery API lets partners find and evaluate high-quality creators at scale using third-party tools.
3. AI-Powered Content Recommendations and UGC Boosting - Brands can now see which user-generated or creator-made content might perform best as a Partnership Ad through AI suggestions. Advertisers can also boost organic branded content on Facebook and Instagram.
4. Simplified, Flexible Partnership Ad Formats - Partnership Ads now support single-partner headers, letting the creatorâs identity shine through more clearly. Meta is also testing Facebook Live Partnership Ads, allowing live content to be promoted with co-branding.
Meta is making it easier to meet customers where culture happens, right next to viral content, real creators, and personalized trends. This isnât just new ad tech, itâs a blueprint for brand relevance across every surface that Gen Z touches.
đïž Tweet of the Day
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