Ecommerce Playbook: Numbers, Struggles & Growth

It’s an age-old dilemma — do I focus on what’s right in front of me, or do I step back and look at the larger picture? On this episode, Taylor and Richard make the argument that establishing the “why” is much more important than the “how” — especially in a world where AI is making operational excellence less and less of an important differentiator. Show Notes: Explore how SegMetrics can help you tackle ecommerce marketing challenges at https://bit.ly/3AdTrl2. Effortlessly connect all your marketing tools with our library of over 90 integrations at https://bit.ly/3AiayC0. Schedule your personalized demo, ask questions, and discover how SegMetrics can help your e-commerce business grow at: https://bit.ly/40jEE2J. 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.

How do two guys who have never worked together before come together to build a successful influencer agency? On this episode, Taylor sits down with Kynship co-founder Taylor Lagace to discuss building a business around your values, how to find authenticity in your influencer content, and key tactics to build an ROI-focused micro-influencer network. Show Notes: Explore how SegMetrics can help you tackle ecommerce marketing challenges at https://segmetrics.io/solutions/ecommerce Effortlessly connect all your marketing tools with our library of over 90 integrations at https://segmetrics.io/integration/. Schedule your personalized demo, ask questions, and discover how SegMetrics can help your e-commerce business grow at https://segmetrics.io/book-a-demo/. 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.

Inventory management is the bane of many ecommerce brands’ existence — balancing lead times and cash outlay with demand can feel like an unsolvable issue. But with the right data, it can become much easier. In this episode, Taylor sits down with Braden Larsen, Head of Marketing at CTC client Sparkle in Pink, to discuss the tool he uses to keep ahead of per-SKU sales velocity, how he manages Sparkle in Pink’s massive number of SKUs, and how to use data to streamline your inventory management. Show Notes: Check out Sparkle in Pink here: https://sparkleinpink.com/ Download the Inventory Planner app here: https://apps.shopify.com/inventory-planner 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.

“Brand is the bridge between how much your product costs and how much your customer is willing to pay.”  But what if you could measure that “bridge” objectively? In this episode, Richard and Taylor talk about Taylor’s controversial new formula for quantifying the value of your brand. Then, Richard has a conversation with Jules Vertrees, CTC client and founder of Verve Culture, a brand that sources beautiful home goods & gourmet foods from artisans around the world.  Learn More About SegMetrics (Sponsored): Learn how SegMetrics can help you overcome challenges in your ecommerce marketing at  ⁠⁠https://bit.ly/3zjdAph⁠⁠. Instantly connect every marketing tool in your funnel with our library of over 90 integrations at https://bit.ly/3G50gIM. Book a one-on-one demo, get answers to your questions, and learn how SegMetrics can help your business grow by visiting https://bit.ly/3G70LlS⁠. Show Notes: Taylor’s tweet on quantifying brand: https://bit.ly/3nBGQVu 21 Antifragile Tactics Podcast: https://bit.ly/3zht5Om Check out Verve Culture here: https://verveculture.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.

For most of us, ecommerce is still a new phenomenon. For Smart Marketer founder Ezra Firestone, driving sales online has been his main pursuit since the days when you had to fax customer orders to the manufacturer. In this episode, Taylor and Ezra discuss his life in ecommerce, how it’s developed in the 15 years since, and how that experience gives him a unique perspective on what you need to do to thrive in the current environment. Show Notes: For more content from Ezra, check out his LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. Checkout Ezra’s haircare brand, oVertone, here.  Need help building your marketing calendar? Our strategy team is putting together 12-month audit packages here: https://bit.ly/3ZLKfjw 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.

Here at CTC we talk a lot about how ROAS is a poor guiding metric for ad account decisionmaking. That’s because it doesn’t take into account your ad spend’s impact on your entire business. So what should you use instead? In this episode, Richard and Taylor break down a new way to think about profit in an environment where capital isn’t cheap. Show Notes: Get a $200 credit to Insense’s all-in-one creator platform here: insense.pro/lp/ctc Watch Taylor’s video: How to Media Buy Like an Investor 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.

Influencers, staged unboxing videos, paid posts — at this point, even people outside of the ecomm business know that most UGC isn’t actually user-generated. On this episode, Richard and Taylor go deep on the history of bullsh*t in advertising, the ethics of “fake UGC,” and Taylor’s barometer for determining how much BS is too much. Show Notes: Want an easier way to source the good kind of UGC? Streamline your process with SARAL’s chrome extension: http://getsaral.com/champions/ctc Need help building your marketing calendar? Our strategy team is putting together 12-month audit packages here: https://bit.ly/3ZLKfjw 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.

In this episode of the Ecommerce Playbook Podcast, Taylor chats with Connor Rolain, Head of Growth at HexClad, and Richie Mashikov, Head of Growth at Birdie. They discuss forecasting, unit economics, and the rules for growth amidst uncertainty. Show Notes: Need help building your marketing calendar? Our strategy team is putting together 12-month audit packages here: https://bit.ly/3ZLKfjw 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. Connect with Richie: https://www.shesbirdie.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardmashiko/ https://twitter.com/richiemashiko Connect with Connor: https://hexclad.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/connor-rolain-b190ab148/ https://twitter.com/connorrolain

How do I make paid search work for my business? In this episode, we go straight to the source as Taylor sits down with Ben Kruger, Senior Ecommerce Growth Consultant at Google, to discuss how to scale your online store profitably using Google Ads. Show Notes: Need help building your marketing calendar? Our strategy team is putting together 12-month audit packages here: https://bit.ly/3ZLKfjw 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.

Though AI (via media buying algorithms) has always played a role in ecommerce, tools like ChatGPT and Dall-E have brought the conversation about AI and work into the mainstream. In this episode, Richard and Taylor dive into the relationship between AI and margin efficiency, the unique ways we’ve used AI to speed productivity, and the role humans play in a world where computers can do everything better than we can. Show Notes: Need help building your marketing calendar? Our strategy team is putting together 12-month audit packages here: https://bit.ly/3ZLKfjw 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.