Ecommerce Playbook: Numbers, Struggles & Growth

Want to dominate this Black Friday and Cyber Monday? In this episode Richard and Luke reveal the top 5 essential strategies that will supercharge your sales and help you maximize profits during the busiest shopping season of the year! From crafting irresistible offers to optimizing your media spend, we’re giving you a proven game plan to stand out from the competition and make sure your business e...

In this episode, Taylor shares his biggest critique of cost controls in digital advertising. Join Richard and Taylor as they explore the limitations of cost controls, including the challenges of relying on human logic and consistency in a constantly evolving ad landscape. They dive into the role of AI in ad management, the struggle to trust automation, and the emotional hurdles that often lead to...

Get ready for the holiday season with expert SEO insights designed to help you maximize organic traffic and boost revenue! In this episode Richard sits down with Travis Bichelle, CTC’s Director of SEO, to break down essential SEO strategies tailored for Q4 and holiday promotions in 2024. From understanding organic search declines to building robust metadata, schema markup, and leveraging Google Me...

In 2024, working with over 67 eight-figure ecommerce brands gave us an insider view of what it really takes to produce sustainable profit in today’s competitive landscape. These brands not only achieved significant revenue but also balanced it with strategies that drove genuine profitability—no easy feat in the current market climate. In this in-depth video, we’re sharing the hard truths, pivotal...

In this episode, we look at the cultural transformation that took place at Common Thread Collective, shifting from an employee-centric approach to a standards-centric model. Join us as Taylor and Dane Sanders, CTC's VP of Employee Development and Performance, discuss how rethinking company culture can drive profitability, enhance team performance, and reduce turnover. Learn how CTC balanced high s...

Looking to boost your holiday sales? In this episode, Richard and Tommy Lamb, Director of Email and SMS at Common Thread Collective, break down the key email and SMS strategies you need for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the holiday season. Key Takeaways: Data Integrity: Clean up your email data for more effective campaigns. Audience Segmentation: Learn how to personalize your messages using adva...

In this episode Richard and Taylor, dive deep into the often overlooked challenge of business goal setting and shareholder value. Why do so many entrepreneurs fail to pay themselves, even when their businesses are thriving? Taylor shares his insights on the cultural norms, financial misconceptions, and psychological traps that keep business owners stuck in a cycle of reinvestment, constantly betti...

In this episode, we're diving deep into the latest Black Friday trends for 2024. Join Richard and Taylor as they break down the key data from our Black Friday/Cyber Monday offer database. We’ll discuss the rising discount rates, creative offer strategies, and how macroeconomic trends are shaping this year’s ecommerce landscape. Whether you're a brand looking to get creative with your disco...

In this episode, Richard and Taylor discuss one of the biggest challenges founders face: the balance between human connection and data driven decision making. While much of business focuses on metrics and analysis, Taylor shares insights from recent in person conversations with clients and fellow CEOs that reveal a different story. They discuss the emotional side of entrepreneurship, why team deve...

In this episode, Richard sits down with Aileen McKenna, Director of Creative Strategy and Performance, to discuss the ultimate creative strategy for the 2024 holiday season. Together, they break down how to approach each phase of the holiday shopping period, from the "7 Peaks and 1 Valley" concept to optimizing creative for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and beyond. They’ll share actionable...

In this month’s edition of the DTC Index, we take a comprehensive look at the state of ecommerce as we recap August's performance and prepare for the crucial Q4 holiday season! Join our expert panel as they unpack valuable insights that can shape your strategy in the coming months. What You’ll Learn: August Performance Recap: Discover how seven-figure and eight-figure brands fared in August, i...

In this episode, Richard and Taylor explore what it truly means to be a change agent within an organization. Drawing from their experiences at Common Thread Collective (CTC), they dive into the challenges and rewards of driving meaningful change without relying on external crises. Key Topics Discussed: Embracing Conflict: Understanding why willingness to engage in healthy conflict is essential for...

In this episode, Richard and Taylor dive into a crucial yet often overlooked aspect of business success: the relationship between entrepreneurs and their accountants. Taylor shares insights from his recent talk at an accounting conference in Toronto, where he explored how accountants can bridge the gap with marketers and become invaluable strategic partners for business growth. We discuss practica...

This episode is unlike any other — we’re excited to introduce you to CTC's first ever AI bot guest! Join Taylor as he sits down with Jacob Posel, who is a real human, designed to revolutionize the way we think about creative strategy in ecommerce. From discussing how AI is streamlining creative workflows to understanding the impact of machine learning on ad production, this conversation dives...

Get ready for the holiday season with essential Google Ads strategies that will help you maximize your sales and profitability! In this episode, Richard is joined by Tony Chopp to discuss the six critical steps you need to take to optimize your paid search campaigns for the upcoming holiday rush. From mastering promotional visibility to understanding search demand, Tony shares actionable insights...

In this episode, Richard and Taylor discuss how to navigate the complexities of a distressed business. They dive into three critical steps for de-stressing a struggling business, from cutting costs to optimizing customer acquisition strategies and narrowing down focus areas to regain profitability. Drawing from their experience at CTC and real-world examples, they provide practical advice on how t...

In this episode, Richard is joined by Tony Chopp, CTC’s VP of Paid Media, to talk holiday media buying strategies for Q4. They discuss the critical role of incrementality in paid media, how to prepare your ad accounts for the busiest season of the year, and the 7 C’s of CTC’s media buying principles that can elevate your campaigns on Meta and Google. Discover how to build high-performing evergreen...

In this episode, we talk about what could be the most consequential Meta update of all time. Richard and Taylor break down Meta's latest ad optimization changes and what they mean for your business. We explore the two key updates: optimizing for third-party measurement tools like Google Analytics and Northbeam, and the introduction of optimization for incremental conversions. Taylor explains w...

Welcome to the official kickoff of the 2024 holiday season! In this video, we're diving into what's shaping up to be a weird and challenging Q4 for ecommerce brands. Our VP of Strategy at CTC, Luke Austin, joins us to break down the three big reasons why this holiday season is so unusual and what you need to do to navigate it successfully. Cyber Monday in December? Yep, that's happenin...

Welcome to the July edition of the State of the Industry podcast. In this episode, we talk about the influence of political spending on direct to consumer (DTC) businesses. Join us as we explore how the upcoming presidential election could impact advertising costs, consumer behavior, and overall business performance. We’re joined by industry experts Jeremiah, Yarden, and Steve, who provide valuabl...

In this episode of the podcast, we’re thrilled to welcome a special guest from the Google empire, Ginny Marvin, Google Ads Liaison. With years of experience in paid search and digital advertising, Ginny shares her journey from the early days of Yahoo to becoming the bridge between advertisers and Google’s internal teams. Join us as we dive deep into all things Google Ads, including the role of an...

In this episode Richard and Taylor discuss a common challenge faced by ecommerce brands today: spending more to acquire the same number of customers. Taylor breaks down the key reasons behind this issue, exploring topics like channel diversification, media spend allocation, and the complexity of optimizing ad performance. They discuss how expanding into platforms like Amazon or diversifying media...

This episode is a blend of Taylor's passions: baseball and ecommerce. We're joined by Josh Shapiro and Bill Rom of Baseball Lifestyle 101, two legends who have just pulled off an extraordinary marketing feat during the off-peak season for ecommerce. How did they do it? In this episode: Josh shares his journey from starting a baseball focused Instagram account at 15 to building a multi-mill...

In this episode, Richard and Luke Austin go deep into the concept of incrementality. They discuss how CTC helps brands answer three critical questions for a predictable and profitable ecommerce growth plan: What should my total budget be to maximize profitability? How should this budget be allocated across channels for the most incremental outcome? What is the campaign-level media plan and expecte...

In this episode, we are thrilled to have Nick Stoltz, Chief Strategy Officer at Measured, as our guest. Join us as we jump into the world of ecommerce measurement, focusing on the critical topic of incrementality. Nick shares his extensive experience in the industry, discussing the importance of accurate measurement and how it has evolved over the years. We explore the challenges brands face with...