Ecommerce Evolution

Facebook ad spend has skyrocketed in recent years to the point that Mark Zuckerberg announced recently that this year they may "run out" or ad space causing rates to go up (techcrunch article).  For online merchants, it's often the number 2 or even number 1 traffic source with Google usually taking the other spot.    Molly Pittman, VP of Marketing for Digital Marketer, is a legitimate Facebook ad expert and seasoned practitioner.  Today on the podcast we dive into Molly's 5-Step checklist for making sure that her Facebook ad campaigns are a success.  We dive into some real tactical and strategic info here.  Here's a glimpse of what we cover:   - Why your approach to targeting might be all wrong, and what you should be testing right now. Molly always looks to build ad sets around audiences of a certain size.… - How to make your audience "squirm" so that it's hard for them to say "no" to your offer.   - Video marketing tips including long form vs. short form videos….Molly's answer here might surprise you especi

It’s very possible that your data sucks.  Or if your data is accurate, it's likely that you're fixating on the wrong metrics.     I LOVE this interview.  While I can’t pick favorites, it would be hard to find an episode that was more important to your business than this one.     Charles Farina and the team at Analytics Pros craft data and analytics solutions for large companies like Yelp, Starbucks, TOMS, Asics and more.     This episode is highly actionable….and fun, in a nerdy way.   Here’s a look at what we tackle:   - Top, little-known Analytics “hacks” for better, more actionable data. - Why asking “what attribution model is best for me” is the wrong question to ask. - 3 Worthless Metrics you should either stop measuring or understand what they are really telling you (if anything). - What will Google’s new attribution model look like and when should we expect it? - Real case studies for making better decisions with proper data analysis - Top Analytics mistakes to avoid   Plus, more!  

Product discovery on Amazon is almost exclusively driven by search.  So if you want to drive more sales on Amazon you have to get better at search - both the organic side (SEO) and the paid ad side.  In this week’s episode, I interview a man who knows Amazon search inside and out - George Lawrence.     He started Merchant Words in 2013 and has grown it into one of the most popular Amazon research tools on the market.  In my chat with George, we dive into all things Amazon search including…   - Common Amazon SEO mistakes to avoid - Finding hidden sales opportunities through keyword research (brace yourself we use a pretty off the wall and potentially controversial example).   - How Amazon search has changed in recent years and what that means to you. - When analyzing search data, what metrics matter and what metrics don’t - Preparing for more product searches on Alexa and “Amazon Choice” - Current trends on Walmart & Jet.com    Plus more!  Check it out.

Facebook ads are one of the hottest paid channels for online merchants right now.  FB ads played a huge part in Ezra Firestone's growth from under $10million in revenue to over $22.5 million in a single year.     Part of achieving success on Facebook is keeping up to date on what's working now.….And it's a moving target.    Ezra spends upwards of $15,000 per day on Facebook Ads and he's tracking his performance carefully.     Here's a glimpse of what we cover on the show: - How Ezra is currently building his Facebook Sales Funnels - The 4 types of ads you should be testing - Why you should consider video ads for FB - Landing page tips for converting more FB ad traffic - New audience targeting techniques that are different than what Ezra was teaching & testing just a few months ago. - Bonus!  We get a little bit "deep" at the beginning and end of this episode.  We talk about being a mission-driven business and sticking to your values even as you experience rapid growth and have opportunities coming at you

Bart Mroz has his finger on the pulse of the eCommerce industry.  He's the co-host of the Register Podcast and writes for Entrepreneur, Retail Dive, Social Media Today and more.     This episode is all about emerging trends, what's next, and how we should approach (our least favorite term) omnichannel.     Bart moved to the US as a boy who spoke no English.  We talk some about being an immigrant entrepreneur and then dive into some pretty compelling questions such as:   - What technologies will disrupt eCommerce in the next 1-5 years? - What are the most common problems you're solving for larger eCommerce clients right now?  How do you think those will differ in 2-5 years? - What platforms and payment systems are you most impressed with? - How is omnichannel changing and where is retail in general headed? - Are there any legitimate contenders for Amazon - who could give them a run for their money? - Plus more!   Bart is a fascinating guy, and I think you'll love the interview.  Enjoy!

What are you doing to delight your best shoppers?  How are you encouraging or incentivizing your best customers to come back and tell a friend?  How are you consistently growing repeat purchases?     If your answer is "I'm not sure," or "I could do more," or even "we're doing pretty good there," this episode is for you.     I've seen different studies, but I think it's safe to say that driving a new customer is 5 to 25 times more expensive than keeping an existing one.     With that in mind, it makes sense to put plenty of effort and energy into keeping and delighting existing customers.  Also, the best new customers are often those who are referred by your existing customers.     Steve Deckert and his company Smile.io (formerly Sweet Tooth) are veterans in the rewards space for eCommerce.  Here's a quick look at what we cover on this episode: - How to build a powerful referral program - How to build a successful VIP program - Loyalty campaign mistakes to avoid - How InkBox saw an 80% lift in repeat purchase

If you're not continually tweaking and testing for better conversion rates, you're leaving money on the table.     Nick Disabato is a guy that I never heard of until all of a sudden I saw him everywhere.  From working on BOOM with Ezra Firestone to speaking at eCommerce events to being interviewed on multiple podcasts.  All of a sudden I couldn't escape this guy.  :)    Nick is incredibly bright and has a great process for finding and fixing conversion rate problems for eCommerce sites.   In this episode we cover:   - Top conversion tools - Where to begin with conversion rate optimization - Simple improvements Nick helped Ezra create for BOOM that created a big conversion lift - What big ecommerce stores fail at over and over again and how you can capitalize on it. - How to get real answers out of your customers and turn that into conversion gold - Top conversion resources - Plus more!

Without good copy, you're sunk….or at best fighting an uphill battle.     I love all the new tools for eCommerce that we have at our disposal.  From AI tools, to automation, to personalization, augmented reality etc.  But here's the deal.  None of that matters if you can't tell a good story or produce copy that compels people to buy.  Often, she who tells the best story wins…   I review dozens of eCommerce sites each week and it's very clear to me that good copywriting is a lost art.     My guest on this week's episode is Julie Boswell, co-founder of AskaCopyExpert.com.  Julie was the director of marketing for Bill Glazer and Dan Kennedy at GKIC for 4 years.  Her copy helped fill seats at the famous Super Conference and Info Summit back in their heyday.     In this session we dive into the power of strong copy to boost eCommerce sales.     Here's what we dive into:  - How to write emotional copy that elicits a response - Common copy mistakes to avoid - Copy tips for better product detail pages - Email copy ti

My guest on the podcast today has a unique perspective on both Amazon and on building your ecommerce team.   Nathan Hirsch built a wildly successful drop shipping business on Amazon in 2009.  He's since scaled that to multi-million dollar per year business.  in 2015 he launched freeeup.com to help online merchants find vetted outsourcers with eCommerce experience.    In this episode we dig into some Amazon news and trends to pay attention to and we provide some specific insights for building your ecommerce team.   Here's a quick snapshot. - How Amazon has changed since 2009 - Biggest mistakes he sees merchants making on Amazon - What Amazon changes should resellers be preparing for - Top hiring mistakes - Killer interview questions - Processes for properly vetting and hiring eCommerce rock stars

Few entrepreneurs achieve what Russell Brunson has. From selling "how to make potato gun" information in his college dorm to 40,000 paid monthly subscribers on Clickfunnels, his current SaaS platform, Russell knows how to make stuff happen. That's why leaders like Tony Robbins and The Profit's Marcus Lemonis speak at Russell's events and even go to him for marketing advice. In today's episode we cover: - What a successful ecomm funnels look like - Top ecommerce funnel mistakes - Why building a movement and building a brand should go together - How expert status can help combat the "race to the bottom" - Russell's incredible story of selling how to make potato gun information online in college to huge SaaS Business and events with Tony Robbins, Marcus Lemonis, etc. - Traffic sources Russell is most excited about  

There is an art and a science to selling.  Boring doesn't sell.  Neither does average.  Ryan Stewman is neither.  He's a 4x best selling author and the host of the very successful Hardcore Closer podcast.   You don't have to necessarily match Ryan's style to appreciate and benefit from the principles he teaches.  We uncover some gold on this episode to help you craft better closing product pages, videos, online ads and social media posts.     Here's a quick rundown of what we cover:   - 3 things you need to sell more today - The benefits of building a persona - Tips to sell more via video - How to craft emails that close deals and leave people wanting to see your next email - How to get into the sales state of mind - His recent weekend speaking to a group of MMA fighters - Plus more!   Warning - This episode does contain profanity.  Not necessarily excessive, but there is some.  Just a heads up.  The content is excellent.    Enjoy!

It's one thing to build a site, drive some traffic and close a few sales.  It's another thing entirely to build a lifestyle brand that resonates with your audience.   The story of Everyday California is a great one chock full of entrepreneurial insights.  My friend and long time client Chris Lynch and his business partner Michael Sammer started their business with just a couple of Kayaks and a beat up truck in La Jolla Shore near San Diego, CA. Fast forward 9 years and they have a super cool apparel line that's growing at 10x year-over-year online.  They have a license deal with Cherokee - the company that owns Tony Hawk's brand.  They're driving traffic through search and social and there's no slowing down in sight.     Here are some of the lessons we cover in this episode: - Keys to great design and building a brand that endures - Top traffic sources for their ecommerce store - Why they switched from Magento to Shopify Plus - A crazy Facebook/Instagram post that is raking in the sales - How to successfully

As an eCommerce merchant you have to pay attention to Amazon and Google.  Google is likely one of your top traffic channels.  Amazon is either enemy or partner #1 or perhaps they’re your top frenemy.  In this episode we dive into recent Google and Amazon news and what it means for your business.  Here are some of the highlights:    Google: - Google Shopping - Google will roll this out on the display network, calling it Retail Shopping on Display.   -  Google Shopping Q1 2017 year over year growth outpaced Q4 Year over year 21% vs. 19%.  - Google Shopping/PLAs now 75% of non-branded retail clicks.   - Google shopping spend grew 32% in Q1 for year over year - Google AdWords phone and desktop spend increased 51% and 12%, respectively, while tablet spend fell 23%. - Similar Audiences for Search & Shopping  - Demographics for Search - YouTube TV - similar to sling box.   - Original content via YouTube Red.  6 Shows including shows feature Ellen, Kevin Hart, and Ryan Seacrest.   - 18-49 year olds spend more tim

When you talk to eCommerce merchants about the Google Display Network (GDN) or display ads, in general, they usually fall into one of 3 camps: 1. They feel it’s only effective as a remarketing vehicle. 2. They feel like people are more likely to get struck by lightening than click a display ad (had a guy say that to me once). 3. They’re intrigued but apprehensive because they’ve heard so many display campaign horror stories.   I’ve always been in camp 3.  Very intrigued and knowing it could work, but also knowing that the road to success with display ads (outside of remarketing) is more than a little bit tricky.     I first met Mike when we both spoke at Traffic & Conversion Summit in San Diego this March.  Mike has officially cracked the code for creating profitable GDN campaigns.  He is the co-author of The Ultimate Guide to AdWords and the owner of AgencySavvy.com.  He’s been actively managing AdWords campaigns since 2004.  Mike is the real deal as you will soon witness.  This podcast reveals the metho

Today's guest is Austin Brawner. Austin is the host of the Ecommerce Influence podcast and the Chief Fixer at Brand Growth Experts. Austin is a true expert at building marketing automation and triggered email marketing campaigns that deliver results. On this episode we cover some really important topics including: 3 metrics to help you turn interested visitors into loyal customers The difference between automated marketing and traditional email marketing The top triggered email sequences every eCommerce store owner needs Identifying and targeting the top 20% of your top 20% (your whales) Customer life cycle marketing Top email mistakes & much more!

Today's episode is about Shoppable Trueview, the dynamic of Google Shopping and YouTube video ads. In this solo episode of eCommerce Evolution, Brett answers several frequently asked questions about this marketing platform including: • The 5 best remarketing audiences to target, • How to structure your campaigns • What Return on Ad Spend and CPA performance should you expect • How to use Shoppable TrueView ads for top of funnel targeting, • 5 Keys to an effective video ad • & more! If you're new to Shoppable Trueview ads, or if you're using them already, this episode can help answer your questions and help you get the most from your campaigns.

Today's guest is Justin Christianson. Justin is President and Co-Founder of Conversion Fanatics, a top rated Conversion Rate Optimization company. Justin is also author of the best selling book "Conversion Fanatic: How to Double Your Customers, Sales and Profits with A/B Testing". He also hosts the CMO Roundtable podcast. In today's episode, we discuss the differences between split testing vs multivariate testing, little tweaks that can make a big difference, great split testing tools to use, common mistakes ecommerce sites make that lower their conversion rate, and look at a couple of case studies (one that led to an 1,892% boost in conversions!). Split testing is a must in marketing, and Justin shares some insight that could lead to more conversions for you.

Today's guest is Chris Brewer. Chris is my long time business partner at OMG Commerce, and a veritable powerhouse of knowledge and experience when it comes to sales and marketing. Always looking for new ways to succeed and grow the agency, Chris has played a huge role in making OMG Commerce the agency it is today. Today's episode was recorded on location from the 2017 Traffic and Conversion Summit in San Diego. With so many great insights from all of so many great speakers, we chose to highlight our top 10 takeaways from the whole event. Whether you have an ecommerce store, an agency, or if you're a solo-preneur these takeaways will provide you with valuable ways to succeed.

“The difference between who you are now and who you are five years from now, comes down to the people you meet and the books you read.” - Charlie "Tremendous" Jones "The book you don't read won't help." - Jim Rohn This episode is about getting the right information to feed your brain and better yourself. Brett talks about some of his favorite podcasts and his favorite books, and why you should be monitoring your inputs. You (and your brain) are the most valuable assets your ecommerce business has. Get the right inputs!  

Today's guest is Kurt Elster. Kurt is a conversion rate optimization expert, and the Senior Ecommerce Consultant with CRO Company Ethercycle. He is also an accomplished speaker, the host of The Unofficial Shopify Podcast, and co-author of Ecommerce Bootcamp. Kurt has worked with brands such as Verizon, NFL, Hilton, Everest Bands, and Shopify.  In today's episode, we talk about Conversion Rate Optimization. We get into where to begin with CRO, design mistakes, things to think about for mobile, and we even look at a couple of the clients Kurt has worked with and the difference Conversion Rate Optimization made for their business. If you have a website of any kind, especially an ecommerce store, this episode is a virtual gold mine.