Ecommerce Playbook: Numbers, Struggles & Growth - podcast cover

Ecommerce Playbook: Numbers, Struggles & Growth

Common Thread Collectivewww.commonthreadco.com
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.
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Episodes

Taylor & Andrew Build An Organic Marketing Flywheel

We're back with the monthly installment of "One Topic with Taylor". This week on the show, we're going to do a thought-exercise about how to extend brand success beyond Facebook advertising & build an organic marketing flywheel. Shownotes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F2yzttpbgE

Nov 12, 202042 min

5 Holiday Tactics It's Not Too Late To Try (S2: E17)

You don’t have time to read this episode description, because Black Friday is right around the corner! So, we'll be quick – today's episode will teach you five holiday marketing tactics it’s not too late to try.

Nov 05, 202016 min

Product First, Brand Impact Second (S2: E16)

We’re diving back into the story of 31 Bits, one of our newly acquired ethical jewelry brands. From its acquisition to proving viability, the growth journey has been a struggle. This week, we’re taking a whole new approach – making changes that center in part on talking less about the brand’s impact in the world, and more on how great the product is. Here’s how we’re approaching this new strategy.

Nov 02, 202023 min

We Acquired Our 6th Brand: Modern Fuel

This episode, we have an exciting announcement to make… 🎉 We’ve acquired our 6th brand: Modern Fuel 🎉 From its founder story to early-stage strategy, we cover all things brand acquisition on today’s episode. Shownotes: - Sadie’s Design Tweets: https://twitter.com/sadielewski/status/1314744909237309440 - Dave’s Modern Fuel Growth Plan: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZxDKtAdB5ysKNvftEYNKyUiONekwvs8lgD8LgjUGqVU/edit?usp=sharing

Oct 21, 20201 hr 2 min

One Topic With Taylor: Is Discounting Bad For Your Brand?

Back by popular demand, is the second monthly installment of “One Topic with Taylor” series on the Ecommerce Playbook Podcast. CEO of Common Thread Collective, Taylor Holiday and host, Andrew Faris get together (*socially distant) to talk about a highly debated subject: whether or not your brand should discount. Shownotes: - ​DigitallyNative’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/digitallynativ/status/1315290781679325185?ck_subscriber_id=942738930 ​- CTC's Analysis Of Great Brands’ Discounting: https://co...

Oct 14, 202033 min

We Ran Out Of Inventory Somehow (S2: E15)

The ongoing narrative of what it’s like to run a new ecommerce business goes something like this: 1. Trying to prove brand viability in the early stages 2. Failing and learning post-launch 3. Then finally, growth If you’ve been following along on the Ecommerce Playbook Podcast, then you’ll know that our brand 31 Bits has been hovering around “step 2” on that list. And if there’s any indication on how it’s going, host Andrew Faris’s quote from this week’s episode says it all – “I was hoping I was...

Sep 30, 202015 min

Signs of Life (S2: E14)

You read that title correctly – we have signs of life in the ad account of our newly acquired brand 31 Bits. We've had some bumps in the road getting the brand off the ground, but this week we may have finally solved it's problems. Here's how.

Sep 24, 202025 min

We Relaunched Our Ad Campaign. And It’s Going Badly. (S2:E13)

From acquisition, to relaunch, to this episode. Every weekly episode of the Ecommerce Playbook Podcast up until this point has been leadup to this moment. Our newly acquired brand, 31 Bits, is a fully-built player in the ecommerce space. But, even though this is one of our favorite growth phases – brand redesign, supply chain locked down, etc – that doesn’t mean scaling it through ads going well. Actually, it’s going badly. Here’s why.

Sep 17, 202016 min

One Topic With Taylor: Where Did The Marketing Campaign Go?

The first in a new monthly episode – CEO of Common Thread Collective, Taylor Holiday and host, Andrew Faris each bring one topic they've been wrestling with over the last month and talk it through. Shownote Resources: 1. QALO "Mark Of A Maker" Quality Campaign: https://bit.ly/2ZodSJZ 2. QALO "Mark Of A Maker" Quality Campaign Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5f7-ObdsvQ 3. Western Rise "Wear From Anywhere" Campaign: https://bit.ly/2Zk1dHN 4. "Mud Bogging" Facebook Group: https://business.f...

Sep 10, 202052 min

Failure To Relaunch (S2: E12)

The episode title pretty much says it all … But, when we started this podcast, we committed to sharing it all – the raw numbers, struggles, and growth. And after our brand relaunch for 31 Bits did not go as planned, there’s an emphasis on the “struggle” piece of our podcast title. Here’s what happened.

Sep 03, 202015 min

We Solved Slick's #1 Problem (S2:E10)

Our brand, Slick Products, just had it’s biggest. win. ever. That’s because we (finally) solved the problem of customer retention. How? This Richard Thaler quote — a Nobel Prize winning economist — from our new episode of the Ecommerce Playbook Podcast sums it up: “If you want someone to do something, then make it easy.” Seriously though, this realization may have unlocked the account for us. And we’re still grasping what just happened. P.S. These are the exact assets we used in the campaign dis...

Aug 20, 202021 min

Growth vs. Profit: How the Age Old Debate Is Unfolding (S2:E9)

On this week’s episode of the Ecommerce Playbook Podcast, we talk about the challenge of sorting out profit vs. growth. Truthfully, it’s something we battle with for our own brand (Bambu Earth), but we know we’re not alone. It's a live issue for many operators. Knowing that, we get really transparent and talk a lot about the numbers – so that you can take these learnings and apply them to your own brand.

Aug 13, 202022 min

Building A Brand Homepage: Design & Copywriting Strategies (S2: E8)

We are right on the cusp of rolling out all the work we’ve put in to get our newly acquired brand, 31 Bits, firing on all cylinders. That’s because we've just finished building out 31 Bit’s new homepage. For this week’s update, we’re taking a break from the numbers and focusing on the marketing substructure of our homepage – telling you the “why” behind strategic design and copywriting decisions onsite.

Aug 06, 202025 min

The Headaches & Rewards of Building an Ethical Supply Chain (S2: E7)

The challenge and beauty of our newly acquired brand, 31 Bits, centers on its mission of ethical manufacturing. While we’re always striving for ethical business decisions, it doesn’t mean business ethics are easy. When applied to the supply chain, a list of challenges can ensue, but the rewards are worth it. On today’s episode of the Ecommerce Playbook Podcast – Andrew Faris interviews Rob Clemons, Director of Supply Chain at 4x400 – about setting up a supply chain that is “ruthlessly focused on...

Jul 30, 202038 min

Resisting The Tyranny Of The Urgent (S2:E6)

C.S. Lewis said it first, and we’re seconding it today on the Ecommerce Playbook Podcast. Regardless of what the gurus say, jumpstarting revenue isn’t necessarily easy – especially coming off the back of a new brand acquisition. And, to be frank, revenue for our brand 31 Bits is getting destroyed right now. But, here’s why we’re not too worried about it ... [ BONUS: If you’re interested in diving into this story even more, here’s a link to what 31 Bit’s gameplan calendar looks like: https://cdn....

Jul 23, 202020 min

Product Development By The Numbers (S2:E4)

On today’s episode of the Ecommerce Playbook Podcast we’re talking about the product development approach for 31 Bits. It’s built not just on what we think looks good – but, on what fits the unit economic approach we’re going after.

Jul 08, 202018 min

The 4 Steps To Fix Conversion Rate (S2:E3)

We’ve analyzed the problem, now it’s time to fix it. But, before we get to any solutions, we have one last question about conversion rate to answer… From website session to add-to-cart to initiate checkout to purchase – where did visitors drop off in the funnel? Once we determined the answer, we came up with a 4-step plan to fix conversion rate. As an added bonus, here's the Strategy Deck for 31 Bits: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1unKoo-tmjOC9BIx0YuFix4EAPdNGLqj8/view?usp=sharing

Jul 02, 202018 min

How Do We Know If We're Successful?(S2:E2)

On today’s episode of the Ecommerce Playbook Podcast, we’re defining success, putting a number on it, and pointing to metrics that indicate it. As we walk you through the journey of both acquiring and growing a business in real-time for this new season, one thing is still clear – you’re learning it, while we’re learning it.

Jun 25, 202013 min

The Exact Plan For Growing Our Brand (S2:E1)

Welcome to Season 2 of the Ecommerce Playbook Podcast! Coming off the back of acquiring a new brand, this season will focus on pulling back the veil of how we approach growing a business from the ground up. First up, how we solve the problem of customer acquisition.

Jun 18, 202015 min

Stop Running Small Tests (Episode 15)

There’s big business opportunities in front of you if you stop with the small stuff. How big? Well, let’s just put it this way: our brand Slick Products had one of it’s highest revenue days ever this past weekend… … and on today’s episode we’ll tell you exactly how we did it.

May 28, 202018 min

The ONE Thing We Have To Do To Win For 31 Bits (Episode 14)

Fresh off of the new acquisition of ethical fashion brand, 31 Bits, into the 4x400 portfolio – we talk about the ONE metric that will determine our destiny with the brand. We could either get this right, or get it really wrong. Listen now.

May 21, 202019 min

Should We Buy 6x The Inventory We Bought A Month Ago? (Episode 12)

Today on the Ecommerce Playbook Podcast, we talk about one of our brands that’s finding remarkable success in the age of coronavirus, the exact tactics we used to double it’s ad performance, the implications of it on our cash system… … And why that is absolutely terrifying. Seriously, the implications of it on the rest of our business are straight-up scary. So (as always), here’s the real numbers, struggles and growth behind our business.

May 07, 202016 min

This Moment Won't Last, Maximize It (Episode 10)

At 4x400 our brands are winning big. And for many brands in the ecommerce space, it’s like Black Friday all over again. This week on the Ecommerce Playbook, Andrew Faris talks about the insanity of the moment we are in right now and has a very simple piece of advice for you: don’t wait, maximize it.

Apr 23, 202014 min
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