48 Converting Influence with Web Smith, founder of 2PM

In his hyper curated newsletter, 2PM, Web Smith covers the latest ecommerce news, trends, and data insights happening in media and retail.

It’s been eight months since Web Smith was last on the podcast and a lot has changed with 2PM. He launched a paid executive membership, hired a new editor, and is releasing their first series of original content. With the ecommerce landscape shifting beyond DNVBs, it’s the perfect time to loop back and answer some questions.

On this episode, Web predicts how brands will advertise amidst Google’s shrinking reach and Safari’s expected disruption of Facebook tracking (3:57). He shares the digital and physical content strategies brands will use to acquire new customers (7:25), and his own approach to finding a formula for success (8:03). He answers who will be the biggest advertising company by 2025 (10:35) and why platforms that control conversion and commerce will win (14:20). Web talks trends we’re seeing in content and commerce, and how the New York Times is getting it right (18:19). Stephan and Web discuss Patreon (19:55), affiliate marketing strategies that are and aren’t working (24:08), and the tension for creators to operate as a business without losing their perceived status (26:14). Web shares what he’s learned adding a paid subscription model to his free newsletter (30:22), and lastly, why for DNVBs, brand matters (33:37).

Links and images from this post are on the Lumi blog.