Optily Radio: Accelerate eCommerce Marketing Optily

As the data-sharing relationship between large platforms and brands changes, are you covering your bases with zero-party data? This week we discuss how quizzes can help you build up your database and personalize your approach with each potential customer.

Gen Furukawa is the co-Founder of Prehook, a leading quiz platform for Shopify merchants. Gen has been in eCommerce for over 10 years, with the last 7 years in eCommerce SaaS. Prior to Prehook, he was part of the founding team and VP of Marketing at Jungle Scout, the leading software for Amazon sellers. He is also the host of his own eCommerce marketing podcast, Cart Overflow.

Kevin Stagg is our Chief Marketing and Customer Officer who brings a wealth of experience from working at both B2C and B2B brands, big and small, including international companies like Microsoft and Ding.

Three highlights from our discussion were:
Growing brand reputation through quizzesA template for a successful quizEnriching your existing marketing lists

Email marketing is a tough nut to crack with spam filters getting more robust and inboxes overflowing. Jacob Anson takes us through what brands can do to ensure they make the most of their campaigns and product launches through email and SMS.

Jacob Anson is the Co-founder of AgencyJR, an eCommerce email marketing agency working with 7 & 8-figure brands. He's grown a fully remote team to 50 people, led huge email and SMS campaigns, and generated multiple 7-figure results in revenue with his digital marketing agency.

Brendan Hughes, Optily's CEO, has decades of experience on both the ad-buying and ad-selling sides of the business.

Three points we covered in this episode were:
Email list segmentationServer whitelisting to avoid spam foldersThe balance between evergreen and promotional content

Developing unique creative for social media is a crucial element in your marketing strategy. Given the volume of competition, it can be really difficult to stand out and tell a story within a very limited timeframe.

Lauren Schwartz, CEO and Founder of The Loft 325, discusses the strategies and tactics that have worked for her clients in making stand-out videos and statics for their eCommerce campaigns across Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Lauren is a thought leader in profitable creative strategies for eCommerce brands and a design professional with over 15 years of experience within the digital space. Lauren's passions lie in creating top-performing ad creatives. She has personally led the creative strategy for brands such as Love Wellness, Needed, Kate Farms, AutoBrush, and many more.

Claire Murphy, Optily's Creative Director, also joined the conversation to add her expertise to the discussion. She has over a decade of experience in design and advertising. Starting with an M.Sc. in Multimedia, her love of all facets of digital media has only continued to grow. Claire has experience as both an in-house creative lead and as a freelance designer. At Optily, she produces and oversees all the elements of branding, design, and visual content creation for organic and paid marketing.

Some of the topics we covered in this episode include:
The major Dos and Don'ts of video marketingTelling a story in a short videoClean briefing for internal and external designers

Have you thought about tapping into audio for promoting your brand both internally and externally? This week's guest, Nora Sudduth, goes into private podcasting and how it can help grow your business.

Nora Sudduth is the Co-founder and CRO of Hello Audio, a company that turns your content into private audio feeds that your customers can listen to any time, anywhere. She is a leading marketing and conversion strategist who has helped businesses sell over $500M worth of products and services online. She’s also designed several courses and coaching and certification programs that have generated millions more.

In addition to being our CEO, Brendan Hughes has authored a book on helping eCommerce companies grow through digital marketing and has worked with a variety of businesses in helping them scale through online strategies.

The highlights from our conversation are:
Why is audio a powerful tool for brandsThe difference between public and private podcastsWays for companies to easily launch podcast content

Are you leveraging product seeding with your influencers? This week's guest, Cody Wittick, goes into the details of making the most of your influencer marketing program.

Cody Wittick is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO at Kynship, an influencer marketing agency located in Orange County, CA. Prior to co-founding Kynship, Cody began his journey at QALO, the brand that created the silicone wedding ring. Throughout his time there, he built out a robust influencer program of over 500 influencers, all through the foundation of seeding.

Eppie McDonnell is a skilled social media and digital marketing executive, having helped brands scale their growth through paid social campaigns. She is now an Account Manager on the Optily+ team, helping eCommerce companies grow by implementing cross-channel strategies to increase the overall return on ad spend.

The main points we covered were:
Creating a relationship with influencers through product seedingPaid media with influencer contentThe value of video over static

Email marketing is a powerful tool for eCommerce, but are all your newsletter blasts effective if they're the same for each person? Erica Salm Rench discusses the power of customizing emails, SEO tactics, and organic growth strategies.

Erica Salm Rench, COO of Rasa.io, the only AI-driven smart newsletter platform designed so organizations of any size can personalize content for every subscriber on their email list. She gets to blend her love of digital marketing technology, partnership development, and customer service in order to support the incredible community of rasa.io clients.

The highlights from this episode include:
Tools and tactics to stand out in the competitive world of SEOAI and automation for content creationCustomized email marketing with a variety of contentResources:
SemrushMarketMuseMarketing AI Institute