Retention Chronicles

This conversation is centered around email and SMS deliverability in e-commerce, with a focus on understanding technical aspects and predictability of email marketing results. Mariah Parsons. Head of Marketing at Malomo & Host of Retention Chronicles, and Nikita Vakhrushev, Founder of ASPEKT agency, shared their experiences with email marketing and discussed challenges such as recent deliverability rule changes and the importance of conducting audits to identify issues. Nikita added his experience in setting up deliverability audits and emphasized the need for proper technical setup and segmentation of email lists. The group emphasized the importance of prioritizing email deliverability, especially during peak seasons in ecommerce like Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM).

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Mariah Parsons and Rachel discussed the importance of prioritizing customer experience and tailored marketing strategies to grow e-commerce brands. They emphasized the significance of celebrating milestones, launching new collections, and understanding the target audience to create effective marketing strategies. Later, Mariah and Rachel discussed digital marketing strategies, including social media marketing, influencer marketing, and the ethical implications of using AI-generated content in fashion marketing. They also explored the challenges of the apparel industry, including returns and exchanges, and the need to balance profit margins with offering lower prices to attract more customers.

Episode Timestamps:

41:50 Reducing returns in retail with a focus on product pricing and marketing

Mariah Parsons, Head of Marketing at Malomo and host ofRetention Chronicles, and Zoe Kahn, VP of Retention at Audien Hearing, Founder ofInevitable Agency, and host ofLet’s Laugh About It Podcast, discuss the importance of prioritizing customer satisfaction and loyalty in the E-commerce industry. Zoe shared her experience in the over-the-counter hearing aid industry, highlighting the challenges and rewards of helping people change their lives through hearing aids. Mariah emphasized the significance of customer experience in any position or business, while Zoe discussed the importance of hiring the right people for customer experience roles and setting up teams for success. Later, Mariah and Zoe discussed the importance of aligning marketing and customer service to create a seamless customer experience. They also discussed the value of building genuine connections and community in the E-commerce industry, and the importance of effective communication in retaining unhappy customers.

Episode Timestamps:

• 0:05 E-commerce customer experience with Zoe Kahn, VP of Retention at Audien Hearing and Founder of Inevitable Agency.

• 4:29 Time flying by in business growth.

• 10:13 Building an E-commerce community through genuine connections and learning.

• 16:11 Building an agency without pressure to sell.

• 20:42 Customer experience and its impact on retention.

• 27:06 Email marketing and customer support balance.

• 32:47 The importance of collaboration between marketing and customer experience teams. 

Mariah Parsons and Savannah Benson, VP of Customer Experience at Mixhers, discussed the evolution of customer experience strategy in e-commerce, emphasizing the importance of proactive planning, managing customer expectations, and over-communication. They also highlighted prioritizing customer needs in cross-functional meetings and creating a positive experience through rebranding and product quality. Additionally, they discussed the importance of understanding consumer behavior and preferences to innovate and stay relevant in the DTC ecommerce space, and prioritizing customer needs when solving problems and gathering customer insights.

Episode Timestamps:

33:39 Product returns and exchanges in the supplement industry

39:35 Mixhers, a supplement brand, and their subscription program

Mariah Parsons and Matt Froehlich discussed the importance of networking and connection-building in the e-commerce industry, sharing their experiences from attending conferences like Shop Talk and The Whalies. They emphasized the value of meeting people outside of their normal networks and highlighted differences between events in terms of size, scope, engagement, and connection-making opportunities. They also discussed the latest trends and challenges in digital marketing, including adapting to new technologies, reevaluating a brand's tech stack, navigating brand-agency relationships, and understanding the evolving nature of social media platforms like TikTok. Finally, they discussed optimizing ad performance and financials in the industry, emphasizing the importance of planning ahead, analyzing past data, and employing efficient advertising strategies to ensure maximum ROI.

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Mariah Parsons and Yaw Aning discussed the importance of creating a seamless post-purchase experience for e-commerce merchants. They emphasized the need to align the experience with the brand's strategy and goals, educate customers about the brand, and set goals based on the strategy. Both speakers highlighted the importance of keeping customers updated and mapping out the customer journey to build trust and transparency.

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Mariah Parsons and Rachel Nilsson, Founder of RAGS, discussed Rachel’s experience in building her e-commerce business, emphasizing the importance of perseverance, creativity, and customer satisfaction. 

Rachel shared her journey, including managing demand, partnering with large companies like Nordstrom and Disney, and navigating the unpredictable journey of entrepreneurship. 

They also discussed the pros and cons of implementing limited edition models to increase FOMO marketing and getting creative with inventory sales.

After Rachel’s premiere on Shark Tank, she navigated through having to deal with copycats but ultimately refocusing on doing their own thing and doing it well.

This podcast is sponsored by Malomo, a leading shipment and order tracking platform for Shopify and Shopify Plus ecommerce brands. 

To see what your personalized mockup of branded order tracking and transactional email/SMS would look like, fill out this form & we’ll send your free design right to your inbox!

Episode Timestamps

33:04 Entrepreneurship, innovation, and dealing with copycats

Mariah Parsons and Jonathan Penna, Co-Founder of ORBYT Skin & Azio Beauty, discussed their experiences navigating the challenges of e-commerce during the COVID-19 pandemic. Jonathan shared his journey of transitioning from a bakery to an e-commerce business, highlighting the challenges of scaling an operation during a global health crisis. 

Mariah provided context and asked questions to delve deeper into the topic, exploring the impact of COVID-19 on the e-commerce industry and the strategies for adapting to the new normal. Later, Mariah and Jonathan discussed various strategies for building successful subscription-based businesses, including personalization, direct-to-consumer marketing, and optimizing subscription retention and growth. 

Jonathan shared their experience with onboarding AI-powered customer support tools like Sienna AI, emphasizing the importance of careful onboarding and optimizing automations.

This podcast is sponsored by Malomo, a leading shipment and order tracking platform for Shopify and Shopify Plus ecommerce brands. 

To see what your personalized mockup of branded order tracking and transactional email/SMS would look like, fill out this form & we’ll send your free design right to your inbox!

Episode Timestamps:

Liz Krupka, Owner of Nomadd Marketing, joins Retention Chronicles to discuss email marketing and optimizing email templates

Great email marketing has to parallel a brand’s tone and great customer experience. This is what Liz and her team focus on. 

Liz and Mariah talk about how some ecommerce merchants have lost creative aspects of their marketing due to the shift towards performance marketing. The key is that these brands aren’t following what originally brought their customers to know and love their brand. So, some emails become too sales heavy, which end up turning customers away. 

Liz proposes that instead, brands focus on what drove their audience and hone in on that. Find out which emails are the most successful that appeal to their audience and optimize those rather than fully redoing their emails.

Liz also talks about email templates for ecommerce brands and how to compare templates accurately. Brands must take into account the email copy, email creative, email offerings, the seasonality, historical data, the economy, and more. 

There are also considerations brands should make when considering becoming a promotion-heavy brand vs one that does not run promotions. 

This podcast is sponsored by Malomo, a leading shipment and order tracking platform for Shopify and Shopify Plus ecommerce brands. 

To see what your personalized mockup of branded order tracking and transactional email/SMS would look like, fill out this form & we’ll send your free design right to your inbox!

Episode Timeline:

Joel Reichert, four-time ecommerce owner and co-founder of Copper Pearl, Maven Thread, and Woven Nook, joins Retention Chronicles to discuss selling on Amazon vs. Shopify and running ads on Amazon vs Meta

Joel started his career in ecommerce holding a financial role at a tech company and founded his first brand, Copper Pearl, in 2015. In 2.5 years, they grew the business to a 7 figure brand and sold the company in 2018.

In 2017, he founded his two current brands, Maven Thread and Woven Nook. He’s also grown these brands to be a 7 figure company.

Joel tells Mariah about how he started these ecommerce businesses with an investment of $10k and started selling on Amazon storefront. Joel explains that starting out on Amazon helped launch their product to help make their product make sense and then they transitioned into selling through their own website on Shopify. 

There are a lot of differences between Amazon ads and Meta ads, such as the barrier to entry for ecommerce beginners and the rate of tweaking needed for each platform. From Joel’s perspective, starting on Amazon is the way to go.

Joel and Mariah also discuss how customizable DTC products can be for specific cohorts of customers. Ecommerce also allows for there to be flexibility in logistics.

This podcast is sponsored by Malomo, a leading shipment and order tracking platform for Shopify and Shopify Plus ecommerce brands. 

To see what your personalized mockup of branded order tracking and transactional email/SMS would look like, fill out this form & we’ll send your free design right to your inbox!

Episode Timestamps

36:43 Amazon and Shopify e-commerce, brand growth, and customer support.