The Ecommerce Influence Podcast: Advanced Acquisition And Retention Strategies For Fast-growing Online Brands

Holistic marketing can make your brand more consistent and unified across all your marketing channels so that it stands out from the competition.  Jesse Semchuck, Director of Acquisition for Traeger Grills, joins us to share what he has learned from viewing channels holistically. He shares what the makeup of his marketing team looks like, how internal teams and third party agencies interact, and how a holistic growth approach can create more synergy across all marketing initiatives and the organization.     Tune in and find out if holistic marketing is something you should use in your business.  Episode Highlights:  5:59 Jesse Semchuck’s role at Traeger Grills and what he’s been excited to build over the last year 7:55 The difference between selling mattresses and selling smoker grills 9:18 What’s working well for Traeger Grills right now 11:14 The makeup of Jesse’s marketing team  12:37 Questions Jesse asks when thinking about strategic scaling and how he decides which marketing channels to focus on 17:06 W

This Week We’re Bringing You A Throwback To One Of Our Most Popular Episodes Of All Time. In May 2018 we interviewed Jake Kassan about what it really takes to build a $100 million business. This episode has been incredibly popular, and it still extremely relevant today. Jake Kassan, founder and CEO of MVMT Watches, was one of my first clients when he was just launching the brand back in 2013. He talks about how things have changed since then, and how MVMT has grown to what it is today. MVMT strives to be a best in class brand and best in class in all-around marketing, and Jake shares the strategic approach to marketing MVMT uses to achieve those goals. He also talks about how having a strong team is essential to scaling your business and shares his experience hiring a CMO and supporting team, and what you need to know to do it. Enjoy! Episode Highlights 9:05 How building relationships with customers through direct sales online helped MVMT scale. 12:04 The best success comes in stages and this is what each s

Most companies add a second product line when they want to grow. This week’s guest decided to build a second brand instead. Ashley Merrill founded women’s sleepwear line Lunya in 2014 because she was tired of wearing her husband’s clothes around the house. Five years later, she decided to expand into menswear, but just adding a men’s line didn’t sit right with her. Tune in to find out why Ashley decided to start a second brand, how she grew her company from a startup to an established business, and lessons she’s learned about building a team. Episode Highlights:  5:16 How an ambition to solve a problem resulted in launching Lunya 8:00 How business has evolved since its unconventional 2014 launch 10:42 Why having major funding in the beginning isn’t always best, and the spending that eventually moved the needle for Lunya 13:05 The value of identifying your brand muse. 15:28 One company value that’s contributed to Lunya’s success 16:30 Hiring lessons learned growing from a start-up into an established business

One of the most challenging parts of growing a business is acquiring valuable customers who will purchase from you regularly.  Part 3 of our Profit Series gets into the nitty-gritty details of how to increase customer lifetime value. We dive straight into customer-centric versus product-centric businesses and talk about different ways to acquire more high-value customers and share proven tactics that will help you increase customer lifetime value. Episode Highlights:  3:36 The first strategic decision you must make when thinking about customer lifetime value 6:38 The best lever to focus on to increase customer lifetime value 8:03 The revolutionary changes with Facebook advertising that help you reach your best customers 10:05 The importance of product and service offerings that tailor to high-value customers  11:49 Are loyalty programs a good way to increase customer lifetime value? 13:20 The strategy that led Best Buy to boom while their competitors got wiped out 15:15 The value of subscriptions and talking

Is it possible to build a large, successful business with close to $40 million in revenue without using any paid social? Our guest, Nate Lipton of GrowersHouse, shows us how it can be done. And, in addition to not using paid ads, he’s been able to get his customer acquisition costs to zero. Nate shares the different approach to marketing that has helped him build several incredibly successful companies in the cannabis and hemp industries. He talks about exactly how you can use YouTube to establish yourself as a trusted brand and drive ad-free sales.  If you're looking for some refreshing ideas for how you can drive more revenue, this is a great episode to jog your imagination about what's possible. Episode Highlights:  5:54 Nate’s involvement in the cannabis and hemp industries via multiple different businesses 9:44 Fixing a gap in the cannabis industry: the creation of the Grower’s Network 12:18 The YouTube channel that lifted the veil on growing operations 16:37 How Nate got started in ecommerce and his nu

One of the top ways to accelerate your growth on the path to profitability is to increase average order value. In Part 2 of our Profit Series, we’re diving into successful strategies and tactics you can use to increase your average order value.  From simple changes with pricing to on-site additions to optimizing your Facebook targeting, we share the exact tactics our top clients are using to increase average order value and how these tactics support the big picture strategy toward profitable growth. Episode Highlights:  4:27 The 80/20 Rule and how it should impact your overall business strategy 8:41 The first thing to do if you want to increase average order value 10:30 Successful approaches to bundling products 13:02 How to use dynamic product ads to increase average order value 16:28 A tactic Kettle & Fire is using on their website collections page to boost sales 18:10 Why your best type of customers are the key for increasing average order value  20:34 The difference between upsells and cross-sells an

TikTok is all the rage right now. Even with fewer people creating content, there are more people consuming. But what makes this platform so viral? August Noble went from leading acquisition at SnackNation to helping his clients optimize TikTok’s acquisition channel -- influencers. He is now using key learnings from other social media platforms to ramp up influencer marketing strategies to promote brands.  Tune in and find out what TikTok is all about and how it’s generating more buzz in the social media world. Episode Highlights:  3:17 How August Noble shares a similar start with our co-host, Austin 4:10 The successes at SnackNation that led August to paid media consulting 6:47 Lessons learned from Linkedin for B2B and B2C 8:32 How Linkedin helped targeting strategy 10:08 The tweet about TikTok that landed August on our podcast  14:29 What makes TikTok more viral than Instagram or Twitter 17:26 Building relationships with influencers  21:42 The products that do well on the TikTok platform 24:18 What August i

Do you know what you should be focusing on to make your business more profitable? We’ve had conversations with many clients during these challenging times. While some businesses are booming, others are taking a hit in sales. But the one thing that seems to be on everyone’s mind is profitability.   In this episode, we set the framework for our entire Profit Series. Whether or not your business is thriving during this time, we share the five-step process of creating the roadmap you can use for profitable growth.  Episode Highlights:  4:52 The decision you have to make about the metrics you keep in focus 6:19 How do you define profit? 9:12 What it means to set a profitability goal and how it differs in different industries 14:53 How to set a capitalization goal 17:55 What is a salary cap? 21:25 How to manage salary caps 25:03 The three levers to drive profitable growth Links and Resources:  Book: Profit First by Mike Michalowicz Boredwalk Tshirts @a_brawn on Twitter @andrewfoxwell on Twitter Brand Growth Expe

They’ve won the Shopify Build a Bigger Business Competition, hit number 20 on the INC 5000 list, and now they’re on the podcast to talk about turning a personal need into a successful business venture. Garret and Deanne Akerson of Kindred Bravely share how they’ve navigated running a business together as a couple -- from initial startup to hiring over 50 remote employees and all the challenges and milestones in between. Tune in and enjoy! Episode Highlights:  4:59 How Garett and Deanne started Kindred Bravely 9:01 The lessons learned transitioning from Amazon to Shopify  12:07 How the Amazon ecosystem has evolved and how to approach it now 14:47 How to navigate running a business as married entrepreneurs 18:17 What trading flexibility for structure looked like for Garret and Deanne 21:55 The things that make a large, remote company successful 26:36 Milestones and challenges during the hiring process 30:53 How to know when it’s time to hire executive-level positions 36:47 Group Zoom calls during the interview

If you are advertising on Facebook and Instagram, this is an episode you don’t want to miss! As we see an increase in Facebook and Instagram usage due to COVID-19, many of our clients are scaling up their advertising. Today’s episode will cover what’s working right now in paid social and how our clients and partners are scaling up! Episode Highlights 6:37 The specific audiences working right now for top of the funnel advertising 9:57 User-generated content that’s providing additional scale  11:30 What’s working right now to scale up middle of the funnel advertising 12:22 The audience advertisers should be targeting 13:23 Bid strategy - are cost caps working? 15:35 How to acknowledge the challenging times on the website and product 19:14 Optimizing dynamic creative within campaigns 20:58 What optimization is working in low funnel 21:33 How to address shipping concerns 22:44 Other messaging opportunities to address delivery concerns Links And Resources Facebook and Instagram Pro Ad Buyers Group Verb Energy

The daily habits you or your team have can either hinder your growth or facilitate it. But what should we focus on to build good habits while breaking the bad ones?   Our guest is James Clear, New York Times bestselling author of Atomic Habits and writer on the James Clear Blog.  James has spent years researching, writing and talking about the topic of habits. He’ll share his insights on what you can do to grow your business, market better, and rethink your habits. If you want to create a better system of habits that will improve yourself and your business, this is an episode you’ll want to tune into! Episode Highlights:  4:58 Why we struggle to develop and maintain the good habits 8:14 The principles of habits are the same in various areas of life and work but applied uniquely. 10:15 Three big ideas Atomic Habits centers around 16:22 What to ask to reinforce your desired identity as an individual or as a company. 18:35 Changing environments can be framed as a positive time to form habits 21:23 The personal

Have you ever felt that in order to grow your business, you just need to work harder? We’re here to tell you that you’re wrong.  In today’s episode, we’re busting the five myths of ecommerce. From diversifying traffic to always doing the next big thing, we’ll share the realities that will actually help you scale profitably, without burning yourself out. If you own an ecommerce business or you're intimately involved with one, this episode's for you. Enjoy! Episode Highlights:  4:54 Myth #1: All I need to do to grow is work harder. 6:06 Reality: Do less, but do it better. 7:45 Myth #2: To grow you need to diversify traffic. 8:03 Reality: Be an expert on one channel, and don’t diversify until you have to. 11:59 Myth #3: You need to always be doing what’s new. 13:12 Reality: Do the right things at the right time (even if it’s just one thing). 17:19 Myth #4: If I follow big brands, I’ll learn what works. 20:58 Reality: Here’s what actually works, no matter your size. 22:15 Myth #5: Top founders have a clear visio

Being in charge of the global marketing strategy for a 9-figure business is no simple feat. Our guest today is Andrew Rosch, Director of Channel Marketing Strategy for Trek Bicycle. He joins us to talk about what it looks like to manage a global strategy team for a huge global organization, the importance of only focusing on a few key metrics, why email is still his favorite marketing channel, organic content strategies that are working for Trek, and much more. If you’re growing a large business, or you have aspirations to grow into a large business, you won’t want to miss this episode. Enjoy! Episode Highlights 6:19 What it means to be the Director of Channel Marketing Strategy. 7:44 Finding harmony between brick and mortar and ecommerce. 9:27 The Trek customer journey both on and offline and how it overlaps. 13:02 How Trek avoids alienating its broad-range of customers with its organic content. 15:22 The first test influencers have to pass before working with Trek. 16:12 How Trek approaches the seasonality

This is the final part in our Scaling Series and we’re talking about some hugely successful brands. In our previous episodes, we covered zero to launch, launch to traction, traction to scaling, and growth mode, which will take you from the stages of just starting out to making somewhere between $12 and $15 million. In this episode, we’re diving into specific case studies of brands you’ve probably heard of, like MVMT Watches and Native Deodorant, and talking about why we think they were successful and why they were able to grow and scale up. We hope you’ve enjoyed this series, whether you’re just starting out or close to making an exit. Episode Highlights 4:07 What MVMT, Pura Vida, and Blenders did that made them special.  6:23 The huge significance of the first-mover advantage. 9:12 Taking advantage of upselling and cross-selling.  10:28 The overnight success of Native Deodorant. 11:22 Native’s checkout process and what makes it so great. 13:27 The power of subscription at scale. 16:43 How Tuft & Needle

Every business has its unique set of growth challenges. Zach Stuck spent several years working for a digital agency before deciding to go out and start an agency of his own, Homestead Studio. Now he’s in the process of building his agency business. He’s on the front lines of trying to help clients grow their ecommerce brands. Today we’re covering a range of topics with Zach. We dive into some specific paid social tactics and what’s working right now for Zach’s clients, and we talk about the onboarding process Zach uses for his clients to ensure both his clients, and his agency, can be successful. Enjoy! Episode Highlights 5:58 How Zach went from working at an agency to starting his own. 8:07 Changes in Zach’s role from agency employee to agency owner. 9:52 Resources Zach used to help a client grow from zero to a million in their first year. 11:26 Common paid social misconceptions Zach hears from his clients. 14:33 What’s working in paid social right now and how to successfully approach dynamic creative testi

We're in the midst of an unprecedented global crisis and a time of much uncertainty.   Some of my clients are businesses are experiencing growth, and others are down by 50% or more. Even if this crisis leads to an economic recession, you get to choose whether or not you want to take part in it. Today I'm sharing a special recording of one of my recent members-only webinars where I talk about how to lead your ecommerce business during uncertain times, and how to transform this uncertainty into a time of abundance and opportunity for your business (without exploiting anyone). In this episode we'll talk about: The three things business owners should be focused on right now. How to think about cash management during a crisis and why you must use this as an opportunity to build a rock-solid financial future. Why playing offense is going to become more important than playing defense in the coming months. How to lead (not manage) your way through this crisis and come out stronger on the other side. How to bring you

In part 4 of our Scaling Series we’re talking about Growth Mode. You’ve made your first seven figures and now you’re scaling up to eight figures. You’ve figured out something that works and you might be starting to feel overworked and overwhelmed. Now is the time to make those key hires and/or outsource channels you feel like you’ve maximized. It’s time to go from the day-to-day manager of your business and grow into the true role of CEO. In this episode, we’re talking about how to start getting things off your plate, managing inventory issues, and how to determine whether it’s time to focus on a new marketing channel. Enjoy! Episode Highlights 5:38 One of the biggest issues in Growth Mode: Superhero Syndrome. 7:57 Implement systems to help you get more off your plate. 11:10 Why inventory issues often arise at this stage of growth. 13:20 How to solve your inventory issues. 16:01 Challenges you might face as you’re trying to hire, and what not to do. 18:32 Strategic issues that arise during Growth Mode. 20:54

If you're struggling to make SEO work for your business, this episode is for you. Our guest today is a dual-threat. He’s building an ecommerce brand while also running a digital marketing agency that specializes in SEO. Not only does he get to see what’s working for his clients, but he’s learning from what’s working in his own business. Eagan Heath is the owner of The Splendid Beast and Founder of Get Found Madison. Today he’s doing a deep dive into ecommerce SEO and talking about how to avoid keyword cannibalization, how to get started with SEO (and if it’s even a good idea for your business), and tips for better tracking attribution. Enjoy! Episode Highlights 6:11 The dual-threat that is Eagan Heath. 9:20 What it takes to grow your skills as an agency and the currency you should be selling in. 11:21 The different approach to capturing leads as an agency vs as an ecommerce business. 13:16 The complex order process for Splendid Beast and the advantages of a highly custom business. 16:21 The strategy Eagan us

In part 3 of our Scaling Series, we’re talking about traction to scaling, the period after making your initial $100K to surpassing the million-dollar mark. There are a number of challenges you’ll face at this stage, including becoming overwhelmed with possibilities, losing strategic focus, wearing too many hats within the business, and more. Today we walk you through how to tackle these challenges and the things the most successful businesses do at this stage to continue growing to 8-figures and beyond. Enjoy! Episode Highlights 4:41 The first problem we see at this stage? Mindset and losing focus. 7:53 Why most business owners lose strategic focus at this stage. 8:53 If you’re overwhelmed and losing focus, it’s time to hire. 10:05 The critical role you have to hire for if you want to continue to grow. 10:42 The second problem business owners run into at this stage? The year-over-year mentality, and why you have to get out of it. 13:40 It’s time to get serious about email marketing. 15:10 Other things you ca

There is more than one way to create wealth in ecommerce. While many entrepreneurs follow the path of bootstrapping a business and hoping to one day be acquired, another option is to start on the acquisition side, and grow a portfolio of successful companies. Our guest today has done both. Drew Sanocki is CEO of AutoAnything, owner of PostPilot, and an expert at lifecycle marketing. He joins us to talk about the evolution of lifecycle marketing and the big role direct mail is playing in brand loyalty and repeat purchase rate, as well as how mergers and acquisitions can help your brand, and why M&A are his big focus for the upcoming year. I always learn a lot when we chat with Drew and I hope you enjoy! Episode Highlights 9:05 Why Drew is so excited about direct mail marketing. 12:08 The role of direct mail for Drew's 9-figure dropshipping company. 14:54 Bringing direct mail into traditional lifecycle marketing and how it enhances your brand. 18:55 Exploring brand partnerships in the direct mail space. 19