We’re all but guaranteed to see another record holiday season on Amazon this year. But that does not guarantee that you will have a banner holiday season. This year is sure to be challenging for online sellers. More shopping will take place in stores than last year during the height of the pandemic. Ad cost are also on the rise. Combine all of that with increased competition and you see why success this holiday season won't be easy. Getting the most from the Cyber 5 and beyond will really boil down to three things: Covering the basics. Proper inventory levels. Understanding  key selling dates and Amazon’s deadlines. Getting the right badges. Having listings optimized.  Without the basics in place, you’ll be seriously behind this holiday season. We’ll help you get ready.   Getting an edge. This year is sure to be uber competitive for Amazon sellers. Do you have your lighting deals and coupon strategies ready? How’s your storefront, A+ content, and Amazon posts?  Is your Amazon ad strategy primed and ready? We’ll uncover the tips you need to get an edge.   Going full-funnel and leverage what’s new. This is the year to go full-funnel with your Amazon advertising efforts. It’s also the year to fully leverage new offereinces from Amazon including new sponsored brand video targeting, Amazon’s customer engagement  beta, new display options and more. Plus, it’s time to consider a few off-Amazon strategies that only a tiny percentage of sellers are leveraging.   We cover it all in this episode. Check it out and then share this with your team and other sellers you know who might find it helpful. 

Are you fully prepared for Holiday 2021?  This year is sure to be unique.  While eCommerce is still growing, it’s growing at a slower rate than last year.  Stores are opening, and, for now at least, shoppers are spending more money on experiences than they were during the height of the pandemic.  So how can you maximize your online holiday sales this year? In this episode, we listen in to the recording of the recent webinar we hosted that covers 7 ways to have a record holiday season including: How to leverage the latest YouTube ad formats to get more exposure and more conversions at a lower cost. What you’re likely missing with your current search and shopping ad structure and how to fix it.   Why now is a great time to consider Google Smart Shopping Campaigns How to deliver the right holiday message at the right time How to combat rising ad costs Plus more!

With iOS 14 and privacy updates throwing advertisers for a loop and increased ad costs making reaching your ad goals harder than ever, scale on Facebook may seem illusive.  On today’s episode, I wanted to hear from an up-and-coming Facebook ad manager and co-host of the Rich Ad, Poor Ad podcast Dyland Carpenter.  Dylan specializes in eComm media buying and is fanatical about testing, experimenting, and finding ways to scale ad accounts.  Here’s a quick look at what we cover in today’s episode: Common mistakes keeping you from scaling with Facebook ads Why creative is everything and how to approach creative testing Finding the winning campaign formula - learn how Dylan uses controls and tests to always be leveling up. Thoughts on iOS 14  Budgeting for scale and how to be aggressive without breaking the algorithm  Plus more!

Are you ready to crack the YouTube ads code?  Ready to learn how to win now and into the future even as privacy issues are causing media buyers to pull their hair out? Here’s the Audio from a recent, wildly popular webinar I presented at.  We had just over 2,000 people attend to hear our Winning Formula for Scale for YouTube ads for eCommerce. This presentation is fast-paced and full of practical tips and examples.  Here are 3 reasons to listen:   Learn how top eComm brands are profitably spending $500k per month on YouTube ads.  Many were spending $0 on Google ads just a few months or years ago. Diversity.  In a world of tracking issues, algo updates, and constant uncertainty - you need to diversify your customer acquisition channels. Understand how creative, campaign, and audience strategies work hand-in-hand to deliver stellar results.    

Several of my successful eComm friends are selling all or a portion of their businesses right now.  It makes sense.  Ecommerce valuations are at an all time high.  Also, when you consider that entrepreneurs make 50% or more of all the money they will EVER make from their business when they sell it - you have to be thinking about when and how you want to sell your business.     In this episode I interview my friend and expert M&A advisor, Joe Valley.  Joe is a partner at Quietlight Brokerage, one of the leading online-focused M&A advisory firms in the world.  Before joining the team in 2012, Joe sold his own business through Quiet Light. Since then, he has helped facilitate nearly a half billion in online exits and now is the author of the bestselling book, The EXITpreneur’s Playbook - How to Sell Your Online Business for Top Dollar.   Here’s a look at what we discuss in this episode:  What is an EXITpreneur and why it pays to think and operate like one Why you should start “training” for an exit now What if someone says - I love my business…I don’t want to sell.   Top mistakes to avoid when selling your business Real life business selling horror stories Plus more! I do highly recommend Joe’s book. You can get your copy today at EXITpreneur.io and begin to understand the true value of your business - and how to get maximum value for it whenever and however you decide to exit.

Nearly every day we have eCommerce companies reaching out to us wanting to know how to grow their eCommerce brands using YouTube ads.  YouTube ads are both exciting and mysterious to most store owners.   In this episode, I’m bringing you insights from some of the best and brightest minds at OMG Commerce. This is the audio recording from a recent YouTube ads expert panel that I moderated.  This was a really fun panel for me because it was made up entirely of my team.  I brought in 6 of our top YouTube ad specialists from team OMG to answer your burning YouTube questions.  I think you’ll really learn a lot and enjoy this format.  Here’s a look at the questions we dive into: What are the best YouTube audiences to launch with and what are the best audiences to SCALE with? How are YouTube ads different from Facebook and IG ads and different from ads on other platforms? How long does it take to start reaching your CPA or CAC goals? What kind of scale is possible with YouTube ads When things go wrong on YouTube - what’s usually the cause?  How important is production value to the success of your campaigns What new YouTube features are you most excited about?

Prime Day 2021 was a year of firsts.  It was the first year Prime Day took place in the 2nd quarter.  From 2015 to 2019 Prime Day was in July.  In 2020, due to the pandemic, Prime Day was moved to October and became the de facto kickoff to holiday shopping.   This year was also the first year that Prime Day experienced year-over-year growth of 10% or less.  But when the 2-day event brings in $10-11 billion in sales, any year-over-year growth still represents HUGE growth in real dollars.   For this episode, I brought in OMG’s Amazon Director Chris Tyler to help unpack what we experienced with our clients this year during Prime Day.  Here’s a look at what we discuss: Some surprises we saw in the OMG client sales data How advertisers may have been more excited than shoppers this Prime Day Prime Day may not be a great fit for every seller - some categories crushed it during Prime Day, other categories were “meh.” Why inventory issues for many sellers influenced the prevalence of deep discounts and likely took some of the urgency out of Prime Day shopping.   The strange shopping behavior we saw during day 2 of Prime Day.  How to maximize Prime Day or holiday shopping by thinking Full Funnel with your ad approach Plus more!

You want low CPMs (like the early days of Facebook)?  You want massive engagement from eager shoppers?  Are you looking for a little virality to go with that?  Then you need to consider TikTok and SnapChat ads.  I’ve had more clients and other agency friends ask about TikTok and Snap ads in the last few weeks than I can ever remember before.  Both platforms are still in their infancy from an ads standpoint (with SnapChat being more established than TikTok).  Both still offer tremendous opportunities for first adopters who are willing to learn the platforms.     Today I’m bringing on two experts, Madison Grover VP of Social from Pouch, and Anders Piiparinen CEO from Wallaroo Media.  They’re giving us a crash course on what we need to know about TikTok and Snap ads. Why you should build TikToks and NOT ads How creating consistently great content on TikTok can have a compounding or “resurfacing” affect How to repurpose TikTok content on other platforms Why you can’t repurpose YouTube or IG content on TikTok Understanding key TikTok metrics The basics of a solid Snap ad How to drive conversions from TikTok and Snap

Every website is leaking sales and conversions somewhere.  While I love talking about driving more traffic, sometimes the best thing you can do for your business is improve your conversion rate.  In this episode, I interview the founder of Conversion Crimes, Quinn Zeda and we discuss the most common eCommerce conversion crimes she sees.  If you fix even a few of these you’ll see a meaningful improvement in your website performance.  Here’s a look at what we discuss: Understanding visual hierarchy and the metaphor of volume knobs Creating a process of testing and iteration vs. launching a full site overhaul Using customer intel to create marketing breakthroughs Keys to better navigation and menu structure How to not confuse or overwhelm your visitors Using action colors Plus more!

Ryan McKenzie is doing what he can to help save the planet.  His super-effective laundry detergent strips are keeping millions of plastic laundry jugs out of landfills each year.  He also wants to save your brand from bad video advertising. I invited Ryan on the show again because his approach to video advertising is just awesome.  Here at OMG Commerce, we have the privilege of running all of his Google and YouTube ads so we’ve seen firsthand their rocket ship growth.  They were Canada’s 2nd fastest growing start-up and have grown from 7 employees to 200 in record time.  In this episode, we break down Ryan’s  7-step framework behind his video ads that are fueling $100k/day in ad spend.  Here’s a look at what we cover:   What is a powerful pattern interrupt and how to use one. Why having a villain in your ads is a good thing.  Hint: Your villain probably isn’t a person. How many and how to most effectively use Calls to Action. Biggest surprises on what works and what doesn’t. How to use logic and emotion.