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

Today’s episode was inspired by a conversation with a colleague about building audiences and stockpiling potential customers for use in Q4. Last year, he said he put $10,000 into audience and list building for Q4. He expected he would be able to use those audiences but he had no idea when or the return on ad spend he would get. He believed if he brought people in, told the brand story and got them in his remarketing and email lists, he'd be able to earn back his investment. Off of that $10,000 investment he made almost $150,000 and basically spent all his Q4 ad spend just retargeting those lists. Didn't do any prospecting. This is important because right now is the time you should be thinking about your Q4 strategy. This is the time when the people who are going to have their most success through the holidays are starting their prep. And that's what this episode is going to be about. Enjoy! Episode Highlights 8:00 How running engagement ads with the intent of being "social" will help you build an audience yo

Today’s guest has a really cool business. He creates beautiful custom designed maps of National Parks, Mountain Ranges and Hydrology of states. And if you’ve ever been in an REI, you’ve probably seen his work featured in all their stores. In today’s conversation, we were able to catch up with Jared Prince and learn how his business has changed over the last year. We brought him on to talk about the sustainable growth he’s built into his business and how he has done it. He shares feedback from 6 months after attending both Intensives Andrew and I hosted in February. He shares what’s been going well, and how he thinks about growing his business after 5 years. Enjoy! Episode Highlights 9:40 What happens when the PR "buzz" wears off and how to turn it around. 13:33 How building an email list and properly segmenting that list has helped grow business for Muir Way. 14:42 The one thing Jared says Facebook and Instagram ads are great at generating for business. 16:10 Launching a new product? Here's how Muir Way just

Have you ever wondered what makes the difference between brands that scale and those who don’t? A couple of months ago, I was asked this question on an interview with Kurt from the Unofficial Shopify Podcast. After re-listening to the episode, I decided to share it with you. Kurt asks great questions and I outline my entire philosophy on growth. It’s especially timely to talk about scaling given the recent sale of MVMT Watches to Movado for $200 million. In this episode, we talk about defining a growth strategy, scaling your advertising, and how to hire the team necessary to get to the next level. I also share what I’ve learned from working with some of the fastest growing brands in the country. Enjoy! Episode Highlights 4:30 How Austin has helped many brands scale from $500k to $1MM. 7:00 Why it is so important to do almost every job in your business before turning it over to someone else. 8:27 The big differences between the Shopify brands that scale up and those that don't. 12:00 How to remove tasks from

Mike Danner is the VP of Digital Marketing for Ancient Nutrition (formerly Dr. Axe) the largest natural health website in the world with over 20M visits a month. Last year, they landed at #35 on the Inc. 500 Fastest Growing Companies in America list and was the #1 fastest growing company in Tennessee in both 2016 and 2017. To top things off, in March of this year they received a $103M investment for a minority share of their business. To say they are “scaling quickly” is an understatement. I had the pleasure of getting to know Mike last year when I hosted a Private Intensive Workshopat their headquarters in Tennessee. He is razor sharp and very practical, which is on full display during this interview. He’s become an expert on hiring (out of necessity), and shares the inner workings on how they’ve managed to keep the business powering through unprecedented growth. This is an interview I’ve wanted to bring you for a long time. Enjoy! Episode Highlights 7:12  How scaling your business will lead to your role in

This is part two of a two part episode on Youtube Advertising for Ecommerce. If you haven’t listened to the first episode in the series, I would start there. If you have listened to the first episode, I hope you enjoy the 2nd part of my conversation with Tom Breeze of Viewability. We get into the details of who should be using Youtube Ads (and who shouldn’t), the difference between advertising on FB and Youtube, a discussion about creative, and a lot more. I call this a 101 episode because I intend it to help you go from knowing nothing about them to understanding whether or not they would work for your business. Enjoy part two of this very informative episode! Episode Highlights 1:47 Telling your brand story on Youtube and how to get it right. 5:29 What level of quality your video needs to be successful on Youtube. 9:48 How much you should budget for testing Youtube ads and where to find the easy wins. 12:42 How Google will, fairly quickly, start to tell you where to find your converting audiences. 14:13 Wa

For the last few months, I’ve been getting a lot of emails asking about Youtube Advertising. And for good reason. Andrew and I spend a lot of time talking about what’s working on FB and IG and email, but very little time talking about Youtube Ads. It’s not because I’m holding out on you. Frankly, it’s because I don’t know a lot about them. I’ve never run Youtube Ads and have always thought of them as a bit of a black block. To remedy that, I brought a best-in-class guest (Tom Breeze of Viewability) on the show to explain how you can use them to grow your business. We get into the details of who should be using them (and who shouldn’t), the difference between advertising on FB and Youtube, a discussion about creative, and a lot more. This a 101 episode because it will help you go from knowing nothing about them to understanding whether or not they would work for your business. Enjoy part one of this very informative episode! Episode Highlights 5:31 Why you should be paying attention to Youtube ads now. 7:53 N

Intro: If your Facebook and Instagram Ads have been struggling recently, you’re not alone. Performance across Facebook and IG has been down for a number of businesses over the last few months. Wallowing in despair can be therapeutic, but it won’t get you anywhere. When things are going poorly, how do you turn it around? In this episode, Andrew will walk you through what many of his coaching clients have been paying him to do recently...which is to help them get back on track. You’re going to learn steps you can take to turn your failing advertising campaigns around. He’ll discuss how to assess what’s working and what is not, share some tools and tactics to help understand delivery metrics, and talk about what is actually working now.  Enjoy! Episode Highlights: 6:28 The questions you should first ask when assessing your failing Facebook Campaigns. 8:25 The metrics Facebook uses as core signals when serving your ads. 9:29 The 4 metrics Andrew regularly reviews and the ideal benchmarks he’s looking for. 11:15

Today's guest is no stranger to spending money on advertising. But as you'll learn, nowadays he's more focused on delivering an amazing customer experience than optimizing his ad spend. Babak Azad is the former SVP of Media & Customer Acquisition at Beachbody. During his time there, his team spent over half a billion dollars in media and acquired over 10 million customers through their website, on Amazon, and over the phone. Those are some big-time numbers. In today's episode, we discuss the danger of falling into the "Cost Per Acquisition > Lifetime Value Game" and share a few surprising things most ecommerce businesses are missing in their quest for scale. This is an exceptional episode with an exceptional guy! Episode Highlights 6:15 Chicken or the egg: Babak's thoughts on pushing sales vs brand awareness to build a brand. 8:44 Why customer experience is not just about online UI and UX. 11:31 The one thing you must do to create a great customer experience. 12:00 How being different can increase your s

I just completed a successful two-day Private Intensive here in ATX with a client. We floated down the Guadalupe River and even played a little Top Golf, but most importantly made some big improvements to their website. In today’s episode, I want to share a big win we got from those two days so you can replicate it at home. Problem:The client had seen a 10% drop in conversion rate over the last month. The last 9 months were rock solid consistent, so it was very strange. A 10% drop in CR cost them around $35K a month! Solution:We installed HotJar and activated the screen recording function. After running a Google Analytics for exit pages and watching screen recordings, we identified a bug preventing users from customizing the product they wanted. It was literally stopping people dead in their tracks! After identifying the bug, the devs fixed it in a few hours. Episode Highlights 2:43 How a drop in conversions may be the result of issues (a bug) on your site. 4:46 Why step one should always be to confirm your

Are you an ecommerce business owner using Shopify? Then this episode is a must-listen. Kurt Elster is a master at helping Shopify businesses uncover hidden profits from their stores and increase their conversion rates. The Ethercycle founder joins us today to share his expert tips on where to look for profits you may be missing out on, the design mistakes people consistently make, and the #1 thing that will give you the biggest competitive advantage over Amazon. Plus, he talks about the test you should do today to see how your customers are really engaging with your site. Enjoy! Episode Highlights: 7:26 The 30,000-foot-view-quick win when it comes to optimizing your Shopify site. 9:48 The things top brands are getting right with website optimization. 12:37 The maximum number of apps your Shopify site should be running and why they maybe slowing you down, even if you've uninstalled them. 14:13 How simply improving your website's messaging can increase your conversions overnight. 15:01 Don't over complicate th

  Here’s the deal with Dynamic Product Ads or “DPAs” as you might know them. Everyone is using them and they work well. But as you’ll learn in today’s episode, the effectiveness of DPAs can create some unique problems for ad buyers. WFor example, you might have a DPA with a high return on ad spend and a low relevance score. Meaning it’s driving sales but people are indicating they don’t want to see it. How confusing is that!? In this episode, you’ll learn how to tweak your DPAs for top performance. We’ll talk about managing frequency, bidding, copywriting, and why you need to be thinking about your prospecting traffic. It’s a bit technical but if you’re running these ads (or want to) you’ll get a ton out of this episode. Enjoy! Episode Highlights 6:10 The biggest error in how most brands are structuring their dynamic product ads (DPAs). 8:05 Why turning up the spend on your successful DPA may actually be killing your audience. 9:25 How to structure your DPA budgets so you're ad frequencies don't skyrocket. 1

Today, I have a special episode for you. For our American listeners, July 2nd is two days before the 4th of July holiday. From here on out it will also be known as the day Custom Audience terms got updated! This is huge stuff right before the holiday. We’re talking about this because after Cambridge Analytica, Facebook has decided to evaluate their process and in my opinion cover their own ass. If you’re delivering ads to custom audiences (you should be) you’re going to need to accept new terms and start specifying exactly where your list came from. These changes will have a direct impact on how you’ll be able to advertise. In this episode, we’ll share what you need to know and how to stay above board. Enjoy! Episode Highlights 4:15 Why Facebook is changing up their custom audience terms 6:00 What you will be required acknowledge when uploading a new custom audience 7:55 How consumers will now be able to see more info on why they are being served ads 8:58 Why you may just have to validate current audiences v

Earlier this week, we dropped part one of our incredible interview with NYT best-selling author Greg Mckeown. We had a ton of fun chopping it up with Greg about how to improve your life by doing less. If you haven’t listened to that episode, I’d recommend starting there. Greg’s book Essentialism has had a profound impact on both Andrew’s life and my own. If you feel like you’re spending time on trivial tasks and you want to remove the “trivial many” and focus on the essential few, this episode is for you. Enjoy part 2! Episode Highlights 4:15 How the criteria you use to set goals will dictate where you plateau. 6:00 The closet metaphor you should be using to dial in your success. 8:39 When it comes to the essentials have you asked yourself this one question? 10:14 The 4 key questions you should be asking of yourself and your brand. 12:19 The Southwest Airlines moto that can help you find your perfect customer and what happened to Continental Airlines when they tried to copy Southwest. 19:10 How Greg McKeown

About 2 years ago I purchased and then subsequently devoured the book Essentialism. At the time, I was stretched thin and had too many irons in the fire. The wisdom of Greg Mckeown helped me refocus on what really mattered. Today, I have the tremendous privilege of welcoming Greg on the show. Have you ever felt the urge to declutter your work life? Do you simultaneously feel overworked and underutilized? The remedy is rarely to “get more done” and almost always to “do the right things.” In today’s episode, we explore what stops otherwise outstanding people from breaking through to the next level, and dive into why most people struggle to define what’s important in their life. Enjoy! Episode Highlights 5:22 The meaning of being an essentialist as defined by author Greg Mckeown himself. 8:26 How contribution may be keeping you from getting to the next level. 12:23 Why it's impossible to have multiple priorities and still be successful. 14:08 How to train your brain to focus on the most important thing you shou

The number one question I get from ecommerce business owners, whether they’re just starting out or making $4MM a year, is: how do I scale? If you’re asking yourself that question, this episode is for you. In today’s Flash Episode I’ll walk through the big picture strategy that will help guide you on the path to 8 figures. We’ll talk about the three phases of growth, from $0 to $10MM, and what you should be doing at each phase in order to grow your business. I’ll talk about how your role as business owner will evolve as your company scales, and the three levers you should focus on to scale your business. And, I’ll share my #1 piece of advice for what you can do today to kickstart your growth. Episode Highlights 4:03 (Phase 1) The importance of finding a marketing channel that works for you, learning it well and doubling down on it. 5:36 (Phase 2) Now that you’ve mastered the channel, here’s why you need to remove yourself to continue growing. 7:41 Once you've found your replacement, its time to focus on incre

Did you know that messenger bots have the highest engagement rates at the lowest cost per lead? Did you know that messenger subscribers can be 5-10 times more valuable than email subscribers? If you’re ready to grow your business with personalized, highly targeted communications, then this episode is for you. Mikael Yang, CEO and Co-Founder of ManyChat, joins us today to talk about messenger bots. Messenger has bypassed social networks to become the number one channel people are using to communicate with each other, and with brands. Yang shares the opportunities ecommerce businesses have with messenger bots to reach their customers in this highly intimate and engaging channel. Only 1% of marketers are using messenger, which is anticipated to become the main communication channel for B2C in the near future, and Yang talks about why now is the time you should start. Episode Highlights:   6:53 Why Messenger is the future of B2C communication. 7:46 The Chinese ecommerce bot strategy that the West may not be read

Are your CPAs on Facebook or Instagram rising? If so, you’re not alone. As more advertisers pour into the channel the cost of advertising is going up! Today, we’ve got a special “Flash Episode” for you. We share why your acquisition costs always increase as you spend more and we go step-by-step through a process that will help you advertise more effectively and profitably. This is a technical episode and one you might need to listen to a couple of times. But if you’re struggling to scale up your ad spend, it could be the ladder you need to take it to the next level.  Andrew and I go super deep into the FB weeds and talk about audience building, refreshing ads, horizontal scaling, etc. Paid social advertisers...enjoy! Episode Highlights: 4:30 The super tool that Facebook has given advertisers and you’re likely not even using it. 6:08 How to find the “First Time Impression Ratio” for your ads to make sure you are reaching new users. 10:23 Red Alert: Your CPA’s are rising: Here are the 5 levers you can pull to

Are you ready to scale your business and ship internationally, but feel intimidated by the complexities involved? Are you currently shipping abroad, but struggling with all of the different contracts, customs, and taxes? If so, we’ve got a fantastic episode for you today. Shipping outside of the United States can be a huge component of scaling your business, but there are many challenges related to finding the best courier in every country, understanding different regulations, and having proper documentation. EasyShip is a shipping platform that takes care of all of these issues and helps ecommerce businesses ship all over the world. Tommaso Tamburnotti, co-founder of EasyShip, joins us this week to talk about international shipping for ecommerce. We discuss the process of moving from domestic to international shipping, common inventory issues, and how to stop leaving money on the table by not taking advantage of the international market. Episode Highlights:   7:21 Understanding how Easy Ship came to be and

Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed with all the information out there about how to grow your business? I know I do, it’s a freaking jungle out there. There is so much noise out there telling you to build this, optimize that, or to invest in some new shiny marketing channel it’s difficult to choose where to direct your attention.. It’s easy to get distracted from the simple fundamentals of how to grow your business. If you’re feeling stuck and are looking for inspiration on how to jumpstart growth, this episode is for you. This week we share the three levers you should focus on in order to grow your business, the simplest and least expensive way. These include: number of customers, average order value and frequency. We talk about how to calculate each of these, and how, as well as how much, you need to increase them by to double your business over the next year. Episode Highlights: 4:42 Lever #1: Reviewing your product pages to identify opportunities for increasing the number of customers. 6:05 How the creatio

This was one of my favorite episodes to record in the last year. I’ve often struggled with work-life balance and am no stranger to trying things that haven’t worked. This week we bring you a refreshing interview with my friend Victor Delacruz about the ups and downs of entrepreneurial life. Victor Delacruz is the founder and owner of ChristianPlanner.com. Victor shares his journey as an ecommerce entrepreneur - from youth pastor to Air Force Captain to Jazz Piano student at NYU to the business owner he is now. Victor talks about the benefits of having a solid daily routine for optimizing your personal and professional life, and the importance for finding what works best for you. He shares the challenges he has faced within his personal and professional life, and the game-changer tactic he used for growing his email list, gathering customer testimonials, and getting tons of user-generated content that was repurposed for social ads and a successful Kickstarter campaign. Episode Highlights: 5:28 The path to su