Drive and Convert

It's not uncommon to hear the phrase "work/life balance" thrown around in a business setting. It's usually brought up by well-meaning managers who want to make sure their team is protecting the time and the space to be successful outside of the office as well.

In this episode, Ryan and Jon talk about how work/life balance doesn't always translate to a true 50/50 split. Instead, it usually requires investing heavily in one area of life (Ex: Career) for a period of time, and then slowing down to focus more time and energy elsewhere (Ex: Family) to get back toward a more "balanced" position.

Similarly, a brand's allocation of resources across multiple traffic generation channels can (and should) ebb and flow over time. For example, if you continue to hammer on paid search long enough, you'll eventually run headfirst into diminishing returns. The world's most successful brands acknowledge this, and take a more balanced approach to driving leads to their site – and Ryan's here to help us understand how they do it.

Listen to the full episode if you want to learn:

1. Why balancing your traffic generation efforts is important
2. The different types of channels you should consider investing in
3. What a healthy allocation looks like for most brands
4. How to know when you're over/underinvested in a specific channel

If you have questions, ideas, or feedback to share, connect with us on LinkedIn. We're Jon MacDonald and Ryan Garrow.

Fill a room with 100 ecommerce managers and ask them where they are investing their time, energy, and resources to try and hit their growth goals. Chances are, most of them will check the box for Paid Ads, Influencer Marketing, or SEO...but far fewer will have a strategy for conversion rate optimization.

In this episode, Ryan and Jon review the most common reasons why ecommerce brands don't invest in CRO, and why that might be holding them back from reaching their potential. If you're directing most of your spend toward acquisition and ignoring conversion or retention, you may want to listen in to get an outside perspective from two industry experts.

Listen to the full episode if you want to learn:

1. Why most brands fail to invest in CRO
2. What information gaps or misconceptions hold them back
3. What a reasonable testing and optimization budget looks like
4. Why more traffic doesn't always equal more revenue
5. Realistic expectations around cost, timing, and impact for a CRO program

If you have questions, ideas, or feedback to share, connect with us on LinkedIn. We're Jon MacDonald and Ryan Garrow.

The 2021 holiday season is here, but recent events have made it so that paid acquisition can no longer be considered the "easy button" when it comes to attracting potential buyers to your store. As a result, many brand owners are scrambling to figure out how to generate site traffic effectively and affordably.

In this episode, Ryan and Jon talk about the macro trends that are going to influence consumer behavior and what savvy brand owners should do to make the most out of their holiday campaigns. If you're worried about supply chain issues, record-breaking ad prices, or increased competition from big retailers, then you should listen to this.

Listen to the full episode if you want to learn:

1. What economic trends are influencing consumer behavior
2. How to stay competitive as ad prices increase
3. How to separate yourself from big box retailers like Amazon and Walmart
4. Which strategies are going to drive qualified traffic to your site this year

If you have questions, ideas, or feedback to share, connect with us on LinkedIn. We're Jon MacDonald and Ryan Garrow.

With the explosion of direct-to-consumer online retailers, things have been heating up in the ecommerce industry. The differentiators of yesterday have become table stakes for modern brands – those that want to defend their position or gain market share will need to level up from foundational practices to advanced tactics.

In this episode, Ryan and Jon talk about Jon's second book, Opting In To Optimization and review some of the key concepts that are covered inside. The book condenses more than a decade of experience optimizing sites for some of the world's most recognizable brands into a tight, actionable playbook you can read in a week.

Listen to the full episode if you want to learn:

1. How to build a culture of optimization inside your brand
2. How to better undersand your customer's needs and challenges
3. How to use psychology and research-driven design to convert more visitors into buyers
4. How to protect your profit margin while chasing ambitious growth goals
5. How to convert run-of-the-mill customers into raving fans

If you have questions, ideas, or feedback to share, connect with us on LinkedIn. We're Jon MacDonald and Ryan Garrow.

Believe or not, the 2021 holiday season is right around the corner, and it's shaping up to be another big year for ecommerce brands. Hopefully your preparation is well underway, but there is still time to take steps that will help you make the most of the extra attention and higher purchase intent.

In this episode, Ryan and Jon talk about what brands should be doing NOW to set themselves up for a successful holiday campaign. You'll have a playbook for locking down everything from traffic generation to conversion optimization and post-purchase support.

Listen to the full episode if you want to learn:

1. What you should be doing NOW to make the most of BFCM
2. How to come up with a compelling offer
3. Why holiday shoppers are different from your usual customers
4. Why personalization might not skyrocket your sales, but segmentation could
5. How to use cross-sells, upsells, and post purchase offers to maximize AOV

If you have questions, ideas, or feedback to share, connect with us on LinkedIn. We're Jon MacDonald and Ryan Garrow.

For many brands, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a lot like eating right and exercising regularly. You know that you SHOULD be doing it. You know that it has lots of benefits over the long term. But it's still difficult to find the time to make it happen on a regular basis.

In this episode, Ryan and Jon talk about when brands should start taking SEO seriously, as well as what they should be doing to make the most out of their efforts and what they can expect to get as a return on their investment.

Listen to the full episode if you want to learn:

1. Why most brands (understandably) start with paid search instead of SEO
2. When (and why) brands should start giving more attention to SEO 
3. How do stand up a high-performing SEO practice the right way
4. How to find an external service provider you can trust
5. Why SEO is a smart investment for your business

If you have questions, ideas, or feedback to share, connect with us on LinkedIn. We're Jon MacDonald and Ryan Garrow.

Many brands default to discounting as the "easy button" for juicing their online sales, but doing this too often can put you on a price-cutting hamster wheel that is increasingly difficult to get off of.

In this episode, Ryan and Jon talk about the psychology behind discounts, why they are so attractive to consumers, and how you can achieve similar results with alternative strategies that don't undermine the value of your products or position you as a "bargain brand."

Listen to the full episode if you want to learn:

1. Why discounts are so compelling for consumers
2. The downsides of habitual discounting for your brand
3. When discounts are the correct pricing strategy to use
4. Alternatives to discounting that work just as well
5. How to assess and improve your current pricing strategy

If you have questions, ideas, or feedback to share, connect with us on LinkedIn. We're Jon MacDonald and Ryan Garrow.

There's currently lots of frustrations in the E-commerce world around ad performance. What we all expected to happen in 2021 is not happening. Cost per click is up, sales have dipped, and the data is telling us that there is a lack of volume of sales –– but is this just poor advertising channel performance? Or is this pandemic hangover as more folks rush back to retail? Today, Ryan and Jon unpack these questions.

Clients at The Good are interested in how firms like Logical Position are still getting results for their clients –– and why optimization is more important than ever to make the most out of the traffic they’re already getting. The challenge I’ve seen, and I’d like to address today, is that I haven't seen anybody really talking about optimization when it comes to iOS15 updates. And that's what Jon and Ryan focus on today.

Today we're tackling the hot topic of Facebook and how Apple's ios 14 update has affected its performance. Based on analytics, it appears like the data might be going in a negative direction, and many people are jumping ship to other platforms. But should you? Today Ryan tackles the question of whether you should be re-directing Facebook traffic to other platforms.