Ecommerce Marketing School

Latest Episodes:

Building An Aesthetic For Your Brand From Day 1 (with BOXFOX’s Chelsea Moore) Jun 12, 2020

Show notes

Chelsea has had a really clear vision for BOXFOX's branding since day 1. She knows how much aspects of the business like product photos and the unboxing experience matter, so she's laser-focused on making every single experience align with their vibe. She shares:

What their outreach looked like ahead of launch.
How they manage email with so many different personas.
The biggest game-changer for increasing AOV.

Show Notes & Links:

[0:56] How did BOXFOX start?
[8:03] What does marketing at BOXFOX look like?
[9:55] What their email strategy looks like.
[13:45] Marketing channels they want to dig into further.
[16:52] How COVID has affected their business.
[23:41] How they take their product photos.
[27:17] When they started really focusing on AOV and retention.
Chelsea Moore on Twitter
Contact Chelsea
BOXFOX
Dave Gerhardt on Twitter
The Ecommerce Marketing Show Home

Brands Getting In On Animal Crossing, The Allbirds x Adidas Partnership, And How To Keep The DTC Momentum Going (Ecomm Noms #5) Jun 03, 2020

Show notes

Show Notes & Links:

[1:51] How brands are using Animal Crossing to engage with their followers.
[6:11] Brands getting involved.
[10:10] Allbirds and Adidas are joining forces to create a high performance sneaker with the lowest possible carbon emissions.
[13:32] What the DTC community has to say about the partnership.
[15:07] Why the coming months are so critical to DTC.
[16:35] The unexpected verticals that have seen growth during lockdown.
[17:57] How Andie has shifted their strategy to thrive in a time when travel isn’t realistic for so many people.
[19:44] What “Taboo” brands can teach us about building on the DTC momentum.
Kristen LaFrance on Twitter
Kristen's newsletter
Animal Crossing is emerging as a media channel for brands in lockdown
Glossier’s Hoodie in Original Pink is back on Animal Crossing
Adidas and Allbirds Are Joining Forces—And Rewriting the Rules of Competition
The coming months will make or break the DTC boom
Why “Taboo” Brands are Thriving in DTC (and what we can learn from it)

Facebook Shops Launch, Recess Ran Out Of Puzzles, And The DTC Brands Getting Into TV (Ecomm Noms #4) May 29, 2020

Show notes

Show Notes & Links

[1:07] What the Shopify x Facebook partnership actually means for consumers.
[3:09] The only way to pronounce GIF.
[7:29] Highlights from Shopify Reunite.
[9:51] Recess’ newest drop(s).
[12:22] The DTC brands coming to a TV near you.
[16:24] What the buyer journey actually looks like.
Kristen LaFrance on Twitter
Kristen's newsletter
Facebook and Instagram roll out Shops, turning business profiles into storefronts
Shopify unveils Balance debit card, opens AI-powered fulfillment network to merchants
From CBD Soda To Street Style, Recess Releases ‘Realitywear’ With Three Fresh Flavors
‘The efficiency was there’: Falling TV ad prices lure in DTC brands to shift spending away from digital
As big advertisers go off air, Lively leads the DTC brands testing TV at cut-price rates

How To Generate Thousands In Sales With Every Email Like This Nutrition Brand (with Ryan Lee) May 27, 2020

Show notes

Get ready. Because you're about to get a serious lesson in email copywriting. Ryan shares:

Why you should never start an email with “Hi everybody.”
How to write like you talk.
Why Ryan will never outsource copywriting.
Why consistency matters when it comes to sending emails.
How Ryan boosted revenue overnight by changing one small aspect of his email strategy.
The most effective way to sell to someone who just made a purchase.

Show Notes & Links:

[3:01] Why you need to focus on the benefits, not the features.
[6:08] The power of including real photos and screenshots.
[7:33] How they turned negative feedback into something funny.
[13:19] How they use social proof and why you can never have too much of it.
[17:22] How to drain your prospects’ objections.
[20:29] Why Ryan writes every word of copy for Rewind.
[24:20] Mistakes ecommerce brands are making with email.
[26:27] Whay Ryan’s writing process looks like.
[36:22] Lessons from selling on Shopify
Ryan Lee’s site
Rewind
Loox Photo Reviews
Dave Gerhardt on Twitter
The Ecommerce Marketing Show Home

How To Take Product Photos On Your iPhone To Generate More Traffic And Make More Money (with Chaitra Radhakrishna) May 22, 2020

Show notes

Chaitra is an engineer turned business owner. But she started a blog back in 2014 and slowly started to figure out how important photos were. Then she built an entire business around it. On this episode, she shares:

What Airbnb taught her about photography.
How she went from 4,000 to 50,000 pageviews in 6 months.
How to take better photos with your iPhone.
The 7 types of photos you need to master.

Show Notes & Links:

[1:43] How photography turned Airbnb around.
[3:34] Why better-looking sites bring in more traffic.
[5:21] Why you should start with product photos.
[7:24] Step by step instructions for taking photos on your iPhone.
[11:06] How to take photos that evoke emotion.
[13:40] The rule of thirds.
[14:32] Free apps for editing your photos.
[15:47] Why you shouldn’t use the zoom feature on your phone.
[18:17] The 7 types of photos.
[22:27] Tips to create engaging photos for social media.
Chaitra Radhakrishna on Twitter
Chaitra’s site, PinkPot
Chaitra’s free product photography email course
Snapseed – Google’s free editing app
Lightroom – Adobe’s free editing app
Dave Gerhardt on Twitter
The Ecommerce Marketing Show Home

Italic’s New Membership Program And PepsiCo’s Two New DTC Brands (Ecomm Nomms #3) May 20, 2020

Show notes

Show Notes & Links:

[1:24] What is Italic Black?
[2:51] What Italic’s Founder & CEO has to say about the membership.
[5:58] What changed Kristen’s mind about Italic Black.
[8:34] What the DTC community has to say about it.
[16:33] Snacks and Pantry Shop.
[20:24] What the experience is like on the sites.
Kristen LaFrance on Twitter
Kristen's newsletter
Italic Black
Introducing Italic Black
What the DTC Twitter community has to say about the membership
This VC-funded anti-brand already has a 100K-person wait list
PantryShop.com
Snacks.com
PepsiCo’s Move Into DTC
Pepsi and Frito-Lay want you to buy all these snacks online with their new DTC websites
PepsiCo’s Move Into DTC Is Both Sales Tactic and Consumer Research

How To Write Welcome Emails That Turn New Subscribers Into Repeat Customers [Masterclass 7] May 18, 2020

Show notes

Your welcome emails are your chance to introduce your business and products to people who want to hear from you. And investing in an email that connects with new customers could be your secret to turning first time buyers into repeat customers who spend more and stay longer. Val shares:

What the sender name of your emails *has* to include.
The right way to use bold text.
The power of having a person connected to your brand.
Why you should use welcome emails to tell your founding story.

Show Notes & Links:

[2:54] What a good welcome email looks like.
[5:20] Brands getting email right.
[9:25] Email #1 feedback.
[28:07] Why we need to stop including social links in emails.
[29:28] Email #2 feedback.
[34:18] the problem with having your emails all one image.
[38:45] Email #3 feedback.
[46:02] Email #4 feedback.
[50:04] The most powerful way to word your CTAs.
[51:05] Email #5 feedback.
Val Geisler on Twitter
Val’s site
Dave Gerhardt on Twitter
The Ecommerce Marketing Show Home

Bombas CMO Kate Huyett On Their Path To $100M In Sales May 15, 2020

Show notes

You might be surprised to learn that Kate used to be an investment banker at Goldman Sachs. Then she dove into the startup world and eventually found herself at Bombas. She's a performance marketing expert and shares a ton of valuable insights, like:

The best channels for learning with a really small budget.
The biggest mistake you can make with ad testing.
The simplest way to think about ROAS (return on ad spend).
What their best-performing Facebook ads look like.

Show Notes & Links:

[0:51] What their team has changed since COVID-19.
[3:49] What their marketing team looks like.
[7:57] The transition from Goldman Sachs to ecommerce.
[11:42] The early advertising bets they took that paid off.
[15:17] What is ROAS?
[20:08] How they breathe life into the brand with creative.
[25:00] The biggest changes she’s seen in the ecommerce space since 2014.
[28:57] The importance of having a mission.
Kate Huyett on Twitter
Bombas
Dave Gerhardt on Twitter
The Ecommerce Marketing Show Home

Peloton’s Mind Blowing Growth, Hydrant’s Series A, Shoppable Pins, And Liquid Death’s Greatest Hates (Ecomm Nomms #2) May 13, 2020

Show notes

Show Notes & Links:

[1:40] Peloton’s average net monthly churn hit its lowest rate in four years. 😱
[4:18] Peloton had to pause advertising spend because the demand was so high.
[7:15] Why Peloton is well-positioned for the future even when physical gym locations do reopen.
[9:38] Hydrant’s latest round of funding and what they’re planning to use it for.
[11:57] Why you should be using a subscription model if it makes sense for your business.
[15:39] Shoppable pins from Pinterest and Shopify.
[19:52] The 4 new features on Pinterest.
[23:10] New drops in SaaS.
[26:15] Shopify’s new POS.
[28:29] Liquid Death launched a...metal album?
Kristen LaFrance on Twitter
Kristen's newsletter
Peloton reports 66% increase in sales as coronavirus keeps consumers working out at home
Hydrant Attracts $5.7M Series A To Quench America’s Thirst
Pinterest teams with Shopify to offer merchants new ways to sell
Liquid Death’s Greatest Hates
The Ecommerce Marketing Show Home

How To Write Emails That Make People Want To Buy [Masterclass 6] May 11, 2020

Show notes

Ryan's most-recent company is superbar brand, Rewind. He built it to solve his own health problems, so he has a real connection with the product. Which is part of the reason his emails feel so authentic. But everyone has a story to share. Most brands just don't usually tap into them outside of their 'About' page. So he shares:

The shift you have to make to get better at copywriting.
The power of getting personal with your messaging
Why you need to think of yourself as a superhero when you’re writing emails.
How to double your email revenue.

Show Notes & Links:

[3:59] What makes a good email?
[6:05] Email #1 feedback.
[8:01] Why you need to be careful about the number of CTAs in your emails.
[11:07] Why you shouldn’t be using generic photos.
[15:24] Email #2 feedback.
[18:57] How to send emails that make sense to both your superfans and newer folks.
[28:55] Email #3 feedback.
[29:40] The benefits of using short, choppy copy.
[34:41] Email #4 feedback.
[37:23] Email #5 feedback.
[40:35] Email #6 feedback.
[43:34] How to pique people’s interest with a subject line.
[45:16] How to sell a nonessential item in the middle of a pandemic.
[47:03] How to write an email for your new subscribers.
[48:49] How often Ryan sends emails to his customers.
Ryan Lee
Rewind
Rewind Facebook Group
Dave Gerhardt on Twitter
The Ecommerce Marketing Show Home

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