The Ecommerce Influence Podcast

December 2019
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Tue, 31 December 2019

232: How To Get Started With Email Marketing

Today we’re bringing you part two of our “How to Get Started” series, and in this episode, we’re talking about email marketing.

If you’ve recently launched a business and want to get started with email marketing, this episode is for you.

Or, if you’ve had an agency managing your email for some time, and want to make sure everything is running as it should be, there are some helpful tips in here that will deepen your understanding.

We talk about best practices for list creation, how to capture leads, which emails to create first, how to determine the number of emails you should be sending, and more.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

4:15 Choosing an email service provider (ESP), and why Klaviyo is a great option for many businesses.
5:49 Getting your ESP set up correctly: some key things to keep in mind.
8:35 Best practices for list creation and management.
9:35 Checklist for making sure your ESP is set up correctly.
10:15 How to start capturing leads and growing your list.
12:03 The more unique your offer, the better. But ultimately, don’t overcomplicate it.
14:03 Building an email template for your brand.
17:38 Austin’s recommended approach for warming up your audience.
19:51 Campaign emails vs flow emails and which ones to prioritize.
21:59 Automated email flows to start with: Welcome Series (Buy or Die), Abandoned Cart, Browse Abandonment.
25:00 Best practices for sending campaign emails and how to start segmenting your list.
29:22 When it’s right to expand your audience: the ideal open rates to look for.
30:44 How to decide how many emails you should be sending.
31:49 Examples of valuable content that drives revenue.

Links And Resources

Direct download: EI_232_HowToGetStartedWithEmail_NoBrex.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am CST

Tue, 24 December 2019

231: Scaling Successfully With a $25 Product: How Peepers Reached 900% Growth

Not many ecommerce brands can say they’ve been around for almost 30 years, but Peepers is one of them.

Founded in 1993, with a website that went live in 1996, Peepers has been going strong ever since.

In the last 10 years alone, they’ve grown by 900%.

John Hart joined the team five years ago and is now the Ecommerce and Operations Director.

Today he joins us to talk about how Peepers has continued to evolve, the marketing strategies they're using, including why they find major value in Amazon, and how they’ve successfully approached wholesale.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

5:08 Introducing John and how he ended up at Peepers.
8:27 What Peepers is doing differently that allowed it to grow 900% over the last 10 years.
10:10 Peepers’ approach to growth and the channels they’re currently investing in.
12:36 Prospecting techniques for both online and offline.
13:57 John’s feelings about selling on Amazon and how they make it work in their overall marketing strategy.
17:22 The challenge of selling glasses online, and the fun strategy Peepers is using to overcome it.
20:29 Why Peepers hasn’t ventured into AI on their site yet.
22:36 Lessons learned about website speed and sacrifices that had to be made.
25:01 Coming up with the perfect product price and Peepers’ price-testing process.
28:49 Peepers’ approach to growing the wholesale component of the business and supporting their partners.
31:32 How John’s role has evolved over the last five years and what he’s focusing on now.
33:51 Employee retention at Peepers and what they do to keep people happy.
38:09 A quick win from John will help you improve your business.

Links And Resources

Peepers.com
Peepers Perfect Pair Finder
Episode 204: How To Build A Baller Quiz Funnel On A Tiny Budget
John on LinkedIn
john@peepers.com
@a_brawn on Twitter
@andrewfoxwell on Twitter
Brand Growth Experts
Foxwell Digital
Review or subscribe on iTunes

Direct download: EI_231_JohnHart_v2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am CST

Tue, 17 December 2019

230: How To Get Started With Facebook Advertising

One of the questions we’ve received from several listeners recently is, “Can you guys talk about how to get started with Facebook advertising?”

We’ve done quite a few episodes where we talk about scaling up your Facebook ads, but we've never started at the very beginning.

Today we’re doing just that.

If you’ve never advertised on Facebook before, or you’re just starting out, this episode is for you.

We’ll talk through how to set up Facebook Business Manager, how to start building audiences for different parts of the sales funnel, how to approach your initial budget, and what success looks like in your first few months of advertising.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

6:35 If you’re just getting started with Facebook advertising, here are the first steps.
8:01 Dynamic Product ads: what are they and why you need them.
8:50 Creating customer avatars to inform your interest-based targeting.
10:51 The main hurdles you may come across when setting up Facebook Business Manager.
13:00 How to check whether you’ve set up Business Manager correctly.
14:34 Where people often get stuck with creative and the components of great content.
16:51 The three phases of the sales funnel and how to start building audiences for each phase right out of the gate.
20:13 How to approach the first three months of advertising: crafting your brand message, how much to spend, and what success looks like.
23:23 What is your Cost Per Acquisition goal, and how do you determine it?
26:38 How to understand your initial Facebook advertising metrics.
28:16 Where to go next after you’re getting comfortable with your advertising.
29:35 How to decide which objective to pick for different parts of the funnel.
31:31 Two objectives you shouldn't be using.
34:07 The key component you have to understand when you get started with Facebook advertising and what success often looks like for the first several months.

Links And Resources

Direct download: EI_230_HowToGetStartedWithFBAds_NoBrex.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am CST

Tue, 10 December 2019

229: How This Stereotype-Busting Business Raised $215K on Kickstarter

Who says girls can’t wear dinosaur dresses?

Rebecca Melsky was frustrated when the only patterns she could find for her daughter were pink and flowery. Where were the rocket ships and trucks for girls?

In 2013 she teamed up with her friend Eva to start Princess Awesome, a stereotype-busting business that creates clothes of all colors, and with all kinds of patterns, for both girls and boys.

Today we sit down with Rebecca to talk about their massive crowdfunding success, how they’ve managed the growth of their business while prioritizing their families, and the key Klaviyo strategies helping them drive major revenue from email.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

5:51 The story of how Princess Awesome was born.
7:39 Princess Awesome’s explosive experience with crowdfunding.
12:25 The major impact Kickstarter had for Rebecca’s business, from more than just a financial perspective.
13:58 Taking the next step in business growth after Kickstarter success.
17:40 Product innovation and the creation of Princess Awesome’s women’s line and brother company.
20:39 The benefits of using Klaviyo for email marketing.
22:34 How to plan your email campaigns, and how segmentation can help drive more sales.
29:20 Things Rebecca’s done over the last year that have had a big impact on her business.
32:05 Why Princess Awesome outsources their fulfillment.
35:41 The company makeup of Princess Awesome and the critical support roles they’ve outsourced.
37:33 Growing a business that serves your lifestyle and how this has been a core part of Rebecca’s business from day one.

Links And Resources

Direct download: EI_229_RebeccaMelsky_Updated_Klaviyo.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am CST

Fri, 6 December 2019

BONUS: Black Friday/Cyber Monday 2019 Recap

We've got a special Black Friday/Cyber Monday BONUS episode for you today.

Andrew saw down with Alex Afterman of 11:11 Digital, Deirdre Kelly and Terry Whalen of Sum Digital, Kurt Bullock of Product Department and Paul Fairbrother of Hootsuite/AdEspresso to do a post-BFCM 2019 recap.

They discuss:

Trends they saw over the weekend
Bidding strategies that worked
Audiences that were successful
Creatives we saw working well
Reporting and assessing numbers

Enjoy!

Links And Resources

Direct download: EI_Bonus_BFCM_recap.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am CST

Tue, 3 December 2019

228: The Things We Hate Episode

Today we’re taking a break from our normal programming to go on a short rant about things we hate in the ecommerce industry.

We want to shed light on some of the frustrating things we’ve come across over the years to help you keep your sanity as you’re growing your business.

We believe in the importance of truth and transparency, and that every single business is different, and hope our little rant today will help you avoid frustration and see through the B.S.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

5:32 Thing we hate #1: When people take advantage of business owners by making things seem more complicated than they really are.
9:18 Just because it’s a big, well-recognized company, doesn’t mean it’s actually doing well, so don’t compare yourself.
11:11 Warning signs to watch out for with bogus business information.
11:47 Thing we hate #2: When entrepreneurs are told they have to be running ads on every single possible channel.
15:07 Thing we hate #3: Example sharing without context.
18:11 Thing we hate #4: Not having enough information about why people are building their businesses a certain way and the lifestyles they’re hoping to achieve.
21:19 Why context is so important, and why there’s no simple success blueprint for every business to follow.
23:17 An example of how to think about the bigger thematic approach when you’re trying to decide if a certain tactic is going to work for you.

Links And Resources

Direct download: EI_228_TheThingsWeHate_NoBrex.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am CST