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

In this episode, host Greg Shuey introduces a conversation centered around a unique yet critical aspect of business operations for e-commerce brands: capturing unclaimed shipping refunds from FedEx and UPS. He highlights the importance of this topic by noting that many businesses might be missing out on substantial savings each month. This episode features guest Ross Brenner from Profit Trust, who elucidates the concept of unclaimed shipping refunds. Brenner explains that these refunds, which can amount to millions of dollars annually for thousands of brands, are typically not voluntarily offered by carriers. They include charges for dimensional adjustments, late deliveries, fuel surcharges, etc. The process to claim these refunds is cumbersome, requiring businesses to actively pursue their due refunds.

Ross Brenner shares his journey into the realm of shipping refunds, which began in the infomercial space. The challenges faced with carriers led to the creation of technology designed to automate the refund process, significantly saving time and money for businesses. This platform automatically identifies eligible refunds and processes claims on behalf of clients, allowing businesses to reinvest the savings into growth-oriented activities like marketing. The discussion underscores the transformative impact of such technology in managing shipping costs and optimizing operational efficiency.

Greg Shuey delves into why the topic of shipping refunds is not widely discussed despite its significance. Brenner suggests that the lack of awareness stems from a general unfamiliarity with the available technology and the benefits it brings. Education and exposure to such innovations can dramatically change how businesses manage shipping expenses. Furthermore, Brenner addresses the prerequisites for businesses to benefit from their services, emphasizing the need for a direct account with FedEx, UPS, or DHL. This ensures that refunds directly benefit the client's account, contrasting with indirect shipping arrangements like those through Shopify, where benefits might not accrue to the actual shipper.

The conversation also explores broader shipping industry trends, such as the increasing expectation of free shipping by consumers and the strategic implications for businesses. Brenner discusses the importance of understanding the true costs of shipping, the impact on profit margins, and the necessity for businesses to make informed decisions about shipping strategies. This includes leveraging data to optimize shipping rates and service levels, thereby enhancing customer satisfaction and retention. The episode concludes with insights into how businesses are reallocating the savings from shipping refunds into areas like marketing and operations, underscoring the indirect benefits of efficient shipping cost management on overall business growth.
Episode Links

• Greg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/
• Ross Brenner LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ross-brenner-a0899249/
• Profit Trust: https://profittrust.com/

https://www.stryde.com/how-to-generate-cash-to-fund-your-marketing-by-taking-advantage-of-shipping-refunds/

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 Links

Greg 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 the second episode of the "7 Figures & Beyond" podcast, host Greg shares the challenges he faced distributing his first episode across major podcast directories, particularly Apple podcasts, and humorously notes the statistic that 90% of podcasters quit after their third episode. He assures listeners of his commitment to the podcast, setting the stage for ongoing discussions. Greg shifts to the main content of this episode—his predictions for ecommerce in 2024—emphasizing these are based on his extensive experience and are intended to guide newer brand owners and marketers.

Greg presents ten key predictions for ecommerce marketing in 2024, highlighting the importance of customer-centric strategies as a fundamental approach for Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) brands. He stresses that understanding customer behavior and preferences will be crucial due to diminishing data from privacy laws and tech updates. Greg predicts significant engagement and revenue growth for brands that effectively utilize niche communities and micro-influencers, and foresees a consolidation in ecommerce technology, suggesting that brands will reduce their tech stacks significantly by integrating multifunctional platforms.

The podcast episode concludes with insights on the potential of AI in marketing, the shift towards in-house marketing complemented by educational resources, and a critical view of influencer marketing's efficacy. Greg anticipates substantial increases in mobile commerce, predicting that mobile devices will account for 75% of total sales by the end of 2024. He is optimistic about the growth of Meta and TikTok shops due to their enhanced user experience and high conversion rates. Looking ahead, Greg teases the next episode which will feature Stryde’s VP, Laurel Teuscher, discussing customer research and data mining, promising more expert insights into effective ecommerce strategies.

Links

• Greg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/

https://www.stryde.com/2024-ecommerce-marketing-predictions/

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 Links

Greg 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/

In this episode, Greg Shuey and his co-host Laurel Teuscher delve into the emerging issues related to Meta's Advantage Plus Creative Enhancements, a generative AI tool designed for optimizing ad creatives in Meta's Ads Manager. After a brief hiatus, Laurel returns to share her experiences and concerns with this tool, particularly how it’s impacting client campaigns by automatically altering images and videos. These AI-driven changes are intended to boost engagement but have sometimes resulted in unnatural modifications that undermine brand authenticity and alienate customers.

Throughout the discussion, Laurel illustrates the dual nature of AI enhancements in advertising, noting that while they can streamline ad production and experiment with creative formats, they often strip away the control brands have over their own messaging. This loss of control can lead to ads that fail to convey the intended message or aesthetic, detracting from the user experience and potentially harming the brand's reputation. She emphasizes the importance of vigilance and manual oversight, even in an automated system, to ensure that AI modifications enhance rather than compromise the advertisement's effectiveness.

The podcast wraps up with a broader reflection on the future of AI in advertising. Both hosts express cautious optimism that AI tools will evolve to offer more reliable and refined assistance in ad management. However, they also stress that marketers need to stay informed and actively involved in how their ads are generated and presented. This approach will help safeguard against the pitfalls of early-stage AI technologies, which, although promising, currently require human intuition and oversight to align with strategic marketing goals and preserve the integrity of brand communication.
Episode Links

• Greg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/
• Laurel Tesucher LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laureltoosure/
• Meta's Newest Generative AI Enhancements: https://www.facebook.com/business/news/Introducing-Enhanced-Gen-AI-Features-and-Other-Tools-to-Help-Build-Your-Business

https://www.stryde.com/understanding-metas-advantage-creative-enhancements/