eCommerce Evolution

If Google isn’t within your top 2 channels for new customer acquisition - 2024 should be the year you change that.In this episode, I interview Matt Slaymaker on the latest and greatest from Google.Here’s a look at what we cover:What are the best brands doing on Google that others aren’t?What are the keys to a better, more productive relationship with your agency?How has PMax evolved, and how can you fully leverage it?What about Demand Gen - Google’s newest campaign type? Spoiler alert: it’s not great... yet. But we see potential. How should we think about AI with Google ads?

So much has changed on Amazon since we started helping sellers on the platform in 2016 (I can’t believe we’ve been in the Amazon game for 8 years).In this episode, I chat with Trenton Bodenbach, OMG Amazon Strategist. We discuss some new potential game-changers on Amazon for 2024, strategy, and who’s winning and who’s not on the platform.Here’s a quick look at a few of our topics:1) Vertical Video for Sponsored Brand Video. Sponsored Brand Video is one of our favorite Amazon ad types. It’s usually in the top 2-3 most effective ad types for the brands we work with. Now, it supports vertical video. Likely, you have more vertical video than anything else. Now, you can use it on Amazon. 2) Shop on Facebook. Amazon controls this for now, but likely there’s more to come. This will allow shoppers on Facebook to buy products directly from Amazon without leaving the Facebook app. 3) Amazon’s continued growth and dominance and what it means.4) Amazon storefronts, posts, and other tools for branding. We believe that building your BRAND on Amazon is the ultimate key to success. Not just selling stuff. And Amazon has more tools than ever to help you build your brand. 

I love this episode. Not just because my guest, Rabah Rahil, is a super smart dude with an eye for fashion.I love it because we tackle two of the biggest issues facing brands, agencies, and developers in the DTC space:How to think about and utilize AI for better results (especially if you’ve resisted it a bit).How to evolve the customer shopping experience to wow customers and drive better conversion rates.If you’ve been somewhat bearish on AI or maybe just slow to experiment with it, perhaps you need a better framework.Rabah lays out his framework by comparing AI to oil companies and how oil companies find land, drill for oil, and refine it for profit-producing products. It might not be clear right now, but this is a pretty accurate analogy for getting the most from AI.We also talk about the social dilemmas of using AI in our daily lives. For example, if I use AI to write my wife a poem, does that count, or is it cheating? If I use AI to help me craft answers for a job interview, is that a sign I shouldn’t be hired or that I know how to utilize tools? Or does it depend? We also talk about a few of his favorite tools:Gong(.io): A tool that Fermat now uses to analyze sales performance and run sales meetings. It’s a game changer in taking data from your CRM and delivering actionable insights and talking points. Riverside: The podcast recording tool that now has AI features that are awesome (and getting better all the time). Plus, we discuss some AI features masquerading as businesses. These will undoubtedly come crashing back to reality. On the customer journey side, we talk about how creating a cohesive experience that’s also customized at scale is the future of the DTC industry.3 things have to be in alignment:The adThe post-click experienceThe offerWe talk about when and how this goes wrong and what to do.And we throw in some fun 80s/90s references. Super fun. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed recording.

In the DTC space, there are always headwinds.Supply chain issues. Amazon account shutdowns. Meta or Google ad account issues. And new headwinds pop up daily.That's why I love this conversation with Aaron Nosbisch so much. Aaron and my buddy Nick Shackelford run Lucyd - a social ad agency that focuses on CBD and Cannabis products, and now Brez, a very tasty THC drink that's legal in all 50 states.At Lucyd, Aaron and the team grew from nothing to one of the largest CBD agencies in the world. And the road was anything but easy. The story is a crazy one and even involved Aaron emailing Mark Zuckerberg directly when he was getting nowhere with Facebook support.At Brez, they're building a THC brand publicly. The wins and losses are right there for everyone to see. This interview is fun, inspiring, and insightful. Here's a look at what we cover:Why "hacking" your way to solving difficult problems isn't the answer. Being really, really good at the fundamentals is the answer.Why building in public is more fun and likely less risky than building in private. What being "mission-driven" looks like for a CBD/THC brand.What's working on with X (Twitter) advertising, and what should we expect next year?The two ways to innovate. Plus more!

Cody Wittick is the man. College hoops player. Agency owner. Podcast host. And, now, new dad!Most important for this discussion: Cody knows how to scale DTC brands with influencer marketing. In this episode, we discuss the right and wrong ways to build an influencer marketing program. We talk about winning creatives and who's smarter: media buyers or the machine. And highlight the parallels between running a business and being a father. What was my favorite part of the conversation, you ask...? How to use influencers to build a creative flywheel.I'm convinced you need enough quantity and quality of creative on a weekly basis to scale on all of your most important platforms. And in the episode, we talk about how. Enjoy!

This year was an AMAZING year of podcast guests.Today, I wanted to reflect on and recap 12 of my favorite lessons from this year.1. Creative Thinking as a Competitive Advantage - Million Dollar Mindset (Ep 231)This episode was the most shared episode of the year. It ended up in a few forums and got a lot of love. What helped Will and the team grow Organifi from $18M annually to over $100M? It wasn’t just hard work. It was creative thinking and problem-solving.Learn the secrets of Moneyball, the Hollywood Black List, and more!2. You Can 13X Through Creative, Data-Driven Marketing - Brendan Bannister (Ep 221)In a similar vein to the podcast with Will Hughes, this interview with Brendan Bannister was a banger. Brendan ran paid media for William Painter during their years of meteoric growth. We talk about the power of design and simplicity. 3. What You Don’t Know About Your Customer Is Costing You. The Missing Piece to Your Attribution, CRO, and Marketing Is Customer Insights - Trevor Crump (Ep 250) / Jeremiah Prummer (Ep 262) I’m completely sold on the idea that when done properly, customer surveys uncover tremendous insights that will shift how you advertise, position, and optimize your products. I cover my 4 favorite questions to ask in post-purchase surveys. 4. Why Your Price Is Likely Wrong and What to Do About It - Byron Myers (Ep 255)The way you set your initial price is not the way you determine your optimal price. There’s an optimal price for rev maximization and one for profit maximization. How does demand and conversion rate shift when price increases or decreases? After you get some data, you need to get scientific. Chart out your demand curve and conversion rate to find your ideal price. This isn’t static, though. You should be testing at least 2 times per year or likely every quarter. 5. Customer Value Optimization Trumps CRO Every Time. And It Informs CRO. - Drew Sanocki (Ep 245)Not all customers are created equally. You have some whales (your most valuable) and some minnows (your least valuable). What’s more important than almost anything else you do is identifying whales and attracting more of them. This is a key part of understanding that there are only 3 ways to grow your business:Get more new customersGet each customer to spend more (raise your AOV) Get customers to buy more often (increase LTV) 6. Organic Growth on YouTube. 3 Types of Content. - Liz Germain (Ep 234)YouTube is the 2nd most visited site on the planet. Users spend a TON of time on the platform. If you’re good at creating content, you can build a large following and drive awareness and traffic for your brand. In this episode, I talk to YouTube pro, Liz Germain, about the 3 types of content you must create to build an organic following.7. Brand is Everything - Person Rutherford (Ep 260)Want a huge exit? Want all of your advertising efforts to improve? Want greater retention and higher LTVs? Want to charge a premium? You need to focus on brand building.The good news is you can do this profitably.If you want customers to seek you out by name, tell others about you, and feel pride in associating with your products, you need a BRAND. Preston Rutherford, one of the co-founders of Chubbies who had a 9 figure IPO, knows all about this. Brand building can’t be done overnight. It’s a long play, but it compounds over time. 8. You Can Achieve Exit Velocity on YouTube - Jacques Spitzer (Ep 243)This was the episode I personally heard the most comments about. It’s PACKED with ideas on how to think about YouTube and how to make it work for your brand. We discussed a bunch of important concepts. One is “People don’t have short attention spans; they have short consideration spans.”9. Amazon Is Trying to Go Beyond Search for Product Discovery. Maybe They’re Making Modest Strides. - Liz Saunders (Ep 253) / Brandon Young (Ep 251) / Gracey Ryback (Ep 249) Product discovery is still primarily driven by search. With the Amazon influencer program and initiatives like the Inspire tab on the Amazon Mobile app, Amazon is trying to “inspire” new product discovery. It seems to be going OK, but just how much new product discovery this generates is TBD. 10. Stop Obsessing Over Vanity Metrics. Focus on Core Metrics. - Rabah Rahill (Ep 222) / Preston Rutherford (Ep 260)What are vanity metrics? How about ROAS and Revenue? Both important to be sure. We look at both metrics all the time. But they aren’t CORE. So, what is the core of your brand? Well, Preston Rutherford lays it out! 11. Retention Marketing Is Your Key to Stability and Profitability. - Nick Flint (Ep 248)Few things can impact your brand as much as email and SMS. In this episode, we covered 8 email tests to make, plus one of our favorite all-time emails that a client ran. 12. Are you experimenting with AI? - Steve Chou (Ep 233) / Fred Vallaeys (Ep 256) AI likely isn’t replacing members of your team. It shouldn’t be replacing you. But it should be assisting you. Writing better email subject linesWorking on better SEO titles and bullet pointsTranscribing and summarizing meetings and more

How is your finance stack?We all love to talk about our tech or marketing stacks, but the financial side gets less attention.Heck, you might not even know for sure what your finance stack is! My guest today is an eComm legend, Bill D'Alessandro. Bill is the founder and CEO of Elements Brands. He's built or acquired 8 brands and sold 7. Before his time in eComm, he spent 5 years in the investment banking and private equity world. Talking about ad creativity or the latest case studies on scaling with Facebook ads is more of a dopamine hit than talking about finance. BUT, knowing what levers to pull, what to do, and what NOT to do as it relates to your finance stack can instantly add $100s or thousands to your bank account. Here are the 4 components of your finance stack that Bill and I dive into today. Trust me, this interview is fast-paced, interesting and guaranteed to put more cash in your bank account.BankingCredit CardsWorking CapitalDebtYou don't need to be a CFO or a CPA to get value here. You just need the 80/20 of how to optimize your finances. Here's a look at what we cover in this episode:Why it's not always best to maximize assets and reduce liabilities; for example, accounts receivable are an asset, but they're also NOT cash in your bank.When it's "OK" to use Debt and when you shouldn't.What's essential and what's not when it comes to a bank?How 2 simple shifts in credit card usage can add $10s or $100s of thousands in your pocket…money you will NOT receive a 1099 for.Why working capital is the blood of your business. A few simple tips for accounts payable - when you do this right, this is the cheapest form of "debt" you can useWhy Merchant Cash Advances so commonly start a death spiral and what to do if you're in this trap.

What do you do when you grow 25% YoY but realize you’re losing money? How do you adjust when what has always worked in the past stops working? What steps do you take when your cost to acquire a new customer is skyrocketing, and nothing is bringing it down?If you’re like some brand owners, you keep doing the same stuff but try to do it better. Sometimes, you need a larger shift that starts with asking better questions and understanding what problem you’re trying to solve. This interview with Anthony Mink, CEO and Co-Founder of Live Bearded, was super fun and energizing to record. Live Bearded is an 8-figure brand that experienced something pretty dramatic but also not uncommon in eCommerce. Their new customer acquisition ads stopped working across ALL ad platforms. We know the brand well; we’ve been running Google and YouTube ads for them for years. Seeing their CPA skyrocket across all channels (Facebook, IG, YouTube) and then helping it come down to the lowest it’s ever been was inspiring and insightful. Especially while spending more than ever on top-of-funnel efforts. Ultimately, they discovered they had a fundamental positioning and messaging problem. Their offer was good (basically a free sample), but the way they positioned their product had taken them as far as possible. They needed to reposition! In this episode, we uncover that journey, and it’s PACKED with valuable lessons.Here’s a quick look at some of what we cover:How you first have to clearly define the problem before you can solve it. (This is a step entrepreneurs usually want to skip.)How positioning is likely the most powerful lever you can pull in your business.The power of Stories, States, and Identities in your marketingThe power of Brand and how Nike has it, but Hyatt doesn’t.The concept of Better Your Best (and NOT Better Your Meh).The messaging that cut Live Bearded’s CPAs in half.Plus more!

In some ways, we know everything and nothing about our customers at the same time. We have mountains of data at our fingertips for every customer interaction. But we can’t see our customers. We don’t really know what they love, why they buy, or what they’re into—even insights into why they bought from us or how they first learned about us are muddy. Even when we think we know, our view is incomplete. That’s where KNO Commerce comes in. Sure, you have a few different attribution tools. They can be helpful but also confusing. And they have biases. Sure, you know conversion rate optimization best practices, but every brand and every customer is slightly different. Getting customer insights through post-purchase or abandon cart surveys can provide clarity into what your attribution or CRO data is telling you…or, more importantly, what it’s NOT telling you. The good news is you don’t have to use KNO to get great customer insights. Any survey tool can work. In this episode with KNO Founder and CEO Jeremiah Prummer, we discuss the following:40% of your shoppers buy in less than 1 week of learning about your brand. 60% take longer than 1 week. (This probably contradicts what GA and your attribution tools tell you).The biases in surveys and how to work around them?The biases in the attribution model.How abandoned cart surveys can be a game changer in addition to email flows.What questions to ask your customers for the most actionable insightsAnd More!

Download The YouTube Ads Checklist HereYouTube offers TREMENDOUS scale opportunities.Just ask Dr. Squatch, Purple Mattress, Organifi, and Manscapped.But it's NOT the easiest platform to scale with. We're one of the top spenders on YouTube ads. We've spent more than almost any agency our size on the platform and learned what works and what doesn't.In this episode, I break down the 11 factors that determine YouTube's success.Here's a sneak peak:What has to be true about your landing pages before you can fully accelerate on YouTube?When should you launch a YouTube ad campaign?How to approach YouTube ad performance measurement.What creative elements need to be in place?What role do email, search, and shopping play in your YouTube success?How to think about remarketing and YouTube.Plus, much, much more.