Ecommerce Playbook: Numbers, Struggles & Growth
Common Thread Collective
2020 transformed the world of ecommerce forever.
For the modern DTC brand, the rewards have never been greater. But the waters have also never been choppier, and the way forward has never been more uncertain.
So how do you navigate this dangerous new reality?
No matter how you do it, you’d better not do it alone.
That’s where the Ecommerce Playbook Podcast comes in — join Common Thread Collective’s Taylor Holiday & Richard Gaffin as they bring you guiding insights from across CTC’s portfolio of growing DTC businesses.
Whether you need a clear view on the macro issues affecting the world of ecommerce, or want to reorient your business around groundbreaking new big-picture strategies, Taylor & Richard are here to help answer the tough questions about what it takes to scale — and sustain — an ecommerce business.
For the modern DTC brand, the rewards have never been greater. But the waters have also never been choppier, and the way forward has never been more uncertain.
So how do you navigate this dangerous new reality?
No matter how you do it, you’d better not do it alone.
That’s where the Ecommerce Playbook Podcast comes in — join Common Thread Collective’s Taylor Holiday & Richard Gaffin as they bring you guiding insights from across CTC’s portfolio of growing DTC businesses.
Whether you need a clear view on the macro issues affecting the world of ecommerce, or want to reorient your business around groundbreaking new big-picture strategies, Taylor & Richard are here to help answer the tough questions about what it takes to scale — and sustain — an ecommerce business.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jun 3, 2021 • 14min
The Downside of Tactical Marketing
Andrew Faris — CEO of 4x400 — shares the real-life numbers, struggles, and everything in between when running multiple ecommerce businesses.
On today's episode, Andrew shares the upside and downsides of approaching business decision-making from a tactical and data-driven lens, rather than via brand marketing efforts.
4x400 is an ecommerce holding company that acquires, launches, and grows DTC brands (owned by Common Thread Collective). That means you’ll get to go behind the scenes into the raw truths. Even if it sounds crazy, this is the unpolished story: from failures to successes, from “the high highs to the low lows.”
May 27, 2021 • 27min
Should We Have A Sale?
Should you run a sale to earn some cash in the short-term or work on a longer-term plan instead?
Today's episode will answer that question and bring you in on the thinking behind how we weigh strategic decision-making for our businesses.
May 20, 2021 • 16min
Simple Email Segmentation You Should Implement Right Now
Today's episode focuses on the importance of traffic channel diversity. More specifically, we share an easy-to-implement email segmentation strategy that our team is seeing great results with and how you can replicate that for your own brand.
May 13, 2021 • 22min
You Need To Get Serious About Search Ads
On today's episode, we cover a topic that we've never talked about on the podcast before ... Search Engine Marketing.
In host, Andrew Faris's words: "Is there anything less sexy in marketing?"
It might not be sexy, but we will get tactical. Here's how we're approaching SEM strategy, why we're doing it, and how to get it right.
May 5, 2021 • 1h 13min
How To Build An Anti-Fragile Business
What kind of businesses aren't afraid? What kind of businesses actually get better under pressure? What kind of businesses will thrive in the aftermath of iOS 14.5?
We answer these questions and share how to build an anti-fragile ecommerce brand in our monthly installment of the "One Topic with Taylor" series featuring Taylor Holiday, CEO of Common Thread Collective.
May 3, 2021 • 19min
iOS 14.5 Is Here
The immediate rollout of Apple's iOS 14.5 is finally here. These are our first major impressions and how it's preliminarily affected our Facebook ad accounts.
Apr 22, 2021 • 21min
3 Things I Suck At
Weakness is reality. Especially in business. We acknowledge that in this episode and share how to solve for weaknesses as a leader and within areas of your own business.
Show Notes:
"Accounting for Ecommerce Businesses: 61 Resources that Could Save You +$1.3M" via https://bit.ly/3niHaV5
Apr 15, 2021 • 24min
Resource Allocation
On this week’s episode we answer a question submitted by one of our listeners: how to build your resources against the best possible outcomes.
Apr 8, 2021 • 31min
Capture The Demand You Generate
In this episode, we share one of our most crucial digital marketing lessons — the relationship between demand generation and demand capture.
Show Notes:
We originally put together this video for Black Friday, but we explain the delayed attribution concept brought up in today's episode further here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saQk-67X73w
Apr 1, 2021 • 1h 1min
How to Launch a Product on Kickstarter
We launched a new product on Kickstarter (which we've never done before) and it went well! Following the launch, we’re sharing how to set up a successful campaign along with the steps we took to do so.
Featuring guest, David Rekuc, VP of New Brands at 4x400
Show Notes:
• The Modern Fuel Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/andrewsanderson/adjustable-bolt-action-pen
• Dave's Pricing Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16hSDSJKMi8UWmw4WG5cHHTpzYzvXicPAC6kj1atHBpg/edit?usp=sharing
• Successful Ad #1: https://fb.me/2SNaw1L3JjSS46W
• Successful Ad #2: https://fb.me/1ERbtXYQ7MMwMU9
• Dave's Twitter Feed: https://twitter.com/DaveRekuc
