Marketing Operators

Marketing Operators I Connor Rolain I Connor MacDonald I Cody Plofker
  • 4.0 (2)
  • Marketing
  • Updated Weekly

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  1. 3d ago

    Meta Ads Catalog, TikTok Shops + GMV Max, and the Future of Creative

    Can Meta and TikTok Shop be combined into a single playbook?  Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge) and Cody Plofker (CEO, Jones Road Beauty) are fresh off the Meta Performance Marketing Summit and cover what the event signaled, where paid social is heading, and what most brands are still sleeping on.  They explain Meta betting big on product feed enrichment as the foundation for better AI-generated creative, and how GMV Max is quietly powering TikTok Shop’s top brands. The duo also reveals creators driving 60% of shop revenue, the Meta ads catalog, and TikTok Shop affiliate flywheels.  Powered By  Motion Creative Benchmarks 2026  https://motionapp.com/thumbstop-pulse/creative-benchmarks-2026?utm_campaign=marketing-operators&utm_medium=sponsor&utm_content=creative-benchmarks-2026&utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast Richpanel https://9ops.co/richpanel Aftersell https://9ops.co/4i3bb5 Haus https://www.haus.io/operators Operators Newsletter https://9operators.com/

    1 hr

  2. May 28 ·  Bonus

    Live at Meta’s 2026 Performance Marketing Summit: Ads, AI & Audiences

    “There’s going to be a world where you just tell them your product and your business goals and they do the rest.” What does Meta’s AI push mean for ecommerce brands trying to win on paid social right now? Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge), Cody Plofker (CEO, Jones Road Beauty), and Connor Rolain (Head of Growth, HexClad) recorded this episode live at Meta’s Performance Marketing Summit 2026 where they break down everything Meta announced: AI infrastructure to catalog-powered creative and what brands need to do about it immediately. The conversation covers Meta’s shift toward catalog-first ad infrastructure and why clean product data is now table stakes, not a nice-to-have. They dig into how the media buyer role is converging with creative strategy, what a 24-hour full-funnel launch looks like in practice, and why the brands building creator ecosystems today are setting up a major moat for catalog creative tomorrow. Powered By Meta Operators Newsletter https://9operators.com/

    41 min

  3. May 26

    The Meta Playbook That Took True Sea Moss Beyond Nine Figures

    “You don’t have to be first to be the best.” What does it take to scale a brand from $20M to $140M in just 12 months?   Luka Kvatchrelishvili (CMO, True Sea Moss) joins hosts Connor Rolain (Head of Growth, HexClad) and Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge) to break down how he took a bootstrapped, product-led superfood brand … and scaled it into a nine-figure DTC powerhouse. Luka shares his path from practicing law in Georgia to drop shipping foosball tables to leading a 33-person marketing team. The conversation digs into how Luka diagnosed and fixed True Sea Moss’ data infrastructure before touching a single ad, and how a surge in creative volume gave way to a more methodical, outcome-driven testing system. He also gets into the halo effect between Meta spend, Amazon, and retail performance; the power of the LTV-to-CAC cohort report; and how True Sea Moss went from Telegram groups and Trello boards to a marketing-led operation scaling toward half a billion.   Powered By  Motion Creative Benchmarks 2026  https://motionapp.com/thumbstop-pulse/creative-benchmarks-2026?utm_campaign=marketing-operators&utm_medium=sponsor&utm_content=creative-benchmarks-2026&utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast Saras Analytics https://bit.ly/9OP-Ytdesc  Haus https://www.haus.io/operators Richpanel https://9ops.co/richpanel Aftersell https://9ops.co/4i3bb5 Operators Newsletter https://9operators.com/

    1h 6m

  4. May 19

    Ecommerce Content Flywheel: Meta to TikTok, Paid to Organic

    What does a content flywheel look like when it’s firing on all cylinders?  Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge) and Cody Plofker (CEO, Jones Road Beauty) break down how their teams structure content creation end-to-end: from micro-creators and TikTok Shop affiliates to high-production studio shoots and ambassador programs. Both hosts bring their own playbooks to the table to compare notes in real time.  They cover the three core buckets of a paid ad account, why scripted UGC is losing ground to raw “yapper content, how to negotiate more deliverables without doubling creator rates, the TikTok Shop affiliate flywheel, and why building an in-house production playbook is one of the highest-leverage investments a brand can make.  Powered By  Motion Creative Benchmarks 2026  https://motionapp.com/thumbstop-pulse/creative-benchmarks-2026?utm_campaign=marketing-operators&utm_medium=sponsor&utm_content=creative-benchmarks-2026&utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast Aftersell https://9ops.co/4i3bb5 Haus https://www.haus.io/operators Richpanel https://9ops.co/richpanel Operators Newsletter https://9operators.com/

    1h 1m

  5. May 12

    How to Get New Reach on Meta: Tactics & Data for Ecommerce Marketing

    Are you measuring new reach on Meta the right way or just guessing?  Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge), Cody Plofker (CEO, Jones Road Beauty), and Connor Rolain (Head of Growth, HexClad) dig into the tactics + measurement frameworks driving their paid media strategies right now.  The conversation spans Meta’s incremental attribution rollout and what the data shows. They cover signal engineering with conditional pixels, the case for non-purchase optimized campaigns on YouTube, and why building a deliberate testing roadmap matters more than chasing every new ad tech feature. Plus, behind the scenes on Jones Road’s biggest creator partnership came together.  Powered By  Motion Creative Benchmarks 2026  https://motionapp.com/thumbstop-pulse/creative-benchmarks-2026?utm_campaign=marketing-operators&utm_medium=sponsor&utm_content=creative-benchmarks-2026&utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast Richpanel https://9ops.co/richpanel Aftersell https://9ops.co/4i3bb5 Haus https://www.haus.io/operators Operators Newsletter https://9operators.com/

    1h 6m

  6. May 7 ·  Bonus

    Most Underrated Growth Tactic in Ecommerce Right Now With Andrew Faris

    Drawing on over a decade of experience on the brand, HoldCo, and agency sides of DTC, Andrew Faris (Founder, AJF Growth) joins Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge) and Cody Plofker (CEO, Jones Road Beauty) to discuss what it takes to build and scale an ecommerce brand across every stage of growth.  The conversation covers what advice from larger operators can get wrong for smaller brands and why AOV may be the most underrated metric in subscription businesses. They explore how to think about the atomic units of an offer, the real trade-offs between in-house and agency media buying, and why the message is the most underrated growth tactic in ecommerce today.  This episode is brought to you by AppLovin. Get access to the Operators channel expansion playbook, online masterclass, and up to $5k in ad credits here: https://www.9operators.com/paid-growth  Or, skip the waitlist and launch your Axon by AppLovin ads today with our Operators-exclusive link: https://axon.ai/en/9operators

    1h 19m

  7. May 5

    500% Growth: Inside Cadence’s DTC and Retail Playbook

    Can you build a sports brand by saying no to most customers?   Matty Martin (Head of Marketing, Cadence) joins Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge), and Connor Rolain (Head of Growth, HexClad), to break down what it takes to scale one of the fastest-growing sports hydration brands from scratch. Matty shares how he went from setting up the Shopify site himself to leading a full marketing team; all while sending every single email the company puts out.   They dig into why Cadence stays focused on the athlete and resists chasing the hangover angle, how three redesigns in one year tripled sales at GNC, and the free-gift mechanic that pushed their subscription rate from 30% to 75%. Matty also walks through the brand’s expansion into Target and Walmart, its approach to omnichannel measurement, and why Candence’s athlete partnerships drive retail credibility as much as awareness.   Powered By  Motion Creative Benchmarks 2026  https://motionapp.com/thumbstop-pulse/creative-benchmarks-2026?utm_campaign=marketing-operators&utm_medium=sponsor&utm_content=creative-benchmarks-2026&utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast Richpanel https://9ops.co/richpanel Aftersell https://9ops.co/4i3bb5 Rivo https://www.rivo.io/operators Prescient AI  https://www.prescientai.com/operators Operators Newsletter https://9operators.com/

    1h 13m

  8. Apr 28

    Rethinking SMS Marketing for Ecommerce: AI, RCS & LTV

    What if the most powerful customer insight tool in ecommerce is hiding inside your SMS program? Mike Manheimer (Chief Customer Officer, Postscript) joins hosts Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge) and Cody Plofker (CEO, Jones Road Beauty) to dig into how brands are getting more out of their SMS programs. They cover what most brands are doing wrong about messaging frequency, how conversational commerce is reshaping the acquisition funnel, and why the data from texts may be the most valuable, untapped signal in right now.   The conversation moves from holdout testing and subscriber LTV benchmarks to Postscript’s AI product, Shopper, and the surprisingly specific objections that are quietly blocking purchases. It also covers what RCS means for the future of mobile messaging, why org structure shapes SMS performance more than most brands realize, and the single thing a five-to-ten-million-dollar brand should do first to unlock more from the channel.   Powered By  Motion Creative Benchmarks Report 2026 https://motionapp.com/thumbstop-pulse/creative-benchmarks-2026?utm_campaign=marketing-operators&utm_medium=sponsor&utm_content=creative-benchmarks-2026&utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast Rivo https://www.rivo.io/operators Prescient AI  https://www.prescientai.com/operators Richpanel https://9ops.co/richpanel Aftersell https://9ops.co/4i3bb5 Operators Newsletter https://9operators.com/

    1h 6m
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Ratings & Reviews

4
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

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Information

  • Creator
    Marketing Operators I Connor Rolain I Connor MacDonald I Cody Plofker
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    126
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Marketing Operators I Connor Rolain I Connor MacDonald I Cody Plofker
  • Show Website
    Marketing Operators

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