In this episode, we break down what it actually means to define a high-performing ad creative strategy, and why doing so is essential to unlocking sustainable growth on Meta. We walk through Cody’s 10-point creative framework for shaping the ad strategy at Jones Road Beauty, diving into why creative should be treated as targeting, how to escape Met…

In this episode of Marketing Operators, we get into a mix of marketing topics that are top of mind for us this week, plus we answer a listener question from the MOperators Hotline. First, we break down Meta’s Conversion Lift Testing, including how it measures ad performance, its limitations, and when it’s most useful for your business. We also disc…

Email marketing isn’t dead - but it can often be done better. Today we’re joined by Karly Craig, author of Email Is Not Dead and seasoned ecommerce operator, to talk about the email marketing strategies that actually drive revenue. Karly shares why most brands are underutilising flows, especially when it comes to welcome sequences and post-purchase…

Last week, a video featuring Saratoga water went viral - and the brand’s response, or lack thereof, got the ecom and marketing twitter world into a frenzy, with people calling them out for wasting a massive viral moment. We break down what we would’ve done as Saratoga’s CMO: how to respond to earned media moments, what brands should consider in vir…

How do you set KPIs that actually drive results? And how do you structure reporting and meetings to keep your team aligned and effective? In this episode, we break down how we set, track, and adjust KPIs, how we use reporting to make smarter decisions, and how we run meetings that keep everyone accountable without wasting time. We discuss how trans…

Scaling with Meta ads isn’t as simple as running purchase conversion campaigns anymore and as the platform evolves, marketers need new strategies to drive true incremental growth. Many brands are ealizing that Meta’s algorithm has shifted towards targeting people already in-market, making it harder to reach truly new customers at scale, leading to …

It’s a full house today with Cody back, and we’ve got a jam-packed episode - first up, the Tacovas Ad that’s got the marketing world talking - does brand marketing like this really drive growth? We discuss the line between long-term brand building and immediate performance results, and explore how top DTC brands are navigating that balance. We also…

This week, it’s a Connor Special as we’re joined by Connor Dault, VP of Growth & Digital Product at Caraway, to discuss the role of digital product in DTC growth and how it intersects with performance marketing, UX, and conversion. We dive into Caraway’s strategic response to HexClad’s Super Bowl ad, why digital product isn’t just CRO and how Caraw…

Today, we’re joined by Aaron Paul, founder of Paul Street, to explore how top DTC brands are leveraging affiliate marketing to drive massive growth - and where many go wrong. Aaron shares his insights from working with leading brands like Onnit, Goli Nutrition, and HelloFresh. We discuss what’s working in affiliate marketing today, why media-buying…

HexClad just pulled off one of their biggest marketing plays so far - a Super Bowl Ad - but this wasn’t just about airing a commercial during the big game, it was a multi-layered, cross-platform campaign designed to maximize impact beyond a single TV spot. In this episode, Connor and Connor break down how the HexClad team made it happen, from choos…

Today we are joined by a member of the Operators family, Matt Bertulli, CEO of Pela Case and Lomi, to talk all things marketing. Jumping off fromSean Frank’s tweet questioning if meta is still incremental, we get deep into the nuance of paid media and how it’s shifting, the increasing challenges of reaching new customers on Meta, and why the old pl…

Today we’re diving into the second part of our hiring series, this time focusing on onboarding and how to set up your new hires for success from day one. We discuss how to get the best out of your new hires as quickly as possible, how to integrate them seamlessly into your team and culture, some common onboarding issues and challenges we’ve experie…

This week we’re talking hiring for high-growth ecommerce teams. We’re sharing insights on how to know when to hire, why buying back your time is essential for leadership, org chart design and how it evolves over time, and we share some real-life scenarios and challenges we’ve experienced when growing our teams. If you’re struggling with your team s…

Today, we’re diving into one of the most hotly debated topics in performance marketing: creative testing volume. Should you prioritize scaling creative volume or focus on quality? In this episode, we share how we’re approaching creative testing, how our strategies have evolved over time, what we’re budgeting for creative, when more isn’t always bet…

In this episode, Cody and Connor dive into the hottest DTC predictions for 2025, discussing everything from the rise and fall of AppLovin to the transformative impact of AI on customer experience and ad creative. They share their thoughts on outsourcing and the shift to global teams, the evolution and consolidation of SaaS tools, strategies for sca…

In this episode, we’re breaking down the influencer marketing strategies we’re using this year. From product seeding to scaling creator partnerships, we’re talking about EMV and how to measure it affectively, how to maximise spend on influencers for maximum ROI, and strategies for whitelisting, affiliate deals and paid creator partnerships. If you …

It’s a full house today, and we’re joined by Shane Rostad to talk CRO. Shane’s recently launched his own brand as co-founder of Cheeky, a new creator-led brand that smashed its launch with 10k orders in its first month. In today’s ep we’re talking about brand positioning and messaging, how to drive LTV and boost AOV with strategic post-purchase ups…

Today we are joined by Dan McCormick, co-founder and CEO of Create Wellness. Create went from zero to $20M+ in revenue in just two years with only six-full time employees, and today he’s sharing what those roles are and how he went about building his high-leverage DTC business. We discuss the power of positioning, agency vs. in-house teams, the fut…

Today we are getting into the hottest new ad channel in ecommerce right now - AppLovin. We discuss how we’ve been using it within our brands, the pros and the cons of this emerging channel, and whether it's a scalable alternative to Meta Ads. Cody shares results from his team's recent holdout test, breaking down AppLovin's impact on incremental sal…

With Black Friday and Cyber Monday behind us, we’re unpacking our results and looking at what went right, what went wrong and what lessons we learnt for this time next year. We talk about trends we’re seeing this holiday shopping season, meta performance, navigating inventory challenges, tactical pivots to clear inventory and boost sales, and how w…

In today’s episode of Marketing Operators, we’re getting real about our biggest mistakes from the past year, and the lessons learnt from these. We cover why forecasting isn’t always straightforward, the importance of adjusting tactics quickly, the tricky balance of optimism versus realism in decision-making, and what it takes to scale sustainably i…

Happy Black Friday week everyone! In today’s episode we are diving in on the day-to-day tactics and operations our teams will be using this weekend to optimize performance during one of the most crucial sales periods of the year - Black Friday and Cyber Monday. We’re discuss the shift from pre-sale planning to sale operations, covering our real-tim…

Today it’s the three of us back together! We’re talking about our approaches and playbooks for launching new marketing channels and our insights on what it takes to scale effectively. We cover strategies for choosing the right channels, establishing measurement frameworks, and how to determine when to invest heavily versus cautiously testing. 00:00…

Today we are joined by Zach Stuck, founder of the growth marketing agency Homestead. He shares his insights on acquiring and launching brands, how to identify market trends, when's the right time to diversify into different ad channels, running a lean team, and he shares his advice on the key tactics for driving growth at each revenue band. One not…

We’ve got a special guest today, David Herrmann is back, our first ever second time guest. We’re talking about what channels we’re scaling as we head into Q4, we talk about ad account builds, creating a memorable brand, we get deep into meta media buying and creative diversification and what that means for your ad account and lots more. 00:00 Intro…

First up today, we’re checking in on Cody’s recent product drop and talking about some of the tactics and thinking behind the success of the drop so far, and then we get into Q4 production and what we’re working on right now to get ready for the biggest time of the year and ensure a successful BFCM. We also get into our first MOperators Hotline que…

This week we are joined by Reza Khadjavi, Founder and CEO at Motion, our premier sponsor. We’re talking the evolution of performance creative and the importance of creative strategy in DTC marketing, and Reza shares his insights on the rise of the creative strategist role, the impact of AI on creative workflows, the future of creative strategy and …

As we head into October and execute on Q4, we’re also setting our sights on 2025. In today’s episode, we’re talking about how we’re planning for the upcoming year - we discuss each of our approaches, the delineation of strategies versus tactics, delegating and communicating ownership to the team, knowing what to focus on and when to pivot and much …

In today’s episode we are introducing the MOperators Hotline!! We’re answering some of your questions and sharing our advice on your growth and marketing questions, queries and challenges. We cover how to set targets in the lead up to BFCM to fill the funnel, what to be spending on marketing as a percentage of revenue, strategies to boost rolling r…

00:00 Introduction01:36 E-commerce Trends and Personal Updates06:10 Marketing Strategies and Media Mix17:28 Forecasting and Setting KPIs52:09 Testing and Measuring IncrementalityOperators Exclusive Slack: https://join.slack.com/t/9operators/shared_invite/zt-20pd2eq4n-UVM6oTQkdltEwLINwkCWIAPowered by:Motion.⁠⁠⁠https://motionapp.com/pricing?utm_sourc…

This week we have the Shopify President Harley Finkelstein joining the squad. This is one not to miss - we’re talking founder mode, getting rid of chaos monkeys, how to stay focused on the most important thing, having a growth mindset in business, the future of Shopify and much more. 00:00 Introduction to Shopify and Harley's Journey 04:09 Founder …

Today it’s the trio back together and we’re talking gifts with purchase, being in “foundermode” and when and when not to delegate, incremental attribution and third party analytics, performance creative and our takes on the latest Meta updates. 00:00 Introduction 07:20 The Power of Creative Diversity 21:47 The Magic of Founder Mode 28:18 Delegating…

Today we have Jared Brody on the show, Executive VP of Marketing at Resident, owner of brands such as Siena, Nectar, Awara, DreamCloud and Cloverlane. We’re talking having a mutli-brand approach, attribution, custom-built attribution tools, how to use data to drive your decisions and much more. 00:00 Introduction 10:40 Nectar's Multi-Brand Approach…

00:00 Introduction 04:40 The Background of a CEO in E-commerce 07:16 The Importance of Marketing Knowledge for CEOs 09:08 The Role of Content and Understanding the Attention Economy 12:01 The Importance of Survival and Longevity in Business 19:49 The Significance of Incrementality in Marketing 21:05 The Day-to-Day Responsibilities of a CEO 27:36 CE…

This week we’re discussing how we’re planning and strategizing for Q4. We reflect on last year’s performance, what we’re iterating on, where we’re at in the planning process and how we’re preparing for the biggest time of the year. 00:00 Introduction 02:00 Building a Loyal Audience and Reflecting on Opportunities 07:10 The Importance of Taking Init…

Today on the show we have Shane Rostad and we’re going deep on all things conversion rate optimization and how to run tests properly to get actionable results you can be confident about. We get into the philosophy of CRO, testing processes and the operational side, and the nuances around the do’s and don’ts when it comes to CRO testing. If you’ve g…

00:00 Introduction 02:49 Updates on Personal Projects 03:44 Discussion on Sweeps and Commercial Success 07:02 Product Launch and Inventory Management 10:49 Twitter Deep Dive on Creative Diversity and Reaching New Audiences 29:16 Pivoting to Appeal to Different Demographics 35:45 Navigating the Different Stages of a Business 38:07 The Importance of …

00:00 Introduction and Catch Up 02:24 Drinks Discussion 06:36 Excitement about Potential Partnership 07:36 Discussion about Work and Summer Plans 08:31 Launches and Marketing Investment 09:59 Wildcat Video and Launch Strategy 11:22 Scaling Teams and Hiring 13:20 Forecasting and Inventory 17:39 Prime Day and Advertising Strategy 19:53 Prime Day Resu…

00:00 Introduction and Overview 09:26 Understanding and Managing Creative Fatigue 17:08 The Importance of Diversifying Ad Formats and Placements 25:26 Tracking and Analyzing the Performance of Ad Creative 30:06 The Power of Intentionality in Creative Strategy 34:18 Identifying and Leveraging Brand Benefits in Ad Creative 36:08 The Importance of Cre…

00:00 Introduction and Overview 07:44 Benefits of Sweepstakes in E-commerce 13:43 Content and Experiences in Sweepstakes 19:43 Engaging Customers and Driving Revenue 25:09 Quality of Leads and Entry Mechanics 32:47 Building Brand Awareness and Equity 35:08 Timing Sweepstakes for Maximum Impact 38:37 Website User Experience and Education 40:01 Integ…

00:00 Introduction 07:31 Optimizing Team Size and Roles 17:27 Exploring the Retail vs. Online Sales Landscape 22:13 The Impact of OpEx and Gross Margin on Profitability 25:29 The Importance of Iterations and Net New Concepts in Ad Creation 32:29 The Cost of Inefficient Ad Spend 33:51 Measurement Tools and Ad Spend 35:18 Attribution and Top-of-Funne…

00:00 Introduction and Overview 10:01 Analyzing Ad Creative: Knives Ads 25:08 Analyzing Ad Creative: Hype Reel Ads 28:31 Optimizing Ad Spend with Prescient AI 30:47 Helping Brands Scale Spend Confidently with AI-powered Marketing Mix Models 31:22 The Power of Copy-Dependent Ads and Non-Traditional Value Propositions 36:11 Embracing Creative Diversi…

00:00 Introduction 11:55 YouTube Ads in Media Mix and Account Management 21:52 Ad Formats and Viewer Behavior on YouTube 26:27 Challenges of Measuring YouTube Ad Effectiveness 28:50 Using AI-Powered Marketing Mix Models for Optimization 30:20 Challenges and Strategies for Measuring YouTube Attribution 32:14 Approaches to YouTube Advertising: Target…

00:00 Introduction 03:16 Life Updates 06:04 Introduction to Tyson Drake and his Background 11:46 Merchandising and Marketing in Different Industries 27:39 Creating Effective Marketing Campaigns 30:54 Product Classification: A Tiered Approach 32:43 Category Expansion: Becoming a Kitchenware Brand 36:30 Forecasting and Inventory Management 50:58 Meas…

00:00 Introduction12:55 Defining Customer Experience and its Relationship with Brand25:30 The Role of Retail Stores in Customer Experience31:19 The Impact of Product Information on Customer Experience36:26 Educating Customers and Pre-Purchase Support42:42 AI for Customer Support45:35 Creating Video Content for Customer Education48:52 The Importance…

00:00 Introduction: Going International08:16 Memorial Day Sales and Performance12:24 Successes and Challenges of International Expansion28:10 Early International Sales and Easy Wins29:32 Timing and Team Building for International Expansion31:23 Shipping Challenges and Localization33:15 Building Dedicated Teams for International Markets34:41Timing a…

00:00 Introduction to Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) 02:37 Testing and Implementing CRO Initiatives 08:34 Defining CRO and its Impact on Revenue per User 28:47 Optimizing Team Structure and Design Support in E-commerce 44:10 The Impact of Video Experiences on Revenue and Customer Engagement 49:48 CRO Testing: Strategies for Optimizing the Custo…

This week the Marketing Operators are joined by marketing expert, Ashton Wall. Ashton has experience working in house for some incredibly successful DTC brands, including ColourPop and Kylie Cosmetics. Ashton is now the co-founder of GateMaker Community and is here to share her tips, hot takes and expertise on marketing strategy, working with influ…

00:00 Introduction06:44 Building High-Performing Teams15:14 Insourcing vs Outsourcing31:12 Scaling Channels and Finding New Growth Opportunities04:59 Building a Strong Team for Business Success39:10 Evaluating the Value of Software Solutions53:26 The Role of Influencer Marketing in Brand Awareness56:40 Underrated Software Tools for Business Efficie…

00:00 Introduction 06:20 Informing New Products: Philosophy and Approach 13:17 Recent Product Drops by Ridge Wallet and Cody's Brand 28:00 Examples of Successful Brand Expansions 37:29 Process of Informing New Products 38:55 Understanding the Market and Customer Needs 40:21 Using Data and Gut Instinct for Product Development 41:35 Customer Service …