Ecommerce Playbook: Numbers, Struggles & Growth

Measurement Mistakes That are Costing You Millions

Mar 4, 2025

Discover why your advertising performance may be misleading and learn how to fix it. Explore the hidden effects of Meta and YouTube ads on sales across various platforms. Understand the importance of incrementality over traditional metrics as brands increasingly navigate complex growth strategies. Mid-sized brands face unique challenges, and assessing customer acquisition metrics reveals the need for a multi-channel approach. Finally, uncover the significance of integrating e-commerce platforms for more accurate reporting and effective decision-making.

27:20

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Quick takeaways

Brands must adapt their measurement systems to account for sales across all distribution channels to accurately assess ad spend efficiency.

Emphasizing the importance of re-engaging lapsed customers can significantly enhance marketing results and unlock growth opportunities.

Deep dives

Inefficiencies in Ad Spending

As brands grow, especially those in the $50 to $150 million range, a significant challenge arises in balancing their advertising expenditures between acquiring new customers and engaging existing ones. Many brands experience perceived degradation in the efficiency of their advertising due to outdated measuring systems that focus primarily on direct website revenue. This narrow perspective fails to account for broader distribution channels—such as Amazon and retail—where ad dollars are still generating sales, albeit not directly on the brand’s website. Therefore, adjusting measurement systems to consider total performance across multiple distribution platforms is crucial for accurately assessing ad spend efficiency.

Intro

2min

Navigating Growth: The Starving Giants Dilemma

9min

Understanding the True Impact of Advertising for Better Growth

2min

Navigating Customer Acquisition Metrics in E-Commerce

13min

Integrating E-Commerce Platforms for Effective Business Measurement

2min

If your paid media feels less effective than ever, your measurement system might be the real problem. Many 8-9 figure ecommerce brands are unknowingly starving their own growth because they’re looking at the wrong data. As brands expand beyond DTC into Amazon, retail, and omnichannel marketing, traditional metrics like MER and ncROAS no longer tell the full story.

In this episode, we break down the biggest measurement mistakes that are causing brands to pull back on ad spend too soon, leading to stalled growth and missed opportunities. If you want to know how to properly assess the efficiency of your ads—and stop making costly decisions based on incomplete or misleading data—this is a must-watch.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

Why your reported ad efficiency is lower than reality (and what to do about it)
The hidden impact of Meta & YouTube ads on Amazon & retail sales
How to assess incrementality instead of just relying on platform-reported ROAS
The #1 measurement mistake brands make when scaling to 8-9 figures
A step-by-step plan to fix your data and unlock scalable growth

Show Notes:

Go to https://your.omnisend.com/CTC to get 20% off your first 3 months with code CTC20.
Explore the PROPHIT System: profitsystem.com
The Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at podcast@commonthreadco.com to ask us any questions you might have about the world of ecomm

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Ecommerce Playbook: Numbers, Struggles & Growth

Measurement Mistakes That are Costing You Millions