The Ecommerce Influence Podcast

The attributes of your buyer persona are not why a customer buys, it's the situation they currently find themselves in and need your product to complete a "job." Scrap the buyer persona and apply the jobs to be done framework to your ecommerce store.

Chris Spiek is a Partner and Co-Founder at The Re-Wired Group, where he helps companies use the Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) framework to enable people to develop products that consumers love to buy and use.

He’s a technology executive with a background in Product Development & Innovation, interactive Marketing Strategy, Disruptive Innovation, Sales & Marketing Strategy, and Web Application Development Chris has been studying, refining, and applying Jobs To Be Done across a variety of industries for over 10 years including software, education, consumer-packaged-goods, healthcare, e-commerce, and more.

He has taught Jobs to be done to teams in small startups and huge Fortune 500s, including a few companies you might know, Mailchimp, Basecamp, and Intercom.

In this episode Chris teaches you how to apply the jobs to be done framework to your ecommerce store.  

Topics Discussed:

  • How the Jobs To Be Done framework contrasts with the "buyer persona"
  • Why there's no such thing as an impulse buy, and what that means to your business
  • People "higher" products for a "situation", not because of who they are
  • Using JTBD to add situational context to your online advertising
  • How to apply the Jobs To Be Done framework to your ecommerce store today, and start seeing results immediately

 

Links/Resources

Connect With Chris On Twitter (@chriscbs)

The Re-Wired Group 

Jobs To Be Done Website 

JTBD Udemy Course 

Subscribe & Review

To get more awesome Ecommerce Influence content sent directly to your device and into your ears as they become available, you can easily subscribe by clicking here.

Also, ratings and reviews on iTunes (hopefully 5-stars!) help us tremendously a we’re very grateful for them. We do read all of the reviews and we’ll answer your questions or comments on future episodes.

Cheers, Austin & Chad!  

Follow on Twitter:

Direct download: EI046_Chris_Spiek_REV01.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:00am CST

If you own the ecosystem and the ecommerce customer experience, you'll be able to withstand the onslaught of changes on rented land like Google Adwords and Facebook.

Ken Johnson founded Manpacks with business partner Andrew Draper in 2009, and he attributes most of their success to a relentless focus on owning the ecommerce customer experience.

Manpacks is considered the first American subscription ecommerce service offering men's essentials, shipping men’s basic needs like socks, underwear, razors, and toiletries on a quarterly schedule or on demand. Their primary customers are busy guys who want to cross these things off the to-do list while discovering new, better products to use.

Manpacks has been featured in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, NPR, ESPN Radio, NBC, Maxim, The Boston Globe, Inc., and The Tampa Tribune.

Topics Discussed Throughout the Interview

  • Owning the online ecosystem and the ecommerce customer experience.
  • How Manpacks got such amazing PR when they first launched.
  • How paid acquisition is different than the other channels.
  • Why content marketing can be a mistake.
  • Expectations have changed in the market when it comes to email.
  • Assume that your customers want to hear from you.

 

Links / Resources

Ken's Twitter (@kenjonson)

Manpacks.com

Getting Real by 37 Signals (Book)  

Subscribe & Review

To get more awesome Ecommerce Influence content sent directly to your device and into your ears as they become available, you can easily subscribe by clicking here.

Also, ratings and reviews on iTunes (hopefully 5-stars!) help us tremendously a we’re very grateful for them. We do read all of the reviews and we’ll answer your questions or comments on future episodes.

Cheers,

Austin & Chad!  

Follow on Twitter:

Direct download: EI045_Ken_Jonson.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:00am CST

Ecommerce conversion optimization is tough, time-consuming, and confusing, but our conversation with Peep Laja of ConverionXL will make it easier for you.

Peep (his unusual name, to most people, is actually pronounced ‘Pep Laya’) currently runs a unique ecommerce conversion optimization marketing agency called Markitekt where they make existing sites better, and build new conversion optimized websites for clients.

He’s been featured in numerous popular marketing and online business publications including Smashing Magazine, ProBlogger, KISSmetrics and many others, and also delivers trainings and workshops on ecommerce conversion optimization and internet marketing.

Peep runs the world’s most popular ecommerce conversion optimization blog, and he says that his blog that is written for smart people. No cheesy stuff, no “how to add a background to Twitter” nor “10 useless things that waste your time” type of posts, only well-researched highly actionable content.

Topics Discussed Throughout the Interview

  • The two main levers in successful ecommerce conversion optimization
  • The right "where" and "why" questions to ask when starting out with .
  • The number one A/B split testing mistake
  • Why statistical significance is not validity.
  • Peep's step-by-step consulting process.

Links / Resources

 

Subscribe & Review

To get more awesome Ecommerce Influence content sent directly to your device and into your ears as they become available, you can easily subscribe by clicking here.

Also, ratings and reviews on iTunes (hopefully 5-stars!) help us tremendously a we’re very grateful for them. We do read all of the reviews and we’ll answer your questions or comments on future episodes.

Cheers,

Austin & Chad!  

Follow on Twitter:

Direct download: EI044_Peep_Laja.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:00am CST

Trying to hire the best growth consultant for your company can be an arduous task, but it doesn't have to be according to Graham Hunter.

Graham is Head Instructor of Growth at Tradecraft where they train smart people to succeed in traction roles at high-growth companies.

He’s been a marketing consultant at Intuit, among other brands, he’s started an agency, he’s worked at larger agencies, and he has been the first employee at a few ecommerce and software startups.

Graham has done a whole lot of consulting and he takes us through some interesting topics as we discuss the the most effective way to hire the best growth consultant for your ecommerce brand.

We like to think of Graham as our Silicon Valley correspondent, as he’s got his finger squarely on the pulse of what some of Silicon Valley's best companies are doing to grow their business.

Topics Discussed Throughout the Interview

  • Why the terms "Growth" and "Marketing" have been separated by Silicon Valley
  • Who should be your first hire and your second hire
  • The number one marketing mistake growing companies make
  • The qualities you need to look for when looking to hire the best growth consultant
  • How to identify a great growth consultant through the questions they ask

Links / Resources

Subscribe & Review

To get more awesome Ecommerce Influence content sent directly to your device and into your ears as they become available, you can easily subscribe by clicking here.

Also, ratings and reviews on iTunes (hopefully 5-stars!) help us tremendously a we’re very grateful for them. We do read all of the reviews and we’ll answer your questions or comments on future episodes.

Cheers,

Austin & Chad!  

Follow on Twitter:

Direct download: EI045_Graham_Hunter.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:00am CST

In a mostly me-only world, Andrew Davis explains that creating partnerships with other brands is not only important, but necessary and extremely profitable for those who do it right.

Andrew got his start in the media business at a young age appearing in television commercials and voicing over radio spots for brands like Chevrolet, Six Flags, and McDonalds, and has also managed workshop production for Muppets From Space, Sesame Street, Bear in the Big Blue House and Elmo in Grouchland.

In 2001, Andrew co-founded Tippingpoint Labs and, for more than a decade, Andrew and his team changed the way content creators think, authentic talent is nurtured, and the way companies market their products.

He has marketed for tiny startups and Fortune 500 brands, and his novel combinations of old ideas that leverage new technology have been tapped by the Obama administration and Russian media moguls.

In 2012 Andrew released a best-selling book called “Brandscaping: Unleashing the Power of Partnerships”, which puts his common sense approach to work for you, uncovering why and how creating partnerships with other brands can dramatically boost your profits.

Today, he’s traveling the globe sharing his insight, experience, stories, and optimistic ideals through his wildly fascinating speaking engagements, guest lectures and workshops.  

Topics Discussed:

  • Tips for creating partnerships with other brands
  • Treat your content like a product
  • Who has your NEXT customer as their CURRENT customer?
  • Creating a content brand, don't create branded content
  • Don't hire a celebrity to endorse your product, create one.
  • Multiple case studies of very profitable brand partnerships

Links & Resources:

Subscribe & Review

To get more awesome Ecommerce Influence content sent directly to your device and into your ears as they become available, you can easily subscribe by clicking here.

Also, ratings and reviews on iTunes (hopefully 5-stars!) help us tremendously a we’re very grateful for them. We do read all of the reviews and we’ll answer your questions or comments on future episodes.

Cheers,

Austin & Chad!  

Follow on Twitter:

Direct download: EI041_Andrew_Davis.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:00am CST

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