E-commerce marketing strategies & customer retention with Blake Imperl (Former VP of Marketing, Carro)

Blake Imperl, former VP of Marketing at Carro and current VP of Marketing at Digioh, joins Retention Chronicles for episode 21 of season 4. Noah, Mariah, & Blake kick off the episode with Blake’s birthday running tradition, starting his career consulting for digital marketing, and working with paid media across multiple brands to drive $13 million in email & SMS retention marketing. 

Now of course, we recognize the ecommerce community is probably very familiar with Blake Imperl, but if you’re not, we highly recommend you tune in to hear his opinions around how the Shopify & Shopify Plus ecosystem works and is constantly changing. 

Blake shares how the Shopify & Shopify Plus ecosystem is currently seeking more of an emphasis on retention because now it’s difficult to be profitable whereas before, brands could make up the difference on the backend. Blake provides examples of how Carro helps brands increase LTV (lifetime value) and AOV (average order volume) while lowering CAC (customer acquisition cost) by getting in front of customers in a more efficient way. 

Humanizing the shopping experience so there’s a deep connection with customers brings an element to DTC brands that retailers don’t often experience, and there’s a lot that goes into it. It might be a difficult thing to measure, but it’s worth pursuing. Blake shares how showing up in the social feed and having something interesting to say captivates a lot of attention, and it’s valuable attention. 

We’re in the thick of the holiday season, so Blake shares his BFCM brand must-haves. He recommends brands set up their transactional emails and SMS marketing campaigns in a smart way. Don’t risk it all, SMS automations are expensive, so be intentional with your segmentation and design and don’t bombard your customers. Every unsubscribe in 2023 is lost revenue in 2024. 

This podcast is sponsored by Malomo, a leading shipment and order tracking platform for Shopify and Shopify Plus ecommerce brands. 

To see what your custom mockup of branded order tracking and transactional email/SMS would look like, fill out this form & we’ll send your custom design right to your inbox!

Episode Timestamps:

Running, ultra-marathons, and personal limits: 4:07

Career path and e-commerce experience: 7:25

Unconventional career path in marketing and partnerships: 13:27

Applying b2c marketing strategies to b2b marketing: 16:29

Humanizing B2B content through authenticity and emotion: 22:01

Leveraging collaborative commerce platform to increase sales and reduce costs: 25:12

Using marketplace to drive sales and growth: 30:05

Using marketplaces to test new products and increase revenue: 32:55

E-commerce marketing strategies and customer retention: 40:25

Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing strategies: 43:53

LinkedIn strategy and content creation: 49:16