7-Figures & Beyond - An Ecommerce Marketing Podcast For 6 & 7-Figure Brands

Greg Shuey opens the episode by framing AI search optimization as the next major evolution in how consumers discover and purchase products online. Guest Jake Bengtzen explains that AI search is a multi-dimensional process, distinct from keyword-based SEO, because it interprets human intent and context rather than ranking by phrases. He emphasizes that traditional SEO fundamentals like strong brand authority, relevant content, and technical structure still matter, but they now serve as a foundation for optimizing visibility in AI-driven platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity.Bengtzen highlights how AI is collapsing the distance between discovery and purchase, transforming search into an intelligent conversation where users reveal context and receive tailored recommendations. Instead of manually comparing products on websites, consumers are increasingly letting AI agents do the filtering, and they trust the results. For brands, this means that influence now depends on how well their content ecosystem, from FAQs and product pages to YouTube videos and user-generated discussions, aligns around a unified narrative that communicates authority and consistency.The conversation ends with pragmatic advice for ecommerce marketers. Bengtzen recommends starting by tracking AI visibility, testing brand prompts in ChatGPT, updating schema markup, and expanding FAQs, quick wins that can yield immediate learning. He predicts that within 12–18 months, consumers will begin buying directly inside AI environments, and even managing returns through them. The key takeaway: marketers who embrace AI search early, think contextually, and continuously experiment will thrive in the next era of ecommerce.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Jake Bengtzen LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakebengtzen/REDO: https://redo.com/https://www.stryde.com/winning-the-ai-search-game/

As the holiday season approaches, eCommerce brands are facing a complex consumer landscape shaped by uncertainty and inflation. Jeremiah Prummer of KnoCommerce reveals that shoppers are feeling more cautious than in previous years, with lower overall economic sentiment driving them to prioritize deals and value over loyalty. His company’s 14 million monthly survey responses indicate that while spending intent typically rises in November, year-over-year growth may flatten, marking a more “survival-oriented” season for many brands.Another major shift is happening in how shoppers discover products. With many brands pulling back on paid ad spend, Google and word-of-mouth have grown as discovery channels, while Meta and TikTok see modest declines. Emerging platforms like YouTube, Reddit, and even mobile gaming ads are rising in influence. Jeremiah emphasizes that this diversification requires marketers to pay closer attention to organic and referral-based discovery while strengthening owned channels, especially email and SMS, which offer reliable reach and strong ROI.Ultimately, success this Black Friday hinges on preparation and adaptability. Jeremiah advises brands to separate “self-buying” from “gift-buying” offers, craft compelling bundles to increase average order value, and increase communication frequency to cut through the noise. Knowing when shoppers are most likely to buy, Thursday night through Friday morning and Monday evening, is key. Brands that plan smartly, communicate consistently, and stay close to their data can still thrive in an unpredictable market.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Jeremiah Prummer LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremiahprummer/KnoCommerce: https://knocommerce.com/https://www.stryde.com/black-friday-by-the-data-insights-from-post-purchase-data/

Greg Shuey wraps up his four-part mini-series by introducing the Growth Flywheel, a structured, repeatable process designed to help eCommerce brands scale sustainably through customer-informed marketing. The flywheel begins with listening - gathering data from reviews, surveys, and social mentions - to truly understand customer needs and language. These insights fuel the build phase, where brands craft content that answers real questions, solves pain points, and aligns with how customers actually talk and search online.Once the content is created, the amplify phase ensures it reaches the right audience. Greg explains how combining SEO, AI optimization, and owned channel distribution like email and SMS maximizes both visibility and engagement. He also highlights how short-form content testing on TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Reddit can validate new ideas before investing in long-form assets. Repurposing content is key - turning one strong insight into multiple assets (blogs, emails, social posts, ads) multiplies impact without multiplying effort.Finally, Greg emphasizes the learn phase as the engine that keeps the flywheel spinning. Using tools like Google Search Console, Peec.ai, and post-purchase surveys allows marketers to measure visibility, customer behavior, and brand presence across search and AI ecosystems. These learnings are then fed back into the next round of content creation, sharpening messaging and driving compounding results over time. The message is clear: when brands stop guessing and start compounding, they build a marketing system that grows smarter and stronger with every turn.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/https://www.stryde.com/creating-the-growth-flywheel/

Most brands start their content strategy backward, chasing keywords and algorithms instead of starting with what customers are actually saying. In this episode, Greg Shuey flips that approach, walking listeners through how to build a content strategy led by real customer insights. When brands use the voice of the customer as their foundation, their relevance, conversions, and SEO rankings all improve.Greg outlines a framework for turning raw feedback into actionable assets by categorizing insights into questions, objections, desired outcomes, and triggers. Each maps to specific content types that drive impact—FAQs and blog posts for education, PDP enhancements for objection handling, testimonials for trust, and ad/email hooks for emotion. He explains how to distribute and repurpose these across channels while maintaining alignment with buyer intent.Finally, he introduces a practical editorial calendar template organized by customer awareness stage and supported by clear metrics. The goal is to take the guesswork out of content creation, ensuring every piece moves the buyer closer to conversion. By prioritizing the customer over the keyword, marketers can create content that resonates deeply, performs consistently, and delivers measurable ROI.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/https://www.stryde.com/turn-customer-research-into-content-strategy/

In this episode of the Seven Figures and Beyond Ecommerce Marketing Podcast, Greg Shuey dives into how AI can help brands unlock the hidden value inside their customer feedback. He explains that while collecting reviews, surveys, and chat transcripts is easy, the real challenge lies in making sense of that data at scale. Traditional manual analysis is slow, subjective, and prone to bias, while AI can quickly process thousands of comments, cluster them into meaningful themes, and surface patterns marketers might never notice on their own.Greg walks through specific, budget-friendly tools and workflows that make this possible, from using ChatGPT or Gemini to cluster responses by topics like price, quality, and trust, to setting up automations with Tally, Zapier, and OpenAI that summarize new feedback in real time. He also introduces emerging tools like FormWise.ai, which automatically analyzes sentiment and intent within survey data. These insights reveal what truly drives customers to buy, what holds them back, and how they feel about their experiences, all essential inputs for shaping marketing, creative, and even product development decisions.To bridge the gap between insight and execution, Greg shares a simple framework: list each theme, summarize what customers say, and define what action to take. By focusing on high-impact opportunities, like improving clarity around fit or shipping speed, brands can increase conversion rates, enhance customer satisfaction, and ultimately grow faster. He ends with a challenge: take your last 50 reviews, run them through AI, identify recurring patterns, and act on them. Doing this monthly, he says, will help brands stay attuned to evolving customer sentiment and continually align marketing with what buyers care about most.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Formwise.ai: https://www.formwise.ai/Tally: https://tally.so/https://www.stryde.com/using-ai-to-analyze-your-customers/

Most small and mid-sized eCommerce brands believe customer research is out of reach... something reserved for giants like Nike or Lululemon with six-figure budgets and entire insights teams. But as Greg Shuey explains in this episode of Seven Figures and Beyond, the reality is that understanding your customers doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. With a few smart tools, the right questions, and a willingness to listen, any brand doing even a modest amount of monthly revenue can uncover the kind of insights that lead to better messaging, stronger conversion rates, and higher customer lifetime value.Greg walks through five practical, low-cost ways to get inside your customers’ heads, from short post-purchase surveys and live chat transcripts to product reviews and social listening on Reddit or TikTok. He shares the exact questions brands should ask to uncover friction points, emotional drivers, and the why behind every purchase. Along the way, he shows how tools like ChatGPT can help summarize and categorize responses, surfacing the most powerful insights in a fraction of the time it would take manually. These are the same techniques his agency uses to refine ad copy, improve product pages, and reduce customer service tickets — all by better understanding the buyer.The episode closes with a challenge: don’t overthink it, just start. Spend 15 to 30 minutes this week reviewing your latest product reviews or adding a single open-ended question to your post-purchase email flow. Because the brands that make customer research a habit, not a once-a-year exercise, are the ones that consistently outpace their competitors. In a world where customer behavior changes every few months, the brands that stay curious, stay connected, and act on what they learn are the ones that win.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/KnoCommerce: https://knocommerce.com/Gorgias: https://www.gorgias.com/https://www.stryde.com/customer-research-on-a-budget/

Most brand blogs are failing, and not because teams aren’t trying. In this episode, Greg Shuey explains why the majority of ecommerce blogs are nothing more than "digital dumping grounds," full of generic posts, product announcements, and uninspired listicles that never rank, never get indexed, and never drive revenue. Brands either waste money on content that looks good on paper but provides no value, or they half-commit and hope Google magically rewards them. Neither approach works anymore.Instead, Greg outlines what a performance-driven blog strategy looks like. Successful content is fueled by research: understanding customer pain points, analyzing competitors, and targeting keywords with real demand. It’s written for humans first but structured for algorithms, and it’s relentlessly measured against traffic, rankings, leads, and revenue. Greg also shares his three proven frameworks—Problem → Solution → Product, What to Buy → How to Choose → How to Use, and Options on the Table → Side by Side → Situational Fit—which help brands cover every stage of the buyer journey from awareness to purchase and beyond.Finally, he makes it clear that blogs can’t just serve Google anymore; they also need to feed AI models like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini. Authoritative, structured content is increasingly being pulled into AI answers, which means brands that don’t adapt will lose visibility to competitors. Add in the power of community distribution on platforms like Reddit, Quora, and niche forums, and you’ve got a roadmap for transforming your blog into a 24/7 acquisition engine that drives brand awareness, rankings, leads, and revenue.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/https://www.stryde.com/why-most-ecommerce-blogs-are-useless/

For growing D2C brands making between $1M and $5M in annual revenue, every marketing dollar counts, and misallocating that budget can have serious consequences. In this episode, Greg Shuey explores how to prioritize marketing investments when resources are limited. He explains that many founders reach this “weird middle stage” where they’ve proven product-market fit but lack the budget or bandwidth to run multiple channels effectively. The key isn’t to do everything, it’s to do the right things in the right order. Greg outlines a clear, phased approach for stacking Google Ads, SEO, and AI-driven optimization efforts based on ROI timeline, effort, and cost.Greg recommends starting with Google Ads because it delivers fast feedback and revenue, enabling brands to validate which categories, keywords, and creative drive performance. With those learnings, brands can confidently layer in SEO, building out content and optimizing pages around already-proven queries. While SEO takes longer to mature, its compounding returns dramatically improve profit margins over time. Finally, he introduces AI search optimization, the process of increasing brand visibility in AI platforms like ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, and other LLMs. Though still evolving, brands who start early can gain meaningful exposure and future-proof their marketing.To illustrate the power of this framework, Greg shares a case study of a women’s fashion brand that transitioned from Meta ads to a Google-first strategy. Within six months, they saw a nearly 50% lift in revenue through sequential investments in paid search, SEO, and AI search optimization. Greg closes with reflections on common pitfalls: waiting too long to start SEO, assuming ad channels will scale forever, trying to do too much too soon, and ignoring AI platforms altogether. His message is clear: profitable growth comes not from doing everything at once, but from strategically stacking the right channels at the right time.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/https://www.stryde.com/how-to-prioritize-seo-ads-llms/

Comparison content is one of the most underused but powerful tools available to eCommerce brands today. In this episode, Greg Shuey breaks down why “X vs. Y” queries represent some of the highest-intent searches online, and why brands can’t afford to leave those answers to random review sites, Reddit threads, or AI hallucinations. Buyers at this stage have their wallets out—they just need clarity and confidence to make the right decision, and comparison content delivers exactly that.Greg walks through three types of comparison content every brand should consider: product vs. product to help customers navigate options within your catalog, brand vs. brand to position yourself against competitors without bashing them, and category comparisons to educate new buyers who may not yet know what they need. He shares how to structure this content with visual tables, pros and cons, schema markup, and even “best for” sections that guide buyers directly to the right fit while signaling to Google and AI models that your content is authoritative.The episode closes with a focus on distribution and ROI. Comparison pieces shouldn’t just live on your blog—they can be repurposed for product pages, FAQs, YouTube videos, TikToks, and third-party blogs that provide backlinks and exposure. Done right, comparison content drives visibility across Google and AI platforms, reduces customer service headaches, and bridges the gap between top-of-funnel awareness and bottom-of-funnel purchase decisions. The takeaway is clear: you can either be compared—or you can own the comparison.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/https://www.stryde.com/comparison-content-that-converts/

Greg Shuey opens this episode of 7 Figures and Beyond by challenging eCommerce marketers to stop relying solely on Google rankings as their growth driver and instead focus on building multi-platform relevance. While traditional search is still a massive traffic source, he explains that shifts in user behavior, like the rise of YouTube, Reddit, TikTok, Instagram, and AI tools such as ChatGPT, mean that customers often bypass Google entirely in their product research and decision-making. The result is a more fragmented, harder-to-track discovery journey, where direct visits and brand searches often originate from off-Google sources.He then breaks down two critical concepts for thriving in this new environment: semantic relevance, which ensures content aligns with the meaning and intent behind a query (not just exact keywords), and narrative relevance, which ensures that every brand touchpoint contributes to a cohesive, consistent story. Greg illustrates how both approaches work in practice, from rethinking keyword strategies to ensuring messaging stays aligned with brand values across platforms. He emphasizes that relevance isn’t just about being found, it’s about being trusted and recognized as part of the conversation wherever customers are looking.Finally, Greg offers three practical steps to get started: answer real customer questions across multiple formats and platforms, maintain a consistent point of view everywhere your brand appears, and create strategic brand comparison and use-case content to own competitive positioning. He advises tracking mentions across emerging channels, engaging authentically in communities like Reddit, and partnering with rising creators on social platforms. By investing even a few hours each week into building multi-platform relevance, brands can position themselves ahead of competitors who are slow to adapt, unlocking compounding benefits in visibility, authority, and sales over time.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Datos State of Search Q2: https://datos.live/report/state-of-search-q2-2025/https://www.stryde.com/why-you-should-build-multi-platform-relevance/

The e-commerce world is on the brink of a major disruption, and most brands don’t even realize it’s coming. In this episode, Greg Shuey explores how Shopify’s upcoming product feed integration with ChatGPT is poised to fundamentally change how consumers discover and purchase products online. Instead of scrolling through endless product pages or relying on keyword-based search, shoppers will describe exactly what they want in plain language, and AI will serve them curated product results directly within the ChatGPT interface. For Shopify merchants, this means a brand's visibility in the next era of e-commerce will depend heavily on the quality, structure, and depth of their product feed data.Greg walks through exactly what needs to change. Standard product titles and basic descriptions won’t cut it anymore. Brands must now craft detailed, benefit-driven product data that sounds natural and answers the types of real-world questions customers might ask an AI. From schema markup and high-quality imagery to robust customer reviews and comparison blog content, every detail matters. These assets not only improve how your brand shows up in ChatGPT but also reinforce its relevance in Google’s evolving AI search experience.But this isn’t about abandoning traditional marketing, it’s about rebalancing. As AI interfaces become a core part of the shopping journey, Greg urges brands to treat product feeds like prompt engineering and content like context training for large language models. The message is clear: brands that act now will have a first-mover advantage in a more conversational, curated, and intelligent commerce landscape. Those who wait may find themselves left behind, entirely excluded from a growing share of purchase-ready customer interactions.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/ChatGPT Product Feed Submission: https://openai.com/chatgpt/search-product-discovery/https://www.stryde.com/ai-shopping-shopify-product-feeds/

In this episode of 7 Figures and Beyond, Greg Shuey dives deep into the WARC x GWI 2025 Consumer Trends Report to spotlight the five most important shifts reshaping eCommerce and digital marketing. With data-backed insights and real-world implications, Greg explores how the widening wealth gap is fracturing consumer behavior—forcing brands to either lean into value-driven pricing or premium experiences with emotional resonance. He stresses that “the middle” is rapidly disappearing and urges marketers to choose their lane and build toward it with clarity.One of the most surprising trends? Consumers now trust creators more than brands. Greg unpacks how creator recommendations are directly driving purchase decisions—not because of reach, but because of perceived authenticity and alignment. He challenges marketers to rethink their approach to influencer marketing and tap into overlooked brand voices like employees and customers who carry built-in credibility. On top of that, AI assistants like ChatGPT and Perplexity are actively rewriting the purchase funnel, making decisions for users, and shifting the point of discovery away from traditional search engines. If brands aren’t showing up in AI-driven recommendations, they’re essentially invisible.Greg rounds out the conversation with a look at the rise of health-conscious shopping—where functional outcomes like gut health and immunity now drive buying decisions—and the explosion of community as a top-of-funnel growth engine. Whether it’s niche Slack groups, Reddit threads, or offline meetups, consumers are flocking to passion-based tribes for product discovery and peer validation. The brands that adapt quickly, invest in relevance, and build trust across platforms and communities will be the ones who not only win Q4—but set themselves up for long-term growth in 2026 and beyond.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/2025 Consumer Trends Report Download: https://www.warc.com/content/paywall/article/WARC-Exclusive/2025_Consumer_Trends_Report/en-GB/161373?https://www.stryde.com/consumer-trends-shape-marketing-strategy-2025/

Organic search isn’t what it used to be, and most ecommerce brands are feeling it. In this episode, Greg Shuey explores why traditional SEO strategies that once fueled predictable growth are losing their effectiveness. With AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and platforms like Reddit and TikTok reshaping how consumers discover and evaluate products, simply ranking for keywords is no longer enough. Greg breaks down how visibility is shifting from search engines to a fragmented discovery ecosystem, and why brands must rethink where and how they show up.Listeners will learn how “relevance” has become the new driver of discoverability. Greg explains that true relevance means aligning content with user intent across every stage of the buyer journey, not just stuffing keywords on a page. He shares a detailed case study of a client who shifted from pure keyword optimization to a relevance-first content strategy, resulting in a 170% lift in AI overview visibility and significant increases in People Also Ask impressions and LLM mentions. From FAQs to competitor comparisons to forum participation, Greg outlines exactly how they made it happen.The episode wraps with a practical four-step roadmap that any brand can start using today: gather real customer questions, repurpose them into helpful content, link everything internally to build topical authority, and show up in third-party conversations with intent to educate, not sell. Whether you’re a one-person marketing team or leading a seven-figure D2C brand, this episode gives you the mindset and method to compete in a world where search is no longer the sole gateway to discovery.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Ahrefs: https://ahrefs.com/Sparktoro: https://sparktoro.com/Alsoasked: https://alsoasked.com/https://www.stryde.com/from-rankings-to-relevance-new-seo-framework/

In this episode of the Seven Figures and Beyond podcast, Greg Shuey confronts the recurring claim that “SEO is dead,” a narrative fueled by social media hot takes and fear of evolving search technologies. He argues that this perspective is not only misleading but harmful, especially for early-career marketers and brand owners who might make impulsive decisions based on clickbait rather than data. Drawing from over two decades of SEO experience, Greg explains that search has always evolved, and what we’re experiencing now with LLMs like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews is just another inflection point, not a death knell.Greg breaks down how search behavior is shifting, not disappearing. Consumers are increasingly using tools like ChatGPT for problem discovery and research, but still rely on Google to finalize decisions, particularly in the lower funnel, where product searches and purchases happen. He shares recent industry data showing that Google still handles over 16 billion searches daily, with only a minor dip in traditional search volume year over year. Meanwhile, AI-driven search is growing, but far from eclipsing Google. This coexistence of platforms demands a hybrid strategy: traditional SEO practices plus optimization for visibility within AI-generated content layers.To thrive in this new environment, Greg emphasizes the need for brands to prioritize structured, helpful, and semantically rich content across all parts of their website, not just blogs. This includes weaving FAQs into product and category pages, implementing schema markup, and monitoring visibility in both search engines and LLMs using tools like Peec.ai. He shares how his agency uses AI agents to automate FAQ research and content optimization, freeing up time for strategic thinking. His closing message is clear: brands that remain curious, data-driven, and proactive in adapting their SEO and content strategies will build a sustainable edge, even in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Datos State of Search 2025: https://datos.live/report/state-of-search-q1-2025/Spark Toro - Google Receives 373x More Searches Than Chat GPT: https://sparktoro.com/blog/new-research-google-search-grew-20-in-2024-receives-373x-more-searches-than-chatgpt/ https://www.stryde.com/seo-isnt-dead-just-smarter/

In this episode of the Seven Figures and Beyond E-Commerce Marketing Podcast, Greg Shuey sits down with Izzy Rosenzweig, CEO of Portless, to explore how e-commerce brands can regain control of their cash flow and inventory in an increasingly volatile global market. Izzy shares his evolution from running a brand dependent on traditional supply chains to building Portless—a next-gen 3PL that enables brands to ship products directly from Asia to customers worldwide. This model removes the need for warehousing, accelerates delivery, and frees up capital that would otherwise be locked in inventory sitting on the ocean or in storage.Izzy dives deep into two powerful but underutilized strategies: tariff deferment and tariff engineering. He explains how deferring duties until items are sold allows brands to maintain liquidity and minimize financial strain. Additionally, by making small technical changes to products, such as material composition or packaging, brands can reclassify their products under less expensive tariff codes, significantly reducing costs. These techniques, while not commonly discussed in mainstream marketing circles, can be the difference between survival and collapse for seven- and eight-figure brands in today’s economic climate.The episode closes with a clear call to action: now is the time to get lean, agile, and global. Izzy encourages DTC founders to explore emerging international markets like the UK, Australia, and Canada where CPMs are lower, logistics are feasible, and consumer demand is strong. He also outlines the benefits of small-batch production, working with trade partners to unlock better payment terms, and offshoring non-essential roles to reduce OpEx. Ultimately, this episode is a must-listen for any brand feeling the financial pinch and looking for practical, high-leverage ways to adapt and thrive.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Izzy Rosenzweig LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/izzy-rosenzweig-13653846/Porless: https://www.portless.com/https://www.stryde.com/tariff-deferment-inventory-strategy-for-improved-cash-flow/

In this episode of Seven Figures and Beyond, Greg Shuey sits down with Ben Sharf, co-founder of Platter, to challenge the conventional thinking around what it actually takes to build a high-converting eCommerce storefront. Ben shares the origin story of Platter—how his pivot from a promising hockey career and a corporate consulting role during COVID led to launching a tech-enabled agency that has built over 150 Shopify storefronts. Through that experience, Ben uncovered a frustrating reality: even brands doing tens of millions in revenue are often using clunky, bloated tech stacks and struggling with basic usability and design decisions that actively hurt conversions.Ben walks listeners through what really matters when designing for performance. He outlines the core drivers of conversion—clear messaging, intuitive navigation, social proof, and reducing buyer friction at every stage. He emphasizes how many brands unknowingly overcomplicate the shopping experience with unnecessary page loads, hidden CTAs, and poor layout decisions. He also breaks down homepage and PDP structures, showing how simplifying the layout, elevating visual assets, and enabling one-click purchasing can drive meaningful improvements in performance—without expensive redesigns or flashy branding.The conversation also tackles the tension between branding and conversion—a common challenge for DTC brand owners. Ben makes a strong case for prioritizing functionality and conversion over aesthetics, especially for brands with medium-priced, large-catalog product lines. He explains how trying to retrofit modern performance elements into outdated or overbuilt sites leads to inefficiency and technical debt, and why many brands should consider a full rebuild over a redesign. Whether you're running a lean team or prepping for a major site overhaul, this episode is packed with straightforward, high-leverage insights for anyone looking to boost revenue by simplifying the customer experience.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Ben Sharf LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-sharf-b554a5b3/Platter: https://www.platter.comTurning Pro Podcast: https://www.turningpropod.com/https://www.stryde.com/the-truth-about-high-converting-ecommerce-sites/

Direct-to-consumer brands often obsess over lowering customer acquisition costs, but they’re missing a key lever for profitability: increasing average order value. In this episode, Greg Shuey interviews Saunder Schroeder, who shares a wealth of practical tactics for optimizing AOV—starting with smarter bundling strategies rooted in actual customer behavior. By leveraging tools like Shopify’s “items bought together” report, brands can create bundles that feel natural and valuable, which can raise AOV and even reduce CAC in the process.Saunder emphasizes the power of virtual bundles, especially for fast testing without complicating inventory. He also warns against relying too heavily on deep discounts, which can create customer expectations that damage long-term profitability. Instead, techniques like bundling hero products with logical accessories or using targeted “gift with purchase” offers can create perceived value and improve conversion rates without eroding contribution margin.Looking ahead, Saunder and Greg agree that personalization will be a major differentiator—but most brands are still in the segmentation phase. The near future likely belongs to companies that combine smart AI usage with authentic brand storytelling. As AI democratizes content creation, real human insight, original product development, and brand values will become the key to standing out in a sea of sameness.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Saudner Schroder LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saunderschroed/Fermat: https://www.fermatcommerce.comhttps://www.stryde.com/smart-bundles-maximizing-average-order-value/

In this episode of Seven Figures and Beyond, host Greg Shuey welcomes Greg Shugar—founder of The Tie Bar and owner of Beau Ties of Vermont—for a timely and eye-opening discussion on how newly imposed tariffs are threatening the future of small and mid-sized DTC brands. With tariffs on Chinese imports surging to as high as 145%, Shugar explains that these aren’t just duties—they’re effectively embargoes, crippling supply chains and forcing business owners to rethink how and where they manufacture. For brands relying heavily on Chinese factories for soft goods, the financial impact is immediate and significant, with very few straightforward solutions.Shugar shares tactical insights from his own playbook, such as ordering excess inventory ahead of Chinese New Year, stockpiling under the de minimis import threshold, and experimenting with quiet, incremental price increases. He also warns of a looming crisis similar to the COVID-era supply backlog, where halted shipments could create a future bottleneck that drives up shipping costs and fuels broader inflation. While some brands are experimenting with emergency strategies like routing containers through countries with lower tariffs or temporarily pausing production, none of these options come without tradeoffs in time, money, or quality.Beyond tactics, Shugar critiques the broader policy environment, arguing that the U.S. government has failed to offer a thoughtful or realistic roadmap for businesses to follow. If reshoring manufacturing is truly the goal, he believes it should be supported with tax credits, clear timelines, and exemptions for U.S.-based brands that rely on imported raw materials. Without that structure, brands are being asked to navigate an unpredictable landscape on their own. The big takeaway: unless something changes, this is not just a temporary disruption—it’s a structural shift that could reshape e-commerce and retail as we know it.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Greg Shugar LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregshugar/Beau Ties of Vermont: https://www.beautiesltd.com/Carrie Amber Intimates: https://www.carrieamber.com/https://www.stryde.com/tarrifs-what-every-ecommerce-brand-needs-to-know/

In this episode of the 7 Figures and Beyond eCommerce Marketing Podcast, host Greg Shuey sits down with paid media expert Kelsey O'Rourke to break down what brands need to know about Google Ads in 2025. Kelsey debunks the common misconception that Google Ads, particularly Performance Max (PMax), is fully automated and requires little oversight. Instead, she explains how many brands and agencies misuse PMax by failing to exclude brand searches, which artificially inflates ROAS while masking the true cost of acquiring new customers. She stresses the importance of structuring campaigns correctly—leveraging PMax for prospecting while using standard search and shopping campaigns strategically to ensure budget efficiency and clear data visibility.Beyond campaign structure, Kelsey highlights a fundamental mistake many brands make: failing to understand their customer lifetime value (LTV) before scaling. She explains that businesses with low LTV need to focus almost exclusively on acquiring new customers, while those with higher LTV can afford to balance prospecting with retention-focused strategies like display and YouTube ads. Without this foundational knowledge, brands risk misallocating their advertising spend and struggling to grow sustainably. Additionally, she warns against taking Google rep recommendations at face value, as their primary goal is to drive more ad spend rather than optimize for business profitability.To ensure long-term success, Kelsey emphasizes that Google Ads should be viewed as a key component of a broader omnichannel marketing strategy rather than a standalone growth engine. She points out that Google captures demand rather than creates it, meaning it works best when paired with top-of-funnel channels like Meta and TikTok. She also advises brands to avoid overcomplicating their campaigns—mastering the fundamentals of search, shopping, and PMax before expanding into more advanced strategies. Her closing message to brands: do your homework, know your numbers, and stay realistic about how performance shifts as you scale.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Kelsey O'Rourke LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelseycorourke/https://www.stryde.com/smart-marketers-win-with-google-ads-2025/

In this episode of the 7 Figures and Beyond eCommerce Marketing Podcast, host Greg Shuey sits down with Kevin Indig, a seasoned growth advisor who has worked with top brands like Shopify, Reddit, and Dropbox. Their conversation dives into the need for eCommerce brands to expand beyond Google and traditional social media, leveraging alternative channels such as YouTube, Reddit, and online communities. Kevin explains how Google’s evolving landscape has made organic growth more challenging, pushing brands to rethink their acquisition strategies. He highlights the importance of building authentic relationships within niche communities rather than relying solely on search traffic or paid ads.Kevin shares a step-by-step approach to identifying the right communities, testing engagement with paid ads, and gradually integrating into conversations as a trusted participant rather than a sales-driven outsider. He stresses that successful community engagement is about giving rather than taking—offering insights, solving problems, and sharing valuable content before introducing products. He also discusses the power of storytelling in these spaces, emphasizing that brands should focus on the problem they solve rather than aggressively pushing their solution. Transparency and patience are key, as credibility takes time to establish, and direct attribution from these channels isn’t always immediate or measurable.Looking ahead, Kevin predicts that direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands will increasingly rely on community-driven marketing to differentiate themselves and sustain growth. As performance marketing costs continue to rise and Google’s search landscape shifts, brands that actively participate in customer conversations will have a competitive edge. He also notes that AI will play a growing role in content strategy and audience engagement, requiring marketers to adapt and integrate new technologies into their organic growth efforts. The episode leaves listeners with a clear message: the brands that prioritize trust, community, and long-term relationships will be the ones that thrive in the evolving digital marketplace.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Kevin Indig LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinindig/Growth Memo: https://www.growth-memo.com/https://www.stryde.com/drive-brand-awareness-sales-from-alternative-channels/

In this episode of the 7 and Beyond eCommerce Marketing Podcast, host Greg Shuey sits down with Anthony Morgan, founder of eNavi, a Shopify-focused conversion rate optimization (CRO) agency. Anthony shares his unconventional journey into eCommerce and why many brands mistakenly view CRO as an advanced strategy rather than a foundational necessity. He introduces the intersite funnel framework, a method for breaking down conversion steps into distinct stages—landing page to product view, product view to add to cart, add to cart to checkout, and checkout to purchase. By identifying where drop-offs occur, brands can prioritize improvements that directly impact revenue. Unlike traditional A/B testing, which requires significant traffic and budgets, Anthony advocates for a more qualitative approach, using customer interviews and post-purchase surveys to understand friction points and optimize accordingly.A key theme of the discussion is the importance of addressing fundamental usability issues before focusing on persuasion tactics. Many brands focus on tweaking button colors or adding urgency messaging when their biggest conversion barriers stem from poor mobile experiences, confusing navigation, or a misalignment between ad creatives and landing pages. Anthony highlights the effectiveness of welcome mats on product detail pages (PDPs), which provide a consistent, on-brand experience for customers arriving from paid ads. This simple change can significantly improve engagement and conversion rates by reinforcing key value propositions upfront. He also stresses that true CRO isn't about running endless experiments—it’s about deeply understanding the customer journey and making iterative improvements that remove friction and build trust.The conversation wraps up with a broader perspective on how eCommerce has evolved in recent years. As brands move away from the growth-at-all-costs mindset, the focus has shifted toward profitability and sustainable scaling. Anthony explains that brands must not only master their messaging and user experience but also align their financial strategy with their growth goals. By investing in CRO as an ongoing discipline rather than a one-time project, eCommerce businesses can achieve higher conversion rates, maximize their ad spend efficiency, and build a brand that thrives in a competitive market. The episode leaves listeners with a clear message: CRO is not an optional add-on but a core pillar of long-term eCommerce success.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Anthony Morgan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonycmorgan/Enavi: https://enavi.co/https://www.stryde.com/cro-strategies-to-convert-more-customers/

Selling high-ticket e-commerce products is an entirely different game from traditional DTC, and in this episode of the 7-figures and Beyond e-commerce marketing podcast, Greg Shuey sits down with Rivkie Lieberman, Creative Director at Motif Studio, to break down what makes it unique. Rivkie explains that when customers are making a significant investment—whether it’s luxury furniture, premium strollers, or custom cabinetry—they’re engaging a different part of their brain than when making an impulse purchase. Instead of relying solely on product visuals and short descriptions, high-ticket brands must borrow from B2B marketing playbooks to build trust, nurture leads, and provide deep educational content that helps customers confidently make big-ticket purchases.Throughout the conversation, Rivkie shares how brands can optimize for both motivation and ease of purchase, ensuring that customers feel excited about the product while also eliminating friction in the buying process. She highlights tactics such as leveraging authority-building content, using strategic email flows, and designing a seamless website experience that guides hesitant buyers. She also discusses the power of trust signals—like video testimonials, case studies, and personalized customer interactions—to reassure buyers that they are making the right decision. And for brands wondering whether AI plays a role, Rivkie shares how AI-powered tools are revolutionizing image generation, streamlining content creation, and improving customer support in ways that enhance high-ticket e-commerce strategies.As the discussion wraps up, Greg and Rivkie touch on the patience required to sell high-ticket items successfully. Unlike low-ticket DTC, where sales can happen in minutes, high-ticket brands need to embrace longer sales cycles, lead nurturing, and consistent engagement across multiple touchpoints. Rivkie shares real-world examples of how brands can gently guide buyers toward conversion rather than pushing for immediate purchases. If you're selling high-ticket products online or looking to refine your approach, this episode provides actionable insights into how to sell the dream, reduce friction, and create a conversion-optimized strategy tailored for big-ticket purchases.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Rivkie Lieberman LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rivkie-lieberman-%F0%9F%AB%80%F0%9F%A7%A0-a0a803146/Motif Studio: https://motif.studio/https://www.stryde.com/selling-high-ticket-ecommerce/

Navigating the complexities of selling on Amazon is no small feat, and in this episode of Seven Figures and Beyond: E-Commerce Marketing Podcast, host Greg Shuey welcomes Amazon expert Robyn Johnson to unpack the challenges that sellers face. With over a decade of experience in e-commerce, Robyn shares how compliance issues and inventory mismanagement can derail even the most promising Amazon strategies. She explains that while Amazon may look like a traditional search engine, it operates with a singular focus: driving sales conversions. Unlike Google, which values fresh content and engagement metrics, Amazon’s ranking algorithm prioritizes products that consistently sell well. This means that any disruption—whether it’s a compliance violation or an inventory stockout—can cause a seller’s hard-earned ranking to plummet, leading to significant revenue loss and the need to rebuild from scratch.Beyond algorithm mechanics, Robyn dives into recent Amazon policy shifts that have tightened restrictions on compliance. Sellers now face more stringent product classification requirements, making it crucial to avoid misleading keywords or product attributes that could trigger a listing suspension. For example, using the term "doll" in a product title or claiming antimicrobial properties without an EPA registration number can result in immediate suppression. Furthermore, Amazon's changes to UPC validation mean brands must ensure their barcodes match their registered trademark on GS1, or risk having their listings blocked. Robyn emphasizes that Amazon is no longer the wild west of e-commerce; sellers must be meticulous in adhering to regulations, as violations can lead to costly delistings or, in extreme cases, business closures.Robyn also provides insights on the critical role of inventory management in sustaining Amazon success. Running out of stock is one of the fastest ways to lose organic ranking, as Amazon’s algorithm penalizes listings that can’t consistently fulfill customer demand. To mitigate this risk, sellers should maintain at least 4-6 weeks of inventory at Amazon fulfillment centers and proactively adjust ad spend and pricing strategies when stock levels run low. She also discusses the balance between Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) and merchant fulfillment, advising that while FBA increases conversion rates, Amazon’s new reimbursement policies may make it risky for high-cost or luxury items. Ultimately, Robyn stresses that winning on Amazon requires not just great products, but also careful planning, compliance diligence, and strategic execution to sustain long-term growth.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Robyn Johnson LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robynjohnsonaz/Marketplace Blueprint: https://marketplaceblueprint.com/https://www.stryde.com/avoiding-amazon-pitfalls/

Website performance isn’t just a technical concern—it’s a game-changer for eCommerce success. In this episode of the Seven Figures and Beyond eCommerce Marketing Podcast, host Greg Shuey sits down with Jono Alderson, a leading technical SEO consultant, to unravel the complex yet critical role of site speed in driving conversions and improving search engine rankings. Jono shares fascinating studies demonstrating how mere milliseconds in page load times can influence customer behavior, detailing how faster websites capture more attention and drive higher revenue. He also introduces listeners to Google’s Core Web Vitals, explaining how these benchmarks offer a clear, actionable path to enhancing site performance.Jono takes a deep dive into the most common culprits of slow websites, like unoptimized images, excessive fonts, and bloated tracking scripts, while providing practical strategies to address each issue. From choosing the right image formats to implementing better tag management systems, he lays out a roadmap for eCommerce brands to deliver lightning-fast user experiences. The conversation also covers the importance of balancing visually stunning designs with performance goals, helping brands make informed trade-offs that maintain both functionality and speed.Beyond the technical details, this episode emphasizes the broader business and ethical benefits of a faster site. Jono highlights how speed enhances brand perception, fosters customer loyalty, and even reduces the environmental impact of data transmission, aligning with sustainability goals. Whether you’re a brand owner or a marketing manager, this episode is packed with valuable insights and actionable tips to help you outpace competitors and thrive in a crowded digital marketplace.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Jono Alderson LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonoalderson/https://www.stryde.com/website-performance-for-conversions-rankings/

In this kickoff episode for 2025, Greg Shuey welcomes PPC expert Navah Hopkins to discuss how brands can thrive by understanding their buyers' online behaviors and adapting their marketing strategies accordingly. Navah, a seasoned marketer and evangelist for the PPC management tool Optmyzr, emphasizes the evolving nature of buyer habits, pointing out that platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and even ChatGPT are gaining traction as key discovery tools. This shift demands that brands rethink their approach to search, community engagement, and content distribution to stay competitive in the ever-changing digital landscape.A major focus of their conversation is the rising importance of video content. Navah explains how creating video campaigns can unlock cheaper placements and drive better engagement, especially on platforms like YouTube and TikTok. She encourages brands to embrace video despite its perceived challenges, highlighting examples of impactful yet cost-effective campaigns. Additionally, they discuss the value of engaging with audiences on forums, both login-based (e.g., Discord) and non-login-based (e.g., Reddit), stressing that authentic interaction builds trust and allows brands to gather valuable feedback. Tools like Google Alerts, SparkToro, and Microsoft Clarity are presented as practical ways to monitor and analyze audience behavior across platforms.As the conversation concludes, Greg and Navah reflect on the importance of resetting expectations for 2025. They encourage brands to experiment boldly, focus on a few core channels, and prioritize authentic, human-first connections with their audiences. By balancing time and monetary investments, brands can craft strategies that align with their goals and market realities. Both hosts emphasize that giving oneself grace during this period of rapid change is essential for achieving sustainable growth.Greg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Navah Hopkins LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/navahhopkins/Optmyzr: https://www.optmyzr.com/https://www.stryde.com/buyer-journey-insights-for-marketing-strategy/

In this eposide of the 7 Figures Beyond E-Commerce Marketing Podcast focused on preparing brands for success with Meta advertising in 2025. Greg Shuey welcomed Kelsey O’Rourke, Performance Marketing Director at Stride, who shared her expertise on navigating the ever-evolving landscape of paid media. They explored the growing importance of creative strategy in light of Meta’s shift toward broader automation and reduced targeting options. With hyper-targeting increasingly restricted, brands need to rely on engaging, evergreen creative assets, including user-generated content (UGC) and video formats, to drive performance and capture attention in just seconds.A significant portion of the discussion centered on leveraging AI tools to streamline creative production and reduce costs. Kelsey highlighted tools like Creatify, which allow brands to generate high-quality ad content—static and video—at scale, empowering smaller brands to compete effectively in a crowded market. She also addressed common pitfalls in Meta ad campaigns, such as overloading ad sets with creatives, neglecting proper audience exclusions, and over-relying on ROAS as a primary performance metric. By focusing on audience-specific content and understanding metrics like thumb-stop rates and CPM, brands can refine their strategies to achieve stronger results.Beyond creative execution, the episode emphasized Meta’s role in an omni-channel marketing strategy. Kelsey explained that while Meta excels at top-of-funnel prospecting, its success relies on thoughtful campaign structures and clear audience definitions. She urged brand owners to collaborate closely with agencies, gaining insights into targeting strategies and campaign design to maximize ROI. As Meta ads evolve with AI and automation, brands must maintain control over their campaigns by prioritizing creative quality and ensuring alignment with broader marketing goals. This holistic approach positions brands for sustained growth and scalability in 2025.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Kelsey O’Rourke LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelseycorourke/Creatify: https://creatify.ai/https://www.stryde.com/ecommerce-meta-ads-trends-2025/

In this episode of the 7 Figures &Beyond E-commerce Marketing Podcast, host Greg Shuey sits down with email and SMS marketing expert Julia Ahmet to explore how e-commerce brands can optimize their strategies for 2025. Reflecting on the past year, Julia notes shifts in consumer behavior due to economic uncertainties and rising concerns over data privacy. Despite these challenges, she highlights opportunities, such as the record-breaking Black Friday/Cyber Monday spending, which showcased the resilience of consumer demand. The conversation emphasizes the importance of ensuring email deliverability and compliance through proper authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and maintaining clean email lists to meet evolving global regulations.Julia stresses the growing need for brands to adapt to inbox fatigue by shifting focus from high-frequency campaigns to highly segmented, personalized communications. She advocates for analyzing customer behavior to refine targeting and creating more meaningful connections with audiences without overstepping privacy boundaries. Mobile-first, accessible email designs are becoming non-negotiable, with trends like high-contrast CTAs, dark mode, and interactive features like GIFs and polls driving engagement. Additionally, she highlights the value of preference pages to empower consumers to control the frequency and type of emails they receive, ensuring a better customer experience.Looking ahead, the conversation touches on the potential for AI to enhance efficiency, particularly in segmentation, predictive analytics, and brainstorming. While Julia remains cautious about relying on AI for creative elements like images and videos, she sees its value in overcoming bottlenecks such as writer’s block. To remain competitive, brands are encouraged to experiment with unique offers, such as multi-order discounts, and embrace calculated risks in their campaigns. Ultimately, Julia and Greg emphasize the importance of staying nimble and leveraging data-driven insights to test and adapt, ensuring strategies evolve with consumer expectations and industry trends.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Julia Amodt LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-amodt/Email Deliverability Tools: https://easydmarc.com/toolsEmail Health: https://www.litmus.com/BIMI Authentication: https://mxtoolbox.com/dmarc/bimi/how-to-create-bimi-recordSemantic HTML: https://www.semrush.com/blog/semantic-html5-guide/European Accessibility Act (June 2025): https://www.levelaccess.com/compliance-overview/european-accessibility-act-eaa/Email Design Inspirationhttps://reallygoodemails.com/https://mailboard.com/https://milled.com/https://www.mailmunch.com/blog/gifs-in-emailhttps://www.stryde.com/ecommerce-email-sms-trends-2025/

In this episode of the Seven Figures and Beyond eCommerce Marketing Podcast, host Greg Shuey sits down with Martin McAndrew, director of the UK-based performance marketing agency Blue Thirst, to unpack the complexities of Google Performance Max (PMAX) campaigns. PMAX integrates Google's entire ad ecosystem, including YouTube, Gmail, Maps, and Display, into a single campaign format. While many marketers perceive PMAX as a “black box” due to its automation, Martin demystifies the platform by emphasizing the crucial role of high-quality data in driving success. He outlines how setting precise goals, ensuring proper data integration, and feeding the system with reliable first-party data are foundational steps for unlocking PMAX's potential.A recurring theme throughout the conversation is the importance of leveraging audience signals and high-quality creative assets. Martin explains how marketers can refine audience targeting by combining broad demographic data with proprietary customer insights from platforms like Shopify or Salesforce. On the creative front, he highlights the need for rigorous testing to identify top-performing assets, adapting strategies based on insights provided by PMAX’s asset performance reports. By balancing top-of-funnel content with conversion-driven creative, businesses can guide audiences effectively through the buying journey. Additionally, Martin discusses the use of secondary conversion events—such as tracking interactions or page views—as a powerful strategy to provide the algorithm with supplemental data for scaling campaigns.Looking ahead, Martin underscores the growing importance of automation, AI, and data warehousing in digital marketing. As platforms like Google, Meta, and TikTok continue to prioritize automated solutions, he argues that the differentiator for businesses will be their ability to collect, analyze, and utilize first-party data. Brands that invest in understanding their customer behavior and provide actionable data to these systems will maintain a competitive edge. With his actionable tips on scaling budgets, optimizing ROAS, and overcoming plateaus, Martin equips listeners with the tools to navigate the ever-evolving world of paid media. This episode is a must-listen for any marketer looking to master PMAX and future-proof their advertising strategies.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Martin McAndrew LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinmcandrew/Blue Thirst: https://www.bluethirst.co.uk/https://www.stryde.com/setup-optimize-scale-google-pmax/

Pinterest is an underutilized yet powerful platform for D2C brands, offering unique opportunities to drive meaningful traffic and revenue. Unlike Instagram or TikTok, Pinterest operates as a visual search engine where users seek inspiration and actionable ideas. In this podcast episode, Greg Shuey interviews Natasha Chilcott, Director of Marketing and Sales at Marr Media Group, to explore how brands can harness Pinterest’s potential. Natasha highlights that Pinterest users engage with content differently, searching intentionally for solutions, which creates a distinct environment for marketers. By understanding this behavior and tailoring content to align with user intent, brands can tap into Pinterest as a significant driver of traffic and conversions.Success on Pinterest requires a well-structured and consistent approach. Natasha emphasizes the importance of creating keyword-driven boards and content categories that resonate with user searches. She explains how tools like Pinterest Predicts and Pinterest Analytics provide insights into trends and search behaviors, enabling brands to design strategies grounded in data. Consistency in pinning, ranging from 5–25 pins daily, ensures sustained visibility, while content variety—videos, stills, and infographics—fuels engagement. Natasha stresses that brands must focus on inspiration rather than promotion by showcasing products within aspirational or practical contexts, such as integrating furniture into a styled living room rather than showing standalone product images.Adaptability and testing are key to long-term success. Natasha underscores the need for brands to treat Pinterest as a dynamic platform where strategies evolve based on analytics and user feedback. Testing different content types, refining based on performance, and iterating with new trends ensure campaigns remain relevant. She advises brands to abandon static, one-size-fits-all approaches and adopt a flexible framework informed by short-term results and ongoing adjustments. Ultimately, Pinterest offers brands a stable yet evolving platform where creative, intentional, and data-driven efforts can lead to meaningful growth and engagement.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Natasha Chilcott LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natashachilcott/Marr Media: https://www.marrmediagroup.com/Pinterest Predicts: https://business.pinterest.com/pinterest-predicts/Pinterest Presents: https://business.pinterest.com/pinterest-presents/ https://www.stryde.com/organic-pinterest-marketing/

In this episode of the Seven Figures and Beyond eCommerce Marketing Podcast, Greg Shuey interviews Steven Schneider, the co-founder and CEO of Trio SEO, a blog writing agency specializing in driving high-intent organic traffic for B2B brands but increasingly working with eCommerce. Steven shares his evolution from a college student experimenting with Amazon affiliate blogs to a successful SEO expert managing a seven-figure blog portfolio and 400 articles per month. His approach emphasizes organic growth without paid ads or social media, a method that resonates with Greg’s own experiences in SEO-driven eCommerce success. Together, they dive into the critical elements of creating content that attracts browsers and converts them into loyal buyers.A key focus of the conversation is the importance of understanding customer intent and creating content tailored to real purchase motivations. Steven advises brands to study their customers deeply, crafting content that targets bottom-of-the-funnel keywords rather than high-traffic, top-funnel terms that may not convert. He also advocates for visually driven product pages that show rather than tell, with images and videos that allow customers to connect with the product on a sensory level. This approach can make product descriptions more engaging, cutting through the noise and enabling customers to quickly determine if a product meets their needs.Steven and Greg further explore the future of SEO for eCommerce, particularly as Google continues to evolve its search engine results pages to retain users and emphasize brand visibility. Steven suggests that with these changes, SEO will increasingly serve as a brand-building channel, focusing on creating a strong brand recall so that when customers are ready to buy, they seek out a brand directly. They discuss the importance of blending written and video content, gathering customer testimonials, and optimizing user experience, which together can foster trust and drive higher conversion rates.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Steven Schneider LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schneis/TrioSEO: https://trioseo.com/https://www.stryde.com/build-ecommerce-content-converts-browsers-buyers/

In this episode of the Seven Figures and Beyond e-commerce marketing podcast, host Greg Shuey welcomes Chris Porteous, founder and CEO of SearchEye, to discuss the transformative role of automation in online public relations. Chris shares his unique journey from finance to digital marketing, detailing how his experience led him to build an innovative PR platform that aims to make high-quality media placements accessible to companies of all sizes. Traditional PR, often requiring extensive resources and costly relationships, has historically been a luxury reserved for well-funded brands. However, SearchEye’s automated approach enables smaller brands to scale their reach by matching them with media opportunities that would otherwise be unattainable, creating a more level playing field for brand visibility.Chris highlights the delicate balance between automation and relationship-building, noting that while technology has streamlined the outreach process, the value of authentic, human connections remains irreplaceable. SearchEye uses AI to optimize pitches and personalize them to meet publishers’ criteria, effectively increasing acceptance rates and relevance. However, as automation tools flood the PR landscape, maintaining quality and relevance is becoming more challenging. Chris explains that brands can no longer rely on a “spray and pray” approach to outreach; instead, they must focus on targeted, meaningful engagements with the right media outlets to truly stand out.The episode concludes with a discussion on the broader impact of AI and evolving consumer behavior on organic marketing. Chris believes that while the rise of AI presents new opportunities for efficiency, it also heightens competition as the volume of automated pitches surges. This shift is driving brands to invest more in their identity, building a recognizable presence across multiple channels to navigate an increasingly competitive landscape. In the face of these changes, Chris emphasizes that investing in brand-building is more crucial than ever, as a strong brand is what ultimately drives sustainable growth and customer loyalty in today’s digital world.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Chris Porteous LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-porteous-9594323/SearchEye: https://searcheye.io/https://www.stryde.com/scale-brand-reach-with-automated-online-pr/

In this episode of the 7-Figures and Beyond eCommerce Growth Podcast, host Greg Shuey sits down with Neal Goyle, an eCommerce expert formerly at Tapcart and now with Disco, a post-purchase ad network. Their discussion centers around the necessity of diversifying customer acquisition channels for long-term brand stability and growth. Neal emphasizes that relying on a single channel, especially paid social media, is risky, as seen after iOS 14’s privacy changes disrupted Facebook’s ad targeting capabilities. This change forced many brands to confront their dependency on a single platform and highlighted the importance of adopting a multi-channel approach to reduce customer acquisition costs and increase profitability.Neal draws from his experiences at Tapcart and now Disco, where he focuses on targeting the right customers with high purchase intent. Disco allows brands to appear in post-purchase checkout experiences of other brands, offering an innovative way to reach engaged buyers at the peak of intent. This strategy not only helps brands diversify beyond traditional ad platforms but also brings in customers more likely to contribute to long-term value. Neal points out that increasing LTV is crucial for offsetting rising customer acquisition costs, and understanding customer data allows brands to better navigate this complex landscape by delivering personalized experiences that resonate with customers over time.The episode also explores the value of community-building and brand fundamentals that were often neglected in the boom of paid media channels. Neal and Greg advocate for a return to foundational marketing practices, such as investing in customer relationships and fostering a loyal brand community. They advise brands to take proactive steps in exploring new channels during periods of strong performance rather than waiting until primary channels decline. By embracing data-driven decisions, developing a prudent, forward-looking strategy, and diversifying acquisition efforts, brands can position themselves for sustainable growth, even in a challenging and evolving eCommerce environment.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Neal Goyal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nealgoyal/Disco: https://www.disconetwork.com/Tapcart: https://www.tapcart.com/https://www.stryde.com/build-resilient-brand-channel-diversification/

In this episode of the 7 Figures and Beyond E-commerce Growth Podcast, host Greg Shuey chats with Kristine Schachinger, a technical SEO consultant with a wealth of experience in helping sites recover from Google algorithm updates. Kristine shares her journey from web design to a specialized SEO focus, working with clients who face significant losses in traffic due to algorithm changes. Her approach centers on in-depth technical audits, distinguishing her services from traditional agencies by directly engaging with clients’ site structures and providing hands-on, custom solutions. She explains her role as a "concierge consultant," offering expertise that goes beyond standard SEO by collaborating closely with in-house teams to execute necessary improvements.During their conversation, Kristine provides essential insights on the difference between core and helpful content updates and the types of site issues that commonly trigger visibility losses. Core updates often address technical SEO problems that have been accumulating over time, while helpful content updates target content quality and can impact smaller sites disproportionately. Kristine emphasizes the importance of using tools like Sitebulb and Screaming Frog for full-site crawls, which reveal underlying issues that basic SEO reports may overlook. For e-commerce brands, she highlights the need for strong internal linking, optimized site architecture, and compressed image files, which collectively enhance both user experience and Google’s crawl efficiency.In addition to these technical recommendations, Kristine advises brands to stay patient and avoid "quick fixes" like EAT optimization, which she clarifies is a conceptual framework rather than a direct ranking factor. Recovery efforts should focus on core SEO fundamentals and be in place well before the next algorithm update to allow Google’s systems time to recognize improvements. She also stresses the value of building unique, quality links over time and staying vigilant with site structure to guard against future hits. Her pragmatic advice is clear: if a brand encounters traffic drops, prioritizing a comprehensive audit and executing fundamental changes are essential to regaining lost ground.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Kristine Schachinger LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kschachinger-seo/Sitebulb: https://sitebulb.comScreaming Frog: https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/Google Incident Reporting for Ranking Issues: https://status.search.google.comSearch Engine Journal/Roger Montti - How Compression Can Be Used To Detect Low-Quality Pages: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/how-compression-can-be-used-to-detect-low-quality-pages/530916/Google Search Console (GSC): https://search.google.com/search-consoleGoogle Ranking Systems Documentation: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ranking-systems-guidehttps://www.stryde.com/diagnose-recover-google-algorithm-update/

In this episode of Seven Figures and Beyond Marketing Growth Podcast, Greg Shuey sits down with Colin Gardner, co-founder of Long Tail, to unpack the world of programmatic SEO and its transformative potential for scaling brand visibility across digital marketplaces. Colin, an economist by background with a career shaped in tech hubs like San Francisco, shares his journey through analytics roles in companies like Ancestry.com and Outdoorsy, where he developed an innovative approach to SEO. Programmatic SEO, Colin explains, is the art of deploying extensive, template-driven content that targets niche, long-tail keywords at scale—reaching audiences in specific geographies, with highly varied product or service categories. This technique contrasts traditional SEO by prioritizing broad reach over high-frequency search terms, providing brands with a cost-effective, sustainable path to boost online traffic and conversions.Colin emphasizes the importance of using the right tools and platforms to streamline programmatic SEO, which often requires specialized technical setups. Platforms like Shopify and Webflow can support programmatic SEO when enhanced by certain plugins and automation tools. Colin’s own company, Long Tail, even developed a custom plugin for Shopify to facilitate content automation, reducing the operational challenges traditionally associated with creating thousands of keyword-targeted pages. Tools such as Ahrefs and SEMrush aid in keyword research, while Airtable and WhaleSync help brands organize and sync data for content at scale. This technical ecosystem is integral to programmatic SEO, allowing brands to maximize search visibility without an extensive manual workload.The conversation highlights how programmatic SEO can be especially impactful for industries with location-based services, such as home services or vacation rentals, where demand for hyper-local search terms is high. Colin’s advice for brands considering this strategy includes leveraging AI for content creation, implementing extensive cross-linking to boost site authority, and aligning SEO efforts with PR and branding to create a unified marketing impact. By layering programmatic SEO with other channels—like social media and paid ads—brands can achieve a compounded effect, attracting a high-intent audience while lowering customer acquisition costs.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Colin Gardiner LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colingardiner/Longtail: https://longtailgrowth.com/Yonder Ventures: https://www.yonder.vc/Ahrefs: https://ahrefs.com/SEMRush: https://www.semrush.com/Webflow: https://webflow.com/Airtable: https://www.airtable.com/Whalesync: https://www.whalesync.com/ https://www.stryde.com/ecommerce-growth-with-programmatic-seo/

In this episode of the 7-Figures & Beyond Marketing, Greg Shuey welcomes Boyd Norwood, VP of Marketing at Nozzle, to discuss the evolution of search engine results pages (SERPs) and their impact on e-commerce businesses. Boyd shares insights from his 20-year career in SEO and online marketing, highlighting how SERPs have become more complex, shifting from the traditional "10 blue links" to a more intricate display of product listings, AI-generated overviews, and interactive filters. The episode explores how these changes, particularly for transactional e-commerce keywords, have transformed the way brands need to think about their SEO strategies. Boyd explains that optimizing for these various features has become crucial for brands to maintain visibility and compete effectively in an increasingly competitive SERP landscape.A key focus of the conversation is the growing significance of user-generated content, such as product reviews, in enhancing SERP rankings. Boyd emphasizes that product reviews, especially when aggregated from multiple retail sites, lend credibility and improve a brand's chances of appearing prominently in product packs and other SERP features. Greg and Boyd also explore the idea that Google is moving toward creating SERPs that resemble category pages on e-commerce sites, making it easier for users to filter and select products directly from the search engine. As these features become more prominent, businesses must ensure that their product pages are optimized with rich content, reviews, and unique insights that cater to both search engines and users.The episode also introduces Nozzle, a SERP monitoring tool that provides marketers with comprehensive data on how their brands and competitors perform across various SERP features. Boyd explains how Nozzle captures every element of the SERP, from product listings to "people also ask" boxes, enabling businesses to track, analyze, and optimize their presence in search results. This data helps marketers develop strategies to dominate specific SERP features, improve SEO performance, and stay ahead in the ever-evolving e-commerce landscape. The discussion ends with practical advice for e-commerce brands: take a step-by-step approach to optimizing for different SERP elements, ensuring consistent improvement across paid, organic, and other search-related efforts.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Boyd Norwood LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boydnorwood/Nozzle: https://nozzle.io/Ecommerce SERPs Product Results & Merchant Analysis: https://nozzle.io/blog/e-commerce-serps-product-results-and-merchant-analysis/One PAA Report To Rule Them All: https://nozzle.io/blog/one-paa-report-to-rule-them-all/Organic Product Grids: https://brodieclark.com/google-organic-product-grids/Google's New Category Page: https://searchengineland.com/retailers-google-new-category-page-447069https://www.stryde.com/analyze-dominate-search-engine-results-pages/

In this episode of the Seven Figures and Beyond Ecommerce Marketing Podcast, host Greg Shuey welcomes Nikki Lindgren, founder of Pennock, to discuss optimizing paid media strategies for lifestyle brands, especially with the holiday season approaching. Nikki shares her experience in paid media and SEO, emphasizing how the landscape has become increasingly challenging due to economic uncertainties, higher advertising costs, and shifts in consumer behavior. She highlights the trend of consumers holding back in October in anticipation of major Black Friday deals, making it crucial for brands to strategically navigate this period to avoid sales slumps. The conversation sets the stage for exploring practical ways brands can leverage paid marketing channels like Google, Meta, and TikTok to drive growth while overcoming these hurdles.Nikki emphasizes the importance of a full-funnel marketing approach that balances brand awareness and retargeting efforts. For emerging brands, she recommends prioritizing budget on high-impact, core channels rather than spreading resources too thin across multiple platforms. She points to the power of creative assets, noting that high-quality video content with strong hooks can significantly enhance ad performance. The discussion also delves into the benefits of utilizing creator-generated content, even on a limited budget, to make ads feel more organic. Nikki provides practical insights into optimizing campaigns with tools like Google’s Performance Max and Meta's Advantage+ to stay competitive in a fast-evolving landscape.Looking ahead, Nikki predicts a shift towards more granular audience targeting and intentional ad placements, contrasting the current reliance on broad machine learning-driven strategies. She believes that refining audience segments and focusing on specific customer tribes will yield better returns, especially as platforms like Google and Meta continue to expand their features for advertisers. Greg and Nikki agree that a holistic approach to marketing, which integrates paid media with organic strategies and owned channels, will become even more essential for brands aiming to maintain growth and navigate the complexities of the ecommerce space.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Nikki Lindgren LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkilindgren/Pennock: https://www.pennock.co/Bestever: https://www.bestever.ai/Soona: https://soona.co/https://www.stryde.com/leverage-paid-media-to-grow-lifestyle-brands/

In this episode of the Seven Figures and Beyond eCommerce Marketing Podcast, Greg Shuey interviews Paige Hope, the founder of Elan Pure, a non-toxic beauty and wellness brand. Paige shares her journey of launching Elan Pure, motivated by personal experiences with hormonal challenges and her sister’s autoimmune diagnosis. Frustrated by the lack of truly toxin-free beauty products, Paige created her own, starting with a non-toxic self-tanner. She explains that her mission extends beyond the products themselves, focusing on educating consumers about the connection between wellness and beauty. From the ground up, she built her brand by leveraging communities, content creators, and affiliates without relying on paid advertising in the early stages.Paige dives into the importance of community for DTC brands, defining it as a group of loyal individuals who champion the brand, even when no ads are running. For her, community includes customers, creators, affiliates, and even employees who align with the brand’s mission. She emphasizes the need for brands to take an active approach to engage with their community, ensuring that these supporters feel valued and connected to the brand's purpose. Paige explains that many brands fail by focusing only on quick fixes like Facebook ads, while neglecting the foundational work of building long-term relationships with their community.She further outlines steps for new brands to establish and nurture a community, starting with strong branding, a clear differentiator, and authentic engagement with affiliates and customers. Paige suggests that brands should prioritize thoughtful, methodical growth by investing in brand storytelling, using affiliate programs, and creating an engaging social presence. Success, she notes, isn’t immediate and requires consistent effort, but the long-term payoff is a loyal, enthusiastic customer base that supports sustainable growth beyond paid ads.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Paige Hope LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paige-jensen-hope/Elan Pure: https://elanpure.com/Pattern Creators: https://pattern.com/products/creatorshttps://www.stryde.com/building-sustainable-long-term-growth-with-communities/

In this episode of the Seven Figures and Beyond eCommerce Marketing Podcast, host Greg Shuey interviews Brittany Harvey, the founder of Vanu, a baby brand that developed an innovative multi-use lounger designed to help infants with tummy time, reflux, and gas relief. Brittany shares her unconventional journey into entrepreneurship, which included careers in education, working in PR for major brands, and even starting a restaurant in Jamaica. After becoming a mother and facing her own child’s challenges with reflux, Brittany launched Vanu, initially fulfilling orders from her garage and eventually expanding to a warehouse. She emphasizes the significance of creating products that solve real parenting challenges, which has driven the company's growth and product expansion.The main focus of the discussion is on the strategic use of VIP groups on social platforms like Facebook and Instagram to cultivate community engagement and support Vanu's growth. Brittany explains that VIP groups allow brands to connect with their audience on a more personal level by offering a space for customers, potential buyers, and content creators to interact directly with the brand. These groups foster loyalty, provide valuable customer feedback, and can be used for testing new product ideas. Brittany highlights that her initial efforts on Facebook saw limited engagement, prompting a shift to Instagram, where she discovered a much more active and responsive community. This change underscores the importance of understanding where your target audience spends their time and being willing to pivot when needed.Brittany also shares insights into maintaining the vitality of VIP groups by keeping content relevant and authentic. She engages with group members by sharing personal stories, asking for input on new product designs, and discussing topics of interest to parents, such as dealing with common baby issues. Brittany emphasizes the importance of not focusing solely on product promotion but creating a supportive environment where customers feel valued and heard. She also touches on the role of first-party data and affiliate programs in measuring group success and maintaining relationships with highly engaged customers. Despite the challenges, such as periods of low engagement or managing diverse expectations within the groups, Brittany believes VIP groups are an invaluable tool for building community and driving sustainable eCommerce growth.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Brittany Harvey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittany-harvey/Vonu: https://vonubaby.com/https://www.stryde.com/leverage-vip-groups-to-drive-revenue/

In this episode of the Seven Figures and Beyond eCommerce Marketing Podcast, host Greg Shuey welcomes John Doherty, founder of Editor Ninja, to explore the critical role of content in ecommerce marketing. Drawing on over two decades of experience in SEO and content marketing, both Greg and John emphasize the enduring need for high-quality, well-optimized content that serves both search engines and users. They highlight how essential it is for ecommerce businesses to invest in three key types of content: business-related (like press releases and case studies), educational (such as blogs and resource pages), and category pages. These content types not only improve site visibility and user engagement but also drive meaningful traffic that converts, making them foundational to a thriving ecommerce strategy.John and Greg discuss common challenges and misconceptions around content production, particularly the tendency of brands to prioritize quantity over quality. They stress that effective content should be concise, engaging, and tailored to meet both search engine requirements and user expectations, especially in a landscape increasingly influenced by AI. The conversation underscores the importance of crafting content that resonates with target audiences and aligns closely with brand identity, helping ecommerce businesses build authority and trust. Moreover, they note that content creation should not be viewed as a one-time effort; regular updates and ongoing optimization are essential for maintaining relevance and performance in search rankings.Promotion and strategic distribution of content are also key themes in their discussion. John advises brands to actively promote their content through various channels, including social media, email, and even paid placements, to maximize reach and impact. Additionally, they highlight the importance of aligning content efforts with broader business goals, ensuring that every piece of content supports revenue growth and customer acquisition objectives. As the conversation wraps up, Greg and John reflect on the evolving landscape of content marketing, emphasizing that while content will continue to be a vital component of ecommerce strategy, brands must remain adaptable and innovative to keep up with changing trends and technologies.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/John Doherty LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnfdoherty/Editor Ninja: https://editorninja.com/https://www.stryde.com/four-types-of-content-every-ecommerce-brands-needs-to-scale/

In this episode of the 7 Figures and Beyond Ecommerce Marketing Podcast, Greg Shuey welcomes Gentry Jensen of Cordova Outdoors to discuss the intricacies of purchasing an e-commerce brand. Gentry shares his journey from a Navy SEAL to a successful brand owner, highlighting his transition from corporate finance to owning Cordova Outdoors, a company specializing in high-quality coolers. The discussion delves into the considerations for buying an e-commerce brand, focusing on assessing barriers to entry, evaluating financial health, and identifying growth opportunities.Gentry emphasizes the importance of understanding a brand's barriers to entry, such as existing manufacturing capabilities and intellectual property. For Cordova, the substantial investment in manufacturing equipment and unique product features, like patented lid locks and durable handles, provided a competitive edge. He also discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the acquisition process, noting how the pandemic's disruption affected the company's operations and necessitated a strategic approach to due diligence.The conversation further explores the due diligence process, including verifying financials, assessing customer relationships, and evaluating potential growth channels like Amazon and corporate partnerships. Gentry highlights the importance of leveraging existing customer relationships and exploring new revenue streams, such as corporate gifting and OEM partnerships. The episode wraps up with insights on negotiation tactics and the challenges faced during the acquisition process, offering valuable lessons for anyone considering buying an e-commerce brand.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Gentry Jensen LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gentry-j-17b42a9/Cordova: https://cordovaoutdoors.com/https://www.stryde.com/how-to-buy-an-ecommerce-business/

In this episode of the 7 Figures and Beyond E-commerce Marketing Podcast, Greg Shuey interviews Adena Merabi from Okendo, discussing the transformative power of customer reviews, quizzes, and loyalty programs in driving website conversions and revenue growth. Adina, the partnerships team lead at Okendo, shares her insights from three years at the company, highlighting the platform's impressive growth and comprehensive suite of tools designed to help brands build engaged communities. Okendo's offerings, which include reviews, quizzes, referrals, loyalty, and surveys, aim to help brands grow faster and more efficiently by leveraging customer feedback and data.Adina emphasizes the crucial role of robust customer reviews, particularly those incorporating user-generated content (UGC), in influencing purchasing decisions and improving conversion rates. She explains how visual content and detailed customer feedback can significantly impact potential buyers, making reviews a vital part of an effective e-commerce strategy. Additionally, Adina discusses innovative ways to encourage customers to leave reviews, such as offering tiered incentives and utilizing SMS platforms like Postscript, Attentive, and Klaviyo to send review requests at optimal times.The conversation also delves into the benefits of quizzes for personalized product recommendations and the effectiveness of strategic loyalty programs. Adina describes how quizzes can gather valuable zero-party data while providing customers with tailored product suggestions, ultimately boosting conversions and average order values. She also highlights the importance of well-structured loyalty programs, with clear rules, compelling rewards, and VIP tiers, to foster customer engagement and retention. Adina underscores the need for brands to be strategic and data-driven in their approach, using personalized marketing campaigns to maximize the potential of these tools and enhance customer relationships.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Adena Merabi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adena-merabi/Okendo: https://okendo.io/https://www.stryde.com/how-to-leverage-customers-to-scale-your-d2c-revenue/

In this episode of the Seven Figures and Beyond eCommerce Marketing Podcast, Greg Shuey and Laurel Teuscher dive into strategies for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, stressing the importance of starting preparations as early as July. Laurel, the VP at Stride, shares her expertise from nine years in digital marketing, particularly in SEO and Google Ads. The discussion underscores that early planning can prevent the rush and stress associated with last-minute preparations, ensuring that brands can maximize their opportunities during the biggest shopping season of the year.The first key area discussed is the importance of evaluating and enhancing customer service and fulfillment processes. Laurel emphasizes that these two aspects can make or break the holiday season for a business. She advises brands to assess their response times, customer service methods, and fulfillment capabilities to handle increased order volumes effectively. Documenting processes and training manuals is recommended to ensure smooth operations during the high-pressure holiday period.Next, the hosts highlight the need for thorough website preparation. This includes updating product images, refining SEO efforts, and implementing A/B testing to optimize user experience and conversions. They also suggest using heat maps to understand consumer behavior and identify barriers to purchasing. By starting these preparations early, brands can ensure their websites are fully optimized to capture as much traffic and revenue as possible.Lastly, the discussion turns to paid channels and email/SMS campaigns. The importance of developing a strategic plan for paid ads, including budget allocation and timing, is emphasized. Additionally, Laurel advises cleaning up email lists, testing cadence for emails and SMS, and ensuring all automations are up to date. In November, brands should finalize and review all marketing materials, getting stakeholder approvals and scheduling ads in advance to avoid technical issues. This meticulous planning and preparation are crucial for a successful Black Friday and Cyber Monday.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Laurel Teuscher LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laureltoosure/ https://www.stryde.com/high-impact-black-friday-cyber-monday-marketing-strategies/

In this episode of the 7 Figures and Beyond podcast, host Greg Shuey invites Andrew and Victor, co-founders of the ad agency AdCrunch, to discuss their innovative approach to high-volume ad copy and creative testing for scaling brands on the Meta platform. The discussion begins with the importance of understanding the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), which serves as the foundation for all creative and ad strategies. Andrew and Victor share their journeys into the ad industry, highlighting their transition from different backgrounds to establishing a successful agency focused on growth and results-driven marketing.The heart of the episode revolves around AdCrunch’s Creative Search Protocol (CSP), a framework designed to conduct high-volume testing in a strategic and intentional manner. Victor explains that the CSP framework is not about randomly testing numerous variations but about systematically understanding the pain points of the target audience and addressing them through various creative iterations. This method allows brands to identify the most effective messaging quickly and efficiently, ensuring that the ad spend is optimized for maximum impact.Greg, Andrew, and Victor delve into the practical aspects of ad testing, discussing metrics like hook rates and hold rates, which are critical for gauging the effectiveness of ad creatives. They emphasize the need for brands to move beyond a narrow focus on brand consistency and to embrace a more experimental approach on platforms like Meta. By doing so, brands can discover new, valuable elements to incorporate into their branding strategy. Andrew also shares insights on managing ad variations using structured naming conventions and levels of testing to keep the process organized and data-driven.The episode concludes with a discussion on future trends in Meta advertising, particularly the potential for AI integration to enhance ad performance. Despite the rapid technological advancements, Andrew and Victor stress the importance of sticking to foundational marketing principles—understanding the customer and crafting compelling messages that address their needs. They also touch on the challenges and opportunities in other platforms like TikTok and the importance of maintaining a holistic view of the paid traffic ecosystem. This comprehensive discussion provides valuable insights for brand owners and marketers looking to scale their businesses through effective ad strategies on Meta.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Victor Vo LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victorvo/Andrew DiLullo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-dilullo-481222bb/Ad Crunch: https://www.adcrunchdigital.com/Ad Crunch Hook Sheet Templatehttps://www.stryde.com/scaling-your-brand-on-meta/

In this episode of the 7 Figures and Beyond podcast, Greg Shuey interviews Jonathan Johnson, the former chairman and CEO of Overstock.com. The episode focuses on building partnerships and alliances to accelerate D2C growth, particularly in the face of current economic challenges. Jonathan Johnson brings his extensive experience to the discussion, highlighting how strategic partnerships can create significant opportunities for brand growth and market expansion. He emphasizes the importance of ensuring that partnerships are mutually beneficial and align with the goals of both parties involved.Jonathan Johnson outlines six key areas where partnerships can be particularly effective: increasing brand awareness, strengthening brand identity, expanding demographics, creating buzz, building trust and customer loyalty, and exciting and delighting customers. He provides real-world examples of successful collaborations, such as SMEG’s partnership with Dolce & Gabbana, GoPro with Red Bull, and IKEA with Virgil Abloh. These examples illustrate how seemingly unconventional alliances can yield substantial benefits when executed thoughtfully.The conversation also delves into Overstock's own strategic partnerships. Johnson shares insights from Overstock's history, such as their early collaboration with Palm Pilot, which helped establish Overstock in the electronics market, and their innovative partnership with the Humane Society, which boosted sales in the pet product category. Another notable example is Overstock's acceptance of Bitcoin in partnership with Coinbase, which opened the company to a new demographic of tech-savvy, younger customers. These case studies underscore the importance of creative thinking and willingness to explore new opportunities in forming successful alliances.Finally, Johnson offers practical advice for brands looking to establish partnerships. He emphasizes the need to clearly define the mutual benefits, assess the practical and logistical challenges, and set measurable metrics for success. He also advises bringing excitement and enthusiasm to the pitch, as genuine passion can significantly impact the outcome. As the episode concludes, Johnson shares his cautious optimism for the economic outlook, suggesting that while 2024 may be challenging, there are opportunities for growth, particularly for those willing to invest in strategic partnerships and alliances.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Jonathan Johnson LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanjohnson3/https://www.stryde.com/building-partnerships-alliances-to-accelerate-growth/

In this episode of the 7 Figures and Beyond podcast, host Greg Shuey delves into the complexities of email retargeting in the evolving landscape of new sending requirements from Gmail and Yahoo. Greg is joined by Michael Diesu, the CEO of Revenue Roll, a tech company specializing in identity resolution for e-commerce brands. The episode kicks off with an introduction to Revenue Roll's technology, which helps e-commerce brands target previously unidentified visitors on their websites, effectively bringing them into the conversion funnel.Michael shares his journey, highlighting his background in strategy consulting at Accenture and his co-founders' experiences at Google and in the ad agency sphere. Together, they recognized the impending challenges posed by the removal of third-party tracking and founded Revenue Roll to address these issues. The core of the discussion centers around the new email sending requirements, specifically the stringent spam rate limits set by Gmail and Yahoo, and how these regulations impact email marketing strategies.Greg and Michael critique the effectiveness of the new sending requirements, noting an increase in email spam despite the intended purpose of reducing it. They emphasize the importance of compliance, detailing how brands must adopt new authentication measures like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to ensure their emails are not marked as spam. The conversation explores practical steps for e-commerce brands to future-proof their email marketing, such as owning multiple domains, aggressive list cleaning, and leveraging secondary domains for colder audiences to mitigate risks.As the discussion progresses, Michael outlines long-term strategies for maintaining compliance and optimizing email campaigns under the new regulations. He underscores the necessity for brands to segment their email marketing from regular business communications to protect their primary domains. The episode wraps up with insights into the future of ad targeting and the increasing importance of first-party data collection. Greg and Michael agree that e-commerce brands need to prioritize data-driven strategies to navigate the tightening privacy laws and evolving marketing landscape.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Michael Diesu LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-diesu/Revenue Roll: https://www.revenueroll.com/https://www.stryde.com/google-yahoo-sending-requirements/

In episode 33 of the "7 Figures and Beyond" podcast, Greg Shuey hosts Mike Begg from AMZ Advisors to delve into the world of Amazon marketing funnels. Mike shares his background, transitioning from a career in consulting and real estate to founding an agency specializing in Amazon marketing. He details how his experience working on a project with Amazon at Sears sparked his interest in e-commerce and led to his current focus. Mike's journey underscores the importance of adaptability and finding opportunities in unexpected places, setting the stage for a discussion on Amazon's marketing potential.The conversation highlights the concept of Amazon Funnels, illustrating how traditional marketing funnel principles apply within the Amazon ecosystem. Mike explains that Amazon functions as a significant part of the broader marketing funnel due to its dominance in product searches and customer trust. He emphasizes that understanding and leveraging this funnel—from awareness to consideration, conversion, and loyalty—can significantly enhance a brand's performance on the platform. The discussion reveals that starting from the bottom of the funnel, focusing on ready-to-buy customers, and gradually moving up to build broader awareness can yield effective results.Mike elaborates on the high conversion rates on Amazon compared to other e-commerce platforms, attributing this success to the trust and reliability associated with Amazon Prime. He outlines key strategies for driving top-of-funnel traffic, including Amazon's powerful advertising capabilities and affiliate marketing through publications and influencers. These methods not only increase visibility but also optimize the cost-efficiency of customer acquisition. Additionally, Mike discusses the importance of optimizing product listings with compelling images, detailed descriptions, and A+ content to improve click-through and conversion rates.The discussion moves towards the middle and bottom of the funnel, where Mike explains tactics for keeping potential customers engaged and driving conversions. Sponsored brands, sponsored displays, and retargeting ads play a crucial role in maintaining brand visibility and consideration. Mike also addresses the challenges brands face when managing large catalogs and creating consistent, high-quality content. He suggests leveraging third-party tools and possibly AI to streamline these processes. The episode concludes with insights on the evolving landscape of e-commerce, with Mike predicting continued growth for Amazon despite emerging competition from platforms like TikTok. He advises brands to focus on building robust funnels and leveraging data to navigate and succeed on Amazon's platform.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Mike Begg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbegg/AMZ Advisers: https://amzadvisers.com/https://www.stryde.com/amazon-marketing-funnels/

In this episode of the 7 Figures and Beyond podcast, Greg Shuey hosts Jon Ivanco, the founder of Formtoro. Jon discusses his extensive marketing background, from his early days in traditional marketing to his experiences with social media and smart home products. He shares insights into his journey, highlighting his time with Lifx, a smart bulb company, where he transitioned from sales to marketing, leveraging social media and partnership marketing to build brand awareness. Jon’s diverse experiences have shaped his understanding of the importance of logical and data-driven marketing strategies.Jon delves into the significance of pre-purchase customer data, emphasizing how collecting and analyzing this data can inform marketing strategies for direct-to-consumer brands. He explains how Form Toro helps brands gather valuable insights during the high-intent sign-up phase, which can then be used to tailor marketing efforts more effectively. Jon also highlights the challenges brands face with current customer journey practices, criticizing the overcomplication and misattribution issues caused by various SaaS applications. He argues that many brands focus too much on the company journey rather than the customer journey.One of the key innovations Jon discusses is the concept of frictionless forms, which automatically apply discounts during the shopping process, reducing friction and enhancing the customer experience. He explains that this approach addresses common pain points, such as the cumbersome process of entering coupon codes at checkout. By streamlining this process, frictionless forms can significantly improve conversion rates and customer satisfaction. Jon also touches on the importance of clear communication and high-quality content, such as videos and detailed product descriptions, in creating a seamless shopping experience.Looking to the future, Jon predicts that forms will eventually replace welcome series, allowing for real-time data collection and personalized landing pages. He stresses the need for brands to continually adapt their marketing strategies, particularly in the realm of paid advertising, to stay competitive. Jon also warns against relying too heavily on metrics without understanding the larger context, advocating for a more holistic approach to marketing that considers long-term impacts. He concludes by emphasizing the importance of questioning marketing practices and focusing on building sustainable, logical strategies that prioritize the customer experience.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Jon Ivanco LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jivanco/Formtoro: https://www.formtoro.com/https://www.stryde.com/frictionless-forms-how-to-improve-your-customer-journey-conversion-rates/

In this episode of the 7 Figures and Beyond podcast, host Greg Shuey welcomes Will Laurenson from Customers Who Click, an agency specializing in conversion rate and customer revenue optimization. They kick off the episode by discussing Will’s background and journey into the world of CRO, sharing how he moved from general marketing to a focused approach on improving customer journeys and maximizing revenue. Will shares stories from his early career experiences at startups, highlighting the common issues he faced with inefficient marketing strategies and how these led him to delve deeper into CRO practices.Will explains the concept of customer revenue optimization, emphasizing that it goes beyond simply improving conversion rates. Instead, it focuses on increasing revenue per user by looking at metrics like average order value (AOV) and overall customer experience. He stresses the importance of aligning upsell and cross-sell strategies with customer needs, using relevant data to make personalized recommendations. This approach ensures that the suggested products genuinely add value to the customer, thereby increasing the likelihood of purchase and enhancing customer satisfaction.The conversation shifts to the topic of product returns, a critical yet often overlooked aspect of revenue optimization. Will advocates for a proactive approach to managing returns, which includes clear product descriptions to disqualify unsuitable buyers and post-purchase engagement to address any issues early. He cites examples of companies successfully reducing returns by providing detailed instructions and support, ensuring customers know how to use the product correctly. This not only reduces costs associated with returns but also enhances customer loyalty and trust.Finally, they discuss the broader role of customer experience in driving long-term business growth. Will emphasizes the need for brands to go beyond the initial sale and focus on creating positive experiences that encourage repeat purchases and customer advocacy. He suggests practical ways to gather and utilize customer feedback, such as surveys and direct interactions, to continuously refine and improve the customer journey. By integrating these insights across all touchpoints, brands can create a cohesive and engaging experience that drives higher lifetime value and sustained growth.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Will Laurensn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/willlaurenson/Customers Who Click: https://www.customerswhoclick.com/https://www.stryde.com/customer-revenue-optimization-to-scale-your-growth/

In this episode of the 7 Figures and Beyond podcast, host Greg Shuey interviews Altay Malazgirt from Go Audience, a platform designed to help e-commerce brands acquire new customers through the innovative use of credit card spending data. The episode opens with an introduction to Altay and his journey from a diverse international background to becoming a founding member of Go Audience. Altay shares insights into how the platform leverages credit card data to identify high-potential customers, offering a fresh approach to prospecting that can drive top-of-funnel growth for e-commerce brands.The conversation delves into the complexities of managing customer acquisition costs on Meta platforms, a significant pain point for many brands. Altay explains how recent changes in data privacy regulations, such as the iOS 14 update, have drastically altered the digital advertising landscape. These changes have limited the ability to track and target users with precision, leading to increased frustration and higher customer acquisition costs. He emphasizes that while Meta’s algorithms still retain the data, they now control ad placement and visibility, reducing advertisers' direct access to valuable insights.To navigate these challenges, Altay stresses the importance of utilizing first-party data to build precise custom audiences. He highlights the need for a dual approach of rapid creative and audience testing to optimize marketing strategies effectively. This method helps brands understand what resonates with their audience and adjust their campaigns accordingly. By leveraging platforms like Go Audience, which can provide detailed data on consumer spending habits, brands can more accurately target their ideal customers and potentially reduce acquisition costs.The discussion also touches on the evolving role of AI in digital marketing. While AI can analyze vast amounts of data and provide critical insights, Altay believes that human expertise is still crucial for making strategic decisions. Looking ahead, Altay predicts that data privacy regulations will continue to tighten, making it even more important for brands to adapt and utilize available tools to maintain effective marketing strategies. The episode concludes with a preview of the next guest, Will Laurencin, who will discuss strategies for optimizing conversion rates and customer revenue, promising another insightful session for listeners.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Altay Malazgirt LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/altaymalazgirt/GoAudience.com: https://goaudience.com/https://www.stryde.com/how-to-scale-meta-ads-lower-cac-first-party-data/

In this episode of the 7 Figures and Beyond podcast, Greg Shuey interviews Alex Vailas, Senior Vice President of Brand Marketing for Dyper.com. Alex discusses her background and the rapid growth of Dyper.com, a plant-based diaper company, over the past five years. Initially focused on direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales through their website and Amazon, Dyper.com has expanded into retail, including major stores like Walmart and Whole Foods. The conversation centers on the challenges and strategies involved in maintaining cohesive brand messaging while transitioning from DTC to retail.Alex explains that a significant challenge in the transition to retail was adapting their packaging for the retail environment. Their initial packaging, designed for online sales, did not effectively communicate the brand’s value proposition on store shelves. This led to confusion among consumers, who often misinterpreted the brand name and doubted the efficacy of their eco-friendly products. Through quick adjustments and extensive consumer research, Dyper.com rebranded their packaging, emphasizing their name and product benefits more clearly, which improved brand recognition and trial rates in retail stores.Greg and Alex also discuss the importance of consumer research and strategic planning in making the leap to retail. Alex emphasizes the need for both quantitative and qualitative consumer insights to understand how packaging and messaging resonate with shoppers. She also highlights the necessity of benchmarking brand awareness and consideration before entering retail to measure the impact accurately. Moreover, aligning organizational goals and ensuring clear communication within the team are vital steps in maintaining brand cohesion across different sales channels.The podcast concludes with a discussion on the importance of personalized customer experiences and the future of retail. Alex notes that while retail offers significant growth opportunities, DTC channels have the advantage of providing a more personalized shopping experience. Dyper.com's development of an app tailored to the needs of their customers is an example of leveraging technology to enhance engagement and retention. Looking ahead, Alex predicts that retail will continue to grow due to its price advantages, but DTC will remain strong due to its ability to offer unique, personalized experiences. She advises brands to carefully strategize their retail entry and prioritize maintaining their core values and customer focus.Episode LinksGreg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/Alex Vailas LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-vailas/Dyper.com: https://dyper.com/https://www.stryde.com/how-to-keep-cohesion-of-brand-d2c-retail/