Threading The Needle

On this episode of the podcast, Taylor and Richard shift focus from long-term 2024 predictions to the most important trends happening right now — the decline of the “Head of Growth” role, the shift toward fixed fees for vendors, the rise of the Chief Operating Officer, and more.  Show Notes: Get 30 free days of Toki’s cutting-edge customer loyalty platform (including cashback and paid membership programs) at buildwithtoki.com/ctc. See Taylor’s Ecommerce Ins and Outs tweet here. The Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at podcast@commonthreadco.com to ask us any questions you might have about the world of ecomm.

As we enter a new year, Taylor and Richard walk through 5 critical ecommerce trends that we expect to take off in 2024. 1. The rise of the product influencer brands2. Less, better stuff trend3. The ***** grift comes to an end4. Contribution margin shows up in Shopify Dash5. ****** bubble pops Gotta listen to fill in the blanks... Show Notes: The Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at podcast@commonthreadco.com to ask us any questions you might have about the world of ecomm.

ADmission members-only episode preview. Unlock full episodes at youradmission.co In this episode, Taylor breaks down one of the most crucial metrics in ecommerce: LTV. Watch to learn more about how to measure it, how it impacts different industries, and how to grow it into an elite level.

In this final episode of our 5-part series on the Prophit system, Taylor and Richard get on the mic to wrap things up, explaining how all the elements of the system work together to deliver on a daily plan for predictable, profitable growth. Show Notes: Elevar is offering 50% off Expert Installation ($1000 value) with the purchase of a subscription (Essentials Plan or above) by January 19, 2024*. Please complete this short form to take advantage of the offer. *Offer available for new Elevar clients only The Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at podcast@commonthreadco.com to ask us any questions you might have about the world of ecomm.

What do you do when your Meta ads account is on fire? How about when you need more creative? And what do you do when the account is performing too well? In this episode, Richard chats with Max Rosewater, Senior Paid Social Buyer at CTC, about the key parts of his decision-making process — and, how to translate your forecast into a day-to-day, channel-specific media plan. Show Notes: Elevar is offering 50% off Expert Installation ($1000 value) with the purchase of a subscription (Essentials Plan or above) by January 19, 2024*. Please complete this short form to take advantage of the offer. *Offer available for new Elevar clients only The Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at podcast@commonthreadco.com to ask us any questions you might have about the world of ecomm.

ADmission members-only episode preview. Unlock full episodes at youradmission.co In this episode, Taylor breaks down one of the most crucial metrics in ecommerce: LTV. Watch to learn more about how to measure it, how it impacts different industries, and how to grow it into an elite level.

On this episode, Richard chats with Aileen McKenna, Director of Creative Strategy & Performance at CTC, about the creative aspect of our growth methodology: How to use your topline financial goals to operationalize your creative production, and how to come up with good creative ideas — quickly. ⁠Show Notes: The Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at podcast@commonthreadco.com to ask us any questions you might have about the world of ecomm.

On this episode of the podcast, Taylor and Richard discuss Black Friday/Cyber Monday 2023 — the good, the bad, and what this year’s business-as-usual BFCM means for the ecommerce landscape in 2024.   ⁠Show Notes: The Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at podcast@commonthreadco.com to ask us any questions you might have about the world of ecomm.

ADmission members-only episode preview. Unlock full episodes at youradmission.co In this episode, Taylor and Richard talk creative — but from an unexpected angle. Listen in as Taylor breaks down how to calculate creative needs by determining month-by-month Spend/aMER requirements.

We're taking a break this week from our regular episodes for Black Friday. In the meantime, we're dropping a preview of Taylor's 2023 BFCM Q&A with ADmission members. To watch the entire episode, head over to youradmission.co to get started on an ADmission

On this episode of the podcast, Richard chats with Luke Austin, Directory of Growth Strategy at CTC about part 2 of our growth methodology: how to build a forecasting model that ladders up to your business goals and provides clear marching orders for your creative and paid media efforts. ⁠Show Notes: The Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at podcast@commonthreadco.com to ask us any questions you might have about the world of ecomm.

ADmission members-only episode preview. Unlock full episodes at youradmission.co In this first episode of our brand-new bonus series, Taylor and Richard sit down to talk everything Cost Caps — why you should be using them, when to use cost caps vs min ROAS bidding, and how to set up your cost cap campaigns in Meta Ads manager. Then, they discuss the biggest barrier to Cost Caps success — creative volume — and how to make sure you have the creative you need to support your desired spend.

On this episode of the podcast, Taylor and Richard embark on part 1 of a 5-part series on CTC’s new growth methodology: the Prophit System. They kick the series off by discussing the crucial beginning of the journey: defining a business objective that will lead to the outcome that you want. ⁠Show Notes: Want access to our new bonus episodes? Join ADmission today: ⁠youradmission.co Want an easier way to source UGC? Streamline your process with SARAL’s chrome extension: ⁠http://getsaral.com/champions/ctc The Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at podcast@commonthreadco.com to ask us any questions you might have about the world of ecomm.

On this episode of the podcast, Taylor is joined by Connor Rolain, Head of Growth at Hexclad, and Connor MacDonald, CMO at Ridge.com, to talk their BFCM strategy — from pacing your sale strategy to the tradeoff between offer simplicity and inventory constraints. ⁠Show Notes: Want an easier way to source UGC? Streamline your process with SARAL’s chrome extension: ⁠http://getsaral.com/champions/ctc The Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at podcast@commonthreadco.com to ask us any questions you might have about the world of ecomm.

The past few episodes of the Ecommerce Playbook focused on the profitability struggles that will define 2024. But this week, Taylor and Richard demonstrate how you reach profitability: a clear forecast that sets daily expectations across dozens of key metrics. ⁠Show Notes: Get V2 of the Ecommerce Diagnostic Toolkit before the price goes up here: https://bit.ly/46WU14Q Want us to put this system in place for you? We’d love to talk. Just get in touch with us at https://commonthreadco.com/pages/ecommerce-strategy to get started. The Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at podcast@commonthreadco.com to ask us any questions you might have about the world of ecomm.

New customer revenue is plummeting as brands run earlier, more frequent discounts, and returning customer revenue may not be far behind. Looking at the state of ecommerce this month, CTC Director of Growth Strategy Luke Austin sits down with Richard to discuss why he’s worried about Q4 2023, and the one thing that clearly distinguishes winning brands from the field as we move into 2024. ⁠Show Notes: Want an easier way to source UGC? Streamline your process with SARAL’s chrome extension: ⁠http://getsaral.com/champions/ctc Purchase the full BFCM Offer Database here: https://commonthreadco.com/products/black-friday-offer-database The Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at podcast@commonthreadco.com to ask us any questions you might have about the world of ecomm.

The feeling among ecommerce brand leaders right now is pretty uniform: September was a bad month. And we have the data to substantiate that feeling. In this episode, Taylor and Richard dive into this week’s DTC Index newsletter and break down why last month’s “sponge squeeze” could have a major impact on performance moving forward. ⁠Show Notes: Sign up for the DTC Index here to get up-to-date information on key ecommerce trends: https://commonthreadco.com/products/dtc-index Purchase the full BFCM Offer Database here: https://commonthreadco.com/products/black-friday-offer-database The Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at podcast@commonthreadco.com to ask us any questions you might have about the world of ecomm.

On this episode, Taylor and Richard dive into the 2023 BFCM Offer Database, a massive spreadsheet that documents Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers from 700+ ecommerce brands.  Discussion includes why you definitely should run an offer on Black Friday, a surprising truth about Buy One, Get One offers, and the role of novelty in “breaking the noise” on the biggest weekend of the year. ⁠Show Notes: Purchase the full BFCM Offer Database here: https://commonthreadco.com/products/black-friday-offer-database If you’re a $10M - $100M ecommerce brand with a Growth Quotient (GQ) of 130 or greater, we’ll cover $25k of ad spend when you become a CTC client. Apply here: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/contact-holiday-ad-spend The Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at podcast@commonthreadco.com to ask us any questions you might have about the world of ecomm.

On this episode, Taylor and Richard break down the most important trends in ecommerce, and discuss what the future holds for margin innovation, AI, and the connection between marketing and finance. ⁠Show Notes: For a limited time, join our membership program, ADmission, plus get access to all of our flagship ecommerce products for no additional cost. Get started at Stamps.com today for a four-week trial, free postage, and a digital scale! If you’re a $10M - $100M ecommerce brand with a Growth Quotient (GQ) of 130 or greater, we’ll cover $25k of ad spend when you become a CTC client. Apply here: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/contact-holiday-ad-spend The Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at podcast@commonthreadco.com to ask us any questions you might have about the world of ecomm.

On this episode, CTC’s Director of Creative Strategy & Performance Aileen McKenna joins Taylor & Richard to discuss the urgency of building great evergreen ad creative in September and October, how to systemically brainstorm new ad ideas, and the right place to expend effort and resources when Black Friday comes. ⁠Show Notes: If you’re a $10M - $100M ecommerce brand with a Growth Quotient (GQ) of 130 or greater, we’ll cover $25k of ad spend when you become a CTC client. Apply here: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/contact-holiday-ad-spend The Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at podcast@commonthreadco.com to ask us any questions you might have about the world of ecomm